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»•  •:  Li       ^  I  fev^  v  t 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

OF 

ANDREW  DICKSON  WHITE 


WITH  PORTEAITS 


VOLUME   I 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 

THE  CENTURY  CO. 

1906 


REESE 


Copyright,  1904,  1905,  by 
THE  CENTURY  Co. 


Published  March,  1905 


THE  DE  VINNE  PRESS 


TO 

MY  OLD   STUDENTS 
THIS  EECOKD   OF  MY  LIFE 

IS   INSCKIBED 

WITH  MOST  KINDLY  EECOLLECTIONS 
AND   BEST  WISHES 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PART  I-ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION 
CHAPTER  I.    BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK  — 1832-1850 

PAGE 

The  "  Military  Tract "  of  New  York.  A  settlement  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Susquehanna.  Arrival  of  my  grandfathers  and  grandmothers.  Growth  of 
the  new  settlement.  First  recollections  of  it.  General  character  of  my  en- 
vironment. My  father  and  mother.  Cortland  Academy.  Its  twofold  ef- 
fect upon  me.  First  schooling.  Methods  in  primary  studies.  Physical 
education.  Removal  to  Syracuse.  The  Syracuse  Academy.  Joseph  Allen 
and  Professor  Root;  their  influence;  moral  side  of  the  education  thus  ob- 
tained. General  education  outside  the  school.  Removal  to  a  ''classical 
school";  a  catastrophe.  James  W.  Hoyt  and  his  influence.  My  early  love 
for  classical  studies.  Discovery  of  Scott's  novels.  "The  Gallery  of  British 
Artists."  Effect  of  sundry  conventions,  public  meetings,  and  lectures.  Am 
sent  to  Geneva  College;  treatment  of  faculty  by  students.  A  "  Second  Ad- 
ventist"  meeting;  Howell  and  Clark;  my  first  meeting  with  Judge  Folger. 
Philosophy  of  student  dissipation  at  that  place  and  time  . 3 


CHAPTER  II.    YALE  AND  EUROPE  — 1850-1857 

My  coup  d'6tat.  Removal  to  Yale.  New  energy  in  study  and  reading.  In- 
fluence of  Emerson,  Carlyle,  and  Ruskin.  Yale  in  1850.  My  disappointment 
at  the  instruction;  character  of  president  and  professors;  perfunctory 
methods  in  lower-class  rooms;  "  gerund- grinding "  vs.  literature;  James 
Hadley — his  abilities  and  influence;  other  professors;  influence  of  Presi- 
dent Woolsey,  Professors  Porter,  Silliman,  and  Dana ;  absence  of  literary 
instruction;  character  of  that  period  from  a  literary  point  of  view;  influ- 
ences from  fellow-students.  Importance  of  political  questions  at  that  time. 
Sundry  successes  in  essay  writing.  Physical  education  at  Yale ;  boating. 
Life  abroad  after  graduation ;  visit  to  Oxford ;  studies  at  the  Sorbonne  and 
College  de  France;  afternoons  at  the  Invalides;  tramps  through  western 
and  central  France.  Studies  at  St.  Petersburg.  Studies  at  Berlin.  Jour- 
ney in  Italy;  meeting  with  James  Russell  Lowell  at  Venice.  Frieze,  Fish- 
burn  e,  and  studies  in  Rome.  Excursions  through  the  south  of  France. 
Return  to  America.  Influence  of  Buckle,  Lecky,  and  Draper.  The  atmo- 
sphere of  Darwin  and  Spencer.  Educational  environment  at  the  University 
of  Michigan 23 

vii 


viii  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


PART  II-POLITICAL  LIFE 
CHAPTER  III.    FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE — 1832-1851 

PAGB 

Political  division  in  my  family ;  differences  between  my  father  and  grand- 
father; election  of  Andrew  Jackson.  First  recollections  of  American  poli- 
tics ;  Martin  Van  Buren.  Campaign  of  1840 ;  campaign  songs  and  follies. 
Efforts  by  the  Democrats ;  General  Crary  of  Michigan ;  Corwin's  speech.  The 
Ogle  gold-spoon  speech.  The  Sub-Treasury  Question.  Election  of  General 
Harrison ;  his  death.  Disappointment  in  President  Tyler.  Carelessness  of 
nominating  conventions  as  to  the  second  place  upon  the  ticket.  Campaign 
of  1844.  Clay,  Birney,  and  Polk.  Growth  of  anti-slavery  feeling.  Senator 
Hale's  lecture.  Henry  Clay's  proposal.  The  campaign  of  1848;  General 
Taylor  vs.  General  Cass.  My  recollections  of  them  both.  State  Conventions 
at  this  period.  Governor  Bouck ;  his  civility  to  Bishop  Hughes.  Fernando 
Wood ;  his  method  of  breaking  up  a  State  Convention.  Charles  O'Conor 
and  John  Van  Buren ;  boyish  adhesion  to  Martin  Van  Buren  against  General 
Taylor ;  Taylor's  election ;  his  death.  My  recollections  of  Millard  Fillmore. 
The  Fugitive  Slave  Law 45 


CHAPTER  IV.    EARLY  MANHOOD  — 1851-1857 

"Jerry";  his  sudden  fame.  Speeches  of  Daniel  Webster  and  Henry  Clay  at 
Syracuse  on  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law ;  their  prophecies.  The  "  Jerry  Rescue." 
Trials  of  the  rescuers.  My  attendance  at  one  of  them.  Bishop  Loguen's 
prayer  and  Gerrit  Smith's  speech.  Characteristics  of  Gerrit  Smith.  Effects 
of  the  rescue  trials.  Main  difficulty  of  the  anti-slavery  party.  "Fool  Re- 
formers." Nominations  of  Scott  and  Pierce;  their  qualities.  Senator 
Douglas.  Abolition  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  Growth  of  ill  feeling 
between  North  and  South.  Pro-slavery  tendencies  at  Yale.  Stand  against 
these  taken  by  President  Woolsey  and  Leonard  Bacon.  My  candidacy  for 
editorship  of  the  "Yale  Literary  Magazine."  Opposition  on  account  of  my 
anti-slavery  ideas.  My  election.  Temptations  to  palter  with  my  conscience ; 
victory  over  them.  Professor  Hadley's  view  of  duty  to  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law.  Lack  of  opportunity  to  present  my  ideas.  My  chance  on  Commence- 
ment Day.  "  Modern  Oracles."  Effect  of  my  speech  on  Governor  Seymour. 
Invitation  to  his  legation  at  St.  Petersburg  after  my  graduation.  Effect 
upon  me  of  Governor  Seymour's  ideas  regarding  Jefferson.  Difficulties  in 
discussing  the  slavery  question.  My  first  discovery  as  to  the  value  of  politi- 
cal criticism  in  newspapers.  Return  to  America.  Presidential  campaign  of 
1856.  Nomination  of  Fre*mont.  My  acquaintance  with  the  Democratic 
nominee,  Mr.  Buchanan.  My  first  vote.  Argument  made  for  the  "  American 
Party."  Election  of  Buchanan.  My  first  visit  to  Washington.  President 
Pierce  at  the  White  House.  Inauguration  of  the  new  President.  Effect  upon 
me  of  his  speech  and  of  a  first  sight  of  the  United  States  Senate.  Impression 
made  by  the  Supreme  Court.  General  impression  made  by  Washington.  My 
first  public  lecture  — "Civilization  in  Russia";  its  political  bearing ;  attacks 
upon  it  and  vindications  of  it.  Its  later  history 61 


CHAPTER  V.    THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD  — 1857-1864. 

My  arrival  at  the  University  of  Michigan.     Political  side  of  professorial  life. 
General  purpose  of  my  lectures  in  the  university  and  throughout  the  State. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

My  articles  in  the  "Atlantic  Monthly."  President  Buchanan,  John  Brown, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  and  others.  The  Chicago  Convention.  Nomination  of 
Lincoln.  Disappointment  of  my  New  York  friends.  Speeches  by  Carl 
Schurz.  Election  of  Lincoln.  Beginnings  of  Civil  War.  My  advice  to  stu- 
dents. Reverses ;  Bull  Run.  George  Sumner's  view.  Preparation  for  the 
conflict.  Depth  of  feeling.  Pouring  out  of  my  students  into  the  army. 
Kirby  Smith.  Conduct  of  the  British  Government.  Break  in  my  health. 
Thurlow  Weed's  advice  to  me.  My  work  in  London.  Discouragements 
there.  My  published  answer  to  Dr.  Russell.  Experiences  in  Ireland  and 
France.  My  horror  of  the  French  Emperor.  Effort  to  influence  opinion  in 
Germany.  William  Walton  Murphy  ;  his  interview  with  Baron  Rothschild. 
Fourth  of  July  celebration  at  Heidelberg  in  1863.  Turning  of  the  contest  in 
favor  of  the  United  States.  My  election  to  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  New 
York  .  .  83 


CHAPTEE  VI.    SENATOESHIP  AT  ALBANY  — 1864-1865 

My  arrival  at  Albany  as  State  Senator.  My  unfltness.  Efforts  to  become 
acquainted  with  State  questions.  New  acquaintances.  Governor  Horatio 
Seymour,  Charles  James  Folger,  Ezra  Cornell,  and  others  on  the  Republican 
side;  Henry  C.  Murphy  and  Thomas  C.  Fields  on  the  Democratic  side. 
Daniel  Manning.  Position  assigned  me  on  committees.  My  maiden  speech. 
Relations  with  Governor  Seymour.  My  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on 
Education.  The  Morrill  Act  of  1862.  Mr.  Cornell  and  myself  at  loggerheads. 
Codification  of  the  Educational  Laws.  State  Normal  School  Bill.  Special 
Committee  on  the  New  York  Health  Department.  Revelations  made  to  the 
Committee.  The  Ward's  Island  matter.  Last  great  effort  of  the  State  in 
behalf  of  the  Union.  The  Bounty  Bill.  Opposition  of  Horace  Greeley  to  it. 
Embarrassment  caused  by  him  at  that  period.  Senator  Allaben's  speech 
against  the  Bounty  Bill.  His  reference  to  French  Assignats;  my  answer; 
results ;  later  development  of  this  speech  into  a  political  pamphlet  on  "  Paper 
Money  Inflation  in  France."  Baltimore  Convention  of  1864;  its  curious 
characteristics ;  impression  made  upon  me  by  it.  Breckinridge,  Curtis,  and 
Raymond.  Renomination  of  Lincoln ;  my  meeting  him  at  the  White  House. 
Sundry  peculiarities  then  revealed  by  him.  His  election 100 


CHAPTEE  VII.    SENATOKSHIP  AT  ALBANY  — 1865-1867 

My  second  year  in  the  State  Senate.  Struggle  for  the  Charter  of  Cornell 
University.  News  of  Lee's  surrender.  Assassination  of  Lincoln.  Service 
over  his  remains  at  the  Capitol  in  Albany.  My  address.  Question  of  my 
renomination.  Elements  against  me ;  the  Tammany  influence ;  sundry 
priests  in  New  York,  and  clergymen  throughout  the  State.  Senatorial  con- 
vention ;  David  J.  Mitchell ;  my  renomination  and  election.  My  third  year 
of  service,  1866.  Speech  on  the  Health  Department  in  New  York ;  monstrous 
iniquities  in  that  Department ;  success  in  replacing  it  with  a  better  system. 
My  Phi  Beta  Kappa  address  at  Yale ;  its  purpose.  My  election  to  a  Professor- 
ship at  Yale ;  reasons  for  declining  it.  State  Senate  sits  as  Court  to  try  a 
judge ;  his  offense ;  pathetic  complications ;  his  removal  from  office.  Arrival 
of  President  Johnson,  Secretary  Seward,  General  Grant,  and  Admiral  Farra- 
gut  in  Albany ;  their  reception  by  the  Governor  and  Senate ;  impressions 
made  on  me  thereby ;  part  taken  by  Governor  Fenton  and  Secretary  Seward; 
Judge  Folger's  remark  to  me.  Ingratitude  of  the  State  thus  far  to  its  two 
greatest  Governors,  DeWitt  Clinton  and  Seward 123 


x  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

CHAPTEE  VIII.    ROSCOE  CONKLING  AND  JUDGE  FOLGEB  — 
1867-1868 

PAGB 

Fourth  year  in  the  State  Senate,  1867.  Election  of  a  United  States  Senator ; 
feeling  throughout  the  State  regarding  Senators  Morgan  and  Harris;  Mr. 
Cornell's  expression  of  it.  The  candidates ;  characteristics  of  Senator  Harris, 
of  Judge  Davis,  of  Roscoe  Conkling.  Services  and  characteristics  of  the 
latter  which  led  me  to  support  him ;  hostility  of  Tammany  henchmen  to  us 
both.  The  legislative  caucus.  Presentation  of  candidates ;  my  presentation 
of  Mr.  Conkling ;  reception  by  the  audience  of  my  main  argument ;  Mr. 
Conkling  elected.  Difficulties  between  Judge  Folger  and  myself ;  question 
as  to  testimony  in  criminal  cases ;  Judge  Folger's  view  of  it ;  his  vexation  at 
my  obtaining  a  majority  against  him.  Calling  of  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion ;  Judge  Folger's  candidacy  for  its  Presidency ;  curious  reason  for  Hor- 
ace Greeley's  opposition  to  him.  Another  cause  of  separation  between  Judge 
Folger  and  myself.  Defeat  of  the  Sodus  Canal  Bill.  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion ;  eminent  men  in  it ;  Greeley's  position  in  it ;  his  agency  in  bringing  the 
Convention  into  disrepute ;  his  later  regret  at  his  success ;  the  new  Constitu- 
tion voted  down.  Visit  to  Agassiz  at  Nahant.  A  day  with  Longfellow.  His 
remark  regarding  Mr»  Greeley.  Meeting  with  Judge  Rockwood  Hoar  at  Har- 
vard. Boylston  prize  competition ;  the  successful  contestant ;  Judge  Hoar's 
remark  regarding  one  of  the  speakers.  My  part  in  sundry  political  meetings. 
Visit  to  Senator  Conkling.  Rebuff  at  one  of  my  meetings ;  its  effect  upon  me  133 


CHAPTER  IX.    GENERAL  GRANT  AND  SANTO  DOMINGO  — 
1868-1871 

Distraction  from  politics  by  Cornell  University  work  during  two  or  three 
years  following  my  senatorial  term.  Visits  to  scientific  and  technical  schools 
in  Europe.  The  second  political  campaign  of  General  Grant.  My  visit  to 
Auburn ;  Mr.  Seward's  speech ;  its  unfortunate  characteristics ;  Mr.  Cornell's 
remark  on  my  proposal  to  call  Mr.  Seward  as  a  commencement  orator.  Great 
services  of  Seward.  State  Judiciary  Convention  of  1870 ;  my  part  in  it ; 
nomination  of  Judge  Andrews  and  Judge  Folger ;  my  part  in  the  latter ;  its 
effect  on  my  relations  with  Folger.  Closer  acquaintance  with  General  Grant. 
Visit  to  Dr.  Henry  Field  at  Stockbridge  ;  Burton  Harrison's  account  of  the 
collapse  of  the  Confederacy  and  the  flight  of  Jefferson  Davis.  Story  told  me 
by  William  Preston  Johnston  throwing  light  on  the  Confederacy  in  its  last 
hours.  Delegacy  to  the  State  Republican  Convention  of  1870.  Am  named  as 
Commissioner  to  Santo  Domingo.  First  meeting  with  Senator  Charles  Sum- 
ner.  My  acquaintance  with  Senator  McDougal.  His  strange  characteristics. 
His  famous  plea  for  drunkenness.  My  absence  in  the  West  Indies  ....  150 


CHAPTER  X.    THE  GREELEY  CAMPAIGN  — 1872 

First  meeting  with  John  Hay.  Speech  of  Horace  Greeley  on  his  return  from 
the  South ;  his  discussion  of  national  affairs  ;  his  manner  and  surroundings ; 
lastihours  and  death  of  Samuel  J.  May.  The  Prudence  Crandall  portrait. 
Addresses  at  the  Yale  alumni  dinner.  Dinner  with  Longfellow  at  Craigie 
House.  The  State  Convention  of  1871 ;  my  chairmanship  and  presidency  of 
it.  My  speech ;  appointment  of  committees ;  anti-administration  demonstra- 
tion ;  a  stormy  session ;  retirement  of  the  anti-administration  forces ;  attacks 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS  xi 

PAGE 

in  consequence ;  rally  of  old  friends  to  my  support.  Examples  of  the  futility 
of  such  attacks ;  Senator  Carpenter,  Governor  Seward,  Senator  Conkling. 
My  efforts  to  interest  Conkling  in  a  reform  of  the  civil  service.  Republican 
National  Convention  at  Philadelphia  in  1872 ;  ability  of  sundry  colored  dele- 
gates ;  nomination  of  Grant  and  Wilson.  Mr.  Greeley's  death.  Character- 
istics of  General  Grant  as  President.  Reflections  on  the  campaign.  Questions 
asked  me  by  a  leading  London  journalist  regarding  the  election.  My  first 
meeting  with  Samuel  J.  Tilden ;  low  ebb  of  his  fortunes  at  that  period.  The 
culmination  of  Tweed.  Thomas  Nast.  Meeting  of  the  Electoral  College  at 
Albany;  the  ''Winged  Victory"  and  General  Grant's  credentials.  My  first 
experience  of  "  Reconstruction"  in  the  South  ;  visit  to  the  State  Capitol  of 
South  Carolina ;  rulings  of  the  colored  Speaker  of  \ the  House;  fulfilment  of 
Thomas  Jefferson's  inspired  prophecy 159 


CHAPTER  XI.    GRANT,  HAYES,  AND  GARFIELD  — 1871-1881 

Sundry  visits  to  Washington  during  General  Grant's  presidency.  Impression 
made  by  President  Grant;  visit  to  him  in  company  with  Agassiz ;  character- 
istics shown  by  him  at  Long  Branch  ;  his  dealing  with  one  newspaper  corre- 
spondent and  story  regarding  another.  His  visit  to  me  at  Cornell;  his 
remark  regarding  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo  ;  far-sighted  reason  as- 
signed for  it ;  his  feeling  regarding  a  third  presidential  term.  My  journey 
with  him  upon  the  Rhine.  Walks  and  talks  with  him  in  Paris.  Persons  met 
at  Senator  Conkling's.  Story  told  by  Senator  Carpenter.  The  "  Greenback 
Craze "  ;  its  spirit ;  its  strength.  Wretched  character  of  the  old  banking 
system.  Ability  and  force  of  Mr.  Conkling's  speech  at  Ithaca.  Its  effect. 
My  previous  relations  with  Garfield.  Character  and  effect  of  his  speech  at 
Ithaca ;  his  final  address  to  the  students  of  the  University.  Our  midnight 
conversation.  President  Hayes  ;  impressions  regarding  him  ;  attacks  upon 
him ;  favorable  judgment  upon  him  by  observant  foreigners ;  excellent  im- 
pression made  by  him  upon  me  at  this  time  and  at  a  later  period.  The 
assassination  of  General  Garfield.  Difficulties  which  thickened  about  him 
toward  the  end  of  his  career.  Characteristics  of  President  Arthur.  Ground 
taken  in  my  public  address  at  Ithaca  at  the  service  in  commemoration  of 
Garfield  .  ,  177 


CHAPTER  XII.    ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND  ELAINE — 1881- 

1884 

President  Arthur;  course  before  his  Presidency;  qualities  revealed  after- 
ward ;  curious  circumstances  of  his  nomination.  Reform  of  the  Civil  Service. 
My  article  in  the  "North  American  Review."  Renewal  of  my  acquaintance 
with  Mr.  Evarts ;  his  witty  stories.  My  efforts  to  interest  Senator  Platt  in 
civil-service  reform  ;  his  slow  progress  in  this  respect.  Wayne  MacVeagh ; 
Judge  Biddle's  remark  at  his  table  on  American  feeling  regarding  capital  pun- 
ishment. Great  defeat  of  the  Republican  party  in  1882.  Judge  Folger*s  un- 
fortunate campaign.  Election  of  Mr.  Cleveland.  My  address  on  "  The  New 
Germany  "  at  New  York,  Meeting  with  General  McDowell ;  the  injustice  of 
popular  judgment  upon  him.  Revelation  of  Tammany  frauds.  Grover  Cleve- 
land ;  his  early  life ;  his  visit  to  the  University ;  impression  made  upon  me 
by  him.  Senator  Merrill's  visit ;  tribute  paid  him  by  the  University  author- 
ities. My  address  at  Yale  on  "  The  Message  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  to  the 
Twentieth."  Addresses  by  Carl  Schurz  and  myself  at  the  funeral  of  Edward 


xii  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Lasker.  Election  as  a  delegate  at  large  to  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion at  Chicago,  1884.  Difficulties  regarding  Mr.  Elaine ;  vain  efforts  to  nom- 
inate another  candidate ;  George  William  Curtis  and  his  characteristics ; 
tyranny  over  the  Convention  by  the  gallery  mob ;  nomination  of  Elaine  and 
Logan.  Nomination  of  Mr.  Cleveland  by  the  Democrats.  Tyranny  by  the 
Chicago  mob  at  that  convention  also.  Open  letter  to  Theodore  Roosevelt  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Elaine.  Private  letter  to  Mr.  Elaine  in  favor  of  a  reform  of  the 
Civil  Service.  His  acceptance  of  its  suggestions.  Wretched  character  of  the 
campaign.  Presidency  of  the  Republican  mass  meeting  at  Syracuse  ;  experi- 
ence with  a  Kentucky  orator.  Election  of  Mr.  Cleveland 192 


CHAPTER  XIII.    HENDRICKS,  JOHN  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT, 
AND  OTHERS— -1884-1891 

Renewal  of  my  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Cleveland  at  Washington.  Meeting 
with  Mr.  Elaine ;  his  fascinating  qualities  ;  his  self-control.  William  Walter 
Phelps ;  his  arguments  regarding  the  treatment  of  Congressional  speakers  by 
the  press.  Senator  Randall  Gibson ;  meeting  at  his  house  with  Vice-Presi- 
dent Hendricks ;  evident  disappointment  of  the  Vice -President ;  his  view  of 
civil-service  reform ;  defense  of  it  by  Senator  Butler  of  South  Carolina ; 
reminiscences  of  odd  senators  by  Senator  Jones  of  Florida ;  Gibson's  opinion 
of  John  Sherman.  President  Cleveland's  mode  of  treating  office-beggars  and 
the  like;  Senator  Sawyer's  story;  Secretary  Fairchild's  remark;  Senators 
Sherman  and  Vance.  Secretary  Bayard's  criticism  of  applicants  for  office. 
Senator  Butler's  remark  on  secession.  Renewal  of  my  acquaintance  with 
George  Bancroft.  Goldwin  Smith  in  Washington ;  his  favorable  opinion  of 
American  crowds.  Chief  Justice  Waite.  General  Sheridan  ;  his  account  of 
the  battle  of  Gravelotte ;  discussion  between  Sheridan  and  Goldwin  Smith 
regarding  sundry  points  in  military  history.  General  Schenck ;  his  remi- 
niscences of  Corwin,  Everett,  and  others.  Resignation  of  my  presidency  at 
Cornell,  1885.  President  Cleveland's  tender  of  an  Interstate  Railway  com- 
missionership ;  my  declination.  Departure  for  Europe.  Am  tendered  nomi- 
nation for  Congress  ;  my  discussion  of  the  matter  in  London  with  President 
Porter  of  Yale  and  others ;  declination.  Visit  to  Washington  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  General  Harrison,  January,  1891 ;  presentation  of  proposals 
to  him  regarding  civil- service  reform ;  his  speech  in  reply 213 

CHAPTER  XIV.    McKiNLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT  — 1891-1904 

Candidacy  for  the  governorship  of  New  York ;  Mr.  Platt's  relation  to  it ;  my 
reluctance  and  opposition  ;  decision  of  the  Rochester  Convention  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Fassett ;  natural  reasons  for  this.  Lectures  at  Stanford  University. 
Visit  to  Mexico  and  California  with  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  and  his  party. 
President  Harrison  tenders  me  the  position  of  minister  to  Russia ;  my  reten- 
tion in  office  by  Mr.,Cleveland.  My  stay  in  Italy  1894-1895.  President  Cleve- 
land appoints  me  upon  the  Venezuelan  Boundary  Commission,  December, 
1895.  Presidential  campaign  of  1896.  My  unexpected  part  in  it ;  nomination 
of  Mr.  Bryan  by  Democrats ;  publication  of  my  open  letter  to  sundry  Demo- 
crats ;  republication  of  my  "  Paper  Money  Inflation  in  France,"  and  its  cir- 
culation as  a  campaign  document ;  election  of  Mr.  McKinley.  My  address 
before  the  State  Universities  of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota ;  strongly  favor- 
able impression  made  upon  me  by  them ;  meeting  with  Mr.  Ignatius  Don- 
nelly; his  public  address  to  me  in  the  State  House  of  Minnesota.  My  ad- 
dresses at  Harvard,  Yale,  and  elsewhere.  Am  appointed  by  President 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  xiii 

PAQK 

McKinley  ambassador  to  Germany ;  question  of  my  asking  sanction  of  Mr. 
Platt ;  how  settled.  Renomination  of  McKinley  with  Mr.  Roosevelt  as  Vice- 
President.  I  revisit  America ;  day  with  Mr.  Roosevelt ;  visits  to  Washing- 
ton ;  my  impressions  of  President  McKinley ;  his  conversation ;  his  coolness ; 
tributes  from  his  Cabinet ;  Secretary  Hay's  testimony ;  Mr.  McKinley's  re- 
fusal to  make  speeches  during  his  second  campaign;  his  reasons;  his  reelec- 
tion ;  how  received  in  Europe.  His  assassination ;  receipt  of  the  news  in 
Germany  and  Great  Britain.  My  second  visit  to  America ;  sadness ;  mourn- 
ful reflections  at  White  House;  conversations  with  President  Roosevelt; 
message  given  me  by  him  for  the  Emperor ;  its  playful  ending.  The  two 
rulers  compared ,  .  229 


PART  III  — AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR 

CHAPTER  XV.    LIFE  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN  — 
1857-1864 

Early  ideals.  Gradual  changes  in  these.  Attractions  of  journalism  then  and 
now.  New  views  of  life  opened  to  me  at  Paris  and  Berlin.  Dreams  of  aid- 
ing the  beginnings  of  a  better  system  of  university  education  in  the  United 
States.  Shortcomings  of  American  instruction,  especially  regarding  history, 
political  science,  and  literature,  at  that  period.  My  article  on  "German 
Instruction  in  General  History"  in  "The  New  Englander."  Influence  of 
Stanley's  "  Life  of  Arnold."  Turning  point  in  my  life  at  the  Yale  Com- 
mencement of  1856;  Dr.  Wayland's  speech.  Election  to  the  professorship 
of  history  and  English  literature  at  the  University  of  Michigan;  my  first 
work  in  it ;  sundry  efforts  toward  reforms ;  text-books ;  social  relations  with 
students ;  use  of  the  Abb6  Bautain's  book.  My  courses  of  lectures ;  Presi- 
dent Tappan's  advice  on  extemporaneous  speaking ;  publication  of  my  sylla- 
bus ;  ensuing  relations  with  Charles  Sumner.  Growth  and  use  of  my  private 
historical  library.  Character  of  my  students.  Necessity  for  hard  work. 
Student  discussions 251 

CHAPTER  XVI.    UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST  — 
1857-1864 

Some  difficulties ;  youthfulness ;  struggle  against  various  combinations ;  my 
victory;  an  enemy  made  a  friend.  Lectures  throughout  Michigan;  main 
purpose  in  these;  a  storm  aroused;  vigorous  attack  upon  my  politico-eco- 
nomical views ;  happy  results ;  revenge  upon  my  assailant ;  discussion  in  a 
County  Court  House.  Breadth  and  strength  then  given  to  my  ideas  regard- 
ing university  education.  President  Tappan.  Henry  Simmons  Frieze. 
Brunnow.  Chief  Justice  Cooley.  Judge  Campbell.  Distinguishing  feature 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  in  those  days.  Dr.  Tappan's  good  sense  in 
administration ;  one  typical  example.  Unworthy  treatment  of  him  by  the 
Legislature ;  some  causes  of  this.  Opposition  to  the  State  University  by  the 
small  sectarian  colleges.  Dr.  Tappan's  prophecy  to  sundry  demagogues; 
its  fulfilment.  Sundry  defects  of  his  qualities;  the  "Winchell  War," 
"Armed  Neutrality."  Retirement  of  President  Tappan;  its  painful  cir- 
cumstances ;  amends  made  later  by  the  citizens  of  Michigan.  The  little 
city  of  Ann  Arbor ;  origin  of  its  name.  Recreations ;  tree  planting  on  the 
campus ;  results  of  this.  Exodus  of  students  into  the  Civil  War.  Lectures 
continued  after  my  resignation.  My  affectionate  relations  with  the  insti- 
tution  o  .  .  .  .266 


xiv  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


PART  IV  — AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT 

CHAPTER  XVII.    EVOLUTION  OF  "THE  CORNELL  IDEA"  — 
1850-1865 

PAGE 

Development  of  my  ideas  on  university  organization  at  Hobart  College,  at 
Yale,  and  abroad.  Their  further  evolution  at  the  University  of  Michigan. 
President  Tappan's  influence.  My  plan  of  a  university  at  Syracuse.  Dis- 
cussions with  George  William  Curtis.  Proposal  to  Gerrit  Smith ;  its  failure. 
A  new  opportunity  opens 287 


CHAPTER  XVIII.    EZRA  CORNELL  — 1864-1874 

Ezra  Cornell.  My  first  impressions  regarding  him.  His  public  library. 
Temporary  estrangement  between  us ;  regarding  the  Land  Grant  Fund.  Our 
conversation  regarding  his  intended  gift.  The  State  Agricultural  College 
and  the  "People's  College " ;  his  final  proposal.  Drafting  of  the  Cornell  Uni- 
versity Charter.  His  foresight.  His  views  of  university  education. 
Struggle  for  the  charter  in  the  Legislature ;  our  efforts  to  overcome  the 
coalition  against  us ;  bitter  attacks  on  him ;  final  struggle  in  the  Assembly, 
Senate,  and  before  the  Board  of  Regents.  Mr.  Cornell's  location  of  the  en- 
dowment lands.  He  nominates  me  to  the  University  Presidency.  His  con- 
stant liberality  and  labors.  His  previous  life ;  growth  of  his  fortune ;  his 
noble  use  of  it;  sundry  original  ways  of  his;  his  enjoyment  of  the  uni- 
versity in  its  early  days ;  his  mixture  of  idealism  and  common  sense.  First 
celebration  of  Founder's  Day.  His  resistance  to  unreason.  Bitter  attacks 
upon  him  in  sundry  newspapers  and  in  the  Legislature ;  the  investigation ; 
his  triumph.  His  minor  characteristics;  the  motto  "True  and  Firm"  on 
his  house.  His  last  days  and  hours.  His  political  ideas.  His  quaint  say- 
ings; intellectual  and  moral  characteristics;  equanimity;  religious  convic- 
tions    .294 


CHAPTER  XIX.    ORGANIZATION  OF  CORNELL  UNIVER- 
SITY—1865-1868 

Virtual  Presidency  of  Cornell  during  two  years  before  my  actual  election. 
Division  of  labor  between  Mr.  Cornell  and  myself.  My  success  in  thwarting 
efforts  to  scatter  the  Land  Grant  Fund,  and  in  impressing  three  points  on 
the  Legislature.  Support  given  by  Horace  Greeley  to  the  third  of  these. 
Judge  Folger's  opposition.  Sudden  death  of  Dr.  Willard  and  its  effects.  Our 
compromise  with  Judge  Folger.  The  founding  of  Willard  Asylum.  Contin- 
ued opposition  to  us.  Election  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University.  Pres- 
sure of  my  own  business.  Presentation  of  my  "  Plan  of  Organization." 
Selection  of  Professors;  difficulty  of  such  selection  in  those  days  as  com- 
pared with  these  ;  system  suggested ;  system  adopted.  Resident  and  non- 
resident professorships.  Erection  of  university  buildings ;  difficulty  arising 
from  a  requirement  of  our  charter ;  general  building  plan  adopted.  My  visit 
to  European  technical  institutions ;  choice  of  foreign  professors ;  purchases 
of  books,  apparatus,  etc 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER  XX.    THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF  CORNELL  UNIVER- 
SITY — 1868-1870 

PAGB 

Formal  opening  of  the  University  October  7,  1868.  Difficulties,  mishaps,  ca- 
lamities, obstacles.  Effect  of  these  on  Mr.  Cornell  and  myself.  Opening  cere- 
monies of  the  morning ;  Mr.  Cornell's  speech  and  my  own ;  effect  of  Mr. 
Cornell's  broken  health  upon  me.  The  first  ringing  of  the  chime  ;  effect  of 
George  W.  Curtis's  oration ;  my  realization  of  our  difficulties ;  Mr.t  Cornell's 
physical  condition ;  inadequacy  of  our  resources ;  impossibility  of  selling 
lands;  our  necessary  unreadiness ;  haste  compelled  by  our  charter.  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's letter  to  the  "  New  York  Tribune  "  regarding  student  labor.  Dreamers 
and  schemers.  Efforts  by  "  hack  "  politicians.  Attacks  by  the  press,  denomi- 
national and  secular.  Friction  in  the  University  machinery.  Difficulty  of 
the  students  in  choosing  courses;  improvement  in  these  days  consequent 
upon  improvement  of  schools.  My  reprint  of  John  Foster's  "  Essay  on  De- 
cision of  Character  " ;  its  good  effects.  Compensations ;  character  of  the  stu- 
dents; few  infractions  of  discipline;  causes  of  this;  effects  of  liberty  of 
choice  between  courses  of  study.  My  success  in  preventing  the  use  of  the 
faculty  as  policemen ;  the  Campus  Bridge  case.  Sundry  trials  of  students 
by  the  faculty  ;  the  Dundee  Lecture  case  ;  the  "  Mock  Programme  "  case ;  a 
suspension  of  class  officers ;  revelation  in  all  this  of  a  spirit  of  justice  among 
students.  Athletics  and  their  effects.  Boating ;  General  Grant's  remark  to 
me  on  the  Springfield  regatta ;  Cornell's  double  success  at  Saratoga ;  letter 
from  a  Princeton  graduate.  General  improvement  in  American  university 
students  during  the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 340 


CHAPTER  XXI.    DIFFICULTIES  AND  DANGERS  AT  COR- 
NELL — 1868-1872 

Questions  regarding  courses  of  instruction.  Evils  of  the  old  system  of  assign- 
ing them  entirely  to  resident  professors.  Literary  instruction  at  Yale; 
George  William  Curtis  and  John  Lord.  Our  general  scheme.  The  Arts 
Course ;  clinching  it  into  our  system ;  purchase  of  the  Anthon  Library ;  charges 
against  us  on  this  score  ;  our  vindication.  The  courses  in  literature,  science, 
and  philosophy ;  influence  of  one  of  Herbert  Spencer's  ideas  upon  the  forma- 
tion of  all  these ;  influence  of  my  own  experience.  Professor  Wilder ;  his 
services  against  fustian  and  "  tall  talk."  The  course  in  literature;  use  made 
of  it  in  promoting  the  general  culture  of  students.  Technical  departments ; 
Civil  Engineering ;  incidental  question  of  creed  in  electing  a  professor  to  it. 
Department  of  Agriculture ;  its  difficulties  ;  three  professors  who  tided  it 
through.  Department  of  Mechanic  Arts ;  its  peculiar  difficulties  and  dangers ; 
Mr.  Cornell's  view  regarding  college  shop  work  for  bread  winning ;  necessity 
for  practical  work  in  connection  with  theoretical ;  mode  of  bringing  about 
this  connection.  Mr.  Sibley's  gift.  Delay  in  recognition  of  our  success.  De- 
partment of  Architecture  ;  origin  of  my  ideas  on  this  subject;  the  Trustees 
accept  my  architectural  library  and  establish  the  Department 354 


CHAPTER  XXII.    FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  UNIVERSITY 
COURSES— 1870-1872 

Establishment  of  Laboratories.    Governor  Cleveland's  visit.    Department  of 
Electrical  Engineering ;  its  origin.    Department  of  Political  Science  and  His- 


xvi  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

tory.  Influence  of  my  legislative  experience  upon  it ;  my  report  on  the  Paris 
Exposition,  and  address  at  Johns  Hopkins ;  a  beginning  made ;  excellent 
work  done  by  Frank  Sanborn.  Provision  for  Political  Economy ;  presenta- 
tion of  both  sides  of  controverted  questions.  Instruction  in  History ;  my  own 
part  in  it ;  its  growth ;  George  Lincoln  Burr  called  into  it ;  lectures  by  Gold- 
win  Smith,  Freeman,  Froude,  and  others.  Instruction  in  American  History ; 
calling  of  George  W.  Greene  and  Theodore  Dwight  as  Non-Resident,  and 
finally  of  Moses  Coit  Tyler  as  Resident  Professor.  Difficulties  in  some  of 
these  Departments.  Reaction,  "  The  Oscillatory  Law  of  Human  Progress." 
"Joe"  Sheldon's  "Professorship  of  Horse  Sense "  needed.  First  gift  of  a 
building  —  McGraw  Hall.  Curious  passage  in  a  speech  at  the  laying  of  its 
corner-stone.  Military  Instruction;  peculiar  clause  regarding  it  in  our 
Charter ;  our  broad  construction  of  it ;  my  reasons  for  this.  The  Conferring 
of  Degrees ;  abuse  at  sundry  American  institutions  in  conferring  honorary 
degrees;  why  Cornell  University  confers  none.  Regular  Degrees;  theory 
originally  proposed ;  theory  adopted ;  recent  change  in  practice 377 


CHAPTER  XXIII.   "  CO-EDUCATION  "  AND  AN  UNSECTARIAN 
PULPIT  — 1871-1904 

Admission  of  women.  The  Cortland  Free  Scholarship ;  the  Sage  gift ;  diffi- 
culties and  success.  Establishment  of  Sage  Chapel ;  condition  named  by  me 
for  its  acceptance ;  character  of  the  building.  Establishment  of  a  preacher- 
ship  ;  my  suggestions  regarding  it  accepted ;  Phillips  Brooks  preaches  the 
first  sermon,  1875 ;  results  of  this  system.  Establishment  of  Barnes  Hall ; 
its  origin  and  development ;  services  it  has  rendered.  Development  of  sun- 
dry minor  ideas  in  building  up  the  University ;  efforts  to  develop  a  recogni- 
tion of  historical  and  commemorative  features ;  portraits,  tablets,  memorial 
windows,  etc.  The  beautiful  work  of  Robert  Richardson.  The  Memorial 
Chapel.  Efforts  to  preserve  the  beauty  of  the  grounds  and  original  plan  of 
buildings ;  constant  necessity  for  such  efforts ;  dangers  threatening  the  orig- 
inal plan  397 


CHAPTER  XXIV.    ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND  PERIL  — 1868-1874 

Difficulties  and  discouragements.  Very  serious  character  of  some  of  these. 
Financial  difficulties ;  our  approach,  at  times,  to  ruin.  Splendid  gifts ;  their 
continuance ;  the  "  Ostrander  Elms  " ;  encouragement  thus  given.  Difficul- 
ties arising  from  our  Charter ;  short  time  allowed  us  for  opening  the  Uni- 
versity; general  plans  laid  down  for  us.  Advice,  comments,  etc.,  from 
friends  and  enemies ;  remark  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  trustees  as  to  their  free- 
dom from  oppressive  supervision  and  control ;  my  envy  of  them.  Large  ex- 
penditure demanded.  Mr.  Cornell's  burdens.  Installation  of  a  "  Business 
Manager."  My  suspicion  as  to  our  finances.  Mr.  Cornell's  optimism.  Dis- 
covery of  a  large  debt ;  Mr.  Cornell's  noble  proposal ;  the  debt  cleared  in  fif- 
teen minutes  by  four  men.  Ultimate  result  of  this  subscription;  worst 
calamities  to  Cornell  its  greatest  blessings ;  example  of  this  in  the  founding 
of  fellowships  and  scholarships.  Successful  financial  management  ever  since. 
Financial  difficulties  arising  from  the  burden  of  the  University  lands  on  Mr. 
Cornell,  and  from  his  promotion  of  local  railways ;  his  good  reasons  for  un- 
dertaking these.  Entanglement  of  the  University  affairs  with  those  of  the 
State  and  of  Mr.  Cornell.  Narrow  escape  of  the  institution  from  a  fatal  re- 
sult. Judge  Finch  as  an  adviser ;  his  extrication  of  the  University  and  of 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS  xvii 

PAGE 

Mr.  Cornell's  family ;  interwoven  interests  disentangled.  Death  of  Mr.  Cor- 
nell, December,  1875.  My  depression  at  this  period;  refuge  in  historical 
work.  Another  calamity.  Munificence  of  John  McGraw ;  interest  shown  in 
the  institution  by  his  daughter ;  her  relations  to  the  University ;  her  death ; 
her  bequest ;  my  misgivings  as  to  our  Charter ;  personal  complications  be- 
tween the  McGraw  heirs  and  some  of  our  trustees ;  efforts  to  bring  about  a 
settlement  thwarted ;  ill  success  of  the  University  in  the  ensuing  litigation. 
Disappointment  at  this  prodigious  loss.  Compensations  for  it.  Splendid 
gifts  from  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage,  Messrs.  Dean  and  Wm.  H.  Sage,  and  others. 
Continuance  of  sectarian  attacks ;  virulent  outbursts ;  we  stand  on  the  de- 
fensive. I  finally  take  the  offensive  in  a  lecture  on  "  The  Battle-fields  of 
Science " ;  its  purpose,  its  reception  when  repeated  and  when  published ; 
kindness  of  President  Woolsey  in  the  matter.  Gradual  expansion  of  the 
lecture  into  a  history  of  "  The  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology  " ;  filtration 
of  the  ideas  it  represents  into  public  opinion ;  effect  of  this  in  smoothing  the 
way  for  the  University 412 


CHAPTER  XXV.    CONCLUDING  YEARS  — 1881-1885 

Evolution  of  the  University  administration.  The  Trustees ;  new  method  of 
selecting  them ;  Alumni  trustees.  The  Executive  Committee.  The  Faculty ; 
method  of  its  selection ;  its  harmony.  The  Students ;  system  of  taking  them 
into  our  confidence.  Alumni  associations.  Engrossing  nature  of  the  admin- 
istration. Collateral  duties.  Addresses  to  the  Legislature,  to  associations,  to 
other  institutions  of  learning.  Duties  as  Professor.  Delegation  of  sundry 
administrative  details.  Inaccessibility  of  the  University  in  those  days ;  dif- 
ficulties in  winter.  Am  appointed  Commissioner  to  Santo  Domingo  in  1870 ; 
to  a  commissionership  at  the  Paris  Exposition  in  1877,  and  as  Minister  to  Ger- 
many in  1879-1881.  Test  of  the  University  organization  during  these  absences ; 
opportunity  thus  given  the  University  Faculty  to  take  responsibility  in  Uni- 
versity government.  El  results,  in  sundry  other  institutions,  of  holding  the 
President  alone  responsible.  General  good  results  of  our  system.  Difficul- 
ties finally  arising.  My  return.  The  four  years  of  my  presidency  after- 
ward. Resignation  in  1885.  Kindness  of  trustees  and  students.  Am  re- 
quested to  name  my  successor,  and  I  nominate  Charles  Kendall  Adams. 
Transfer  of  my  historical  library  to  the  University.  Two  visits  to  Europe  ; 
reasons  for  them.  Lectures  at  various  universities  after  my  return.  Re- 
sumption of  diplomatic  duties.  Continued  relations  to  the  University.  My 
feelings  toward  it  on  nearing  the  end  of  Me 427 


PART  V  — IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE 

CHAPTER  XXVI.    As  ATTACHE  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG  — 
1854-1855 

My  first  studies  in  History  and  International  Law.  Am  appointed  attache*  at 
St.  Petersburg.  Stay  in  London.  Mr.  Buchanan's  reminiscences.  Arrival 
in  St.  Petersburg.  Duty  of  an  attache".  Effects  of  the  Crimean  War  on  the 
position  of  the  American  Minister  and  his  suite.  Good  feeling  established  be- 
tween Russia  and  the  United  States.  The  Emperor  Nicholas ;  his  death ;  his 
funeral.  Reception  of  the  Diplomatic  Corps  at  the  Winter  Palace  by  Alex- 
ander II ;  his  speech ;  feeling  shown  by  him  toward  Austria.  Count  Nessel- 


xviii  TABLE  OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

rode;  his  kindness  to  me.  Visits  of  sundry  Americans  to  St.  Petersburg. 
Curious  discovery  at  the  Winter  Palace  among  the  machines  left  by  Peter 
the  Great.  American  sympathizers  with  Russia  in  the  Crimean  War.  Diffi- 
culties thus  caused  for  the  Minister.  Examples  of  very  original  Americans  ; 
the  Kentucky  Colonel ;  the  New  York  Election  Manager ;  performance  of 
the  latter  at  a  dinner  party  and  display  at  the  Post  House.  Feeling  of  the 
Government  toward  the  United  States ;  example  of  this  at  the  Kazan  Cathe- 
dral. Household  troubles  of  the  Minister.  Baird  the  Ironmaster ;  his  yacht 
race  with  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander ;  interesting  scenes  at  his  table.  The 
traveler  Atkinson  and  Siberia .  447 


CHAPTER  XXVII.    As  ATTACHE  AND  BEARER  OF  DE- 
SPATCHES IN  WAR-TIME  — 1855 

Blockade  of  the  Neva  by  the  allied  fleet.  A  great  opportunity  lost.  Russian 
caricatures  during  the  Crimean  War.  Visit  to  Moscow.  Curious  features  in 
the  Kremlin ;  the  statue  of  Napoleon  ;  the  Crown,  Sceptre,  and  Constitution 
of  Poland.  Evidences  of  official  stupidity.  Journey  from  St.  Petersburg  to 
Warsaw.  Contest  with  the  officials  at  the  frontier;  my  victory.  Journey 
across  the  continent:  scene  in  a  railway  carriage  between  Strasburg  and 
Paris.  Delivery  of  my  despatches  in  Paris.  Baron  Seebach.  The  French 
Exposition  of  1855.  Arrival  of  Horace  Greeley ;  comical  features  in  his 
Parisian  life ;  his  arrest  and  imprisonment ;  his  efforts  to  learn  French  in 
prison  and  after  his  release,  especially  at  the  Crfanerie  of  Madame  Busque. 
Scenes  at  the  Exposition.  Journey  through  Switzerland.  Experience  at  the 
Hospice  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard ;  Fanny  Kemble  Butler ;  kind  treatment  by 
the  monks.  My  arrival  in  Berlin  as  student 466 


CHAPTER  XXVIII.    As  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMIN- 
GO—1871 

Propositions  for  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo  to  the  United  States.  I 
am  appointed  one  of  three  Commissioners  to  visit  the  island.  Position  taken 
by  Senator  Sumner ;  my  relations  with  him ;  my  efforts  to  reconcile  him 
with  the  Grant  Administration ;  effort  of  Gerrit  Smith.  Speeches  of  Sena- 
tor Schurz.  Conversations  with  Admiral  Porter,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and 
others.  Discussions  with  President  Grant;  his  charge  to  me.  Enlistment 
of  scientific  experts.  Direction  of  them.  Our  residence  at  Santo  Domingo 
city.  President  Baez;  his  conversations.  Condition  of  the  Republic;  its 
denudation.  Anxiety  of  the  clergy  for  connection  with  the  United  States. 
My  negotiation  with  the  Papal  Nuncio  and  Vicar  Apostolic ;  his  earnest  de- 
sire for  annexation.  Reasons  for  this.  My  expedition  across  the  island. 
Mishaps.  Interview  with  guerrilla  general  in  the  mountains.  His  gift.  Vain 
efforts  at  diplomacy.  Our  official  inquiries  regarding  earthquakes;  pious 
view  taken  by  the  Vicar  of  Cotuy.  Visit  to  Vega.  Aid  given  me  by  the 
French  Vicar.  Arrival  at  Puerto  Plata.  My  stay  at  the  Vice-President's 
house;  a  tropical  catastrophe;  public  dinner  and  speech  under  difficulties. 
Journey  in  the  Nantaslcet  to  Port-au-Prince.  Scenes  in  the  Haitian  capital ; 
evidences  of  revolution ;  unlimited  paper  money ;  effect  of  these  experiences 
on  Frederick  Douglass.  Visit  to  Jamaica ;  interview  with  President  Geffrard. 
Experience  of  the  Commission  with  a  newspaper  reporter.  Landing  at 
Charleston.  Journey  to  Washington.  Refusal  of  dinner  to  Douglass  on  the 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS  xix 

PAGE 

Potomac  steamer.  Discovery  regarding  an  assertion  in  Mr.  Sunmer's  speech 
on  Santo  Domingo ;  his  injustice.  Difference  of  opinion  in  drawing  up  our 
report ;  we  present  no  recommendation  but  simply  a  statement  of  facts. 
Reasons  why  the  annexation  was  not  accomplished 483 


CHAPTEK  XXIX.    As  COMMISSIONER  TO  THE  PARIS  EX- 
POSITION — 1878 

Previous  experience  on  the  Educational  Jury  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition. 
Emperor  Dom  Pedro  of  Brazil ;  curious  revelation  of  his  character  at  Booth's 
Theater ;  my  after  acquaintance  with  him.  Don  Juan  Marin ;  his  fine  char- 
acteristics ;  his  lesson  to  an  American  crowd.  Levasseur  of  the  French  In- 
stitute. Millet.  Gardner  Hubbard.  My  honorary  commissionership  to  the 
Paris  Exposition.  Previous  troubles  of  our  Commissioner-General  at  the 
Vienna  Exposition.  Necessity  of  avoiding  these  at  Paris.  Membership  of 
the  upper  jury.  Meissonier.  nTresca.  Jules  Simon.  Wischniegradsky.  Dif- 
ficulty regarding  the  Edison  exhibit.  My  social  life  in  Paris.  The  sculptor 
Story  and  Judge  Daly.  A  Swiss-American  juryman's  efforts  to  secure  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  A  Fourth  of  July  jubilation ;  light  thrown  by  it  on  the 
"Temperance  Question."  Henri  Martin.  Jules  Simon  pilots  me  in  Paris. 
Sainte-Clair  Deville.  Pasteur.  Desjardins.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys.  The  reform 
school  at  Mettray.  My  visit  to  Thiers ;  his  relations  to  France  as  historian 
and  statesman.  Duruy ;  his  remark  on  rapid  changes  in  French  Ministries. 
Convention  on  copyright.  Victor  Hugo.  Louis  Blanc;  his  opinion  of 
Thiers.  Troubles  of  the  American  Minister ;  a  socially  ambitious  American 
lady ;  vexatious  plague  thus  revealed 508 


CHAPTER  XXX.    As  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY  — 1879-1881 

Am  appointed  by  President  Hayes.  Receiving  instructions  in  Washington. 
Mr.  Secretary  Evarts.  Interesting  stay  in  London.  The  Lord  Mayor  at 
Guildhall.  Speeches  by  Beaconsfield  and  others.  An  animated  automaton. 
An  evening  drive  with  Browning.  Arrival  in  Berlin.  Golden  wedding  fes- 
tivities of  the  Emperor  William  I.  Audiences  with  various  members  of  the 
imperial  family.  Wedding  ceremonies  of  Prince  William,  now  Emperor 
William  II.  Usual  topic  of  the  American  representative  on  presenting  his 
Letter  of  Credence  from  the  President  to  the  Prussian  monarch.  Prince 
Bismarck;  his  greeting;  questions  regarding  German-Americans.  Other 
difficulties.  Baron  von  Billow ;  his  conciliatory  character.  Vexatious  cases. 
Two  complicated  marriages.  Imperial  relations.  Superintendence  of  con- 
suls. Transmission  of  important  facts  to  the  State  Department.  Care  for 
personal  interests  of  Americans.  Fugitives  from  justice.  The  selling  of 
sham  American  diplomas ;  effective  means  taken  to  stop  this.  Presentations 
at  court ;  troublesome  applications ;  pleasure  of  aiding  legitimate  American 
efforts  and  ambitions ;  discriminations.  Curious  letters  demanding  aid  or 
information.  Claims  to  inheritances.  Sundry  odd  applications.  The  "au- 
tograph bed-quilt."  Associations  with  the  diplomatic  corps.  Count  Delaunay. 
Lord  Odo  Russell.  The  Methuen  episode.  Count  de  St.  Vallier ;  embarrass- 
ing mishap  at  Nice  due  to  him.  The  Turkish  and  Russian  ambassadors. 
Distressing  Russian- American  marriage  case.  Baron  Nothomb ;  his  reminis- 
cences of  Talleyrand.  The  Saxon  representative  and  the  troubles  of  Ameri- 
can lady  students  at  Leipsic.  Quaint  discussions  of  general  politics  by 


xx  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 

PAGE 

sundry  diplomatists.  The  Japanese  and  Chinese  representatives.  Curious 
experience  with  a  member  of  the  Chinese  Legation  at  a  court  reception. 
Sundry  German  public  men 528 

CHAPTEK  XXXI.    MEN  OF  NOTE  IN  BEKLIN  AND  ELSE- 
WHERE — 1879-1881 

My  relations  with  professors  at  the  Berlin  University*  Lepsius,  Curtius, 
Gneist,  Von  Sybel,  Droysen.  Hermann  Grimm  and  his  wife.  Treitschke. 
Statements  of  Du  Bois-Reymond  regarding  the  expulsion  of  the  Huguenots 
from  France.  Helmholtz  and  Hoffmann ;  a  Scotch  experience  of  the  latter. 
Acquaintance  with  professors  at  other  universities.  Literary  men  of  Berlin. 
Auerbach.  His  story  of  unveiling  the  Spinoza  statue.  Rodenberg.  Berlin 
artists.  Knaus;  curious  beginning  of  my  acquaintance  with  him.  Carl 
Becker.  Anton  von  Werner;  his  statement  regarding  his  painting  the 
"Proclamation  of  the  Empire  at  Versailles."  Adolf  Menzel ;  visit  to  his 
studio ;  his  quaint  discussions  of  his  own  pictures.  Pilgrimage  to  Oberam- 
mergau ;  impressions ;  my  acquaintance  with  the  "  Christus "  and  the 
"Judas"  ;  popular  prejudice  against  the  latter.  Excursion  to  France.  Talks 
with  President  Gre"vy  and  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Barthe"lemy- 
Saint-Hilaire.  The  better  side  of  France.  Talk  with  M.  de  Lesseps.  The  salon 
of  Madame  Edmond  Adam,  fimile  de  Girardin.  My  recollections  of  Alex- 
ander Dumas.  Sainte-Beuve.  Visit  to  Nice.  Young  Leland  Stanford.  Visit 
to  Florence.  Ubaldino  Peruzzi.  Professor  Villari.  A  reproof  from  a  Har- 
vard professor.  Minghetti.  Emperor  Frederick  III ;  his  visit  to  the  Ameri- 
can Fisheries  Exposition;  the  Americans  win  the  prize.  Interest  of  the 
Prince  in  everything  American.  Kindness  and  heartiness  of  the  Emperor 
William  I ;  his  interest  in  Bancroft ;  my  final  interview  with  him.  Farewell 
dinner  to  me  by  my  Berlin  friends.  557 

CHAPTER  XXXII.    MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK — 
1879-1881 

My  first  sight  of  him.  First  interview  with  him.  His  feeling  toward  Ger- 
man-Americans. His  conversation  on  American  questions.  A  family  dinner 
at  his  house.  His  discussion  of  various  subjects ;  his  opinions  of  Thiers 
and  others ;  conversation  on  travel ;  his  opinions  of  England  and  English- 
men ;  curious  reminiscences  of  his  own  life ;  kindly  recollections  of  Bancroft, 
Bayard  Taylor,  and  Motley.  Visit  to  him  with  William  D.  Kelly;  our  walk 
and  talk  in  the  garden.  Bismarck's  view  of  financial  questions.  Mr.  Kelly's 
letter  to  the  American  papers ;  its  effect  in  Germany.  Bismarck's  diplomatic 
dinners ;  part  taken  in  them  by  the  Heichshunde.  The  Rudhardt  episode. 
Scene  in  the  Prussian  House  of  Lords.  Bismarck's  treatment  of  Lasker ;  his 
rejection  of  our  Congressional  Resolutions.  Usual  absence  of  Bismarck  from 
Court.  Reasons  for  it.  Festivities  at  the  marriage  of  the  present  Emperor 
William.  A  Fackeltam.  Bismarck's  fits  of  despondency ;  remark  by  Gneist. 
Gneist's  story  illustrating  Bismarck's  drinking  habits.  Difficulties  in  Ger- 
man-American "military  cases"  after  Baron  von  Billow's  death.  A  serious 
crisis.  Bismarck's  mingled  severity  and  kindness.  His  unyielding  attitude 
toward  Russia.  Question  between  us  regarding  German  interference  in  South 
America.  My  citations  from  Washington's  Farewell  Address  and  John 
Quincy  Adams's  despatches.  Bismarck's  appearance  in  Parliament.  His  mode 
of  speaking.  Contrast  of  his  speeches  with  those  of  Moltke  and  Windthorst. 
Beauty  of  Ms  family  life.  My  last  view  of  him 574 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS 

OF  THE  AUTHOK 

VOLUME  I 

ITHACA,  1905 Frontispiece 

Photograph  by  Robinson,  Ithaca 

SARATOGA,  1842 Facing  page      8 

From  a  daguerreotype 

CORNELL  UNIVERSITY,  1878 "        "416 

Photograph  by  Sarony,  New  York 

VOLUME  II 

THE  HAGUE,  1899 Frontispiece 

Photograph  by  Zimmermans,  The  Hague 

OXFORD,  1902 Facing  page  208 

Photograph  by  Robinson,  Ithaca 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 
ANDREW  DICKSON  WHITE 

* 

PART  I 
ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 
ANDREW  DICKSON  WHITE 

CHAPTER  I 

BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK— 1832-1850 

T  the  close  of  the  Revolution  which  separated  the 
colonies  from  the  mother  country,  the  legislature  of 
New  York  set  apart  nearly  two  million  acres  of  land,  in  the 
heart  of  the  State,  as  bounty  to  be  divided  among  her  sol- 
diers who  had  taken  part  in  the  war;  and  this  "Military 
Tract,"  having  been  duly  divided  into  townships,  an  ill- 
inspired  official,  in  lack  of  names  for  so  many  divisions, 
sprinkled  over  the  whole  region  the  contents  of  his  class- 
ical dictionary.  Thus  it  was  that  there  fell  to  a  beautiful 
valley  upon  the  headwaters  of  the  Susquehanna  the 
name  of  "Homer."  Fortunately  the  surveyor-general 
left  to  the  mountains,  lakes,  and  rivers  the  names  the 
Indians  had  given  them,  and  so  there  was  still  some  poet- 
ical element  remaining  in  the  midst  of  that  unfortunate 
nomenclature.  The  counties,  too,  as  a  rule,  took  Indian 
names,  so  that  the  town  of  Homer,  with  its  neighbors, 
Tully,  Pompey,  Fabius,  Lysander,  and  the  rest,  were  em- 
bedded in  the  county  of  Onondaga,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  lakes  Otisco  and  Skaneateles,  and  of  the  rivers  Tiough- 
nioga  and  Susquehanna. 

Hither  came,  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
a  body  of  sturdy  New  Englanders,  and,  among  them,  my 
grandfathers  and  grandmothers.  Those  on  my  father's 
side:  Asa  White  and  Clara  Keep,  from  Munson,  Massa- 

3 


4  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

chusetts;  those  on  my  mother's  side,  Andrew  Dickson, 
from  Middlefield,  Massachusetts,  and  Ruth  Hall  from 
Guilford,  Connecticut.  They  were  all  of  "good  stock. " 
When  I  was  ten  years  old  I  saw  my  great-grandfather  at 
Middlefield,  eighty-two  years  of  age,  sturdy  and  vigorous ; 
he  had  mowed  a  broad  field  the  day  before,  and  he  walked 
four  miles  to  church  the  day  after.  He  had  done  his  duty 
manfully  during  the  war,  had  been  a  member  of  the 
"Great  and  General  Court "  of  Massachusetts,  and  had 
held  various  other  offices,  which  showed  that  he  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  his  fellow-citizens.  As  to  the  other  side 
of  the  house,  there  was  a  tradition  that  we  came  from 
Peregrine  White  of  the  Mayflower;  but  I  have  never  had 
time  to  find  whether  my  doubts  on  the  subject  were  well 
founded  or  not.  Enough  for  me  to  know  that  my  yeo- 
men ancestors  did  their  duty  in  war  and  peace,  were  hon- 
est, straightforward,  God-fearing  men  and  women,  who 
owned  their  own  lands,  and  never  knew  what  it  was  to 
cringe  before  any  human  being. 

These  New  Englanders  literally  made  the  New  York 
wilderness  to  blossom  as  the  rose;  and  Homer,  at  my 
birth  in  1832,  about  forty  years  after  the  first  settlers 
came,  was,  in  its  way,  one  of  the  prettiest  villages  im- 
aginable. In  the  heart  of  it  was  the  ' '  Green, ' '  and  along 
the  middle  of  this  a  line  of  church  edifices,  and  the  acad- 
emy. In  front  of  the  green,  parallel  to  the  river,  ran, 
north  and  south,  the  broad  main  street,  beautifully  shaded 
with  maples,  and  on  either  side  of  this,  in  the  middle  of 
the  village,  were  stores,  shops,  and  the  main  taverns ;  while 
north  and  south  of  these  were  large  and  pleasant  dwell- 
ings, each  in  its  own  garden  or  grove  or  orchard,  and 
separated  from  the  street  by  light  palings,— all,  without 
exception,  neat,  trim,  and  tidy. 

My  first  recollections  are  of  a  big,  comfortable  house 
of  brick,  in  what  is  now  called  "colonial  style,"  with  a 
"stoop,"  long  and  broad,  on  its  southern  side,  which  in 
summer  was  shaded  with  honeysuckles.  Spreading  out 
southward  from  this  was  a  spacious  garden  filled  with 


BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK- 1832 -1850       5 

old-fashioned  flowers,  and  in  this  I  learned  to  walk.  To 
this  hour  the  perfume  of  a  pink  brings  the  whole  scene 
before  me,  and  proves  the  justice  of  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes 's  saying  that  we  remember  past  scenes  more  viv- 
idly by  the  sense  of  smell  than  by  the  sense  of  sight. 

I  can  claim  no  merit  for  clambering  out  of  poverty. 
My  childhood  was  happy;  my  surroundings  wholesome; 
I  was  brought  up  neither  in  poverty  nor  riches ;  my  par- 
ents were  what  were  called  "  well-to-do-people ";  every- 
thing about  me  was  good  and  substantial;  but  our  mode 
of  life  was  frugal ;  waste  or  extravagance  or  pretense  was 
not  permitted  for  a  moment.  My  paternal  grandfather 
had  been,  in  the  early  years  of  the  century,  the  richest 
man  in  the  township;  but  some  time  before  my  birth  he 
had  become  one  of  the  poorest;  for  a  fire  had  consumed 
his  mills,  there  was  no  insurance,  and  his  health  gave  way. 
On  my  father,  Horace  White,  had  fallen,  therefore,  the 
main  care  of  his  father's  family.  It  was  to  the  young 
man,  apparently,  a  great  calamity:— that  which  grieved 
him  most  being  that  it  took  him— a  boy  not  far  in  his 
teens — out  of  school.  But  he  met  the  emergency  man- 
fully, was  soon  known  far  and  wide  for  his  energy, 
ability,  and  integrity,  and  long  before  he  had  reached 
middle  age  was  considered  one  of  the  leading  men  of  busi- 
ness in  the  county. 

My  mother  had  a  more  serene  career.  In  another  part 
of  these  Reminiscences,  saying  something  of  my  religious 
and  political  development,  I  shall  speak  again  of  her  and 
of  her  parents.  Suffice  it  here  that  her  father  prospered 
as  a  man  of  business,  was  known  as  *  '  Colonel, ' '  and  also 
as  "Squire"  Dickson,  and  represented  his  county  in  the 
State  legislature.  He  died  when  I  was  about  three  years 
old,  and  I  vaguely  remember  being  brought  to  him  as  he 
lay  upon  his  death-bed.  On  one  account,  above  all  others, 
I  have  long  looked  back  to  him  with  pride.  For  the  first 
public  care  of  the  early  settlers  had  been  a  church,  and 
the  second  a  school.  This  school  had  been  speedily  de- 
veloped into  Cortland  Academy,  which  soon  became  fa- 


6  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION-I 

moms  throughout  all  that  region,  and,  as  a  boy  of  five  or 
six  years  of  age,  I  was  very  proud  to  read  on  the  corner- 
stone of  the  Academy  building  my  grandfather's  name 
among  those  of  the  original  founders. 

Not  unlikely  there  thus  came  into  my  blood  the  strain 
which  has  led  me  ever  since  to  feel  that  the  building  up  of 
goodly  institutions  is  more  honorable  than  any  other 
work,— an  idea  which  was  at  the  bottom  of  my  efforts  in 
developing  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  in  founding 
Cornell  University. 

To  Cortland  Academy  students  came  from  far  and 
near ;  and  it  soon  began  sending  young  men  into  the  fore- 
most places  of  State  and  Church.  At  an  early  day,  too, 
it  began  receiving  young  women  and  sending  them  forth 
to  become  the  best  of  matrons.  As  my  family  left  the 
place  when  I  was  seven  years  old  I  was  never  within 
its  walls  as  a  student,  but  it  acted  powerfully  on  my 
education  in  two  ways,— it  gave  my  mother  the  best  of 
her  education,  and  it  gave  to  me  a  respect  for  scholarship. 
The  library  and  collections,  though  small,  suggested  pur- 
suits better  than  the  scramble  for  place  or  pelf;  the 
public  exercises,  two  or  three  times  a  year,  led  my 
thoughts,  no  matter  how  vaguely,  into  higher  regions,  and 
I  shall  never  forget  the  awe  which  came  over  me  when 
as  a  child,  I  saw  Principal  Woolworth,  with  his  best  stu- 
dents around  him  on  the  green,  making  astronomical  ob- 
servations through  a  small  telescope. 

Thus  began  my  education  into  that  great  truth,  so  im- 
perfectly understood,  as  yet,  in  our  country,  that  stores, 
shops,  hotels,  facilities  for  travel  and  traffic  are  not  the 
highest  things  in  civilization. 

This  idea  was  strengthened  in  the  family.  Devoted  as 
my  father  was  to  business,  he  always  showed  the  greatest 
respect  for  men  of  thought.  I  have  known  him,  even 
when  most  absorbed  in  his  pursuits,  to  watch  occasions 
for  walking  homeward  with  a  clergyman  or  teacher, 
whose  conversation  he  especially  prized.  There  was  scant 
respect  in  the  family  for  the  petty  politicians  of  the 


BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK-1832-1850      7 

region;  but  there  was  great  respect  for  the  instructors 
of  the  academy,  and  for  any  college  professor  who  hap- 
pened to  be  traveling  through  the  town.  I  am  now  in  my 
sixty-eighth  year,  and  I  write  these  lines  from  the  Amer- 
ican Embassy  in  Berlin.  It  is  my  duty  here,  as  it  has 
been  at  other  European  capitals,  to  meet  various  high 
officials;  but  that  old  feeling,  engendered  in  my  child- 
hood, continues,  and  I  bow  to  the  representatives  of 
the  universities,— to  the  leaders  in  science,  literature,  and 
art,  with  a  feeling  of  awe  and  respect  far  greater  than 
to  their  so-called  superiors,— princelings  and  high  mili- 
tary or  civil  officials. 

Influences  of  a  more  direct  sort  came  from  a  primary 
school.  To  this  I  was  taken,  when  about  three  years  old, 
for  a  reason  which  may  strike  the  present  generation 
as  curious.  The  colored  servant  who  had  charge  of  me 
wished  to  learn  to  read— so  she  slipped  into  the  school  and 
took  me  with  her.  As  a  result,  though  my  memory  runs 
back  distinctly  to  events  near  the  beginning  of  my  fourth 
year,  it  holds  not  the  faintest  recollection  of  a  time  when 
I  could  not  read  easily.  The  only  studies  which  I  recall 
with  distinctness,  as  carried  on  before  my  seventh  year, 
are  arithmetic  and  geography.  As  to  the  former,  the 
multiplication-table  was  chanted  in  chorus  by  the  whole 
body  of  children,  a  rhythmical  and  varied  movement  of 
the  arms  being  carried  on  at  the  same  time.  These  exer- 
cises gave  us  pleasure  and  fastened  the  tables  in  our 
minds.  As  to  geography,  that  gave  pleasure  in  another 
way.  The  books  contained  pictures  which  stimulated  my 
imagination  and  prompted  me  to  read  the  adjacent  text. 
There  was  no  over-pressure.  Mental  recreation  and  in- 
formation were  obtained  in  a  loose  way  from  "Rollo 
Books,"  " Peter  Parley  Books, "  "Sanford  and  Mer- 
ton,"  the  "Children's  Magazine, "  and  the  like.  I  now 
think  it  a  pity ,  that  I  was  not  allowed  to  read,  instead  of 
these,  the  novels  of  Scott  and  Cooper,  which  I  discovered 
later.  I  devoutly  thank  Heaven  that  no  such  thing  as 
a  sensation  newspaper  was  ever  brought  into  the  house, — 


8  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

even  if  there  were  one  at  that  time,— which  I  doubt.  As 
to  physical  recreation,  there  was  plenty  during  the  sum- 
mer in  the  fields  and  woods,  and  during  the  winter  in 
coasting,  building  huts  in  the  deep  snow,  and  in  storm- 
ing or  defending  the  snow  forts  on  the  village  green.  One 
of  these  childish  sports  had  a  historical  connection  with 
a  period  which  now  seems  very  far  away.  If  any  old 
settler  happened  to  pass  during  our  snow-balling  or 
our  shooting  with  bows  and  arrows,  he  was  sure  to  look 
on  with  interest,  and,  at  some  good  shot,  to  cry  out,— 
"Shoot  Burgoyne!"—i\m&  recalling  his  remembrances 
of  the  sharpshooters  who  brought  about  the  great  sur- 
render at  Saratoga. 

In  my  seventh  year  my  father  was  called  to  take  charge 
of  the  new  bank  established  at  Syracuse,  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant, and  there  the  family  soon  joined  him.  I  remember 
that  coming  through  the  Indian  Reservation,  on  the  road 
between  the  two  villages,  I  was  greatly  impressed  by  the 
bowers  and  other  decorations  which  had  been  used 
shortly  before  at  the  installation  of  a  new  Indian  chief. 
It  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Onondagas,— formerly  the 
great  central  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,— the  warlike  confed- 
eracy of  the  Six  Nations;  and  as,  in  a  general  way,  the 
story  was  told  me  on  that  beautiful  day  in  September  a 
new  world  of  romance  was  opened  to  me,  so  that  Indian 
stories,  and  especially  Cooper's  novels,  when  I  was  al- 
lowed to  read  them,  took  on  a  new  reality. 

Syracuse,  which  is  now  a  city  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  was  then  a  straggling  vil- 
lage of  about  five  thousand.  After  much  time  lost  in 
sundry  poor  "select  schools "  I  was  sent  to  one  of  the 
public  schools  which  was  very  good,  and  thence,  when 
about  twelve  years  old,  to  the  preparatory  department 
of  the  Syracuse  Academy. 

There,  by  good  luck,  was  Joseph  A.  Allen,  the  best 
teacher  of  English  branches  I  have  ever  known.  He  had 
no  rules  and  no  system;  or,  rather,  his  rule  was  to  have 
no  rules,  and  his  system  was  to  have  no  system.  To 
most  teachers  this  would  have  been  fatal;  but  he  had 


UlUn- 


BOYHOOD   IN   CENTRAL  NEW  YORK- 1832-1850      9 

genius.  He  seemed  to  divine  the  character  and  enter  into 
the  purpose  of  every  boy.  Work  under  him  was  a  plea- 
sure. His  methods  were  very  simple.  Great  attention 
was  given  to  reading  aloud  from  a  book  made  up  of  se- 
lections from  the  best  authors,  and  to  recitals  from  these. 
Thus  I  stored  up  not  only  some  of  the  best  things  in 
the  older  English  writers,  but  inspiring  poems  of  Bryant, 
Whittier,  Longfellow,  and  other  moderns.  My  only  re- 
gret is  that  more  of  this  was  not  given  us.  I  recall,  among 
treasures  thus  gained,  which  have  been  precious  to  me 
ever  since,  in  many  a  weary  or  sleepless  hour  on  land 
and  sea,  extracts  from  Shakspere,  parts  of  Milton's 
"Samson  Agonistes,"  and  of  his  sonnets;  Gray's 
"Elegy,"  Byron's  "Ode  to  the  Ocean,"  Campbell's 
"What  's  Hallowed  Ground?"  Goldsmith's  "Deserted 
Village,"  Longfellow's  "Psalm  of  Life,"  Irving 's  "Voy- 
age to  Europe,"  and  parts  of  Webster's  "Reply  to 
Hayne." 

At  this  school  the  wretched  bugbear  of  English  spell- 
ing was  dealt  with  by  a  method  which,  so  long  as  our  pres- 
ent monstrous  orthography  continues,  seems  to  me  the 
best  possible.  During  the  last  half-hour  of  every  day, 
each  scholar  was  required  to  have  before  him  a  copy- 
book, of  which  each  page  was  divided  into  two  columns. 
At  the  head  of  the  first  column  was  the  word  "Spelling"; 
at  the  head  of  the  second  column  was  the  word  "Cor- 
rected." The  teacher  then  gave  out  to  the  school  about 
twenty  of  the  more  important  words  in  the  reading-les- 
son of  the  day,  and,  as  he  thus  dictated  each  word,  each 
scholar  wrote  it  in  the  column  headed  * '  Spelling. ' '  WTien 
all  the  words  were  thus  written,  the  first  scholar  was  asked 
to  spell  from  his  book  the  first  word;  if  misspelled,  it 
was  passed  to  the  next,  and  so  on  until  it  was  spelled  cor- 
rectly; whereupon  all  who  had  made  a  mistake  in  writ- 
ing it  made  the  proper  correction  on  the  opposite  column. 
The  result  of  this  was  that  the  greater  part  of  us  learned 
orthography  practically.  For  the  practical  use  of  spell- 
ing comes  in  writing. 

The  only  mistake  in  Mr.  Allen 's  teaching  was  too  much 


10  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

attention  to  English  grammar.  The  order  ought  to  be, 
literature  first,  and  grammar  afterward.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  more  tiresome  trifling  in  the  world  for  boys  and 
girls  than  rote  recitations  and  parsing  from  one  of  the 
usual  grammatical  text-books. 

As  to  mathematics,  arithmetic  was,  perhaps,  pushed 
too  far  into  puzzles ;  but  geometry  was  made  fascinating 
by  showing  its  real  applications  and  the  beauty  of  its 
reasoning.  It  is  the  only  mathematical  study  I  ever  loved. 
In  natural  science,  though  most  of  the  apparatus  of 
schools  nowadays  was  wanting,  Mr.  Allen's  instruction 
was  far  beyond  his  time.  Never  shall  I  forget  my  ex- 
cited interest  when,  occasionally,  the  village  surgeon  came 
in,  and  the  whole  school  was  assembled  to  see  him  dis- 
sect the  eye  or  ear  or  heart  of  an  ox.  Physics,  as  then 
understood,  was  studied  in  a  text-book,  but  there  was 
illustration  by  simple  apparatus,  which  fastened  firmly 
in  my  mind  the  main  facts  and  principles. 

The  best  impulse  by  this  means  came  from  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  academy,  Mr.  Oren  Root,— one  of  the  pio- 
neers of  American  science,  whose  modesty  alone  stood  in 
the  way  of  his  fame.  I  was  too  young  to  take  direct  in- 
struction from  him,  but  the  experiments  which  I  saw  him 
perform  led  me,  with  one  or  two  of  my  mates,  to  construct 
an  excellent  electrical  machine  and  subsidiary  apparatus ; 
and  with  these,  a  small  galvanic  battery  and  an  extempor- 
ized orrery,  I  diluted  Professor  Root's  lectures  with  the 
teachings  of  my  little  books  on  natural  philosophy  and 
astronomy  to  meet  the  capacities  of  the  younger  boys  in 
our  neighborhood. 

Salient  among  my  recollections  of  this  period  are  the 
cries  and  wailing  of  a  newly-born  babe  in  the  rooms  at 
the  academy  occupied  by  the  principal,  and  adjacent  to 
our  big  school-room.  Several  decades  of  years  later  I  had 
the  honor  of  speaking  on  the  platform  of  Cooper  Insti- 
tute in  company  with  this  babe,  who,  as  I  write,  is,  I  be- 
lieve, the  very  energetic  Secretary  of  War  in  the  Cabinet 
of  President  McKinley. 


BOYHOOD   IN    CENTRAL  NEW   YORK -1832 -1850    11 

Unfortunately  for  me,  Mr.  Root  was  soon  afterward 
called  away  to  a  professorship  at  Hamilton  College,  and 
so,  though  living  in  the  best  of  all  regions  for  geological 
study,  I  was  never  properly  grounded  in  that  science,  and 
as  to  botany,  I  am  to  this  hour  utterly  ignorant  of  its 
simplest  facts  and  principles.  I  count  this  as  one  of  the 
mistakes  in  my  education,— resulting  in  the  loss  of  much 
valuable  knowledge  and  high  pleasure. 

As  to  physical  development,  every  reasonable  encour- 
agement was  given  to  play.  Mr.  Allen  himself  came  fre- 
quently to  the  play-grounds.  He  was  an  excellent  musi- 
cian and  a  most  helpful  influence  was  exerted  by  singing, 
which  was  a  daily  exercise  of  the  school.  I  then  began 
taking  lessons  regularly  in  music  and  became  proficient 
enough  to  play  the  organ  occasionally  in  church ;  the  best 
result  of  this  training  being  that  it  gave  my  life  one  of  its 
deepest,  purest,  and  most  lasting  pleasures. 

On  the  moral  side,  Mr.  Allen  influenced  many  of 
us  by  liberalizing  and  broadening  our  horizon.  He  was 
a  disciple  of  Channing  and  an  abolitionist,  and,  though  he 
never  made  the  slightest  attempt  to  proselyte  any  of  his 
scholars,  the  very  atmosphere  of  the  school  made  sec- 
tarian bigotry  impossible. 

As  to  my  general  education  outside  the  school  I  browsed 
about  as  best  I  could.  My  passion  in  those  days  was  for 
machinery,  and,  above  all,  for  steam  machinery.  The 
stationary  and  locomotive  engines  upon  the  newly-es- 
tablished railways  toward  Albany  on  the  east  and  Buffalo 
on  the  west  especially  aroused  my  attention,  and  I  came  to 
know  every  locomotive,  its  history,  character,  and  capabil- 
ities, as  well  as  every  stationary  engine  in  the  whole  re- 
gion. My  holiday  excursions,  when  not  employed  in  boat- 
ing or  skating  on  the  Onondaga  Creek,  or  upon  the  lake, 
were  usually  devoted  to  visiting  workshops,  where  the 
engine  drivers  and  stokers  seemed  glad  to  talk  with  a 
youngster  who  took  an  interest  in  their  business.  Espe- 
cially interested  was  I  in  a  rotary  engine  on  "Barker's 
centrifugal  principle, ' '  with  which  the  inventor  had  prom- 


12  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION-I 

ised  to  propel  locomotives  at  the  rate  of  a  hundred  miles 
an  hour,  but  which  had  been  degraded  to  grinding  bark  in 
a  tannery.  I  felt  its  disgrace  keenly,  as  a  piece  of  gross 
injustice ;  but  having  obtained  a  small  brass  model,  fitted 
to  it  a  tin  boiler  and  placed  it  on  a  little  stern-wheel  boat, 
I  speedily  discovered  the  secret  of  the  indignity  which 
had  overtaken  the  machine,  for  no  boat  could  carry  a 
boiler  large  enough  to  supply  steam  for  it. 

So,  too,  I  knew  every  water-wheel  in  that  part  of  the 
county,  whether  overshot,  undershot,  breast,  or  turbine. 
Everything  in  the  nature  of  a  motor  had  an  especial  fas- 
cination for  me,  and  for  the  men  in  control  of  such  power 
I  entertained  a  respect  which  approached  awe. 

Among  all  these,  my  especial  reverence  was  given  to  the 
locomotive  engineers;  in  my  youthful  mind  they  took  on 
a  heroic  character.  Often  during  the  night  watches  I 
thought  of  them  as  braving  storm  and  peril,  responsible 
for  priceless  freights  of  human  lives.  Their  firm,  keen 
faces  come  back  to  me  vividly  through  the  mists  of  sixty 
years,  and  to  this  day  I  look  up  to  their  successors  at  the 
throttle  with  respectful  admiration. 

After  Professor  Root's  departure  the  Syracuse  Acad- 
emy greatly  declined,  Mr.  Allen  being  the  only  strong 
man  left  among  its  teachers,  and,  as  I  was  to  go 
to  college,  I  was  removed  to  a  "classical  school. "  This 
school  was  not  at  first  very  successful.  Its  teacher  was 
a  good  scholar  but  careless.  Under  him  I  repeated  the 
grammatical  forms  and  rules  in  Latin  and  Greek,  glibly, 
term  after  term,  without  really  understanding  their 
value.  His  great  mistake,  which  seems  to  me  a  not  in- 
frequent one,  was  taking  it  for  granted  that  repeating 
rules  and  forms  means  understanding  them  and  their  ap- 
plication. But  a  catastrophe  came.  I  had  been  promoted 
beyond  my  deserts  from  a  lower  into  an  upper  Latin  class, 
and  at  a  public  examination  the  Rev.  Samuel  Joseph 
May,  who  was  present,  asked  me  a  question,  to  which  I 
made  an  answer  revealing  utter  ignorance  of  one  of  the 
simplest  principles  of  Latin  grammar.  He  was  discon- 


BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK-1832-1850    13 

certed  at  the  result,  I  still  more  so,  and  our  preceptor  most 
of  all.  That  evening  my  father  yery  solemnly  asked  me 
about  it.  I  was  mortified  beyond  expression,  did  not 
sleep  at  all  that  night,  and  of  my  own  accord,  began 
reviewing  my  Andrews  and  Stoddard  thoroughly  and  vig- 
orously. But  this  did  not  save  the  preceptor.  A  suc- 
cessor was  called,  a  man  who  afterward  became  an  emi- 
nent Presbyterian  divine  and  professor  in  a  Southern 
university,  James  W.  Hoyt,  one  of  the  best  and  truest 
of  men,  and  his  manly,  moral  influence  over  his  scholars 
was  remarkable.  Many  of  them  have  reached  positions  of 
usefulness,  and  I  think  they  will  agree  that  his  influence 
upon  their  lives  was  most  happy.  The  only  drawback 
was  that  he  was  still  very  young,  not  yet  through  his 
senior  year  in  Union  College,  and  his  methods  in  classical 
teaching  were  imperfect.  He  loved  his  classics  and  taught 
his  better  students  to  love  them,  but  he  was  neither  thor- 
ough in  grammar,  nor  sure  in  translation,  and  this  I 
afterward  found  to  my  sorrow.  My  friend  and  school- 
mate of  that  time,  W.  O.  S.,  published  a  few  years  since, 
in  the  ' '  St.  Nicholas  Magazine, ' '  an  account  of  this  school. 
It  was  somewhat  idealized,  but  we  doubtless  agree  in 
thinking  that  the  lack  of  grammatical  drill  was  more  than 
made  up  by  the  love  of  manliness,  and  the  dislike  of 
meanness,  which  was  in  those  days  our  very  atmosphere. 
Probably  the  best  thing  for  my  mental  training  was  that 
Mr.  Hoyt  interested  me  in  my  Virgil,  Horace,  and  Xeno- 
phon,  and  required  me  to  write  out  my  translations  in  the 
best  English  at  nay  command. 

But  to  all  his  pupils  he  did  not  prove  so  helpful.  One 
of  them,  though  he  has  since  become  an  energetic  man 
of  business  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  was  certainly  not  helped 
into  his  present  position  by  his  Latin ;  for  of  all  the  trans- 
lations I  have  ever  heard  or  read  of,  one  of  his  was  the 
worst.  Being  called  to  construe  the  first  line  of  the 
^neid,  he  proceeded  as  follows : 

"Arma,— arms ;  virumque,— and  a  man;  cano,— and  a 
dog."  There  was  a  roar,  and  Mr.  Hoyt,  though  evidently 


14  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

saddened,  kept  his  temper.  He  did  not,  like  the  great 
and  good  Arnold  of  Rughy,  under  similar  provocation, 
knock  the  offender  down  with  the  text-book. 

Still  another  agency  in  my  development  was  the  de- 
bating club,  so  inevitable  in  an  American  village.  Its 
discussions  were  sometimes  pretentious  and  always  crude, 
but  something  was  gained  thereby.  I  remember  that  one 
of  the  subjects  was  stated  as  follows:  "Which  has  done 
most  harm,  intemperance  or  fanaticism."  The  debate 
was  without  any  striking  feature  until  my  schoolmate, 
W.  O.  S.,  brought  up  heavy  artillery  on  the  side  of  the 
anti-fanatics:  namely,  a  statement  of  the  ruin  wrought 
by  Mohammedanism  in  the  East,  and,  above  all,  the  de- 
struction of  the  great  Alexandrian  library  by  Caliph 
Omar ;  and  with  such  eloquence  that  all  the  argumentation 
which  any  of  us  had  learned  in  the  temperance  meetings 
was  paralyzed. 

On  another  occasion  we  debated  the  question:  "Was 
the  British  Government  justified  in  its  treatment  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte  f"  Much  historical  lore  had  been 
"brought  to  bear  on  the  question,  when  an  impassioned 
young  orator  wound  up  a  bitter  diatribe  against  the  great 
emperor  as  follows:  "The  British  Government  was  jus- 
tified, and  if  for  no  other  reason,  by  the  Emperor  Napo- 
leon's murder  of  the  'Duck  de  Engine'  "  (Due  d'Enghien). 

As  to  education  outside  of  the  school  very  important 
to  me  had  been  the  discovery,  when  I  was  about  ten  years 
old,  of  "  '  The  Monastery, '  by  the  author  of  *  Waverley. '  ' ' 
Who  the  "author  of  'Waverley'  "  was  I  neither  knew  nor 
cared,  but  read  the  book  three  times,  end  over  end,  in  a 
sort  of  fascination.  Unfortunately,  novels  and  romances 
were  kept  under  lock  and  key,  as  unfit  reading  for  chil- 
dren, and  it  was  some  years  before  I  reveled  in  Scott's 
other  novels.  That  they  would  have  been  thoroughly 
good  and  wholesome  reading  for  me  I  know,  and  about 
my  sixteenth  year  they  opened  a  new  world  to  me  and 
gave  healthful  play  to  my  imagination.  I  also  read  and 
re-read  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and,  with  plea- 


BOYHOOD   IN   CENTRAL  NEW  YORK- 1832 -1850    15 

sure  even  more  intense,  the  earlier  works  of  Dickens, 
which  were  then  appearing. 

My  only  regret,  as  regards  that  time,  is  that,  between  the 
rather  trashy  " boys'  books "  on  one  side  and  the  rather 
severe  books  in  the  family  library  on  the  other,  I  read 
far  less  of  really  good  literature  than  I  ought  to  have 
done.  My  reading  was  absolutely  without  a  guide,  hence 
fitful  and  scrappy;  parts  of  Rollings  " Ancient  History" 
and  Lander's  "Travels  in  Africa"  being  mixed  up  with 
"Robinson  Crusoe"  and  "The  Scottish  Chiefs."  Re- 
flection on  my  experience  has  convinced  me  that  some 
kindly  guidance  in  the  reading  of  a  fairly  scholarly  boy 
is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  never  more  so  than  now, 
when  books  are  so  many  and  attractive.  I  should  lay 
much  stress,  also,  on  the  hearing  of  good  literature  well 
read,  and  the  interspersing  of  such  reading  with  some 
remarks  by  the  reader,  pointing  out  the  main  beauties 
of  the  pieces  thus  presented. 

About  my  tenth  year  occurred  an  event,  apparently 
trivial,  but  really  very  important  in  my  mental  devel- 
opment during  many  years  afterward.  My  father 
brought  home  one  day,  as  a  gift  to  my  mother,  a  hand- 
some quarto  called  "The  Gallery  of  British  Artists." 
It  contained  engravings  from  pictures  by  Turner,  Stan- 
field,  Cattermole,  and  others,  mainly  representing  scenes 
from  Shakspere,  Scott,  Burns,  picturesque  architecture, 
and  beautiful  views  in  various  parts  of  Europe.  Of  this 
book  I  never  tired.  It  aroused  in  me  an  intense  desire 
to  know  more  of  the  subjects  represented,  and  this  desire 
has  led  me  since  to  visit  and  to  study  every  cathedral, 
church,  and  town  hall  of  any  historical  or  architectural 
significance  in  Europe,  outside  the  Spanish  peninsula. 
But,  far  more  important,  it  gave  an  especial  zest  to  nearly 
all  Scott's  novels,  and  especially  to  the  one  which  I  have 
always  thought  the  most  fascinating,  "Quentin  Dur- 
ward. ' '  This  novel  led  me  later,  not  merely  to  visit  Liege, 
and  Orleans,  and  Clery,  and  Tours,  but  to  devour  the 
chronicles  and  histories  of  that  period,  to  become  deeply 


16  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

interested  in  historical  studies,  and  to  learn  how  great 
principles  lie  hidden  beneath  the  surface  of  events.  The 
first  of  these  principles  I  ever  clearly  discerned  was  dur- 
ing my  reading  of  "Quentin  Durward"  and  "Anne  of 
Geierstein, ' '  when  there  was  revealed  to  me  the  secret 
of  the  centralization  of  power  in  Europe,  and  of  the  tri- 
umph of  monarchy  over  feudalism. 

In  my  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  years  another  element 
entered  into  my  education.  Syracuse,  as  the  central  city 
of  the  State,  was  the  scene  of  many  conventions  and  pub- 
lic meetings.  That  was  a  time  of  very  deep  earnestness  in 
political  matters.  The  last  great  efforts  were  making, 
by  the  more  radical,  peaceably  to  prevent  the  extension 
of  slavery,  and,  by  the  more  conservative,  peaceably  to 
preserve  the  Union.  The  former  of  these  efforts  interested 
me  most.  There  were  at  Syracuse  frequent  public  de- 
bates between  the  various  groups  of  the  anti-slavery 
party  represented  by  such  men  as  Gerrit  Smith,  Wendell 
Phillips,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  John  Parker  Hale, 
Samuel  Joseph  May,  and  Frederick  Douglass.  They  took 
strong  hold  upon  me  and  gave  me  a  higher  idea  of  a  man's 
best  work  in  life.  That  was  the  bloom  period  of  the  old 
popular  lecture.  It  was  the  time  when  lectures  were  ex- 
pected to  build  character  and  increase  knowledge;  the 
sensation  and  buffoon  business  which  destroyed  the  sys- 
tem had  not  yet  come  in.  I  feel  to  this  hour  the  good  in- 
fluence of  lectures  then  heard,  in  the  old  City  Hall  at 
Syracuse,  from  such  men  as  President  Mark  Hopkins, 
Bishop  Alonzo  Potter,  Senator  Hale  of  New  Hampshire, 
Emerson,  Ware,  Whipple,  and  many  others. 

As  to  recreative  reading  at  this  period,  the  author  who 
exercised  the  strongest  influence  over  me  was  Charles 
Kingsley.  His  novels  "Alton  Locke"  and  " Yeast "  in- 
terested me  greatly  in  efforts  for  doing  away  with  old 
abuses  in  Europe,  and  his  ' '  Two  Years  After ' '  increased 
my  hatred  for  negro  slavery  in  America.  His  "West- 
ward Ho!"  extended  my  knowledge  of  the  Elizabethan 
period  and  increased  my  manliness.  Of  this  period,  too, 


BOYHOOD   IN   CENTRAL  NEW  YORK-1832-1850    17 

was  my  reading  of  Lowell's  Poems,  many  of  which  I 
greatly  enjoyed.  His  "Biglow  Papers "  were  a  perpetual 
delight;  the  dialect  was  familiar  to  me  since,  in  the  lit- 
tle New  England  town  transplanted  into  the  heart  of 
central  New  York,  in  which  I  was  born,  the  less  educated 
people  used  it,  and  the  dry  and  droll  Yankee  expres- 
sions of  our  "help"  and  " hired  man"  were  a  source  of 
constant  amusement  in  the  family. 

In  my  seventeenth  year  came  a  trial.  My  father  had 
taken  a  leading  part  in  establishing  a  parish  school  for 
St.  Paul's  church  in  Syracuse,  in  accordance  with  the 
High  Church  views  of  our  rector,  Dr.  Gregory,  and  there 
was  finally  called  to  the  mastership  a  young  candidate 
for  orders,  a  brilliant  scholar  and  charming  man,  who  has 
since  become  an  eminent  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church.  To  him  was  intrusted  my  final  prepara- 
tion for  college.  I  had  always  intended  to  enter  one 
of  the  larger  New  England  universities,  but  my  teacher 
was  naturally  in  favor  of  his  Alma  Mater,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  our  bishop,  Dr.  de  Lancey,  being  also  thrown 
powerfully  into  the  scale,  my  father  insisted  on  placing 
me  at  a  small  Protestant  Episcopal  college  in  western 
New  York.  I  went  most  reluctantly.  There  were  in  the 
faculty  several  excellent  men,  one  of  whom  afterward 
became  a  colleague  of  my  own  in  Cornell  University,  and 
proved  of  the  greatest  value  to  it.  Unfortunately,  we  of 
the  lower  college  classes  could  have  very  little  instruc- 
tion from  him;  still  there  was  good  instruction  from 
others;  the  tutor  in  Greek,  James  Morrison  Clarke,  was 
one  of  the  best  scholars  I  have  ever  known. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1849  that  I  went  into  residence 
at  the  little  college  and  was  assigned  a  very  unprepos- 
sessing room  in  a  very  ugly  barrack.  Entering  my  new 
quarters  I  soon  discovered  about  me  various  cabalistic 
signs,  some  of  them  evidently  made  by  heating  large  iron 
keys,  and  pressing  them  against  the  woodwork.  On 
inquiring  I  found  that  the  room  had  been  occupied  some 
years  before  by  no  less  a  personage  than  Philip  Spencer, 

I.— 2 


18  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION-I 

a  member  of  the  famous  Spencer  family  of  Albany,  who, 
having  passed  some  years  at  this  little  college,  and  never 
having  been  able  to  get  out  of  the  freshman  class,  had 
gone  to  another  institution  of  about  the  same  grade,  had 
there  founded  a  Greek  letter  fraternity  which  is  now 
widely  spread  among  American  universities,  and  then, 
through  the  influence  of  his  father,  who  was  Secretary 
of  War,  had  been  placed  as  a  midshipman  under  Com- 
modore McKenzie  on  the  brig-of-war  Somers.  On  the 
coast  of  Africa  a  mutiny  was  discovered,  and  as,  on  ex- 
amination, young  Spencer  was  found  at  the  head  of  it, 
and  papers  discovered  in  his  cabin  revealed  the  plan  of 
seizing  the  ship  and  using  it  in  a  career  of  piracy,  the 
young  man,  in  spite  of  his  connection  with  a  member  of 
the  Cabinet,  was  hanged  at  the  yard-arm  with  two  of  his 
associates. 

The  most  curious  relic  of  him  at  the  college  was  pre- 
served in  the  library  of  the  Hermean  Society.  It  was  a 
copy  of  "The  Pirates '  Own  Book":  a  glorification  of  the 
exploits  of  "Blackbeard"  and  other  great  freebooters, 
profusely  adorned  with  illustrations  of  their  joys  and  tri- 
umphs. This  volume  bore  on  the  fly-leaf  the  words, l  i  Pre- 
sented to  the  Hermean  Society  by  Philip  Spencer,"  and 
was  in  those  days  shown  as  a  great  curiosity. 

The  college  was  at  its  lowest  ebb;  of  discipline  there 
was  none;  there  were  about  forty  students,  the  majority 
of  them,  sons  of  wealthy  churchmen,  showing  no  inclina- 
tion to  work  and  much  tendency  to  dissipation.  The 
authorities  of  the  college  could  not  afford  to  expel  or  even 
offend  a  student,  for  its  endowment  was  so  small  that  it 
must  have  all  the  instruction  fees  possible,  and  must  keep 
on  good  terms  with  the  wealthy  fathers  of  its  scapegrace 
students.  The  scapegraces  soon  found  this  out,  and  the 
result  was  a  little  pandemonium.  Only  about  a  dozen 
of  our  number  studied  at  all;  the  rest,  by  translations, 
promptings,  and  evasions  escaped  without  labor.  I  have 
had  to  do  since,  as  student,  professor,  or  lecturer,  with 
some  half-dozen  large  universities  at  home  and  abroad, 


BOYHOOD  IN  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK -1832 -1850    19 

and  in  all  of  these  together  have  not  seen  so  much  carous- 
ing and  wild  dissipation  as  I  then  saw  in  this  little 
"  Church  college "  of  which  the  especial  boast  was  that, 
owing  to  the  small  number  of  its  students,  it  was  "able 
to  exercise  a  direct  Christian  influence  upon  every  young 
man  committed  to  its  care." 

The  evidences  of  this  Christian  influence  were  not  clear. 
The  president  of  the  college,  Dr.  Benjamin  Hale,  was  a 
clergyman  of  the  highest  character;  a  good  scholar,  an 
excellent  preacher,  and  a  wise  administrator;  but  his 
stature  was  very  small,  his  girth  very  large,  and  his  hair 
yery  yellow.  When,  then,  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the 
month,  there  was  read  at  chapel  from  the  Psalter  the 
words,  "And  there  was  little  Benjamin,  their  ruler," 
very  irreverent  demonstrations  were  often  made  by  the 
students,  presumably  engaged  in  worship ;  demonstrations 
so  mortifying,  indeed,  that  at  last  the  president  frequently 
substituted  for  the  regular  Psalms  of  the  day  one  of  the 
beautiful  "Selections"  of  Psalms  which  the  American 
Episcopal  Church  has  so  wisely  incorporated  into  its 
prayer-book. 

But  this  was  by  no  means  the  worst  indignity  which 
these  youth  "under  direct  Christian  influence"  perpe- 
trated upon  their  reverend  instructors.  It  was  my  priv- 
ilege to  behold  a  professor,  an  excellent  clergyman,  seek- 
ing to  quell  hideous  riot  in  a  student's  room,  buried  under 
a  heap  of  carpets,  mattresses,  counterpanes,  and  blankets ; 
to  see  another  clerical  professor  forced  to  retire  through 
the  panel  of  a  door  under  a  shower  of  lexicons,  boots,  and 
brushes,  and  to  see  even  the  president  himself,  on  one  oc- 
casion, obliged  to  leave  his  lecture-room  by  a  ladder  from 
a  window,  and,  on  another,  kept  at  bay  by  a  shower  of 
beer-bottles. 

One  favorite  occupation  was  rolling  cannon-balls  along 
the  corridors  at  midnight,  with  frightful  din  and  much 
damage:  a  tutor,  having  one  night  been  successful 
in  catching  and  confiscating  two  of  these,  pounced  from 
his  door  the  next  night  upon  a  third;  but  this  having 


20  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION -I 

been  heated  nearly  to  redness  and  launched  from  a  shovel, 
the  result  was  that  he  wore  bandages  upon  his  hands  for 
many  days. 

Most  ingenious  were  the  methods  for  "training  fresh- 
men,"—one  of  the  mildest  being  the  administration  of 
soot  and  water  by  a  hose-pipe  thrust  through  the  broken 
panel  of  a  door.  Among  general  freaks  I  remember  see- 
ing a  horse  turned  into  the  chapel,  and  a  stuffed  wolf, 
dressed  in  a  surplice,  placed  upon  the  roof  of  that  sacred 
edifice. 

But  the  most  elaborate  thing  of  the  kind  I  ever  saw 
was  the  breaking  up  of  a  "Second  Adventist"  meeting 
by  a  score  of  student  roysterers.  An  itinerant  fanatic  had 
taken  an  old  wooden  meeting-house  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  town,  had  set  up  on  either  side  of  the  pulpit  large 
canvas  representations  of  the  man  of  brass  with  feet  of 
clay,  and  other  portentous  characters  of  the  prophecies, 
and  then  challenged  the  clergy  to  meet  him  in  public  de- 
bate. At  the  appointed  time  a  body  of  college  youth  ap- 
peared, most  sober  in  habit  and  demure  in  manner,  hav- 
ing at  their  head  "Bill"  Howell  of  Black  Rock  and 
"Tom"  Clark  of  Manlius,  the  two  wildest  miscreants  in 
the  sophomore  class,  each  over  six  feet  tall,  the  latter 
dressed  as  a  respectable  farmer,  and  the  former  as  a 
country  clergyman,  wearing  a  dress-coat,  a  white  cravat, 
a  tall  black  hat  wrapped  in  crape,  leaning  on  a  heavy, 
ivory-knobbed  cane,  and  carrying  ostentatiously  a  Greek 
Testament.  These  disguised  malefactors,  having  taken 
their  seats  in  the  gallery  directly  facing  the  pulpit,  the 
lecturer  expressed  his  "satisfaction  at  seeing  clergymen 
present,"  and  began  his  demonstrations.  For  about  five 
minutes  all  went  well;  then  "Bill"  Howell  solemnly  arose 
and,  in  a  snuffling  voice,  asked  permission  to  submit  a  few 
texts  from  scripture.  Permission  being  granted,  he  put 
on  a  huge  pair  of  goggles,  solemnly  opened  his  Greek  Tes- 
tament, read  emphatically  the  first  passage  which  attrac- 
ted his  attention  and  impressively  asked  the  lecturer  what 
he  had  to  say  to  it.  At  this,  the  lecturer,  greatly  puzzled, 


BOYHOOD   IN   CENTRAL   NEW  YORK -1832 -1850    21 

asked  what  the  reverend  gentleman  was  reading.  Upon 
this  Howell  read  in  New  Testament  Greek  another  utterly 
irrelevant  passage.  In  reply  the  lecturer  said,  rather 
roughly,  "If  you  will  speak  English  I  will  answer  you/' 
At  this  Howell  said  with  the  most  humble  suavity,  "Do 
I  understand  that  the  distinguished  gentleman  does  not 
recognize  what  I  have  been  reading?"  The  preacher 
answered,  "I  don't  understand  any  such  gibberish; 
speak  English. "  Thereupon  Howell  threw  back  his  long 
black  hair  and  launched  forth  into  eloquent  denunciation 
as  follows:  "Sir,  is  it  possible  that  you  come  here  to 
interpret  to  us  the  Holy  Bible  and  do  not  recognize  the 
language  in  which  that  blessed  book  was  written?  Sir, 
do  you  dare  to  call  the  very  words  of  the  Almighty  '  gib- 
berish?' "  At  this  all  was  let  loose;  some  students  put 
asafetida  on  the  stove;  others  threw  pigeon-shot  against 
the  ceiling  and  windows,  making  a  most  appalling  din, 
and  one  wretch  put  in  deadly  work  with  a  syringe  thrust 
through  the  canvas  representation  of  the  man  of  brass 
with  feet  of  clay.  But,  alas,  Constable  John  Dey  had 
recognized  Howell  and  Clark,  even  amid  their  disguises. 
He  had  dealt  with  them  too  often  before.  The  next  tab- 
leau showed  them,  with  their  tall  hats  crushed  over  their 
heads,  belaboring  John  Dey  and  his  myrmidons,  and  pres- 
ently, with  half  a  dozen  other  ingenuous  youth,  they  were 
haled  to  the  office  of  justice.  The  young  judge  who 
officiated  on  this  occasion  was  none  other  than  a  person- 
age who  will  be  mentioned  with  great  respect  more  than 
once  in  these  reminiscences,— Charles  James  Folger,— 
afterward  my  colleague  in  the  State  Senate,  Chief  Justice 
of  the  State  and  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United 
States.  He  had  met  Howell  often,  for  they  were  members 
of  the  same  Greek  letter  fraternity,— the  thrice  illustrious 
Sigma  Phi,— and,  only  a  few  days  before,  Howell  had 
presented  me  to  him;  but  there  was  no  fraternal  bond 
visible  now;  justice  was  sternly  implacable,  and  good 
round  fines  were  imposed  upon  all  the  culprits  caught. 
The  philosophy  of  all  this  waywardness  and  dissipation 


22  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-I 

was  very  simple.  There  was  no  other  outlet  for  the  ani- 
mal spirits  of  these  youth.  Athletics  were  unknown ;  there 
was  no  gymnasium,  no  ball-playing,  and,  though  the  col- 
lege was  situated  on  the  shore  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
lakes  in  the  world,  no  boating.  As  regards  my  own  per- 
sonal relation  to  this  condition  of  things  I  have  pictured,  it 
was  more  that  of  a  good-natured  spectator  than  of  an  ac- 
tive accomplice.  My  nearest  friends  were  in  the  thick  of 
it,  but  my  tastes  kept  me  out  of  most  of  it.  I  was  fond  of 
books,  and,  in  the  little  student's  library  in  my  college 
building  I  reveled.  Moreover,  I  then  began  to  accumulate 
for  myself  the  library  which  has  since  grown  to  such  large 
proportions.  Still  the  whole  life  of  the  place  became  more 
and  more  unsatisfactory  to  me,  and  I  determined,  at  any 
cost,  to  escape  from  it  and  find  some  seat  of  learning  where 
there  was  less  frolic  and  more  study. 


CHAPTER  II 

YALE  AND  EUROPE— 1850-1857 

A  T  the  close  of  my  year  at  the  little  Western  New  York 
J\.  College  I  felt  that  it  was  enough  time  wasted,  and, 
anxious  to  try  for  something  better,  urged  upon  my  father 
my  desire  to  go  to  one  of  the  larger  New  England  univer- 
sities. But  to  this  he  would  not  listen.  He  was  assured  by 
the  authorities  of  the  little  college  that  I  had  been  doing 
well,  and  his  churchmanship,  as  well  as  his  respect  for  the 
bishop,  led  him  to  do  what  was  very  unusual  with  him— to 
refuse  my  request.  Up  to  this  period  he  had  allowed  me  to 
take  my  own  course ;  but  now  he  was  determined  that  I 
should  take  his.  He  was  one  of  the  kindest  of  men,  but  he 
had  stern  ideas  as  to  proper  subordination,  and  these  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  maintain.  I  was  obliged  to  make  a  coup 
d'etat,  and  for  a  time  it  cost  me  dear.  Braving  the  cen- 
sure of  family  and  friends,  in  the  early  autumn  of  1850  I 
deliberately  left  the  college,  and  took  refuge  with  my  old 
instructor  P ,  who  had  prepared  me  for  college  at  Syra- 
cuse, and  who  was  now  principal  of  the  academy  at 
Moravia,  near  the  head  of  Owasco  Lake,  some  fifty  miles 
distant.  To  thus  defy  the  wishes  of  those  dearest  to  me 
was  a  serious  matter.  My  father  at  first  took  it  deeply  to 
heart.  His  letters  were  very  severe.  He  thought  my 
career  wrecked,  avowed  that  he  had  lost  all  interest  in  it, 
and  declared  that  he  would  rather  have  received  news  of 
my  death  than  of  such  a  disgrace.  But  I  knew  that  my  dear 
mother  was  on  my  side.  Her  letters  remained  as  affec- 
tionate as  ever ;  and  I  determined  to  atone  for  my  disobe- 

23 


24  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION-II 

dience  by  severe  and  systematic  work.  I  began  to  study 
more  earnestly  than  ever  before,  reviewed  my  mathe- 
matics and  classics  vigorously,  and  began  a  course  of  read- 
ing which  has  had  great  influence  on  all  my  life  since. 
Among  my  books  was  D'Aubigne's  "History  of  the  Refor- 
mation." Its  deficiencies  were  not  of  a  sort  to  harm  me, 
its  vigor  and  enthusiasm  gave  me  a  great  impulse.  I  not 
only  read  but  studied  it,  and  followed  it  with  every  other 
book  on  the  subject  that  I  could  find.  No  reading  ever  did 
a  man  more  good.  It  not  only  strengthened  and  deepened 
my  better  purposes,  but  it  continued  powerfully  the  im- 
pulse given  me  by  the  historical  novels  of  Scott,  and  led 
directly  to  my  devoting  myself  to  the  study  and  teaching 
of  modern  history.  Of  other  books  which  influenced  me 
about  this  period,  Emerson's  " Representative  Men"  was 
one;  another  was  Carlyle's  "Past  and  Present,"  in  which 
the  old  Abbot  of  Bury  became  one  of  my  ideals;  still 
another  was  Ruskin's  "Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture"; 
and  to  such  a  degree  that  this  art  has  given  to  my  life  some 
of  its  greatest  pleasures.  Ruskin  was  then  at  his  best. 
He  had  not  yet  been  swept  from  his  bearings  by  popular 
applause,  or  intoxicated  by  his  own  verbosity.  In  later 
years  he  lost  all  influence  over  me,  for,  in  spite  of  his 
wonderful  style,  he  became  trivial,  whimsical,  peevish, 
goody-goody;— talking  to  grown  men  and  women  as  a 
dyspeptic  Sunday-school  teacher  might  lay  down  the 
law  to  classes  of  little  girls.  As  regards  this  later 
period,  Max  Nordau  is  undoubtedly  right  in  speaking  of 
Ruskin 's  mind  as  "turbid  and  fallacious";  but  the  time 
of  which  I  speak  was  his  best,  and  his  influence  upon 
me  was  good.  I  remember  especially  that  his  "Lamp 
of  Power"  made  a  very  deep  impression  upon  me.  Car- 
lyle,  too,  was  at  his  best.  He  was  the  simple,  strong 
preacher ;— with  nothing  of  the  spoiled  cynic  he  afterward 
became. 

The  stay  of  three  months  with  my  friend— the  future 
bishop— in  the  little  country  town,  was  also  good  for  me 
physically.  In  our  hours  of  recreation  we  roamed  through 


YALE  AND   EUROPE-1850-1857  25 

the  neighboring  woods,  shooting  squirrels  and  pigeons, 
with  excellent  effect  on  my  health.  Meantime  I  kept  up 
my  correspondence  with  all  the  members  of  the  family, 
save  my  father;— from  him  there  was  no  sign.  But  at  last 
came  a  piece  of  good  news.  He  was  very  fond  of  music, 
and  on  the  arrival  of  Jenny  Lind  in  the  United  States  he 
went  to  New  York  to  attend  her  concerts.  During  one  of 
these  my  mother  turned  suddenly  toward  him  and  said: 
' l  What  a  pity  that  the  boy  cannot  hear  this ;  how  he  would 
enjoy  it!'7  My  father  answered,  "Tell  him  to  come 
home  and  see  us. ' '  My  mother,  of  course,  was  not  slow  in 
writing  me,  and  a  few  days  later  my  father  cordially 
greeted  my  home-coming,  and  all  difficulties  seemed  over. 
Shortly  after  Christmas  he  started  with  me  for  Yale ;  but 
there  soon  appeared  a  lion  in  the  path.  Our  route  lay 
through  Hartford,  the  seat  of  Trinity  College,  and  to  my 
consternation  I  found  at  the  last  moment  that  he  had 
letters  from  our  rector  and  others  to  the  president  and 
professors  of  that  institution.  Still  more  alarming,  we 
had  hardly  entered  the  train  when  my  father  discovered 
a  Trinity  student  on  board.  Of  course,  the  youth  spoke 
in  the  highest  terms  of  his  college  and  of  his  faculty,  and 
more  and  more  my  father  was  pleased  with  the  idea  of 
staying  a  day  or  two  at  Hartford,  taking  a  look  at  Trinity, 
and  presenting  our  letters  of  introduction.  During  a  con- 
siderably extended  career  in  the  diplomatic  service  I  have 
had  various  occasions  to  exercise  tact,  care,  and  discre- 
tion, but  I  do  not  think  that  my  efforts  on  all  these  together 
equaled  those  which  I  then  put  forth  to  avoid  stopping 
at  Hartford.  At  last  my  father  asked  me,  rather  severely, 
why  I  cared  so  much  about  going  to  New  Haven,  and  I 
framed  an  answer  offhand  to  meet  the  case,  saying  that 
Yale  had  an  infinitely  finer  library  than  Trinity.  There- 
upon he  said,  "My  boy,  if  you  will  go  to  Trinity  College 
I  will  give  you  the  best  private  library  in  the  United 
States. ' '  I  said,  ' '  No,  I  am  going  to  New  Haven ;  I  started 
for  New  Haven,  and  I  will  go  there. ' '  I  had  never  braved 
him  before.  He  said  not  a  word.  We  passed  quietly 


26  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-II 

through  Hartford,  and  a  day  or  two  later  I  was  entered 
at  Yale. 

It  was  a  happy  change.  I  respected  the  institution,  for 
its  discipline,  though  at  times  harsh,  was,  on  the  whole, 
just,  and  thereby  came  a  great  gain  to  my  own  self-respect. 
But  as  to  the  education  given,  never  was  a  man  more 
disappointed  at  first.  The  president  and  professors  were 
men  of  high  character  and  attainments ;  but  to  the  lower 
classes  the  instruction  was  given  almost  entirely  by  tutors, 
who  took  up  teaching  for  bread-winning  while  going 
through  the  divinity  school.  Naturally  most  of  the 
work  done  under  these  was  perfunctory.  There  was  too 
much  reciting  by  rote  and  too  little  real  intercourse  be- 
tween teacher  and  taught.  The  instructor  sat  in  a  box, 
heard  students'  translations  without  indicating  anything 
better,  and  their  answers  to  questions  with  very  few  sug- 
gestions or  remarks.  The  first  text-book  in  Greek  was 
Xenophon's  ' '  Memorabilia, ' '  and  one  of  the  first  men 
called  up  was  my  classmate  Delano  Goddard.  He  made  an 
excellent  translation,— clean,  clear,  in  thoroughly  good 
English ;  but  he  elicited  no  attention  from  the  instructor, 
and  was  then  put  through  sundry  grammatical  puzzles, 
among  which  he  floundered  until  stopped  by  the  word, 
"Sufficient."  Soon  afterward  another  was  called  up  who 
rattled  off  glibly  a  translation  without  one  particle  of  liter- 
ary merit,  and  was  then  plied  with  the  usual  grammatical 
questions.  Being  asked  to  "synopsize"  the  Greek  verb, 
he  went  through  the  various  moods  and  tenses,  in  all  sorts 
of  ways  and  in  all  possible  combinations,  his  tongue  rat- 
tling like  the  clapper  of  a  mill.  When  he  sat  down  my 
next  neighbor  said  to  me,  "that  man  will  be  our  valedic- 
torian." This  disgusted  me.  If  that  was  the  style  of 
classical  scholarship  at  Yale,  I  knew  that  there  was  no- 
thing in  it  for  me.  It  turned  out  as  my  friend  said.  That 
glib  reciter  did  become  the  valedictorian  of  the  class,  but 
stepped  from  the  commencement  stage  into  nothingness, 
and  was  never  heard  of  more.  Goddard  became  the 
editor  of  one  of  the  most  important  metropolitan  news- 


YALE  AND   EUROPE-1850-1857  27 

papers  of  the  United  States,  and,  before  his  early  death, 
distinguished  himself  as  a  writer  on  political  and  histori- 
cal topics. 

Nor  was  it  any  better  in  Latin.  We  were  reading,  dur- 
ing that  term  the  "De  Senectute"  of  Cicero,— a  beautiful 
book;  but  to  our  tutor  it  was  neither  more  nor  less  than 
a  series  of  pegs  on  which  to  hang  Zumpt's  rules  for  the 
subjunctive  mood.  The  translation  was  hurried  through, 
as  of  little  account.  Then  came  questions  regarding  the 
subjunctives;— questions  to  which  very  few  members  of 
the  class  gave  any  real  attention.  The  best  Latin  scholar 

in  the  class,  G.  W.  S ,  since  so  distinguished  as  the 

London  correspondent  of  the  ' '  New  York  Tribune, ' '  and, 
at  present,  as  the  New  York  correspondent  of  the  London 
" Times,"  having  one  day  announced  to  some  of  us,— with 
a  very  round  expletive,— that  he  would  answer  no  more 
such  foolish  questions,  the  tutor  soon  discovered  his  recal- 
citrancy, and  thenceforward  plied  him  with  such  ques- 
tions and  nothing  else.  S always  answered  that  he 

was  not  prepared  on  them;  with  the  result  that  at  the 
Junior  Exhibition  he  received  no  place  on  the  programme. 

In  the  junior  year  matters  improved  somewhat;  but, 
though  the  professors  were  most  of  them  really  distin- 
guished men,  and  one  at  least,  James  Hadley,  a  scholar 
who,  at  Berlin  or  Leipsic,  would  have  drawn  throngs  of 
students  from  all  Christendom,  they  were  fettered  by  a 
system  which  made  everything  of  gerund-grinding  and 
nothing  of  literature. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  junior  year  was  the  fact  that 
through  two  terms,  during  five  hours  each  week,  "recita- 
tions ' '  were  heard  by  a  tutor  in  '  '  Olmsted  's  Natural  Phi- 
losophy. ' '  The  text-book  was  simply  repeated  by  rote.  Not 
one  student  in  fifty  took  the  least  interest  in  it;  and 
the  man  who  could  give  the  words  of  the  text  most  glibly 
secured  the  best  marks.  One  exceedingly  unfortunate 
result  of  this  kind  of  instruction  was  that  it  so  disgusted 
the  class  with  the  whole  subject,  that  the  really  excellent 
lectures  of  Professor  Olmsted,  illustrated  by  probably 


28  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION -II 

the  best  apparatus  then  possessed  by  any  American  uni- 
versity, were  voted  a  bore.  Almost  as  bad  was  the  his- 
torical instruction  given  by  Professor  James  Hadley.  It 
consisted  simply  in  hearing  the  student  repeat  from  mem- 
ory the  dates  from  ' '  Piitz  's  Ancient  History. ' '  How  a  man 
so  gifted  as  Hadley  could  have  allowed  any  part  of  his 
work  to  be  so  worthless,  it  is  hard  to  understand.  And, 
worse  remained  behind.  He  had  charge  of  the  class  in 
Thucydides;  but  with  every  gift  for  making  it  a  means 
of  great  good  to  us,  he  taught  it  in  the  perfunctory  way  of 
that  period;— calling  on  each  student  to  construe  a  few 
lines,  asking  a  few  grammatical  questions,  and  then,  with 
hardly  ever  a  note  or  comment,  allowing  him  to  sit  down. 
Two  or  three  times  during  a  term  something  would  occur 
to  draw  Hadley  out,  and  then  it  delighted  us  all  to  hear 
him.  I  recall,  to  this  hour,  with  the  utmost  pleasure,  some 
of  his  remarks  which  threw  bright  light  into  the  general 
subject;  but  alas!  they  were  few  and  far  between. 

The  same  thing  must  be  said  of  Professor  Thatcher's 
instruction  in  Tacitus.  It  was  always  the  same  mechan- 
ical sort  of  thing,  with,  occasionally,  a  few  remarks  which 
really  aroused  interest. 

In  the  senior  year  the  influence  of  President  Woolsey 
and  Professor  Porter  was  strong  for  good.  Though  the 
"Yale  system"  fettered  them  somewhat,  their  personality 
often  broke  through  it.  Yet  it  amazes  me  to  remember 
that  during  a  considerable  portion  of  our  senior  year  no 
less  a  man  than  Woolsey  gave  instruction  in  history  by 
hearing  men  recite  the  words  of  a  text-book;— and  that 
text-book  the  Kev.  John  Lord's  little,  popular  treatise 
on  the  "Modern  History  of  Europe!"  Far  better  was 
Woolsey 's  instruction  in  Guizot.  That  was  stimulating. 
It  not  only  gave  some  knowledge  of  history,  but  suggested 
thought  upon  it.  In  this  he  was  at  his  best.  He  had  not 
at  that  time  begun  his  new  career  as  a  professor  of  Inter- 
national Law,  and  that  subject  was  treated  by  a  kindly 
old  governor  of  the  State,  in  a  brief  course  of  instruction, 
which  was,  on  the  whole,  rather  inadequate.  Professor 


YALE  AND   EUROPE -1850-1857  29 

Porter's  instruction  in  philosophy  opened  our  eyes  and 
led  us  to  do  some  thinking  for  ourselves.  In  political  econ- 
omy, during  the  senior  year,  President  Woolsey  heard  the 
senior  class  "recite"  from  Wayland's  small  treatise, 
which  was  simply  an  abridged  presentation  of  the  Man- 
chester view,  the  most  valuable  part  of  this  instruction 
being  the  remarks  by  Woolsey  himself,  who  discussed 
controverted  questions  briefly  but  well.  He  also  delivered, 
during  one  term,  a  course  of  lectures  upon  the  historical 
relations  between  the  German  States,  which  had  some  in- 
terest, but,  not  being  connected  with  our  previous  in- 
struction, took  little  hold  upon  us.  As  to  natural  science, 
we  had  in  chemistry  and  geology,  doubtless,  the  best 
courses  then  offered  in  the  United  States.  The  first  was 
given  by  Benjamin  Silliman,  the  elder,  an  American  pio- 
neer in  science,  and  a  really  great  character;  the  second, 
by  James  Dwight  Dana,  and  in  his  lecture-room  one  felt 
himself  in  the  hands  of  a  master.  I  cannot  forgive  my- 
self for  having  yielded  to  the  general  indifference  of  the 
class  toward  all  this  instruction.  It  was  listlessly  heard, 
and  grievously  neglected.  The  fault  was  mainly  our  own  ; 
-but  it  was  partly  due  to  "The  System,"  which  led  stu- 
dents to  neglect  all  studies  which  did  not  tell  upon 
*  '  marks ' '  and  ' '  standing. ' ' 

Strange  to  say,  there  was  not,  during  my  whole  course 
at  Yale,  a  lecture  upon  any  period,  subject,  or  person  in 
literature,  ancient  or  modern:— our  only  resource,  in  this 
field,  being  the  popular  lecture  courses  in  the  town  each 
winter,  which  generally  contained  one  or  two  presenta- 
tions of  literary  subjects.  Of  these,  that  which  made  the 
greatest  impression  upon  me  was  by  Ralph  Waldo  Emer- 
son. Sundry  lectures  in  my  junior  year,  by  Whipple,  and 
at  a  later  period  by  George  William  Curtis,  also  influenced 
me.  It  was  one  of  the  golden  periods  of  English  liter- 
ature, the  climax  of  the  Victorian  epoch;— the  period  of 
Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and  the  Brownings,  of  Thack- 
eray and  Dickens,  of  Macaulay  and  Carlyle  on  one  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  of  Emerson,  Irving,  Hawthorne,  Ban- 


30  ENVIRONMENT    AND    EDUCATION-II 

croft,  Prescott,  Motley,  Lowell,  Longfellow,  Horace  Bush- 
nell,  and  their  compeers  on  the  other.  Hence  came  strong 
influences ;  but  in  dealing  with  them  we  were  left  to  our- 
selves. 

Very  important  in  shaping  my  intellectual  development 
at  this  time  were  my  fellow-students.  The  class  of  1853 
was  a  very  large  one  for  that  day,  and  embraced  ,f ar  more 
than  the  usual  proportion  of  active-minded  men.  Walks 
and  talks  with  these  were  of  great  value  to  me;  thence 
came  some  of  my  best  impulses  and  suggestions  to  reading 
and  thought. 

Especially  fortunate  was  I  in  my  "chum,"  the  friend 
that  stood  closest  to  me.  He  was  the  most  conservative 
young  man  I  ever  knew,  and  at  the  very  opposite  pole 
from  me  on  every  conceivable  subject.  But  his  deeply 
religious  character,  his  thorough  scholarship,  and  his  real 
devotion  to  my  welfare,  were  very  precious  to  me.  Our 
very  differences  were  useful,  since  they  obliged  me  to 
revise  with  especial  care  all  my  main  convictions  and 
trains  of  thought.  He  is  now,  at  this  present  writing,  the 
Bishop  of  Michigan,  and  a  most  noble  and  affectionate 
pastor  of  his  flock. 

The  main  subjects  of  interest  to  us  all  had  a  political 
bearing.  Literature  was  considered  as  mainly  subsidiary 
to  political  discussion.  The  great  themes,  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  tried  to  do  any  thinking,  were  connected  with 
the  tremendous  political  struggle  then  drawing  toward 
its  climax  in  civil  war.  Valuable  to  me  was  my  member- 
ship of  sundry  student  fraternities.  They  were  vealy, 
but  there  was  some  nourishment  in  them;  by  far  the  best 
of  all  being  a  senior  club  which,  though  it  had  adopted 
a  hideous  emblem,  was  devoted  to  offhand  discussions  of 
social  and  political  questions;— on  the  whole,  the  best  club 
I  have  ever  known. 

The  studies  which  interested  me  most  were  political  and 
historical ;  from  classical  studies  the  gerund-grinding  and 
reciting  by  rote  had  completely  weaned  me.  One  of  our 
Latin  tutors,  having  said  to  me:  "If  you  would  try  you 


YALE  AND   EUROPE- 1850-1857  31 

could  become  a  first-rate  classical  scholar, "  I  answered: 

"Mr.  B ,  I  have  no  ambition  to  become  a  classical 

scholar,  as  scholarship  is  understood  here. ' ' 

I  devoted  myself  all  the  more  assiduously  to  study  on 
my  own  lines,  especially  in  connection  with  the  subjects 
taught  by  President  Woolsey  in  the  senior  year,  and  the 
one  thing  which  encouraged  me  was  that,  at  the  public 
reading  of  essays,  mine  seemed  to  interest  the  class.  Yet 
my  first  trial  of  strength  with  my  classmates  in  this  re- 
spect did  not  apparently  turn  out  very  well.  It  was  at 
a  prize  debate,  in  one  of  the  large  open  societies,  but 
while  I  had  prepared  my  speech  with  care,  I  had  given 
no  thought  to  its  presentation,  and,  as  a  result,  the  judges 
passed  me  by.  Next  day  a  tutor  told  me  that  Professor 
Porter  wished  to  see  me.  He  had  been  one  of  the  judges, 
but  it  never  occurred  to  me  that  he  could  have  summoned 
me  for  anything  save  some  transgression  of  college  rules. 
But,  on  my  arrival  at  his  room,  he  began  discussing  my 
speech,  said  some  very  kind  things  of  its  matter,  alluded 
to  some  defects  in  its  manner,  and  all  with  a  kindness 
which  won  my  heart.  Thus  began  a  warm  personal  friend- 
ship which  lasted  through  his  professorship  and  presi- 
dency to  the  end  of  his  life.  His  kindly  criticism  was 
worth  everything  to  me ;  it  did  far  more  for  me  than  any 
prize  could  have  done.  Few  professors  realize  how  much 
a  little  friendly  recognition  may  do  for  a  student.  To 
this  hour  I  bless  Dr.  Porter's  memory. 

Nor  did  my  second  effort,  a  competition  in  essay- writing, 
turn  out  much  better.  My  essay  was  too  labored,  too 
long,  too  crabbedly  written,  and  it  brought  me  only  half 
a  third  prize. 

This  was  in  the  sophomore  year.  But  in  the  junior  year 
came  a  far  more  important  competition ;  that  for  the  Yale 
Literary  Gold  Medal,  and  without  any  notice  of  my  in- 
tention to  any  person,  I  determined  to  try  for  it.  Being 
open  to  the  entire  university,  the  universal  expectation 
was  that  it  would  be  awarded  to  a  senior,  as  had  hitherto 
been  the  case,  and  speculations  were  rife  as  to  what  mem- 


32  ENVIRONMENT    AND    EDUCATION-II 

ber  of  the  graduating  class  would  take  it.  When  the  com- 
mittee made  their  award  to  the  essay  on  "The  Greater 
Distinctions  in  Statesmanship,"  opened  the  sealed  en- 
velopes and  assigned  the  prize  to  me,  a  junior,  there  was 
great  surprise.  The  encouragement  came  to  me  just  at 
the  right  time,  and  did  me  great  good.  Later,  there  were 
awarded  to  me  the  first  Clarke  Prize  for  the  discussion 
of  a  political  subject,  and  the  De  Forest  Gold  Medal,  then 
the  most  important  premium  awarded  in  the  university, 
my  subject  being,  "The  Diplomatic  History  of  Modern 
Times."  Some  details  regarding  this  latter  success  may 
serve  to  show  certain  ways  in  which  influence  can  be  ex- 
erted powerfully  upon  a  young  man.  The  subject  had 
been  suggested  to  me  by  hearing  Edwin  Forrest  in  Bul- 
wer's  drama  of  "Richelieu."  The  character  of  the  great 
cardinal,  the  greatest  statesman  that  France  has  produced, 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  me,  and  suggested  the  sub- 
jects in  both  the  Yale  Literary  and  the  De  Forest  com- 
petitions, giving  me  not  only  the  initial  impulse;  but  main- 
taining that  interest  to  which  my  success  was  largely  due. 
Another  spur  to  success  was  even  more  effective.  Having 
one  day  received  a  telegram  from  my  father,  asking  me 
to  meet  him  in  New  York,  I  did  so,  and  passed  an  hour 
with  him,  all  the  time  at  a  loss  to  know  why  he  had  sent 
for  me.  But,  finally,  just  as  I  was  leaving  the  hotel  to 
return  to  New  Haven,  he  said,  "By  the  way,  there  is  still 
another  prize  to  be  competed  for,  the  largest  of  all." 
"Yes,"  I  answered,  "the  De  Forest;  but  I  have  little 
chance  for  that ;  for  though  I  shall  probably  be  one  of  the 
six  Townsend  prize  men  admitted  to  the  competition,  there 
are  other  speakers  so  much  better,  that  I  have  little  hope 
of  taking  it."  He  gave  me  rather  a  contemptuous  look, 
and  said,  somewhat  scornfully:  "If  I  were  one  of  the  first 
six  competitors,  in  a  class  of  over  a  hundred  men,  I  would 
try  hard  to  be  the  first  one."  That  was  all.  He  said  no- 
thing more,  except  good-bye.  On  my  way  to  New  Haven 
I  thought  much  of  this,  and  on  arriving,  went  to  a  student, 
who  had  some  reputation  as  an  elocutionist,  and  engaged 


YALE  AND   EUROPE— 1850-1857  33 

him  for  a  course  in  vocal  gymnastics.  When  he  wished 
me  to  recite  my  oration  before  him,  I  declined,  saying  that 
it  must  be  spoken  in  my  own  way,  not  in  his;  that  his 
way  might  be  better,  but  that  mine  was  my  own,  and  I 
would  have  no  other.  He  confined  himself,  therefore,  to 
a  course  of  vocal  gymnastics,  and  the  result  was  a 
surprise  to  myself  and  all  my  friends.  My  voice,  from 
being  weak  and  hollow,  became  round,  strong,  and  flexible. 
I  then  went  to  a  student  in  the  class  above  my  own,  a 
natural  and  forcible  speaker,  and  made  an  arrangement 
with  him  to  hear  me  pronounce  my  oration,  from  time  to 
time,  and  to  criticize  it  in  a  common-sense  way.  This  he 
did.  At  passages  where  he  thought  my  manner  wrong, 
he  raised  his  finger,  gave  me  an  imitation  of  my  manner, 
then  gave  the  passage  in  the  way  he  thought  best,  and  al- 
lowed me  to  choose  between  his  and  mine.  The  result  was 
that,  at  the  public  competition,  I  was  successful.  This 
experience  taught  me  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  true  theory 
of  elocutionary  training  in  our  universities— vocal  gym- 
nastics, on  one  side ;  common-sense  criticism,  on  the  other. 
As  to  my  physical  education:  with  a  constitution  far 
from  robust,  there  was  need  of  special  care.  Fortunately, 
I  took  to  boating.  In  an  eight-oared  boat,  spinning  down 

the  harbor  or  up  the  river,  with  G.  W.  S at  the  stroke 

—as  earnest  and  determined  in  the  Undine  then  as  in  the 
New  York  office  of  the  London  t '  Times ' '  now,  every  condi- 
tion was  satisfied  for  bodily  exercise  and  mental  recrea- 
tion. I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning  that  our  club  sent 
the  first  challenge  to  row  that  ever  passed  between  Yale 
and  Harvard,  even  though  I  am  obliged  to  confess  that  we 
were  soundly  beaten ;  but  neither  that  defeat  at  Lake  Quin- 
sigamond,  nor  the  many  absurdities  which  have  grown  out 
of  such  competitions  since,  have  prevented  my  remain- 
ing an  apostle  of  college  boating  from  that  day  to  this.  If 
guarded  by  common-sense  rules  enforced  with  firmness 
by  college  faculties,  it  gives  the  maximum  of  healthful  ex- 
ercise, with  a  minimum  of  danger.  The  most  detestable 
product  of  college  life  is  the  sickly  cynic ;  and  a  thor- 


i.— i 


34  ENVIRONMENT    AND    EDUCATION-II 

ough  course  in  boating,  under  a  good  stroke  oar,  does  as 
much  as  anything  to  make  him  impossible. 

At  the  close  of  my  undergraduate  life  at  Yale  I  went 
abroad  for  nearly  three  years,  and  fortunately  had,  for 
a  time,  one  of  the  best  of  companions,  my  college  mate, 
Oilman,  later  president  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  and 
now  of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  who  was  then,  as  he  has 
been  ever  since,  a  source  of  good  inspirations  to  me,— 
especially  in  the  formation  of  my  ideas  regarding  educa- 
tion. During  the  few  weeks  I  then  passed  in  England  I 
saw  much  which  broadened  my  views  in  various  ways. 
History  was  made  alive  to  me  by  rapid  studies  of  persons 
and  places  while  traveling,  and  especially  was  this  the 
case  during  a  short  visit  to  Oxford,  where  I  received  some 
strong  impressions,  which  will  be  referred  to  in  another 
chapter.  Dining  at  Christ  Church  with  Osborne  Gordon, 
an  eminent  tutor  of  that  period,  I  was  especially  interested 
in  his  accounts  of  John  Ruskin,  who  had  been  his  pupil. 
Then,  and  afterward,  while  enjoying  the  hospitalities  of 
various  colleges  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  I  saw  the  ex- 
cellencies of  their  tutorial  system,  but  also  had  my  eyes 
opened  to  some  of  their  deficiencies. 

Going  thence  to  Paris  I  settled  down  in  the  family  of 
a  very  intelligent  French  professor,  where  I  remained 
nearly  a  year.  Not  a  word  of  English  was  spoken  in  the 
family;  and,  with  the  daily  lesson  in  a  French  method, 
and  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne  and  College  de  France,  the 
new  language  soon  became  familiar.  The  lectures  then 
heard  strengthened  my  conception  of  what  a  university 
should  be.  Among  my  professors  were  such  men  as  St. 
Marc  Girardin,  Arnould,  and,  at  a  later  period,  Laboulaye. 
In  connection  with  the  lecture-room  work,  my  studies  in 
modern  history  were  continued,  especially  by  reading  Gui- 
zot,  Thierry,  Mignet,  Thiers,  Chateaubriand,  and  others, 
besides  hearing  various  masterpieces  in  French  dramatic 
literature,  as  given  at  the  Theatre  Frangais,  where  Rachel 
was  then  in  her  glory,  and  at  the  Odeon,  where  Mile. 


YALE  AND   EUROPE-1850-1857  35 

Georges,  who  had  begun  her  career  under  the  first  Napo- 
leon, was  ending  it  under  Napoleon  III. 

My  favorite  subject  of  study  was  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, and,  in  the  intervals  of  reading  and  lectures,  I  sought 
out  not  only  the  spots  noted  in  its  history,  but  the  men 
who  had  taken  part  in  it.  At  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  I 
talked  with  old  soldiers,  veterans  of  the  Republic  and  of 
the  Napoleonic  period,  discussing  with  them  the  events 
through  which  they  had  passed;  and,  at  various  other 
places  and  times,  with  civilians  who  had  heard  orations 
at  the  Jacobin  and  Cordelier  clubs,  and  had  seen  the  guil- 
lotine at  work.  The  most  interesting  of  my  old  soldiers 
at  the  Invalides  wore  upon  his  breast  the  cross  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor,  which  he  had  received  from  Napoleon 
at  Austerlitz.  Still  another  had  made  the  frightful 
marches  through  the  Spanish  Peninsula  under  Soult,  and 
evidently  felt  very  humble  in  the  presence  of  those  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  more  famous  campaigns  under  Napo- 
leon himself.  The  history  of  another  of  my  old  soldiers 
was  pathetic.  He  was  led  daily  into  the  cabaret,  where  my 
guests  were  wont  to  fight  their  battles  o  'er  again,  his  eyes 
absolutely  sightless,  and  his  hair  as  white  as  snow.  Get- 
ting into  conversation  with  him  I  learned  that  he  had  gone 
to  Egypt  with  Bonaparte,  had  fought  at  the  Battle  of  the 
Pyramids,  had  been  blinded  by  the  glaring  sun  on  the 
sand  of  the  desert,  and  had  been  an  inmate  at  the  Invalides 
ever  since ;— more  than  half  a  century.  At  a  later  period 
I  heard  from  another  of  my  acquaintances  how,  as  a 
schoolboy,  he  saw  Napoleon  beside  his  camp-fire  at 
Cannes,  just  after  his  landing  from  Elba. 

There  still  remained  at  Paris,  in  those  days,  one  main 
connecting  link  between  the  second  empire  and  the  first, 
and  this  was  the  most  contemptible  of  all  the  Bona- 
partes,— the  younger  brother  of  the  great  Napoleon,— 
Jerome,  ex-king  of  Westphalia.  I  saw  him,  from  time  to 
time,  and  was  much  struck  by  his  resemblance  to  the  first 
emperor.  Though  taller,  he  still  had  something  of  that 


36  ENVIRONMENT  AND  EDUCATION-II 

Boman  imperial  look,  so  remarkable  in  the  founder  of  the 
family;  but  in  Jerome,  it  always  recalled  to  me  such 
Caesars  as  Tiberius  and  Vitellius. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  ex-king,  as  well  as  his  son, 
Prince  Jerome  Napoleon,  were  thorns  in  the  side  of  Na- 
poleon III,  and  many  stories  illustrating  this  were  cur- 
rent during  my  stay  in  Paris,  the  best,  perhaps,  being  an 
answer  made  by  Napoleon  III  to  another  representative 
of  his  family.  The  question  having  been  asked,  "What 
is  the  difference  between  an  accident  and  a  misfortune 
(un  accident  et  un  malheur)rj  the  emperor  answered, 
"If  my  cousin,  Prince  Napoleon,  should  fall  into  the 
Seine,  it  would  be  an  accident;  if  anybody  were  to  pull  him 
out,  it  would  be  a  misfortune/'  Although  this  cousin  had 
some  oratorical  ability,  both  he  and  his  father  were  most 
thoroughly  despised.  The  son  bore  the  nickname  of 
"Plon-Plon,"  probably  with  some  reference  to  his  repu- 
tation for  cowardice;  the  father  had  won  the  appellation 
of  "Le  Roi  Loustic,"  and,  indeed,  had  the  credit  of  in- 
troducing into  the  French  language  the  word  "loustic," 
derived  from  the  fact  that,  during  his  short  reign  at  Cassel, 
King  Jerome  was  wont,  after  the  nightly  orgies  at  his 
palace,  to  dismiss  his  courtiers  with  the  words :  ' '  Morgen 
wieder  loustic,  Messieurs/' 

During  the  summer  of  1854  I  employed  my  vacation  in 
long  walks  and  drives  with  a  college  classmate  through 
northern,  western,  and  central  France,  including  Picardy, 
Normandy,  Brittany,  and  Touraine,  visiting  the  spots 
of  most  historical  and  architectural  interest.  There  were, 
at  that  time,  few  railways  in  those  regions,  so  we  put  on 
blouses  and  took  to  the  road,  sending  our  light  baggage 
ahead  of  us,  and  carrying  only  knapsacks.  In  every  way 
it  proved  a  most  valuable  experience.  Pleasantly  come 
back  to  me  my  walks  and  talks  with  the  peasantry,  and 
vividly  dwell  in  my  memory  the  cathedrals  of  Beauvais, 
Amiens,  Kouen,  Bayeux,  Coutances,  Le  Mans,  Tours, 
Chartres,  and  Orleans,  the  fortress  of  Mont  St.  Michel, 
the  Chateaux  of  Chenonceaux,  Chambord,  Nantes,  Am- 


YALE   AND   EUROPE -1850-1857  37 

boise,  and  Angers,  the  tombs  of  the  Angevine  kings  at 
Fontevrault,  and  the  stone  cottage  of  Louis  XI  at  Clery. 
Visiting  the  grave  of  Chateaubriand  at  St.  Malo,  we  met 
a  little  old  gentleman,  bent  with  age,  but  very  brisk  and 
chatty.  He  was  standing  with  a  party  of  friends  on  one 
side  of  the  tomb,  while  we  stood  on  the  other.  Presently, 
one  of  the  gentlemen  in  his  company  came  over  and  asked 
our  names,  saying  that  his  aged  companion  was  a  great 
admirer  of  Chateaubriand,  and  was  anxious  to  know  some- 
thing of  his  fellow  pilgrims.  To  this  I  made  answer,  when 
my  interlocutor  informed  me  that  the  old  gentleman  was 
the  Prince  de  Rohan-Soubise.  Shortly  afterward  the  old 
gentleman  came  round  to  us  and  began  conversation,  and 
on  my  making  answer  in  a  way  which  showed  that  I  knew 
his  title,  he  turned  rather  sharply  on  me  and  said,  "How 
do  you  know  that?"  To  this  I  made  answer  that  even 
in  America  we  had  heard  the  verse : 


"  Roi,  je  ne  puis, 
Prince  ne  daigne, 
Rohan  je  suis." 


At  this  he  seemed  greatly  pleased,  grasped  my  hand,  and 
launched  at  once  into  extended  conversation.  His  great 
anxiety  was  to  know  who  was  to  be  the  future  king  of 
our  Republic,  and  he  asked  especially  whether  Washington 
had  left  any  direct  descendants.  On  my  answering  in  the 
negative,  he  insisted  that  we  would  have  to  find  some  de- 
scendant in  the  collateral  line,  "for,"  said  he,  "you  can't 
escape  it;  no  nation  can  get  along  for  any  considerable 
time  without  a  monarch. ' ' 

Returning  to  Paris  I  resumed  my  studies,  and,  at  the 
request  of  Mr.  Randall,  the  biographer  of  Jefferson, 
made  some  search  in  the  French  archives  for  correspon- 
dence between  Jefferson  and  Robespierre,— search  made 
rather  to  put  an  end  to  calumny  than  for  any  other 
purpose. 

At  the  close  of  this  stay  in  France,  by  the  kindness  of 


38  ENVIRONMENT    AND    EDUCATION-II 

the  American  minister  to  Russia,  Governor  Seymour,  of 
Connecticut,  I  was  invited  to  St.  Petersburg,  as  an  attache 
of  the  American  Legation,  and  resided  for  over  six  months 
in  his  household.  It  was  a  most  interesting  period.  The 
Crimean  War  was  going  on,  and  the  death  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas,  during  my  stay,  enabled  me  to  see  how  a  great 
change  in  autocratic  administration  is  accomplished.  An 
important  part  of  my  duty  was  to  accompany  the  minister 
as  an  interpreter,  not  only  at  court,  but  in  his  interviews 
with  Nesselrode,  Gortschakoff,  and  others  then  in  power. 
This  gave  me  some  chance  also  to  make  my  historical 
studies  more  real  by  close  observation  of  a  certain  sort 
of  men  who  have  had  the  making  of  far  too  much  history ; 
but  books  interested  me  none  the  less.  An  epoch  in  my 
development,  intellectual  and  moral,  was  made  at  this  time 
by  my  reading  large  parts  of  Gibbon,  and  especially  by 
a  very  careful  study  of  Guizot's  "History  of  Civilization 
in  France, ' '  which  greatly  deepened  and  strengthened  the 
impression  made  by  his  "  History  of  Civilization  in  Eu- 
rope, 9 '  as  read  under  President  Woolsey  at  Yale.  During 
those  seven  months  in  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  I  read 
much  in  modern  European  history,  paying  considerable  at- 
tention to  the  political  development  and  condition  of  Rus- 
sia, and,  for  the  first  time,  learned  the  pleasures  of  in- 
vestigating the  history  of  our  own  country.  Governor 
Seymour  was  especially  devoted  to  the  ideas  of  Thomas 
Jefferson,  and  late  at  night,  as  we  sat  before  the  fire,  after 
returning  from  festivities  or  official  interviews,  we  fre- 
quently discussed  the  democratic  system,  as  advocated  by 
Jefferson,  and  the  autocratic  system,  as  we  saw  it  in  the 
capital  of  the  Czar.  The  result  was  that  my  beginning 
of  real  study  in  American  history  was  made  by  a  very 
close  examination  of  the  life  and  writings  of  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson, including  his  letters,  messages,  and  other  papers, 
and  of  the  diplomatic  history  revealed  in  the  volumes  of 
correspondence  preserved  in  the  Legation.  The  general 
result  was  to  strengthen  and  deepen  my  democratic  creed, 
and  a  special  result  was  the  preparation  of  an  article  on 


YALE   AND   EUROPE-1850-1857  39 

"Jefferson  and  Slavery,"  which,  having  been  at  a  later 
period  refused  by  the  "New  Englander,"  at  New  Haven, 
on  account  of  its  too  pronounced  sympathy  with  democ- 
racy against  federalism,  was  published  by  the  "Atlantic 
Monthly, "  and  led  to  some  acquaintances  of  value  to  me 
afterward. 

Keturning  from  St.  Petersburg,  I  was  matriculated  at 
the  University  of  Berlin,  and  entered  the  family  of  a 
very  scholarly  gymnasial  professor,  where  nothing  but 
German  was  spoken.  During  this  stay  at  the  Prussian 
capital,  in  the  years  1855  and  1856,  I  heard  the  lectures  of 
Lepsius,  on  Egyptology;  August  Boeckh,  on  the  History 
of  Greece ;  Friedrich  von  Raumer,  on  the  History  of  Italy ; 
Hirsch,  on  Modern  History  in  general;  and  Carl  Bitter, 
on  Physical  Geography.  The  lectures  of  Ranke,  the  most 
eminent  of  German  historians,  I  could  not  follow.  He  had 
a  habit  of  becoming  so  absorbed  in  his  subject,  as  to  slide 
down  in  his  chair,  hold  his  finger  up  toward  the  ceiling, 
and  then,  with  his  eye  fastened  on  the  tip  of  it,  to  go 
mumbling  through  a  kind  of  rhapsody,  which  most  of  my 
German  fellow-students  confessed  they  could  not  under- 
stand. It  was  a  comical  sight:  half  a  dozen  students 
crowding  around  his  desk,  listening  as  priests  might  listen 
to  the  sibyl  on  her  tripod,  the  other  students  being 
scattered  through  the  room,  in  various  stages  of  discour- 
agement. My  studies  at  this  period  were  mainly  in  the 
direction  of  history,  though  with  considerable  reading  on 
art  and  literature.  Valuable  and  interesting  to  me  at  this 
time  were  the  representations  of  the  best  dramas  of  Goethe, 
Schiller,  Lessing,  and  Gutzkow,  at  the  Berlin  theaters. 
Then,  too,  really  began  my  education  in  Shakspere,  and 
the  representations  of  his  plays  (in  Schlegel  and  Tieck's 
version)  were,  on  the  whole,  the  most  satisfactory  I  have 
ever  known.  I  thus  heard  plays  of  Shakspere  which,  in 
English-speaking  countries,  are  never  presented,  and, 
even  into  those  better  known,  wonderful  light  was  at  times 
thrown  from  this  new  point  of  view. 

As  to  music,  the  Berlin  Opera  was  then  at  the  height 


40  ENVIRONMENT    AND    EDUCATION -II 

of  its  reputation,  the  leading  singer  being  the  famous  Jo- 
anna Wagner.  But  my  greatest  satisfaction  was  derived 
from  the  "Liebig  Classical  Concerts. "  These  were,  un- 
doubtedly, the  best  instrumental  music  then  given  in 
Europe,  and  a  small  party  of  us  were  very  assiduous  in 
our  attendance.  Three  afternoons  a  week  we  were,  as  a 
rule,  gathered  about  our  table  in  the  garden  where  the 
concerts  were  given,  and,  in  the  midst  of  us,  Alexander 
Thayer,  the  biographer  of  Beethoven,  who  discussed  the 
music  with  us  during  its  intervals.  Beethoven  was,  for 
him,  the  one  personage  in  human  history,  and  Beethoven's 
music  the  only  worthy  object  of  human  concern.  He  knew 
every  composition,  every  note,  every  variant,  and  had 
wrestled  for  years  with  their  profound  meanings.  Many 
of  his  explanations  were  fantastic,  but  some  were  sug- 
gestive and  all  were  interesting.  Even  more  inspiring 
was  another  new-found  friend,  Henry  Simmons  Frieze ;  a 
thorough  musician,  and  a  most  lovely  character.  He 
broached  no  theories,  uttered  no  comments,  but  sat  rapt 
by  the  melody  and  harmony— transfigured— "  his  face  as 
it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel. "  In  these  Liebig  con- 
certs we  then  heard,  for  the  first  time,  the  music  of  a 
new  composer,— one  Wagner,— and  agreed  that  while  it 
was  all  very  strange,  there  was  really  something  in  the 
overture  to  '  '  Tannhauser. " 

At  the  close  of  this  stay  in  Berlin,  I  went  with  a  party 
of  fellow-students  through  Austria  to  Italy.  The  whole 
journey  was  a  delight,  and  the  passage  by  steamer  from 
Trieste  to  Venice  was  made  noteworthy  by  a  new  ac- 
quaintance,—James  Russell  Lowell.  As  he  had  already 
written  the  "Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  the  "Fable  for  Crit- 
ics/' and  the  "Biglow  Papers,"  I  stood  in  great  awe  of 
him;  but  this  feeling  rapidly  disappeared  in  his  genial 
presence.  He  was  a  student  like  the  rest  of  us,— for 
he  had  been  passing  the  winter  at  Dresden,  working 
in  German  literature,  as  a  preparation  for  succeeding 
Longfellow  in  the  professorship  at  Harvard.  He 
came  to  our  rooms,  and  there  linger  delightfully  in 


YALE  AND   EUROPE— 1850-1857  41 

my  memory  his  humorous  accounts  of  Italian  life  as  he 
had  known  it. 

During  the  whole  of  the  journey,  it  was  my  exceeding 
good  fortune  to  be  thrown  into  very  close  relations  with 
two  of  our  party,  both  of  whom  became  eminent  Latin 
professors,  and  one  of  whom,— already  referred  to,— 
Frieze,  from  his  lecture-room  in  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, afterward  did  more  than  any  other  man  within  my 
knowledge  to  make  classical  scholarship  a  means  of  cul- 
ture throughout  our  Western  States.  My  excursions  in 
Kome,  under  that  guidance,  I  have  always  looked  upon 
as  among  the  fortunate  things  of  life.  The  day  was  given 
to  exploration,  the  evening  to  discussion,  not  merely  of 
archaeological  theories,  but  of  the  weightier  matters  per- 
taining to  the  history  of  Roman  civilization  and  its  in- 
fluence. Dear  Frieze  and  Fishburne !  How  vividly  come 
back  the  days  in  the  tower  of  the  Croce  di  Malta,  at  Genoa, 
in  our  sky-parlor  of  the  Piazza  di  Spagna  at  Rome,  and 
in  the  old  1 1  Capuchin  Hotel' '  at  Amain,  when  we  held  high 
debate  on  the  analogies  between  the  Roman  Empire  and 
the  British,  and  upon  various  kindred  subjects. 

An  episode,  of  much  importance  to  me  at  this  time, 
was  my  meeting  our  American  minister  at  Naples,  Robert 
Dale  Owen.  His  talks  on  the  political  state  of  Italy,  and 
his  pictures  of  the  monstrous  despotism  of  "King 
Bomba"  took  strong  hold  upon  me.  Not  even  the  pages 
of  Colletta  or  of  Settembrini  have  done  so  much  to  arouse 
in  me  a  sense  of  the  moral  value  of  political  history. 

Then,  too,  I  made  the  first  of  my  many  excursions 
through  the  historic  towns  of  Italy.  My  reading  of  Sis- 
mondi's  "Italian  Republics"  had  deeply  interested  me  in 
their  history,  and  had  peopled  them  again  with  their  old 
turbulent  population.  I  seemed  to  see  going  on  before  my 
eyes  the  old  struggle  between  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines, 
and  between  the  demagogues  and  the  city  tyrants.  In  the 
midst  of  such  scenes  my  passion  for  historical  reading 
was  strengthened,  and  the  whole  subject  took  on  new  and 
deeper  meanings. 


42  ENVIRONMENT  AND   EDUCATION-II 

On  my  way  northward,  excursions  among  the  cities 
of  southern  France,  especially  Nismes,  Aries,  and  Orange, 
gave  me  a  far  better  conception  of  Roman  imperial  power 
than  could  be  obtained  in  Italy  alone,  and  Avignon, 
Bourges,  and  Toulouse  deepened  my  conceptions  of  me- 
diaeval history. 

Having  returned  to  America  in  the  summer  of  1856 
and  met  my  class,  assembled  to  take  the  master's  degree 
in  course  at  Yale,  I  was  urged  by  my  old  Yale  friends, 
^J  especially  by  Porter  and  Gflman,  to  remain  in  New  Haven. 
They  virtually  pledged  me  a  position  in  the  school  of  art 
about  to  be  established;  but  my  belief  was  in  the  value 
of  historical  studies,  and  I  accepted  an  election  to  a  pro- 
fessorship of  history  at  the  University  of  Michigan.  The 
work  there  was  a  joy  to  me  from  first  to  last,  and  my  re- 
lations with  my  students  of  that  period,  before  I  had 
become  distracted  from  them  by  the  cares  of  an  execu- 
tive position,  were  among  the  most  delightful  of  my  life. 
Then,  perhaps,  began  the  most  real  part  of  my  education. 
The  historical  works  of  Buckle,  Lecky,  and  Draper,  which 
were  then  appearing,  gave  me  a  new  and  fruitful  impulse ; 
but  most  stimulating  of  all  was  the  atmosphere  coming 
from  the  great  thought  of  Darwin  and  Herbert  Spencer,— 
an  atmosphere  in  which  history  became  less  and  less  a 
matter  of  annals,  and  more  and  more  a  record  of  the 
unfolding  of  humanity.  Then,  too,  was  borne  in  upon 
me  the  meaning  of  the  proverb  docendo  disces.  I  found 
energetic  Western  men  in  my  classes  ready  to  discuss 
historical  questions,  and  discovered  that  in  order  to  keep 
up  my  part  of  the  discussions,  as  well  as  to  fit  myself  for 
ray  class-room  duties,  I  must  work  as  I  had  never  worked 
before.  The  education  I  then  received  from  my  classes  at 
the  University  of  Michigan  was  perhaps  the  most  effective 
of  all. 


PART  n 

POLITICAL  LIFE 


CHAPTER  III 

FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMOEE— 1832-1851 

MY  arrival  in  this  world  took  place  at  one  of  the 
stormy  periods  of  American  political  history.  It 
was  on  the  third  of  the  three  election  days  which  carried 
Andrew  Jackson  a  second  time  into  the  Presidency. 
Since  that  period,  the  election,  with  its  paralysis  of  busi- 
ness, ghastly  campaign  lying,  and  monstrous  vilification 
of  candidates,  has  heen  concentrated  into  one  day;  but  at 
that  time  all  the  evil  passions  of  a  presidential  election 
were  allowed  to  ferment  and  gather  vitriolic  strength 
during  three  days. 

I  was  born  into  a  politically  divided  family.  My  grand- 
father, on  my  mother's  side,  whose  name  I  was  destined 
to  bear,  was  an  ardent  Democrat ;  had,  as  such,  represented 
his  district  in  the  State  legislature,  and  other  public  bod- 
ies; took  his  political  creed  from  Thomas  Jefferson,  and 
adored  Andrew  Jackson.  My  father,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  in  all  his  antecedents  and  his  personal  convictions,  a 
devoted  Whig,  taking  his  creed  from  Alexander  Hamilton, 
and  worshiping  Henry  Clay. 

This  opposition  between  my  father  and  grandfather  did 
not  degenerate  into  personal  bitterness ;  but  it  was  very 
earnest,  and,  in  later  years,  my  mother  told  me  that  when 
Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  made  his  famous  speech, 
charging  the  North  with  ill-treatment  of  the  South,  my 
grandfather  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  my  father,  as  unanswer- 
able; but  that,  shortly  afterward,  my  father  sent  to  my 
grandfather  the  speech  of  Daniel  Webster,  in  reply,  and 

45 


46  %  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

that,  when  this  was  read,  the  family  allowed  that  the  lat- 
ter had  the  better  of  the  argument.  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  my  grandfather  must  have  agreed  with  them,  tacitly, 
if  not  openly.  He  loved  the  Hampshire  Hills  of  Massa- 
chusetts, from  which  he  came.  Year  after  year  he  took 
long  journeys  to  visit  them,  and  Webster's  magnificent 
reference  to  the  "Old  Bay  State "  must  have  aroused  his 
sympathy  and  pride. 

Fortunately,  at  that  election,  as  at  so  many  others  since, 
the  good  sense  of  the  nation  promptly  accepted  the  result, 
and  after  its  short  carnival  of  political  passion,  dismissed 
the  whole  subject ;  the  minority  simply  leaving  the  respon- 
sibility of  public  affairs  to  the  majority,  and  all  betaking 
themselves  again  to  their  accustomed  vocations. 

I  do  not  remember,  during  the  first  seven  years  of  my 
life,  ever  hearing  any  mention  of  political  questions.  The 
only  thing  I  heard  during  that  period  which  brings  back  a 
chapter  in  American  politics,  was  when,  at  the  age  of  five 
years,  I  attended  an  infant  school  and  took  part  in  a  sort 
of  catechism,  all  the  children  rising  and  replying  to  the 
teacher  ?s  questions.  Among  these  were  the  following : 

Q.  Who  is  President  of  the  United  States! 

A.  Martin  Van  Buren. 

Q.  Who  is  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York! 

A.  William  L.  Marcy. 

This  is  to  me  somewhat  puzzling,  for  I  was  four  years 
old  when  Martin  Van  Buren  was  elected,  and  my  father 
was  his  very  earnest  opponent,  yet,  though  I  recall  easily 
various  things  which  occurred  at  that  age  and  even  earlier, 
I  have  no  remembrance  of  any  general  election  before 
1840,  and  my  only  recollection  of  the  first  New  York 
statesman  elected  to  the  Presidency  is  this  mention  of  his 
name,  in  a  child 's  catechism. 

My  recollections  of  American  politics  begin,  then,  with 
the  famous  campaign  of  1840,  and  of  that  they  are  vivid. 
Our  family  had,  in  1839,  removed  to  Syracuse,  which,  al- 
though now  a  city  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  was  then  a  village  of  fewer  than  six 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE- 1832-1851          47 

thousand;  but,  as  the  central  town  of  the  State,  it  was 
already  a  noted  gathering-place  for  political  conventions 
and  meetings.  The  great  Whig  mass-meeting  held  there, 
in  1840,  was  long  famous  as  the  culmination  of  the  cam- 
paign between  General  Harrison  and  Martin  Van  Buren. 
As  a  President,  Mr.  Van  Buren  had  fallen  on  evil  times. 
It  was  a  period  of  political  finance;  of  demagogical 
methods  in  public  business;  and  the  result  was  "hard 
times, ' '  with  an  intense  desire  throughout  the  nation  for  a 
change.  This  desire  was  represented  especially  by  the 
Whig  party.  General  Harrison  had  been  taken  up  as  its 
candidate,  not  merely  because  he  had  proved  his  worth 
as  governor  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  as  a 
senator  in  Congress,  but  especially  as  the  hero  of  sundry 
fights  with  the  Indians,  and,  above  all,  of  the  plucky  little 
battle  at  Tippecanoe.  The  most  popular  campaign  song, 
which  I  soon  learned  to  sing  lustily,  was  ' '  Tippecanoe  and 
Tyler,  Too,"  and  sundry  lines  of  it  expressed,  not  only 
my  own  deepest  political  convictions  and  aspirations,  but 
also  those  cherished  by  myriads  of  children  of  far  larger 
growth.  They  ran  as  follows: 

"  Oh,  have  you  heard  the  great  commotion-motion-motion 
Rolling  the  country  through  ? 
It  is  the  ball  a-rolling  on 
For  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too, 
For  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too ; 
And  with  them  we  '11  beat  little  Van ; 
Van,  Van  is  a  used  up  man ; 
And  with  them  we  '11  beat  little  Van." 

The  campaign  was  an  apotheosis  of  torn-foolery.  Gen- 
eral Harrison  had  lived  the  life,  mainly,  of  a  Western 
farmer,  and  for  a  time,  doubtless,  exercised  amid  his  rude 
surroundings  the  primitive  hospitality  natural  to  sturdy 
Western  pioneers.  On  these  facts  the  changes  were  rung. 
In  every  town  and  village  a  log  cabin  was  erected  where 
the  Whigs  held  their  meetings ;  and  the  bringing  of  logs, 
with  singing  and  shouting,  to  build  it,  was  a  great  event ; 


48  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

its  front  door  must  have  a  wooden  latch  on  the  inside; 
but  the  latch-string  must  run  through  the  door;  for  the 
claim  which  the  friends  of  General  Harrison  especially 
insisted  upon  was  that  he  not  only  lived  in  a  log  cabin,  but 
that  his  latch-string  was  always  out,  in  token  that  all  his 
fellow-citizens  were  welcome  at  his  fireside. 

Another  element  in  the  campaign  was  hard  cider. 
Every  log  cabin  must  have  its  barrel  of  this  acrid  fluid, 
as  the  antithesis  of  the  alleged  beverage  of  President  Van 
Buren  at  the  White  House.  He,  it  was  asserted,  drank 
champagne,  and  on  this  point  I  remember  that  a  verse 
was  sung  at  log-cabin  meetings  which,  after  describing, 
in  a  prophetic  way  the  arrival  of  the  "Farmer  of  North 
Bend"  at  the  White  House,  ran  as  follows : 

"  They  were  all  very  merry,  and  drinking  champagne 
When  the  Farmer,  impatient,  knocked  louder  again  j 
Oh,  Oh,  said  Prince  John,  I  very  much  fear 
We  must  quit  this  place  the  very  next  year." 

"Prince  John"  was  President  Van  Buren 's  brilliant 
son ;  famous  for  his  wit  and  eloquence,  who,  in  after  years, 
rose  to  be  attorney-general  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
who  might  have  risen  to  far  higher  positions  had  his  prin- 
ciples equaled  his  talents. 

Another  feature  at  the  log  cabin,  and  in  all  political 
processions,  was  at  least  one  raccoon;  and  if  not  a  live 
raccoon  in  a  cage,  at  least  a  raccoon  skin  nailed  upon  the 
outside  of  the  cabin.  This  gave  local  color,  but  hence 
came  sundry  jibes  from  the  Democrats,  for  they  were 
wont  to  refer  to  the  Whigs  as  "coons,"  and  to  their  log 
cabins  as  "coon  pens."  Against  all  these  elements  of 
success,  added  to  promises  of  better  times,  the  Democratic 
party  could  make  little  headway.  Martin  Van  Buren, 
though  an  admirable  public  servant  in  many  ways,  was 
discredited.  M.  de  Bacourt,  the  French  Minister  at  Wash- 
ington, during  his  administration,  was,  it  is  true,  very 
fond  of  him,  and  this  cynical  scion  of  French  nobility 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE-1832-1851          49 

wrote  in  a  private  letter,  which  has  been  published  in  these 
latter  days,  ' '  M.  Van  Buren  is  the  most  perfect  imitation 
of  a  gentleman  I  ever  saw. ' '  But  this  commendation  had 
not  then  come  to  light,  and  the  main  reliance  of  the  Demo- 
crats in  capturing  the  popular  good-will  was  their  can- 
didate for  the  Vice-Presidency,  Colonel  Richard  M.  John- 
son, of  Kentucky.  He,  too,  had  fought  in  the  Indian  wars, 
and  bravely.  Therefore  it  was  that  one  of  the  Whig  songs 
which  especially  rejoiced  me,  ran: 

"  They  shout  and  sing,  Oh  humpsy  dumpsy, 
Colonel  Johnson  killed  Tecumseh." 

Among  the  features  of  that  period  which  excited  my 
imagination  were  the  enormous  mass  meetings,  with  pro- 
cessions, coming  in  from  all  points  of  the  compass,  miles 
in  length,  and  bearing  every  patriotic  device  and  political 
emblem.  Here  the  Whigs  had  infinitely  the  advantage. 
Their  campaign  was  positive  and  aggressive.  On  plat- 
form-wagons were  men  working  at  every  trade  which  ex- 
pected to  be  benefited  by  Whig  success ;  log  cabins  of  all 
sorts  and  sizes,  hard-cider  barrels,  coon  pens,  great  can- 
vas balls,  which  were  kept  "a-rolling  on,"  canoes,  such 
as  General  Harrison  had  used  in  crossing  Western  rivers, 
eagles  that  screamed  in  defiance,  and  cocks  that  crowed 
for  victory.  The  turning  ball  had  reference  to  sundry 
lines  in  the  foremost  campaign  song.  For  the  October 
election  in  Maine  having  gone  Whig  by  a  large  majority, 
clearly  indicating  what  the  general  result  was  to  be  in 
November,  the  opening  lines  ran  as  follows: 

"  Oh,  have  you  heard  the  news  from  Maine-Maine-Maine  T 
Rolling  the  country  through  f 
It  is  the  ball  a-rolling  on 
For  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too." 

&c.,  &c.,  &c. 

Against  all  this  the  Democrats,  with  their  negative  and 
defensive  platform,  found  themselves  more  and  more  at 

I.— 4 


50  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

a  disadvantage ;  they  fought  with  desperation,  but  in  vain, 
and  one  of  their  most  unlucky  ventures  to  recover  their 
position  was  an  effort  to  undermine  General  Harrison's 
military  reputation.  For  this  purpose  they  looked  about, 
and  finally  found  one  of  their  younger  congressional  rep- 
resentatives, considered  to  be  a  rising  man,  who,  having 
gained  some  little  experience  in  the  Western  militia,  had 
received  the  honorary  title  of  ' '  General, ' '  Isaac  M.  Crary, 
of  Michigan;  him  they  selected  to  make  a  speech  in  Con- 
gress exhibiting  and  exploding  General  Harrison's  mili- 
tary record.  He  was  very  reluctant  to  undertake  it,  but 
at  last  yielded,  and,  after  elaborate  preparation,  made  an 
argument  loud  and  long,  to  show  that  General  Harrison 
was  a  military  ignoramus.  The  result  was  both  comic 
and  pathetic.  There  was  then  in  Congress  the  most  fa- 
mous stump-speaker  of  his  time,  and  perhaps  of  all  times, 
a  man  of  great  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  vigor; 
powerful  in  argument,  sympathetic  in  manner,  of  infinite 
wit  and  humor,  and,  unfortunately  for  General  Crary, 
a  Whig,— Thomas  Corwin,  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Crary 's  heavy, 
tedious,  perfunctory  arraignment  of  General  Harrison 
being  ended,  Corwin  rose  and  began  an  offhand  speech 
on  "The  Military  Services  of  General  Isaac  M.  Crary. " 
In  a  few  minutes  he  had  as  his  audience,  not  only  the  House 
of  Representatives,  but  as  many  members  of  the  Senate, 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  visitors  to  the  city,  as  could 
be  crowded  into  the  congressional  chamber,  and,  of  all 
humorous  speeches  ever  delivered  in  Congress,  this  of 
Corwin  has  come  down  to  us  as  the  most  successful.  Long 
afterward,  parts  of  it  lingered  in  our  "speakers'  man- 
uals" and  were  declaimed  in  the  public  schools  as  ex- 
amples of  witty  oratory.  Many  years  later,  when  the 
House  of  Representatives  left  the  old  chamber  and  went 
into  that  which  it  now  occupies,  Thurlow  Weed  wrote 
an  interesting  article  on  scenes  he  had  witnessed  in  the  old 
hall,  and  most  vivid  of  all  was  his  picture  of  this  speech 
by  Corwin.  His  delineations  of  Crary 's  brilliant  exploits, 
his  portrayal  of  the  valiant  charges  made  by  Crary 's 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE-1832-1851          51 

troops  on  muster  days  upon  the  watermelon  patches  of 
Michigan,  not  only  convulsed  his  audience,  but  were 
echoed  throughout  the  nation,  Whigs  and  Democrats 
laughing  alike ;  and  when  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  a  speech 
shortly  afterward,  referred  to  the  man  who  brought  on 
this  tempest  of  fun  as  "the  late  General  Crary,"  there 
was  a  feeling  that  the  adjective  indicated  a  fact.  It  really 
was  so;  Crary,  although  a  man  of  merit,  never  returned 
to  Congress,  but  was  thenceforth  dropped  from  political 
life.  More  than  twenty  years  afterward,  as  I  was  passing 
through  Western  Michigan,  a  friend  pointed  out  to  me 
his  tombstone,  in  a  little  village  cemetery,  with  comments, 
half  comic,  half  pathetic;  and  I  also  recall  a  mournful 
feeling  when  one  day,  in  going  over  the  roll  of  my  stu- 
dents at  the  University  of  Michigan,  I  came  upon  one  who 
bore  the  baptismal  name  of  Isaac  Crary.  Evidently,  the 
blighted  young  statesman  had  a  daughter  who,  in  all  this 
storm  of  ridicule  and  contempt,  stood  by  him,  loved  him, 
and  proudly  named  her  son  after  him. 

Another  feature  in  the  campaign  also  impressed  me. 
A  blackguard  orator,  on  the  Whig  side,  one  of  those 
whom  great  audiences  applaud  for  the  moment  and  ever 
afterward  despise,— a  man  named  Ogle,— made  a  speech 
which  depicted  the  luxury  prevailing  at  the  White  House, 
and  among  other  evidences  of  it,  dwelt  upon  the  "gold 
spoons "  used  at  the  President's  table,  denouncing  their 
use  with  such  unction  that,  for  the  time,  unthinking  peo- 
ple regarded  Martin  Van  Buren  as  a  sort  of  American 
Vitellius.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  scanty  silver-gilt  table 
utensils  at  the  White  House  have  been  shown,  in  these 
latter  days,  in  some  very  pleasing  articles  written  by 
General  Harrison's  grandson,  after  this  grandson  had 
himself  retired  from  the  Presidency,  to  have  been,  for  the 
most  part,  bought  long  before;— and  by  order  of  General 
Washington. 

The  only  matter  of  political  importance  which,  as  a  boy 
eight  years  old,  I  seized  upon,  and  which  dwells  in  my 
memory,  was  the  creation  of  the  ' i  Sub-Treasury. ' '  That 


52  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

this  was  a  wise  measure  seems  now  proven  by  the  fact  that 
through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  politics,  from  that  day  to 
this,  it  has  remained  and  rendered  admirable  service.  But 
at  that  time  it  was  used  as  a  weapon  against  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  and  came  to  be  considered  by  feather- 
brained partizans,  young  and  old,  as  the  culmination  of 
human  wickedness.  As  to  what  the  "Sub- Treasury" 
really  was  I  had  not  the  remotest  idea ;  but  this  I  knew  ;— 
that  it  was  the  most  wicked  outrage  ever  committed  by  a 
remorseless  tyrant  upon  a  long-suffering  people. 

In  November  of  1840  General  Harrison  was  elected.  In 
the  following  spring  he  was  inaugurated,  and  the  Whigs 
being  now  for  the  first  time  in  power,  the  rush  for  office 
was  fearful.  It  was  undoubtedly  this  crushing  pressure 
upon  the  kindly  old  man  that  caused  his  death.  What 
British  soldiers,  and  Indian  warriors,  and  fire,  flood,  and 
swamp  fevers  could  not  accomplish  in  over  sixty  years, 
was  achieved  by  the  office-seeking  hordes  in  just  one 
month.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the  fourth  of  March  and 
died  early  in  April. 

I  remember,  as  if  it  were  yesterday,  my  dear  mother 
coming  to  my  bedside,  early  in  the  morning,  and  saying 
to  me,  "President  Harrison  is  dead."  I  wondered  what 
was  to  become  of  us.  He  was  the  first  President  who  had 
died  during  his  term  of  service,  and  a  great  feeling  of 
relief  came  over  me  when  I  learned  that  his  high  office 
had  devolved  upon  the  Vice-President. 

But  now  came  a  new  trouble,  and  my  youthful  mind  was 
soon  sadly  agitated.  The  Whig  papers,  especially  the 
"New  York  Express"  and  "Albany  Evening  Journal," 
began  to  bring  depressing  accounts  of  the  new  President, 
—tidings  of  extensive  changes  in  the  offices  throughout  the 
country,  and  especially  in  the  post-offices.  At  first  the 
Whig  papers  published  these  under  the  heading  "Ap- 
pointments by  the  President."  But  soon  the  heading 
changed;  it  became  "Appointments  by  Judas  Iscariot," 
or  "Appointments  by  Benedict  Arnold,"  and  war  was 
declared  against  President  Tyler  by  the  party  that  elected 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE- 1832-1851         53 

him.  Certain  it  is  that  no  party  ever  found  itself  in  a 
worse  position  than  did  the  Whigs,  when  their  Vice-Presi- 
dent  came  into  the  Chief  Magistracy ;  and  equally  certain 
is  it  that  this  position  was  the  richly  earned  punishment 
of  their  own  folly. 

I  have  several  times  since  had  occasion  to  note  the  care- 
lessness of  National  and  State  conventions  in  nominating 
a  candidate  for  the  second  place  upon  the  ticket— whether 
Vice-President  or  Lieutenant-Governor.  It  would  seem 
that  the  question  of  questions— the  nomination  to  the 
first  office— having  been  settled,  there  comes  a  sort  of 
collapse  in  these  great  popular  assemblies,  and  that  then, 
for  the  second  office,  it  is  very  often  anybody's  race  and 
mainly  a  matter  of  chance.  In  this  way  alone  can  be  ex- 
plained several  nominations  which  have  been  made  to 
second  offices,  and  above  all,  that  of  John  Tyler.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  was  not  commended  to  the  Whig  party 
on  any  solid  grounds.  His  whole  political  life  had  shown 
him  an  opponent  of  their  main  ideas ;  he  was,  in  fact,  a 
Southern  doctrinaire,  and  frequently  suffered  from  acute 
attacks  of  that  very  troublesome  political  disease,  Vir- 
ginia metaphysics.  As  President  he  attempted  to  enforce 
his  doctrines,  and  when  Whig  leaders,  and  above  all 
Henry  Clay  attempted,  not  only  to  resist,  but  to  crush  him, 
he  asserted  his  dignity  at  the  cost  of  his  party,  and  finally 
tried  that  which  other  accidental  Presidents  have  since 
tried  with  no  better  success,  namely,  to  build  up  a  party 
of  his  own  by  a  new  distribution  of  offices.  Never  was  a 
greater  failure.  Mr.  Tyler  was  dropped  by  both  parties 
and  disappeared  from  American  political  life  forever. 
I  can  now  see  that  he  was  a  man  obedient  to  his  convic- 
tions of  duty,  such  as  they  were,  and  in  revolt  against 
attempts  of  Whig  leaders  to  humiliate  him;  but  then,  to 
my  youthful  mind,  he  appeared  the  very  incarnation  of 
evil. 

My  next  recollections  are  of  the  campaign  of  1844. 
Again  the  Whig  party  took  courage,  and  having,  as  a  boy 
of  twelve  years,  acquired  more  earnest  ideas  regarding 


54  POLITICAL  LIFE -I 

the  questions  at  issue,  I  helped,  with  other  Whig  boys, 
to  raise  ash-poles,  and  to  hurrah  lustily  for  Clay  at  public 
meetings.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Democratic  boys  hur- 
rahed as  lustily  around  their  hickory  poles  and,  as  was 
finally  proved,  to  much  better  purpose.  They  sang  dog- 
gerel which,  to  me,  was  blasphemous,  and  especially  a  song 
with  the  following  refrain : 

"  Alas  poor  Cooney  Clay, 
Alas  poor  Cooney  Clay, 
You  never  can  be  President, 
For  so  the  people  say." 

The  ash-poles  had  reference  to  Ashland,  Clay's  Kentucky 
estate;  and  the  hickory  poles  recalled  General  Jackson's 
sobriquet,  "Old  Hickory."  For  the  Democratic  candi- 
date in  1844,  James  Knox  Polk,  was  considered  heir  to 
Jackson's  political  ideas.  The  campaign  of  1844  was  not 
made  so  interesting  by  spectacular  outbursts  of  torn-fool- 
ery as  the  campaign  of  1840  had  been.  The  sober  second 
thought  of  the  country  had  rather  sickened  people  of  that 
sort  of  thing ;  still,  there  was  quite  enough  of  it,  especially 
as  shown  in  caricatures  and  songs.  The  poorest  of  the 
latter  was  perhaps  one  on  the  Democratic  side,  for  as  the 
Democratic  candidates  were  Polk  of  Tennessee  and  Dallas 
of  Pennsylvania,  one  line  of  the  song  embraced  probably 
the  worst  pun  ever  made,  namely— 

"  Pork  in  the  barrel,  and  Dollars  in  the  pocket." 

It  was  at  this  period  that  the  feeling  against  the  exten- 
sion of  slavery,  especially  as  indicated  in  the  proposed 
annexation  of  Texas,  began  to  appear  largely  in  politics, 
and  though  Clay  at  heart  detested  slavery  and  always  re- 
fused to  do  the  bidding  of  its  supporters  beyond  what  he 
thought  absolutely  necessary  in  preserving  the  Union,  an 
unfortunate  letter  of  his  led  great  numbers  of  anti- 
slavery  men  to  support  a  separate  anti-slavery  ticket,  the 
candidate  being  James  G.  Birney.  The  result  was  that 
the  election  of  Clay  became  impossible.  Mr.  Polk  was 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE- 1832-1851         55 

elected,  and  under  him  came  the  admission  of  Texas, 
which  caused  the  Mexican  War,  and  gave  slavery  a  new 
lease  of  life.  The  main  result,  in  my  own  environment, 
was  that  my  father  and  his  friends,  thenceforward  for  a 
considerable  time,  though  detesting  slavery,  held  all  aboli- 
tionists and  anti-slavery  men  in  contempt,— as  unpatriotic 
because  they  had  defeated  Henry  Clay,  and  as  idiotic 
because  they  had  brought  on  the  annexation  of  Texas  and 
thereby  the  supremacy  of  the  slave  States. 

But  the  flame  of  liberty  could  not  be  smothered  by 
friends  or  blown  out  by  enemies;  it  was  kept  alive  by 
vigorous  counterblasts  in  the  press,  and  especially  fed  by 
the  lecture  system,  which  was  then  at  the  height  of  its 
efficiency.  Among  the  most  powerful  of  lecturers  was 
John  Parker  Hale,  senator  of  the  United  States  from 
New  Hampshire,  his  subject  being,  "The  Last  Gladiato- 
rial Combat  at  Rome."  Taking  from  Gibbon  the  story  of 
the  monk  Telemachus,  who  ended  the  combats  in  the  arena 
by  throwing  himself  into  them  and  sacrificing  his  life,  Hale 
suggested  to  his  large  audiences  an  argument  that  if  men 
wished  to  get  rid  of  slavery  in  our  country  they  must  be 
ready  to  sacrifice  themselves  if  need  be.  His  words  sank 
deep  into  my  mind,  and  I  have  sometimes  thought  that 
they  may  have  had  something  to  do  in  leading  John 
Brown  to  make  his  desperate  attempt  on  slavery  at  Har- 
per's Ferry. 

How  blind  we  all  were !  Henry  Clay,  a  Kentucky  slave- 
holder, would  have  saved  us.  Infinitely  better  than  the 
violent  solutions  proposed  to  us  was  his  large  statesman- 
like plan  of  purchasing  the  slave  children  as  they  were 
born  and  setting  them  free.  Without  bloodshed,  and  at 
cost  of  the  merest  nothing  as  compared  to  the  cost  of  the 
Civil  War,  he  would  thus  have  solved  the  problem;  but 
it  was  not  so  to  be.  The  guilt  of  the  nation  was  not  to  be 
so  cheaply  atoned  for.  Fanatics,  North  and  South,  op- 
posed him  and,  as  a  youth,  I  yielded  to  their  arguments. 

Four  years  later,  in  1848,  came  a  very  different  sort  of 
election.  General  Zachary  Taylor,  who  had  shown  ster- 


56  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

ling  qualities  in  the  Mexican  War,  was  now  the  candi- 
date of  the  Whigs,  and  against  him  was  nominated  Mr. 
Cass,  a  general  of  the  War  of  1812,  afterward  governor 
of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  senator  from  Michi- 
gan. As  a  youth  of  sixteen,  who  by  that  time  had  become 
earnestly  interested  in  politics,  I  was  especially  struck 
by  one  event  in  this  campaign.  The  Democrats  of  course 
realized  that  General  Taylor,  with  the  prestige  gained  in 
the  Mexican  War,  was  a  very  formidable  opponent.  Still, 
if  they  could  keep  their  party  together,  they  had  hopes  of 
beating  him.  But  a  very  large  element  in  their  party 
had  opposed  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  strongly  dis- 
liked the  extension  of  slavery;— this  wing  of  the  party 
in  New  York  being  known  as  the  "Barn  Burners, "  be- 
cause it  was  asserted  that  they  "believed  in  burning  the 
barn  to  drive  the  rats  out. ' '  The  question  was  what  these 
radical  gentlemen  would  do.  That  question  was  answered 
when  a  convention,  controlled  largely  by  the  anti-slavery 
Democrats  of  New  York  and  other  States,  met  at  Buffalo 
and  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  to  the  Presidency. 
For  a  time  it  was  doubtful  whether  he  would  accept  the 
nomination.  On  one  side  it  was  argued  that  he  could  not 
afford  to  do  so,  since  he  had  no  chance  of  an  election, 
and  would  thereby  forever  lose  his  hold  upon  the  Demo- 
cratic party;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  said  that  he 
was  already  an  old  man;  that  he  realized  perfectly  the 
impossibility  of  his  reelection,  and  that  he  had  a  bitter 
grudge  against  the  Democratic  candidate,  General  Cass, 
who  had  voted  against  confirming  him  when  he  was  sent 
as  minister  to  Great  Britain,  thus  obliging  him  to  return 
home  ingloriously.  He  accepted  the  nomination. 

On  the  very  day  which  brought  the  news  of  this  ac- 
ceptance, General  Cass  arrived  in  Syracuse,  on  his  way 
to  his  home  at  Detroit.  I  saw  him  welcomed  by  a  great 
procession  of  Democrats,  and  marched  under  a  broiling 
sun,  through  dusty  streets,  to  the  City  Hall,  where  he  was 
forced  to  listen  and  reply  to  fulsome  speeches  prophesying 
his  election,  which  he  and  all  present  knew  to  be  impos- 


FROM  JACKSON   TO  FILLMORE- 1832-1851          57 

sible.  For  Mr.  Van  Buren's  acceptance  of  the  "free  soil" 
nomination  was  sure  to  divide  the  Democratic  vote  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  thus  giving  the  State  to  the  Whigs; 
and  in  those  days  the  proverb  held  good,  "As  New  York 
goes,  so  goes  the  Union. " 

For  years  afterward  there  dwelt  vividly  in  my  mind 
the  picture  of  this  old,  sad  man  marching  through  the 
streets,  listening  gloomily  to  the  speeches,  forced  to  ap- 
pear confident  of  victory,  yet  evidently  disheartened  and 
disgusted. 

Very  vivid  are  my  recollections  of  State  conventions 
at  this  period.  Syracuse,  as  the  "Central  City,"  was  a 
favorite  place  for  them,  and,  as  they  came  during  the 
summer  vacations,  boys  of  my  age  and  tastes  were  able 
to  admire  the  great  men  of  the  hour,— now,  alas,  utterly 
forgotten.  We  saw  and  heard  the  leaders  of  all  parties. 
Many  impressed  me;  but  one  dwells  in  my  memory,  on 
account  of  a  story  which  was  told  of  him.  This  was  a 
very  solemn,  elderly  gentleman  who  always  looked  very 
wise  but  said  nothing,— William  Bouck  of  Schoharie 
County.  He  had  white  hair  and  whiskers,  and  having 
been  appointed  canal  commissioner  of  the  State,  had  dis- 
charged his  duties  by  driving  his  old  white  family  nag 
and  buggy  along  the  towing-path  the  whole  length  of  the 
canals,  keeping  careful  watch  of  the  contractors,  and  so, 
in  his  simple,  honest  way,  had  saved  the  State  much  money. 
The  result  was  the  nickname  of  the  "Old  White  Hoss  of 
Schoharie,"  and  a  reputation  for  simplicity  and  honesty 
which  made  him  for  a  short  time  governor  of  the  State. 

A  story  then  told  of  him  reveals  something  of  his  char- 
acter. Being  informed  that  Bishop  Hughes  of  New  York 
was  coming  to  Albany,  and  that  it  would  be  well  to  treat 
him  with  especial  courtesy,  the  governor  prepared  him- 
self to  be  more  than  gracious,  and,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
bishop,  greeted  him  most  cordially  with  the  words,  "How 
do  you  do,  Bishop;  I  hope  you  are  well.  How  did  you 
leave  Mrs.  Hughes  and  your  family?"  To  this  the  bishop 
answered,  "Governor,  I  am  very  well,  but  there  is  no 


58  POLITICAL  LIFE-I 

Mrs.  Hughes;  bishops  in  our  church  don't  marry." 
"Good  gracious,"  answered  the  governor,  "you  don't 
say  so;  how  long  has  that  been?"  The  bishop  must  have 
thoroughly  enjoyed  this.  His  Irish  wit  made  him  quick 
both  at  comprehension  and  repartee.  During  a  debate 
on  the  school  question  a  leading  Presbyterian  merchant 
of  New  York,  Mr.  Hiram  Ketchum,  made  a  very  earnest 
speech  against  separate  schools  for  Roman  Catholics,  and 
presently,  turning  to  Bishop  Hughes,  said,  "Sir,  we  re- 
spect you,  sir,  but,  sir,  we  can't  go  your  purgatory,  sir." 
To  this  the  bishop  quietly  replied,  '  '  You  might  go  further 
and  fare  worse." 

Another  leading  figure,  but  on  the  Whig  side,  was  a 
State  senator,  commonly  known  as  "Bray"  Dickinson, 
to  distinguish  him  from  D.  S.  Dickinson  who  had  been  a 
senator  of  the  United  States,  and  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  "Bray"  Dickinson  was  a  most  earnest  sup- 
porter of  Mr.  Seward;  staunch,  prompt,  vigorous,  and 
really  devoted  to  the  public  good.  One  story  regarding 
him  shows  his  rough-and-readiness. 

During  a  political  debate  in  the  old  Whig  days,  one 
of  his  Democratic  brother  senators  made  a  long  harangue 
in  favor  of  Martin  Van  Buren  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  and  in  the  course  of  his  speech  referred  to 
Mr.  Van  Buren  as  "the  Curtius  of  the  Republic."  Upon 
this  Dickinson  jumped  up,  went  to  some  member  better 
educated  in  the  classics  than  himself,  and  said,  "Who  in 
thunder  is  this  Curtis  that  this  man  is  talking  about? ' '  " It 
is  n't  Curtis,  it  's  Curtius,"  was  the  reply.  "Well,  now," 
said  Dickinson,  "what  did  Curtius  do?"  "Oh,"  said  his 
informant,  "he  threw  himself  into  an  abyss  to  save 
the  Eoman  Republic."  Upon  this  Dickinson  returned  to 
his  seat,  and  as  soon  as  the  Democratic  speaker  had  fin- 
ished, arose  and  said:  "Mr.  President,  I  deny  the  justice 
of  the  gentleman's  reference  to  Curtius  and  Martin  Van 
Buren.  What  did  Curtius  do?  He  threw  himself,  sir, 
into  an  abyss  to  save  his  country.  What,  sir,  did  Martin 
Van  Buren  do?  He  threw  his  country  into  an  abyss  to 
save  himself." 


FROM  JACKSON  TO  FILLMORE-1832-1851         59 

Rarely,  if  ever,  has  any  scholar  used  a  bit  of  classical 
knowledge  to  better  purpose. 

Another  leading  figure,  at  a  later  period,  was  a  Demo- 
crat, Fernando  Wood,  mayor  of  New  York,  a  brilliant 
desperado ;  and  on  one  occasion  I  saw  the  henchmen  whom 
he  had  brought  with  him  take  possession  of  a  State  con- 
vention and  deliberately  knock  its  president,  one  of  the 
most  respected  men  in  the  State,  off  the  platform.  It  was 
an  unfortunate  performance  for  Mayor  Wood,  since  the 
disgust  and  reaction  thereby  aroused  led  all  factions  of 
the  Democratic  party  to  unite  against  him. 

Other  leading  men  were  such  as  Charles  0 'Conor  and 
John  Van  Buren;  the  former  learned  and  generous,  but 
impracticable;  the  latter  brilliant  beyond  belief,  but  not 
considered  as  representing  any  permanent  ideas  or  prin- 
ciples. 

During  the  campaign  of  1848,  as  a  youth  of  sixteen, 
I  took  the  liberty  of  breaking  from  the  paternal  party; 
my  father  voting  for  General  Taylor,  I  hurrahing  for 
Martin  Van  Buren.  I  remember  well  how  one  day  my 
father  earnestly  remonstrated  against  this.  He  said,  "My 
dear  boy,  you  cheer  Martin  Van  Buren 's  name  because 
you  believe  that  if  he  is  elected  he  will  do  something 
against  slavery:  in  the  first  place,  he  cannot  be  elected; 
and  in  the  second  place,  if  you  knew  him  as  we  older 
people  do,  you  would  not  believe  in  his  attachment  to  any 
good  cause  whatever/' 

The  result  of  the  campaign  was  that  General  Taylor 
was  elected,  and  I  recall  the  feeling  of  awe  and  hope  with 
which  I  gazed  upon  his  war-worn  face,  for  the  first  and 
last  time,  as  he  stopped  to  receive  the  congratulations  of 
the  citizens  of  Syracuse;— hope,  alas,  soon  brought  to 
naught,  for  he,  too,  soon  succumbed  to  the  pressure  of 
official  care,  and  Millard  Fillmore  of  New  York,  the  Vice- 
President,  reigned  in  his  stead. 

I  remember  Mr.  Fillmore  well.  He  was  a  tall,  large, 
fine-looking  man,  with  a  face  intelligent  and  kindly,  and 
he  was  noted  both  as  an  excellent  public  servant  and  an 
effective  public  speaker.  He  had  been  comptroller  of 


60  POLITICAL  LIFE -I 

the  State  of  New  York,— then  the  most  important  of  State 
offices,  had  been  defeated  as  Whig  candidate  for  governor, 
and  had  been  a  representative  in  Congress.  He  was  the 
second  of  the  accidental  Presidents,  and  soon  felt  it  his 
duty  to  array  himself  on  the  side  of  those  who,  by  com- 
promise with  the  South  on  the  slavery  question,  sought 
to  maintain  and  strengthen  the  Federal  Union.  Under 
him  came  the  compromise  measures  on  which  our  great 
statesmen  of  the  middle  period  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Benton,  made  their  last 
speeches.  Mr.  Fillmore  was  undoubtedly  led  mainly  by 
patriotic  motives,  in  promoting  the  series  of  measures 
which  were  expected  to  end  all  trouble  between  the  North 
and  South,  but  which,  unfortunately,  embraced  the  Fu- 
gitive Slave  Law ;  yet  this,  as  I  then  thought,  rendered  him 
accursed.  I  remember  feeling  an  abhorrence  for  his  very 
name,  and  this  feeling  was  increased  when  there  took 
place,  in  the  city  of  Syracuse,  the  famous  "  Jerry  Rescue." 


CHAPTER  IV 

EARLY  MANHOOD— 1851-1857 

ON  the  first  day  of  October,  1851,  there  was  shuffling 
about  the  streets  of  Syracuse,  in  the  quiet  pursuit 
of  his  simple  avocations,  a  colored  person,  as  nearly  '  '  of 
no  account "  as  any  ever  seen.  So  far  as  was  known 
he  had  no  surname,  and,  indeed,  no  Christian  name,  save 
the  fragment  and  travesty,— "  Jerry. " 

Yet  before  that  day  was  done  he  was  famous ;  his  name, 
such  as  it  was,  resounded  through  the  land;  and  he  had 
become,  in  all  seriousness,  a  weighty  personage  in  Ameri- 
can history. 

Under  the  law  recently  passed,  he  was  arrested,  openly 
and  in  broad  daylight,  as  a  fugitive  slave,  and  was  car- 
ried before  the  United  States  commissioner,  Mr.  Joseph 
Sabine,  a  most  kindly  public  officer,  who  in  this  matter 
was  sadly  embarrassed  by  the  antagonism  between  his 
sworn  duty  and  his  personal  convictions. 

Thereby,  as  was  supposed,  were  fulfilled  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets— the  Law  being  the  fugitive  slave  law  recently 
enacted,  and  the  Prophets  being  no  less  than  Henry  Clay 
and  Daniel  Webster. 

For,  as  if  to  prepare  the  little  city  to  sacrifice  its  cher- 
ished beliefs,  Mr.  Clay  had  some  time  before  made  a 
speech  from  the  piazza,  of  the  Syracuse  House,  urging 
upon  his  fellow-citizens  the  compromises  of  the  Consti- 
tution; and  some  months  later  Mr.  Webster  appeared, 
spoke  from  a  balcony  near  the  City  Hall,  and  to  the  same 
purpose;  but  more  so.  The  latter  statesman  was  pro- 
phetic, not  only  in  the  hortatory,  but  in  the  predictive 

61 


62  POLITICAL  LIFE-II 

sense;  for  he  declared  not  only  that  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  must  be  enforced,  but  that  it  would  be  enforced,  and 
he  added,  in  substance:  "it  will  be  enforced  throughout 
the  North  in  spite  of  all  opposition— even  in  this  city- 
even  in  the  midst  of  youT  abolition  conventions."  This 
piece  of  prophecy  was  accompanied  by  a  gesture  which 
seemed  to  mean  much;  for  the  great  man's  hand  was 
waved  toward  the  City  Hall  just  across  the  square— the 
classic  seat  and  center  of  abolition  conventions. 

How  true  is  the  warning,  "Don't  prophesy  unless  you 
know ! ' '  The  arrest  of  Jerry  took  place  within  six  months 
after  Mr.  Webster's  speech,  and  indeed  while  an  aboli- 
tion convention  was  in  session  at  that  same  City  Hall; 
but  when  the  news  came  the  convention  immediately  dis- 
solved, the  fire-bells  began  to  ring,  a  crowd  moved  upon 
the  commissioner's  office,  surged  into  it,  and  swept  Jerry 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  officers.  The  authorities  having 
rallied,  re-arrested  the  fugitive,  and  put  him  in  confine- 
ment and  in  irons.  But  in  the  evening  the  assailants  re- 
turned to  the  assault,  carried  the  jail  by  storm,  rescued 
Jerry  for  good,  and  spirited  him  off  safe  and  sound  to 
Canada,  thus  bringing  to  nought  the  fugitive  slave  law, 
as  well  as  the  exhortations  of  Mr.  Clay  and  the  predic- 
tions of  Mr.  Webster. 

This  rescue  produced  great  excitement  throughout  the 
nation.  Various  persons  were  arrested  for  taking  part 
in  it,  and  their  trials  were  adjourned  from  place  to  place, 
to  the  great  hardship  of  all  concerned.  During  a  college 
vacation  I  was  present  at  one  of  these  trials  at  Canan- 
daigua,  the  United  States  judge,  before  whom  it  was  held, 
being  the  Hon.  N.  K.  Hall,  who  had  been  Mr.  Fillmore's 
law  partner  in  Buffalo.  The  evening  before  the  trial  an 
anti-slavery  meeting  was  held,  which  I  attended.  It  was 
opened  with  prayer  by  a  bishop  of  the  African  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  Loguen,  and  of  all  prayers  I  have 
ever  heard,  this  dwells  in  my  mind  as  perhaps  the  most 
impressive.  The  colored  minister's  petitions  for  his  race, 
bond  and  free,  for  Jerry  and  for  those  who  had  sought 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851-1857  63 

to  rescue  him,  for  the  souls  of  the  kidnappers,  and  for 
the  country  which  was  to  his  people  a  land  of  bondage, 
were  most  pathetic.  Then  arose  Gerrit  Smith.  Of  all 
Tribunes  of  the  People  I  have  ever  known  he  dwells  in 
my  memory  as  possessing  the  greatest  variety  of  gifts. 
He  had  the  prestige  given  by  great  wealth,  by  lavish  gen- 
erosity, by  transparent  honesty,  by  earnestness  of  pur- 
pose, by  advocacy  of  every  good  cause,  by  a  superb  pres- 
ence, and  by  natural  eloquence  of  a  very  high  order.  He 
was  very  tall  and  large,  with  a  noble  head,  an  earnest,  yet 
kindly  face,  and  of  all  human  voices  I  have  ever  heard 
his  was  the  most  remarkable  for  its  richness,  depth,  and 
strength.  I  remember  seeing  and  hearing  him  once  at 
a  Republican  State  Convention  in  the  City  Hall  at  Syra- 
cuse, when,  having  come  in  for  a  few  moments  as  a  spec- 
tator, he  was  recognized  by  the  crowd  and  greeted 
with  overwhelming  calls  for  a  speech.  He  was  standing 
at  the  entrance  door,  towering  above  all  about  him,  and 
there  was  a  general  cry  for  him  to  come  forward  to 
the  platform.  He  declined  to  come  forward;  but  finally 
observed  to  those  near  him,  in  his  quiet,  natural  way, 
with  the  utmost  simplicity,  "Oh,  I  shall  be  heard. "  At 
this  a  shout  went  up  from  the  entire  audience ;  for  every 
human  being  in  that  great  hall  had  heard  these  words 
perfectly,  though  uttered  in  his  usual  conversational 
voice. 

I  also  remember  once  entering  the  old  Delavan  House 
at  Albany,  with  a  college  friend  of  mine,  afterward 
Bishop  of  Maine,  and  seeing,  at  the  other  end  of  a  long 
hall,  Gerrit  Smith  in  quiet  conversation.  In  a  moment 
we  heard  his  voice,  and  my  friend  was  greatly  im- 
pressed by  it,  declaring  he  had  never  imagined  such 
an  utterance  possible.  It  was  indeed  amazing;  it  was 
like  the  deep,  clear,  rich  tone  from  the  pedal  bass 
of  a  cathedral  organ.  During  his  career  in  Congress, 
it  was  noted  that  he  was  the  only  speaker  within  remem- 
brance who  without  effort  made  himself  heard  in  every 
part  of  the  old  chamber  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives, 


64  POLITICAL   LIFE- II 

which  was  acoustically  one  of  the  worst  halls  ever  de- 
vised. And  it  was  not  a  case  of  voice  and  nothing  else; 
his  strength  of  argument,  his  gift  of  fit  expression,  and 
his  wealth  of  illustration  were  no  less  extraordinary. 

On  this  occasion  at  Canandaigua  he  rose  to  speak,  and 
every  word  went  to  the  hearts  of  his  audience.  "Why," 
he  began,  "do  they  conduct  these  harassing  proceedings 
against  these  men!  If  any  one  is  guilty,  I  am  guilty. 
With  Samuel  J.  May  I  proposed  the  Jerry  Rescue.  We 
are  responsible  for  it;  why  do  they  not  prosecute  us?" 
And  these  words  were  followed  by  a  train  of  cogent  rea- 
soning and  stirring  appeal. 

The  Jerry  Rescue  trials  only  made  matters  worse. 
Their  injustice  disgusted  the  North,  and  their  futility  an- 
gered the  South.  They  revealed  one  fact  which  especially 
vexed  the  Southern  wing  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
this  was,  that  their  Northern  allies  could  not  be  depended 
upon  to  execute  the  new  compromise.  In  this  Syracuse 
rescue  one  of  the  most  determined  leaders  was  a  rough 
burly  butcher,  who  had  been  all  his  life  one  of  the  loudest 
of  pro-slavery  Democrats,  and  who,  until  he  saw  Jerry 
dragged  in  manacles  through  the  streets,  had  been  most 
violent  in  his  support  of  the  fugitive  slave  law.  The 
trials  also  stimulated  the  anti-slavery  leaders  and  orators 
to  new  vigor.  Garrison,  Phillips,  Gerrit  Smith,  Sumner, 
and  Seward  aroused  the  anti-slavery  forces  as  never  be- 
fore, and  the  "Biglow  Papers "  of  James  Russell  Lowell, 
which  made  Northern  pro-slavery  men  ridiculous,  were 
read  with  more  zest  than  ever. 

But  the  abolition  forces  had  the  defects  of  their  quali- 
ties, and  their  main  difficulty  really  arose  from  the  stim- 
ulus given  to  a  thin  fanaticism.  There  followed,  in 
the  train  of  the  nobler  thinkers  and  orators,  the  "Fool 
Reformers,"— sundry  long-haired  men  and  short-haired 
women,  who  thought  it  their  duty  to  stir  good  Christian 
people  with  blasphemy,  to  deluge  the  founders  of  the 
Republic  with  blackguardism,  and  to  invent  ever  more 
and  more  ingenious  ways  for  driving  every  sober-minded 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851-1857  65 

man  and  woman  out  of  the  anti-slavery  fold.  More  than 
once  in  those  days  I  hung  my  head  in  disgust  as  I  listened 
to  these  people,  and  wondered,  for  the  moment,  whether, 
after  all,  even  the  supremacy  of  slaveholders  might  not 
be  more  tolerable  than  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth, 
in  which  should  dwell  such  bedraggled,  screaming,  de- 
nunciatory creatures. 

At  the  next  national  election  the  Whigs  nominated 
General  Scott,  a  man  of  extraordinary  merit  and  of  gran- 
diose appearance ;  but  of  both  these  qualities  he  was  him- 
self unfortunately  too  well  aware;  as  a  result  the  Demo- 
crats gave  him  the  name  of  ' '  Old  Fuss  and  Feathers, ' '  and 
a  few  unfortunate  speeches,  in  one  of  which  he  expressed 
his  joy  at  hearing  that  " sweet  Irish  brogue,"  brought 
the  laugh  of  the  campaign  upon  him. 

On  the  other  hand  the  Democrats  nominated  Franklin 
Pierce;  a  man  greatly  inferior  to  General  Scott  in  mili- 
tary matters,  but  who  had  served  well  in  the  State  politics 
of  New  Hampshire  and  in  Congress,  was  widely  beloved, 
of  especially  attractive  manners,  and  of  high  personal 
character. 

He  also  had  been  in  the  Mexican  War,  but  though  he 
had  risen  to  be  brigadier-general,  his  military  record 
amounted  to  very  little.  There  was  in  him,  no  doubt, 
some  alloy  of  personal  with  public  motives,  but  it  would 
be  unjust  to  say  that  selfishness  was  the  only  source  of 
his  political  ideas.  He  was  greatly  impressed  by  the 
necessity  of  yielding  to  the  South  in  order  to  save  the 
Union,  and  had  shown  this  by  his  utterances  and  votes  in 
Congress:  the  South,  therefore,  accepted  him  against 
General  Scott,  who  was  supposed  to  have  moderate  anti- 
slavery  views. 

General  Pierce  was  elected;  the  policy  of  his  adminis- 
tration became  more  and  more  deeply  pro-slavery;  and 
now  appeared  upon  the  scene  Stephen  Arnold  Douglas— 
senator  from  Illinois,  a  man  of  remarkable  ability,— a 
brilliant  thinker  and  most  effective  speaker,  with  an  ex- 
traordinary power  of  swaying  men.  I  heard  him  at  vari- 


I.-5 


66  POLITICAL  LIFE-II 

ous  times ;  and  even  after  he  had  committed  what  seemed 
to  me  the  unpardonable  sin,  it  was  hard  to  resist  his  elo- 
quence. He  it  was  who,  doubtless  from  a  mixture  of  mo- 
tives, personal  and  public,  had  proposed  the  abolition  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  which  since  the  year  1820  had 
been  the  bulwark  of  the  new  territories  against  the  en- 
croachments of  slavery.  The  whole  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment of  the  North  was  thereby  intensified,  and  as  the 
establishment  of  north  polarity  at  one  end  of  the  magnet 
excites  south  polarity  at  the  other,  so  Southern  feeling 
in  favor  of  slavery  was  thereby  increased.  Up  to  a  re- 
cent period  Southern  leaders  had,  as  a  rule,  deprecated 
slavery,  and  hoped  for  its  abolition ;  now  they  as  generally 
advocated  it  as  good  in  itself ;— the  main  foundation  of 
civil  liberty;  the  normal  condition  of  the  working  classes 
of  every  nation;  and  some  of  them  urged  the  revival  of 
the  African  slave-trade.  The  struggle  became  more  and 
more  bitter.  I  was  during  that  time  at  Yale,  and  the  gen- 
eral sentiment  of  that  university  in  those  days  favored 
almost  any  concession  to  save  the  Union.  The  venerable 
Silliman,  and  a  great  majority  of  the  older  professors 
spoke  at  public  meetings  in  favor  of  the  pro-slavery  com- 
promise measures  which  they  fondly  hoped  would  settle 
the  difficulty  between  North  and  South  and  reestablish 
the  Union  on  firm  foundations.  The  new  compromise  was 
indeed  a  bitter  dose  for  them,  since  it  contained  the  fu- 
gitive slave  law  in  its  most  drastic  form;  and  every  one 
of  them,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  theological  doctrin- 
aires who  found  slavery  in  the  Bible,  abhorred  the  whole 
slave  system.  The  Yale  faculty,  as  a  rule,  took  ground 
against  anti-slavery  effort,  and,  among  other  ways  of 
propagating  what  they  considered  right  opinions,  there 
was  freely  distributed  among  the  students  a  sermon  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Boardman  of  Philadelphia,  which  went  to 
extremes  in  advocating  compromise  with  slavery  and  the 
slave  power. 

The  great  body  of  the  students,  also,  from  North  and 
South,  took  the  same  side.    It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851 -1857  67 

whereas  European  students  are  generally  inclined  to  radi- 
calism, American  students  have  been,  since  the  war  of 
the  Revolution,  eminently  conservative. 

To  this  pro-slavery  tendency  at  Yale,  in  hope  of  saving 
the  Union,  there  were  two  remarkable  exceptions,  one 
being  the  beloved  and  respected  president  of  the  univer- 
sity, Dr.  Theodore  Dwight  Woolsey,  and  the  other  his 
classmate  and  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  pastor 
of  the  great  Center  Church  of  New  Haven,  and  frequently 
spoken  of  as  the  "Congregational  Pope  of  New  Eng- 
land/' They  were  indeed  a  remarkable  pair;  Woolsey, 
quiet  and  scholarly,  at  times  irascible,  but  always  kind 
and  just;  Bacon  a  rugged,  leonine  sort  of  man  who,  when 
he  shook  his  mane  in  the  pulpit  and  addressed  the  New 
England  conscience,  was  heard  throughout  the  nation. 
These  two,  especially,  braved  public  sentiment,  as  well 
as  the  opinion  of  their  colleagues,  and  were  supposed, 
at  the  time,  to  endanger  the  interests  of  Yale  by  standing 
against  the  fugitive  slave  law  and  other  concessions  to 
slavery  and  its  extension.  As  a  result  Yale  fell  into  dis- 
repute in  the  South,  which  had,  up  to  that  time,  sent  large 
bodies  of  students  to  it,  and  I  remember  that  a  classmate 
of  mine,  a  tall,  harum-scarum,  big-hearted,  sandy-haired 
Georgian  known  as  "  Jim"  Hamilton,  left  Yale  in  disgust, 
returned  to  his  native  heath,  and  was  there  welcomed  with 
great  jubilation.  A  poem  was  sent  me,  written  by  some 
ardent  admirer  of  his,  beginning  with  the  words : 

"  God  bless  thee,  noble  Hamilton/'  &c. 

On  the  other  hand  I  was  one  of  the  small  minority  of 
students  who  remained  uncompromisingly  anti-slavery, 
and  whenever  I  returned  from  Syracuse,  my  classmates 
and  friends  used  to  greet  me  in  a  jolly  way  by  asking  me 
"How  are  you,  Gerrit;  how  did  you  leave  the  Rev.  An- 
toinette Brown  and  brother  Fred  Douglas?"  In  conse- 
quence I  came  very  near  being,  in  a  small  way,  a  martyr 
to  my  principles.  Having  had  some  success  in  winning 


68  POLITICAL   LIFE -II 

essay  prizes  during  my  sophomore  and  junior  years,  my 
name  was  naturally  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  elec- 
tion of  editors  for  the  "  Vale  Literary  Magazine."  At  this 
a  very  considerable  body  of  Southern  students  and  their 
Northern  adherents  declared  against  me.  I  neither  said 
nor  did  anything  in  the  premises,  but  two  of  my  most 
conservative  friends  wrought  valiantly  in  my  behalf. 
One  was  my  dear  old  chum,  Davics,  the  present  Bishop 
of  Michigan,  at  the  very  antipodes  from  myself  on  every 
possible  question;  and  the  other  my  life-long  friend,  Ran- 
dall Lee  Gibson  of  Kentucky,  himself  a  large  slaveholder, 
afterward  a  general  in  the  Confederate  service,  and 
finally,  at  his  lamented  death  a  few  years  since,  United 
States  senator  from  Louisiana.  .Both  these  friends  cham- 
pioned my  cause,  with  the  result  that  they  saved  me  by  a 
small  majority. 

As  editor  of  the  "Yale  Literary  Magazine/'  through 
my  senior  year,  I  could  publish  nothing  in  behalf  of  my 
cherished  anti-slavery  ideas,  since  a  decided  majority 
of  my  fellow-editors  would  have  certainly  refused  ad- 
mission to  any  obnoxious  article,  and  I  therefore  confined 
myself,  in  my  editorial  capacity,  to  literary  and  abstract 
matters;  but  with  my  college  exercises  it  was  different. 
Professor  Lamed,  who  was  charged  with  the  criticism 
of  our  essays  and  speeches,  though  a  very  quiet  man,  was 
at  heart,  deeply  anti-slavery,  and  therefore  it  was  that  in 
sundry  class-room  essays,  as  well  as  in  speeches  at  the 
junior  exhibition  and  at  commencement,  I  was  able  to 
pour  forth  my  ideas  against  what  was  stigmatized  as  the 
'"'sum  of  human  villainies." 

I  was  not  free  from  temptation  to  an  opposite  course. 
My  experience  at  the  college  election  had  more  than  once 
suggested  to  my  mind  the  idea  that  possibly  1  might  lxv 
wrong,  after  all  ;  that  perhaps  the  voice  of  the  people  was 
really  the  voice  of  (iod;  that  if  one  wishes  to  accomplish 
anything  he  must  work  in  harmony  with  the  popular  will; 
and  that  perhaps  the  best  way  would  be  to  conform  to 
the  general  opinion.  To  do  so  seemed,  certainly,  the  only 


EARLY  MANHOOD-1851-1857  69 

road  to  preferment  of  any  kind.  Such  were  the  tempta- 
tions which,  in  those  days,  beset  every  young  man  who 
dreamed  of  accomplishing  something  in  life,  and  they 
beset  me  in  my  turn;  but  there  came  a  day  when  I  dealt 
with  them  decisively.  I  had  come  up  across  New  Haven 
Green  thinking  them  over,  and  perhaps  paltering  rather 
contemptibly  with  my  conscience ;  but  arriving  at  the  door 
of  North  College,  I  stopped  a  moment,  ran  through  the 
whole  subject  in  an  instant,  and  then  and  there,  on  the 
stairway  leading  to  my  room,  silently  vowed  that,  come 
what  might,  I  would  never  be  an  apologist  for  slavery 
or  for  its  extension,  and  that  what  little  I  could  do  against 
both  should  be  done. 

I  may  add  that  my  conscience  was  somewhat  aided  by 
a  piece  of  casuistry  from  the  most  brilliant  scholar  in 
the  Yale  faculty  of  that  time,  Professor  James  Hadley. 
I  had  been  brought  up  with  a  strong  conviction  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  obedience  to  law  as  the  first  requirement  in 
any  State,  and  especially  in  a  Republic;  but  here  was  the 
fugitive  slave  law.  What  was  our  duty  regarding  it? 
This  question  having  come  up  in  one  of  our  division- 
room  debates,  Professor  Hadley,  presiding,  gave  a  de- 
cision to  the  following  effect :  i  l  On  the  statute  books  of  all 
countries  are  many  laws,  obsolete  and  obsolescent ;  to  dis- 
obey an  obsolete  law  is  frequently  a  necessity  and  never 
a  crime.  As  to  disobedience  to  an  obsolescent  law,  the 
question  in  every  man's  mind  must  be  as  to  the  degree 
of  its  obsolescence.  Laws  are  made  obsolescent  by  change 
of  circumstances,  by  the  growth  of  convictions  which  ren- 
der their  execution  impossible,  and  the  like.  Every  man, 
therefore,  must  solemnly  decide  for  himself  at  what  pe- 
riod a  law  is  virtually  obsolete. ' ' 

I  must  confess  that  the  doctrine  seems  to  me  now 
rather  dangerous,  but  at  that  time  I  welcomed  it  as  a  very 
serviceable  piece  of  casuistry,  and  felt  that  there  was  in- 
deed, as  Mr.  Seward  had  declared,  a  "higher  law"  than 
the  iniquitous  enactment  which  allowed  the  taking  of  a 
peaceful  citizen  back  into  slavery,  without  any  of  the 


70  POLITICAL   LIFE-II 

safeguards  which  had  been  developed  under  Anglo-Saxon 
liberty. 

Though  my  political  feelings  throughout  the  senior 
year  grew  more  and  more  intense,  there  was  no  chance 
for  their  expression  either  in  competition  for  the  Clarke 
Essay  Prize  or  for  the  De  Forest  Oration  Gold  Medal, 
the  subjects  of  both  being  assigned  by  the  faculty;  and 
though  I  afterward  had  the  satisfaction  of  taking  both 
these,  my  exultation  was  greatly  alloyed  by  the  thought 
that  the  ideas  I  most  cherished  could  find  little,  if  any, 
expression  in  them. 

But  on  Commencement  Day  my  chance  came.  Then  I 
chose  my  own  theme,  and  on  the  subject  of  "Modern 
Oracles "  poured  forth  my  views  to  a  church  full  of  peo- 
ple; many  evidently  disgusted,  but  a  few  as  evidently 
pleased.  I  dwelt  especially  upon  sundry  utterances  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  who  had  died  not  long  before,  and 
who  had  been,  during  all  his  later  years,  a  most  earnest  op- 
ponent of  slavery,  and  I  argued  that  these,  with  the  dec- 
larations of  other  statesmen  of  like  tendencies,  were  the 
oracles  to  which  the  nation  should  listen. 

Curiously  enough  this  commencement  speech  secured 
for  me  the  friendship  of  a  man  who  was  opposed  to  my 
ideas,  but  seemed  to  like  my  presenting  them  then  and 
there— the  governor  of  the  State,  Colonel  Thomas  Sey- 
mour. He  had  served  with  distinction  in  the  Mexican 
War,  had  been  elected  and  reflected,  again  and  again, 
governor  of  Connecticut,  was  devotedly  pro-slavery,  in 
the  interest,  as  he  thought,  of  preserving  the  Union ;  but 
he  remembered  my  speech,  and  afterward,  when  he  was 
made  minister  to  Kussia,  invited  me  to  go  with  him,  at- 
tached me  to  his  Legation,  and  became  one  of  the  dearest 
friends  I  have  ever  had. 

Of  the  diplomatic  phase  of  my  life  into  which  he  in- 
itiated me,  I  shall  speak  in  another  chapter;  but,  as  re- 
gards my  political  life,  he  influenced  me  decidedly,  for 
his  conversation  and  the  reading  he  suggested  led  me  to 
study  closely  the  writings  of  Jefferson.  The  impulse 


EARLY  MANHOOD-1851-1857  71 

thus  given  my  mind  was  not  spent  until  the  Civil  War, 
which,  betraying  the  ultimate  results  of  sundry  Jefferso- 
nian  ideas,  led  me  to  revise  my  opinions  somewhat  and 
to  moderate  my  admiration  for  the  founder  of  American 
'  l  Democracy, ' '  though  I  have  ever  since  retained  a  strong 
interest  in  his  teaching. 

But  deeply  as  both  the  governor  and  myself  felt  on  the 
slavery  question,  we  both  avoided  it  in  our  conversation. 
Each  knew  how  earnestly  the  other  felt  regarding  it,  and 
each,  as  if  by  instinct,  kept  clear  of  a  discussion  which 
could  not  change  our  opinions,  and  might  wreck  our 
friendship.  The  result  was,  that,  so  far  as  I  remember, 
we  never  even  alluded  to  it  during  the  whole  year  we  were 
together.  Every  other  subject  we  discussed  freely,  but 
this  we  never  touched.  The  nearest  approach  to  a  dis- 
cussion was  when  one  day  in  the  Legation  Chancery  at 
St.  Petersburg,  Mr.  Erving,  also  a  devoted  Union  pro- 
slavery  Democrat,  pointing  to  a  map  of  the  United  States 
hanging  on  the  wall,  went  into  a  rhapsody  over  the  ex- 
tension of  the  power  and  wealth  of  our  country.  I  an- 
swered, "If  our  country  could  get  rid  of  slavery  in  all 
that  beautiful  region  of  the  South,  such  a  riddance  would 
be  cheap  at  the  cost  of  fifty  thousand  lives  and  a  hun- 
dred millions  of  dollars."  At  this  Erving  burst  forth 
into  a  torrent  of  brotherly  anger.  "There  was  no  con- 
ceivable cause,"  he  said,  "worth  the  sacrifice  of  fifty 
thousand  lives,  and  the  loss  of  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars  would  mean  the  blotting  out  of  the  whole  pros- 
perity of  the  nation."  His  deep  earnestness  showed  me 
the  impossibility  of  converting  a  man  of  his  opinions, 
and  the  danger  of  wrecking  our  friendship  by  attempting 
it.  Little  did  either  of  us  dream  that  within  ten  years 
from  that  day  slavery  was  to  be  abolished  in  the  United 
States,  at  the  sacrifice  not  of  fifty  thousand,  but  of  nearly 
a  million  lives,  and  at  the  cost  not  merely  of  a  hundred 
millions,  but,  when  all  is  told,  of  at  least  ten  thousand 
millions  of  dollars! 

I  may  mention  here  that  it  was  in  this  companionship, 


72  POLITICAL  LIFE -II 

at  St.  Petersburg,  that  I  began  to  learn  why  newspaper 
criticism  has,  in  our  country,  so  little  permanent  effect  on 
the  reputation  of  eminent  men.  During  four  years  before 
coming  abroad  I  had  read,  in  leading  Republican  journals 
of  New  York  and  New  Haven,  denunciations  of  Governor 
Thomas  Hart  Seymour  as  an  ignoramus,  a  pretender, 
a  blatant  demagogue,  a  sot  and  companion  of  sots,  an 
associate,  and  fit  associate,  for  the  most  worthless  of  the 
populace.  I  had  now  found  him  a  man  of  real  convictions, 
thoroughly  a  gentleman,  quiet,  conscientious,  kindly,  stu- 
dious, thoughtful,  modest,  abstemious,  hardly  ever  touch- 
ing a  glass  of  wine,  a  man  esteemed  and  beloved  by  all 
who  really  knew  him.  Thus  was  first  revealed  to  me 
what,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  worst  evil  in  American  public 
life,— that  facility  for  unlimited  slander,  of  which  the  first 
result  is  to  degrade  our  public  men,  and  the  second  result 
is  to  rob  the  press  of  that  confidence  among  thinking 
people,  and  that  power  for  good  and  against  evil  which  it 
really  ought  to  exercise.  Since  that  time  I  have  seen 
many  other  examples  strengthening  the  same  conviction. 

Leaving  St.  Petersburg,  I  followed  historical  and,  to 
some  extent,  political  studies  at  the  University  of  Berlin, 
having  previously  given  attention  to  them  in  France ;  and 
finally,  traveling  in  Italy,  became  acquainted  with  a  man 
who  made  a  strong  impression  upon  me.  This  was 
Mr.  Robert  Dale  Owen,  then  the  American  minister  at 
Naples,  whose  pictures  of  Neapolitan  despotism,  as  it 
then  existed,  made  me  even  a  stronger  Republican  than  I 
had  been  before. 

Returning  to  America  I  found  myself  on  the  eve  of  the 
new  presidential  election.  The  Republicans  had  nom- 
inated John  C.  Fremont,  of  whom  all  I  knew  was  gathered 
from  his  books  of  travel.  The  Democrats  had  nominated 
James  Buchanan,  whom  I,  as  an  attache  of  the  legation 
at  St.  Petersburg,  had  met  while  he  was  minister  of  the 
United  States  at  London.  He  was  a  most  kindly  and 
impressive  old  gentleman,  had  welcomed  me  cordially  at 
his  legation,  and  at  a  large  dinner  given  by  Mr.  George 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851-1857  73 

Peabody,  at  that  time  the  American  Amphitryon  in  the 
British  metropolis,  discussed  current  questions  in  a  way 
that  fascinated  me.  Of  that  I  may  speak  in  another  chap- 
ter; suffice  it  here  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  attractive 
men  in  conversation  I  have  ever  met,  and  that  is  saying 
much. 

I  took  hut  slight  part  in  the  campaign ;  in  fact,  a  natural 
diffidence  kept  me  aloof  from  active  politics.  Having 
given  up  all  hope  or  desire  for  political  preferment,  and 
chosen  a  university  career,  I  merely  published  a  few  news- 
paper and  magazine  articles,  in  the  general  interest  of  anti- 
slavery  ideas,  but  made  no  speeches,  feeling  myself,  in  fact, 
unfit  to  make  them. 

But  I  shared  more  and  more  the  feelings  of  those  who 
supported  Fremont. 

Mr.  Buchanan,  though  personal  acquaintance  had 
taught  me  to  like  him  as  a  man,  and  the  reading  of  his 
despatches  in  the  archives  of  our  legation  at  St.  Peters- 
burg had  forced  me  to  respect  him  as  a  statesman,  repre- 
sented to  me  the  encroachments  and  domination  of  Ameri- 
can slavery,  while  Fremont  represented  resistance  to  such 
encroachments,  and  the  perpetuity  of  freedom  upon  the 
American  Continent. 

On  election  day,  1856,  I  went  to  the  polls  at  the  City 
Hall  of  Syracuse  to  cast  my  first  vote.  There  I  chanced 
to  meet  an  old  schoolmate  who  had  become  a  brilliant 
young  lawyer,  Victor  Gardner,  with  whom,  in  the  old 
days,  I  had  often  discussed  political  questions,  he  being 
a  Democrat  and  I  a  Eepublican.  But  he  had  now  come 
upon  new  ground,  and,  wishing  me  to  do  the  same,  he  ten- 
dered me  what  was  known  as  "The  American  Ticket, " 
bearing  at  its  head  the  name  of  Millard  Fillmore.  He 
claimed  that  it  represented  resistance  to  the  encroach- 
ments and  dangers  which  he  saw  in  the  enormous  for- 
eign immigration  of  the  period,  and  above  all  in  the  in- 
creasing despotism  of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy 
controlling  the  Irish  vote.  Most  eloquently  did  my  old 
friend  discourse  on  the  dangers  from  this  source.  He 


74  POLITICAL  LIFE-II 

insisted  that  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests  had 
wrecked  every  country  in  which  they  had  ever  gained 
control ;  that  they  had  aided  in  turning  the  mediaeval  re- 
publics into  despotisms;  that  they  had  ruined  Spain  and 
the  South  American  republics;  that  they  had  rendered 
Poland  and  Ireland  unable  to  resist  oppression ;  that  they 
had  hopelessly  enfeebled  Austria  and  Italy;  that  by  St. 
Bartholomew  massacres  and  clearing  out  of  Huguenots 
they  had  made,  first,  terrorism,  and,  finally,  despotism 
necessary  in  France ;  that  they  had  rendered  every  people 
they  had  controlled  careless  of  truth  and  inclined  to  des- 
potism,—either  of  monarchs  or  "bosses";— that  our  pris- 
ons were  filled  with  the  youth  whom  they  had  trained  in 
religion  and  morals;  that  they  were  ready  to  ravage  the 
world  with  fire  and  sword  to  gain  the  slightest  point  for 
the  Papacy ;  that  they  were  the  sworn  foes  of  our  public- 
school  system,  without  which  no  such  thing  as  republi- 
can government  could  exist  among  us ;  that,  in  fact,  their 
bishops  and  priests  were  the  enemies  of  everything  we 
Americans  should  hold  dear,  and  that  their  church  was 
not  so  much  a  religious  organization  as  a  political  con- 
spiracy against  the  best  that  mankind  had  achieved. 

"Look  at  the  Italians,  Spanish,  French  to-day, "  he 
said.  1 1  The  Church  has  had  them  under  its  complete  con- 
trol fifteen  hundred  years,  and  you  see  the  result.  Look 
at  the  Irish  all  about  us;— always  screaming  for  liberty, 
yet  the  most  abject  slaves  of  their  passions  and  of  their 
priesthood. ' ' 

He  spoke  with  the  deepest  earnestness  and  even  elo- 
quence ;  others  gathered  round,  and  some  took  his  tickets. 
I  refused  them,  saying,  "No.  The  question  of  all  ques- 
tions to  me  is  whether  slavery  or  freedom  is  to  rule  this 
Republic,"  and,  having  taken  a  Republican  ticket,  I  went 
up-stairs  to  the  polls.  On  my  arrival  at  the  ballot-box 
came  a  most  exasperating  thing.  A  drunken  Irish  Dem- 
ocrat standing  there  challenged  my  vote.  He  had,  per- 
haps, not  been  in  the  country  six  months;  I  had  lived 
in  that  very  ward  since  my  childhood,  knew  and  was 


EARLY  MANHOOD-1851-1857  75 

known  by  every  other  person  present;  and  such  was  my 
disgust  that  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  if  one  of  Gard- 
ner's tickets  had  been  in  my  pocket,  it  would  have  gone 
into  the  ballot-box.  But  persons  standing  by,— Demo- 
crats as  well  as  Republicans,— having  quieted  this  per- 
fervid  patriot,  and  saved  me  from  the  ignominy  of  swear- 
ing in  my  vote,  I  carried  out  my  original  intention,  and 
cast  my  first  vote  for  the  Republican  candidate. 

Certainly  Providence  was  kind  to  the  United  States 
in  that  contest.  For  Fremont  was  not  elected.  Looking 
back  over  the  history  of  the  United  States  I  see,  thus  far, 
no  instant  when  everything  we  hold  dear  was  so  much  in 
peril  as  on  that  election  day. 

We  of  the  Republican  party  were  fearfully  mistaken, 
and  among  many  evidences  in  history  that  there  is  "a 
Power  in  the  universe,  not  ourselves,  which  makes  for 
righteousness,"  I  think  that  the  non-election  of  Fremont 
is  one  of  the  most  convincing.  His  election  would  have 
precipitated  the  contest  brought  on  four  years  later  by 
the  election  of  Lincoln.  But  the  Northern  States  had  in 
1856  no  such  preponderance  as  they  had  four  years  later. 
No  series  of  events  had  then  occurred  to  arouse  and  con- 
solidate anti-slavery  feeling  like  those  between  1856  and 
1860.  Moreover,  of  all  candidates  for  the  Presidency  ever 
formally  nominated  by  either  of  the  great  parties  up  to 
that  time,  Fremont  was  probably  the  most  unfit.  He  had  , 
gained  credit  for  his  expedition  across  the  plains  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  deservedly ;  his  popular  name  of  "  Pathfinder  " 
might  have  been  of  some  little  use  in  a  political  campaign, 
and  some  romantic  interest  attached  to  him  on  account  of 
his  marriage  with  Jessie  Benton,  daughter  of  the  burly, 
doughty,  honest-purposed,  headstrong  senator  from  Mis- 
souri. But  his  earlier  career,  when  closely  examined,  and, 
even  more  than  that,  his  later  career,  during  the  Civil 
War,  showed  doubtful  fitness  for  any  duties  demanding 
clear  purpose,  consecutive  thought,  adhesion  to  a  broad 
policy,  wisdom  in  counsel,  or  steadiness  in  action.  Had 
he  been  elected  in  1856  one  of  two  things  would  un- 


76  POLITICAL   LIFE-II 

doubtedly  have  followed:  either  the  Union  would  have 
been  permanently  dissolved,  or  it  would  have  been  re- 
established by  anchoring  slavery  forever  in  the  Consti- 
tution. Never  was  there  a  greater  escape. 

On  March  1,  1857,  I  visited  Washington  for  the  first 
time.  It  was  indeed  the  first  time  I  had  ever  trodden 
the  soil  of  a  slave  State,  and,  going  through  Baltimore, 
a  sense  of  this  gave  me  a  feeling  of  horror.  The  whole 
atmosphere  of  that  city  seemed  gloomy,  and  the  city  of 
Washington  no  better.  Our  little  company  established 
itself  at  the  National  Hotel  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  then 
a  famous  hostelry.  Henry  Clay  had  died  there  not  long 
before,  and  various  eminent  statesmen  had  made  it,  and 
were  then  making  it,  their  headquarters. 

On  the  evening  of  my  arrival  a  curious  occurrence 
showed  me  the  difference  between  Northern  and  Southern 
civilization.  As  I  sat  in  the  reading-room,  there  rattled 
upon  my  ear  utterances  betokening  a  vigorous  dispute  in 
the  adjoining  bar-room,  and,  as  they  were  loud  and  long, 
I  rose  and  walked  toward  the  disputants,  as  men  are  wont 
to  do  on  such  occasions  in  the  North;  when,  to  my  sur- 
prise I  found  that,  though  the  voices  were  growing  stead- 
ily louder,  people  were  very  generally  leaving  the  room; 
presently,  the  reason  dawned  upon  me:  it  was  a  case  in 
which  revolvers  might  be  drawn  at  any  moment,  and  the 
bystanders  evidently  thought  life  and  limb  more  valuable 
than  any  information  they  were  likely  to  obtain  by  re- 
maining. 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  of  March  I  went  with  the 
crowd  to  the  White  House.  We  were  marshalled  through 
the  halls,  President  Pierce  standing  in  the  small  chamber 
adjoining  the  East  Room  to  receive  the  guests,  around 
him  being  members  of  the  Cabinet,  with  others  distin- 
guished in  the  civil,  military,  and  naval  service,  and, 
among  them,  especially  prominent,  Senator  Douglas,  then 
at  the  height  of  his  career.  Persons  in  the  .procession 
were  formally  presented,  receiving  a  kindly  handshake, 
and  then  allowed  to  pass  on.  My  abhorrence  of  the  Presi- 


EARLY   MANHOOD-1851-1S57  77 

dent  and  of  Douglas  was  so  bitter  that  I  did  a  thing  for 
which  the  only  excuse  was  my  youth:— I  held  my  right 
hand  by  my  side,  walked  by  and  refused  to  be  presented. 

Next  morning  I  was  in  the  crowd  at  the  east  front  of  the 
Capitol,  and,  at  the  time  appointed,  Mr.  Buchanan  came 
forth  and  took  the  oath  administered  to  him  by  the  Chief 
Justice,  Roger  Brooke  Taney  of  Maryland.  Though 
Taney  was  very  decrepit  and  feeble,  I  looked  at  him  much 
as  a  Spanish  Protestant  in  the  sixteenth  century  would 
have  looked  at  Torquemada;  for,  as  Chief  Justice,  he 
was  understood  to  be  in  the  forefront  of  those  who  would 
fasten  African  slavery  on  the  whole  country;  and  this 
yiew  of  him  seemed  justified  when,  two  days  after  the 
inauguration,  he  gave  forth  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
which  interpreted  the  Constitution  in  accordance  with 
the  ultra  pro-slavery  theory  of  Calhoun. 

Having  taken  the  oath,  Mr.  Buchanan  delivered  the  in- 
augural address,  and  it  made  a  deep  impression  upon  me. 
I  began  to  suspect  then,  and  I  fully  believe  now,  that 
he  was  sincere,  as,  indeed,  were  most  of  those  whom 
men  of  my  way  of  thinking  in  those  days  attacked  as 
pro-slavery  tools  and  ridiculed  as  "  doughfaces. ' '  We 
who  had  lived  remote  from  the  scene  of  action,  and  apart 
from  pressing  responsibility,  had  not  realized  the  dan- 
ger of  civil  war  and  disunion.  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  men 
like  him,  in  Congress,  constantly  associating  with  South- 
ern men,  realized  both  these  dangers.  They  honestly  and 
patriotically  shrank  from  this  horrible  prospect;  and  so, 
had  we  realized  what  was  to  come,  would  most  of  us  have 
done.  I  did  not  see  this  then,  but  looking  back  across 
the  abyss  of  years  I  distinctly  see  it  now.  The  leaders 
on  both  sides  were  honest  and  patriotic,  and,  as  I  firmly 
believe,  instruments  of  that  "Power  in  the  universe,  not 
ourselves,  which  makes  for  righteousness. " 

There  was  in  Mr.  Buchanan's  inaugural  address  a  tone 
of  deep  earnestness.  He  declared  that  all  his  efforts 
should  be  given  to  restore  the  Union,  and  to  reestablish 
it  upon  permanent  foundations;  besought  his  fellow-citi- 


78  POLITICAL  LIFE-II 

zens  throughout  the  Union  to  second  him  in  this  effort, 
and  promised  that  under  no  circumstances  would  he  be 
a  candidate  for  reelection.  My  anti-slavery  feelings  re- 
mained as  deep  as  ever,  but,  hearing  this  speech,  there 
came  into  my  mind  an  inkling  of  the  truth:  "Hinter  dem 
Berge  sind  auch  Leute." 

During  my  stay  in  Washington  I  several  times  visited 
the  Senate  and  the  House,  in  the  old  quarters  which  they 
shortly  afterward  vacated  in  order  to  enter  the  more 
commodious  rooms  of  the  Capitol,  then  nearly  finished. 
The  Senate  was  in  the  room  at  present  occupied  by  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  from  the  gallery  I  looked  down 
upon  it  with  mingled  feelings  of  awe,  distrust,  and  aver- 
sion. There,  as  its  president,  sat  Mason  of  Virginia, 
author  of  the  fugitive  slave  law;  there,  at  the  desk  in 
front  of  him,  sat  Cass  of  Michigan,  who,  for  years,  had 
been  especially  subservient  to  the  slave  power;  Douglas 
of  Illinois,  who  had  brought  about  the  destruction  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise;  Butler  of  South  Carolina,  who 
represented  in  perfection  the  slave-owning  aristocracy; 
Slidell  and  Benjamin  of  Louisiana,  destined  soon  to  play 
leading  parts  in  the  disruption  of  the  Union. 

But  there  were  others.  There  was  Seward,  of  my  own 
State,  whom  I  had  been  brought  up  to  revere,  and  who 
seemed  to  me,  in  the  struggle  then  going  on,  the  incar- 
nation of  righteousness;  there  was  Charles  Sumner  of 
Massachusetts,  just  recovering  from  the  murderous 
blows  given  him  by  Preston  Brooks  of  South  Carolina, 
—a  martyr,  as  I  held,  to  his  devotion  to  freedom;  there 
was  John  Parker  Hale  of  New  Hampshire,  who  had 
been  virtually  threatened  with  murder,  as  a  penalty  for 
his  opposition  to  slavery;  and  there  was  bluff  Ben  Wade 
of  Ohio,  whose  courage  strengthened  the  whole  North. 

The  House  of  Representatives  interested  me  less.  In 
it  there  sat  various  men  now  mainly  passed  out  of 
human  memory;  and,  unfortunately,  the  hall,  though 
one  of  the  finest,  architecturally,  in  the  world,  was  one 
of  the  least  suited  to  its  purpose.  To  hear  anything 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851-1857  79 

either  in  the  galleries  or  on  the  floor  was  almost  an 
impossibility. 

The  Supreme  Court,  though  sitting  in  a  wretched 
room  in  the  basement,  made  a  far  deeper  impression 
upon  me.  The  judges,  seated  in  a  row,  and  wearing 
their  simple,  silken  gowns,  seemed  to  me,  in  their  quiet 
dignity,  what  the  highest  court  of  a  great  republic  ought 
to  be;  though  I  looked  at  Chief  Justice  Taney  and  his 
pro-slavery  associates  much  as  a  Hindoo  regards  his 
destructive  gods. 

The  general  impression  made  upon  me  at  Washington 
was  discouraging.  It  drove  out  from  my  mind  the  last 
lingering  desire  to  take  any  part  in  politics.  The  whole 
life  there  was  repulsive  to  me,  and  when  I  reflected  that 
a  stay  of  a  few  years  in  that  forlorn,  decaying,  reeking 
city  was  the  goal  of  political  ambition,  the  whole  thing 
seemed  to  me  utterly  worthless.  The  whole  life  there 
bore  the  impress  of  the  slipshod  habits  engendered  by 
slavery,  and  it  seemed  a  civilization  rotting  before  ripe- 
ness. The  city  was  certainly,  at  that  time,  the  most 
wretched  capital  in  Christendom.  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
was  a  sort  of  Slough  of  Despond,— with  ruts  and  mud- 
holes  from  the  unfinished  Capitol,  at  one  end,  to  the  un- 
finished Treasury  building,  at  the  other,  and  bounded 
on  both  sides  with  cheap  brick  tenements.  The  exten- 
sive new  residence  quarter  and  better  hotels  of  these 
days  had  not  been  dreamed  of.  The  "National,"  where 
we  were  living,  was  esteemed  the  best  hotel,  and  it  was 
abominable.  Just  before  we  arrived,  what  was  known 
as  the  "National  Hotel  Disease "  had  broken  out  in  it; — 
by  some  imputed  to  an  attempt  to  poison  the  incoming 
President,  in  order  to  bring  the  Vice-President  into  his 
place.  But  that  was  the  mere  wild  surmise  of  a  polit- 
ical pessimist.  The  fact  clearly  was  that  the  wretched 
sewage  of  Washington,  in  those  days,  which  was  betrayed 
in  all  parts  of  the  hotel  by  every  kind  of  noisome  odor, 
had  at  last  begun  to  do  its  work.  Curiously  enough  there 
was  an  interregnum  in  the  reign  of  sickness  and  death, 


80  POLITICAL  LIFE-II 

probably  owing  to  some  temporary  sanitary  efforts,  and 
that  interregnum,  fortunately  for  us,  was  coincident  with 
our  stay  there.  But  the  disease  set  in  again  shortly  after- 
ward, and  a  college  friend  of  mine,  who  arrived  on  the 
day  of  our  departure,  was  detained  in  the  hotel  for  many 
weeks  with  the  fever  then  contracted.  The  number  of 
deaths  was  considerable,  but,  in  the  interest  of  the  hotel, 
the  matter  was  hushed  up,  as  far  as  possible. 

The  following  autumn  I  returned  to  New  Haven  as  a 
resident  graduate,  and,  the  popular  lecture  system  being 
then  at  its  height,  was  invited  to  become  one  of  the  lec- 
turers in  the  course  of  that  winter.  I  prepared  my 
discourse  with  great  care,  basing  it  upon  studies  and 
observations  during  my  recent  stay  in  the  land  of  the 
Czar,  and  gave  it  the  title  of  "Civilization  in  Russia." 

I  remember  feeling  greatly  honored  by  the  fact  that 
my  predecessor  in  the  course  was  Theodore  Parker,  and 
my  successor  Ealph  Waldo  Emerson.  Both  talked  with 
me  much  about  my  subject,  and  Parker  surprised  me. 
He  was  the  nearest  approach  to  omniscience  I  had  ever 
seen.  He  was  able  to  read,  not  only  Russian,  but  the 
Old  Slavonic.  He  discussed  the  most  intimate  details  of 
things  in  Russia,  until,  at  last,  I  said  to  him,  "Mr. 
Parker,  I  would  much  rather  sit  at  your  feet  and  listen 
to  your  information  regarding  Russia,  than  endeavor 
to  give  you  any  of  my  own."  He  was  especially  in- 
terested in  the  ethnology  of  the  empire,  and  had  an 
immense  knowledge  of  the  different  peoples  inhabiting 
it,  and  of  their  characteristics.  Finally,  he  asked  me 
what  chance  I  thought  there  was  for  the  growth  of 
anything  like  free  institutions  in  Russia.  To  this  I  an- 
swered that  the  best  thing  they  had  was  their  system 
of  local  peasant  meetings  for  the  repartition  of  their 
lands,  and  for  the  discussion  of  subjects  connected  with 
them,  and  that  this  seemed  to  me  something  like  a  germ 
of  what  might,  in  future  generations,  become  a  sort  of 
town-meeting  system,  like  that  of  New  England.  This 
let  me  out  of  the  discussion  very  satisfactorily,  for 


EARLY  MANHOOD -1851-1857  81 

Parker  told  me  that  he  had  arrived  at  the  same  conclu- 
sion, after  talking  with  Count  Gurowski,  who  was,  in 
those  days,  an  especial  authority. 

In  due  time  came  the  evening  for  my  lecture.  As  it 
was  the  first  occasion  since  leaving  college  that  I  had 
appeared  on  any  stage,  a  considerable  number  of  my  old 
college  associates  and  friends,  including  Professor  (af- 
terward President)  Porter,  Dr.  Bacon,  and  Mr.  (afterward 
Bishop)  Littlejohn,  were  there  among  the  foremost,  and 
after  I  had  finished  they  said  some  kindly  things,  which 
encouraged  me. 

In  this  lecture  I  made  no  mention  of  American  slavery, 
but  into  an  account  of  the  events  of  my  stay  at  St. 
Petersburg  and  Moscow  during  the  Crimean  War,  and 
of  the  death  and  funeral  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  with 
the  accession  and  first  public  address  of  Alexander  II, 
I  sketched,  in  broad  strokes,  the  effects  of  the  serf  sys- 
tem,—effects  not  merely  upon  the  serfs,  but  upon  the 
serf  owners,  and  upon  the  whole  condition  of  the  em- 
pire. I  made  it  black  indeed,  as  it  deserved,  and  though 
not  a  word  was  said  regarding  things  in  America,  every 
thoughtful  man  present  must  have  felt  that  it  was  the 
strongest  indictment  against  our  own  system  of  slavery 
which  my  powers  enabled  me  to  make. 

Next  day  came  a  curious  episode.  A  classmate  of  mine, 
never  distinguished  for  logical  acuteness,  came  out  in  a 
leading  daily  paper  with  a  violent  attack  upon  me  and 
my  lecture.  He  lamented  the  fact  that  one  who,  as  he  said, 
had,  while  in  college,  shown  much  devotion  to  the  anti- 
slavery  cause,  had  now  faced  about,  had  no  longer  the 
courage  of  his  opinions,  and  had  not  dared  say  a  word 
against  slavery  in  the  United  States.  The  article  was 
laughable.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  attack  slavery  and 
thus  at  once  shut  the  minds  and  hearts  of  a  large  majority 
of  the  audience.  But  I  felt  then,  as  I  have  generally  felt 
since,  that  the  first  and  best  thing  to  do  is  to  set  people  at 
thinking,  and  to  let  them  discover,  or  think  that  they  dis- 
cover, the  truth  for  themselves.  I  made  no  reply,  but  an 

I.— 6 


82  POLITICAL   LIFE -II 

eminent  clergyman  of  New  Haven  took  up  the  cudgels  in 
my  favor,  covered  my  opponent  with  ridicule,  and  did  me 
the  honor  to  declare  that  my  lecture  was  one  of  the  most 
effective  anti-slavery  arguments  ever  made  in  that  city. 
With  this,  I  retired  from  the  field  well  satisfied. 

The  lecture  was  asked  for  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, was  delivered  at  various  colleges  and  universities,  and 
in  many  cities  of  western  New  York,  Michigan,  and  Ohio ; 
and  finally,  after  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  was  re- 
cast and  republished  in  the  "Atlantic  Monthly "  under  the 
title  of  "The  Eise  and  Decline  of  the  Serf  System  in 
Kussia. ' ' 

And  now  occurred  a  great  change  in  my  career  which, 
as  I  fully  believed,  was  to  cut  me  off  from  all  political  life 
thoroughly  and  permanently.  This  was  my  election  to 
the  professorship  of  history  and  English  literature  in  the 
University  of  Michigan. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD— 1857-1864 

A  REIVING  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in  October, 
XJL  1857,  I  threw  myself  into  my  new  work  most  hear- 
tily. Though  I  felt  deeply  the  importance  of  the  ques- 
tions then  before  the  country,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  only 
way  in  which  I  could  contribute  anything  to  their  solution 
was  in  aiding  to  train  up  a  new  race  of  young  men  who 
should  understand  our  own  time  and  its  problems  in  the 
light  of  history. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  point  out  many  things  in  the  past 
that  had  an  important  bearing  upon  the  present,  and  my 
main  work  in  this  line  was  done  in  my  lecture-room.  I 
made  no  attempts  to  proselyte  any  of  my  hearers  to  either 
political  party,  my  main  aim  being  then,  as  it  has  been 
through  my  life,  when  dealing  with  students  and  the  pub- 
lic at  large,  to  set  my  audience  or  my  readers  at  thinking, 
and  to  give  them  fruitful  historical  subjects  to  think 
upon.  Among  these  subjects  especially  brought  out  in 
dealing  with  the  middle  ages,  was  the  origin,  growth,  and 
decline  of  feudalism,  and  especially  of  the  serf  system, 
and  of  municipal  liberties  as  connected  with  it.  This,  of 
course,  had  a  general  bearing  upon  the  important  problem 
we  had  to  solve  in  the  United  States  during  the  second  half 
of  that  century. 

In  my  lectures  on  modern  history,  and  especially  on  the 
Reformation  period,  and  the  events  which  led  to  the 
French  Revolution,  there  were  various  things  throwing 
light  upon  our  own  problems,  which  served  my  purpose 
of  arousing  thought.  My  audiences  were  large  and  at- 
tentive, and  I  have  never,  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life, 


84  POLITICAL   LIFE-III 

enjoyed  any  work  so  much  as  this,  which  brought  me  into 
hearty  and  close  relations  with  a  large  body  of  active- 
minded  students  from  all  parts  of  our  country,  and  es- 
pecially from  the  Northwest.  More  and  more  I  realized 
the  justice  of  President  Wayland's  remark,  which  had  so 
impressed  me  at  the  Yale  Alumni  meeting  just  after  my 
return  from  Europe:  that  the  nation  was  approaching 
a  " switching-off  place' ';  that  whether  we  were  to  turn 
toward  evil  or  good  in  our  politics  would  be  decided  by  the 
great  Northwest,  and  that  it  would  be  well  for  young 
Americans  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  that  part  of  the  country. 

In  the  intervals  of  my  university  work  many  invitations 
came  to  me  from  associations  in  various  parts  of  Michigan 
and  neighboring  States  to  lecture  before  them,  and  these 
I  was  glad  to  accept.  Such  lectures  were  of  a  much  more 
general  character  than  those  given  in  the  university,  but 
by  them  I  sought  to  bring  the  people  at  large  into  trains 
of  thought  which  would  fit  them  to  grapple  with  the  great 
question  which  was  rising  more  and  more  portentously 
before  us. 

Having  accepted,  in  one  of  my  vacations,  an  invitation 
to  deliver  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Commencement  Address 
at  Yale,  I  laid  down  as  my  thesis,  and  argued  it  from  his- 
tory, that  in  all  republics,  ancient  or  modern,  the  worst 
foe  of  freedom  had  been  a  man-owning  aristocracy— an 
aristocracy  based  upon  slavery.  The  address  was  circu- 
lated in  printed  form,  was  considerably  discussed,  and,  I 
trust,  helped  to  set  some  few  people  thinking. 

For  the  same  purpose  I  also  threw  some  of  my  lectures 
into  the  form  of  magazine  articles  for  the  "Atlantic 
Monthly,"  and  especially  one  entitled  "The  Statesman- 
ship of  Kichelieu, ' '  my  effort  in  this  being  to  show  that  the 
one  great  error  of  that  greatest  of  all  French  statesmen 
was  in  stopping  short  of  rooting  out  the  serf  system  in 
France  when  he  had  completely  subjugated  the  serf  own- 
ers and  had  them  at  his  mercy. 

As  the  year  1860  approached,  the  political  struggle  be- 
came more  and  more  bitter.  President  Buchanan  in  re- 


THE   CIVIL   WAR   PERIOD -1857-1864  85 

deeming  his  promise  to  maintain  the  Union  had  gone  to 
lengths  which  startled  and  disappointed  many  of  his  most 
devoted  supporters.  Civil  war  had  broken  out  in  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  with  murder  and  massacre:  desperate  at- 
tempts were  made  to  fasten  the  hold  of  the  pro-slavery 
party  permanently  upon  the  State,  and  as  desperately  were 
these  efforts  repelled.  A  certain  John  Brown,  who  re- 
quited assassination  of  free-state  men  by  the  assassination 
of  slave-state  men,— a  very  ominous  appearance,— began 
to  be  heard  of;  men  like  Professor  Silliman,  who,  during 
my  stay  at  Yale  had  spoken  at  Union  meetings  in  favor  of 
the  new  compromise  measures,  even  including  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  now  spoke  publicly  in  favor  of  sending  rifles  to 
the  free-state  men  in  Kansas ;  and,  most  striking  symptom 
of  all,  Stephen  A.  Douglas  himself,  who  had  led  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  breaking  the  Missouri  Compromise,  now 
recoiled  from  the  ultra  pro-slavery  propaganda  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan.  Then,  too,  came  a  new  incitement  to  bit- 
terness between  North  and  South.  John  Brown,  the 
man  of  Scotch-Covenanter  type,  who  had  imbibed  his 
theories  of  political  methods  from  the  Old-Testament  an- 
nals of  Jewish  dealings  with  the  heathen,  and  who  had  in 
Kansas  solemnly  slaughtered  in  cold  blood,  as  a  sort  of 
sacrifice  before  the  Lord,  sundry  Missouri  marauders  who 
had  assassinated  free-state  men,  suddenly  appeared  in 
Virginia,  and  there,  at  Harper 's  Ferry,  with  a  handful  of 
fanatics  subject  to  his  powerful  will,  raised  the  standard 
of  revolution  against  the  slave-power.  Of  course  he  was 
easily  beaten  down,  his  forces  scattered,  those  dearest  to 
him  shot,  and  he  himself  hanged.  But  he  was  a  character 
of  antique  mold,  and  this  desperate  effort  followed  by  his 
death,  while  it  exasperated  the  South,  stirred  the  North  to 
its  depths. 

Like  all  such  efforts,  it  was  really  mistaken  and  unfortu- 
nate. It  helped  to  obscure  Henry  Clay's  proposal  to  ex- 
tinguish slavery  peaceably,  and  made  the  solution  of  the 
problem  by  bloodshed  more  and  more  certain.  And  in  the 
execution  of  John  Brown  was  lost  a  man  who,  had  he 


86  POLITICAL  LIFE-III 

lived  until  the  Civil  War,  might  have  rendered  enormous 
services  as  a  partizan  leader.  Of  course,  his  action  aroused 
much  thought  among  my  students,  and  their  ideas  came 
out  in  their  public  discussions.  It  was  part  of  my  duty, 
once  or  twice  a  week,  to  preside  over  these  discussions,  and 
to  decide  between  the  views  presented.  In  these  decisions 
on  the  political  questions  now  arising  I  became  deeply  in- 
terested, and  while  I  was  careful  not  to  give  them  a  parti- 
zan character,  they  were,  of  course,  opposed  to  the  domi- 
nance of  slavery. 

In  the  spring  of  1860,  the  Republican  National  Conven- 
tion was  held  at  Chicago,  and  one  fine  morning  I  went  to 
the  railway  station  to  greet  the  New  York  delegation  on 
its  way  thither.  Among  the  delegates  whom  I  especially 
recall  were  William  M.  Evarts,  under  whose  Secretary- 
ship of  State  I  afterward  served  as  minister  at  Berlin, 
and  my  old  college  friend,  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  with 
whom  I  was  later  in  close  relations  during  his  term  as 
lieutenant-governor  of  New  York  and  minister  to  Spain. 
The  candidate  of  these  New  York  delegates  was  of  course 
Mr.  Seward,  and  my  most  devout  hopes  were  with  him, 
but  a  few  days  later  came  news  that  the  nomination  had 
been  awarded  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Him  we  had  come  to  know 
and  admire  during  his  debates  with  Douglas  while  the 
senatorial  contest  was  going  on  in  the  State  of  Illinois; 
still  the  defeat  of  Mr.  Seward  was  a  great  disappointment, 
and  hardly  less  so  in  Michigan  than  in  New  York.  In  the 
political  campaign  which  followed  I  took  no  direct  part, 
though  especially  aroused  by  the  speeches  of  a  new  man 
who  had  just  appeared  above  the  horizon,— Carl  Schurz. 
His  arguments  seemed  to  me  by  far  the  best  of  that  whole 
campaign— the  broadest,  the  deepest,  and  the  most  con- 
vincing. 

My  dear  and  honored  father,  during  the  months  of  July, 
August,  and  the  first  days  of  September,  was  slowly  fad- 
ing away  on  his  death-bed.  Yet  he  was  none  the  less  in- 
terested in  the  question  at  issue,  and  every  day  I  sat  by 
his  bedside  and  read  to  him  the  literature  bearing  upon 


THE   CIVIL   WAR  PERIOD-1857-1864  87 

the  contest;  but  of  all  the  speeches  he  best  liked  those  of 
this  new  orator— he  preferred  them,  indeed,  to  those  of  his 
idol  Seward. 

I  have  related  in  another  place  how,  years  afterward, 
Bismarck  asked  me,  in  Berlin,  to  what  Carl  Schurz's  great 
success  in  America  was  due,  and  my  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. 

Mr.  Lincoln  having  been  elected,  I  went  on  with  my 
duties  as  before,  but  the  struggle  was  rapidly  deepening. 
Soon  came  premonitions  of  real  conflict,  and,  early  in  the 
following  spring,  civil  war  was  upon  us.  My  teaching 
went  on,  as  of  old,  but  it  became  more  direct.  In  order 
to  show  what  the  maintenance  of  a  republic  was  worth, 
and  what  patriots  had  been  willing  to  do  for  their  country 
in  a  struggle  not  unlike  ours,  I  advised  my  students  to  read 
Motley's  "History  of  the  Dutch  Republic,"  and  I  still 
think  it  was  good  advice.  Other  works,  of  a  similar  char- 
acter, showing  how  free  peoples  have  conducted  long  and 
desperate  wars  for  the  maintenance  of  their  national  exis- 
tence and  of  liberty,  I  also  recommended,  and  with  good 
effect. 

Reverses  came.  During  part  of  my  vacation,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1861, 1  was  at  Syracuse,  and  had,  as  my  guest,  Mr. 
George  Sumner,  younger  brother  of  the  eminent  senator 
from  Massachusetts,  a  man  who  had  seen  much  of  the 
world,  had  written  magazine  articles  and  reviews  which 
had  done  him  credit,  and  whose  popular  lectures  were 
widely  esteemed.  One  Sunday  afternoon  in  June  my 
uncle,  Mr.  Hamilton  White,  dropped  in  at  my  house  to 
make  a  friendly  call.  He  had  just  returned  from  Wash- 
ington, where  he  had  seen  his  old  friend  Seward,  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's  Secretary  of  State,  and  felt  able  to  give  us  a  fore- 
cast of  the  future.  This  uncle  of  mine  was  a  thoughtful 
man  of  affairs;  successful  in  business,  excellent  in  judg- 
ment, not  at  all  prone  to  sanguine  or  flighty  views,  and  on 
our  asking  him  how  matters  looked  in  Washington  he 
said,  " Depend  upon  it,  it  is  all  right:  Seward  says  that 
they  have  decided  to  end  the  trouble  at  once,  even  if  it  is 


88  POLITICAL   LIFE-III 

necessary  to  raise  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men;— that 
they  will  send  troops  immediately  to  Richmond  and  finish 
the  whole  thing  at  once,  so  that  the  country  can  go  on 
quietly  about  its  business. " 

There  was,  of  course,  something  reassuring  in  so  fa- 
vorable a  statement  made  by  a  sensible  man  fresh  from 
the  most  accredited  sources,  and  yet  I  could  not  resist 
grave  doubts.  Such  historical  knowledge  as  I  possessed 
taught  me  that  a  struggle  like  that  just  beginning  between 
two  great  principles,  both  of  which  had  been  gathering 
force  for  nearly  a  century,  and  each  of  which  had  drawn 
to  its  support  millions  of  devoted  men,  was  not  to  be  ended 
so  easily ;  but  I  held  my  peace. 

Next  day  I  took  Mr.  Sumner  on  an  excursion  up  the 
beautiful  Onondaga  Valley.  As  we  drove  through  the 
streets  of  Syracuse,  noticing  knots  of  men  gathered  here 
and  there  in  discussion,  and  especially  at  the  doors  of  the 
news  offices,  we  secured  an  afternoon  newspaper  and  drove 
on,  engaged  in  earnest  conversation.  It  was  a  charming 
day,  and  as  we  came  to  the  shade  of  some  large  trees  about 
two  miles  from  the  city  we  rested  and  I  took  out  the  paper. 
It  struck  me  like  death.  There,  displayed  in  all  its  hor- 
rors, was  the  first  account  of  the  Battle  of  Bull  Run,— 
which  had  been  fought  the  previous  afternoon,— exactly 
at  the  time  when  my  uncle  was  assuring  us  that  the  United 
States  Army  was  to  march  at  once  to  Richmond  and  end 
the  war.  The  catastrophe  seemed  fatal.  The  plans  of 
General  McDowell  had  come  utterly  to  nought ;  our  army 
had  been  scattered  to  the  four  winds;  large  numbers  of 
persons,  including  sundry  members  of  Congress  who  had 
airily  gone  out  with  the  army  to  "see  the  fun,"  among 
them  one  from  our  own  neighborhood,  Mr.  Alfred  Ely, 
of  Rochester,  had  been  captured  and  sent  to  Richmond, 
and  the  rebels  were  said  to  be  in  full  march  on  the  National 
Capital. 

Sumner  was  jubilant.  "This,"  he  said,  "will  make  the 
American  people  understand  what  they  have  to  do ;  this 
will  stop  talk  such  as  your  uncle  gave  us  yesterday  after- 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD— 1857-1864  89 

noon."  But  to  me  it  was  a  fearful  moment.  Sumner's 
remarks  grated  horribly  upon  my  ears;  true  as  his  view 
was,  I  could  not  yet  accept  it. 

And  now  preparations  for  war,  and,  indeed,  for  repel- 
ling invasion,  began  in  earnest.  My  friends  all  about  me 
were  volunteering,  and  I  also  volunteered,  but  was  re- 
jected with  scorn ;  the  examining  physician  saying  to  me, 
"You  will  be  a  burden  upon  the  government  in  the  first 
hospital  you  reach;  you  have  not  the  constitution  to  be 
of  use  in  carrying  a  musket ;  your  work  must  be  of  a  dif- 
ferent sort." 

My  work,  then,  through  the  summer  was  with  those  who 
sought  to  raise  troops  and  to  provide  equipments  for 
them.  There  was  great  need  of  this,  and,  in  my  opinion, 
the  American  people  have  never  appeared  to  better  ad- 
vantage than  at  that  time,  when  they  began  to  realize  their 
duty,  and  to  set  themselves  at  doing  it.  In  every  city, 
village,  and  hamlet,  men  and  women  took  hold  of  the  work, 
feeling  that  the  war  was  their  own  personal  business.  No 
other  country  since  the  world  began  has  ever  seen  a  more 
noble  outburst  of  patriotism  or  more  efficient  aid  by  in- 
dividuals to  their  government.  The  National  and  State 
authorities  of  course  did  everything  in  their  power;  but 
men  and  women  did  not  wait  for  them.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  those  whose  bitter  partizanship  led  them  to  oppose 
the  war  in  all  its  phases,  men,  women,  and  children  en- 
gaged heartily  and  efficiently  in  efforts  to  aid  the  Union 
in  its  struggle. 

Various  things  showed  the  depths  of  this  feeling.  I 
remember  meeting  one  day,  at  that  period,  a  man  who  had 
risen  by  hard  work  from  simple  beginnings  to  the  head 
of  an  immense  business,  and  had  made  himself  a  multi- 
millionaire. He  was  a  hard,  determined,  shrewd  man  of 
affairs,  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  show  anything  like 
sentimentalism,  and  as  he  said  something  advising  an  in- 
vestment in  the  newly  created  National  debt,  I  answered, 
"You  are  not,  then,  one  of  those  who  believe  that  our 
new  debt  will  be  repudiated  I ' '  He  answered :  '  '  Eepudia- 


90  POLITICAL  LIFE-III 

tion  or  no  repudiation,  I  am  putting  everything  I  can  rake 
and  scrape  together  into  National  bonds,  to  help  this 
government  maintain  itself;  for,  by  G— d,  if  I  am  not 
to  have  any  country,  I  don't  want  any  money. "  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  this  oath,  bursting  forth  from  a  patriotic 
heart,  was,  like  Uncle  Toby's,  blotted  out  by  the  record- 
ing angel.  I  have  quoted  it  more  than  once  to  show  how 
the  average  American— though  apparently  a  crude  mate- 
rialist—is, at  heart,  a  thorough  idealist. 

Keturning  to  the  University  of  Michigan  at  the  close 
of  the  vacation,  I  found  that  many  of  my  students  had  en- 
listed, and  that  many  more  were  preparing  to  do  so.  With 
some  it  was  hard  indeed.  I  remember  two  especially,  who 
had  for  years  labored  and  saved  to  raise  the  money  which 
would  enable  them  to  take  their  university  course;  they 
had  hesitated,  for  a  time,  to  enlist;  but  very  early  one 
morning  I  was  called  out  of  bed  by  a  message  from  them, 
and,  meeting  them,  found  them  ready  to  leave  for  the 
army.  They  could  resist  their  patriotic  convictions  no 
longer,  and  they  had  come  to  say  good-bye  to  me.  They 
went  into  the  war ;  they  fought  bravely  through  the  thick- 
est of  it;  and  though  one  was  badly  wounded,  both  lived 
to  return,  and  are  to-day  honored  citizens.  With  many 
others  it  was  different;  many,  very  many  of  them,  alas, 
were  among  the  ' '  unreturning  brave ! ' '  and  loveliest  and 
noblest  of  all,  my  dear  friend  and  student,  Frederick Arne, 
of  Princeton,  Illinois,  killed  in  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  war,  when  all  was  blackness  and  dis- 
couragement. Another  of  my  dearest  students  at  that  time 
was  Albert  Nye.  Scholarly,  eloquent,  noble-hearted,  with 
every  gift  to  ensure  success  in  civil  life,  he  went  forth 
with  the  others,  rose  to  be  captain  of  a  company,  and  I 
think  major  of  a  regiment.  He  sent  me  most  kindly  mes- 
sages, and  at  one  time  a  bowie-knife  captured  from  a  rebel 
soldier.  But,  alas !  he  was  not  to  return. 

I  may  remark,  in  passing,  that  while  these  young  men 
from  the  universities,  and  a  vast  host  of  others  from  dif- 
ferent walks  of  life,  were  going  forth  to  lay  down  their 


THE   CIVIL   WAR  PERIOD -1857-1864  91 

lives  for  their  country,  the  English'  press,  almost  without 
exception,  from  the  ' l  Times ' '  down,  was  insisting  that  we 
were  fighting  our  battles  with  ' '  mercenaries. " 

One  way  in  which  those  of  us  who  remained  at  the  uni- 
versity helped  the  good  cause  was  in  promoting  the  mili- 
tary drill  of  those  who  had  determined  to  become  soldiers. 
It  was  very  difficult  to  secure  the  proper  military  instruc- 
tion, but  in  Detroit  I  found  a  West  Point  graduate,  engaged 
him  to  come  out  a  certain  number  of  times  every  week  to 
drill  the  students,  and  he  cheered  us  much  by  saying  that 
he  had  never  in  his  life  seen  soldiers  so  much  in  earnest, 
and  so  rapid  in  making  themselves  masters  of  the  drill 
and  tactics. 

One  of  my  advisers  at  this  period,  and  one  of  the  no- 
blest men  I  have  ever  met,  was  Lieutenant  Kirby  Smith, 
a  graduate  of  West  Point,  and  a  lieutenant  in  the  army. 
His  father,  after  whom  he  was  named,  had  been  killed  at 
the  Battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  in  the  Mexican  War.  His 
uncle,  also  known  as  Kirby  Smith,  was  a  general  in  the 
Confederate  service.  His  mother,  one  of  the  dearest 
friends  of  my  family,  was  a  woman  of  extraordinary  abil- 
ities, and  of  the  noblest  qualities.  Never  have  I  known  a 
young  officer  of  more  promise.  With  him  I  discussed 
from  time  to  time  the  probabilities  of  the  war.  He  was 
full  of  devotion,  quieted  my  fears,  and  strengthened 
my  hopes.  He,  too,  fought  splendidly  for  his  country,  and, 
like  his  father,  laid  down  his  life  for  it. 

The  bitterest  disappointment  of  that  period,  and  I  regret 
deeply  to  chronicle  it,  was  the  conduct  of  the  government 
and  ruling  classes  in  England.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
popular  sentiment  in  Great  Britain,  especially  as  voiced 
in  its  literature,  in  its  press,  and  from  its  pulpit,  had  been 
against  slavery,  I  had  never  doubted  that  in  this  struggle, 
so  evidently  between  slavery  and  freedom,  Great  Britain 
would  be  unanimously  on  our  side.  To  my  amazement 
signs  soon  began  to  point  in  another  direction.  More  and 
more  it  became  evident  that  British  feeling  was  against 
us.  To  my  students,  who  inquired  how  this  could  possibly 


92  POLITICAL  LIFE-III 

be,  I  said,  "Wait  till  Lord  John  Russell  speaks."  Lord 
John  Russell  spoke,  and  my  heart  sank  within  me.  He  was 
the  solemnly  constituted  impostor  whose  criminal  care- 
lessness let  out  the  Alabama  to  prey  upon  our  commerce, 
and  who  would  have  let  out  more  cruisers  had  not  Mr. 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  the  American  minister,  brought 
him  to  reason. 

Lord  John  Russell  was  noted  for  his  coolness,  but  in 
this  respect  Mr.  Adams  was  more  than  his  match.  In 
after  years  I  remember  a  joke  based  upon  this  character- 
istic. During  a  very  hot  summer  in  Kansas,  when  the 
State  was  suffering  with  drought,  some  newspaper  pro- 
posed, and  the  press  very  generally  acquiesced  in  the  sug- 
gestion, that  Mr.  Charles  Francis  Adams  should  be  asked 
to  take  a  tour  through  the  State,  in  order,  by  his  presence, 
to  reduce  its  temperature. 

When,  therefore,  Lord  John  Russell  showed  no  signs 
of  interfering  with  the  sending  forth  of  English  ships,— 
English  built,  English  equipped,  and  largely  English 
manned,— against  our  commerce,  Mr.  Adams,  having 
summed  up  to  his  Lordship  the  conduct  of  the  British 
Government  in  the  matter,  closed  in  his  most  icy  way  with 
the  words:  "My  lord,  I  need  hardly  remind  you  that  this 
is  war." 

The  result  was,  that  tardily,— just  in  time  to  prevent  war 
between  the  two  nations,— orders  were  given  which  pre- 
vented the  passing  out  of  more  cruisers. 

Goldwin  Smith,  who  in  the  days  of  his  professorship  at 
Oxford,  saw  much  of  Lord  John  Russell,  once  told  me  that 
his  lordship  always  made  upon  him  the  impression  of 
"an  eminent  corn-doctor." 

During  the  following  summer,  that  of  1863,  being  much 
broken  down  by  overwork,  and  threatened,  as  I  supposed, 
with  heart  disease,  which  turned  out  to  be  the  beginning 
of  a  troublesome  dyspepsia,  I  was~  strongly  recommended 
by  my  physician  to  take  a  rapid  run  to  Europe,  and  though 
very  reluctant  to  leave  home,  was  at  last  persuaded  to  go 
to  New  York  to  take  my  passage.  Arrived  there,  bad  news 


THE   CIVIL   WAR  PERIOD -1857 -1864  93 

still  coming  from  the  seat  of  war,  I  could  not  bring  myself 
at  the  steamer  office  to  sign  the  necessary  papers,  finally 
refused,  and  having  returned  home,  took  part  for  the  first 
time  in  a  political  campaign  as  a  speaker,  going  through 
central  New  York,  and  supporting  the  Republican  can- 
didate against  the  Democratic.  The  election  seemed  of 
vast  importance.  The  Democrats  had  nominated  for  the 
governorship,  Mr.  Horatio  Seymour,  a  man  of  the  high- 
est personal  character,  and,  so  far  as  the  usual  duties  of 
governor  were  concerned,  admirable;  but  he  had  been 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  war,  and  it  seemed  sure  that  his 
election  would  encourage  the  South  and  make  disunion 
certain;  therefore  it  was  that  I  threw  myself  into  the 
campaign  with  all  my  might,  speaking  night  and  day ;  but 
alas !  the  election  went  against  us. 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign,  my  dyspepsia  returning 
with  renewed  violence,  I  was  thinking  what  should  be  done, 
when  I  happened  to  meet  my  father's  old  friend,  Mr. 
Thurlow  Weed,  a  devoted  adherent  of  Mr.  Seward  through 
his  whole  career,  and,  at  that  moment,  one  of  the  main  sup- 
ports of  the  Lincoln  Administration.  It  was  upon  the 
deck  of  a  North  River  steamer,  and  on  my  mentioning  my 
dilemma  he  said:  "You  can  just  now  do  more  for  us 
abroad  than  at  home.  You  can  work  in  the  same  line  with 
Archbishop  Hughes,  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  and  myself ;  every- 
thing that  can  be  done,  in  the  shape  of  contributions  to 
newspapers,  or  speeches,  even  to  the  most  restricted  au- 
diences abroad,  will  help  us:  the  great  thing  is  to  gain 
time,  increase  the  number  of  those  who  oppose  European 
intervention  in  our  affairs,  and  procure  takers  for  our 
new  National  bonds. " 

The  result  was  that  I  made  a  short  visit  to  Europe, 
stopping  first  in  London.  Political  feeling  there  was  bit- 
terly against  us.  A  handful  of  true  men,  John  Bright  and 
Goldwin  Smith  at  the  head  of  them,  were  doing  heroic 
work  in  our  behalf,  but  the  forces  against  them  seemed 
overwhelming.  Drawing  money  one  morning  in  one  of 
the  large  banks  of  London,  I  happened  to  exhibit  a  few 


94  POLITICAL  LIFE- III 

of  the  new  National  greenback  notes  which  had  been  re- 
cently issued  by  our  Government.  The  moment  the  clerk 
saw  them  he  called  out  loudly,  "Don't  offer  us  any  of 
those  things ;  we  don 't  take  them ;  they  will  never  be  good 
for  anything/'  I  was  greatly  vexed,  of  course,  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it.  At  another  time  I  went  into  a  famous 
book-shop  near  the  Haymarket  to  purchase  a  rare  book 
which  I  had  long  coveted.  It  was  just  after  the  Battle  of 
Fredericksburg.  The  book-seller  was  chatting  with  a  cus- 
tomer, and  finally,  with  evident  satisfaction,  said  to  him : 
"  I  see  the  Yankees  have  been  beaten  again. "  ' l  Yes, ' '  said 
the  customer,  "and  the  papers  say  that  ten  thousand  of 
them  have  been  killed."  "Good,"  said  the  shop-keeper, 
i '  I  wish  it  had  been  twice  as  many. ' '  Of  course  it  was  im- 
possible for  me  to  make  any  purchase  in  that  place. 

In  order  to  ascertain  public  sentiment  I  visited  certain 
"discussion  forums,"  as  they  are  called,  frequented  by 
contributors  to  the  press  and  young  lawyers  from  the 
Temple  and  Inns  of  Court.  In  those  places  there  was,  as 
a  rule,  a  debate  every  night,  and  generally,  in  one  form 
or  another,  upon  the  struggle  then  going  on  in  the 
United  States.  There  was,  perhaps,  in  all  this  a  trifle 
too  much  of  the  Three  Tailors  of  Tooley  Street;  still, 
excellent  speeches  were  frequently  made,  and  there  was  a 
pleasure  in  doing  my  share  in  getting  the  company  on  the 
right  side.  On  one  occasion,  after  one  of  our  worst  re- 
verses during  the  war,  an  orator,  with  an  Irish  brogue, 
thickened  by  hot  whisky,  said,  "I  hope  that  Republic  of 
blackguards  is  gone  forever."  But,  afterward,  on  learn- 
ing that  an  American  was  present,  apologized  to  me  in  a 
way  effusive,  laudatory,  and  even  affectionate. 

But  my  main  work  was  given  to  preparing  a  pamphlet, 
in  answer  to  the  letters  from  America  by  Dr.  Russell,  cor- 
respondent of  the  London  "Times."  Though  nominally 
on  our  side,  he  clearly  wrote  his  letters  to  suit  the  demands 
of  the  great  journal  which  he  served,  and  which  was  most 
bitterly  opposed  to  us.  Nothing  could  exceed  its  virulence 
against  everything  American.  Every  occurrence  was 


THE   CIVIL   WAR  PERIOD -1857 -1864  95 

placed  in  the  worst  light  possible  as  regarded  our  in- 
terests, and  even  the  telegraphic  despatches  were  manipu- 
lated so  as  to  do  our  cause  all  the  injury  possible.  I  there- 
fore prepared,  with  especial  care,  an  answer  to  these  let- 
ters of  Dr.  Russell,  and  published  it  in  London.  Its  fate 
was  what  might  have  been  expected.  Some  papers  dis- 
cussed it  fairly,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  was  pooh-poohed,  ex- 
plained away,  and  finally  buried  under  new  masses  of  slan- 
der. I  did,  indeed,  find  a  few  friends  of  my  country  in 
Great  Britain.  In  Dublin  I  dined  with  Cairnes,  the  polit- 
ical economist,  who  had  earnestly  written  in  behalf  of  the 
Union  against  the  Confederates ;  and  in  London,  with  Pro- 
fessor Carpenter,  the  eminent  physiologist,  who,  being 
devoted  to  anti-slavery  ideas,  was  mildly  favorable  to  the 
Union  side.  But  I  remember  him  less  on  account  of  any- 
thing he  said  relating  to  the  struggle  in  America,  than  for 
a  statement  bearing  upon  the  legitimacy  of  the  sovereign 
then  ruling  in  France,  who  was  at  heart  one  of  our  most 
dangerous  enemies.  Dr.  Carpenter  told  me  that  some  time 
previously  he  had  been  allowed  by  Nassau  Senior,  whose 
published  conversations  with  various  men  of  importance 
throughout  Europe  had  attracted  much  attention,  to  look 
into  some  of  the  records  which  Mr.  Senior  had  not  thought 
it  best  to  publish,  and  that  among  them  he  had  read  the 
following : 

-  showed  me  to-day  an  autograph  letter  written  by 
Louis  Bonaparte,  King  of  Holland,  not  far  from  the  time 
of  the  birth  of  his  putative  son,  now  Napoleon  III.  One 
passage  read  as  follows:  'J'ai  le  malheur  d' avoir  pour 
femme  une  Messaline.  Elle  a  des  amants  partout,  et  par- 
tout  elle  laisse  des  enfants.' 

I  could  not  but  think  of  this  a  few  weeks  later  when  I 
saw  the  emperor,  who  derived  his  title  to  the  throne  of 
France  from  his  nominal  father,  poor  King  Louis,  but 
whose  personal  appearance,  like  that  of  his  brother,  the 
Due  de  Morny,  was  evidently  not  derived  from  any  Bo- 
naparte. All  the  Jerome  Napoleons  I  have  ever  seen,  in- 
cluding old  King  Jerome  of  Westphalia,  and  Prince  Na- 


96  POLITICAL   LIFE-III 

poleon  Jerome,  otherwise  known  as  "Plon-Plon,"  whom 
I  saw  during  my  student  life  at  Paris,  and  the  eldest  son 
of  the  latter,  the  present  Bonaparte  pretender  to  the  Na- 
poleonic crown  of  France,  whom  I  saw  during  my  stay 
as  minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  very  strikingly  resembled 
the  first  Napoleon,  though  all  were  of  much  larger  size. 
But  the  Louis  Napoleons,  that  is,  the  emperor  and  his 
brother  the  Due  de  Morny,  had  no  single  Napoleonic 
point  in  their  features  or  bearing. 

I  think  that  the  most  startling  inspiration  during  my 
life  was  one  morning  when,  on  walking  through  the  Gar- 
den of  the  Tuileries,  I  saw,  within  twenty  feet  of  me,  at 
a  window,  in  the  old  palace,  which  afterward  disappeared 
under  the  Commune,  the  emperor  and  his  minister  of 
finance,  Achille  Fould,  seated  together,  evidently  in  earn- 
est discussion.  There  was  not  at  that  time  any  human 
being  whom  I  so  hated  and  abhorred  as  Napoleon  III. 
He  had  broken  his  oath  and  trodden  the  French  republic 
under  his  feet,  he  was  aiding  to  keep  down  the  aspirations 
of  Italy,  and  he  was  doing  his  best  to  bring  on  an  inter- 
vention of  Europe,  in  behalf  of  the  Confederate  States,  to 
dissolve  our  Union.  He  was  then  the  arbiter  of  Europe. 
The  world  had  not  then  discovered  him  to  be  what  Bis- 
V/  marck  had  already  found  him— "a  great  unrecognized  in- 
capacity," and,  as  I  looked  up  and  distinctly  saw  him  so 
near  me,  there  flashed  through  my  mind  an  understanding 
of  some  of  the  great  crimes  of  political  history,  such  as  I 
have  never  had  before  or  since.1 

In  France  there  was  very  little  to  be  done  for  our  cause. 
The  great  mass  of  Frenchmen  were  either  indifferent  or 
opposed  to  us.  The  only  exception  of  importance  was  La- 
boulaye,  professor  at  the  College  de  France,  and  his  lec- 
ture-room was  a  center  of  good  influences  in  favor  of 
the  American  cause ;  in  the  midst  of  that  frivolous  Napo- 
leonic France  he  seemed  by  far  "the  noblest  Roman  of 
them  all." 

1  Since  writing  this  I  find  in  the  Autobiography  of  W.  J.  Stillman  that  a 
similar  feeling  once  beset  him  on  seeing  this  imperial  malefactor. 


THE   CIVIL  WAR  PERIOD -1857 -1864  97 

The  main  effort  in  our  behalf  was  made  by  Mr.  John 
Bigelow,  at  that  time  consul-general,  but  afterward  min- 
ister of  the  United  States,— to  supply  with  arguments  the 
very  small  number  of  Frenchmen  who  were  inclined  to 
favor  the  Union  cause,  and  this  he  did  thoroughly  well. 

Somewhat  later  there  came  a  piece  of  good  fortune. 
Having  been  sent  by  a  physician  to  the  baths  at  Homburg, 
I  found  as  our  consul-general,  at  the  neighboring  city  of 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  William  Walton  Murphy  of  Michi- 
gan, a  life-long  supporter  of  Mr.  Seward,  a  most  devoted 
and  active  American  patriot;— a  rough  diamond;  one  of 
the  most  uncouth  mortals  that  ever  lived ;  but  big-hearted, 
shrewd,  a  general  favorite,  and  prized  even  by  those  who 
smiled  at  his  oddities.  He  had  labored  hard  to  induce  the 
Frankfort  bankers  to  take  our  government  bonds,  and  to 
recommend  them  to  their  customers,  and  had  at  last  been 
successful.  In  order  to  gain  and  maintain  this  success  he 
had  established  in  Frankfort  a  paper  called  ' '  L  'Europe, ' ' 
for  which  he  wrote  and  urged  others  to  write.  To  this 
journal  I  became  a  contributor,  and  among  my  associates  I 
especially  remember  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  McClintock,  for- 
merly president  of  Dickinson  College,  and  Dr.  E.  H. 
Chapin,  of  New  York,  so  eminent  in  those  days  as  a 
preacher.  Under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Murphy,  Frankfort- 
on-the-Main  became,  and  has  since  remained,  a  center  of 
American  ideas.  Its  leading  journal  was  the  only  influ- 
ential daily  paper  in  Germany  which  stood  by  us  during 
our  Spanish  War. 

I  recall  a  story  told  me  by  Mr.  Murphy  at  that  period. 
He  had  taken  an  American  lady  on  a  business  errand  to 
the  bank  of  Baron  Rothschild,  and,  after  their  business  was 
over,  presented  her  to  the  great  banker.  It  happened  that 
the  Confederate  loan  had  been  floated  in  Europe  by  Baron 
Erlanger,  also  a  Frankfort  financial  magnate,  and  by  birth 
a  Hebrew.  In  the  conversation  that  ensued  between  this 
lady  and  Baron  Rothschild,  the  latter  said:  " Madam,  my 
sympathies  are  entirely  with  your  country;  but  is  it  not 
disheartening  to  think  that  there  are  men  in  Europe  who 


L— 7 


98  POLITICAL  LIFE-III 

are  lending  their  money  and  trying  to  induce  others  to 
lend  it  for  the  strengthening  of  human  slavery?  Madam, 
none  but  a  converted  Jew  would  do  that." 

On  the  Fourth  of  July  of  that  summer,  Consul-General 
Murphy— always  devising  new  means  of  upholding  the 
flag  of  his  country— summoned  Americans  from  every 
part  of  Europe  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  our  Na- 
tional Independence  at  Heidelberg,  and  at  the  dinner  given 
at  the  Hotel  Schreider  seventy-four  guests  assembled,  in- 
cluding two  or  three  professors  from  the  university,  as 
against  six  guests  from  the  Confederate  States,  who  had 
held  a  celebration  in  the  morning  at  the  castle.  Mr.  Mur- 
phy presided  and  made  a  speech  which  warmed  the  hearts 
of  us  all.  It  was  a  thorough-going,  old-fashioned,  Western 
Fourth  of  July  oration.  I  had  jeered  at  Fourth  of  July 
orations  all  my  life,  but  there  was  something  in  this  one 
which  showed  me  that  these  discourses,  so  often  ridiculed, 
are  not  without  their  uses.  Certain  it  is  that  as  the  consul- 
general  repeated  the  phrases  which  had  more  than  once 
rung  through  the  Western  clearings,  in  honor  of  the  de- 
fenders of  our  country,  the  divine  inspiration  of  the  Con- 
stitution, our  invincibility  in  war  and  onr  superiority  in 
peace,  all  of  us  were  encouraged  and  cheered  most  lustily. 
Pleasing  was  it  to  note  various  British  tourists  standing 
at  the  windows  listening  to  the  scream  of  the  American 
eagle  and  evidently  wondering  what  it  all  meant. 

Others  of  us  spoke,  and  especially  Dr.  McClintock,  one 
of  the  foremost  thinkers,  scholars,  and  patriots  that  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church  has  ever  produced.  His 
speech  was  in  a  very  serious  vein,  and  well  it  might  be.  In 
the  course  of  it  he  said:  "According  to  the  last  accounts 
General  Lee  and  his  forces  are  near  the  town  where  I  live, 
and  are  marching  directly  toward  it.  It  is  absolutely  cer- 
tain that,  if  they  reach  it,  they  will  burn  my  house  and  all 
that  it  contains,  but  I  have  no  fear ;  I  believe  that  the  Al- 
mighty is  with  us  in  this  struggle,  and  though  we  may  suf- 
fer much  before  its  close,  the  Union  is  to  endure  and  slav- 
ery is  to  go  down  before  the  forces  of  freedom."  These 


THE   CIVIL   WAR  PERIOD-1857-1864  99 

words,  coming  from  the  heart  of  a  strong  man,  made  a 
deep  impression  upon  us  all. 

About  two  weeks  later  I  left  Frankfort  for  America, 
and  at  my  parting  from  Consul-General  Murphy  at  the 
hotel,  he  said:  "Let  me  go  in  the  carriage  with  you;  this 
is  steamer-day  and  we  shall  probably  meet  the  vice-consul 
coming  with  the  American  mail."  He  got  in,  and  we 
drove  along  the  Zeil  together.  It  was  at  the  busiest  time 
of  the  day,  and  we  had  just  arrived  at  the  point  in  that 
main  street  of  Frankfort  where  business  was  most  active, 
when  the  vice-consul  met  us  and  handed  Mr.  Murphy  a 
newspaper.  The  latter  tore  it  open,  read  a  few  lines, 
and  then  instantly  jumped  out  into  the  middle  of  the  street, 
waved  his  hat  and  began  to  shout.  The  public  in  general 
evidently  thought  him  mad;  a  crowd  assembled;  but  as 
soon  as  he  could  get  his  breath  he  pointed  out  the  headlines 
of  the  newspaper.  They  indicated  the  victories  of  Gettys- 
burg and  Vicksburg,  and  the  ending  of  the  war.  It  was, 
indeed,  a  great  moment  for  us  all. 

Arriving  in  America,  I  found  that  some  friends  had 
republished  from  the  English  edition  my  letter  to  Dr. 
Russell,  that  it  had  been  widely  circulated,  and  that,  at  any 
rate,  it  had  done  some  good  at  home. 

Shortly  afterward,  being  on  a  visit  to  my  old  friend, 
James  T.  Fields  of  Boston,  I  received  a  telegram  from 
Syracuse  as  follows:  "You  are  nominated  to  the  State 
senate:  come  home  and  see  who  your  friends  are."  I 
have  received,  in  the  course  of  my  life,  many  astonishing 
messages,  but  this  was  the  most  unexpected  of  all.  I  had 
not  merely  not  been  a  candidate  for  any  such  nomination, 
but  had  forgotten  that  any  nomination  was  to  be  made ;  I 
had  paid  no  attention  to  the  matter  whatever;  all  my 
thoughts  had  been  given  to  other  subjects ;  but  on  returning 
to  Syracuse  I  found  that  a  bitter  contest  having  arisen  be- 
tween two  of  the  regular  candidates,  each  representing  a 
faction,  the  delegates  had  suddenly  turned  away  from  both 
and  nominated  me.  My  election  followed  and  so  began 
the  most  active  phase  of  my  political  life. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SENATOBSHIP  AT  ALBANY— 1864-1865 

ON  the  evening  of  New  Year's  Day,  1864,  I  arrived  in 
Albany  to  begin  my  duties  in  the  State  Senate,  and 
certainly,  from  a  practical  point  of  view,  no  member  of  the 
legislature  was  more  poorly  equipped.  I  had,  indeed,  re- 
ceived a  university  education,  such  as  it  was,  in  those 
days,  at  home  and  abroad,  and  had  perhaps  read  more  than 
most  college-bred  men  of  my  age,  but  all  my  education, 
study,  and  reading  were  remote  from  the  duties  now  as- 
signed me.  To  history,  literature,  and  theoretical  politics, 
I  had  given  considerable  attention,  but  as  regarded  the 
actual  necessities  of  the  State  of  New  York,  the  rela- 
tions of  the  legislature  to  the  boards  of  supervisors  of 
counties,  to  the  municipal  councils  of  cities,  to  the  boards 
of  education,  charity,  and  the  like,  indeed,  to  the  whole 
system  throughout  the  Commonwealth,  and  to  the 
modes  of  conducting  public  and  private  business,  my  ig- 
norance was  deplorable.  Many  a  time  have  I  envied  some 
plain  farmer  his  term  in  a  board  of  supervisors,  or  some 
country  schoolmaster  his  relations  to  a  board  of  education, 
or  some  alderman  his  experience  in  a  common  council,  or 
some  pettifogger  his  acquaintance  with  justices'  courts. 
My  knowledge  of  law  and  the  making  of  law  was  wretch- 
edly deficient,  and  my  ignorance  of  the  practical  adminis- 
tration of  law  was  disgraceful.  I  had  hardly  ever  been 
inside  a  court-house,  and  my  main  experience  of  legal  pro- 
cedure was  when  one  day  I  happened  to  step  into  court 
at  Syracuse,  and  some  old  friends  of  mine  thought  it  a 
good  joke  to  put  a  university  professor  as  a  talesman  upon 

100 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY- 1864 -1865  101 

a  jury  in  a  horse  case.  Although  pressed  with  business 
I  did  not  flinch,  but  accepted  the  position,  discharged  its 
duties,  and  learned  more  of  legal  procedure  and  of  human 
nature  in  six  hours  than  I  had  ever  before  learned  in  six 
months.  Ever  afterward  I  advised  my  students  to  get 
themselves  drawn  upon  a  petit  jury.  I  had  read  some 
Blackstone  and  some  Kent  and  had  heard  a  few  law  lec- 
tures, but  my  knowledge  was  purely  theoretical: 
in  constitutional  law  it  was  derived  from  reading  scat- 
tered essays  in  the  "Federalist,"  with  extracts  here 
and  there  from  Story.  Of  the  State  charitable  and 
penal  institutions  I  knew  nothing.  Regarding  colleges 
I  was  fairly  well  informed,  but  as  to  the  practical 
working  of  our  system  of  public  instruction  I  had 
only  the  knowledge  gained  while  a  scholar  in  a  public 
school. 

There  was  also  another  disadvantage.  I  knew  nothing 
of  the  public  men  of  the  State.  Having  lived  outside  of 
the  Commonwealth,  first,  as  a  student  at  Yale,  then  during 
nearly  three  years  abroad,  and  then  nearly  six  years  as  a 
professor  in  another  State,  I  knew  only  one  of  my  col- 
leagues, and  of  him  I  had  only  the  knowledge  that  came 
from  an  introduction  and  five  minutes'  conversation  ten 
years  before.  It  was  no  better  as  regarded  my  acquain- 
tance with  the  State  officers ;  so  far  as  I  now  remember,  I 
had  never  seen  one  of  them,  except  at  a  distance,— the 
governor,  Mr.  Horatio  Seymour. 

On  the  evening  after  our  arrival  the  Republican  ma- 
jority of  the  Senate  met  in  caucus,  partly  to  become  ac- 
quainted, partly  to  discuss  appointments  to  committees, 
and  partly  to  decide  on  a  policy  regarding  State  aid  to 
the  prosecution  of  the  war  for  the  Union.  I  found  my- 
self the  youngest  member  of  this  body,  and,  indeed,  of 
the  entire  Senate,  but  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  my 
colleagues  and  gained  some  friendships  which  have  been 
among  the  best  things  life  has  brought  me. 

Foremost  in  the  State  Senate,  at  that  period,  was 
Charles  James  Folger,  its  president.  He  had  served  in 


102  POLITICAL  LIFE-IV 

the  Senate  several  years,  had  been  a  county  judge,  and 
was  destined  to  become  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United 
States  at  New  York,  chief  justice  of  the  highest  State 
court,  and  finally,  to  die  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of 
the  United  States,  after  the  most  crushing  defeat  which 
any  candidate  for  the  governorship  of  New  York  had  ever 
known.  He  was  an  excellent  lawyer,  an  impressive 
speaker,  earnestly  devoted  to  the  proper  discharge  of  his 
duties,  and  of  extraordinarily  fine  personal  appearance. 
His  watch  upon  legislation  sometimes  amused  me,  but  al- 
ways won  my  respect.  Whenever  a  bill  was  read  a  third 
time  he  watched  it  as  a  cat  watches  a  mouse.  His  hatred  of 
doubtful  or  bad  phraseology  was  a  passion.  He  was 
greatly  beloved  and  admired,  yet,  with  all  his  fine  and 
attractive  qualities,  modest  and  even  diffident  to  a  fault. 

Another  man  whom  I  then  saw  for  the  first  time  in- 
terested me  much  as  soon  as  his  name  was  called,  and  he 
would  have  interested  me  far  more  had  I  known  how 
closely  my  after  life  was  to  be  linked  with  his.  He  was 
then  about  sixty  years  of  age,  tall,  spare,  and  austere, 
with  a  kindly  eye,  saying  little,  and  that  little  dryly.  He 
did  not  appear  unamiable,  but  there  seemed  in  him  a  sort 
of  aloofness :  this  was  Ezra  Cornell. 

Still  another  senator  was  George  H.  Andrews,  from 
the  Otsego  district,  the  old  Palatine  country.  He  had 
been  editor  of  one  of  the  leading  papers  in  New  York, 
and  had  been  ranked  among  the  foremost  men  in  his  pro- 
fession, but  he  had  retired  into  the  country  to  lead  the 
life  of  a  farmer.  He  was  a  man  to  be  respected  and  even 
beloved.  His  work  for  the  public  was  exceedingly  valu- 
able, and  his  speeches  of  a  high  order.  Judge  Folger, 
as  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee,  was  most  useful 
to  the  State  at  large  in  protecting  it  from  evil  legislation. 
Senator  Andrews  was  not  less  valuable  to  the  cities,  and 
above  all  to  the  city  of  New  York,  for  his  intelligent  pro- 
tection of  every  good  measure,  and  his  unflinching  oppo- 
sition to  every  one  of  the  many  doubtful  projects  con- 
stantly brought  in  by  schemers  and  dreamers. 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALB  ANY -1864-1865  103 

Still  another  senator  was  James  M.  Cook  of  Saratoga. 
He  had  been  comptroller  of  the  State  and,  at  various 
times,  a  member  of  the  legislature.  He  was  the  faithful 
"  watch-dog  of  the  treasury, "  —bitter  against  every 
scheme  for  taking  public  money  for  any  unworthy  pur- 
pose, and,  indeed,  against  any  scheme  whatever  which 
could  not  assign  for  its  existence  a  reason,  clear,  cogent, 
and  honest. 

Still  another  member,  greatly  respected,  was  Judge 
Bailey  of  Oneida  County.  His  experience  upon  the  bench 
made  him  especially  valuable  upon  the  judiciary  and 
other  committees. 

Yet  another  man  of  mark  in  the  body  was  one  of  the 
younger  men,  George  G.  Hunger  of  Rochester.  He  had 
preceded  me  by  a  few  years  at  Yale,  had  won  respect 
as  a  county  judge,  and  had  a  certain  lucid  way  of  pre- 
senting public  matters  which  made  him  a  valuable  public 
servant. 

Another  senator  of  great  value  was  Henry  R.  Low. 
He,  too,  had  been  a  county  judge  and  brought  not  only 
legal  but  financial  knowledge  to  the  aid  of  his  colleagues. 
He  was  what  Thomas  Carlyle  called  a  "swallower  of 
formulas. "  That  a  thing  was  old  and  revered  mattered 
little  with  him:  his  question  was  what  is  the  best  thing 
now. 

From  the  city  of  New  York  came  but  one  Republican, 
William  Laimbeer,  a  man  of  high  character  and  large 
business  experience;  impulsive,  but  always  for  right 
against  wrong;  kindly  in  his  nature,  but  most  bitter 
against  Tammany  and  all  its  works. 

From  Essex  County  came  Senator  Palmer  Havens,  also 
of  middle  age,  of  large  practical  experience,  with  a  clear, 
clean  style  of  thinking  and  speaking,  anxious  to  make  a 
good  record  by  serving  well,  and  such  a  record  he  cer- 
tainly made. 

And,  finally,  among  the  Republican  members  of  that 
session  I  may  name  the  senator  from  Oswego,  Mr.  Cheney 
Ames.  Perhaps  no  one  in  the  body  had  so  large  a  prac- 


104  POLITICAL   LIFE-IV 

tical  knowledge  of  the  commercial  interests  of  the  Stater 
and  especially  of  the  traffic  upon  its  lakes  and  inland 
waterways;  on  all  questions  relating  to  these  his  advice 
was  of  the  greatest  value;  he  was  in  every  respect  a 
good  public  servant. 

On  the  Democratic  side  the  foremost  man  by  far  was 
Henry  C.  Murphy  of  Brooklyn,  evidently  of  Irish  ances- 
try, though  his  immediate  forefathers  had  been  long  in 
the  United  States.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege, devoted  to  history  and  literature,  had  produced  sun- 
dry interesting  books  on  the  early  annals  of  the  State, 
had  served  with  distinction  in  the  diplomatic  service  as 
minister  to  The  Hague,  was  eminent  as  a  lawyer,  and 
had  already  considerable  legislative  experience. 

From  New  York  City  came  a  long  series  of  Democratic 
members,  of  whom  the  foremost  was  Thomas  C.  Fields. 
He  had  considerable  experience  as  a  lawyer  in  the  city 
courts,  had  served  in  the  lower  house  of  the  legislature, 
and  was  preternaturally  acute  in  detecting  the  interests 
of  Tammany  which  he  served.  He  was  a  man  of  much 
humor,  with  occasional  flashes  of  wit,  his  own  worst 
enemy,  evidently,  and  his  career  was  fitly  ended  when 
upon  the  fall  of  Tweed  he  left  his  country  for  his  coun- 
try's good  and  died  in  exile. 

There  were  others  on  both  sides  whom  I  could  mention 
as  good  men  and  true,  but  those  I  have  named  took  a 
leading  part  as  heads  of  committees  and  in  carrying  on 
public  business. 

The  lieutenant-governor  of  the  State  who  presided  over 
the  Senate  was  Mr.  Floyd-Jones,  a  devoted  Democrat  of 
the  old  school  who  exemplified  its  best  qualities;  a  gen- 
tleman, honest,  courteous,  not  intruding  his  own  views, 
ready  always  to  give  the  fullest  weight  to  those  of  others 
without  regard  to  party. 

Among  the  men  who,  from  their  constant  attendance, 
might  almost  be  considered  as  officers  of  the  Senate  were 
sundry  representatives  of  leading  newspapers.  Several 
of  them  were  men  of  marked  ability,  and  well  known 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY—  1864-1865          105 

throughout  the  State,  but  they  have  long  since  been  for- 
gotten with  one  exception  :  this  was  a  quiet  reporter  who 
sat  just  in  front  of  the  clerk's  chair,  day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  throughout  the  entire  session  ;  a  man  of  very 
few  words,  and  with  whom  I  had  but  the  smallest  ac- 
quaintance. Greatly  surprised  was  I  in  after  years  when 
he  rose  to  be  editor  of  the  leading  Democratic  organ 
in  the  State,  and  finally,  under  President  Cleveland,  a 
valuable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  : 
Daniel  Manning. 

In  the  distribution  of  committees  there  fell  to  me  the 
chairmanship  of  the  committee  on  education,  or,  as  it 
was  then  called,  the  committee  on  literature.  I  was  also 
made  a  member  of  the  committee  on  cities  and  villages, 
afterward  known  as  the  committee  on  municipal  affairs, 
and  of  the  committee  on  the  library.  For  the  first  of 
these  positions  I  was  somewhat  fitted  by  my  knowledge 
of  the  colleges  and  universities  of  the  State,  but  in  other 
respects  was  poorly  fitted.  For  the  second  of  these  po- 
sitions, that  of  the  committee  on  cities  and  villages,  I  am 
free  to  confess  that  no  one  could  be  more  wretchedly 
equipped  ;  for  the  third,  the  committee  on  the  library,  my 
qualifications  were  those  of  a  man  who  loved  both  to  col- 
lect books  and  to  read  them. 

But  from  the  beginning  I  labored  hard  to  fit  myself, 
even  at  that  late  hour,  for  the  duties  pressing  upon  me, 
and  gradually  my  practical  knowledge  was  increased. 
Still  there  were  sad  gaps  in  it,  and  more  than  once  I  sat 
in  the  committee-room,  looking  exceedingly  wise,  no 
doubt,  but  with  an  entirely  inadequate  appreciation  of 
the  argument  made  before  me. 

During  this  first  session  my  maiden  speech  was  upon 
the  governor's  message,  and  I  did  my  best  to  show  what 
I  thought  His  Excellency's  shortcomings.  Governor  Sey- 
mour was  a  patriotic  man,  after  his  fashion,  but  the  one 
agency  which  he  regarded  as  divinely  inspired  was  the 
Democratic  party;  his  hatred  of  the  Lincoln  Adminis- 
tration was  evidently  deep,  and  it  was  also  clear  that  he 


or 


106  POLITICAL  LIFE-IV 

did  not  believe  that  the  war  for  the  Union  could  be  brought 
to  a  successful  termination. 

With  others  I  did  my  best  against  him ;  but  while  con- 
demning his  political  course  as  severely  as  was  possible 
to  me,  I  never  attacked  his  personal  character  or  his  mo- 
tives. The  consequence  was  that,  while  politically  we 
were  enemies,  personally  a  sort  of  friendship  remained, 
and  I  recall  few  things  with  more  pleasure  than  my  jour- 
neyings  from  Albany  up  the  Mohawk  Valley,  sitting  at 
his  side,  he  giving  accounts  to  me  of  the  regions  through 
which  we  passed,  and  the  history  connected  with  them, 
regarding  which  he  was  wonderfully  well  informed.  If 
he  hated  New  England  as  the  breeding  bed  of  radicalism, 
he  loved  New  York  passionately. 

The  first  important  duty  imposed  upon  me  as  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  education  was  when  there  came 
tip  a  bill  for  disposing  of  the  proceeds  of  public  lands 
appropriated  by  the  government  of  the  United  States 
to  institutions  for  scientific  and  technical  education,  under 
what  was  then  known  as  the  Morrill  Act  of  1862.  Of 
these  lands  the  share  which  had  come  to  New  York  was 
close  upon  a  million  acres— a  fair-sized  European  prin- 
cipality. Here,  owing  to  circumstances  which  I  shall  de- 
tail in  another  chapter,  I  found  myself  in  a  contest  with 
Mr.  Cornell.  I  favored  holding  the  fund  together,  let- 
ting it  remain  with  the  so-called  " People's  College/'  to 
which  it  had  been  already  voted,  and  insisted  that  the 
matter  was  one  to  be  referred  to  the  committee  on  edu- 
cation. Mr.  Cornell,  on  the  other  hand,  favored  the  divi- 
sion of  the  fund,  and  proposed  a  bill  giving  one  half  of 
it  to  the  "  State  Agricultural  College "  recently  estab- 
lished at  Ovid  on  Seneca  Lake.  The  end  was  that  the 
matter  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee  composed  of 
the  committees  on  literature  and  agriculture,  that  is,  to 
Mr.  Cornell's  committee  and  my  own,  and  as  a  result  no 
meeting  to  consider  the  bill  was  held  during  that  session. 

Gradually  I  accumulated  a  reasonable  knowledge  of 
the  educational  interests  intrusted  to  us,  but  ere  long 


SENATORSHIP   AT   ALB  ANY -1864 -1865          107 

there  came  in  from  the  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, Mr.  Victor  Rice,  a  plan  for  codifying  the  edu- 
cational laws  of  the  State.  This  necessitated  a  world  of 
labor  on  my  part.  Section  by  section,  paragraph  by 
paragraph,  phrase  by  phrase,  I  had  to  go  through  it,  and 
night  after  night  was  devoted  to  studying  every  part 
of  it  in  the  light  of  previous  legislation,  the  laws  of  other 
States,  and  such  information  as  could  be  obtained  from 
general  sources.  At  last,  after  much  alteration  and  re- 
vision, I  brought  forward  the  bill,  secured  its  passage, 
and  I  may  say  that  it  was  not  without  a  useful  influence 
upon  the  great  educational  interests  of  the  State. 

I  now  brought  forward  another  educational  bill.  Va- 
rious persons  interested  in  the  subject  appeared  urging 
the  creation  of  additional  State  normal  schools,  in  order 
to  strengthen  and  properly  develop  the  whole  State 
school  system.  At  that  time  there  was  but  one ;  that  one  at 
Albany;  and  thus  our  great  Commonwealth  was  in  this 
respect  far  behind  many  of  her  sister  States.  The  whole 
system  was  evidently  suffering  from  the  want  of  teachers 
thoroughly  and  practically  equipped.  Out  of  the  multi- 
tude of  projects  presented,  I  combined  what  I  thought 
the  best  parts  of  three  or  four  in  a  single  bill,  and  al- 
though at  first  there  were  loud  exclamations  against  so 
lavish  a  use  of  public  money,  I  induced  the  committee 
to  report  my  bill,  argued  it  in  the  Senate,  overcame  much 
opposition,  and  thus  finally  secured  a  law  establishing 
four  State  normal  schools. 

Still  another  duty  imposed  upon  me  necessitated  much 
work  for  which  almost  any  other  man  in  the  Senate  would 
have  been  better  equipped  by  experience  and  knowledge 
of  State  affairs.  The  condition  of  things  in  the  city  of 
New  York  had  become  unbearable;  the  sway  of  Tam- 
many Hall  had  gradually  brought  out  elements  of  oppo- 
sition such  as  before  that  time  had  not  existed.  Tweed 
was  already  making  himself  felt,  though  he  had  not  yet 
assumed  the  complete  control  which  he  exercised  after- 
ward. The  city  system  was  bad  throughout;  but  at  the 


108  POLITICAL   LIFE -IV 

very  center  of  evil  stood  what  was  dignified  by  the  name 
of  the  "Health  Department. "  At  the  head  of  this  was  a 
certain  Boole,  who,  having  gained  the  title  of  "city  in- 
spector," had  the  virtual  appointment  of  a  whole  army 
of  so-called  "health  inspectors,"  "health  officers,"  and 
the  like,  charged  with  the  duty  of  protecting  the  public 
from  the  inroads  of  disease;  and  never  was  there  a 
greater  outrage  against  a  city  than  the  existence  of  this 
body  of  men,  absolutely  unfit  both  as  regarded  character 
and  education  for  the  duties  they  pretended  to  discharge. 

Against  this  state  of  things  there  had  been  developed 
a  "citizens'  committee,"  representing  the  better  elements 
of  both  parties,— its  main  representatives  being  Judge 
Whiting  and  Mr.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,— and  the  evidence 
these  gentlemen  exhibited  before  the  committee  on  muni- 
cipal affairs,  at  Albany,  as  to  the  wretched  condition  of 
the  city  health  boards  was  damning.  Whole  districts  in 
the  most  crowded  wards  were  in  the  worst  possible  sani- 
tary condition.  There  was  probably  at  that  time  nothing 
to  approach  it  in  any  city  in  Christendom  save,  possibly, 
Naples.  Great  blocks  of  tenement  houses  were  owned  by 
men  who  kept  low  drinking  bars  in  them,  each  of  whom, 
having  secured  from  Boole  the  position  of  "health 
officer,"  steadily  resisted  all  sanitary  improvement  or 
even  inspection.  Many  of  these  tenement  houses  were 
known  as  "fever  nests";  through  many  of  them  small- 
pox frequently  raged,  and  from  them  it  was  constantly 
communicated  to  other  parts  of  the  city. 

Therefore  it  was  that  one  morning  Mr.  Laimbeer,  the 
only  Republican  member  from  the  city,  rose,  made  an 
impassioned  speech  on  this  condition  of  things,  moved  a 
committee  to  examine  and  report,  and  named  as  its  mem- 
bers Judge  Munger,  myself,  and  the  Democratic  senator 
from  the  Buffalo  district,  Mr.  Humphrey. 

As  a  result,  a  considerable  part  of  my  second  winter 
as  senator  was  devoted  to  the  work  of  this  special  com- 
mittee in  the  city  of  New  York.  We  held  a  sort  of  court, 
had  with  us  the  sergeant-at-arms,  were  empowered  to  send 


SENATORSHIP  AT   ALB  ANY -1864 -1865          109 

for  persons  and  papers,  summoned  large  numbers  of  wit- 
nesses, and  brought  to  view  a  state  of  things  even  worse 
than  anything  any  of  us  had  suspected. 

Against  the  citizens '  committee,  headed  by  Judge  Whit- 
ing and  Mr.  Eaton,  Boole,  aided  by  a  most  successful 
Tammany  lawyer  of  the  old  sort,  John  Graham,  fought 
with  desperation.  In  order  to  disarm  his  assailants  as 
far  as  possible,  he  brought  before  the  committee  a  num- 
ber of  his  "health  officers7'  and  " sanitary  inspectors," 
whom  he  evidently  thought  best  qualified  to  pass  muster; 
but  as  one  after  another  was  examined  and  cross-exam- 
ined, neither  the  cunning  of  Boole  nor  the  skill  of  Mr. 
Graham  could  prevent  the  revelation  of  their  utter  unfit- 
ness.  In  the  testimony  of  one  of  them  the  whole  mon- 
strous absurdity  culminated.  Judge  Whiting  examining 
him  before  the  commission  with  reference  to  a  case  of 
small-pox  which  had  occurred  within  his  district,  and  to 
which,  as  health  officer  it  was  his  duty  to  give  attention, 
and  asking  him  if  he  remembered  the  case,  witness  an- 
swered that  he  did.  The  following  dialogue  then  ensued : 

Q.  Did  you  visit  this  sick  person? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Why  did  you  not! 

A.  For  the  same  reason  that  you  would  not. 

Q.  What  was  that  reason? 

A.  I  did  n't  want  to  catch  the  disease  myself. 

Q.  Did  the  family  have  any  sort  of  medical  aid? 

A.  Yes. 

Q.  From  whom  did  they  have  it? 

A.  From  themselves;  they  was  "highjinnicks"  (hy- 
gienics). 

Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  "highjinnicks"? 

A.  I  mean  persons  who  doctor  themselves. 

After  other  answers  of  a  similar  sort  the  witness  de- 
parted ;  but  for  some  days  afterward  Judge  Whiting  edi- 
fied the  court,  in  his  examination  of  Boole's  health  offi- 
cers and  inspectors,  by  finally  asking  each  one  whether 
he  had  any  "highjinnicks"  in  his  health  district.  Some 


110  POLITICAL  LIFE— IV 

answered  that  they  had  them  somewhat;  some  thought 
that  they  had  them  "pretty  bad,"  others  thought  that 
there  was  "not  much  of  it,"  others  claimed  that  they 
were  "quite  serious";  and,  finally,  in  the  examination  of 
a  certain  health  officer  who  was  very  anxious  to  show  that 
he  had  done  his  best,  there  occurred  the  following  dia- 
logue which  brought  down  the  house : 

Q.  (By  Judge  Whiting.)  Mr.  Health  Officer,  have  you 
had  any  "highjinnicks"  in  your  district? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Much? 

A.  Yes,  sir,  quite  a  good  deal. 

Q.  Have  you  done  anything  in  regard  to  them? 

A.  Yes,  sir;  I  have  done  all  that  I  could. 

Q.  Witness,  now,  on  your  oath,  do  you  know  what  the 
word  "highjinnicks"  means? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  does  it  mean? 

A.  It  means  the  bad  smells  that  arise  from  standing 
water. 

At  this  the  court  was  dissolved  in  laughter,  but  Mr. 
Graham  made  the  best  that  he  could  of  it  by  the  following 
questions  and  answers: 

Q.  Witness,  have  you  ever  learned  Greek? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Can  you  speak  Greek? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  Do  you  understand  Greek? 

A.  No,  sir. 

* '  Then  you  may  stand  down. ' ' 

The  examination  was  long  and  complicated,  so  that 
with  various  departments  to  be  examined  there  was  no 
time  to  make  a  report  before  the  close  of  the  session,  and 
the  whole  matter  had  to  go  over  until  the  newly  elected 
senate  came  into  office  the  following  year. 

Shortly  after  the  legislature  had  adjourned  I  visited 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  on  arriving  took  up  the  evening 
paper  which,  more  than  any  other,  has  always  been  sup- 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALB  ANY -1864-1865  111 

posed  to  represent  the  best  sentiment  of  the  city;— the 
' '  New  York  Evening  Post. ' '  The  first  article  on  which  my 
eye  fell  was  entitled  "The  New  York  Senate  Trifling/' 
and  the  article  went  on  to  say  that  the  Senate  of  the 
State  had  wasted  its  time,  had  practically  done  nothing 
for  the  city,  had  neglected  its  interests,  had  paid  no 
attention  to  its  demands,  and  the  like.  That  struck  me 
as  ungrateful,  for  during  the  whole  session  we  had 
worked  early  and  late  on  questions  relating  to  the  city, 
had  thwarted  scores  of  evil  schemes,  and  in  some  cases, 
I  fear,  had  sacrificed  the  interests  of  the  State  at  large 
to  those  of  the  city.  Thus  there  dawned  on  me  a  know- 
ledge of  the  reward  which  faithful  legislators  are  likely 
to  obtain. 

Another  of  these  city  questions  also  showed  the  sort 
of  work  to  be  done  in  this  thankless  protection  of  the 
metropolis.  During  one  of  the  sessions  there  had  ap- 
peared in  the  lobby  an  excellent  man,  Dr.  Levi  Silliman 
Ives,  formerly  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  North 
Carolina,  who,  having  been  converted  to  Roman  Catholi- 
cism, had  become  a  layman  and  head  of  a  protec- 
tory for  Catholic  children.  With  him  came  a  number  of 
others  of  his  way  of  thinking,  and  a  most  determined 
effort  was  made  to  pass  a  bill  sanctioning  a  gift  of  one 
half  of  the  great  property  known  as  Ward's  Island,  ad- 
jacent to  the  city  of  New  York,  to  this  Roman  Catholic 
institution. 

I  had  strong  sympathy  with  the  men  who  carried  on 
the  protectory,  and  was  quite  willing  to  go  as  far  as 
possible  in  aiding  them,  but  was  opposed  to  voting  such 
a  vast  landed  property  belonging  to  the  city  into  the 
hands  of  any  church,  and  I  fought  the  bill  at  all  stages. 
In  committee  of  the  whole,  and  at  first  reading,  priestly 
influence  led  a  majority  to  vote  for  it,  but  at  last,  despite 
all  the  efforts  of  Tammany  Hall,  it  was  defeated. 

It  was  during  this  first  period  of  my  service  that  the 
last  and  most  earnest  effort  of  the  State  was  made  for 
the  war.  Various  circumstances  had  caused  discourage- 


112  POLITICAL   LIFE -IV 

ment.  It  had  become  difficult  to  raise  troops,  yet  it  was 
most  important  to  avoid  a  draft.  In  the  city  of  New 
York,  at  the  prospect  of  an  enforced  levy  of  troops, 
there  had  been  serious  uprisings  which  were  only  sup- 
pressed after  a  considerable  loss  of  life.  It  was  neces- 
sary to  make  one  supreme  effort,  and  the  Republican 
members  of  the  legislature  decided  to  raise  a  loan  of 
several  millions  for  bounties  to  those  who  should  volun- 
teer. This  decision  was  not  arrived  at  without  much 
opposition,  and,  strange  to  say,  its  most  serious  oppo- 
nent was  Horace  Greeley,  who  came  to  Albany  in  the 
hope  of  defeating  it.  Invaluable  as  his  services  had  been 
during  the  struggle  which  preceded  the  war,  it  must  be 
confessed,  even  by  his  most  devoted  friends,  that  during 
the  war  he  was  not  unfrequently  a  stumbling  block.  His 
cry  "on  to  Richmond "  during  the  first  part  of  the  strug- 
gle, his  fearful  alarm  when,  like  the  heroes  in  the  "Big- 
low  Papers, "  he  really  discovered  "why  baggonets  is 
peaked, "  his  terror  as  the  conflict  deepened,  his  propo- 
sals for  special  peace  negotiations  later— all  these  things 
were  among  the  serious  obstacles  which  President  Lin- 
coln had  to  encounter;  and  now,  fearing  burdens  which, 
in  his  opinion,  could  not  and  would  not  be  borne  by  the 
State,  and  conjuring  up  specters  of  trouble,  he  came  to 
Albany  and  earnestly  advised  members  of  the  legislature 
against  the  passage  of  the  bounty  bill.  Fortunately, 
common  sense  triumphed,  and  the  bill  was  passed. 

Opposition  came  also  from  another  and  far  different 
source.  There  was  then  in  the  State  Senate  a  Democrat 
of  the  oldest  and  strongest  type;  a  man  who  believed 
most  devoutly  in  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  and  abhorred 
above  all  things,  abolitionists  and  protectionists,— Dr. 
Allaben  of  Schoharie.  A  more  thoroughly  honest  man 
never  lived;  he  was  steadily  on  the  side  of  good  legisla- 
tion; but  in  the  midst  of  the  discussion  regarding  this 
great  loan  for  bounties  he  arose  and  began  a  speech 
which,  as  he  spoke  but  rarely,  received  general  attention. 
He  was  deeply  in  earnest.  He  said  (in  substance),  "I 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALB  ANY- 1864-1865  113 

shall  vote  for  this  loan;  for  of  various  fearful  evils  it 
seems  the  least.  But  I  wish,  here  and  now,  and  with  the 
deepest  sorrow,  to  record  a  prediction :  I  ask  you  to  note 
it  and  to  remember  it,  for  it  will  be  fulfilled,  and  speedily. 
This  State  debt  which  you  are  now  incurring  will  never 
be  paid.  It  cannot  be  paid.  More  than  that,  none  of  the 
vast  debts  incurred  for  military  purposes,  whether  by 
the  Nation  or  by  the  States,  will  be  paid ;  the  people  will 
surely  repudiate  them.  Nor  is  this  all.  Not  one  dollar 
of  all  the  treasury  notes  issued  by  the  United  States  will 
ever  be  redeemed.  Your  paper  currency  has  already  de- 
preciated much  and  will  depreciate  more  and  more;  all 
bonds  and  notes,  State  and  National,  issued  to  continue  V 
this  fratricidal  war  will  be  whirled  into  the  common  vor- 
tex of  repudiation.  I  say  this  with  the  deepest  pain,  for 
I  love  my  country,  but  I  cannot  be  blind  to  the  teachings 
of  history."  He  then  went  on  to  cite  the  depreciation 
of  our  revolutionary  currency,  and,  at  great  length  pic- 
tured the  repudiation  of  the  assignats  during  the  French 
Kevolution.  He  had  evidently  read  Alison  and  Thiers 
carefully,  and  he  spoke  like  an  inspired  prophet. 

As  Senator  Allaben  thus  spoke,  Senator  Fields  of  New 
York  quietly  left  his  seat  and  came  to  me.  He  was  a 
most  devoted  servant  of  Tammany,  but  was  what  was 
known  in  those  days  as  a  War  Democrat.  His  native 
pugnacity  caused  him  to  feel  that  the  struggle  must  be 
fought  out,  whereas  Democrats  of  a  more  philosophic 
sort,  like  Allaben,  known  in  those  days  as  '  *  Copper- 
heads," sought  peace  at  any  price.  Therefore  it  was  that, 
while  Senator  Allaben  was  pouring  out  with  the  deepest 
earnestness  these  prophecies  of  repudiation,  Mr.  Fields 
came  round  to  my  desk  and  said  to  me:  "You  have  been 
a  professor  of  history;  you  are  supposed  to  know  some- 
thing about  the  French  Revolution;  if  your  knowledge 
is  good  for  anything,  why  in  h— 1  don't  you  use  it  now?" 

This  exhortation  was  hardly  necessary,  and  at  the  close 
of  Senator  Allaben 's  remarks  I  arose  and  presented  an- 
other view  of  the  case.  It  happened  by  a  curious  coin- 


I.— 8 


114  POLITICAL   LIFE-IV 

cidence  that,  having  made  a  few  years  before  a  very  care- 
ful study  of  the  issues  of  paper  money  during  the  French 
Eevolution,  I  had  a  portion  of  my  very  large  collection 
of  assignats,  mandats,  and  other  revolutionary  currency 
in  Albany,  having  brought  it  there  in  order  to  show 
it  to  one  or  two  of  my  friends  who  had  expressed  an 
interest  in  the  subject. 

Holding  this  illustrative  material  in  reserve  I  showed 
the  whole  amount  of  our  American  paper  currency  in  cir- 
culation to  be  about  eight  hundred  million  dollars,  of 
which  only  about  one  half  was  of  the  sort  to  which  the 
senator  referred.  I  then  pointed  to  the  fact  that,  although 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  French  franc  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  was  fully  equal  to  the  purchasing  power 
of  the  American  dollar  of  our  own  time,  the  French  rev- 
olutionary government  issued,  in  a  few  months,  forty- 
five  thousand  millions  of  francs  in  paper  money,  and  had 
twenty-five  thousand  millions  of  it  in  circulation  at  the 
time  when  the  great  depression  referred  to  by  Dr.  Allaben 
had  taken  place. 

I  also  pointed  out  the  fact  that  our  American  notes  were 
now  so  thoroughly  well  engraved  that  counterfeiting  was 
virtually  impossible,  so  that  one  of  the  leading  European 
governments  had  its  notes  engraved  in  New  York,  on  this 
account,  whereas,  the  French  assignats  could  be  easily 
counterfeited,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  were  counterfeited 
in  vast  numbers,  the  British  government  pouring  them 
into  France  through  the  agency  of  the  French  royalists, 
especially  in  Brittany,  almost  by  shiploads,  and  to  such 
purpose,  that  the  French  government  officials  themselves 
were  at  last  unable  to  discriminate  between  the  genuine 
money  and  the  counterfeit.  I  also  pointed  out  the  con- 
nection of  our  national  banking  system  with  our  issues 
of  bonds  and  paper,  one  of  the  happiest  and  most  states- 
manlike systems  ever  devised,  whereas,  in  France  there 
was  practically  no  redemption  for  the  notes,  save  as  they 
could  be  used  for  purchasing  from  the  government  the 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY— 1864-1865  115 

doubtful  titles  to  the  confiscated  houses  and  lands  of  the 
clergy  and  aristocracy. 

The  speech  of  Senator  Allaben  had  exercised  a  real 
effect,  but  these  simple  statements,  which  I  supported  by 
evidence,  and  especially  by  exhibiting  specimens  of  the 
assignats  bearing  numbers  showing  that  the  issues  had 
risen  into  the  thousands  of  millions,  and  in  a  style  of  en- 
graving most  easily  counterfeited,  sufficed  to  convince  the 
Senate  that  no  such  inference  as  was  drawn  by  the  sena- 
tor was  warranted  by  the  historical  facts  in  the  case. 

A  vote  was  taken,  the  bill  was  passed,  the  troops  were 
finally  raised,  and  the  debt  was  extinguished  not  many 
years  afterward. 

It  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  remember  that  at  the  close 
of  my  remarks,  which  I  took  pains  to  make  entirely  cour- 
teous to  Dr.  Allaben,  he  came  to  me,  and  strongly  op- 
posed as  we  were  in  politics,  he  grasped  me  by  the  hand 
most  heartily,  expressed  his  amazement  at  seeing  these 
assignats,  mandats,  and  other  forms  of  French  revolu- 
tionary issues,  of  which  he  had  never  before  seen  one, 
and  thanked  me  for  refuting  his  arguments.  It  is  one  of 
the  very  few  cases  I  have  ever  known,  in  which  a  speech 
converted  an  opponent. 

Perhaps  a  word  more  upon  this  subject  may  not  be 
without  interest.  My  attention  had  been  drawn  to  the 
issues  of  paper  money  during  the  French  Eevolution,  by 
my  studies  of  that  period  for  my  lectures  on  modern 
history  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  about  five  years 
before.  In  taking  up  this  special  subject  I  had  supposed 
that  a  few  days  would  be  sufficient  for  all  the  study 
needed ;  but  I  became  more  and  more  interested  in  it,  ob- 
tained a  large  mass  of  documents  from  France,  and  then 
and  afterward  accumulated  by  far  the  largest  collection  of 
French  paper  money,  of  all  the  different  issues,  sorts, 
and  amounts,  as  well  as  of  collateral  newspaper  reports 
and  financial  documents,  ever  brought  into  our  country. 
The  study  of  the  subject  for  my  class,  which  I  had  hoped 


116  .   POLITICAL   LIFE-IV 

to  confine  to  a  few  days,  thus  came  to  absorb  my  leisure 
for  months,  and  I  remember  that,  at  last,  when  I  had 
given  my  lecture  on  the  subject  to  my  class  at  the  univer- 
sity, a  feeling  of  deep  regret,  almost  of  remorse,  came 
over  me,  as  I  thought  how  much  valuable  time  I  had  given 
to  a  subject  that,  after  all,  had  no  bearing  on  any  pres- 
ent problem,  which  would  certainly  be  forgotten  by  the 
majority  of  my  hearers,  and  probably  by  myself. 

These  studies  were  made  mainly  in  1859.  Then  the 
lectures  were  laid  aside,  and  though,  from  time  to  time, 
when  visiting  France,  I  kept  on  collecting  illustrative  ma- 
terials, no  further  use  was  made  of  them  until  this  debate 
during  the  session  of  the  State  Senate  of  1864. 

Out  of  this  offhand  speech  upon  the  assignats  grew  a 
paper  which,  some  time  afterward,  I  presented  in  Wash- 
ington before  a  number  of  members  of  the  Senate  and 
House,  at  the  request  of  General  Garfield,  who  was  then 
a  representative,  and  of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Chittenden  of 
Brooklyn.  In  my  audience  were  some  of  the  foremost 
men  of  both  houses,  and  among  them  such  as  Senators 
Bayard,  Stevenson,  Morrill,  Conkling,  Edmunds,  Gib- 
son, and  others.  This  speech,  which  was  the  result  of 
my  earlier  studies,  improved  by  material  acquired  later, 
and  most  carefully  restudied  and  verified,  I  repeated  be- 
fore a  large  meeting  of  the  Union  League  Club  at  New 
York,  Senator  Hamilton  Fish  presiding.  The  paper  thus 
continued  to  grow  and,  having  been  published  in  New 
York  by  Messrs.  Appleton,  a  cheap  edition  of  it  was  cir- 
culated some  years  afterward,  largely  under  the  auspices 
of  General  Garfield,  to  act  as  an  antidote  to  the  "  Green- 
back Craze "  then  raging  through  Ohio  and  the  Western 
States. 

Finally,  having  been  again  restudied,  in  the  light  of  my 
ever-increasing  material,  it  was  again  reprinted  and  cir- 
culated as  a  campaign  document  during  the  struggle 
against  Mr.  Bryan  and  the  devotees  of  the  silver  stan- 
dard in  the  campaign  of  1896,  copies  of  it  being  spread 
very  widely,  especially  through  the  West,  and  placed, 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY— 1864-1865          117 

above  all,  in  nearly  every  public  library,  university,  col- 
lege, and  normal  school  in  the  Union. 

I  allude  to  this  as  showing  to  any  young  student  who 
may  happen  to  read  these  recollections,  the  value  of  a  care- 
ful study  of  any  really  worthy  subject,  even  though,  at 
first  sight,  it  may  seem  to  have  little  relation  to  present 
affairs. 

In  the  spring  of  1864,  at  the  close  of  my  first  year  in 
the  State  Senate,  came  the  national  convention  at  Balti- 
more for  the  nomination  of  President  and  Vice-President, 
and  to  that  convention  I  went  as  a  substitute  delegate.  Al- 
though I  have  attended  several  similar  assemblages  since, 
no  other  has  ever  seemed  to  me  so  interesting.  It  met  in 
an  old  theater,  on  one  of  the  noisiest  corners  in  the  city, 
and,  as  it  was  June,  and  the  weather  already  very  warm, 
it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  have  as  much  air  as  possible, 
to  remove  curtains  and  scenery  from  the  stage  and  throw 
the  back  of  the  theater  open  to  the  street.  The  result 
was,  indeed,  a  circulation  of  air,  but,  with  this,  a  noise 
from  without  which  confused  everything  within. 

In  selecting  a  president  for  the  convention  a  new  de- 
parture was  made,  for  the  man  chosen  was  a  clergyman; 
one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  in  the  Union,— the  Rev. 
Dr.  Eobert  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky,  who,  on  the  re- 
ligious side,  had  been  distinguished  as  moderator  of  the 
Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  and  on  the  political  side 
was  revered  for  the  reason  that  while  very  nearly  all  his 
family,  and  especially  his  sons  and  nephews,  including- 
the  recent  Vice-President,  had  plunged  into  the  Confed- 
erate service,  he  still  remained  a  staunch  and  sturdy  ad- 
herent of  the  Union  and  took  his  stand  with  the  Repub- 
lican party.  He  was  a  grand  old  man,  but  hardly  suited 
to  the  presidency  of  a  political  assemblage. 

The  proceedings  were  opened  with  a  prayer  by  a  dele- 
gate, who  had  been  a  colonel  in  the  Union  army,  and  was 
now  a  Methodist  clergyman.  The  heads  of  all  were 
bowed,  and  the  clergyman- soldier  began  with  the  words  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer;  but  when  he  had  recited  about  one  half 


118  POLITICAL  LIFE-IV 

of  it  he  seemed  to  think  that  he  could  hetter  it,  and  he 
therefore  substituted  for  the  latter  half  a  petition  which 
began  with  these  words :  ' '  Grant,  0  Lord,  that  the  ticket 
here  to  be  nominated  may  command  a  majority  of  the 
suffrages  of  the  American  people. '  '  To  those  accustomed 
to  the  more  usual  ways  of  conducting  service  this  was 
something  of  a  shock;  still  there  was  this  to  be  said  in 
favor  of  the  reverend  colonel's  amendment,— he  had  faith 
to  ask  for  what  he  wanted. 

This  opening  prayer  being  ended,  there  came  a  display 
of  parliamentary  tactics  by  leaders  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union:  one  after  another  rose  in  this  or  that  part  of  the 
great  assemblage  to  move  this  or  that  resolution,  and  the 
confusion  which  soon  prevailed  was  fearful,  the  noise  of 
the  street  being  steadily  mingled  with  the  tumult  of  the 
house.  But  good  Dr.  Breckinridge  did  his  best,  and 
in  each  case  put  the  motion  he  had  happened  to  hear. 
Thereupon  each  little  group,  supposing  that  the  resolu- 
tion which  had  been  carried  was  the  one  it  had  happened 
to  hear,  moved  additional  resolutions  based  upon  it. 
These  various  resolutions  were  amended  in  all  sorts  of 
ways,  in  all  parts  of  the  house,  the  good  doctor  putting 
the  resolutions  and  amendments  which  happened  to  reach 
his  ear,  and  declaring  them  "carried"  or  "lost,"  as  the 
case  might  be.  Thereupon  ensued  additional  resolutions 
and  amendments  based  upon  those  which  their  movers 
supposed  to  have  been  passed,  with  the  result  that,  in 
about  twenty  minutes  no  one  in  the  convention,  and  least 
of  all  its  president,  knew  what  we  had  done  or  what  we 
ought  to  do.  Each  part  of  the  house  firmly  believed  that 
the  resolutions  which  it  had  heard  were  those  which  had 
been  carried,  and  the  clash  and  confusion  between  them  all 
seemed  hopeless. 

Various  eminent  parliamentarians  from  different  parts 
of  the  Union  arose  to  extricate  the  convention  from  this 
welter,  but  generally,  when  they  resumed  their  seats,  left 
the  matter  more  muddled  than  when  they  arose. 

A  very  near  approach  to  success  was  made  by  my  dear 


SENATORSHIP   AT  ALB  ANY -1864 -1865          119 

friend  George  William  Curtis  of  New  York,  who,  in  ad- 
mirable temper,  and  clear  voice,  unraveled  the  tangle, 
as  he  understood  it,  and  seemed  just  about  to  start  the 
convention  fairly  on  its  way,  when  some  marplot  arose 
to  suggest  that  some  minor  point  in  Mr.  Curtis 's  exposi- 
tion was  not  correct,  thus  calling  out  a  tumult  of  con- 
flicting statements,  the  result  of  which  was  yet  greater 
confusion,  so  that  we  seemed  fated  to  adjourn  pell-mell 
into  the  street  and  be  summoned  a  second  time  into 
the  hall,  in  order  to  begin  the  whole  proceedings  over 
again. 

But  just  at  this  moment  arose  Henry  J.  Eaymond,  edi- 
tor of  the  "New  York  Times. "  His  parliamentary  train- 
ing had  been  derived  not  only  from  his  service  as  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  State,  but  from  attendance  on  a 
long  series  of  conventions,  State  and  National.  He  had 
waited  for  his  opportunity,  and  when  there  came  a  lull 
of  despair,  he  arose  and,  in  a  clear,  strong,  pleasant  voice, 
made  an  alleged  explanation  of  the  situation.  As  a  piece 
of  parliamentary  tactics,  it  was  masterly  though  from 
another  point  of  view  it  was  comical.  The  fact  was  that 
he  developed  a  series  of  motions  and  amendments:— a 
whole  line  of  proceedings,— mainly  out  of  his  own  interior 
consciousness.  He  began  somewhat  on  this  wise:  "Mr. 
President:  The  eminent  senator  from  Vermont  moved 
a  resolution  to  such  an  effect;  this  was  amended  as  fol- 
lows, by  my  distinguished  friend  from  Ohio,  and  was 
passed  as  amended.  Thereupon  the  distinguished  senator 
from  Iowa  arose  and  made  the  following  motion,  which, 
with  an  amendment  from  the  learned  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts,  was  passed;  thereupon  a  resolution  was 
moved  by  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania, 
which  was  declared  by  the  chair  to  be  carried;  and  now, 
sir,  I  submit  the  following  motion,"  and  he  immediately 
followed  these  words  by  moving  a  procedure  to  business 
and  the  appointment  of  committees.  Sundry  marplots, 
such  as  afflict  all  public  bodies  did,  indeed,  start  to  their 
feet,  but  a  universal  cry  of  "  question "  drowned  all  their 


120  POLITICAL  LIFE-IV 

efforts,  and  Mr.  Raymond's  motion  was  carried,  to  all 
appearance  unanimously. 

Never  was  anything  of  the  kind  more  effectual. 
Though  most,  if  not  all,  the  proceedings  thus  stated  by 
Mr.  Raymond  were  fictions  of  his  own  imagination, 
they  served  the  purpose;  his  own  resolution  started  the 
whole  machinery  and  set  the  convention  prosperously  on 
its  way. 

The  general  opinion  of  the  delegates  clearly  favored 
the  renomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  It  was  an  exhibition 
not  only  of  American  common  sense,  but  of  sentiment. 
The  American  people  and  the  public  bodies  which  repre- 
sent them  are  indeed  practical  and  materialistic  to  the 
last  degree,  but  those  gravely  err  who  ignore  a  very  dif- 
ferent side  of  their  character.  No  people  and  no  public 
bodies  are  more  capable  of  yielding  to  deep  feeling.  So 
it  was  now  proven.  It  was  felt  that  not  to  renominate 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  be  a  sort  of  concession  to  the  enemy. 
He  had  gained  the  confidence  and  indeed  the  love  of 
the  entire  Republican  party.  There  was  a  strong  con- 
viction that,  having  suffered  so  much  during  the  ter- 
rible stress  and  strain  of  the  war,  he  ought  to  be  retained 
as  President  after  the  glorious  triumph  of  the  Nation 
which  was  felt  to  be  approaching. 

But  in  regard  to  the  second  place  there  was  a  different 
feeling.  The  Vice-President  who  had  served  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  during  his  first  term,  Mr.  Hamlin  of  Maine,  was 
a  steadfast,  staunch,  and  most  worthy  man,  but  it  was 
felt  that  the  loyal  element  in  the  border  States  ought 
to  be  recognized,  and,  therefore  it  was  that,  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency  was  named  a  man  who  had  begun  life  in  the 
lowest  station,  who  had  hardly  learned  to  read  until  he 
had  become  of  age,  who  had  always  shown  in  Congress 
the  most  bitter  hatred  of  the  slave  barons  of  the  South, 
whom  he  considered  as  a  caste  above  his  own,  but  who 
had  distinguished  himself,  as  a  man,  by  high  civic  courage, 
and  as  a  senator  by  his  determined  speeches  in  behalf  of 
the  Union.  This  was  Andrew  Johnson  of  Tennessee,  a 


SENATOKSHIP  AT  ALBANY- 1864 -1865  121 

man  honest,  patriotic,  but  narrow  and  crabbed,  who 
turned  out  to  be  the  most  unfortunate  choice  ever  made, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  John  Tyler,  twenty-four 
years  before. 

The  convention  having  adjourned,  a  large  number  of 
delegates  visited  Washington,  to  pay  their  respects  to  the 
President,  and  among  them  myself.  The  city  seemed 
to  me  hardly  less  repulsive  than  at  my  first  visit  eight 
years  before;  it  was  still  unkempt  and  dirty,— made  in- 
deed all  the  more  so  by  the  soldiery  encamped  about  it, 
and  marching  through  it. 

Shortly  after  our  arrival  our  party,  perhaps  thirty  in 
number,  went  to  the  White  House  and  were  shown  into 
the  great  East  Room.  We  had  been  there  for  about  ten 
minutes  when  one  of  the  doors  nearest  the  street  was 
opened,  and  a  young  man  entered  who  held  the  door 
open  for  the  admission  of  a  tall,  ungainly  man  dressed 
in  a  rather  dusty  suit  of  black.  My  first  impression  was 
that  this  was  some  rural  tourist  who  had  blundered  into  the 
place ;  for,  really,  he  seemed  less  at  home  there  than  any 
other  person  present,  and  looked  about  for  an  instant,  as 
if  in  doubt  where  he  should  go ;  but  presently  he  turned 
toward  our  group,  which  was  near  the  southwestern  cor- 
ner of  the  room,  and  then  I  saw  that  it  was  the  President. 
As  he  came  toward  us  in  a  sort  of  awkward,  perfunctory 
manner  his  face  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  saddest  I  had 
ever  seen,  and  when  he  had  reached  us  he  held  out  his 
hand  to  the  first  stranger,  then  to  the  second,  and  so  on, 
all  with  the  air  of  a  melancholy  automaton.  But,  sud- 
denly, some  one  in  the  company  said  something  which 
amused  him,  and  instantly  there  came  in  his  face  a  most 
marvelous  transformation.  I  have  never  seen  anything 
like  it  in  any  other  human  being.  His  features  were 
lighted,  his  eyes  radiant,  he  responded  to  sundry  remarks 
humorously,  though  dryly,  and  thenceforward  was  cor- 
dial and  hearty.  Taking  my  hand  in  his  he  shook  it  in  the 
most  friendly  way,  with  a  kindly  word,  and  so  passed 
cheerily  on  to  the  others  until  the  ceremony  was  finished. 


122  POLITICAL  LIFE-IV 

Years  afterward,  noticing  in  the  rooms  of  his  son,  Mr. 
Eobert  Lincoln,  our  minister  at  London,  a  portrait  of 
his  father,  and  seeing  that  it  had  the  same  melancholy 
look  noticeable  in  all  President  Lincoln's  portraits,  I 
alluded  to  this  change  in  his  father's  features,  and  asked 
if  any  artist  had  ever  caught  the  happier  expression. 
Mr.  Eobert  Lincoln  answered  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  no 
portrait  of  his  father  in  this  better  mood  had  ever  been 
taken;  that  when  any  attempt  was  made  to  photograph 
him  or  paint  his  portrait,  he  relapsed  into  his  melancholy 
mood,  and  that  this  is  what  has  been  transmitted  to  us  by 
all  who  have  ever  attempted  to  give  us  his  likeness. 

In  the  campaign  which  followed  this  visit  to  Washing- 
ton I  tried  to  do  my  duty  in  speaking  through  my  own 
and  adjacent  districts,  but  there  was  little  need  of 
speeches;  the  American  people  had  made  up  their  minds, 
and  they  reflected  Mr.  Lincoln  triumphantly. 


CHAPTER  VII 

SENATOKSHIP  AT  ALBANY— 1865-1867 

DURING  my  second  year  in  the  State  Senate,  1865, 
came  the  struggle  for  the  charter  of  Cornell  Uni- 
versity, the  details  of  which  will  be  given  in  another 
chapter. 

Two  things  during  this  session  are  forever  stamped  into 
my  memory.  The  first  was  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender 
on  April  9,  1865:  though  it  had  been  daily  expected,  it 
came  as  a  vast  relief. 

It  was  succeeded  by  a  great  sorrow.  On  the  morning 
of  April  15,  1865,  coming  down  from  my  rooms  in  the 
Delavan  House  at  Albany,  I  met  on  the  stairway  a  very 
dear  old  friend,  the  late  Charles  Sedgwick,  of  Syracuse, 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  devoted  of  Republicans,  who 
had  served  with  distinction  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  had  more  than  once  been  widely  spoken  of 
for  the  United  States  Senate.  Coming  toward  me  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  and  voice,  hardly  able  to  speak,  he 
grasped  me  by  the  hand  and  gasped  the  words,  "Lincoln 
is  murdered."  I  could  hardly  believe  myself  awake:  the 
thing  seemed  impossible;— too  wicked,  too  monstrous,  too 
cruel  to  be  true ;  but  alas !  confirmation  of  the  news  came 
speedily  and  the  Presidency  was  in  the  hands  of  Andrew 
Johnson. 

Shortly  afterward  the  body  of  the  murdered  President, 
borne  homeward  to  Illinois,  rested  overnight  in  the  State 
Capitol,  and  preparations  were  made  for  its  reception.  I 
was  one  of  the  bearers  chosen  by  the  Senate  and  was  also 

123 


124  POLITICAL  LIFE-V 

elected  to  pronounce  one  of  the  orations.  Barely  have  I 
felt  an  occasion  so  deeply:  it  has  been  my  lot  during  my 
life  to  be  present  at  the  funerals  of  various  great  rulers 
and  magnates;  but  at  none  of  these  was  so  deep  an  im- 
pression made  upon  me  as  by  the  body  of  Lincoln  lying 
in  the  assembly  chamber  at  Albany,  quiet  and  peaceful  at 
last. 

Of  the  speeches  made  in  the  Senate  on  the  occasion, 
mine  being  the  only  one  which  was  not  read  or  given  from 
memory,  attracted  some  attention,  and  I  was  asked  es- 
pecially for  the  source  of  a  quotation  which  occurred  in 
it,  and  which  was  afterward  dwelt  upon  by  some  of  my 
hearers.  It  was  the  result  of  a  sudden  remembrance  of  the 
lines  in  Milton's  "Samson  Agonistes,"  beginning: 

"  Oh,  how  comely  it  is,  and  how  reviving 
To  the  spirits  of  just  men  long  oppressed, 
When  God  into  the  hands  of  their  deliverer 
Puts  invincible  might 

To  quell  the  mighty  of  the  earth,  the  oppressor, 
The  brute  and  boisterous  force  of  violent  men/'  etc.1 

The  funeral  was  conducted  with  dignity  and  solemnity. 
When  the  coffin  was  opened  and  we  were  allowed  to  take 
one  last  look  at  Lincoln's  face,  it  impressed  me  as  having 
the  same  melancholy  expression  which  I  had  seen  upon  it 
when  he  entered  the  East  Room  at  the  White  House.  In 
its  quiet  sadness  there  seemed  to  have  been  no  change. 
There  was  no  pomp  in  the  surroundings ;  all,  though  dig- 
nified, was  simple.  Very  different  was  it  from  the  show 
and  ceremonial  at  the  funeral  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas 
which  I  had  attended  ten  years  before ;— but  it  was  even 
more  impressive.  At  the  head  of  the  coffin  stood  General 
Dix,  who  had  served  so  honorably  in  the  War  of  1812,  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the  Civil  War,  and  who 
was  afterward  to  serve  with  no  less  fidelity  as  governor 
of  the  State.  Nothing  could  be  more  fitting  than  such  a 
chieftaincy  in  the  guard  of  honor. 

1  Milton's  "Samson  Agonistes,"  lines  1268-1280. 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALB  ANY- 1865 -1867          125 

In  the  following  autumn  the  question  of  my  renomina- 
tion  came. 

It  had  been  my  fortune  to  gain,  first  of  all,  the  ill  will 
of  Tammany  Hall,  and  the  arms  of  Tammany  were  long. 
Its  power  was  exercised  strongly  through  its  henchmen 
not  only  in  the  Democratic  party  throughout  the  State, 
but  especially  in  the  Republican  party,  and,  alcove,  .all, 
among  sundry  contractors  of  the  Erie  Canal,  many  of 
whose  bills  I  had  opposed,  and  it  was  understood  that 
they  and  their  friends  were  determined  to  defeat  me. 

Moreover,  it  was  thought  by  some  that  I  had  mortally 
offended  sundry  Catholic  priests  by  opposing  their  plan 
for  acquiring  Ward's  Island,  and  that  I  had  offended 
various  Protestant  bodies,  especially  the  Methodists,  by 
defeating  their  efforts  to  divide  up  the  Land  Grant 
Fund  between  some  twenty  petty  sectarian  colleges,  and 
by  exerting  myself  to  secure  it  for  Cornell  University, 
which,  because  it  was  unsectarian,  many  called  * '  godless. ' ' 

Though  I  made  speeches  through  the  district  as  for- 
merly, I  asked  no  pledges  of  any  person,  but  when  the  nom- 
inating convention  assembled  I  was  renominated  in  spite 
of  all  opposition,  and  triumphantly:— a  gifted  and  hon- 
orable man,  the  late  David  J.  Mitchell,  throwing  him- 
self heartily  into  the  matter,  and  in  an  eloquent  speech 
absolutely  silencing  the  whole  Tammany  and  canal  com- 
bination. He  was  the  most  successful  lawyer  in  the 
district  before  juries,  and  never  did  his  best  quali- 
ties show  themselves  more  fully  than  on  this  occasion. 
My  majority  on  the  first  ballot  was  overwhelming,  the 
nomination  was  immediately  made  unanimous,  and  at  the 
election  I  had  the  full  vote. 

Arriving  in  Albany  at  the  beginning  of  my  third  year 
of  service— 1866— I  found  myself  the  only  member  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  investigate  matters  in  the  city  of 
New  York  who  had  been  reflected.  Under  these  circum- 
stances no  report  from  the  committee  was  possible;  but 
the  committee  on  municipal  affairs,  having  brought  in  a 
bill  to  legislate  out  of  office  the  city  inspector  and  all  his 


126  POLITICAL  LIFE-V 

associates,  and  to  put  in  a  new  and  thoroughly  qualified 
health  board,  I  made  a  carefully  prepared  speech,  which 
took  the  character  of  a  report.  The  facts  which  I 
brought  out  were  sufficient  to  condemn  the  whole  existing 
system  twenty  times  over.  By  testimony  taken  under  oath 
the  monstrosities  of  the  existing  system  were  fully  re- 
vealed, as  well  as  the  wretched  character  of  the  "health 
officers, ' 9  "  inspectors, ' '  and  the  whole  army  of  underlings, 
and  I  exhibited  statistics  carefully  ascertained  and  tabu- 
lated, showing  the  absurd  disproportion  of  various  classes 
of  officials  to  each  other,  their  appointment  being  made, 
not  to  preserve  the  public  health,  but  to  carry  the  ward 
caucuses  and  elections.  During  this  exposure  Boole,  the 
head  of  the  whole  system,  stood  not  far  from  me  on  the 
floor,  his  eyes  fastened  upon  me,  with  an  expression  in 
which  there  seemed  to  mingle  fear,  hatred,  and  something 
else  which  I  could  hardly  divine.  His  face  seemed  to  me, 
even  then,  the  face  of  a  madman.  So  it  turned  out.  The 
new  bill  drove  him  out  of  office,  and,  in  a  short  time,  into 
a  madhouse. 

I  have  always  thought  upon  the  fate  of  this  man  with  a 
sort  of  sadness.  Doubtless  in  his  private  relations  he 
had  good  qualities,  but  to  no  public  service  that  I  have 
ever  been  able  to  render  can  I  look  back  with  a  stronger 
feeling  that  my  work  was  good.  It  unquestionably  re- 
sulted in  saving  the  lives  of  hundreds,  nay  thousands,  of 
men,  women,  and  children ;  and  yet  it  is  a  simple  fact  that 
had  I,  at  any  time  within  a  year  or  two  afterward,  visited 
those  parts  of  the  city  of  New  York  which  I  had  thus 
benefited,  and  been  recognized  by  the  dwellers  in  the  tene- 
ment houses  as  the  man  who  had  opposed  their  dramshop- 
keepers  and  brought  in  a  new  health  board,  those  very 
people  whose  lives  and  the  lives  of  whose  children  I  had 
thus  saved  would  have  mobbed  me,  and,  if  possible,  would 
have  murdered  me. 

Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  session  I  was  invited  to 
give  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  address  at  the  Yale  commence- 
ment, and  as  the  question  of  the  reconstruction  of  the 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY-1S65-1867         127 

Union  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  then  the  most  impor- 
tant subject  before  the  country,  and  as  it  seemed  to  me 
best  to  strike  while  the  iron  was  hot,  my  subject  was 
"The  Greatest  Foe  of  Republics."  The  fundamental 
idea  was  that  the  greatest  foe  of  modern  states,  and  es- 
pecially of  republics,  is  a  political  caste  supported  by 
rights  and  privileges.  The  treatment  was  mainly  histori- 
cal, one  of  the  main  illustrations  being  drawn  from  the 
mistake  made  by  Richelieu  in  France,  who,  when  he  had 
completely  broken  down  such  a  caste,  failed  tq_destroy  its 
privileges,  and  so  left  a  body  whose  oppressions  and  as- 
sumptions finally  brought  on  the  French  Revolution. 
Though  I  did  not  draw  the  inference,  I  presume  that  my 
auditors  drew  it  easily :  it  was  simply  that  now,  when  the 
slave  power  in  the  Union  was  broken  down,  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  retain  the  power  which  had  cost  the  country 
so  dear. 

The  address  was  well  received,  and  two  days  later  there 
came  to  me  what,  under  other  circumstances,  I  would  have 
most  gladly  accepted,  the  election  to  a  professorship  at 
Yale,  which  embraced  the  history  of  art  and  the  direction 
of  the  newly  founded  Street  School  of  Art.  The  thought 
of  me  for  the  place  no  doubt  grew  out  of  the  fact  that, 
during  my  stay  in  college,  I  had  shown  an  interest  in  art, 
and  especially  in  architecture,  and  that  after  my  return 
from  Europe  I  had  delivered  in  the  Yale  chapel  an  ad- 
dress on  "Cathedral  Builders  and  Mediaeval  Sculptors" 
which  was  widely  quoted.  - 

It  was  with  a  pang  that  I  turned  from  this  offer.  To  all 
appearance,  then  and  now,  my  life  would  have  been  far 
happier  in  such  a  professorship,  but  to  accept  it  was 
clearly  impossible.  The  manner  in  which  it  was  tendered 
me  seemed  to  me  almost  a  greater  honor  than  the  profes- 
sorship itself.  I  was  called  upon  by  a  committee  of  the 
governing  body  of  the  university,  composed  of  the  man 
whom  of  all  in  New  Haven  I  most  revered,  Dr.  Bacon, 
and  the  governor  of  the  State,  my  old  friend  Joseph  R. 
Hawley,  who  read  to  me  the  resolution  of  the  governing 


128  POLITICAL  LIFE-V 

body  and  requested  my  acceptance  of  the  election.  No- 
thing has  ever  been  tendered  me  which  I  have  felt  to  be  a 
greater  honor. 

A  month  later,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1866,  began  at 
Albany  what  has  been  very  rare  in  the  history  of  New 
York,  a  special  session  of  the  State  Senate:— in  a  sense, 
a  court  of  impeachment. 

Its  purpose  was  to  try  the  county  judge  of  Oneida  for 
complicity  in  certain  illegal  proceedings  regarding  boun- 
ties. "Bounty  jumping "  had  become  a  very  serious  evil, 
and  it  was  claimed  that  this  judicial  personage  had  con- 
nived at  it. 

I  must  confess  that,  as  the  evidence  was  developed,  my 
feelings  as  a  man  and  my  duties  as  a  sworn  officer  of 
the  State  were  sadly  at  variance.  It  came  out  that  this 
judge  was  endeavoring  to  support,  on  the  wretched  sal- 
ary of  $1800  a  year  allowed  by  the  county,  not  only 
his  own  family,  but  also  the  family  of  his  brother,  who,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  had  lost  his  life  during  the  war,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  a  great  pity  that,  as  a  penalty  upon  the 
people  of  the  county,  he  could  not  be  quartered  upon  them 
as  long  as  he  lived.  For  they  were  the  more  culpable 
criminals.  Belonging  to  one  of  the  richest  divisions  of 
the  State,  with  vast  interests  at  stake,  they  had  not  been 
ashamed  to  pay  a  judge  this  contemptible  pittance,  and 
they  deserved  to  have  their  law  badly  administered.  This 
feeling  was  undoubtedly  wide-spread  in  the  Senate ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  was  the  duty  we  were  sworn  to 
perform,  and  the  result  was  that  the  judge  was  removed 
from  office. 

During  this  special  session  of  the  State  Senate  it  was 
entangled  in  a  curious  episode  of  national  history.  The 
new  President,  Mr.  Andrew  Johnson,  had  been  induced  to 
take  an  excursion  into  the  north  and  especially  into  the 
State  of  New  York.  He  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Seward, 
the  Secretary  of  State;  General  Grant,  with  his  laurels 
fresh  from  the  Civil  War;  Admiral  Farragut,  who  had 
so  greatly  distinguished  himself  during  the  same  epoch, 


SENATOR  SHIP  AT  ALB  ANY -1865-1867  129 

and  others  of  great  merit.  It  was  clear  that  Secretary 
Seward  thought  that  he  could  establish  the  popularity  of 
the  new  administration  in  the  State  of  New  York  by 
means  of  his  own  personal  influence ;  but  this  proved  the 
greatest  mistake  of  his  life. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  presidential  party  in  New  York 
City,  various  elements  there  joined  in  a  showy  reception 
to  them,  and  all  were  happy.  But  the  scene  soon  changed. 
From  the  city  Mr.  Seward,  with  the  President,  his 
associates,  and  a  large  body  of  citizens  more  or  less  dis- 
tinguished, came  up  the  Hudson  River  in  one  of  the  finest 
steamers,  a  great  banquet  being  given  on  board.  But  on 
approaching  Albany,  Mr.  Seward  began  to  discover  his 
mistake ;  for  the  testimonials  of  admiration  and  respect  to- 
ward the  President  grew  less  and  less  hearty  as  the  party 
moved  northward.  This  was  told  me  afterward  by  Mr. 
Thurlow  Weed,  Mr.  Seward 's  lifelong  friend,  and  prob- 
ably the  most  competent  judge  of  such  matters  in  the 
United  States.  At  various  places  where  the  President 
was  called  out  to  speak,  he  showed  a  bitterness  toward 
those  who  opposed  his  policy  which  more  and  more  dis- 
pleased his  audiences.  One  pet  phrase  of  his  soon  excited 
derision.  The  party  were  taking  a  sort  of  circular  tour, 
going  northward  by  the  eastern  railway  and  steamer  lines, 
turning  westward  at  Albany,  and  returning  by  western 
lines ;  hence  the  President,  in  one  of  his  earlier  speeches, 
alluded  to  his  journey  as  "swinging  round  the  circle. " 
The  phrase  seemed  to  please  him,  and  he  constantly 
repeated  it  in  his  speeches,  so  that  at  last  the  whole  matter 
was  referred  to  by  the  people  at  large,  contemptuously,  as 
"swinging  round  the  circle, "  reference  being  thereby 
made,  not  merely  to  the  President's  circular  journey,  but 
to  the  alleged  veering  of  his  opinions  from  those  he  pro- 
fessed when  elected. 

As  soon  as  the  State  Senate  was  informed  of  the  prob- 
able time  when  the  party  would  arrive  at  Albany,  a  reso- 
lution was  introduced  which  welcomed  in  terms:  "The 
President  of  the  United  States,  Andrew  Johnson;  the 

I.— 9 


130  POLITICAL   LIFE-V 

Secretary  of  State,  William  H.  Seward;  the  General  of 
the  Army,  Ulysses  S.  Grant ;  and  the  Admiral  of  the  Navy, 
David  G.  Farragut. ' '  The  feeling  against  President  John- 
son and  his  principal  adviser,  Mr.  Seward,  on  account  of 
the  break  which  had  taken  place  between  them  and  the 
majority  of  the  Republican  party,  was  immediately  evi- 
dent, for  it  was  at  once  voiced  by  amending  the  resolution 
so  that  it  left  out  all  names,  and  merely  tendered  a  re- 
spectful welcome,  in  terms,  to  "The  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  General  of  the 
Army,  and  the  Admiral  of  the  Navy. ' '  But  suddenly  came 
up  a  second  amendment  which  was  little  if  anything  short 
of  an  insult  to  the  President  and  Secretary.  It  extended 
the  respectful  welcome,  in  terms,  to  "The  President  of 
the  United  States;  to  the  Secretary  of  State;  to  Ulysses 
S.  Grant,  General  of  the  Army ;  and  to  David  G.  Farragut, 
Admiral  of  the  Navy";  thus  making  the  first  part,  relat- 
ing to  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  State,  merely 
a  mark  of  respect  for  the  offices  they  held,  and  the  latter 
part  a  tribute  to  Grant  and  Farragut,  not  only  official, 
but  personal.  Most  earnest  efforts  were  made  to  defeat 
the  resolution  in  this  form.  It  was  pathetic  to  see  old 
-Republicans  who  had  been  brought  up  to  worship  Mr. 
Seward  plead  with  their  associates  not  to  put  so  gross 
an  insult  upon  a  man  who  had  rendered  such  services 
to  the  Republican  party,  to  the  State,  and  to  the  Nation. 
All  in  vain!  In  spite  of  all  our  opposition,  the  resolu- 
tion, as  amended  in  this  latter  form,  was  carried,  indica- 
ting the  clear  purpose  of  the  State  Senate  to  honor 
simply  and  solely  the  offices  of  the  President  and  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  but  just  as  distinctly  to  honor  the 
persons  of  the  General  of  the  Army  and  the  Admiral  of 
the  Navy. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  party  in  Albany  they  came  up  to 
the  State  House,  and  were  received  under  the  portico 
by  Governor  Fenton  and  his  staff.  It  was  perfectly 
understood  that  Governor  Fenton,  though  a  Republican, 
was  in  sympathy  with  the  party  in  the  Senate  which  had 
put  this  slight  upon  the  President  and  Secretary  of  State, 


SENATORSHIP  AT  ALBANY-1865-1867  131 

and  Mr.  Seward 's  action  was  characteristic.  Having  re- 
turned a  curt  and  dry  reply  to  the  guarded  phrases  of  the 
governor,  he  pressed  by  him  with  the  President  and  his 
associates  to  the  "Executive  Chamber"  near  the  entrance, 
the  way  to  which  he,  of  all  men,  well  knew.  In  that  room 
the  Senate  were  assembled  and,  on  the  entrance  of  the 
visitors,  Governor  Fenton  endeavored  to  introduce  them 
in  a  formal  speech ;  but  Mr.  Seward  was  too  prompt  for 
him ;  he  took  the  words  out  of  the  governor 's  mouth  and 
said,  in  a  way  which  thrilled  all  of  us  who  had  been 
brought  up  to  love  and  admire  him,  "In  the  Executive 
Chamber  of  the  State  of  New  York  I  surely  need  no  in- 
troduction. I  bring  to  you  the  President  of  the  United 
States;  the  chief  magistrate  who  is  restoring  peace  and 
prosperity  to  our  country." 

The  whole  scene  impressed  me  greatly;  there  rushed 
upon  me  a  strong  tide  of  recollection  as  I  contrasted  what 
Governor  Fenton  had  been  and  was,  with  what  Governor 
Seward  had  been  and  was :  it  all  seemed  to  me  a  ghastly 
mistake.  There  stood  Fenton,  marking  the  lowest  point 
in  the  choice  of  a  State  executive  ever  reached  in  our 
Commonwealth  by  the  Eepublican  party:  there  stood 
Seward  who,  from  his  boyhood  in  college,  had  fought 
courageously,  steadily,  powerfully,  and  at  Jast  trium- 
phantly, against  the  domination  of  slavery ;  who,  as  State 
senator,  as  governor,  as  the  main  founder  of  the  Republi- 
can party,  as  senator  of  the  United  States  and  finally  as 
Secretary  of  State,  had  rendered  service  absolutely  ines- 
timable; who  for  years  had  braved  storms  of  calumny 
and  ridicule  and  finally  the  knife  of  an  assassin ;  and  who 
was  now  adhering  to  Andrew  Johnson  simply  because  he 
knew  that  if  he  let  go  his  hold,  the  President  would  re- 
lapse into  the  hands  of  men  opposed  to  any  rational  set- 
tlement of  the  questions  between  the  North  and  South.  I 
noticed  on  Seward 's  brow  the  deep  scar  made  by  the 
assassin's  knife  when  Lincoln  was  murdered;  all  the 
others,  greatly  as  I  admired  Grant  and  Farragut,  passed 
with  me  at  that  time  for  nothing ;  my  eyes  were  fixed  upon 
the  Secretary  of  State. 


13:2  POLITICAL    LIFE-V 

After  all  was  over  J  came  out  with  my  colleague,  Judge 
Folger,  and  as  we  left  the  Capitol  he  said:  "What  was 
the  matter  with  you  in  the  governor's  room?"  1  an- 
swered: "Nothing  was  the  matter  with  me;  what  do  you 
mean.'"'  lie  said:  "'The  moment  Si-ward  began  to  speak 
you  fastened  your  eyes  intently  upon  him.  you  turned  so 
pale  that  I  thought  you  were  ahout  to  drop,  and  I  made 
ready  to  seize  you  and  prevent  your  falling."1  1  then  con- 
fessed to  him  the  feeling  which  was  doubtless  the1  cause 
of  this  change  of  countenance. 

As  one  who  cherishes  a  deep  affection  for  my  native 
State  and  for  men  who  have  made  it  great,  1  may  he  al- 
lowed here  to  express  the  hope  that  the  day  will  come 
when  it  will  redeem  itself  from  the  just  charge  of  ingrati- 
tude, and  do  itself  honor  hy  honoring  its  two  greatest 
governors,  I  )e  Witt  Clinton  and  William  IT.  Seward.  No 
statue  of  either  of  them  stands  at  Albany,  the  place  of  all 
others  where  such  memorials  should  he  erected,  not 
merely  as  an  honor  to  the  two  statesmen  concerned,  hut  as 
a  lesson  to  the  citizens  of  the  State;— pointing  out  the 
qualities  which  ought  to  ensure  public  gratitude,  but 
which,  thus  far,  democracies  have  least  admired. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ROSCOE  CONKLING  AND  JUDGE  FOLGEE— 1867-1868 

A  T  the  beginning  of  my  fourth  year  at  Albany,  in 
JL\_  1867,  came  an  election  to "ffie  Senate  of  the  United 
States.  Of  the  two  senators  then  representing  the  State, 
one,  Edwin  D.  Morgan,  had  been  governor,  and  combined 
the  qualities  of  a  merchant  prince  and  of  a  shrewd  politi- 
cian; the  other,  Ira  Harris,  had  been  a  highly  respected 
judge,  and  was,  from  every  point  of  view,  a  most  worthy 
man :  but  unfortunately  neither  of  these  gentlemen  seemed 
to  exercise  any  adequate  influence  in  solving  the  main 
questions  then  before  Congress. 

No  more  important  subjects  have  ever  come  before  that 
body  than  those  which  arose  during  the  early  years  of 
the  Civil  War,  and  it  was  deeply  felt  throughout  the  State 
that  neither  of  the  senators  fitly  uttered  its  voice  or  exer- 
cised its  influence. 

Mr.  Cornell,  with  whom  I  had  then  become  intimate,  was 
never  censorious ;  rarely  did  he  say  anything  in  disappro- 
val of  any  man ;  he  was  charitable  in  his  judgments,  and 
generally  preferred  to  be  silent  rather  than  severe ;  but  I 
remember  that  on  his  return  from  a  stay  in  Washing- 
ton, he  said  to  me  indignantly:  " While  at  the  Capitol 
I  was  ashamed  of  the  State  of  New  York :  one  great  ques- 
tion after  another  came  up ;  bills  of  the  highest  importance 
were  presented  and  discussed  by  senators  from  Ohio,  Ver- 
mont, Missouri,  Indiana,  Iowa,  and  the  rest;  but  from 
New  York  never  a  word!" 

The  question  now  was,  who  should  succeed  Senator 

133 


134  POLITICAL  LIFE— VI 

Harris  ?  He  naturally  desired  a  second  term,  and  it  would 
have  given  me  pleasure  to  support  him,  for  he  was  an  old 
and  honored  friend  of  my  father  and  mother,  they  having 
been,  in  their  early  life,  his  neighbors  and  schoolmates, 
and  their  friendship  having  descended  to  me;  but  like 
others  I  was  disappointed  that  Senator  Harris  had  not 
taken  a  position  more  fitting.  His  main  efforts  seemed  to 
be  in  the  line  of  friendly  acts  for  his  constituents.  In  so 
far  as  these  were  done  for  soldiers  in  the  army  they  were 
praiseworthy ;  though  it  was  generally  felt  that  while  aris- 
ing primarily  from  a  natural  feeling  of  benevolence,  they 
were  mainly  devoted  to  securing  a  body  of  friends 
throughout  the  State  who  would  support  him  when  the 
time  should  come  for  his  reelection.  Apparently  with  the 
same  object,  he  was  a  most  devoted  supporter  of  New 
York  office-seekers  of  all  sorts.  He  had  pleasing  personal 
characteristics,  but  it  was  reported  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  re- 
ferring to  the  senator 's  persistency  in  pressing  candidates 
for  office,  once  said:  "I  never  think  of  going  to  sleep  now 
without  first  looking  under  my  bed  to  see  if  Judge  Harris 
is  not  there  wanting  something  for  somebody. ' ? 

Another  candidate  was  Judge  Noah  Davis,  then  of 
Lockport,  also  a  man  of  high  character,  of  excellent  legal 
abilities,  a  good  speaker,  and  one  who,  had  he  been  elected, 
would  have  done  honor  to  the  State.  But  on  looking  about 
I  discovered,  as  I  thought,  a  better  candidate.  Judge 
Bailey,  of  Oneida  County,  had  called  my  attention  to  the 
claims  of  Mr.  Roscoe  Conkling,  then  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  the  Oneida  district,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  as  an  effective  speaker,  a  successful  lawyer,  and 
an  honest  public  servant.  He  had,  to  be  sure,  run  foul  of 
Mr.  Blaine  of  Maine,  and  had  received,  in  return  for  what 
Mr.  Blaine  considered  a  display  of  offensive  manners,  a 
yery  serious  oratorical  castigation ;  but  he  had  just  fought 
a  good  fight  which  had  drawn  the  attention  of  the  whole 
State  to  him.  A  coalition  having  been  formed  between  the 
anti-war  Democrats  and  a  number  of  disaffected  Republi- 
cans in  his  district  to  defeat  his  reelection  to  Congress,  it 


CONKLING  AND  FOLGER-1867-1868  135 

had  seemed  likely  to  overwhelm  him  and  drive  him  out  of 
public  life,  and  one  thing  seemed  for  a  time  likely  to  prove 
fatal  to  him:— the  "New  York  Tribune, "  the  great  organ 
of  the  party,  edited  by  Horace  Greeley,  gave  him  no  effec- 
tive support.  But  the  reason  was  apparent  later  when  it 
became  known  that  Mr.  Greeley  was  to  be  a  candidate 
for  the  senatorship,  and  it  was  evidently  felt  that  should 
Mr.  Conkling  triumph  in  such  a  struggle,  he  would  be  a 
very  serious  competitor.  The  young  statesman  had  shown 
himself  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  had  fought  his  battle 
without  the  aid  of  Mr.  Greeley  and  the  "Tribune,"  and 
won  it,  and,  as  a  result,  had  begun  to  be  thought  of  as  a 
promising  candidate  for  the  United  States  senatorship.  I 
had  never  spoken  with  him;  had  hardly  seen  him;  but 
I  had  watched  his  course  closely,  and  one  thing  especially 
wrought  powerfully  with  me  in  his  favor.  The  men  who 
had  opposed  him  were  of  the  same  sort  with  those  who  had 
opposed  me,  and  as  I  was  proud  of  their  opposition,  I 
felt  that  he  had  a  right  to  be  so.  The  whole  force  of 
Tammany  henchmen  and  canal  contractors  throughout 
the  State  honored  us  both  with  their  enmity. 

It  was  arranged  among  Mr.  Conkling 's  supporters  that, 
at  the  great  caucus  which  was  to  decide  the  matter,  Mr. 
Conkling 's  name  should  be  presented  by  the  member  of 
the  assembly  representing  his  district,  Ellis  Eoberts,  a 
man  of  eminent  character  and  ability,  who,  having  begun 
by  taking  high  rank  as  a  scholar  at  Yale,  had  become  one 
of  the  foremost  editors  of  the  State,  and  had  afterward 
distinguished  himself  not  only  in  the  State  legislature,  but 
in  Congress,  and  as  the  head  of  the  independent  treasury 
in  the  city  of  New  York.  The  next  question  was  as  to  the 
speech  seconding  the  nomination.  It  was  proposed  that 
Judge  Folger  should  make  it,  but  as  he  showed  a  curious 
diffidence  in  the  matter,  and  preferred  to  preside  over  the 
caucus,  the  duty  was  tendered  to  me. 

At  the  hour  appointed  the  assembly  hall  of  the  old  Capi- 
tol was  full;  floor  and  galleries  were  crowded  to  suffo- 
cation. The  candidates  were  duly  presented,  and,  among 


136  POLITICAL  LIFE-VI 

them,  Mr.  Conkling  by  Mr.  Roberts.  I  delayed  my  speech 
somewhat.  The  general  course  of  it  had  been  thought  out 
beforehand,  but  the  phraseology  and  sequence  of  argument 
were  left  to  the  occasion.  I  felt  deeply  the  importance 
of  nominating  Mr.  Conkling,  and  when  the  moment  came 
threw  my  heart  into  it.  I  was  in  full  health  and  vigor,  and 
soon  felt  that  a  very  large  part  of  the  audience  was  with 
me.  Presently  I  used  the  argument  that  the  great  State 
of  New  York,  which  had  been  so  long  silent  in  the  highest 
councils  of  the  Nation,  demanded  a  voice.  Instantly  the 
vast  majority  of  all  present,  in  the  galleries,  in  the  lobbies, 
and  on  the  floor,  rose  in  quick  response  to  the  sentiment 
and  cheered  with  all  their  might.  There  had  been  no  such 
outburst  in  the  whole  course  of  the  evening.  Evidently 
this  was  the  responsive  chord,  and  having  gone  on  with 
the  main  line  of  my  argument,  I  at  last  closed  with  the 
same  declaration  in  different  form ;— that  our  great  Com- 
monwealth,—the  most  important  in  the  whole  sisterhood 
of  States,— which  had  been  so  long  silent  in  the  Senate, 
wished  to  be  heard,  and  that,  therefore,  I  seconded  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Conkling.  Immediately  the  whole 
house  rose  to  this  sentiment  again  and  again,  with  even 
greater  evidence  of  approval  than  before ;  the  voting  be- 
gan and  Mr.  Conkling  was  finally  nominated,  if  my  mem- 
ory is  correct,  by  a  majority  of  three. 

The  moment  the  vote  was  declared  the  whole  assembly 
broke  loose;  the  pressure  being  removed,  there  came  a 
general  effervescence  of  good  feeling,  and  I  suddenly 
found  myself  raised  on  the  shoulders  of  stalwart  men  who 
stood  near,  and  rapidly  carried  over  the  heads  of  the 
crowd,  through  many  passages  and  corridors,  my  main 
anxiety  being  to  protect  my  head  so  that  my  brains  might 
not  be  knocked  out  against  stairways  and  doorways; 
but  presently,  when  fairly  dazed  and  bewildered,  I  was 
borne  into  a  room  in  the  old  Congress  Hall  Hotel,  and 
deposited  safely  in  the  presence  of  a  gentleman  standing 
with  his  back  to  the  fire,  who  at  once  extended  his  hand 
to  me  most  cordially,  and  to  whom  I  said,  "God  bless 


CONKLING  AND  FOLGER-1867-1868  137 

you,  Senator  Conkling."  A  most  hearty  response 
followed,  and  so  began  my  closer  acquaintance  with  the 
new  senator. 

Mr.  Conkling's  election  followed  as  a  thing  of  course, 
and  throughout  the  State  there  was  general  approval. 

During  this  session  of  1867  I  found  myself  involved  in 
two  rather  curious  struggles,  and  with  no  less  a  personage 
than  my  colleague,  Judge  Folger. 

As  to  the  first  of  these  I  had  long  felt,  and  still  feel,  that 
of  all  the  weaknesses  in  our  institutions,  one  of  the  most 
serious  is  our  laxity  in  the  administration  of  the  criminal 
law.  No  other  civilized  country,  save  possibly  the  lower 
parts  of  Italy  and  Sicily,  shows  anything  to  approach  the 
number  of  unpunished  homicides,  in  proportion  to  the 
population,  which  are  committed  in  sundry  parts  of  our 
own  country,  and  indeed  in  our  country  taken  as  a  whole. 
In  no  country  is  the  deterrent  effect  of  punishment  so 
vitiated  by  delay ;  in  no  country  is  so  much  facility  given 
to  chicanery,  to  futile  appeals,  and  to  every  possible  means 
of  clearing  men  from  the  due  penalty  of  high  crime,  and 
especially  the  crime  of  murder. 

It  was  in  view  of  this  fact  that,  acting  on  the  advice  of  an 
old  and  able  judge  whose  experience  in  criminal  practice 
had  been  very  large,  I  introduced  into  the  Senate  a 
bill  to  improve  the  procedure  in  criminal  cases.  The 
judge  just  referred  to  had  shown  me  the  absurdities 
arising  from  the  fact  that  testimony  in  regard  to  charac- 
ter, even  in  the  case  of  professional  criminals,  was  not 
allowed  save  in  rebuttal.  It  was  notorious  that  profes- 
sional criminals  charged  with  high  crimes,  especially  in 
our  large  cities,  frequently  went  free  because,  while  the 
testimony  to  the  particular  crime  was  not  absolutely  over- 
whelming, testimony  to  their  character  as  professional 
criminals,  which,  in  connection  with  the  facts  established, 
would  have  been  absolutely  conclusive,  could  not  be  ad- 
mitted. I  therefore  proposed  that  testimony  as  to  char- 
acter in  any  criminal  case  might  be  introduced  by  the 
prosecution  if,  after  having  been  privately  submitted  to 


138  POLITICAL  LIFE-VI 

the  judge,  he  should  decide  that  the  ends  of  justice  would 
he  furthered  thereby. 

The  bill  was  referred  to  the  Senate  judiciary  committee, 
of  which  Judge  Folger  was  chairman.  After  it  had  lain 
there  some  weeks  and  the  judge  had  rather  curtly  an- 
swered my  questions  as  to  when  it  would  be  reported,  it 
became  clear  to  me  that  the  committee  had  no  intention  of 
reporting  it  at  all,  whereupon  I  introduced  a  resolution 
requesting  them  to  report  it,  at  the  earliest  day  possible, 
for  the  consideration  of  the  Senate,  and  this  was  passed 
in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  committee.  Many  days 
then  passed;  no  report  was  made,  and  I  therefore  intro- 
duced a  resolution  taking  the  bill  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
committee  and  bringing  it  directly  before  the  committee 
of  the  whole.  This  was  most  earnestly  resisted  by  Judge 
Folger  and  by  his  main  associate  on  the  committee,  Henry 
Murphy  of  Brooklyn.  On  the  other  hand  I  had,  to  aid  me, 
Judge  Lowe,  also  a  lawyer  of  high  standing,  and  indeed 
all  the  lawyers  in  the  body  who  were  not  upon  the  judi- 
ciary committee.  The  result  was  that  my  motion  was 
successful;  the  bill  was  taken  from  the  committee  and 
immediately  brought  under  discussion. 

In  reply  to  the  adverse  arguments  of  Judge  Folger  and 
Mr.  Murphy,  which  were  to  the  effect  that  my  bill  was  an 
innovation  upon  the  criminal  law  of  the  State,  I  pointed 
out  the  fact  that  evidence  as  to  the  character  of  the  person 
charged  with  crime  is  often  all-important;  that  in  our 
daily  life  we  act  upon  that  fact  as  the  simplest  dictate  of 
common  sense ;  that  if  any  senator  present  had  his  watch 
stolen  from  his  room  he  would  be  very  slow  to  charge  the 
crime  against  the  servant  who  was  last  seen  in  the  room, 
even  under  very  suspicious  circumstances ;  but  if  he  found 
that  the  servant  had  been  discharged  for  theft  from  vari- 
ous places  previously,  this  would  be  more  important  than 
any  other  circumstance.  I  showed  how  safeguards  which 
had  been  devised  in  the  middle  ages  to  protect  citizens 
from  the  feudal  lord  were  now  used  to  aid  criminals  in 
evading  the  law,  and  I  ended  by  rather  unjustly  compar- 


CONKLING  AND   FOLGER- 1867 -1868  139 

ing  Judge  Folger  to  the  great  Lord  Chancellor  Eldon,  of 
whom  it  was  said  that,  despite  his  profound  knowledge 
of  the  law,  "nojaan^ever  did  so  much  good  as  he  pre- 
vented. "  The  result  was  that  the  bill  was  passed  by  the 
Senate  in  spite  of  the  judiciary  committee. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  discussion  Judge  Folger 
had  remained  in  his  usual  seat,  but  immediately  after  the 
passage  of  the  bill  he  resumed  his  place  as  president  of  the 
Senate.  He  was  evidently  vexed,  and  in  declaring  the 
Senate  adjourned  he  brought  the  gavel  down  with  a  sort 
of  fling  which  caused  it  to  fly  out  of  his  hand  and  fall  in 
front  of  his  desk  on  the  floor.  Fortunately  it  was  after 
midnight  and  few  saw  it;  but  there  was  a  general  feeling 
of  regret  among  us  all  that  a  man  so  highly  respected 
should  have  so  lost  his  temper.  By  common  consent  the 
whole  matter  was  hushed;  no  mention  of  it,  so  far  as  I 
could  learn,  was  made  in  the  public  press,  and  soon  all 
seemed  forgotten. 

Unfortunately  it  was  remembered,  and  in  a  quarter 
which  brought  upon  Judge  Folger  one  of  the  worst  dis- 
appointments of  his  life. 

For,  in  the  course  of  the  following  summer,  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  the  State  was  to  hold  its  session  and 
its  presidency  was  justly  considered  a  great  honor.  Two 
candidates  were  named,  one  being  Judge  Folger  and  the 
other  Mr.  William  A.  Wheeler,  then  a  member  of  Congress 
and  afterward  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  The 
result  of  the  canvas  by  the  friends  of  both  these  gentlemen 
seemed  doubtful,  when  one  morning  there  appeared  in  the 
"New  York  Tribune,"  the  most  powerful  organ  of  the  Re- 
publican party,  one  of  Horace  Greeley's  most  trenchant 
articles.  It  dwelt  on  the  importance  of  the  convention 
in  the  history  of  the  State,  on  the  responsibility  of  its 
members,  on  the  characteristics  which  should  mark  its 
presiding  officer,  and,  as  to  this  latter  point,  wound  up 
pungently  by  saying  that  it  would  be  best  to  have  a  presi- 
dent who,  when  he  disagreed  with  members,  did  not  throw 
his  gavel  at  them.  This  shot  took  effect ;  it  ran  through 


140  POLITICAL  LIFE -VI 

the  State ;  people  asked  the  meaning  of  it ;  various  exag- 
gerated legends  became  current,  one  of  them  being  that  he 
had  thrown  the  gavel  at  me  personally ;— and  Mr.  Wheeler 
became  president  of  the  convention. 

But  before  the  close  of  the  session  another  matter  had 
come  up  which  cooled  still  more  the  relations  between 
Judge  Folger  and  myself.  For  many  sessions,  year  after 
year,  there  had  been  before  the  legislature  a  bill  for  estab- 
lishing a  canal  connecting  the  interior  lake  system  of  the 
State  with  Lake  Ontario.  This  was  known  as  the  Sodus 
Canal  Bill,  and  its  main  champion  was  a  public-spirited 
man  from  Judge  Folger 's  own  district.  In  favor  of  the 
canal  various  arguments  were  urged,  one  of  them  being 
that  it  would  enable  the  United  States,  while  keeping 
within  its  treaty  obligations  with  Great  Britain,  to  build 
ships  on  these  smaller  lakes,  which,  in  case  of  need,  could 
be  passed  through  the  canal  into  the  great  chain  of  lakes 
extending  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake  Superior.  To  this 
it  was  replied  that  such  an  evasion  of  the  treaty  was  not 
especially  creditable  to  those  suggesting  it,  and  that  the 
main  purpose  of  the  bill  really  was  to  create  a  vast  water 
power  which  should  enure  to  the  benefit  of  sundry  gentle- 
men in  Judge  Folger 's  district. 

Up  to  this  time  Judge  Folger  seemed  never  to  care 
much  for  the  bill,  and  I  had  never  made  any  especial  effort 
against  it;  but  when,  just  at  the  close  of  the  session,  cer- 
tain constituents  of  mine  upon  the  Oswego  Eiver  had 
shown  me  that  there  was  great  danger  in  the  proposed 
canal  to  the  water  supply  through  the  counties  of  Onon- 
daga  and  Oswego,  I  opposed  the  measure.  Thereupon 
Judge  Folger  became  more  and  more  earnest  in  its  favor, 
and  it  soon  became  evident  that  all  his  power  would  be 
used  to  pass  it  during  the  few  remaining  days  of  the 
session.  By  his  influence  it  was  pushed  rapidly  through 
all  its  earlier  stages,  and  at  last  came  up  before  the  Sen- 
ate. It  seemed  sure  to  pass  within  ten  minutes,  when  I 
moved  that  the  whole  matter  be  referred  to  the  approach- 
ing Constitutional  Convention,  which  was  to  begin  its  ses- 


CONKLING  AND   FOLGER- 1867-1868  141 

sions  immediately  after  the  adjournment  of  the  legislature, 
and  Judge  Folger  having  spoken  against  this  motion,  I 
spoke  in  its  favor  and  did  what  I  have  never  done  before 
in  my  life  and  probably  shall  never  do  again— spoke 
against  time.  There  was  no  " previous  question"  in  the 
Senate,  no  limitation  as  to  the  period  during  which  a 
member  could  discuss  any  measure,  and,  as  the  youngest 
member  in  the  body,  I  was  in  the  full  flush  of  youthful 
strength.  I  therefore  announced  niy  intention  to  present 
some  three  hundred  arguments  in  favor  of  referring  the 
whole  matter  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention,  those 
arguments  being  based  upon  the  especial  fitness  of  its 
three  hundred  members  to  decide  the  question,  as  shown 
by  the  personal  character  and  life  history  of  each  and 
every  one  of  them.  I  then  went  on  with  this  series  of 
biographies,  beginning  with  that  of  Judge  Folger  him- 
self, and  paying  him  most  heartily  and  cordially  every 
tribute  possible,  including  some  of  a  humorous  nature. 
Having  given  about  half  an  hour  to  the  judge,  I  then  took 
up  sundry  other  members  and  kept  on  through  the  entire 
morning.  I  had  the  floor  and  no  one  could  dispossess  me. 
The  lieutenant-governor,  in  the  chair,  General  Stewart 
Woodford,  was  perfectly  just  and  fair,  and  although 
Judge  Folger  and  Mr.  Murphy  used  all  their  legal  acute- 
ness  in  devising  some  means  of  evading  the  rules,  they 
were  in  every  case  declared  by  the  lieutenant-governor  to 
be  out  of  order,  and  the  floor  was  in  every  case  reassigned 
to  me.  Meantime,  the  whole  Senate,  though  anxious  to 
adjourn,  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  matter,  various 
members  passing  me  up  biographical  notes  on  the  mem- 
bers of  the  convention,  some  of  them  very  comical,  and 
presently  the  hall  was  crowded  with  members  of  the  as- 
sembly as  well  as  senators,  all  cheering  me  on.  The 
reason  for  this  was  very  simple.  There  had  come  to  be 
a  general  understanding  of  the  case,  namely,  that  Judge 
Folger,  by  virtue  of  his  great  power  and  influence,  was 
trying  in  the  last  hours  of  the  session  to  force  through  a 
bill  for  the  benefit  of  his  district,  and  that  I  was  simply 


142  POLITICAL  LIFE -VI 

doing  my  best  to  prevent  an  injustice.  The  result  was 
that  I  went  on  hour  after  hour  with  my  series  of  biogra- 
phies, until  at  last  Judge  Folger  himself  sent  me  word 
that  if  I  would  desist  and  allow  the  legislature  to  adjourn 
he  would  make  no  further  effort  to  carry  the  bill  at  that 
session.  To  this  I  instantly  agreed ;  the  bill  was  dropped 
for  that  session  and  for  all  sessions :  so  far  as  I  can  learn 
it  has  never  reappeared. 

Shortly  after  our  final  adjournment  the  Constitutional 
Convention  came  together.  It  was  one  of  the  best  bodies 
of  the  kind  ever  assembled  in  any  State,  as  a  list  of  its 
members  abundantly  shows.  There  was  much  work  for 
it,  and  most  important  of  all  was  the  reorganization  of 
the  highest  judicial  body  in  the  State— the  Court  of  Ap- 
peals—which had  become  hopelessly  inadequate. 

The  two  principal  members  of  the  convention  from  the 
city  of  New  York  were  Horace  Greeley,  editor  of  the 
'  '  Tribune, ' 9  and  William  M.  Evarts,  afterward  Attorney- 
General,  United  States  senator,  and  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  United  States.  Mr.  Greeley  was  at  first  all-powerful. 
As  has  already  been  seen,  he  had  been  able  to  prevent 
Judge  Folger  taking  the  presidency  of  the  convention, 
and  for  a  few  days  he  had  everything  his  own  way.  But 
he  soon  proved  so  erratic  a  leader  that  his  influence  was 
completely  lost,  and  after  a  few  sessions  there  was  hardly 
any  member  with  less  real  power  to  influence  the  judg- 
ments of  his  colleagues. 

This  was  not  for  want  of  real  ability  in  his  speeches, 
for  at  various  times  I  heard  him  make,  for  and  against 
measures,  arguments  admirably  pungent,  forcible,  and 
far-reaching,  but  there  seemed  to  be  a  universal  feeling 
that  he  was  an  unsafe  guide. 

Soon  came  a  feature  in  his  course  which  made  matters 
worse.  The  members  of  the  convention,  many  of  them, 
were  men  in  large  business  and  very  anxious  to  have  a 
day  or  two  each  week  for  their  own  affairs.  Moreover, 
during  the  first  weeks  of  the  session,  while  the  main  mat- 
ters coming  before  the  convention  were  still  in  the  hands 


CONKLING  AND  FOLGER-1867-1S68  143 

of  committees,  there  was  really  not  enough  business  ready 
for  the  convention  to  occupy  it  through  all  the  days  of  the 
week,  and  consequently  it  adopted  the  plan,  for  the  first 
weeks  at  least,  of  adjourning  from  Friday  night  till  Tues- 
day morning.  This  vexed  Mr.  Greeley  sorely.  He  in- 
sisted that  the  convention  ought  to  keep  at  its  business 
and  finish  it  without  any  such  weekly  adjournments,  and, 
as  his  arguments  to  this  effect  did  not  prevail  in  the  con- 
vention, he  began  making  them  through  the  "  Tribune " 
before  the  people  of  the  State.  Soon  his  arguments  be- 
came acrid,  and  began  undermining  the  convention  at 
every  point. 

As  to  Mr.  Greeley 's  feeling  regarding  the  weekly  ad- 
journment, one  curious  thing  was  reported:  There  was 
a  member  from  New  York  of  a  literary  turn  for  whom  the 
great  editor  had  done  much  in  bringing  his  verses  and 
other  productions  before  the  public— a  certain  Mr.  Du- 
ganne ;  but  it  happened  that,  on  one  of  the  weekly  motions 
to  adjourn,  Mr.  Duganne  had  voted  in  the  affirmative,  and, 
as  a  result,  Mr.  Greeley,  meeting  him  just  afterward,  up- 
braided him  in  a  manner  which  filled  the  rural  bystanders 
with  consternation.  It  was  well  known  to  those  best  ac- 
quainted with  the  editor  of  the  "Tribune"  that,  when  ex- 
cited, he  at  times  indulged  in  the  most  ingenious  and  pic- 
turesque expletives,  and  some  of  Mr.  Chauncey  Depew's 
best  stories  of  that  period  pointed  to  this  fact.  On  this 
occasion  Mr.  Greeley  really  outdid  himself,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  country  members,  who  up  to  that 
time  had  regarded  him  with  awe  as  the  representative  of 
the  highest  possible  morality  in  public  and  private  life, 
were  greatly  dismayed,  and  in  various  parts  of  the  room 
they  were  heard  expressing  their  amazement,  and  saying 
to  each  other  in  awe-stricken  tones:  "Why!  Greeley 
swears!" 

Ere  long  Mr.  Greeley  was  taking,  almost  daily  in  the 
"Tribune,"  steady  ground  against  the  doings  of  his  col- 
leagues. Lesser  newspapers  followed  with  no  end  of 
cheap  and  easy  denunciation,  and  the  result  was  that  the 


144  POLITICAL   LIFE -VI 

convention  became  thoroughly,  though  unjustly,  discred- 
ited throughout  the  State,  and  indeed  throughout  the 
country.  A  curious  proof  of  this  met  me.  Being  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  I  passed  an  evening  with  Gov- 
ernor Washburn,  one  of  the  most  thoughtful  and  valuable 
public  men  of  that  period.  In  the  course  of  our  conversa- 
tion he  said:  "Mr.  White,  it  is  really  sad  to  hear  of  the 
doings  at  your  Albany  convention.  I  can  remember  your 
constitutional  convention  of  1846,  and  when  I  compare 
this  convention  with  that,  it  grieves  me."  My  answer 
was:  "Governor  Washburn,  you  are  utterly  mistaken: 
there  has  never  been  a  constitutional  convention  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  not  even  that  you  name,  which  has 
contained  so  many  men  of  the  highest  ability  and  charac- 
ter as  the  one  now  in  session,  and  none  which  has  really 
done  better  work.  I  am  not  a  member  of  the  body  and 
can  say  this  in  its  behalf."  At  this  he  expressed  his 
amazement,  and  pointed  to  the  "Tribune"  in  confirmation 
of  his  own  position.  I  then  stated  the  case  to  him,  and,  I 
think,  alleviated  his  distress. 

But  as  the  sessions  of  the  convention  drew  to  a  close  and 
the  value  of  its  work  began  to  be  clearly  understood, 
Greeley's  nobler  qualities,  his  real  truthfulness  and  public 
spirit  began  to  assert  themselves,  and  more  than  once  he 
showed  practical  shrewdness  and  insight.  Going  into 
convention  one  morning,  I  found  the  question  under  dis- 
cussion to  be  the  election  of  the  secretary  of  state,  attor- 
ney-general, and  others  of  the  governor's  cabinet,  whose 
appointment  under  the  older  constitutions  was  wisely 
left  to  the  governor,  but  who,  for  twenty  years,  had 
been  elected  by  the  people.  There  was  a  wide-spread  feel- 
ing that  the  old  system  was  wiser,  and  that  the  new  had 
by  no  means  justified  itself;  in  fact,  that  by  fastening  on 
the  governor  the  responsibility  for  his  cabinet,  the  State 
is  likely  to  secure  better  men  than  when  their  choice  is 
left  to  the  hurly-burly  of  intrigue  and  prejudice  in  a  nom- 
inating convention. 

The  main  argument  made  by  those  who  opposed  such  a 


CONKLING  AND   FOLGER-1867-1868  145 

return  to  the  old,  better  order  of  things  was  that  the 
people  would  not  like  it  and  would  be  inclined  to  vote 
down  the  new  constitution  on  account  of  it. 

In  reply  to  this,  Mr.  Greeley  arose  and  made  a  most 
admirable  short  speech  ending  with  these  words,  given  in 
his  rapid  falsetto,  with  a  sort  of  snap  that  made  the  whole 
seem  like  one  word:  " When-the-people-take-up-their- 
ballots-they- want-to-see- who-is-to-be-governor :  that's-all- 
they-care-about :  they-don't-want-to-read-a-whole-chapter- 
of-the-Bible-on-their-ballots. ' ' 

Unfortunately,  the  majority  dared  not  risk  the  popular 
ratification  of  the  new  constitution,  and  so  this  amendment 
was  lost. 

No  doubt  Mr.  Greeley  was  mainly  responsible  for  this 
condition  of  things ;  his  impatience  with  the  convention,  as 
shown  by  his  articles  in  the  ' l  Tribune, ' '  had  been  caught 
by  the  people  of  the  State. 

The  long  discussions  were  very  irksome  to  him,  and  one 
day  I  mildly  expostulated  with  him  on  account  of  some 
of  his  utterances  against  the  much  speaking  of  his  col- 
leagues, and  said:  "  After  all,  Mr.  Greeley, is  n't  it  a  pretty 
good  thing  to  have  a  lot  of  the  best  men  in  the  State  come 
together  every  twenty  years  and  thoroughly  discuss  the 
whole  constitution,  to  see  what  improvements  can  be 
made ;  and  is  not  the  familiarity  with  the  constitution  and 
interest  in  it  thus  aroused  among  the  people  at  large  worth 
all  the  fatigue  arising  from  long  speeches?"  "Well,  per- 
haps so,"  he  said,  but  he  immediately  began  to  grumble 
and  finally  to  storm  in  a  comical  way  against  some  of  his 
colleagues  who,  it  must  be  confessed,  were  tiresome.  Still 
he  became  interested  more  and  more  in  the  work,  and  as 
the  new  constitution  emerged  from  the  committees  and 
public  debates,  he  evidently  saw  that  it  was  a  great  gain 
to  the  State,  and  now  did  his  best  through  the  "Tribune" 
to  undo  what  he  had  been  doing.  He  wrote  editorials 
praising  the  work  of  the  convention  and  urging  that  it  be 
adopted.  But  all  in  vain :  the  unfavorable  impression  had 
been  too  widely  and  deeply  made,  and  the  result  was  that 

L-10 


146  POLITICAL   LIFE-VI 

the  new  constitution,  when  submitted  to  the  people,  was 
ignominiously  voted  down,  and  the  whole  summer's  work 
of  the  convention  went  for  nothing.  Later,  however,  a 
portion  of  it  was  rescued  and  put  into  force  through  the 
agency  of  a  "Constitutional  Commission,"  a  small  hody 
of  first-rate  men  who  sat  at  Albany,  and  whose  main  con- 
clusions were  finally  adopted  in  the  shape  of  amendments 
to  the  old  constitution.  There  was,  none  the  less,  a 
wretched  loss  to  the  State. 

During  the  summer  of  1867  I  was  completely  immersed 
in  the  duties  of  my  new  position  at  Cornell  University; 
going  through  various  institutions  in  New  England  and 
the  Western  States  to  note  the  workings  of  their  technical 
departments;  visiting  Ithaca  to  consult  with  Mr.  Cornell 
and  to  look  over  plans  for  buildings,  and  credentials  for 
professorships,  or,  shut  up  in  my  own  study  at  Syracuse, 
or  in  the  cabins  of  Cayuga  Lake  steamers,  drawing  up 
schemes  of  university  organization,  so  that  my  political 
life  soon  seemed  ages  behind  me. 

While  on  a  visit  to  Harvard,  I  was^  invited  by  Agassiz 
to  pass  a  day  with  him  at  Nahant  in  order  to  discuss 
methods  and  men.  He  entered  into  the  matter  very 
earnestly,  agreed  to  give  us  an  extended  course  of  lec- 
tures, which  he  afterward  did,  and  aided  us  in  many 
ways.  One  remark  of  his  surprised  me.  I  had  asked  him 
to  name  men,  and  he  had  taken  much  pains  to  do  so,  when 
suddenly  he  turned  to  me  abruptly  and  said:  "Who  is  to 
be  your  professor  of  moral  philosophy?  That  is  by  far 
the  most  important  matter  in_y our  whole  organization." 
It  seemed  strange  that  one  who  had  been  honored  by  the 
whole  world  as  probably  the  foremost  man  in  natural 
science  then  living,  and  who  had  been  denounced  by  many 
exceedingly  orthodox  people  as  an  enemy  of  religion, 
should  take  this  view  of  the  new  faculty,  but  it  showed 
how  deeply  and  sincerely  religious  he  was.  I  soon  re- 
assured him  on  the  point  he  had  raised,  and  then  went  on 
with  the  discussion  of  scientific  men,  methods,  and  equip- 
ments. 


CONKLING  AND  FOLGER-1867-1868  147 

I  was  also  asked  by  the  poet  Longfellow  to  pass  a  day 
with  him  at  his  beautiful  Nahant  cottage  in  order  to  dis- 
cuss certain  candidates  and  methods  in  literature.  No- 
thing could  be  more  delightful  than  his  talk  as  we  sat 
together  on  the  veranda  looking  out  over  the  sea,  with  the 
gilded  dome  of  the  State  House,  which  he  pointed  out  to 
me  as  "The  Hub/'  in  the  dim  distance.  One  question  of 
his  amused  me  much.  We  were  discussing  certain  recent 
events  in  which  Mr.  Horace  Greeley  had  played  an  im- 
portant part,  and  after  alludingjp  Mr.  Greeley 's  course 
during  the^War,  he  turned  his  eyes  fully  but  mildly 
upon  me  and  said  slowly  and  solemnly:  "Mr.  White,  don't 
you  think  Mr.  Greeley  a  very jiseless  sort  of  man  ! ' '  The 
question  struck  me  at  first  as  exceedingly  comical ;  for,  I 
thought,  "Imagine  Mr.  Greeley,  who  thinks  himself,  and 
with  reason,  a  useful  man  if  there  ever  was  one,  and  whose 
whole  life  has  been  devoted  to  what  he  has  thought  of  the 
highest  and  most  direct  use  to  his  fellow-men,  hearing  this 
question  put  in  a  dreamy  way  by  a  poet,— a  writer  of 
verse,— probably  the  last  man  in  America  whom  Mr. 
Greeley  would  consider  '  useful. '  '  But  my  old  admiration 
for  the  great  editor  came  back  in  a  strong  tide,  and  if  I 
was  ever  eloquent  it  was  in  showing  Mr.  Longfellow  how 
great,  how  real,  how  sincere,  and  in  the  highest  degree 
how  useful  Mr.  Greeley  had  been. 

Another  man  of  note  whom  I  met  in  those  days  was 
Judge  Eockwood  Hoar,  afterward  named  by  General 
Grant  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  noted  as  a 
profound  lawyer  of  pungent  wit  and  charming  humor,  the 
delight  of  his  friends  and  the  terror  of  his  enemies.  I 
saw  him  first  at  Harvard  during  a  competition  for  the 
Boylston  prize  at  which  we  were  fellow-judges.  All  the 
speaking  was  good,  some  of  it  admirable;  but  the  espe- 
cially remarkable  pieces  were  two.  First  of  these  was  a 
recital  of  Washington  Irving 's  "Broken  Heart,"  by  an 
undergraduate  from  the  British  provinces,  Robert  Alder 
McLeod.  Nothing  could  be  more  simple  and  perfect  in  its 
way;  nothing  more  free  from  any  effort  at  orating;  all 


148  POLITICAL   LIFE-VI 

was  in  the  most  quiet  and  natural  manner  possible.  The 
second  piece  was  a  rendering  of  Poe's  " Bells/'  and  was 
a  most  amazing  declamation,  the  different  sorts  of  bells 
being  indicated  by  changes  of  voice  ranging  from  basso 
profondo  to  the  highest  falsetto,  and  the  feelings  aroused 
in  the  orator  being  indicated  by  modulations  which  must 
have  cost  him  months  of  practice. 

The  contest  being  ended,  and  the  committee  having  re- 
tired  to  make  their  award,  various  members  expressed  an 
opinion  in  favor  of  Mr.  McLeod's  quiet  recital,  when 
Judge  Hoar,  who  had  seemed  up  to  that  moment  immersed 
in  thought,  seemed  suddenly  to  awake,  and  said:  "If  I 
had  a  son  who  spoke  that  bell  piece  in  that  style  I  believe 
I  'd  choke  him. ' '  The  vote  was  unanimously  in  favor  of 
Mr.  McLeod,  and  then  came  out  a  curious  fact.  Having 
noticed  that  he  bore  an  empty  sleeve,  I  learned  from  Pro- 
fessor Peabody  that  he  had  lost  his  arm  while  fighting  on 
the  Confederate  side  in  our  Civil  War,  and  that  he  was  a 
man  of  remarkably  fine  scholarship  and  noble  character. 
He  afterward  became  an  instructor  at  Harvard,  but  died 
early. 

During  the  following  autumn,  in  spite  of  my  absorption 
in  university  interests,  I  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  State 
Convention,  and  in  October  made  a  few  political  speeches, 
the  most  important  being  at  Clinton,  the  site  of  Hamilton 
College.  This  was  done  at  the  special  request  of  Senator 
Conkling,  and  on  my  way  I  passed  a  day  with  him  at 
TJtica,  taking  a  long  drive  through  the  adjacent  country. 
Never  was  he  more  charming.  The  bitter  and  sarcastic 
mood  seemed  to  have  dropped  off  him;  the  overbearing 
manner  had  left  no  traces ;  he  was  full  of  delightful  rem- 
iniscences and  it  was  a  day  to  be  remembered. 

I  also  spoke  at  various  other  places  and,  last  of  all,  at 
Clifton  Springs,  but  received  there  a  rebuff  which  was  not 
without  its  uses. 

I  had  thought  my  speeches  successful ;  but  at  the  latter 
place,  taking  the  cars  next  morning,  I  heard  a  dialogue 
between  two  railway  employees,  as  follows: 


CONKLING  AND  FOLGER- 1867 -1868  149 

1 ' Bill,  did  you  go  to  the  meetin'  last  night?"  "  Yes." 
' i  How  was  it  ? "  "  It  wa  'n  't  no  meetin ',  leastwise  no  p  'liti- 
cal  meeting  there  wa'n't  nothin'  in  it  fur  the  boys ;  it  was 
only  one  of  them  scientific  college  purfessors  lecturin  V 
And  so  I  sped  homeward,  pondering  on  many  things,  but 
strengthened,  by  this  homely  criticism,  in  my  determina- 
tion to  give  my  efforts  henceforth  to  the  new  university. 


CHAPTER  IX 

GENERAL  GRANT  AND  SANTO  DOMINGO— 1868-1871 

DURING  the  two  or  three  years  following  my  senato- 
rial term,  work  in  the  founding  and  building  of  Cor- 
nell University  was  so  engrossing  that  there  was  little 
time  for  any  effort  which  could  be  called  political.  In 
the  early  spring  of  1868  I  went  to  Europe  to  examine 
institutions  for  scientific  and  technological  instruction, 
and  to  secure  professors  and  equipment,  and  during  about 
six  months  I  visited  a  great  number  of  such  schools,  es- 
pecially those  in  agriculture,  mechanical,  civil,  and  mining 
engineering  and  the  like  in  England,  France,  Germany, 
and  Italy;  bought  largely  of  books  and  apparatus,  dis- 
cussed the  problems  at  issue  with  Europeans  who  seemed 
likely  to  know  most  about  them,  secured  sundry  pro- 
fessors, and  returned  in  September  just  in  time  to  take 
part  in  the  opening  of  Cornell  University  and  be  inaugu- 
rated as  its  first  president.  Of  all  this  I  shall  speak  more 
in  detail  hereafter. 

There  was  no  especial  temptation  to  activity  in  the 
political  campaign  of  that  year ;  for  the  election  of  General 
Grant  was  sure,  and  my  main  memory  of  the  period  is  a 
visit  to  Auburn  to  hear  Mr.  Seward. 

It  had  been  his  wont  for  many  years,  when  he  came 
home  to  cast  his  vote,  to  meet  his  neighbors  on  the  eve  of 
the  election  and  give  his  views  of  the  situation  and  of  its 
resultant  duties.  These  occasions  had  come  to  be  antici- 
pated with  the  deepest  interest  by  the  whole  region  round 
about,  and  what  had  begun  as  a  little  gathering  of  neigh- 

150 


GRANT  AND  SANTO  DOMINGO-1868-1871        151 

bors  had  now  become  such  an  assembly  that  the  largest 
hall  in  the  place  was  crowded  with  voters  of  all  parties. 

But  this  year  came  a  disappointment.  Although  the 
contest  was  between  General  Grant,— who  on  various  de- 
cisive battle-fields  had  done  everything  to  save  the  admin- 
istration of  which  Mr.  Seward  had  been  a  leading  member, 
—and  on  the  other  side,  Governor  Horatio  Seymour,  who 
had  done  all  in  his  power  to  wreck  it,  Mr.  Seward  devoted 
his  speech  to  optimistic  generalities,  hardly  alluding  to 
the  candidates,  and  leaving  the  general  impression  that 
one  side  was  just  as  worthy  of  support  as  the  other. 

The  speech  was  an  unfortunate  ending  of  Mr.  Seward 's 
career.  It  was  not  surprising  that  some  of  his  old  ad- 
mirers bitterly  resented  it,  and  a  remark  by  Mr.  Cornell 
some  time  afterward  indicated  much.  We  were  arranging 
together  a  program  for  the  approaching  annual  com- 
mencement when  I  suggested  for  the  main  address  Mr. 
Seward.  Mr.  Cornell  had  been  one  of  Mr.  Seward 's 
lifelong  supporters,  but  he  received  this  proposal  coldly, 
pondered  it  for  a  few  moments  silently,  and  then  said 
dryly,  "Perhaps  you  are  right,  but  if  you  call  him  you 
will  show  to  our  students  the  deadest  man  that  ain  't  buried 
in  the  State  of  New  York. ' '  So,  to  my  regret,  was  lost  the 
last  chance  to  bring  the  old  statesman  to  Cornell.  I  have 
always  regretted  this  loss ;  his  presence  would  have  given 
a  true  consecration  to  the  new  institution.  A  career  like 
his  should  not  be  judged  by  its  little  defects  and  lapses, 
and  this  I  felt  even  more  deeply  on  receiving,  some  time 
after  his  death,  the  fifth  volume  of  his  published  works, 
which  was  largely  made  up  of  his  despatches  and  other 
papers  written  during  the  war.  When  they  were  first 
published  in  the  newspapers,  I  often  thought  them  long 
and  was  impatient  at  their  optimism,  but  now,  when  I  read 
them  all  together,  saw  in  them  the  efforts  made  by  the 
heroic  old  man  to  keep  the  hands  of  European  powers 
off  us  while  we  were  restoring  the  Union,  and  noted  the 
desperation  with  which  he  fought,  the  encouragement 
which  he  infused  into  our  diplomatic  representatives 


152  POLITICAL  LIFE- VII 

abroad,  and  his  struggle,  almost  against  fate,  in  the  time 
of  our  reverses,  I  was  fascinated.  The  book  had  arrived 
early  in  the  evening,  and  next  morning  found  me  still 
seated  in  my  library  chair  completely  absorbed  in  it. 

In  the  spring  of  the  year  1870,  while  as  usual  in  the 
thick  of  university  work,  I  was  again  drawn  for  a  moment 
into  the  current  of  New  York  politics.  The  long  wished 
for  amendment  of  the  State  constitution,  putting  our  high- 
est tribunal,  the  Court  of  Appeals,  on  a  better  footing 
than  it  had  ever  been  before,  making  it  more  adequate,  the 
term  longer,  and  the  salaries  higher,  had  been  passed,  and 
judges  were  to  be  chosen  at  the  next  election.  Each  of  the 
two  great  parties  was  entitled  to  an  equal  number  of 
judges,  and  I  was  requested  to  go  to  the  approaching 
nominating  convention  at  Rochester  in  order  to  present 
the  name  of  my  old  friend  and  neighbor,  Charles 
Andrews. 

It  was  a  most  honorable  duty,  no  man  could  have  de- 
sired a  better  candidate,  and  I  gladly  accepted  the  man- 
date. Although  it  was  one  of  the  most  staid  and  dignified 
bodies  of  the  sort  which  has  ever  met  in  the  State,  it  had 
as  a  preface  a  pleasant  farce. 

As  usual,  the  seething  cauldron  of  New  York  City  poli- 
tics had  thrown  to  the  surface  some  troublesome  delegates, 
and  among  them  was  one  long  famed  as  a  "Tammany 
Republican." 

Our  first  business  was  the  choice  of  a  president  for  the 
convention,  and,  as  it  had  been  decided  by  the  State  com- 
mittee to  present  for  that  office  the  name  of  one  of  the  most 
respected  judges  in  the  State,  the  Honorable  Platt  Potter, 
of  Schenectady,  it  was  naturally  expected  that  some  mem- 
ber of  the  regular  organization  would  present  his  name 
in  a  dignified  speech.  But  hardly  had  the  chairman  of 
the  State  committee  called  the  convention  to  order  when 
the  aforesaid  Tammany  Republican,  having  heard  that 
Judge  Potter  was  to  be  elected,  thought  evidently  that 
he  could  gain  recognition  and  applause  by  being  the 
first  to  present  his  name.  He  therefore  rushed  for- 


GRANT  AND   SANTO  DOMINGO- 1868-1871        153 

ward,  and  almost  before  the  chairman  had  declared  the 
convention  opened,  cried  out:  "Mr.  Chairman,  I  move 
you,  sir,  that  the  Honorable  'Pot  Platter'  be  made 
president  of  this  convention. ' '  A  scream  of  laughter  went 
up  from  all  parts  of  the  house,  and  in  an  instant  a  gentle- 
man rose  and  moved  to  amend  by  making  the  name  l  i  Plait 
Potter. ' '  This  was  carried,  and  the  proposer  of  the  orig- 
inal motion  retired  crestfallen  to  his  seat. 

I  had  the  honor  of  presenting  Mr.  Andrews 's  name. 
He  was  nominated  and  elected  triumphantly,  and  so  be- 
gan the  career  of  one  of  the  best  judges  that  New  York 
has  ever  had  on  its  highest  court,  who  has  also  for  many 
years  occupied,  with  the  respect  and  esteem  of  the  State, 
the  position  of  chief  justice. 

The  convention  then  went  on  to  nominate  other  judges, 
—nomination  being  equivalent  to  election,— but  when  the 
last  name  was  reached  there  came  a  close  contest.  An  old 
friend  informed  me  that  Judge  Folger,  my  former  col- 
league in  the  Senate  and  since  that  assistant  treasurer  of 
the  United  States  in  the  city  of  New  York,  was  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  escape  from  this  latter  position,  and 
desired  greatly  the  nomination  to  a  judgeship  on  the  Court 
of  Appeals. 

I  decided  at  once  to  do  what  was  possible  to  secure 
Judge  Folger 's  nomination,  though  our  personal  relations 
were  very  unsatisfactory.  Owing  to  our  two  conflicts  at 
the  close  of  our  senatorial  term  above  referred  to,  and 
to  another  case  where  I  thought  he  had  treated  me  un- 
justly, we  had  never  exchanged  a  word  since  I  had  left 
the  State  Senate;  and  though  we  met  each  other  from 
time  to  time  on  the  board  of  Cornell  University  trustees, 
we  passed  each  other  in  silence.  Our  old  friendship,  which 
had  been  very  dear  to  me,  seemed  forever  broken,  but  I 
felt  deeply  that  the  fault  was  not  mine.  At  the  same  time 
I  recognized  the  fact  that  Judge  Folger  was  not  especially 
adapted  to  the  position  of  assistant  treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  position  of  judge 
in  the  Court  of  Appeals.  I  therefore  did  everything  pos- 


154  POLITICAL   LIFE-VII 

sible  to  induce  one  or  two  of  the  delegations  with  which  I 
had  some  influence  to  vote  for  him,  dwelling  especially 
upon  his  former  judgeship,  his  long  acquaintance  with  the 
legislation  of  the  State,  and  his  high  character,  and  at  last 
he  was  elected  by  a  slight  majority. 

The  convention  having  adjourned,  I  was  on  my  way  to 
the  train  when  I  was  met  by  Judge  Folger,  who  had  just 
arrived.  He  put  out  his  hand  and  greeted  me  most  heart- 
ily, showing  very  deep  feeling  as  he  expressed  his  regret 
over  our  estrangement.  Of  course  I  was  glad  that  bygones 
were  to  be  bygones,  and  that  our  old  relations  were  re- 
stored. He  became  a  most  excellent  judge,  and  finally 
chief  justice  of  the  State,  which  position  he  left  to  become 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

To  the  political  cataclysm  which  ended  his  public  activ- 
ity and  doubtless  hastened  his  death,  I  refer  elsewhere. 
As  long  as  he  lived  our  friendly  relations  continued,  and 
this  has  been  to  me  ever  since  a  great  satisfaction. 

In  this  same  year,  1870,  occurred  my  first  extended  con- 
versation with  General  Grant.  At  my  earlier  meeting  with 
him  when  he  was  with  President  Johnson  in  Albany,  I  had 
merely  been  stiffly  presented  to  him,  and  we  had  ex- 
changed a  few  commonplaces ;  but  I  was  now  invited  to  his 
cottage  at  Long  Branch  and  enjoyed  a  long  and  pleasant 
talk  with  him.  Its  main  subject  was  the  Franco-German 
War  then  going  on,  and  his  sympathies  were  evidently 
with  Germany.  His  comments  on  the  war  were  prophetic. 
There  was  nothing  dogmatic  in  them;  nothing  could  be 
more  simple  and  modest  than  his  manner  and  utterance, 
but  there  was  a  clearness  and  quiet  force  in  them  which 
impressed  me  greatly.  He  was  the  first  great  general  I 
had  ever  seen,  and  I  was  strongly  reminded  of  his  mingled 
diffidence  and  mastery  when,  some  years  afterward,  I 
talked  with  Moltke  in  Berlin. 

Another  experience  of  that  summer  dwells  in  my  mem- 
ory. I  was  staying,  during  the  first  week  of  September, 
with  my  dear  old  friend,  Dr.  Henry  M.  Field,  at  Stock- 
bridge,  in  the  Berkshire  Mountains  of  Massachusetts,  and 


GRANT  AND   SANTO   DOMINGO -1868 -1871        155 

had  the  good  fortune,  at  the  house  of  his  brother,  the 
eminent  jurist,  David  Dudley  Field,  to  pass  a  rainy  even- 
ing in  company  with  Mr.  Burton  Harrison,  who,  after  a 
distinguished  career  at  Yale,  had  been  the  private  secre- 
tary of  Jefferson  Davis,  president  of  the  Southern  Confed- 
eracy. On  that  evening  a  storm  had  kept  away  all  but  a 
few  of  us,  and  Mr.  Harrison  yielded  to  our  entreaties  to 
give  us  an  account  of  Mr.  Davis 's  flight  at  the  surrender  of 
Eichmond,  from  the  time  when  he  quietly  left  his  pew  in 
St.  Paul's  Church  to  that  of  his  arrest  by  United  States 
soldiers.  The  story  was  most  vivid,  and  Mr.  Harrison,  as 
an  eye  witness,  told  it  simply  and  admirably.  There  had 
already  grown  out  of  this  flight  of  Mr.  Davis  a  most 
luxuriant  tangle  of  myth  and  legend,  and  it  had  come  to 
be  generally  believed  that  the  Confederate  president  had 
at  last  endeavored  to  shield  himself  behind  the  women  of 
his  household ;  that  when  arrested  he  was  trying  to  escape 
in  the  attire  of  his  wife,  including  a  hooped  skirt  and  a 
bonnet,  and  that  he  was  betrayed  by  an  incautious  display 
of  his  military  boots  beneath  his  wife's  flounces.  The 
simple  fact  was  that,  having  separated  from  his  family 
party,  and  seeking  escape  to  the  coast  or  mountains,  he 
was  again  and  again  led  by  his  affection  for  his  family  to 
return  to  them,  his  fears  for  them  overcoming  all  care 
for  himself ;  and  that,  as  he  was  suffering  from  neuralgia, 
he  wore  over  his  clothing,  to  guard  him  from  the  incessant 
rain,  Mrs.  Davis '  waterproof  cloak.  Out  of  this  grew  the 
legend  which  found  expression  in  jubilant  newspaper  ar- 
ticles, songs,  and  caricatures. 

This  reminds  me  that  some  years  later,  my  old  college 
friend,  Colonel  William  Preston  Johnston,  president  of 
Tulane  University,  told  me  a  story  which  throws  light 
upon  that  collapse  of  the  Confederacy.  Colonel  Johnston 
was  at  that  period  the  military  secretary  of  President 
Davis,  and,  as  the  catastrophe  approached,  was  much 
vexed  at  the  interminable  debates  in  the  Confederate  Con- 
gress. Among  the  subjects  of  these  discussions  was  the 
great  seal  of  the  Confederacy.  It  had  been  decided  to 


156  POLITICAL  LIFE-VII 

adopt  for  this  purpose  a  relief  representing  Crawford's 
statue  of  Washington  at  Richmond,  with  the  Southern 
statesmen  and  soldiers  surrounding  it;  but  though  all 
agreed  that  Washington,  in  his  Continental  costume,  and 
holding  in  his  hand  his  cocked  hat,  should  retain  the  cen- 
tral position,  there  were  many  differences  of  opinion  as 
to  the  surrounding  portraits,  the  result  being  that  motions 
were  made  to  strike  out  this  or  that  revolutionary  hero 
from  one  State  and  to  replace  him  by  another  from  an- 
other State,  thus  giving  rise  to  lengthy  eulogies  of  these 
various  personages,  so  that  the  whole  thing  resembled  the 
discussions  in  metaphysical  theology  by  the  Byzantines 
at  the  time  when  the  Turks  were  forcing  their  way 
through  the  walls  of  Constantinople.  One  day,  just  be- 
fore the  final  catastrophe,  Mr.  Judah  Benjamin,  formerly 
United  States  senator,  but  at  that  time  the  Confederate 
secretary  of  state,  passed  through  Colonel  Johnston's 
office,  and  the  following  dialogue  took  place. 

Colonel  Johnston:  "What  are  they  doing  in  the  Senate 
and  House,  Mr.  Secretary  1" 

Mr.  Benjamin:  "Oh,  simply  debating  the  Confederate 
seal,  moving  to  strike  out  this  man  and  to  insert  that. ' ' 

Colonel  Johnston:  "Do  you  know  what  motion  I  would 
make  if  I  were  a  member?" 

Mr.  Benjamin:  "No,  what  would  you  move?" 

Colonel  Johnston:  "I  would  move  to  strike  out  from 
the  seal  everything  except  the  cocked  hat." 

Colonel  Johnston  was  right;  the  Confederacy  was 
"knocked  into  a  cocked  hat"  a  few  days  afterward. 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  September,  1870, 1  was  sent 
as  a  delegate  to  the  State  Republican  Convention,  and  pre- 
sented as  a  candidate  for  the  lieutenant-governorship  a 
man  who  had  served  the  State  admirably  in  the  National 
Congress  and  in  the  State  legislature  as  well  as  in  great 
business  operations,  Mr.  DeWitt  Little  John  of  Oswego.  I 
did  this  on  the  part  of  sundry  gentlemen  who  were  anxious 
to  save  the  Republican  ticket,  which  had  at  its  head  my 
old  friend  General  Woodf ord,  but  though  I  was  successful 


GRANT  AND   SANTO  DOMINGO-1868-1871        157 

in  securing  Mr.  Littlejohn's  nomination,  he  soon  after- 
ward declined,  and  defeat  followed  in  November. 

The  only  part  which  I  continued  to  take  in  State  politics 
was  in  writing  letters  and  in  speaking,  on  sundry  social 
occasions  of  a  political  character,  in  behalf  of  harmony 
between  the  two  factions  which  were  now  becoming  more 
and  more  bitter.  At  first  I  seemed  to  have  some  success, 
but  before  long  it  became  clear  that  the  current  was  too 
strong  and  that  the  bitterness  of  faction  was  to  prevail.  I 
am  so  constituted  that  factious  thought  and  effort  dis- 
hearten and  disgust  me.  At  many  periods  of  my  life 
I  have  acted  as  a  " buffer"  between  conflicting  cliques 
and  factions,  generally  to  some  purpose ;  now  it  was  other- 
wise. But,  as  Kipling  says,  "that  is  another  story." 

The  hard  work  and  serious  responsibilities  brought 
upon  me  by  the  new  university  had  greatly  increased. 
They  had  worn  deeply  upon  me  when,  in  the  winter  of 
1870-71,  came  an  event  which  drew  me  out  of  my  uni- 
versity life  for  a  time  and  gave  me  a  much  needed  change : 
—I  was  sent  by  the  President  as  one  of  the  three  com- 
missioners to  Santo  Domingo  to  study  questions  relating 
to  the  annexation  of  the  Spanish  part  of  that  island  which 
was  then  proposed,  and  to  report  thereupon  to  Congress. 

While  in  Washington  at  this  time  I  saw  much  of  Presi- 
dent Grant,  Mr.  Sumner,  and  various  other  men  who  were 
then  leading  in  public  affairs,  but  some  account  of  them 
will  be  given  in  my  reminiscences  of  the  Santo  Domingo 
expedition. 

I  trust  that  it  may  be  allowed  me  here  to  recall  an  inci- 
dent which  ought  to  have  been  given  in  a  preceding  chap- 
ter. During  one  of  my  earlier  visits  to  the  National 
Capital,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Senator  McDougal. 
His  distorted  genius  had  evidently  so  dazzled  his  fellow- 
citizens  of  California  that,  in  spite  of  his  defects,  they  had 
sent  him  to  the  highest  council  of  the  Nation.  He  was  a 
martyr  to  conviviality,  and  when  more  or  less  under 
the  sway  of  it,  had  strange  ideas  and  quaint  ways  of  ex- 
pressing them.  His  talk  recalled  to  me  a  time  in  my  child- 


158  POLITICAL  LIFE-VII 

hood  when,  having  found  a  knob  of  glass,  twisted,  striated 
with  different  colors,  and  filled  with  air  bubbles,  I  enjoyed 
looking  at  the  landscape  through  it.  Everything  became 
grotesquely  transfigured.  A  cabbage  in  the  foreground 
became  opalescent,  and  an  ear  of  corn  a  mass  of  jewels, 
but  the  whole  atmosphere  above  and  beyond  was  lurid,  and 
the  chimneys  and  church  spires  were  topsy-turvy. 

The  only  other  person  whose  talk  ever  produced  an  im- 
pression of  this  sort  on  me  was  Tolstoy,  and  he  will  be 
discussed  in  another  chapter. 

McDougal's  peculiarity  made  him  at  last  unbearable; 
so  much  so  that  the  Senate  was  obliged  to  take  measures 
against  him.  His  speech  in  his  own  defense  showed  the 
working  of  his  mind,  and  one  passage  most  of  all.  It  re- 
mains probably  the  best  defense  of  drunkenness  ever 
made,  and  it  ran  as  follows : 

"Mr.  President,— I  pity  the  man  who  has  never  viewed 
the  affairs  of  this  world,  save  from  the  poor,  low,  miser- 
able plane  of  ordinary  sobriety. " 

My  absence  in  the  West  Indies  covered  the  first  three 
months  of  the  year  1871,  and  then  the  commission  re- 
turned to  Washington  and  made  its  report ;  but  regarding 
this  I  shall  speak  at  length  in  the  chapter  of  my  diplo- 
matic experiences,  devoted  to  the  Santo  Domingo  question. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  GREELEY  CAMPAIGN— 1872 

HAVING  finished  my  duties  on  the  Santo  Domingo 
Commission,  I  returned  to  the  University  in  May 
of  1871,  devoted  myself  again  to  my  duties  as  president 
and  professor,  and,  in  the  mass  of  arrears  which  had  ac- 
cumulated, found  ample  occupation.  I  also  delivered 
various  addresses  at  universities,  colleges,  and  elsewhere, 
keeping  as  remote  from  politics  as  possible. 

In  June,  visiting  New  York  in  order  to  take  part  in  a 
dinner  given  by  various  journalists  and  others  to  my 
classmate  and  old  friend,  George  Washburne  Smalley,  at 
that  time  the  London  correspondent  of  the  "New  York 
Tribune/'  I  met,  for  the  first  time,  Colonel  John  Hay, 
who  was  in  the  full  tide  of  his  brilliant  literary  career  and 
who  is,  as  I  write  this,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States.  His  clear,  thoughtful  talk  strongly  impressed  me, 
but  the  most  curious  circumstance  connected  with  the  af- 
fair was  that  several  of  us  on  the  way  to  Delmonico's 
stopped  for  a  time  to  observe  the  public  reception  given  to 
Mr.  Horace  Greeley  on  his  return  from  a  tour  through  the 
Southern  States.  Mr.  Greeley,  undoubtedly  from  the 
purest  personal  and  patriotic  motives,  had,  with  other 
men  of  high  standing,  including  Gerrit  Smith,  attached 
his  name  to  the  bail  bond  of  Jefferson  Davis,  which  re- 
leased the  ex-president  of  the  Confederacy  from  prison, 
and,  in  fact,  freed  him  entirely  from  anything  like  punish- 
ment for  treason.  I  have  always  admired  Mr.  Greeley 's 
honesty  and  courage  in  doing  this.  Doubtless,  too,  an 

169 


160  POLITICAL   LIFE -VIII 

equally  patriotic  and  honest  desire  to  aid  in  bringing 
North  and  South  together  after  the  war  led  him  to  take 
an  extensive  tour  through  sundry  Southern  States.  He 
had  just  returned  from  this  tour  and  this  reception  was 
given  him  in  consequence. 

It  had  already  been  noised  abroad  that  there  was  a 
movement  on  foot  to  make  him  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency, and  many  who  knew  the  characteristics  of  the  man, 
even  those  who,  like  myself,  had  been  greatly  influenced 
by  him  and  regarded  him  as  by  far  the  foremost  editorial 
writer  that  our  country  had  ever  produced,  looked  upon 
this  idea  with  incredulity.  For  of  all  patriotic  men  in 
the  entire  country  who  had  touched  public  affairs  Horace 
Greeley  seemed  the  most  eminently  unfit  for  executive 
duties.  He  was  notoriously,  in  business  matters,  the 
easy  prey  of  many  who  happened  to  get  access  to  him;— 
the  "long-haired  men  and  short-haired  women "  of  the 
country  seemed  at  times  to  have  him  entirely  under  their 
sway;  his  hard-earned  money,  greatly  needed  by  himself 
and  his  family,  was  lavished  upon  ne  'er-do-weels  and  cast 
into  all  sorts  of  impracticable  schemes.  He  made  loans 
to  the  discarded  son  of  the  richest  man  whom  the  United 
States  had  at  that  time  produced,  and  in  every  way 
showed  himself  an  utterly  incompetent  judge  of  men.  It 
was  a  curious  fact  that  lofty  as  were  his  purposes,  and 
noble  as  were  his  main  characteristics,  the  best  men  of 
the  State— men  like  Seward,  Weed,  Judge  Folger,  Senator 
Andrews,  General  Leavenworth,  Elbridge  Spaulding,  and 
other  really  thoughtful,  solid,  substantial  advisers  of 
the  Republican  party— were  disliked  by  him,  and  yet  no 
other  reason  could  be  assigned  than  this :— that  while  they 
all  admired  him  as  a  writer,  they  could  not  be  induced  to 
pretend  that  they  considered  him  fit  for  high  executive 
office,  either  in  the  State  or  Nation.  On  the  other  hand, 
so  far  as  politics  were  concerned,  his  affections  seemed  to 
be  lavished  on  politicians  who  flattered  and  coddled  him. 
Of  this  the  rise  of  Governor  Fenton  was  a  striking  ex- 
ample. Doubtless  there  were  exceptions  to  this  rule,  but 


THE   GREELEY   CAMPAIGN -1872  161 

it  was  the  rule  nevertheless.  This  was  clearly  and  indeed 
comically  shown  at  the  reception  given  him  in  Union 
Square  on  the  evening  referred  to.  Mr.  Greeley  appeared 
at  a  front  window  of  a  house  on  the  Broadway  side  and 
came  out  upon  a  temporary  platform.  His  appearance 
is  deeply  stamped  upon  my  memory.  He  was  in  a  rather 
slouchy  evening  dress,  his  white  hair  thrown  back  off  his 
splendid  forehead,  and  his  broad,  smooth,  kindly  features 
as  serene  as  the  face  of  a  big,  well-washed  baby. 

There  was  in  his  appearance  something  at  the  same  time 
naive  and  impressive,  and  the  simplicity  of  it  was  in- 
creased by  a  bouquet,  huge  and  gorgeous,  which  some 
admirer  had  attached  to  his  coat,  and  which  forced  upon 
the  mind  of  a  reflective  observer  the  idea  of  a  victim 
adorned  for  sacrifice. 

He  gave  scant  attention  to  his  audience  in  the  way  of 
ceremonial  greeting,  and  plunged  at  once  into  his  subject ; 
—beginning  in  a  high,  piping,  falsetto  voice  which,  for  a 
few  moments,  was  almost  painful.  But  the  value  of  his 
matter  soon  overcame  the  defects  of  his  manner;  the 
speech  was  in  his  best  vein ;  it  struck  me  as  the  best,  on  the 
whole,  I  had  ever  heard  him  make,  and  that  is  say- 
ing much.  Holding  in  his  hands  a  little  package  of 
cards  on  which  notes  were  jotted  down,  he  occasionally 
cast  his  eyes  upon  them,  but  he  evidently  trusted  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  hour  for  his  phrasing,  and  his  trust  was 
not  misplaced.  I  never  heard  a  more  simple,  strong, 
lucid  use  of  the  English  language  than  was  his  on  that 
occasion.  The  speech  was  a  very  noble  plea  for  the  resto- 
ration of  good  feeling  between  North  and  South,  with  an 
effort  to  show  that  the  distrust  felt  by  the  South  toward 
the  North  was  natural.  In  the  course  of  it  he  said  in 
substance : 

* l  Fellow  Citizens :  The  people  of  the  South  have  much 
reason  to  distrust  us.  We  have  sent  among  them  during 
the  war  and  since  the  war,  to  govern  them,  to  hold  office 
among  them,  and  to  eat  out  their  substance,  a  number  of 
worthless  adventurers  whom  they  call  ' '  carpet-baggers. " 


i.— 11 


162  POLITICAL  LIFE-VIII 

These  emissaries  of  ours  pretend  to  be  patriotic  and  pious  ; 
they  pull  long  faces  and  say  '  Let  us  pray ' ;  but  they  spell 
it  p-r-e-y.  The  people  of  the  South  hate  them,  and  they 
ought  to  hate  them." 

At  this  we  in  the  audience  looked  at  each  other  in 
amazement;  for,  standing  close  beside  Mr.  Greeley,  at 
that  very  moment,  most  obsequiously,  was  perhaps  the 
worst  "carpet-bagger"  ever  sent  into  the  South;  a  man 
who  had  literally  been  sloughed  off  by  both  parties;— 
who,  having  been  become  an  unbearable  nuisance  in  New 
York  politics,  had  been  "unloaded"  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  an 
ill-inspired  moment,  upon  the  hapless  South,  and  who  was 
now  trying  to  find  new  pasture. 

But  this  was  not  the  most  comical  thing;  for  Mr. 
Greeley  in  substance  continued  as  follows : 

"Fellow  Citizens:  You  know  how  it  is  yourselves. 
There  are  men  who  go  to  your  own  State  Capitol,  nomi- 
nally as  legislators  or  advisers,  but  really  to  plunder  and 
steal.  These  men  in  the  Northern  States  correspond  to  the 
4 carpet-baggers'  in  the  Southern  States,  and  you  hate 
them  and  you  ought  to  hate  them."  Thus  speaking,  Mr. 
Greeley  poured  out  the  vials  of  his  wrath  against  all  this 
class  of  people ;  blissfully  unconscious  of  the  fact  that  on 
the  other  side  of  him  stood  the  most  notorious  and  cor- 
rupt lobbyist  who  had  been  known  in  Albany  for  years  ;— 
a  man  who  had  been  chased  out  of  that  city  by  the  sheriff 
for  attempted  bribery,  had  been  obliged  to  remain  for  a 
considerable  time  in  hiding  to  avoid  criminal  charges  of 
exerting  corrupt  influence  on  legislation,  and  whom  both 
political  parties  naturally  disowned.  Comical  as  all  this 
was,  it  was  pathetic  to  see  a  man  like  Greeley  in  such  a 
cave  of  Adullam. 

During  this  summer  of  1871  occurred  the  death  of 
one  of  my  dearest  friends,  a  man  who  had  exercised  a 
most  happy  influence  over  my  opinions  and  who  had  con- 
tributed much  to  the  progress  of  anti-slavery  ideas  in 
New  England  and  New  York.  This  was  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Joseph  May,  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church  in 


THE  GREELEY   CAMPAIGN  -1872  163 

Syracuse,  a  friend  and  associate  of  Emerson,  Garrison,    \/ 
Phillips,  Gerrit  Smith,  and  one  of  the  noblest,  truest,  and 
most  beautiful  characters  I  have  ever  known. 

Having  seen  the  end  of  slavery,  and  being  about  eighty 
years  of  age,  he  felt  deeply  that  his  work  was  done,  and 
thenceforward  declared  that  he  was  happy  in  the  idea 
that  his  life  on  this  planet  was  soon  to  end.  I  have  never 
seen,  save  in  the  case  of  the  Hicksite  Quaker  at  Ann 
Arbor,  referred  to  elsewhere,  such  a  living  faith  in  the 
reality  of  another  world.  Again  and  again  Mr.  May  said 
to  me  in  the  most  cheerful  way  imaginable, ' '  I  am  as  much 
convinced  of  the  existence  of  a  future  state  as  of  these 
scenes  about  me,  and,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  now  that  my 
work  here  is  ended,  I  am  becoming  very  curious  to  know 
what  the  next  stage  of  existence  is  like."  On  the  after- 
noon of  the  1st  of  July  I  paid  him  a  visit,  found  him  much 
wearied  by  a  troublesome  chronic  complaint,  but  con- 
tented, cheerful,  peaceful  as  ever. 

Above  him  as  he  lay  in  his  bed  was  a  portrait  which  I 
had  formerly  seen  in  his  parlor.  Thereby  hung  a  curious 
tale.  Years  before,  at  the  very  beginning  of  Mr.  May's 
career,  he  had  been  a  teacher  in  the  town  of  Canterbury, 
Connecticut,  when  Miss  Prudence  Crandall  was  persecuted, 
arrested,  and  imprisoned  for  teaching  colored  children. 
Mr.  May  had  taken  up  her  case  earnestly,  and,  with  the  aid 
of  Mr.  Lafayette  Foster,  afterward  president  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  had  fought  it  out  until  the  enemies  of  Miss 
Crandall  were  beaten.  As  a  memorial  of  this  activity  of 
his,  Mr.  May  received  this  large,  well  painted  portrait  of 
Miss  Crandall,  and  it  was  one  of  his  most  valued  pos- 
sessions. 

On  the  afternoon  referred  to,  after  talking  about  vari- 
ous other  matters  most  cheerfully,  and  after  I  had  told 
him  that  we  could  not  spare  him  yet,  that  we  needed  him  at 
least  ten  years  longer,  he  laughingly  said,  " Can't  you 
compromise  on  one  year?"  "No,"  I  said,  "nothing  less 
than  ten  years."  Thereupon  he  laughed  pleasantly,  called 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Wilkinson,  and  said,  "Remember; 


164  POLITICAL   LIFE  -VIII 

when  I  am  gone  this  portrait  of  Prudence  Crandall  is  to 
go  to  Andrew  White  for  Cornell  University,  where  my 
anti-slavery  books  already  are.'7  As  I  left  him,  both  of 
us  were  in  the  most  cheerful  mood,  he  appearing  better 
than  during  some  weeks  previous.  Next  morning  I 
learned  that  he  had  died  during  the  night.  The  portrait 
of  Miss  Crandall  now  hangs  in  the  Cornell  University 
Library. 

My  summer  was  given  up  partly  to  recreation  mingled 
with  duties  of  various  sorts,  including  an  address  in  honor 
of  President  Woolsey  at  the  Alumni  dinner  at  Yale  and 
another  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  Syracuse 
University. 

Noteworthy  at  this  period  was  a  dinner  with  Long- 
fellow at  Cambridge,  and  I  recall  vividly  his  showing  me 
various  places  in  the  Craigie  house  connected  with  inter- 
esting passages  in  the  life  of  Washington  when  he  occu- 
pied it. 

Early  in  the  autumn,  while  thus  engrossed  in  every- 
thing but  political  matters,  I  received  a  letter  from  my 
friend  Mr.  A.  B.  Cornell,  a  most  energetic  and  efficient 
man  in  State  and  national  politics,  a  devoted  supporter 
of  General  Grant  and  Senator  Conkling,  and  afterward 
governor  of  the  State  of  New  York,  asking  me  if  I  would 
go  to  the  approaching  State  convention  and  accept  its 
presidency.  I  wrote  him  in  return  expressing  my  reluc- 
tance, dwelling  upon  the  duties  pressing  upon  me  in  con- 
nection with  the  university,  and  asking  to  be  excused.  In 
return  came  a  very  earnest  letter  insisting  on  the  impor- 
tance of  the  convention  in  keeping  the  Republican  party 
together,  and  in  preventing  its  being  split  into  factions 
before  the  approaching  presidential  election.  I  had,  on 
all  occasions,  and  especially  at  various  social  gatherings 
at  which  political  leaders  were  present,  in  New  York  and 
elsewhere,  urged  the  importance  of  throwing  aside  all 
factious  spirit  and  harmonizing  the  party  in  view  of  the 
coming  election,  and  to  this  Mr.  Cornell  referred  very 
earnestly.  As  a  consequence  I  wrote  him  that  if  the  dele- 


THE   GREELEY   CAMPAIGN-1872  165 

gates  from  New  York  opposed  to  General  Grant  could  be 
admitted  to  the  convention  on  equal  terms  with  those  who 
favored  him,  and  if  he,  Mr.  Cornell,  and  the  other  man- 
agers of  the  Grant  wing  of  the  party  would  agree  that  the 
anti-Grant  forces  should  receive  full  and  fair  representa- 
tion on  the  various  committees,  I  would  accept  the  presi- 
dency of  the  convention  in  the  interest  of  peace  between 
the  factions,  and  would  do  my  best  to  harmonize  the  differ- 
ing interests  in  the  party,  but  that  otherwise  I  would  not 
consent  to  be  a  member  of  the  convention.  In  his  answer 
Mr.  Cornell  fully  agreed  to  this,  and  I  have  every  reason 
to  believe,  indeed  to  know,  that  his  agreement  was  kept. 
The  day  of  the  convention  having  arrived  (September  27, 
1871),  Mr.  Cornell,  as  chairman  of  the  Republican  State 
committee,  called  the  assemblage  to  order,  and  after  a 
somewhat  angry  clash  with  the  opponents  of  the  adminis- 
tration, nominated  me  to  the  chairmanship  of  the  con- 
vention. 

By  a  freak  of  political  fortune  I  was  separated  in  this 
contest  from  my  old  friend  Chauncey  M.  Depew;  but 
though  on  different  sides  of  the  question  at  issue,  we  sat 
together  chatting  pleasantly  as  the  vote  went  on,  neither 
of  us,  I  think,  very  anxious  regarding  it,  and  when  the 
election  was  decided  in  my  favor  he  was  one  of  those  who, 
under  instructions  from  the  temporary  chairman,  very 
courteously  conducted  me  to  the  chair.  It  was  an  immense 
assemblage,  and  from  the  first  it  was  evident  that  there 
were  very  turbulent  elements  in  it.  Hardly,  indeed,  had 
I  taken  my  seat,  when  the  chief  of  the  Syracuse  police 
informed  me  that  there  were  gathered  near  the  platform 
a  large  body  of  Tammany  roughs  who  had  come  from  New 
York  expressly  to  interfere  with  the  convention,  just  as 
a  few  years  before  they  had  interfered  in  the  same  place 
with  the  convention  of  their  own  party,  seriously  wound- 
ing its  regular  chairman ;  but  that  I  need  have  no  alarm 
at  any  demonstration  they  might  make;  that  the  police 
were  fully  warned  and  able  to  meet  the  adversary. 

In  my  opening  speech  I  made  an  earnest  plea  for  peace 


166  POLITICAL   LIFE -VIII 

among  the  various  factions  of  the  party,  and  especially 
between  those  who  favored  and  those  who  opposed  the 
administration ;  this  plea  was  received  with  kindness,  and 
shortly  afterward  came  the  appointment  of  committees. 
Of  course,  like  every  other  president  of  such  a  body,  I 
had  to  rely  on  the  standing  State  committee.  Hardly  one 
man  in  a  thousand  coming  to  the  presidency  of  a  State 
convention  knows  enough  of  the  individual  leaders  of  poli- 
tics in  all  the  various  localities  to  distinguish  between  their 
shades  of  opinion.  It  was  certainly  impossible  for  me  to 
know  all  those  who,  in  the  various  counties  of  the  State, 
favored  General  Grant  and  those  who  disliked  him.  Like 
every  other  president  of  a  convention,  probably  without 
an  exception,  from  the  beginning  to  the  present  hour,  I 
received  the  list  of  the  convention  committees  from  the 
State  committee  which  represented  the  party,  and  I  re- 
ceived this  list,  not  only  with  implied,  but  express  assur- 
ances that  the  agreement  under  which  I  had  taken  the 
chairmanship  had  been  complied  with ;— namely,  that  the 
list  represented  fairly  the  two  wings  of  the  party  in  con- 
vention, and  that  both  the  Grant  and  the  anti-Grant  dele- 
gations from  New  York  city  were  to  be  admitted  on  equal 
terms. 

I  had  no  reason  then,  and  have  no  reason  now,  to  believe 
that  the  State  committee  abused  my  confidence.  I  feel  sure 
now,  as  I  felt  sure  then,  that  the  committee  named  by  me 
fairly  represented  the  two  wings  of  the  party;  but  after 
their  appointment  it  was  perfectly  evident  that  this  did 
not  propitiate  the  anti-administration  wing.  They  were 
deeply  angered  against  the  administration  by  the  fact  that 
General  Grant  had  taken  as  his  adviser  in  regard  to  New 
York  patronage  and  politics  Senator  Conkling  rather  than 
Senator  Fenton.  Doubtless  Senator  Conkling 's  manner 
in  dealing  with  those  opposed  to  him  had  made  many 
enemies  who,  by  milder  methods,  might  have  been  brought 
to  the  support  of  the  administration.  At  any  rate,  it  was 
soon  clear  that  the  anti-administration  forces,  recognizing 
their  inferiority  in  point  of  numbers,  were  determined  to 


THE  GREELEY  CAMPAIGN— 1872  167 

secede.  This,  indeed,  was  soon  formally  announced  by  one 
of  their  leaders ;  but  as  they  still  continued  after  this  decla- 
ration to  take  part  in  the  discussions,  the  point  of  order 
was  raised  that,  having  formally  declared  their  intention 
of  leaving  the  convention,  they  were  no  longer  entitled  to 
take  part  in  its  deliberations.  This  point  I  ruled  out,  de- 
claring that  I  could  not  consider  the  anti-administration 
wing  as  outside  the  convention  until  they  had  left  it.  The 
debates  grew  more  and  more  bitter,  Mr.  Conkling  making, 
late  at  night,  a  powerful  speech  which  rallied  the  forces  of 
the  administration  and  brought  them  victory.  The  anti- 
administration  delegates  now  left  the  convention,  but  be- 
fore they  did  so  one  of  them  rose  and  eloquently  tendered 
to  me  as  president  the  thanks  of  his  associates  for  my  im- 
partiality, saying  that  it  contrasted  most  honorably  with 
the  treatment  they  had  received  from  certain  other  mem- 
bers of  the  convention.  But  shortly  after  leaving  they 
lield  a  meeting  in  another  place,  and,  having  evidently 
made  up  their  minds  that  they  must  declare  war  against 
everybody  who  remained  in  the  convention,  they  de- 
nounced us  all  alike,  and  the  same  gentleman  who  had 
made  the  speech  thanking  me  for  my  fairness,  and  who 
was  very  eminent  among  those  who  were  known  as  ' '  Tam- 
many Eepublicans, ' '  now  made  a  most  violent  harangue 
in  which  he  declared  that  a  man  who  conducted  himself 
as  I  had  done,  and  who  remained  in  such  an  infamous 
convention,  or  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  was  "utterly 
unfit  to  be  an  instructor  of  youth/' 

Similar  attacks  continued  to  appear  in  the  anti-admin- 
istration papers  for  a  considerable  time  afterward,  and  at 
first  they  were  rather  trying  to  me.  I  felt  that  nothing 
could  be  more  unjust,  for  I  had  strained  to  the  last  degree 
my  influence  with  my  associates  who  supported  General 
Grant  in  securing  concessions  to  those  who  differed  from 
us.  Had  these  attacks  been  made  by  organs  of  the  oppo- 
site political  party,  I  would  not  have  minded  them;  but 
being  made  in  sundry  journals  which  had  represented  the 
Republican  party  and  were  constantly  read  by  my  old 


168  POLITICAL   LIFE-VIII 

friends,  neighbors,  and  students,  they  naturally,  for  a 
time,  disquieted  me.  One  of  the  charges  then  made  has 
often  amused  me  as  I  have  looked  back  upon  it  since,  and 
is  worth  referring  to  as  an  example  of  the  looseness  of 
statement  common  among  the  best  of  American  political 
journals  during  exciting  political  contests.  This  charge 
was  that  I  had  "sought  to  bribe  people  to  support  the 
administration  by  offering  them  consulates. "  This  was 
echoed  in  various  parts  of  the  State. 

The  facts  were  as  follows :  An  individual  who  had  made 
some  money  as  a  sutler  in  connection  with  the  army  had 
obtained  control  of  a  local  paper  at  Syracuse,  and,  through 
the  influence  thus  gained,  an  election  to  the  lower  house  of 
the  State  legislature.  During  the  winter  which  he  passed 
at  Albany  he  was  one  of  three  or  four  Republicans  who 
voted  with  the  Democrats  in  behalf  of  the  measures  pro- 
posed by  Tweed,  the  municipal  arch-robber  afterward 
convicted  and  punished  for  his  crimes  against  the  city  of 
New  York.  Just  at  this  particular  time  Tweed  was  at  the 
height  of  his  power,  and  at  a  previous  session  of  the 
legislature  he  had  carried  his  measures  through  the  As- 
sembly by  the  votes  of  three  or  four  Republicans  who  were 
needed  in  addition  to  the  Democratic  votes  in  order  to 
give  him  the  required  majority.  Many  leading  Republi- 
can journals  had  published  the  names  of  these  three  or 
four  men  with  black  lines  around  them,  charging  them, 
apparently  justly,  with  having  sold  themselves  to  Tweed 
for  money,  and  among  them  the  person  above  referred 
to.  Though  he  controlled  a  newspaper  in  Syracuse,  he 
had  been  unable  to  secure  renomination  to  the  legislature, 
and,  shortly  afterward,  in  order  to  secure  rehabilitation 
as  well  as  pelf,  sought  an  appointment  to  the  Syracuse 
postmastership.  Senator  Conkling,  mindful  of  the  man's 
record,  having  opposed  the  appointment,  and  the  Presi- 
dent having  declined  to  make  it,  the  local  paper  under 
control  of  this  person  turned  most  bitterly  against  the  ad- 
ministration, and  day  after  day  poured  forth  diatribes 
against  the  policy  and  the  persons  of  all  connected  with 


THE   GREELEY   CAMPAIGN— 1872  169 

the  actual  government  at  Washington,  and  especially 
against  President  Grant  and  Senator  Conkling. 

The  editor  of  the  paper  at  that  time  was  a  very  gifted 
young  writer,  an  old  schoolmate  and  friend  of  mine,  who, 
acting  under  instructions  from  the  managers  of  the  paper, 
took  a  very  bitter  line  against  the  administration  and  its 
supporters. 

About  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  convention  this 
old  friend  came  to  me,  expressed  his  regret  at  the  line  he 
was  obliged  to  take,  said  that  both  he  and  his  wife  were 
sick  of  the  whole  thing  and  anxious  to  get  out  of  it,  and 
added : ' '  The  only  way  out,  that  I  can  see,  is  some  appoint- 
ment that  will  at  once  relieve  me  of  all  these  duties,  and 
in  fact  take  me  out  of  the  country.  Cannot  you  aid  me  by 
application  to  the  senator  or  the  President  in  obtaining  a 

consulate  ? ' '  I  answered  him  laughingly, l '  My  dear , 

I  will  gladly  do  all  I  can  for  you,  not  only  for  friendship 's 
sake,  but  because  I  think  you  admirably  fitted  for  the  place 
you  name;  but  don't  you  think  that,  for  a  few  days  at 
least,  while  you  are  applying  for  such  a  position,  you 
might  as  well  stop  your  outrageous  attacks  against  the 
very  men  from  whom  you  hope  to  receive  the  appoint- 
ment!" 

Having  said  this,  half  in  jest  and  half  in  earnest,  I 
thought  no  more  on  the  subject,  save  as  to  the  best  way  of 
aiding  my  friend  to  secure  the  relief  he  desired. 

So  rose  the  charge  that  I  was  "bribing  persons  to  sup- 
port the  administration  by  offering  them  consulates. ' ' 

But  strong  friends  rallied  to  my  support.  Mr.  George 
William  Curtis  in  "Harper's  Weekly,"  Mr.  Godkin  in 
"The  Nation,"  Mr.  Charles  Dudley  Warner  and  others 
in  various  other  journals  took  up  the  cudgels  in  my  behalf, 
and  I  soon  discovered  that  the  attacks  rather  helped  than 
hurt  me.  They  did  much,  indeed,  to  disgust  me  for  a  time 
with  political  life;  but  I  soon  found  that  my  friends,  my 
students,  and  the  country  at  large  understood  the  charges, 
and  that  they  seemed  to  think  more  rather  than  less  of  me 
on  account  of  them.  In  those  days  the  air  was  full  of  that 


170  POLITICAL  LIFE-VIII 

sort  of  onslaught  upon  every  one  supposed  to  be  friendly 
to  General  Grant,  and  the  effect  in  one  case  was  revealed 
to  me  rather  curiously.  Matthew  Carpenter,  of  Wisconsin, 
was  then  one  of  the  most  brilliant  members  of  the  United 
States  Senate,  a  public  servant  of  whom  his  State  was 
proud ;  but  he  had  cordially  supported  the  administration 
and  was  consequently  made  the  mark  for  bitter  attack,  day 
after  day  and  week  after  week,  by  the  opposing  journals, 
and  these  attacks  finally  culminated  in  an  attempt  to  base 
a  very  ugly  scandal  against  him  upon  what  was  known 
among  his  friends  to  be  a  simple  courtesy  publicly  ren- 
dered to  a  very  worthy  lady.  The  attacks  and  the  scandal 
resounded  throughout  the  anti-administration  papers, 
their  evident  purpose  being  to  defeat  his  reelection  to  the 
United  States  Senate. 

But  just  before  the  time  for  the  senatorial  election  in 
Wisconsin,  meeting  a  very  bright  and  active-minded  stu- 
dent of  my  senior  class  who  came  from  that  State,  I  asked 
him,  "What  is  the  feeling  among  your  people  regarding 
the  reelection  of  Senator  Carpenter  1"  My  student  imme- 
diately burst  into  a  torrent  of  wrath  and  answered:  "The 
people  of  Wisconsin  will  send  Mr.  Carpenter  back  to  the 
Senate  by  an  enormous  majority.  We  will  see  if  a  gang 
of  newspaper  blackguards  can  slander  one  of  our  senators 
out  of  public  life."  The  result  was  as  my  young  friend 
had  foretold:  Mr.  Carpenter  was  triumphantly  reflected. 

While  I  am  on  this  subject  I  may  refer,  as  a  comfort  to 
those  who  have  found  themselves  unjustly  attacked  in 
political  matters,  to  two  other  notable  cases  within  my 
remembrance. 

Probably  no  such  virulence  has  ever  been  known  day 
after  day,  year  after  year,  as  was  shown  by  sundry  presses 
of  large  circulation  in  their  attacks  on  William  H.  Seward. 
They  represented  him  as  shady  and  tricky ;  as  the  lowest 
of  demagogues;  as  utterly  without  conscience  or  ability; 
as  pretending  a  hostility  to  slavery  which  was  simply 
a  craving  for  popularity;  they  refused  to  report  his 
speeches,  or,  if  they  did  report  them,  distorted  them.  He 


THE   GREELEY   CAMPAIGN- 1872  171 

had  also  incurred  the  displeasure  of  very  many  leaders 
of  his  own  party,  and  of  some  of  its  most  powerful  presses, 
yet  he  advanced  steadily  from  high  position  to  high  posi- 
tion, and  won  a  lasting  and  most  honorable  place  in  the 
history  of  his  country. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  Senator  Conkling.  The  at- 
tacks on  him  in  the  press  were  bitter  and  almost  universal ; 
yet  the  only  visible  result  was  that  he  was  reflected  to  the 
national  Senate  by  an  increased  majority.  To  the  catas- 
trophe which  some  years  later  ended  his  political  career, 
the  onslaught  by  the  newspapers  contributed  nothing;  it 
resulted  directly  from  the  defects  of  his  own  great  quali- 
ties and  not  at  all  from  attacks  made  upon  him  from 
outside. 

Almost  from  the  first  moment  of  my  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Conkling,  I  had  endeavored  to  interest  him  in  the  re- 
form of  the  civil  service,  and  at  least,  if  this  was  not 
possible,  to  prevent  his  actively  opposing  it.  In  this  sense 
I  wrote  him  various  letters.  For  a  time  they  seemed  suc- 
cessful ;  but  at  last,  under  these  attacks,  he  broke  all  bounds 
and  became  the  bitter  opponent  of  the  movement.  In  his 
powerful  manner  and  sonorous  voice  he  from  time  to  time 
expressed  his  contempt  for  it.  The  most  striking  of  his 
utterances  on  the  subject  was  in  one  of  the  State  conven- 
tions, which,  being  given  in  his  deep,  sonorous  tones,  ran 
much  as  follows :  "  When  Doctor-r-r  Ja-a-awnson  said  that 
patr-r-riotism-m  was  the  1-a-w-s-t  r-r-refuge  of  a  scoun- 
dr-r-rel,  he  ignor-r-red  the  enor-r-rmous  possibilities  of 
the  word  r-ref a-awr-r-rm ! " 

The  following  spring  (June  5,  1872)  I  attended  the 
Eepublican  National  Convention  at  Philadelphia  as  a  sub- 
stitute delegate.  It  was  very  interesting  and,  unlike  the 
enormous  assemblages  since  of  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand 
people  at  Chicago  and  elsewhere,  was  a  really  deliberative 
body.  As  it  was  held  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  there  was 
room  for  a  sufficient  audience,  while  there  was  not  room 
for  a  vast  mob  overpowering  completely  the  members  of 
the  convention  and  preventing  any  real  discussion  at  some 


172  POLITICAL   LIFE -VIII 

most  important  junctures,  as  has  been  the  case  in  so  many 
conventions  of  both  parties  in  these  latter  years. 

The  most  noteworthy  features  of  this  convention  were 
the  speeches  of  sundry  colored  delegates  from  the  South. 
Very  remarkable  they  were,  and  a  great  revelation  as  to 
the  ability  of  some,  at  least,  of  their  race  in  the  former 
slave  States. 

General  Grant  was  renominated  for  the  Presidency, 
and  for  the  Vice-Presidency  Mr.  Henry  Wilson  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  place  of  Schuyler  Colfax,  who  had  held  the  po- 
sition during  General  Grant's  first  term. 

The  only  speeches  I  made  during  the  campaign  were 
one  from  the  balcony  of  the  Continental  Hotel  in  Philadel- 
phia and  one  from  the  steps  of  the  Delavan  House  at 
Albany,  but  they  were  perfunctory  and  formal.  There 
was  really  no  need  of  speeches,  and  I  was  longing  to  go  at 
my  proper  university  work.  Mr.  James  Anthony  Froude, 
the  historian,  had  arrived  from  England  to  deliver  his 
lectures  before  our  students ;  and,  besides  this,  the  univer- 
sity had  encountered  various  difficulties  which  engrossed 
all  my  thoughts. 

General  Grant's  reelection  was  a  great  victory.  Mr. 
Greeley  had  not  one  Northern  electoral  vote ;  worst  of  all, 
he  had,  during  the  contest,  become  utterly  broken  in  body 
and  mind,  and  shortly  after  the  election  he  died. 

His  death  was  a  sad  ending  of  a  career  which,  as  a 
whole,  had  been  so  beneficent.  As  to  General  Grant,  I  be- 
lieve now,  as  I  believed  then,  that  his  election  was  a  great 
blessing,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  noblest,  purest,  and 
most  capable  men  who  have  ever  sat  in  the  Presidency. 
The  cheap,  clap-trap  antithesis  which  has  at  times  been 
made  between  Grant  the  soldier  and  Grant  the  statesman 
is,  I  am  convinced,  utterly  without  foundation.  The 
qualities  which  made  him  a  great  soldier  made  him  an 
effective  statesman.  This  fact  was  clearly  recognized 
by  the  American  people  at  various  times  during  the 
war,  and  especially  when,  at  the  surrender  of  Appomat- 
tox,  he  declined  to  deprive  General  Lee  of  his  sword, 


THE  GREELEY  CAMPAIGN-1872  173 

and  quietly  took  the  responsibility  of  allowing  the  sol- 
diers of  the  Southern  army  to  return  with  their  horses 
to  their  fields  to  resume  peaceful  industry.  These 
statesmanlike  qualities  were  developed  more  and  more 
by  the  great  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  Presi- 
dency. His  triumph  over  financial  demagogy  in  his  vetoes 
of  the  Inflation  Bill,  and  his  triumph  over  political  dema- 
gogy in  securing  the  treaty  of  Washington  and  the  Ala- 
bama indemnity,  prove  him  a  statesman  worthy  to  rank 
with  the  best  of  his  predecessors.  In  view  of  these  evi- 
dences of  complete  integrity  and  high  capacity,  and  bear- 
ing in  mind  various  conversations  which  I  had  with  him 
'during  his  public  life  down  to  a  period  just  before  his 
death,  I  feel  sure  that  history  will  pronounce  him  not  only 
a  general  but  a  statesman  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word. 

The  renomination  of  General  Grant  at  the  Philadelphia 
convention  was  the  result  of  gratitude,  respect,  and  convic- 
tion of  his  fitness.  Although  Mr.  Greeley  had  the  support 
of  the  most  influential  presses  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  widely  beloved  and  respected  as  one  who  had  borne 
the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day,  he  was  defeated  in  obedi- 
ence to  a  healthy  national  instinct. 

Years  afterward  I  was  asked  in  London  by  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  English  journalists  how  such  a  thing 
could  have  taken  place.  Said  he,  "The  leading  papers  of 
the  United  States,  almost  without  exception,  were  in  favor 
of  Mr.  Greeley;  how,  then,  did  it  happen  that  he  was  in 
such  a  hopeless  minority  1"  I  explained  the  matter  as 
best  I  could,  whereupon  he  said,  "  Whatever  the  explana- 
tion may  be,  it  proves  that  the  American  press,  by  its  wild 
statements  in  political  campaigns,  and  especially  by  its 
reckless  attacks  upon  individuals,  has  lost  that  hold  upon 
American  opinion  which  it  ought  to  have;  and,  depend 
upon  it,  this  is  a  great  misfortune  for  your  country. f'  I 
did  not  attempt  to  disprove  this  statement,  for  I  knew  but 
too  well  that  there  was  great  truth  in  it. 

Of  my  political  experiences  at  that  period  I  recall  two : 
the  first  of  these  was  making  the  acquaintance  at  Sara- 


174  POLITICAL  LIFE -VIII 

toga  of  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Tilden.  His  political  fortunes  were 
then  at  their  lowest  point.  With  Mr.  Dean  Richmond  of 
Buffalo,  he  had  been  one  of  the  managers  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  the  State,  but,  Mr.  Richmond  having  died, 
the  Tweed  wing  of  the  party,  supported  by  the  canal  con- 
tractors, had  declared  war  against  Mr.  Tilden,  treated 
him  with  contempt,  showed  their  aversion  to  him  in  every 
way,  and,  it  was  fully  understood,  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  depose  him.  I  remember  walking  and  talking 
again  and  again  with  him  under  the  colonnade  at  Congress 
Hall,  and,  without  referring  to  any  person  by  name,  he 
dwelt  upon  the  necessity  of  more  earnest  work  in  redeem- 
ing American  politics  from  the  management  of  men  ut- 
terly unfit  for  leadership.  Little  did  he  or  I  foresee  that 
soon  afterward  his  arch-enemy,  Tweed,  then  in  the  same 
hotel  and  apparently  all-powerful,  was  to  be  a  fugitive 
from  justice,  and  finally  to  die  in  prison,  and  that  he,  Mr. 
Tilden  himself,  was  to  be  elected  governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  to  come  within  a  hair's-breadth  of  the 
presidential  chair  at  Washington. 

The  other  circumstance  of  a  political  character  was  my 
attendance  as  an  elector  at  the  meeting  of  the  Electoral 
College  at  Albany,  which  cast  the  vote  of  New  York  for 
General  Grant.  I  had  never  before  sat  in  such  a  body,  and 
its  proceedings  interested  me.  As  president  we  elected 
General  Stewart  L.  Woodford,  and  as  the  body,  after  the 
formal  election  of  General  Grant  to  the  Presidency,  was 
obliged  to  send  certificates  to  the  governor  of  the  State, 
properly  signed  and  sealed,  and  as  it  had  no  seal  of  its 
own,  General  Woodford  asked  if  any  member  had  a  seal 
which  he  would  lend  to  the  secretary  for  that  purpose. 
Thereupon  a  seal-ring  which  Goldwin  Smith  had  brought 
from  Rome  and  given  me  was  used  for  that  purpose.  It 
was  an  ancient  intaglio.  Very  suitably,  it  bore  the  figure 
of  a  "Winged  Victory, "  and  it  was  again  publicly  used, 
many  years  later,  when  it  was  affixed  to  the  American 
signature  of  the  international  agreement  made  at  the 
Peace  Conference  of  The  Hague. 


THE   GREELEY   CAMPAIGN-1872  175 

The  following  winter  I  had  my  first  experience  of  "  Re- 
construction "  in  the  South.  Being  somewhat  worn  with 
work,  I  made  a  visit  to  Florida,  passing  leisurely  through 
the  southern  seaboard  States,  and  finding  at  Columbia 
an  old  Yale  friend,  Governor  Chamberlain,  from  whom  I 
learned  much.  But  the  simple  use  of  my  eyes  and  ears 
during  the  journey  gave  me  more  than  all  else.  A  visit 
to  the  State  legislature  of  South  Carolina  revealed  vividly 
the  new  order  of  things.  The  State  Capitol  was  a  beau- 
tiful marble  building,  but  unfinished  without  and  dirty 
within.  Approaching  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, I  found  the  door  guarded  by  a  negro,  squalid  and 
filthy.  He  evidently  reveled  in  his  new  citizenship;  his 
chair  was  tilted  back  against  the  wall,  his  feet  were  high 
in  the  air,  and  he  was  making  everything  nauseous  about 
him  with  tobacco ;  but  he  soon  became  obsequious  and  ad- 
mitted us  to  one  of  the  most  singular  deliberative  bodies 
ever  known— a  body  composed  of  former  landed  propri- 
etors and  slave-owners  mixed  up  pell-mell  with  their 
former  slaves  and  with  Northern  adventurers  then  known 
as  ' i  carpet-baggers. ' '  The  Southern  gentlemen  of  the  As- 
sembly were  gentlemen  still,  and  one  of  them,  Mr.  Mem- 
minger,  formerly  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  Con- 
federate States,  was  especially  courteous  to  us.  But  soon 
all  other  things  were  lost  in  contemplation  of  "Mr. 
Speaker. ' '  He  was  a  bright,  nimble,  voluble  mulatto  who, 
as  one  of  the  Southern  gentlemen  informed  me,  was  "the 
smartest  nigger  God  ever  made."  Having  been  elevated 
to  the  speakership,  he  magnified  his  office.  While  we  were 
observing  him,  a  gentleman  of  one  of  the  most  historic 
families  of  South  Carolina,  a  family  which  had  given  to 
the  State  a  long  line  of  military  commanders,  governors, 
senators,  and  ambassadors,  rose  to  make  a  motion.  The 
speaker,  a  former  slave,  at  once  declared  him  out  of  order. 
On  the  member  persisting  in  his  effort,  the  speaker  called 
out,  "De  genlemun  frum  Bufert  has  no  right  to  de  floh; 
de  genlemun  from  Bufert  will  take  his  seat,"  and  the 
former  aristocrat  obeyed.  To  this  it  had  come  at  last. 


176  POLITICAL  LIFE-YIII 

In  the  presence  of  this  assembly,  in  this  hall  where  dis- 
union really  had  its  birth,  where  secession  first  shone  out 
in  all  its  glory,  a  former  slave  ordered  a  former  master 
to  sit  down,  and  was  obeyed. 

In  Charleston  the  same  state  of  things  was  to  be  seen, 
and  for  the  first  time  I  began  to  feel  sympathy  for 
the  South.  This  feeling  was  deepened  by  what  I  saw  in 
Georgia  and  Florida ;  and  yet,  below  it  all  I  seemed  to  see 
the  hand  of  God  in  history,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  all  I 
seemed  to  hear  a  deep  voice  from  the  dead.  To  me,  seeing 
these  things,  there  came,  reverberating  out  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, that  prediction  of  Thomas  Jefferson,— himself  a 
slaveholder,— who,  after  depicting  the  offenses  of  slavery, 
ended  with  these  words,  worthy  of  Isaiah,— divinely  in- 
spired if  any  ever  were:— "I  tremble  when  I  remember 
that  God  is  just." 


CHAPTER  XI 

GRANT,  HAYES,  AND  GAEFIELD-1871-1881 

AT  various  times  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  I  visited 
j\  Washington,  meeting  many  men  especially  influential, 
and,  first  of  all,  President  Grant.  Of  all  personages  whom 
I  then  met  he  impressed  me  most  strongly.  At  various 
times  I  talked  with  him  at  the  White  House,  dining  with 
him  and  seeing  him  occasionally  in  his  lighter  mood,  but 
at  no  time  was  there  the  slightest  diminution  of  his  unaf- 
fected dignity.  Now  and  then  he  would  make  some  dry 
remark  which  showed  a  strong  sense  of  humor,  but  in 
everything  there  was  the  same  quiet,  simple  strength.  On 
one  occasion,  when  going  to  the  White  House,  I  met  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz  of  Cambridge,  and  took  him  with  me:  we 
were  received  cordially,  General  Grant  offering  us  cigars, 
as  was  his  wont  with  visitors,  and  Agassiz  genially 
smoking  with  him:  when  we  had  come  away  the  great 
naturalist  spoke  with  honest  admiration  of  the  President, 
evidently  impressed  by  the  same  qualities  which  had 
always  impressed  me— his  modesty,  simplicity,  and  quiet 
force. 

I  also  visited  him  at  various  times  in  his  summer  cot- 
tage at  Long  Branch,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  he 
gave  a  bit  of  history  which  specially  interested  me.  As 
we  were  taking  coffee  after  dinner,  a  card  was  brought 
in,  and  the  President,  having  glanced  at  it,  said,  "Tell  him 
that  I  cannot  see  him."  The  servant  departed  with  the 
message,  but  soon  returned  and  said,  "The  gentleman 

1-12.  177 


178  POLITICAL  LIFE-IX 

wishes  to  know  when  he  can  see  the  President."  "Tell 
him  never,"  said  Grant. 

It  turned  out  that  the  person  whose  name  the  card  bore 
was  the  correspondent  of  a  newspaper  especially  noted 
for  sensation-mongering,  and  the  conversation  drifted  to 
the  subject  of  newspapers  and  newspaper  correspondents, 
when  the  President  told  the  following  story,  which  I  give 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words : 

"During  the  hottest  period  of  the  final  struggle  in 
Virginia,  we  suffered  very  much  from  the  reports  of  news- 
paper correspondents  who  prowled  about  our  camps  and 
then  put  on  the  wires  the  information  they  had  gained, 
which  of  course  went  South  as  rapidly  as  it  went  North. 
It  became  really  serious  and  embarrassed  us  greatly.  On 
this  account,  one  night,  when  I  had  decided  to  make  an 
important  movement  with  a  portion  of  the  army  early 
next  day,  I  gave  orders  that  a  tent  should  be  pitched  in  an 
out-of-the-way  place,  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  in  the 
morning,  and  notified  the  generals  who  were  to  take  part 
in  the  movement  to  meet  me  there. 

"It  happened  that  on  the  previous  day  there  had  come 
to  the  camp  a  newspaper  correspondent  named  -  — ,  and, 
as  he  bore  a  letter  from  Mr.  Washburne,  I  treated  him  as 
civilly  as  possible. 

"At  daylight  next  morning,  while  we  were  assembled  in 
the  tent  making  final  arrangements,  one  of  my  aides, 

Colonel ,  heard  a  noise  just  outside,  and,  going  out, 

saw  this  correspondent  lying  down  at  full  length,  his  ear 
under  the  edge  of  the  tent,  and  a  note-book  in  his 
hand.  Thereupon  Colonel  —  -  took  the  correspondent 
by  his  other  ear,  lifted  him  to  his  feet,  and  swore  to  him 
a  solemn  oath  that  if  he  was  visible  in  any  part  of  the 
camp  more  than  five  minutes  longer,  a  detachment  of 
troops  would  be  ordered  out  to  shoot  him  and  bury  him 
there  in  the  swamp,  so  that  no  one  would  ever  know  his 
name  or  burial-place. 

"The  correspondent  left  at  once,"  said  the  President, 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND   GARFIELD- 1871-1881      179 

"and  he  took  his  revenge  by  writing  a  history  of  the  war 
from  which  he  left  me  out." 

The  same  characteristic  which  I  had  found  at  other 
meetings  with  Grant  came  out  even  more  strongly  when,  ' 
just  before  the  close  of  his  term,  he  made  me  a  visit  at 
Cornell,  where  one  of  his  sons  was  a  student.  To  meet 
him  I  invited  several  of  our  professors  and  others  who 
were  especially  prejudiced  against  him,  and,  without  ex- 
ception, they  afterward  expressed  the  very  feeling  which 
had  come  over  me  after  my  first  conversation  with  him— 
surprise  at  the  revelation  of  his  quiet  strength  and  his 
knowledge  of  public  questions  then  before  the  country. 

During  a  walk  on  the  university  grounds  he  spoke  to  me 
of  the  Santo  Domingo  matter.1  He  said : ' l  The  annexation 
question  is  doubtless  laid  aside  for  the  present,  but  the  time 
will  come  when  the  country  will  have  occasion  to  regret 
that  it  was  disposed  of  without  adequate  discussion.  As  I 
am  so  soon  to  leave  the  presidency,  I  may  say  to  you  now 
that  one  of  my  main  thoughts  in  regard  to  the  annexation 
of  the  island  has  been  that  it  might  afford  a  refuge  for  the 
negroes  of  the  South  in  case  anything  like  a  war  of  races 
should  ever  arise  in  the  old  slave  States. ' '  He  then  alluded 
to  the  bitter  feeling  between  the  two  races  which  was  then 
shown  in  the  South,  and  which  was  leading  many  of  the 
blacks  to  take  refuge  in  Kansas  and  other  northwestern 
States,  and  said,  "If  such  a  refuge  as  Santo  Domingo 
were  open  to  them,  their  former  masters  would  soon  find 
that  they  have  not  the  colored  population  entirely  at  their 
mercy,  and  would  be  obliged  to  compromise  with  them  on 
far  more  just  terms  than  would  otherwise  be  likely." 

The  President  said  this  with  evidently  deep  conviction, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  a  very  thoughtful  and  far-sighted 
view  of  the  possibilities  and  even  probabilities  involved. 

During  another  walk,  in  speaking  of  the  approaching 
close  of  his  second  presidential  term,  he  said  that  he  found 
himself  looking  forward  to  it  with  the  same  longing  which 

1  See  my  chapter  on  Santo  Domingo  experiences. 


ISO  POLITICAL  LIFE -IX 

he  had  formerly  had  as  a  cadet  at  West  Point  when  look- 
ing forward  to  a  furlough. 

I  have  never  helieved  that  the  earnest  effort  made  by 
his  friends  at  Chicago  to  nominate  him  for  a  third  term 
was  really  prompted  by  him,  or  that  he  originally  desired 
it.  It  always  seemed  to  me  due  to  the  devotion  of  friends 
who  admired  his  noble  qualities,  and  thought  that  the 
United  States  ought  not  to  be  deprived  of  them  in  obe- 
dience to  a  tradition,  in  this  case,  more  honored  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance. 

I  may  add  here  that,  having  seen  him  on  several  con- 
vivial occasions,  and  under  circumstances  when,  if  ever, 
he  would  be  likely  to  indulge  in  what  was  understood  to 
have  been,  in  his  early  life,  an  unfortunate  habit,  I  never 
saw  him  betray  the  influence  of  alcohol  in  the  slightest 
degree. 

Shortly  after  General  Grant  laid  down  his  high  office, 
he  made  his  well-known  journey  to  Europe  and  the  East, 
and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  him  at  Cologne  and 
traveling  up  the  Rhine  with  him.  AVe  discussed  American 
affairs  all  day  long.  lie  had  during  the  previous  week 
been  welcomed  most  cordially  to  the  hospitalities  of  two 
leading  sovereigns  of  Europe,  and  had  received  endless 
attentions  from  the  most  distinguished  men  of  England 
and  Belgium,  but  in  conversation  lie  never,  in  the  slightest 
degree,  referred  to  any  of  these  experiences.  He  seemed 
not  to  think  of  them;  his  heart  was  in  matters  pertain- 
ing to  his  own  country,  lie  told  me  much  regarding  his 
administration,  and  especially  spoke  with  the  greatest 
respect  and  affection  of  his  Secretary  of  State,  Mi1.  Ham- 
ilton Fish. 

Somewhat  later  1  again  met  him  in  Paris,  had  several 
walks  and  talks  with  him  in  which  lie  discussed  American 
affairs,  and  I  remember  that  he  dwelt  with  especial  admi- 
ration, and  even  affection,  upon  his  colleagues  Sherman 
and  Sheridan. 

I  trust  that  it  may  not  be  considered  out  of  place  if,  in 
this  retrospect,  which  is  intended,  first  of  all,  for  my 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND  GARFIELD- 1871 -1881      181 

children  and  grandchildren,  I  state  that  a  personal  fact, 
which  was  known  to  many  from  other  sources,  was  con- 
firmed to  me  in  one  of  these  conversations :  General  Grant 
informing  me,  as  he  had  previously  informed  my  wife,  that 
he  had  fully  purposed  to  name  me  as  Secretary  of  State 
had  Mr.  Fish  carried  out  his  intention  of  resigning.  When 
he  told  me  this,  my  answer  was  that  I  considered  it  a  very 
fortunate  escape  for  us  both;  that  my  training  had  not 
fitted  me  for  such  duties ;  that  my  experience  in  the  diplo- 
matic service  had  then  been  slight;  that  I  had  no  proper 
training  as  a  lawyer ;  that  my  knowledge  of  international 
law  was  derived  far  more  from  the  reading  of  books  than 
from  its  application ;  and  that  I  doubted  my  physical  abil- 
ity to  bear  the  pressure  for  patronage  which  converged 
upon  the  head  of  the  President's  cabinet. 

In  the  Washington  of  those  days  my  memory  also  re- 
calls vividly  a  dinner  with  Senator  Conkling  at  which  I 
met  a  number  of  interesting  men,  and  among  them  Gov- 
ernor Seymour,  who  had  been  the  candidate  opposed  to 
Grant  during  his  first  presidential  campaign;  Senator 
Anthony,  Senator  Edmunds,  the  former  Vice-President 
Mr.  Hamlin,  Senator  Carpenter,  and  others.  Many  good 
stories  were  told,  and  one  amused  me  especially,  as  it  was 
given  with  admirable  mimicry  by  Senator  Carpenter.  He 
described  an  old  friend  of  his,  a  lawyer,  who,  coming  be- 
fore one  of  the  higher  courts  with  a  very  doubtful  case, 
began  his  plea  as  follows :  1 1  May  it  please  the  court,  there 
is  only  one  point  in  this  case  favorable  to  my  client,  but 
that,  may  it  please  the  court,  is  a  chink  in  the  common  law 
which  has  been  worn  smooth  by  the  multitude  of  scoun- 
drels who  have  escaped  through  it." 

During  the  year  1878  I  was  sent  as  an  honorary  com- 
missioner from  the  State  of  New  York  to  the  Paris  Expo- 
sition, and  shall  give  a  more  full  account  of  this  period  in 
another  chapter.  Suffice  it  that,  having  on  my  return 
prepared  my  official  report  on  the  provision  for  political 
education  made  by  the  different  governments  of  Europe, 
I  became  more  absorbed  than  ever  in  university  affairs, 


182  POLITICAL  LIFE-IX 

keeping  aloof  as  much  as  possible  from  politics.  But  in 
the  political  campaign  of  1878  I  could  not  but  be  inter- 
ested. It  was  different  from  any  other  that  I  had  known, 
for  the  "  Greenback  Craze "  bloomed  out  as  never  before 
and  seemed  likely  to  poison  the  whole  country.  Great 
hardships  had  arisen  from  the  fact  that  debts  which  had 
been  made  under  a  depreciated  currency  had  to  be  paid 
in  money  of  greater  value.  Men  who,  in  what  were  known 
as  "  flush  times, "  had  bought  farms,  paid  down  half 
the  price,  and  mortgaged  them  for  the  other  half,  found 
now,  when  their  mortgages  became  due,  that  they  could 
not  sell  the  property  for  enough  to  cover  the  lien  upon  it. 
Besides  this,  the  great  army  of  speculators  throughout 
the  country  found  the  constant  depreciation  of  prices 
bringing  them  to  bankruptcy.  In  the  cry  for  more  green- 
backs,—that  is,  for  continued  issues  of  paper  money,— 
demagogism  undoubtedly  had  a  large  part ;  but  there  were 
many  excellent  men  who  were  influenced  by  it,  and  among 
them  Peter  Cooper  of  New  York,  founder  of  the  great 
institution  which  bears  his  name,  one  of  the  purest  and 
best  men  I  have  ever  known. 

This  cry  for  more  currency  was  echoed  from  one  end 
of  the  country  to  the  other.  In  various  States,  and  espe- 
cially in  Ohio,  it  seemed  to  carry  everything  before  it, 
nearly  all  the  public  men  of  note,  including  nearly  all  the 
leading  Democrats  and  very  many  of  the  foremost  Repub- 
licans, bowing  down  to  it,  the  main  exceptions  being  John 
Sherman  and  Garfield. 

In  central  New  York  the  mania  seemed,  early  in  the  sum- 
mer, to  take  strong  hold.  In  Syracuse  John  Wieting,  an 
amazingly  fluent  speaker  with  much  popular  humor,  who 
had  never  before  shown  any  interest  in  politics,  took  the 
stump  for  an  unlimited  issue  of  government  paper  cur- 
rency, received  the  nomination  to  Congress  from  the 
Democrats  and  sundry  independent  organizations,  and 
for  a  time  seemed  to  carry  everything  before  him.  A 
similar  state  of  things  prevailed  at  Ithaca  and  the  region 
round  about  Cayuga  Lake.  Two  or  three  people  much 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND  GARFIELD- 1871-1881      183 

respected  in  the  community  came  out  for  this  doctrine, 
and,  having  a  press  under  their  control,  their  influence 
seemed  likely  to  be  serious.  Managers  of  the  Republican 
organization  in  the  State  seemed  at  first  apathetic ;  but  at 
last  they  became  alarmed  and  sent  two  speakers  through 
these  disaffected  districts— only  two,  but  each,  in  his  way, 
a  master.  The  first  of  them,  in  order  of  time,  was  Senator 
Roscoe  Conkling,  and  he  took  as  his  subject  the  National 
Banking  System.  This  had  been  for  a  considerable  time 
one  of  the  objects  of  special  attack  by  uneasy  and  unsuc- 
cessful people  throughout  the  entire  country.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  national  banking  system,  created  during  the 
Civil  War  by  Secretary  Chase  and  his  advisers,  was  one  of 
the  most  admirable  expedients  ever  devised  in  any  coun- 
try. Up  to  the  time  of  its  establishment  the  whole  country 
had  suffered  enormously  from  the  wretched  currency  sup- 
plied from  the  State  banks.  Even  in  those  States  where 
the  greatest  precaution  was  taken  to  insure  its  redemption, 
all  of  it  was,  in  time  of  crisis  or  panic,  fluctuating  and  much 
of  it  worthless.  But  in  other  States  the  case  was  even 
worse.  I  can  recall  perfectly  that  through  my  boyhood 
and  young  manhood  every  merchant  and  shopkeeper  kept 
on  his  table  what  was  called  a  "bank-note  detector, " 
which,  when  any  money  was  tendered  him,  he  was  obliged 
to  consult  in  order  to  know,  first,  whether  the  bill  was  a 
counterfeit,  as  it  frequently  was ;  secondly,  whether  it  was 
on  a  solvent  bank;  and  thirdly,  if  good,  what  discount 
should  be  deducted  from  the  face  of  it.  Under  this  system 
bank-notes  varied  in  value  from  week  to  week,  and  even 
from  day  to  day,  with  the  result  that  all  buying  and  selling 
became  a  sort  of  gambling. 

When,  then,  Mr.  Chase  established  the  new  system  of 
national  banks  so  based  that  every  bill-holder  had  security 
for  the  entire  amount  which  his  note  represented,  so  con- 
trolled that  a  bill  issued  from  any  little  bank  in  the  re- 
motest State,  or  even  in  the  remotest  corner  of  a  Territory, 
was  equal  to  one  issued  by  the  richest  bank  in  Wall 
Street,  so  engraved  that  counterfeiting  was  practically  im- 


184  POLITICAL  LIFE-IX 

possible,  there  was  an  immense  gain  to  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  country. 

To  appreciate  this  jgin  one  must  have  had  experience 
of  the  older^  system.  I  remember  wel^  the  panic  of  1857, 
which  arose  while  I  was  traveling  in  eastern  and  northern 
New  England,  and  that,  arriving  in  the  city  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts,  having  tendered,  in  payment  of  my  hotel 
bill,  notes  issued  by  a  leading  New  York  city  bank,  guar- 
anteed under  what  was  known  as  the  ' '  Safety  Fund  Sys- 
tem," they  were  refused.  The  result  was  that  I  had  to 
leave  my  wife  at  the  hotel,  go  to  Boston,  and  there  manage 
to  get  Massachusetts  money. 

But  this  was  far  short  of  the  worst.  Professor  Koberts 
of  Cornell  University  once  told  me  that,  having  in  those 
days  collected  a  considerable  debt  in  one  of  the  Western 
States,  he  found  the  currency  so  worthless  that  he  at- 
tempted to  secure  New  York  funds,  but  that  the  rate  of 
exchange  was  so  enormous  that,  as  the  only  way  of  saving 
anything,  he  bojightjaj^g^ 
shigpe4^itjto^  the  East,  and  sold  it  for  what  it  would  bring. 

As  to  the  way  in  which  the  older  banking  operations 
were  carried  on  in  some  of  the  Western  States,  Gov- 
ernor Felch  of  Michigan  once  gave  me  some  of  his  ex- 
periences as  a  bank  examiner,  and  one  of  them  especially 
amused  me.  He  said  that  he  and  a  brother  examiner  made 
an  excursion  through  the  State  in  a  sleigh  with  a  pair  of 
good  horses  in  order  to  inspect  the  various  banks  estab- 
lished in  remote  villages  and  hamlets  which  had  the  power 
of  issuing  currency  based  upon  the^specie  contained  in 
their  vaults.  After  visiting  a  few  of  these,  and  finding 
that  each  had  the  amount  of  specie  required  by  law,  the 
examiners  began  to  note  a  curious  similarity  between  the 
specie  packages  in  these  different  banks,  and  before  long 
their  attention  was  drawn  to  another  curious  fact,  which 
was  that  wherever  they  went  they  werejr^ceded  by  a 
sleigh  drawn  by  especially  Beet  horses.  On  making  a  care- 
ful examination,  they  found  that  this  sleigh  bore  from 
bank  to  bank  a  number  of  kegs  of  specie  sufficient  to  enable 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND   GARFIELD- 1871-1881      185 

each  bank  in  its  turn  to  show  the  examiners  a  temporary 
basis  in  hard  money  for  its  output  of  paper. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  which  the  national  banks 
remedied,  and  the  system  had  the  additional  advantage  of 
being  elastic,  so  that  any  little  community  which  needed 
currency  had  only  to  combine  its  surplus  capital  and  es- 
tablish a  bank  of  issue. 

But  throughout  the  country  there  were,  as  there  will 
doubtless  always  be, a  considerable  number  of  men  who,not 
being  able  to  succeed  themselves,  distrusted  and  disliked 
the  successful.  There  was  also  a  plentiful  supply  of  dema- 
gogues skilful  in  appealing  to  the  prejudices  of  the  igno- 
rant, envious,  or  perverse,  and  as  a  result  came  a  cry 
against  the  national  banks. 

In  Mr.  Conkling's  Ithaca  speech  (1878),  he  argued  the 
question  with  great  ability  and  force.  He  had  a  sledge- 
hammer way  which  broke  down  all  opposition,  and  he  ex- 
ulted in  it.  One  of  his  favorite  tactics,  which  greatly 
amused  his  auditors,  was  to  lead  some  prominent  gainsayer 
in  his  audience  to  interrupt  him,  whereupon,  in  the  bland- 
est way  possible,  he  would  invite  him  to  come  forward, urge 
him  to  present  his  views,  even  help  him  to  do  so,  and  then, 
having  gradually  entangled  him  in  his  own  sophistries  and 
made  him  ridiculous,  the  senator  would  come  down  upon 
him  with  arguments— cogent,  pithy,  sarcastic— much  like 
the  fist  of  a  giant  upon  a  mosquito. 

In  whatever  town  Mr.  Conkling  argued  the  question  of 
the  national  banks,  that  subject  ceased  to  be  a  factor  in 
politics:  it  was  settled;  his  attacks  upon  the  anti-bank 
demagogues  annihilated  their  arguments  among  thinking 
men,  and  his  sarcasm  made  them  ridiculous  among  un- 
thinking men.  This  was  the  sort  of  thing  which  he  did 
best.  While  utterly  deficient  in  constructive  power,  his  de-  )/ 
structive  force  was  great  indeed,  and  in  this  campaign  it 
was  applied,  as  it  was  not  always  applied,  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  country. 

The  other  great  speaker  in  the  campaign  was  General 
James  A.  Garfield,  then  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 


186  POLITICAL  LIFE-IX 

sentatives.  My  acquaintance  with  him  had  begun  several 
years  before  at  Syracuse,  when  my  old  school  friend,  his 
college  mate,  Charles  Elliot  Fitch,  brought  him  into  my  li- 
brary. My  collection  of  books  was  even  at  that  date  very 
large,  and  Garfield,  being  delighted  with  it,  soon  revealed 
his  scholarly  qualities.  It  happened  that  not  long  before 
this  I  had  bought  in  London  several  hundred  volumes  from 
the  library  left  by  the  historian  Buckle,  very  many  of  them 
bearing  copious  annotations  in  his  own  hand.  Garfield 
had  read  Buckle's  "History  of  Civilization  in  England " 
with  especial  interest,  and  when  I  presented  to  him  and 
discussed  with  him  some  of  these  annotated  volumes,  there 
began  a  friendly  relation  between  us  which  ended  only 
with  his  life. 

I  also  met  him  under  less  favorable  circumstances. 
Happening  to  be  in  Washington  at  the  revelation  of  the 
Credit  Mobilier  operations,  I  found  him  in  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives,  and  evidently  in  the  depths  of  suffering. 
h  An  effort  was  making  to  connect  him  with  the  scandal,  and 
while  everything  I  know  of  him  convinces  me  that  he  was 
not  dishonest,  he  had  certainly  been  imprudent.  ThisTie 
felt,  and  he  asked  me,  in  an  almost  heart-broken  tone,  if 
I  really  believed  that  this  had  forever  destroyed  his  influ- 
ence in  the  country.  I  answered  that  I  believed  nothing 
of  the  kind;  that  if  he  came  out  in  a  straightforward, 
manly  way,  without  any  of  the  prevarication  which  had  so 
greatly  harmed  some  others,  he  would  not  be  injured,  and 
the  result  showed  that  this  advice  was  good. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  great  hall  in  Ithaca  (October  28, 
1878),  we  found  floor  and  stage  packed  in  every  part. 
Never  had  a  speaker  a  better  audience.  There  were  present 
very  many  men  of  all  parties  anxious  to  hear  the  currency 
question  honestly  discussed,  and  among  them  many  of  the 
more  thoughtful  sort  misled  by  the  idea  that  a  wrong  had 
been  done  to  the  country  in  the  restoration  of  the  currency 
to  a  sound  basis ;  and  there  was  an  enormous  attendance 
of  students  from  the  university. 

As  Garfield  began  he  showed  the  effects  of  fatigue  from 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND   GARFIELD- 1871-1881      187 

the  many  speeches  he  had  been  making  for  weeks,— morn- 
ing, noon,  and  night;  but  soon  he  threw  himself  heartily 
into  the  subject,  and  of  all  the  thousands  of  political 
speeches  I  have  heard  it  was  the  most  effective.  It  was 
eloquent,  but  it  was  far  more  than  that;  it  was  honestly 
argumentative ;  there  was  no  sophistry  of  any  sort ;  every 
subject  was  taken  up  fairly  and  every  point  dealt  with 
thoroughly.  One  could  see  the  supports  of  the  Greenback 
party  vanishing  as  he  went  on.  His  manner  was  the  very 
opposite  of  Mr.  Conkling's:  it  was  kindly,  hearty,  as  of 
neighbor  with  neighbor,— indeed,  every  person  present, 
even  if  greenbacker  or  demagogue,  must  have  said  within 
himself,  "This  man  is  a  friend  arguing  with  friends;  he 
makes  me  his  friend,  and  now  speaks  to  me  as  such." 

The  main  line  of  his  argument  finished,  there  came  some- 
thing even  finer ;  for,  inspired  by  the  presence  of  the  great 
mass  of  students,  he  ended  his  speech  with  an  especial 
appeal  to  them.  Taking  asjhis  text  the  noted  passage  in 
the  letter  written  by  Macaulay  to  Henry  Randall,  the  biog- 
rapher of  Jefferson,— the  letter  in  which  Macaulay  prophe- 
sied destruction  to  the  American  Republic  when  poverty 
should  pinch  and  discontent  be  wide-spread  in  the  country, 
—he  appealed  to  these  young  men  tq_se_e  to  it  that  this 
prophecy  should  not  come  true ;  he  asked  them  to  follow  in 
this,  as  in  similar  questions,  their  reason  and  not  their  prej- 
udices, and  from  this  he  went  on  with  a  statement  of 
the  motives  which  ought  to  govern  them  and  the  line  they 
ought  to  pursue  in  the  effort  to  redeem  their  country. 

Never  was  speech  more  successful.  It  carried  the  entire 
audience,  and  left  in  that  region  hardly  a  shred  of  the 
greenback  theory.  When  the  election  took  place  it  was  ob- 
served that  in  those  districts  where  Conkling  and  Garfield 
had  spoken,  the  greenback  heresy  was  annihilated,  while 
in  other  districts  which  had  been  counted  as  absolutely  sure 
for  the  Republican  party,  and  to  which,  therefore,  these 
orators  had  not  been  sent,  there  was  a  great  increase  in 
the  vote  for  currency  inflation. 

I  have  often  alluded  to  this  result  as  an  answer  to  those 


188  POLITICAL  LIFE— IX 

who  say  that  speaking  produces  no  real  effect  on  the  con- 
victions of  men  regarding  party  matters.  Some  speaking 
does  not,  but  there  .is  a  kind  of  speaking  which  does,  and 
of  this  were  these  two  masterpieces,  so  different  from 
each  other  in  matter  and  manner,  and  yet  converging 
upon  the  same  points,  intellectual  and  moral. 

Before  I  close  regarding  Garfield,  it  may  be  well  to  give 
a  few  more  recollections  of  him.  The  meeting  ended,  we 
drove  to  my  house  on  the  university  grounds,  and  shortly 
before  our  arrival  he  asked  me,  "How  did  you  like  my 
speech?"  I  answered:  "Garfield,  I  have  known  you  too 
long  and  think  too  highly  of  you  to  flatter  you ;  but  I  will 
simply  say  what  I  would  say  under  oath :  it  was  the  best 
speech  I  ever  heard. "  This  utterance  of  mine  was  delib- 
erate, expressing  my  conviction,  and  he  was  evidently 
pleased  with  it. 

Having  settled  down  in  front  of  the  fire  in  my  library, 
we  began  to  discuss  the  political  situation,  and  his  talk 
remains  to  me  among  the  most  interesting  things  of  my 
life.  He  said  much  regarding  the  history  of  the  currency 
question  and  his  relations  to  it,  and  from  this  ran  rapidly 
and  suggestively  through  a  multitude  of  other  questions 
and  the  relations  of  public  men  to  them.  One  thing  which 
struck  me  was  his  judicially  fair  and  even  kindly  estimates 
of  men  who  differed  from  him.  Very  rarely  did  he  speak 
harshly  or  sharply  of  any  one,  differing  in  this  greatly 
from  Mr.  Conkling,  who,  in  all  his  conversations,  and  es- 
pecially in  one  at  that  same  house  not  long  before,  seemed 
to  consider  men  who  differed  from  him  as  enemies  of  the 
human  race. 

Under  Mr.  Hayes,  the  successor  of  General  Grant  in  the 
Presidency,  I  served  first  as  a  commissioner  at  the  Paris 
Exposition,  ancftEen  as  minister  to  Germany.  Both  these 
services  will  be  discussed  in  the  chapters  relating  to  my 
diplomatic  life,  but  I  may  refer  briefly  to  my  acquaintance 
with  him  at  this  period. 

I  had  met  him  but  once  previously,  and  that  was  during 
his  membership  of  Congress  when  he  came  to  enter  his  son 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND   GARFIELD- 1871-1881       189 

at  Cornell.  I  had  then  been  most  favorably  impressed  by 
his  large,  sincere,  manly  way.  On  visiting  Washington  to 
receive  my  instructions  before  going  to  Berlin,  I  saw  him 
several  times,  and  at  each  meeting  my  respect  for  him  was 
increased.  Driving  to  Arlington,  walking  among  the  sol- 
diers '  graves  there,  standing  in  the  portico  of  General  Lee's 
former  residence,  and  viewing  from  the  terrace  the  Capitol 
in  the  distance,  he  spoke  very  nobly  of  the  history  we  had 
both  personally  known,  of  the  sacrifices  it  had  required, 
ancTof  the  duties  which  it  now  imposed.  At  his  dinner- 
table  I  heard  him  discuss  with  his  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Evarts,  a  very  interesting  question— the  advisability  of 
giving  members  of  the  cabinet  seats  in  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  as  had  been  arranged  in  the 
constitution  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States;  but  of 
this  I  shall  speak  in  another  chapter. 

It  should  further  be  said  regarding  Mr.  Hayes  that,  while 
hardly  any  President  was  ever  so  systematically  denounced 
and  depreciated,  he  was  one  of  the  truest  and  best  men 
who  has  ever  held  our  Chief  Magistracy.  I  remember, 
just  at  the  close  of  his  administration,  dining  with  an 
eminent  German  statesman  who  said  to  me :  '  *  I  have 
watched  the  course  of  your  President  with  more  and 
more  surprise.  We  have  been  seeing  constantly  in  our 
German  newspapers  extracts  from  American  journals 
holding  up  your  President  to  contempt  as  an  ignoramus, 
but  more  and  more  I  have  seen  that  he  is  one  of  the  most 
substantial,  honest,  and  capable  Presidents  that  you  have 
had." 

This  opinion  was  amply  justified  by  what  I  saw  of  Mr. 
Hayes  after  the  close  of  his  Presidency.  Twice  I  met  him 
during  conferences  at  Lake  Mohonk,  at  which  matters  re- 
lating to  the  improvement  of  the  freedmen  and  Indians 
were  discussed,  and  in  each  he  took  broad,  strong,  and 
statesmanlike  views  based  on  thoughtful  experience  and 
permeated  by  honesty. 

I  also  met  him  at  a  great  public  meeting  at  Cleveland, 
where  we  addressed  some  four  thousand  people  from  the 


190  POLITICAL  LIFE-IX 

same  platform,  and  again  I  was  impressed  by  his  manly, 
far-seeing  grasp  of  public  questions. 

As  to  my  after  relations  with  Garfield,  I  might  speak  of 
various  pleasant  interviews,  but  will  allude  to  just  one  in- 
cident which  has  a  pathetic  side.  During  my  first  residence 
in  Germany  as  minister  of  the  United  States,  I  one  day 
received  a  letter  from  him  asking  me  to  secure  for  him  the 
best  editions  of  certain  leading~Sreek  and  Latin  classics, 
adding  that  it  had  long  been  his  earnest  desire  to  re-read 
them,  and  that  now,  as  he  had  been  elected  to  the  United 
States  SenateTEe  Should  have  leisure  to  carry  out  his  pur- 
pose. I  had  hardly  sent  him  what  he  desired  when  the 
news  came  that  he  had  been  nominated  to  the  Presidency, 
and  so  all  his  dream  of  literary  leisure  vanished.  A  few 
months  later  came  the  news  of  his  assassination. 

My  term  of  service  as  minister  in  Berlin  being  ended,  I 
arrived  in  America  in  September,  1881,  and,  in  accordance 
with  custom,  went  to  present  my  respects  to  the  new  Presi- 
dent and  his  Secretary  of  State.  They  were  both  at  Long 
Branch.  Mr.  Blaine  I  saw  and  had  with  him  a  very  inter- 
esting conversation,  but  President  Garfield  I  could  not  see. 
His  life  was  fast  ebbing  out,  and  a  week  later,  on  Sunday 
morning,  I  heard  the  bells  tolling  and  knew  that  his  last 
struggle  was  over. 

So  closed  a  career  which,  in  spite  of  some  defects,  was 
beautiful  and  noble.  Great  hopes  had  been  formed  regard- 
ing his  Presidency,  and  yet,  on  looking  back  over  his  life, 
I  have  a  strong  feeling  that  his  assassination  was  a  service 
rendered  to  his  reputation.  I  know  from  those  who  had 
full  information  that  during  his  campaign  for  the  Presi- 
dency he  had  been  forced  to  make  concessions  and  pledges 
which  would  have  brought  great  trouble  upon  him  had  he 
lived  through  his  official  term.  Gifted  and  good  as  he 
was,  advantage  had  been  taken  of  his  kindly  qualities,  and 
he  would  have  had  to  pay  the  penalty. 

It  costs  me  a  pang  to  confess  my  opinion  that  the  admin- 
istration of  Mr.  Arthur,  a  man  infinitely  his  inferior  in 
nearly  all  the  qualities  which  men  most  justly  admire,  was 


GRANT,  HAYES,  AND   GAKFIELD— 1871-1881      191 

far  better  than  the  administration  which  Mr.  Garfield 
would  have  been  allowed  to  give  to  the  country. 

Upon  my  return  to  the  university  I  was  asked  by  my 
fellow-citizens  of  Ithaca  in  general,  as  also  by  the  univer- 
sity faculty  and  students,  to  give  the  public  address  at  the 
celebration  of  President  Garfield 's  funeral.  This  I  did, 
and  never  with  a  deeper  feeling  of  loss. 

One  thing  in  the  various  tributes  to  him  had  struck  me 
painfully:  Throughout  the  whole  country  his  career  was 
constantly  referred  to  in  funeral  addresses  as_  showing 
how  a  young  American  under  all  the  disadvantages  of 
poverty  could  rise  to  the  highest  possible  position.  I  have 
always  thought  that  such  statements,  as  they  are  usually 
presented,  are  injurious  to  the  character  and  lowering  to 
the  aspirations  of  young  men.  I  took  pains,  therefore,  to 
show  that  while  Garfield  had  risen  under  the  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances  from  complete  poverty,  his  rise 
was  due  to  something  other  than  mere  talent  and  exertion 
—that  it  was  the  result  of  talent  and  exertion  originating 
in  noble  instincts  and  directed  to  worthy  ends.  Garfield 's 
life  proves  this  abundantly,  and  whatever  may  have  been 
his  temporary  weakness  under  the  fearful  pressure 
brought  upon  him  toward  the  end  of  his  career,  these  in- 
stincts and  purposes  remained  his  main  guiding  influences 
from  first  to  last. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND  ELAINE— 1881-1884 

THE  successor  of  Garfield,  President  Arthur,  I  had  met 
frequently  in  my  old  days  at  Albany.  He  was  able, 
and  there  never  was  the  slightest  spot  upon  his  integrity ; 
but  in  those  early  days  nobody  dreamed  that  he  was  to  at- 
tain any  high  distinction.  He  was  at  that  time  charged 
with  the  main  military  duties  under  the  governor ;  later  he 
became  collector  of  the  port  of  New  York,  and  in  both  posi- 
tions showed  himself  honest  and  capable.  He  was  lively, 
jocose,  easy-going,  with  little  appearance  of  devotion  to 
work,  dashing  off  whatever  he  had  to  do  with  ease  and 
accuracy.  At  various  dinner-parties  and  social  gather- 
ings, and  indeed  at  sundry  State  conventions,  where  I  met 
him,  he  seemed,  more  than  anything  else,  a  bon  vivant, 
facile  and  good-natured. 

His  nomination  to  the  Vice-Presidency,  which  on  the 
death  of  Garfield  led  him  to  the  Presidency,  was  very  curi- 
ous, and  an  account  of  it  given  me  by  an  old  friend  who 
had  previously  been  a  member  of  the  Garfield  cabinet  and 
later  an  ambassador  in  Europe,  was  as  follows : 

After  the  defeat  of  the  "  Stalwarts, "  who  had  fought 
so  desperately  for  the  renomination  of  General  Grant  at 
the  Chicago  Convention  of  1880,  the  victorious  side  of  the 
convention  determined  to  concede  to  them,  as  an  olive- 
branch,  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  with  this  intent  my  in- 
formant and  a  number  of  other  delegates  who  had  been 
especially  active  in  preventing  Grant's  renomination  went 
to  the  room  of  the  New  York  delegation,  which  had 

192 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE— 1881-1884    193 

taken  the  leading  part  in  his  support,  knocked  at  the  door, 
and  called  for  Mr.  Levi  P.  Morton,  previously  a  member 
of  Congress,  and,  several  years  later,  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States  and  Governor  of  New  York.  Mr.  Morton 
came  out  into  the  corridor,  and  thereupon  the  visitors  said 
to  him,  "We  wish  to  give  the  Vice-Presidency  to  New  York 
as  a  token  of  good  will,  and  you  are  the  man  who  should 
take  it;  don't  fail  to  accept  it."  Mr.  Morton  answered 
that  he  had  but  a  moment  before,  in  this  conference 
of  his  delegation,  declined  the  nomination.  At  this  the 
visitors  said,  "Go  back  instantly  and  tell  them  that  you 
have  reconsidered  and  will  accept;  we  will  see  that  the 
convention  nominates  you. ' '  Mr.  Morton  started  to  follow 
this  advice,  but  was  just  too  late :  while  he  was  outside  the 
door  he  had  been  taken  at  his  word,  the  place  which  he 
had  declined  had  been  offered  to  General  Arthur,  he  had 
accepted  it,  and  so  the  latter  and  not  Mr.  Morton  became 
President  of  the  United  States. 

Up  to  the  time  when  the  Presidency  devolved  upon  him, 
General  Arthur  had  shown  no  qualities  which  would  have 
suggested  him  for  that  high  office,  and  I  remember  viv- 
idly that  when  the  news  of  Garfield's  assassination  ar- 
rived in  Berlin,  where  I  was  then  living  as  minister,  my 
first  overwhelming  feeling  was  not,  as  I  should  have  ex- 
pected, horror  at  the  death  of  Garfield,  but  stupefaction 
at  the  elevation  of  Arthur.  It  was  a  common  saying  of 
that  time  among  those  who  knew  him  best, l '  i  Chef  Arthur 
President  of  the  United  States!  Good  God!"  But  the 
change  in  him  on  taking  the  Presidency  was  amazing.  Up 
to  that  time  he  had  been  known  as  one  of  Mr.  Conkling's 
henchmen,  though  of  the  better  sort.  As  such  he  had  held 
the  collectorship  of  the  port  of  New  York,  and  as  such, 
during  his  occupancy  of  the  Vice-Presidency,  he  had  vis- 
ited Albany  and  done  his  best,  though  in  vain,  to  secure 
Mr.  Conkling's  renomination ;  but  immediately  on  his  ele- 
vation to  the  Presidency  all  this  was  changed,  and  there  is 
excellent  authority  for  the  statement  that  when  Mr.  Conk- 
ling  wished  him  to  continue,  as  President,  in  the  subservi- 

I.— 13 


194  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

ent  position  which  he  had  taken  as  Vice-President,  Mr. 
Arthur  had  refused,  and  when  taxed  with  ingratitude  he 
said:  "No.  For  the  Vice-Presidency  I  was  indebted  to 
Mr.  Conkling,  but  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States 
my  debt  is  to  the  Almighty. " 

The  new  President  certainly  showed  this  spirit  in  his 
actions.  Rarely  has  there  been  a  better  or  more  dignified 
administration;  the  new  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Freling- 
huysen,  was  in  every  respect  fitted  for  his  office,  and  the 
other  men  whom  Mr.  Arthur  summoned  about  him  were 
satisfactory. 

Although  I  had  met  him  frequently,  and  indeed  was  on 
cordial  terms  with  him  before  his  elevation  to  the  Presi- 
dency, I  never  met  him  afterward.  During  his  whole  ad- 
ministration my  duties  in  connection  with  Cornell  Uni- 
versity completely  absorbed  me.  I  was  one  of  the  last 
university  presidents  who  endeavored  to  unite  profes- 
sorial with  executive  duties,  and  the  burden  was  heavy. 
The  university  had  made  at  that  period  its  first  great 
sale  of  lands,  and  this  involved  a  large  extension  of 
its  activity;  the  famous  Fiske  lawsuit,  involving  nearly 
two  millions  of  dollars,  had  come  on;  there  was  every 
sort  of  detail  requiring  attention  at  the  university  it- 
self, and  addresses  must  be  given  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  more  especially  before  alumni  associations, 
to  keep  them  in  proper  relations  with  the  institution; 
so  that  I  was  kept  completely  out  of  politics,  was  hardly 
ever  in  Washington  during  this  period,  and  never  at  the 
White  House. 

The  onljjmatter  which  connected  me  with  politics  at  all 
was  my  conviction,  which  deepened  more  and  more,  as 
to  the  necessity  of  reform  in  the  civil  service ;  and  on  this 
subject  I  conferred  with  Mr.  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  Mr.  John 
Jay,  and  others  at  various  times,  and  prepared  an  article 
for  the  "North  American  Review"  in  which  I  presented 
not  only  the  general  advantages  of  civil  service  reform, 
but  its  claims  upon  men  holding  public  office.  My  main 
effort  was  to  show,  what  I  believed  then  and  believe  still 


AETHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE— 1881-1884    195 

more  strongly  now,  that,  evil  as  the  whole  spoils  system 
was  in  its  effects  on  the  country,  it  was  quite  as  vexatious 
and  fertile  in  miseries  and  disappointments  to  political 
leaders.  In  the  natural  order  of  things,  where  therejs  no 
spoils  system,  and  where  the  bestowal  of  offices  is  not  in  the 
hands  of  senators,  representatives,  and  the  like,  these  sen- 
ators and  representatives,  when  once  elected,  have  time  to 
discharge  their  duties,  and  with  very  little  pains  can  main- 
tain their  hold  upon  their  constituents  as  long  as  they 
please.  The  average  man,  when  he  has  cast  his  vote  for  a 
candidate  and  sees  that  candidate  elected,  takes  an  interest 
in  him;  the  voter,  feeling  that  he  has,  in  a  certain  sense, 
made  an  investment  in  the  man  thus  elected,  is  naturally 
inclined  to  regard  him  favorably  and  to  continue  him  in 
office.  But  with  the  spoils  system,  no  sooner  is  a  candidate 
elected  than,  as  has  been  well  observed,  for  every  office 
which  he  bestows  he  makes  "ninety-nine  enemies  and  one 
ingrate."  The  result  is  that  the  unsuccessful  candidates 
for  appointment  return  home  bent  on  taking  revenge  by 
electing  another  person  at  the  end  of  the  present  incum- 
bent's term,  and  hence  comes  mainly  the  wretched  system 
of  rapid  rotation  in  office,  which  has  been  in  so  many 
ways  injurious  to  our  country. 

This  and  other  points  I  urged,  but  the  evil  was  too 
deeply  seated.  Time  was  required  to  remove  all  doubts 
which  were  raised.  I  found  with  regret  that  my  article 
had  especially  incurred  the  bitter  dislike  of  my  old  adviser, 
Thurlow  Weed,  the  great  friend  of  Mr.  Seward  and  former 
autocrat  of  Whig  and  Republican  parties  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  Being  entirely  of  the  old  school,  he  could  not  im- 
agine the  government  carried  on  without  the  spoils  system. 

On  one  of  my  visits  to  New  York  in  the  interest  of  this 
reform,  I  met  at  dinner  Mr.  William  M.  Evarts,  then  at  the 
head  of  the  American  bar,  who  had  been  Secretary  of 
State  under  Mr.  Hayes,  and  who  was  afterward  senator 
from  the  State  of  New  York.  I  had  met  him  frequently 
before  and  heard  much  of  his  brilliant  talk,  and  especially 
his  admirable  stories  of  all  sorts. 


196  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

But  on  this  occasion  Mr.  Evarts  surpassed  himself.  I 
recall  a  series  of  witty  repartees  and  charming  illustra- 
tions, but  will  give  merely  one  of  the  latter.  Something 
was  said  of  people's  hobbies,  whereupon  Mr.  Evarts  said 
that  a  gentleman  visiting  a  lunatic  asylum  went  into  a 
room  where  several  patients  were  assembled,  and  saw  one 
of  them  astride  a  great  dressing-trunk,  holding  fast  to  a 
rope  drawn  through  the  handle,  seesawing  and  urging  it 
forward  as  if  it  were  a  horse  at  full  speed.  The  visitor, 
to  humor  the  patient,  said,  "That  's  a  fine  horse  you 
are  riding."  "Why,  no,"  said  the  patient,  "this  is  not 
«a  horse."  "What  is  it,  then?"  asked  the  visitor.  The 
patient  answered,  "It  's  a  hobby."  "But,"  said  the 
visitor,  "what  's  the  difference  between  a  horse  and  a 
hobby?"  "Why,"  said  the  patient,  "there  's  an  enor- 
mous difference;  a  horse  you  can  get  off  from,  a  hobby 
you  can't." 

As  to  civil-service  reform,  my  efforts  to  convert  leading 
Eepublicans  by  personal  appeals  were  continued,  and  in 
some  cases  with  good  results ;  but  I  found  it  very  difficult 
to  induce  party  leaders  to  give  up  the  immediate  and  direct 
exercise  of  power  which  the  spoils  system  gave  them.  Es- 
pecially was  it  difficult  with  sundry  editors  of  leading 
papers  and  party  managers;  but  time  has  wrought  upon 
them,  and  some  of  those  who  were  most  obdurate  in  those 
days  are  doing  admirable  work  in  these.  The  most  serious 
effort  I  ever  made  was  to  convert  my  old  friend  and  class- 
mate, Thomas  C.  Platt,  the  main  manager  and,  as  he 
was  called,  the  "boss"  of  the  Republican  party  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  a  man  of  great  influence  through- 
out the  Union.  He  treated  me  civilly,  but  evidently  consid- 
ered me  a  "crank."  He,  like  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed,  was 
unable  to  understand  how  a  party  could  be  conducted 
without  the  promise  of  spoils  for  the  victors ;  but  I  have 
lived  to  see  him  take  a  better  view.  As  I  write  these  lines 
word  comes  that  his  influence  is  thrown  in  favor  of  the  bill 
for  reforming  the  civil  service  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
championed  by  my  nephew,  Mr.  Horace  White,  a  member 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE -1881 -1884    197 

of  the  present  State  Senate,  and  favored  by  Colonel  Roose- 
velt, the  governor. 

It  was  upon  a  civil-service  errand  in  Philadelphia  that 
I  met,  after  a  long  separation,  my  old  friend  and  classmate 
Wayne  MacVeagh.  He  had  been  minister  to  Constanti- 
nople, Attorney-General  in  the  Garfield  cabinet,  and,  at  a 
later  period,  ambassador  at  Rome.  At  this  period  he  had 
returned  to  practise  his  profession  in  Philadelphia,  and  at 
his  hospitable  table  I  met  a  number  of  interesting  men, 
and  on  one  occasion  sat  next  an  eminent  member  of 
the  Philadelphia  bar,  Judge  Biddle.  A  subject  happened 
to  come  up  in  which  I  had  taken  great  interest,  namely, 
American  laxity  in  the  punishment  of  crime,  and  especially 
the  crime  of  murder,  whereupon  Judge  Biddle  dryly  re- 
marked: ""'The  taking  of  life,  after  due  process  of  law,  as  V 
a  penalty  for  murder,  seems  to  be  the  only  form  of  taking 
life  to  which  the  average  American  has  any  objection." 

In  the  autumn  of  1882  came  a  tremendous  reverse  for 
the  Republican  party.  There  was  very  wide-spread  dis- 
gust at  the  apparent  carelessness  of  those  in  power  regard- 
ing the  redemption  of  pledges  for  reforms.  Judge  Folger, 
who  had  been  nominated  to  the  governorship  of  New 
York,  had  every  qualification  for  the  place,  but  an  opinion 
had  widely  gained  ground  that  President  Arthur,  who  had 
called  Judge  Folger  into  his  cabinet  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  was  endeavoring  to  interfere  with  the  politics 
of  the  State,  and  to  put  Judge  Folger  into  the  governor 's 
chair.  There  was  a  suspicion  that  "the  machine"  was 
working  too  easily  and  that  some  of  its  wheels  were  of  a 
very  bad  sort.  All  this,  coupled  with  slowness  in  redeem- 
ing platform  pledges,  brought  on  the  greatest  disaster  the 
Republican  party  had  ever  experienced.  In  November, 
1882,  Mr.  Cleveland  was  elected  governor  by  the  most 
enormous  majority  ever  known,  and  the  defeat  extended 
not  only  through  the  State  of  New  York,  but  through  a 
number  of  other  States.  It  was  bitter  medicine,  but,  as  it 
afterward  turned  out,  very  salutary. 

Just  after  this  election,  being  in  New  York  to  deliver  an 


198  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

address  before  the  Geographical  Society  on  the  subject  of 
4 'The  New  Germany"  (December  27,  1882),  I  met  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  men  in  politics  at  the  table  of  General 
Cullom,  formerly  the  head  of  the  West  Point  Academy. 
There  was  much  interesting  talk,  and  some  significant 
political  facts  were  brought  out;  but  the  man  who  inter- 
ested me  most  was  my  next  neighbor  at  table,  General 
McDowell. 

He  was  an  old  West  Pointer,  and  had  planned  the 
first  battle  of  Bull  Bun,  when  our  troops  were  over- 
whelmingly defeated,  the  capital  put  in  peril,  and  the 
nation  humiliated  at  home  and  abroad.  There  is  no 
doubt  now  that  McDowelPs  plans  were  excellent,  but 
the  troops  were  raw  volunteers,  with  little  knowledge  of 
their  officers  and  less  confidence  in  them;  and,  as  a  re- 
sult, when,  like  the  men  in  the  "Biglow  Papers,"  they 
found ' t  why  baggonets  is  peaked,"  there  was  a  panic,  just 
as  there  was  in  the  first  battles  of  the  French  Revolution. 
Every  man  distrusted  every  other  man ;  there  was  a  gen- 
eral outcry,  and  all  took  flight.  I  remember  doing  what 
I  could  in  those  days  to  encourage  those  who  looked  with 
despair  on  the  flight  from  the  battle-field  of  Bull  Eun,  by 
pointing  out  to  them  exactly  similar  panics  and  flights 
in  the  first  battles  of  the  soldiers  who  afterward  became 
the  Grande  Armee  and  marched  triumphantly  over  Eu- 
rope. 

But  of  one  thing  the  American  people  felt  certain  in 
those  days,  and  that  was  that  at  Bull  Kun  "General 
McDowell  was  drunk."  This  assertion  was  loudly  made, 
widely  spread,  never  contradicted,  and  generally  believed. 
I  must  confess  now  with  shame  that  I  was  one  of  those  who 
were  so  simple-minded  as  to  take  this  newspaper  story  as 
true.  On  this  occasion,  sitting  next  General  McDowell,  I 
noticed  that  he  drank  only  water,  taking  no  wine  of  any 
sort;  and  on  my  calling  his  attention  to  the  wines  of  our 
host  as  famous,  he  answered,  "No  doubt;  but  I  never  take 
anything  but  water. ' '  I  answered,  *  '  General,  how  long  has 
that  been  your  rule  f ' '  He  replied, ' '  Always  since  my  boy- 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE -1881-1884    199 

hood.  At  that  time  I  was  sent  to  a  military  school  at 
Troyes  in  France,  and  they  gave  us  so  much  sour  wine 
that  I  vowed  that  if  I  ever  reached  America  again  no 
drink  but  water  should  ever  pass  my  lips,  and  I  have  kept 
to  that  resolution." 

Of  course  this  was  an  enormous  surprise  to  me,  but 
shortly  afterward  I  asked  various  army  officers  regarding 
the  matter,  and  their  general  answer  was:  "Why,  of 
course;  all  of  us  know  that  McDowell  is  the  only  officer 
in  the  army  who  never  takes  anything  but  water. ' ' 

And  this  was  the  man  who  was  widely  believed  by 
the  American  people  to  have  lost  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun 
because  he  was  drunk! 

Another  remembrance  of  this  period  is  a  dinner  with! 
Mr.  George  Jones,  of  the  ' '  New  York  Times, ' '  who  gave 
me  a  full  account  of  the  way  in  which  his  paper  came  into 
possession  of  the  documents  revealing  the  Tammany 
frauds,  and  how,  despite  enormous  bribes  and  bitter 
threats,  the  "Times"  persisted  in  publishing  the  papers, 
and  so  brought  the  Tweed  regime  to  destruction. 

Of  political  men,  the  most  noted  whom  I  met  in  those 
days  was  Governor  Cleveland.  He  was  little  known,  but 
those  of  us  who  had  been  observant  of  public  affairs  knew 
that  he  had  shown  sturdy  honesty  and  courage,  first  as 
sheriff  of  the  county  of  Erie,  and  next  as  mayor  of  Buffalo, 
and  that,  most  wonderful  of  all,  he  had  risen  above  party 
ties  and  had  appointed  to  office  the  best  men  he  could  find, 
even  when  some  of  them  were  earnest  Eepublicans. 

In  June  of  1883  he  visited  the  university  as  an  ex-officio 
trustee,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  chapel  above  the  re- 
mains of  Ezra  Cornell,  and  gave  a  brief  address.  It  was 
short,  but  surprised  me  by  its  lucidity  and  force.  This 
being  done,  I  conducted  him  to  the  opening  of  the  new 
chemical  laboratory.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  it,  and 
it  was  almost  pathetic  to  note  his  evident  regret  that  he 
had  never  had  the  advantage  of  such  instruction.  I 
learned  afterward  that  he  was  classically  prepared  to  en- 
ter college,  but  that  his  father,  a  poor  country  clergyman, 


200  POLITICAL   LIFE-X 

being  unable  to  defray  his  expenses,  the  young  man  de- 
termined to  strike  out  for  himself,  and  so  began  one  of 
the  best  careers  known  in  the  history  of  American  politics. 

At  this  same  commencement  of  Cornell  University  ap- 
peared another  statesman,  Justin  S.  Morrill  of  Vermont, 
author  of  the  Morrill  Bill  of  1862,  which,  by  a  grant  of 
public  lands,  established  a  college  for  scientific,  technical, 
military,  and  general  education  in  every  State  and  Terri- 
tory in  the  Union.  It  was  one  of  the  most  beneficent  mea- 
sures ever  proposed  in  any  country.  Mr.  Morrill  had 
made  a  desperate  struggle  for  his  bill,  first  as  represen- 
tative and  afterward  as  senator.  It  was  twice  vetoed  by 
President  Buchanan,  who  had  at  his  back  all  the  pro-sla- 
very doctrinaires  of  his  time.  They  distrusted,  on  various 
accounts,  any  system  for  promoting  advanced  education, 
and  especially  for  its  promotion  by  the  government;  but 
he  won  the  day,  and  on  this  occasion  our  trustees,  at  my 
suggestion,  invited  him  to  be  present  at  the  unveiling  of 
his  portrait  by  Huntington,  which  had  been  painted  by 
order  of  the  trustees  for  the  library. 

He  was  evidently  gratified  at  the  tribute,  and  all  who 
met  him  were  pleased  with  him.  The  time  will  come,  I 
trust,  when  his  statue  will  stand  in  the  capital  of  the  Union 
as  a  memorial  of  one  of  the  most  useful  and  far-seeing 
statesmen  our  country  has  known. 

A  week  later  I  addressed  my  class  at  Yale  on  "The 
Message  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  to  the  Twentieth."  In 
this  address  my  endeavor  was  to  indicate  the  lines  on  which 
reforms  of  various  sorts  must  be  instituted,  and  along 
which  a  better  future  for  the  country  could  be  developed, 
and  it  proved  a  far  greater  success  than  I  had  expected. 
It  was  widely  circulated  in  various  forms,  first  in  the 
newspapers,  then  as  a  pamphlet,  and  finally  as  a  kind  of 
campaign  document. 

From  July  to  September  of  that  year  (1883)  I  was 
obliged  to  be  in  Europe  looking  after  matters  pertaining 
to  the  university  lawsuit,  and,  on  returning,  was  called 
upon  to  address  a  large  meeting  of  Germans  at  the  funeral 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE— 1881-1884    201 

of  a  member  of  the  German  parliament  who  had 
died  suddenly  while  on  a  visit  to  our  country— Edward 
Lasker.  I  had  known  him  well  in  Berlin  as  a  man  of 
great  ability  and  high  character,  and  felt  it  a  duty  to 
accept  the  invitation  to  give  one  of  the  addresses  at 
his  funeral.  The  other  address  was  given  by  my  friend 
of  many  years,  Carl  Schurz;  and  these  addresses,  with 
some  others  made  at  the  time,  did,  I  suppose,  something 
to  bring  to  me  the  favor  of  my  German  fellow-citizens  in 
New  York. 

Still,  my  main  thoughts  were  given  to  Cornell  Univer- 
sity. This  was  so  evident  that  on  one  occasion  a  newspaper 
of  my  own  party,  in  an  article  hostile  to  those  who  spoke 
of  nominating  me  for  the  governorship,  declared:  "Mr. 
White's  politics  and  religion  are  Cornell  University. ' ' 
But  suddenly,  in  1884,  I  was  plunged  into  politics  most 
unexpectedly. 

As  has  been  usual  with  every  party  in  the  State  of  New 
York  from  the  beginning  of  the  government,  the  Republi- 
cans were  divided  between  two  factions,  one  supporting 
Mr.  Arthur  for  the  Presidency,  the  other  hoping  to  nomi- 
nate Mr.  Blaine.  These  two  factions  thus  standing  op- 
posed to  each  other,  Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  with  a  few 
others  in  various  parts  of  the  State,  started  an  independent 
moyement,  with  the  result  that  the  two  main  divisions  of 
the  party,  detesting  each  other  more  than  they  detested  the 
independents,  supported  the  latter  and  elected  indepen- 
dent candidates  as  delegates  at  large  to  the  approaching 
Republican  Convention  at  Chicago.  Without  any  previous 
notice,  I  was  made  one  of  these  delegates.  My  position  was 
therefore  perfectly  independent;  I  was  at  liberty  to  vote 
for  whom  I  pleased.  Although  my  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Blaine  was  but  slight,  I  had  always  felt  strong  admiration 
and  deep  attachment  for  him.  As  Secretary  of  State,  dur- 
ing a  part  of  my  residence  in  Berlin,  he  had  stood  by 
me  in  a  contest  regarding  the  double  standard  of  value 
in  which  I  had  feared  that  he  might  waver ;  and,  far  more 
than  all  this,  his  general  political  course  had  caused  me, 


202  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

as  it  had  caused  myriads  of  others,  to  feel  grateful  to 
him. 

But  I  had  learned  some  things  regarding  his  vulner- 
ability in  a  presidential  campaign  which  made  me  sure 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  elect  him.  An  impartial 
but  kindly  judge  had,  some  months  before,  while  ex- 
pressing great  admiration  for  Mr.  Elaine,  informed  me  of 
some  transactions  which,  while  they  showed  no  turpitude, 
revealed  a  carelessness  in  doing  business  which  would  cer- 
tainly be  brought  to  bear  upon  him  with  great  effect  in  a 
heated  political  campaign.  It  was  clear  to  me  that,  if 
nominated,  he  would  be  dragged  through  the  mire,  the 
Eepublican  party  defeated,  and  the  country  at  large  be- 
smirched in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world. 

Arrived  at  Chicago  June  2,  1884,  I  found  the  political 
caldron  seething  and  bubbling.  Various  candidates 
were  earnestly  supported,  and  foremost  of  all,  Presi- 
dent Arthur  and  Mr.  Elaine.  The  independent  delegates, 
led  by  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  George  William  Cur- 
tis, and  the  Massachusetts  delegation,  headed  by  Governor 
Long,  Senator  Hoar,  and  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  decided  to 
support  Senator  Edmunds  of  Vermont.  No  man  stood 
higher  than  he  for  integrity  as  well  as  for  statesmanlike 
qualities  and  legal  abilities;  no  one  had  more  thoroughly 
the  respect  of  thinking  men  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other. 

The  delegates  having  arrived  in  the  great  hall  where 
the  convention  was  sitting,  a  number  of  skirmishes  took 
place,  and  a  momentary  victory  was  gained  by  the  Inde- 
pendents in  electing,  as  temporary  chairman,  a  colored 
delegate  of  great  ability  from  one  of  the  Southern  States, 
over  Mr.  Powell  Clayton  of  Arkansas,  who,  though  he 
had  suffered  bitterly  and  struggled  bravely  to  maintain 
the  Union  during  the  Civil  War,  was  supposed  to  be  iden- 
tified with  doubtful  methods  in  Southern  politics. 

But  as  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  main  tide  was  for 
Mr.  Elaine,  various  efforts  were  made  to  concentrate  the 
forces  opposed  to  him  upon  some  candidate  who  could 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE— 1881-1884    203 

command  more  popular  support  than  Mr.  Edmunds.  An 
earnest  effort  was  made  in  favor  of  John  Sherman 
of  Ohio,  and  his  claims  were  presented  most  sympatheti- 
cally to  me  by  my  old  Cornell  student,  Governor  Foraker. 
Of  all  the  candidates  before  the  convention  I  would  have 
preferred  to  vote  for  Mr.  Sherman.  He  had  borne  the 
stress  of  the  whole  anti-slavery  combat,  and  splendidly; 
he  had  rendered  great  services  to  the  nation  as  a  statesman 
and  financier,  and  was  in  every  respect  capable  and  worthy. 
Unfortunately  there  were  too  many  old  enmities  against 
him,  and  it  was  clear  that  the  anti-Blaine  vote  could  not 
be  concentrated  on  him.  My  college  classmate,  Mr. 
Knevals  of  New  York,  then  urged  me  to  vote  for  President 
Arthur.  This,  too,  would  have  been  a  fairly  satisfactory 
solution  of  the  question,  for  President  Arthur  had  sur- 
prised every  one  by  the  excellence  of  his  administration. 
Still  there  was  a  difficulty  in  his  case :  the  Massachusetts 
delegates  could  not  be  brought  to  support  him ;  it  was  said 
that  he  had  given  some  of  their  leaders  mortal  offense 
by  his  hostility  to  the  Eiver  and  Harbor  Bill.  A  final  ef- 
fort was  then  made  by  the  Independents  to  induce  General 
Sherman  to  serve,  but  he  utterly  refused,  and  so  the  only 
thing  left  was  to  let  matters  take  their  course.  All  chance 
of  finding  any  one  to  maintain  the  desired  standard  of 
American  political  life  against  the  supporters  of  Mr. 
Blaine  had  failed. 

As  we  came  into  the  convention  on  the  morning  of  the 
day  fixed  for  making  the  nominations,  I  noticed  that  the 
painted  portraits  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  previously 
on  either  side  of  the  president's  chair,  had  been  removed. 
Owing  to  the  tumultuous  conduct  of  the  crowd  in  the  gal- 
leries, it  had  been  found  best  to  remove  things  of  an 
ornamental  nature  from  the  walls,  for  some  of  these  or- 
naments had  been  thrown  down,  to  the  injury  of  those 
sitting  below. 

On  my  calling  Curtis 's  attention  to  this  removal  of  the 
two  portraits,  he  said:  "  Yes,  I  have  noticed  it,  and  I  am 
glad  of  it.  Those  weary  eyes  of  Lincoln  have  been  upon 


204  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

us  here  during  our  whole  stay,  and  I  am  glad  that  they  are 
not  to  see  the  work  that  is  to  be  done  here  to-day. ' '  It  was 
a  curious  exhibition  of  sentiment,  a  revelation  of  the  deep 
poetic  feeling  which  was  so  essential  an  element  in  Curtis 's 
noble  character. 

The  various  candidates  were  presented  by  prominent 
speakers,  and  most  of  the  speeches  were  thoroughly  good ; 
but  unquestionably  the  best,  from  an  oratorical  point  of 
view,  was  made  on  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Edmunds  by 
Governor  Long  of  Massachusetts.  Both  as  to  matter  and 
manner  it  was  perfection ;  was  felt  to  be  so  by  the  conven- 
tion; and  was  sincerely  applauded  even  by  the  majority 
of  those  who  intended  to  vote  for  Mr.  Elaine. 

There  was  one  revelation  here,  as  there  had  been  at 
many  conventions  previously,  which  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce a  discouraging  impression  upon  every  thoughtful 
American.  The  number  of  delegates  and  substitutes  sent 
to  the  convention  amounted  in  all  to  a  few  hundreds,  but 
these  were  almost  entirely  lost  in  the  immense  crowd  of 
spectators,  numbering,  it  was  said,  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
thousand.  In  the  only  conventions  which  I  had  ever  before 
seen,  including  those  at  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  and 
various  State  conventions  of  New  York,  the  delegates  had 
formed  the  majority  of  those  in  the  hall;  but  in  this  great 
"  wigwam "  there  were  times  in  which  the  most  important 
part  was  played  by  the  spectators.  At  some  moments  this 
overwhelming  mob,  which  encircled  the  seats  of  the  dele- 
gates on  the  floor  and  rose  above  them  on  all  sides  in  the 
galleries,  endeavored  to  sweep  the  convention  in  the  direc- 
tion of  its  own  whims  and  fancies.  From  time  to  time 
the  convention  ceased  entirely  to  be  a  deliberative  body. 
As  the  names  of  certain  favorite  candidates  were  called,  or 
as  certain  popular  allusions  were  made  in  speeches,  this 
mob  really  took  possession  of  the  convention  and  became 
almost  frantic.  I  saw  many  women  jumping  up  and  down, 
dishevelled  and  hysterical,  and  some  men  acting  in  much 
the  same  way.  It  was  absolutely  unworthy  of  a  conven- 
tion of  any  party,  a  disgrace  to  decency,  and  a  blot  upon 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE -1881-1884    205 

the  reputation  of  our  country.  I  am  not  alone  in  this  opin- 
ion. More  than  once  during  my  official  life  in  Europe  I 
have  heard  the  whole  thing  lamented  by  leading  liberal 
statesmen  as  bringing  discredit  on  all  democratic  gov- 
ernment. 

There  were  times  indeed  when  the  galleries  sought  to 
howl  down  those  who  were  taking  part  in  the  convention, 
and  this  was  notably  the  case  during  a  very  courageous 
speech  by  Mr.  Roosevelt. 

I  may  mention,  in  passing,  that  the  country  then  re- 
ceived the  first  revelation  of  that  immense  pluck  and  vigor 
which  have  since  carried  Mr.  Roosevelt  through  so  many 
political  conflicts,  borne  him  through  all  the  dangers  of 
the  Santiago  campaign,  placed  him  in  the  governor 's  chair 
of  the  State  of  New  York  and  in  the  Vice-Presidency  of 
the  United  States,  leading  to  the  Presidency,  which  he 
holds  as  I  revise  these  lines.  At  the  Chicago  Convention, 
though  he  was  in  a  small  minority,  nothing  daunted  him. 
As  he  stood  upon  a  bench  and  addressed'  the  president, 
there  came  from  the  galleries  on  all  sides  a  howl  and 
yell,  ' '  Sit  down !  sit  down ! ' '  with  whistling  and  cat-calls. 
All  to  no  purpose;  the  mob  might  as  well  have  tried  to 
whistle  down  a  bronze  statue.  Roosevelt,  slight  in  build 
as  he  then  was,  was  greater  than  all  that  crowd  combined. 
He  stood  quietly  through  it  all,  defied  the  mob,  and  finally 
obliged  them  to  listen  to  him. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  convention  this  mob  showed  itself 
even  worse  than  before.  It  became  evident  that  large 
parts  of  the  galleries  were  packed  in  the  interest  of  the 
local  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency,  General  Logan, 
and  this  mass  of  onlookers  did  their  best  to  put  down  all 
delegates  supporting  any  other. 

No  more  undemocratic  system  was  ever  devised.  The 
tendency  of  this  "  wigwam "  plan  of  hoI3mg  great  meet- 
ings or  conventions  is  to  station  a  vast  mob  of  sensation- 
seeking  men  and  women  in  the  galleries  between  the  dele- 
gates and  the  country  at  large.  The  inevitable  consequence 
is  that  the  i '  fog-horns "  of  a  convention  play  the  most  ef- 


200  POLITICAL   LIFE-X 

fertive  part,  arid  that  they  seek  mainly  the  applause  of  the 
galleries.  The  country  at  large  is  for  the  moment  for- 
gotten. The  controlling'  influence  is  the  mob,  mainly  from 
the  city  where  the  convention  is  held.  The  whole  thing  is 
a  monstrous  abuse.  Attention  has  hern  called  to  it  by 
thinking  Democrats  as  well  as  by  Iiepublicans,  who  have 
seen  in  it  a  sign  of  deterioration  which  has  produced  many 
unfortunate  consequences  and  will  produce  more.  It  is 
the  old  story  of  the  French  Convention  overawed  by  a  gal- 
lery mob  and  mistaking  the  mob  whimsies  of  a  city  for  the 
sober  judgment  of  the  country.  One  result  of  it  the  whole 
nation  saw  when,  in  more  recent  years,  a  youthful  member 
of  Congress,  with  no  training  to  fit  him  for  executive 
duties,  was  suddenly,  by  the  applause  of  such  a  mob,  im- 
posed upon  the  Democratic  National  Convention  as  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  Those  who  recall  the  way  iu 
which  "the  boy  orator  of  the  Platte"  became  the  Demo- 
cratic candidate  for  the  Chief  Magistracy  over  seventy 
millions  of  people,  on  account  of  a  few  half-mawkish,  half- 
blasphemous  phrases  in  a  convention  speech,  can  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  necessity  of  a  reform  in  this  particular— a 
reform  which  will  forbid  a  sensation-seeking  city  mob  to 
usurp  the  function  of  the  whole  people  of  our  Republic. 

In  spite  of  these  mob  hysterics,  the  Independents  per- 
sisted to  the  last  in  supporting  Mr.  Edmunds  for  the  first 
place,  but  in  voting  for  the  second  place  they  separated. 
For  the  Vice-Presidency  I  cast  the  only  vote  which  was 
thrown  for  my  old  Cornell  student,  Mr.  Foraker,  pre- 
viously governor  of  Ohio,  and  since  that  time  senator 
from  that  State. 

In  spite  of  sundry  "defects  of  his  qualities,"  which 
I  freely  recognized,  I  regarded  him  as  a  fearless,  upright, 
downright,  straightforward  man  of  the  sort  who  must 
always  play  a  great  part  in  American  politics. 

It  was  at  this  convention  that  I  saw  for  the  first  time 
Mr.  McKinley  of  Ohio,  and  his  quiet  self-possession  in 
the  midst  of  the  various  whirls  and  eddies  and  storms 
caused  me  to  admire  him  greatly.  Calm,  substantial,  quick 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND  ELAINE -1881-1884    207 

to  see  a  good  point,  strong  to  maintain  it,  he  was  evidently 
a  born  leader  of  men.  His  speeches  were  simple,  clear, 
forcible,  and  aided  at  times  in  rescuing  the  self-respect 
of  the  body. 

This  Republican  convention  having  adjourned,  the  Na- 
tional Democratic  Convention  met  soon  afterward  in  the 
same  place  and  nominated  Grover  Cleveland  of  New  York. 
He  was  a  man  whom  I  greatly  respected.  As  already 
stated,  his  career  as  sheriff  of  Erie  County,  as  mayor  of 
Buffalo,  and  as  governor  of  the  State  of  New  York  had 
led  me  to  admire  him.  He  had  seemed  utterly  inca- 
pable of  making  any  bid  for  mob  support;  there  had 
appeared  not  the  slightest  germ  of  demagogism  in  him ; 
he  had  refused  to  be  a  mere  partizan  tool  and  had  stead- 
ily stood  for  the  best  ideals  of  government.  As  governor 
he  showed  the  same  qualities  which  had  won  admiration 
during  his  previous  career  as  sheriff  and  mayor.  He 
made  as  many  appointments  as  he  could  without  regard 
to  political  considerations,  and  it  was  remarked  with  won- 
der that  when  a  number  of  leading  Democratic  "  workers  " 
and  "  wheel-horses "  came  to  the  executive  chamber  in 
Albany  in  order  to  dictate  purely  partizan  appointments, 
he  virtually  turned  them  out  of  the  room.  Most  amazing 
thing  of  all,  he  had  vetoed  a  bill  reducing  the  fare  on  the 
elevated  railroads  of  New  York,  in  the  face  of  the  earnest 
advice  of  partizans  who  assured  him  that  by  doing  so  he 
would  surely  array  against  him  the  working-classes  of 
that  city  and  virtually  annihilate  his  political  future. 
To  this  his  answer  was  that  whatever  his  sympathies  for 
the  working-people  might  be,  he  could  not,  as  an  honest 
man,  allow  such  a  bill  to  pass,  and,  come  what  might,  he 
would  not.  He  had  also  dared,  quietly  but  firmly,  to  resist 
the  chief  "boss"  of  his  party  in  New  York  City,  and  he 
had  consequently  to  brave  the  vials  of  Celtic  wrath.  The 
scenes  at  the  convention  which  nominated  him  were  stir- 
ring, and  an  eminent  Western  delegate  struck  a  chord  in 
the  hearts  of  thousands  of  Republicans  as  well  as  Demo- 
crats when  he  said,  "We  love  him  for  the  enemies  he  has 


208  POLITICAL   LIFE-X 

made."  Had  it  been  a  question  simply  between  men,  great 
numbers  of  us  who  voted  for  Mr.  Blame  would  have  voted 
for  Mr.  Cleveland;  but  whatever  temptation  1  might  be 
subjected  to  in  the  matter  was  overcome  by  one  fact:  Mr. 
Cleveland  was  too  much  like  the  Trojan  horse,  for  he  bore 
with  him  a  number  of  men  who,  when  once  brought  into 
power,  were  sure  to  labor  hard  to  undo  everything  that 
lie  would  endeavor  to  accomplish,  and  his  predestined  suc- 
cessor in  the  governorship  of  the  State  of  New  York  was 
one  of  those  whom  I  looked  upon  as  especially  dangerous. 

Therefore  it  was,  that,  after  looking  over  the  ground,  I 
wrote  an  open  letter  to  Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  other 
Independents,  giving  the  reasons  why  those  of  us  who  had 
supported  .Mr.  Kdmunds  should  now  support  Mr.  Blaine, 
and  in  this  view  Mr.  Roosevelt,  with  a  large  number  of  our 
Independent  friends,  agreed. 

I  had,  however,  small  hopes.  It  was  clear  to  me  that  Mr. 
Blaine  had  little  chance  of  being  elected;  that,  in  fact,  he 
was  too  heavily  weighted  with  the  transactions  which  Mr. 
Pullman  had  revealed  to  me  some  months  before  the  be- 
ginning of  the  convention. 

But  I  made  an  effort  to  commit  him  to  the  only  policy 
which  could  save  him.  For,  having  returned  to  the  univer- 
sity, .1  wrote  'William  "Walter  Plielps,  an  old  friend,  who 
had  been  his  chief  representative  at  Chicago,  an  earnest 
letter  stating  that  there  seemed  to  me  but  one  chance  of 
rallying  to  Mr.  J  Maine's  support  the  very  considerable 
body  of  disaffected  Republicans  in  the  State  of  Xew  York; 
that,  almost  without  exception,  they  were  ardent  believers 
in  a  reform  of  the  civil  service;  and  that  an  out-and-out 
earnest  declaration  in  favor  of  it  by  our  presidential  can- 
didate might  do  much  to  propitiate  them.  I  reminded 
Mr.  Plielps  of  the  unquestioned  evils  of  the  "spoils  sys- 
tem,"" and  said  that  Mi1.  Blaine  muM  surely  have  often 
observed  them,  suffered  under  pressure  from  them,  a.nd 
i'eit  that,  something  should  be  done  to  remedv  them;  and 
thai  if  he  would  now  express  his  conviction  to  this  effect, 
taking  strong  ground  in  favor  of  the  reform  and  basing 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   BLAINE- 1881-1884    209 

his  utterances  on  his  experiences  as  a  statesman,  it  would, 
in  my  mind,  do  much  to  save  the  State  of  New  York  for 
the  Republicans. 

After  writing  this  letter,  feeling  that  it  might  seem  to 
Mr.  Phelps  and  to  Mr.  Elaine  himself  very  presuming  for 
a  man  who  had  steadily  opposed  them  at  Chicago  thus  to 
volunteer  advice,  I  laid  it  aside.  But  it  happened  that  I 
had  been  chosen  one  of  the  committee  of  delegates  to  go 
to  Maine  to  apprise  Mr.  Elaine  formally  of  his  nomina- 
tion, and  it  also  happened  that  my  old  student  and  friend, 
Judge  Foraker,  was  another  member  of  the  committee.  It 
was  impossible  for  me  to  go  to  Maine,  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  university,  at  which  I  was  bound  to  preside, 
came  on  the  day  appointed  for  Mr.  Elaine's  reception  of 
the  committee  at  Bangor;  but  Judge  Foraker  having 
stopped  over  at  the  university  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
trustees  as  an  alumni  member  of  that  body,  I  mentioned 
this  letter  to  him.  He  asked  to  see  it,  and,  having  read  it, 
asked  to  be  allowed  to  take  it  with  him.  I  consented,  and 
heard  nothing  more  from  him  on  the  subject ;  but  the  fol- 
lowing week,  at  the  Yale  commencement,  while  sitting  with 
Mr.  Evarts  and  Judge  Shipman  to  award  prizes  in  the 
law  department,  I  saw,  looking  toward  me  over  the 
heads  of  the  audience  in  the  old  Centre  Church,  my 
friend  Frederick  William  Holls  of  New  York,  and  it 
was  evident  from  his  steady  gaze  that  he  had  something 
to  say.  The  award  of  prizes  having  been  made  and  the 
audience  dismissed,  Mr.  Holls  met  me  and  said:  "Mr. 
Elaine  will  adopt  your  suggestion  in  his  letter  of  accep- 
tance. "  Both  of  us  were  overjoyed.  It  looked  like  a 
point  scored  not  only  for  the  Republican  party,  but  for  the 
cause  which  we  both  had  so  deeply  at  heart. 

But  as  the  campaign  went  on  it  was  more  and  more 
evident  that  this  concession,  which  I  believe  he  would  have 
adhered  to  had  he  been  elected,  was  to  be  in  vain. 

It  was  perhaps,  on  therwhole,  and  on  both  sides,  the  vilest 
political  campaign  ever  waged.  Accusations  were  made 
against  both  candidates  which  should  have  forever  brought 

I.-14 


210  POLITICAL  LIFE-X 

contempt  on  the  men  who  made  them.  Nothing  could  have 
been  further  from  the  wish  of  either  candidate  than  that 
such  accusations  should  be  made  against  his  opponent,  but 
each  was  powerless:  the  vile  flood  of  slander  raged  on. 
But  I  am  glad  here  to  recall  the  fact  that  when,  at  a  later 
period,  one  of  the  worst  inventors  of  slander  against  Mr. 
Elaine  sought  reward  in  the  shape  of  office  from  President 
Cleveland,  he  was  indignantly  spurned. 

In  politics  I  took  very  little  part.  During  the  summer 
my  main  thoughts  were  directed  toward  a  controversy  be- 
fore the  Board  of  Regents,  in  regard  to  the  system  of 
higher  education  in  the  State  of  New  York,  with  my 
old  friend  President  Anderson  of  Rochester,  who  had 
vigorously  attacked  some  ideas  which  seemed  to  me  essen- 
tial to  any  proper  development  of  university  education 
in  America ;  and  this  was  hardly  finished  when  I  was  asked 
to  take  part  in  organizing  the  American  Historical  Associ- 
ation at  Saratoga,  and  to  give  the  opening  address.  This, 
with  other  pursuits  of  an  academic  nature,  left  me  little 
time  for  the  political  campaign. 

But  there  occurred  one  little  incident  to  which  I  still 
look  back  with  amusement.  My  old  friends  and  con- 
stituents in  Syracuse  had  sent  me  a  general  invitation  to 
come  over  from  the  university  and  preside  at  some  one 
of  their  Republican  mass-meetings.  My  answer  was  that 
as  to  the  "hack  speakers"  of  the  campaign,  with  their  ven- 
erable gags,  stale  jokes,  and  nauseating  slanders,  I  had  no 
desire  to  hear  them,  and  did  not  care  to  sit  on  the  platform 
with  them ;  but  that  when  they  had  a  speaker  to  whom  I 
cared  to  listen  I  would  gladly  come.  The  result  was  that 
one  day  I  received  a  letter  inviting  me  to  preside  over  a 
mass-meeting  at  Syracuse,  at  which  Mr.  McKinley  was  to 
make  the  speech.  I  accepted  gladly  and  on  the  appointed 
evening  arrived  at  the  Syracuse  railway  station.  There 
I  found  the  mayor  of  the  city  ready  to  take  me  in  his  car- 
riage to  the  hall  where  the  meeting  was  to  be  held ;  but  we 
had  hardly  left  the  station  when  he  said  to  me:  "Mr. 
White,  I  am  very  sorry,  but  Mr.  McKinley  has  been  de- 


ARTHUR,  CLEVELAND,  AND   ELAINE -1881 -1884    211 

layed  and  we  have  had  to  get  another  speaker/'  I  was 
greatly  disappointed,  and  expressed  my  feelings  somewhat 
energetically,  when  the  mayor  said:  "But  this  speaker  is 
really  splendid ;  he  carries  all  before  him ;  he  is  a  thorough 
Kentucky  orator. ' '  My  answer  was  that  I  knew  the  breed 
but  too  well,  and  that  if  I  had  known  that  Mr.  McKinley 
was  not  to  come  I  certainly  would  not  have  left  my  work 
at  the  university.  By  this  time  we  had  arrived  at  the  door 
of  the  Globe  Hotel,  whence  the  speaker  entered  the  car- 
riage. He  was  a  tall,  sturdy  Kentuckian,  and  his  appear- 
ance and  manner  showed  that  he  had  passed  a  very  con- 
vivial day  with  the  younger  members  of  the  committee 
appointed  to  receive  him. 

His  first  words  on  entering  the  carriage  were  not  very 
reassuring.  No  sooner  had  I  been  introduced  to  him  than 
he  asked  where  he  could  get  a  glass  of  brandy.  "For," 
said  he,  "without  a  good  drink  just  before  I  go  on  the 
platform  I  can't  make  a  speech."  I  attempted  to  quiet 
him  and  to  show  him  the  difficulties  in  the  case.  I  said: 
"Colonel  -  — ,  you  have  been  with  our  young  men  here 
all  day,  and  no  doubt  have  had  a  fairly  good  time ;  but  in 
our  meetings  here  there  is  just  now  need  of  especial  care. 
You  will  have  in  your  audience  to-night  a  large  number  of 
the  more  sedate  and  conservative  citizens  of  Syracuse, 
church  members,  men  active  in  the  various  temperance 
societies,  and  the  like.  There  never  was  a  campaign  when 
men  were  in  greater  doubt ;  great  numbers  of  these  people 
have  not  yet  made  up  their  minds  how  they  will  vote,  and 
the  slightest  exhilaration  on  your  part  may  cost  us  hun- 
dreds of  votes. ' '  He  answered : ' '  That  's  all  very  well,  but 
the  simple  fact  is  that  I  am  here  to  make  a  speech,  and  I 
can 't  make  it  unless  I  have  a  good  drink  beforehand. ' '  I 
said  nothing  more,  but,  as  he  still  pressed  the  subject  on  the 
mayor  and  the  other  member  of  the  committee,  I  quietly 
said  to  them  as  I  left  the  carriage:  "If  that  man  drinks 
anything  more  before  speaking,  I  will  not  go  on  the  stage 
with  him,  and  the  reason  why  I  don't  will  speedily  be 
made  known. ' '  The  mayor  reassured  me,  and  we  all  went 


212  POLITICAL   LIFE— X 

together  into  the  large  room  adjoining  the  stage,  I  keeping 
close  watch  over  the  orator,  taking  pains  to  hold  him 
steadily  in  conversation,  introducing  as  many  leading 
men  of  the  town  to  him  as  possible,  thus  preventing  any 
opportunity  to  carry  out  his  purpose  of  taking  more 
strong  drink,  and  to  my  great  satisfaction  he  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  do  so  before  we  were  summoned  into  the  hall. 

Arrived  there,  1  made  my  speech,  and  then  the  orator  of 
the  evening  arose.  But  just  before  he  began  to  speak 
he  filled  from  a  water-pitcher  a  large  glass,  and  drank 
it  off.  My  thought  at  the  moment  was  that  this  would 
dilute  some  of  the  stronger  fluids  he  had  absorbed  dur- 
ing the  day  and  cool  him  down  somewhat.  lie  then 
went  on  in  a  perfectly  self-possessed  way,  betrayed  not  the 
slightest  effect  of  drinking,  and  made  a  most  convincing 
and  effective  speech,  replete  with  wit  and  humor;  yet,  em- 
bedded in  his  wit  and  humor  and  rollicking  fun,  were  argu- 
ments appealing  to  the  best  sentiments  of  his  hearers.  The 
speech  was  in  every  way  a  success ;  at  its  close  I  congratu- 
lated him  upon  it,  and  was  about  to  remind  him  that  he 
had  done  very  well  on  his  glass  of  cold  water,  when  he 
suddenly  said  to  me:  "Mr.  "\Vhite,  you  see  that  it  was  just 
as  I  told  you:  if  I  had  n't  taken  that  big  glass  of  gin  from 
the  pitcher  just  before  I  started,  I  could  not  have  made 
any  speech." 

"All  's  well  that  ends  well,"  and,  though  the  laugh  was 
at  my  expense,  the  result  was  not  such  as  to  make  me  es- 
pecially unhappy. 

I  Jut  this  campaign  of  1SS4  ended  as  T  had  expected.  Mr. 
Cleveland  was  elected  to  the  Presidency. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HENDRICKS,  JOHN  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT, 
AND  OTHERS— 1884-1891 

THE  following  spring,  visiting  Washington,  I  met 
President  Cleveland  again. 

Of  the  favorable  impression  made  upon  me  by  his 
career  as  Governor  of  New  York  I  have  already  spoken, 
and  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  presently  of  his  Presi- 
dency. The  renewal  of  our  acquaintance  even  increased 
my  respect  for  him.  He  was  evidently  a  strong,  honest 
man,  trying  to  do  his  duty  under  difficulties. 

I  also  met  again  Mr.  Cleveland's  opponent  in  the  pre- 
vious campaign— Mr.  Blaine.  Calling  on  Mr.  William 
Walter  Phelps,  then  in  Congress,  whom  I  had  known  as 
minister  of  the  United  States  at  Vienna,  and  who  was 
afterward  my  successor  at  Berlin,  I  made  some  refer- 
ence to  Mr.  Blaine,  when  Mr.  Phelps  said:  "Why  don't 
you  go  and  call  upon  him?"  I  answered  that  it  might 
be  embarrassing  to  both  of  us,  to  which  he  replied:  "I 
don't  think  so.  In  spite  of  your  opposition  to  him 
at  Chicago,  were  I  in  your  place  I  would  certainly  go 
to  his  house  and  call  upon  him."  That  afternoon  I 
took  this  advice,  and  when  I  returned  to  the  hotel  Mr. 
Blaine  came  with  me,  talking  in  a  most  interesting  way. 
He  spoke  of  my  proposed  journey  to  Virginia,  and  dis- 
cussed Jefferson  and  Hamilton,  admiring  both,  but  Jef- 
ferson the  most.  As  to  his  own  working  habits,  he  said 
that  he  rose  early,  did  his  main  work  in  the  morning,  and 
never  did  any  work  in  the  evening,-  that,  having  been 

213 


214  POLITICAL  LIFE-XI 

brought  up  in  strongly  Sabbatarian  notions  during  his 
boyhood  in  Pennsylvania,  he  had  ever  since,  from  the 
force  of  habit,  reserved  Sunday  as  a  day  of  complete  rest. 
Speaking  of  the  customs  in  Pennsylvania  at  that  time,  he 
said  that  not  even  a  walk  for  exercise  was  allowed,  and 
nothing  was  ever  cooked  on  the  sacred  day. 

I  met  him  afterward  on  various  occasions,  and  could  not 
but  admire  him.  At  a  dinner-party  he  was  vexatiously 
badgered  by  a  very  bumptious  professor,  who  allowed 
himself  to  speak  in  a  rather  offensive  manner  of  ideas 
which  Mr.  Elaine  represented;  and  the  quiet  but  decisive 
way  in  which  the  latter  disposed  of  his  pestering  inter- 
locutor was  worthy  of  all  praise. 

Mr.  Elaine  was  certainly  the  most  fascinating  man  I 
have  ever  known  in  politics.  No  wonder  that  so  many 
Republicans  in  all  parts  of  the  country  seemed  ready  to 
give  their  lives  to  elect  him.  The  only  other  public  man 
in  the  United  States  whose  personality  had  ever  elicited 
such  sympathy  and  devotion  was  Henry  Clay.  Perhaps 
his  nearest  friend  was  Mr.  Phelps,  to  whom  I  have  re- 
ferred above,— one  of  the  best,  truest,  and  most  win- 
ning men  I  have  ever  known.  He  had  been  especially 
devoted  to  Mr.  Elaine,  with  whom  he  had  served  in  Con- 
gress, and  it  was  understood  that  if  the  latter  had  been 
elected  Mr.  Phelps  would  have  been  his  Secretary  of  State. 

Mr.  Phelps  complained  to  me,  half  seriously,  half  jo- 
cosely, of  what  is  really  a  crying  abuse  in  the  United  States 
—namely,  that  there  is  no  proper  reporting  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Houses  of  Congress  in  the  main  jour- 
nals of  the  country  which  can  enable  the  people  at  large 
to  form  any  just  idea  as  to  how  their  representatives  are 
conducting  the  public  business.  He  said:  "I  may  make 
a  most  careful  speech  on  any  important  subject  before 
Congress  and  it  will  not  be  mentioned  in  the  New  York 
papers,  but  let  me  make  a  joke  and  it  will  be  published  all 
over  the  United  States.  Yesterday,  on  a  wager,  I  tried 
an  experiment:  I  made  two  poor  little  jokes  during  a  short 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT -1884 -1891    215 

talk  in  the  House,  and  here  they  are  in  the  New  York 
papers  of  this  morning. " 

During  this  visit  to  Washington  I  met  at  the  house  of 
my  classmate  and  dear  friend,  Randall  Gibson,  then  a 
senator  from  Louisiana,  a  number  of  distinguished  men, 
among  them  the  Vice-President,  Mr.  Hendricks,  and  Gen- 
eral Butler,  senator  from  South  Carolina. 

Vice-President  Hendricks  seemed  sick  and  sore.  He 
had  expected  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  with 
a  strong  probability  of  election,  but  had  accepted  the  Vice- 
Presidency;  and  the  subject  which  seemed  to  elicit  his 
most  vitriolic  ill  will  was  reform  in  the  civil  service.  As  we 
sat  one  evening  in  the  smoking-room  at  Senator  Gibson's, 
he  was  very  bitter  against  the  system,  when,  to  my  sur- 
prise, General  Butler  took  up  the  cudgels  against  him  and 
made  a  most  admirable  argument.  At  that  moment,  for 
the  first  time,  I  felt  that  the  war  between  North  and  South 
was  over;  for  all  the  old  issues  seemed  virtually  settled, 
and  here,  as  regarded  this  new  issue,  on  which  I  felt  very 
deeply,  was  one  of  the  most  ardent  of  Confederate  sol- 
diers, a  most  bitter  pro-slavery  man  before  the  Civil  War, 
one  who,  during  the  war,  had  lost  a  leg  in  battle,  nearer 
me  politically  than  were  many  of  my  friends  and  neigh- 
bors in  the  North. 

Senator  Jones  of  Florida,  who  was  present,  gave  us 
some  character  sketches,  and  among  others  delineated  ad- 
mirably General  Williams,  known  in  the  Mexican  War 
as  "Cerro  Gordo  Williams,"  who  was  for  a  time  sena- 
tor from  Kentucky.  He  said  that  Williams  had  a  wonder- 
ful gift  of  spread-eagle  oratory,  but  that,  finding  no 
listeners  for  it  among  his  colleagues,  he  became  utterly 
disgusted  and  went  about  saying  that  the  Senate  was  a 
"d — d  frigid,  respectable  body  that  chilled  his  intellect." 
This  led  my  fellow-guests  to  discuss  the  characteristics  of 
the  Senate  somewhat,  and  I  was  struck  by  one  remark  in 
which  all  agreed— namely,  that  "  there  are  no  politics  in 
executive  session." 


216  POLITICAL  LIFE-XI 

Gibson  remarked  that  the  best  speech  he  had  ever 
heard  in  the  Senate  was  made  by  John  Sherman. 

As  regards  civil-service  matters,  I  found  on  all  sides 
an  opinion  that  Mr.  Cleveland  was,  just  as  far  as  possible, 
basing  his  appointments  upon  merit.  Gibson  mentioned 
the  fact  that  a  candidate  for  an  important  office  in  his 
State,  who  had  committed  three  murders,  had  secured 
very  strong  backing,  but  that  President  Cleveland  utterly 
refused  to  appoint  him. 

With  President  Cleveland  I  had  a  very  interesting  in- 
terview. He  referred  to  his  visit  to  Cornell  University, 
said  that  he  would  have  liked  nothing  so  well  as  to  go 
more  thoroughly  through  its  various  departments,  and,  as 
when  I  formerly  saw  him,  expressed  his  regret  at  the  loss 
of  such  opportunities  as  an  institution  of  that  kind  af- 
fords. 

At  this  time  I  learned  from  him  and  from  those  near 
him  something  regarding  his  power  for  hard  work.  It 
was  generally  understood  that  he  insisted  on  writing  out 
all  important  papers  and  conducting  his  correspondence 
in  his  own  hand,  and  the  result  was  that  during  a  con- 
siderable period  of  the  congressional  sessions  he  sat  at 
his  desk  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

It  was  evident  that  his  up-and-down,  curt,  independent 
way  did  not  at  all  please  some  of  the  leading  members 
of  his  party;  in  fact,  there  were  signs  of  a  serious  es- 
trangement caused  by  the  President's  refusals  to  yield 
to  senators  and  other  leaders  of  the  party  in  the  matter 
of  appointments  to  office.  To  illustrate  this  feeling,  a 
plain,  bluff  Western  senator,  Mr.  Sawyer  of  Wisconsin, 
told  me  a  story. 

Senator  Sawyer  had  built  up  a  fortune  and  gained  a 
great  influence  in  his  State  by  a  very  large  and  extensive 
business  in  pine  lumber,  and  he  had  a  sort  of  rough, 
quaint  woodman's  wit  which  was  at  times  very  amusing. 
He  told  me  that,  some  days  before,  two  of  his  most  eminent 
Democratic  colleagues  in  the  Senate  were  just  leaving  the 
Capitol,  and  from  something  they  said  he  saw  that  they 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT- 1884 -1891    217 

were  going  to  call  upon  the  President.  He  therefore 
asked  them,  "How  do  you  like  this  new  President  of 
yours?"  "Oh,"  answered  the  senators  in  chorus,  "he  is 
a  very  good  man— a  very  good  man  indeed."  "Yes," 
said  Senator  Sawyer,  "hut  how  do  you  like  him?"  "Oh," 
answered  the  senators,  "we  like  him  very  much— very 
much  indeed."  "Well,"  said  Sawyer,  "I  will  tell  you  a 
story  hef ore  you  go  to  the  White  House  if  you  will  agree, 
when  you  get  back,  to  tell  me— t honest  Injun'— whether  it 
suits  your  case."  Both  laughingly  agreed,  and  Mr.  Saw- 
yer then  told  them  the  following  story:  When  he  was  a 
young  man  with  very  small  means,  he  and  two  or  three 
other  young  wood-choppers  made  up  an  expedition  for 
lumher-cutting.  As  they  were  too  poor  to  employ  a  cook 
for  their  camp,  they  agreed  to  draw  lots,  and  that  the 
one  on  whom  the  lot  fell  should  he  cook,  but  only  until 
some  one  of  the  company  found  fault;  then  the  fault- 
finder should  become  cook  in  his  turn.  Lots  being 
drawn,  one  of  them,  much  to  his  disgust,  was  thus  chosen 
cook,  and  toward  the  close  of  the  day  he  returned  to  camp, 
before  the  others,  to  get  supper  ready.  Having  taken 
from  the  camp  stores  a  large  quantity  of  beans,  he  put 
them  into  a  pot  boiling  over  the  fire,  as  he  had  seen  his 
mother  do  in  his  boyhood,  and  then  proceeded  to  pour  in 
salt.  Unfortunately  the  salt-box  slipped  in  his  hand,  and 
he  poured  in  much  more  than  he  had  intended— in  fact,  the 
whole  contents  of  the  box.  On  the  return  of  the  woodmen 
to  the  cabin,  ravenously  hungry,  they  proceeded  to  dish 
out  the  boiled  beans,  but  the  first  one  who  put  a  spoonful 
in  his  mouth  instantly  cried  out  with  a  loud  objurgation, 
"Thunder  and  lightning!  this  dish  is  all  salt";  but,  in  a 
moment,  remembering  that  if  he  found  fault  he  must  him- 
self become  cook,  he  said  very  gently,  "But  I  like  salt." 
Both  senators  laughed  and  agreed  that  they  would  give 
an  honest  report  of  their  feelings  to  Senator  Sawyer 
when  they  had  seen  the  President.  On  their  return,  Saw- 
yer met  them  and  said,  "Well,  honest  Injun,  how  was  it!" 
They  both  laughed  and  said,  "Well,  we  like  salt." 


218  POLITICAL  LIFE-XI 

Among  many  interesting  experiences  I  recall  espe- 
cially a  dinner  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Fairchild,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.  He  spoke  of  the  civil  service,  and  said 
that  a  short  time  previously  President  Cleveland  had 
said  to  him,  regarding  the  crowd  pressing  for  office :  *  *  A 
suggestion  to  these  office-seekers  as  to  the  good  of  the 
country  would  make  them  faint." 

During  this  dinner  I  happened  to  be  seated  between 
Senators  John  Sherman  of  Ohio  and  Vance  of  Georgia, 
and  presently  Mr.  Vance— one  of  the  j  oiliest  mortals  I 
have  ever  met— turned  toward  his  colleague,  Senator  Sher- 
man, and  said,  very  blandly:  "Senator,  I  am  glad  to  see 
you  back  from  Ohio;  I  hope  you  found  your  fences  in 
good  condition. "  There  was  a  general  laugh,  and  when 
it  was  finished  Senator  Sherman  told  me  in  a  pleasant 
way  how  the  well-known  joke  about  his  "looking  after  his 
fences"  arose.  He  said  that  he  was  the  owner  of  a  large 
farm  in  Ohio,  and  that  some  years  previously  his  tenant 
wrote  urging  him  most  earnestly  to  improve  its  fences, 
so  that  finally  he  went  to  Ohio  to  look  into  the  matter. 
On  arriving  there,  he  found  a  great  crowd  awaiting 
him  and  calling  for  a  speech,  when  he  excused  himself 
by  saying  that  he  had  not  come  to  Ohio  on  political  busi- 
ness, but  had  merely  come  "to  look  after  his  fences." 
The  phrase  caught  the  popular  fancy,  and  "to  look  after 
one's  fences"  became  synonymous  with  minding  one's 
political  safeguards. 

I  remember  also  an  interesting  talk  with  Mr.  Bayard, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  most  eminent  senators  in  his  time, 
who  was  then  Secretary  of  State,  and  who  became,  at  a 
later  period,  ambassador  of  the  United  States  to  Great 
Britain.  Speaking  of  office-seeking,  he  gave  a  comical 
account  of  the  developing  claims  of  sundry  applicants 
for  foreign  missions,  who,  he  said,  ' '  are  at  first  willing  to 
go,  next  anxious  to  go,  and  finally  angry  because  they 
cannot  go." 

On  another  social  occasion,  the  possibility  of  another 
attempt  at  secession  by  States  being  discussed,  General 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT-1884-1891    219 

Butler  of  South  Carolina  said:  "No  more  secession  for 
me."  To  this,  Senator  Gibson,  who  also  had  been  a  brig- 
adier-general in  the  Confederate  service,  and  had  seen 
much  hard  fighting,  said, i '  And  no  more  for  me. ' '  Butler 
rejoined,  "  We  may  have  to  help  in  preventing  others  from 
seceding  one  of  these  days. ' '  I  was  glad  to  note  that  both 
Butler  and  Gibson  spoke  thoroughly  well  of  their  former 
arch-enemy,  General  Grant. 

Very  interesting  was  it  to  meet  again  Mr.  George  Ban- 
croft. He  referred  to  his  long  service  as  minister  at 
Berlin,  expressed  his  surprise  that  Bismarck,  whom  he 
remembered  as  fat,  had  become  bony,  and  was  very  severe 
against  both  clericals  and  liberals  who  had  voted  against 
allowing  aid  to  Bismarck  in  the  time  of  his  country's 
greatest  necessity. 

I  also  met  my  Cornell  colleague  Goldwin  Smith,  the 
former  Oxford  professor  and  historian,  who  expressed  his 
surprise  and  delight  at  the  perfect  order  and  decorum  of 
tlie  crowd,  numbering  nearly  five  thousand  persons,  at  the 
presidential  levee  the  night  before.  In  order  to  under- 
stand what  an  American  crowd  was  like,  instead  of  going 
into  the  White  House  by  the  easier  way,  as  he  was  entitled 
by  his  invitation  to  do,  he  had  taken  his  place  in  the  long 
procession  far  outside  the  gate  and  gradually  moved 
through  the  grounds  into  the  presidential  presence,  taking 
about  an  hour  for  the  purpose.  He  said  that  there  was 
never  any  pressing,  crowding,  or  impatience,  and  he  com- 
pared the  crowd  most  favorably  with  any  similar  body  in 
a  London  street. 

Chief  Justice  Waite  I  also  found  a  very  substantial, 
interesting  man;  but  especially  fascinating  was  General 
Sheridan,  who,  at  a  dinner  given  by  my  Berlin  predeces- 
sor, Mr.  Bancroft  Davis,  described  the  scene  at  the  battle 
of  Gravelotte  when,  owing  to  a  rush  by  the  French,  the 
Emperor  of  Germany  was  for  a  time  in  real  danger  and 
was  reluctantly  obliged  to  fall  back.  He  said  that  during 
the  panic  and  retreat  toward  Thionville  he  saw  the  Em- 
peror halt  from  time  to  time  to  scold  soldiers  who  threw 


±:u  POLITICAL   LIFE-XI 

away  their  muskets;  that  very  many  German  soldiers, 
during  this  panic,  east  aside  everything  except  the  clothes 
they  wore  — not  only  their  guns,  but  their  helmets;  that 
afterward  the  highways  and  iields  were  strewn  thickly 
with  these,  and  that  wagons  were  sent  out  to  collect  them. 
He  also  said  that  Bismarck  spoke  highly  to  him  regard- 
ing the  martial  and  civil  qualities  of  the  crown  prince, 
afterward  the  Emperor  Frederick,  but  that  regarding 
the  Red  Prince,  Frederick  Charles,  he  expressed  a  very 
different  opinion. 

Speaking  of  a  statement  that  some  one  had  invented 
armor  which  would  ward  off  a  rifle-ball,  Sheridan  said 
that  during  the  Civil  "War  an  officer  who  wore  a  steel  vest 
beneath  his  coat  was  driven  out  of  decent  society  by  gen- 
eral contempt;  and  at  this  Goldwin  Smith  told  a  story  of 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  who,  when  troubled  by  an  in- 
ventor of  armor,  nearly  scared  him  to  death  by  ordering 
him  to  wear  his  own  armor  and  allow  a  platoon  of  soldiers 
to  fire  at  him. 

During  the  course  of  the  conversation  Sheridan  said 
that  soldiers  were  braver  now  than  ever  before — braver, 
indeed,  than  the  crusaders,  as  was  proved  by  the  fact 
that  in  these  days  they  wear  no  armor.  To  this  Goldwin 
Smith  answered  that  he  thought  war  in  the  middle  ages 
was  more  destructive  than  even  in  our  time.  Sheridan 
said  that  breech-loading  rifles  kill  more  than  all  the 
cannon. 

At  a  breakfast  given  by  Goldwin  Smith  at  TVormley's, 
Bancroft,  speaking  of  Berlin  matters,  said  that  the  Km- 
peror  William  did  not  know  that  Germany  was  the  second 
power  in  the  world  so  far  as  a  mercantile  navy  was  con- 
cerned until  he  himself  told  him;  and  on  the  ignorance 
of  monarchs  regarding  their  own  domains,  Goldwin 
Smith  said  that  Lord  Malmesbury,  when  assured  by  Xa- 
poleon  III  that  in  the  plebiscite  he  would  have  the  vote  of 
the  army,  which  was  five  hundred  thousand,  answered, 
''But,  your  majesty,  your  army  numbers  seven  hundred 
thousand,"  whereupon  the  Dmperor  wras  silent.  The  in- 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT-1884-1891    221 

ference  was  that  his  majesty  knew  a  large  part  of  his 
army  to  be  merely  on  paper. 

At  this  Mr.  John  Field,  of  Philadelphia,  said  that  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War  he  went  to 
General  Grant  at  Long  Branch,  and  asked  him  how  the 
war  was  likely  to  turn  out,  to  which  the  general  answered, 
"As  I  am  President  of  the  United  States,  I  am  unable  to 
answer."  "But,"  said  Field,  "I  am  a  citizen  sovereign 
and  ask  an  opinion. "  "  Well, ' '  said  General  Grant,  l  i  con- 
fidentially, the  Germans  will  beat  the  French  thoroughly 
and  march  on  Paris.  The  French  army  is  a  mere  shell." 
This  reminded  me  that  General  Grant,  on  my  own  visit 
to  him  some  weeks  before,  had  foretold  to  me  sundry  diffi- 
culties of  Lord  Wolseley  in  Egypt  just  as  they  afterward 
occurred. 

At  a  dinner  with  Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont  I  met 
General  Schenck,  formerly  a  leading  member  of  Congress 
and  minister  to  Brazil  and  to  England.  He  was  very  in- 
teresting in  his  sketches  of  English  orators;  thought 
Bright  the  best,  Gladstone  admirable,  and  Sir  Stafford 
Northcote,  with  his  everlasting  hawing  and  humming, 
intolerable.  He  gave  interesting  reminiscences  of  Tom 
Corwin,  his  old  preceptor,  and  said  that  Corwin's  power 
over  an  audience  was  magical.  He  added  that  he  once 
attended  a  public  dinner  in  Boston,  and,  sitting  near 
Everett,  who  was  the  chief  speaker,  noticed  that  when  the 
waiters  sought  to  clear  the  table  and  were  about  to  remove 
a  bouquet  containing  two  small  flags,  Everett  would  not 
allow  them  to  do  it,  and  that  later  in  the  evening,  during 
his  speech,  just  at  the  proper  point,  he  caught  up  these 
flags,  as  if  accidentally,  and  waved  them.  He  said  that 
everything  with  Everett  and  Choate  seemed  to  be  cut  and 
dried;  that  even  the  interruptions  seemed  prepared  be- 
forehand. 

Senator  Morrill  then  told  a  story  regarding  Everett's 
great  speech  at  the  opening  of  the  Dudley  Observatory 
at  Albany,  which  I  had  heard  at  the  time  of  its  delivery. 
In  this  speech  Everett  said:  "Last  night,  crossing  the 


222  POLITICAL   LIFE-XI 

Connecticut  River,  I  saw  mirrored  in  its  waters  Arcturus, 
then  fully  at  the  zenith,  and  1  thought/'  etc.,  etc.;  "but," 
said  Merrill,  "some  one  looked  into  the  matter  and  found 
that  Everett,  before  leaving  home,  had  evidently  turned 
the  globe  in  his  study  wrong  side  up,  for  at  that  time 
Arcturus  was  not  at  the  zenith,  but  at  the  nadir." 

At  the  Cornell  commencement  of  this  year  (1885)  I 
resigned  my  presidency  of  the  university.  It  had  nomi- 
nally lasted  eighteen  years,  but  really  more  than  twenty, 
since  I  had  taken  the  lead  in  the  work  of  the  university 
even  before  its  charter  was  granted,  twenty  years  pre- 
viously, and  from  that  day  the  main  charge  of  its  organi- 
zation and  of  everything  except  providing  funds  had  been 
intrusted  to  me.  Regarding  this  part  of  my  life  I  shall 
speak  more  fully  in  another  chapter. 

Shortly  after  this  resignation  two  opportunities  were 
offered  me  which  caused  me  considerable  thought. 

As  to  the  first,  President  Cleveland  was  kind  enough 
to  write  me  an  autograph  letter  asking  whether  I  would 
accept  one  of  the  positions  on  the  new  Interstate  Railway 
Commission.  I  felt  it  a  great  honor  to  br  asked  to  act  as 
colleague  with  such  men  as  Chief  Justice  Cooley,  Mr. 
Morrison,  and  others  already  upon  that  board,  but  I  rec- 
ognized my  own  incompetence  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
such  a  position  properly.  Though  I  had  been,  some  years 
before,  a  director  in  two  of  the  largest  railway  corpora- 
tions in  the  United  States,  my  heart  was  never  in  that 
duty,  and  I  never  prepared  myself  to  discharge  it. 
Thinking  the  matter  over  fully,  I  felt  obliged  to  decline 
the  place.  My  heart  was  set  on  finishing  the  book  which 
I  had  so  long  wished  to  publish,  — my  "History  of  the 
"Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology, "—and  in  order  to 
cut  myself  off  from  other  work  and  get  some  needed 
rest  I  sailed  for  Kurope  on  October  .'>,  1SS5,  but  while 
engaged  most  delightfully  in  visits  to  Oxford,  Cam- 
bridge, and  various  places  on  tlu»  Continent,  I  received 
by  cable  an  offer  which  had  also  a  very  tempting  side. 
It  was  sent  by  my  old  friend  Mr.  Henry  Sage  of  Ithaca, 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT -1884 -1891    223 

urged  me  to  accept  the  nomination  to  Congress  from  that 
district,  and  assured  me  that  the  nomination  was  equiva- 
lent to  an  election.  There  were  some  reasons  why  such  a 
position  was  attractive  to  me,  but  the  more  I  thought  of 
it  the  more  it  seemed  to  me  that  to  discharge  these  duties 
properly  would  take  me  from  other  work  to  which  I  was 
pledged.  Before  deciding  the  question,  however,  I  deter- 
mined to  consult  two  old  friends  who  were  then  living  in 
London  hotels  adjacent  to  my  own.  The  first  of  these  was 
my  dear  old  instructor,  with  whom  my  relations  had  been 
of  the  kindest  ever  since  my  first  year  at  Yale— President 
Porter. 

On  my  laying  the  matter  before  him,  he  said,  "Accept 
by  all  means ' ' ;  but  as  I  showed  him  the  reasons  on  both 
sides,  he  at  last  reluctantly  agreed  with  me  that  probably 
it  was  best  to  send  a  declination. 

The  other  person  consulted  was  Mr.  James  Belden  of 
Syracuse,  afterward  a  member  of  Congress  from  the 
Onondaga  district,  a  politician  who  had  a  most  intimate 
knowledge  of  men  and  affairs  in  our  State.  We  had  been, 
during  a  long  period,  political  adversaries,  but  I  had 
come  to  respect  sundry  qualities  he  had  more  lately  ex- 
hibited, and  therefore  went  to  him  as  a  practical  man 
and  laid  the  case  before  him.  He  expressed  his  great 
surprise  that  I  should  advise  with  him,  my  old  political 
adversary,  but  he  said,  "Since  you  do  come,  I  will  give 
you  the  very  best  advice  I  can." 

We  then  went  over  the  case  together,  and  I  feel  sure 
that  he  advised  me  as  well  as  the  oldest  of  my  friends 
could  have  done,  and  with  a  shrewdness  and  foresight 
all  his  own. 

One  of  his  arguments  ran  somewhat  as  follows:  "To 
be  successful  in  politics  a  man  must  really  think  of  no- 
thing else ;  it  must  be  his  first  thought  in  the  morning  and 
his  last  at  night;  everything  else  must  yield  to  it.  Here- 
tofore you  have  quietly  gone  on  your  way,  sought  nothing, 
and  taken  what  has  been  freely  tendered  you  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  party  and  of  the  public.  I  know  the  Elmira 


224  POLITICAL  LIFE -XI 

district,  and  you  can  have  the  nomination  and  the  election 
without  trouble;  hut  the  question  is  whether  you  could 
ever  he  happy  in  the  sort  of  work  which  you  must  do  in 
order  to  take  a  proper  place  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. First  of  all,  you  must  give  up  everything  else  and 
devote  yourself  to  that  alone;  and  even  then,  when  you 
have  succeeded,  you  have  only  to  look  about  you  and  see 
the  men  who  have  achieved  success  in  that,  way,  and  who, 
after  all,  have  found  in  it  nothing  but  disappointment.'' 
In  saying  this  he  expressed  the  conclusion  at  which  I  had 
already  arrived. 

1  cabled  my  absolute  declination  of  the  nomination,  and 
was  reproved  by  my  friends  for  not  availing  myself  of 
this  opportunity  to  take  part  in  political  affairs,  but  have 
nevertheless  always  felt  that  my  decision  was  wise. 

To  tell  the  truth,  I  never  had,  and  never  desired  to 
have,  any  capacity  for  the  rough-and-tumble  of  poli- 
tics. I  greatly  respect  many  of  the  men  who  have  gifts  of 
that  sort,  but  have  recognized  the  fact  that  my  influence 
in  and  on  politics  must  be  of  a  different  kind.  I  have 
indeed  taken  part  in  some  stormy  scenes  in  conventions, 
meetings,  and  legislatures,  but  always  with  regret.  My 
true  role  has  been  a  more  quiet  one.  My  ambition, 
whether  I  have  succeeded  in  it  or  not,  has  been  to  set 
young  men  in  trains  of  fruitful  thought,  to  bring  mature 
men  into  the  line  of  right  reason,  and  to  aid  in  devising 
and  urging  needed  reforms,  in  developing  and  supporting 
wise  policies,  and  in  building  up  institutions  which  shall 
strengthen  what  is  host  in  American  life. 

Karlv  m  1SD1  I  was  asked  by  Mr.  Sherman  Rogers 
of  Buffalo,  one  of  the  best  and  truest  men  in  political 
life  that  I  have  ever  known,  to  accompany  him  and 
certain  oilier  gentlemen  to  Washington,  in  order  to  pre- 
sent to  Mr.  Harrison,  who  had  now  become  President  of 
the  Tinted  States,  an  argument  for  the  extension  of  the 
civil-service  rules.  Accompanied  by  Mr.  Theodore  Roose- 
velt and  Senator  Cabot  Lodge,  our  delegation  reached 
the  Executive  Mansion  at  the  time  fixed  by  the  President, 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT- 1884-1891    225 

and  were  received  in  a  way  which  surprised  me.  Mr. 
Harrison  seemed,  to  say  the  least,  not  in  good  humor.  He 
stood  leaning  on  the  corner  of  his  desk,  and  he  asked  none 
of  us  to  sit.  All  of  us  had  voted  for  him,  and  had  come 
to  him  in  his  own  interest  as  well  as  in  the  interest  of  the 
country;  but  he  seemed  to  like  us  none  the  better  for  all 
that.  The  first  speech  was  made  by  Mr.  Rogers.  Dwell- 
ing on  the  disappointment  of  thoughtful  Republicans 
throughout  the  country  at  the  delay  in  redeeming  pledges 
made  by  the  Republican  National  Convention  as  to  the 
extension  of  the  civil  service,  and  reiterated  in  the  Presi- 
dent 's  own  speeches  in  the  United  States  Senate,  he  in  a 
playful  way  referred  to  the  conduct  of  certain  officials  in 
Buffalo,  when  the  President  interrupted  him,  as  it  seemed 
to  me  at  the  time  very  brusquely  and  even  rudely, 
saying:  "Mr.  Rogers,  you  have  no  right  to  impute  evil 
motives  to  any  man.  The  motives  of  these  gentlemen  to 
whom  you  refer  are  presumably  as  good  as  your  own.  An 
argument  based  upon  such  imputations  cannot  advance  the 
cause  you  support  in  the  slightest  degree. "  Mr.  Rogers 
was  somewhat  disconcerted  for  a  moment,  but,  having 
resumed  his  speech,  he  presented,  in  a  very  dignified  and 
convincing  way,  the  remainder  of  his  argument.  He  was 
followed  by  the  other  members  from  various  States,  giv- 
ing different  sides  of  the  case,  each  showing  the  impor- 
tance which  Republicans  in  his  own  part  of  the  country 
attributed  to  an  extension  of  the  civil-service  rules. 

My  own  turn  came  last.  I  said :  i '  Mr.  President :  I  will 
make  no  speech,  but  will  simply  state  two  facts. 

"First:  Down  to  a  comparatively  recent  period  every 
high  school,  college,  and  university  in  the  Northern  States 
has  been  a  center  of  Republican  ideas :  no  one  will  gainsay 
this  for  a  moment.  But  recently  there  has  come  a  change. 
During  nearly  twenty  years  it  has  been  my  duty  to  nomi- 
nate to  the  trustees  of  Cornell  University  candidates  for 
various  positions  in  its  faculty;  the  fundamental  charter 
of  the  institution  absolutely  forbids  any  consideration,  in 
such  cases,  of  the  party  or  sect  to  which  any  candidate 

L-15 


226  POLITICAL  LIFE-XI 

belongs,  and  I  have  always  faithfully  carried  out  that 
injunction,  never,  in  any  one  of  the  multitude  of  nomina- 
tions that  I  have  made,  allowing  the  question  of  politics  to 
enter  in  the  slightest  degree.  But  still  it  has  happened  that, 
almost  without  exception,  the  candidates  have  proved  to  be 
Republicans,  and  this  to  such  an  extent  that  at  times  I  have 
regretted  it;  for  the  university  has  been  obliged  fre- 
quently to  ask  for  legislation  from  a  Democratic  legis- 
lature, and  I  have  always  feared  that  this  large  prepon- 
derance of  Republican  professors  would  be  brought  up 
against  us  as  an  evidence  that  we  were  not  true  to  the 
principles  of  our  charter.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  down  to 
two  or  three  years  since,  there  were,  as  I  casually  learned, 
out  of  a  faculty  of  about  fifty  members,  not  over  eight 
or  ten  Democrats.  But  during  these  recent  years  all  this 
has  been  changed,  and  at  the  State  election,  when  Judge 
Folger  was  defeated  for  the  governorship,  I  found  to  my 
surprise  that,  almost  without  exception,  my  colleagues  in 
the  faculty  had  voted  the  Democratic  ticket;  so  far  as  I 
could  learn,  but  three  besides  myself  had  voted  for  the  Re- 
publican candidate."  President  Harrison  immediately 
said:  "Mr.  White,  was  that  not  chiefly  due  to  the  free- 
trade  tendencies  of  college-men  1"  I  answered:  "No,  Mr. 
President;  the  great  majority  of  these  men  who  voted 
with  the  Democrats  were  protectionists,  and  you  will 
yourself  see  that  they  must  have  been  so  if  they  had  con- 
tinued to  vote  for  the  Republican  ticket  down  to  that 
election.  All  that  I  hear  leads  me  to  the  conviction 
that  the  real  cause  is  disappointment  at  the  delay  of  the 
Republican  party  in  making  good  its  promises  to  improve 
the  public  service.  In  this  question  the  faculties  of  our 
colleges  and  universities,  especially  in  the  Eastern,  Mid- 
dle, and  Northern  States,  take  a  deep  interest.  In  fact,  it 
is  with  them  the  question  of  all  questions;  and  I  think 
this  is  one  of  the  things  which,  at  that  election  in  New 
York,"caused  the  most  overwhelming  defeat  that  a  candi- 
date for  governor  had  ever  experienced. "  To  this  the 
President  listened  attentively,  and  I  then  said:  "Mr. 


HENDRICKS,  SHERMAN,  BANCROFT -1884 -1891    227 

President,  my  second  point  is  this:  The  State  of  New 
York  is,  of  course,  of  immense  importance  to  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  it  has  been  carried  in  recent  years  by  a 
majority  of  a  few  hundred  votes.  There  are  more  than 
fourteen  thousand  school  districts  in  the  State,  and  in 
nearly  every  one  of  these  school  districts  there  are  a  cer- 
tain number  of  earnest  men— anywhere  from  a  handful 
to  a  houseful— who  believe  that  since  the  slavery  ques- 
tion is  removed  from  national  politics,  the  only  burning 
question  which  remains  is  the  i  spoils  system '  and  the 
reform  of  the  civil  service.  Now,  you  have  only  to  mul- 
tiply the  fourteen  thousand  school  districts  by  a  very 
small  figure,  and  you  will  see  the  importance  of  this  ques- 
tion as  regards  the  vote  of  the  State  of  New  York.  I  know 
whereof  I  speak,  for  I  have  myself  addressed  meetings 
in  many  of  these  districts  in  favor  of  a  reform  of  the  civil 
service,  have  had  correspondence  with  other  districts  in 
all  parts  of  the  State,  and  am  sure  that  there  is  a  deep- 
seate.d  feeling  on  the  subject  in  great  numbers  of  them,— 
a  feeling  akin  to  what  used  to  be  called  in  the  anti-slavery 
days  '  fanaticism,  '—that  is,  a  deep-seated  conviction  that 
this  is  now  the  most  important  question  before  the  Ameri- 
can people,  and  that  it  must  be  settled  in  precedence 
to  all  others." 

The  President  received  what  I  had  to  say  courteously, 
and  then  began  a  reply  to  us  all.  He  took  at  first  rather 
a  bitter  tone,  saying  that  he  had  a  right  to  find  fault 
with  all  of  us;  that  the  Civil  Service  League  had  de- 
nounced his  administration  most  unjustly  for  its  relation 
to  the  spoils  system ;  that  he  was  moving  as  rapidly  in  the 
matter  as  circumstances  permitted;  that  he  was  anxious 
to  redeem  the  promises  made  by  the  party  and  by  himself  ; 
that  he  had  already  done  something  and  purposed  to  do 
more ;  and  that  the  glorifications  of  the  progress  made  by 
the  previous  administration  in  this  respect,  at  the  expense 
of  his  own,  had  been  grossly  unjust. 

To  this  we  made  a  short  rejoinder  on  one  point,  stating 
that  his  complaint  against  us  was  without  foundation; 


228  POLITICAL   LIFE-XI 

that  not  one  of  us  was  a  member  of  the  Civil  Service 
League;  that  not  one  of  us  had  taken  any  part  in  its  de- 
liberations;  and  that  we  could  not,  therefore,  be  made  re- 
sponsible in  any  way  for  its  utterance's.  The  President 
now  became  somewhat  more  genial,  though  he  did  not 
ask  us  to  be  seated,  alluding  in  a  pungent  but  good-na- 
tured way  to  the  zeal  for  reform  shown  by  Mr.  Roosevelt, 
who  was  standing  by,  and  closing  in  considerably  better 
humor  than  he  had  begun.  Although  I  cannot  say  that  I 
was  greatly  pleased  with  his  treatment  of  the  committee, 
I  remembered  that,  although  courtesy  was  not  generally 
considered  his  strong  point,  he  was  known  to  possess 
many  sterling  qualities,  and  I  felt  bound  to  allow  that  his 
speech  revealed  a  man  of  strength  and  honest  purpose. 
All  of  us,  even  Mr.  Koosevelt  and  Senator  Lodge,  came 
away  believing  that  good  had  been  done,  and  that  the 
President,  before  his  term  of  office  had  expired,  would  do 
what  he  could  in  the  right  direction;  and  I  am  glad  to  say 
that  this  expectation  was  fulfilled. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

McKINLEY  AND  EOOSEVELT —1891-1904 

DURING  the  summer  of  1891  came  a  curious  episode  in 
my  life,  to  which,  as  it  was  considerably  discussed  in 
the  newspapers  at  the  time,  and  as  various  sensational 
news-makers  have  dwelt  upon  it  since,  I  may  be  permitted 
to  refer.  During  several  years  before,— in  fact,  ever  since 
my  two  terms  in  the  State  Senate,— various  people,  and 
especially  my  old  Cornell  students  throughout  the  State, 
had  written  to  me  and  published  articles  in  my  behalf 
as  a  candidate  for  governor.  I  had  never  encour- 
aged these,  and  whenever  I  referred  to  them  deprecated 
them,  since  I  preferred  a  very  different  line  of  life, 
and  felt  that  the  grapple  with  spoilsmen  which  every 
governor  must  make  would  wear  me  out  very  rapidly. 
But  the  election  which  was  that  year  approaching  was  felt 
to  be  very  important,  and  old  friends  from  various 
parts  of  the  State  thought  that,  in  the  severe  contest 
which  was  expected,  I  stood  a  better  chance  of  election 
than  any  other  who  could  be  named  at  that  particular 
time,  their  theory  being  that  the  German  vote  of  the  State 
would  come  to  me,  and  that  it  would  probably  come  to  no 
other  Republican. 

The  reason  for  this  theory  was  that  I  had  received  part 
of  my  education  in  Germany ;  had  shown  especial  interest 
in  German  history  and  literature,  lecturing  upon  them  at 
the  University  of  Michigan  and  at  Cornell ;  had  resided  in 
Berlin  as  minister;  had,  on  my  return,  delivered  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere  an  address  on  the  "New  Germany," 

229 


230  POLITICAL   LIFE-XII 

wherein  were  shown  some  points  in  Herman  life  which 
Americans  might  study  to  advantage;  had  also  delivered 
an  address  on  the  "Contributions  of  Germany  to  American 
Civilization";  and  had,  at  various  time's,  formed  pleasant 
relations  with  leading  Germans  of  both  parties.  The  fact 
was  perfectly  well  known,  also,  that  I  was  opposed  to  the 
sumptuary  laws  which  had  so  largely  driven  Germans  out 
of  the  Republican  party,  and  had  declared  that  these  were 
not  only  unjust  to  those  immediately  affected  by  them,  but 
injurious  to  the  very  interests  of  temperance,  which  they 
were  designed  to  promote. 

I  was  passing  the  summer  at  Magnolia,  on  the  east 
coast  of  Massachusetts,  when  an  old  friend,  the  son  o>' 
an  eminent  German-American,  came  from  Xew  York  and 
asked  me  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  governorship. 
I  was  very  reluctant,  for  special  as  well  as  general  rea- 
sons. My  first  wish  was  to  devote  myself  wholly  to  cer- 
tain long-deferred  historical  work;  my  health  was  not 
strong;  I  felt  utterly  unfitted  for  the  duties  of  the  cam- 
paign, and  the  position  of  governor,  highly  honorable  as 
it  is,  presented  no  especial  attractions  tc  me,  my  ambition 
not  being  in  that  line.  Therefore  it  was  that  at  first  1 
urged  my  friends  to  combine  upon  some  other  person ; 
but  as  they  came  back  and  insisted  that  they  could 
agree  on  no  one  else,  and  that  I  could  bring  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  party  men  who  would  otherwise  oppose  it, 
1  reluctantly  agreed  to  discuss  the  subject  with  some  of 
the  leading  Republicans  in  Xew  York,  and  among  them 
Mi*.  Thomas  C.  Platt,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  organ- 
ized management  of  the  party. 

In  our  two  or  three  conversations  M  r.  Platt  impressed 
me  curiously.  I  had  known  him  slightly  for  many  years; 
indeed,  we  had  belonged  to  the  same  class  at  Vale,  but  as 
he  had  left  it  and  1  had  entered  it  at  the  beginning  of  the 
sophomore  yea?1  we  did  not  know  each  other  at  that  period. 
\Ve  had  met  occasionally  when  we  were  both  supporting 
Mr.  Colliding,  but  had  broken  from  each  other  at  the  time 
when  lie  was  supporting  Mr.  Hlaine,  and  I,  Mr.  Edmunds, 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT -1891-1904          231 

for  the  nomination  at  Chicago.  Our  discussion  now  took 
a  form  which  somewhat  surprised  me.  The  general  be- 
lief throughout  the  State  was,  I  think,  that  Mr.  Platt 's 
first  question,  or,  at  any  rate,  his  main  question,  in  any  such 
discussion,  would  be,  necessarily,  as  to  the  attitude  of  the 
candidate  toward  Mr.  Platt 's  own  interests  and  aspira- 
tions. But  I  feel  bound  to  say  that  in  the  discussions  be- 
tween us  no  such  questions  were  ever  asked,  approached, 
or  even  hinted  at.  Mr.  Platt  never  asked  me  a  question 
regarding  my  attitude  toward  him  or  toward  his  friends ; 
he  never  even  hinted  at  my  making  any  pledge  or  promise 
to  do  anything  or  not  to  do  anything  with  reference  to 
his  own  interests  or  to  those  of  any  other  person;  his 
whole  effort  was  directed  to  finding  what  strength  my 
nomination  would  attract  to  the  party  and  what  it  would 
repel.  He  had  been  informed  regarding  one  or  two  un- 
popular votes  of  mine  when  I  was  in  the  State  Senate— as, 
for  example,  that  I  had  opposed  the  efforts  of  a  powerful 
sectarian  organization  to  secure  the  gift  of  certain  valu- 
able landed  property  from  the  city  of  New  York;  he  had 
also  been  informed  regarding  certain  review  and  maga- 
zine articles  in  which  I  had  spoken  my  mind  somewhat 
freely  against  certain  influences  in  the  State  which  were 
still  powerful,  and  it  had  been  hinted  to  him  that  my 
" Warfare  of  Science''  chapters  might  have  alienated  a 
considerable  number  of  the  more  narrow-minded  clergy- 
men and  their  flocks. 

I  told  Mr.  Platt  frankly  that  these  fears  seemed  quite 
likely  to  be  well  founded,  and  that  there  were  some  other 
difficulties  which  I  could  myself  suggest  to  him :  that  I  had, 
in  the  course  of  my  life,  made  many  opponents  in  sup- 
porting Cornell  University,  and  in  expressing  my  mind 
on  various  questions,  political  and  religious,  and  that 
these  seemed  to  me  likely  to  cost  the  party  very  many 
votes.  I  therefore  suggested  that  he  consult  certain  per- 
sons in  various  parts  of  the  State  who  were  entitled  to 
have  an  opinion,  and  especially  two  men  of  the  highest 
judgment  in  such  matters— Chief  Justice  Andrews  of 


232  POLITICAL  LIFE -XII 

Syracuse,  and  Carroll  Earl  Smith,  editor  of  the  leading 
Republican  journal  in  central  New  York.  The  result  was 
that  telegrams  and  letters  were  exchanged,  these  gentle- 
men declaring  their  decided  opinion  that  the  matters  re- 
ferred to  were  bygones,  and  could  not  be  resuscitated  in 
the  coming  contest ;  that  they  would  be  lost  sight  of  in  the 
real  questions  sure  to  arise ;  and  that  even  in  the  election 
immediately  following  the  vote  which  I  had  cast  against 
giving  a  large  tract  of  Ward's  Island  to  a  Roman  Catholic 
institution,  I  had  lost  no  votes,  but  had  held  my  own  with 
the  other  candidates,  and  even  gained  upon  some  of  them. 

Mr.  Platt  also  discussed  my  relations  to  the  Germans 
and  to  the  graduates  of  Cornell  University  who  were  scat- 
tered all  over  the  State;  and  as  these,  without  exception, 
so  far  as  could  be  learned,  were  my  warm  personal 
friends,  it  was  felt  by  those  who  had  presented  my  name, 
and  finally,  I  think,  by  Mr.  Platt,  that  these  two  elements 
in  my  support  might  prove  valuable. 

Still,  in  spite  of  this,  I  advised  steadily  against  my  own 
nomination,  and  asked  Mr.  Platt:  "Why  don't  you  sup- 
port your  friend  Senator  Fassett  of  Elmira!  He  is  a 
young  man ;  he  has  very  decided  abilities ;  he  is  popular ; 
his  course  in  the  legislature  has  been  admirable ;  you  have 
made  him  collector  of  the  port  of  New  York,  and  he  is 
known  to  be  worthy  of  the  place.  Why  don't  you  ask 
him!"  Mr.  Platt 's  frankness  in  reply  increased  my  re- 
spect for  him.  He  said:  "I  need  not  confess  to  you  that, 
personally,  I  would  prefer  Mr.  Fassett  to  yourself ;  but  if 
he  were  a  candidate  he  would  have  to  carry  the  entire 
weight  of  my  unpopularity." 

Mr.  Platt  was  from  first  to  last  perfectly  straightfor- 
ward. He  owed  me  nothing,  for  I  had  steadily  voted 
against  him  and  his  candidate  in  the  National  Convention 
at  Chicago.  He  had  made  no  pledges  to  me,  for  I  had 
allowed  him  to  make  none— even  if  he  had  been  disposed 
to  do  so ;  moreover,  many  of  my  ideas  were  opposed  to  his 
own.  I  think  the  heaviest  piece  of  work  I  ever  undertook 
was  when,  some  months  before,  I  had  endeavored  to  con- 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT -1891-1904          233 

vert  him  to  the  civil-service-reform  forces ;  but  while  I  had 
succeeded  in  converting  a  good  many  others,  he  remained 
intractable,  and  on  that  subject  we  were  at  opposite  poles. 

It  therefore  seems  to  me  altogether  to  his  credit  that, 
in  spite  of  this  personal  and  theoretical  antagonism  be- 
tween us,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  I  had  made,  and  he 
knew  that  I  would  make,  no  pledges  or  promises  what- 
ever to  him  in  view  of  an  election,  he  had  favored  my 
nomination  solely  as  the  best  chance  of  obtaining  a  Repub- 
lican victory  in  the  State;  and  I  will  again  say  that  I 
do  not  believe  that  his  own  personal  advantage  entered 
into  his  thoughts  on  this  occasion.  His  pride  and  his 
really  sincere  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Republican 
party,  as  he  understood  them,  led  him  to  desire,  above  all 
things,  a  triumph  over  the  Democratic  forces,  and  the 
only  question  in  his  mind  was,  Who  could  best  secure  the 
victory  f 

At  the  close  of  these  conferences  he  was  evidently  in  my 
favor,  but  on  leaving  the  city  I  said  to  him :  ' '  Do  not  con- 
sider yourself  as  in  any  way  pledged  to  my  support.  Go 
to  the  convention  at  Rochester,  and  decide  what  is  best 
after  you  get  there.  I  have  no  desire  for  the  nomination— 
in  fact,  would  prefer  that  some  one  else  bear  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day.  I  have  been  long  out  of  touch  with 
the  party  managers  in  the  State.  I  don't  feel  that  they 
would  support  me  as  they  would  support  some  man  like 
Mr.  Fassett,  whom  they  know  and  like  personally,  and  I 
shall  not  consider  you  as  pledged  to  me  in  the  slightest 
degree.  I  don't  ask  it;  I  don't  wish  it;  in  fact,  I  prefer 
the  contrary.  Go  to  Rochester,  be  guided  by  circum- 
stances, and  decide  as  you  see  fit. ' ' 

In  the  meantime  various  things  seemed  to  strengthen 
my  candidacy.  Leading  Germans  who  had  been  for  some 
time  voting  with  the  Democratic  party  pledged  themselves 
to  my  support  if  I  were  nominated,  and  one  of  them  could 
bring  over  to  my  side  one  of  the  most  powerful  Demo- 
cratic journals  in  the  State;  in  fact,  there  were  pledged 
to  my  support  two  leading  journals  which,  as  matters 


234  POLITICAL  LIFE-XII 

turned  out  afterward,  opposed  the  Republican  nomina- 
tion. 

At  the  convention  which  met  shortly  afterward  at 
Rochester  (September,  1S91),  things  went  as  I  had  an- 
ticipated, and  indeed  as  I  had  preferred.  Mr.  Flatt  found 
the  elements  supporting  .Mi1.  Fassett  even  stronger  than 
he  had  expected.  The  undercurrent  was  too  powerful  for 
him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  yield  to  it. 

Of  course  sundry  newspapers  screamed  that  he  had  de- 
ceived and  defeated  me.  I  again  do  him  the  justice  to  say 
that  this  was  utterly  untrue.  I  am  convinced  that  he  went 
to  Rochester  believing  my  candidacy  best  for  the  party; 
that  he  really  did  what  he  could  in  my  favor,  but  that  he 
found,  what  I  had  foretold,  that  Mr.  Fassett,  young,  ener- 
getic, known,  and  liked  by  the  active  political  men  in 
various  parts  of  the  State,  naturally  wished  to  lead  the 
forces  and  was  naturally  the  choice  of  the  convention — a 
choice  which  it  was  not  within  Mr.  Flatt 's  power  to 
change. 

Mr.  Fassett  was  nominated,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I 
have  ever  received  a  message  which  ga^e  me  a  greater 
sense  of  relief  than  the  telegram  which  announced  this  fact 
to  me. 

As  regards  the  inside  history  of  the  convention,  Fro- 
fessor  Jenks  of  Cornell  University,  a  very  thoughtful 
student  of  practical  politics,  who  had  gone  to  Rochester 
to  see  the  working  of  a  Xew  York  State  convention,  told 
me  some  time  afterward  that  he  had  circulated  very  freely 
among  the  delegates  from  various  rural  districts;  that  they 
had  no  acquaintance  with  him,  and  therefore  talked  freely 
in  his  presence  regarding  the  best  policy  of  the  conven- 
tion. As  a  rule,  the  prevailing  reeling  among  them  was 
expressed  as  follows:  "White  don't  know  the  boys;  he 
don't  know  the  men  who  do  the  work  of  the  party;  he 
supports  civil-service  reform,  and  that  means  that  after 
doing  the  work  of  the  campaign  we  shall  have  no  better 
chance  for  the  offices  than  men  who  have  done  nothing— in 
fact,  not  so  good,  perhaps,  as  those  who  have  opposed 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT- 1891-1 904          235 

us."  No  doubt  this  feeling  entered  into  the  minds  of  a 
large  number  of  delegates  and  conduced  to  the  result. 

A  few  weeks  afterward  Mr.  Fassett  came  to  Ithaca.  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  presiding  and  speaking  at  the  public 
meeting  which  he  addressed,  and  of  entertaining  him  at 
my  house.  He  was  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  position 
to  which  he  had  been  nominated,  but,  unfortunately,  was 
not  elected. 

Having  made  one  or  two  speeches  in  this  campaign,  I 
turned  to  more  congenial  work,  and  in  the  early  spring 
of  the  following  year  (February  12  to  May  16,  1892)  ac- 
cepted an  election  as  non-resident  professor  at  Stanford 
University  in  California,  my  duty  being  to  deliver  a 
course  of  twenty  lectures  upon  ( '  The  Causes  of  the  French 
Kevolution. ' '  Just  as  I  was  about  to  start,  Mr.  Andrew 
Carnegie  very  kindly  invited  me  to  go  as  his  guest  in  his 
own  car  and  with  a  delightful  party.  There  were  eight  of 
us— four  ladies  and  four  gentlemen.  We  went  by  way  of 
Washington,  Chattanooga,  and  New  Orleans,  stopping  at 
each  place,  and  meeting  many  leading  men;  then  to  the 
city  of  Mexico,  where  we  were  presented  to  Porfirio  Diaz, 
the  president  of  that  republic,  who  seemed  to  be  a  man  of 
great  shrewdness  and  strength.  I  recall  here  the  fact  that 
the  room  in  which  he  received  us  was  hung  round  with 
satin  coverings,  on  which,  as  the  only  ornament,  were  the 
crown  and  cipher  of  Diaz'  unfortunate  predecessor,  the 
Emperor  Maximilian.  Thence  we  went  to  California,  and 
zigzag  along  the  Pacific  coast  to  Tacoma  and  Seattle; 
then  through  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
meeting  everywhere  interesting  men  and  things,  until  at 
Denver  I  left  the  party  and  went  back  to  give  my  lectures 
at  Stanford. 

Returning  to  Cornell  University  in  the  early  summer, 
I  found  myself  in  the  midst  of  my  books  and  happy  in 
resuming  my  work.  But  now,  July  21,  1892,  came  my 
nomination  by  President  Harrison  to  the  position  of  en- 
voy extraordinary  and  minister  plenipotentiary  at  St. 
Petersburg.  On  thinking  the  matter  over,  it  seemed  to  me 


236  POLITICAL  LIFE-XII 

that  it  would  be  instructive  and  agreeable  to  have  a  second 
diplomatic  experience  in  Russia  after  my  absence  of 
nearly  forty  years.  I  therefore  accepted,  and  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1892  left  America  for  St.  Petersburg. 

While  in  Washington  to  receive  my  instructions  before 
leaving,  I  again  met  Mr.  Harrison,  and  must  say  that  he 
showed  a  much  more  kindly  and  genial  side  than  that 
which  had  formerly  been  revealed  to  me,  when  I  had  dis- 
cussed shortcomings  of  his  administration  as  regarded 
the  civil  service. 

My  occupancy  of  this  new  position  lasted  until  the  au- 
tumn of  1894,  and  there  was  one  thing  in  it  which  I  have 
always  regarded  as  a  great  honor.  Mr.  Harrison  had  ap- 
pointed me  at  about  the  close  of  the  third  year  of  his  term 
of  office ;  I  therefore  naturally  looked  forward  to  a  stay  of 
but  one  year  in  Eussia,  and,  when  I  left  America,  certainly 
desired  no  more.  A  little  of  Russian  life  goes  very  far.  It  is 
brilliant  and  attractive  in  many  ways ;  but  for  a  man  who 
feels  that  he  has  duties  and  interests  in  America  it  soon  be- 
comes a  sort  of  exile.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Harrison's  ad- 
ministration, therefore,  I  tendered  my  resignation,  as  is 
customary  with  ministers  abroad  at  such  times,  so  that  it 
would  arrive  in  Washington  on  the  fourth  day  of  March, 
and  then  come  under  the  hand  of  the  new  President,  Mr. 
Cleveland.  I  had  taken  its  acceptance  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  had  made  all  my  arrangements  to  leave  Russia 
on  the  arrival  of  my  successor.  But  soon  I  heard  that 
President  Cleveland  preferred  that  I  should  remain,  and 
that  so  long  as  I  would  consent  to  remain  no  new  appoint- 
ment would  be  made.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  I  had  stead- 
ily voted  against  him,  and  that  he  knew  this,  I  felt  his 
conduct  to  be  a  mark  of  confidence  for  which  I  ought  to  be 
grateful,  and  the  result  was  that  I  continued  at  the  post 
another  year,  toward  the  close  of  which  I  wrote  a  private 
letter  to  him,  stating  that  under  no  circumstances  could  I 
remain  longer  than  the  1st  of  October,  1894.  The  fact  was 
that  the  book  which  I  considered  the  main  work  of  my  life 
was  very  nearly  finished.  I  was  anxious  to  have  leisure  to 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT— 1891-1904          237 

give  it  thorough  revision,  and  this  leisure  I  could  not  have 
in  a  diplomatic  position.  Therefore  it  was  that  I  insisted 
on  terminating  my  career  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  that  the 
President  finally  accepted  my  declination  in  a  letter  which 
I  shall  always  prize. 

During  the  following  winter  (1894-1895),  at  Florence, 
Sorrento,  and  Palermo,  my  time  was  steadily  given  to  my 
historical  work;  and  having  returned  home  and  seen  it 
through  the  press,  I  turned  to  another  historical  treatise 
which  had  been  long  deferred,  and  never  did  a  man  more 
thoroughly  enjoy  his  leisure.  I  was  at  last  apparently  my 
own  master,  and  could  work  in  the  midst  of  my  books  and 
in  the  library  of  the  university  to  my  heart's  content. 

But  this  fair  dream  was  soon  brought  to  naught.  In 
December,  1895,  I  was  appointed  by  President  Cleveland 
a  member  of  the  commission  to  decide  upon  the  boundary 
line  between  the  British  possessions  in  South  America  and 
Venezuela.  The  circumstances  of  the  case,  with  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  tendered  me  the  position,  forbade  me  to 
decline  it,  and  I  saw  no  more  literary  leisure  during  the 
following  year. 

As  the  presidential  campaign  of  1896  approached  I  had 
given  up  all  thoughts  of  politics,  and  had  again  resumed  the 
historical  work  to  which  I  proposed  to  devote,  mainly,  the 
rest  of  my  life— the  preparation  of  a  biographical  history 
of  modern  Germany,  for  which  I  had  brought  together  a 
large  amount  of  material  and  had  prepared  much  manu- 
script. I  also  hoped  to  live  long  enough  to  put  into  shape 
for  publication  a  series  of  lectures,  on  which  I  had  ob- 
tained a  mass  of  original  material  in  France,  upon  i '  The 
Causes  of  the  French  Revolution";  and  had  the  new  cam- 
paign been  like  any  of  those  during  the  previous  twenty 
years,  it  would  not  have  interested  me.  But  suddenly  news 
came  of  the  nomination  by  the  Democrats  of  Mr.  Bryan. 
The  circumstances  attending  this  showed  clearly  that  the 
coming  contest  involved,  distinctly,  the  question  between 
the  forces  of  virtual  repudiation,  supporting  a  policy  which 
meant  not  merely  national  disaster  but  generations  of  dis- 


238  POLITICAL  LIFE-XII 

honor  on  the  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  Mr.  McKinley, 
supporting  a  policy  of  financial  honesty.  Having  then 
been  called  upon  to  preside  over  a  Republican  meeting  at 
Ithaca,  I  made  a  speech  which  was  published  and  widely 
circulated,  giving  the  reasons  why  all  thinking  men  of  both 
parties  ought  to  rally  in  support  of  the  Republican  candi- 
date, and  this  I  followed  with  an  open  letter  to  many  lead- 
ing Democrats  in  the  State.  It  was  begun  as  a  private 
letter  to  a  valued  Democratic  friend,  Mr.  Oscar  S.  Straus, 
who  has  twice  proved  himself  a  most  useful  and  patri- 
otic minister  of  the  United  States  at  Constantinople.  But, 
as  my  pen  was  moving,  another  Democratic  friend  came 
into  my  mind,  then  another,  and  again  another,  until 
finally  my  views  were  given  in  an  open  letter  to  them  all ; 
and  this  having  been  submitted  to  a  friend  in  New  York, 
with  permission  to  use  it  as  he  thought  best,  he  published 
it.  The  result  seemed  fortunate.  It  was  at  once  caught 
up  by  the  press  and  republished  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
I  cannot  claim  that  the  gentlemen  to  whom  I  wrote  were 
influenced  by  it,  but  certain  it  is  that  in  spite  of  their  ear- 
nest differences  from  President  McKinley  on  very  impor- 
tant questions,  their  feeling  that  this  campaign  involved 
issues  superior  to  any  of  those  which  had  hitherto  ex- 
isted, led  all  of  them,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  sup- 
port him. 

At  the  suggestion  of  various  friends,  I  also  republished 
in  a  more  extended  form  my  pamphlet  on  * l  Paper  Money 
Inflation  in  France :  How  it  Came,  What  it  Brought,  and 
How  it  Ended,"  which  had  first  been  published  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  General  Garfield  and  others,  as  throwing  light 
on  the  results  of  a  debased  currency,  and  it  was  now  widely 
circulated  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Mr.  McKinley  was  elected,  and  thus,  in  my  judgment, 
was  averted  the  greatest  peril  which  our  Republic  has  en- 
countered since  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War.  Having 
now  some  time  for  myself,  I  accepted  sundry  invitations 
to  address  the  students  of  two  of  the  greater  State  univer- 
sities of  the  West.  It  gave  me  pleasure  to  visit  them,  on 


McKINLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT- 1891-1904          239 

many  accounts,  and  above  all  for  the  purpose  of  realizing 
the  magnificent  advance  that  has  been  made  by  them  in 
becoming  universities  worthy  of  our  country. 

My  anticipations  were  far  more  than  met.  My  old  stu- 
dent and  successor  at  the  University  of  Michigan  as  pro- 
fessor and  at  Cornell  University  as  president,  Dr.  Charles 
Kendall  Adams,  welcomed  me  to  the  institution  over  which 
he  so  worthily  presided— the  State  University  of  Wis- 
consin; and  having  visited  it  a  quarter  of  a  century  be- 
fore, I  was  now  amazed  at  its  progress.  The  subject  of 
my  address,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  body  of  students, 
was  ' '  Evolution  versus  Revolution  in  Politics, ' '  and  never 
have  I  spoken  with  more  faith  and  hope.  Looking  into 
the  faces  of  that  immense  assembly  of  students,  in  training 
for  the  best  work  of  their  time,  lifted  me  above  all  doubts 
as  the  future  of  that  commonwealth. 

From  Madison  I  went  to  Minneapolis  under  an  invita- 
tion to  address  the  students  at  the  State  University  of 
Minnesota,  and  again  my  faith  and  hope  were  renewed  as 
I  looked  into  the  faces  of  those  great  audiences  of  young 
men  and  young  women.  They  filled  me  with  confidence 
in  the  future  of  the  country.  At  Minneapolis  I  also  met 
various  notable  men,  among  them  Archbishop  Ireland, 
who  had  interested  me  much  at  a  former  meeting  in  Phila- 
delphia. I  became  sure  that  whatever  ecclesiastics  of  his 
church  generally  might  feel  toward  the  United  States,  he 
was  truly  patriotic.  Alas  for  both  church  and  state  that 
such  prelates  as  Gibbons,  Ireland,  Keane,  Spalding,  and 
the  like,  should  be  in  a  minority ! 

But  my  most  curious  experience  was  due  to  another 
citizen  of  Minnesota.  Having  been  taken  to  the  State 
House,  I  was  introduced,  in  the  lower  branch  of  the  legisla- 
ture, to  no  less  a  personage  than  Mr.  Ignatius  Donnelly,  so 
widely  known  by  his  publications  regarding  the  authorship 
of  Shakspere's  writings;  and  on  my  asking  him  whether 
he  was  now  engaged  on  any  literary  work,  he  informed  me 
that  he  was  about  to  publish  a  book  which  would  leave  no 
particle  of  doubt,  in  the  mind  of  any  thinking  man,  that 


240  POLITICAL   LIFE -XII 

the  writings  attributed  to  Shakspere  were  really  due  to 
Francis  Bacon.  During  this  conversation  the  house  was 
droning  on  in  committee  of  the  whole,  and  the  proceedings 
fell  upon  my  ear  much  like  the  steady  rumble  of  a  mill ;  but 
suddenly  the  mill  seemed  to  stop,  my  own  name  was  called, 
and  immediately  afterward  came  the  words:  "Mr.  - 
of  -  -  and  ^\Ir.  -  -  of  -  -  will  escort  Mr.  White  to 
the  chair."  It  was  a  very  sudden  awakening  from  my  talk 
with  Mr.  Donnelly  on  literature,  but  there  was  no  help  for 
it.  '"Accoutred  as  I  was,  1  plunged  in,"  and,  in  a  long  fur- 
lined  coat  much  the  worse  for  wear  and  bespattered  with 
mud,  was  conducted  to  the  speaker,  who,  after  formal 
greetings,  turned  me  loose  on  the  audience.  Naturally  my 
speech  revealed  what  was  uppermost  in  my  mind— wonder 
at  the  progress  made  by  the  State,  admiration  for  its  in- 
stitutions, confidence  in  its  future,  pride  in  its  relation  to 
the  Union.  At  the  close  of  this  brief  talk  a  few  members 
set  up  a  call  for  Mr.  Donnelly  to  respond,  whereupon  he 
promptly  arose,  and  of  all  the  speeches  I  have  ever  heard 
his  was  certainly  the  most  surprising.  It  had  seemed  to 
me  that  my  own  remarks  had  glorified  Minnesota  up  to  the 
highest  point;  but  they  were  tame  indeed  compared  to  his. 
Having  first  dosed  me  with  blarney,  he  proceeded  to  deluge 
the  legislature  with  balderdash.  One  part  of  his  speech 
ran  substantially  on  this  wise: 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask  the  gentleman,  when  he  returns  to 
his  home,  to  tell  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  Kast  what  he  has 
seen  during  his  visit  to  this  great  State;  and,  sir,  we  also 
wish  him  to  tell  them  that  Minnesota  and  the  great  North- 
west will  no  longer  consent  to  be  trodden  under  the  feet 
of  the  Kast.  The  strength  of  the  United  States  and  the 
future  center  of  American  greatness  is  here  in  Minnesota. 
Mr.  Speaker,  not  far  from  this  place  I  own  a  farm."  (Here 
I  began  to  wonder  what  was  coming  next.)  4kKrom  that 
farm,  on  one  side,  the  waters  trickle  down  until  they  reach 
the  rivulets,  and  then  the  streams,  and  finally  the  great 
rivers  which  empty  into  Hudson  Bay.  And  from  the 
other  side  of  that  farm,  sir,  the  waters  trickle  down  into 


McKINLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT- 1891-1904         241 

the  rivulets,  thence  pass  into  the  streams,  and  finally  into 
the  great  Father  of  Waters,  until  they  reach  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Mr.  Speaker,  on  this  plateau  are  now  raised  the 
great  men  of  the  Republic.  Formerly  Virginia  was  the 
mother  of  statesmen ;  that  is  so  no  longer.  The  mother  of 
statesmen  in  these  days,  and  of  the  men  who  are  to  control 
the  destinies  of  this  Republic,  is  Minnesota. ' ' 

Never  before  had  I  any  conception  of  the  height  to  which 
'  '  tall  talk ' '  might  attain.  It  was  the  apotheosis  of  blather  ; 
but  as  my  eye  wandered  over  the  assemblage,  I  noticed 
that  many  faces  wore  smiles,  and  it  was  clear  to  me  that 
the  members  had  merely  wished  to  exhibit  their  most 
amusing  specimen. 

I  felt  that  if  they  could  stand  it  I  could,  and  so,  having 
bidden  the  Speaker  and  Mr.  Donnelly  good-bye,  passed  out 
and  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  neighboring  city  of  St. 
Paul,  which  struck  me  as  even  more  beautiful  than  Edin- 
burgh in  the  views  from  its  principal  streets  over  hills, 
valleys,  and  mountains. 

At  the  University  of  Michigan,  in  view  of  my  recent 
visit,  I  did  not  again  stop,  but  at  Harvard  and  Yale  I 
addressed  the  students,  and  returned  home  from  the  excur- 
sion with  new  faith  in  the  future  of  the  country.  James 
Bryce  is  right  when  he  declares  that  in  our  universities  lie 
the  best  hopes  of  the  United  States. 

Early  in  the  year  following  the  election  I  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  ambassador  to  Germany.  I  had 
not  sought  the  position;  indeed,  I  had  distinctly  declined 
to  speak  of  the  matter  to  any  of  those  who  were  supposed 
to  have  the  management  of  political  affairs  in  the  State. 
It  came  to  me,  directly  and  unsought,  from  President 
McKinley;  I  therefore  prized  it,  and  shall  ever  prize  the 
remembrance  of  it. 

While  it  was  announced  as  pending,  I  was  urged  by 
various  friends  to  speak  of  the  subject  to  Mr.  Platt,  who, 
as  the  only  Republican  senator  from  New  York  and  the 
head  of  the  Republican  organization,  was  supposed  to 
have  large  rights  in  the  matter.  It  was  hinted  to  me  that 

I.-16 


242  POLITICAL  LIFE— XII 

some  statement  to  Mr.  Platt  on  the  subject  was  re- 
quired by  political  etiquette  and  would  smooth  the  Presi- 
dent's way.  My  answer  was  that  I  felt  respect  and  friend- 
ship for  Mr.  Platt;  that  I  called  at  his  rooms  from  time  to 
time  socially,  and  discussed  various  public  matters  with 
him ;  but  that  I  could  never  make  a  request  to  him  in  the 
premises ;  that  I  could  not  put  myself  in  the  attitude  of  a 
suppliant,  even  in  the  slightest  degree,  to  him  or  even  to 
the  President. 

The  result  was  that  the  President  himself  spoke  to  Mr. 
Platt  on  the  subject,  and,  as  I  was  afterward  informed,  the 
senator  replied  that  he  would  make  no  objection,  but  that 
the  appointment  ought  not  to  be  charged  against  the  claims 
of  the  State  of  New  York. 

The  presidential  campaign  of  1900,  in  which  Mr.  McKin- 
ley  was  presented  for  reelection,  touched  me  but  slightly. 
There  came  various  letters  urging  me  to  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  Vice-Presidency,  and  sundry  newspapers  pre- 
sented reasons  for  my  nomination,  the  main  argument 
being  the  same  which  had  been  formerly  used  as  regarded 
the  governorship  of  New  York— that  the  German- Ameri- 
cans were  estranged  from  the  Republican  party  by  the 
high  tariff,  and  that  I  was  the  only  Eepublican  who  could 
draw  them  to  the  ticket.  All  this  I  deprecated,  and  refused 
to  take  any  part  in  the  matter,  meantime  writing  my 
nephew,  who  had  become  my  successor  in  the  State  Senate, 
my  friend  Dr.  Holls,  and  others,  to  urge  the  name  of 
Theodore  Roosevelt.  I  had  known  him  for  many  years 
and  greatly  admired  him.  His  integrity  was  proof  against 
all  attack,  his  courage  undoubted,  and  his  vigor  amazing. 
It  was  clear  that  he  desired  renomination  for  the  place  he 
already  held— the  governorship  of  New  York— partly  be- 
cause he  was  devoted  to  certain  reforms,  which  he  could 
carry  out  only  in  that  position,  and  partly  because  he  pre- 
ferred activity  as  governor  of  a  great  State  to  the  usually 
passive  condition  of  a  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 
Moreover,  he  undoubtedly  had  aspirations  to  the  Presi- 
dency. These  were  perfectly  legitimate,  and  indeed  hon- 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT -1891-1904          243 

orable,  in  him,  as  they  are  in  any  man  who  feels  that  he 
has  the  qualities  needed  in  that  high  office.  He  and  his 
friends  clearly  felt  that  the  transition  from  the  governor- 
ship of  New  York  to  the  Presidency  four  years  later  would 
be  more  natural  than  that  from  the  Vice-Presidency;  but 
in  my  letters  I  insisted  that  his  name  would  greatly 
strengthen  the  national  ticket,  and  that  his  road  to  the 
Presidency  seemed  to  me  more  easy  from  the  Vice-Presi- 
dency than  from  the  governorship ;  that,  although  during 
recent  years  Vice-Presidents  had  not  been  nominated  to 
the  higher  office,  during  former  years  they  had  been ;  and 
that  I  could  see  no  reason  why  he  might  not  bring  about 
a  return  to  the  earlier  custom.  As  to  myself,  at  my  age,  I 
greatly  preferred  the  duties  of  ambassador  to  those  of 
Vice-President.  The  Republican  party  was  wise  enough 
to  take  this  view,  and  at  the  National  Convention  he  was 
nominated  by  acclamation. 

Early  in  August,  having  taken  a  leave  of  absence  for 
sixty  days,  I  arrived  in  New  York,  and  on  landing  received 
an  invitation  from  Mr.  Roosevelt  to  pass  the  day  with  him 
at  his  house  in  the  country.  I  found  him  the  same  earnest, 
energetic,  straightforward  man  as  of  old.  Though  nomi- 
nated to  the  Vice-Presidency  against  his  will,  he  had 
thrown  himself  heartily  into  the  campaign,  and  the  discus- 
sion at  his  house  turned  mainly  on  the  securing  of  a  proper 
candidate  for  the  governorship  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
I  recommended  Charles  Andrews,  who,  although  in  the 
fullest  vigor  of  mind  and  body,  had  been  retired  from  the 
chief -justiceship  of  the  State  on  his  arrival  at  the  age  of 
seventy  years.  This  recommendation  Mr.  Roosevelt  re- 
ceived favorably;  but  later  it  was  found  impossible  to 
carry  it  out,  the  Republican  organization  in  the  State 
having  decided  in  favor  of  Mr.  Odell. 

During  my  entire  stay  in  the  United  States  I  was 
constantly  occupied  with  arrears  of  personal  business 
which  had  been  too  long  neglected ;  but,  at  the  request  of 
various  friends,  wrote  sundry  open  letters  and  articles, 
which  were  widely  circulated  among  German-Americans, 


244  POLITICAL  LIFE-XII 

showing  the  injustice  of  the  charge  so  constantly  made 
against  President  McKinley,  of  hostility  to  Germany  and 
German  interests.  Nothing  could  be  more  absurd  than 
such  an  imputation.  The  very  opposite  was  the  case. 

I  also  gave  a  farewell  address  to  a  great  assemblage  of 
students  at  Cornell  University,  my  topic  being  ' '  The  True 
Conduct  of  Student  Life" ;  but  in  the  course  of  my  speech, 
having  alluded  to  the  importance  of  sobriety  of  judgment, 
I  tested  by  it  sundry  political  contentions  which  were 
strongly  made  on  both  sides,  alluding  especially  to  Gold- 
win  Smith's  very  earnest  declaration  that  one  of  the 
greatest  dangers  to  our  nation  arises  from  plutocracy. 
I  took  pains  to  show  that  the  whole  spirit  of  our  laws 
is  in  favor  of  the  rapid  dispersion  of  great  properties, 
and  that,  within  the  remembrance  of  many  present,  a 
large  number  of  the  greatest  fortunes  in  the  United  States 
had  been  widely  dispersed.  As  to  other  declarations  re- 
garding dangers  arising  from  the  acquisition  of  foreign 
territory  and  the  like,  I  insisted  that  all  these  dangers  were 
as  nothing  compared  to  one  of  which  we  were  then  having 
a  striking  illustration— namely,  demagogism ;  and  I  urged, 
what  I  have  long  deeply  felt,  that  the  main  source  of 
danger  to  republican  institutions  is  now,  and  always  has 
been,  the  demagogism  which  seeks  to  array  labor  against 
capital,  employee  against  employer,  profession  against 
profession,  class  against  class,  section  against  section.  I 
mentioned  the  name  of  no  one ;  but  it  must  have  been  clear 
to  all  present  how  deeply  I  felt  regarding  the  issues  which 
each  party  represented,  and  especially  regarding  the  resort 
to  the  lowest  form  of  demagogism  which  Mr.  Bryan  was 
then  making,  in  the  desperate  attempt  to  save  his  falling 
fortunes. 

During  this  stay  in  America  I  made  two  visits  to  Wash- 
ington to  confer  with  the  President  and  the  State  Depart- 
ment. The  first  of  these  was  during  the  hottest  weather  I 
have  ever  known.  There  were  few  people  at  the  capital 
who  could  leave  it,  and  at  the  Arlington  Hotel  there 
were  not  more  than  a  dozen  guests.  All  were  distressed 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT -1891-1904          245 

by  the  heat.  Moreover,  there  was  an  amazing  complica- 
tion of  political  matters  at  this  time,  calculated  to  pros- 
trate the  Washington  officials,  even  if  the  heat  had  not  done 
so ;  and,  among  these,  those  relating  to  American  control  in 
the  Philippine  Islands ;  the  bitter  struggle  then  going  on  in 
China  between  the  representatives  of  foreign  powers,  in- 
cluding our  own,  and  the  Chinese  insurrectionists;  the 
difficulties  arising  out  of  the  successful  result  of  the  Span- 
ish War  in  Cuba ;  complications  in  the  new  administration 
of  Porto  Rico;  and  the  myriad  of  questions  arising  in  a 
heated  political  campaign,  which  was  then  running  fast 
and  furious. 

Arriving  at  the  White  House,  I  passed  an  hour  with  the 
President,  and  found  him,  of  all  men  in  Washington,  the 
only  one  who  seemed  not  at  all  troubled  by  the  heat,  by 
the  complications  in  China,  by  the  difficulties  in  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico,  or  by  the  rush  and  whirl  of  the  campaign.  He 
calmly  discussed  with  me  the  draft  of  a  political  note 
which  was  to  be  issued  next  day  in  answer  to  the  Russian 
communications  regarding  the  mode  of  procedure  in 
China,  which  had  started  some  very  trying  questions ;  and 
then  showed  me  a  letter  from  ex-President  Cleveland  de- 
clining a  position  on  the  International  Arbitration  Tribu- 
nal at  the  Hague,  and  accepted  my  suggestion  not  to  con- 
sider it  a  final  answer,  but  to  mate  another  effort  for 
Mr.  Cleveland's  acceptance.  During  this  first  visit  of 
mine,  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  First  Assistant  Secre- 
tary were  both  absent,  having  been  almost  prostrated  by 
the  extreme  heat.  At  a  second  visit  in  October,  I  again 
saw  the  President,  found  him  in  the  same  equable  frame  of 
mind,  not  allowing  anything  to  trouble  him,  quietly  dis- 
charging his  duties  in  the  calm  faith  that  all  would  turn 
out  well.  Dining  with  Secretary  Hay,  I  mentioned  this 
equanimity  of  the  President,  when  he  said:  "Yes;  it  is  a 
source  of  perpetual  amazement  to  us  all.  He  allows  no 
question,  no  matter  how  complicated  or  vexatious,  to  dis- 
turb him.  Some  time  since,  at  a  meeting  of  the  cabinet, 
one  of  its  members  burst  out  into  a  bitter  speech  against 


246  POLITICAL  LIFE-XII 

some  government  official  who  had  been  guilty  of  gross 
rudeness,  and  said,  'Mr.  President,  he  has  insulted  you, 
and  he  has  insulted  me';  thereupon  the  President  said 
calmly,  'Mr.  Secretary,  if  he  has  insulted  me,  I  forgive 
him;  if  he  has  insulted  you,  I  shall  remove  him  from 
office.'  " 

Newspapers  were  teeming  with  misrepresentations  of 
the  President's  course,  but  they  failed  to  ruffle  him.  On 
his  asking  if  I  was  taking  any  part  in  the  campaign,  I  re- 
ferred to  a  speech  that  I  had  made  on  the  Fourth  of  July 
in  Leipsic,  and  another  to  the  Cornell  University  students 
just  before  my  departure,  with  the  remark  that  I  felt  that 
a  foreign  diplomatic  representative  coming  home  and 
throwing  himself  eagerly  into  the  campaign  might  pos- 
sibly do  more  harm  than  good.  In  this  remark  he  acqui- 
esced, and  said:  "I  shall  not,  myself,  make  any  speeches 
whatever ;  nor  shall  I  give  any  public  receptions.  My  rec- 
ord is  before  the  American  people,  and  they  must  pass 
judgment  upon  it.  In  this  respect  I  shall  go  back  to  what 
seems  to  me  the  better  practice  of  the  early  Presidents." 
I  was  struck  by  the  justice  of  this,  and  told  him  so,  al- 
though I  felt  obliged  to  say  that  he  would  be  under  fearful 
temptation  to  speak  before  the  campaign  had  gone  much 
farther.  He  smiled,  but  held  to  his  determination,  despite 
the  fact  that  his  opponent  invaded  all  parts  of  the  Union 
in  an  oratorical  frenzy,  in  one  case  making  a  speech  at 
half-past  two  in  the  morning  to  a  crowd  assembled  at  a 
railway  station,  and  making  during  one  day  thirty-one 
speeches,  teeming  with  every  kind  of  campaign  misrepre- 
sentation; but  the  President  was  faithful  to  his  promise, 
littered  no  word  in  reply,  and  was  reflected. 

Not  only  at  home,  but  abroad,  as  I  can  amply  testify,  the 
news  of  his  reelection  was  received  with  general  satisfac- 
tion, and  most  of  all  by  those  who  wish  well  to  our  country 
and  cherish  hopes  that  government  by  the  people  and  for 
the  people  may  not  be  brought  to  naught  by  the  wild 
demagogism  which  has  wrecked  all  great  republics  thus 
far. 


McKINLEY  AND   ROOSEVELT -1891-1904          247 

But  alas!  the  triumph  was  short-lived.  One  morning 
in  September,  while  I  was  slowly  recovering  from  two  of 
the  greatest  bereavements  which  have  ever  befallen  me, 
came  the  frightful  news  of  his  assassination.  Shortly 
afterward,  for  family  and  business  reasons,  I  went  for  a 
few  weeks  to  the  United  States,  and,  in  the  course  of  my 
visit,  conferred  with  the  new  President  three  times— first 
at  the  Yale  bicentennial  celebration,  afterward  in  his  pri- 
vate office,  and  finally  at  his  table  in  the  White  House. 
Hard  indeed  was  it  for  me  to  realize  what  had  taken  place 
-that  President  McKinley,whom  I  had  so  recently  seen  in 
his  chair  at  the  head  of  the  cabinet  table,  was  gone  forever ; 
that  in  those  rooms,  where  I  had,  at  four  different  times, 
chatted  pleasantly  with  him,  he  was  never  to  be  seen 
more ;  and  that  here,  in  that  same  seat,  was  sitting  my  old 
friend  and  co-laborer.  Hard  was  it  to  realize  that  the  last 
time  I  had  met  Mr.  Roosevelt  in  that  same  room  was  when 
we  besought  President  Harrison  to  extend  the  civil  ser- 
vice. Interesting  as  the  new  President's  conversation  was, 
there  was  constantly  in  my  mind,  whether  in  his  office  or 
his  parlors  or  the  dining-room  at  the  White  House,  one 
deep  undertone.  It  was  like  the  pedal  bass  of  an  organ, 
steadily  giving  the  ground  tone  of  a  requiem— the  vanity 
and  evanescence  of  all  things  earthly.  There  had  I  seen, 
in  the  midst  of  their  jubilant  supporters,  Pierce,  Lincoln, 
Grant,  Hayes,  Garfield,  Cleveland,  Harrison,  and,  finally, 
so  short  a  time  before,  McKinley.  It  seemed  all  a  dream. 
In  his  conversations  the  new  President  showed  the  same 
qualities  that  I  had  before  known  in  him— earnestness, 
vigor,  integrity,  fearlessness,  and,  at  times,  a  sense  of 
humor,  blending  playfully  with  his  greater  qualities.  The 
message  he  gave  me  to  the  Emperor  William  was  charac- 
teristic. I  was  naturally  charged  to  assure  the  Emperor  of 
the  President's  kind  feeling;  but  to  this  was  added,  in  a 
tone  of  unmistakable  truth:  "Tell  him  that  when  I  say 
this,  I  mean  it.  I  have  been  brought  up  to  admire  and 
respect  Germany.  My  life  in  that  country  and  my  reading 
since  have  steadily  increased  this  respect  and  admiration." 


248  POLITICAL  LIFE -XII 

I  noticed  on  the  table  a  German  book  which  he  had  just 
been  reading,  its  author  being  my  old  friend  Professor 
Hans  Delbriick  of  the  Berlin  University.  At  the  close  of 
the  message,  which  referred  to  sundry  matters  of  current 
business,  came  a  playful  postlude.  "Tell  his  Majesty," 
said  the  President, l '  that  I  am  a  hunter  and,  as  such,  envy 
him  one  thing  especially:  he  has  done  what  I  have  never 
yet  been  able  to  do— he  has  killed  a  whale.  But  say  to 
him  that  if  he  will  come  to  the  United  States,  I  will  take 
him  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  hunt  the  mountain  lions, 
which  is  no  bad  sport,— and  that  if  he  kills  one,  as  he 
doubtless  will,  he  will  be  the  first  monarch  who  has  killed 
a  lion  since  Tiglath-Pileser. ' '  I  need  hardly  add  that 
when,  a  few  weeks  later,  I  delivered  the  message  to 
the  Emperor  at  Potsdam,  it  pleased  him.  Many  people 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  have  noted  a  similarity  in 
qualities  between  these  two  rulers,  and,  from  close  obser- 
vation, I  must  confess  that  this  is  better  founded  than  are 
most  such  attributed  resemblances.  The  Emperor  has 
indeed  several  accomplishments,  more  especially  in  artis- 
tic matters,  which,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  President  has 
not ;  but  both  are  ambitious  in  the  noblest  sense ;  both  are 
young  men  of  deep  beliefs  and  high  aims ;  earnest,  vigor- 
ous, straightforward,  clear-sighted;  good  speakers,  yet 
sturdy  workers,  and  anxious  for  the  prosperity,  but  above 
all  things  jealous  for  the  honor  of  the  people  whose  af- 
fairs they  are  called  to  administer.  The  President's  ac- 
counts of  difficulties  in  finding  men  for  responsible  po- 
sitions in  various  branches  of  the  service,  and  his  clear 
statements  of  the  proper  line  to  be  observed  in  political 
dealings  between  the  United  States  and  Europe  where 
South  American  interests  were  concerned,  showed  him  to 
be  a  broad-minded  statesman.  During  my  stay  with  him, 
we  also  discussed  one  or  two  points  in  his  forthcoming 
message  to  Congress,  and  in  due  time  it  was  received  at 
Berlin,  attracting  general  respect  and  admiration  in  Ger- 
many, as  throughout  Europe  generally. 


PAET  III 
AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR 


CHAPTER  XV 

LIFE  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN  — 1857-1864 

AS  I  looked  out  upon  the  world  during  my  childhood, 
JTJL  there  loomed  up  within  my  little  horizon  certain  per- 
sonages as  ideals.  Foremost  of  these  was  the  surpliced 
clergyman  of  the  parish.  So  strong  was  my  admiration 
for  him  that  my  dear  mother,  during  her  entire  life,  never 
relinquished  the  hope,  and  indeed  the  expectation,  that  I 
would  adopt  the  clerical  profession. 

Another  object  of  my  admiration— to  whose  profession 
I  aspired— was  the  village  carpenter.  He  "did  things, " 
and  from  that  day  to  this  I  have  most  admired  the  men 
who  "do  things. " 

Yet  another  of  these  personages  was  the  principal  of 
Cortland  Academy.  As  I  saw  him  addressing  his  students, 
or  sitting  in  the  midst  of  them  observing  with  a  telescope 
the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  I  was  overawed.  A  sense  of  my 
littleness  overcame  me,  and  I  hardly  dared  think  of  as- 
piring to  duties  so  exalted. 

But  at  the  age  of  seven  a  new  ideal  appeared.  The 
family  had  removed  from  the  little  town  where  I  was  born 
to  Syracuse,  then  a  rising  village  of  about  five  thousand 
inhabitants.  The  railways,  east  and  west,  had  just  been 
created,— the  beginnings  of  what  is  now  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad,— and  every  day,  so  far  as  possible,  I 
went  down-town  '  '  to  see  the  cars  go  out. ' '  During  a  large 
part  of  the  year  there  was  but  one  passenger-train  in  each 
direction,  and  this  was  made  up  of  but  three  or  four  small 
compartment-cars  drawn  by  a  locomotive  which  would 

251 


252  AS   UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-I 

now  be  considered  ridiculously  small,  at  the  rate  of  twelve 
to  fifteen  miles  an  hour. 

Yet  I  doubt  whether  the  express  trains  on  the  New  York 
Central,  drawn  by  hundred-ton  locomotives  at  a  speed  of 
sixty  miles  an  hour,  produce  on  the  youth  of  the  present 
generation  anything  like  the  impression  made  by  those 
simple  beginnings.  The  new  personage  who  now  attracted 
my  homage  was  the  locomotive-driver.  To  me  his  profes- 
sion transcended  all  others.  As  he  mounted  the  locomotive, 
and  especially  as  he  pulled  the  starting-bar,  all  other  func- 
tions seemed  insignificant.  Every  day  I  contemplated 
him;  often  I  dreamed  of  him;  saw  him  in  my  mind's 
eye  dashing  through  the  dark  night,  through  the  rain  and 
hail,  through  drifting  snow,  through  perils  of  "wash- 
outs ' '  and  '  '  snake-heads, ' '  and  no  child  in  the  middle  ages 
ever  thought  with  more  awe  of  a  crusading  knight  leading 
his  troops  to  the  Holy  City  than  did  I  think  of  this  hero 
standing  at  his  post  in  all  weathers,  conducting  his  train 
to  its  destination  beyond  the  distant  hills.  It  was  indeed 
the  day  of  small  things.  The  traveler  passing  from  New 
York  to  Buffalo  in  those  days  changed  from  the  steamer 
at  Albany  to  the  train  for  Schenectady,  there  changed  to 
the  train  for  Utica,  thence  took  the  train  for  Syracuse, 
there  stayed  overnight,  then  took  a  train  for  Auburn, 
where  he  found  the  train  for  Rochester,  and  after  two  more 
changes  arrived  in  Buffalo  after  a  journey  of  two  days 
and  a  night,  which  is  now  made  in  from  eight  to  ten  hours. 

But  the  locomotive-driver  was  none  the  less  a  personage, 
and  I  must  confess  that  my  old  feeling  of  respect  for  him 
clings  to  me  still.  To  this  hour  I  never  see  him  controlling 
his  fiery  steed  without  investing  him  with  some  of  the 
attributes  which  I  discerned  in  him  during  my  childhood. 
It  is  evident  to  me  that  the  next  heroes  whom  poets  will  ex- 
ploit will  be  the  drivers  of  our  railway  trains  and  the  pilots 
of  our  ocean  steamers.  One  poet  has,  indeed,  made  a  begin- 
ning already,— and  this  poet  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States  under  whom  I  am  now  serving,  the  Hon. 
John  Hay,  Still  another  poet,  honored  throughout  the 


LIFE  AT  MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY -1857 -1864    253 

world,  has  also  found  a  hero  in  the  engine-driver,  and 
Kudyard  Kipling  will  no  doubt  be  followed  by  others. 

But  my  dreain  of  becoming  a  locomotive-driver  faded, 
and  while  in  college  I  speculated  not  a  little  as  to  what, 
after  all,  should  be  my  profession.  The  idea  of  becoming 
a  clergyman  had  long  since  left  my  mind.  The  medical 
profession  had  never  attracted  me.  For  the  legal  profes- 
sion I  sought  to  prepare  myself  somewhat,  but  as  I  saw  it 
practised  by  the  vast  majority  of  lawyers,  it  seemed  a 
waste  of  all  that  was  best  in  human  life.  Politics  were 
from  an  early  period  repulsive  to  me,  and,  after  my  first 
sight  of  Washington  in  its  shabby,  sleazy,  dirty,  unkempt 
condition  under  the  old  slave  oligarchy,  political  life  be- 
came absolutely  repugnant  to  my  tastes  and  desires.  At 
times  a  longing  came  over  me  to  settle  down  in  the  coun- 
try, to  make  an  honest  living  from  a  farm— a  longing 
which  took  its  origin  in  a  visit  which  I  had  made  as  a  child 
to  the  farm  of  an  uncle  who  lived  upon  the  shores  of 
Seneca  Lake.  He  was  a  man  of  culture,  who,  by  the  aid 
of  a  practical  farmer  and  an  income  from  other  sources, 
got  along  very  well.  His  roomy,  old-fashioned  house,  his 
pleasant  library,  his  grounds  sloping  to  the  lake,  his 
peach-orchard,  which  at  my  visit  was  filled  with  delicious 
fruit,  and  the  pleasant  paths  through  the  neighboring 
woods  captivated  me,  and  for  several  years  the  agricul- 
tural profession  lingered  in  my  visions  as  the  most  attrac- 
tive of  all. 

As  I  now  look  back  to  my  early  manhood,  it  seems  that 
my  natural  inclination  should  have  been  toward  journal- 
ism ;  but  although  such  a  career  proves  attractive  to  many 
of  our  best  university-bred  men  now,  it  was  not  so  then. 
In  those  days  men  did  not  prepare  for  it;  they  drifted 
Into  it.  I  do  not  think  that  at  my  graduation  there  was 
one  out  of  the  one  hundred  and  eight  members  of  my  class 
who  had  the  slightest  expectation  of  permanently  connect- 
ing himself  with  a  newspaper.  This  seems  all  the  more 
singular  since  that  class  has  since  produced  a  large  num- 
ber of  prominent  journalists,  and  among  these  George 


254  AS   UNIVERSITY   PROFESSOR-I 

TVaskburne  Smaller,  the  most  eminent,  by  far,  among 
American  newspaper  correspondents  of  our  time;  Evarts 
Greene,  a  leading  editor  of  Worcester;  Delano  Goddard, 
late  editor  of  the  ''Boston  Advertiser";  Kinsley  Twining, 
for  a  considerable  time  an  editor  of  the  ''Independent"; 
Isaac  Bromley,  who  for  years  delighted  the  Republican 
party  with  his  contributions  to  the  editorial  page  of  the 
"Tribune";  Dr.  James  Morris  AYhiton,  a  leading  writer 
for  the  t ' Outlook"  ;  and  others.  Yet  in  those  days  probably 
not  one  of  these  ever  thought  of  turning  to  journalism  as 
a  career.  There  were  indeed  at  that  time  eminent  editors, 
like  AYeed,  Croswell,  Greeley,  Raymond,  and  AY  ebb,  but 
few  college-bred  men  thought  of  journalism  as  a  profes- 
sion. Looking  back  upon  all  this,  I  feel  certain  that,  were 
I  to  begin  life  again  with  my  present  experience,  that 
would  be  the  career  for  which  I  would  endeavor  to  fit  my- 
self. It  has  in  it  at  present  many  admirable  men,  but  far 
more  who  are  manifestly  unfit.  Its  capacities  for  good  or 
evil  are  enormous,  yet  the  majority  of  those  at  present  in 
it  seem  to  me  like  savages  who  have  found  a  watch.  I 
can  think  of  no  profession  in  which  young  men  properly 
fitted  — gifted  with  ideas  and  inspired  by  a  real  wish  to  do 
something  for  their  land  and  time — can  more  certainly  do 
good  work  and  win  distinction.  To  supplant  the  present 
race  of  journalistic  prostitutes,  who  are  making  many  of 
our  newspapers  as  foul  in  morals,  as  low  in  tone,  and  as 
vile  in  utterance  as  even  the  worst  of  the  French  press, 
might  well  be  the  ambition  of  leading  thinkers  in  any  of 
our  universities.  There  is  nothing  so  greatly  needed  in 
our  country  as  an  uplifting  of  the  daily  press,  and  there 
is  no  work  promising  better  returns. 

But  during  my  student  life  in  Paris  and  Berlin  another 
vista  began  to  open  before  me.  I  had  never  lost  that  re- 
spect for  tlie  teaching  profession  which  had  been  aroused 
in  my  childhood  by  the  sight  of  Principal  \Yoolworth  en- 
throned among  the  students  of  Portland  Academy,  and 
this  early  impression  was  now  greatly  deepened  by  my 
experience  at  the  Sorbonne,  the  College  of  France,  and  the 


LIFE  AT  MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY -1857 -1864    255 

University  of  Berlin.  My  favorite  studies  at  Yale  had 
been  history  and  kindred  subjects,  but  these  had  been 
taught  mainly  from  text-books.  Lectures  were  few  and 
dry.  Even  those  of  President  Woolsey  were  not  inspir- 
ing; he  seemed  paralyzed  by  the  system  of  which  he 
formed  a  part.  But  men  like  Arnould,  St.  Marc  Girardin, 
and  Laboulaye  in  France,  and  Lepsius,  Bitter,  von  Rau- 
mer,  and  Curtius  in  Germany,  lecturing  to  large  bodies  of 
attentive  students  on  the  most  interesting  and  instructive 
periods  of  human  history,  aroused  in  me  a  new  current  of 
ideas.  Gradually  I  began  to  ask  myself  the  question :  Why 
not  help  the  beginnings  of  this  system  in  the  United  States  I 
I  had  long  felt  deeply  the  shortcomings  of  our  American 
universities,  and  had  tried  hard  to  devise  something  better ; 
yet  my  ideas  as  to  what  could  really  be  done  to  improve 
them  had  been  crude  and  vague.  But  now,  in  these  great 
foreign  universities,  one  means  of  making  a  reform  be- 
came evident,  and  this  was,  first  of  all,  the  substitution  of 
lectures  for  recitations,  and  the  creation  of  an  interest 
in  history  by  treating  it  as  a  living  subject  having  rela- 
tions to  present  questions.  Upon  this  I  reflected  much, 
and  day  by  day  the  idea  grew  upon  me.  So  far  as  I  can 
remember,  there  was  not  at  that  time  a  professor  of  his- 
tory pure  and  simple  in  any  American  university.  There 
had  been  courses  of  historical  lectures  at  a  few  institutions, 
but  they  were,  as  a  rule,  spasmodic  and  perfunctory.  How 
history  was  taught  at  Yale  is  shown  in  another  chapter  of 
these  reminiscences.  The  lectures  of  President  Sparks 
had  evidently  trained  up  no  school  of  historical  professors 
at  Harvard.  There  had  been  a  noted  professor  at  William 
and  Mary  College,  Virginia,— doubtless,  in  his  time,  the 
best  historical  lecturer  in  the  United  States,— Dr.  William 
Dew,  the  notes  of  whose  lectures,  as  afterward  published, 
were  admirable;  but  he  had  left  no  successor.  Francis 
Lieber,  at  the  University  of  South  Carolina,  had  taught 
political  philosophy  with  much  depth  of  thought  and 
wealth  of  historical  illustration ;  but  neither  there  nor  else- 
where did  there  exist  anything  like  systematic  courses  in 


256  AS   UNIVERSITY   PKOFESSOR-I 

li  1st  cry  such  as  liave  now  been  developed  in  so  many  of 
our  universities  and  colleges. 

J hiring1  my  stay  as  resident  graduate  at  Yale  after  my 
return  from  Europe  in  ISjC,  1  often  discussed  the  subject 
with  my  old  friend  and  companion  (Jilman,  now  president 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution,  and  with  my  beloved  instruc- 
tor, Professor  Porter.  .Both  were  kind  enough  to  urge  me 
to  remain  at  Xew  Haven,  assuring  me  that  in  time  a  profes- 
sorship would  be  established.  To  promote  this  I  wrote  an 
article  on  "German  Instruction  in  (jeneral  History/' 
which  was  well  received  when  published  in  the  "Xew  Eng- 
lander, ''  and  prepared  sundry  lectures,  which  were  re- 
ceived by  the  university  people  and  by  the  Xew  York  press 
more  favorably  than  1  now  think  they  deserved.  But  there 
seemed,  after  all,  no  chance  for  a  professorship  devoted  to 
this  line  of  study.  More  and  more,  too,  I  felt  that  even  if  1 
were  called  to  a  historical  professorship  at  Yale,  the  old- 
fashioned  orthodoxy  which  then  prevailed  must  fetter  me: 
1  could  not  utter  the  shibboleths  then  demanded,  and  the 
future  seemed  dark  indeed.  Y'et  my  belief  in  the  value 
of  better  historical  instruction  in  our  universities  grew 
more  and  more,  and  a  most  happy  impulse  was  now  given 
to  my  thinking  by  a  book  which  1  read  and  reread  — 
Stanley's  <4Life  of  Arnold.'1  It  showed  me  much,  but 
especially  two  things:  first,  how  effective  history  might 
be  made  in  bringing  young  men  into  fruitful  trains  of 
thought  regarding  present  politics;  and,  secondly,  how 
real  an  influence  an  earnest  teacher  might  thus  exercise 
upon  his  country. 

AYhiie  in  this  state  of  mind  T  met  my  class  assembled  at 
the  Yale  commencement  of  .IS.KJ  to  take  the  master's  de- 
gree in  course,  after  the  manner  of  those  days.  This  was 
the  turning-point  with  me.  I  had  been  for  some  time  more 
and  more  uneasy  and  unhappy  because  my  way  did  not 
.M'em  to  clear;  hut  at  this  commencement  of  lSf)(>,  while 
lounging  among  my  classmates  in  the  college  yard,  I  heard 
some  one  say  thai  President  \YaylandofBrown  Iniversily 
was  addressing  the  graduates  in  the  Hall  of  the  Alumni. 


LIFE  AT  MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY-1857-1864    257 

Going  to  the  door,  I  looked  in,  and  saw  at  the  high  table  an 
old  man,  strong-featured,  heavy-browed,  with  spectacles 
resting  on  the  top  of  his  head,  and  just  at  that  moment  he 
spoke  very  impressively  as  follows:  "The  best  field  of 
work  for  graduates  is  now  in  the  West;  our  country  is 
shortly  to  arrive  at  a  switching-off  place  for  good  or  evil ; 
our  Western  States  are  to  hold  the  balance  of  power  in 
the  Union,  and  to  determine  whether  the  country  shall 
become  a  blessing  or  a  curse  in  human  history. ' ' 

I  had  never  seen  him  before ;  I  never  saw  him  afterward. 
His  speech  lasted  less  than  ten  minutes,  but  it  settled  a 
great  question  for  me.  I  went  home  and  wrote  to  sundry 
friends  that  I  was  a  candidate  for  the  professorship  of 
history  in  any  Western  college  where  there  was  a  chance 
to  get  at  students,  and  as  a  result  received  two  calls— one 
to  a  Southern  university,  which  I  could  not  accept  on  ac- 
count -of  my  anti-slavery  opinions ;  the  other  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan,  which  I  accepted.  My  old  college  friends 
were  kind  enough  to  tender  me  later  the  professorship  in 
the  new  School  of  Art  at  Yale,  but  my  belief  was  firm  in 
the  value  of  historical  studies.  The  words  of  Wayland 
rang  in  my  ears,  and  I  went  gladly  into  the  new  field. 

On  arriving  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in  October, 
1857,  although  I  had  much  to  do  with  other  students,  I  took 
especial  charge  of  the  sophomore  class.  It  included  many 
young  men  of  ability  and  force,  but  had  the  reputation  of 
being  the  most  unmanageable  body  which  had  been  known 
there  in  years.  Thus  far  it  had  been  under  the  charge  of 
tutors,  and  it  had  made  life  a  burden  to  them.  Its  prepa- 
ration for  the  work  I  sought  to  do  was  wretchedly  imper- 
fect. Among  my  duties  was  the  examination  of  entrance 
classes  in  modern  geography  as  a  preliminary  to  their  ad- 
mission to  my  course  in  history,  and  I  soon  discovered  a 
serious  weakness  in  the  public-school  system.  In  her  pre- 
paratory schools  the  State  of  Michigan  took  especial 
pride,  but  certainly  at  that  time  they  were  far  below 
their  reputation.  If  any  subject  was  supposed  to  be 
thoroughly  taught  in  them  it  was  geography,  but  I  soon 

L—17 


258  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-I 

found  that  in  the  great  majority  of  my  students  there  was 
not  a  trace  of  real  knowledge  of  physical  geography  and 
very  little  of  political.  With  this  state  of  things  I  at  once 
grappled,  and  immediately  "  conditioned "  in  these  studies 
about  nine  tenths  of  the  entering  class.  At  first  there  were 
many  protests ;  hut  I  said  to  my  ingenuous  youths  that  no 
pedantic  study  was  needed,  that  all  I  required  was  a  prepa- 
ration such  as  would  enable  any  one  of  them  to  read  intel- 
ligently his  morning  newspaper,  and  to  this  end  I  advised 
each  one  of  them  to  accept  his  conditions,  to  abjure  all 
learning  by  rote  from  text-books,  to  take  up  simply  any 
convenient  atlas  which  came  to  hand,  studying  first  the 
map  of  our  own  country,  with  its  main  divisions,  physical 
and  political,  its  water  communications,  trend  of  coasts, 
spurring  of  mountains,  positions  of  leading  cities,  etc.,  and 
then  to  do  the  same  thing  with  each  of  the  leading  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  and  finally  with  the  other  main  divisions 
of  the  world.  To  stimulate  their  interest  and  show  them 
what  was  meant,  I  gave  a  short  course  of  lectures  on 
physical  geography,  showing  some  of  its  more  striking 
effects  on  history;  then  another  course  on  political  geog- 
raphy, with  a  similar  purpose;  and  finally  notified  my 
young  men  that  they  were  admitted  to  my  classes  in  his- 
tory only  under  condition  that,  six  weeks  later,  they  should 
pass  an  examination  in  geography,  full,  satisfactory,  and 
final.  The  young  fellows  now  took  their  conditions  very 
kindly,  for  they  clearly  saw  the  justice  of  them.  One 
young  man  said  to  me:  "Professor,  you  are  entirely  right 
in  conditioning  me,  but  I  was  never  so  surprised  in  my 
life ;  if  there  was  anything  which  I  supposed  I  knew  well 
it  was  geography ;  why,  I  have  taught  it,  and  very  success- 
fully, in  a  large  public  school. ' '  On  my  asking  him  how  he 
taught  a  subject  in  which  he  was  so  deficient,  he  answered 
that  he  had  taught  his  pupils  to  l '  sing  "it.  I  replied  that  if 
he  would  sing  the  answers  to  my  questions,  I  would  admit 
him  at  once ;  but  this  he  declined,  saying  that  he  much  pre- 
ferred to  accept  the  conditions.  In  about  six  weeks  I  held 
the  final  examinations,  and  their  success  amazed  us  alL 


LIFE  AT   MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY -1857 -1864    259 

Not  a  man  failed,  and  some  really  distinguished  them- 
selves. They  had  all  gone  at  the  work  cordially  and  heart- 
ily, arranging  themselves  in  squads  and  clubs  for  mutual 
study  and  examination  on  each  physical  and  political  map ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  by  this  simple,  common-sense  method 
they  learned  more  in  six  weeks  than  they  had  previously 
learned  in  years  of  plodding  along  by  rote,  day  after  day, 
through  text-books. 

Nor  was  this  mere  ' '  cram. ' '  Their  geographical  know- 
ledge lasted  and  was  increased,  as  was  proved  at  my  his- 
torical examinations  afterward. 

I  soon  became  intensely  interested  in  my  work,  and 
looked  forward  to  it  every  day  with  pleasure.  The  first 
part  of  it  was  instruction  in  modern  history  as  a  basis  for 
my  lectures  which  were  to  follow,  and  for  this  purpose  I 
used  with  the  sophomores  two  text-books.  The  first  of 
these  was  Robertson 's  i  l  Philosophical  View  of  the  Middle 
Ages/'  which  forms  the  introduction  to  his  "Life  of 
Charles  the  Fifth."  Although  superseded  in  many  of 
its  parts  by  modern  investigation,  very  defective  in  sev- 
eral important  matters,  and  in  some  things— as,  for  exam- 
ple, in  its  appreciation  of  medieval  literature— entirely 
mistaken,  it  was,  when  written  one  hundred  years  ago, 
recognized  as  a  classic,  and  it  remains  so  to  this  day.  It 
was  a  work  of  genius.  Supplemented  by  elucidations  and 
extensions,  it  served  an  admirable  purpose  in  introducing 
my  students  to  the  things  really  worth  knowing  in  modern 
history,  without  confusing  them  with  masses  of  pedantic 
detail. 

The  next  text-book  which  I  took  up  was  Dr.  John  Lord's 
"Modern  History,"  the  same  which  President  Woolsey 
had  used  with  my  class  during  its  senior  year  at  Yale.  It 
was  imperfect  in  every  respect,  with  no  end  of  gaps  and 
errors,  but  it  had  one  real  merit— it  interested  its  readers. 
It  was,  as  every  such  work  ought  to  be,  largely  biographic. 
There  was  enthusiasm,  a  sort  of  "go,"  in  Dr.  Lord,  and 
this  quality  he  had  communicated  to  his  book,  so  that,  with 
all  its  faults,  it  formed  the  best  basis  then  obtainable  for 


2GO  AS   UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR— I 

further  instruction.  Its  omissions  and  errors  I  sought  to 
rectify  —  as  AYoolsey,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  had  never  done  to 
any  extent  —  hy  oi't'liand  talks  and  by  pointing  out  supple- 
mentary reading,  such  as  sundry  chapters  of  Gibbon  and 
Hallain,  essays  by  Macaulay,  extracts  from  Lingard, 
Ranke,  Prescott,  Motley,  and  others.  Once  a  fortnight 
through  the  winter,  the  class  assembled  at  my  house  "so- 
cially," the  more  attractive  young  women  of  the  little  city 
being  invited  to  meet  them;  but  the  social  part  was  always 
preceded  by  an  hour  and  a  half's  reading  of  short  passages 
from  eminent  historians  or  travelers,  bearing  on  our  class- 
room work  during  the  previous  fortnight.  These,  pas- 
sages were  read  by  students  whom  I  selected  for  the 
purpose,  and  they  proved  useful  from  the  historical,  liter- 
ary, and  social  point  of  view. 

For  the  class  next  above,  the  juniors,  I  took  for  text- 
book preparation  Guizot's  "History  of  Civilization  in 
Europe"— a  book  tinged  with  the  doctrinairism  of  its 
author,  but  a  work  of  genius;  a  (jrent  work,  stimulating 
new  trains  of  thought,  and  opening  new  vistas  of  know- 
ledge. This,  with  sundry  supplementary  talks,  and  with 
short  readings  from  Gibbon,  Thierry,  Guizot's  "History 
of  Civilization  in  France,"  and  Sir  .lames  Stephen's 
"Lectures  on  French  History,"  served  an  excellent  pur- 
pose. 

Xor  was  the  use  of  Guizot's  book  entirely  confined  to 
historical  purposes.  Calling  attention  to  the  Abbe  Ban- 
tam's little  book  on  extemporaneous  speaking,  as  the  best 
treatise  on  the  subject  I  had  ever  seen,  I  reminded  my 
students  that  these  famous  lectures  of  Gui/ot.  which  had 
opened  a  new  epoch  in  modern  historical  investigation  and 
instruction,  were  given,  as  regards  phrasing,  extempora- 
neously, but  that,  as  regards  matter,  they  were  carefully 
prepared  beforehand,  having  what  Bautain  calls  a  *' self- 
developing  order";  and  I  stated  that  1  would  allow  any 
member  of  my  class  who  might  volunteer  for  the  purpose 
to  give,  in  his  own  phrasing,  the  substance  of  an  entire 
lecture.  For  a  young  man  thus  to  stand  up  and  virtually 


LIFE  AT  MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY -1857 -1864    261 

deliver  one  of  Guizot's  lectures  required  great  concentra- 
tion of  thought  and  considerable  facility  in  expression,  but 
several  students  availed  themselves  of  the  permission,  and 
acquitted  themselves  admirably.  This  seemed  to  me  an 
excellent  training  for  effective  public  speaking,  and  sev- 
eral of  my  old  students,  who  have  since  distinguished 
themselves  in  public  life,  have  confessed  to  me  that  they 
found  it  so. 

My  next  and  highest  duty  was  giving  lectures  to  the 
senior  class  and  students  from  the  law  school.  Into  this 
I  threw  myself  heartily,  and  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  my  large  lecture-room  constantly  full.  The  first 
of  these  courses  was  on  the  ' '  Development  of  Civilization 
during  the  Middle  Ages";  and,  as  I  followed  the  logical 
rather  than  the  chronological  order,— taking  up  the  sub- 
ject, not  by  a  recital  of  events,  but  by  a  discussion  of 
epochs  and  subjects,— I  thought  it  best  to  lecture  without 
manuscript  or  even  notes.  This  was,  for  me,  a  bold  ven- 
ture. I  had  never  before  attempted  anything  in  the  way 
of  extended  extemporaneous  speaking;  and,  as  I  entered 
the  old  chapel  of  the  university  for  my  first  lecture,  and 
saw  it  full  of  students  of  all  classes,  I  avowed  my  trepida- 
tion to  President  Tappan,  who,  having  come  to  introduce 
me,  was  seated  by  my  side.  He  was  an  admirable  extem- 
poraneous speaker  in  the  best  sense,  and  he  then  and  there 
gave  me  a  bit  of  advice  which  proved  of  real  value.  He 
said:  "Let  me,  as  an  old  hand,  tell  you  one  thing:  never 
stop  dead;  keep  saying  something."  This  course  of  lec- 
tures was  followed  by  others  on  modern  history,  one  of 
these  being  on  "German  History  from  the  Revival  of 
Learning  and  the  Reformation  to  Modern  Times,"  an- 
other on  "French  History  from  the  Consolidation  of  the 
Monarchy  to  the  French  Revolution,"  and  still  another  on 
the  "French  Revolution."  To  this  latter  course  I  gave 
special  attention,  the  foundation  having  been  laid  for  it 
in  France,  where  I  had  visited  various  interesting  places 
and  talked  with  interesting  men  who  recalled  events  and 
people  of  the  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  periods.  For 


262  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-I 

a  text-book  foundation  I  read  with  my  lower  classes 
Mignet's  "History  of  the  Revolution/'  which  still  re- 
mained what  Carlyle  pronounced  it— the  best  short  sum- 
mary of  that  great  period. 

To  further  the  work  of  my  students  in  the  lecture-room, 
I  published  an  interleaved  syllabus  of  each  course,  and 
was,  I  think,  the  first  person  in  our  country  who  ever  did 
this  in  connection  with  historical  lectures.  It  is  a  matter 
of  wonder  to  me  that  so  few  professors  in  these  days  resort 
to  this  simple  means  of  strengthening  their  instruction. 
It  ought  to  be  required  by  university  statutes.  It  seems 
to  me  indispensable  to  anything  like  thorough  work.  A 
syllabus,  properly  interleaved,  furnishes  to  a  student  by 
far  the  best  means  of  taking  notes  on  each  lecture,  as  well 
as  of  reviewing  the  whole  course  afterward,  and  to  a  pro- 
fessor the  best  means  of  testing  the  faithfulness  of  his 
students.  As  regards  myself  personally,  there  came  to 
me  from  my  syllabus  an  especial  advantage ;  for,  as  I  have 
shown  in  my  political  experiences,  it  gained  for  me  the 
friendship  of  Charles  Sumner. 

I  have  stated  elsewhere  that  my  zeal  in  teaching  history 
was  by  no  means  the  result  of  a  mere  liking  for  that  field 
of  thought.  Great  as  was  my  love  for  historical  studies, 
there  was  something  I  prized  far  more— and  that  was  the 
opportunity  to  promote  a  better  training  in  thought  re- 
garding our  great  national  problems  then  rapidly  ap- 
proaching solution,  the  greatest  of  all  being  the  question 
between  the  supporters  and  opponents  of  slavery. 

In  order  that  my  work  might  be  fairly  well  based,  I  had, 
during  my  college  days  and  my  first  stay  abroad,  begun 
collecting  the  private  library  which  has  added  certainly 
to  the  pleasures,  and  probably  to  the  usefulness,  of  my 
life.  Books  which  are  now  costly  rarities  could  then  be 
bought  in  the  European  capitals  for  petty  sums.  There 
is  hardly  any  old  European  city  which  has  not  been,  at 
some  time,  one  of  my  happy  hunting-grounds  in  the  chase 
for  rare  books  bearing  upon  history;  even  now,  when 
my  collection,  of  which  the  greater  part  has  been  trans- 


LIFE  AT  MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY -1857 -1864    263 

f erred  to  Cornell  University,  numbers  not  far  short  of 
forty  thousand  volumes,  the  old  passion  still  flames  up  at 
times;  and  during  the  inditing  of  this  chapter  I  have 
secured  two  series  of  manuscripts  of  very  great  value  in 
illustrating  the  evolution  of  modern  civilization.  My  rea- 
son for  securing  such  original  material  was  not  the  desire 
to  possess  rarities  and  curiosities.  I  found  that  passages 
actually  read  from  important  originals  during  my  lectures 
gave  a  reality  and  vividness  to  my  instruction  which  were 
otherwise  unattainable.  A  citation  of  the  ipsissima  verba 
of  Erasmus,  or  Luther,  or  Melanchthon,  or  Peter  Canisius, 
or  Louis  XIV,  or  Robespierre,  or  Marat,  interested  my 
students  far  more  than  any  quotation  at  second  hand  could 
do.  No  rhetoric  could  impress  on  a  class  the  real  spirit 
and  strength  of  the  middle  ages  as  could  one  of  my  illu- 
minated psalters  or  missals;  no  declamation  upon  the 
boldness  of  Luther  could  impress  thinking  young  men  as 
did  citations  from  his  i '  Erfurt  Sermon, ' '  which,  by  weak- 
ening his  safe-conduct,  put  him  virtually  at  the  mercy  of 
his  enemies  at  the  Diet  of  Worms ;  no  statements  as  to  the 
fatuity  of  Robespierre  could  equal  citations  from  an  origi- 
nal copy  of  his  "Report  on  the  Moral  and  Religious 
Considerations  which  Ought  to  Govern  the  Republic";  all 
specifications  of  the  folly  of  Marat  paled  before  the 
ravings  in  the  original  copies  of  his  newspaper,  "L'Ami 
du  Peuple";  no  statistics  regarding  the  paper-money 
craze  in  France  could  so  impress  its  actuality  on  students 
as  did  the  seeing  and  handling  of  French  revolutionary 
assignats  and  mandats,  many  of  them  with  registration 
numbers  clearly  showing  the  enormous  quantities  of  this 
currency  then  issued;  no  illustration,  at  second  hand, 
of  the  methods  of  the  French  generals  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary period  could  produce  the  impression  given 
by  a  simple  exhibition  of  the  broadsides  issued  by  the 
proconsuls  of  that  period;  no  description  of  the  col- 
lapse of  the  triumvirate  and  the  Reign  of  Terror  could 
equal  a  half -hour's  reading  from  the  "Moniteur"; 
and  all  accounts  of  the  Empire  were  dim  compared 


264  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-I 

to  grandiose  statements  read  from  the  original  bulletins 
of  Napoleon. 

In  this  way  alone  can  history  be  made  real  to  students. 
Both  at  my  lectures  and  in  the  social  gatherings  at  my 
house,  I  laid  out  for  my  classes  the  most  important  origi- 
nals bearing  upon  their  current  work ;  and  it  was  no  small 
pleasure  to  point  out  the  relations  of  these  to  the  events 
which  had  formed  the  subject  of  our  studies  together.  I 
say  ' '  our  studies  together, ' '  because  no  one  of  my  students 
studied  more  hours  than  myself.  They  stimulated  me 
greatly.  Most  of  them  were  very  near  my  own  age ;  sev- 
eral were  older.  As  a  rule,  they  were  bright,  inquiring, 
zealous,  and  among  them  were  some  of  the  best  minds  I 
have  ever  known.  From  among  them  have  since  come 
senators,  members  of  Congress,  judges,  professors,  law- 
yers, heads  of  great  business  enterprises,  and  foreign 
ministers.  One  of  them  became  my  successor  in  the  pro- 
fessorship in  the  University  of  Michigan  and  the  presi- 
dency of  Cornell,  and,  in  one  field,  the  leading  American 
historian  of  his  time.  Another  became  my  predecessor  in 
the  embassy  to  Germany.  Though  I  had  what  might  be 
fairly  called  "a  good  start "  of  these  men,  it  was  necessary 
to  work  hard  to  maintain  my  position ;  but  such  labor  was 
then  pleasure. 

Nor  was  my  work  confined  to  historical  teaching.  After 
the  fashion  of  that  time,  I  was  called  upon  to  hear  the 
essays  and  discussions  of  certain  divisions  of  the  upper 
classes.  This  demanded  two  evenings  a  week  through  two 
terms  in  each  year,  and  on  these  evenings  I  joyfully  went 
to  my  lecture-room,  not  infrequently  through  drifts  of 
snow,  and,  having  myself  kindled  the  fire  and  lighted  the 
lamps,  awaited  the  discussion.  This  subsidiary  work, 
which  in  these  degenerate  days  is  done  by  janitors,  is 
mentioned  here  as  showing  the  simplicity  of  a  bygone 
period.  The  discussions  thus  held  were  of  a  higher  range 
than  any  I  had  known  at  Yale,  and  some  were  decidedly 
original.  One  deserves  especial  mention.  A  controversy 
having  arisen  in  Massachusetts  and  spread  throughout  the 


LIFE  AT   MICHIGAN  UNIVERSITY-1857-1864    265 

country  regarding  the  erection  of  a  statue  of  Daniel  Web- 
ster in  front  of  the  State  House  at  Boston,  and  bitter  op- 
position having  been  aroused  by  his  seventh-of-March 
speech,  two  groups  of  my  student-disputants  agreed  to 
take  up  this  subject  and  model  their  speeches  upon  those 
of  Demosthenes  and  ^Eschines  on  the  crown,  which  they 
were  then  reading  in  the  original.  It  was  a  happy  thought, 
and  well  carried  out. 


\ 


CHAPTER  XVI 

UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST  — 1857-1864 

IT  must  be  confessed  that  all  was  not  plain  sailing 
in  my  new  position.  One  difficulty  arose  from  my 
very  youthful,  not  to  say  boyish,  appearance.  I  was, 
indeed,  the  youngest  member  of  the  faculty;  but  at 
twenty-four  years  one  has  the  right  to  be  taken  for  a 
man,  and  it  was  vexatious  to  be  taken  for  a  youth  of 
seventeen.  At  my  first  arrival  in  the  university  town 
I  noticed,  as  the  train  drew  up  to  the  station,  a  num- 
ber of  students,  evidently  awaiting  the  coming  of  such 
freshmen  as  might  be  eligible  to  the  various  fraternities; 
and,  on  landing,  I  was  at  once  approached  by  a  sophomore, 
who  asked  if  I  was  about  to  enter  the  university.  For  an 
instant  I  was  grievously  abashed,  but  pulling  myself  to- 
gether, answered  in  a  sort  of  affirmative  way;  and  at  this 
he  became  exceedingly  courteous,  taking  pains  to  pilot  me 
to  a  hotel,  giving  me  much  excellent  advice,  and  even  in- 
sisting on  carrying  a  considerable  amount  of  my  baggage. 
Other  members  of  fraternities  joined  us,  all  most  cour- 
teous and  kind,  and  the  denouement  came  only  at  the 
registration  of  my  name  in  the  hotel  book,  when  they 
recognized  in  me  "the  new  professor."  I  must  say  to 
their  credit  that,  although  they  were  for  a  time  laughed 
at  throughout  the  university,  they  remained  my  warm 
personal  friends. 

But  after  I  had  discharged  the  duties  of  my  professor- 
ship for  a  considerable  period,  this  same  difficulty  existed. 
On  a  shooting  excursion,  an  old  friend  and  myself  came, 

266 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST -1857-1864    267 

during  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  upon  a  farm-house, 
and,  being  very  hungry,  asked  for  bread  and  milk.  My 
companion  being  delayed  outside,  cleaning  the  guns,  the 
farmer's  wife  left  me  and  went  out  to  talk  with  him.  I 
continued  eating  my  bread  and  milk  voraciously,  and 
shortly  afterward  they  entered,  he  laughing  heartily  and 
she  looking  rather  shamefaced.  On  my  asking  the  cause, 
he  declined  for  a  time  to  state  it,  but  at  length  said  that 
she  had  come  out  to  warn  him  that  if  he  did  not  come  in 
pretty  soon  "that  boy  would  eat  up  all  the  bread  and  milk 
in  the  house."  This  story  leaked  out,  and  even  appeared 
in  a  local  paper,  but  never,  I  think,  did  me  any  harm. 

Another  occurrence,  shortly  afterward,  seemed  likely 
for  a  time  to  be  more  serious.  The  sophomore  class,  ex- 
uberant and  inventive  as  ever,  were  evidently  determined 
to  "try  it  on"  their  young  professor— in  fact,  to  treat  me 
as  they  had  treated  their  tutors.  Any  mistake  made  by  a 
student  at  a  quiz  elicited  from  sundry  benches  expressions 
of  regret  much  too  plaintive,  or  ejaculations  of  contempt 
much  too  explosive;  and  from  these  and  various  similar 
demonstrations  which  grew  every  day  among  a  certain  set 
in  my  class-room,  it  was  easy  to  see  that  a  trial  of  strength 
must  soon  come,  and  it  seemed  to  me  best  to  force  the 
fighting.  Looking  over  these  obstreperous  youths  I  noticed 
one  tall,  black-bearded  man  with  a  keen  twinkle  in  his  eye, 
who  was  evidently  the  leader.  There  was  nothing  in  him 
especially  demonstrative.  He  would  occasionally  nod  in 
this  direction,  or  wink  in  that,  or  smile  in  the  other;  but 
he  was  solemn  when  others  were  hilarious,  unconcerned 
when  others  applauded.  It  was  soon  clear  to  me  that  in 
him  lay  the  key  to  the  situation,  and  one  day,  at  the  close 
of  the  examination,  I  asked  him  to  remain.  When  we  were 
alone  I  said  to  him,  in  an  easy-going  way,  "So,  F — ,  I 
see  that  either  you  or  I  must  leave  the  university."  He 
at  once  bristled  up,  feigned  indignation,  and  said  that  he 
could  not  understand  me.  This  I  pooh-poohed,  saying  that 
we  understood  each  other  perfectly ;  that  I  had  been  only 
recently  a  student  myself ;  that,  if  the  growing  trouble  in 


268  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-II 

the  class  continued,  either  he  or  I  must  give  it  up,  and 
added/ i  I  believe  the  trustees  will  prefer  your  departure  to 
mine. ' '  At  this  he  protested  that  he  had  made  no  demon- 
strations, to  which  I  answered  that  if  I  put  him  on  his 
honor  he  would  not  deny  that  he  was  the  real  center  of 
the  difficulty ;  that  the  others  were,  comparatively,  men  of 
small  account;  and  that,  with  him  gone,  the  backbone  of 
the  whole  difficulty  would  be  broken.  He  seemed  im- 
pressed by  this  view— possibly  he  was  not  wholly  dis- 
pleased at  the  importance  it  gave  him;  and  finally  he  ac- 
knowledged that  perhaps  he  had  been  rather  foolish,  and 
suggested  that  we  try  to  live  together  a  little  longer.  I  an- 
swered cordially,  we  shook  hands  at  parting,  and  there 
was  never  any  trouble  afterward.  I  soon  found  what  sort 
of  questions  interested  him  most,  took  especial  pains  to 
adapt  points  in  my  lectures  to  his  needs,  and  soon  had  no 
stronger  friend  in  the  university. 

But  his  activity  finally  found  a  less  fortunate  outcome. 
A  year  or  two  afterward  came  news  of  a  terrible  affair  in 
the  university  town.  A  student  was  lying  dead  at  the 
coroner's  rooms,  and  on  inquiry  it  was  found  that  his 

death  was  the  result  of  a  carousal  in  which  my  friend  F 

was  a  leading  spirit.  Eight  men  were  concerned,  of 
whom  four  were  expelled— F —  being  one— and  four  sus- 
pended. On  leaving,  he  came  to  me  and  thanked  me  most 
heartily  for  what  I  had  done  for  him,  said  that  the  action 
of  the  faculty  was  perfectly  just,  that  no  other  course  was 
open  to  us,  but  that  he  hoped  yet  to  show  us  all  that  he 
could  make  a  man  of  himself.  He  succeeded.  Five  years 
later  he  fell  as  a  general  at  the  head  of  his  brigade  at 
Gettysburg. 

In  addition  to  my  regular  work  at  the  university,  I  lec- 
tured frequently  in  various  cities  throughout  Michigan 
and  the  neighboring  States.  It  was  the  culminating  period 
of  the  popular-lecture  system,  and  through  the  winter 
months  my  Friday  and  Saturday  evenings  were  generally 
given  to  this  sort  of  duty.  It  was,  after  its  fashion,  what 
in  these  days  is  called  " university  extension";  indeed,  the 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN   THE  WEST-1857-1864    269 

main  purpose  of  those  members  of  the  faculty  thus  in- 
vited to  lecture  was  to  spread  the  influence  of  the  univer- 
sity. But  I  received  from  the  system  more  than  I  gave  to 
it;  for  it  gave  me  not  only  many  valuable  acquaintances 
throughout  the  West,  but  it  brought  to  Ann  Arbor  the  best 
men  then  in  the  field,  among  them  such  as  Emerson,  Cur- 
tis, Whipple,  Wendell  Phillips,  Carl  Schurz,  Moncure 
Conway,  Bayard  Taylor,  and  others  noted  then,  but,  alas, 
how  few  of  them  remembered  now !  To  have  them  by  my 
fireside  and  at  my  table  was  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures 
of  a  professorial  life.  It  was  at  the  beginning  of  my 
housekeeping;  and  under  my  roof  on  the  university 
grounds  we  felt  it  a  privilege  to  welcome  these  wise  men 
from  the  East,  and  to  bring  the  faculty  and  students  into 
closer  relations  with  them. 

As  regards  the  popular-lecture  pulpit,  my  main  wish 
was  to  set  people  thinking  on  various  subjects,  and  espe- 
cially regarding  slavery  and  "protection."  This  pres- 
ently brought  a  storm  upon  me.  Some  years  before  there 
had  settled  in  the  university  town  a  thin,  vociferous  law- 
yer, past  his  prime,  but  not  without  ideas  and  force.  He 
had  for  many  years  been  a  department  subordinate  at 
Washington ;  but,  having  accumulated  some  money,  he  had 
donned  what  was  then  known  as  senatorial  costume— 
namely,  a  blue  swallow-tailed  coat,  and  a  buff  vest,  with 
brass  buttons— and  coming  to  this  little  Michigan  town, 
he  had  established  a  Whig  paper,  which  afterward  became 
Republican.  He  was  generally  credited,  no  doubt  justly, 
with  a  determination  to  push  himself  into  the  United 
States  Senate ;  but  this  determination  was  so  obvious  that 
people  made  light  of  it,  and  he  never  received  the  honor 
of  a  nomination  to  that  or  any  other  position.  The  main 
burden  of  his  editorials  was  the  greatness  of  Henry  Clay, 
and  the  beauties  of  a  protective  tariff,  his  material  being 
largely  drawn  from  a  book  he  had  published  some  years 
before;  and,  on  account  of  the  usual  form  of  his  argu- 
ments, he  was  generally  referred  to,  in  the  offhand  West- 
ern way,  as  "Old  Statistics." 


270  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-II 

In  a  public  lecture  based  upon  my  Russian  experiences, 
I  had  incidentally  attacked  paternal  government,  and  es- 
pecially such  developments  of  it  as  tariffs  for  protec- 
tion. The  immediate  result  was  a  broadside  from  this 
gentleman's  paper,  and  this  I  answered  in  an  article  which 
was  extensively  copied  throughout  the  State.  At  this  he 
evidently  determined  to  crush  this  intruder  upon  his  do- 
main. That  an  "upstart"— a  "mere  school-teacher "— 
should  presume  to  reply  to  a  man  like  himself,  who  had 
sat  at  the  feet  of  Henry  Clay,  and  was  old  enough  to  be 
my  father,  was  monstrous  presumption;  but  that  a  pro- 
fessor in  the  State  university  of  a  commonwealth  largely 
Republican  should  avow  free-trade  opinions  was  akin  to 
treason,  and  through  twelve  successive  issues  of  his 
paper  he  lashed  me  in  all  the  moods  and  tenses.  As  these 
attacks  soon  became  scurrilous,  I  made  no  reply  to  any 
after  the  first;  but  his  wrath  was  increased  when  he  saw 
my  reply  quoted  by  the  press  throughout  the  State  and  his 
own  diatribes  neglected.  Among  his  more  serious  charges 
I  remember  but  one,  and  this  was  that  I  had  evidently 
come  into  the  State  as  a  secret  emissary  of  Van  Buren- 
ism.  But  I  recalled  the  remark  of  my  enemy's  idol,  Henry 
Clay,  to  the  effect  that  no  one  should  ever  reply  to  an 
attack  by  an  editor,  a  priest,  or  a  woman,  since  each  of 
them  is  sure  to  have  the  last  word.  This  feeling  was  soon 
succeeded  by  indifference;  for  my  lecture-rooms,  both  at 
the  university  and  throughout  the  State,  were  more  and 
more  frequented,  and  it  became  clear  that  my  opponent's 
attacks  simply  advertised  me.  The  following  year  I  had 
my  revenge.  From  time  to  time  debates  on  current  topics 
were  held  at  the  city  hall,  the  participants  being  generally 
young  professional  men;  but,  the  subject  of  a  tariff  for 
protection  having  been  announced,  my  old  enemy  declared, 
several  weeks  beforehand,  his  intention  of  taking  part  in 
the  discussion.  Among  my  students  that  winter  was  one 
of  the  most  gifted  young  scholars  and  speakers  I  have 
ever  known.  Not  long  after  his  graduation  he  was  sent 
to  the  United  States  Senate  from  one  of  the  more  impor- 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN   THE   WEST -1857 -1864    271 

tant  Western  States,  and  nothing  but  his  early  death  pre- 
vented his  attaining  a  national  reputation.  He  was  a  man 
of  convictions,  strong  and  skilful  in  impressing  them  upon 
his  hearers,  of  fine  personal  appearance,  with  a  pleasing 
voice,  and  in  every  way  fitted  to  captivate  an  audience. 
Him  I  selected  as  the  David  who  was  to  punish  the  pro- 
tectionist Goliath.  He  had  been  himself  a  protectionist, 
having  read  Greeley's  arguments  in  the  "New  York 
Tribune, "  but  he  had  become  a  convert  to  my  views,  and 
day  after  day  and  week  after  week  I  kept  him  in  train- 
ing on  the  best  expositions  of  free  trade,  and,  above  all,  on 
Bastiat's  "Sophisms  of  Protection."  On  the  appointed 
evening  the  city  hall  was  crowded,  and  my  young  David 
having  modestly  taken  a  back  seat,  the  great  Goliath  ap- 
peared at  the  front  in  full  senatorial  costume,  furbished 
up  for  the  occasion,  with  an  enormous  collection  of  books 
and  documents;  and, the  subject  being  announced, he  arose, 
assumed  his  most  imposing  senatorial  attitude,  and  began 
a  dry,  statistical  oration.  His  manner  was  harsh,  his 
matter  wearisome;  but  he  plodded  on  through  an  hour 
—and  then  my  David  arose.  He  was  at  his  best.  In 
five  minutes  he  had  the  audience  fully  with  him.  Every 
point  told.  From  time  to  time  the  house  shook  with  ap- 
plause ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  debate,  a  vote  of  the  meeting 
being  taken  after  the  usual  fashion  in  such  assemblies,  my 
old  enemy  was  left  in  a  ridiculous  minority.  Not  only 
free-traders,  but  even  protectionists  voted  against  him. 
As  he  took  himself  very  seriously,  he  was  intensely  morti- 
fied, and  all  the  more  so  when  he  learned  from  one  of  my 
students  that  I  now  considered  that  we  were  "even/'  * 

The  more  I  threw  myself  into  the  work  of  the  university 
the  more  I  came  to  believe  in  the  ideas  on  which  it  was 
founded,  and  to  see  that  it  was  a  reality  embodying  many 
things  of  which  I  had  previously  only  dreamed.  Up  to 
that  time  the  highest  institutions  of  learning  in  the  United 
States  were  almost  entirely  under  sectarian  control.  Even 

1  The  causes  of  my  change  of  views  on  the  question  of  "protection" 
are  given  in  my  political  reminiscences. 


272  AS  UNIVERSITY   PROFESSOR- II 

the  University  of  Virginia,  which  Thomas  Jefferson  had 
founded  as  a  center  of  liberal  thought,  had  fallen  under 
the  direction  of  sectarians,  and  among  the  great  majority 
of  the  Northern  colleges  an  unwritten  law  seemed  to  re- 
quire that  a  university  president  should  be  a  clergyman. 
The  instruction  in  the  best  of  these  institutions  was,  as  I 
have  shown  elsewhere,  narrow,  their  methods  outworn, 
and  the  students,  as  a  rule,  confined  to  one  simple,  single, 
cast-iron  course,  in  which  the  great  majority  of  them  took 
no  interest.  The  University  of  Michigan  had  made  a 
beginning  of  something  better.  The  president  was  Dr. 
Henry  Philip  Tappan,  formerly  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, a  writer  of  repute  on  philosophical  subjects,  a  strong 
thinker,  an  impressive  orator,  and  a  born  leader  of  men, 
who,  during  a  visit  to  Europe,  had  been  greatly  impressed 
by  the  large  and  liberal  system  of  the  German  universi- 
ties, and  had  devoted  himself  to  urging  a  similar  system 
in  our  own  country.  On  the  Eastern  institutions— save, 
possibly,  Brown— he  made  no  impression.  Each  of  them 
was  as  stagnant  as  a  Spanish  convent,  and  as  self-satisfied 
as  a  Bourbon  duchy;  but  in  the  West  he  attracted  sup- 
porters, and  soon  his  ideas  began  to  show  themselves  ef- 
fective in  the  State  university  over  which  he  had  been 
called  to  preside. 

The  men  he  summoned  about  him  were,  in  the  main, 
admirably  fitted  to  aid  him.  Dearest  of  all  to  me,  though 
several  years  my  senior,  was  Henry  Simmons  Frieze,  pro- 
fessor of  Latin.  I  had  first  met  him  at  the  University  of 
Berlin,  had  then  traveled  with  him  through  Germany  and 
Italy,  and  had  found  him  one  of  the  most  charming  men 
I  had  ever  met— simple,  modest,  retiring  to  a  fault,  yet  a 
delightful  companion  and  a  most  inspiring  teacher.  There 
was  in  him  a  combination  which  at  first  seemed  singular; 
but  experience  has  since  shown  me  that  it  is  by  no  means 
unnatural,  for  he  was  not  only  an  ideal  professor  of  Latin, 
but  a  gifted  musician.  The  first  revelation  of  this  latter 
quality  was  made  to  me  in  a  manner  which  showed  his 
modesty.  One  evening  during  our  student  days  at  Berlin, 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST- 1857-1864    273 

at  a  reception  given  by  the  American  minister  of  that 
period,— Governor  Vroom  of  New  Jersey,— I  heard  the 
sound  of  music  coming  from  one  of  the  more  distant 
apartments.  It  was  a  sonata  of  Beethoven,  wonderfully 
interpreted,  showing  not  only  skill  but  deep  feeling.  On 
my  asking  my  neighbors  who  the  performer  might  be, 
no  one  seemed  to  know,  until,  at  last,  some  one  suggested 
that  it  might  be  Professor  Frieze.  I  made  my  way  through 
the  crowd  toward  the  room  from  which  the  sounds  came, 
but  before  arriving  there  the  music  had  ended ;  and  when  I 
met  the  professor  shortly  afterward,  and  asked  him  if  he 
had  been  the  musician,  his  reply  was  so  modest  and  eva- 
sive that  I  thought  the  whole  thing  a  mistake  and  said  no- 
thing more  about  it.  On  our  way  to  Italy  some  months 
later,!  observed  that, as  we  were  passing  through  Bohemia, 
he  jotted  down  in  his  note-book  the  quaint  songs  of  the 
peasants  and  soldiers,  and  a  few  weeks  later  still  he  gave  an 
exhibition  of  his  genius.  Sitting  down  one  evening  at  the 
piano  on  the  little  coasting  steamer  between  Genoa  and 
Civita  Vecchia,  he  began  playing,  and  though  it  has 
been  my  good  fortune  to  hear  all  the  leading  pianists 
of  my  time,  I  have  never  heard  one  who  seemed  to  inter- 
pret the  masterpieces  of  music  more  worthily.  At  Ann  Ar- 
bor I  now  came  to  know  him  intimately.  Once  or  twice  a 
week  he  came  to  my  house,  and,  as  mine  was  the  only  grand 
piano  in  the  town,  he  enjoyed  playing  upon  it.  His  ex- 
temporizations were  flights  of  genius.  At  these  gatherings 
he  was  inspired  by  two  other  admirable  musicians,  one 
being  my  dear  wife,  and  the  other  Professor  Brunnow,  the 
astronomer.  Nothing  could  be  more  delightful  than  their 
interpretations  together  of  the  main  works  of  Beethoven, 
Handel,  Mozart,  Haydn,  Weber,  and  other  masters.  On 
one  of  these  evenings,  when  I  happened  to  speak  of  the 
impression  made  upon  me  at  my  first  hearing  of  a  choral 
in  a  German  church,  Frieze  began  playing  Luther's  hymn, 
"Ein'  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott,"  throwing  it  into  all 
forms  and  keys,  until  we  listened  to  his  improvisations 
in  a  sort  of  daze  which  continued  until  nearly  midnight. 

I.— 18 


274  AS   UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-II 

Next  day,  at  St.  Andrew's  Church,  he,  as  usual,  had  charge 
of  the  organ.  Into  his  opening  voluntary  he  wove  the 
music  of  the  preceding  evening,  the  "Feste  Burg";  it 
ran  through  all  the  chants  of  the  morning  service ;  it  per- 
vaded the  accompaniment  to  the  hymns;  it  formed  the 
undertone  of  all  the  interludes;  it  was  not  relinquished 
until  the  close  of  the  postlude.  And  the  same  was  true  of 
the  afternoon  service.  I  have  always  insisted  that,  had  he 
lived  in  Germany,  he  would  have  been  a  second  Beethoven. 
This  will  seem  a  grossly  exaggerated  tribute,  but  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  maintain  it.  So  passionately  was  he  devoted 
to  music  that  at  times  he  sent  his  piano  away  from  his 
house  in  order  to  shun  temptation  to  abridge  his  profes- 
sorial work,  and  especially  was  this  the  case  when  he  was 
preparing  his  edition  of  Vergil.  A  more  lovely  spirit 
never  abode  in  mortal  frame.  No  man  was  ever  more 
generally  beloved  in  a  community ;  none,  more  lamented  at 
his  death.  The  splendid  organ  erected  as  a  memorial  to 
him  in  the  great  auditorium  of  the  university;  the  noble 
monument  which  his  students  have  placed  over  his  grave ; 
his  portrait,  which  hangs  in  one  of  the  principal  rooms; 
the  society  which  commemorates  his  name— all  combine 
to  show  how  deeply  he  was  respected  and  beloved. 

Entwined  also  with  my  happiest  recollections  is  Brun- 
now,  professor  of  astronomy  and  director  of  the  observa- 
tory. His  eminence  in  his  department  was  widely  rec- 
ognized, as  was  shown  when  he  was  afterward  made 
director  of  the  Dudley  Observatory  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and, 
finally,  astronomer  royal  of  Ireland.  His  musical  abilities, 
in  connection  with  those  of  Frieze,  aided  to  give  a  delight- 
ful side  to  this  period  of  my  life.  There  was  in  him  a  quiet 
simplicity  which  led  those  who  knew  him  best  to  love  him 
most,  but  it  occasionally  provoked  much  fun  among  the 
students.  On  one  occasion,  President  Tappan,  being  sud- 
denly called  out  of  town,  requested  Brunnow,  who  had 
married  his  daughter  and  was  an  inmate  of  his  family,  to 
find  some  member  of  the  faculty  to  take  his  place  at  morn- 
ing prayers  next  day.  Thereupon  Brunnow  visited  sev- 


UNIVERSITY   LIFE  IN  THE  WEST-1857-1864    275 

eral  professors,  his  first  question  to  each  of  them  being, 
with  his  German  use  of  the  consonants,  "Professor,  can 
you  bray?"  and  henceforward  this  was  added  to  the  many 
standing  jokes  upon  him  in  the  student  world. 

I  also  found  at  the  university  other  admirable  men,  and 
among  those  to  whom  I  became  specially  attached  was 
Thomas  M.  Cooley.  When  he  had  become  chief  justice 
of  the  State,  and  the  most  eminent  writer  of  his  time  on  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  was  still  the  same 
man,  gentle,  simple,  and  kindly.  Besides  these  were 
such  well-known  professors  as  Fasquelle  in  modern  lit- 
erature; Williams,  Douglass,  and  Winchell  in  science; 
Boise  in  Greek;  Palmer,  Sager,  and  Gunn  in  medicine 
and  surgery;  Campbell  and  Walker  in  law.  Of  these 
Judge  Campbell  was  to  me  one  of  the  main  attractions 
of  the  place— a  profound  lawyer,  yet  with  a  kindly  humor 
which  lighted  up  all  about  him.  He  was  especially  inter- 
ested in  the  early  French  history  of  the  State,  to  which  he 
had  been  drawn  by  his  study  of  the  titles  to  landed  prop- 
erty in  Detroit  and  its  neighborhood,  and  some  of  his  dis- 
coveries were  curious.  One  of  these  had  reference  to  an 
island  in  the  straits  near  Detroit  known  as  l  i  Skillagalee, ' ' 
which  had  puzzled  him  a  long  time.  The  name  seemed  to  be 
Irish,  and  the  question  was  how  an  Irish  name  could  have 
been  thus  applied.^  Finally  he  found  on  an  old  map  an  ear- 
lier name.  It  was  lie  aux  Galets,  or  Pebble  Island,  which,  in 
the  mouths  of  Yankee  sailors,  had  taken  this  apparently 
Celtic  form.  Another  case  was  that  of  a  river  in  Canada 
emptying  into  the  straits  not  far  from  Detroit.  It  was 
known  as  " Yellow  Dog  River";  but,  on  rummaging 
through  the  older  maps,  he  discovered  that  the  earlier 
name  was  Eiver  St.  John.  To  account  for  the  transfor- 
mation was  at  first  difficult,  but  the  mystery  was  finally 
unraveled:  the  Riviere  St.  Jean  became,  in  the  Canadian 
patois,  Riviere  Saan  Jawne,  and  gradually  Riviere  Chien 
Jaune ;  recent  geographers  had  simply  translated  it  into 
English. 

The  features  which  mainly  distinguished  the  University 


27G  AS   UNIVERSITY   PROFESSOR- II 

of  Michigan  from  the  leading  institutions  of  the  East 
were  that  it  was  utterly  unseetarian,  that  various  courses 
of  instruction  were  established,  and  that  options  were  al- 
lowed between  them.  On  these  accounts  that  university 
holds  a  most  important  place  in  the  history  of  American 
higher  education ;  for  it  stands  practically  at  the  beginning 
of  the  transition  from  the  old  sectarian  college  to  the 
modern  university,  and  from  the  simple,  single,  cast-iron 
course  to  the  form  which  we  now  know,  in  which  various 
courses  are  presented,  with  free  choice  between  them.  The 
number  of  students  was  about  five  hundred,  and  the  fac- 
ulty corresponded  to  these  in  numbers.  Xow  that  the 
university  includes  over  four  thousand  students,  with  a 
faculty  in  proportion,  those  seem  the  days  of  small 
things;  but  to  me  at  that  period  it  was  all  very  grand.  It 
seemed  marvelous  that  there  were  then  very  nearly  as 
many  students  at  the  University  of  Michigan  as  at  Yale ; 
and,  as  a  rule,  they  were  students  worth  teaching — hardy, 
vigorous,  shrewd,  broad,  with  faith  in  the  greatness  of 
the  country  and  enthusiasm  regarding  the  nation's  future. 
It  may  be  granted  that  there  was,  in  many  of  them,  a 
lack  of  elegance,  but  there  was  neither  languor  nor  cyni- 
cism. One  seemed,  among  them,  to  breathe  a  purer, 
stronger  air.  Over  the  whole  institution  Dr.  Tappan  pre- 
sided, and  his  influence,  both  upon  faculty  and  students, 
was,  in  the  main,  excellent.  He  sympathized  heartily  with 
the  work  of  every  professor,  allowed  to  each  great  liberty, 
yet  conducted  the  whole  toward  the  one  great  end  of  de- 
veloping a  university  more  and  more  worthy  of  our 
country.  His  main  qualities  were  of  the  best.  Nothing 
could  be  better  than  his  discussions  of  great  questions  of 
public  policy  and  of  education.  One  of  the  noblest  ora- 
tions F  have  ever  heard  was  an  offhand  speech  of  his  on 
receiving  for  the  university  museum  a  cast  of  the  Laocobu 
from  the  senior  class;  yet  this  speech  was  made  without 
preparation,  and  in  the  midst  of  engrossing  labor.  lie 
often  showed,  not  only  the  higher  qualities  required  in  a 
position  like  his,  but  a  remarkable  shrewdness  and  tact  in 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST -1857 -1864    277 

dealing  with  lesser  questions.  Typical  was  one  example, 
which  taught  me  much  when,  in  after  years,  I  was  called 
to  similar  duties  at  Cornell.  The  present  tower  and  chime 
of  the  University  of  Michigan  did  not  then  exist ;  between 
the  two  main  buildings  on  the  university  grounds  there 
was  simply  a  wooden  column,  bearing  a  bell  of  moderate 
size,  which  was  rung  at  every  lecture-hour  by  the  principal 
janitor.  One  cold  winter  night  those  of  us  living  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  heard  the  sound  of  axe-strokes. 
Presently  there  came  a  crash,  and  all  was  still.  Next 
morning,  at  the  hour  for  chapel,  no  bell  was  rung;  it 
was  found  that  the  column  had  been  cut  down  and  the  bell 
carried  off.  A  president  of  less  shrewdness  would  have 
declaimed  to  the  students  on  the  enormity  of  such  a  pro- 
cedure, and  have  accentuated  his  eloquence  with  threats. 
Not  so  Dr.  Tappan.  At  the  close  of  the  morning  prayers 
he  addressed  the  students  humorously.  There  was  a  great 
attendance,  for  all  wished  to  know  how  he  would  deal 
with  the  affair.  Nothing  could  be  better  than  his  matter 
and  manner.  He  spoke  somewhat  on  this  wise :  i  i  Gentle- 
men, there  has  doubtless  been  a  mistake  in  the  theory  of 
some  of  you  regarding  the  college  bell.  It  would  seem 
that  some  have  believed  that  if  the  bell  were  destroyed, 
time  would  cease,  and  university  exercises  would  be  sus- 
pended. But,  my  friends,  time  goes  on  as  ever,  without 
the  bell  as  with  it;  lectures  and  exercises  of  every  sort 
continue,  of  course,  as  usual.  The  only  thing  which  has 
occurred  is  that  some  of  you  have  thought  it  best  to  dis- 
pense with  the  aid  in  keeping  time  which  the  regents  of 
the  university  have  so  kindly  given  you.  Knowing  that 
large  numbers  of  you  were  not  yet  provided  with  watches, 
the  regents  very  thoughtfully  provided  the  bell,  and  a  man 
to  ring  it  for  you  at  the  proper  hours ;  and  they  will  doubt- 
less be  pleased  to  learn  that  you  at  last  feel  able  to  dis- 
pense with  it,  and  save  them  the  expense  of  maintaining 
it.  You  are  trying  an  interesting  experiment.  In  most 
of  the  leading  European  universities,  students  get  along 
perfectly  without  a  bell;  why  should  we  not?  In  the  in-. 


278  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-II 

terests  of  the  finances  of  the  university,  I  am  glad  to  see 
you  trying  this  experiment,  and  will  only  suggest  that  it 
be  tried  thoroughly.  Of  course  the  rolls  will  be  called  in  the 
lecture-rooms  promptly,  as  usual,  and  you  will,  of  course, 
be  present.  If  the  experiment  succeeds,  it  will  enable  us 
to  dispense  with  a  university  bell  forever ;  but  if,  after  a 
suitable  time,  you  decide  that  it  is  better  to  have  the  bell 
back  again  to  remind  you  of  the  hours,  and  if  you  will  make 
a  proper  request  to  the  regents  through  me,  I  trust  that 
they  will  allow  you  to  restore  it  to  its  former  position. ' ' 

The  students  were  greatly  amused  to  see  the  matter 
taken  in  this  way.  They  laughingly  acknowledged  them- 
selves outwitted,  and  greeted  the  doctor's  speech  with  ap- 
plause. All  of  the  faculty  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the 
matter;  rolls  were  called  perhaps  rather  more  promptly 
than  formerly,  and  students  not  present  were  marked 
rather  more  mercilessly  than  of  old.  There  was  evidently 
much  reluctance  on  their  part  to  ask  for  excuses,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  they  had  themselves  abolished  the  bell 
which  had  enabled  them  to  keep  the  time ;  and  one  morn- 
ing, about  a  month  or  six  weeks  later,  after  chapel,  a  big 
jolly  student  rose  and  asked  permission  to  make  a  motion. 
This  motion  was  that  the  president  of  the  university  be 
requested  to  allow  the  students  to  restore  the  bell  to  its 
former  position.  The  proposal  was  graciously  received  by 
the  doctor,  put  by  him  after  the  usual  parliamentary  man- 
ner, carried  unanimously,  and,  a  few  mornings  later,  the 
bell  was  found  in  its  old  place  on  a  new  column,  was  rung 
as  usual,  and  matters  went  on  after  the  old  fashion. 

Every  winter  Dr.  Tappan  went  before  the  legislature 
to  plead  the  cause  of  the  university,  and  to  ask  for  appro- 
priations. He  was  always  heard  with  pleasure,  since  he 
was  an  excellent  speaker;  but  certain  things  militated 
against  him.  First  of  all,  he  had  much  tojjay  of  the  ex- 
cellent models  furnished  by  the  great  German  universities, 
and  especially  byJi^e^Prussia.  This  gave  demagogues 
in  the  legislature,  anxious  to  j^ajke_ja  Deputation  in  bun- 
combe, a  great  chance.  They  orated  to  the  effect  that 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN   THE   WEST-1857-1864    279 

we  wanted  an  American  and  not  a  Prussian  system.  More- 
over, some  unfortunate  legends  were  developed.  Mrs. 
Tappan,  a  noble  and  lovely  woman  belonging  to  the  Liv- 
ingston family,  had  been  brought  up  in  New  York  and 
New  England,  and  could  hardly  suppress  her  natural 
preference  for  her  old  home  and  friends.  A  story  grew 
that  in  an  assembly  of  Michigan  ladies  she  once  remarked 
that  the  doctor  and  herself  considered  themselves  as  '  '  mis- 
sionaries to  the  West."  This  legend  spread  far  and 
wide.  It  was  resented,  and  undoubtedly  cost  the  doctor 
dear. 

The  worst  difficulty  by  far  which  he  had  to  meet  was  the 
steady  opposition  of  the  small  sectarian  colleges  scattered 
throughout  "the  State.  Each,  in  its  own  petty  interest, 
dreaded  the  growth  of  any  institution  better  than  itself; 
each  stirred  the  members  of  the  legislature  from  its  local- 
ity to  oppose  all  aid  to  the  State  university;  each,  in  its 
religious  assemblages,  its  synods,  conferences,  and  the 
like,  sought  to  stir  prejudice  against  the  State  institution 
as  ' '  godless. ' '  The  result  was  that  the  doctor,  in  spite  of 
his  eloquent  speeches,  became  the  butt  of  various  wretched 
demagogues  in  the  legislature,  and  he  very  rarely  secured 
anything  in  the  way  of  effective  appropriations.  The  uni- 
versity had  been  founded  by  a  grant  of  public  lands  from 
the  United  States  to  Michigan ;  and  one  of  his  arguments 
was  based  on  the  fact  that  an  immensely  valuable  tract,  on 
which  a  considerable  part  of  the  city  of  Toledo  novf  stands, 
had  been  taken  .away  from  the  university  without  any 
suitable  remuneration.  But  even  this  availed  little,  and 
it  became  quite  a  pastime  among  demagogues  at  the 
State  Capitol  to  bait  the  doctor.  On  one  of  these  occasions 
he  was  inspired  to  make  a  prophecy.  Disgusted  at  the 
poor,  cheap  blackguardism,  he  shook  the  dust  of  the  legis- 
lature off  his  feet,  and  said :  '  '  The  day  will  come  when  my 
students  will  take  your  places,  and  then  something  will  be 
done."  That  prophecy  was  fulfilled.  In  a  decade  the 
leading  men  in  the  legislature  began  to  be  the  graduates 
of  the  State  university;  and  now  these  graduates  are 


280  AS   UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR- II 

largely  in  control,  and  they  have  dealt  nobly  with  their 
alma  mater.  The  State  has  justly  become  proud  of  it,  and 
has  wisely  developed  it. 

Dr.  Tappan's  work  was  great,  indeed.  He  stood  not 
only  at  the  beginning  of  the  institution  at  Ann  Arbor,  but 
really  at  the  beginning  of  the  other  universities  of  the 
[Western  States,  from  which  the  country  is  gaining  so 
much  at  present,  and  is  sure  to  gain  vastly  more  in  the 
future.  The  day  will  come  when  his  statue  will  commem- 
orate his  services. 

But  there  was  another  feature  in  his  administration  to 
which  I  refer  with  extreme  reluctance.  He  had  certain 
"defects  of  his  qualities. "  Big,  hearty,  frank,  and  gen- 
erous, he  easily  became  the  prey  of  those  who  wrought 
upon  his  feelings ;  and,  in  an  evil  hour,  he  was  drawn  into 
a  quarrel  not  his  own,  between  two  scientific  professors. 
This  quarrel  became  exceedingly  virulent;  at  times  it  al- 
most paralyzed  the  university,  and  finally  it  convulsed  the 
State.  It  became  the  main  object  of  the  doctor 's  thoughts. 
The  men  who  had  drawn  him  into  it  quietly  retired  under 
cover,  and  left  him  to  fight  their  battle  in  the  open.  He 
did  this  powerfully,  but  his  victories  were  no  less  calami- 
tous than  his  defeats;  for  one  of  the  professors,  when 
overcome,  fell  back  upon  the  church  to  which  he  belonged, 
and  its  conference  was  led  to  pass  resolutions  warning 
Christian  people  against  the  university.  The  forces  of 
those  hostile  to  the  institution  were  marshaled  to  the  sound 
'•  of  the  sectarian  drum.  The  quarrel  at  last  became  politi- 

(cal;  and  when  the  doctor  unwisely  entered  the  political 
field  in  hopes  of  defeating  the  candidates  put  forward  by 
his  opponents,  he  was  beaten  at  the  polls,  and  his  resigna- 
tion followed.  A  small  number  of  us,  including  Judge 
Cooley  and  Professors  Frieze,  Fasquelle,  Boise,  and  my- 
self, simply  maintained  an  "armed  neutrality,"  standing 
by  the  university,  and  refusing  to  be  drawn  into  this 
whirlpool  of  intrigue  and  objurgation.  Personally,  we 
loved  the  doctor.  Every  one  of  us  besought  him  to  give  up 
the  quarrel,  but  in  vain.  He  would  not;  he  could  not.  It 


UNIVERSITY   LIFE   IN   THE   WEST -1857 -1864    281 

went  on  till  the  crash  came.  He  was  virtually  driven  from 
the  State,  retired  to  Europe,  and  never  returned. 

Years  afterward,  the  citizens  of  Michigan  in  all  parts  of 
the  State  sought  to  make  amends  to  him.  The  great  body 
of  the  graduates,  who  loved  and  respected  him,  with  lead- 
ing men  throughout  the  commonwealth,  joined  in  a  letter 
inviting  him  to  return  as  a  public  guest;  but  he  declined, 
and  never  again  saw  his  native  land.  His  first  main  place 
of  residence  was  Basel,  where,  at  the  university,  he  super- 
intended the  education  of  his  grandson,  who,  at  a  later 
period,  became  a  professor  at  Heidelberg.  Finally,  he 
retired  to  a  beautiful  villa  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Leman, 
and  there,  with  his  family  about  him,  peacefully  followed 
his  chosen  studies.  At  his  death  he  was  buried  amid  the 
vineyards  and  orchards  of  Vevey. 

Though  I  absolutely  refused  to  be  drawn  into  any  of 
his  quarrels,  my  relations  with  the  doctor  remained  kindly, 
and  not  a  single  feeling  was  left  which  marred  my  visit 
to  him  in  after  years  at  Basel,  or  my  later  pilgrimage  to 
his  grave  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Leman.  To  no  man  is  any 
success  I  may  have  afterward  had  in  the  administration 
of  Cornell  University  so  greatly  due  as  to  him. 

In  this  summary  I  have  hardly  touched  upon  the  most 
important  part  of  my  duty,— namely,  the  purpose  of  my 
lecture-courses,  with  their  relations  to  that  period  in  the 
history  of  our  country,  and  to  the  questions  which  think- 
ing men,  and  especially  thinking  young  men,  were  then  en- 
deavoring to  solve,— since  all  this  has  been  given  in  my 
political  reminiscences. 

So  much  for  my  main  work  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan. But  I  had  one  recreation  which  was  not  without  its 
uses.  The  little  city  of  Ann  Arbor  is  a  beautiful  place  on 
the  Huron  River,  and  from  the  outset  interested  me. 
Even  its  origin  had  a  peculiar  charm.  About  a  quarter 
of  a  century  before  my  arrival,  three  families  came  from 
the  East  to  take  up  the  land  which  they  had  bought 
of  the  United  States ;  and,  as  their  three  holdings  touched 
each  other  at  one  corner,  they  brought  boughs  of  trees 


282  AS  UNIVERSITY  PROFESSOR-II 

to  that  spot  and  erected  a  sort  of  hut,  or  arbor,  in  which 
to  live  until  their  log  houses  were  finished.  On  com- 
ing together  in  this  arbor  they  discovered  that  the 
Christian  name  of  each  of  the  three  wives  was  Ann : 
hence  the  name  of  the  place;  and  this  fact  gave  a  po- 
etic coloring  to  it  which  was  a  permanent  pleasure  to 
me.  It  was  an  unending  satisfaction  to  reflect  that  no 
misguided  patriot  had  been  allowed  to  inflict  upon  that 
charming  university  town  the  name  of  "Athens,"  or  "Ox- 
ford, ' '  or  "  Socratopolis, "  or  "  Anacreonsburg, "  or  "  Pla- 
to ville,  "  or  "  Emporium, "  or  "  Eudaimonia. ' '  What,  but 
for  those  three  good  women,  the  name  might  have  been, 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  university  did  his  best  to  have  it  called  a  "Katho- 
loepistemiad"! 

But  there  was  one  drawback.  The  ' '  campus, ' '  on  which 
stood  the  four  buildings  then  devoted  to  instruction, 
greatly  disappointed  me.  It  was  a  flat,  square  inclo- 
sure  of  forty  acres,  unkempt  and  wretched.  Through- 
out its  whole  space  there  were  not  more  than  a  score  of 
trees  outside  the  building  sites  allotted  to  professors; 
unsightly  plank  walks  connected  the  buildings,  and  in 
every  direction  were  meandering  paths,  which  in  dry  wea- 
ther were  dusty  and  in  wet  weather  muddy.  Coming,  as 
I  did,  from  the  glorious  elms  of  Yale,  all  this  distressed 
me,  and  one  of  my  first  questions  was  why  no  trees  had 
been  planted.  The  answer  was  that  the  soil  was  so  hard 
and  dry  that  none  would  grow.  But  on  examining 
the  territory  in  the  neighborhood,  especially  the  little 
inclosures  about  the  pretty  cottages  of  the  town,  I  found 
fine  large  trees,  and  among  them  elms.  At  this,  without 
permission  from  any  one,  I  began  planting  trees  within  the 
university  inclosure ;  established,  on  my  own  account,  sev- 
eral avenues;  and  set  out  elms  to  overshadow  them. 
Choosing  my  trees  with  care,  carefully  protecting  and 
watering  them  during  the  first  two  years,  and  gradually 
adding  to  them  a  considerable  number  of  evergreens,  I 
preached  practically  the  doctrine  of  adorning  the  campus. 


UNIVERSITY  LIFE  IN  THE  WEST -1857 -1864    283 

Gradually  some  of  my  students  joined  me;  one  class  after 
another  aided  in  securing  trees  and  in  planting  them, 
others  became  interested,  until,  finally,  the  university 
authorities  made  me  "superintendent  of  the  grounds," 
and  appropriated  to  my  work  the  munificent  sum  of 
seventy-five  dollars  a  year.  So  began  the  splendid  growth 
which  now  surrounds  those  buildings.  These  trees  became 
to  me  as  my  own  children.  Whenever  I  revisit  Ann  Arbor 
my  first  care  is  to  go  among  them,  to  see  how  they  prosper, 
and  especially  how  certain  peculiar  examples  are  flourish- 
ing; and  at  my  recent  visit,  forty-six  years  after  their 
planting,  I  found  one  of  the  most  beautiful  academic 
groves  to  be  seen  in  any  part  of  the  world. 

The  most  saddening  thing  during  my  connection  with 
the  university  I  have  touched  upon  in  my  political  remi- 
niscences. Three  years  after  my  arrival  the  Civil  War 
broke  out,  and  there  came  a  great  exodus  of  students  into 
the  armies,  the  vast  majority  taking  up  arms  for  the 
Union,  and  a  few  for  the  Confederate  States.  The  very 
noblest  of  them  thus  went  forth— many  of  them,  alas! 
never  to  return,  and  among  them  not  a  few  whom  I  loved 
as  brothers  and  even  as  my  own  children.  Of  all  the  ex- 
periences of  my  life,  this  was  among  the  most  saddening. 

My  immediate  connection  with  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan as  resident  professor  of  history  lasted  about  six  years ; 
and  then,  on  account  partly  of  business  interests  which 
resulted  from  the  death  of  my  father,  partly  of  my  elec- 
tion to  the  New  York  State  Senate,  and  partly  of  my 
election  to  the  presidency  of  Cornell  University,  I  resided 
in  central  New  York,  but  retained  a  lectureship  at  the 
Western  institution.  I  left  the  work  and  the  friends  who 
had  become  so  dear  to  me  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  and 
as  long  as  possible  I  continued  to  revisit  the  old  scenes, 
and  to  give  courses  of  lectures.  But  at  last  my  duties  at 
Cornell  absolutely  forbade  this,  and  so  ended  a  connection 
which  was  to  me  one  of  the  most  fruitful  in  useful  ex- 
periences and  pregnant  thoughts  that  I  have  ever  known. 


PART  IV 
AS    UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT 


CHAPTER  XVII 

EVOLUTION  OP  "THE  CORNELL  IDEA"— 1850-1865 

TO  Trinity  Hall  at  Hobart  College  may  be  assigned 
whatever  honor  that  shadowy  personage,  the  future 
historian,  shall  think  due  the  place  where  was  conceived 
and  quickened  the  germ  idea  of  Cornell  University.  In 
that  little  stone  barrack  on  the  shore  of  Seneca  Lake,  rude 
in  its  architecture  but  lovely  in  its  surroundings,  a  room 
was  assigned  me  during  my  first  year  at  college;  and  in 
a  neighboring  apartment,  with  charming  views  over  the 
lake  and  distant  hills,  was  the  library  of  the  Hermean 
Society.  It  was  the  largest  collection  of  books  I  had  ever 
seen,— four  thousand  volumes,— embracing  a  mass  of  lit- 
erature from  "The  Pirate's  Own  Book"  to  the  works  of 
Lord  Bacon.  In  this  paradise  I  reveled,  browsing  through 
it  at  my  will.  This  privilege  was  of  questionable  value, 
since  it  drew  me  somewhat  from  closer  study;  but  it  was 
not  without  its  uses.  One  day  I  discovered  in  it  Huber  and 
Newman 's  book  on  the  English  universities.  What  a  new 
world  it  opened!  My  mind  was  sensitive  to  any  impres- 
sion it  might  make,  on  two  accounts :  first,  because,  on  the 
intellectual  side,  I  was  woefully  disappointed  at  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  little  college  as  regarded  its  teaching  force 
and  equipment;  and  next,  because,  on  the  esthetic  side,  I 
lamented  the  absence  of  everything  like  beauty  or  fitness  in 
its  architecture. 

As  I  read  in  this  new-found  book  of  the  colleges  at 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  pored  over  the  engraved 
views  of  quadrangles,  halls,  libraries,  chapels,— of  all  the 

287 


288  AS  UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-I 

noble  and  dignified  belongings  of  a  great  seat  of  learning, 
—my  heart  sank  within  me.  Every  feature  of  the  little 
American  college  seemed  all  the  more  sordid.  But  grad- 
ually I  began  consoling  myself  by  building  air-castles. 
These  took  the  form  of  structures  suited  to  a  great  univer- 
sity:—with  distinguished  professors  in  every  field,  with 
libraries  as  rich  as  the  Bodleian,  halls  as  lordly  as  that  of 
Christ  Church  or  of  Trinity,  chapels  as  inspiring  as  that 
of  King's,  towers  as  dignified  as  those  of  Magdalen  and 
Merton,  quadrangles  as  beautiful  as  those  of  Jesus  and 
St.  John's.  In  the  midst  of  all  other  occupations  I  was 
constantly  rearing  these  structures  on  that  queenly  site 
above  the  finest  of  the  New  York  lakes,  and  dreaming  of 
a  university  worthy  of  the  commonwealth  and  of  the  na- 
tion. This  dream  became  a  sort  of  obsession.  It  came 
upon  me  during  my  working  hours,  in  the  class-rooms,  in 
rambles  along  the  lake  shore,  in  the  evenings,  when  I  paced 
up  and  down  the  walks  in  front  of  the  college  build- 
ings, and  saw  rising  in  their  place  and  extending  to  the 
pretty  knoll  behind  them,  the  worthy  home  of  a  great  uni- 
versity. But  this  university,  though  beautiful  and  dig- 
nified, like  those  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  was  in  two 
important  respects  very  unlike  them.  First,  I  made 
provision  for  other  studies  beside  classics  and  mathe- 
matics. There  should  be  professors  in  the  great  modern 
literatures— above  all,  in  our  own;  there  should  also  be  a 
professor  of  modern  history  and  a  lecturer  on  architec- 
ture. And  next,  my  university  should  be  under  control  of 
no  single  religious  organization ;  it  should  be  free  from  all 
sectarian  or  party  trammels;  in  electing  its  trustees  and 
professors  no  questions  should  be  asked  as  to  their  belief 
or  their  attachment  to  this  or  that  sect  or  party.  So  far,  at 
least,  I  went  in  those  days  along  the  road  toward  the 
founding  of  Cornell. 

The  academic  year  of  1849-1850  having  been  passed  at 
this  little  college  in  western  New  York,  I  entered  Yale. 
This  was  nearer  my  ideal ;  for  its  professors  were  more 
distinguished,  its  equipment  more  adequate,  its  students 


EVOLUTION  OF  "THE  CORNELL  IDEA"-1850-1865  289 

more  numerous,  its  general  scope  more  extended.  But  it 
was  still  far  below  my  dreams.  Its  single  course  in  clas- 
sics and  mathematics,  through  which  all  students  were 
forced  alike,  regardless  of  their  tastes,  powers,  or  aims; 
its  substitution  of  gerund-grinding  for  ancient  literature ; 
its  want  of  all  instruction  in  modern  literature;  its  sub- 
stitution of  recitals  from  text-books  for  instruction  in 
history— all  this  was  far  short  of  my  ideal.  Moreover, 
Yale  was  then  far  more  under  denominational  control 
than  at  present— its  president,  of  necessity,  as  was  then 
supposed,  a  Congregational  minister ;  its  professors,  as  a 
rule,  members  of  the  same  sect;  and  its  tutors,  to  whom 
our  instruction  during  the  first  two  years  was  almost 
entirely  confined,  students  in  the  Congregational  Divinity 
School. 

Then,  too,  its  outward  representation  was  sordid  and 
poor.  The  long  line  of  brick  barracks,  the  cheapest  which 
could  be  built  for  money,  repelled  me.  What  a  contrast 
to  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and,  above  all,  to  my  air- 
castles!  There  were,  indeed,  two  architectural  consola- 
tions :  one,  the  library  building,  which  had  been  built  just 
before  my  arrival ;  and  the  other,  the  Alumni  Hall,  begun 
shortly  afterward.  These  were  of  stone,  and  I  snatched 
an  especial  joy  from  the  grotesque  Gothic  heads  in  the 
cornices  of  the  library  towers  and  from  the  little  latticed 
windows  at  the  rear  of  the  Alumni  Hall.  Both  seemed  to 
me  features  worthy  of  "colleges  and  halls  of  ancient 
days." 

The  redeeming  feature  of  the  whole  was  its  setting, 
the  l  i  green, ' '  with  superb  avenues  overarched  by  elms ; 
and  a  further  charm  was  added  by  East  and  West  Kock, 
and  by  the  views  over  New  Haven  Harbor  into  Long 
Island  Sound.  Among  these  scenes  I  erected  new  air- 
castles.  First  of  all,  a  great  quadrangle,  not  unlike  that 
which  is  now  developing  at  Yale,  and,  as  a  leading 
feature,  a  gate-tower  like  that  since  erected  in  memory 
of  William  Walter  Phelps,  but,  unlike  that,  adorned 
with  statues  in  niches  and  on  corbels,  like  those  on  the 

I.-19 


290  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT- 1 

entrance  tower  of  Trinity  at  Cambridge— statues  of  old 
Yalensian  worthies,  such  as  Elihu  Yale  in  his  costume  of 
the  Georgian  period,  Bishop  Berkeley  in  his  robes,  Presi- 
dent Dwight  in  his  Geneva  gown,  and  Nathan  Hale  in 
fetters.  There  was  also  in  my  dream  another  special  fea- 
ture, which  no  one  has  as  yet  attempted  to  realize— a  lofty 
campanile,  which  I  placed  sometimes  at  the  intersection  of 
College  and  Church,  and  sometimes  at  the  intersection  of 
College  and  Elm  streets— a  clock-tower  looking  proudly 
down  the  slope,  over  the  traffic  of  the  town,  and  bearing  a 
deep-toned  peal  of  bells. 

My  general  ideas  on  the  subject  were  further  developed 
by  Charles  Astor  Bristed's  book,  "Five  Years  in  an  Eng- 
lish University, ' '  and  by  sundry  publications  regarding 
student  life  in  Germany.  Still,  my  opinions  regarding 
education  were  wretchedly  imperfect,  as  may  be  judged 
from  one  circumstance.  The  newly  established  Sheffield 
Scientific  School  had  just  begun  its  career  in  the  old 
president's  house  in  front  of  the  former  Divinity  Hall  on 
the  college  green ;  and,  one  day  in  my  senior  year,  looking 
toward  it  from  my  window  in  North  College,  I  saw  a 
student  examining  a  colored  liquid  in  a  test-tube.  A  feel- 
ing of  wonder  came  over  me !  What  could  it  all  be  about? 
Probably  not  a  man  of  us  in  the  whole  senior  class  had 
any  idea  of  a  chemical  laboratory  save  as  a  sort  of  small 
kitchen  back  of  a  lecture-desk,  like  that  in  which  an  assist- 
ant and  a  colored  servant  prepared  oxygen,  hydrogen,  and 
carbonic  acid  for  the  lectures  of  Professor  Silliinan.  I 
was  told  that  this  new  laboratory  was  intended  for  experi- 
ment, and  my  wonder  was  succeeded  by  disgust  that  any 
human  being  should  give  his  time  to  pursuits  so  futile. 

The  next  period  in  the  formation  of  my  ideas  regarding 
a  university  began,  after  my  graduation  at  Yale,  during 
my  first  visit  to  Oxford.  Then  and  at  later  visits,  both  to 
Oxford  and  Cambridge,  I  not  only  reveled  in  the  architec- 
tural glories  of  those  great  seats  of  learning,  but  learned 
the  advantages  of  college  life  in  common— of  the  "halls/* 
and  the  general  social  life  which  they  promote;  of 


EVOLUTION  OF  "THE  CORNELL  IDEA"-1850-1865   291 

the  "commons"  and  "combination  rooms,"  which  give  a 
still  closer  relation  between  those  most  directly  concerned 
in  university  work ;  of  the  quadrangles,  which  give  a  sense 
of  scholarly  seclusion,  even  in  the  midst  of  crowded  cities ; 
and  of  all  the  surroundings  which  give  a  dignity  befitting 
these  vast  establishments.  Still  more  marked  progress  in 
my  ideas  was  made  during  my  attendance  at  the  Sorbonne 
and  the  College  de  France.  In  those  institutions,  during 
the  years  1853-1854, 1  became  acquainted  with  the  French 
university-lecture  system,  with  its  clearness,  breadth, 
wealth  of  illustration,  and  its  hold  upon  large  audiences 
of  students ;  and  I  was  seized  with  the  desire  to  transfer 
something  like  it  to  our  own  country.  My  castles  in  the 
air  were  now  reared  more  loftily  and  broadly ;  for  theyj 
began  to  include  laboratories,  museums,  and  even  galleries 
of  art. 

Even  St.  Petersburg,  during  my  attacheship  in  1854- 
1855,  contributed  to  these  airy  structures.  In  my  diary 
for  that  period,  I  find  it  jotted  down  that  I  observed  and 
studied  at  various  times  the  Michael  Palace  in  that  city  as 
a  very  suitable  structure  for  a  university.  Twenty  years 
afterward,  when  I  visited,  as  minister  of  the  United 
States,  the  Grand  Duchess  Catherine,  the  aunt  of  the 
Emperor  Alexander  III,  in  that  same  palace,  and  men- 
tioned to  her  my  old  admiration  for  it,  she  gave  me  a  most 
interesting  account  of  the  building  of  it,  and  of  the  laying 
out  of  the  beautiful  park  about  it  by  her  father,  the  old 
Grand  Duke  Michael,  and  agreed  with  me  that  it  would 
be  a  noble  home  for  an  institution  of  learning. 

My  student  life  at  Berlin,  during  the  year  following, 
further  intensified  my  desire  to  do  something  for  univer- 
sity education  in  the  United  States.  There  I  saw  my  ideal 
of  a  university  not  only  realized,  but  extended  and  glori- 
fied—with renowned  professors,  with  ample  lecture-halls, 
with  everything  possible  in  the  way  of  illustrative  ma- 
terials, with  laboratories,  museums,  and  a  concourse  of 
youth  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

I  have  already  spoken,  in  the  chapter  on  my  professor- 


292  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDEXT-1 

ship  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  regarding  the  influence 
on  my  ideas  of  its  president,  Henry  Philip  Tappan,  and 
of  the  whole  work  in  that  institution.  Though  many  good 
things  may  he  justly  said  for  the  "University  of  Virginia, 
the  real  beginning  of  a  university  in  the  United  States,  in 
the  modern  sense,  was  made  by  Dr.  Tappan  and  his  col- 
leagues at  Ann  Arbor.  Its  only  defects  seemed  to  me  that 
it  included  no  technical  side,  and  did  not  yet  admit 
women.  As  to  the  iirst  of  these  defects,  the  State  had 
separated  the  agricultural  college  from  the  university, 
placing  it  in  what,  at  that  period,  was  a  remote  swamp 
near  the  State  ( 1apitol,  and  had  as  yet  done  nothing  toward 
providing  for  other  technical  branches.  As  to  the  second, 
though  a  few  of  us  favored  the  admission  of  women,  Presi- 
dent Tappan  opposed  it;  and,  probably,  in  view  of  the 
condition  of  the  university  and  of  public  opinion  at  that 
time,  his  opposition  was  wise. 

Recalled  to  Syracuse  after  five  years  in  Michigan,  my 
old  desire  to  see  a  university  rising  in  the  State  of  New 
York  was  stronger  than  ever.  Michigan  had  shown  me 
some  of  my  ideals  made  real ;  why  might  not  our  own 
much  greater  commonwealth  be  similarly  blessed  I 

The  first  thing  was  to  devise  a  plan  for  a  suitable  fac- 
ulty. As  I  felt  that  this  must  not  demand  too  large  an 
outlay,  I  drew  up  a  scheme  providing  for  a  few  resident 
teachers  supported  by  endowments,  and  for  a  body  of  non- 
resident professors  or  lecturers  supported  by  fees.  These 
lecturers  were  to  be  chosen  from  the  most  eminent  pro- 
fessors in  the  existing  colleges  and  from  the  best  men  then 
in  the  public-lecture  field;  and  my  confidant  in  the  matter 
was  George  William  Curtis,  who  entered  into  it  heartily, 
and  who  afterward,  in  his  speech  at  my  inauguration  as 
president  of  Cornell,  referred  to  it  in  a  way  which  touched 
me  deeply.1 

The  next  thing  was  to  decide  upon  a  site.  It  must  nat- 
urally be  in  the  central  part  of  the  State;  and,  rather 


1  S«-«-  Mr. 


f'urlis's  sjM.(.,-li.  S«'i>t.'Tnln-r  8,  1SOS.  published 
b v  t  h i •  uiii  vcrsi t  v. 


EVOLUTION  OF  "THE  CORNELL  IDEA" -1850-1865  293 

curiously,  that  which  I  then  most  coveted,  frequently  vis- 
ited, walked  about,  and  inspected  was  the  rising  ground 
southeast  of  Syracuse  since  selected  by  the  Methodists 
for  their  institution  which  takes  its  name  from  that  city. 
Mynext  effortwas  to  make  a  beginning  of  an  endowment, 
and  for  this  purpose  I  sought  to  convert  Gerrit  Smith. 
He  was,  for  those  days,  enormously  wealthy.  His  prop- 
erty, which  was  estimated  at  from  two  to  three  millions 
of  dollars,  he  used  munificently;  and  his  dear  friend  and 
mine,  Samuel  Joseph  May,  had  told  me  that  it  was  not  too 
much  to  hope  that  Mr.  Smith  might  do  something  for  the 
improvement  of  higher  instruction.  To  him,  therefore,  I 
wrote,  proposing  that  if  he  would  contribute  an  equal  sum 
to  a  university  at  Syracuse,  I  would  give  to  it  one  half  of 
my  own  property.  In  his  answer  he  gave  reasons  why  he 
could  not  join  in  the  plan,  and  my  scheme  seemed  no 
nearer  reality  than  my  former  air-castles.  It  seemed,  in- 
deed, to  have  faded  away  like 

"  The  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision  " 
and  to  have  left 

"  Not  a  wrack  behind  "— 

when  all  its  main  features  were  made  real  in  a  way  and  by 
means  utterly  unexpected;  for  now  began  the  train  of 
events  which  led  to  my  acquaintance,  friendship,  and  close 
alliance  with  the  man  through  whom  my  plans  became  a 
reality,  larger  and  better  than  any  ever  seen  in  my  dreams 
—Ezra  Cornell. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

EZK A   COKXELL  —  ls<>4-LS74 

OX  tlic  first  day  of  the  year  18(54,  taking  my  scat  for 
the  first  time  in  the  State  Senate  at  Albany,  I  found 
among  my  associates  a  tall,  spare  man,  apparently  very 
reserved  and  austere,  and  soon  learned  his  name  —  Ezra 
Cornell. 

Though  his  chair  was  near  mine,  there  was  at  first  little 
intercourse  between  us,  and  there  seemed  small  chance  of 
more,  lie  was  steadily  occupied,  and  seemed  to  have  no 
desire  for  new  acquaintances,  lie  was,  perhaps,  the  oldest 
man  in  the  Senate;  I,  the  youngest:  lie  was  a  man  of 
business;  I  was  fresh  from  a  university  professorship: 
and,  upon  the  announcement  of  committees,  our  paths 
seemed  separated  entirely;  for  he  was  made  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  agriculture,  while  to  me  fell  the  chair- 
manship of  the  committee  on  education. 

Yet  it  was  this  last  difference  which  drew  us  together; 
for  among  the  first  things  referred  to  my  committee  was  a 
bill  to  incorporate  a  public  library  which  lie  proposed  1o 
found  in  Ithaca. 

On  reading  this  bill  1  was  struck,  not  merely  by  his 
gift  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  his  townsmen, 
but  even  more  by  a  certain  breadth  and  largeness  in  his 
way  of  making  it.  The  most  striking  sign  of  this  was  his 
mode  of  forming  a  board  of  trustees;  for,  instead  of  the 
usual  effort  to  tie  up  the  organization  forever  in  some  sect, 
party,  or  clique,  he  had  named  the  best  men  of  his  town 
his  political  opponents  as  well  as  his  friends;  and  had 

294 


EZRA   CORNELL-1864-1874  295 

added  to  them  the  pastors  of  all  the  principal  churches, 
Catholic  and  Protestant.  This  breadth  of  mind,  even 
more  than  his  munificence,  drew  me  to  him.  We  met  sev- 
eral times,  discussed  his  bill,  and  finally  I  reported  it 
substantially  as  introduced,  and  supported  it  until  it  be- 
came a  law. 

Our  next  relations  were  not,  at  first,  so  pleasant.  The 
great  Land  Grant  of  1862,  from  the  General  Government 
to  the  State,  for  industrial  and  technical  education,  had 
been  turned  over,  at  a  previous  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture, to  an  institution  called  the  People's  College,  in 
Schuyler  County;  but  the  Agricultural  College,  twenty 
miles  distant  from  it,  was  seeking  to  take  away  from  it 
a  portion  of  this  endowment;  and  among  the  trustees  of 
this  Agricultural  College  was  Mr.  Cornell,  who  now 
introduced  a  bill  to  divide  the  fund  between  the  two 
institutions. 

On  this  I  at  once  took  ground  against  him,  declaring 
that  the  fund  ought  to  be  kept  together  at  some  one  insti- 
tution ;  that  on  no  account  should  it  be  divided ;  that  the 
policy  for  higher  education  in  the  State  of  New  York 
should  be  concentration;  that  we  had  already  suffered 
sufficiently  from  scattering  our  resources ;  that  there  were 
already  over  twenty  colleges  in  the  State,  and  not  one  of 
them  doing  anything  which  could  justly  be  called  univer- 
sity work. 

Mr.  Cornell's  first  effort  was  to  have  his  bill  referred, 
not  to  my  committee,  but  to  his ;  here  I  resisted  him,  and, 
as  a  solution  of  the  difficulty,  it  was  finally  referred  to  a 
joint  committee  made  up  of  both.  On  this  double-headed 
committee  I  deliberately  thwarted  his  purpose  throughout 
the  entire  session,  delaying  action  and  preventing  any 
report  upon  his  bill. 

Most  men  would  have  been  vexed  by  this ;  but  he  took 
my  course  calmly,  and  even  kindly.  He  never  expostu- 
lated, and  always  listened  attentively  to  my  arguments 
against  his  view;  meanwhile  I  omitted  no  opportunity  to 
make  these  arguments  as  strong  as  possible,  and  especially 


29G  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-II 

to  impress  upon  him  the  importance  of  keeping  the  fund 
together. 

After  the  close  of  the  session,  during  the  following 
summer,  as  it  had  become  evident  that  the  trustees  of  the 
People's  College  had  no  intention  of  raising  the  additional 
endowment  and  providing  the  equipment  required  by  the 
act  which  gave  them  the  land  grant,  there  was  great  dan- 
ger that  the  whole  fund  might  be  lost  to  the  State  by  the 
lapsing  of  the  time  allowed  in  the  congressional  act  for 
its  acceptance.  Just  at  this  period  Mr.  Cornell  invited  me 
to  attend  a  meeting  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  of 
which  lie  was  the  president,  at  Rochester;  and,  when  the 
meeting  had  assembled,  he  quietly  proposed  to  remove  the 
difficulty  I  had  raised,  by  drawing  a  new  bill  giving  the 
State  Agricultural  College  half  of  the  fund,  and  by  insert- 
ing a  clause  requiring  the  college  to  provide  an  additional 
sum  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  This  sum  he 
pledged  himself  to  give,  and,  as  the  comptroller  of  the 
State  had  estimated  the  value  of  the  land  grant  at  six 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  Cornell  supposed  that  this 
would  obviate  my  objection,  since  the  fund  of  the  Agricul- 
tural College  would  thus  be  made  equal  to  the  whole  origi- 
nal land-grant  fund  as  estimated,  which  would  be  equiva- 
lent to  keeping  the  whole  fund  together. 

The  entire  audience  applauded,  as  well  they  might:  it 
was  a  noble  proposal.  But,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the 
meeting,  F  persisted  in  my  refusal  to  sanction  any  bill 
dividing  the  fund,  declared  myself  now  more  opposed  to 
such  a  division  than  ever;  but  promised  that  if  Mr.  Cornell 
and  his  friends  would  ask  for  the  n'liole  grant — keeping 
it  together,  and  adding  his  three  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars, as  proposed — I  would  support  such  a  bill  with  all  my 
might. 

1  was  led  to  make  this  proposal  by  a  course  of  circum- 
stances which  might,  perhaps,  he  called  "providential." 
For  some  years  I  had  been  dreaming  of  a  university;  had 
looked  into  the  questions  involved,  at  home1  and  abroad; 
had  approached  sundry  wealthy  and  influential  men  on  the 


EZRA   CORNELL- 1864-1874  297 

subject;  but  had  obtained  no  encouragement,  until  this 
strange  and  unexpected  combination  of  circumstances— a 
great  land  grant,  the  use  of  which  was  to  be  determined 
largely  by  the  committee  of  which  I  was  chairman,  and 
this  noble  pledge  by  Mr.  Cornell. 

Yet  for  some  months  nothing  seemed  to  come  of  our 
conference.  At  the  assembling  of  the  legislature  in  the 
following  year,  it  was  more  evident  than  ever  that  the 
trustees  of  the  People's  College  intended  to  do  nothing. 
During  the  previous  session  they  had  promised  through 
their  agents  to  supply  the  endowment  required  by  their 
charter ;  but,  though  this  charter  obliged  them,  as  a  condi- 
tion of  taking  the  grant,  to  have  an  estate  of  two  hundred 
acres,  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  two  hundred 
students,  and  a  faculty  of  not  less  than  six  professors,  with 
a  sufficient  library  and  other  apparatus,  yet  our  commit- 
tee, on  again  taking  up  the  subject,  found  hardly  the  faint- 
est pretense  of  complying  with  these  conditions.  More- 
over, their  charter  required  that  their  property  should  be 
free  from  all  encumbrance ;  and  yet  the  so-called  donor  of 
it,  Mr.  Charles  Cook,  could  not  be  induced  to  cancel  a 
small  mortgage  which  he  held  upon  it.  Still  worse,  before 
the  legislature  had  been  in  session  many  days,  it  was  found 
that  his  agent  had  introduced  a  bill  to  relieve  the  People's 
College  of  all  conditions,  and  to  give  it,  without  any  pledge 
whatever,  the  whole  land  grant,  amounting  to  very  nearly 
a  million  of  acres. 

But  even  worse  than  this  was  another  difficulty.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  strong  lobby  sent  by  Mr.  Cook  to  Albany  in 
behalf  of  the  People's  College,  there  came  representatives 
of  nearly  all  the  smaller  denominational  colleges  in  the 
State,  men  eminent  and  influential,  clamoring  for  a  divi- 
sion of  the  fund  among  their  various  institutions,  though 
the  fragment  which  would  have  fallen  to  each  would  not 
have  sufficed  to  endow  even  a  single  professorship. 

While  all  this  was  uncertain,  and  the  fund  seemed 
likely  to  be  utterly  frittered  away,  I  was  one  day  going 
down  from  the  State  Capitol,  when  Mr.  Cornell  joined  me 


298  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT— II 

and  began  conversation.  He  was,  as  usual,  austere  and 
reserved  in  appearance;  but  I  had  already  found  that 
below  this  appearance  there  was  a  warm  heart  and  noble 
purpose.  No  observant  associate  could  fail  to  notice  that 
the  only  measures  in  the  legislature  which  he  cared  for 
were  those  proposing  some  substantial  good  to  the  State 
or  nation,  and  that  he  despised  all  political  wrangling  and 
partizan  jugglery. 

On  this  occasion,  after  some  little  general  talk,  he  quietly 
said,  "I  have  about  half  a  million  dollars  more  than  my 
family  will  need:  what  is  the  best  thing  I  can  do  with  it 
for  the  State  ? "  I  answered : ' '  Mr.  Cornell,  the  two  things 
most  worthy  of  aid  in  any  country  are  charity  and  educa- 
tion; but,  in  our  country,  the  charities  appeal  to  every- 
body. Any  one  can  understand  the  importance  of  them, 
and  the  worthy  poor  or  unfortunate  are  sure  to  be  taken 
care  of.  As  to  education,  the  lower  grades  will  always  be 
cared  for  in  the  public  schools  by  the  State ;  but  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  highest  grade,  without  which  the  lower  can 
never  be  thoroughly  good,  can  be  appreciated  by  only  a 
few.  The  policy  of  our  State  is  to  leave  this  part  of  the 
system  to  individuals;  it  seems  to  me,  then,  that  if  you 
have  half  a  million  to  give,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  with 
it  is  to  establish  or  strengthen  some  institution  for  higher 
instruction."  I  then  went  on  to  show  him  the  need  of  a 
larger  institution  for  such  instruction  than  the  State  then 
had ;  that  such  a  college  or  university  worthy  of  the  State 
would  require  far  more  in  the  way  of  faculty  and  equip- 
ment than  most  men  supposed;  that  the  time  had  come 
when  scientific  and  technical  education  must  be  provided 
for  in  such  an  institution;  and  that  education  in  history 
and  literature  should  be  the  bloom  of  the  whole  growth. 

He  listened  attentively,  but  said  little.  The  matter 
seemed  to  end  there ;  but  not  long  afterward  he  came  to  me 
and  said:  "I  agree  with  you  that  the  land-grant  fund 
ought  to  be  kept  together,  and  that  there  should  be  a  new 
institution  fitted  to  the  present  needs  of  the  State  and  the 
country.  I  am  ready  to  pledge  to  such  an  institution  a  site 


EZRA  CORNELL-1864-1874  299 

and  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  an  addition  to  the 
land-grant  endowment,  instead  of  three  hundred  thousand, 
as  I  proposed  at  Rochester. " 

As  may  well  be  imagined,  I  hailed  this  proposal  joy- 
fully, and  soon  sketched  out  a  bill  embodying  his  purpose 
so  far  as  education  was  concerned.  But  here  I  wish  to  say 
that,  while  Mr.  Cornell  urged  Ithaca  as  the  site  of  the  pro- 
posed institution,  he  never  showed  any  wish  to  give  his 
own  name  to  it.  The  suggestion  to  that  effect  was  mine. 
He  at  first  doubted  the  policy  of  it ;  but,  on  my  insisting 
that  it  was  in  accordance  with  time-honored  American 
usage,  as  shown  by  the  names  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Dart- 
mouth, Amherst,  Bowdoin,  Brown,  Williams,  and  the  like, 
he  yielded. 

We  now  held  frequent  conferences  as  to  the  leading 
features  of  the  institution  to  be  created.  In  these  I  was 
more  and  more  impressed  by  his  sagacity  and  largeness 
of  view ;  and,  when  the  sketch  of  the  bill  was  fully  devel- 
oped,—its  financial  features  by  him,  and  its  educational 
features  by  me,— it  was  put  into  shape  by  Charles  J.  Fol- 
ger  of  Geneva,  then  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of 
the  Senate,  afterward  chief  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
and  finally  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States. 
The  provision  forbidding  any  sectarian  or  partizan  pre- 
dominance  in  the  board  of  trustees  or  faculty  was  proposed 
by  me,  heartily  acquiesced  in  by  Mr.  Cornell,  and  put  into 
shape  by  Judge  Folger.  The  State-scholarship  feature 
and  the  system  of  alumni  representation  on  the  board  of 
trustees  were  also  accepted  by  Mr.  Cornell  at  my  sug- 
gestion. 

I  refer  to  these  things  especially  because  they  show  one 
striking  characteristic  of  the  man— namely,  his  readiness 
to  be  advised  largely  by  others  in  matters  which  he  felt 
to  be  outside  his  own  province,  and  his  willingness  to  give 
the  largest  measure  of  confidence  when  he  gave  any  con- 
fidence at  all. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  whole  provision  for  the  endow- 
ment, the  part  relating  to  the  land  grant,  and,  above  all, 


300  AS    UNIVERSITY   PUESIDEXT-II 

the  supplementary  legislation  allowing  him  to  make  a 
contract  with  the  State  for  kk  locating1'  the  lands,  were 
thought  out  entirely  hy  himself;  and  in  all  these  matters  he 
showed,  not  only  a  public  spirit  far  beyond  that  displayed 
by  any  other  benefactor  of  education  in  his  time,  but  a 
foresight  which  seemed  to  me  then,  and  seems  to  me  now, 
almost  miraculous.  He  alone,  of  all  men  in  the  United 
States,  was  able  to  foresee  what  might  be  done  by  an 
individual  to  develop  the  land-grant  fund,  and  he  alone 
was  willing  to  make  the  great  personal  sacriiice  thereby 
required. 

But,  while  he  thus  left  the  general  educational  features 
to  me,  he  uttered,  during  one  of  our  conversations,  words 
which  showed  that  he  had  arrived  at  the  true  conception 
of  a  university.  lie  expressed  the  hope  that  in  the  pro- 
posed institution  every  student  might  find  instruction  in 
whatever  study  interested  him.  Hence  came  the  legend 
now  surrounding  his  medallion  portrait  upon  the  univer- 
sity seal :  "I  would  found  an  institution  where  any  person 
can  find  instruction  in  any  study." 

The  introduction  of  this  new  bill  into  the  legislature 
was  a  signal  for  war.  Nearly  all  the  denominational  col- 
leges girded  themselves  for  the  fray,  and  sent  their  agents 
to  fight  us  at  Albany;  they  also  stirred  up  the  secular 
press,  without  distinction  of  party,  in  the  regions  where 
they  were  situated,  and  the  religious  organs  of  their  va- 
rious sects  in  the  great  cities. 

At  the  center  of  the  movement  against  us  was  the  Peo- 
ple's (College;  it  had  rallied  in  force  and  won  over  the 
chairman  of  the  educational  committee  in  the  Assembly, 
so  that  under  various  pretexts  he  delayed  considering  the 
bill.  Worst  of  all,  there  appeared  against  us,  late  in  the 
session,  a  professor  from  the  (Jenesee  College  a  man  of 
high  character  and  great  ability ;  and  he  did  his  work  most 
vigorously.  He  brought  the  whole  force  of  his  sect  to 
bear  upon  the  legislature,  and  insisted  that  every  other 
college  in  the  State  had  received  something  from  the  pub- 
lic funds,  while  his  had  received  none. 


EZRA   CORNELL -1864-1874  301 

As  a  first  result  came  a  proposal  from  some  of  his  asso- 
ciates that  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  the  land-grant 
fund  be  paid  to  Genesee  College;  but  this  the  friends  of 
the  Cornell  bill  resisted,  on  the  ground  that,  if  the  fund 
were  broken  into  in  one  case,  it  would  be  in  others. 

It  was  next  proposed  that  Mr.  Cornell  should  agree  to 
give  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  Genesee  College  *on 
the  passage  of  the  bill.  This  Mr.  Cornell  utterly  refused, 
saying  that  not  for  the  passage  of  any  bill  would  he  make 
any  private  offer  or  have  any  private  understanding ;  that 
every  condition  must  be  put  into  the  bill,  where  all  men 
could  see  it ;  and  that  he  would  then  accept  or  reject  it  as 
he  might  think  best.  The  result  was  that  our  opponents 
forced  into  the  bill  a  clause  requiring  him  to  give  twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  to  Genesee  College,  before  he  could 
be  allowed  to  give  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the 
proposed  university;  and  the  friends  of  the  bill,  not  feel- 
ing strong  enough  to  resist  this  clause,  and  not  being 
willing  to  see  the  enterprise  wrecked  for  the  want  of  it, 
allowed  it  to  go  unopposed.  The  whole  matter  was  vexa- 
tious to  the  last  degree.  A  man  of  less  firmness  and 
earnestness,  thus  treated,  would  have  thrown  up  his  mu- 
nificent purpose  in  disgust;  but  Mr.  Cornell  quietly  per- 
severed. 

Yet  the  troubles  of  the  proposed  university  had  only 
begun.  Mr.  Charles  Cook,  who,  during  his  senatorship, 
had  secured  the  United  States  land  grant  of  1862  for  the 
People's  College,  was  a  man  of  great  force,  a  born  leader 
of  men,  anxious  to  build  up  his  part  of  the  State,  and 
especially  the  town  from  which  he  came,  though  he  had  no 
special  desire  to  put  any  considerable  part  of  his  own 
wealth  into  a  public  institution.  He  had  seen  the  opportu- 
nities afforded  by  the  land  grant,  had  captured  it,  and  was 
now  determined  to  fight  for  it.  The  struggle  became 
bitter.  His  emissaries,  including  the  members  of  the  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly  from  his  part  of  the  State,  made  com- 
mon cause  with  the  sectarian  colleges,  and  with  various 
corporations  and  persons  who,  having  bills  of  their  own 


302  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -II 

in  the  legislature,  were  ready  to  exchange  services  and 
votes. 

The  coalition  of  all  these  forces  against  the  Cornell 
University  bill  soon  became  very  formidable,  and  the  com- 
mittee on  education  in  the  Assembly,  to  which  the  bill  had 
been  referred,  seemed  more  and  more  controlled  by  them. 
Our  only  hope  now  was  to  enlighten  the  great  body  of  the 
senators  and  assemblymen.  To  this  end  Mr.  Cornell  in- 
vited them  by  squads,  sometimes  to  his  rooms  at  Congress 
Hall,  sometimes  to  mine  at  the  Delavan  House.  There  he 
laid  before  them  his  general  proposal  and  the  financial 
side  of  the  plan,  while  I  dwelt  upon  the  need  of  a  univer- 
sity in  the  true  sense  of  the  word;  upon  the  opportunity 
now  offered  , by  this  great  fund;  upon  the  necessity  of 
keeping  it  together ;  upon  the  need  of  large  means  to  carry 
out  any  scheme  of  technical  and  general  education  such 
as  was  contemplated  by  the  congressional  act  of  1862; 
showed  the  proofs  that  the  Peagle^s^^ollege  would  and 
couTd^^nothing  to  meet  this  want;  that  division  of  the 
fund  among  the  existing' colleges  was  simply  the  Annihila- 
tion of  it;  and,  in  general,  did  my  best  to  enlighten  the 
reason  and  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the  members  on  the 
subject  of  a  worthy  university  in.  our  State.  These  points 
and  others  were  finally  embodied  in  my  speech  before  the 
Senate,  and  this  having  been  published  in  the  "  Albany 
Journal,"  Mr.  Cornell  provided  for  its  circulation  broad- 
cast over  the  State  and  thus  aroused  public  opinion. 

In  this  way  we  won  to  our  support  several  strong 
friends  in  both  Houses,  among  them  some  men  of  great 
natural  force  of  character  who  had  never  enjoyed  the 
privilege  of  much  early  education,  but  who  were  none  the 
less  anxious  that  those  who  came  after  them  should  have 
the  best  opportunities.  Of  these  I  may  name  especially 
Senators  Cook  of  Saratoga  and  Ames  of  Oswego.  Men 
of  high  education  and  culture  also  aided  us,  especially 
Mr.  Andrews,  Mr.  Havens,  and,  finally,  Judge  Folger  in 
the  Senate,  with  Mr.  Lord  and  Mr.  Weaver  in  the  As- 
sembly. 


EZRA  CORNELL- 1864-1874  303 

While  we  were  thus  laboring  with  the  legislature  as  a 
whole,  serious  work  had  to  be  done  with  the  Assembly 
committee;  and  Mr.  Cornell  employed  a  very  eminent 
lawyer  to  present  his  case,  while  Mr.  Cook  employed  one 
no  less  noted  to  take  the  opposite  side.  The  session  of 
the  committee  was  held  in  the  Assembly  chamber,  and  there 
was  a  large  attendance  of  spectators;  but,  unfortunately, 
the  lawyer  employed  by  Mr.  Cornell  having  taken  little 
pains  with  the  case,  his  speech  was  cold,  labored,  perfunc- 
tory, and  fell  flat.  The  speech  on  the  other  side  was  much 
more  effective;  it  was  thin  and  demagogical,  but  the 
speaker  knew  well  the  best  tricks  for  catching  the  average 
man.  He  indulged  in  eloquent  tirades  against  the  Cornell 
bill  as  a  " monopoly, "  a  "wild  project,"  a  "selfish 
scheme,"  a  "job,"  a  "grab,"  and  the  like;  denounced  Mr. 
Cornell  as  "seeking  to  erect  a  monument  to  himself"; 
hinted  that  he  was  ' '  planning  to  rob  the  State ' ' ;  and,  be- 
fore he  had  finished,  had  pictured  Mr.  Cornell  as  a 
swindler  and  the  rest  of  us  as  dupes  or  knaves. 

I  can  never  forget  the  quiet  dignity  with  which  Mr. 
Cornell  took  this  abuse.  Mrs.  Cornell  sat  at  his  right,  I 
at  his  left.  In  one  of  the  worst  tirades  against  him,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said  quietly,  and  without  the  slightest 
anger  or  excitement :  ' '  If  I  could  think  of  any  other  way 
in  which  half  a  million  of  dollars  would  do  as  much  good 
to  the  State,  I  would  give  the  legislature  no  more  trouble." 
Shortly  afterward,  when  the  invective  was  again  espe- 
cially bitter,  he  turned  to  me  and  said:  "I  am  not  sure 
but  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  me  to  give  the  half 
a  million  to  old  Harvard  College  in  Massachusetts,  to 
educate  the  descendants  of  the  men  who  hanged  my  fore- 
fathers." 

There  was  more  than  his  usual  quaint  humor  in  this 
—there  was  that  deep  reverence  which  he  always  bore 
toward  his  Quaker  ancestry,  and  which  seemed  to  have  be- 
come part  of  him.  I  admired  Mr.  Cornell  on  many  occa- 
sions, but  never  more  than  during  that  hour  when  he 
sat,  without  the  slightest  anger,  mildly  taking  the  abuse  of 


304  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-II 

that  prostituted  pettifogger,  the  indifference  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  the  laughter  of  the  audience.  It  was  a  scene 
for  a  painter,  and  1  trust  that  some  day  it  will  be  fitly 
perpetuated  for  the  university. 

This  struggle  being  ended,  the  Assembly  committee 
could  not  be  induced  to  report  the  bill.  It  was  easy,  after 
such  a  speech,  for  its  members  to  pose  as  protectors  of 
the  State  against  a  swindler  and  a  monopoly;  the  chair- 
man, who,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  session,  was  mys- 
teriously given  a  position  in  the  New  York  custom-house, 
made  pretext  after  pretext  without  reporting,  until  it  be- 
came evident  that  we  must  have  a  struggle  in  the  Assembly 
and  drag  the  bill  out  of  the  committee  in  spite  of  him. 
To  do  this  required  a  two-thirds  vote.  Ail  our  friends 
were  set  to  work,  and  some  pains  taken  to  scare  the  cor- 
porations which  had  allied  themselves  with  the  enemy,  in 
regard  to  the  fate  of  their  own  bills,  by  making  them 
understand  that,  unless  they  stopped  their  interested  op- 
position to  the  university  bill  in  the  House,  a  feeling 
would  be  created  in  the  Senate  very  unfortunate  for  them. 
In  this  way  their  clutch  upon  sundry  members  of  the 
Assembly  was  somewhat  relaxed,  and  these  were  allowed 
to  vote  according  to  their  conscience's. 

The  Cornell  bill  was  advocated  most  earnestly  in  the 
House  by  ]\Ir.  Henry  J>.  Lord:  in  his  unpretentious  way 
he  marshaled  the  university  forces,  and  moved  that  the  bill 
be  taken  from  the  committee  and  referred  to  the  Commit- 
tee of  the  AVhole.  Xow  came  a  struggle.  Most  of  the 
best  men  in  the  Assembly  stood  by  us;  but  the  waverers 
—  men  who  feared  local  pressure,  sectarian  hostility,  or 
the  opposition  of  Mr.  Cook  to  measures  of  their  own- 
attempted,  if  not  to  oppose  the  Cornell  bill,  at  least  to 
evade  a  vote  upon  it.  In  order  to  give  them  a  little  tone 
and  strength,  Mr.  Cornell  went  with  me  to  various  lead- 
ing editors  in  the  city  of  Xe\v  York,  and  \ve  explained 
the  whole  matter  to  them,  securing  editorial  articles  fa- 
vorable to  the  university,  the  most  prominent  among  these 
gentlemen  being  Horace  Greeley  of  the  kk  Tribune,"  Kras- 


EZRA   CORNELL- 1864-1874  305 

tus  Brooks  of  the  "Express,"  and  Manton  Marble  of  the 
"World."  This  did  much  for  us,  yet  when  the  vote  was 
taken  the  old  cowardice  was  again  shown;  but  several  of 
us  stood  in  the  cloak-room  and  fairly  shamed  the  waverers 
back  into  their  places.  As  a  result,  to  the  surprise  and 
disgust  of  the  chairman  of  the  Assembly  committee,  the 
bill  was  taken  out  of  his  control,  and  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole  House. 

Another  long  struggle  now  ensued,  but  the  bill  was 
finally  passed  in  the  Assembly  and  came  back  to  the 
Senate.  There  the  struggle  was  renewed,  all  kinds  of  de- 
laying tactics  were  resorted  to,  but  the  bill  was  finally 
carried,  and  received  the  signature  of  Governor  Fenton. 

Now  came  a  new  danger.  During  their  struggle  against 
the  bill,  our  enemies  had  been  strong  enough  to  force  into 
it  a  clause  enabling  the  People's  College  to  retain  the  land 
fund,  provided  that  institution  should  be  shown,  within  six 
months  of  the  passage  of  the  bill,  to  be  in  possession  of  a 
sum  such  as  the  Board  of  Regents  should  declare  would 
enable  it  to  comply  with  the  conditions  on  which  it  had 
originally  received  the  grant.  The  Board  of  Regents 
now  reported  that  the  possession  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  would  be  sufficient  for  such  a  com- 
pliance, and  would  insure  the  fund  to  the  People's  Col- 
lege. Naturally  we  watched,  in  much  uneasy  suspense, 
during  those  six  months,  to  see  whether  Mr.  Cook  and 
the  People's  College  authorities  would  raise  this  sum 
of  money,  so  small  in  comparison  with  that  which  Mr. 
Cornell  was  willing  to  give,  in  order  to  secure  the  grant. 
But  our  fears  were  baseless;  and  on  the  fifth  day  of 
September,  1865,  the  trustees  of  Cornell  University  were 
assembled  for  the  first  time  at  Ithaca. 

Then^came  to  them  a  revelation  of  ajjmdity  in  Mr.  Cor- 
nell unknown  to  most  of  them  before.  In  one  of  the  peti- 
tions forwarded  from  Ithaca  to  the  legislature  by  his 
fellow-citizens  it  had  been  stated  that  "he  never  did  less 
than  he  promised,  but  generally  more. "  So  it  was  found 
in  this  case.  He  turned  over  to  the  trustees,  not  only  the 

I.-20 


306  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

securities  for  the  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  required 
by  the  charter,  but  also  gave  two  hundred  acres  of  land  as 
a  site.  Thus  came  into  being  Cornell  University. 

Yet  the  services  of  Mr.  Cornell  had  only  begun:  he  at 
once  submitted  to  us  a  plan  for  doing  what  no  other  citizen 
had  done  for  any  other  State.  In  the  other  common- 
wealths which  had  received  the  land  grant,  the  authorities 
had  taken  the  scrip  representing  the  land,  sold  it  at  the 
market  price,  and,  as  the  market  was  thus  glutted,  had 
realized  but  a  small  sum ;  but  Mr.  Cornell,  with  that  fore- 
sight which  was  his  most  striking  characteristic,  saw 
clearly  what  could  be  done  by  using  the  scrip  to  take  up 
land  for  the  institution.  To  do  this  he  sought  aid  in  vari- 
ous ways;  but  no  one  dared  join  him,  and  at  last  he  deter- 
mined to  bear  the  whole  burden  himself.  Scrip  repre- 
senting over  sey^n_hunjir^(^t^Qu^and  ..acres  still  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the  comptroller.  The  trustees  received  Mr. 
Cornell's  plan  for  dealing  with  the  scrip  somewhat  doubt- 
fully, but  the  enabling  act  was  passed,  by  which  he  was 
permitted  to  ' '  locate ' '  this  land  for  the  benefit  of  the  uni- 
versity. So  earnest  was  he  in  this  matter  that  he  was 
anxious  to  take  up  the  entire  amount,  but  here  his  near 
friends  interposed :  we  saw  too  well  what  a  crushing  load 
the  taxes  and  other  expenses  on  such  a  vast  tract  of  land 
would  become  before  it  could  be  sold  to  advantage.  Finally 
he  yielded  somewhat :  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  take  up 
five  hundred  thousand  acres,  and  he  now  gave  himself  day 
and  night  to  this  great  part  of  the  enterprise,  which  was 
to  provide  a  proper  financial  basis  for  a  university  such  as 
we  hoped  to  found. 

Meanwhile,  at  Mr.  Cornell's  suggestion,  I  devoted  my- 
self to  a  more  careful  plan  of  the  new  institution ;  and,  at 
the  next  meeting  of  the  board,  presented  a  "plan  of  or- 
ganization, "  which  sketched  out  the  purpose  and  consti- 
tution of  such  a  university  as  seemed  needed  in  a  great 
commonwealth  like  ours.  Mr.  Cornell  studied  it  carefully, 
gave  it  his  approval,  and  a  copy  of  it  with  marginal*  notes 
in  his  own  hand  is  still  preserved. 


EZRA   CORNELL-1864-1S74  307 

I  had  supposed  that  this  was  to  end  my  relations  with 
Mr.  Cornell,  so  far  as  the  university  was  concerned.  A 
multitude  of  matters  seemed  to  forbid  my  taking  any  fur- 
ther care  for  it,  and  a  call  to  another  position  very  attrac- 
tive to  me  drew  me  away  from  all  thought  of  connection 
with  it,  save,  perhaps,  such  as  was  involved  in  meeting  the 
trustees  once  or  twice  a  year. 

Mr.  Cornell  hadjisked  me,  from  time  to  time,  whether 
I  could  suggest  any  person  for  the  presidency  of  the  uni- 
versity. I  mentioned  various  persons,  and  presented  the 
arguments  in  their  favor.  One  day  he  said  to  me  quietly 
that  he  also  had  a  candidate ;  I  asked  him  who  it  was,  and 
he  said  tEatThe  preferred  to  keep  the  matter  to  himself 
until  the  next  meeting  of  the  trustees.  Nothing  more  passed 
between  us  on  that  subject.  I  had  no  inkling  of  his  pur- 
pose, but  thought  it  most  likely  that  his  candidate  was 
a  Western  gentleman  whose  claims  had  been  strongly 
pressed  upon  him.  When  the  trustees  came  together,  and 
the  subject  was  brought  up,  I  presented  the  merits  of  vari- 
ous gentlemen,  especially  of  one  already  at  the  head  of  an 
important  college  in  the  State,  who,  I  thought,  would  give 
us  success.  Upon  this,  Mr.  Cornell  rose,  and,  in  a  very  sim- 
ple but  earnest  speech,  presented  my  name.  It  was  entirely 
unexpected  by  me,  and  I  endeavored  to  show  the  trustees 
that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  take  the  place  in  view  of 
other  duties ;  that  it  needed  a  man  of  more  robust  health, 
of  greater  age,  and  of  wider  reputation  in  the  State.  But 
Mr.  Cornell  quietly  persisted,  our  colleagues  declared 
themselves  unanimously  of  his  opinion,  and,  with  many 
misgivings,  I  gave  a  provisional  acceptance. 

The  relation  thus  begun  ended  only  with  Mr.  Cornell's 
life,  and  from  first  to  last  it  grew  more  and  more  interest- 
ing to  me.  We  were  thrown  much  together  at  Albany,  at 
Ithaca,  and  on  various  journeys  undertaken  for  the  uni- 
versity ;  and,  the  more  I  saw  of  him,  the  deeper  became  my 
respect  for  him.  There  were,  indeed,  towaxd.tke,..eno!  of 
his  life,  some  things  trying  to  one  of  my  temperament, 
and  among  these  things  I  may  mention  his  exceeding  reti- 


308  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -II 

cence,  and  his  willingness  not  only  to  labor  but  to  wait; 
but  these  stood  not  at  all  in  the  way  of  my  respect  and 
affection  for  him. 

His  liberality  was  unstinted.  While  using  his  fortune 
in  taking  up  the  lands,  he  was  constantly  doing  generous 
things  for  the  university  and  those  connected  with  it.  One 
of  the  first  of  these  was  his  gift  of  the  library  in  classical 
literature  collected  by  Dr.  Charles  Anthon  of  Columbia 
College.  Nothing  could  apparently  be  more  outside  his 
sympathy  than  the  department  needing  these  seven  thou- 
sand volumes ;  but  he  recognized  its  importance  in  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  the  new  institution,  bought  the  library  for 
over  twelve  thousand  dollars,  and  gave  it  to  the  university. 

Then  came  the  Jewett  collection  in  geology,  which  he 
gave  at  a  cost  of  ten  thousand  dollars ;  the  Ward  collection 
of  casts,  at  a  cost  of  three  thousand ;  the  Newcomb  collec- 
tion in  conchology,  at  a  cost  of  sixteen  thousand ;  an  addi- 
tion to  the  university  grounds,  valued  at  many  thousands 
more ;  and  it  was  only  the  claims  of  a  multitude  of  minor 
university  matters  upon  his  purse  which  prevented  his 
carrying  out  a  favorite  plan  of  giving  a  great  telescope,  at 
a  cost  of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  At  a  later  period,  to  ex- 
tinguish the  university  debt,  to  increase  the  equipment,  and 
eventually  to  provide  free  scholarships  and  fellowships, 
he  made  an  additional  gift  of  about  eighty  thousand 
dollars. 

While  doing  these  things,  he  was  constantly  advancing 
large  sums  in  locating  the  university  lands,  and  in  paying 
university  salaries,  for  which  our  funds  were  not  yet  avail- 
able ;  while  from  time  to  time  he  made  many  gifts  which, 
though  smaller,  were  no  less  striking  evidences  of  the 
largeness  of  his  view.  I  may  mention  a  few  among  these 
as  typical. 

Having  found,  in  the  catalogue  of  a  London  book- 
seller, a  set  of  Piranesi's  great  work  on  the  "Antiquities 
of  Rome,"— a  superb  copy,  the  gift  of  a  pope  to  a  royal 
duke,— I  showed  it  to  him,  when  he  at  once  ordered  it  for 
our  library  at  a  cost  of  about  a  thousand  dollars.  At 


EZRA   CORNELL-  18G4-1874  309 

another  time,  seeing  the  need  of  some  costly  works  to 
illustrate  agriculture,  he  gave  them  to  us  at  a  somewhat 
greater  cost;  and,  having  heard  Professor  TyndalPs  lec- 
tures in  New  York,  he  bought  additional  physical  appara- 
tus to  enable  our  resident  professor  to  repeat  the  lectures 
at  Ithaca,  and  this  cost  him  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

Characteristic  of  him,  too,  was  another  piece  of  quiet 
munificence.  When  the  clause  forced  into  the  university 
charter,  requiring  him  to  give  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars to  another  institution  before  he  could  be  allowed  to 
give  half  a  million  to  his  own,  was  noised  abroad  through 
the  State,  there  was  a  general  feeling  of  disgust;  and  at 
the  next  session  of  the  legislature  a  bill  was  brought  in 
to  refund  the  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  him.  Upon 
this,  he  remarked  that  what  he  once  gave  he  never  took 
back,  but  that  if  the  university  trustees  would  accept  it  he 
had  no  objection.  The  bill  was  modified  to  this  effect,  and 
thus  the  wrong  was  righted. 

During  my  stay  in  Europe,  through  the  summer  of  1868, 
under  instructions  to  study  various  institutions  for  techni- 
cal education,  to  make  large  purchases  of  books,  and  to 
secure  one  or  two  men  greatly  needed  in  special  depart- 
ments not  then  much  cultivated  in  this  country,  his  gen- 
erosity was  unfailing.  Large  as  were  the  purchases  which 
I  was  authorized  to  make,  the  number  of  desirable  things 
outside  this  limit  steadily  grew  larger;  but  my  letters  to 
him  invariably  brought  back  the  commission  to  secure 
this  additional  material. 

During  this  occupation  of  mine  in  Europe,  he  was  quite 
as  busy  in  the  woods  of  the  upper  Mississippi  and  on  the 
plains  of  Kansas,  selecting  university  lands.  No  fatigue 
or  expenditure  deterred  him. 

At  various  periods  I  passed  much  time  with  Mr.  Cornell 
on  his  home  farm.  He  lived  generously,  in  a  kind  of  patri- 
archal simplicity,  and  many  of  his  conversations  interested 
me  intensely.  His  reticence  gradually  yielded,  and  he  gave 
me  much  information  regarding  his  earlier  years :  they  had 
been  full  of  toil  and  struggle,  but  through  the  whole  there 


310  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

was  clear  evidence  of  a  noble  purpose.  Whatever  worthy 
work  his  hand  had  found  to  do,  he  had  done  it  with  his 
might:  the  steamers  of  Cayuga  Lake;  the  tunnel  which 
carries  the  waters  of  Fall  Creek  to  the  mills  below;  the 
mills  themselves ;  the  dams  against  that  turbulent  stream, 
which  he  built  after  others  had  failed,  and  which  stand 
firmly  to  this  day;  the  calendar  clocks  for  which  Ithaca 
has  become  famous,  and  of  which  he  furnished  the  original 
hint— all  these  he  touched  upon,  though  so  modestly  that 
I  never  found  out  his  full  agency  in  them  until  a  later 
period,  when  I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  many  of  his 
townsmen. 

Especially  interesting  were  his  references  to  the  begin- 
nings of  American  telegraphic  enterprise,  with  which  he 
had  so  much  to  do. 

His  connection  with  it  began  in  a  curious  way.  Travel- 
ing in  northern  New  England  to  dispose  of  a  plow  which 
he  had  invented,  he  entered  the  office  of  a  gentleman  who 
had  taken  the  contract  for  laying  the  first  telegraphic  wires 
underground  between  Washington  and  Baltimore,  and 
found  him  in  much  doubt  and  trouble :  the  difficulty  was  to 
lay  the  leaden  pipe  containing  the  two  insulated  wires  at  a 
cost  within  the  terms  of  the  contract.  Hearing  this,  Mr. 
Cornell  said:  "I  will  build  you  a  machine  which  will  dig 
the  trench,  lay  the  pipe  and  wires,  and  cover  them  with 
earth  rapidly  and  cheaply." 

This  proposal  was  at  first  derided ;  but,  as  Mr.  Cornell 
insisted  upon  it,  he  was  at  last  allowed  to  show  what  he 
could  do.  The  machine  having  been  constructed,  he  ex- 
hibited it  to  a  committee;  but  when  the  long  line  of 
horses  attached  to  it  were  started,  it  was  so  thrown  about 
by  the  inequalities  of  the  surface  that  the  committee  de- 
clared it  a  failure.  Presently  Mr.  Cornell  took  them  to 
the  ground  over  which  the  machine  had  just  passed,  and, 
showing  them  a  line  of  newly  turned  earth,  asked  them 
to  dig  in  it.  Having  done  this,  they  found  the  pipe  incas- 
ing the  wires,  acknowledged  his  triumph,  and  immediately 
gave  him  and  his  machine  permanent  employment. 


EZRA  CORNELL -1864-1874  311 

But  before  long  he  became  convinced  that  this  was  not 
the  best  way.  Having  studied  all  the  books  on  electricity 
that  he  could  find  in  the  Congressional  Library,  he  had 
satisfied  himself  that  it  would  be  far  better  and  cheaper 
to  string  the  wires  through  the  open  air  between  poles. 
This  idea  the  men  controlling  the  scheme  for  a  time  re- 
sisted. Some  of  them  regarded  such  interference  in  a 
scientific  matter  by  one  whom  they  considered  a  plain 
working-man  as  altogether  too  presuming.  But  one  day 
Professor  Morse  came  out  to  decide  the  matter.  Finding 
Mr.  Cornell  at  his  machine,  the  professor  explained  the 
difficulties  in  the  case,  especially  the  danger  of  shaking  the 
confidence  of  Congress,  and  so  losing  the  necessary  ap- 
propriation, should  any  change  in  plan  be  adopted,  and 
then  asked  him  if  he  could  see  any  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 
Mr.  Cornell  answered  that  he  could,  whereupon  Professor 
Morse  expressed  a  wish  that  it  might  be  taken.  At  this 
Mr.  Cornell  gave  the  word  to  his  men,  started  up  the 
long  line  of  horses  dragging  the  ponderous  machine, 
guided  it  with  his  own  hands  into  a  boulder  lying  near, 
and  thus  deranged  the  whole  machinery. 

As  a  natural  result  it  was  announced  by  various  jour- 
nals at  the  national  capital  that  the  machinery  for  laying 
the  wires  had  been  broken  by  the  carelessness  of  an  em- 
ployee, but  that  it  would  doubtless  soon  be  repaired  and 
the  work  resumed.  Thanks  to  this  stratagem,  the  neces- 
sary time  was  gained  without  shaking  the  confidence  of 
Congress,  and  Mr.  Cornell  at  once  began  stringing  the 
wires  upon  poles:  the  insulation  was  found  far  better 
than  in  the  underground  system,  and  there  was  no  more 
trouble. 

The  confidence  of  the  promoters  of  the  enterprise  being 
thus  gained,  Mr.  Cornell  was  employed  to  do  their  work 
in  all  parts  of  the  country ;  and  his  sturdy  honesty,  energy, 
and  persistence  justified  their  confidence  and  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  his  fortune. 

Very  striking  were  the  accounts  of  his  troubles  and 
trials  during  the  prosecution  of  this  telegraphic  work— 


312  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

troubles  from  men  of  pretended  science,  from  selfish  men, 
from  stupid  men— all  chronicled  by  him  without  the  slight- 
est bitterness  against  any  human  being,  yet  with  a  quaint 
humor  which  made  the  story  very  enjoyable. 

Through  his  personal  history,  as  I  then  began  to  learn 
it,  ran  a  thread,  or  rather  a  strong  cord,  of  stoicism. 
He  had  clung  with  such  desperate  tenacity  to  his  faith  in 
the  future  of  the  telegraphic  system,  that,  sooner  than  part 
with  his  interest  in  it,  even  when  its  stock  was  utterly  dis- 
credited, he  suffered  from  poverty,  and  almost  from  want. 
While  pressing  on  his  telegraphic  construction,  he  had  been 
terribly  wounded  in  a  Western  railroad  accident,  but  had 
extricated  himself  from  the  dead  and  dying,  and,  as  I 
learned  from  others,  had  borne  his  sufferings  without  a 
murmur.  At  another  time,  overtaken  by  ship-fever  at 
Montreal,  and  thought  to  be  beyond  help,  he  had  quietly 
made  up  his  mind  that,  if  he  could  reach  a  certain  hydro- 
pathic establishment  in  New  York,  he  would  recover ;  and 
had  dragged  himself  through  that  long  journey,  des- 
perately ill  as  he  was,  in  railway  cars,  steamers,  and 
stages,  until  he  reached  his  desired  haven;  and  there  he 
finally  recovered,  though  nearly  every  other  person  at- 
tacked by  the  disease  at  his  Montreal  hotel  had  died. 

Pursuing  his  telegraphic  enterprise,  he  had  been  obliged 
at  times  to  fight  many  strong  men  and  great  combinations 
of  capital;  but  this  same  stoicism  carried  him  through: 
he  used  to  say  laughingly  that  his  way  was  to  "tire  them 
out." 

When,  at  last,  fortune  had  begun  to  smile  upon  him,  his 
public  spirit  began  to  show  itself  in  more  striking  forms, 
though  not  in  forms  more  real,  than  in  his  earlier  days. 
Evidences  of  this  met  the  eye  of  his  visitors  at  once,  and 
among  these  were  the  fine  cattle,  sheep,  fruit-trees,  and 
the  like,  which  he  had  brought  back  from  the  London 
Exposition  of  1851.  His  observations  of  the  agricultural 
experiments  of  Lawes  and  Gilbert  at  Rothamstead  in 
England,  and  his  visits  to  various  agricultural  exhibitions, 
led  him  to  attempt  similar  work  at  home.  Everything 


EZRA  CORNELL- 1864-1874  313 

that  could  improve  the  community  in  which  he  lived 
was  matter  of  concern  to  him.  He  took  the  lead  in  es- 
tablishing "Cascadilla  Place/'  in  order  to  give  a  very 
gifted  woman  an  opportunity  to  show  her  abilities  in 
administering  hydropathic  treatment  to  disease;  his 
public  library,  when  I  first  visited  Ithaca,  was  just 
completed. 

He  never  showed  the  slightest  approach  to  display  or 
vanity  regarding  any  of  these  things,  and  most  of  them  I 
heard  of  first,  at  a  later  period,  from  others. 

Although  his  religious  ideas  were  very  far  from  those 
generally  considered  orthodox,  he  had  a  deep  sympathy 
with  every  good  effort  for  religion  and  morality,  no  mat- 
ter by  whom  made ;  and  he  contributed  freely  to  churches 
of  every  name  and  to  good  purposes  of  every  sort.  He 
had  quaint  ways  at  times  in  making  such  gifts,  and  from 
the  many  stories  showing  these  I  select  one  as  character- 
istic. During  the  Civil  War,  the  young  women  of  the  vil- 
lage held  large  sewing-circles,  doing  work  for  the  soldiers. 
When  Mr.  Cornell  was  asked  to  contribute  to  their  funds, 
he  declined,  to  the  great  surprise  of  those  who  asked 
him,  and  said  dryly :  * '  Of  course  these  women  don 't  really 
come  together  to  sew  for  the  soldiers ;  they  come  together 
to  gossip. "  This  was  said,  no  doubt,  with  that  peculiar 
twinkle  of  the  eye  which  his  old  friends  can  well  remem- 
ber ;  but,  on  the  young  ladies  protesting  that  he  did  them 
injustice,  he  answered : ' l  If  you  can  prove  that  I  am  wrong, 
I  will  gladly  contribute ;  if  you  will  only  sew  together  all 
one  afternoon,  and  no  one  of  you  speak  a  word,  I  will  give 
you  a  hundred  dollars."  The  society  met,  and  complete 
silence  reigned.  The  young  men  of  the  community,  hear- 
ing of  this,  and  seeing  an  admirable  chance  to  tease  their 
fair  friends,  came  in  large  numbers  to  the  sewing-circle, 
and  tried  to  engage  them  in  conversation.  At  first  their 
attempts  were  in  vain ;  but,  finally,  to  a  question  skilfully 
put,  one  of  the  young  ladies  made  a  reply.  This  broke 
the  spell.  Of  course,  the  whole  assembly  were  very  un- 
happy; but,  when  all  was  told  to  Mr.  Cornell,  he  said: 


314  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-H 

"They  shall  have  their  hundred  dollars,  for  they  have 
done  better  than  any  other  women  ever  did. ' ' 

But  I  ought  to  say  here  that  this  little  episode  would 
be  grossly  misunderstood  were  it  supposed  to  indicate  any 
tendency  in  his  heart  or  mind  toward  a  cynical  view  of 
womankind.  Nothing  could  be  more  manly  and  noble 
than  his  reference  to  her  who  had  stood  at  his  side 
courageously,  hopefully,  and  cheerily  during  his  years 
of  struggle  and  want  of  appreciation.  Well  might  he 
speak  of  her,  as  he  did  once  in  my  hearing,  as  "the  best 
woman  that  ever  lived.'7  And  his  gentle  courtliness  and 
thoughtful  kindness  were  also  deeply  appreciated  in  other 
households.  His  earnestness,  too,  in  behalf  of  the  higher 
education  of  women,  and  of  their  fair  treatment  in  various 
professions  and  occupations,  showed  something  far  deeper 
than  conventional  politeness. 

From  the  time  when  I  began  to  know  him  best,  his  main 
thought  was  concentrated  upon  the  university.  His  own 
business  interests  were  freely  sacrificed ;  his  time,  wealth, 
and  effort  were  all  yielded  to  his  work  in  taking  up  its 
lands,  to  say  nothing  of  supplementary  work  which  be- 
came in  many  ways  a  heavy  burden  to  him. 

During  the  summer  preceding  the  opening  of  the  uni- 
versity, this  labor  and  care  began  to  wear  upon  him,  and 
he  was  attacked  by  an  old  malady  which  gave  him  great 
pain ;  yet  his  stoicism  asserted  itself.  Through  night  after 
night,  as  I  lay  in  the  room  next  his  at  his  farm-house,  I 
could  hear  him  groan,  and  to  my  natural  sympathy  was 
added  a  fear  lest  he  might  not  live  through  this  most  criti- 
cal period  in  the  history  of  the  new  institution ;  but,  invari- 
ably, when  I  met  him  next  morning  and  asked  how  he 
felt,  his  answer  was,  "All  right,"  or  "Very  well."  I 
cannot  remember  ever  hearing  him  make  any  complaint 
of  his  sufferings  or  even  any  reference  to  them. 

Nor  did  pain  diminish  his  steady  serenity  or  generosity. 
I  remember  that  on  one  hot  afternoon  of  that  summer, 
when  he  had  come  into  the  house  thoroughly  weary,  a 
young  man  called  upon  him  to  ask  for  aid  in  securing 


EZRA  CORNELL -1864-1874  315 

school-books.  Mr.  Cornell  questioned  him  closely,  and 
then  rose,  walked  with  him  down  the  hill  into  the  town, 
and  bought  the  books  which  were  needed. 

As  the  day  approached  for  the  formal  opening  of  the 
university,  he  was  obliged  to  remain  in  bed.  Care  and 
toil  had  prostrated  me  also ;  and  both  of  us,  a  sorry  couple 
indeed,  had  to  be  taken  from  our  beds  to  be  carried  to  the 
opening  exercises. 

A  great  crowd  had  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the 
State:— many  enthusiastic,  more  doubtful,  and  some  de- 
cidedly inclined  to  scoff. 

Some  who  were  expected  were  not  present.  The  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  though  he  had  been  in  Ithaca  the  day 
before,  quietly  left  town  on  the  eve  of  the  opening  exer- 
cises. His  Excellency  was  a  very  wise  man  in  his  genera- 
tion, and  evidently  felt  that  it  was  not  best  for  him  to 
have  too  much  to  do  with  an  institution  which  the  sectarian 
press  had  so  generally  condemned.  I  shall  not  soon  forget 
the  way  in  which  Mr.  Cornell  broke  the  news  to  me,  and 
the  accent  of  calm  contempt  in  his  voice.  Fortunately 
there  remained  with  us  the  lieutenant-governor,  General 
Stewart  Lyndon  Woodf ord.  He  came  to  the  front  nobly, 
and  stood  by  us  firmly  and  munificently  ever  afterward. 

Mr.  Cornell's  speech  on  that  occasion  was  very  simple 
and  noble;  his  whole  position,  to  one  who  knew  what  he 
had  gone  through  in  the  way  of  obloquy,  hard  work,  and 
self-sacrifice,  was  touching.  Worn  down  by  illness,  he 
was  unable  to  stand,  and  he  therefore  read  his  address  in 
a  low  tone  from  his  chair.  It  was  very  impressive,  almost 
incapacitating  me  from  speaking  after  him,  and  I  saw 
tears  in  the  eyes  of  many  in  the  audience.  Nothing  could 
be  more  simple  than  this  speech  of  his ;  it  was  mainly  de- 
voted to  a  plain  assertion  of  the  true  university  theory  in 
its  most  elementary  form,  and  to  a  plea  that  women  should 
have  equal  privileges  with  men  in  advanced  education.  In 
the  midst  of  it  came  a  touch  of  his  quaint  shrewdness ;  for, 
in  replying  to  a  recent  charge  that  everything  at  the  uni- 
versity was  unfinished,  he  remarked  in  substance,  "We 


316  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT -II 

have  not  invited  you  to  see  a  university  finished,  but  to  see 
one  begun." 

The  opening  day  seemed  a  success,  but  this  very  suc- 
cess stirred  up  the  enemy.  A  bitter  letter  from  Ithaea 
to  a  leading  denominational  organ  in  New  York  gave  the 
signal,  and  soon  the  whole  sectarian  press  was  in  full  cry, 
steadily  pressing  upon  Mr.  Cornell  and  those  who  stood 
near  him.  Very  many  of  the  secular  presses  also  thought 
it  wise  to  join  in  the  attack,  and  it  was  quickly  extended 
from  his  ideas  to  his  honor,  and  even  to  his  honesty.  It 
seemed  beyond  the  conception  of  many  of  these  gentlemen 
that  a  Ilicksite  Quaker,  who,  if  he  gave  any  thought  at 
all  to  this  or  that  creed,  or  this  or  that  '"plan  of  salva- 
tion/' passed  it  all  by  as  utterly  irrelevant  and  inadequate, 
could  be  a  religious  man ;  and  a  far  greater  number  seemed 
to  find  it  just  as  difficult  to  believe  that  a  man  could  sacri- 
fice his  comfort  and  risk  his  fortune  in  managing  so  great 
a  landed  property  for  the  public  interest  without  any 
concealed  scheme  of  plunder. 

But  he  bore  all  this  with  his  usual  stoicism.  It  seemed 
to  increase  his  devotion  to  the  institution,  rather  than  to  di- 
minish it.  AYhen  the  receipts  from  the  endowment  fell 
short  or  were  delayed,  he  continued  to  advance  money 
freely  to  meet  the  salaries  of  the  professors;  and  for  ap- 
paratus, books,  and  equipment  of  every  sort  his  purse 
was  constantly  opened. 

Yet,  in  those  days  of  toil  and  care  and  obloquy,  there 
were  some  things  which  encouraged  him  much.  At  that 
period  all  patriotic  Americans  felt  dee])  gratitude  to  Gold- 
win  Smith  for  his  courage  and  eloquence  in  standing  by 
our  country  during  the  CivinVar,and  great  admiration  for 
his  profound  and  brilliant  historical  lectures  at  Oxford. 
Xaturally,  on  arriving  in  London,  I  sought  to  engage  him 
for  the  new  university,  and  was  authorized  by  Mr.  Cornell 
to  make  him  large  pecuniary  offers.  Professor  Smith  en- 
tered at  once  into  onr  plans  heartily;  wrote  to  encourage 
us ;  came  to  us ;  lived  with  us  amid  what,  to  him,  must  have 
been  great  privations;  lectured  for  us  year  after  year  as 


EZRA   CORNELL-1864-1874  317 

brilliantly  as  he  had  ever  lectured  at  Oxford;  gave  his 
library  to  the  university,  with  a  large  sum  for  its  increase ; 
lent  his  aid  very  quietly,  but  none  the  less  effectually,  to 
needy  and  meritorious  students;  and  steadily  refused 
then,  as  he  has  ever  since  done,  and  now  does,  to  accept 
•a  dollar  of  compensation.  Nothing  ever  gave  Mr.  Cornell 
more  encouragement  than  this.  For  "Goldwin,"  as  he 
called  him  in  his  Quaker  way,  there  was  always  a  very 
warm  corner  in  his  heart. 

He  also  found  especial  pleasure  in  many  of  the  lecture- 
courses  established  at  the  opening  of  the  university.  For 
Professor  Agassiz  he  formed  a  warm  friendship;  and 
their  discussions  regarding  geological  questions  were  very 
interesting,  eliciting  from  Agassiz  a  striking  tribute  to 
Mr.  Cornell's  closeness  of  observation  and  sagacity  in 
reasoning.  The  lectures  on  history  by  Goldwin  Smith, 
and  on  literature  by  James  Russell  Lowell,  George  Wil- 
liam Curtis,  and  Bayard  Taylor,  he  also  enjoyed  greatly. 

The  scientific  collections  and  apparatus  of  various  sorts 
gave  him  constant  pleasure.  I  had  sent  from  England, 
France,  and  Germany  a  large  number  of  charts,  models, 
and  pieces  of  philosophical  apparatus,  and  regarding 
some  of  them  had  thought  it  best  to  make  careful  expla- 
nations to  him,  in  order  to  justify  so  large  an  expenditure ; 
but  I  soon  found  this  unnecessary.  His  shrewd  mind 
enabled  him  to  understand  any  piece  of  apparatus  quickly, 
and  to  appreciate  it  fully.  I  have  never  had  to  deal  with 
any  man  whose  instinct  in  such  matters  was  more  true.  If 
a  book  or  scientific  specimen  or  piece  of  apparatus  was 
necessary  to  the  proper  work  of  a  department,  he  could 
easily  be  made  to  see  it ;  and  then  it  must  come  to  us,  no 
matter  at  what  cost.  Like  the  great  prince  of  navigators 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  he  was  a  man  "who  had  the 
taste  for  great  things " —"  qui  tenfa  gusto  en  cosas 
grandes."  He  felt  that  the  university  was  to  be  great, 
and  he  took  his  measures  accordingly.  His  colleagues 
generally  thought  him  over-sanguine;  and  when  he  de- 
clared that  the  university  should  yet  have  an  endow- 


318  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

ment  of  three  millions,  most  of  them  regarded  him  as  a 
dreamer. 

I  have  never  known  a  man  more  entirely  unselfish.  I 
have  seen  him,  when  his  wealth  was  counted  in  millions, 
devote  it  so  generously  to  university  objects  that  he  felt 
it  necessary  to  stint  himself  in  some  matters  of  personal 
comfort.  When  urged  to  sell  a  portion  of  the  university 
land  at  a  sacrifice,  in  order  to  better  our  foundations,  he 
answered  in  substance,  " Don't  let  us  do  that  yet;  I  will 
wear  my  old  hat  and  coat  a  little  longer,  and  let  you  have 
a  little  more  money  from  my  own  pocket. ' ' 

This  feeling  seemed  never  diminished,  even  under  the 
worst  opposition.  He  "kept  the  faith,"  no  matter  who 
opposed  him. 

An  eminent  and  justly  respected  president  of  one  of  the 
oldest  Eastern  universities  published  a  treatise,  which  was 
widely  circulated,  to  prove  that  the  main  ideas  on  which 
the  new  university  was  based  were  utterly  impracticable ; 
and  especially  that  the  presentation  of  various  courses  of 
instruction  suited  to  young  men  of  various  aims  and 
tastes,  with  liberty  of  choice  between  them,  was  preposter- 
ous. It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  same  eminent  gentle- 
man was  afterward  led  to  adopt  this  same  ' '  impracticable ' ' 
policy  at  his  own  university.  Others  of  almost  equal 
eminence  insisted  that  to  give  advanced  scientific  and  tech- 
nical instruction  in  the  same  institution  with  classical 
instruction  was  folly ;  and  these  gentlemen  were  probably 
not  converted  until  the  plan  was  adopted  at  English  Cam- 
bridge. Others  still  insisted  that  an  institution  not  belong- 
ing to  any  one  religious  sect  must  be  "godless,"  would 
not  be  patronized,  and  could  not  succeed.  Their  eyes  were 
opened  later  by  the  sight  of  men  and  women  of  differ- 
ent Christian  denominations  pressing  forward  at  Cornell 
University  to  contribute  sums  which,  in  the  aggregate, 
amounted  to  much  more  than  the  original  endowment. 

He  earned  the  blessing  of  those  who,  not  having  seen, 
have  yet  believed.  Though  he  did  not  live  long  enough 
to  see  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  university  thus 


EZRA   CORNELL-1864-1874  319 

force  their  way  to  recognition  and  adoption  by  those  who 
had  most  strongly  opposed  them,  his  faith  remained  un- 
diminished  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

But  the  opposition  to  his  work  developed  into  worse 
shapes;  many  leading  journals  in  the  State,  when  not 
openly  hostile  to  him,  were  cold  and  indifferent,  and  some 
of  them  were  steadily  abusive.  This  led  to  a  rather  wide-  . 
spread  feeling  that  "  where  there  is  smoke,  there  must  be 
fire";  and  we  who  knew  the  purity  of  his  purpose,  his 
unselfishness,  his  sturdy  honesty,  labored  long  against  this 
feeling. 

I  regret  to  say  that  some  eminent  men  connected  with  - 
important  universities  in  the  country  showed  far  too  much 
readiness  to  acquiesce  in  this  unfavorable  view  of  our 
founder.  From  very  few  of  our  sister  institutions  came 
any  word  of  cheer;  and  from  some  of  them  came  most 
bitter  attacks,  not  only  upon  the  system  adopted  in  the 
new  university,  but  upon  Mr.  Cornell  himself.  But  his 
friends  were  more  afflicted,  by  far,  than  he ;  all  this  opposi- 
tion only  served  to  strengthen  his  faith.  As  to  this  effect 
upon  him,  I  recall  one  or  two  quaint  examples.  At  the 
darkest  period  in  the  history  of  the  university,  I  men- 
tioned to  him  that  a  fine  collection  of  mathematical 
books  was  offered  us  for  five  thousand  dollars.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  he  would  have  bought  it  for 
us  at  once;  but  at  that  moment,  when  any  addition 
to  his  burdens  would  not  have  been  advised  by  any  of 
his  friends,  he  quietly  said,  "Somewhere  there  is  a  man 
walking  about  who  wants  to  give  us  that  five  thousand 
dollars. "  I  am  glad  to  say  that  his  faith  was  soon  justi- 
fied; such  a  man  appeared,— a  man  who  was  glad  to  give 
the  required  sum  as  a  testimony  to  his  belief  in  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's integrity:  William  Kelly  of  Ehinebeck. 

Another  example  may  be  given  as  typical.  Near  the 
close  of  the  first  celebration  of  Founder's  Day  at  one  of 
the  college  buildings,  a  pleasant  social  dance  sprang  up 
among  the  younger  people— students  from  the  university 
and  young  ladies  from  the  village.  This  brought  a  very 


320  AS    UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT— II 

severe  protest  from  sundry  clergymen  of  the  place,  de- 
claring dancing  to  be  ''destructive  of  vital  godliness." 
Though  this  was  solemnly  laid  before  the  faculty,  no  an- 
swer was  ever  made  to  it;  but  we  noticed  that,  at  every 
social  gathering  on  Founder's  Day  afterward,  as  long  as 
Mr.  Cornell  lived,  he  had  arrangements  made  for  dancing. 
I  never  knew  a  man  more  open  to  right  reason,  and  never 
one  less  influenced  by  cant  or  dogmatism. 

To  most  attacks  upon  him  in  the  newspapers  he  neither 
made  nor  suggested  any  reply;  but  one  or  two  which  were 
especially  misleading  he  answered  simply  and  conclu- 
sively. This  had  no  effect,  of  course,  in  stopping  the  at- 
tacks ;  but  it  had  one  effect,  at  which  the  friends  of  the  uni- 
versity rejoiced:  it  bound  his  old  associates  to  him  all  the 
more  closely,  and  led  them  to  support  him  all  the  more  vig- 
orously. "When  a  paper  in  one  of  the  largest  cities  in  west- 
ern Xew  York  had  been  especially  abusive,  one  of  Mr. 
Cornell's  old  friends  living  in  that  city  wrote:  "I  know 
that  the  charges  recently  published  are  utterly  untrue;  but 
I  am  not  skilled  in  newspaper  controversy,  so  I  will  simply 
add  to  what  I  have  already  given  to  the  university  a  spe- 
cial gift  of  thirty  thousand  dollars,  which  will  testify  to 
my  townsmen  here,  and  perhaps  to  the  public  at  large,  my 
confidence  in  Mr.  Cornell." 

Such  was  the  way  of  III  ram  Sibley.  Upon  another  at- 
tack, especially  violent,  from  the  organ  of  one  of  the  de- 
nominational colleges,  another  old  friend  of  Mr.  Cornell 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  a  prominent  member  of 
the  religious  body  which  this  paper  represented,  sent  his 
check  for  several  thousand  dollars,  to  be  used  for  the 
purchase  of  books  for  the  library,  and  to  show  confidence 
in  Mi*.  Cornell  by  deeds  as  well  as  words. 

Vile  as  these  attacks  were,  worse  remained  behind.  A 
local  politician,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  legislature  from 
the  district  where  the  "People's  College"  had  lived  its 
short  li fe,  prepared,  with  pell  i fogging  ability, a  long  speech 
to  show  that  the  foundation  of  Cornell  University,  Mr. 
Cornell's  endowment  of  it,  and  his  contract  to  locate  the 


EZRA  CORNELL-1864-1874  321 

lands  for  it  were  parts  of  a  great  cheat  and  swindle.  This 
thesis,  developed  in  all  the  moods  and  tenses  of  abuse  be- 
fore the  legislature,  was  next  day  published  at  length  in  the 
leading  journals  of  the  metropolis,  and  echoed  throughout 
the  Union.  The  time  for  these  attacks  was  skilfully 
chosen;  the  Credit  Mobilier  and  other  schemes  had  been 
revealed  at  Washington,  and  everybody  was  only  too  ready 
to  be  Ik1  XT  any  charge  against  anybody.  That  Mr.  Cornell 
had  been  known  for  forty  years  as  an  honest  man  seemed 
to  go  for  nothing. 

The  enemies  of  the  university  were  prompt  to  support 
the  charges,  and  they  found  some  echoes  even  among  those 
who  were  benefited  by  his  generosity— even  among  the 
students  themselves.  At  this  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  call  the 
whole  student  body  together,  and,  in  a  careful  speech, 
to  explain  Mr.  Cornell's  transactions,  answering  the 
charges  fully.  This  speech,  though  spread  through  the 
State,  could  evidently  do  but  little  toward  righting  the 
wrong;  but  it  brought  to  me  what  I  shall  always  feel  a 
great  honor— a  share  in  the  abuse  showered  mainly  on 
him. 

Very  characteristic  was  Mr.  Cornell's  conduct  under 
this  outrage.  That  same  faith  in  justice,  that. .same  pa- 
tience under  wrong,  which  he  always  showed,  was  more 
evident  than  ever. 

On  the  morning  after  the  attack  in  the  legislature  had 
been  blazoned  in  all  the  leading  newspapers— in  the  early 
hours,  and  after  a  sleepless  night— I  heard  the  rattle  of 
gravel  against  my  window-panes.  On  rising,  I  found  Mr. 
Cornell  standing  below.  He  was  serene  and  cheerful,  and 
had  evidently  taken  the  long  walk  up  the  hill  to  quiet  my 
irritation.  His  first  words  were  a  jocose  prelude.  The 
bells  of  the  university,  which  were  then  chimed  at  six 
o'clock,  were  ringing  merrily,  and  he  called  out,  "Come 
down  here  and  listen  to  the  chimes;  I  have  found  a  spot 
where  you  can  hear  them  directly  with  one  ear,  and  their 
echo  with  the  other." 

When  I  had  come  down,  we  first  investigated  the  echo 

I.-21 


AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

of  the  chime,  which  had  really  aroused  his  interest;  then 
he  said  seriously:  "Don't  make  yourself  unhappy  over 
this  matter;  it  will  turn  out  to  be  a  good  thing  for  the 
university.  I  have  long  foreseen  that  this  attack  must 
come,  but  have  feared  that  it  would  come  after  my  death, 
when  the  facts  would  be  forgotten,  and  the  transactions 
little  understood.  I  am  glad  that  the  charges  are  made 
now,  while  I  am  here  to  answer  them."  We  then  discussed 
the  matter,  and  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  telegraph  and 
write  Governor  Dix,  asking  him  to  appoint  an  investigat- 
ing committee,  of  which  the  majority  should  be  from 
the  political  party  opposed  to  his  own.  This  was  done. 
The  committee  was  composed  of  Horatio  Seymour,  for- 
merly governor  of  the  State  and  Democratic  candidate 
for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States;  AVilliam  A. 
AVheeler,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States ;  and  John 
1).  Van  Buren,  all  three  men  of  the  highest  standing,  and 
two  of  them  politically  opposed  to  Mr.  Cornell. 

During  the  long  investigation  which  ensued  in  Xew 
York  and  at  Ithaca,  he  never  lost  his  patience,  though  at 
times  sorely  tried.  Various  disappointed  ''diemers,  among 
these  one  person  who  had  not  been  allowed  to  make  an 
undue  profit  out  of  the  university  lauds,  and  another  who 
had  been  allowed  to  depart  from  a  professorship  on  ac- 
count of  hopeless  incompetently,  were  the  main  witnesses. 
The  onslaught  was  led  by  the  person  who  made  the  attack 
in  the  legislature,  and  he  had  raked  together  a  mass  of 
half-truths  and  surmises;  but  the  evidence  on  Mr.  Cor- 
nell's side  consisted  of  a  complete  exhibition  of  all  the 
facts  and  documents.  The  unanimous  report  of  the  com- 
mittee was  all  that  his  warmest  friends  could  desire;  and 
its  recommendations  regarding  the  management  of  the 
fund  were  such  as  Mr.  Cornell  had  long  wished,  but  which 
he  had  hardly  dared  ask.  The  result  was  a  complete  tri- 
umph for  him. 

Yet  the  attacks  continued.  The  same  paper  which  had 
been  so  prominent  in  sounding  them  through  the  western 
part  of  the  State  continued  them  as  before,  and,  almost 


EZRA  CORNELL- 1864-1874  323 

to  the  very  day  of  his  death,  assailed  him  periodically  as 
a  '  ' land  jobber, "  " land  grabber, ' '  and  ' '  land  thief. ' '  But 
he  took  these  foul  attacks  by  tricky  declaimers  and  his 
vindication  by  three  of  his  most  eminent  fellow-citizens 
with  the  same  serenity.  That  there  was  in  him  a  profound 
contempt  for  the  wretched  creatures  who  assailed  him 
and  imputed  to  him  motives  as  vile  as  their  own  can 
hardly  be  doubted ;  yet,  though  I  was  with  him  constantly 
during  this  period,  I  never  heard  him  speak  harshly  of 
them;  nor  could  I  ever  see  that  this  injustice  diminished 
his  good  will  toward  his  fellow-men  and  his  desire  to  bene- 
fit them. 

At  the  very  time  when  these  attacks  were  at  their  worst, 
he  was  giving  especial  thought  to  the  problem  of  bringing 
education  at  the  university  within  reach  of  young  men  of 
good  ability  and  small  means.  I  am  quite  within  bounds  in 
saying  that  he  gave  an  hour  to  thought  upon  this  for 
every  minute  he  gave  to  thought  upon  the  attacks  of  his 
enemies. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  he  began  building  his 
beautiful  house  near  the  university,  and  in  this  he  showed 
some  of  his  peculiarities.  He  took  much  pains  to  secure  a 
tasteful  plan,  and  some  of  the  ideas  embodied  in  it  evi- 
dently resulted  from  his  study  of  beautiful  country-houses 
in  England.  Characteristic  of  him  also  was  his  way  of 
carrying  on  the  work.  Having  visited  several  quarries  in 
various  parts  of  the  State,  in  order  to  choose  the  best 
possible  building-stone,  he  employed  some  German  stone- 
carvers  who  had  recently  left  work  upon  the  Cathedral  of 
Cologne,  brought  them  to  Ithaca,  and  allowed  them  to  work 
on  with  no  interference  save  from  the  architect.  If  they 
gave  a  month  or  more  to  the  carving  of  a  single  capital 
or  corbel,  he  made  no  remonstrance.  When  he  had  thus 
secured  the  best  stone-work,  he  selected  the  b^st  seasoned 
oak  and  walnut  and  called  skilful  carpenters  from  Eng- 
land. 

In  thus  going  abroad  for  artisans  there  was  no  want 
of  loyalty  to  his  countrymen,  nor  was  there  any  alloy 


324  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-II 

of  vanity  in  his  motives.  His  purpose  evidently  was 
to  erect  a  house  which  should  be  as  perfect  a  specimen 
of  the  builder's  art  as  he  could  make  it,  and  therefore  use- 
ful, as  an  example  of  thoroughly  good  work,  to  the  local 
workmen. 

In  connection  with  this,  another  incident  throws  light 
upon  his  characteristics.  Above  the  front  entrance  of  the 
house  was  a  scroll,  or  ribbon,  in  stone,  evidently  intended 
for  a  name  or  motto.  The  words  carved  there  were, l  i  True 
and  Firm. ' '  It  is  a  curious  evidence  of  the  petty  criticism 
which  beset  him  in  those  days,  that  this  motto  was  at  times 
cited  as  a  proof  of  his  vainglory.  It  gives  me  pleasure 
to  relieve  any  mind  sensitive  on  this  point,  and  to  vindi- 
cate the  truth  of  history,  by  saying  that  it  was  I  who 
placed  the  motto  there.  Calling  his  attention  one  day  to 
the  scroll  and  to  the  need  of  an  inscription,  I  suggested 
a  translation  of  the  old  German  motto,  "Treu  und  Fest"; 
and,  as  he  made  no  objection,  I  wrote  it  out  for  the  stone- 
cutters, but  told  Mr.  Cornell  that  there  were  people,  per- 
haps, who  might  translate  the  last  word  ' '  obstinate. " 

The  point  of  this  lay  in  the  fact,  which  Mr.  Cornell  knew 
very  well,  that  he  was  frequently  charged  with  obstinacy. 
Yet  an  obstinate  man,  in  the  evil  sense  of  that  word,  he 
was  not.  For  several  years  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  discuss  a 
multitude  of  questions  with  him,  and  reasonableness  was 
one  of  his  most  striking  characteristics.  He  was  one  of 
those  very  rare  strong  men  who  recognize  adequately  their 
own  limitations.  True,  when  he  had  finally  made  up  his 
mind  in  a  matter  fully  within  his  own  province,  he  re- 
mained firm;  but  I  have  known  very  few  men,  wealthy, 
strong,  successful,  as  he  was,  so  free  from  the  fault  of 
thinking  that,  because  they  are  good  judges  of  one  class  of 
questions,  they  are  equally  good  in  all  others.  One  mark  of 
an  obstinate  man  is  the  announcement  of  opinions  upon 
subjects  regarding  which  his  experience  and  previous 
training  give  him  little  or  no  means  of  judging.  This  was 
not  at  all  the  case  with  Mr.  Cornell.  When  questions  arose 
regarding  internal  university  management,  or  courses  of 


EZRA  CORNELL-1864-1874  325 

study,  or  the  choice  of  professors,  or  plans  for  their  ac- 
commodation, he  was  never  quick  in  announcing  or  tena- 
cious in  holding  an  opinion.  There  was  no  purse  pride 
about  him.  He  evidently  did  not  believe  that  his  success 
in  building  up  a  fortune  had  made  him  an  expert  or  judge 
in  questions  to  which  he  had  never  paid  special  attention. 

During  the  last  year  or  two  of  his  life,  I  saw  not  so 
much  of  him  as  during  several  previous  years.  He  had 
become  greatly  interested  in  various  railway  projects 
having  as  their  purpose  the  connection  of  Ithaca,  as  a 
university  town,  with  the  State  at  large;  and  he  threw 
himself  into  these  plans  with  great  energy.  His  course  in 
this  was  prompted  by  a  public  spirit  as  large  and  pure  as 
that  which  had  led  him  to  found  the  university.  When,  at 
the  suggestion  of  sundry  friends,  I  ventured  to  remon- 
strate with  him  against  going  so  largely  into  these  railway 
enterprises  at  his  time  of  life,  he  said:  "I  shall  live  twenty 
years  longer,  and  make  a  million  of  dollars  more  for  the 
university  endowment. "  Alas!  within  six  months  from 
that  day  he  lay  dead  in  the  midst  of  many  broken  hopes. 
His  plans,  which,  under  other  circumstances,  would  have 
been  judged  wise,  seemed  for  a  time  wrecked  by  the  finan- 
cial crisis  which  had  just  come  upon  the  country. 

In  his  last  hours  I  visited  him  frequently.  His  mind 
remained  clear,  and  he  showed  his  old  freedom  from  any 
fault-finding  spirit,  though  evidently  oppressed  by  busi- 
ness cares  and  bodily  suffering.  His  serenity  was  espe- 
cially evident  as  I  sat  with  him  the  night  before  his 
death,  and  I  can  never  forget  the  placidity  of  his  counte- 
nance, both  then  and  on  the  next  morning,  when  all  was 
ended. 

Something  should  be  said  regarding  Mr.  Cornell's  po- 
litical ideas.  In  the  legislature  he  wasji  firm  Republican, 
but  as  free  as  possible  from  anything  like  partizan 
bigotry.  Party  ties  in  local  matters  sat  lightly  upon  him. 
He  spoke  in  public  very  little,  and  took  far  greater  in- 
terest in  public  improvement  than  in  party  advantage. 
With  many  of  his  political  opponents  his  relations  were 


326  AS  UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-II 

most  friendly.  For  such  Democrats  as  Hiram  Sibley, 
Erastus  Brooks,  and  William  Kelly  he  had  the  deepes't 
respect  and  admiration.  He  cared  little  for  popular 
clamor  on  any  subject,  braving  it  more  than  once  by 
his  votes  in  the  legislature.  He  was  evidently  willing  to 
take  any  risk  involved  in  waiting  for  the  sober  second 
thought  of  the  people.  He  was  as  free  from  ordinary 
ambition  as  from  selfishness:  when  there  was  a  call  from 
several  parts  of  the  State  for  his  nomination  as  governor, 
he  said  quietly,  "I  prefer  work  for  which  I  am  better 
fitted/' 

There  was  in  his  ordinary  bearing  a  certain  austerity 
and  in  his  conversation  an  abruptness  which  interfered 
somewhat  with  his  popularity.  A  student  once  said  to 
me,  "If  Mr.  Cornell  would  simply  stand  upon  his  pedestal 
as  our  ' Honored  Founder,'  and  let  us  hurrah  for  him, 
that  would  please  us  mightily ;  but  when  he  comes  into  the 
laboratory  and  asks  us  gruffly,  'What  are  you  wasting 
your  time  at  now  1 '  we  don 't  like  him  so  well. ' '  The  fact 
on  which  this  remark  was  based  was  that  Mr.  Cornell 
liked  greatly  to  walk  quietly  through  the  laboratories  and 
drafting-rooms,  to  note  the  work.  Now  and  then,  when 
he  saw  a  student  doing  something  which  especially  in- 
terested him,  he  was  evidently  anxious,  as  he  was  wont 
to  say,  ' '  to  see  what  the  fellow  is  made  of, ' '  and  he  would 
frequently  put  some  provoking  question,  liking  nothing 
better  than  to  receive  a  pithy  answer.  Of  his  kind  feel- 
ings toward  students  I  could  say  much.  He  was  not  in- 
clined to  coddle  them,  but  was  ever  ready  to  help  any  who 
were  deserving. 

Despite  his  apparent  austerity,  he  was  singularly  free 
from  harshness  in  his  judgments.  There  were  times  when 
he  would  have  been  justified  in  outbursts  of  bitterness 
against  those  who  attacked  him  in  ways  so  foul  and 
maligned  him  in  ways  so  vile;  but  I  never  heard  any 
bitter  reply  from  him.  In  his  politics  there  was  never 
a  drop  of  bitterness.  Only  once  or  twice  did  I  hear 
him  allude  to  any  conduct  which  displeased  him,  and  then 


EZRA  CORNELL-1864-1874  327 

his  comments  were  rather  playful  than  otherwise.  On  one 
occasion,  when  he  had  written  to  a  gentleman  of  great 
wealth  and  deserved  repute  as  a  philanthropist,  asking 
him  to  join  in  carrying  the  burden  of  the  land  locations, 
and  had  received  an  unfavorable  answer,  he  made  a  re- 
mark which  seemed  to  me  rather  harsh.  To  this  I  replied : 
"Mr.  Cornell,  Mr.  -  -  is  not  at  all  in  fault;  he  does  not 
understand  the  question  as  you  do ;  everybody  knows  that 
he  is  a  very  liberal  man."  "Oh,"  said  Mr.  Cornell,  "it  's 
easy  enough  to  be  liberal ;  the  only  hard  part  is  drawing 
the  check." 

Of  his  intellectual  characteristics,  foresight  was  the  most 
remarkable.  Of  all  men  in  the  country  who  had  to  do 
with  the  college  land  grant  of  1862,  he  alone  discerned  the 
possibilities  involved  and  had  courage  to  make  them  actual. 

Clearness  of  thought  on  all  matters  to  which  he  gave  his 
attention  was  another  striking  characteristic ;  hence,  when- 
ever he  put  anything  on  paper,  it  was  lucid  and  co- 
gent. There  seems  at  times  in  his  writings  some  of  the 
clear,  quaint  shrewdness  so  well  known  in  Abraham  Lin- 
coln. Very  striking  examples  of  this  are  to  be  found  in 
his  legislative  speeches,  in  his  address  at  the  opening  of 
the  university,  and  in  his  letters. 

Among  his  moral  characteristics,  his  truthfulness,  per- 
sistence, courage,  and  fortitude  were  most  strongly 
marked.  These  qualities  made  him  a  man  of  peace.  He 
regarded  life  as  too  short  to  be  wasted  in  quarrels;  his 
steady  rule  was  never  to  begin  a  lawsuit  or  have  anything 
to  do  with  one,  if  it  could  be  avoided.  The  joy  in 
litigation  and  squabble,  which  has  been  the  weakness  of 
so  many  men  claiming  to  be  strong,  and  the  especial 
curse  of  so  many  American  churches,  colleges,  universi- 
ties, and  other  public  organizations,  had  no  place  in  his 
strong,  tolerant  nature.  He  never  sought  to  publish  the 
sins  of  any  one  in  the  courts  or  to  win  the  repute  of  an 
uncompromising  fighter.  In  this  peaceable  disposition  he 
was  prompted  not  only  by  his  greatest  moral  quality:— 
his  charity  toward  his  fellow-men,  but  by  his  greatest  intel- 


\Y2S  AS   UNIVERSITY    PRESIDEXT-II 

lectual  quality:— his  foresight ;  for  he  knew  well  "the  glo- 
rious uncertainty  of  the  law.7'  He  was  a  builder,  not  a 
gladiator. 

There  resulted  from  these  qualities  an  equanimity  which 
I  have  never  seen  equaled.  AYlien  his  eldest  son  had  been 
elected  to  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  State  Assem- 
bly, and  had  been  placed,  evidently,  on  the  way  to  the 
governor's  chair,  — afterward  attained,  — though  it  must 
have  gratified  such  a  father,  lie  never  made  any  reference 
to  it  in  my  hearing;  and  when  the  body  of  his  favorite 
grandson,  a  most  winning  and  promising  hoy,  killed  in- 
stantly by  a  terrible  accident,  was  brought  into  his  pres- 
ence, though  his  heart  must  have  bled,  his  calmness  seemed 
almost  superhuman. 

His  religious  ideas  were  such  as  many  excellent  people 
would  hardly  approve.  He  had  been  born  into  the  Society 
of  Friends;  and  their  quietness,  simplicity,  freedom  from 
noisy  activity,  and  devotion  to  the  public  good  attached 
him  to  them.  But  his  was  not  a  bigoted  attachment;  he 
went  freely  to  various  churches,  aiding  them  without  dis- 
tinction of  sect,  though  finally  he  settled  ;nto  a  steady  at- 
tendance at  the  Unitarian  Church  in  Ithaca,  for  the  pastor 
of  which  he  conceived  a  great  respect  and  liking,  lie  was 
never  inclined  to  say  much  about  religion;  but,  in  our 
talks,  he  was  wont  to  quote  with  approval  from  Pope's 
"Universal  Prayer"— and  especially  the  lines: 

"Teach  me  to  feel  another's  woe, 

To  hide  the  fault  I  see; 
The  mcn-v  I  to  others  show, 
That  mercy  show  to  me." 

On  the  mere  letter  of  Scripture  he  dwelt  little;  and, 
while  he  never  obtruded  opinions  that  might  shock  any 
person,  and  was  f;ir  removed  from  scoffing  or  irreverence, 
he  did  not  hcHtato  to  discriminate  between  parts  of  our 
Sacred  Rooks  which  lie  considered  as  simply  legendary 
and  parts  which  were  to  him  pregnant  with  eternal  truth. 


EZRA   CORNELL- 1864-1874  329 

His  religion  seemed  to  take  shape  in  a  deeply  reverent 
feeling  toward  his  Creator,  and  in  a  constant  desire  to 
improve  the  condition  of  his  fellow-creatures.  He  was 
never  surprised  or  troubled  by  anything  which  any  other 
human  being  believed  or  did  not  believe;  of  intolerance 
he  was  utterly  incapable.  He  sought  no  reputation  as  a 
philanthropist,  cared  little  for  approval,  and  nothing  for 
applause;  but  I  can  say  of  him,  without  reserve,  that, 
during  all  the  years  I  knew  him,  "he  went  about  doing 
good." 


CHAPTER 

ORGANIZATION  OF  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY- 1865-1868 

A  LTHOUGH  my  formal  election  to  the  university  presi- 
J\  dency  did  not  take  place  until  1867,  the  duties  im- 
plied by  that  office  had  already  been  discharged  by  me 
during  two  years. 

While  Mr.  Cornell  devoted  himself  to  the  financial  ques- 
tions arising  from  the  new  foundation,  he  intrusted  all 
other  questions  to  me.  Indeed,  my  duties  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  when,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Edu- 
cation in  the  State  Senate,  I  resisted  all  efforts  to  divide 
the  land-grant  fund  between  the  People's  College  and 
the  State  Agricultural  College;  to  have  been  continued 
when  I  opposed  the  frittering  away  of  the  entire  grant 
among  more  than  twenty  small  sectarian  colleges;  and 
to  have  taken  a  more  direct  form  when  I  drafted  the 
educational  clauses  of  the  university  charter  and  advo- 
cated it  before  the  legislature  and  in  the  press.  This 
advocacy  was  by  no  means  a  light  task.  The  influential 
men  who  flocked  to  Albany,  seeking  to  divide  the  fund 
among  various  sects  and  localities,  used  arguments  often 
plausible  and  sometimes  forcible.  These  I  dealt  with 
on  various  occasions,  but  especially  in  a  speech  before  the 
State  Senate  in  1865,  in  which  was  shown  the  character 
of  the  interested  opposition,  the  farcical  equipment  of 
the  People's  College,  the  failure  of  the  State  Agricul- 
tural College,  the  inadequacy  of  the  sectarian  colleges, 
even  though  they  called  themselves  universities;  and  I 
did  all  in  my  power  to  communicate  to  my  colleagues 

330 


ORGANIZATION  OF  CORNELL-1865-1868        331 

something  of  my  own  enthusiasm  for  a  university  suit- 
ably endowed,  free  from  sectarian  trammels,  centrally 
situated,  and  organized  to  meet  fully  the  wants  of  the 
State  as  regarded  advanced  education,  general  and 
technical. 

Three  points  I  endeavored  especially  to  impress  upon 
them  in  this  speech.  First,  that  while,  as  regards  primary 
education,  the  policy  of  the  State  should  be  diffusion  of 
resources,  it  should  be,  as  regards  university  education, 
concentration  of  resources.  Secondly,  that  sectarian  col- 
leges could  not  do  the  work  required.  Thirdly,  that  any 
institution  for  higher  education  in  the  State  must  form  an 
integral  part  of  the  whole  system  of  public  instruction; 
that  the  university  should  not  be  isolated  from  the  school 
system,  as  were  the  existing  colleges,  but  that  it  should 
have  a  living  connection  with  the  system,  should  push  its 
roots  down  into  it  and  through  it,  drawing  life  from  it 
and  sending  life  back  into  it.  Mr.  Cornell  accepted  this 
view  at  once.  Mr.  Horace  Greeley,  who,  up  to  that  time, 
had  supported  the  People's  College,  was  favorably  im- 
pressed by  it,  and,  more  than  anything  else,  it  won  for  us 
his  support.  To  insure  this  vital  connection  of  the  pro- 
posed university  with  the  school  system,  I  provided  in 
the  charter  for  four  "State  scholarships ' '  in  each  of  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  Assembly  districts.  These 
scholarships  were  to  be  awarded  to  the  best  scholars  in  the 
public  schools  of  each  district,  after  due  examination,  one 
each  year;  each  scholarship  entitling  the  holder  to  free 
instruction  in  the  university  for  four  years.  Thus  the 
university  and  the  schools  were  bound  closely  together  by 
the  constant  and  living  tie  of  five  hundred  and  twelve 
students.  As  the  number  of  Assembly  districts  under  the 
new  constitution  was  made,  some  years  later,  one  hundred 
and  fifty,  the  number  of  these  competitive  free  scholar- 
ships is  now  six  hundred.  They  have  served  their  pur- 
pose well.  Thirty  years  of  this  connection  have  greatly 
uplifted  the  whole  school  system  of  the  State,  and 
made  the  university  a  life-giving  power  in  it;  while  this 


332  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-III 

uplifting  of  the  school  system  has  enabled  the  university 
steadily  to  raise  and  improve  its  own  standard  of  in- 
struction. 

But  during  the  earlier  period  of  our  plans  there  was 
one  serious  obstacle— Charles  James  Folger.  He  was  the 
most  powerful  member  of  the  Senate,  its  president,  and 
chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee.  He  had  already  won 
wide  respect  as  a  county  judge,  had  been  longer  in  the  Sen- 
ate than  any  other  member,  and  had  already  given  ample 
evidence  of  the  qualities  which  later  in  life  raised  him  to 
some  of  the  highest  positions,  State  and  National.  His  in- 
stincts would  have  brought  him  to  our  side;  for  he  was 
broad-minded,  enlightened,  and  earnestly  in  favor  of  all 
good  legislation.  He  was  also  my  personal  friend,  and 
when  I  privately  presented  my  views  to  him  he  acquiesced 
in  them.  But  there  were  two  difficulties.  First,  he  had  in 
his  own  city  a  denominational  college,  his  own  alma 
mater,  which,  though  small,  was  influential.  Still  worse 
for  us,  he  had  in  his  district  the  State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege, which  the  founding  of  Cornell  University  must  neces- 
sarily wipe  out  of  existence.  He  might  rise  above  the  first 
of  these  difficulties,  but  the  second  seemed  insurmountable. 
No  matter  how  much  in  sympathy  with  our  main  aim,  he 
could  not  sacrifice  a  possession  so  dear  to  his  constituency 
as  the  State  College  of  Agriculture.  He  felt  that  he  had 
no  right  to  do  so ;  he  knew  also  that  to  do  so  would  be  to 
sacrifice  his  political  future,  and  we  felt,  as  he  did,  that  he 
had  no  right  to  do  this. 

But  here  came  in  to  help  us  the  culmination  of  a  series 
of  events  as  unexpected  as  that  which  had  placed  the  land- 
grant  fund  at  our  disposal  just  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Cor- 
nell and  myself  met  in  the  State  Senate.  For  years  a 
considerable  body  of  thoughtful  men  throughout  the  State, 
more  especially  of  the  medical  profession,  had  sought  to 
remedy  a  great  evil  in  the  treatment  of  the  insane.  As  far 
back  as  the  middle  of  the  century,  Senator  Bradford  of 
Cortland  had  taken  the  lead  in  an  investigation  of  the 
system  then  existing,  and  his  report  was  a  frightful  ex- 


ORGANIZATION   OF   CORNELL -1865 -1868        333 

posure.  Throughout  the  State,  lunatics  whose  families 
were  unable  to  support  them  at  the  State  or  private  asy- 
lums were  huddled  together  in  the  poorhouses  of  the  vari- 
ous counties.  Their  condition  was  heartrending.  They 
were  constantly  exposed  to  neglect,  frequently  to  extremes 
of  cold  and  hunger,  and  sometimes  to  brutality :  thus  mild 
lunacy  often  became  raving  madness.  For  some  years  be- 
fore my  election  to  the  Senate  the  need  of  a  reform  had 
been  urged  upon  the  legislative  committees  by  a  physician 
-Dr.  Willard  of  Albany.  He  had  taken  this  evil  condi- 
tion of  things  much  to  heart,  and  year  after  year  had  come 
before  the  legislature  urging  the  creation  of  a  new  institu- 
tion, which  he  wished  named  after  an  eminent  physician 
of  Albany  who  had  in  his  day  done  what  was  possible  to 
remedy  the  evil— Dr.  Beck.  But  year  after  year  Dr. 
Willard 's  efforts,  like  those  of  Dr.  Beck  before  him,  had 
been  in  vain.  Session  after  session  the  "Bill  to  establish 
the  Beck  Asylum  for  the  Chronic  Insane  "  was  rejected,— 
the  legislature  shrinking  from  the  cost  of  it.  But  one  day, 
as  we  were  sitting  in  the  Senate,  appalling  news  came  from 
the  Assembly:  Dr.  Willard,  while  making  one  more  pas- 
sionate appeal  for  the  asylum,  had  fallen  dead  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  committee.  The  result  was  a  deep  and  wide- 
spread feeling  of  compunction,  and  while  we  were  under 
the  influence  of  this  I  sought  Judge  Folger  and  showed  him 
his  opportunity  to  do  two  great  things.  I  said :  *  *  It  rests 
with  you  to  remedy  this  cruel  evil  which  has  now  cost 
Dr.  Willard  his  life,  and  at  the  same  time  to  join  us  in 
carrying  the  Cornell  University  Bill.  Let  the  legislature 
create  a  new  asylum  for  the  chronic  insane  of  the  State. 
Now  is  the  time  of  all  times.  Instead  of  calling  it  the 
Beck  Asylum,  give  it  the  name  of  Willard— the  man  who 
died  in  advocating  it.  Place  it  upon  the  Agricultural 
College  property  on  the  shores  of  Seneca  Lake  in  your 
district.  Your  constituents  are  sure  to  prefer  a  living 
State  asylum  to  a  dying  Agricultural  College,  and  will 
thoroughly  support  you  in  both  the  proposed  measures. " 
This  suggestion  Judge  Folger  received  with  favor.  The 


334  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-III 

Willard  Asylum  was  created,  and  he  became  one  of  our 
strongest  supporters. 

Both  Mr.  Cornell's  financial  plans  and  my  educational 
plans  in  the  new  university  charter  were  wrought  into 
final  shape  by  him.  As  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee he  reported  our  bill  to  the  Senate,  and  at  various 
critical  periods  gave  us  his  earnest  support.  Quite  likely 
doctrinaires  will  stigmatize  our  conduct  in  this  matter  as 
"  log-rolling ";  the  men  who  always  criticize  but  never 
construct  may  even  call  it  a  "bargain."  There  was 
no  "bargain"  and  no  "log-rolling,"  but  they  may  call 
it  what  they  like ;  I  believe  that  we  were  both  of  us  thor- 
oughly in  the  right.  For  our  coming  together  in  this  way 
gave  to  the  State  the  Willard  Asylum  and  the  Cornell 
University,  and  without  our  thus  coming  together  neither 
of  these  would  have  been  created. 

But  in  spite  of  this  happy  compromise,  the  struggle  for 
our  university  charter,  as  has  already  been  seen,  was  long 
and  severe.  The  opposition  of  over  twenty  sectarian  col- 
leges, and  of  active  politicians  from  every  quarter  of  the 
State  where  these  colleges  had  been  established,  made  our 
work  difficult ;  but  at  last  it  was  accomplished.  Prepara- 
tions for  the  new  institution  were  now  earnestly  pressed 
on,  and  for  a  year  I  gave  up  very  much  of  my  time  to  them, 
keeping  in  constant  communication  with  Mr.  Cornell,  fre- 
quently visiting  Ithaca,  and  corresponding  with  trustees 
in  various  parts  of  the  State  and  with  all  others  at  home 
or  abroad  who  seemed  able  to  throw  light  on  any  of  the 
problems  we  had  to  solve. 

The  question  now  arose  as  to  the  presidency  of  the  in- 
stitution ;  and,  as  time  passed  on  and  duties  increased,  this 
became  more  and  more  pressing.  In  the  previous  chapter 
I  have  given  some  account  of  the  circumstances  attending 
my  election  and  of  Mr.  Cornell 's  relation  to  it ;  but  this  is 
perhaps  the  place  for  stating  one  of  the  difficulties  which 
stood  in  the  way  of  my  acceptance,  and  which,  indeed, 
greatly  increased  my  cares  during  all  the  first  years  of  my 
presidency.  The  death  of  my  father  and  uncle,  who  had 


ORGANIZATION  OF   CORNELL -1865 -1868        335 

for  many  years  carried  on  a  large  and  wide-spread  busi- 
ness, threw  upon  me  new  responsibilities.  It  was  during  the 
Civil  War,  when  panic  after  panic  ran  through  the  Ameri- 
can business  world,  making  the  interests  now  devolving 
upon  me  all  the  more  burdensome.  I  had  no  education 
for  business  and  no  liking  for  it,  but,  under  the  pressure 
of  necessity,  decided  to  do  the  best  I  could,  yet  determining 
that  just  as  soon  as  these  business  affairs  could  be  turned 
over  to  others  it  should  be  done.  Several  years  elapsed, 
and  those  the  busiest  so  far  as  the  university  was  con- 
cerned, before  such  a  release  became  possible.  So  it  hap- 
pened that  during  the  first  and  most  trying  years  of  the 
new  institution  of  Ithaca,  I  was  obliged  to  do  duty  as 
senator  of  the  State  of  New  York,  president  of  Cornell 
University,  lecturer  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Bank  of  Syracuse  and  director  in 
two  other  banks,— one  being  at  Oswego,— director  in  the 
New  York  Central  and  Lake  Shore  railways,  director  in 
the  Albemarle  and  Chesapeake  Canal,— to  say  nothing 
of  positions  on  boards  of  various  similar  corporations 
and  the  executorship  of  two  widely  extended  estates. 
It  was  a  trying  time  for  me.  There  was,  however,  some 
advantage;  for  this  epoch  in  my  life  put  me  in  relations 
with  some  of  the  foremost  business  men  in  the  United 
States,  among  them  Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  William  H. 
Vanderbilt,  Dean  Richmond,  Daniel  Drew,  and  various 
other  men  accustomed  to  prompt  and  decisive  dealing  with 
large  business  affairs.  I  recognized  the  value  of  such  as- 
sociations and  endeavored  to  learn  something  from  them, 
but  was  determined,  none  the  less,  to  end  this  sort  of 
general  activity  as  early  as  it  could  be  done  consistently 
with  justice  to  my  family.  Several  years  were  required, 
and  those  the  very  years  in  which  university  cares  were 
most  pressing.  But  finally  my  intention  was  fully  carried 
out.  The  bank  over  which  my  father  had  presided  so 
many  years  I  was  able  to  wind  up  in  a  way  satisfactory 
to  all  concerned,  not  only  repaying  the  shareholders, 
but  giving  them  a  large  surplus.  From  the  other  cor- 


336  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -III 

porations  also  I  gradually  escaped,  turning  my  duties 
over  to  those  better  fitted  for  them.  Still  many  outside 
cares  remained,  and  in  one  way  or  another  I  was  obliged 
to  take  part  in  affairs  which  I  would  have  gladly  shunned. 
Yet  there  was  consolation  in  the  idea  that,  as  my  main 
danger  was  that  of  drifting  into  a  hermit  life  among  pro- 
fessors and  books,  anything  that  took  me  out  of  this  for  a 
limited  length  of  time  was  not  without  compensating  ad- 
vantages. 

Just  previously  to  my  election  to  the  university  presi- 
dency I  had  presented  a  "plan  of  organization,"  which, 
having  been  accepted  and  printed  by  the  trustees,  formed 
the  mold  for  the  main  features  of  the  new  institution ;  and 
early  among  my  duties  came  the  selection  and  nomination 
of  professors.  In  these  days  one  is  able  to  choose  from  a 
large  body  of  young  men  holding  fellowships  in  the  vari- 
ous larger  universities  of  the  United  States ;  but  then,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  two  or  three  at  Harvard,  there 
was  not  a  fellowship,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  in  the  whole 
country.  The  choosing  of  professors  was  immeasurably 
more  difficult  than  at  present.  With  reference  to  this  point, 
a  very  eminent  graduate  of  Harvard  then  volunteered  to 
me  some  advice,  which  at  first  sight  looked  sound,  but  which 
I  soon  found  to  be  inapplicable.  He  said :  '  '  You  must  se- 
cure at  any  cost  the  foremost  men  in  the  United  States  in 
every  department.  In  this  way  alone  can  a  real  university 
be  created."  Trying  the  Socratic  method  upon  him,  I 
asked,  in  reply, t l  How  are  we  to  get  such  men  ?  The  fore- 
most man  in  American  science  is  undoubtedly  Agassiz,  but 
he  has  refused  all  offers  of  high  position  at  Paris  made  him 
by  the  French  Emperor.  The  main  objects  of  his  life  are 
the  creation  of  his  great  museum  at  Harvard  and  his  inves- 
tigations and  instruction  in  connection  with  it ;  he  has  de- 
clared that  he  has  'no  time  to  waste  in  making  money!' 
What  sum  or  what  inducement  of  any  sort  can  transfer 
him  from  Harvard  to  a  new  institution  on  the  distant  hills 
of  central  New  York?  So,  too,  with  the  most  eminent 
men  at  the  other  universities.  What  sum  will  draw  them 


ORGANIZATION  OF  CORNELL-1865-1868        337 

to  us  from  Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  the  University  of 
Virginia,  and  the  University  of  Michigan?  An  endow- 
ment twice  as  large  as  ours  would  be  unavailing/'  There- 
fore it  was  that  I  broached,  as  a  practical  measure,  in  my 
"plan  of  organization, "  the  system  which  I  had  discussed 
tentatively  with  George  William  Curtis  several  years  be- 
fore, and  to  which  he  referred  afterward  in  his  speech  at 
the  opening  of  the  university  at  Ithaca.  This  was  to  take 
into  our  confidence  the  leading  professors  in  the  more 
important  institutions  of  learning,  and  to  secure  from 
them,  not  the  ordinary,  conventional  paper  testimonials, 
but  confidential  information  as  to  their  young  men  likely 
to  do  the  best  work  in  various  fields,  to  call  these  young 
men  to  our  resident  professorships,  and  then  to  call  the 
most  eminent  men  we  could  obtain  for  non-resident  pro- 
fessorships or  lectureships.  This  idea  was  carried  out  to 
the  letter.  The  most  eminent  men  in  various  universities 
gave  us  confidential  advice;  and  thus  it  was  that  I  was 
enabled  to  secure  a  number  of  bright,  active,  energetic 
young  men  as  our  resident  professors,  mingling  with  them 
two  or  three  older  men,  whose  experience  and  developed 
judgment  seemed  necessary  in  the  ordinary  conduct  of  our 
affairs. 

As  to  the  other  part  of  the  plan,  I  secured  Agassiz, 
Lowell,  Curtis,  Bayard  Taylor,  Goldwin  Smith,  Theodore 
Dwight,  George  W.  Greene,  John  Stanton  Gould,  and  at  a 
later  period  Froude,  Freeman,  and  others,  as  non-resident 
professors  and  lecturers.  Of  the  final  working  of  this 
system  I  shall  speak  later. 

The  question  of  buildings  also  arose ;  but,  alas !  I  could 
not  reproduce  my  air-castles.  For  our  charter  required 
us  to  have  the  university  in  operation  in  October,  1868, 
and  there  was  no  time  for  careful  architectural  prepara- 
tion. Moreover,  the  means  failed  us.  All  that  we  could 
then  do  was  to  accept  a  fairly  good  plan  for  our  main 
structures;  to  make  them  simple,  substantial,  and  digni- 
fied; to  build  them  of  stone  from  our  own  quarries;  and 
so  to  dispose  them  that  future  architects  might  so  combine 


I.— 22 


338  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-III 

other  buildings  with  them  as  to  form  an  impressive  quad- 
rangle on  the  upper  part  of  the  university  property.  To 
this  plan  Mr.  Cornell  gave  his  hearty  assent.  It  was  then 
arranged,  with  his  full  sanction,  that  the  university  build- 
ings should  ultimately  consist  of  two  great  groups:  the 
first  or  upper  group  to  be  a  quadrangle  of  stone,  and  the 
second  or  lower  group  to  be  made  up  of  buildings  of 
brick  more  freely  disposed,  according  to  our  future  needs 
and  means.  Although  this  plan  has  unfortunately  been 
departed  from  in  some  minor  respects,  it  has  in  general 
turned  out  well. 

Having  called  a  number  of  professors  and  seen  founda- 
tions laid  for  "Morrill  Hall,"  I  sailed  in  April  of  1868 
for  Europe,  in  order  to  study  technical  institutions,  to 
purchase  needed  equipment,  and  to  secure  certain  profes- 
sors such  as  could  not  then  be  found  in  our  own  country. 
Thus  far  my  knowledge  of  higher  education  in  Europe 
had  been  confined  almost  entirely  to  the  universities^ 
but  now  I  went  carefully  through  various  technical 
institutions,  among  them  the  English  Agricultural  Col- 
lege at  Cirencester,  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 
at  Rothamstead,  the  French  Agricultural  College  at 
Grignon,  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Metiers  at  Paris, 
the  Veterinary  School  at  Alfort,  the  German  Agricul- 
tural College  at  Hohenheim,  the  Technical  School  and 
Veterinary  College  at  Berlin,  and  others.  As  to  equip- 
ment, wherever  I  found  valuable  material  I  bought  it. 
Thus  were  brought  together  for  our  library  a  very  large 
collection  of  books  in  all  the  principal  departments ;  physi- 
cal and  chemical  apparatus  from  London,  Paris,  Heidel- 
berg, and  Berlin;  chemicals  from  Berlin  and  Erfurt;  the 
only  duplicate  of  the  royal  collection  of  cereals  and  grasses 
and  the  great  collection  of  British  patent-office  publica- 
tions from  the  British  imperial  authorities ;  the  Rau  mod- 
els of  plows  from  Hohenheim;  the  Brendel  plant  models 
from  Breslau;  the  models  of  machine  movements  from 
London,  Darmstadt,  and  Berlin;  the  plastic  models  of 
Auzoux  from  Paris ;  and  other  apparatus  and  instruments 


ORGANIZATION  OF   CORNELL- 1865-1868        339 

from  all  parts  of  Europe,  with  diagrams  and  drawings 
from  every  institution  where  I  could  find  them.  During 
three  months,  from  funds  furnished  by  the  university,  by 
Mr.  Cornell  personally,  and,  I  may  be  allowed  to  add,  from 
my  own  personal  resources,  I  expended  for  these  purposes 
over  sixty  thousand  dollars,  a  sum  which  in  those  days 
represented  much  more  than  in  these. 

As  to  non-resident  professors,  I  secured  in  London 
Goldwin  Smith,  who  had  recently  distinguished  himself 
by  his  works  as  a  historian  and  as  regius  professor  of 
history  at  Oxford;  and  I  was  successful  in  calling  Dr. 
James  Law,  who,  though  a  young  man,  had  already  made 
himself  a  name  in  veterinary  science.  It  seemed  to  many 
a  comical  juxtaposition,  and  various  witticisms  were  made 
at  my  expense  over  the  statement  that  I  had  "brought 
back  an  Oxford  professor  and  a  Scotch  horse-doctor." 
But  never  were  selections  more  fortunate.  Goldwin  Smith, 
by  his  high  character,  his  broad  and  deep  scholarship,  his 
devotion  not  only  to  his  professorship  but  to  the  general 
university  work,  his  self-denial  in  behalf  of  the  university 
and  its  students,  rendered  priceless  services.  He  bore  all 
privations  cheerfully  and  braved  all  discouragements  man- 
fully. Never  were  there  better  historical  lectures  than  his. 
They  inspired  us  all,  and  the  impulse  then  given  is  still 
felt.  So,  too,  Dr.  Law,  in  his  field,  was  invaluable,  and  this 
was  soon  felt  throughout  the  State.  Of  him  I  shall  speak 
later. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  FIRST  YEAES  OF  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY  — 1868-1870 

ON  the  7th  of  October,  1868,  came  the  formal  open- 
ing of  the  university.  The  struggle  for  its  charter 
had  attracted  much  attention  in  all  parts  of  the  State,  and 
a  large  body  of  spectators,  with  about  four  hundred  stu- 
dents, assembled  at  the  Cornell  Library  Hall  in  Ithaca. 
Though  the  charter  had  required  us  to  begin  in  October, 
there  had  seemed  for  some  time  very  little  chance  of 
it.  Mr.  Cornell  had  been  absent  in  the  woods  of  the  upper 
Mississippi  and  on  the  plains  of  Kansas,  selecting  univer- 
sity lands ;  I  had  been  absent  for  some  months  in  Europe, 
securing  plans  and  equipment ;  and  as,  during  our  absence, 
the  contractor  for  the  first  main  building,  Morrill  Hall,  had 
failed,  the  work  was  wretchedly  behindhand.  The  direct 
roads  to  the  university  site  were  as  yet  impracticable,  for 
the  Cascadilla  ravine  and  the  smaller  one  north  of  it  were 
still  unbridged.  The  grounds  were  unkempt,  with  heaps 
of  earth  and  piles  of  material  in  all  directions.  The  great 
quantities  of  furniture,  apparatus,  and  books  which  I  had 
sent  from  Europe  had  been  deposited  wherever  storage 
could  be  found.  Typical  was  the  case  of  the  large  Holtz 
electrical  machine  from  Germany.  It  was  in  those  days  a 
novelty,  and  many  were  anxious  to  see  it ;  but  it  could  not 
be  found,  and  it  was  only  discovered  several  weeks  later, 
when  the  last  pots  and  pans  were  pulled  out  of  the  kitchen 
store-room  in  the  cellar  of  the  great  stone  barrack  known 
as  Cascadilla  House.  All  sorts  of  greatly  needed  material 
had  been  delayed  in  steamships  and  on  railways,  or  was 

340 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF   CORNELL -1868 -1870     341 

stuck  fast  in  custom-houses  and  warehouses  from  Berlin 
and  Paris  to  Ithaca.  Our  friends  had  toiled  heroic- 
ally during  our  absence,  but  the  little  town— then  much 
less  energetic  than  now— had  been  unable  to  furnish 
the  work  required  in  so  short  a  time.  The  heating  ap- 
paratus and  even  the  doors  for  the  students'  rooms  were 
not  in  place  until  weeks  after  winter  weather  had  set  in.  To 
complicate  matters  still  more,  students  began  to  come  at 
a  period  much  earlier  and  in  numbers  far  greater  than  we 
had  expected ;  and  the  first  result  of  this  was  that,  in  get- 
ting ready  for  the  opening,  Mr.  Cornell  and  myself  were 
worn  out.  For  two  or  three  days  before  my  inauguration 
both  of  us  were  in  the  hands  of  physicians  and  in  bed,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  day  appointed  we  were  taken  in 
carriages  to  the  hall  where  the  ceremony  was  to  take  place. 
To  Mr.  Cornell's  brief  speech  I  have  alluded  elsewhere; 
my  own  presented  my  ideas  more  at  length.  They  were 
grouped  in  four  divisions.  The  first  of  these  related  to 
"Foundation  Ideas,"  which  were  announced  as  follows: 
First,  the  close  union  of  liberal  and  practical  instruction ; 
second,  unsectarian  control ;  third,  a  living  union  between 
the~  university  and  the  whole  school  system  of  the  State ; 
fourth,  concentration  of  revenues  for  advanced  education. 
The  second  division  was  that  of  "Formative  Ideas";  and 
under  these— First,  equality  between  different  courses  of 
study.  In  this  I  especially  developed  ideas  which  had 
occurred  to  me  as  far  back  as  my  observations  after 
graduation  at  Yale,  where  the  classical  students  belonging 
to  the  "college  proper"  were  given  a  sort  of  supremacy, 
and  scientific  students  relegated 'to  a  separate  institution 
at  considerable  distance,  and  therefore  deprived  of  much 
general;  and  even  special,  culture  which  would  have 
greatly  benefited  them.  Indeed,  they  seemed  not  consid- 
ered as  having  any  souls  to  be  saved,  since  no  provision 
was  made  for  them  at  the  college  chapel.  Second,  increased 
development  of  scientific  studies.  The  third  main  division 
was  that  of  "Governmental  Ideas";  and  under  these— 
First,  "the  regular  and  frequent  infusion  of  new  life  into 


342  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT— IV 

the  governing  board."  Here  a  system  at  that  time  entirely 
new  in  the  United  States  was  proposed.  Instead  of  the 
usual  life  tenure  of  trustees, their  term  was  made  five  years 
and  they  were  to  be  chosen  by  ballot.  Secondly,  it  was 
required  that  as  soon  as  the  graduates  of  the  university 
numbered  fifty  they  should  select  one  trustee  each  year, 
thus  giving  the  alumni  one  third  of  the  whole  number 
elected.  Third,  there  was  to  l>e  a  system  of  self-govern- 
ment administered  by  the  students  themselves.  As  to  this 
third  point,  I  must  frankly  confess  that  my  ideas  were 
vague,  unformed,  and  finally  changed  by  the  logic  of 
events.  As  the  fourth  and  final  main  division,  I  presented 
"Permeating  Ideas";  and  of  these — First,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  individual  man  in  all  his  nature,  in  all  his 
powers,  as  a  being  intellectual,  moral,  and  religious. 
Secondly,  bringing  the  powers  of  the  man  thus  developed 
to  bear  usefully  upon  society. 

In  conclusion,  I  alluded  to  two  groups  of  "Eliminated 
Ideas,"  the  first  of  these  being  the  "Ideas  of  the  Pedants," 
and  the  second  the  "Ideas  of  the  Philistines."  As  to  the 
former,  I  took  pains  to  guard  the  institution  from  those 
who,  in  the  higher  education,  substitute  dates  for  history, 
gerund-grinding  for  literature,  and  formulas  for  science; 
as  to  the  latter,  I  sought  to  guard  it  from  the  men  to  whom 
"Gain  is  God,  and  Gunnybags  his  Prophet." 

At  the  close,  referring  to  Mr.  Cornell,  who  had  been  too 
weak  to  stand  while  delivering  his  speech,  and  who  was  at 
that  moment  sitting  near  me,  I  alluded  to  his  noble  plans 
and  to  the  opposition,  misrepresentation,  and  obloquy  he 
had  met  thus  far,  and  in  doing  so  turned  toward  him.  The 
sight  of  him,  as  he  thus  sat,  looking  so  weak,  so  weary,  so 
broken,  for  a  few  moments  utterly  incapacitated  me.  I 
was  myself,  at  the  time,  in  but  little  better  condition  than 
he ;  and  as  there  rushed  into  my  mind  memories  of  the  pre- 
vious ten  days  at  his  house,  when  I  had  heard  him  groan- 
ing in  pain  through  almost  every  night,  it  flashed  upon  me 
how  utterly  hopeless  was  the  university  without  his  sup- 
port. My  voice  faltered;  I  could  for  a  moment  say  no- 


THE  FIRST  YEARS   OF  CORNELL -1868 -1870    343 

thing ;  then  came  a  revulsion.  I  asked  myself,  ' '  What  will 
this  great  audience  think  of  us  ? ' '  How  will  our  enemies, 
some  of  whom  I  see  scattered  about  the  audience,  exult 
over  this  faltering  at  the  outset !  A  feeling  of  shame  came 
over  me ;  but  just  at'that  moment  I  saw  two  or  three  strong 
men  from  different  parts  of  the  State,  among  them  my  old 
friend  Mr.  Sedgwick  of  Syracuse,  in  the  audience,  and  Mr. 
Sage  and  Mr.  McGraw  among  the  trustees,  evidently 
affected  by  my  allusion  to  the  obloquy  and  injustice  which 
Mr.  Cornell  had  met  thus  far.  This  roused  me.  But 
I  could  no  longer  read ;  I  laid  my  manuscript  aside  and 
gave  the  ending  in  words  which  occurred  to  me  as  I 
stood  then  and  there.  They  were  faltering  and  inade- 
quate; but  I  felt  that  the  vast  majority  in  that  audience, 
representing  all  parts  of  our  commonwealth,  were  with 
us,  and  I  asked  nothing  more. 

In  the  afternoon  came  exercises  at  the  university 
grounds.  The  chime  of  nine  bells  which  Miss  Jenny 
McGraw  had  presented  to  us  had  been  temporarily  hung 
in  a  wooden  tower  placed  very  near  the  spot  where  now 
stands  the  porch  of  the  library ;  and,  before  the  bells  were 
rung  for  the  first  time,  a  presentation  address  was  deliv- 
ered by  Mr.  Francis  Miles  Finch,  since  justice  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals  of  the  State  and  dean  of  the  University  Law 
School;  and  this  was  followed  by  addresses  from  the  su- 
perintendent of  public  instruction,  and  from  our  non-resi- 
dent professors  Agassiz  and  George  William  Curtis. 

Having  again  been  taken  out  of  bed  and  wrapped  up 
carefully,  I  was  carried  up  the  hill  to  hear  them.  All  the 
speeches  were  fine ;  but,  just  at  the  close,  Curtis  burst  into 
a  peroration  which,  in  my  weak  physical  condition,  utterly 
unmanned  me.  He  compared  the  new  university  to  a 
newly  launched  ship— "  all  its  sails  set,  its  rigging  full  and 
complete  from  stem  to  stern,  its  crew  embarked,  its  pas- 
sengers on  board;  and,"  he  added,  "even  while  I  speak 
to  you,  even  while  this  autumn  sun  sets  in  the  west,  the 
ship  begins  to  glide  over  the  waves,  it  goes  forth  rejoicing, 
every  stitch  of  canvas  spread,  all  its  colors  flying,  its 


344  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IV 

bells  ringing,  its  heart-strings  beating  with  hope  and 
joy;  and  I  say,  God  bless  the  ship,  God  bless  the  builder, 
God  bless  the  chosen  captain,  God  bless  the  crew,  and, 
gentlemen  undergraduates,  may  God  bless  all  the  pas- 
sengers ! ' ' 

The  audience  applauded;  the  chimes  burst  merrily 
forth ;  but  my  heart  sank  within  me.  A  feeling  of  ' t  gone- 
ness" came  over  me.  Curtis 's  simile  was  so  perfect  that 
I  felt  myself  indeed  on  the  deck  of  the  ship,  but  not  so  much 
in  the  character  of  its  "chosen  captain "  as  of  a  seasick 
passenger.  There  was  indeed  reason  for  qualmish  feel- 
ings. Had  I  drawn  a  picture  of  the  ship  at  that  moment, 
it  would  have  been  very  different  from  that  presented  by 
Curtis.  My  mind  was  pervaded  by  our  discouragements— 
by  a  realization  of  Mr.  Cornell's  condition  and  my  own, 
the  demands  of  our  thoughtless  friends,  the  attacks  of  our 
fanatical  enemies,  the  inadequacy  of  our  resources.  The 
sense  of  all  these  things  burst  upon  me,  and  the  view  about 
us  was  not  reassuring.  Not  only  were  the  university  build- 
ings unready  and  the  grounds  unkempt,  but  all  that  part 
of  our  domain  which  is  now  devoted  to  the  beautiful  lawns 
about  the  university  chapel,  Barnes  Hall,  Sage  College, 
and  other  stately  edifices,  was  then  a  ragged  corn-field 
surrounded  by  rail  fences.  No  one  knew  better  than  I 
the  great  difficulties  which  were  sure  to  beset  us.  Prob- 
ably no  ship  was  ever  launched  in  a  condition  so  unfit  to 
brave  the  storms.  Even  our  lesser  difficulties,  though  they 
may  appear  comical  now,  were  by  no  means  comical  then. 
As  a  rule,  Mr.  Cornell  had  consulted  me  before  making 
communications  to  the  public;  but  during  my  absence  in 
Europe  he  had  written  a  letter  to  the  "New  York  Trib- 
une, ' '  announcing  that  students  could  support  themselves, 
while  pursuing  their  studies  one  half  of  each  day  in  the 
university,  by  laboring  the  other  half.  In  this  he  showed 
that  sympathy  with  needy  and  meritorious  young  men 
which  was  one  of  his  marked  qualities,  but  his  proclama- 
tion cost  us  dear.  He  measured  the  earnestness  and  en- 
durance and  self-sacrifice  of  others  by  his  own ;  he  did  not 


THE  FIRST  YEARS   OF  CORNELL -1868 -1870    345 

realize  that  not  one  man  in  a  thousand  was,  in  these  re- 
spects, his  equal.  As  a  result  of  this  "  Tribune "  letter,  a 
multitude  of  eager  young  men  pressed  forward  at  the 
opening  of  the  university  and  insisted  on  receiving  self- 
supporting  work.  Nearly  all  of  those  who  could  offer 
skilled  labor  of  any  sort  we  were  able  to  employ;  and 
many  graduates  of  whom  Cornell  University  is  now  proud 
supported  themselves  then  by  working  as  carpenters,  ma- 
sons, printers,  accountants,  and  shorthand- writers.  But 
besides  these  were  many  who  had  never  done  any  manual 
labor,  and  still  more  who  had  never  done  any  labor  re- 
quiring skill.  AJI  attempt  was  made  to  employ  these  in 
grading  roads,  laying  out  paths,  helping  on  the  farm, 
doing  janitors'  work,  and  the  like.  Some  of  them  were 
successful ;  most  were  not.  It  was  found  that  it  would  be 
cheaper  to  support  many  of  the  applicants  at  a  hotel  and  to 
employ  day-laborers  in  their  places.  Much  of  their  work 
had  to  be  done  over  again  at  a  cost  greater  than  the  origi- 
nal outlay  should  have  been.  Typical  was  the  husking  of 
Indian  corn  upon  the  university  farm  by  student  labor :  it 
was  found  to  cost  more  than  the  resultant  corn  could  be 
sold  for  in  the  market.  The  expectations  of  these  youth 
were  none  the  less  exuberant.  One  of  them,  who  had  never 
done  any  sort  of  manual  labor,  asked  whether,  while  learn- 
ing to  build  machinery  and  supporting  himself  and  his 
family,  he  could  not  lay  up  something  against  contingen- 
cies. Another,  a  teamster  from  a  Western  State,  came  to 
offer  his  services,  and,  on  being  asked  what  he  wished  to 
study,  said  that  he  wished  to  learn  to  read ;  on  being  told 
that  the  public  school  in  his  own  district  was  the  place  for 
that,  he  was  very  indignant,  and  quoted  Mr.  Cornell's 
words, i '  I  would  found  an  institution  where  any  person  can 
find  instruction  in  any  study. ' '  Others,  fairly  good  schol- 
ars, but  of  delicate  build,  having  applied  for  self-support- 
ing employment,  were  assigned  the  lightest  possible  tasks 
upon  the  university  grounds;  but,  finding  even  this  work 
too  severe,  wrote  bitterly  to  leading  metropolitan  journals 
denouncing  Mr.  Cornell's  bad  faith.  One  came  all  the  way 


346  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IV 

from  Eussia,  being  able  to  make  the  last  stages  of  his 
journey  only  by  charity,  and  on  arriving  was  found  to  be 
utterly  incapable  of  sustained  effort,  physical  or  mental. 
The  most  definite  part  of  his  aims,  as  he  announced  them, 
was  to  convert  the  United  States  to  the  Eusso-Greek 
Church. 

Added  to  these  were  dreamers  and  schemers  of  more 
mature  age.  The  mails  were  burdened  with  their  letters 
and  our  offices  with  their  presence.  Some  had  plans  for 
the  regeneration  of  humanity  by  inventing  machines  which 
they  wished  us  to  build,  some  by  devising  philosophies 
which  they  wished  us  to  teach,  some  by  writing  books 
which  they  wished  us  to  print ;  most  by  taking  professor- 
ships which  they  wished  us  to  endow.  The  inevitable  poli- 
tician also  appeared;  and  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  trus- 
tees two  notorious  party  hacks  came  all  the  way  from  New 
York  to  tell  us  "what  the  people  expected/'— which  was 
the  nomination  of  sundry  friends  of  theirs  to  positions  in 
the  new  institution.  A  severe  strain  was  brought  upon 
Mr.  Cornell  and  myself  in  showing  civility  to  these  gentle- 
men; yet,  as  we  were  obliged  to  deny  them,  no  suavity 
on  our  part  could  stay  the  inevitable  result— their  hostil- 
ity. The  attacks  of  the  denominational  and  local  presses 
in  the  interests  of  institutions  which  had  failed  to  tear  the 
fund  in  pieces  and  to  secure  scraps  of  it  were  thus  largely 
reinforced.  Ever  and  anon  came  onslaughts  upon  us  per- 
sonally and  upon  every  feature  of  the  institution,  whether 
actual,  probable,  possible,  or  conceivable.  One  eminent 
editorial  personage,  having  vainly  sought  to  "  unload "  a 
member  of  his  staff  into  one  of  our  professorships,  howled 
in  a  long  article  at  the  turpitude  of  Mr.  Cornell  in  land 
matters,  screamed  for  legislative  investigation,  and  for 
years  afterward  never  neglected  an  opportunity  to  strike 
a  blow  at  the  new  institution. 

Some  difficulties  also  showed  themselves  in  the  first 
working  of  our  university  machinery.  In  my  "plan  of 
organization, ' '  as  well  as  in  various  addresses  and  reports, 
I  had  insisted  that  the  university  should  present  various 

*B*"*****-lu-»»L*i_  ' T — rrraiiM^MBMgT""Br'"*'^^*>^^^H****iB^^^T*^fc*ii 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF    CORNELL -1868 -1870    347 

courses  of  instruction,  general  and  special,  and  that  stu- 
dents should  be  allowed  much  liberty  of  choice  between 
these.  This  at  first  caused  serious  friction.  It  has  dis- 
appeared, now  that  the  public  schools  of  the  State  have 
adjusted  themselves  to  the  proper  preparation  of  stu- 
dents for  the  various  courses;  but  at  that  time  these 
difficulties  were  in  full  force  and  vigor.  One  of  the  most 
troublesome  signs  of  this  was  the  changing  and  shifting 
by  students  from  course  to  course,  which  both  injured 
them  and  embarrassed  their  instructors.  To  meet  this 
tendency  I  not  only  addressed  the  students  to  show 
that  good,  substantial,  continuous  work  on  any  one  course 
which  any  one  of  them  was  likely  to  choose  was  far 
better  than  indecision  and  shifting  about  between  vari- 
ous courses,  but  also  reprinted  for  their  use  John  Foster's 
famous  ' '  Essay  on  Decision  of  Character. ' '  This  tractate 
had  done  me  much  good  in  my  student  days  and  at  various 
times  since,  when  I  had  allowed  myself  to  linger  too  long 
between  different  courses  of  action ;  and  I  now  distributed 
it  freely,  the  result  being  that  students  generally  made 
their  election  between  courses  with  increased  care,  and 
when  they  had  made  it  stood  by  it. 

Yet  for  these  difficulties  in  getting  the  student  body 
under  way  there  were  compensations,  and  best  of  these 
was  the  character  and  bearing  of  the  students.  There 
were,  of  course,  sundry  exhibitions  of  boyishness,  but  the 
spirit  of  the  whole  body  was  better  than  that  of  any  simi- 
lar collection  of  young  men  I  had  ever  seen.  One  reason 
was  that  we  were  happily  spared  any  large  proportion  of 
rich  men's  sons,  but  the  main  reason  was  clearly  the  per- 
mission of  choice  between  various  courses  of  study  in 
accordance  with  individual  aims  and  tastes.  In  this  way 
a  far  larger  number  were  interested  than  had  ever  been 
under  the  old  system  of  forcing  all  alike  through  one 
simple,  single  course,  regardless  of  aims  and  tastes;  and 
thus  it  came  that,  even  from  the  first,  the  tone  at  Cornell 
was  given,  not  by  men  who  affected  to  despise  study,  but 
by  men  who  devoted  themselves  to  study.  It  evidently 


348  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IV 

became  disreputable  for  any  student  not  to  be  really  at 
work  in  some  one  of  the  many  courses  presented.  There 
were  few  cases  really  calling  for  discipline.  I  prized  this 
fact  all  the  more  because  it  justified  a  theory  of  mine.  I 
had  long  felt  that  the  greatest  cause  of  student  turbulence 
v/  and  dissipation  was  the  absence  of  interest  in  study  conse- 
quent upon  the  fact  that  only  one  course  was  provided, 
and  I  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  providing  various 
courses,  suited  to  various  aims  and  tastes,  would  diminish 
this  evil. 

As  regards  student  discipline  in  the  university,  I  had 
dwelt  in  my  "plan  of  organization"  upon  the  advisability 
of  a  departure  from  the  system  inherited  from  the  English 
colleges,  which  was  still  widely  prevailing.  It  had  been 
developed  in  America  probably  beyond  anything  known 
in  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  and  was  far  less  satisfac- 
tory than  in  these  latter  countries,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  in  them  the  university  authorities  have  some  legal 
power  to  secure  testimony  and  administer  punishment, 
while  in  America  they  have  virtually  none.  The  result  had 
been  most  unfortunate,  as  I  have  shown  in  other  parts  of 
these  chapters  referring  to  various  student  escapades  in  the 
older  American  universities,  some  of  them  having  cost  hu- 
man life.  I  had  therefore  taken  the  ground  that,  so  far  as 
possible,  students  should  be  treated  as  responsible  citizens ; 
that,  as  citizens,  they  should  be  left  to  be  dealt  with  by  the 
constituted  authorities;  and  that  members  of  the  faculty 
should  no  longer  be  considered  as  policemen.  I  had,  dur- 
ing my  college  life,  known  sundry  college  tutors  seriously 
injured  while  thus  doing  police  duty;  I  have  seen  a  pro- 
fessor driven  out  of  a  room,  through  the  panel  of  a  door, 
with  books,  boots,  and  bootjacks  hurled  at  his  head;  and 
even  the  respected  president  of  a  college,  a  doctor  of  di- 
vinity, while  patrolling  buildings  with  the  janitors,  sub- 
jected to  outrageous  indignity. 

Fortunately  the  causes  already  named,  to  which  may  be 
added  athletic  sports,  especially  boating,  so  greatly  dimin- 
ished student  mischief  at  Cornell,  that  cases  of  discipline 


THE  FIRST   YEARS   OF   CORNELL- 1868 -1870    349 

were  reduced  to  a  minimum— so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  there 
were  hardly  ever  any  of  a  serious  character.  I  felt  that 
then  and  there  was  the  time  to  reiterate  the  doctrine  laid 
down  in  my  "plan  of  organization, "  that  a  professor 
should  not  be  called  upon  to  be  a  policeman,  and  that  if  the 
grounds  were  to  be  policed,  proper  men  should  be  em- 
ployed for  that  purpose.  This  doctrine  was  reasonable 
and  it  prevailed.  The  Cornell  grounds  and  buildings, 
under  the  care  of  a  patrol  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
have  been  carefully  guarded,  and  never  has  a  member  of 
the  faculty  been  called  upon  to  perform  police  duty. 

There  were  indeed  some  cases  requiring  discipline  by 
the  faculty,  and  one  of  these  will  provoke  a  smile  on  the 
part  of  all  who  took  part  in  it  as  long  as  they  shall  live. 
There  had  come  to  us  a  stalwart,  sturdy  New  Englander, 
somewhat  above  the  usual  student  age,  and  showing  con- 
siderable aptitude  for  studies  in  engineering.  Various 
complaints  were  made  against  him;  but  finally  he  was 
summoned  before  the  faculty  for  a  very  singular  breach 
of  good  taste,  if  not  of  honesty.  The  entire  instructing 
body  of  that  day  being  gathered  about  the  long  table  in 
the  faculty  room,  and  I  being  at  the  head  of  the  table,  the 
culprit  was  summoned,  entered,  and  stood  solemnly  be- 
fore us.  Various  questions  were  asked  him,  which  he 
parried  with  great  ingenuity.  At  last  one  was  asked 
of  a  very  peculiar  sort,  as  follows:  "Mr.  -  — ,  did  you, 
last  month,  in  the  village  of  Dundee,  Yates  County,  pass 
yourself  off  as  Professor of  this  university,  announ- 
cing a  lecture  and  delivering  it  in  his  name?"  He  an- 
swered blandly, ' '  Sir,  I  did  go  to  Dundee  in  Yates  County ; 
I  did  deliver  a  lecture  there ;  I  did  not  announce  myself  as 
Professor  -  —  of  Cornell  University;  what  others  may 
have  done  I  do  not  know;  all  I  know  is  that  at  the  close 
of  my  lecture  several  leading  men  of  the  town  came  for- 
ward and  said  that  they  had  heard  a  good  many  lectures 
given  by  college  professors  from  all  parts  of  the  State, 
and  that  they  had  never  had  one  as  good  as  mine."  I 
think,  of  all  the  strains  upon  my  risible  faculties  during 


350  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -IV 

my  life,  this  answer  provoked  the  greatest,  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  faculty  were  clearly  in  the  same  condition. 
I  dismissed  the  youth  at  once,  and  hardly  was  he  outside 
the  door  when  a  burst  of  titanic  laughter  shook  the  court 
and  the  youth  was  troubled  no  more. 

Far  more  serious  was  another  case.  The  usual  good- 
natured  bickering  between  classes  had  gone  on,  and  as  a 
consequence  certain  sophomores  determined  to  pay  off 
some  old  scores  against  members  of  the  junior  class,  at  a 
junior  exhibition.  To  do  this  they  prepared  a  "mock 
programme, "  which,  had  it  been  merely  comic,  as  some 
others  had  been,  would  have  provoked  no  ill  feeling.  Un- 
fortunately, some  miscreant  succeeded  in  introducing  into 
it  allusions  of  a  decidedly  Rabelaisian  character.  The 
evening  arrived,  a  large  audience  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
were  assembled,  and  this  programme  was  freely  distrib- 
uted. The  proceeding  was  felt  to  be  an  outrage;  and  I 
served  notice  on  the  class  that  the  real  offender  or  offend- 
ers, if  they  wished  to  prevent  serious  consequences  to  all 
concerned,  must  submit  themselves  to  the  faculty  and  take 
due  punishment.  Unfortunately,  they  were  not  manly 
enough  to  do  this.  Thereupon,  to  my  own  deep  regret  and 
in  obedience  to  my  sense  of  justice,  I  suspended  indefi- 
nitely from  the  university  the  four  officers  of  the  class, 
its  president,  vice-president,  secretary,  and  treasurer. 
They  were  among  the  very  best  men  in  the  class,  all 
of  them  friends  of  my  own;  and  I  knew  to  a  certainty 
that  they  had  had  nothing  directly  to  do  with  the  articles 
concerned,  that  the  utmost  which  could  be  said  against 
them  was  that  they  had  been  careless  as  to  what  appeared 
in  the  programme,  for  which  they  were  responsible.  Most 
bitter  feeling  arose,  and  I  summoned  a  meeting  of  the  en- 
tire student  body.  As  I  entered  the  room  hisses  were 
heard;  the  time  had  evidently  come  for  a  grapple  with 
the  whole  body.  I  stated  the  case  as  it  was :  that  the  four 
officers  would  be  suspended  and  must  leave  the  university 
town  until  their  return  was  allowed  by  the  faculty;  that 
such  an  offense  against  decency  could  not  be  condoned ; 


THE  FIRST  YEARS   OF   CORNELL -1868 -1870    351 

that  I  had  understood  that  the  entire  class  proposed  to 
make  common  cause  with  their  officers  and  leave  the  uni- 
versity with  them;  that  to  this  we  interposed  no  objection; 
that  it  simply  meant  less  work  for  the  faculty  during  the 
remainder  of  the  year;  that  it  was  far  more  important 
for  the  university  to  maintain  a  character  for  decency  and 
good  discipline  than  to  have  a  large  body  of  students ;  and 
that,  if  necessary  to  maintain  such  a  character,  we  would 
certainly  allow  the  whole  student  body  in  all  the  classes  to 
go  home  and  would  begin  anew.  I  then  drew  a  picture. 
I  sketched  a  member  of  the  class  who  had  left  the  univer- 
sity on  account  of  this  discipline  entering  the  paternal 
door,  encountering  a  question  as  to  the  cause  of  his  unex- 
pected home-coming,  and  replying  that  the  cause  was  the 
outrageous  tyranny  of  the  president  and  faculty.  I  pic- 
tured, then,  the  father  and  mother  of  the  home-coming 
student  asking  what  the  cause  or  pretext  of  this  "  tyranny  " 
was,  and  I  then  said :  '  *  I  defy  any  one  of  you  to  show  your 
father  and  mother  the  'mock  programme '  which  has 
caused  the  trouble.  There  is  not  one  of  you  here  who  dares 
do  it ;  there  is  not  one  of  you  who  would  not  be  turned  out 
of  his  father's  door  if  he  were  thus  to  insult  his  mother. " 
At  this  there  came  a  round  of  applause.  I  then  expressed 
my  personal  regret  that  the  penalty  must  fall  upon  four 
men  whom  I  greatly  respected;  but  fall  it  must  unless 
the  offenders  were  manly  enough  to  give  themselves 
up.  The  result  was  that  at  the  close  I  was  greeted  with  a 
round  of  applause;  and  immediately  afterward  the  four 
officers  came  to  me,  acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  disci- 
pline, and  expressed  the  hope  that  their  suspension  might 
not  go  beyond  that  term.  It  did  not:  at  the  close  of  the 
term  they  were  allowed  to  return;  and  from  that  day 
"mock  programmes"  of  the  sort  concerned, which  in  many 
American  colleges  had  been  a  chronic  evil,  never  reap- 
peared at  Cornell.  The  result  of  this  action  encouraged 
me  greatly  as  to  the  reliance  to  be  placed  on  the  sense  of 
justice  in  the  great  body  of  our  students  when  directly 
and  properly  appealed  to. 


352  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IV 

Still  another  thing  which  I  sought  to  promote  was  a 
reasonable  devotion  to  athletics.  My  own  experience  as 
a  member  of  a  boating-club  at  Yale  had  shown  me  what 
could  be  done,  and  I  think  one  of  the  best  investments  I 
ever  made  was  in  giving  a  racing-boat  to  the  Cornell  crew 
on  Cayuga  Lake.  The  fact  that  there  were  so  many 
students  trained  sturdily  in  rural  homes  in  the  bracing 
air  of  western  New  York,  who  on  every  working-day  of 
college  life  tramped  up  the  University  Hill,  and  on  other 
days  explored  the  neighboring  hills  and  vales,  gave  us  a 
body  of  men  sure  to  do  well  as  athletes.  At  their  first 
contest  with  the  other  universities  on  the  Connecticut 
River  at  Springfield  they  were  beaten,  but  they  took  their 
defeat  manfully.  Some  time  after  this,  General  Grant, 
then  President  of  the  United  States,  on  his  visit  to  the 
university,  remarked  to  me  that  he  saw  the  race  at  Spring- 
field ;  that  our  young  men  ought  to  have  won  it ;  and  that, 
in  his  opinion,  they  would  have  won  it  if  they  had  not 
been  unfortunately  placed  in  shallow  water,  where  there 
were  eddies  making  against  them.  This  remark  struck 
me  forcibly,  coming  as  it  did  from  one  who  had  so  keen  a 
judgment  in  every  sort  of  contest.  I  bore  it  in  mind,  and 
was  not  surprised  when,  a  year  or  two  later  (1875),  the 
Cornell  crews,  having  met  at  Saratoga  Lake  the  crews 
from  Harvard,  Yale,  and  other  leading  universities,  won 
both  the  freshman  and  university  races.  It  was  humor- 
ously charged  against  me  that  when  the  news  of  this 
reached  Ithaca  I  rang  the  university  bells.  This  was  not 
the  fact.  The  simple  truth  was  that,  being  in  the  midst 
of  a  body  of  students  when  the  news  came,  and  seeing  them 
rush  toward  the  bell-tower,  I  went  with  them  to  prevent 
injury  to  the  bells  by  careless  ringing;  the  ringing  was 
done  by  them.  I  will  not  deny  that  the  victory  pleased  me, 
as  many  others  since  gained  by  the  Cornell  crews  have 
done;  but  far  more  to  me  than  the  victory  itself  was  a 
letter  written  me  by  a  prominent  graduate  of  Princeton 
who  was  at  Saratoga  during  the  contest.  He  wrote  me,  as 
he  said,  not  merely  to  congratulate  me  on  the  victory,  but 


THE  FIRST  YEARS  OF   CORNELL-1868-1870    353 

on  the  fine  way  in  which  our  students  took  it,  and  the  manly 
qualities  which  they  showed  in  the  hour  of  triumph  and 
during  their  whole  stay  at  Saratoga.  This  gave  me  cour- 
age. From  that  day  I  have  never  felt  any  fears  as  to  the 
character  of  the  student  body.  One  leading  cause  of  the 
success  of  Cornell  University,  in  the  midst  of  all  its  trials 
and  struggles,  has  been  the  character  of  its  students: 
working  as  they  do  under  a  system  which  gives  them  an 
interest  in  the  studies  they  are  pursuing,  they  have  used 
the  large  liberty  granted  them  in  a  way  worthy  of  all 
praise. 

Nor  is  this  happy  change  seen  at  Cornell  alone.  The 
same  causes,— mainly  the  increase  in  the  range  of  studies 
and  freedom  of  choice  between  them,  have  produced  simi- 
lar results  in  all  the  leading  institutions.  Recalling  the 
student  brawl  at  the  Harvard  commons  which  cost  the 
historian  Prescott  his  sight,  and  the  riot  at  the  Harvard 
commencement  which  blocked  the  way  of  President  Ever- 
ett and  the  British  minister ;  recalling  the  fatal  wounding 
of  Tutor  Dwight,  the  maiming  of  Tutor  Goodrich,  and 
the  killing  of  two  town  rioters  by  students  at  Yale;  and 
recalling  the  monstrous  indignities  to  the  president  and 
faculty  at  Hobart  of  which  I  was  myself  witness,  as  well 
as  the  state  of  things  at  various  other  colleges  in  my  own 
college  days,  I  can  testify,  as  can  so  many  others,  to  the  vast 
improvement  in  the  conduct  and  aims  of  American  stu- 
dents during  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


L— 23 


CHAPTER  XXI 

DIFFICULTIES  AND   DANGERS  AT   CORNELL  —  1SGS-1872 

THE  first  business  after  formally  opening  the  univer- 
sity was  to  put  in  operation  the  various  courses  of 
instruction,  and  vitally  connected  with  these  were  the  lec- 
tures of  our  non-resident  professors.  From  these  I  had 
hoped  much  and  was  not  disappointed.  It  had  long  seemed 
to  me  that  a  great  lack  in  our  American  universities  was 
just  that  sort  of  impulse  which  non-resident  professors 
or  lecturers  of  a  high  order  could  give.  At  Vale  there  had 
been,  in  my  time,  very  few  lectures  of  any  sort  to  under- 
graduates; the  work  in  the  various  classes  was  carried  on, 
as  a  rule,  without  the  slightest  enthusiasm,  and  was  con- 
sidered by  the  great  body  of  students  a  bore  to  be  abridged 
or  avoided  as  far  as  possible.  Hence  such  pranks  as 
cutting  out  the  tongue  of  the  college  bell,  of  which  two  or 
three  tongues  still  preserved  in  university  club-rooms  are 
reminders;  hence,  also,  the  effort  made  by  members  of  my 
own  class  to  fill  the  college  bell  with  cement,  which  would 
set  in  a  short  time,  and  make  any  call  to  morning  prayers 
and  recitations  for  a  day  or  two  impossible— a  perform- 
ance which  caused  a  long  suspension  of  several  of  the  best 
young  fellows  that  ever  lived,  some  of  them  good  scholars, 
and  all  of  them  men  who  would  have  walked  miles  to  at- 
tend a  really  inspiring  lecture. 

And  yet,  one  or  two  experiences  showed  me  what  might 
be  done  by  arousing  an  interest  in  regular  class  work. 
Professor  Thacher,  the  head  of  the  department  of  Latin, 
who  conducted  my  class  through  the  "Germania"  and 

354 


DANGERS   AT   CORNELL -1868 -1872  355 

"Agricola"  of  Tacitus,  was  an  excellent  professor;  but 
he  yielded  to  the  system  then  dominant  at  Yale,  and  the 
whole  thing  was  but  weary  plodding.  Hardly  ever  was 
there  anything  in  the  shape  of  explanation  or  comment; 
but  at  the  end  of  his  work  with  us  he  laid  down  the  book, 
and  gave  us  admirably  the  reasons  why  the  study  of 
Tacitus  was  of  value,  and  why  we  might  well  recur  to  it 
in  after  years.  Then  came  painfully  into  my  mind  the 
thought,  "What  a  pity  that  he  had  not  said  this  at  the 
beginning  of  his  instruction  rather  than  at  the  end ! ' ' 

Still  worse  was  it  with  some  of  the  tutors,  who  took  us 
through  various  classical  works,  but  never  with  a  particle 
of  appreciation  for  them  as  literature  or  philosophy.  I 
have  told  elsewhere  how  my  classmate  Smalley  fought  it 
out  with  one  of  these.  No  instruction  from  outside  lec- 
tures was  provided;  but  in  my  senior  year  there  came  to 
New  Haven  John  Lord  and  George  William  Curtis,  the 
former  giving  a  course  on  modern  history,  the  latter 
one  upon  recent  literature,  and  both  arousing  my  earnest 
interest  in  their  subjects.  It  was  in  view  of  these  experi- 
ences that  in  my  "plan  of  organization"  I  dwelt  espe- 
cially upon  the  value  of  non-resident  professors  in  bring- 
ing to  us  fresh  life  from  the  outside,  and  in  thus 
preventing  a  certain  provincialism  and  woodenness  which 
come  when  there  are  only  resident  professors,  and  these 
selected  mainly  from  graduates  of  the  institution  itself. 

The  result  of  the  work  done  by  our  non-resident  pro- 
fessors more  than  answered  my  expectations.  The  twenty 
lectures  of  Agassiz  drew  large  numbers  of  our  brightest 
young  men,  gave  them  higher  insight  into  various  prob- 
lems of  natural  science,  and  stimulated  among  many 
a  zeal  for  special  investigation.  Thus  resulted  an  enthu- 
siasm which  developed  out  of  our  student  body  several 
scholars  in  natural  science  who  have  since  taken  rank 
among  the  foremost  teachers  and  investigators  in  the 
United  States.  So,  too,  the  lectures  of  Lowell  on  early 
literature  and  of  Curtis  on  later  literature  aroused  great 
interest  among  students  of  a  more  literary  turn;  while 


356  AS  UNIVERSITY   PKESIDENT-V 

those  of  Theodore  D  wight  on  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Bayard  Taylor  upon  German  litera- 
ture awakened  a  large  number  of  active  minds  to  the 
beauties  of  these  fields.  The  coming  of  Goldwin  Smith 
was  an  especial  help  to  us.  He  remained  longer  than  the 
others ;  in  fact,  he  became  for  two  or  three  years  a  resident 
professor,  exercising,  both  in  his  lecture-room  and  out  of 
it,  a  great  influence  upon  the  whole  life  of  the  university. 
At  a  later  period,  the  coming  of  George  W.  Greene  as 
lecturer  on  American  history,  of  Edward  A.  Freeman, 
regius  professor  at  Oxford,  as  a  lecturer  on  European 
history,  and  of  James  Anthony  Froude  in  the  same  field, 
aroused  new  interest.  Some  of  our  experiences  with  the 
two  gentlemen  last  named  were  curious.  Freeman  was  a 
rough  diamond— in  his  fits  of  gout  very  rough  indeed.  At 
some  of  his  lectures  he  appeared  clad  in  a  shooting- jacket 
and  spoke  sitting,  his  foot  swathed  to  mitigate  his  suffer- 
ings. From  New  Haven  came  a  characteristic  story  of 
him.  He  had  been  invited  to  attend  an  evening  gathering, 
after  one  of  his  lectures,  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  profes- 
sors, perhaps  the  finest  residence  in  the  town.  With 
the  exception  of  himself,  the  gentlemen  all  arrived  in 
evening  dress;  he  appeared  in  a  shooting- jacket.  Pres- 
ently two  professors  arrived;  and  one  of  them,  glancing 
through  the  rooms,  and  seeing  Freeman  thus  attired,  asked 
the  other,  '  '  What  sort  of  a  costume  do  you  call  that  ? ' '  The 
answer  came  instantly,  "I  don't  know,  unless  it  is  the 
costume  of  a  Saxon  swineherd  before  the  Conquest. "  In 
view  of  Freeman's  studies  on  the  Saxon  and  Norman 
periods  and  the  famous  toast  of  the  dean  of  Wells,  "In 
honor  of  Professor  Freeman,  who  has  done  so  much  to 
reveal  to  us  the  rude  manners  of  our  ancestors, ' '  the  Yale 
professor's  answer  seemed  much  to  the  point. 

The  lectures  of  Froude  were  exceedingly  interesting; 
but  every  day  he  began  them  with  the  words  t  i  Ladies  and 
gentlemen,"  in  the  most  comical  falsetto  imaginable,— 
a    sort    of   Lord    Dundreary   manner,— so   that,    sitting 
beside  him,  I  always  noticed  a  ripple  of  laughter  run- 


DANGERS  AT   CORNELL— 1868-1872  357 

ning  over  the  whole  audience,  which  instantly  disap- 
peared as  he  settled  into  his  work.  He  had  a  way  of 
giving  color  to  his  lectures  by  citing  bits  of  humorous 
history.  Thus  it  was  that  he  threw  a  vivid  light  on  the 
horrors  of  civil  war  in  Ireland  during  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  when  he  gave  the  plea  of  an  Irish 
chieftain  on  trial  for  high  treason,  one  of  the  charges 
against  him  being  that  he  had  burned  the  Cathedral  of 
Cashel.  His  plea  was:  "Me  lords,  I  niver  would  have 
burned  the  cathaydral  but  that  I  supposed  that  his  grace 
the  lord  archbishop  was  inside." 

Speaking  of  the  strength  of  the  clan  spirit,  he  told  me  a 
story  of  the  late  Duke  of  Argyll,  as  follows :  At  a  banquet 
of  the  great  clan  of  which  the  duke  was  chief,  a  splendid 
snuff-box  belonging  to  one  of  the  clansmen,  having  at- 
tracted attention,  was  passed  round  the  long  table  for  in- 
spection. By  and  by  it  was  missing.  All  attempts  to  trace  it 
were  in  vain,  and  the  party  broke  up  in  disgust  and  distress 
at  the  thought  that  one  of  their  number  must  be  a  thief. 
Some  days  afterward,  the  duke,  putting  on  his  dress-coat, 
found  the  box  in  his  pocket,  and  immediately  sent  for  the 
owner  and  explained  the  matter.  ' '  I  knew  ye  had  it, ' '  said 
the  owner.  ' ' How  did  ye  know  it  1 ' '  said  the  duke.  "Saw 
ye  tak'  it."  "Then  why  did  n't  ye  tell  me?"  asked  the 
duke.  ' '  I  thocht  ye  wanted  it, ' '  was  the  answer. 

Speaking  of  university  life,  Froude  told  the  story  of  an 
Oxford  undergraduate  who,  on  being  examined  in  Paley, 
was  asked  to  name  any  instance  which  he  had  himself  no- 
ticed of  the  goodness  and  forethought  of  the  Almighty  as 
evidenced  in  his  works :  to  which  the  young  man  answered, 
"The  formation  of  the  head  of  a  bulldog.  Its  nose  is  so 
drawn  back  that  it  can  hang  on  the  bull  and  yet  breathe 
freely;  but  for  this,  the  bulldog  would  soon  have  to  let 
go  for  want  of  breath. ' ' 

Walking  one  day  with  Froude,  I  spoke  to  him  regarding 
his  "Nemesis  of  Faith,"  which  I  had  read  during  my  at- 
tacheship  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  which  had  been  greatly 
objected  to  by  various  Oxford  dons,  one  of  whom  is  said  to 


358  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-V 

have  burned  a  copy  of  it  publicly  in  one  of  the  college 
quadrangles.  He  seemed  somewhat  dismayed  at  my  ques- 
tion, and  said,  in  a  nervous  sort  of  way,  "That  was  a 
young  man's  book— a  young  man's  folly,"  and  passed 
rapidly  to  other  subjects. 

From  the  stimulus  given  by  the  non-resident  professors 
the  resident  faculty  reaped  much  advantage.  It  might 
well  be  said  that  the  former  shook  the  bush  and  the  latter 
caught  the  birds.  What  is  most  truthfully  stated  on  the 
tablet  to  Professor  Agassiz  in  the  Cornell  Memorial  Chapel 
of  the  university  might,  in  great  part,  be  said  of  all  the 
others.  It  runs  as  follows: 

"To  the  memory  of  Louis  Agassiz,  LL.D.  In  the  midst 
of  great  labors  for  science,  throughout  the  world,  he 
aided  in  laying  the  foundations  of  instruction  at  Cornell 
University,  and,  by  his  teachings  here,  gave  an  impulse  to 
scientific  studies,  which  remains  a  precious  heritage.  The 
trustees,  in  gratitude  for  his  counsels  and  teachings,  erect 
this  memorial.  1884." 

An  incidental  benefit  of  the  system  was  its  happy  in- 
fluence upon  the  resident  professors.  Coming  from 
abroad,  and  of  recognized  high  position,  the  non-residents 
brought  a  very  happy  element  to  our  social  life.  No  vet- 
eran of  our  faculty  is  likely  to  forget  the  charm  they 
diffused  among  us.  To  meet  Agassiz  socially  was  a  de- 
light ;  nor  was  it  less  a  pleasure  to  sit  at  table  with  Lowell 
or  Curtis.  Of  the  many  good  stories  told  us  by  Lowell,  I 
remember  one  especially.  During  a  stay  in  Paris  he  dined 
with  Sainte-Beuve,  and  took  occasion  to  ask  that  most 
eminent  of  French  critics  which  he  thought  the  greater 
poet,  Lamartine  or  Victor  Hugo.  Sainte-Beuve,  shrug- 
ging his  shoulders,  replied:  "Eh  bien,  charlatan  pour 
charlatan,  je  pref ere  Lamartine. ' '  This  provoked  another 
story,  which  was  that,  being  asked  by  an  American 
professor  whether  in  his  opinion  the  Empire  of  Napo- 
leon III  was  likely  to  endure,  Sainte-Beuve,  who  was  a 
salaried  senator  of  the  Empire,  answered  with  a  shrug, 
"Monsieur,  je  suis  paye  pour  le  croire."  Agassiz  also 


DANGERS  AT   CORNELL -1868 -1872  359 

interested  me  by  showing  me  the  friendly,  confidential,  and 
familiar  letters  which  he  was  then  constantly  receiving 
from  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  Dom  Pedro— letters  in  which 
not  only  matters  of  science  but  of  contemporary  history 
were  discussed.  Bayard  Taylor  also  delighted  us  all.  No- 
thing could  exceed,  as  a  provocative  to  mirth,  his  recita- 
tions of  sundry  poems  whose  inspiration  was  inferior  to 
their  ambition.  One  especially  brought  down  the  house— 
"The  Eonx  of  Ruby,"  by  a  poet  who  had  read  Poe  and 
Browning  until  he  never  hesitated  to  coin  any  word,  no 
matter  how  nonsensical,  which  seemed  likely  to  help  his 
jingle.  In  many  respects  the  most  charming  of  all  the  new- 
comers was  Goldwin  Smith,  whose  stories,  observations, 
reflections,  deeply  suggestive,  humorous,  and  witty,  were 
especially  grateful  at  the  close  of  days  full  of  work  and 
care.  His  fund  of  anecdotes  was  large.  One  of  them  illus- 
trated the  fact  that  even  those  who  are  best  acquainted 
with  a  language  not  their  own  are  in  constant  danger  of 
making  themselves  ridiculous  in  using  it.  The  Due  d'Au- 
male,  who  had  lived  long  in  England,  and  was  supposed 
to  speak  English  like  an  Englishman,  presiding  at  a  dinner 
of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Sci- 
ence, gave  a  toast  as  follows :  i '  De  tree  of  science,  may  it 
shed  down  pease  upon  de  nations." 

Another  story  related  to  Sir  Allan  MacNab,  who,  while 
commander  of  the  forces  in  Canada,  having  received  a 
card  inscribed,  "The  MacNab,"  immediately  returned  the 
call,  and  left  a  card  on  which  was  inscribed,  "The  other 
MacNab." 

As  I  revise  these  lines,  thirty-six  years  after  his  first 
coming,  he  is  visiting  me  again  to  lay  the  corner-stone  of 
the  noble  building  which  is  to  commemorate  his  services 
to  Cornell.  Though  past  his  eightieth  year,  his  memory 
constantly  brings  up  new  reminiscences.  One  of  these  I 
cannot  forbear  giving.  He  was  at  a  party  given  by  Lady 
Ashburton  when  Thomas  Carlyle  was  present.  During 
the  evening,  which  was  beautiful,  the  guests  went  out  upon 
the  lawn,  and  gazed  at  the  starry  heavens.  All  seemed 


AS    UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-V 

especially  impressed  by  the  beauty  of  the  moon,  which 
was  at  the  full,  when  Carlyle,  fastening  his  eyes  upon  it, 
was  heard  to  croak  out,  solemnly  and  bitterly,  "Puir  aulcl 
creetur!" 

rrhe  instruction  of  the  university  was  at  that  time  divided 
between  sundry  general  courses  and  various  technical 
departments,  the  whole  being  somewhat  tentative.  These 
general  courses  were  mainly  three:  the  arts  course, 
which  embraced  both  Latin  and  Creek;  the  course  in 
literature,  which  embraced  Latin  and  modern  languages; 
and  the  course  in  science,  which  embraced  more  especially 
modern  languages  in  connection  with  a  somewhat  extended 
range  of  scientific  studies.  Of  these  general  divisions  the 
one  most  in  danger  of  shipwreck  seemed  to  be  the  first. 
It  had  been  provided  for  in  the  congressional  act  of 
18G2,  evidently  by  an  afterthought,  and  it  was  generally 
felt  that  if,  in  the  storms  besetting  us,  anything  must  be 
thrown  overboard,  it  would  be  this;  but  an  opportunity 
now  arose  for  clenching  it  into  our  system.  There  was 
offered  for  sale  the  library  of  Professor  Charles  Anthon 
of  Columbia,  probably  the  largest  and  best  collection 
in  classical  philology  which  had  then  been  brought  to- 
gether in  the  United  States.  Discussing  the  situation 
with  Mr.  Cornell,  I  showed  him  the  danger  of  restrict- 
ing the  institution  to  purely  scientific  and  technical  stud- 
ies, and  of  thus  departing  from  the  university  ideal. 
He  saw  the  point,  and  purchased  the  Anthon  library  for 
us.  Thenceforth  it  was  felt  that,  with  such  a  means  of 
instruction,  from  such  a  source,  the  classical  department 
must  stand  firm;  that  it  must  on  no  account  he  sacrificed; 
that,  by  accepting  this  gift,  we  had  pledged  ourselves  to 
maintain  it. 

Vet,  curiously,  one  of  the  most  bitter  charges  constantly 
reiterated  against  us  was  that  we  were  depreciating 
the  study  of  ancient  classical  literature.  Again  and 
again  it  was  repeated,  especially  in  a  leading  daily  jour- 
nal of  111'1  metropolis  under  the  influence  of  a  sectarian 
college,  that  1  was  "degrading  classical  studies."  Xo- 


DANGERS  AT  CORNELL -1868 -1872  361 

thing  could  be  more  unjust ;  I  had.  greatly  enjoyed  such 
studies  myself,  had  found  pleasure  in  them  since  my 
graduation,  and  had  steadily  urged  them  upon  those  who 
had  taste  or  capacity  for  them.  But,  as  a  student  and  as  a 
university  instructor,  I  had  noticed  two  things  in  point, 
as  many  other  observers  had  done:  the  first  of  these  was 
that  very  many  youths  who  go  through  their  Latin  and 
Greek  Readers,  and  possibly  one  or  two  minor  authors  be- 
sides, exhaust  the  disciplinary  value  of  such  studies,  and 
thenceforward  pursue  them  listlessly  and  perfunctorily, 
merely  droning  over  them.  On  their  account  it  seemed  cer- 
tainly far  better  to  present  some  other  courses  of  study  in 
which  they  could  take  an  interest.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
constantly  found  that  many  young  men  who  had  been  do- 
ing half-way  mental  labor,  which  is  perhaps  worse  than 
none,  were  at  once  brightened  and  strengthened  by  devot- 
ing themselves  to  other  studies  more  in  accordance  with 
their  tastes  and  aims. 

But  a  second  and  very  important  point  was  that,  in 
the  two  colleges  of  which  I  had  been  an  undergraduate, 
classical  studies  were  really  hampered  and  discredited 
by  the  fact  that  the  minority  of  students  who  loved 
them  were  constantly  held  back  by  a  majority  who  dis- 
liked them;  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  true 
way  to  promote  such  studies  in  the  United  States  was 
to  take  off  this  drag  as  much  as  possible,  by  present- 
ing other  courses  of  studies  which  would  attract  those  who 
had  no  taste  for  Latin  and  Greek,  thus  leaving  those  who 
had  a  taste  for  them  free  to  carry  them  much  farther  than 
had  been  customary  in  American  universities  up  to  that 
time.  My  expectations  in  this  respect  were  fully  met.  A 
few  years  after  the  opening  of  the  university,  contests 
were  arranged  between  several  of  the  leading  colleges  and 
universities,  the  main  subjects  in  the  competition  being 
Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics;  and  to  the  confusion  of 
the  gainsayers,  Cornell  took  more  first  prizes  in  these 
subjects  than  did  all  the  older  competing  institutions  to- 
gether. Thenceforward  the  talk  of  our  "degrading  clas- 


362  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-V 

sical  studies "  was  less  serious.  The  history  of  such  stud- 
ies at  Cornell  since  that  time  has  fully  justified  the  policy 
then  pursued.  Every  competent  observer  will,  I  feel  sure, 
say  that  at  no  other  American  institution  have  these 
studies  been  pursued  with  more  earnestness  or  with  better 
results.  The  Museum  of  Classical  Archaeology,  which  has 
since  been  founded  by  the  generous  gift  of  Mr.  Sage,  has 
stimulated  an  increased  interest  in  them;  and  graduates 
of  Cornell  are  now  exercising  a  wide  influence  in  classical 
teaching:  any  one  adequately  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  American  education  knows  what  the  influence  of  Cor- 
nell has  been  in  bettering  classical  instruction  throughout 
the  State  of  New  York.  There  has  been  another  incidental 
gain.  Among  the  melancholy  things  of  college  life  in  the 
old  days  was  the  relation  of  students  to  classical  profes- 
sors. The  majority  of  the  average  class  looked  on  such 
a  professor  as  generally  a  bore  and,  as  examinations  ap- 
proached, an  enemy ;  they  usually  sneered  at  him  as  a  ped- 
ant, and  frequently  made  his  peculiarities  a  subject  for  de- 
rision. Since  that  day  far  better  relations  have  grown  up 
between  teachers  and  taught,  especially  in  those  institutions 
where  much  is  left  to  the  option  of  the  students.  The  stu- 
dents in  each  subject,  being  those  who  are  really  interested 
in  it,  as  a  rule  admire  and  love  their  professor,  and  what- 
ever little  peculiarities  he  may  have  are  to  them  but  pleas- 
ing accompaniments  of  his  deeper  qualities.  This  is  a  per- 
fectly simple  and  natural  result,  which  will  be  understood 
fully  by  any  one  who  has  observed  human  nature  to  much 
purpose. 

Besides  this  course  in  arts,  in  which  classical  studies 
were  especially  prominent,  there  were  established  courses 
in  science,  in  literature,  and  in  philosophy,  differing  from 
each  other  mainly  in  the  proportion  observed  between 
ancient  languages,  modern  languages,  and  studies  in  vari- 
ous sciences  and  other  departments  of  thought.  Each  of 
these  courses  was  laid  down  with  much  exactness  for  the 
first  two  years,  with  large  opportunity  for  choice  between 
subjects  in  the  last  two  years.  The  system  worked  well, 


DANGERS  AT  CORNELL -1868 -1872  363 

and  has,  from  time  to  time,  been  modified,  as  the  improve- 
ment in  the  schools  of  the  State,  and  other  circumstances 
have  required. 

In  proposing  these  courses  I  was  much  influenced  by 
an  idea  broached  in  Herbert  Spencer 's  '  i  Treatise  on  Edu- 
cation. "  This  idea  was  given  in  his  discussion  of  the 
comparative  values  of  different  studies,  when  he  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  a  subject  which  ought  to  be  among 
those  taught  at  the  beginning  of  every  course  is  human 
physiology,— that  is  to  say,  an  account  of  the  structure, 
functions,  and  proper  management  of  the  human  body,  on 
which  so  much  depends  for  every  human  being.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  not  only  was  there  great  force  in  Spencer's 
argument,  but  that  there  was  an  additional  reason  for 
placing  physiology  among  the  early  studies  of  most  of 
the  courses;  and  this  was  that  it  formed  a  very  good 
beginning  for  scientific  study  in  general.  An  observation 
of  my  own  strengthened  me  in  this  view.  I  remembered 
that,  during  my  school  life,  while  my  tastes  were  in  the 
direction  of  classical  and  historical  studies,  the  weekly 
visits  to  the  school  by  the  surgeon  who  lectured  upon  the 
human  eye,  ear,  and  sundry  other  organs,  using  models 
and  preparations,  interested  me  intensely,  and  were  a  real 
relief  from  other  studies.  There  was  still  another  reason. 
For  the  professorship  in  this  department  Professor  Agas- 
siz  had  recommended  to  me  Dr.  Burt  Wilder ;  and  I  soon 
found  him,  as  Agassiz  had  foretold,  not  only  a  thorough 
investigator,  but  an  admirable  teacher.  His  lectures  were 
not  read,  but  were,  as  regards  phrasing,  extemporaneous ; 
and  it  seemed  to  me  that,  mingled  with  other  studies,  a 
course  of  lectures  given  in  so  good  a  style,  by  so  gifted  a 
man,  could  not  fail  to  be  of  great  use  in  teaching  our 
students,  incidentally,  the  best  way  of  using  the  English 
language  in  communicating  their  ideas  to  their  fellow- 
men.  I  had  long  deplored  the  rhetorical  fustian  and  ora- 
torical tall-talk  which  so  greatly  afflict  our  country,  and 
which  had  been,  to  a  considerable  extent,  cultivated  in  our 
colleges  and  universities;  I  determined  to  try,  at  least, 


364  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-V 

to  substitute  for  it  clean,  clear,  straightforward  statement 
and  illustration ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  a  subject  which  admitted  neither  fustian  nor 
tall-talk,  by  a  clear-headed,  clear-voiced,  earnest,  and  hon- 
est man,  was  the  best  thing  in  the  world  for  this  purpose. 
So  was  adopted  the  plan  of  beginning  most  courses  with 
an  extended  course  of  lectures  upon  human  physiology,  in 
which  to  real  practice  in  investigation  by  the  class  is  added 
the  hearing  of  a  first-rate  lecturer. 

As  regards  the  course  in  literature,  I  determined  that 
use  should  be  made  of  this  to  promote  the  general  culture 
of  students,  as  had  been  done  up  to  that  time  by  very 
few  of  our  American  universities.  At  Yale  in  my  day, 
there  was  never  even  a  single  lecture  on  any  subject 
in  literature,  either  ancient  or  modern:  everything  was 
done  by  means  of  "recitations"  from  text-books;  and 
while  young  men  read  portions  of  masterpieces  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  their  attention  was  hardly  ever  directed  to 
these  as  literature.  As  regards  the  great  fields  of  modern 
literature,  nothing  whatever  was  done.  In  the  English 
literature  and  language,  every  man  was  left  entirely  to  his 
own  devices.  One  of  the  first  professors  I  called  to  Cor- 
nell was  Hiram  Corson,  who  took  charge  of  the  department 
of  English  literature;  and  from  that  day  to  this  he  has 
been  a  center  from  which  good  culture  has  radiated  among 
our  students.  Professor  H.  B.  Sprague  was  also  called; 
and  he  also  did  excellent  work,  though  in  a  different  way. 
I  also  added  non-resident  professors.  My  original  scheme 
I  still  think  a  good  one.  It  was  to  call  James  Russell  Lowell 
for  early  English  literature,  Bishop  Arthur  Cleveland 
Coxe  for  the  literature  of  the  Elizabethan  and  Jacobean 
periods,  Edwin  Whipple  for  the  literature  of  Queen 
Anne's  time,  and  George  William  Curtis  for  recent  and 
contemporary  literature.  Each  of  these  men  was  admir- 
able as  a  scholar  and  lecturer  in  the  particular  field  named ; 
but  the  restricted  means  of  the  university  obliged  me  to 
cut  the  scheme  down,  so  that  it  included  simply  Lowell 
for  early  and  Curtis  for  recent  literature.  Other  lectures 


DANGERS  AT   CORNELL- 1868 -1872  365 

in  connection  with  the  instruction  of  the  resident  profes- 
sors marked  an  epoch,  and  did  much  to  remove  anything 
like  Philistinism  from  the  student  body.  Bayard  Taylor's 
lectures  in  German  literature  thus  supplemented  admir- 
ably the  excellent  work  of  the  resident  professors  Hewett 
and  Horatio  White.  To  remove  still  further  any  danger  of 
Philistinism,  I  called  an  eminent  graduate  of  Harvard,— 
Charles  Chauncey  Shackford,— whose  general  lectures  in 
various  fields  of  literature  were  attractive  and  useful.  In 
all  this  I  was  mainly  influenced  by  the  desire  to  prevent 
the  atmosphere  of  the  university  becoming  simply  and 
purely  that  of  a  scientific  and  technical  school.  Highly  as 
I  prized  the  scientific  spirit  and  technical  training,  I 
felt  that  the  frame  of  mind  engendered  by  them  should  be 
modified  by  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  literature  as 
literature.  There  were  many  evidences  that  my  theory 
was  correct.  Some  of  our  best  students  in  the  technical 
departments  developed  great  love  for  literary  studies. 
One  of  them  attracted  much  attention  by  the  literary  ex- 
cellence of  his  writings ;  and  on  my  speaking  to  him  about 
it,  and  saying  that  it  seemed  strange  to  me  that  a  man 
devoted  to  engineering  should  show  such  a  taste  for  liter- 
ature, he  said  that  there  was  no  greater  delight  to  him 
than  passing  from  one  of  the  studies  to  the  other— that 
each  was  a  recreation  after  the  other. 

The  effort  to  promote  that  element  in  the  general  culture 
of  the  student  body  which  comes  from  literature,  ancient 
and  modern,  gained  especial  strength  from  a  source 
usually  unpromising— the  mathematical  department. 
Two  professors  highly  gifted  in  this  field  exercised  a  wide 
and  ennobling  influence  outside  it.  First  of  these  was 
Evan  William  Evans,  who  had  been  known  to  me  at  Yale 
as  not  only  one  of  the  best  scholars  in  the  class  of  1851, 
but  also  one  of  its  two  foremost  writers.  Later,  he  devel- 
oped a  passion  for  modern  literature,  and  his  influence 
was  strongly  felt  in  behalf  of  the  humanities.  His  suc- 
cessor was  James  Edward  Oliver,  a  graduate  of  Harvard, 
a  genius  in  his  chosen  field,  but  always  exercising  a  large 


366  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-V 

influence  by  virtue  of  his  broad,  liberal,  tolerant  views  of 
life  which  were  promoted  by  study  of  the  best  thoughts  of 
the  best  thinkers  of  all  times. 

The  work  of  organizing  and  developing  the  general 
courses  was  comparatively  easy,  and  the  stimulus  given  at 
the  outset  by  the  non-resident  professors  rendered  it 
all  the  more  so.  But  with  the  technical  departments  and 
special  courses  there"  were  grave  difficulties.  The  depart- 
ment of  civil  engineering,  of  course,  went  easily  enough ; 
there  were  plenty  of  precedents  for  it,  and  the  admirable 
professor  first  elected  was,  at  his  death,  succeeded  by  an- 
other who  most  vigorously  and  wisely  developed  it :  Este- 
van  Fuertes,  drawn  from  the  most  attractive  surroundings 
in  the  island  of  Porto  Rico  to  the  United  States  by  a  deep 
love  of  science,  and  retained  here  during  the  rest  of  his 
life  by  a  love,  no  less  sincere,  for  American  liberty— a  rare 
combination  of  the  virtues  and  capabilities  of  the  Latin 
races  with  the  best  results  of  an  American  environment.  I 
may  mention,  in  passing,  that  this  combination  came  out 
curiously  in  his  views  of  American  citizenship.  He  was 
wont  to  marvel  at  the  indifference  of  the  average  Ameri- 
can to  his  privileges  and  duties,  and  especially  at  the  lack 
of  a  proper  estimate  of  his  function  at  elections.  I  have 
heard  him  say:  "When  I  vote,  I  put  on  my  best  clothes 
and  my  top  hat,  go  to  the  polls,  salute  the  officers,  take  off 
my  hat,  and  cast  my  ballot. ' 9 

It  may  be  worth  mentioning  here  that,  at  the  election  of 
the  first  professor  in  this  department,  a  curious  question 
arose.  Among  the  candidates  was  one  from  Harvard, 
whose  testimonials  showed  him  to  be  an  admirable  ac- 
quisition ;  and  among  these  testimonials  was  one  from  an 
eminent  bishop,  who  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the  scientific 
qualifications  of  the  candidate,  but  added  that  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  warn  me  that  the  young  man  was  a  Unitarian. 
At  this  I  wrote  the  bishop,  thanking  him,  and  saying  that 
the  only  question  with  me  was  as  to  the  moral  and  intel- 
lectual qualifications  of  the  candidate;  and  that  if  these 
were  superior  to  those  of  other  candidates,  I  would  nomi- 


DANGERS  AT   CORNELL -1868 -1872  367 

nate  him  to  the  trustees  even  if  he  were  a  Buddhist.  The 
good  bishop  at  first  took  some  offense  at  this ;  and,  in  one 
of  the  communications  which  ensued,  expressed  doubts 
whether  laymen  had  any  right  to  teach  at  all,  since  the 
command  to  teach  was  given  to  the  apostles  and  their 
successors,  and  seemed  therefore  confined  to  those  who  had 
received  holy  orders;  but  he  became  most  friendly  later, 
and  I  look  back  to  my  meetings  with  him  afterward  as 
among  the  delightful  episodes  of  my  life. 

The  technical  department  which  caused  me  the  most 
anxiety  was  that  of  agriculture.  It  had  been  given  the 
most  prominent  place  in  the  Congressional  act  of  1862, 
and  in  our  charter  from  the  State  in  1865.  But  how 
should  agriculture  be  taught;  what  proportion  should  we 
observe  between  theory  and  practice ;  and  what  should  the 
practice  be  ?  These  questions  elicited  all  sorts  of  answers. 
Some  eminent  agriculturists  insisted  that  the  farm  should 
be  conducted  purely  as  a  business  operation;  others  that 
it  should  be  a  " model  farm"— regardless  of  balance 
sheets ;  others  still  that  it  should  be  wholly  experimental. 
Our  decision  was  to  combine  what  was  best  in  all  these 
views;  and  several  men  attempted  this  as  resident  pro- 
fessors, but  with  small  success.  One  day,  after  a  series  of 
such  failures,  when  we  were  almost  desperate,  there  ap- 
peared a  candidate  from  an  agricultural  college  in  Ireland. 
He  bore  a  letter  from  an  eminent  clergyman  in  New  York, 
was  of  pleasing  appearance  and  manners,  gave  glowing 
accounts  of  the  courses  he  had  followed,  expatiated  on  the 
means  by  which  farming  had  been  carried  to  a  high  point 
in  Scotland,  and  ventured  suggestions  as  to  what  might 
be  done  in  America.  I  had  many  misgivings.  His  ex- 
perience was  very  remote  from  ours,  and  he  seemed  to 
me  altogether  too  elegant  for  the  work  in  hand ;  but  Mr. 
Cornell  had  visited  English  farms,  was  greatly  impressed 
by  their  excellence,  and  urged  a  trial  of  the  new-comer. 
He  was  duly  called ;  and,  that  he  might  begin  his  courses 
of  instruction,  an  order  was  given  for  a  considerable  col- 
lection of  English  agricultural  implements  and  for  the 


368  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -V 

erection  of  new  farm-buildings  after  English  patterns, 
Mr.  Cornell  generously  advancing  the  required  money. 

All  this  took  time— much  time.  At  first  great  things 
were  expected  by  the  farmers  of  the  State,  but  gradually 
their  confidence  waned.  As  they  saw  the  new  professor 
walking  over  the  farm  in  a  dilettantish  way,  superin- 
tending operations  with  gloved  hands,  and  never  touching 
any  implement,  doubts  arose  which  soon  ripened  into 
skepticism.  Typical  were  the  utterances  of  our  farm  man- 
ager. He  was  a  plain,  practical  farmer,  who  had  taken  the 
first  prize  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  for  the  excel- 
lence of  his  own  farm;  and,  though  he  at  first  indulged 
in  high  hopes  regarding  the  new  professor,  he  soon  had 
misgivings,  and  felt  it  his  duty  to  warn  me.  He  said: 
i  i  Yew  kin  depend  on  't,  he  ain  't  a-goin '  to  do  nothin ' ;  he 
don't  know  nothin'  about  corn,  and  he  don't  want  to 
know  nothin'  about  corn;  and  he  don't  believe  in  pun- 
Jcins!  Depend  on  't,  as  soon  as  his  new  barn  is  finished 
and  all  his  new  British  tackle  is  brought  together,  he  '11 
quit  the  job."  I  reasoned  that,  to  a  farmer  brought  up 
among  the  glorious  fields  of  Indian  corn  in  western  New 
York,  and  accustomed  to  rejoice  in  the  sight  of  golden 
pumpkins,  diffusion  of  other  cultures  must  seem  like  trea- 
son ;  but,  alas !  he  was  right.  As  soon  as  the  new  buildings 
and  arrangements  were  ready  for  our  trial  of  British  sci- 
entific agriculture,  the  young  foreign  professor  notified 
me  that  he  had  accepted  the  headship  of  an  agricultural 
college  in  Canada.  Still,  he  met  with  no  greater  success 
there  than  with  us ;  nor  was  his  reputation  increased  when, 
after  the  foul  attacks  made  upon  Mr.  Cornell  in  the  legis- 
lature, he  volunteered  to  come  to  the  investigation  and 
testify  that  Mr.  Cornell  was  "not  a  practical  man."  In 
this  the  career  of  the  young  agriculturist  culminated. 
Having  lost  his  professorship  in  Canada,  he  undertook 
the  management  of  a  grocery  in  the  oil-regions  of  west- 
ern Pennsylvania;  and  scientific  British  agriculture  still 
awaits  among  us  a  special  representative.  Happily,  since 
that  day,  men  trained  practically  in  the  agriculture  of  the 


DANGERS  AT  CORNELL -1868 -1872  369 

United  States  have  studied  the  best  British  methods,  and 
brought  us  much  that  has  been  of  real  use. 

Fortunately  I  had  found  three  men  who  enabled  us  to 
tide  our  agricultural  department  over  those  dark  days,  in 
which  we  seemed  to  be  playing  "Hamlet"  with  Hamlet 
left  out.  The  first  of  these  was  the  Hon.  John  Stanton 
Gould,  whom  I  called  as  a  lecturer  upon  agriculture.  He 
had  been  president  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  and 
was  eminent,  not  only  for  his  knowledge  of  his  subject, 
but  for  his  power  of  making  it  interesting.  Men  came 
away  from  Mr.  Gould's  lectures  filled  with  intense  desire 
to  get  hold  of  a  spade  or  hoe  and  to  begin  turning  the  soil. 

So,  also,  the  steady  work  of  Professor  George  C.  Cald- 
well,  whom  I  had  called  from  the  State  College  of  Pennsyl- 
vania to  take  charge  of  the  department  of  agricultural 
chemistry,  won  the  respect  of  all  leaders  in  agriculture 
throughout  the  State,  and,  indeed,  throughout  the  coun- 
try. And  with  especial  gratitude  should  be  named  Dr. 
James  Law  of  the  British  Royal  Veterinary  College,  whom 
I  had  found  in  London,  and  called  to  our  veterinary 
professorship.  Never  was  there  a  more  happy  selection. 
From  that  day  to  this,  thirty-six  years,  he  has  been  a 
tower  of  strength  to  the  university,  and  has  rendered  in- 
calculable services  to  the  State  and  Nation.  His  quiet, 
thorough  work  impressed  every  one  most  favorably.  The 
rudest  of  the  surrounding  farmers  learned  more  and  more 
to  regard  him  with  respect  and  admiration,  and  the  State 
has  recently  recognized  his  services  by  establishing  in 
connection  with  the  university  a  State  veterinary  college 
under  his  control. 

The  work  of  these  three  men  saved  us.  Apart  from  it, 
the  agricultural  department  long  remained  a  sort  of  slough 
of  despond ;  but  at  last  a  brighter  day  dawned.  From  the 
far-off  State  Agricultural  College  of  Iowa  came  tidings 
of  a  professor— Mr.  J.  I.  P.  Roberts— who  united  the  prac- 
tical and  theoretical  qualities  desired.  I  secured  him,  and 
thenceforward  there  was  no  more  difficulty.  For  more 
than  twenty  years,  as  professor  and  lecturer,  he  has 

I.— 24 


370  AS   UNIVERSITY    PRESIDEXT-V 

largely  aided  in  developing  agriculture  throughout  the 
State  and  country;  and  when  others  were  added  to 
him,  like  Comstock  and  Bailey,  the  success  of  the  de- 
partment became  even  more  brilliant.  Still,  its  old 
reputation  lasted  for  a  time,  even  after  a  better  era  had 
been  fully  ushered  in.  About  a  year  after  the  tide  had 
thus  turned  a  meeting  of  the  State  kk(lrange"  was  held 
at  the  neighboring  city  of  Klmira;  and  the  leading  speak- 
ers made  the  university  and  its  agricultural  college  an 
object  of  scoffing  which  culminated  in  a  resolution  de- 
nouncing both,  and  urging  the  legislature  to  revoke  our 
charter.  At  this  a  bright  young  graduate  of  Cornell,  an 
instructor  in  the  agricultural  department,  who  happened 
to  be  present,  stood  up  manfully,  put  a  few  pertinent  ques- 
tions, found  that  none  of  the  declaimers  had  visited  the 
university,  declared  that  they  were  false  to  their  duty  in 
not  doing  so,  protested  against  their  condemning  the  in- 
stitution unheard  and  unseen,  and  then  and  there  invited 
them  all  to  visit  the  institution  and  its  agricultural  depart- 
ment without  delay.  Xext  day  this  whole  body  of  farmers, 
with  their  wives,  sons,  and  daughters,  were  upon  us. 
Everything  was  shown  them.  Knowing  next  to  nothing 
about  modern  appliances  for  instruction  in  science  and 
technology, they  were  amazed  at  all  they  saw;  the  libraries, 
the  laboratories,  and,  above  all,  the  natural-science  collec- 
tions and  models  greatly  impressed  them.  They  were  taken 
everywhere,  and  shown  not  only  our  successes  but  our 
failures;  nothing  was  concealed  from  them,  and,  as  a  re- 
sult, though  they  "came  to  scoff,"  they  "remained  to 
pray."  They  called  a  new  session  of  their  body,  pledged 
to  us  their  support,  and  passed  resolutions  commending 
our  work  and  condemning  the  State  legislature  for  not 
doing  more  in  our  behalf.  That  was  the  turning-point  for 
the  agricultural  department  ;  and  from  that  day  to  this 
the  legislature  has  dealt  generously  with  us,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  the  department  for  good  throughout  the  State 
lias  been  more  and  more  widely  acknowledged. 

Of  the  two  technical  departments  referred  to  in  the  origi- 


DANGERS  AT   CORNELL-1868-1872  371 

nal  act  of  Congress,  the  second— specified  under  the  vague 
name  of  t '  Mechanic  Arts ' '  —went  better,  though  there  was 
at  first  much  groping  to  find  just  what  ought  to  be  done. 
First  of  all,  there  was  a  danger  which  demanded  delicate 
handling.  This  danger  lay  in  Mr.  Cornell 's  wish  to  estab- 
lish, in  vital  connection  with  the  university,  great  factories 
for  the  production  of  articles  for  sale,  especially  chairs 
and  shoes,  thus  giving  large  bodies  of  students  opportuni- 
ties for  self-support.  In  discussing  this  matter  with  him, 
I  pointed  to  the  fact  that,  in  becoming  a  manufacturing 
corporation  we  were  making  a  business  venture  never  con- 
templated by  our  charter ;  that  it  was  exceedingly  doubtful 
whether  such  a  corporation  could  be  combined  with  an 
educational  institution  without  ruining  both ;  that  the  men 
best  fitted  to  manage  a  great  factory  were  hardly  likely 
to  be  the  best  managers  of  a  great  institution  of  learning ; 
that  under  our  charter  we  had  duties,  not  merely  to  those 
who  wished  to  support  themselves  by  labor,  but  to  others ; 
and  I  finally  pointed  out  to  him  many  reasons  for  holding 
that  such  a  scheme  contravened  the  act  of  Congress  and 
the  legislation  of  the  State.  I  insisted  that  the  object  of 
our  charters  from  the  State  and  Nation  was  not  to  enable 
a  great  number  of  young  men  to  secure  an  elementary 
education  while  making  shoes  and  chairs;  that  for  these 
the  public  schools  were  provided;  that  our  main  purpose 
must  be  to  send  out  into  all  parts  of  the  State  and  Nation 
thoroughly  trained  graduates,  who  should  develop  and 
improve  the  main  industries  of  the  country,  and,  by  their 
knowledge  and  example,  train  up  skilful  artisans  of 
various  sorts  and  in  every  locality.  Mr.  Cornell's  con- 
duct in  this  matter  was  admirable.  Tenacious  as  he 
usually  was  when  his  opinion  was  formed,  and  much  as  it 
must  have  cost  him  to  give  up  what  had  become  a  darling 
project,  he  yielded  to  this  view. 

New  questions  now  opened  as  to  this  "Department  of 
Mechanic  Arts."  It  was  clear  to  me,  from  what  I  had 
seen  abroad,  that  not  all  the  models  I  had  sent  from 
Europe  would  be  sufficient  to  give  the  practical  character 


372  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-V 

which  such  a  department  needed ;  that  its  graduates  must 
have  a  direct,  practical  acquaintance  with  the  construction 
and  use  of  machinery  before  they  could  become  leaders  in 
great  mechanical  enterprises ;  that  they  must  be  made,  not 
only  mathematicians  and  draftsmen,  but  skilled  work- 
men, practically  trained  in  the  best  methods  and  processes. 
A  very  shrewd  artisan  said  to  me:  "When  a  young  me- 
chanical engineer  comes  among  us  fresh  from  college,  only 
able  to  make  figures  and  pictures,  we  rarely  have  much 
respect  for  him:  the  trouble  with  the  great  majority 
of  those  who  come  from  technical  institutions  is  that 
they  don't  know  as  much  about  practical  methods  and 
processes  as  we  know. ' ' 

I  felt  that  there  was  truth  in  this,  but,  as  things  were, 
hardly  dared  tell  this  to  the  trustees.  It  would  have  scared 
them,  for  it  seemed  to  open  the  door  to  great  expenditures 
demanded  by  a  mere  theory;  but  I  laid  my  views  before 
Mr.  Cornell,  and  he  agreed  with  me  so  far  as  to  send  to 
us  from  his  agricultural  works  at  Albany  sundry  large 
pieces  of  old  machinery,  which  he  thought  might  be  re- 
built for  our  purposes.  But  this  turned  out  to  be  hardly 
practicable.  I  dared  not,  at  that  stage  of  the  proceedings, 
bring  into  the  board  of  trustees  a  proposal  to  buy  machin- 
ery and  establish  a  machine-shop ;  the  whole  would  have  a 
chimerical  look,  and  was  sure  to  repel  them.  Therefore  it 
was  that,  at  my  own  expense,  I  bought  a  power-lathe  and 
other  pieces  of  machinery ;  and,  through  the  active  efforts 
of  Professor  John  L.  Morris,  my  steadfast  supporter  in 
the  whole  matter,  these  were  set  up  in  our  temporary 
wooden  laboratory.  A  few  students  began  using  them,  and 
to  good  purpose.  Mr.  Cornell  was  greatly  pleased.  Other 
trustees  of  a  practical  turn  visited  the  place,  and  the  result 
was  that  opinion  in  the  governing  board  soon  favored  a 
large  practical  equipment  for  the  department. 

On  this  I  prepared  a  report,  taking  up  the  whole  subject 
with  great  care,  and  brought  it  before  them,  my  main 
suggestion  being  that  a  practical  beginning  of  the  depart- 
ment should  be  made  by  the  erection  and  equipment  of  a 


DANGERS  AT  CORNELL -1868 -1872  373 

small  building  on  the  north  side  of  the  university  grounds, 
near  our  main  water-power.  Then  came  a  piece  of  great 
good  fortune.  Among  the  charter  trustees  of  the  univer- 
sity was  Mr.  Cornell's  old  friend  and  associate  in  tele- 
graphic enterprise,  Hiram  Sibley  of  Rochester ;  and  at  the 
close  of  the  meeting  Mr.  Sibley  asked  me  if  I  could  give 
him  a  little  time  on  the  university  grounds  after  the  ad- 
journment of  the  meeting.  I,  of  course,  assented;  and 
next  morning,  on  our  visiting  the  grounds  together,  he 
asked  me  to  point  out  the  spot  where  the  proposed  college 
of  mechanic  arts  might  best  be  placed.  On  my  doing  so,  he 
looked  over  the  ground  carefully,  and  then  said  that  he 
would  himself  erect  and  equip  the  building.  So  began 
Sibley  College,  which  is  to-day,  probably,  all  things  con- 
sidered, the  most  successful  department  of  this  kind  in 
our  own  country,  and  perhaps  in  any  country.  In  the 
hands,  first  of  Professors  Morris*  and  Sweet,  and  later 
under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Thurston,  it  has  become  of 
the  greatest  value  to  every  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
indeed  to  other  parts  of  the  American  continent. 

At  the  outset  a  question  arose,  seemingly  trivial,  but 
really  serious.  Mr.  Sibley  had  gone  far  beyond  his  origi- 
nal proposals;  and  when  the  lecture-rooms,  drafting- 
rooms,  modeling-rooms,  foundries,  shops  for  ironwork, 
woodwork,  and  the  like,  had  been  finished,  the  question 
came  up:  Shall  our  aim  be  to  produce  things  having  a 
pecuniary  value,  or  shall  we  produce  simply  samples  of 
the  most  highly  finished  workmanship,  having,  generally, 
no  value  ?  Fortunately,  Professors  Morris  and  Sweet  were 
able  to  combine  both  these  purposes,  and  to  employ  a 
considerable  number  of  students  in  the  very  best  of  work 
which  had  a  market  value.  The  whole  thing  was  thereby 
made  a  success,  but  it  waited  long  for  recognition.  A  re- 
sult followed  not  unlike  some  which  have  occurred  in 
other  fields  in  our  country.  At  the  Centennial  Exhibition 
of  1876,  an  exhibit  was  made  of  the  work  done  by  students 
in  Sibley  College,  including  a  steam-engine,  power-lathes, 
face-plates,  and  various  tools  of  precision,  admirably  fin- 


374  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-V 

ished,  each  a  model  in  its  kind.  But  while  many  mechanics 
praised  them,  they  attracted  no  special  attention  from 
New  England  authorities.  On  the  other  hand,  an  exhibit 
of  samples  of  work  from  the  School  of  Technology  of 
Moscow,  which  had  no  merchantable  value,— many  of  the 
pieces  being  of  antiquated  pattern,  but  of  exquisite  finish 
and  showily  arranged,— aroused  great  admiration  among 
sundry  New  England  theorists ;  even  the  head  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Institute  of  Technology,  in  enthusiastic  maga- 
zine articles,  called  the  attention  of  the  whole  country  to 
them,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  establishing  machine- 
shops  in  connection  with  schools  of  science.  The  fact  that 
this  had  already  been  done,  and  better  done,  at  Cornell, 
was  loftily  ignored.  Western  New  York  seemed  a  Naza- 
reth out  of  which  no  good  could  come.  That  same  strain- 
ing of  the  mind's  eye  toward  the  East,  that  same  tendency 
to  provincialism  which  had  so  often  afflicted  Massachu- 
setts, evidently  prevented  her  wise  men  in  technology 
from  recognizing  any  new  departure  west  of  them. 

At  a  later  period  I  had  occasion  to  make  a  final  com- 
ment on  all  this.  Both  as  commissioner  at  the  Paris  Ex- 
hibition and  as  minister  to  Russia,  I  came  to  know  inti- 
mately Wischniegradsky,  who  had  been  the  head  of  the 
Moscow  School  of  Technology  and  afterward  Russian 
minister  of  finance.  He  spoke  to  me  in  the  highest  terms 
of  what  original  American  methods  had  done  for  rail- 
ways; and  the  climax  was  reached  when  the  Moscow 
methods,  so  highly  praised  by  Boston  critics,  proved  to  be 
utterly  inadequate  in  training  mechanical  engineers  to 
furnish  the  machinery  needed  in  Russia,  and  men  from 
the  American  schools,  trained  in  the  methods  of  Cornell, 
sent  over  locomotives  and  machinery  of  all  sorts  for  the 
new  Trans-Siberian  Railway,  of  which  the  eastern  termi- 
nus was  that  very  city  of  Moscow  which  enjoyed  the 
privileges  so  lauded  and  magnified  by  the  Boston  critics ! 
Time  has  reversed  their  judgment :  the  combination  of  the 
two  systems,  so  ably  and  patiently  developed  by  Director 
Thurston,  is  the  one  which  has  happily  prevailed. 


DANGERS  AT  CORNELL- 1868 -1872  375 

Few  days  in  the  history  of  Cornell  University  have 
been  so  fraught  with  good  as  that  on  which  Thurston  ac- 
cepted my  call  to  the  headship  of  Sibley  College.  At  the 
very  outset  he  gained  the  confidence  and  gratitude  of  trus- 
tees, professors,  students,  and,  indeed,  of  his  profession 
throughout  the  country,  by  his  amazing  success  as  pro- 
fessor, as  author,  and  as  organizer  and  administrator 
of  that  department,  which  he  made  not  only  one  of  the 
largest,  but  one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  The 
rapidity  and  wisdom  of  his  decisions,  the  extent  and  ex- 
cellence of  his  work,  his  skill  in  attracting  the  best  men,  his 
ability  in  quieting  rivalries  and  animosities,  and  the  kindly 
firmness  of  his  whole  policy  were  a  source  of  wonder  to  all 
who  knew  him.  And,  at  his  lamented  death  in  1903,  it  was 
found  that  he  had  rendered  another  service  of  a  sort  which 
such  strong  men  as  he  are  often  incapable  of  rendering— 
he  had  trained  a  body  of  assistants  and  students  worthy 
to  take  up  iis  work. 

Another  department  which  I  had  long  wished  to  see 
established  in  our  country  now  began  to  take  shape. 
From  my  boyhood  I  had  a  love  for  architecture.  In  my 
young  manhood  this  had  been  developed  by  readings  in 
Kuskin,  and  later  by  architectural  excursions  in  Europe; 
and  the  time  had  now  arrived  when  it  seemed  possible 
to  do  something  for  it.  I  had  collected  what,  at  that 
period,  was  certainly  one  of  the  largest,  if  not  the  largest, 
of  the  architectural  libraries  in  the  United  States,  besides 
several  thousand  large  architectural  photographs,  draw- 
ings, casts,  models,  and  other  material  from  every  country 
in  Europe.  This  had  been,  in  fact,  my  pet  extravagance ; 
and  a  propitious  time  seeming  now  to  arrive,  I  proposed 
to  the  trustees  that  if  they  would  establish  a  department 
of  architecture  and  call  a  professor  to  it,  I  would  transfer 
to  it  my  special  library  and  collections.  This  offer  was 
accepted;  and  thus  was  founded  this  additional  depart- 
ment, which  began  its  good  career  under  Professor  Charles 
Babcock,  who,  at  this  present  writing,  is  enjoying,  as 
professor  emeritus,  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  a  long 


376  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -V 

series  of  classes  which  have  profited  by  his  teachings,  and 
the  cordial  companionship  of  his  colleagues,  who  rejoice 
to  profit  by  his  humorous,  but  none  the  less  profound,  ob- 
servations upon  problems  arising  in  the  university  and  in 
the  world  in  general. 

As  regards  this  illustrative  material,  I  recall  one  curi- 
ous experience.  While  on  one  of  my  architectural  excur- 
sions through  the  great  towns  of  eastern  France,  I  ar- 
rived at  Troyes.  On  visiting  the  government  agent  for 
photographing  public  monuments,  I  noticed  in  his  rooms 
some  admirably  executed  pieces  of  stone  carving,— capi- 
tals, corbels,  and  the  like,— and  on  my  asking  him  whence 
these  came,  he  told  me  that  they  had  been  recently  taken 
out  of  the  cathedral  by  the  architect  who  was  "  restoring " 
it.  After  my  purchases  were  made,  he  went  with  me  to 
this  great  edifice,  one  of  the  finest  in  Europe;  and  there 
I  found  that,  on  each  side  of  the  high  altar,  the  architect 
had  taken  out  several  brackets,  or  corbels,  of  the  best  me- 
diaeval work,  and  substituted  new  ones  designed  by  him- 
self. One  of  these  corbels  thus  taken  out  the  government 
photographer  had  in  his  possession.  It  was  very  striking, 
representing  the  grotesque  face  of  a  monk  in  the  midst  of 
a  mass  of  foliage  supporting  the  base  of  a  statue,  all  being 
carved  with  great  spirit.  Apart  from  its  architectural 
value,  it  had  a  historical  interest,  since  it  must  have  wit- 
nessed the  famous  betrothal  of  the  son  and  daughter  of 
the  English  and  French  kings  mentioned  in  Shakspere, 
to  say  nothing  of  many  other  mediaeval  pageants. 

On  my  making  known  to  the  photographer  the  fact  that 
I  was  engaged  in  founding  a  school  of  architecture  in  the 
United  States,  and  was  especially  anxious  to  secure  a  good 
specimen  of  French  work,  he  sold  me  this  example,  which 
is  now  in  the  museum  of  the  Architectural  Department  at 
Cornell.  I  allude  to  this,  in  passing,  as  showing  what  mon- 
strous iniquities  (and  I  could  name  many  others)  are 
committed  in  the  great  mediaeval  buildings  of  Europe 
under  pretense  of  "  restoration. " 


CHAPTER  XXII 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  UNIVERSITY  COURSES— 1870-1872 

IN  close  connection  with  the  technical  departments  were 
various  laboratories.  For  these,  place  was  at  first 
made  here  and  there  in  cellars  and  sheds ;  but  at  last  we 
were  able  to  erect  for  them  buildings  large  and  complete, 
and  to  the  opening  of  the  first  of  these  came  Mr.  Cleve- 
land, then  Governor  of  New  York,  and  later  President  of 
the  United  States.  Having  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the 
Memorial  Chapel  and  made  an  excellent  speech,  which 
encouraged  us  all,  he  accompanied  me  to  the  new  building 
devoted  to  chemistry  and  physics,  which  was  then  opened 
for  the  first  time.  On  entering  it,  he  expressed  his  surprise 
at  its  equipment,  and  showed  that  he  had  seen  nothing 
of  the  kind  before.  I  learned  afterward  that  he  had  re- 
ceived a  thorough  preparation  in  classics  and  mathematics 
for  college,  but  that,  on  account  of  the  insufficient  means 
of  his  father,  he  was  obliged  to  give  up  his  university 
course;  and  it  was  evident,  from  his  utterances  at  this 
time,  as  well  as  when  visiting  other  colleges  and  univer- 
sities, that  he  lamented  this. 

Out  of  this  laboratory  thus  opened  was  developed, 
later,  a  new  technical  department.  Among  my  happiest 
hours  were  those  spent  in  visiting  the  various  buildings, 
collections,  and  lecture-rooms,  after  my  morning's  work, 
to  see  how  all  were  going  on;  and,  during  various  visits 
to  the  new  laboratory  I  noticed  that  the  majority  of  the 
students  were,  in  one  way  or  another,  giving  attention  to 
matters  connected  with  electricity.  There  had  already 

377 


378  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VI 

been  built  in  the  machine-shops,  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Anthony,  a  dynamo  which  was  used  in  light- 
ing our  grounds,  this  being  one  of  the  first  examples 
of  electric  lighting  in  the  United  States;  and  on  one 
of  my  visits  I  said  to  him,  "It  looks  much  as  if,  with 
the  rapid  extension  throughout  the  country  of  the  tele- 
graph, telephone,  electric  lighting,  and  electric  railways, 
we  shall  be  called  on,  before  long,  to  train  men  for 
a  new  profession  in  connection  with  them/'  As  he 
assented  to  this,  I  asked  him  to  sketch  out  a  plan  for 
a  "Department  of  Electrical  Engineering,"  and  in  due 
time  he  appeared  with  it  before  the  executive  committee 
of  the  trustees.  But  it  met  much  opposition  from  one  of 
our  oldest  members,  who  was  constitutionally  averse  to 
what  he  thought  new-fangled  education,  partly  from  con- 
servatism, partly  from  considerations  of  expense ;  and  this 
opposition  was  so  threatening  that,  in  order  to  save  the 
proposed  department,  I  was  obliged  to  pledge  myself  to 
become  responsible  for  any  extra  expense  caused  by  it 
during  the  first  year.  Upon  this  pledge  it  was  established. 
Thus  was  created,  as  I  believe,  the  first  department  of 
electrical  engineering  ever  known  in  the  United  States, 
and,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  first  ever  known  in  any 
country. 

But  while  we  thus  strove  to  be  loyal  to  those  parts  of 
our  charter  which  established  technical  instruction,  there 
were  other  parts  in  which  I  personally  felt  even  a  deeper 
interest.  In  my  political  reminiscences  I  have  acknow- 
ledged the  want  of  preparation  in  regard  to  practical 
matters  of  public  concern  which  had  hampered  me  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate.  Having  revolved  this  sub- 
ject in  my  mind  for  a  considerable  time,  I  made,  while 
commissioner  to  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  a  careful 
examination  of  the  courses  of  study  in  political  and  eco- 
nomic science  established  in  European  universities,  and 
on  my  return  devoted  to  this  subject  my  official  report. 
Like  such  reports  generally,  it  was  delayed  a  long  time 
in  the  Government  Printing-office,  was  then  damned  with 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870 -1872  379 

faint  praise,  and  nothing  more  came  of  it  until  the  'follow- 
ing year,  when,  being  called  to  deliver  the  annual  address 
at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  I  wrought  its  main 
points  in^o  a  plea  for  education  in  relation  to  politics. 
This  was  widely  circulated  with  some  effect,  and  I  now 
brought  a  modest  proposal  in  the  premises  before  our 
trustees.  Its  main  feature  was  that  Mr.  Frank  B.  San- 
born,  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Charities  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  and  of  the  Social 
Science  Association  of  the  United  States,  should  be  called 
to  give  a  course  of  practical  lectures  before  the  senior 
class  during  at  least  one  term,— his  subjects  to  be  such  as 
pauperism,  crime  (incipient  and  chronic),  inebriety,  lu- 
nacy, and  the  best  dealing  of  modern  states  with  these; 
also  that  his  instructions  should  be  given,  not  only  by 
lectures,  but  by  actual  visits  with  his  classes  to  the  great 
charitable  and  penal  institutions  of  the  State,  of  which 
there  were  many  within  easy  distance  of  the  university. 
For  several  years,  and  until  the  department  took  a  differ- 
ent form,  this  plan  was  carried  out  with  excellent  results. 
Professor  Sanborn  and  his  students,  beginning  with  the 
county  almshouse  and  jail,  visited  the  reformatories,  the 
prisons,  the  penitentiaries,  and  the  asylums  of  various  sorts 
in  the  State ;  made  careful  examinations  of  them ;  drew  up 
reports  upon  them,  these  reports  forming  the  subject  of 
discussions  in  which  professor  and  students  took  earnest 
part ;  and  a  number  of  young  men  who  have  since  taken 
influential  places  in  the  State  legislature  were  thus  in- 
structed as  to  the  best  actual  and  possible  dealings  with  all 
these  subjects.  I  still  think  that  more  should  be  done  in 
all  our  universities  to  train  men  by  this  method  for  the 
public  service  in  this  most  important  and  interesting  field, 
and  also  in  matters  pertaining  generally  to  State,  county, 
and  city  administration. 

Closely  connected  with  this  instruction  was  that  in  po- 
litical economy  and  history.  As  to  the  first  of  these,  I 
had,  some  years  before,  seen  reason  to  believe  that  my 
strong,  and  perhaps  bigoted  free-trade  ideas  were  at  least 


380  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VI 

not  so  universal  in  their  application  as  I  had  supposed. 
Down  to  the  time  of  our  Civil  War  I  had  been  very  intol- 
erant on  this  subject,  practically  holding  a  protectionist 
to  be  either  a  Pharisee  or  an  idiot.  I  had  convinced  my- 
self not  only  that  the  principles  of  free  trade  are  ax- 
iomatic, but  that  they  afford  the  only  means  of  binding 
nations  together  in  permanent  peace;  that  Great  Britain 
was  our  best  friend ;  that,  in  desiring  us  to  adopt  her  own 
system,  she  ^as  moved  by  broad,  philosophic,  and  philan- 
thropic considerations.  But  as  the  war  drew  on  and  I 
saw  the  haughtiness  and  selfishness  toward  us  shown  by 
her  ruling  classes,  there  came  in  my  mind  a  revulsion 
which  led  me  to  examine  more  closely  the  foundations 
of  my  economical  belief.  I  began  to  attribute  more 
importance  to  John  Stuart  Mill's  famous  ' l exception, ' ' 
to  the  effect  that  the  building  up  of  certain  industries 
may  be  necessary  to  the  very  existence  of  a  nation,  and 
that  perhaps  the  best  way  of  building  them  up  is  to 
adopt  an  adequate  system  of  protective  duties.  Down 
to  this  time  I  had  been  a  disciple  of  Adam  Smith  and 
Bastiat;  but  now  appeared  the  published  lectures  of 
Eoscher  of  Leipsic,  upon  what  he  called  "The  Historical 
System"  of  political  economy.  Its  fundamental  idea  was 
that  political  economy  is  indeed  a  science,  to  be  wrought 
out  by  scientific  methods;  but  that  the  question  how  far 
its  conclusions  are  adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  any 
nation  at  any  time  is  for  statesmen  to  determine.  This 
impressed  me  much.  Moreover,  I  was  forced  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  Morrill  protective  tariff,  adopted  at  the 
Civil  War  period,  was  a  necessity  for  revenue;  so  that 
my  old  theory  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  easily  developed 
into  a  belief  in  a  tariff  for  revenue  with  incidental  pro- 
tection. This  idea  has  been  developed  in  my  mind  as  time 
has  gone  on,  until  at  present  I  am  a  believer  in  protection 
as  the  only  road  to  ultimate  free  trade.  My  process  of 
reasoning  on  the  subject  I  have  given  in  another  chapter. 

At  the  opening  of  the  university  there  was  but  little 
instruction  in  political  economy,  that  little  being  mainly 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL-1870-1872  381 

given  by  our  professor  of  moral  philosophy,  Dr.  Wilson, 
a  man  broad  in  his  views  and  strong  in  reasoning  power, 
who  had  been  greatly  impressed  by  the  ideas  of  Friedrich 
List,  the  German  protectionist.  But  lectures  were  also 
given  by  free-traders,  and  I  adopted  the  plan  of  having 
both  sides  as  well  represented  as  possible.  This  was,  at 
first,  complained  of;  sundry  good  people  said  it  was  like 
calling  a  professor  of  atheism  into  a  theological  seminary ; 
but  my  answer  was  that  our  university  was  not,  like  a 
theological  seminary,  established  to  arrive  at  certain  con- 
clusions fixed  beforehand,  or  to  propagate  an  established 
creed;  that,  political  economy  not  being  an  exact  science, 
our  best  course  was  to  call  eminent  lecturers  to  present 
both  sides  of  the  main  questions  in  dispute.  The  result  was 
good.  It  stimulated  much  thought,  and  doubtless  did 
something  to  promote  that  charity  to  opposing  economical 
opinions  which  in  my  own  case  had  been,  through  my 
early  manhood,  so  conspicuously  lacking. 

The  second  of  these  departments— history— was  the 
one  for  which  I  cared  most.  I  believed  then,  and  later 
experience  has  strengthened  my  conviction,  that  the  best 
of  all  methods  in  presenting  every  subject  bearing  on  po- 
litical and  social  life  is  the  historical.  My  own  studies 
had  been  mainly  in  this  field,  and  I  did  what  I  could 
to  establish  historical  courses  in  the  university.  The 
lectures  which  I  had  jjiyen  at  the  University  of  Michigan 
were  now  developed  more  fully  and  again  presented;  but 
to  these  I  constantly  added  new  lectures  and,  indeed,  new 
courses,  though  at  a  great  disadvantage,  since  my  admin- 
istrative duties  stood  constantly  in  the  way  of  my  pro- 
fessorial work.  At  the  same  time  I  went  on  collecting  my 
historical  library  until  it  became,  in  its  way,  probably  the 
largesFand  most  complete  of  its  kind  in  the  possession  of 
any  individual  in  the  United  States.  Gradually  strong 
men  were  drawn  into  the  department,  and  finally  there 
came  one  on  whom  I  could  lay  a  large  portion  of  the  work. 

The  story  is  somewhat  curious.  During  the  year  1877- 
1878,  in  Germany  and  France,  I  had  prepared  a  short 


382  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VI 

course  of  lectures  upon  the  historical  development  of  crim- 
inal law ;  and  while  giving  it  to  my  senior  class  after  my 
return,  I  noticed  a  student,  two  or  three  years  below  the 
average  age  of  the  class,  carefully  taking  notes  and  ap- 
parently much  interested.  One  day,  going  toward  my 
house  after  the  lecture,  I  found  him  going  in  the  same 
direction,  and,  beginning  conversation  with  him,  learned 
that  he  was  a  member  of  the  sophomore  class ;  that  he  had 
corresponded  with  me,  two  or  three  years  before,  as  to  the 
best  means  of  working  his  way  through  the  university; 
had  followed  out  a  suggestion  of  mine,  then  made,  in  that 
he  had  learned  the  printer 's  trade ;  had  supported  himself 
through  the  preparatory  school  by  means  of  it,  and  was 
then  carrying  himself  through  college  by  setting  type  for 
the  university  press.  Making  inquiries  of  professors  and 
students,  I  found  that  the  young  man,  both  at  school  and 
at  the  university,  was,  as  a  rule,  at  the  head  of  every  class 
he  had  entered;  and  therefore  it  was  that,  when  the 
examination  papers  came  in  at  the  close  of  the  term,  I 
first  took  up  his  papers  to  see  how  he  had  stood  the  test. 
They  proved  to  be  masterly.  There  were  excellent  schol- 
ars in  the  senior  class,  but  not  one  had  done  so  well  as  this 
young  sophomore ;  in  fact,  I  doubt  whether  I  could  have 
passed  a  better  examination  on  my  own  lectures.  There 
was  in  his  answers  a  combination  of  accuracy  with  breadth 
which  surprised  me.  Up  to  that  time,  passing  judgment 
on  the  examination  papers  had  been  one  of  the  most  te- 
dious of  my  burdens;  for  it  involved  wading  through 
several  hundred  pages  of  crabbed  manuscript,  every  term, 
and  weighing  carefully  the  statements  therein  embodied. 
A  sudden  light  now  flashed  upon  me.  I  sent  for  the  young 
sophomore,  cautioned  him  to  secrecy,  and  then  and  there 
made  him  my  examiner  in  history.  He,  a  member  of  the 
sophomore  class,  took  the  papers  of  the  seniors  and  resi- 
dent graduates,  and  passed  upon  them  carefully  and  admir- 
ably—better than  I  should  have  ever  had  the  time  and 
patience  to  do.  Of  course  this  was  kept  entirely  secret  ; 
for  had  the  seniors  known  that  I  had  intrusted  their  papers 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870-1872  383 

to  the  tender  mercies  of  a  sophomore,  they  would  prob- 
ably have  mobbed  me.  This  mode  of  examination  con- 
tinued until  the  young  man's  graduation,  when  he  was 
openly  appointed  examiner  in  history,  afterward  be- 
coming instructor  in  history,  then  assistant  professor; 
and,  finally,  another  university  having  called  him  to  a 
full  professorship,  he  was  appointed  full  professor  of 
history  at  Cornell,  and  has  greatly  distinguished  himself 
both  by  his  ability  in  research  and  his  power  in  teaching. 
To  him  have  been  added  others  as  professors,  assistant 
professors,  and  instructors,  so  that  the  department  is  now 
on  an  excellent  footing.  In  one  respect  its  development  has 
been  unexpectedly  satisfactory.  At  the  opening  of  the  uni- 
versity one  of  my  strongest  hopes  had  been  to  establish  a 
professorship  of  American  history.  It  seemed  to  me  mon- 
strous  that  there  was  not,  in  any  American  university,  a 
course  of  lectures  on  the  history  of  the  United  States ;  and 
that  an  American  student,  in  order  to  secure  such  in- 
struction in  the  history  of  his  own  country,  must  go  to 
the  lectures  of  Laboulaye  at  the  College  de  France.  Thi- 
ther I  had  gone  some  years  before,  and  had  been  greatly 
impressed  by  Laboulaye 's  admirable  presentation  of  his 
subject,  and  awakened  to  the  fact  that  American  history 
is  not  only  more  instructive,  but  more  interesting,  than 
I  had  ever  supposed  it.  My  first  venture  was  to  call 
Professor  George  W.  Greene  of  Brown  University  for  a 
course  of  lectures  on  the  history  of  our  Revolutionary 
period,  and  Professor  Dwight  of  Columbia  College  for 
a  course  upon  the  constitutional  history  of  the  United 
States.  But  finally  my  hope  was  more  fully  realized:  I 
was  enabled  to  call  as  resident  professor  my  old  friend 
Moses  Coit  Tyler,  whose  book  on  the  "History  of  Ameri- 
can Literature "  is  a  classic,  and  who,  in  his  new  field, 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  for  good  upon  several  gen- 
erations of  students.  More  than  once  since,  as  I  have 
heard  him,  it  has  been  borne  in  upon  me  that  I  was  born 
too  soon.  Remembering  the  utter  want  of  any  such  in- 
struction in  my  own  college  days,  I  have  especially  envied 


384  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VI 

those  who  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  conducted  by 
him,  and  men  like  him,  through  the  history  of  our  own 
country.1 

In  some  of  these  departments  to  which  I  have  referred 
there  were  occasionally  difficulties  requiring  much  tact 
in  handling.  During  my  professorial  days  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan  I  once  heard  an  eminent  divine  deliver 
an  admirable  address  on  what  he  called  "The  Oscillatory 
Law  of  Human  Progress"— that  is,  upon  the  tendency 
of  human  society,  when  reacting  from  one  evil,  to  swing 
to  another  almost  as  serious  in  the  opposite  direction.  In 
swinging  away  from  the  old  cast-iron  course  of  instruc- 
tion, and  from  the  text-book  recitation  of  the  mere  dry 
bones  of  literature,  there  may  be  seen  at  this  hour  some 
tendency  to  excessive  reaction.  When  I  note  in  sundry 
university  registers  courses  of  instruction  offered  in  some 
of  the  most  evanescent  and  worthless  developments  of 
contemporary  literature,— some  of  them,  indeed,  worse 
than  worthless,— I  think  of  a  remark  made  to  me  by  a 
college  friend  of  mine  who  will  be  remembered  by  the 
Yale  men  of  the  fifties  for  his  keen  and  pithy  judgments 
of  men  and  things.  Being  one  day  in  New  Haven  looking 
for  assistant  professors  and  instructors,  I  met  him;  and, 
on  my  answering  his  question  as  to  what  had  brought  me, 
he  said,  "If  at  any  time  you  want  a  professor  of  horse 
sense,  call  me."  I  have  often  thought  of  this  proposal 
since,  and  have  at  times  regretted  that  some  of  our  institu- 
tions of  learning  had  not  availed  themselves  of  his  services. 
The  fact  is  that,  under  the  new  system,  '  *  horse  sense ' '  is  es- 
pecially called  for  to  prevent  a  too  extreme  reaction  from 
the  evils  which  afflicted  university  instruction  during  my 
student  days. 

While  it  rejoices  my  heart  to  see  the  splendid  courses 
in  modern  literature  now  offered  at  our  larger  universi- 
ties, some  of  them  arouse  misgivings.  Reflecting  upon 
the  shortness  of  human  life  and  the  vast  mass  of  really 
great  literature,  I  see  with  regret  courses  offered  dealing 

1  To  my  great  sorrow,  he  died  in  1900.— A.  D.  W. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870 -1872  385 

with  the  bubbles  floating  on  the  surface  of  sundry  litera- 
tures—bubbles soon  to  break,  some  of  them  with  ill  odor. 

I  would  as  soon  think  of  endowing  restaurants  to  enable 
young  men  to  appreciate  caviar,  or  old  Gorgonzola,  or 
game  of  a  peculiarly  i  i  high ' '  character,  as  of  establishing 
courses  dealing  with  Villon,  Baudelaire,  Swinburne,  and 
the  like;  and  when  I  hear  of  second-rate  critics  sum- 
moned across  the  ocean  to  present  to  universities  which 
have  heard  Emerson,  Longfellow,  Henry  Reed,  Lowell, 
Whipple,  and  Curtis  the  coagulated  nastiness  of  Ver- 
laine,  Mallarme,  and  their  compeers,  I  expect  next  to 
hear  of  courses  introducing  young  men  to  the  beauties  of 
absinthe,  Turkish  cigarettes,  and  stimulants  unspeak- 
able. Doubtless  these  things  are  all  due  to  the  "  oscilla- 
tory law  of  human  progress,"  which  professors  of  "horse 
sense "  like  my  friend  Joe  Sheldon  will  gradually  do 
away  with. 

As  time  went  on,  buildings  of  various  sorts  rose  around 
the  university  grounds,  and,  almost  without  exception,  as 
gifts  from  men  attracted  by  the  plan  of  the  institution.  At 
the  annual  commencement  in  1869  was  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  an  edifice  devoted  especially  to  lecture-rooms  and 
museums  of  natural  science.  It  was  a  noble  gift  by  Mr. 
John  McGraw;  and  amid  the  cares  and  discouragements 
of  that  period  it  gave  us  new  heart,  and  strengthened 
the  institution  especially  on  the  scientific  side.  In  order 
to  do  honor  to  this  occasion,  it  was  decided  to  invite  lead- 
ing men  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and,  above  all,  to 
request  the  governor,  Mr.  Fenton,  to  lay  the  corner-stone. 
But  it  was  soon  evident  that  his  excellency's  old  fear  of 
offending  the  sectarian  schools  still  controlled  him.  He 
made  excuse,  and  we  then  called  on  the  Freemasons  to 
take  charge  of  the  ceremony.  They  came  in  full  re- 
galia, bringing  their  own  orators;  and,  on  the  appointed 
day,  a  great  body  of  spectators  was  grouped  about 
the  foundations  of  the  new  building  on  the  beautiful 
knoll  in  front  of  the  upper  quadrangle.  It  was  an  ideal 
afternoon  in  June,  and  the  panorama  before  and  around 

I.-25 


386  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VI 

us  was  superb.  Immediately  below  us,  in  front,  lay  the 
beautiful  valley  in  which  nestles  the  little  city  of  Ithaca; 
beyond,  on  the  left,  was  the  vast  amphitheater,  nearly 
surrounded  by  hills  and  distant  mountains;  and  on  the 
right,  Cayuga  Lake,  stretching  northward  for  forty  miles. 
Few  points  in  our  country  afford  a  nobler  view  of  lake, 
mountain,  hill,  and  valley.  The  speakers  naturally  ex- 
patiated in  all  the  moods  and  tenses  on  the  munificence 
of  Mr.  Cornell  and  Mr.  McGraw ;  and  when  all  was  ended 
the  great  new  bell,  which  had  just  been  added  to  the  uni- 
versity chime  in  the  name  of  one  most  dear  to  me,— the 
largest  bell  then  swinging  in  western  New  York,  inscribed 
with  the  verse  written  for  it  by  Lowell,— boomed  grandly 
forth.  As  we  came  away  I  walked  with  Goldwin  Smith, 
and  noticed  that  he  was  convulsed  with  suppressed  laugh- 
ter. On  my  asking  him  the  cause,  he  answered:  " There 
is  nothing  more  to  be  said;  no  one  need  ever  praise  the 
work  of  Mr.  Cornell  again. ' '  On  my  asking  the  professor 
what  he  meant,  he  asked  me  if  I  had  not  heard  the  last 
speech.  I  answered  in  the  negative— that  my  mind  was 
occupied  with  other  things.  He  then  quoted  it  substan- 
tially as  follows:  "Fellow-citizens,  when  Mr.  Cornell 
found  himself  rich  beyond  the  dreams  of  avarice,  did  he 
give  himself  up  to  a  life  of  inglorious  ease?  No,  fellow- 
citizens;  he  founded  the  beautiful  public  library  in 
yonder  valley.  But  did  he  then  retire  to  a  life  of  luxury? 
No,  fellow-citizens;  he  came  up  to  this  height  (and 
here  came  a  great  wave  of  the  hand  over  the  vast  amphi- 
theater below  and  around  us)  and  he  established  this 
universe!" 

In  reference  to  this  occasion  I  may  put  on  record 
Lowell's  quatrain  above  referred  to,  which  is  cast  upon  the 
great  clock-bell  of  the  university.  It  runs  as  follows : 

I  call  as  fly  the  irrevocable  hours 
Futile  as  air,  or  strong  as  fate  to  make 
Your  lives  of  sand  or  granite.    Awful  powers, 
Even  as  men  choose,  they  either  give  or  take. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870 -1872  387 

There  was  also  cast  upon  it  the  following,  from  the 
Psalter  version  of  Psalm  xcii : 

To  tell  of  thy  loving-kindness  early  in  the  morning :  and  of  thy 
truth  in  the  night  season. 

While  various  departments  were  thus  developed,  there 
was  going  on  a  steady  evolution  in  the  general  conception 
of  the  university.  In  the  Congressional  act  of  1862  was  a 
vague  provision  for  military  instruction  in  the  institutions 
which  might  be  created  under  it.  The  cause  of  this  was 
evident.  The  bill  was  passed  during  one  of  the  most  criti- 
cal periods  in  the  history  of  the  Civil  War,  and  in  my 
inaugural  address  I  had  alluded  to  this  as  most  honorable 
to  Senator  Morrill  and  to  the  Congress  which  had  adopted 
his  proposals.  It  was  at  perhaps  the  darkest  moment  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States  that  this  provision  was 
made,  in  this  Morrill  Act,  for  a  great  system  of  classical, 
scientific,  and  technical  instruction  in  every  State  and  Ter- 
ritory of  the  Union;  and  I  compared  this  enactment,  at 
so  trying  a  period,  to  the  conduct  of  the  Eomans  in  buying 
and  selling  the  lands  on  which  the  Carthaginians  were 
encamped  after  their  victory  at  Cannae.  The  provision 
for  military  instruction  had  been  inserted  in  this  act  of 
1862  because  Senator  Morrill  and  others  saw  clearly  the 
advantage  which  had  accrued  to  the  States  then  in  rebel- 
lion from  their  military  schools;  but  the  act  had  left 
military  instruction  optional  with  the  institutions  securing 
the  national  endowment,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  none 
of  those  already  created  had  taken  the  clause  very  seri- 
ously. I  proposed  that  we  should  accept  it  fully  and 
fairly,  not  according  to  the  letter  of  the  act,  but  to  the 
spirit  of  those  who  had  passed  it ;  indeed,  that  we  should 
go  further  than  any  other  institution  had  dreamed  of 
going,  so  that  every  undergraduate  not  excused  on  the 
ground  of  conscientious  scruples,  or  for  some  other  ade- 
quate cause,  should  be  required  to  take  a  thorough 
course  of  military  drill ;  and  to  this  end  I  supported  a  plan, 


388  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VI 

which  was  afterward  carried  out  by  law,  that  officers  from 
the  United  States  army  should  be  detailed  by  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  each  of  the  principal  institutions  as  military 
professors.  My  reasons  for  this  were  based  on  my  recol- 
lections of  what  took  place  at  the  University  of  Michigan 
during  the  Civil  War.  I  had  then  seen  large  numbers  of 
my  best  students  go  forth  insufficiently  trained,  and  in 
some  cases  led  to  destruction  by  incompetent  officers.  At 
a  later  period,  I  had  heard  the  West  Point  officer  whom  I 
had  secured  from  Detroit  to  train  those  Michigan  students 
express  his  wonder  at  the  rapidity  with  which  they  learned 
what  was  necessary  to  make  them  soldiers  and  even  offi- 
cers. Being  young  men  of  disciplined  minds,  they  learned 
the  drill  far  more  quickly  and  intelligently  than  the  aver- 
age recruits  could  do.  There  was  still  another  reason  for 
taking  the  military  clause  in  the  Morrill  Act  seriously. 
I  felt  then,  and  feel  now,  that  our  Republic  is  not  to 
escape  serious  internal  troubles ;  that  in  these  her  reliance 
must  be  largely  upon  her  citizen  soldiery ;  that  it  will  be  a 
source  of  calamity,  possibly  of  catastrophe,  if  the  power 
of  the  sword  in  civil  commotions  shall  fall  into  the  hands 
of  ignorant  and  brutal  leaders,  while  the  educated  men  of 
the  country,  not  being  versed  in  military  matters,  shall 
slink  away  from  the  scene  of  duty,  cower  in  corners,  and 
leave  the  conduct  of  military  affairs  to  men  intellectually 
and  morally  their  inferiors.  These  views  I  embodied  in 
a  report  to  the  trustees ;  and  the  result  was  the  formation 
of  a  university  battalion,  which  has  been  one  of  the  best 
things  at  Cornell.  A  series  of  well-qualified  officers,  sent 
by  the  War  Department,  have  developed  the  system  admir- 
ably. Its  good  results  to  the  university  have  been  acknow- 
ledged by  all  who  have  watched  its  progress.  Farmers' 
boys,— slouchy,  careless,  not  accustomed  to  obey  any  word 
of  command;  city  boys,  sometimes  pampered,  often  way- 
ward, have  thus  been  in  a  short  time  transformed:  they 
stand  erect ;  they  look  the  world  squarely  in  the  face ;  the 
intensity  of  their  American  individualism  is  happily  modi- 
fied; they  can  take  the  word  of  command  and  they  can 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870-1872  389 

give  it.  I  doubt  whether  any  feature  of  instruction  at 
Cornell  University  has  produced  more  excellent  results 
upon  character  than  the  training  thus  given.  And  this  is 
not  all.  The  effect  on  the  State  has  been  valuable.  It  has 
already  been  felt  in  the  organization  and  maintenance  of 
the  State  militia;  and  during  the  war  with  Spain,  Cor- 
nellians,  trained  in  the  university  battalion,  rendered 
noble  service. 

Among  the  matters  which  our  board  of  trustees  and 
faculty  had  to  decide  upon  at  an  early  day  was  the  con- 
ferring of  degrees.  It  had  become,  and  indeed  has  re- 
mained in  many  of  our  colleges  down  to  the  present 
day,  an  abuse,  and  a  comical  abuse.  Almost  more  than 
any  other  thing,  it  tends  to  lower  respect  for  many  Ameri- 
can colleges  and  universities  among  thinking  men.  The 
older  and  stronger  universities  are  free  from  it;  but  many 
of  the  newer  ones,  especially  various  little  sectarian  col- 
leges, some  of  them  calling  themselves  "universities," 
have  abused  and  are  abusing  beyond  measure  their  privi- 
lege of  conferring  degrees.  Every  one  knows  individuals 
in  the  community  whose  degrees,  so  far  from  adorning 
them,  really  render  them  ridiculous ;  and  every  one  knows 
colleges  and  "  universities ' '  made  ridiculous  by  the  con- 
ferring of  such  pretended  honors. 

At  the  outset  I  proposed  to  our  trustees  that  Cornell 
University  should  confer  no  honorary  degrees  of  any 
sort,  and  a  law  was  passed  to  that  effect.  This  was  ob- 
served  faithfully  during  my  entire  presidency;  then  the 
policy  was  temporarily  changed,  and  two  honorary  doc- 
torates were  conferred ;  but  this  was  immediately  followed 
by  a  renewal  of  the  old  law,  and  Cornell  has  conferred  no 
honorary  degrees  since. 

But  it  is  a  question  whether  the  time  has  not  arrived 
for  some  relaxation  of  this  policy.  The  argument  I  used 
in  proposing  the  law  that  no  honorary  degree  should  be 
conferred  was  that  we  had  not  yet  built  up  an  institution 
whose  degrees  could  be  justly  considered  as  of  any  value. 
That  argument  is  no  longer  valid,  and  possibly  some  de- 


390  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VI 

parture  from  it  would  now  be  wise.  Still,  the  policy  of 
conferring  no  honorary  degrees  is  infinitely  better  than 
the  policy  of  lavishing  them. 

As  to  regular  and  ordinary  degrees,  I  had,  in  my  plan 
of  organization,  recommended  that  there  should  be  but  one 
degree  for  all  courses,  whether  in  arts,  science,  or  litera- 
ture. I  argued  that,  as  all  our  courses  required  an  equal 
amount  of  intellectual  exertion,  one  simple  degree  should 
be  granted  alike  to  all  who  had  passed  the  required  ex- 
amination at  the  close  of  their  chosen  course.  This  view 
the  faculty  did  not  accept.  They  adopted  the  policy 
of  establishing  several  degrees:  as,  for  example,  for  the 
course  in  arts,  the  degree  of  A.B. ;  for  the  course  in  science, 
the  degree  of  B.S. ;  for  the  course  in  literature,  the  degree 
of  B.L. ;  and  so  on.  The  reason  given  for  this  was  that 
it  was  important  in  each  case  to  know  what  the  train- 
ing of  the  individual  graduate  had  been;  and  that  the 
true  way  to  obviate  invidious  distinctions  is  so  to  perfect 
the  newer  courses  that  all  the  degrees  shall  finally  be 
considered  as  of  equal  value  and  honor.  This  argument 
converted  me:  it  seemed  to  me  just,  and  my  experience 
in  calling  men  to  professorships  led  me  more  and  more 
to  see  that  I  had  been  wrong  and  that  the  faculty  was 
right;  for  it  was  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
me,  in  deciding  on  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for  pro- 
fessorships, to  know,  not  only  their  special  fitness,  but 
what  their  general  education  had  been. 

But,  curiously  enough,  within  the  last  few  years  the 
Cornell  faculty,  under  the  lead  of  its  present  admirable 
president,  has  reverted  to  my  old  argument,  accepted  it, 
and  established  a  single  degree  for  all  courses.  I  bow 
respectfully  to  their  judgment,  but  my  conversion  by  the 
same  faculty  from  my  own  original  ideas  was  so  complete 
that  I  cannot  now  agree  to  the  wisdom  of  the  change.  It 
is  a  curious  case  of  cross-conversion,  I  having  been  and 
remaining  converted  to  the  ideas  of  the  faculty,  and  they 
having  been  converted  to  my  original  idea.  As  to  the 
whole  matter,  I  have  the  faith  of  an  optimist  that  eventu- 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL— 1870-1872  391 

ally,  with  the  experience  derived  from  both  systems,  a 
good  result  will  be  reached. 

Another  question  which  at  that  time  occupied  me  much 
was  that  of  scholarships  and  fellowships  awarded  by  com- 
petitive examinations  versus  general  gratuitous  instruc- 
tion. During  the  formation  of  my  plans  for  the  univer- 
sity, a  number  of  excellent  men  urged  upon  me  that  all 
our  instruction  should  be  thrown  open  to  all  mankind  free 
of  charge ;  that  there  should  be  no  payment  of  instruction 
fees  of  any  kind;  that  the  policy  which  prevails  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  State  should  be  carried  out  in  the 
new  institution  at  the  summit  of  the  system.  This  demand 
was  plausible,  but  the  more  I  thought  upon  it  the  more 
illogical,  fallacious,  and  injurious  it  seemed ;  and,  in  spite 
of  some  hard  knocks  in  consequence,  I  have  continued  to 
dissent  from  it,  and  feel  that  events  have  justified  me. 

Since  this  view  of  mine  largely  influenced  the  plan  of 
the  university,  this  is  perhaps  as  good  a  place  as  any  to 
sketch  its  development.  In  the  first  place,  I  soon  saw  that 
the  analogy  between  free  education  in  the  public  schools 
and  in  the  university  is  delusive,  the  conditions  of  the  two 
being  entirely  dissimilar.  In  a  republic  like  ours  primary 
education  of  the  voters  is  a  practical  necessity.  No  re- 
public of  real  weight  in  the  world,  except  Switzerland  and 
the  United  States,  has  proved  permanent;  and  the  only 
difference  between  the  many  republics  which  have  failed 
and  these  two,  which,  we  hope,  have  succeeded,  is  that  in 
the  former  the  great  body  of  the  citizens  were  illiterate, 
while  in  the  latter  the  great  body  of  voters  have  had  some 
general  education.  Without  this  education,  sufficient  for 
an  understanding  of  the  main  questions  involved,  no  real 
republic  or  democracy  can  endure.  With  general  primary 
education  up  to  a  point  necessary  for  the  intelligent  exer- 
cise of  the  suffrage,  one  may  have  hopes  for  the  continu- 
ance and  development  of  a  democratic  republic.  On  this 
account  primary  education  should  be  made  free:  it  is 
part  of  our  political  system;  it  is  the  essential  condition 
of  its  existence. 


392  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT- VI 

The  purpose  of  university  education  is  totally  different. 
The  interest  of  the  Republic  is,  indeed,  that  it  should 
maintain  the  very  highest  and  best  provision  for  advanced 
instruction,  general,  scientific,  and  technical ;  and  it  is  also 
in  the  highest  interest  of  the  Republic  that  its  fittest  young 
men  and  women  should  secure  such  instruction.  No  re- 
public, no  nation  in  fact,  possesses  any  other  treasure 
comparable  to  its  young  citizens  of  active  mind  and  ear- 
nest purpose.  This  is  felt  at  the  present  time  by  all  the 
great  nations  of  the  world,  and  consequently  provision 
is  made  in  almost  all  of  them  for  the  highest  education  of 
such  men  and  women.  Next  to  the  general  primary  edu- 
cation of  all  voters,  the  most  important  duty  of  our  Re- 
public is  to  develop  the  best  minds  it  possesses  for  the  best 
service  in  all  its  fields  of  high  intellectual  activity.  To  do 
this  it  must  supply  the  best  university  education,  and 
must  smooth  the  way  for  those  to  acquire  it  who  are  best 
fitted  for  it,  no  matter  how  oppressive  their  poverty. 

Now,  my  first  objection  to  gratuitous  university  instruc- 
tion to  all  students  alike  is  that  it  stands  in  the  way  of 
this  most  important  consummation;  that  it  not  only  does 
not  accomplish  the  end  which  is  desirable,  but  that  it  does 
accomplish  another  which  is  exceedingly  undesirable. 
For  the  real  problem  to  be  solved  is  this :  How  shall  the 
higher  education  in  different  fields  be  brought  within 
reach  of  the  young  men  and  women  best  fitted  to  acquire 
it,  to  profit  by  it,  and  to  use  it  to  best  advantage?  Any 
one  acquainted  with  American  schools  and  universities 
knows  that  the  vast  majority  of  these  young  people 
best  fitted  to  profit  by  higher  education  come  from  the 
families  of  small  means.  What  does  gratuitous  instruc- 
tion in  the  university  offer  them?  Merely  a  remission  of 
instruction  fees,  which,  after  all,  are  but  a  small  part  of 
the  necessary  expenses  of  a  university  course.  With  many 
of  these  young  persons— probably  with  most— a  mere  re- 
mission of  instruction  fees  is  utterly  insufficient  to  enable 
them  to  secure  advanced  education.  I  have  alluded  to  the 
case  of  President  Cleveland,  who,  having  been  well  fitted 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL -1870-1872  393 

for  the  university,  could  not  enter.  His  father  being  a 
country  clergyman  with  a  large  family  and  small  means, 
the  future  Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States  was  obliged 
to  turn  aside  to  a  teacher's  place  and  a  clerkship  which 
afforded  him  a  bare  support.  At  the  Hamilton  College 
commencement  a  few  years  since,  Mr.  Cleveland,  pointing 
to  one  of  the  professors,  was  reported  as  saying  in  sub- 
stance: "My  old  school  friend  by  my  side  is,  of  all  men, 
the  one  I  have  most  envied:  he  was  able  to  buy  a  good 
edition  of  Vergil;  I  was  not." 

It  would  not  have  been  at  all  difficult  for  him  to  secure 
a  remission  of  instruction  fees  at  various  American  col- 
leges and  universities ;  but  the  great  difficulty  was  that  he 
could  not  secure  the  means  necessary  for  his  board,  for 
his  clothing,  for  his  traveling  expenses,  for  his  books,  for 
all  the  other  things  that  go  to  make  up  the  real  cost  of  life 
at  a  university.  I  can  think  of  but  one  way,  and  that  is, 
as  a  rule,  to  charge  instruction  fees  upon  the  great  body 
of  the  students,  but  both  to  remit  instruction  fees  and  to 
give  scholarships  and  fellowships  to  those  who,  in  com- 
petitive examinations  and  otherwise,  show  themselves 
especially  worthy  of  such  privileges.  This  is  in  confor- 
mity to  the  system  of  nature;  it  is  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  This  was  the  main  reason  which  led  me  to  insert 
in  the  charter  of  Cornell  University  the  provision  by 
which  at  present  six  hundred  students  from  the  State  of 
New  York  are  selected  by  competitive  examinations  out  of 
the  mass  of  scholars  in  the  public  schools,  and  to  provide 
that  each  of  these  best  scholars  shall  have  free  instruction 
for  four  years. 

But  this  was  only  a  part  of  the  system.  From  the  first 
I  have  urged  the  fact  above  mentioned,  namely,  that  while 
remission  of  instruction  fees  is  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, it  is  not  sufficient;  and  I  have  always  desired  to  see 
some  university  recognize  the  true  and  sound  principle 
of  free  instruction  in  universities  by  consecrating  all 
moneys  received  from  instruction  fees  to  the  creation 
of  competitive  scholarships  and  fellowships)  each  of  which 


394  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT-VI 

shall  amount  to  a  sum  sufficient  to  meet,  with  economy,  the 
living  expenses  of  a  student.  This  plan  I  was  enabled,  in 
considerable  measure,  to  carry  out  by  establishing  the 
competitive  scholarships  in  each  Assembly  district;  and 
later,  as  will  be  seen  in  another  chapter,  I  was  enabled,  by 
a  curious  transformation  of  a  calamity  into  a  blessing,  to 
carry  it  still  further  by  establishing  endowed  scholarships 
and  fellowships.  These  latter  scholarships,  each,  as  a 
general  rule,  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  were 
awarded  to  those  who  passed  the  best  examinations  and 
maintained  the  best  standing  in  their  classes;  while  the 
fellowships,  each  of  the  value  of  from  four  to  five  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  were  awarded  to  the  seniors  of  our  own  or 
other  universities  who  had  been  found  most  worthy  of 
them.  In  the  face  of  considerable  opposition  I  set  this 
system  in  motion  at  Cornell;  and  its  success  leads  me  to 
hope  that  it  will  be  further  developed,  not  only  there,  but 
elsewhere.  Besides  this,  I  favored  arrangements  for  re- 
mitting instruction  fees  and  giving  aid  to  such  students  as 
really  showed  promising  talent,  and  who  were  at  the  time 
needy.  To  this  end  a  loan  fund  was  created  which  has 
been  carefully  managed  and  has  aided  many  excellent 
men  through  the  university  courses.1  Free  instruction, 
carried  out  in  accordance  with  the  principle  and  plan 
above  sketched,  will,  I  feel  sure,  prove  of  great  value  to 
our  country.  Its  effect  is  to  give  to  the  best  and  brightest 
young  men,  no  matter  how  poor,  just  the  chance  they 
need;  and  not  as  a  matter  of  charity,  but  as  a  matter  of 
wise  policy.  This  is  a  system  which  I  believe  would  be 
fraught  with  blessings  to  our  country,  securing  advanced 
education  to  those  who  can  profit  by  it,  and  strengthening 
their  country  by  means  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  system  of  gratuitous  remission 
of  instruction  fees  to  all  students  alike,  whether  rich  or 
poor,  I  believe  to  be  injurious  to  the  country,  for  the 
following  reasons:  First,  it  generally  cripples  the  insti- 

1  It  has  since  been  greatly  increased  by  the  bequest  of  a 
public-spirited  New  York  merchant. 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENT  OF  CORNELL- 1870-1872  395 

tution  which  gives  it.  Two  or  three  large  institutions 
which  have  thought  themselves  in  possession  of  endow- 
ments sufficient  to  warrant  giving  gratuitous  instruction 
have  tried  it,  but  as  a  rule  have  not  been  able  to  go  on 
with  it,  and  have  at  last  come  to  the  principle  of  charging 
moderate  fees.  Secondly,  it  simply  makes  a  present  of  a 
small  sum  to  a  large  number  of  young  men,  most  of  whom 
neither  need  nor  appreciate  it,  and  who  would  be  better 
for  regarding  their  university  instruction  as  something 
worth  paying  for. 

But  my  main  objection  to  the  system  of  indiscriminate 
gratuitous  instruction  is  that  it  does  the  country  a  posi- 
tive injury  in  drawing  away  from  the  farms,  workshops, 
and  stores  large  numbers  of  young  persons  who  would 
better  have  been  allowed  to  remain  there ;  that  it  tends  to 
crowd  what  have  been  called  "the  learned  professions" 
with  men  not  really  fitted  for  them ;  that  it  draws  masses 
of  men  whose  good  right  arms  would  be  of  great  value  in 
the  rural  districts,  and  makes  them  parasites  in  the  cities. 
The  farmers  and  the  artisans  complain  of  the  lack  of 
young  men  and  women  for  their  work;  the  professional 
men  complain  that  the  cities  are  overstocked  with  young 
men  calling  themselves  lawyers,  doctors,  engineers,  and 
the  like,  but  really  unworthy  to  exercise  either  profession, 
who  live  on  the  body  politic  as  parasites  more  or  less 
hurtful.  This  has  certainly  become  an  evil  in  other  coun- 
tries :  every  enlightened  traveler  knows  that  the  ranks  of 
the  anarchists  in  Russia  are  swollen  by  what  are  called 
"fruits  sees"—  that  is,  by  young  men  and  young  women 
tempted  away  from  manual  labor  and  avocations  for  which 
they  are  fit  into  "  prof essions ' '  for  which  they  are  unfit. 
The  more  first-rate  young  men  and  young  women  our  uni- 
versities and  technical  schools  educate  the  better;  but  the 
more  young  men  and  women  of  mediocre  minds  and  weak 
purpose  whom  they  push  into  the  ranks  of  poor  lawyers, 
poor  doctors,  poor  engineers,  and  the  like,  the  more  in- 
jury they  do  to  the  country. 

As  I  now  approach  the  end  of  life  and  look  back  over 


396  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VI 

the  development  of  Cornell  University,  this  at  least  seems 
to  me  one  piece  of  good  fortune— namely,  that  I  have 
aided  to  establish  there  the  principle  of  using  our  means, 
so  far  as  possible,  not  for  indiscriminate  gratuitous  higher 
education  of  men  unfit  to  receive  it;  not,  as  President 
Jordan  has  expressed  it,  in  "trying  to  put  a  five-thousand- 
dollar  education  into  a  fifty-cent  boy" ;  but  in  establishing 
a  system  which  draws  out  from  the  community,  even  from 
its  poorest  and  lowliest  households,  the  best,  brightest, 
strongest  young  men  and  women,  and  develops  their  best 
powers,  thus  adding  to  the  greatest  treasure  which  their 
country  can  possess. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

"COEDUCATION"  AND  AN  UNSECTAEIAN  PULPIT— 1871-1904 

STILL  another  new  departure  was  in  some  respects 
bolder  than  any  of  those  already  mentioned.  For 
some  years  before  the  organization  of  Cornell,  I  had 
thought  much  upon  the  education  of  women,  and  had  grad- 
ually arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  they  might  well  be 
admitted  to  some  of  the  universities  established  for  young 
men.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  Herbert  Spencer's  argument 
as  to  the  importance  of  avoiding  everything  like  * '  manda- 
rinism"— the  attempt  to  force  all  educational  institutions 
into  the  same  mold— prevented  my  urging  this  admission 
of  women  upon  all  universities  alike.  I  recognized  obsta- 
cles to  it  in  the  older  institutions  which  did  not  exist  in  the 
newer;  but  I  had  come  to  believe  that  where  no  special 
difficulties  existed,  women  might  well  be  admitted  to  uni- 
versity privileges.  To  this  view  I  had  been  led  by  my  own 
observation  even  in  my  boyhood.  At  Cortland  Academy 
I  had  seen  young  men  and  women  assembled  in  the  class- 
rooms without  difficulty  or  embarrassment,  and  at  Yale  I 
had  seen  that  the  two  or  three  lecture-rooms  which  ad- 
mitted women  were  the  most  orderly  and  decent  of  all ;  but 
perhaps  the  strongest  influence  in  this  matter  was  exercised 
upon  me  by  my  mother.  She  was  one  of  the  most  con- 
servative of  women,  a  High-church  Episcopalian,  and  gen- 
erally averse  to  modern  reforms ;  but  on  my  talking  over 
with  her  some  of  my  plans  for  Cornell  University,  she 
said:  "I  am  not  so  sure  about  your  other  ideas,  but  as  to 
the  admission  of  women  you  are  right.  My  main  educa- 

397 


398  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VII 

tion  was  derived  partly  from  a  boarding-school  at  Pitts- 
field  considered  one  of  the  best  in  New  England,  and  partly 
from  Cortland  Academy.  In  the  boarding-school  we  had 
only  young  women,  but  in  the  academy  we  had  both  young 
men  and  young  women ;  and  I  am  sure  that  the  results  of 
the  academy  were  much  better  than  those  of  the  boarding- 
school.  The  young  men  and  young  women  learned  to  re- 
spect each  other,  not  merely  for  physical,  but  for  intel- 
lectual and  moral  qualities;  so  there  came  a  healthful 
emulation  in  study,  the  men  becoming  more  manly  and  the 
women  more  womanly ;  and  never,  so  far  as  I  have  heard, 
did  any  of  the  evil  consequences  follow  which  some  of 
your  opponents  are  prophesying. ' ' 

A  conference  with  Dr.  Woolworth,  a  teacher  of  the  very 
largest  experience,  showed  me  that  none  of  the  evil  results 
which  were  prophesied  had  resulted.  He  solemnly  assured 
me  that,  during  his  long  experiences  as  principal  of  two  or 
three  large  academies,  and,  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Kegents,  in  close  contact  with  all  the  academies  and  high 
schools  of  the  State,  he  had  never  known  of  a  serious  scan- 
dal arising  between  students  of  different  sexes. 

As  I  drafted  the  main  features  of  the  university  charter 
these  statements  were  in  my  mind,  but  I  knew  well  that  it 
would  be  premature  to  press  the  matter  at  the  outset.  It 
would  certainly  have  cost  us  the  support  of  the  more  con- 
servative men  in  the  legislature.  All  that  I  could  do  at 
that  time  I  did;  and  this  was  to  keep  out  of  the  charter 
anything  which  could  embarrass  us  regarding  the  question 
in  the  future,  steadily  avoiding  in  every  clause  relating  to 
students  the  word  "man,"  and  as  steadily  using  the  word 
"  person. "  In  conversations  between  Mr.  Cornell  and 
myself  on  this  subject,  I  found  that  we  agreed;  and  in  our 
addresses  at  the  opening  of  the  university  we  both  alluded 
to  it,  he  favoring  it  in  general  terms,  and  I  developing 
sundry  arguments  calculated  to  prepare  the  way  for  future 
action  upon  it.  At  the  close  of  the  exercises  Mr.  John 
McGraw,  who  was  afterward  so  munificent  toward  us, 
came  to  me  and  said:  "My  old  business  partner,  Henry 


"  COEDUCATION  "-1871-1904  399 

Sage,  who  sat  next  me  during  the  exercises  this  morning, 
turned  to  me  during  your  allusion  to  Mr.  Cornell  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  and  said:  'John,  we  are  scoundrels  to 
stand  doing  nothing  while  those  men  are  killing  themselves 
to  establish  this  university. '  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Sage 
himself  came  to  me  and  said :  ' '  I  believe  you  are  right  in 
regard  to  admitting  women,  but  you  are  evidently  carry- 
ing as  many  innovations  just  now  as  public  opinion  will 
bear;  when  you  are  ready  to  move  in  the  matter,  let  me 
know. ' ' 

The  following  year  came  the  first  application  of  a  young 
woman  for  admission.  Her  case  was  strong,  for  she  pre- 
sented a  certificate  showing  that  she  had  passed  the  best 
examination  for  the  State  scholarship  in  Cortland  County  -r 
and  on  this  I  admitted  her.  Under  the  scholarship  clause 
in  the  charter  I  could  not  do  otherwise.  On  reporting 
the  case  to  the  trustees,  they  supported  me  unanimously, 
though  some  of  them  reluctantly.  The  lady  student 
proved  excellent  from  every  point  of  view,  and  her  ad- 
mission made  a  mere  temporary  ripple  on  the  surface 
of  our  affairs;  but  soon  came  a  peculiar  difficulty.  The 
only  rooms  for  students  in  those  days  on  the  University 
Hill  were  in  the  barracks  filled  with  young  men ;  and  there- 
fore the  young  woman  took  rooms  in  town,  coming  up  to 
lectures  two  or  three  times  a  day.  It  was  a  hard  struggle ; 
for  the  paths  and  roads  leading  to  the  university  grounds, 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  valley,  were  not  as  in  these 
days,  and  the  electric  trolley  had  not  been  invented.  She 
bore  the  fatigue  patiently  until  winter  set  in;  then  she 
came  to  me,  expressing  regret  at  her  inability  to  toil  up  the 
icy  steep,  and  left  us.  On  my  reporting  this  to  the  trustees, 
Mr.  Sage  made  his  proposal.  I  had  expected  from  him 
a  professorship  or  a  fellowship;  but  to  my  amazement 
he  offered  to  erect  and  endow  a  separate  college  for  young 
women  in  the  university,  and  for  this  purpose  to  give  us 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  A  committee 
of  trustees  having  been  appointed  to  examine  and  re- 
port upon  this  proposal,  I  was  made  its  chairman;  and,. 


400  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VII 

in  company  with  Mr.  Sage,  visited  various  Western  in- 
stitutions where  experiments  in  the  way  of  what  was 
called  " coeducation"  had  been  tried.  At  Oberlin  College 
in  Ohio  two  serious  doubts  were  removed  from  my  mind. 
The  first  of  these  was  regarding  the  health  of  the  young 
women.  I  had  feared  that  in  the  hard  work  and  vigorous 
competitions  of  the  university  they  would  lose  their  physi- 
cal strength;  but  here  we  found  that,  with  wise  precau- 
tions, the  health  of  the  young  women  had  been  quite  equal 
to  that  of  the  young  men.  My  other  fear  was  that  their 
education  with  young  men  might  cost  some  sacrifice  of  the 
better  general  characteristics  of  both  sexes ;  but  on  study- 
ing the  facts  I  became  satisfied  that  the  men  had  been 
made  more  manly  and  the  women  more  womanly.  As  to 
the  manliness  there  could  be  little  doubt;  for  the  best 
of  all  tests  had  been  applied  only  a  few  years  before,  when 
Oberlin  College  had  poured  forth  large  numbers  of  its 
young  men,  as  volunteers,  into  the  Union  army.  As  to  the 
good  effect  upon  women,  it  was  easy  to  satisfy  myself 
when  I  met  them,  not  only  at  the  college,  but  in  various 
beautiful  Western  homes. 

Very  striking  testimony  was  also  given  at  the  University 
of  Michigan.  Ten  years  earlier  I  had  known  that  institu- 
tion well,  and  my  professorship  there,  which  lasted  six 
years,  had  made  me  well  acquainted  with  the  character  and 
spirit  of  its  students ;  but,  since  my  day,  women  had  been 
admitted,  and  some  of  the  results  of  this  change  surprised 
me  much.  Formerly  a  professor's  lecture-  or  recitation- 
room  had  been  decidedly  a  roughish  place.  The  men  had 
often  been  slouchy  and  unkempt.  Now  all  was  quiet  and 
orderly,  the  dress  of  the  students  much  neater;  in  fact,  it 
was  the  usual  difference  between  assemblages  of  men  alone 
and  of  men  and  women  together,  or,  as  I  afterward  phrased 
it,  "between  the  smoking-car  and  the  car  back  of  it." 
Perhaps  the  most  convincing  piece  of  testimony  came  from 

an  old  janitor.    As  I  met  him  I  said : i  i  Well,  J ,  do  the 

students  still  make  life  a  burden  to  you?"  "Oh,  no,"  he 
answered;  "that  is  all  gone  by.  They  can't  rush  each 


"  COEDUCATION  "- 1871-1904  401 

other  up  and  down  the  staircases  or  have  boxing-matches 
in  the  lobbies  any  longer,  for  the  girls  are  there. ' ' 

My  report  went  fully  into  the  matter,  favored  the  ad- 
mission of  women,  and  was  adopted  by  the  trustees  unani- 
mously—a thing  which  surprised  me  somewhat,  since  two 
of  them,  Judge  Folger  and  Mr.  Erastus  Brooks,  were 
among  the  most  conservative  men  I  have  ever  known.  The 
general  results  were  certainly  fortunate;  though  one  or 
two  minor  consequences  were,  for  a  year  or  two,  somewhat 
disappointing.  Two  or  three  of  the  faculty  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  students  were  greatly  opposed  to 
the  admission  of  women,  a  main  cause  of  this  being  the 
fear  that  it  would  discredit  the  institution  in  the  eyes  of 
members  of  other  universities,  and  the  number  of  the 
whole  student  body  was  consequently  somewhat  dimin- 
ished; but  that  feeling  died  away,  the  numbers  became 
larger  than  ever,  and  the  system  proved  a  blessing,  not 
only  to  the  university,  but  to  the  State  at  large.  None  of 
the  prophecies  of  evil  so  freely  made  by  the  opponents  of 
the  measure  have  ever  been  fulfilled.  Every  arrangement 
was  made  in  Mr.  Sage 's  building  to  guard  the  health  of  the 
young  women ;  and  no  one  will  say  that  the  manliness  of 
men  or  the  womanliness  of  women  has  ever  suffered  in 
consequence  of  the  meeting  of  the  two  sexes  in  class- 
rooms, laboratories,  chapel,  or  elsewhere.  From  one  evil 
which  was  freely  prophesied  the  university  has  been  singu- 
larly free.  It  was  declared  that  a  great  deal  of  "  spoon- 
ing "  would  result.  This  has  not  been  the  case.  Both 
sexes  seem  to  have  been  on  their  guard  against  it;  and, 
although  pleasant  receptions  have,  as  a  rule,  taken  place 
weekly  at  Sage  College,  and  visits  to  its  residents  have 
been  permitted  at  suitable  times,  no  embarrassing  attach- 
ments have  resulted. 

The  main  difficulties  arose  from  a  cause  which  proved 
very  short-lived.  Several  of  the  young  women  who  first 
applied  for  admission  held  high  ideas  as  to  their  rights. 
To  them  Sage  College  was  an  offense.  Its  beautiful  par- 
lors, conservatories,  library,  lecture-rooms,  and  lawns, 

I.— 26 


or  THE 
UNIVERSITY 


402  AS  UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT -VII 

with  its  lady  warden  who  served  as  guide,  philosopher,  and 
friend,  were  all  the  result  of  a  deep  conspiracy  against  the 
rights  of  women.  Again  and  again  a  committee  of  them 
came  to  me,  insisting  that  young  women  should  be  treated 
exactly  like  young  men ;  that  there  should  be  no  lady  war- 
den ;  that  every  one  of  them  should  be  free  to  go  and  come 
from  Sage  College  at  every  hour  in  the  twenty-four,  as 
young  men  were  free  to  go  and  come  from  their  dormi- 
tories. My  answer  was  that  the  cases  were  not  the  same ; 
that  when  young  women  insisted  on  their  right  to  come  and 
go  at  all  times  of  the  day  and  night,  as  they  saw  fit,  without 
permission,  it  was  like  their  right  to  walk  from  the  campus 
to  the  beautiful  point  opposite  us  on  the  lake :  the  right  they 
undoubtedly  had,  but  insurmountable  obstacles  were  in  the 
way;  and  I  showed  them  that  a  firm  public  opinion  was 
an  invincible  barrier  to  the  liberties  they  claimed.  Still, 
they  were  allowed  advisory  powers  in  the  management  of 
the  college;  the  great  majority  made  wise  use  of  this 
right,  and  all  difficulty  was  gradually  overcome. 

Closely  connected  with  the  erection  of  Sage  College  was 
the  establishment  of  Sage  Chapel.  From  the  first  I  had 
desired  to  have  every  working-day  begun  with  a  simple 
religious  service  at  which  attendance  should  be  voluntary, 
and  was  glad  to  see  that  in  the  cheerless  lecture-room 
where  this  service  was  held  there  usually  assembled  a 
goodly  number  of  professors  and  students,  in  spite  of  the 
early  hour  and  long  walk  from  town.  But  for  Sunday 
there  was  no  provision ;  and  one  day,  on  my  discussing  the 
matter  with  Mr.  Sage,  he  said  that  he  would  be  glad  to  es- 
tablish a  chapel  on  the  university  grounds  for  the  general 
use  of  professors  and  students,  if  I  saw  no  objection.  This 
proposal  I  heartily  welcomed,  but  on  two  conditions :  first, 
that  the  chapel  should  never  be  delivered  over  to  any  one 
sect;  secondly,  that  students  should  be  attracted,  but  not 
coerced  into  it.  To  these  conditions  Mr.  Sage  agreed,  and 
the  building  was  erected. 

As  it  approached  completion  there  came  a  proposal 
which  opened  a  new  era  in  our  university  life.  Mr.  Dean 


AN  UNSECTARIAN  PULPIT- 1871 -1904  403 

Sage,  the  eldest  son  of  him  who  had  given  us  the  women's 
college  and  the  chapel,  proposed  to  add  an  endowment  for 
a  chaplaincy,  and  suggested  that  a  clergyman  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  be  appointed  to  that  office.  This 
would  have  been  personally  pleasing  to  me;  for,  though 
my  churchmanship  was  "exceeding  broad, "  I  was  still 
attracted  to  the  church  in  which  I  was  brought  up,  and  felt 
nowhere  else  so  much  at  home.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that 
we  had  no  right,  under  our  charter,  to  give  such  prominence 
to  any  single  religious  organization ;  and  I  therefore  pro- 
posed to  the  donor  that  the  endowment  be  applied  to  a 
preachership  to  be  filled  by  leading  divines  of  all  denomi- 
nations. In  making  this  proposal  I  had  in  view,  not  only 
the  unsectarian  feature  embodied  in  our  charter,  but  my 
observation  of  university  chaplaincies  generally.  I  had 
noticed  that,  at  various  institutions,  excellent  clergymen, 
good  preachers,  thorough  scholars,  charming  men,  when 
settled  as  chaplains,  had,  as  a  rule,  been  unable  to  retain 
their  hold  upon  the  great  body  of  the  students.  The 
reason  was  not  far  to  seek.  The  average  parish  clergy- 
man, even  though  he  be  not  a  strong  preacher  or  profound 
scholar  or  brilliant  talker,  if  he  be  at  all  fit  for  his  po- 
sition, gradually  wins  the  hearts  of  his  congregation.  He 
has  baptized  their  children,  married  their  young  men  and 
maidens,  buried  their  dead,  rejoiced  with  those  who  have 
rejoiced,  and  wept  with  those  who  have  wept.  A  strong- 
tie  has  thus  grown  up.  But  such  a  tie  between  a  chaplain 
and  bodies  of  students  shifting  from  year  to  year,  is,  in 
the  vast  majority  of  cases,  impossible.  Hence  it  is  that 
even  the  most  brilliant  preachers  settled  in  universities 
have  rapidly  lost  their  prestige  among  the  students.  I 
remembered  well  how,  at  Geneva  and  at  Yale,  my  college- 
mates  joked  at  the  peculiarities  of  clergymen  connected 
with  the  college,  who,  before  I  entered  it,  had  been  objects 
of  my  veneration.  I  remembered  that  at  Yale  one  of  my 
class  was  wont  to  arouse  shouts  of  laughter  by  his  droll 
imitations  of  the  prayers  of  the  leading  professors— imi- 
tations in  which  their  gestures,  intonations,  and  bits  of 


404  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VII 

rhetoric  and  oratory  were  most  ludicrously  caricatured.  I 
remembered,  too,  how  a  college  pastor,  a  man  greatly 
revered,  was  really  driven  out  of  the  university  pulpit  by 
a  squib  in  a  students'  paper,  and  how  several  of  his  suc- 
cessors had  finally  retreated  into  professorships  in  the 
Divinity  School ;  and  I  felt  that  leading  men  coming  from 
week  to  week  from  the  outside  world  would  be  taken  at 
the  value  which  the  outside  world  puts  upon  them,  and 
that  they  would  bring  in  a  fresh  atmosphere.  My  expecta- 
tions were  more  than  fulfilled.  The  preachership  having 
been  established,  I  sent  invitations  to  eminent  clergymen 
along  the  whole  gamut  of  belief,  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
bishop  of  the  diocese  to  the  most  advanced  Protestants. 
The  bishop  answered  me  most  courteously;  but,  to  my 
sincere  regret,  declined.  One  or  two  bishops  of  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  Church  also  made  some  difficulties  at 
first,  but  gradually  they  were  glad  to  accept;  for  it  was 
felt  to  be  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure  to  preach  to  so  large 
a  body  of  open-minded  young  men,  and  the  course  of  ser- 
mons has  for  years  deepened  and  strengthened  what  is  best 
in  university  life.  The  whole  system  was  indeed  at  first 
attacked;  and  while  we  had  formerly  been  charged  with 
godlessness,  we  were  now  charged  with  "indifferentism" 
—whatever  that  might  mean.  But  I  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  living  to  see  this  system  adopted  at  other  leading  uni- 
versities of  our  country,  and  it  is  evidently  on  its  way  to 
become  the  prevailing  system  among  all  of  them.  I  be- 
lieve that  no  pulpit  in  the  United  States  has  exercised  a 
more  powerful  influence  for  good.  Strong  men  have  been 
called  to  it  from  all  the  leading  religious  bodies ;  and  they, 
knowing  the  character  of  their  audience,  have  never 
advocated  sectarianism,  but  have  presented  the  great  fun- 
damental truths  upon  which  all  religion  must  be  based. 

The  first_of^Jhese  university  preachers  wj^_Phillips 
Brooks,  and  he  made  a  very  deep  impression.  An  inter- 
esting material  result  of  his  first  sermon  was  that  Mr. 
William  Sage,  the  second  son  of  our  benefactor,  came  for- 
ward at  the  close  of  the  service,  and  authorized  me  to 


AN  UNSECTARIAN   PULPIT- 1871-1904  405 

secure  a  beautiful  organ  for  the  university  chapel.1  In 
my  addresses  to  students  I  urged  them  to  attend  for 
various  goodjreasons,  and,  if  for  none  of  these,  because  a 
man  is  but  poorly  educated  who  does  not  keep  himself 
abreast  of  the  religious  thought  of  his  country.  Curious 
was  it  to  see  Japanese  students,  some  of  them  Buddhists, 
very  conscientious  in  their  attendance,  their  eyes  steadily 
fixed  upon  the  preacher. 

My  selections  for  the  preachership  during  the  years  of 
my  presidency  were  made  with  great  care.  So  far  as  pos- 
sible, I  kept  out  all  " sensational  preaching/'  I  had  no 
wish  to  make  the  chapel  a  place  for  amusement  or  for 
ground  and  lofty  tumbling  by  clerical  performers,  and  the 
result  was  that  its  ennobling  influence  was  steadily  main- 
tained. 

Some  other  pulpits  in  the  university  town  were  not  so 
well  guarded.  A  revivalist,  having  been  admitted  to  one 
of  them,  attempted  to  make  a  sensation  in  various  ways ; 
and  one  evening  laid  great  stress  on  the  declaration  that 
she  was  herself  a  brand  plucked  from  the  burning,  and 
that  her  parents  were  undoubtedly  lost.  A  few  minutes 
afterward,  one  of  the  Cornell  students  present,  thinking, 
doubtless,  that  his  time  would  be  better  employed  upon  his 
studies,  arose  and  walked  down  the  aisle  to  the  door.  At 
this  the  preacher  called  out,  "  There  goes  a  young  man 
straight  down  to  hell/'  Thereupon  the  student  turned 
instantly  toward  the  preacher  and  asked  quietly,  "Have 
you  any  message  to  send  to  your  father  and  mother?" 

Our  list  of  university  preachers,  both  from  our  own  and 
other  countries,  as  I  look  back  upon  it,  is  wonderful  to  me. 
Becoming  acquainted  with  them,  I  have  learned  to  love 
very  many  men  whom  I  previously  distrusted,  and  have 
come  to  see  more  and  more  the  force  of  the  saying,  ' '  The 
man  I  don't  like  is  the  man  I  don't  know."  Many  of 
their  arguments  have  not  appealed  to  me,  but  some 
from  which  I  have  entirely  dissented,  have  suggested 
trains  of  profitable  thought ;  in  fact,  no  services  have  ever 

i  Sunday,  June  13,  1875. 


406  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VII 

done  more  for  me,  and,  judging  from  the  numbers  who 
have  thronged  the  chapel,  there  has  heen  a  constant  good 
influence  upon  the  faculty  and  students. 

In  connection  with  the  chapel  may  be  mentioned  the  de- 
velopment of  various  religious  associations,  the  first  of 
these  being  the  Young  Men 's  Christian  Association.  Feel- 
ing the  importance  of  this,  although  never  a  member  of  it, 
I  entered  heartily  into  its  plan,  and  fitted  up  a  hall  for  its 
purposes.  As  this  hall  had  to  serve  also,  during  certain 
evenings  in  the  week,  for  literary  societies,  I  took  pains 
to  secure  a  series  of  large  and  fine  historical  engravings 
from  England,  France,  and  Germany,  among  them  some 
of  a  decidedly  religious  cast,  brought  together  after  a 
decidedly  Broad-church  fashion.  Of  these,  two,  adjoining 
each  other,  represented— the  one,  Luther  discussing  with 
his  associates  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  and  the  other, 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  comforting  the  poor  and  the  afflicted  ; 
and  it  was  my  hope  that  the  juxtaposition  of  these  two 
pictures  might  suggest  ideas  of  toleration  in  its  best  sense 
to  the  young  men  and  women  who  were  to  sit  beneath 
them.  About  the  room,  between  these  engravings,  I  placed 
some  bronze  statuettes,  obtained  in  Europe,  representing 
men  who  had  done  noble  work  in  the  world;  so  that  it 
was  for  some  years  one  of  the  attractions  of  the  university. 

Some  years  later  came  a  gift  very  advantageous  to  this 
side  of  university  life.  A  gentleman  whom  I  had  known 
but  slightly— Mr.  Alfred  S.  Barnes  of  Brooklyn,  a  trustee 
of  the  university— dropped  in  at  my  house  one  morning, 
and  seemed  to  have  something  on  his  mind.  By  and  by  he 
very  modestly  asked  what  I  thought  of  his  putting  up  a 
building  for  the  religious  purposes  of  the  students.  I 
welcomed  the  idea  joyfully;  only  expressing  the  hope  that 
it  would  not  be  tied  up  in  any  way,  but  open  to  all  forms 
of  religious  effort.  In  this  idea  he  heartily  concurred,  and 
the  beautiful  building  which  bears  his  honored  name  was 
the  result,— one  of  the  most  perfect  for  its  purposes  that 
can  be  imagined,— and  as  he  asked  me  to  write  an  inscrip- 
tion for  the  corner-stone,  I  placed  on  it  the  words:  "For 


AN  UNSECTARIAN  PULPIT -1871-1904  407 

the  Promotion  of  God's  Work  among  Men."  This  has 
seemed,  ever  since,  to  be  the  key-note  of  the  work  done 
in  that  building. 

It  has  been,  and  is,  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  see  young 
men  joining  in  religious  effort;  and  I  feel  proud  of  the 
fact  that  from  this  association  at  Cornell  many  strong  and 
earnest  men  have  gone  forth  to  good  work  as  clergymen 
in  our  own  country  and  in  others. 

In  the  erection  of  the  new  group  of  buildings  south  of 
the  upper  university  quadrangle,  as  well  as  in  building 
the  president's  house  hard  by,  an  opportunity  was  offered 
for  the  development  of  some  minor  ideas  regarding  the 
evolution  of  university  life  at  Cornell  which  I  had  deeply 
at  heart.  During  my  life  at  Yale,  as  well  as  during  visits 
to  various  other  American  colleges,  I  had  been  painfully 
impressed  by  the  lack  of  any  development  of  that  which 
may  be  called  the  commemorative  or  poetical  element.  In 
the  long  row  of  barracks  at  Yale  one  longed  for  some 
little  bit  of  beauty,  and  hungered  and  thirsted  for  some- 
thing which  connected  the  present  with  the  past ;  but,  with 
the  exception  of  the  portraits  in  the  Alumni  Hall,  there 
was  little  more  to  feed  the  sense  of  beauty  or  to  meet  one 's 
craving  for  commemoration  of  the  past  than  in  a  cotton- 
factory.  One  might  frequent  the  buildings  at  Yale  or 
Harvard  or  Brown,  as  they  then  were,  for  years,  and  see 
nothing  of  an  architectural  sort  which  had  been  put  in 
its  place  for  any  other  reason  than  bare  utility. 

Hence  came  an  effort  to  promote  at  Cornell  some  devel- 
opment of  a  better  kind.  Among  the  first  things  I  ordered 
were  portraits  by  competent  artists  of  the  leading  non- 
resident professors,  Agassiz,  Lowell,  Curtis,  and  Goldwin 
Smith.  This  example  was,  from  time  to  time,  followed 
by  the  faculty  and  trustees,  the  former  commemorating 
by  portraits  some  of  their  more  eminent  members,  and  the 
latter  ordering  portraits  of  some  of  those  who  had  con- 
nected their  names  with  the  university  by  benefactions  or 
otherwise,  such  as  Mr.  Cornell,  Senator  Morrill,  Mr.  Sage, 
Mr.  McGraw,  and  others.  The  alumni  and  undergradu- 


408  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VII 

ates  also  added  portraits  of  professors.  This  custom  has 
proved  very  satisfactory;  and  the  line  of  portraits  hang- 
ing in  the  library  cannot  fail  to  have  an  ennobling  influ- 
ence on  many  of  those  who,  day  after  day,  sit  beneath 
them. 

But  the  erection  of  these  new  buildings— Sage  College, 
Sage  Chapel,  Barnes  Hall,  and,  finally,  the  university  li- 
brary—afforded an  opportunity  to  do  something  of  a 
different  sort.  There  was  a  chance  for  some  effort  to 
promote  beauty  of  detail  in  construction,  and,  fortunately, 
the  forethought  of  Goldwin  Smith  helped  us  greatly  in 
this.  On  his  arrival  in  Ithaca,  just  after  the  opening  of 
the  university,  he  had  seen  that  we  especially  needed 
thoroughly  trained  artisans;  and  he  had  written  to  his 
friend  Auberon  Herbert,  asking  him  to  select  and  send 
from  England  a  number  of  the  best  he  could  find.  Nearly 
all  proved  of  value,  and  one  of  them  gave  himself  to  the 
work  in  a  way  which  won  my  heart.  This  was  Robert 
Richardson,  a  stone-carver.  I  at  first  employed  him  to 
carve  sundry  capitals,  corbels,  and  spandrels  for  the  presi- 
dent's house,  which  I  was  then  building  on  the  university 
grounds;  and  this  work  was  so  beautifully  done  that,  in 
the  erection  of  Sage  College,  another  opportunity  was 
given  him.  Any  One  who,  to-day,  studies  the  capitals  of 
the  various  columns,  especially  those  in  the  porch,  in  the 
loggia  of  the  northern  tower,  and  in  some  of  the  front 
windows,  will  feel  that  he  put  his  heart  into  the  work.  He 
wrought  the  flora  of  the  region  into  these  creations  of 
his,  and  most  beautifully.  But  best  of  all  was  his  work 
in  the  chapel.  The  tracery  of  the  windows,  the  capitals 
of  the  columns,  and  the  corbels  supporting  the  beams  of 
the  roof  were  masterpieces ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  no  invest- 
ment of  equal  amount  has  proved  to  be  of  more  value  to 
us,  even  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  instruction  of  our 
students,  than  these  examples  of  a  conscientious  devotion 
of  genius  and  talent  which  he  thus  gave  us. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Cornell  afforded  an  opportunity  for 
a  further  development  in  the  same  direction.  It  was  felt 


AN  UNSECTARIAN  PULPIT -1871-1904  409 

that  his  remains  ought  to  rest  on  that  beautiful  site,  in  the 
midst  of  the  institution  he  loved  so  well ;  and  I  proposed 
that  a  memorial  chapel  he  erected,  beneath  which  his  re- 
mains and  those  of  other  benefactors  of  the  university 
might  rest,  and  that  it  should  be  made  beautiful.  This  was 
done.  The  stone  vaulting,  the  tracery,  and  other  decora- 
tive work,  planned  by  our  professor  of  architecture,  and 
carried  out  as  a  labor  of  love  by  Richardson,  were  all  that 
I  could  desire.  The  trustees,  entering  heartily  into  the 
plan,  authorized  me  to  make  an  arrangement  with  Story, 
the  American  sculptor  at  Rome,  to  execute  a  reclining 
statue  of  Mr.  Cornell  above  the  crypt  where  rest  his 
remains ;  and  citizens  of  Ithaca  also  authorized  me  to  se- 
cure in  London  the  memorial  window  beneath  which  the 
statue  is  placed.  Other  memorials  followed,  in  the  shape 
of  statues,  busts,  and  tablets,  as  others  who  had  been  loved 
and  lost  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  chapel  crypt,  until  the 
little  building  has  become  a  place  of  pilgrimage.  In  the 
larger  chapel,  also,  tablets  and  windows  were  erected  from 
time  to  time ;  and  the  mosaic  and  other  decorations  of  the 
memorial  apse,  recently  erected  as  a  place  of  repose  for 
the  remains  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Sage,  are  a  beautiful 
development  of  the  same  idea. 

So,  too,  upon  the  grounds,  some  effort  was  made  to 
connect  the  present  with  the  past.  Here,  as  elsewhere  in 
our  work,  it  seemed  to  me  well  to  impress,  upon  the  more 
thinking  students  at  least,  the  idea  that  all  they  saw 
had  not  " happened  so,"  without  the  earnest  agency  of 
human  beings ;  but  that  it  had  been  the  result  of  the  earnest 
life-work  of  men  and  women,  and  that  no  life-work  to 
which  a  student  might  aspire  could  be  more  worthy.  In 
carrying  out  this  idea  upon  the  ' '  campus ' '  Goldwin  Smith 
took  the  lead  by  erecting  the  stone  seat  which  has  now 
stood  there  for  over  thirty  years.  Other  memorials  fol- 
lowed, among  them  a  drinking-f ountain,  the  stone  bridge 
across  the  Cascadilla,  the  memorial  seat  back  of  the  li- 
brary, the  entrance  gateway,  and  the  like;  and,  at  the 
lamented  death  of  Richardson,  another  English  stone- 


410  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VII 

carver  put  his  heart  into  some  of  the  details  of  the  newly 
erected  library. 

Meanwhile,  the  grounds  themselves  became  more  and 
more  beautiful.  There  was  indeed  one  sad  mistake;  and 
I  feel  bound,  in  self-defense,  to  state  that  it  was  made 
during  an  absence  of  mine  in  Europe :  this  was  the  erec- 
tion of  the  chemical  laboratory  upon  the  promontory 
northwest  of  the  upper  quadrangle.  That  site  afforded 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  views  in  our  own  or  any  other 
country.  A  very  eminent  American  man  of  letters,  who 
had  traveled  much  in  other  countries,  said  to  me,  as  we 
stood  upon  it,  "I  have  traveled  hundreds  of  miles  in  Eu- 
rope to  obtain  views  not  half  so  beautiful  as  this."  It 
was  the  place  to  which  Mr.  Cornell  took  the  trustees  at 
their  first  meeting  in  Ithaca,  when  their  view  from  it  led 
them  to  choose  the  upper  site  for  the  university  buildings 
rather  than  the  lower.  On  this  spot  I  remember  once 
seeing  Phillips  Brooks  evidently  overawed  by  the  amazing 
beauty  of  the  scene  spread  out  at  his  feet— the  great  am- 
phitheater to  the  south  and  southwest,  the  hills  beyond, 
and  Cayuga  Lake  stretching  to  the  north  and  northwest. 
But  though  this  part  of  the  grounds  has  been  covered  by 
a  laboratory  which  might  better  have  been  placed  else- 
where, much  is  still  left,  and  this  has  been  treated  so  as  to 
add  to  the  natural  charm  of  the  surroundings.  With  the 
exception  of  the  grounds  of  the  State  University  of  Wis- 
consin and  of  the  State  University  and  Stanford  Univer- 
sity in  California,  I  know  of  none  approaching  in  beauty 
those  of  Cornell.  I  feel  bound  to  say,  however,  that  there 
is  a  danger.  Thus  far,  though  mistakes  have  been  made 
here  and  there,  little  harm  has  been  done  which  is  irreme- 
diable. But  this  may  not  always  be  the  case.  In  my  view, 
one  of  the  most  important  things  to  be  done  by  the  trustees 
is  to  have  a  general  plan  most  carefully  decided  upon 
which  shall  be  strictly  conformed  to  in  the  erection  of  all 
future  buildings,  no  matter  what  their  size  or  character 
may  be.  This  has  been  urged  from  time  to  time,  but 


AN  UNSECTARIAN  PULPIT -1871-1904  411 

deferred.1  The  experience  of  other  universities  in  the 
United  States  is  most  instructive  in  this  respect.  Nearly 
every  one  of  them  has  suffered  greatly  from  the  want 
of  some  such  general  plan.  One  has  but  to  visit  almost 
any  one  of  them  to  see  buildings  of  different  materials  and 
styles— classical,  Eenaissance,  Gothic,  and  nondescript 
—thrown  together  in  a  way  at  times  fairly  ludicrous. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  in  founding  the  University  of  Virginia, 
was  wiser ;  and  his  beautiful  plan  was  carried  out  so  fully, 
under  his  own  eyes,  that  it  has  never  been  seriously  de- 
parted from.  At  Stanford  University,  thanks  to  the  wis- 
dom of  its  founders,  a  most  beautiful  plan  was  adopted, 
to  which  the  buildings  have  been  so  conformed  that  no- 
thing could  be  more  satisfactory;  and  recently  another 
noble  Calif ornian— Mrs.  Hearst— has  devoted  a  queenly 
gift  to  securing  a  plan  worthy  of  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia. At  the  opening  of  Cornell,  as  I  have  already 
said,  a  general  plan  was  determined  upon,  with  an  upper 
quadrangle  of  stone,  plain  but  dignified,  to  be  at  some 
future  time  architecturally  enriched,  and  with  a  freer 
treatment  of  buildings  on  other  parts  of  the  grounds ;  but 
there  is  always  danger,  and  I  trust  that  I  may  be  allowed 
to  remind  my  associates  and  successors  in  the  board  of 
trustees,  of  the  necessity,  in  the  future  development  of  the 
university,  for  a  satisfactory  plan,  suitable  to  the  site,  to 
be  steadily  kept  in  mind. 

1  It  has  now— 1904— been  very  intelligently  developed. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

BOCKS,  STORMS,  AND  PERIL— 1868-1874 

THUS  far  I  have  dwelt  especially  upon  the  steady  de- 
velopment of  the  university  in  its  general  system  of 
instruction,  its  faculty,  its  equipment,  and  its  daily  life; 
but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  all  was  plain  sailing.  On 
the  contrary,  there  were  many  difficulties,  some  discour- 
agements, and  at  times  we  passed  through  very  deep 
waters.  There  were  periods  when  ruin  stared  us  in  the 
face— when  I  feared  that  my  next  move  must  be  to  close 
our  doors  and  announce  the  suspension  of  instruction. 
The  most  serious  of  these  difficulties  were  financial.  Mr. 
Cornell  had  indeed  endowed  the  institution  munificently, 
and  others  followed  his  example:  the  number  of  men 
and  women  who  came  forward  to  do  something  for  it 
was  astonishing.  In  addition  to  the  great  endowments 
made  by  Mr.  Cornell,  Mr.  Sage,  Mr.  McGraw,  Mr.  Sibley, 
and  others,  which  aggregated  millions,  there  were  smaller 
gifts  no  less  encouraging:  Goldwin  Smith's  gift  of  his 
services,  of  his  library,  and  of  various  sums  to  increase 
it,  rejoiced  us  all;  and  many  other  evidences  of  confidence, 
in  the  shape  of  large  collections  of  books  and  material, 
cheered  us  in  that  darkest  period;  and  from  that  day  to 
this  such  gifts  have  continued. 

Some  of  the  minor  gifts  were  especially  inspiring, 
as  showing  the  breadth  of  interest  in  our  work.  One  of 
them  warmed  my  heart  when  it  was  made,  and  for  many 
years  afterward  cheered  me  amid  many  cares.  As  Mr.  Sage 
and  myself  were  one  day  looking  over  matters  upon  the 

412 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND   PERIL -1868 -1874         413 

grounds,  there  came  along,  in  his  rough  wagon,  a  plain 
farmer  from  a  distant  part  of  the  county,  a  hard-working 
man  of  very  small  means,  who  had  clearly  something 
upon  his  mind.  Presently  he  said:  "I  would  very  much 
like  to  do  something  for  the  university  if  I  could.  I  have 
no  money  to  give ;  but  I  have  thought  that  possibly  some 
good  elm-trees  growing  on  my  farm  might  be  of  use  to 
you,  and  if  you  wish  them  I  will  put  them  in  the  best  con- 
dition and  bring  them  to  you."  This  offer  we  gladly 
accepted;  the  farmer  brought  the  trees;  they  were  care- 
fully planted ;  they  have  now,  for  over  twenty  years,  given 
an  increasing  and  ever  more  beautiful  shade  to  one  of 
the  main  university  avenues ;  and  in  the  line  of  them  stands 
a  stone  on  which  are  engraved  the  words,  "Ostrander 
Elms." 

But  while  all  this  encouraged  us,  there  were  things  of  a 
very  different  sort.  Could  the  university  have  been  de- 
veloped gradually,  normally,  and  in  obedience  to  a  policy 
determined  solely  by  its  president,  trustees,  and  faculty, 
all  would  have  gone  easily.  But  our  charter  made  this  im- 
possible. Many  departments  must  be  put  into  operation 
speedily,  each  one  of  them  demanding  large  outlay  for 
buildings,  equipment,  and  instruction.  From  all  parts  of 
the  State  came  demands— some  from  friends,  some  from 
enemies— urging  us  to  do  this,  blaming  us  for  not  doing 
that,  and  these  utterances  were  echoed  in  various  presses, 
and  reechoed  from  the  State  legislature.  Every  nerve  had 
to  be  strained  to  meet  these  demands.  I  remember  well 
that  when  a  committee  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  trustees,  just 
before  the  organization  of  that  university,  visited  Cornell 
and  looked  over  our  work,  one  of  them  said  to  me:  "We 
at  least  have  this  in  our  favor :  we  can  follow  out  our  own 
conceptions  and  convictions  of  what  is  best;  we  have  no 
need  of  obeying  the  injunctions  of  any  legislature,  the 
beliefs  of  any  religious  body,  or  the  clamors  of  any  press ; 
we  are  free  to  do  what  we  really  believe  best,  as  slowly, 
and  in  such  manner,  as  we  see  fit."  As  this  was  said  a 
feeling  of  deep  envy  came  over  me :  our  condition  was  the 


414  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VIII 

very  opposite  of  that.  In  getting  ready  for  the  opening 
of  the  university  in  October,  1868,  as  required  by  our 
charter,  large  sums  had  to  be  expended  on  the  site  now  so 
beautiful,  but  then  so  unpromising.  Mr.  Cornell 's  private 
affairs,  as  also  the  constant  demands  upon  him  in  locating 
the  university  lands  on  the  northern  Mississippi,  kept  him 
a  large  part  of  the  time  far  from  the  university ;  and  my 
own  university  duties  crowded  every  day.  The  president 
of  a  university  in  those  days  tilled  a  very  broad  field.  He 
must  give  instruction,  conduct  examinations,  preside  over 
the  faculty,  correspond  with  .the  trustees,  address  the 
alumni  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  respond  to  calls 
for  popular  lectures,  address  the  legislature  from  time 
to  time  with  reference  to  matters  between  the  university 
and  the  State?  and  write  for  reviews  and  magazines ;  and 
all  this  left  little  time  for  careful  control  of  financial 
matters. 

In  this  condition  of  things  Mr.  Cornell  had  installed,  as 
' '  business  manager, ' '  a  gentleman  supposed  to  be  of  wide 
experience,  who,  in  everything  relating  to  the  ordinary 
financial  management  of  the  institution,  was  all-powerful. 
But  as  months  went  on  I  became  uneasy.  Again  and 
again  I  urged  that  a  careful  examination  be  made  of 
our  affairs,  and  that  reports  be  laid  before  us  which 
we  could  clearly  understand ;  but  Mr.  Cornell,  always  op- 
timistic, assured  me  that  all  was  going  well,  and  the 
matter  was  deferred.  Finally,  I  succeeded  in  impress- 
ing upon  my  colleagues  in  the  board  the  absolute  necessity 
of  an  investigation.  It  was  made,  and  a  condition  of 
things  was  revealed  which  at  first  seemed  appalling.  The 
charter  of  the  university  made  the  board  of  trustees  per- 
sonally liable  for  any  debt  over  fifty  thousand  dollars,  and 
we  now  discovered  that  we  were  owing  more  than  three 
times  that  amount.  At  this  Mr.  Cornell  made  a  character- 
istic proposal.  He  said:  "I  will  pay  half  of  this  debt  if 
you  can  raise  the  other  half. ' '  It  seemed  impossible.  Our 
friends  had  been  called  upon  so  constantly  and  for  such 
considerable  sums  that  it  seemed  vain  to  ask  them  for 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND  PERIL -1868 -1874         415 

more.  But  we  brought  together  at  Albany  a  few  of  the 
most  devoted,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  the  whole  amount  was 
subscribed :  four  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  agreed 
to  give  each  twenty  thousand  dollars ;  and  this,  with  Mr. 
Cornell's  additional  subscription,  furnished  the  sum 
needed. 

Then  took  place  one  of  the  things  which  led  me  later  in 
life,  looking  back  over  the  history  of  the  university,  to 
say  that  what  had  seemed  to  be  our  worst  calamities 
had  generally  proved  to  be  our  greatest  blessings.  Among 
these  I  have  been  accustomed  to  name  the  monstrous 
McGuire  attack  in  the  Assembly  on  Mr.  Cornell,  which 
greatly  disheartened  me  for  the  moment,  but  which  even- 
tually led  the  investigation  committee  not  only  to  show 
to  the  world  Mr.  Cornell's  complete  honesty  and  self- 
sacrifice,  but  to  recommend  the  measures  which  finally 
transferred  the  endowment  fund  from  the  State  to  the 
trustees,  thus  strengthening  the  institution  greatly.  So 
now  a  piece  of  good  luck  came  out  of  this  unexpected  debt. 
As  soon  as  the  subscription  was  made,  Mr.  George  W. 
Schuyler,  treasurer  of  the  university,  in  drawing  up  the 
deed  of  gift,  ended  it  with  words  to  the  following  effect : 
1  i  And  it  is  hereby  agreed  by  the  said  Ezra  Cornell,  Henry 
W.  Sage,  Hiram  Sibley,  John  McGraw,  and  Andrew  D. 
White,  that  in  case  the  said  university  shall  ever  be  in 
position  to  repay  their  said  subscriptions,  then  and  in  that 
case  the  said  entire  sum  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand 
dollars  shall  be  repaid  into  a  university  fund  for  the  cre- 
ation of  fellowships  and  scholarships  in  the  said  univer- 
sity." A  general  laugh  arose  among  the  subscribers,  Mr. 
McGraw  remarking  that  this  was  rather  offhand  dealing 
with  us ;  but  all  took  it  in  good  part  and  signed  the  agree- 
ment. It  is  certain  that  not  one  of  us  then  expected  in  his 
lifetime  to  see  the  university  able  to  repay  the  money ;  but, 
within  a  few  years,  as  our  lands  were  sold  at  better  prices 
than  we  expected,  the  university  was  in  condition  to  make 
restitution.  At  first  some  of  the  trustees  demurred  to 
investing  so  large  a  sum  in  fellowships  and  scholarships, 


416  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VIII 

and  my  first  effort  to  carry  through  a  plan  to  this  effect 
failed ;  but  at  the  next  meeting  I  was  successful ;  and  so,  in 
this  apparently  calamitous  revelation  of  debt  began  that 
system  of  university  fellowships  and  scholarships  which 
has  done  so  much  for  the  development  of  higher  instruc- 
tion at  Cornell. 

So  far  as  the  university  treasury  was  concerned,  mat- 
ters thenceforth  went  on  well.  Never  again  did  the  uni- 
versity incur  any  troublesome  debt ;  from  that  day  to  this 
its  finances  have  been  so  managed  as  to  excite  the  admi- 
ration even  of  men  connected  with  the  most  successful  and 
best  managed  corporations  of  our  country.  But  financial 
difficulties  far  more  serious  than  the  debt  just  referred 
to  arose  in  a  different  quarter.  In  assuming  the  ex- 
penses of  locating  and  managing  the  university  lands, 
protecting  them,  paying  taxes  upon  them,  and  the  like,  Mr. 
Cornell  had  taken  upon  himself  a  fearful  load,  and  it 
pressed  upon  him  heavily.  But  this  was  not  all.  It  was, 
indeed,  far  from  the  worst;  for,  in  his  anxiety  to  bring 
the  university  town  into  easy  connection  with  the  railway 
system  of  the  State,  he  had  invested  very  largely  in  local 
railways  leading  into  Ithaca.  Under  these  circumstances, 
while  he  made  heroic  efforts  and  sacrifices,  his  relations 
to  the  comptroller  of  the  State,  who  still  had  in  his  charge 
the  land  scrip  of  the  university,  became  exceedingly 
difficult.  At  the  very  crisis  of  this  difficulty  Mr.  Cornell's 
hard  work  proved  too  much  for  him,  and  he  lay  down  to 
die.  The  university  affairs,  so  far  as  the  land-grant  fund 
was  concerned,  seemed  hopelessly  entangled  with  his  own 
and  with  those  of  the  State:  it  seemed  altogether  likely 
that  at  his  death  the  institution  would  be  subjected  to 
years  of  litigation,  to  having  its  endowment  tied  up  in  the 
courts,  and  to  a  suspension  of  its  operations.  Happily,  we 
had  as  our  adviser  Francis  Miles  Finch,  since  justice  of 
the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  State,  and  now  dean  of  the 
Law  School— a  man  of  noble  character,  of  wonderfully 
varied  gifts,  an  admirable  legal  adviser,  devoted  person- 
ally to  Mr.  Cornell,  and  no  less  devoted  to  the  university. 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND   PERIL -1868 -1874         417 

He  set  at  work  to  disentangle  the  business  relations  of 
Mr.  Cornell  with  the  university,  and  of  both  with  the  State. 
Every  member  of  the  board,  every  member  of  Mr.  Cor- 
nelPs  family,— indeed,  every  member  of  the  community,— 
knew  him  to  be  honest,  faithful,  and  capable.  He  labored 
to  excellent  purpose,  and  in  due  time  the  principal  finan- 
cial members  of  the  board  were  brought  together  at  Ithaca 
to  consider  his  solution  of  the  problem.  It  was  indeed 
a  dark  day;  we  were  still  under  the  shadow  of  "Black 
Friday,"  the  worst  financial  calamity  in  the  history  of 
the  nation.  Mr.  Finch  showed  us  that  the  first  thing 
needful  was  to  raise  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  could  be  tendered  to  the  comptroller 
of  the  State  in  cash,  who,  on  receiving  it,  would  im- 
mediately turn  over  to  the  trustees  the  land  scrip,  which 
it  was  all-important  should  be  in  our  possession  at  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cornell.  He  next  pointed  out  the  measures 
to  be  taken  in  separating  the  interests  of  the  univer- 
sity from  Mr.  Cornell's  estate,  and  these  were  provided 
for.  The  sum  required  for  obtaining  control  of  the  land 
scrip  was  immediately  subscribed  as  a  loan,  virtually 
without  security,  by  members  of  the  board  then  present; 
though  at  that  depressing  financial  period  of  the  country 
strong  men  went  about  with  the  best  of  securities,  unable 
to  borrow  money  upon  them.  In  a  few  days  Mr.  Cornell 
was  dead;  but  the  university  was  safe.  Mr.  Finch's  plan 
worked  well  in  every  particular ;  and  this,  which  appeared 
likely  to  be  a  great  calamity,  resulted  in  the  board  of 
trustees  obtaining  control  of  the  landed  endowment  of 
the  institution,  without  which  it  must  have  failed.  But 
the  weeks  while  these  negotiations  were  going  on  were 
gloomy  indeed  for  me;  rarely  in  my  life  have  I  been  so 
unhappy.  That  crisis  of  our  fate  was  the  winter  of  1874. 
The  weather  was  cold  and  depressing,  my  family  far  off  in 
Syracuse.  My  main  refuge  then,  as  at  sundry  other  times 
of  deep  personal  distress,  was  in  work.  In  the  little  south- 
west room  of  the  president's  house,  hardly  yet  finished  and 
still  unfurnished,  I  made  my  headquarters.  Every  morn- 

L— 27 


418  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT -Till 

ing  a  blazing  fire  was  lighted  on  the  hearth;  every  clay  I 
devoted  myself  to  university  work  and  to  study  for  my  lec- 
tures. Happily,  my  subject  interested  me  deeply.  It  was 
"The  Age  of  Discovery'1;  and,  surrounded  with  my  books, 
1  worked  on,  forgetful,  for  the  time,  of  the  December 
storms  howling  about  the  house,  and  of  the  still  more  fear- 
ful storms  beating  against  the  university.  Three  new  lec- 
tures having  been  thus  added  to  my  course  on  the  Renais- 
sance period,  I  delivered  them  to  my  class;  and,  just  as  I 
was  finishing  the  last  of  them,  a  messenger  came  to  tell  me 
that  Mr.  Cornell  was  dying.  Dismissing  my  students,  I 
hurried  to  his  house,  but  was  just  too  late;  a  few  minutes 
before  my  arrival  his  eyes  had  closed  in  death.  But  his 
work  was  done  — nobly  done.  As  I  gazed  upon  his  dead 
face  on  that  9th  of  December,  1874,  1  remember  well 
that  my  first  feeling  was  that  he  was  happily  out  of  the 
struggle;  and  that,  wherever  he  might  be,  I  could  wish  to 
be  still  with  him.  But  there  was  no  time  for  unavailing 
regrets.  AVe  laid  him  reverently  and  affectionately  to 
rest,  in  the  midst  of  the  scenes  so  dear  to  him,  within  the 
sound  of  the  university  chimes  he  so  loved  to  hear,  and 
pressed  on  with  the  work. 

A  few  years  later  came  another  calamity,  not,  like  the 
others,  touching  the  foundations  and  threatening  the  ex- 
istence of  the  university,  yet  hardly  less  crushing  at  the 
time;  indeed,  with  two  exceptions,  it  was  the  most  depress- 
ing I  have  ever  encountered.  At  the  establishment  of  the 
university  in  Ithaca,  one  of  the  charter  trustees  who 
showed  himself  especially  munificent  to  the  new  enterprise 
was  Mi\  John  Mc(iraw.  One  morning,  while  I  was  in  the 
midst  of  the  large  collection  of  books  sent  by  me  from 
Kurope,  endeavoring  to  bring  them  into  some  order  be- 
fore the  opening  day,  his  daughter,  Miss  Jenny  McCJraw, 
came  in,  and  I  had  the  pleasure  of  showing  her  some  of 
oiii-  more  interesting  treasures.  She  was  a  woman  of  kind 
and  thought  fill  nature,  had  traveled  in  her  own  country 
and  abroad  to  good  purpose,  and  was  evidently  deeply 
interested.  Next  day  her  father  met  me  and  said:  "AVell, 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND   PERIL -1868 -1874         419 

you  are  pressing  us  all  into  the  service.  Jenny  came  home 
yesterday,  and  said  very  earnestly,  'I  wish  that  I  could 
do  something  to  help  on  the  university';  to  which  I  re- 
plied, 'Very  well.  Do  anything  you  like;  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  you  join  in  the  work.'  "  The  result  was  the  gift 
from  her  of  the  chime  of  bells  which  was  rung  at  the 
opening  of  the  university,  and  which,  with  the  additions 
afterward  made  to  it,  have  done  beautiful  service.  On  the 
bells  she  thus  gave  were  inscribed  the  verses  of  the  ninety- 
fifth  chant  of  Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam";  and  some 
weeks  afterward  I  had  the  pleasure  of  placing  in  her 
hands  what  she  considered  an  ample  return  for  her  gift— 
a  friendly  letter  from  Tennyson  himself,  containing  some 
of  the  stanzas  written  out  in  his  own  hand.  So  began  her 
interest  in  the  university— an  interest  which  never  fal- 
tered. 

A  few  years  later  she  married  one  of  our  professors,  an 
old  friend  of  mine,  and  her  marriage  proved  exceedingly 
happy;  but,  alas,  its  happiness  was  destined  to  be  brief! 
Less  than  two  years  after  her  wedding  day  she  was 
brought  home  from  Europe  to  breathe  her  last  in  her 
husband's  cottage  on  the  university  grounds,  and  was 
buried  from  the  beautiful  residence  which  she  had  built 
hard  by,  and  had  stored  with  works  of  art  in  every  field. 

At  the  opening  of  her  will  it  was  found  that,  while  she 
had  made  ample  provision  for  all  who  were  near  and  dear 
to  her,  and  for  a  multitude  of  charities,  she  had  left  to  the 
university  very  nearly  two  millions  of  dollars,  a  portion 
of  which  was  to  be  used  for  a  student  hospital,  and  the 
bulk  of  the  remainder,  amounting  to  more  than  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half,  for  the  university  library.  Her  husband 
joined  most  heartily  in  her  purpose,  and  all  seemed  ready 
for  carrying  it  out  in  a  way  which  would  have  made 
Cornell  University,  in  that  respect,  unquestionably  the 
foremost  on  the  American  continent.  As  soon  as  this  mu- 
nificent bequest  was  announced,  I  asked  our  leading  law- 
yer, Judge  Douglas  Boardman,  whether  our  charter  al- 
lowed the  university  to  take  it,  calling  his  attention  to  the 


420  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-VIII 

fact  that,  like  most  of  its  kind  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
it  restricted  the  amount  of  property  which  the  university 
could  hold,  and  reminding  him  that  we  had  already  ex- 
ceeded the  limit  thus  allowed.  To  this  he  answered  that 
the  restriction  was  intended  simply  to  prevent  the  endow- 
ment of  corporations  beyond  what  the  legislature  might 
think  best  for  the  commonwealth;  that  if  the  attorney- 
general  did  not  begin  proceedings  against  us  to  prevent 
our  taking  the  property,  no  one  else  could;  and  that  he 
would  certainly  never  trouble  us. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  Judge  Boardman  had  long  ex- 
perience and  was  at  the  time  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State,  I  banished  all  thought  of  difficulty;  though 
I  could  not  but  regret  that,  as  he  drew  Mrs.  Fiske's  will, 
and  at  the  same  time  knew  the  restrictions  of  our  charter, 
he  had  not  given  us  a  hint,  so  that  we  could  have  had  our 
powers  of  holding  property  enlarged.  It  would  have  been 
perfectly  easy  to  have  the  restrictions  removed,  and,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  legislature  shortly  afterward  removed 
them  entirely,  without  the  slightest  objection ;  but  this  ac- 
tion was  too  late  to  enable  us  to  take  the  McGraw-Fiske 
bequest. 

About  a  fortnight  after  these  assurances  that  we  were 
perfectly  safe,  Judge  Boardman  sent  for  me,  and  on  meet- 
ing him  I  found  that  he  had  discovered  a  decision  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals— rendered  a  few  years  before— which 
might  prevent  our  accepting  the  bequest. 

But  there  was  still  much  hope  of  inducing  the  main  heirs 
to  allow  the  purpose  of  Mrs.  Fiske  to  be  carried  out.  With- 
out imputing  any  evil  intentions  to  any  person,  I  fully  be- 
lieve—indeed, I  may  say  I  know— that,  had  the  matter 
been  placed  in  my  hands,  this  vast  endowment  would  have 
been  saved  to  us ;  but  it  was  not  so  to  be.  Personal  com- 
plications had  arisen  between  the  main  heir  and  two  of 
our  trustees  which  increased  the  embarrassments  of  the 
situation.  It  is  needless  to  go  into  them  now ;  let  all  that 
be  buried ;  but  it  may  at  least  be  said  that  day  and  night  I 
labored  to  make  some  sort  of  arrangement  between  the 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND  PERIL- 1868 -1874         421 

principal  heir  and  the  university,  and  finally  took  the 
steamer  for  Europe  in  order  to  meet  him  and  see  if  some 
arrangement  could  be  made.  But  personal  bitterness  had 
entered  too  largely  into  the  contest,  and  my  efforts  were 
in  vain.  Though  our  legal  advisers  insisted  that  the  uni- 
versity was  sure  of  winning  the  case,  we  lost  it  in  every 
court— first  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  then  in  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  and  finally  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  To  me  all  this  was  most  distressing.  The 
creation  of  such  a  library  would  have  been  the  culmina- 
tion of  my  work;  I  could  then  have  sung  my  Nunc 
dimittis.  But  the  calamity  was  not  without  its  compensa- 
tions. When  the  worst  was  known,  Mr.  Henry  W.  Sage, 
a  lifelong  friend  of  Mr.  McGraw  and  of  Mrs.  Fiske,  came 
to  my  house,  evidently  with  the  desire  to  console  me.  He 
said:  " Don't  allow  this  matter  to  prey  upon  you;  Jenny 
shall  have  her  library;  it  shall  yet  be  built  and  well  en- 
dowed. "  He  was  true  to  his  promise.  On  the  final  de- 
cision against  us,  he  added  to  his  previous  large  gifts  to  the 
university  a  new  donation  of  over  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  half  of  which  went  to  the  erection  of  the  present 
library  building,  and  the  other  half  to  an  endowment  fund. 
Professor  Fiske  also  joined  munificently  in  enlarging  the 
library,  adding  various  gifts  which  his  practised  eye 
showed  him  were  needed,  and,  among  these,  two  collec- 
tions, one  upon  Dante  and  one  in  Romance  literature,  each 
the  best  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States.  Mr.  William 
Sage  also  added  the  noted  library  in  German  literature 
of  Professor  Zarncke  of  Leipsic ;  and  various  others  con- 
tributed collections,  larger  or  smaller,  so  that  the  library 
has  become,  as  a  whole,  one  of  the  best  in  the  country.  As 
I  visit  it,  there  often  come  back  vividly  to  me  remem- 
brances of  my  college  days,  when  I  was  wont  to  enter  the 
Yale  library  and  stand  amazed  in  the  midst  of  the  sixty 
thousand  volumes  which  had  been  brought  together  dur- 
ing one  hundred  and  fifty  years.  They  filled  me  with  awe. 
But  Cornell  University  has  now,  within  forty  years  from 
its  foundation,  accumulated  very  nearly  three  hundred 


422  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VIII 

thousand  volumes,  many  among  them  of  far  greater  value 
than  anything  contained  in  the  Yale  library  of  my  day; 
and  as  I  revise  these  lines  comes  news  that  the  will  of  Pro- 
fessor Fiske,  who  recently  died  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
gives  to  the  library  all  of  his  splendid  collections  in  Italian 
history  and  literature  at  Florence,  with  the  addition  of 
nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars. 

Beside  these  financial  and  other  troubles,  another  class 
of  difficulties  beset  us,  which  were,  at  times,  almost  as  vexa- 
tious. These  were  the  continued  attacks  made  by  good 
men  in  various  parts  of  the  State  and  Nation,  who  thought 
they  saw  in  Cornell  a  stronghold— first,  of  ideas  in  re- 
ligion antagonistic  to  their  own ;  and  secondly,  of  ideas  in 
education  likely  to  injure  their  sectarian  colleges.  From 
the  day  when  our  charter  was  under  consideration  at 
Albany  they  never  relented,  and  at  times  they  were  violent. 
The  reports  of  my  inauguration  speech  were,  in  sundry 
denominational  newspapers,  utterly  distorted;  far  and 
wide  was  spread  the  story  that  Mr.  Cornell  and  myself 
were  attempting  to  establish  an  institution  for  the  propa- 
gation of  ' '  atheism ' '  and  ' '  infidelity. ' '  Certainly  nothing 
could  have  been  further  from  the  purpose  of  either  of  us. 
He  had  aided,  and  loved  to  aid,  every  form  of  Christianity  ; 
I  was  myself  a  member  of  a  Christian  church  and  a  trustee 
of  a  denominational  college.  Everything  that  we  could  do 
in  the  way  of  reasoning  with  our  assailants  was  in  vain. 
In  talking  with  students  from  time  to  time,  I  learned  that, 
in  many  cases,  their  pastors  had  earnestly  besought  them 
to  go  to  any  other  institution  rather  than  to  Cornell;  re- 
ports of  hostile  sermons  reached  us ;  bitter  diatribes  con- 
stantly appeared  in  denominational  newspapers,  and  es- 
pecially virulent  were  various  addresses  given  on  public 
occasions  in  the  sectarian  colleges  which  felt  themselves 
injured  by  the  creation  of  an  unsectarian  institution  on  so 
large  a  scale.  Typical  was  the  attack  made  by  an  eminent 
divine  who,  having  been  installed  as  president  over  one 
of  the  smaller  colleges  of  the  State,  thought  it  his  duty 
to  denounce  me  as  an  "atheist,"  and  to  do  this  especially 


ROCKS,   STORMS,  AND  PERIL -1868-1874         423 

in  the  city  where  I  had  formerly  resided,  and  in  the  church 
which  some  of  my  family  attended.  I  took  no  notice  of  the 
charge,  and  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  my  way;  but  the 
press  took  it  up,  and  it  recoiled  upon  the  man  who  made  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  comical  of  these  attacks  was  one  made 
by  a  clergyman  of  some  repute  before  the  Presbyterian 
Synod  at  Auburn  in  western  New  York.  This  gentleman, 
having  attended  one  or  two  of  the  lectures  by  Agassiz 
before  our  scientific  students,  immediately  rushed  off  to 
this  meeting  of  his  brethren,  and  insisted  that  the  great 
naturalist  was  '  '  preaching  atheism  and  Darwinism ' '  at  the  *- 
university.  He  seemed  about  to  make  a  decided  impres- 
sion, when  there  arose  a  very  dear  old  friend  of  mine,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Sherman  Canfield,  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Syracuse,  who,  fortunately,  was  a  scholar 
abreast  of  current  questions.  Dr.  Canfield  quietly  re- 
marked that  he  was  amazed  to  learn  that  Agassiz  had,  in 
so  short  a  time,  become  an  atheist,  and  not  less  astonished 
to  hear  that  he  had  been  converted  to  Darwinism;  that 
up  to  that  moment  he  had  considered  Agassiz  a  deeply 
religious  man,  and  also  the  foremost— possibly,  indeed, 
the  last— great  opponent  of  the  Darwinian  hypothesis.  He 
therefore  suggested  that  the  resolution  denouncing  Cor- 
nell University  brought  in  by  his  reverend  brother  be 
laid  on  the  table  to  await  further  investigation.  It  was  . 
thus  disposed  of,  and,  in  that  region  at  least,  it  was  never 
heard  of  more.  Pleasing  is  it  to  me  to  chronicle  the  fact 
that,  at  Dr.  Canfield 's  death,  he  left  to  the  university  a 
very  important  part  of  his  library. 

From  another  denominational  college  came  an  attack 
on  Goldwin  Smith.  One  of  its  professors  published,  in 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  " Gospel  Messenger,"  an  attack 
upon  the  university  for  calling  into  its  faculty  a  "  West- 
minster Reviewer";  the  fact  being  that  Goldwin  Smith 
was  at  that  time  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  had  never  written  for  the  "Westminster  Review" 
save  in  reply  to  one  of  its  articles.  So,  too,  when  there 
were  sculptured  on  the  stone  seat  which  he  had  ordered 


424  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -VIII 

carved  for  the  university  grounds  the  words,  "  Above  all 
nations  is  humanity, "  there  came  an  outburst.  Sundry 
pastors,  in  their  anxiety  for  the  souls  of  the  students,  could 
not  tell  whether  this  inscription  savored  more  of  atheism 
or  of  pantheism.  Its  simple  significance— that  the  claims 
of  humanity  are  above  those  of  nationality— entirely  es- 
caped them.  Pulpit  cushions  were  beaten  in  all  parts  of 
the  State  against  us,  and  solemn  warnings  were  renewed 
to  students  by  their  pastors  to  go  anywhere  for  their  edu- 
cation rather  than  to  Cornell.  Curiously,  this  fact  became 
not  only  a  gratuitous,  but  an  effective,  advertisement: 
many  of  the  brightest  men  who  came  to  us  in  those  days 
confessed  to  me  that  these  attacks  first  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  us. 

We  also  owed  some  munificent  gifts  to  this  same  cause. 
In  two  cases  gentlemen  came  forward  and  made  large  ad- 
ditions to  our  endowment  as  their  way  of  showing  disbe- 
lief in  these  attacks  or  contempt  for  them. 

Still,  the  attacks  were  vexatious  even  when  impotent. 
Ingenious  was  the  scheme  carried  out  by  a  zealous  young 
clergyman  settled  for  a  short  time  in  Ithaca.  Coming 
one  day  into  my  private  library,  he  told  me  that  he  was 
very  anxious  to  borrow  some  works  showing  the  more 
recent  tendencies  of  liberal  thought.  I  took  him  to  one 
of  my  book-cases,  in  which,  by  the  side  of  the  works  of 
Bossuet  and  Fenelon  and  Thomas  Arnold  and  Robertson 
of  Brighton,  he  found  those  of  Channing,  Parker,  Renan, 
Strauss,  and  the  men  who,  in  the  middle  years  of  the  last 
century,  were  held  to  represent  advanced  thought.  He 
looked  them  over  for  some  time,  made  some  excuse  for  not 
borrowing  any  of  them  just  then,  and  I  heard  nothing 
more  from  him  until  there  came,  in  a  denominational 
newspaper,  his  eloquent  denunciation  of  me  for  possessing 
such  books.  Impressive,  too,  must  have  been  the  utter- 
ances of  an  eminent  "  revivalist "  who,  in  various  West- 
ern cities,  loudly  asserted  that  Mr.  Cornell  had  died  la- 
menting his  inability  to  base  his  university  on  atheism, 
and  that  I  had  fled  to  Europe  declaring  that  in  America 
an  infidel  university  was,  as  yet,  an  impossibility. 


ROCKS,  STORMS,  AND   PERIL- 1868-1874         425 

For  a  long  time  I  stood  on  the  defensive,  hoping  that 
the  provisions  made  for  the  growth  of  religious  life 
among  the  students  might  show  that  we  were  not  so 
wicked  as  we  were  represented;  but,  as  all  this  seemed 
only  to  embitter  our  adversaries,  I  finally  determined  to 
take  the  offensive,  and  having  been  invited  to  deliver  a 
lecture  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Cooper  Institute  at  New 
York,  took  as  my  subject  "The  Battle-fields  of  Science/' 
In  this  my  effort  was  to  show  how,  in  the  supposed  in- 
terest of  religion,  earnest  and  excellent  men,  for  many 
ages  and  in  many  countries,  had  bitterly  opposed  various 
advances  in  science  and  in  education,  and  that  such  oppo- 
sition had  resulted  in  most  evil  results,  not  only  to  science 
and  education,  but  to  religion.  This  lecture  was  published 
in  full,  next  day,  in  the  "New  York  Tribune ";  extracts 
from  it  were  widely  copied;  it  was  asked  for  by  lecture 
associations  in  many  parts  of  the  country ;  grew  first  into 
two  magazine  articles,  then  into  a  little  book  which  was 
widely  circulated  at  home,  reprinted  in  England  with  a 
preface  by  Tyndall,  and  circulated  on  the  Continent  in 
translations,  was  then  expanded  into  a  series  of  articles  in 
the  '  *  Popular  Science  Monthly, ? '  and  finally  wrought  into 
my  book  on  "The  Warfare  of  Science  with  Theology." 
liTeach  of  these  forms  my  argument  provoked  attack ;  but 
all  this  eventually  created  a  reaction  in  our  favor,  even  in 
quarters  where  it  was  least  expected.  One  evidence  of  this 
touched  me  deeply.  I  had  been  invited  to  repeat  the 
lecture  at  New  Haven,  and  on  arriving  there  found  a 
large  audience  of  Yale  professors  and  students ;  but,  most 
surprising  of  all,  in  the  chair  for  the  evening,  no  less  a 
personage  than  my  revered  instructor,  Dr.  Theodore 
Dwight  Woolsey,  president  of  the  university.  He  was  of 
a  deeply  religious  nature ;  and  certainly  no  man  was  ever, 
under  all  circumstances,  more  true  to  his  convictions  of 
duty.  To  be  welcomed  by  him  was  encouragement  indeed. 
He  presented  me  cordially  to  the  audience,  and  at  the 
close  of  my  address  made  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he 
thoroughly  supported  my  positions  and  bade  me  God- 
speed. Few  things  in  my  life  have  so  encouraged  me. 


4:20  AS    UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT —VIII 

Attacks,  of  course,  continued  for  a  considerable  time, 
some  of  them  violent;  but,  to  my  surprise  and  satisfac- 
tion, when  my  articles  were  finally  brought  tog-ether  in 
book  form,  the  opposition  seemed  to  have  exhausted  itself. 
There  were  even  indications  of  approval  in  some  quarters 
where  the  articles  composing  it  had  previously  been  at- 
tacked; and  T  received  letters  thoroughly  in  sympathy 
witli  the  work  from  a  number  of  eminent  Christian  men, 
including  several  doctors  of  divinity,  and  among  these 
two  bishops,  one  of  the  Anglican  and  one  of  the  American 
Episcopal  Church. 

The  final  result  was  that  slander  against  the  university 
for  irreligion  was  confined  almost  entirely  to  very  nar- 
row circles,  of  waning  influence;  and  my  hope  is  that, 
as  its  formative  ideas  have  been  thus  welcomed  by  various 
leaders  of  thought,  and  have  filtered  down  through  the 
press  among  the  people  at  large,  they  have  done  some- 
thing to  free  the  path  of  future  laborers  in  the  field  of 
science  and  education  from  such  attacks  as  those  which 
Cornell  was  obliged  to  suffer. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

CONCLUDING  YEAES —1881-1885 

TO  this  work  of  pressing  on  the  development  of  the 
leading  departments  in  the  university,  establishing 
various  courses  of  instruction,  and  warding  off  attacks  as 
best  I  could,  was  added  the  daily  care  of  the  regular  and 
steady  administration  of  affairs,  and  in  this  my  duty  was 
to  cooperate  with  the  trustees,  the  faculty,  and  the  stu- 
dents. The  trustees  formed  a  body  differently  composed 
from  any  organization  for  university  government  up  to 
that  time.  As  a  rule,  such  boards  in  the  United  States 
were,  in  those  days,  self -perpetuating.  A  man  once  elected 
into  one  of  them  was  likely  to  remain  a  trustee  during 
his  natural  life ;  and  the  result  had  been  much  dry-rot  and, 
frequently,  a  very  sleepy  condition  of  things  in  American 
collegiate  and  university  administration.  In  drawing  the 
Cornell  charter,  we  provided  for  a  governing  body  by  first 
naming  a  certain  number  of  high  State  officers— the  gov- 
ernor, lieutenant-governor,  speaker,  president  of  the  State 
Agricultural  Society,  and  others ;  next,  a  certain  number 
of  men  of  special  fitness,  who  were  to  be  elected  by  the 
board  itself;  and,  finally,  a  certain  proportion  elected  by 
the  alumni  from  their  own  number.  Beside  these,  the  eld- 
est male  lineal  descendant  of  Mr.  Cornell,  and  the  presi- 
dent of  the  university,  were  trustees  ex  officio.  At  the  first 
nomination  of  the  charter  trustees,  Mr.  Cornell  proposed 
that  he  should  name  half  the  number  and  I  the  other  half. 
This  was  done,  and  pains  were  taken  to  select  men  accus- 
tomed to  deal  with  large  affairs.  A  very  important  pro- 

427 


428  AS   UNIVERSITY   PRESIDENT -IX 

vision  was  also  made  limiting  their  term  of  office  to  five 
years. 

Muring  the  first  nine  years  the  chairmanship  of  the 
hoard  was  held  by  Air.  Cornell,  but  at  his  death  Air. 
Henry  \V.  Sage  was  elected  to  it,  who,  as  long  as  he  lived, 
discharged  its  duties  with  the  greatest  conscientiousness 
and  ability.  To  the  finances  of  the  university  he  gave 
that  shrewd  care  which  had  enabled  him  to  build  up  his 
own  immense  business.  Freely  and  without  compensa- 
tion, he  bestowed  upon  the  institution  labor  for  which  any 
great  business  corporation  would  have  gladly  paid  him 
a  very  large  sum.  For  the  immediate  management,  in 
the  intervals  of  the  quarterly  meetings  of  the  board,  an 
executive  committee  of  the  trustees  was  created,  which 
also  worked  to  excellent  purpose. 

The  faculty,  which  was  at  first  comparatively  small, 
was  elected  by  the  trustees  upon  my  nomination.  In  de- 
ciding on  candidates,  I  put  no  trust  in  mere  paper  testi- 
monials, no  matter  from  what  source;  but  always  saw 
the  candidates  themselves,  talked  with  them,  and  then 
secured  confidential  communications  regarding  them  from 
those  who  knew  them  best.  The  results  were  good,  and 
to  this  hour  I  cherish  toward  the  faculty,  as  toward  the 
trustees,  a  feeling  of  the  deepest  gratitude.  Throughout 
all  the  hard  work  of  that  period  they  supported  me  heart- 
ily and  devotedly;  without  their  devotion  and  aid,  my 
whole  administration  would  have  been  an  utter  failure. 

To  several  of  these  I  have  alluded  elsewhere;  but  one 
should  be  especially  mentioned  to  whom  every  member  of 
the  faculty  must  feel  a  debt  of  gratitude  — Professor  Hi- 
ram Corson.  Xo  one  has  done  more  to  redress  the  balance 
between  the  technical  side  and  the  humanities.  His  writ- 
ings, lectures,  and  readings  have  been  a  solace  and  an  in- 
spiration to  many  of  us,  both  in  the  faculty  and 
among  the  students.  It  was  my  remembrance  of  the  effect 
of  his  readings  that  caused  me  to  urge,  at  a  public  address 
at  Yale  in  V.MiM,  the  establishment  not  only  of  professor- 
ships but  of  readerships  in  English  literature  in  all  our 


CONCLUDING  YEARS-1881-1885  429 

greater  institutions,  urging  especially  that  the  readers 
thus  called  should  every  day  present,  with  little  if  any  note 
or  comment,  the  masterpieces  of  our  literature.  I  can 
think  of  no  provision  which  would  do  more  to  humanize 
the  great  body  of  students,  especially  in  these  days  when 
other  branches  are  so  largely  supplanting  classical  studies, 
than  such  a  continuous  presentation  of  the  treasures  of  our 
language  by  a  thoroughly  good  reader.  What  is  needed  is 
not  more  talk  about  literature,  but  the  literature  itself. 
And  here  let  me  recall  an  especial  service  of  Professor 
Cor  son  which  may  serve  as  a  hint  to  men  and  women  of 
light  and  leading  in  the  higher  education  of  our  country. 
On  sundry  celebrations  of  Founder 's  Day,  and  on  various 
other  commemorative  occasions,  he  gave  in  the  university 
chapel  recitals  from  Milton,  Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and 
other  poets  of  the  larger  inspiration,  while  organ  inter- 
ludes were  given  from  the  great  masters  of  music.  Litera- 
ture and  music  were  thus  made  to  do  beautiful  service  as 
yokefellows.  It  has  been  my  lot  to  enjoy  in  various  capi- 
tals of  the  modern  world  many  of  the  things  which  men 
who  have  a  deep  feeling  for  art  most  rejoice  in,  but  never 
have  I  known  anything  more  uplifting  and  ennobling  than 
these  simple  commemorations. 

From  one  evil  which  has  greatly  injured  many  Ameri- 
can university  faculties,  especially  in  the  middle  and  west- 
ern States,  we  were  virtually  free.  This  evil  was  the  preva- 
lence of  feuds  between  professors.  Throughout  a  large 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  they  were  a  great  affliction. 
Twice  the  State  University  of  Michigan  was  nearly 
wrecked  by  them ;  for  several  years  they  nearly  paralyzed 
two  or  three  of  the  New  York  colleges;  and  in  one  of 
these  a  squabble  between  sundry  professors  and  the 
widow  of  a  former  president  was  almost  fatal.  Another 
of  the  larger  colleges  in  the  same  State  lost  a  very  emi- 
nent president  from  the  same  cause;  and  still  another, 
which  had  done  excellent  work,  was  dragged  down  and 
for  years  kept  down  by  a  feud  between  its  two  fore- 
most professors.  In  my  day,  at  Yale,  whenever  there 


430  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT- IX 

was  a  sudden  influx  of  students,  and  it  was  asked  whence 
they  came,  the  answer  always  was,  "Another  Western  col- 
lege has  burst  up";  and  the  "burst  up"  had  resulted, 
almost  without  exception,  from  faculty  quarrels. 

In  another  chapter  I  have  referred  to  one  of  these  ex- 
plosions which,  having  blown  out  of  a  Western  univer- 
sity the  president,  the  entire  board  of  trustees,  and  all 
the  assistant  professors  and  instructors,  convulsed  the 
State  for  years.  I  have  known  gifted  members  of  facul- 
ties, term  after  term,  substitute  for  their  legitimate  work 
impassioned  appeals  to  their  religious  denominations, 
through  synods  or  conferences,  and  to  the  pubiic  at  large 
through  the  press,— their  quarrels  at  last  entangling  other 
professors  and  large  numbers  of  students. 

In  my  "Plan  of  Organization"  I  called  attention  to  this 
evil,  and  laid  down  the  principle  that  "the  presence  of  no 
professor,  however  gifted,  is  so  valuable  as  peace  and  har- 
mony." The  trustees  acquiesced  in  this  view,  and  from 
the  first  it  was  understood  that,  at  any  cost,  quarrels  must 
be  prevented.  The  result  was  that  we  never  had  any  which 
were  serious,  nor  had  we  any  in  the  board  of  trustees.  One 
of  the  most  satisfactory  of  all  my  reflections  is  that  I  never 
had  any  ill  relations  with  any  member  of  either  body ;  that 
there  was  never  one  of  them  whom  I  did  not  look  upon  as 
a  friend.  My  simple  rule  for  the  government  of  my  own 
conduct  was  that  I  had  no  time  for  squabbling;  that  life 
was  not  long  enough  for  quarrels;  and  this  became,  I 
think,  the  feeling  among  all  of  us  who  were  engaged  in  the 
founding  and  building  of  the  university. 

As  regards  the  undergraduates,  I  initiated  a  system 
which,  so  far  as  is  known  to  me,  was  then  new  in  American 
institutions  of  learning.  At  the  beginning  of  every  year, 
and  also  whenever  any  special  occasion  seemed  to  require 
it,  I  summoned  the  whole  body  of  students  and  addressed 
them  at  length  on  the  condition  of  the  university,  on  their 
relations  to  it,  and  on  their  duties  to  it  as  well  as  to  them- 
selves; and  in  all  these  addresses  endeavored  to  bring 
home  to  them  the  idea  that  under  our  system  of  giving  to 


CONCLUDING  YEARS -1881-1885  431 

the  graduates  votes  in  the  election  of  trustees,  and  to  repre- 
sentative aluinni  seats  in  the  governing  board,  the  whole 
student  body  had  become,  in  a  new  sense,  part  of  the  in- 
stitution, and  were  to  be  held,  to  a  certain  extent,  respon- 
sible for  it.  I  think  that  all  conversant  with  the  history 
of  the  university  will  agree  that  the  results  of  thus  tak- 
ing the  students  into  the  confidence  of  the  governing 
board  were  happy.  These  results  were  shown  largely 
among  the  undergraduates,  and  even  more  strongly 
among  the  alumni.  In  all  parts  of  the  country  alumni 
associations  were  organized,  and  here  again  I  found  a 
source  of  strength.  These  associations  held  reunions  dur- 
ing every  winter,  and  at  least  one  banquet,  at  which  the 
president  of  the  university  was  invited  to  be  present.  So 
far  as  possible,  I  attended  these  meetings,  and  made  use 
of  them  to  strengthen  the  connection  of  the  graduates  with 
their  alma  mater. 

The  administrative  care  of  the  university  was  very  en- 
grossing. With  study  of  the  various  interests  combined 
within  its  organization ;  with  the  attendance  on  meetings 
of  trustees,  executive  committee,  and  faculty,  and  dis- 
cussion of  important  questions  in  each  of  these  bodies; 
with  the  general  oversight  of  great  numbers  of  students 
in  many  departments  and  courses;  with  the  constant  ne- 
cessity of  keeping  the  legislature  and  the  State  informed 
as  to  the  reasons  of  every  movement,  of  meeting  hostile 
forces  pressing  us  on  every  side,  of  keeping  in  touch  with 
our  graduates  throughout  the  country,  there  was  much 
to  be  done.  Trying  also,  at  times,  to  a  man  never  in 
robust  health  was  the  duty  of  addressing  various  as- 
semblies of  most  dissimilar  purposes.  Within  the  space 
of  two  or  three  years  I  find  mention  in  my  diaries  of  a 
large  number  of  addresses  which,  as  president  of  the  uni- 
versity, I  could  not  refuse  to  give;  among  these,  those 
before  the  legislature  of  the  State,  on  Technical  Educa- 
tion ;  before  committees  of  Congress,  on  Agriculture  and 
Technical  Instruction ;  before  the  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity, on  Education  with  Reference  to  Political  Life ;  before 


432  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -IX 

the  National  Teachers '  Association  at  Washington,  on  the 
Relation  of  the  Universities  to  the  State  School  Systems ; 
before  the  American  Social  Science  Association  of  New 
York,  on  Sundry  Ref  orrns  in  University  Management ;  be- 
fore the  National  Association  of  Teachers  at  Detroit,  on 
the  Relations  of  Universities  to  Colleges;  before  four 
thousand  people  at  Cleveland,  on  the  Education  of  the 
Freedmen;  before  the  Adalbert  College,  on  the  Concen- 
tration of  Means  for  the  Higher  Education;  before  the 
State  Teachers'  Association  at  Saratoga,  on  Education 
and  Democracy;  at  the  Centennial  banquet  at  Philadel- 
phia, on  the  American  Universities;  and  before  my 
class  at  Yale  University,  on  the  Message  of  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  to  the  Twentieth;  besides  many  public 
lectures  before  colleges,  schools,  and  special  assemblies. 
There  seemed  more  danger  of  wearing  out  than  of  rusting 
out,  especially  as  some  of  these  discourses  provoked  at- 
tacks which  must  be  answered.  Time  also  was  required 
for  my  duties  as  president  of  the  American  Social  Science 
Association,  which  lasted  several  years,  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can Historical  Society,  which,  though  less  engrossing,  im- 
posed for  a  time  much  responsibility.  Then,  too,  there 
was  another  duty,  constantly  pressing,  which  I  had  es- 
pecially at  heart.  The  day  had  not  yet  arrived  when  the 
president  of  the  university  could  be  released  from  his 
duties  as  a  professor.  I  had,  indeed,  no  wish  for  such 
release;  for,  of  all  my  duties,  that  of  meeting  my  senior 
students  face  to  face  in  the  lecture-room  and  interesting 
them  in  the  studies  which  most  interested  me,  and  which 
seemed  most  likely  to  fit  them  to  go  forth  and  bring  the 
influence  of  the  university  to  bear  for  good  upon  the  coun- 
try at  large,  was  that  which  I  liked  best.  The  usual  rou- 
tine of  administrative  cares  was  almost  hateful  to  me, 
and  I  delegated  minor  details,  as  far  as  possible,  to  those 
better  fitted  to  take  charge  of  them— especially  to  the  vice- 
president  and  registrar  and  secretary  of  the  faculty.  But 
my  lecture-room  I  loved.  Of  all  occupations,  I  know  of 
none  more  satisfactory  than  that  of  a  university  pro- 


CONCLUDING  YEARS -188 1-1885  433 

fessor  who  feels  that  he  is  in  right  relations  with  his 
students,  that  they  welcome  what  he  has  to  give  them, 
and  that  their  hearts  and  minds  are  developed,  day  by 
day,  by  the  work  which  he  most  prizes.  I  may  justly  say 
that  this  pleasure  was  mine  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan and  at  Cornell  University.  It  was  at  times  hard  to 
satisfy  myself;  for  next  to  the  pleasure  of  directing 
younger  minds  is  the  satisfaction  of  fitting  one's  self  to 
do  so.  During  my  ordinary  working-day  there  was  little 
time  for  keeping  abreast  with  the  latest  and  best  in  my 
department;  but  there  were  odds  and  ends  of  time,  day 
and  night,  and  especially  during  my  frequent  journeys  by 
rail  and  steamer  to  meet  engagements  at  distant  points, 
when  I  always  carried  with  me  a  collection  of  books  which 
seemed  to  me  most  fitted  for  my  purpose;  and  as  I  had 
trained  myself  to  be  a  rapid  reader,  these  excursions  gave 
me  many  opportunities. 

But  some  of  these  journeys  were  not  well  suited  to 
study.  During  the  first  few  years  of  the  university,  be- 
ing obliged  to  live  in  the  barracks  on  the  University  Hill 
under  many  difficulties,  I  could  not  have  my  family  with 
me,  and  from  Saturday  afternoon  until  Monday  morning 
was  given  to  them  at  Syracuse.  In  summer  the  journey 
by  Cayuga  Lake  to  the  New  York  Central  train  gave  me 
excellent  opportunity  for  reading  and  even  for  writing. 
But  in  winter  it  was  different.  None  of  the  railways  now 
connecting  the  university  town  with  the  outside  world 
had  then  been  constructed,  save  that  to  the  southward; 
and,  therefore,  during  those  long  winters  there  was  at 
least  twice  a  week  a  dreary  drive  in  wagon  or  sleigh, 
sometimes  taking  all  the  better  hours  of  the  day,  in  order 
to  reach  the  train  from  Binghamton  to  Syracuse.  Com- 
ing out  of  my  lecture-room  Friday  evening  or  Saturday 
morning,  I  was  conveyed  through  nearly  twenty-five  miles 
of  mud  and  slush  or  sleet  and  snow.  On  one  journey  my 
sleigh  was  upset  three  times  in  the  drifts  which  made  the 
roads  almost  impassable,  and  it  required  nearly  ten  hours 
to  make  the  entire  journey.  The  worst  of  it  was  that, 

I. -28 


434  AS   UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IX 

coming  out  of  my  heated  lecture-room  and  taking  an  open 
sleigh  at  Ithaca,  or  coming  out  of  the  heated  cars  and  tak- 
ing it  at  Cortland,  my  throat  became  affected,  and  for 
some  years  gave  me  serious  trouble. 

But  my  greater  opportunities— those  which  kept  me 
from  becoming  a  mere  administrative  machine— were  af- 
forded by  various  vacations,  longer  or  shorter.  During  the 
summer  vacation,  mainly  passed  at  Saratoga  and  the  sea- 
side, there  was  time  for  consecutive  studies  with  refer- 
ence to  my  work,  my  regular  lectures,  and  occasional  ad- 
dresses. But  this  was  not  all.  At  three  different  times  I 
was  summoned  from  university  work  to  public  duties. 
The  first  of  these  occasions  was  when  I  was  appointed 
by  President  Grant  one  of  the  commissioners  to  Santo 
Domingo.  This  appointment  came  when  I  was  thoroughly 
worn  out  with  university  work,  and  it  gave  me  a  chance 
of  great  value  physically  and  intellectually.  During  four 
months  I  was  in  a  world  of  thought  as  different  from 
anything  that  I  had  before  known  as  that  wonderful  is- 
land in  the  Caribbean  Sea  is  different  in  its  climate  from 
the  hills  of  central  New  York  swept  by  the  winds  of 
December.  And  I  had  to  deal  with  men  very  different 
from  the  trustees,  faculty,  and  students  of  Cornell.  This 
episode  certainly  broadened  my  view  as  a  professor,  and 
strengthened  me  for  administrative  duties. 

The  third  of  these  long  vacations  was  in  1879-80-81, 
when  President  Hayes  appointed  me  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary in  Berlin.  My  stay  at  that  post,  and  especially 
my  acquaintance  with  leaders  in  German  thought  and  with 
professors  at  many  of  the  Continental  universities,  did 
much  for  me  in  many  ways. 

It  may  be  thought  strange  that  I  could  thus  absent  my- 
self from  the  university,  but  these  absences  really  enabled 
me  to  maintain  my  connection  with  the  institution.  My 
constitution,  though  elastic,  was  not  robust;  an  uninter- 
rupted strain  would  have  broken  me,  while  variety  of 
occupation  strengthened  me.  Throughout  my  whole  life 
I  have  found  the  best  of  all  medicines  to  be  travel  and 


CONCLUDING  YEARS— 1881-1885  435 

change  of  scene.  Another  example  of  this  was  during  my 
stay  of  a  year  abroad  as  commissioner  at  the  Paris  Ex- 
position. During  that  stay  I  prepared  several  additions 
to  my  course  of  general  lectures,  and  during  my  official 
stay  in  Berlin  added  largely  to  my  course  on  German  his- 
tory. But  the  change  of  work  saved  me:  though  minor 
excursions  were  frequently  given  up  to  work  with  book 
and  pen,  I  returned  from  them  refreshed  and  all  the  more 
ready  for  administrative  duties. 

As  to  the  effect  of  such  absences  upon  the  university, 
I  may  say  that  it  accorded  with  the  theory  which  I  held 
tenaciously  regarding  the  administration  of  the  university 
at  that  formative  period.  I  had  observed  in  various 
American  colleges  that  a  fundamental  and  most  injurious 
error  was  made  in  relieving  trustees  and  faculty  from 
responsibility,  and  concentrating  all  in  the  president.  The 
result,  in  many  of  these  institutions,  had  been  a  sort  of 
atrojphy,— the  trustees  and  faculty  being,  whenever  an 
emergency  arose,  badly  informed  as  to  the  affairs  of  their 
institutions,  and  really  incapable  of  managing  them.  This 
state  of  things  was  the  most  serious  drawback  to  Presi- 
dent Tappan's  administration  at  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, and  was  the  real  cause  of  the  catastrophe  which 
finally  led  to  his  break  with  the  regents  of  that  university, 
and  his  departure  to  Europe,  never  to  return.  Worse  still 
was  the  downfall  of  Union  College,  Schenectady,  from 
the  position  which  it  had  held  before  the  death  of  Presi- 
dent Nott.  Under  Drs.  Nott  and  Tappan  the  tendency  in 
the  institutions  above  named  was  to  make  the  trustees 
in  all  administrative  matters  mere  ciphers,  and  to  make 
theTTaculty  more  and  more  incapable  of  administering  dis- 
cipline or  conducting  current  university  business.  That 
system  concentrated  all  knowledge  of  university  affairs 
and  all  power  of  every  sort  in  the  hands  of  the  president, 
and  relieved  trustees  and  faculty  from  everything  except 
nominal  responsibility.  From  the  very  beginning  I  de- 
termined to  prevent  this  state  of  things  at  Cornell.  Great 
powers  were  indeed  given  me  by  the  trustees,  and  I  used 


436  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT -IX 

them ;  but  in  the  whole  course  of  my  administration  I  con- 
stantly sought  to  keep  ample  legislative  powers  in  the 
board  of  trustees  and  in  the  faculty.  I  felt  that  the  uni- 
versity, to  be  successful,  should  not  depend  on  the  life  and 
conduct  of  any  one  man ;  that  every  one  of  those  called  to 
govern  and  to  manage  it,  whether  president  or  professor, 
should  feel  that  he  had  powers  and  responsibilities  in  its 
daily  administration.  Therefore  it  was  that  I  inserted  in 
the  fundamental  laws  of  the  university  a  provision  that 
the  confirmation  by  the  trustees  of  all  nominations  of 
professors  should  be  by  ballot ;  so  that  it  might  never  be  in 
the  power  of  the  president  or  any  other  trustee  unduly  to 
influence  selections  for  such  positions.  I  also  exerted  my- 
self to  provide  that  in  calling  new  professors  they  should 
be  nominated  by  the  president,  not  of  his  own  will,  but 
with  the  advice  of  the  faculty  and  should  be  confirmed  by 
the  trustees.  I  also  provided  that  the  elections  of  students 
to  fellowships  and  scholarships  and  the  administration  of 
discipline  should  be  decided  by  the  faculty,  and  by  bal- 
lot. The  especial  importance  of  this  latter  point  will  not 
escape  those  conversant  with  university  management.  I 
insisted  that  the  faculty  should  not  be  merely  a  committee 
to  register  the  decrees  of  the  president,  but  that  it  should 
have  full  legislative  powers  to  discuss  and  to  decide  uni- 
versity affairs.  Nor  did  I  allow  it  to  become  a  body 
merely  advisory:  I  not  only  insisted  that  it  should  have 
full  legislative  powers,  but  that  it  should  be  steadily 
trained  in  the  use  of  them.  On  my  nomination  the  trustees 
elected  from  the  faculty  three  gentlemen  who  had  shown 
themselves  especially  fitted  for  administrative  work  to  the 
positions  of  vice-president,  registrar,  and  secretary;  and 
thenceforth  the  institution  was  no  longer  dependent  on  any 
one  man.  To  the  first  of  these  positions  was  elected  Pro- 
fessor William  Channing  Russel ;  to  the  second,  Professor 
William  Dexter  Wilson ;  to  the  third,  Professor  George  C. 
Caldwell ;  and  each  discharged  his  duties  admirably. 

Of  the  last  two  of  these  I  have  already  spoken,  and  here 
some  record  should  be  made  of  the  services  rendered  by 


CONCLUDING  YEARS-1881-1885  437 

Dr.  Russel.  He  was  among  those  chosen  for  the  instruct- 
ing body  at  the  very  beginning.  Into  all  of  his  work  he 
brought  a  perfect  loyalty  to  truth,  with  the  trained  facul- 
ties of  a  lawyer  in  seeking  it  and  the  fearlessness  of  an 
apostle  in  announcing  it.  As  to  his  success  in  this  latter 
field,  there  may  be  given,  among  other  testimonies,  that  of 
an  unwilling  witness— a  young  scholar  of  great  strength 
of  mind,  who,  though  he  had  taken  deep  offense  at  sundry 
acts  of  the  professor  and  never  forgiven  them,  yet,  after  a 
year  in  the  historical  lecture-rooms  of  the  University  of 
Berlin,  said  to  me :  '  '  I  have  attended  here  the  lectures  of 
all  the  famous  professors  of  history,  and  have  heard  few 
who  equal  Professor  Russel  and  none  who  surpass  him  in 
ascertaining  the  really  significant  facts  and  in  clearly  pre- 
senting them." 

In  the  vice-presidency  of  the  faculty  he  also  rendered 
services  of  the  greatest  value.  No  one  was  more  devoted 
than  he  to  the  university  or  more  loyal  to  his  associates. 
There  was,  indeed,  some  friction.  His  cousin,  James  Rus- 
sell Lowell,  once  asked  me  regarding  this,  and  my  reply 
was  that  it  reminded  me  of  a  character  in  the  "Biglow 
Papers"  who  "had  a  dre'dful  winnin'  way  to  make  folks 
hate  him."  This  was  doubtless  an  overstatement,  but  it 
contained  truth ;  for  at  times  there  was  perhaps  lacking  in 
his  handling  of  delicate  questions  something  of  the  suavi- 
ter  in  modo.  His  honest  frankness  was  worthy  of  all 
praise ;  but  I  once  found  it  necessary  to  write  him :  ' i  I  am 
sorry  that  you  have  thought  it  best  to  send  me  so  unspar- 
ing a  letter,  but  no  matter ;  write  me  as  many  as  you  like ; 
they  will  never  break  our  friendship;  only  do  not  write 
others  in  the  same  strain. ' '  This  brought  back  from  him 
one  of  the  kindest  epistles  imaginable.  Uncompromising 
as  his  manner  was,  his  services  vastly  outweighed  all  the 
defects  of  his  qualities;  and  among  these  services  were 
some  of  which  the  general  public  never  dreamed.  I  could 
tell  of  pathetic  devotion  and  self-sacrifice  on  his  part,  not 
only  to  the  university,  but  to  individual  students.  No  pro- 
fessor ever  had  a  kindlier  feeling  toward  any  scholar  in 


438  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IX 

need,  sickness,  or  trouble.  Those  who  knew  him  best  loved 
him  most;  and,  in  the  hard,  early  days  of  the  university, 
he  especially  made  good  his  title  to  the  gratitude  of  every 
Cornellian,  not  only  by  his  university  work,  but  by  his  un- 
ostentatious devotion  to  every  deserving  student. 

As  to  my  professorial  work,  I  found  in  due  time  effec- 
tive aid  in  various  young  men  who  had  been  members  of 
my  classes.  Of  these  were  Charles  Kendall  Adams,  who 
afterward  became  my  successor  in  the  presidency  of  Cor- 
nell, and  George  Lincoln  Burr,  who  is  now  one  of  my  suc- 
cessors in  the  professorship  of  history. 

Thus  it  was  that  from  time  to  time  I  could  be  absent 
with  a  feeling  that  all  at  the  university  was  moving  on 
steadily  and  securely;  with  a  feeling,  indeed,  that  it  was 
something  to  have  aided  in  creating  an  institution  which 
could  move  on  steadily  and  securely,  even  when  the  hands 
of  those  who  had  set  it  in  motion  had  been  removed. 

There  was,  however,  one  temporary  exception  to  the  rule. 
During  my  absence  as  minister  at  Berlin  trouble  arose  in 
the  governing  board  so  serious  that  I  resigned  my  diplo- 
matic post  before  my  term  of  service  was  ended,  and  has- 
tened back  to  my  university  duties.  But  no  permanent 
injury  had  been  done ;  in  fact,  this  experience,  by  reveal- 
ing weaknesses  in  sundry  parts  of  our  system,  resulted 
in  permanent  good. 

Returning  thus  from  Berlin,  I  threw  myself  into  uni- 
versity work  more  heartily  than  ever.  It  was  still  difficult, 
for  our  lands  had  not  as  yet  been  sold  to  any  extent,  and 
our  income  was  sadly  insufficient.  The  lands  were  steadily 
increasing  in  value,  and  it  was  felt  that  it  would  be  a  great 
error  to  dispose  of  them  prematurely.  The  work  of  pro- 
viding ways  and  means  to  meet  the  constantly  increasing 
demands  of  the  institution  was  therefore  severe,  and  the 
loss  of  the  great  library  bequest  to  the  university  also 
tried  me  sorely;  but  I  labored  on,  and  at  last,  thanks  to 
the  admirable  service  of  Mr.  Sage  in  the  management  of 
the  lands,  the  university  was  enabled  to  realize,  for  the 
first  time,  a  large  capital  from  them.  Up  to  the  year  1885 


CONCLUDING  YEARS -1881-1885  439 

they  had  been  a  steady  drain  upon  our  resources;  now 
the  sale  of  a  fraction  of  them  yielded  a  good  revenue. 
For  the  first  time  there  was  something  like  ease  in  the 
university  finances. 

Twenty  years  had  now  elapsed  since  I  had  virtually 
begun  my  duties  as  president  by  drafting  the  university 
charter  and  by  urging  it  upon  the  legislature.  The  four 
years  of  work  since  my  return  from  Berlin  had  tried  me 
severely;  and  more  than  that,  I  had  made  a  pledge  some 
years  before  to  the  one  who,  of  all  in  the  world,  had  the 
right  to  ask  it,  that  at  the  close  of  twenty  years  of  service 
I  would  give  up  all  administrative  duties.  To  this  pledge 
I  was  faithful,  but  with  the  feeling  that  it  was  at  the  sac- 
rifice of  much.  The  new  endowment  coming  in  from  the 
sale  of  lands  offered  opportunities  which  I  had  longed  for 
during  many  weary  years;  but  I  felt  that  it  was  best  to 
put  the  management  into  new  hands.  There  were  changes 
needed  which  were  far  more  difficult  for  me  to  make  than 
for  a  new-comer— especially  changes  in  the  faculty,  which 
involved  the  severing  of  ties  very  dear  to  me. 

At  the  annual  commencement  of  1885,  the  twenty  years 
from  the  granting  of  our  charter  having  arrived,  I  pre- 
sented my  resignation  with  the  declaration  that  it  must 
be  accepted.  It  was  accepted  in  such  a  way  as  to  make 
me  very  grateful  to  all  connected  with  the  institution: 
trustees,  faculty,  and  students  were  most  kind  to  me.  As 
regards  the  first  of  these  bodies,  I  cannot  resist  the 
temptation  to  mention  two  evidences  of  their  feeling 
which  touched  me  deeply.  The  first  of  these  was  the 
proposal  that  I  should  continue  as  honorary  president  of 
the  university.  This  I  declined.  To  hold  such  a  position 
would  have  been  an  injury  to  my  successor;  I  knew  well 
that  the  time  had  come  when  he  would  be  obliged  to 
grapple  with  questions  which  I  had  left  unsettled  from 
a  feeling  that  he  would  have  a  freer  hand  than  I  could  have. 
But  another  tender  made  me  I  accepted:  this  was  that  I 
should  nominate  my  successor.  I  did  this,  naming  my  old 
student  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  who  had  succeeded 


440  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IX 

me  there  as  professor  of  history— Charles  Kendall  Adams ; 
and  so  began  a  second  and  most  prosperous  adminis- 
tration. 

In  thus  leaving  the  presidency  of  the  university,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  the  time  had  come  for  carrying  out  a 
plan  formed  long  before— the  transfer  to  the  univer- 
sity of  my  historical  and  general  library,  which  had  be- 
come one  of  the  largest  and,  in  its  field,  one  of  the  best 
private  collections  of  books  in  the  United  States.  The 
trustees  accepted  it,  providing  a  most  noble  room  for  it  in 
connection  with  the  main  university  library  and  with  the 
historical  lecture-rooms;  setting  apart,  also,  from  their 
resources,  an  ample  sum,  of  which  the  income  should  be 
used  in  maintaining  the  library,  in  providing  a  librarian, 
in  publishing  a  complete  catalogue,  and  in  making  the 
collection  effective  for  historical  instruction.  My  only 
connection  with  the  university  thenceforward  was  that  of 
a  trustee  and  member  of  its  executive  committee.  In  this 
position  it  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  and  sat- 
isfactions of  my  life  to  note  the  large  and  steady  develop- 
ment of  the  institution  during  the  two  administrations 
which  have  succeeded  my  own.  At  the  close  of  the  admin- 
istration of  President  Adams,  who  had  especially  distin- 
guished himself  in  developing  the  law  department  and 
various  other  important  university  interests,  in  strength- 
ening the  connection  of  the  institution  with  the  State,  and 
in  calling  several  most  competent  professors,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  gentleman  whose  acquaintance  I  had  made 
during  my  stay  as  minister  to  Germany,  he  being  at  that 
time  a  student  at  the  University  of  Berlin,— Dr.  Jacob 
Gould  Schurman,  whose  remarkable  powers  and  gifts  have 
more  than  met  the  great  expectations  I  then  formed  re- 
garding him,  and  have  developed  the  university  to  a  yet 
higher  point,  so  that  its  number  of  students  is  now,  as  I 
revise  these  lines,  over  three  thousand.  He,  too,  has  been 
called  to  important  duties  in  the  public  service;  and  he 
has  just  returned  after  a  year  of  most  valuable  work  as 
president  of  the  Commission  of  the  United  States  to  the 


CONCLUDING  YEARS-1S81-18S5  441 

Philippine  Islands,  the  university  progressing  during  his 
absence,  and  showing  that  it  has  a  life  of  its  own  and  is 
not  dependent  even  on  the  most  gifted  of  presidents. 

On  laying  down  the  duties  of  the  university  presidency, 
it  did  not  seem  best  to  me  to  remain  in  its  neighbor- 
hood during  the  first  year  or  two  of  the  new  administra- 
tion. Any  one  who  has  ever  been  in  a  position  similar 
to  mine  at  that  period  will  easily  understand  the  reason. 
It  is  the  same  which  has  led  thoughtful  men  in  the 
churches  to  say  that  it  is  not  well  to  have  the  old  pastor 
too  near  when  the  new  pastor  is  beginning  his  duties.  Obe- 
dient to  this  idea  of  leaving  my  successor  a  free  hand,  my 
wife  and  myself  took  a  leisurely  journey  through  England, 
France,  and  Italy,  renewing  old  acquaintances  and  making 
new  friends.  Returning  after  a  year,  I  settled  down 
again  in  the  university,  hoping  to  complete  the  book  for 
which  I  had  been  gathering  materials  and  on  which  I  had 
been  working  steadily  for  some  years,  when  there  came  the 
greatest  calamity  of  my  life,— the  loss  of  her  who  had  been 
my  main  support  during  thirty  years,— and  work  became, 
for  a  time,  an  impossibility.  Again  I  became  a  wanderer, 
going,  in  1888,  first  to  Scotland,  and  thence,  being  ordered 
by  physicians  to  the  East,  went  again  through  France  and 
Italy,  and  extended  the  journey  through  Egypt,  Greece, 
and  Turkey.  Of  the  men  and  things  which  seemed  most 
noteworthy  to  me  at  that  period  I  speak  in  other  chapters. 
From  the  East  I  made  my  way  leisurely  to  Paris,  with 
considerable  stops  at  Buda-Pesth,  Vienna,  Ulm,  Munich, 
Frankf  ort-on-the-Main,  Paris,  London,  taking  notes  in  li- 
braries, besides  collecting  books  and  manuscripts. 

Returning  to  the  United  States  in  the  autumn  of  1889, 
and  settling  down  again  in  my  old  house  at  Cornell,  I  was 
invited  to  give  courses  of  historical  lectures  at  various 
American  universities,  especially  one  upon  the  "Causes 
of  the  French  Revolution, "  at  Johns  Hopkins,  Columbian 
University  in  Washington,  the  University  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, Tulane  University  in  New  Orleans,  and  Stanford  Uni- 
versity in  California.  Excursions  to  these  institutions 


442  AS  UNIVERSITY  PRESIDENT-IX 

opened  a  new  epoch  in  my  life ;  but  of  this  I  shall  speak 
elsewhere. 

During  this  period  of  something  over  fifteen  years,  I 
have  been  frequently  summoned  from  these  duties,  which 
were  especially  agreeable  to  me— first,  in  1892,  as  minister 
to  Russia;  next,  in  1896,  as  a  member  of  the  Venezuelan 
Commission  at  Washington ;  and,  in  1897,  as  ambassador 
to  Germany.  I  have  found  many  men  and  things  which 
would  seem  likely  to  draw  me  away  from  my  interest  in 
Cornell;  but,  after  all,  that  which  has  for  nearly  forty 
years  held,  and  still  holds,  the  deepest  place  in  my 
thoughts  is  the  university  which  I  aided  to  found. 

Since  resigning  its  presidency  I  have,  in  many  ways, 
kept  in  relations  with  it ;  and  as  I  have,  at  various  times, 
returned  from  abroad  and  walked  over  its  grounds, 
visited  its  buildings,  and  lived  among  its  faculty  and 
students,  an  enjoyment  has  been  mine  rarely  vouchsafed 
to  mortals.  It  has  been  like  revisiting  the  earth  after 
leaving  it.  The  work  to  which  I  had  devoted  myself  for 
so  many  years,  and  with  more  earnestness  than  any  other 
which  I  have  ever  undertaken,  though  at  times  almost 
with  the  energy  of  despair,  I  have  now  seen  successful 
beyond  my  dreams.  Above  all,  as  I  have  seen  the  crowd 
of  students  coming  and  going,  I  have  felt  assured  that  the 
work  is  good.  It  was  with  this  feeling  that,  just  before  I 
left  the  university  for  the  embassy  at  Berlin,  I  erected  at 
the  entrance  of  the  university  grounds  a  gateway,  on 
which  I  placed  a  paraphrase  of  a  Latin  inscription  noted 
by  me,  many  years  before,  over  the  main  portal  of  the 
University  of  Padua,  as  follows : 

"  So  enter  that  daily  thou  mayest  become  more  learned 

and  thoughtful ; 

So  depart  that  daily  thou  mayest  become  more  useful 
to  thy  country  and  to  mankind." 

I  often  recall  the  saying  of  St.  Philip  Neri,  who,  in  the 
days  of  the  Elizabethan  persecutions,  was  wont  to  gaze 


CONCLUDING  YEARS- 1881-1885  443 

at  the  students  passing  out  from  the  gates  of  the  Eng- 
lish College  at  Rome,  on  their  way  to  Great  Britain, 
and  to  say:  "I  am  feasting  my  eyes  on  those  martyrs 
yonder."  My  own  feelings  are  like  his,  but  happier:  I 
feast  my  eyes  on  those  youths  going  forth  from  Cornell 
University  into  this  new  twentieth  century  to  see  great 
things  that  I  shall  never  see,  and  to  make  the  new  time 
better  than  the  old. 

During  my  life,  which  is  now  extending  beyond  the 
allotted  span  of  threescore  and  ten,  I  have  been  engaged, 
after  the  manner  of  my  countrymen,  in  many  sorts  of 
work,  have  become  interested  in  many  conditions  of  men, 
have  joined  in  many  efforts  which  I  hope  have  been  of 
use ;  but,  most  of  all,  I  have  been  interested  in  the  founding 
and  maintaining  of  Cornell  University,  and  by  the  part  I 
have  taken  in  that,  more  than  by  any  other  work  of  my  life, 
I  hope  to  be  judged. 


PAET  V 
IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SEEVICE 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

AS  ATTACHE  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG —1854-1855 

WHILE  yet  an  undergraduate  at  Yale,  my  favorite 
studies  in  history  and  some  little  attention  to 
international  law  led  me  to  take  special  interest  in  the 
diplomatic  relations  between  modern  states;  but  it  never 
occurred  to  me  that  I  might  have  anything  to  do  directly 
with  them. 

Having  returned  to  New  Haven  after  my  graduation, 
intending  to  give  myself  especially  to  modern  languages 
as  a  preparation  for  travel  and  historical  study  abroad, 
I  saw  one  day,  from  my  window  in  North  College,  my 
friend  Gilman,  then  of  the  class  above  mine,  since  presi- 
dent of  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  of  the  Carnegie 
Institution,  rushing  along  in  great  haste,  and,  on  going  out 
to  greet  him,  learned  that  he  had  been  invited  by  Governor 
Seymour  of  Connecticut,  the  newly  appointed  minister 
to  Russia,  to  go  with  him  as  an  attache,  and  that,  at  his  sug- 
gestion, a  similar  invitation  would  be  extended  to  me. 

While  in  doubt  on  the  matter,  I  took  the  train  for  New 
York  to  consult  my  father,  and,  entering  a  car,  by  a  happy 
chance  found  the  only  vacant  place  at  the  side  of  the  gov- 
ernor. I  had  never  seen  him,  except  on  the  platform  at  my 
graduation,  three  months  before ;  but  on  my  introducing 
myself,  he  spoke  kindly  of  my  argument  on  that  occasion, 
which,  as  he  was  "  pro-slavery "  and  I  "  anti-slavery, "  I 
had  supposed  he  would  detest ;  then  talked  pleasantly  on 
various  subjects,  and,  on  our  separating  at  New  York,  in- 
vited me  so  cordially  to  go  to  Russia  with  him  that  I  then 

447 


443  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -I 

and  there  decided  to  do  so,  arid,  on  meeting  my  father, 
announced  my  decision. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  1853,1  sailed  for  England, with 
Oilman,  and  in  London  awaited  Governor  Seymour,  who, 
at  the  last  moment,  had  decided  not  to  leave  Washington 
until  the  Senate  had  confirmed  his  nomination;  but  this 
delay  proved  to  be  fortunate,  for  thereby  opportunity  was 
afforded  me  to  see  some  interesting  men,  and  especially 
Mr.  Buchanan,  who  had  previously  been  minister  to  Rus- 
sia, was  afterward  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  at  that  time  minister  at  the  court  of  St.  James.  He 
was  one  of  the  two  or  three  best  talkers  I  have  ever  known, 
and  my  first  knowledge  of  his  qualities  in  this  respect  was 
gained  at  a  great  dinner  given  in  his  honor  by  Mr.  George 
Peabody,  the  banker.  A  day  or  two  before,  our  minister 
in  Spain,  Mr.  Soule,  and  his  son  had  each  fought  a  duel, 
one  with  the  French  ambassador,  the  Marquis  de  Turgot, 
and  the  other  with  the  Duke  of  Alba,  on  account  of  a 
supposed  want  of  courtesy  to  Mrs.  Soule;  and  the  con- 
versation being  directed  somewhat  by  this  event,  I  recall 
Mr.  Buchanan's  reminiscences  of  duels  which  he  had 
known  during  his  long  public  life  as  among  the  most  in- 
teresting I  have  ever  heard  on  any  subject. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  Governor  Seymour,  we  went 
on  to  Paris,  and  there,  placing  myself  in  the  family  of  a 
French  professor,  I  remained,  while  the  rest  of  the  party 
went  on  to  St.  Petersburg;  my  idea  being  to  hear  lectures 
on  history  and  kindred  subjects,  thus  to  fit  myself  by  flu- 
ency in  French  for  service  in  the  attacheship,  and,  by  other 
knowledge,  for  later  duties. 

After  staying  in  France  for  nearly  a  year,  having  re- 
ceived an  earnest  request  from  Governor  Seymour  to 
come  on  to  Russia  before  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  I 
left  Paris  about  the  middle  of  October  and  went  by  way  of 
Berlin.  In  those1  days  there  was  no  railroad  lyeyond  the 
eastern  frontier  of  Prussia,  and,  as  the  (Vimean  \Var  was 
ironic  on,  there  was  a  blockade  in  force  which  made  it 
impossible  to  enter  Russia  by  sea;  consequently  I  had 


AS  ATTACHfi  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG-1854-1855  449 

seven  days  and  seven  nights  of  steady  traveling  in  a  post- 
coach  after  entering  the  Russian  Empire. 

Arriving  at  the  Russian  capital  on  the  last  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1854,  I  was  most  heartily  welcomed  by  the  minister, 
who  insisted  that  I  should  enjoy  all  the  privileges  of 
residence  with  him.  Among  the  things  to  which  I  now 
look  back  as  of  the  greatest  value  to  me,  is  this  stay  of 
nearly  a  year  under  his  roof.  The  attacheship,  as  it  ex- 
isted in  those  days,  was  in  many  ways  a  good  thing  and  in 
no  way  evil ;  but  it  was  afterward  abolished  by  Congress 
on  the  ground  that  certain  persons  had  abused  its  privi- 
leges. I  am  not  alone  in  believing  that  it  could  again  be 
made  of  real  service  to  the  country :  one  of  the  best  secre- 
taries of  state  our  country  has  ever  had,  Mr.  Hamilton 
Fish,  once  expressed  to  me  his  deep  regret  at  its  sup- 
pression. 

Under  the  system  which  thus  prevailed  at  that  time, 
young  men  of  sufficient  means,  generally  from  the  leading 
universities,  were  secured  to  aid  the  minister,  without  any 
cost  to  the  government,  their  only  remuneration  being  an 
opportunity  to  see  the  life  and  study  the  institutions  of 
the  country  to  which  the  minister  was  accredited. 

The  duty  of  an  attache  was  to  assist  the  minister  in 
securing  information,  in  conducting  correspondence,  and 
in  carrying  on  the  legation  generally ;  he  was  virtually  an 
additional  secretary  of  legation,  and  it  was  a  part  of  my 
duty  to  act  as  interpreter.  As  such  I  was  constantly  called 
to  accompany  the  minister  in  his  conferences  with  his  col- 
leagues as  well  as  with  the  ministers  of  the  Russian  gov- 
ernment, and  also  to  be  present  at  court  and  at  ceremonial 
interviews :  this  was  of  course  very  interesting  to  me.  In 
the  intervals  of  various  duties  my  time  was  given  largely 
to  studying  such  works  upon  Russia  and  especially  upon 
Russian  history  as  were  accessible,  and  the  recent  history 
was  all  the  more  interesting  from  the  fact  that  some  of 
the  men  who  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  it  were  still  upon 
the  stage.  One  occasion  especially  comes  back  to  me, 
when,  finding  myself  at  an  official  function  near  an  old 

I.-29 


450  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-I 

general  who  was  allowed  to  sit  while  all  the  others  stood, 
I  learned  that  he  was  one  of  the  few  still  surviving  who 
had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  operations  against  Napo- 
leon, in  1812,  at  Moscow. 

It  was  the  period  of  the  Crimean  War,  and  at  our  lega- 
tion there  were  excellent  opportunities  for  observing  not 
only  society  at  large,  but  the  struggle  then  going  on  be- 
tween Russia  on  one  side,  and  Great  Britain,  France, 
Italy,  and  Turkey  on  the  other. 

The  main  duties  of  the  American  representative  were  to 
keep  his  own  government  well  informed,  to  guard  the  in- 
terests of  his  countrymen,  and  not  only  to  maintain,  but 
to  develop,  the  friendly  relations  that  had  existed  for 
many  years  between  Eussia  and  the  United  States.  A 
succession  of  able  American  ministers  had  contributed  to 
establish  these  relations :  among  them  two  who  afterward 
became  President  of  the  United  States— John  Quincy 
Adams  and  James  Buchanan ;  George  Mifflin  Dallas,  who 
afterward  became  Vice-President ;  John  Randolph  of  Ro- 
anoke;  and  a  number  of  others  hardly  less  important  in 
the  history  of  our  country.  Fortunately,  the  two  nations 
were  naturally  inclined  to  peaceful  relations ;  neither  had 
any  interest  antagonistic  to  the  other,  and  under  these 
circumstances  the  course  of  the  minister  was  plain :  it  was 
to  keep  his  government  out  of  all  entanglements,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  draw  the  two  countries  more  closely 
together.  This  our  minister  at  that  time  was  very  success- 
ful in  doing:  his  relations  with  the  leading  Russians, 
from  the  Emperor  down,  were  all  that  could  be  desired, 
and  to  the  work  of  men  like  him  is  largely  due  the  fact 
that  afterward,  in  our  great  emergency  during  the  Civil 
War,  Russia  showed  an  inclination  to  us  that  probably  had 
something  to  do  with  holding  back  the  powers  of  western 
Europe  from  recognizing  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

To  the  feeling  thus  created  is  also  due,  in  some  measure, 
the  transfer  of  Alaska,  which  has  proved  fortunate,  in 
spite  of  our  halting  and  unsatisfactory  administration  of 
that  region  thus  far. 


AS  ATTACHfi  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG- 1854-1855  451 

The  Czar  at  that  period,  Nicholas  I,  was  a  most  im- 
posing personage,  and  was  generally  considered  the  most 
perfect  specimen  of  a  human  being,  physically  speaking, 
in  all  Europe.  At  court,  in  the  vast  rooms  filled  with 
representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  at  the 
great  reviews  of  his  troops,  he  loomed  up  majestically, 
and  among  the  things  most  strongly  impressed  upon 
my  memory  is  his  appearance  as  I  saw  him,  just  before 
his  death,  driving  in  his  sledge  and  giving  the  military- 
salute. 

Nor  was  he  less  majestic  in  death.  In  the  spring  of  1855 
he  yielded  very  suddenly  to  an  attack  of  pneumonia, 
doubtless  rendered  fatal  by  the  depression  due  to  the  ill 
success  of  the  war  into  which  he  had  rashly  plunged; 
and  a  day  or  two  afterward  it  was  made  my  duty  to  at- 
tend, with  our  minister,  at  the  Winter  Palace,  the  first 
presentation  of  the  diplomatic  corps  to  the  new  Emperor, 
Alexander  II.  The  scene  was  impressive.  The  foreign 
ministers  having  been  arranged  in  a  semicircle,  with  their 
secretaries  and  attaches  beside  them,  the  great  doors  were 
flung  open,  and  the  young  Emperor,  conducted  by  his 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  Count  Nesselrode,  entered 
the  room.  Tears  were  streaming  down  his  cheeks,  and  he 
gave  his  address  with  deep  feeling.  He  declared  that  if 
the  Holy  Alliance  made  in  1815  had  been  broken,  it  was 
not  the  fault  of  Russia ;  that  though  he  longed  for  peace, 
if  terms  should  be  insisted  upon  by  the  Western  powers,  at 
the  approaching  Paris  conference,  incompatible  with  Rus- 
sian honor,  he  would  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  faith- 
ful country,— would  retreat  into  Siberia,— would  die  ra- 
ther than  yield. 

Then  occurred  an  incident  especially  striking.  From 
Austria,  which  only  seven  years  before  had  been  saved  by 
Russia  from  destruction  in  the  Austro-Hungarian  revolu- 
tion, Russia  had  expected,  in  ordinary  gratitude,  at  least 
some  show  of  neutrality.  But  it  had  become  evident  that 
gratitude  had  not  prevented  Austria  from  secretly  joining 
the  hostile  nations ;  therefore  it  was  that,  in  the  course  of 


452  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE -I 

the  address,  the  Emperor,  turning  to  the  Austrian  rep- 
resentative, Count  Esterhazy,  addressed  him  with  the 
greatest  severity,  hinted  at  the  ingratitude  of  his  govern- 
ment, and  insisted  on  Russia's  right  to  a  different  return. 
During  all  this  part  of  the  address  the  Emperor  Alexander 
fastened  his  eyes  upon  those  of  the  Austrian  minister  and 
spoke  in  a  manner  much  like  that  which  the  head  of  a 
school  would  use  toward  a  school-boy  caught  in  misdoing. 
At  the  close  of  this  speech  came  the  most  perfect  example 
of  deportment  I  had  ever  seen :  the  Austrian  minister,  hav- 
ing looked  the  Czar  full  in  the  face,  from  first  to  last, 
without  the  slightest  trace  of  feeling,  bowed  solemnly,  re- 
spectfully, with  the  utmost  deliberation,  and  then  stood 
impassive,  as  if  words  had  not  been  spoken  destined  to 
change  the  traditional  relations  between  the  two  great 
neighboring  powers,  and  to  produce  a  bitterness  which, 
having  lasted  through  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  bids  fair  to  continue  far  into  the  twentieth. 

Knowing  the  importance  of  this  speech  as  an  indication 
to  our  government  of  what  was  likely  to  be  the  course  of 
the  Emperor,  I  determined  to  retain  it  in  my  mind;  and, 
although  my  verbal  memory  has  never  been  retentive,  I 
was  able,  on  returning  to  our  legation,  to  write  the  whole 
of  it,  word  for  word.  In  the  form  thus  given,  it  was 
transmitted  to  our  State  Department,  where,  a  few  years 
since,  when  looking  over  sundry  papers,  I  found  it. 

Immediately  after  this  presentation  the  diplomatic 
corps  proceeded  to  the  room  in  which  the  body  of  Nicholas 
lay  in  state.  Heaped  up  about  the  coffin  were  the  jeweled 
crosses  and  orders  which  had  been  sent  him  by  the  various 
monarchs  of  the  world,  and,  in  the  midst  of  them,  the 
crowns  and  scepters  of  all  the  countries  he  had  ruled, 
among  them  those  of  Siberia,  Astrakhan,  Kazan,  Poland, 
the  Crimea,  and,  above  all,  the  great  crown  and  scepter  of 
the  empire.  At  his  fefet  two  monks  were  repeating  prayers 
for  the  dead;  his  face  and  form  were  still  as  noble  and 
unconquerable  as  ever. 

His  funeral  dwells  in  my  memory  as  the  most  imposing 


AS  ATTACHfi  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG -1854 -1855  453 

pageant  I  had  ever  seen.  When  his  body  was  carried  from 
the  palace  to  the  Fortress  Church,  it  was  borne  between 
double  lines  of  troops  standing  closely  together  on  each 
side  of  the  avenues  for  a  distance  of  five  miles ;  marshals 
of  the  empire  carried  the  lesser  crowns  and  imperial  in- 
signia before  his  body;  and  finally  were  borne  the  great 
imperial  crown,  orb,  and  scepter,  the  masses  of  jewels  in 
them,  and  especially  the  Orloff  diamond  swinging  in  the 
top  of  the  scepter,  flashing  forth  vividly  on  that  bright 
winter  morning,  and  casting  their  rays  far  along  the  ave- 
nues. Behind  the  body  walked  the  Emperor  Alexander 
and  the  male  members  of  the  imperial  family. 

Later  came  the  burial  in  the  Fortress  Church  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  on  the  island  of  the  Neva,  nearly  oppo- 
site the  Winter  Palace.  That,  too,  was  most  imposing. 
Choirs  had  been  assembled  from  the  four  great  cathedrals 
of  the  empire,  and  their  music  was  beyond  dreams.  At 
the  proper  point  in  the  service,  the  Emperor  and  his  bro- 
thers, having  taken  the  body  of  their  father  from  its 
coffin  and  wrapped  it  in  a  shroud  of  gold  cloth,  carried  it 
to  the  grave  near  that  of  Peter  the  Great,  at  the  right  of 
the  high  altar;  and,  as  it  was  laid  to  rest,  and  beautiful 
music  rose  above  us,  the  guns  of  the  fortress  on  all  sides 
of  the  church  sounded  the  battle-roll  until  the  whole  edi- 
fice seemed  to  rock  upon  its  foundations.  Never  had  I 
imagined  a  scene  so  impressive. 

Among  the  persons  with  whom  it  was  my  duty  to  deal, 
in  behalf  of  our  representative,  was  the  Prime  Minister  of 
Eussia,— the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,— Count  Nessel- 
rode.  He  was  at  that  period  the  most  noted  diplomatist 
in  the  world ;  for,  having  been  associated  with  Talleyrand, 
Metternich,  and  their  compeers  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
he  was  now  the  last  of  the  great  diplomatists  of  the  Napo- 
leonic period.  He  received  me  most  kindly  and  said,  "So 
you  are  beginning  a  diplomatic  career  ! ' '  My  answer  was 
that  I  could  not  begin  it  more  fitly  than  by  making  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Nestor  of  diplomacy,  or  words  to  that 
effect,  and  these  words  seemed  to  please  him.  Whenever 


454  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-I 

he  met  me  afterward  his  manner  was  cordial,  and  he 
seemed  always  ready  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  favor  the 
best  relations  between  the  two  countries. 

The  American  colony  in  Russia  at  that  period  was 
small,  and  visitors  were  few ;  but  some  of  these  enlivened 
us.  Of  the  more  interesting  were  Colonel  Samuel  Colt  of 
Hartford,  inventor  of  the  revolver  which  bears  his  name, 
and  his  companion,  Mr.  Dickerson,  eminent  as  an  expert 
in  mechanical  matters  and  an  authority  on  the  law  of 
patents.  They  had  come  into  the  empire  in  the  hope  of 
making  a  contract  to  supply  the  Russians  with  improved 
arms  such  as  the  allies  were  beginning  to  use  against  them 
in  the  Crimea;  but  the  heavy  conservatism  of  Russian 
officials  thwarted  all  their  efforts.  To  all  representations 
as  to  the  importance  of  improved  arms  the  answer  was, 
"Our  soldiers  are  too  ignorant  to  use  anything  but  the 
old  ' brown  Bess.'  The  result  was  that  the  Russian 
soldiers  were  sacrificed  by  thousands;  their  inferiority 
in  arms  being  one  main  cause  of  their  final  defeat. 

That  something  better  than  this  might  have  been  ex- 
pected was  made  evident  to  us  all  one  day  when  I  con- 
ducted these  gentlemen  through  the  Imperial  Museum  of 
the  Hermitage,  adjoining  the  Winter  Palace.  After  look- 
ing through  the  art  collections  we  went  into  the  room 
where  were  preserved  the  relics  of  Peter  the  Great,  and 
especially  the  machines  of  various  sorts  made  for  him  by 
the  mechanics  whom  he  called  to  his  aid  from  Holland  and 
other  Western  countries.  These  machines  were  not  then 
shut  up  in  cases,  as  they  now  are,  but  were  placed  about 
the  room  and  easy  of  access.  Presently  I  heard  Mr.  Dick- 
erson in  a  loud  voice  call  out:  "Good  God!  Sam,  come 
here!  Only  look  at  this!"  On  our  going  to  him,  he 
pointed  out  to  us  a  lathe  for  turning  irregular  forms  and 
another  for  copying  reliefs,  with  specimens  of  work  still 
in  them.  ' 1  Look  at  that, ' '  he  said.  ' '  Here  is  Blanchard  's 
turning-lathe,  which  only  recently  has  been  reinvented, 
which  our  government  uses  in  turning  musket-stocks,  and 
which  is  worth  a  fortune.  Look  at  those  reliefs  in  this 


AS   ATTACHE  AT   ST.  PETERSBURG— 1854-1855    455 

other  machine ;  here  is  the  very  lathe  for  copying  sculpture 
that  has  just  been  reinvented,  and  is  now  attracting  so 
much  attention  at  Paris.'1 

These  machines  had  stood  there  in  the  gallery,  open  to 
everybody,  ever  since  the  death  of  Peter,  two  hundred 
years  before,  and  no  human  being  had  apparently  ever 
taken  the  trouble  to  find  the  value  of  them. 

But  there  came  Americans  of  a  very  different  sort,  and 
no  inconsiderable  part  of  our  minister's  duties  was  to  keep 
his  hot-headed  fellow-citizens  from  embroiling  our  coun- 
try with  the  militant  powers. 

A  very  considerable  party  in  the  United  States  leaned 
toward  Russia  and  sought  to  aid  her  secretly,  if  not 
openly.  This  feeling  was  strongest  in  our  Southern  States 
and  among  the  sympathizers  with  slavery  in  our  Northern 
States,  a  main  agent  of  it  in  St.  Petersburg  being  Dr. 
Cottman  of  New  Orleans,  and  its  main  causes  being  the 
old  dislike  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  idea  among  pro-sla- 
very fanatics  that  there  was  a  tie  between  their  part  of 
our  country  and  Russia  arising  from  the  fact  that  while 
the  American  Republic  was  blessed  with  slavery,  the  Rus- 
sian Empire  was  enjoying  the  advantages  of  the  serf 
system.  This  feeling  might  have  been  very  different  had 
these  sympathizers  with  Russia  been  aware  that  at  this 
very  moment  Alexander  II  was  planning  to  abolish  the 
serf  system  throughout  his  whole  empire;  but  as  it  was, 
their  admiration  for  Russia  knew  no  bounds,  and  they 
even  persuaded  leading  Russians  that  it  would  not  be  a 
difficult  matter  to  commit  America  to  the  cause  of  Russia, 
even  to  aiding  her  with  arms,  men,  and  privateers. 

This  made  the  duty  of  the  American  minister  at  times 
very  delicate;  for,  while  showing  friendliness  to  Russia, 
he  had  to  thwart  the  efforts  of  her  over-zealous  American 
advocates.  Moreover,  constant  thought  had  to  be  exer- 
cised for  the  protection  of  American  citizens  then  within 
the  empire.  Certain  Russian  agents  had  induced  a  num- 
ber of  young  American  physicians  and  surgeons  who  had 
been  studying  in  Paris  to  enter  the  Russian  army,  and 


456  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE— I 

these,  having  been  given  pay  and  rapid  advancement,  in 
the  hope  that  this  would  strengthen  American  feeling 
favorable  to  the  Russian  cause,  were  naturally  hated  by 
the  Russian  surgeons;  hence  many  of  these  young  com- 
patriots of  ours  were  badly  treated, — some  so  severely 
that  they  died,— and  it  became  part  of  our  minister's  duty 
to  extricate  the  survivors  from  their  unfortunate  position. 
More  than  once,  on  returning  with  him  from  an  interview 
with  the  Minister  of  War,  I  saw  tears  in  Governor  Sey- 
mour's eyes  as  he  dwelt  upon  the  death  of  some  of  these 
young  fellows  whom  he  had  learned  to  love  during  their 
stay  in  St.  Petersburg. 

The  war  brought  out  many  American  adventurers,  some 
of  them  curiosities  of  civilization,  and  this  was  especially 
the  case  with  several  who  had  plans  for  securing  victory 
to  Russia  over  the  Western  powers.  All  sorts  of  nostrums 
were  brought  in  by  all  sorts  of  charlatans,  and  the  efforts 
of  the  minister  and  his  subordinates  to  keep  these  gentle- 
men within  the  limits  of  propriety  in  their  dealings  with 
one  another  and  with  the  Russian  authorities  were  at 
times  very  arduous.  On  one  occasion,  the  main  function- 
aries of  the  Russian  army  having  been  assembled  with 
great  difficulty  to  see  the  test  of  a  new  American  invention 
in  artillery,  it  was  found  that  the  inventor's  rival  had 
stolen  some  essential  part  of  the  gun,  and  the  whole  thing 
was  a  vexatious  failure. 

One  man  who  came  out  with  superb  plans  brought  a 
militia  colonel's  commission  from  the  governor  of  a  West- 
ern State  and  the  full  uniform  of  a  major-general.  At 
first  lie  hesitated  to  clothe  himself  in  all  his  glory,  and 
therefore  went  through  a  process  of  evolution,  beginning 
first  with  part  of  his  uniform  and  then  adding  more  as 
his  courage  rose.  During  this  process  he  became  the 
standing  joke  of  St.  Petersburg;  but  later,  when  he  had 
emerged  in  full  and  final  splendor,  he  became  a  man  of 
mark  indeed,  so  much  so  that  serious  difficulties  arose. 
Throughout  the  city  arc  various  corps  de  garde,  and  the 
sentinel  on  duty  before  each  of  these,  while  allowed  merely 


AS  ATTACHE  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG -1854 -1855    457 

to  present  arms  to  an  officer  of  lower  rank,  must,  when- 
ever he  catches  sight  of  a  general  officer,  call  out  the  entire 
guard  to  present  arms  with  the  beating  of  drums.  Here 
our  American  was  a  source  of  much  difficulty,  for  when- 
ever any  sentinel  caught  sight  of  his  gorgeous  epaulets  in 
the  distance  the  guard  was  instantly  called  out,  arms  pre- 
sented, and  drums  beaten,  much  to  the  delight  of  our 
friend,  but  even  more  to  the  disgust  of  the  generals  of  the 
Eussian  army  and  to  the  troops,  who  thus  rendered  ab- 
surd homage  and  found  themselves  taking  part  in  some- 
thing like  a  bit  of  comic  opera. 

Another  example  was  also  interesting.  A  New  York 
ward  leader— big,  rough,  and  rosy— had  come  out  as  an 
agent  for  an  American  breech-loading  musket  company, 
and  had  smuggled  specimens  of  arms  over  the  frontier. 
Arriving  in  St.  Petersburg,  he  was  presented  to  the  Em- 
peror, and  after  receiving  handsome  testimonials,  was  put 
in  charge  of  two  aides-de-camp,  who  took  him  and  his 
wife  about,  in  court  carriages,  to  see  the  sights  of  the 
Russian  capital.  At  the  close  of  his  stay,  wishing  to  make 
some  return  for  this  courtesy,  he  gave  these  two  officers 
a  dinner  at  his  hotel.  Our  minister  declined  his  invita- 
tion, but  allowed  the  secretary  and  me  to  accept  it,  and 
we  very  gladly  availed  ourselves  of  this  permission.  Ar- 
riving at  his  rooms,  we  were  soon  seated  at  a  table  splen- 
didly furnished.  At  the  head  of  it  was  the  wife  of  our 
entertainer,  and  at  her  right  one  of  the  Russian  officials, 
in  gorgeous  uniform;  at  the  other  end  of  our  table  was 
our  host,  and  at  his  right  the  other  Russian  official,  splen- 
didly attired ;  beside  the  first  official  sat  our  secretary,  and 
beside  the  other  was  the  place  assigned  to  me.  The  din- 
ner was  successful :  all  spoke  English,  and  all  were  happy ; 
but  toward  the  end  of  it  our  host,  having  perhaps  taken 
more  wine  than  was  his  wont,  grew  communicative,  and,  as 
ill  luck  would  have  it,  the  subject  of  the  conversation 
became  personal  courage,  whereupon  he  told  a  story.  Re- 
calling his  experience  as  a  deputy  sheriff  of  New  York,  he 
said: 


4.1S  IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERYICE-I 

"Wlion  those  river  pirates  who  murdered  a  sailor  in 
Xew  York  harbor  liad  to  be  hanged,  the  sheriff  of  the 
county  hadn't  the  courage  to  do  it  and  ordered  me  to 
hang  them.  I  rather  hated  the  business,  hut  I  made  every- 
thing ready,  and  when  the  time  came  1  took  an  extra  glass 
of  brandy,  cut  the  rope,  and  off  they  swung/' 

The  two  Russians  started  back  in  consternation.  Xot 
all  their  politeness  could  conceal  it  :  horror  of  horrors, 
they  were1  dining  with  a  hangman!  Besides  their  sense 
of  degradation  in  this  companionship,  superstitions  had 
been  bred  in  them  which  doubled  their  distress.  A  dead 
silence  fell  over  all.  I  was  the  first  to  break  it  by  remark- 
ing to  my  Russian  neighbor: 

"You  may  perhaps  not  know,  sir,  that  in  the  State  of 
Xew  York  the  taking  of  life  by  due  process  of  law  is 
considered  so  solemn  a  matter  that  we  intrust  it  to  the 
chief  executive  officers  of  our  counties, — to  our  sheriffs,— 
and  not  to  hangmen  or  executioners." 

lie  looked  at  me  very  solemnly  as  I  announced  this 
truth,  and  then,  after  a  solemn  pause,  gasped  out  in  a 
dubious,  awe-struck  voice,  "^lerci  bien,  monsieur."  But 
this  did  not  restore  gaiety  to  the  dinner.  Henceforth  it 
was  cold  indeed,  and  at  the  earliest  moment  possible  the 
Russian  officials  bowed  themselves  out,  and  no  doubt,  for 
a  long  time  afterward,  ascribed  any  ill  luck  which  befell 
them  to  this  scene  of  ill  omen. 

Another  case  in  which  this  irrepressible  compatriot 
figured  was  hardly  less  peculiar.  Having  decided  to  re- 
turn to  America,  and  the  blockade  being  still  in  force,  he 
secured  a  place  in  the  post-coach  for  the  seven  days  and 
seven  nights'  journey  to  the  frontier.  The  opportunities 
to  secure  such  passages  were  few  and  far  between,  since 
this  w;is  virtually  the  only  public  conveyance1  out  of  the 
empire.  As  he  was  obliged  to  have  his  passport  vised 
;it  the  Russian  Foreign  Office  in  order  that  he  might  leave 
the  country,  it  had  been  sent  by  the  legation  to  the  Rus- 
<\',\]\  authorities  a  fortnight  before  his  departure,  but 
under  various  pretexts  it  was  retained,  and  at  last  did  not 


AS   ATTACHE    AT   ST.  PETERSBURG-1854-1855    459 

arrive  in  time.  When  the  hour  of  departure  came  he  was 
at  the  post-house  waiting  for  his  pass,  and  as  he  had  been 
assured  that  it  would  duly  reach  him,  he  exerted  himself 
in  every  way  to  delay  the  coach.  He  bribed  one  subordi- 
nate after  another ;  but  at  last  the  delay  was  so  long  and 
the  other  passengers  so  impatient  that  one  of  the  higher 
officials  appeared  upon  the  scene  and  ordered  the  coach  to 
start.  At  this  our  American  was  wild  with  rage  and 
began  a  speech  in  German  and  English— so  that  all  the 
officials  might  understand  it— on  Russian  officials  and  on 
the  empire  in  general.  A  large  audience  having  gathered 
around  him,  he  was  ordered  to  remove  his  hat.  At  this 
he  held  it  on  all  the  more  firmly,  declared  himself  an 
American,  and  defied  the  whole  power  of  the  empire  to 
remove  it.  He  then  went  on  to  denounce  everything  in 
Russia,  from  the  Emperor  down.  He  declared  that  the 
officials  were  a  pack  of  scoundrels;  that  the  only  reason 
why  he  did  not  obtain  his  passport  was  that  he  had  not 
bribed  them  as  highly  as  they  expected;  that  the  empire 
ought  to  be  abolished ;  that  he  hoped  the  Western  powers 
in  the  war  then  going  on  would  finish  it— indeed,  that  he 
thought  they  would. 

There  was  probably  some  truth  in  his  remark  as  to  the 
inadequate  bribing  of  officials ;  but  the  amazing  thing  was 
that  his  audience  were  so  paralyzed  by  his  utterances  and 
so  overawed  by  his  attitude  that  they  made  no  effort  to 
arrest  him.  Then  came  a  new  scene.  While  they  were 
standing  before  him  thus  confounded,  he  suddenly  turned 
to  the  basket  of  provisions  which  he  had  laid  in  for  his 
seven  days'  journey,  and  began  pelting  his  audience, 
including  the  official  above  named,  with  its  contents,  hurl- 
ing sandwiches,  oranges,  and  finally  even  roast  chickens, 
pigeons,  and  partridges,  at  their  devoted  heads.  At 
last,  pressing  his  hat  firmly  over  his  brows,  he  strode 
forth  to  the  legation  unmolested.  There  it  took  some 
labor  to  cool  his  wrath;  but  his  passport  having  finally 
been  obtained,  we  secured  for  him  permission  to  use  post- 
horses,  and  so  he  departed  from  the  empire. 


460  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-I 

To  steer  a  proper  course  in  the  midst  of  such  fellow- 
citizens  was  often  difficult,  and  I  recall  multitudes  of  other 
examples  hardly  less  troublesome;  indeed,  the  career  of 
this  same  deputy  sheriff  at  St.  Petersburg  was  full  of 
other  passages  requiring  careful  diplomatic  intervention 
to  prevent  his  arrest. 

Luckily  for  these  gentlemen,  the  Russian  government 
felt,  just  at  that  time,  special  need  of  maintaining  friendly 
relations  with  the  powers  not  at  war  with  her,  and  the 
public  functionaries  of  all  sorts  were  evidently  ordered 
to  treat  Americans  with  extreme  courtesy  and  forbear- 
ance. 

One  experience  of  this  was  somewhat  curious.  Our  first 
secretary  of  legation  and  I,  having  gone  on  Easter  eve  to 
the  midnight  mass  at  the  Kazan  cathedral,  we  were  shown 
at  once  into  a  place  of  honor  in  front  of  the  great  silver 
iconostase  and  stationed  immediately  before  one  of  the 
doors  opening  through  it  into  the  inner  sanctuary.  At 
first  the  service  went  on  in  darkness,  only  mitigated  by 
a  few  tapers  at  the  high  altar ;  but  as  the  clock  struck  the 
hour  of  midnight  there  came  suddenly  the  roaring  of  the 
fortress  guns,  the  booming  of  great  bells  above  and 
around  us,  and  a  light,  which  appeared  at  the  opposite 
end  of  the  cathedral,  seemed  to  shoot  in  all  directions, 
leaving  trains  of  fire,  until  all  was  ablaze,  every  person 
present  holding  a  lighted  taper.  Then  came  the  mass, 
celebrated  by  a  bishop  and  his  acolytes  gorgeously  at- 
tired, with  the  swinging  of  censers,  not  only  toward  the 
ecclesiastics,  but  toward  the  persons  of  importance  pres- 
ent, among  whom  we  were  evidently  included.  Suddenly 
there  came  a  dead  stop,  stillness,  and  an  evident  atmo- 
sphere of  embarrassment.  Then  the  ceremony  began  again, 
and  again  the  censers  were  swung  toward  us,  and  again 
a  dead  stop.  Everything  seemed  paralyzed.  Presently 
there  came  softly  to  my  side  a  gentleman  who  said  in  a 
low  tone,  "You  are  of  the  American  legation f"  I  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative.  He  said,  ' '  This  is  a  very  inter- 
esting ceremony. "  To  this  I  also  assented.  He  then  said, 


AS  ATTACHE  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG- 1854-1855    461 

"Is  this  the  first  time  you  have  seen  it?"  "Yes,"  I  an- 
swered ;  "  we  have  never  been  in  Russia  at  Easter  before. ' ' 
He  then  took  very  formal  leave,  and  again  the  ceremony 
was  revived,  again  the  clouds  of  incense  rose,  and  again 
came  the  dead  stop.  Presently  the  same  gentleman  came 
up  again,  gently  repeated  very  much  the  same  questions 
as  before,  and  receiving  the  same  answers,  finally  said, 
with  some  embarrassment:  "Might  I  ask  you  to  kindly 
move  aside  a  little?  A  procession  has  been  waiting  for 
some  time  back  of  this  door,  and  we  are  very  anxious  to 
have  it  come  out  into  the  church."  At  this  Secretary 
Erving  and  I  started  aside  instantly,  much  chagrined  to 
think  that  we  had  caused  such  a  stoppage  in  such  a  cere- 
mony; the  doors  swung  open,  and  out  came  a  brilliant 
procession  of  ecclesiastics  with  crosses,  censers,  lights,  and 
banners. 

Not  all  of  our  troubles  were  due  to  our  compatriots. 
Household  matters  sometimes  gave  serious  annoyance. 
The  minister  had  embraced  a  chance  very  rare  in  Russia, 
—one  which,  in  fact,  almost  never  occurs,— and  had 
secured  a  large  house  fully  furnished,  with  the  servants, 
who,  from  the  big  chasseur  who  stood  at  the  back  of  the 
minister 's  sledge  to  the  boy  who  blew  the  organ  on  which 
I  practised,  were  serfs,  and  all,  without  exception,  docile, 
gentle,  and  kindly.  But  there  was  one  standing  enemy 
—vodka.  The  feeling  of  the  Russian  peasant  toward  the 
rough  corn-brandy  of  his  own  country  is  characteristic. 
The  Russian  language  is  full  of  diminutives  expressive 
of  affection.  The  peasant  addresses  his  superior  as  Ba- 
tushka,  the  affectionate  diminutive  of  the  word  which 
means  father;  he  addresses  the  mistress  of  the  house  as 
Matushka,  which  is  the  affectionate  diminutive  of  the  Rus- 
sian word  for  mother.  To  his  favorite  drink,  brandy,  he 
has  given  the  name  which  is  the  affectionate  diminutive 
of  the  word  voda,  water— namely,  vodka,  which  really 
means  "dear  little  water."  Vodka  was  indeed  our  most 
insidious  foe,  and  gave  many  evidences  of  its  power ;  but 
one  of  them  made  an  unwonted  stir  among  us. 


462  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-I 

One  day  the  minister,  returning  in  his  carriage  from 
making  sundry  official  visits,  summoned  the  housekeeper, 
a  Baltic-province  woman  who  had  been  admirably  brought 
up  in  an  English  family,  and  said  to  her : ' '  Annette  I  insist 
that  you  discharge  Ivan,  the  coachman,  at  once;  I  can't 
stand  him  any  longer.  This  afternoon  he  raced,  with  me  in 
the  carriage,  up  and  down  the  Nevsky,from  end  to  end,  with 
the  carriages  of  grand  dukes  and  ministers,  and,  do  my 
best,  I  could  not  stop  him.  He  simply  looked  back  at  me, 
grinned  like  an  idiot,  and  drove  on  with  all  his  might. 
It  is  the  third  time  he  has  done  this.  I  have  pardoned 
him  twice  on  his  solemn  pledge  that  he  would  do  better; 
but  now  he  must  go. ' '  Annette  assented,  and  in  the  even- 
ing after  dinner  came  in  to  tell  the  minister  that  Ivan  was 
going,  but  wished  to  beg  his  pardon  and  say  farewell. 

The  minister  went  out  rather  reluctantly,  the  rest  of  us 
following;  but  he  had  hardly  reached  the  anteroom  when 
Ivan,  a  great  burly  creature  with  a  long  flowing  beard  and 
caftan,  rushed  forward,  groveled  before  him,  embraced 
his  ankles,  laid  his  head  upon  his  feet,  and  there  remained 
mumbling  and  moaning.  The  minister  was  greatly  em- 
barrassed and  nervously  ejaculated:  "Take  him  away  I 
Take  him  away!"  But  all  to  no  purpose.  Ivan  could 
not  be  induced  to  relax  his  hold.  At  last  the  minister 
relented  and  told  Annette  to  inform  Ivan  that  he  would 
receive  just  one  more  trial,  and  that  if  he  failed  again  he 
would  be  sent  away  to  his  owner  without  having  any 
opportunity  to  apologize  or  to  say  good-bye. 

Very  interesting  to  me  were  the  houses  of  some  of  the 
British  residents,  and  especially  that  of  Mr.  Baird,  the 
head  of  the  iron-works  which  bore  his  name,  and  which, 
at  that  time,  were  considered  among  the  wonders  of  Rus- 
sia. He  was  an  interesting  character.  Noticing,  among 
the  three  very  large  and  handsome  vases  in  his  dining- 
room,  the  middle  one  made  up  of  the  bodies  of  three 
large  eagles  in  oxidized  silver  with  crowns  of  gold, 
I  was  told  its  history.  When  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander 
—who  afterward  became  the  second  emperor  of  that 


AS  ATTACHfi  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG -1854-1855  463 

name— announced  his  intention  of  joining  the  St.  Peters- 
burg Yacht  Club,  a  plan  was  immediately  formed  to 
provide  a  magnificent  trophy  and  allow  him  to  win  it, 
and  to  this  plan  all  the  members  of  the  club  agreed  except 
Baird.  He  at  once  said:  "No;  if  the  grand  duke's  yacht 
can  take  it,  let  him  have  it ;  if  not,  let  the  best  yacht  win. 
If  I  can  take  it,  I  shall. ' '  It  was  hoped  that  he  would  think 
better  of  it,  but  when  the  day  arrived,  the  other  yachts 
having  gradually  fallen  back,  Mr.  Baird  continued  the 
race  with  the  grand  duke  and  won.  As  a  result  he  was 
for  some  years  in  disfavor  with  the  high  officials  sur- 
rounding the  Emperor— a  disfavor  that  no  doubt  cost 
him  vast  sums ;  but  he  always  asserted  that  he  was  glad 
he  had  insisted  on  his  right. 

On  one  occasion  I  was  witness  to  a  sad  faux  pas  at  his 
dinner-table.  It  was  in  the  early  days  of  the  Crimean 
War,  and  an  American  gentleman  who  was  present  was 
so  careless  as  to  refer  to  Queen  Victoria's  proclamation 
against  all  who  aided  the  enemy,  which  was  clearly  leveled 
at  Mr.  Baird  and  his  iron-works.  There  was  a  scene  at 
once.  The  ladies  almost  went  into  hysterics  in  deprecation 
of  the  position  in  which  the  proclamation  had  placed 
them.  But  Mr.  Baird  himself  was  quite  equal  to  the 
occasion:  in  a  very  up-and-down  way  he  said  that  he  of 
course  regretted  being  regarded  as  a  traitor  to  his  country, 
but  that  in  the  time  of  the  alliance  against  the  first  Napo- 
leon his  father  had  been  induced  by  the  Russian  govern- 
ment to  establish  works,  and  this  not  merely  with  the 
consent,  but  with  the  warm  approval,  of  the  British  gov- 
ernment ;  in  consequence  the  establishment  had  taken  con- 
tracts with  the  Russian  government  and  now  they  must  be 
executed;  so  far  as  he  was  concerned  his  conscience  was 
entirely  clear;  his  duty  was  plain,  and  he  was  going  to 
do  it. 

On  another  occasion  at  his  table  there  was  a  very  good 
repartee.  The  subject  of  spiritualism  having  been  brought 
up,  some  one  told  a  story  of  a  person  who,  having  gone 
into  an  unfrequented  garret  of  an  old  family  residence, 


IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -I 

found  that  all  the  old  clothing  which  had  been  stored  there 
during  many  generations  had  descended  from  the  shelves 
and  hooks  and  had  assumed  kneeling  postures  about  the 
iloor.  All  of  us  heard  the  story  with  much  solemnity, 
when  good  old  Dr.  Law,  chaplain  of  the  British  church, 
broke  the  silence  with  the  words,  "That  must  have  been 
a  family  of  very  pious  habits."  This  of  course  broke  the 
spell. 

I  should  be  sorry  to  have  it  thought  that  all  my  stay 
in  the  Russian  capital  was  given  up  to  official  routine  and 
social  futilities.  Fortunately  for  me,  the  social  demands 
were  not  very  heavy.  The  war  in  the  Crimea,  steadily 
going  against  Russia,  threw  a  cloud  over  the  court  and 
city  and  reduced  the  number  of  entertainments  to  a  mini- 
mum. This  secured  me,  during  the  long  winter  evenings, 
much  time  for  reading,  and  in  addition  to  all  the  valuable 
treatises  L  could  find  on  Russia,  I  went  with  care  through 
an  extensive  course  in  modern  history. 

As  to  Russian  matters,  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be- 
come intimately  acquainted  with  Atkinson,  the  British 
traveler  in  Siberia.  Tie  had  brought  back  many  portf olios 
of  sketches,  and  his  charming  wife  had  treasured  up  a 
great  fund  of  anecdotes  of  people  and  adventure,  so  that 
I  seemed  for  a  time  to  know  Siberia  as  if  L  had  lived  there. 
Then  it  was  that  I  learned  of  the  beauties  and  capabilities 
of  its  southern  provinces.  The  Atkinsons  had  also 
brought  back  their  only  child,  a  son  born  on  the  Siberian 
steppe,  a  wonderfully  bright  youngster,  whom  they  des- 
tined for  the  British  navy.  lie  bore  a  name  which  I  fear 
may  at  times  have  proved  a  burden  to  him,  for  his  father 
and  mother  were  so  delighted  with  the  place  in  which  he 
was  born  that  they  called  him,  after  it,  "Alatow-Tain 
( 'hi bou la k/1  ' 

The  general  Russian  life, as  I  thus  saw  it, while  intensely 
interesting  in  many  respects,  was  certainly  not  cheerful. 
Despite  the  frivolity  dominant  among  the  upper  class  and 

1  Since  writ  instil"  ;il  10  ve.  T  h;tve  h;id  the  pi  <•;!  si  ire  of  receiving  ji  letter  from  this 
frenilen  MIL  who  h;is  for  -.MM"'  time  held  the  responsible  ;in<]  interesting  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  of  pulilie  inst  met  ion  in  the  I  I;i  \\\\  \\\\  \\  Ishmds.  his  son, 
;i  LTiiduMf  e  of  the  1 '  1 1  i  ve  rs  i  t  y  of  Michigan,  having  l>een  Secretary  of  tin-  Ter- 
riti  i'--  . 


AS  ATTACHE!  AT  ST.  PETERSBURG-1854-1855  465 

the  fetishism  controlling  the  lower  classes,  there  was,  espe- 
cially in  that  period  of  calamity,  a  deep  undertone  of 
melancholy.  Melancholy,  indeed,  is  a  marked  character- 
istic of  Russia,  and,  above  all,  of  the  peasantry.  They 
seem  sad  even  in  their  sports ;  their  songs,  almost  without 
exception,  are  in  the  minor  key;  the  whole  atmosphere  is 
apparently  charged  with  vague  dread  of  some  calamity. 
Despite  the  suppression  of  most  of  the  foreign  journals, 
and  the  blotting  out  of  page  after  page  of  the  newspapers 
allowed  to  enter  the  empire,  despite  all  that  the  secret  po- 
lice could  do  in  repressing  unfavorable  comment,  it  be- 
came generally  known  that  all  was  going  wrong  in  the 
Crimea.  News  came  of  reverse  after  reverse :  of  the  de- 
feats of  the  Alma  and  Inkerman,  and,  as  a  climax,  the  loss 
of  Sebastopol  and  the  destruction  of  the  Eussian  fleet.  In 
the  midst  of  it  all,  as  is  ever  the  case  in  Russian  wars, 
came  utter  collapse  in  the  commissariat  department; 
everywhere  one  heard  hints  and  finally  detailed  stories 
of  scoundrelism  in  high  places :  of  money  which  ought  to 
have  been  appropriated  to  army  supplies,  but  which  had 
been  expended  at  the  gambling-tables  of  Homburg  or  in 
the  Breda  quarter  at  Paris. 

Then  it  was  that  there  was  borne  in  upon  me  the  convic- 
tion that  Russia,  powerful  as  she  seems  when  viewed  from 
the  outside,  is  anything  but  strong  when  viewed  from  the 
inside.  To  say  nothing  of  the  thousand  evident  weaknesses 
resulting  from  autocracy,— the  theory  that  one  man,  and 
he,  generally,  not  one  of  the  most  highly  endowed,  can  do 
the  thinking  for  a  hundred  millions  of  people,— there  was 
nowhere  the  slightest  sign  of  any  uprising  of  a  great  na- 
tion, as,  for  instance,  of  the  French  against  Europe  in 
1792,  of  the  Germans  against  France  in  1813  and  in  1870, 
of  Italy  against  Austria  in  1859  and  afterward,  and  of  the 
Americans  in  the  Civil  War  of  1861.  There  were  cer- 
tainly many  noble  characters  in  Russia,  and  these  must 
have  felt  deeply  the  condition  of  things ;  but  there  being 
no  great  middle  class,  and  the  lower  class  having  been 
long  kept  in  besotted  ignorance,  there  seemed  to  be  no 
force  on  which  patriotism  could  take  hold. 

I.— 30 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

AS  ATTACHE  AND   BEAKER   OF  DESPATCHES 
IN    WAR-TIME— 1855 

rrillE  spring  of  1855  was  made  interesting  by  the  ar- 
1  rival  of  the  blockading  fleet  before  the  mouth  of  the 
Xeva,  and  shortly  afterward  I  went  down  to  look  at  it. 
It  was  a  most  imposing  sight:  long  lines  of  mighty  three- 
deckers  of  the  old  pattern,  British  and  French,  — one  hun- 
dred in  all,  — stretched  across  the  Gulf  of  Finland  in  front 
of  the  fortresses  of  Cronstadt.  Behind  the  fortresses  lay 
the  Russian  fleet,  helpless  and  abject;  and  yet,  as  events 
showed  during  our  own  Civil  War  half  a  dozen  years 
later,  a  very  slight  degree  of  inventive  ability  would  have 
enabled  the  Russians  to  annihilate  the  hostile  ileet,  and  to 
gain  the  most  prodigious  naval  victory  of  modern  times. 
Had  they  simply  taken  one  or  two  of  their  own  great 
ships  to  the  Baird  iron-works  hard  by,  and  plated  them 
with  railway  iron,  of  which  there  was  plenty,  they  could 
have  paralleled  the  destruction  of  our  old  wooden  frigates 
at  Norfolk  by  the  Mcrrumic,  but  on  a  vastly  greater 
scale.  '\  ft  this  simple  expedient  occurred  to  no  one;  and 
the  allied  fleet,  under  Sir  Richard  Dundas,  hade  defiance 
to  the  Russian  power  during  the  whole  summer. 

The  Russians  looked  more  philosophically  upon  the 
blockade  than  upon  their  reverses  in  the  Crimea,  but  thev 
acted  much  like  the  small  hoy  who  takes  revenge  on  the 
big  boy  by  making  faces  at  him.  Some  of  their  carica- 
tures on  their  enemies  were  very  clever.  Fortunately  for 
such  artistic  efforts,  the  British  had  given  them  a  fine 

4GG 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN   WAR-TIME-1855      467 

opportunity  during  the  previous  year,  when  Sir  Charles 
Napier,  the  commander  of  the  Baltic  fleet,  having  made 
a  boastful  speech  at  a  public  dinner  in  London,  and  in- 
vited his  hearers  to  dine  with  him  at  St.  Petersburg,  had 
returned  to  England,  after  a  summer  before  Cronstadt, 
without  even  a  glimpse  of  the  Kussian  capital. 

I  am  the  possessor  of  a  very  large  collection  of  his- 
torical caricatures  of  all  nations,  and  among  them  all 
there  is  hardly  one  more  spirited  and  comical  than  that 
which  represents  Sir  Charles  at  the  masthead  of  one  of 
his  frigates,  seeking,  through  a  spy-glass,  to  get  a  sight  at 
the  domes  and  spires  of  St.  Petersburg :  not  even  the  best 
efforts  of  Gillray  or  "H.  B.,"  or  Gavarni  or  Daumier,  or 
the  brightest  things  in  " Punch"  or  " Kladderadatsch ' ' 
surpass  it. 

Some  other  Eussian  efforts  at  keeping  up  public 
spirit  were  less  legitimate.  Popular  pictures  of  a  rude 
sort  were  circulated  in  vast  numbers  among  the  peas- 
ants, representing  British  and  French  soldiers  dese- 
crating churches,  plundering  monasteries,  and  murder- 
ing priests. 

Near  the  close  of  my  stay  I  made  a  visit,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Erving,  first  secretary  of  the  legation,  to  Mos- 
cow,—the  journey,  which  now  requires  but  twelve  hours, 
then  consuming  twenty- four;  and  a  trying  journey  it  was, 
since  there  was  no  provision  for  sleeping. 

The  old  Russian  capital,  and,  above  all,  the  Kremlin, 
interested  me  greatly;  but,  of  all  the  vast  collections  in 
the  Kremlin,  two  things  especially  arrested  my  attention. 
The  first  was  a  statue,— the  only  statue  in  all  those  vast 
halls,— and  there  seemed  a  wondrous  poetic  justice  in  the 
fact  that  it  represented  the  first  Napoleon.  The  other 
thing  was  an  evidence  of  the  feeling  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  toward  Poland.  In  one  of  the  large  rooms  was 
a  full-length  portrait  of  Nicholas's  elder  brother  and  im- 
mediate predecessor,  Alexander  I;  flung  on  the  floor  at 
his  feet  was  the  constitution  of  Poland,  which  he  had 
given,  and  which  Nicholas,  after  fearful  bloodshed,  had 


468  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-II 

taken  away ;  and  lying  near  was  the  Polish  scepter  broken 
in  the  middle. 

A  visit  to  the  Sparrow  Hills,  from  which  Napoleon 
first  saw  Moscow  and  the  Kremlin,  was  also  interesting; 
but  the  city  itself,  though  picturesque,  disappointed  me. 
Everywhere  were  filth,  squalor,  beggary,  and  fetishism. 
Evidences  of  official  stupidity  were  many.  In  one  of  the 
Kremlin  towers  a  catastrophe  had  occurred  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  Emperor's  funeral,  a  day  or  two  before  our 
arrival:  some  thirty  men  had  been  ringing  one  of  the 
enormous  bells,  when  it  broke  loose  from  its  rotten  fast- 
enings and  crashed  down  into  the  midst  of  the  ringers, 
killing  several.  Sad  reminders  of  this  slaughter  were 
shown  us ;  it  was  clearly  the  result  of  gross  neglect. 

Another  revelation  of  Russian  officialism  was  there 
vouchsafed  us.  Wishing  to  send  a  very  simple  mes- 
sage to  our  minister  at  St.  Petersburg,  we  went  to  the 
telegraph  office  and  handed  it  to  the  clerk  in  charge. 
Putting  on  an  air  of  great  importance,  he  began  a  long 
inquisitorial  process,  insisting  on  knowing  our  full  names, 
whence  we  had  come,  where  we  were  going,  how  long  we 
were  staying,  why  we  were  sending  the  message,  etc.,  etc. ; 
and  when  he  had  evidently  asked  all  the  questions  he 
could  think  of,  he  gravely  informed  us  that  our  message 
could  not  be  sent  until  the  head  of  the  office  had  given  his 
approval.  On  our  asking  where  the  head  of  the  office 
was,  he  pointed  out  a  stout  gentleman  in  military  uniform 
seated  near  the  stove  in  the  further  corner  of  the  room, 
reading  a  newspaper ;  and,  on  our  requesting  him  to  notify 
this  superior  being,  he  answered  that  he  could  not  thus 
interrupt  him;  that  we  could  see  that  he  was  busy.  At 
this  Erving  lost  his  temper,  caught  up  the  paper,  tore  it 
in  pieces,  threw  them  into  the  face  of  the  underling  with 
a  loud  exclamation  more  vigorous  than  pious,  and  we 
marched  out  defiantly.  Looking  back  when  driving  off 
in  our  droshky,  we  saw  that  he  had  aroused  the  entire  es- 
tablishment: at  the  door  stood  the  whole  personnel  of  the 
office,— the  military  commander  at  the  head,— all  gazing 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN  WAR-TIME-1855      469 

at  us  in  a  sort  of  stupefaction.  We  expected  to  hear  from 
them  afterward,  but  on  reflection  they  evidently  thought 
it  best  not  to  stir  the  matter. 

In  reviewing  this  first  of  my  sojourns  in  Russia,  my 
thoughts  naturally  dwell  upon  the  two  sovereigns  Nicho- 
las I  and  Alexander  II.  The  first  of  these  was  a  great 
man  scared  out  of  greatness  by  the  ever  recurring  specter 
of  the  French  Revolution.  There  had  been  much  to  make 
him  a  stern  reactionary.  He  could  not  but  remember  that 
two  Czars— his  father  and  grandfather— had  both  been 
murdered  in  obedience  to  family  necessities.  At  his  proc- 
lamation as  emperor  he  had  been  welcomed  by  a  revolt 
which  had  forced  him 

"  To  wade  through  slaughter  to  a  throne  — " 

a  revolt  which  had  deluged  the  great  parade-ground  of 
St.  Petersburg  with  the  blood  of  his  best  soldiers,  which 
had  sent  many  coffles  of  the  nobility  to  Siberia,  and  which 
had  obliged  him  to  see  the  bodies  of  several  men  who 
might  have  made  his  reign  illustrious  dangling  from  the 
fortress  walls  opposite  the  Winter  Palace.  He  had  been 
obliged  to  grapple  with  a  fearful  insurrection  in  Poland, 
caused  partly  by  the  brutality  of  his  satraps,  but  mainly 
by  religious  hatreds;  to  suppress  it  with  enormous  car- 
nage; and  to  substitute,  for  the  moderate  constitutional 
liberty  which  his  brother  had  granted,  a  cruel  despotism. 
He  had  thus  become  the  fanatical  apostle  of  reaction 
throughout  Europe,  and  as  such  was  everywhere  the  im- 
placable enemy  of  any  evolution  of  constitutional  liberty. 
The  despots  of  Europe  adored  him.  As  symbols  of  his 
ideals,  he  had  given  to  the  King  of  Prussia  and  to  the 
Neapolitan  Bourbon  copies  of  two  of  the  statues  which 
adorned  his  Nevsky  bridge— statues  representing  restive 
horses  restrained  by  strong  men ;  and  the  Berlin  populace, 
with  an  unerring  instinct,  had  given  to  one  of  these  the 
name  "Progress  checked, "  and  to  the  other  the  name 
'  *  Retrogression  encouraged. ' '  To  this  day  one  sees  every- 


470  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-II 

where  in  the  palaces  of  Continental  rulers,  whether  great 
or  petty,  his  columns  of  Siberian  porphyry,  jasper  bowls, 
or  malachite  vases— signs  of  his  approval  of  reaction. 

But,  in  justice  to  him,  it  should  be  said  that  there  was 
one  crime  he  did  not  commit  — a  crime,  indeed,  which  lie 
did  not  (hire  commit:  he  did  not  violate  his  oath  to  main- 
tain the  liberties  of  Finland.  That  was  reserved  for  the 
second  Nicholas,  now  on  the  Russian  throne. 

Whether  at  the  great  assemblages  of  the  Winter  Palace, 
or  at  the  reviews,  or  simply  driving  in  his  sledge  or  walking 
in  the  street,  he  overawed  all  men  by  his  presence.  When- 
ever I  saw  him,  and  never  more  cogently  than  during  that 
last  drive  of  his  just  before  his  death,  there  was  forced 
to  my  lips  the  thought:  "You  are  the  most  majestic  being 
ever  created."  Colossal  in  stature;  with  a  face  such  as 
one  finds  on  a  (Jreek  coin,  but  overcast  with  a  shadow  of 
Muscovite  melancholy;  with  a  bearing  dignified,  but  with 
a  manner  not  unkind,  he  bore  himself  like  a  god.  And 
yet  no  man  could  be  more  simple  or  affable,  whether  in 
his  palace  or  in  the  street.  Those  were  the  days  when  a 
Russian  Czar  could  drive  or  walk  alone  in  every  part  of 
every  city  in  his  empire.  lie  frequently  took  exercise  in 
walking  along  the  Xeva  quay,  and  enjoyed  talking  with 
any  friends  lie  met  — especially  with  members  of  the 
diplomatic  corps.  The  published  letters  of  an  American 
minister  —  Mr.  Dallas  — give  accounts  of  many  discussions 
thus  held  with  him. 

Then?  seemed  a  most  characteristic  mingling  of  his  bet- 
ter and  worse  qualities  in  the  two  promises  which,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  he  exacted  on  his  death-bed  from  his  son 
—  namely,  that  he  would  free  the  serfs,  and  that  he  would 
never  give  a  constitution  to  Poland. 

The  accession  of  this  son,  Alexander  II,  brought  a 
change  at  once :  we  all  felt  it.  While  he  had  the  big  Roma- 
noff frame  and  heauty  and  dignity,  he  had  less  of  the 
majesty  and  none  of  the  implacable  sternness  of  his  father. 
At  the  reception  of  the  diplomatic  corps  on  his  accession 
lie  showed  this  abundantly;  for,  despite  the  strong  decla- 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN  WAR-TIME-1855      471 

rations  in  his  speech,  his  tears  betrayed  him.  Reforms 
began  at  once— halting,  indeed,  but  all  tending  in  the  right 
direction.  How  they  were  developed,  and  how  so  largely 
brought  to  naught,  the  world  knows  by  heart.  Of  all  the 
ghastly  miscalculations  ever  made,  of  all  the  crimes  which 
have  cost  the  earth  most  dear,  his  murder  was  the  worst. 
The  murders  of  William  of  Orange,  of  Lincoln,  of  Gar- 
field,  of  Carnot,  of  Humbert  I,  did  not  stop  the  course  of 
a  beneficent  evolution;  but  the  murder  of  Alexander  II 
threw  Russia  back  into  the  hands  of  a  reaction  worse  than 
any  ever  before  known,  which  has  now  lasted  nearly  a 
generation,  and  which  bids  fair  to  continue  for  many 
more,  unless  the  Russian  reverses  in  the  present  war 
force  on  a  better  order  of  things.  For  me,  looking 
back  upon  those  days,  it  is  hard  to  imagine  even  the 
craziest  of  nihilists  or  anarchists  wild  enough  to  commit 
such  a  crime  against  so  attractive  a  man  fully  embarked 
on  so  blessed  a  career.  He,  too,  in  the  days  of  my  stay, 
was  wont  to  mingle  freely  with  his  people ;  he  even  went 
to  their  places  of  public  amusement,  and  he  was  fre- 
quently to  be  seen  walking  among  them  on  the  quays  and 
elsewhere.  In  my  reminiscences  of  the  Hague  Conference, 
I  give  from  the  lips  of  Prince  Munster  an  account  of  a 
conversation  under  such  circumstances :  the  Czar  walking 
on  the  quay  or  resting  on  a  seat  by  the  roadside,  while 
planning  to  right  a  wrong  done  by  a  petty  Russian  official 
to  a  German  student.  Therein  appears  not  only  a  deep 
sense  of  justice  and  humanity,  but  that  melancholy,  so 
truly  Russian,  which  was  deepest  in  him  and  in  his  uncle, 
the  first  Alexander.  There  dwell  also  in  my  memory 
certain  photographs  of  him  in  his  last  days,  shown  me 
not  long  before  his  death,  during  my  first  official  stay  at 
Berlin.  His  face  was  beautiful  as  of  old,  but  the  melan- 
choly had  deepened,  and  the  eyes  made  a  fearful  revela- 
tion ;  for  they  were  the  eyes  of  a  man  who  for  years  had 
known  himself  to  be  hunted.  As  I  looked  at  them  there 
came  back  to  me  the  remembrance  of  the  great,  beautiful, 
frightened  eyes  of  a  deer,  hunted  down  and  finally  at  my 


472  IX   THE    DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE- II 

mercy,  in  the  midst  of  a  lake  in  the  Adirondacks— eyes 
which  haunted  me  long  afterward.  And  there  comes  back 
the  scene  at  the  funeral  ceremony  in  his  honor  at  Berlin, 
coincident  with  that  at  St.  Petersburg— his  uncle,  the 
Emperor  William  I,  and  all  about  him,  in  tears,  and  a 
depth  of  real  feeling  shown  such  as  no  monarch  of  a 
coarser  fiber  could  have  inspired.  AY  hen  one  reflects  that 
he  had  given  his  countrymen,  among  a  great  mass  of 
minor  reforms,  trial  by  jury;  the  emancipation  of  twenty 
millions  of  serfs,  with  provision  for  homesteads;  and  had 
at  that  moment  —  as  his  adviser,  Loris  Melikoff,  confessed 
when  dying— a  constitution  ready  for  his  people,  one  feels 
inclined  to  curse  those  who  take  the  methods  of  revolution 
rather  than  those  of  evolution. 

My  departure  from  Kussia  embraces  one  or  two  inci- 
dents which  may  throw  some  light  upon  the  Russian 
civilization  of  that  period.  On  account  of  the  blockade,  I 
was  obliged  to  take  the  post  from  St.  Petersburg  to  AYar- 
saw,  giving  to  the  journey  seven  days  and  seven  nights  of 
steady  travel ;  and,  as  the  pressure  for  places  on  the  post 
was  very  great,  I  was  obliged  to  secure  mine  several  weeks 
beforehand,  and  then  thought  myself  especially  lucky  in 
obtaining  a  sort  of  sentry-box  on  the  roof  of  the  second 
coach  usually  occupied  by  the  guard.  This  good  luck  was 
due  to  the  fact  that,  there  being  on  that  day  two  coaches, 
one  guard  served  for  both ;  and  the  place  on  the  second 
was  thus  left  vacant  for  me. 

Day  and  night,  then,  during  that  whole  week,  we  rum- 
bled on  through  the  interminable  forests  of  Poland,  and 
the  distressingly  dirty  hamlets  and  towns  scattered  along 
the  road.  My  first  night  out  was  trying,  for  it  was  very 
cold;  but,  having  secured  from  a  dealer  in  the  first 
town  whore  we  si  op]  ted  in  the  morning  a  large  sheet  of 
felt,  I  wrapped  my  legs  in  it,  and  thenceforward  was 
comfortable.  My  companions  in  the  two  post-coaches 
were  very  lively,  iK'ing  mainly  French  actors  and  actresses 
who  had  just  finished  their  winter  campaign  in  Russia; 
and,  when  we  changed  horses  at  the  post-houses,  the  scenes 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN   WAR-TIME -1855      473 

were  of  a  sort  which  an  American  orator  once  character- 
ized as  "halcyon  and  vociferous. " 

Bearing  a  despatch-bag  to  our  legation  at  Paris,  I  car- 
ried the  pass,  not  only  of  an  attache,  but  of  a  bearer  of 
despatches,  and  on  my  departure  our  minister  said  to  me : 
"The  Russian  officials  at  the  frontier  have  given  much 
trouble  to  Americans  of  late;  and  I  hope  that  if  they 
trouble  you,  you  will  simply  stop  and  inform  me.  You 
are  traveling  for  pleasure  and  information,  and  a  few  days 
more  or  less  will  make  little  difference. "  On  arriving  at 
the  frontier,  I  gave  up  my  papers  to  the  passport  officials, 
and  was  then  approached  by  the  officers  of  the  custom- 
house. One  of  these,  a  tall  personage  in  showy  uni- 
form, was  very  solemn,  and  presently  asked:  "Are  you 
carrying  out  any  specie! "  I  answered:  "None  to  speak 
of ;  only  about  twenty  or  thirty  German  dollars. ' '  Said  he : 
' l  That  you  must  give  up  to  me ;  the  law  of  the  empire  does 
not  permit  you  to  take  out  coin."  "No,"  I  said;  "you 
are  mistaken.  I  have  already  had  the  money  changed, 
and  it  is  in  German  coin,  not  Russian."  "That  makes  no 
difference,"  said  he;  "you  must  give  it  up  or  stay  here." 
My  answer  was  that  I  would  not  give  it  up,  and  on  this  he 
commanded  his  subordinates  to  take  my  baggage  off  the 
coach.  My  traveling  companions  now  besought  me  to 
make  a  quiet  compromise  with  him,  to  give  him  half  tKe 
money,  telling  me  that  I  might  be  detained  there  for  weeks 
or  months,  or  even  be  maltreated;  but  I  steadily  refused, 
and  my  baggage  was  removed.  All  were  ready  to  start 
when  the  head  of  the  police  bureau  came  upon  the  scene 
to  return  our  papers.  His  first  proceeding  was  to  call 
out  my  name  in  a  most  obsequious  tone,  and,  bowing  rev- 
erently, to  tender  me  my  passport.  I  glanced  at  the  cus- 
tom-house official,  and  saw  that  he  turned  pale.  The  honor 
done  my  little  brief  authority  by  the  passport  official 
revealed  to  him  his  mistake,  and  he  immediately  ordered 
his  subordinates  to  replace  my  baggage  on  the  coach ;  but 
this  I  instantly  forbade.  He  then  came  up  to  me  and 
insisted  that  a  misunderstanding  had  occurred.  "No,"  I 


474  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-II 

said;  " there  is  no  misunderstanding;  you  have  only 
treated  me  as  you  have  treated  other  Americans.  The 
American  minister  has  ordered  me  to  wait  here  and  inform 
him,  and  all  that  I  have  now  to  ask  you  is  that  you  give 
me  the  name  of  a  hotel."  At  this  be  begged  me  to  listen 
to  him,  and  presently  was  pleading  most  piteously ;  indeed, 
he  would  have  readily  knelt  and  kissed  my  feet  to  secure 
my  forgiveness.  He  became  utterly  abject.  All  were 
waiting,  the  coach  stood  open,  the  eyes  of  the  whole  party 
were  fastened  upon  us.  My  comrades  besought  me  to 
let  the  rascal  go ;  and  at  last,  after  a  most  earnest  warning 
to  him,  I  gave  my  gracious  permission  to  have  the  bag- 
gage placed  on  the  coach.  He  was  certainly  at  that  mo- 
ment one  of  the  happiest  men  I  have  ever  seen ;  and,  as  we 
drove  off  from  the  station,  he  lingered  long,  hat  in  hand, 
profuse  with  ^bows  and  good  wishes. 

One  other  occurrence  during  those  seven  days  and 
nights  of  coaching  may  throw  some  light  upon  the  feeling 
which  has  recently  produced,  in  that  same  region,  the 
Kishineff  massacres. 

One  pleasant  Saturday  evening,  at  a  Polish  village,  our 
coach  passed  into  the  little  green  inclosure  in  front  of 
the  post-house,  and  there  stopped  for  a  change  of  horses. 
While  waiting,  I  noticed,  from  my  sentry-box  on  the  top 
of  the  coach,  several  well-dressed  people— by  the  cut  of 
their  beards  and  hair,  Jews— standing  at  some  distance 
outside  the  inclosure,  and  looking  at  us.  Presently  two 
of  them— clearly,  by  their  bearing  and  dress,  men  of 
mark— entered  the  inclosure,  came  near  the  coach,  and 
stood  quietly  and  respectfully.  In  a  few  moments  my 
attention  was  attracted  by  a  movement  on  the  other  side 
of  the  coach:  our  coachman,  a  young  serf,  was  skulking 
rapidly  toward  the  stables,  and  presently  emerged  with 
his  long  horsewhip,  skulked  swiftly  back  again  until  he 
came  suddenly  on  these  two  grave  and  reverend  men, 
—each  of  them  doubtless  wealthy  enough  to  have  bought 
a  dozen  like  him,— began  lashing  them,  and  finally  drove 
them  out  of  the  inclosure  like  dogs,  the  assembled  crowd 
jeering  and  hooting  after  them. 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN  WAR-TIME -1855      475 

Few  evenings  linger  more  pleasantly  in  my  memory 
than  that  on  which  I  arrived  in  Breslau.  I  was  once  more 
outside  of  the  Russian  Empire;  and,  as  I  settled  for  the 
evening  before  a  kindly  fire  upon  a  cheerful  hearth,  there 
rose  under  my  windows,  from  a  rollicking  band  of  univer- 
sity students,  the  '  *  Gaudeamus  igitur. ' '  I  seemed  to  have 
arrived  in  another  world— a  world  which  held  home  and 
friends.  Then,  as  never  before,  I  realized  the  feeling 
which  the  Marquis  de  Custine  had  revealed,  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  Europe  and  the  disgust  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas, 
nearly  twenty  years  before.  The  brilliant  marquis,  on  his 
way  to  St.  Petersburg,  had  stopped  at  Stettin;  and,  on 
his  leaving  the  inn  to  take  ship  for  Cronstadt  next  day,  the 
innkeeper  said  to  him:  "Well,  you  are  going  into  a  very 
bad  country."  "How  so?"  said  De  Custine;  "when 
did  you  travel  there?"  "Never,"  answered  the  inn- 
keeper; "but  I  have  kept  this  inn  for  many  years.  All 
the  leading  Russians,  going  and  coming  by  sea,  have 
stopped  with  me;  and  I  have  always  noticed  that  those 
coming  from  Russia  are  very  glad,  and  those  returning 
very  sad." 

Throughout  the  remainder  of  my  journey  across  the 
Continent,  considerable  attention  was  shown  me  at  vari- 
ous stopping-places,  since  travelers  from  within  the  Rus- 
sian lines  at  that  time  were  rare  indeed;  but  there  was 
nothing  worthy  of  note  until  my  arrival  at  Strasburg. 
There,  in  the  railway  station,  I  was  presented  by  a  young 
Austrian  nobleman  to  an  American  lady  who  was  going 
on  to  Paris  accompanied  by  her  son ;  and,  as  she  was  very 
agreeable,  I  was  glad  when  we  all  found  ourselves  together 
in  the  same  railway  compartment. 

Some  time  after  leaving  Strasburg  she  said  to  me:  "I 
don't  think  you  caught  my  name  at  the  station."  To 
this  I  frankly  replied  that  I  had  not.  She  then  repeated  it ; 
and  I  found  her  to  be  a  distinguished  leader  in  New  York 
and  Parisian  society,  the  wife  of  an  American  widely 
known.  As  we  rolled  on  toward  Paris,  I  became  vaguely 
aware  that  there  was  some  trouble  in  our  compartment; 
but,  being  occupied  with  a  book,  I  paid  little  attention  to 


470  IN    THE    DIPLOMATIC    SEUVIOE-II 

tlu1  matter.  There  were  seven  of  us.  Facing  each  otlier  at 
one  door  we're  the  American  lady,  whom  I  will  call  "Mrs. 
X.,"  and  myself;  at  her  left  was  her  maid,  then  a  vacant 
scat,  and  then  at  the  other  door  a  (Jerman  lady,  richly  at- 
tired, evidently  of  high  degree,  and  probably  about  fifty 
years  of  age.  Facing  this  (Jerman  lady  sat  an  elegantly 
dressed  young  man  of  about  thirty,  also  of  aristocratic 
manners,  and  a  (Jerman.  Between  this  gentleman  and  my- 
self sat  the  son  of  Mrs.  X.  and  the  Austrian  gentleman 
who  had  presented  me  to  her. 

Presently  Mrs.  X.  bent  over  toward  me  and  asked,  in 
an  undertone,  "AVhat  do  you  think  is  the  relationship 
between  those  two  people  at  the  other  door?"  I  answered 
that  quite  likely  they  were  brother  and  sister.  "X^o,"  said 
she;  "they  are  man  and  wife.7'  I  answered,  "That  can 
hardly  ho;  there  is  a  difference  of  at  least  twenty  years 
in  the  young  man's  favor."  "Depend  upon  it,"  she 
said,  "they  are  man  and  wife;  it  is  a  mariatjc  dc  conve- 
yance; she  is  dressed  to  look  as  young  as  possible."  At 
this  I  expressed  new  doubts,  and  the  discussion  dropped. 

Presently  the  young  German  gentleman  said  some- 
thing to  the  lady  opposite  him  which  indicated  that  he 
had  lived  in  Berlin;  whereupon  Mrs.  X.  asked  him,  di- 
agonally across  the  car,  if  he  had  been  at  the  Berlin  Uni- 
versity. At  this  he  turned  in  some  surprise  and  answered, 
civilly  but  coldly,  "Yes,  madam."  Then  he  turned  away 
to  converse  with  the  lady  who  accompanied  him.  Mrs.  X., 
nothing  daunted,  persisted,  and  asked,  "Have  you  been 
r ccc nil >i  at  the  university?"  Before  he  could  reply  the 
lady  opposite  him  turned  to  'Mrs.  X.  and  said  most  haugh- 
tily, "Mon  Dion,  madam,  you  must  see  that  the  gentleman 
does  not  desire  any  conversation  with  you."  At  this 
Mrs.  X.  became  very  bumble,  and  rejoined  most  peni- 
tently, "Madam,  I  beg  your  pardon:  if  I  had  known  that 
the  gentleman's  mother  did  not  wish  him  to  talk  with  a, 
stranger,  I  would  not  have  spoken  to  him."  At  this  the 
(Jerman  lady  started  as  if  stung,  turned  very  red,  and 
replied,  "Pardon,  madam,  I  am  not  the  mother  of  the 


AS  DESPATCH-BEARER  IN  WAR-TIME-1855      477 

gentleman."  At  this  the  humble  manner  of  Mrs.  X.  was 
flung  off  in  an  instant,  and  turning  fiercely  upon  the 
German  lady,  she  said,  "  Madam,  since  you  are  not 
the  mother  of  the  gentleman,  and,  of  course,  cannot  be 
his  wife,  by  what  right  do  you  interfere  to  prevent  his 
answering  me?"  The  lady  thus  addressed  started  again 
as  if  stabbed,  turned  pale,  and  gasped  out,  "Pardon, 
madam ;  I  am  the  wife  of  the  gentleman. ' ?  Instantly  Mrs. 
X.  became  again  penitently  apologetic,  and  answered, 
"Madam,  I  beg  a  thousand  pardons;  I  will  not  speak 
again  to  the  gentleman";  and  then,  turning  to  me,  said 
very  solemnly,  but  loudly,  so  that  all  might  hear,  "Hea- 
vens! can  it  be  possible!" 

By  this  time  we  were  all  in  distress,  the  German  lady 
almost  in  a  state  of  collapse,  and  her  husband  hardly  less 
so.  At  various  times  during  the  remainder  of  the  journey 
I  heard  them  affecting  to  laugh  the  matter  off,  but  it  was 
clear  that  the  thrust  from  my  fair  compatriot  had  cut  deep 
and  would  last  long. 

Arriving  at  our  destination,  I  obtained  the  key  to  the 
mystery.  On  taking  leave  of  Mrs.  X.,  I  said,  "That  was 
rather  severe  treatment  which  you  administered  to  the 
German  lady. "  "  Yes, ' '  she  answered ;  "  it  will  teach  her 
never  again  to  go  out  of  her  way  to  insult  an  American 
woman."  She  then  told  me  that  the  lady  had  been  evi- 
dently vexed  because  Mrs.  X.  had  brought  her  maid  into 
the  compartment;  and  that  this  aristocratic  dame  had 
shown  her  feeling  by  applying  her  handkerchief  to  her 
nose,  by  sniffing,  and  by  various  other  signs  of  disgust. 
"And  then,"  said  Mrs.  X.,  "I  determined  to  teach  her  a 
lesson." 

I  never  saw  Mrs.  X.  again.  After  a  brilliant  social  ca- 
reer of  a  few  years  she  died ;  but  her  son,  who  was  then  a 
boy  of  twelve  years,  in  a  short  jacket,  has  since  become 
very  prominent  in  Europe  and  America,  and,  in  a  way,  in- 
fluential. 

In  Paris  I  delivered  my  despatches  to  our  minister,  Mr. 
Mason ;  was  introduced  to  Baron  Seebach,  the  Saxon  rain- 


478  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SEKVICE— II 

ister,  Xesselrode's  son-in-law,  who  was  a  leading  person- 
age at  the  conference  of  the  great  powers  then  in 
session;  and  saw  various  interesting  men,  among  them 
sundry  young  officers  of  the  United  States  army,  who 
were  on  their  way  to  the  Crimea  in  order  to  observe  the 
warlike  operations  going  on  there,  and  one  of  them, 
McClellan,  also  on  his  way  to  the  head  of  our  own  army 
in  the  Civil  War  which  hegan  a  few  years  later. 

It  was  the  time  of  the  first  great  French  Exposition  — 
that  of  1855.  The  Emperor  Napoleon  III  had  opened  it 
with  much  pomp;  and,  though  the  whole  affair  was  petty 
compared  with  what  we  have  known  since,  it  attracted 
visitors  from  the  whole  world,  and  among  them  came 
Horace  Greeley. 

As  lie  shuffled  along  the  boulevards  and  streets  of  Paris, 
in  his  mooning  way,  he  attracted  much  wondering  at- 
tention, but  was  himself  very  unhappy  because  his  igno- 
rance of  the  French  language  prevented  his  talking  with 
the  people  about  him. 

Me  had  just  gone  through  a  singular  experience,  having, 
the  day  before  my  arrival,  been  released  from  Clichy 
prison,  where  he  had  been  confined  for  debt.  Nothing 
could  be  more  comical  than  the  whole  business  from  first 
to  last.  A  year  or  two  previously  there  had  taken  place 
in  Xew  York,  on  what  has  been  since  known  as  Reservoir 
Square,  an  international  exposition  which,  for  its  day, 
was  very  creditable;  but,  this  exposition  having  ended 
in  bankruptcy,  a  new  board  of  commissioners  had  been 
chosen,  who,  it  was  hoped,  would  secure  public  confidence, 
and  among  these  was  Mr.  (ireeley. 

Vet  even  under  this  new  board  the  exposition  had  not 
been  a  success;  and  it  had  been  finally  wound  up  in  a  very 
unsatisfactory  way.  many  people1  complaining  that  their 
exhibits  had  not  been  returned  to  them -among  these  a 
French  sculptor  of  more  ambition  than  repute,  who  had 
sent  a  plaster  cast  of  some  sort  of  allegorical  figure  to 
which  he  attributed  an  enormous  value.  Having  sought 
in  vain  for  redress  in  America,  he  returned  to  Europe  and 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER  IN   WAR-TIME- 1855      479 

there  awaited  the  coming  of  some  one  of  the  directors; 
and  the  first  of  these  whom  he  caught  was  no  less  a  person 
than  Greeley  himself,  who,  soon  after  arriving  in  Paris, 
was  arrested  for  the  debt  and  taken  to  Clichy  prison. 

Much  feeling  was  shown  by  the  American  community. 
Every  one  knew  that  Mr.  Greeley 's  connection  with  the 
New  York  exposition  was  merely  of  a  good-natured,  nomi- 
nal sort.  It  therefore  became  the  fashion  among  travel- 
ing Americans  to  visit  him  while  thus  in  durance  vile; 
and  among  those  who  thus  called  upon  him  were  two 
former  Presidents  of  the  United  States,  both  of  whom 
he  had  most  bitterly  opposed— Mr.  Van  Buren  and  Mr. 
Fillmore. 

The  American  legation  having  made  very  earnest  rep- 
resentations, the  prisoner  was  soon  released ;  and  the  most 
tangible  result  of  the  whole  business  was  a  letter,  very 
pithy  and  characteristic,  which  Greeley  wrote  to  the  '  *  New 
York  Tribune,"  giving  this  strange  experience,  and  clos- 
ing with  the  words:  "So  ended  my  last  chance  to  learn 
French. " 

A  day  or  two  after  his  release  I  met  him  at  the  student 
restaurant  of  Madame  Busque.  A  large  company  of 
Americans  were  present ;  and  shortly  after  taking  his  seat 
at  table  he  tried  to  ask  for  some  green  string-beans, 
which  were  then  in  season.  Addressing  one  of  the  serving- 
maids,  he  said,  "Flawronce,  donney  moy— donney  moy— 
donney  moy—  ";  and  then,  unable  to  remember  the  word, 
he  impatiently  screamed  out  in  a  high  treble,  thrusting  out 
his  plate  at  the  same  time,  "beans!"  The  crowd  of  us 
burst  into  laughter;  whereupon  Donn  Piatt,  then  secre- 
tary of  the  legation  at  Paris  and  afterward  editor  of  the 
" Capital' '  at  Washington,  said:  "Why,  Greeley,  you 
don 't  improve  a  bit ;  you  knew  beans  yesterday. ' ' 

This  restaurant  of  Madame  Busque 's  had  been,  for 
some  years,  a  place  of  resort  for  American  students  and 
their  traveling  friends.  The  few  dishes  served,  though 
simple,  were  good;  all  was  plain;  there  were  no  table- 
cloths ;  but  the  place  was  made  attractive  by  the  portraits 


4-0  JX    THE    DIPLOMATIC    ISEKVICE-II 

of  various  American  artists  and  students  who  had  fre- 
quented the  place  in  days  gone  by,  and  who  had  left  these 
adornments  to  the  good  old  niadaine. 

It  was  a  simple  crtmcric  in  the  liiio  de  la  Michodiere, 
a  little  way  out  of  the  Boulevard  des  Italiens;  and  its 
success  was  due  to  the  fact  that  Madame  B  usque,  the  kind- 
est old  lady  alive,  had  learned  how  to  make  sundry  Ameri- 
can dishes,  and  had  placed  a  sign  in  the  window  as  fol- 
lows: "Aux  Americains.  Speciality  de  Pumpkin  Pie  et 
de  Buckwheat  Takes."  Never  was  there  a  more  jolly 
restaurant.  One  met  there,  not  only  students  and  artists, 
hut  some  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  American  puhlic 
life.  The  specialties  as  given  on  the  sign-hoard  were  well 
prepared;  and  many  were  the  lamentations  when  the  dear 
old  niadaine  died,  and  the  restaurant,  being  transferred 
to  another  part  of  Paris,  became  pretentious  and  fell  into 
oblivion. 

Another  occurrence  at  the  exposition  dwells  vividly  in 
my  memory.  One  day,  in  going  through  the  annex  in  which 
there  was  a  show  of  domestic  animals,  I  stopped  for  a  mo- 
ment to  look  at  a  wonderful  goat  which  was  there  tethered. 
He  was  very  large,  with  a  majestic  head,  spreading  horns, 
and  long,  white,  curly  beard.  Presently  a  party  of  French 
gentlemen  and  ladies,  evidently  of  the  higher  class,  came 
along  and  joined  the  crowd  gazing  at  the  animal.  In  a 
few  moments  one  of  the  ladies,  anxious  to  hurry  on,  said 
to  the  largo  and  dignified  elderly  gentleman  at  the  head  of 
the  party,  "Mais  viens  done";  to  which  lie  answered, 
"Non,  laisse  moi  le  regarder;  celui-la  ressemble  taut  au 
bon  Dieu." 

Tliis  remark, which  in  Great  Britain  or  the  Fnited  States 
would  have  aroused  horror  as  blasphemy,  was  simply 
answered  by  a  peal  of  laughter,  and  the  party  passed  on; 
yet  I  could  not  but  reflect  on  the  fact  that  this  attitude1 
toward  the  Supreme  Being  was  possible  after  a  fifteen 
hundred  years'  monopoly  of  teaching  by  the  church  which 
insists  that  to  it  alone  should  be  intrusted  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  French  people. 


AS   DESPATCH-BEARER   IN  WAR-TIME- 1855      481 

After  staying  a  few  weeks  at  the  French  capital,  I  left 
for  a  short  tour  in  Switzerland.  The  only  occurrence  on 
this  journey  possibly  worthy  of  note  was  at  the  hospice 
of  the  Great  St.  Bernard.  On  a  day  early  in  September  I 
had  walked  over  the  Tete  Noire  with  two  long-legged 
Englishmen,  and  had  so  tired  myself  that  the  next  morn- 
ing I  was  too  late  to  catch  the  diligence  from  Martigny; 
so  that,  on  awaking  toward  noon,  there  was  nothing  left 
for  me  but  to  walk,  and  I  started  on  that  rather  toilsome 
journey  alone.  After  plodding  upward  some  miles  along 
the  road  toward  the  hospice,  I  was  very  weary  indeed,  but 
felt  that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  rest,  since  the  banks  of 
snow  on  both  sides  of  the  road  would  be  sure  to  give  me 
a  deadly  chill;  and  I  therefore  kept  steadily  on.  Pres- 
ently I  overtook  a  small  party,  apparently  English,  also 
going  up  the  pass;  and,  at  some  distance  in  advance  of 
them,  alone,  a  large  woman  with  a  very  striking  and  even 
masculine  face.  I  had  certainly  seen  the  face  before,  but 
where  I  could  not  imagine.  Arriving  finally  at  the  hos- 
pice, very  tired,  we  were,  after  some  waiting,  invited  out 
to  a  good  dinner  by  the  two  fathers  deputed  for  the 
purpose;  and  there,  among  the  guests,  I  again  saw  the 
lady,  and  was  again  puzzled  to  know  where  I  had  pre- 
viously seen  her.  As  the  dinner  went  on  the  two  monks 
gave  accounts  of  life  at  the  hospice,  rescues  from  ava- 
lanches, and  the  like,  and  various  questions  were  asked; 
but  the  unknown  lady  sat  perfectly  still,  uttering  not  a 
word,  until  suddenly,  just  at  the  close  of  the  dinner,  she 
put  a  question  across  the  table  to  one  of  the  fathers.  It 
came  almost  like  a  peal  of  thunder— deep,  strong,  rolling 
through  the  room,  startling  all  of  us,  and  fairly  taking  the 
breath  away  from  the  good  monk  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed ;  but  he  presently  rallied,  and  in  a  rather  faltering 
tone  made  answer.  That  was  all.  But  on  this  I  at  once 
recognized  her :  it  was  Fanny  Kemble  Butler,  whom,  years 
before,  I  had  heard  interpreting  Shakspere. 

Whether  this  episode  had  anything  to  do  with  it  or  not, 
I  soon  found  myself  in  rather  a  bad  way.  The  fatigues  of 

I.— 31 


482  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-II 

the  two  previous  days  had  been  too  much  for  me.  I  felt 
very  wretched,  and  presently  one  of  the  brothers  came  up 
to  me  and  asked  whether  I  was  ill.  I  answered  that  I 
was  tired;  whereupon  he  said  kindly,  "Come  with  me." 
I  went.  He  took  me  to  a  neat,  tidy  little  cell ;  put  me  into 
bed  as  carefully  as  my  grandmother  had  ever  done ;  tucked 
me  in;  brought  me  some  weak,  hot  tea;  and  left  me 
with  various  kind  injunctions.  Very  early  in  the  morning 
I  was  aroused  by  the  singing  of  the  monks  in  the  chapel, 
but  dozed  on  until  eight  or  nine  o'clock,  when,  feeling 
entirely  rested,  I  rose  and,  after  breakfast,  left  the  monas- 
tery, with  a  party  of  newly  made  American  friends,  in  as 
good  condition  as  ever,  and  with  a  very  grateful  feeling 
toward  my  entertainers.  Against  monks  generally  I  must 
confess  to  a  prejudice ;  but  the  memory  of  these  brothers 
of  St.  Bernard  I  still  cherish  with  a  real  affection. 

Stopping  at  various  interesting  historic  places,  and  es- 
pecially at  Eisenach,  whence  I  made  the  first  of  my  many 
visits  to  the  Wartburg,  I  reached  Berlin  just  before  the 
beginning  of  the  university  term,  and  there  settled  as  a 
student.  So,  as  I  then  supposed,  ended  my  diplomatic 
career  forever. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO  — 1871 

KETURNING  from  Russia  and  Germany,  I  devoted 
myself  during  thirteen  years,  first,  to  my  professo- 
rial duties  at  the  University  of  Michigan ;  next,  to  political 
duties  in  the  State  Senate  at  Albany ;  and,  finally,  to  organ- 
izing and  administering  Cornell  University.  But  in  the 
early  winter  of  1870-71  came  an  event  which  drew  me  out 
of  my  university  life  for  a  time,  and  engaged  me  again  in 
diplomatic  work.  While  pursuing  the  even  tenor  of  my 
way,  there  came  a  telegraphic  despatch  from  Mr.  William 
Orton,  president  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Com- 
pany, a  devoted  supporter  of  the  administration,  asking  me 
whether  I  had  formed  any  definite  opinion  against  the  an- 
nexation of  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo  to  the  United 
States.  This  question  surprised  me.  A  proposal  regarding 
such  an  annexation  had  been  for  some  time  talked  about. 
The  newly  elected  President,  General  Grant,  having  been 
besought  by  the  authorities  of  that  republic  to  propose 
measures  looking  to  annexation,  had  made  a  brief  exami- 
nation; and  Congress  had  passed  a  law  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  three  commissioners  to  visit  the  island,  to 
examine  and  report  upon  its  desirability,  from  various 
points  of  view,  and  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
feeling  of  its  inhabitants;  but  I  had  given  no  attention 
to  the  matter,  and  therefore  answered  Mr.  Orton  that  I 
had  no  opinion,  one  way  or  the  other,  regarding  it.  A 
day  or  two  afterward  came  information  that  the  President 
had  named  the  commission,  and  in  the  following  or- 

483 


484  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE- III 

der:  Ex-Senator  Benjamin  F.  Wade  of  Ohio,  Andrew  D. 
White  of  New  York,  and  Samuel  G.  Howe  of  Massachu- 
setts. On  receiving  notice  of  my  appointment,  I  went  to 
Washington,  was  at  once  admitted  to  an  interview  with  the 
President,  and  rarely  have  I  been  more  happily  disap- 
pointed. Instead  of  the  taciturn  man  who,  as  his  enemies 
insisted,  said  nothing  because  he  knew  nothing,  had 
never  cared  for  anything  save  military  matters,  and  was 
entirely  absorbed  in  personal  interests,  I  found  a  quiet, 
dignified  public  officer,  who  presented  the  history  of 
the  Santo  Domingo  question,  and  his  view  regarding  it,  in 
a  manner  large,  thoughtful,  and  statesmanlike.  There 
was  no  special  pleading;  no  attempt  at  converting  me: 
his  whole  effort  seemed  given  to  stating  candidly  the  his- 
tory of  the  case  thus  far. 

There  was  much  need  of  such  statement.  Mr.  Charles 
Sumner,  the  eminent  senator  from  Massachusetts,  had 
completely  broken  with  the  President  on  this  and  other 
questions;  had  attacked  the  policy  of  the  administration 
violently;  had  hinted  at  the  supremacy  of  unworthy  mo- 
tives; and  had  imputed  rascality  to  men  with  whom  the 
President  had  close  relations.  He  appeared,  also,  as  he 
claimed,  in  the  interest  of  the  republic  of  Haiti,  which 
regarded  with  disfavor  any  acquisition  by  the  United 
States  of  territory  on  the  island  of  which  that  quasi- 
republic  formed  a  part;  and  all  his  rhetoric  and  oratory 
were  brought  to  bear  against  the  President  ?s  ideas.  I  had 
long  been  an  admirer  of  Mr.  Sumner,  with  the  feeling 
which  a  young  man  would  naturally  cherish  toward  an 
older  man  of  such  high  character  who  had  given  him 
early  recognition ;  and  I  now  approached  him  with  especial 
gratitude  and  respect.  But  I  soon  saw  that  his  view  of  the 
President  was  prejudiced,  and  his  estimate  of  himself  ab- 
normal. Though  a  senator  of  such  high  standing  and  so 
long  in  public  affairs,  he  took  himself  almost  too  seri- 
ously ;  and  there  had  come  a  break  between  him,  as  chair- 
man of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  and 
President  Grant 's  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Fish,  who  had 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO -1871     485 

proved  himself,  as  State  senator,  as  Governor  of  New 
York,  as  United  States  senator,  and  now  as  Secretary  of 
State,  a  man  of  the  highest  character  and  capacity. 

The  friends  of  the  administration  claimed  that  it  had 
become  impossible  for  it  to  have  any  relations  with  Sena- 
tor Sumner ;  that  he  delayed,  and  indeed  suppressed,  trea- 
ties of  the  greatest  importance;  that  his  egotism  had  be- 
come so  colossal  that  he  practically  assumed  to  himself 
the  entire  conduct  of  foreign  affairs ;  and  the  whole  matter 
reached  a  climax  when,  in  a  large  social  gathering,  Mr. 
Fish  meeting  Senator  Sumner  and  extending  his  hand  to 
him,  the  latter  deliberately  rejected  the  courtesy  and  coldly 
turned  away. 

Greatly  admiring  all  these  men,  and  deeply  regretting 
their  divisions,  which  seemed  sure  to  prove  most  injuri- 
ous to  the  Republican  party  and  to  the  country,  I  wrote  to 
Mr.  Gerrit  Smith,  urging  him  to  come  at  once  to  Washing- 
ton and,  as  the  lifelong  friend  of  Senator  Sumner  and  the 
devoted  supporter  of  General  Grant,  to  use  his  great  pow- 
ers in  bringing  them  together.  He  came  and  did  his  best ; 
but  a  few  days  afterward  he  said  to  me :  i  i  It  is  impossible ; 
it  is  a  breach  which  can  never  be  healed. ' ' 

Mr.  Sumner 's  speeches  I  had  always  greatly  admired, 
and  his  plea  for  international  peace,  delivered  before  I 
was  fairly  out  of  my  boyhood,  had  made  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  me.  Still  greater  was  the  effect  of  his 
speeches  against  the  extension  of  slavery.  It  is  true 
that  these  speeches  had  little  direct  influence  upon  the 
Senate;  but  they  certainly  had  an  immense  effect  upon 
the  country,  and  this  effect  was  increased  by  the  assault 
upon  him  by  Preston  Brooks  of  South  Carolina,  which 
nearly  cost  him  his  life,  and  from  which  he  suffered 
physically  as  long  as  he  lived.  His  influence  was  ex- 
ercised not  only  in  the  Senate,  but  in  his  own  house.  In  his 
library  he  discussed,  in  a  very  interesting  way,  the  main 
questions  of  the  time ;  and  at  his  dinner-table  one  met  in- 
teresting men  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  At  one  of  his 
dinners  I  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  one  of  the  diffi- 


486  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-III 

culties  from  which  our  country  suffers  most— namely,  that 
easy-going  facility  in  slander  which  is  certain  to  be  de- 
veloped in  the  absence  of  any  effective  legal  responsibility 
for  one's  utterances.  At  the  time  referred  to  there  was 
present  an  Englishman  eminent  in  parliamentary  and 
business  circles.  I  sat  next  him,  and  near  us  sat  a  gentle- 
man who  had  held  a  subordinate  position  in  the  United 
States  navy,  but  who  was  out  of  employment,  and  appar- 
ently for  some  reason  which  made  him  sore.  On  being 
asked  by  the  Englishman  why  the  famous  American  Col- 
lins Line  of  transatlantic  steamers  had  not  succeeded,  this 
American  burst  into  a  tirade,  declaring  that  it  was  all  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  Collins  company  had  been  obliged  to 
waste  its  entire  capital  in  bribing  members  of  Congress 
to  obtain  subsidies ;  that  it  had  sunk  all  its  funds  in  doing 
this,  and  so  had  become  bankrupt.  This  I  could  not  bear, 
and  indignantly  interposed,  stating  the  simple  facts— 
namely,  that  the  ships  of  the  company  were  built  in  the 
most  expensive  manner,  without  any  sufficient  data  as  to 
their  chances  of  success;  that  the  competition  of  the  Cu- 
nard  company  had  been  destructive  to  them ;  that,  to  cap 
the  climax,  two  out  of  their  fleet  of  five  had  been,  at  an  early 
period  in  the  history  of  the  company,  lost  at  sea;  and  I 
expressed  my  complete  disbelief  in  any  cause  of  failure 
like  that  which  had  been  named.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Collins  company,  in  their  pride  at  the  beauty  of  their 
first  ship,  had  sent  it  up  the  Potomac  to  Washington  and 
given  a  collation  upon  it  to  members  of  Congress;  but 
beyond  this  there  was  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  any- 
thing of  the  sort  which  the  slanderer  of  his  country  had 
brought  forward. 

As  regards  the  Santo  Domingo  question,  I  must  confess 
that  Mr.  Sumner's  speeches  did  not  give  me  much  light; 
they  seemed  to  me  simply  academic  orations  tinged  by 
anger. 

Far  different  was  it  with  the  speeches  made  on  the  same 
side  by  Senator  Carl  Schurz.  In  them  was  a  restrained 
strength  of  argument  and  a  philosophic  dealing  with  the 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO-1871     487 

question  which  appealed  both  to  reason  and  to  patriot- 
ism. His  argument  as  to  the  danger  of  extending  the 
domain  of  American  institutions  and  the  privileges  of 
American  citizenship  over  regions  like  the  West  Indies 
carried  great  weight  with  me ;  it  was  the  calm,  thoughtful 
utterance  of  a  man  accustomed  to  look  at  large  public 
questions  in  the  light  of  human  history,  and,  while  reason- 
ing upon  them  philosophically  and  eloquently,  to  observe 
strict  rules  of  logic. 

I  also  had  talks  with  various  leading  men  at  Washington 
on  the  general  subject.  Very  interesting  was  an  evening 
passed  with  Admiral  Porter  of  the  navy,  who  had  already 
visited  Santo  Domingo,  and  who  gave  me  valuable  points 
as  to  choosing  routes  and  securing  information.  Another 
person  with  whom  I  had  some  conversation  was  Benjamin 
Franklin  Butler,  previously  a  general  in  the  Civil  War, 
and  afterward  governor  of  Massachusetts— a  man  of 
amazing  abilities,  but  with  a  certain  recklessness  in  the  use 
of  them  which  had  brought  him  into  nearly  universal  dis- 
credit. His  ideas  regarding  the  annexation  of  Santo  Do- 
mingo seemed  to  resolve  themselves,  after  all,  into  a 
feeling  of  utter  indifference,— his  main  effort  being  to 
secure  positions  for  one  or  two  of  his  friends  as  attaches 
of  the  commission. 

At  various  times  I  talked  with  the  President  on  this  and 
other  subjects,  and  was  more  and  more  impressed,  not  only 
by  his  patriotism,  but  by  his  ability ;  and  as  I  took  leave 
of  him,  he  gave  me  one  charge  for  which  I  shall  always 
revere  his  memory. 

He  said :  ' '  Your  duties  are,  of  course,  imposed  upon  you 
by  Congress ;  I  have  no  right  as  President  to  give  you  in- 
structions, but  as  a  man  I  have  a  right  in  this  matter.  You 
have  doubtless  noticed  hints  in  Congress,  and  charges  in 
various  newspapers,  that  I  am  financially  interested  in  the 
acquisition  of  Santo  Domingo.  Now,  as  a  man,  as  your 
fellow-citizen,  I  demand  that  on  your  arrival  in  the  is- 
land, you  examine  thoroughly  into  all  American  interests 
there;  that  you  study  land  titles  and  contracts  with  the 


488  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -III 

utmost  care ;  and  that  if  you  find  anything  whatever  which 
connects  me  or  any  of  my  family  with  any  of  them,  you 
expose  me  to  the  American  people. "  The  President  ut- 
tered these  words  in  a  tone  of  deep  earnestness.  I  left  him, 
feeling  that  he  was  an  honest  man ;  and  I  may  add  that  the 
closest  examination  of  men  and  documents  relating  to 
titles  and  concessions  in  the  island  failed  to  reveal  any 
personal  interest  of  his  whatsoever. 

Arriving  next  day  in  New  York,  I  met  the  other  com- 
missioners, with  the  secretaries,  interpreters,  attaches,  and 
various  members  of  the  press  who  were  authorized  to  ac- 
company the  expedition.  Most  interesting  of  all  to  me 
were  the  scientific  experts.  It  is  a  curious  example  of  the 
happy-go-lucky  ways  which  prevail  so  frequently  at  Wash- 
ington, that  although  the  resolutions  of  Congress  required 
the  commissioners  to  examine  into  the  mining  and  agricul- 
tural capacities  of  the  island,  its  meteorological  character- 
istics, its  harbors  and  the  possibilities  of  fortifying  them, 
its  land  tenures,  and  a  multitude  of  other  subjects  de- 
manding the  aid  of  experts,  no  provision  was  made  for  any 
such  aid,  and  the  three  commissioners  and  their  secretaries, 
not  one  of  whom  could  be  considered  as  entitled  to  hold 
a  decisive  opinion  on  any  of  these  subjects,  were  the  only 
persons  expected  to  conduct  the  inquiry.  Seeing  this,  I 
represented  the  matter  to  the  President,  and  received  his 
permission  to  telegraph  to  presidents  of  several  of  our 
leading  universities  asking  them  to  secure  for  us  active 
young  scientific  men  who  would  be  willing  to  serve  on  the 
expedition  without  salary.  The  effort  was  successful. 
Having  secured  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution  two  or 
three  good  specialists  in  sundry  fields,  I  obtained  from 
Harvard,  Yale,  Columbia,  Cornell,  and  other  universities 
the  right  sort  of  men  for  various  other  lines  of  investiga- 
tion, and  on  the  17th  of  January,  1871,  we  all  embarked 
on  the  steam-frigate  Tennessee,  under  the  command  of 
Commodore  Temple. 

It  fell  to  my  lot  to  take  a  leading  part  in  sending  forth 
our  scientific  experts  into  all  parts  of  the  republic.  Four- 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO -1871     489 

teen  different  expeditions  were  thus  organized  and  des- 
patched, and  these  made  careful  examinations  and  re- 
ports which  were  wrought  into  the  final  report  of  the  com- 
mission. It  is  doubtful  whether  any  country  was  ever  so 
thoroughly  examined  in  so  short  a  time.  One  party  visited 
various  harbors  with  reference  to  their  value  for  naval  or 
military  purposes ;  another  took  as  its  subject  the  neces- 
sary fortifications ;  another,  agriculture ;  another,  the  coal 
supply ;  another,  the  precious  metals ;  another,  the  prevail- 
ing epidemics  and  diseases  of  the  country ;  while  the  com- 
mission itself  adjourned  from  place  to  place,  taking  testi- 
mony on  land  tenures  and  on  the  general  conditions  and 
disposition  of  the  people. 

I  became  much  attached  to  my  colleagues.  The  first  of 
these,  Senator  Wade  of  Ohio,  was  bluff,  direct,  shrewd, 
and  well  preserved,  though  over  seventy  years  of  age. 
He  was  a  rough  diamond,  kindly  in  his  judgments  unless 
his  feeling  of  justice  was  injured ;  then  he  was  implacable. 
Many  sayings  of  his  were  current,  among  them  a  dry  an- 
swer to  a  senator  from  Texas  who,  having  dwelt  in  high- 
flown  discourse  on  the  superlative  characteristics  of  the 
State  he  represented,  wound  up  all  by  saying,  "All  that 
Texas  needs  to  make  it  a  paradise  is  water  and  good  so- 
ciety," to  which  Wade  instantly  replied,  "That  's  all  they 
need  in  hell."  The  nimbleness  and  shrewdness  of  some 
public  men  he  failed  to  appreciate.  On  his  saying  some- 
thing to  me  rather  unfavorable  to  a  noted  statesman  of 
New  England,  I  answered  him,  ' i  But,  senator,  he  made  an 
admirable  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives."  To 
which  he  answered,  '  '  So  would  a  squirrel  if  he  could  talk. ' ' 

Dr.  Howe  was  a  very  different  sort  of  man— a  man  of 
the  highest  cultivation  and  of  wide  experience,  who  had  de- 
voted his  whole  life  to  philanthropic  efforts.  He  had  been 
imprisoned  in  Spandau  for  attempting  to  aid  the  Poles; 
had  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life  while  struggling  in 
Greece  against  Turkey;  and  had  braved  death  again  and 
again  while  aiding  the  free-State  men  against  the  pro- 
slavery  myrmidons  of  Kansas.  He  told  me  that  of  all 


490  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE -III 

these  three  experiences,  he  considered  the  last  as  by  far 
the  most  dangerous.  He  had  a  high  sense  of  personal 
honor,  and  was  devoted  to  what  he  considered  the  interests 
of  humanity. 

Our  main  residence  was  at  the  city  of  Santo  Domingo, 
and  our  relations  with  the  leading  officials  of  the  republic 
were  exceedingly  pleasant.  The  president,  Baez,  was  a 
man  of  force  and  ability,  and,  though  a  light  mulatto,  he 
had  none  of  the  characteristics  generally  attributed  in  the 
United  States  to  men  of  mixed  blood.  He  had  rather  the 
appearance  of  a  swarthy  Spaniard,  and  in  all  his  conduct 
he  showed  quiet  self-reliance,  independence,  and  the  tone  of 
a  high-spirited  gentleman.  His  family  was  noted  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  island,  and  held  large  estates,  near  the  capital 
city,  in  the  province  of  Azua.  He  had  gone  through  various 
vicissitudes,  at  times  conquering  insurgents  and  at  times 
being  driven  out  by  them.  During  a  portion  of  his  life  he 
had  lived  in  Spain,  and  had  there  been  made  a  marshal  of 
that  kingdom.  There  was  a  quiet  elegance  in  his  manners 
and  conversation  which  would  have  done  credit  to  any 
statesman  in  any  country,  and  he  had  gathered  about  him 
as  his  cabinet  two  or  three  really  superior  men  who  ap- 
peared devoted  to  his  fortunes.  I  have  never  doubted  that 
his  overtures  to  General  Grant  were  patriotic.  As  long  as 
he  could  remember,  he  had  known  nothing  in  his  country 
but  a  succession  of  sterile  revolutions  which  had  destroyed 
all  its  prosperity  and  nearly  all  its  population.  He  took 
very  much  to  heart  a  passage  in  one  of  Mr.  Sumner  's  ora- 
tions against  the  annexation  project,  in  which  the  senator 
had  spoken  of  him  as  a  man  who  wished  to  sell  his  country. 
Referring  to  this,  President  Baez  said  to  me : l  <-How  could 
I  sell  my  country!  My  property  is  here;  my  family  is 
here;  my  friends  are  here;  all  my  interests  are  here: 
how  could  I  sell  my  country  and  run  away  and  enjoy  the 
proceeds  as  Mr.  Sumner  thinks  I  wish  to  do  ?  Mr.  Sumner 
gives  himself  out  to  be  the  friend  of  the  colored  race ;  but 
I  also  am  a  colored  man, "  and  with  that  Baez  ran  his  hand 
through  his  crisp  hair  and  said, i '  This  leaves  no  doubt  on 
that  point." 


AS   COMMISSIONER  TO   SANTO   DOMINGO-1871     491 

We  discussed  at  various  times  the  condition  of  his  coun- 
try and  the  relations  which  he  desired  to  establish  with 
the  United  States,  and  I  became  more  and  more  convinced 
that  his  dominant  motives  were  those  of  a  patriot.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  country  under  the  prevailing  system 
was  a  ruin.  West  of  it  was  the  republic  of  Haiti,  more 
than  twice  as  populous,  which  from  time  to  time  en- 
croached upon  its  weaker  sister.  In  Santo  Domingo  itself, 
under  one  revolutionist  after  another,  war  had  raged  over 
the  entire  territory  of  the  republic  year  after  year  for 
generations.  Traveling  through  the  republic,  it  is  a  sim- 
ple fact  that  I  never,  in  its  entire  domain,  saw  a  bridge,  a 
plow,  a  spade,  a  shovel,  or  a  hoe ;  the  only  implement  we 
saw  was  the  machete— a  heavy,  rude  instrument  which 
served  as  a  sword  in  war  and  a  spade  in  peace.  Every- 
where among  the  mountains  I  found  magnificent  squared 
logs  of  the  beautiful  mahogany  of  the  country  left  just 
where  the  teams  which  had  been  drawing  them  had  been 
seized  by  revolutionists. 

In  one  of  the  large  interior  towns  there  had  been,  in- 
deed, one  evidence  of  civilization  to  which  the  people  of 
that  region  had  pointed  with  pride— a  steam-engine  for 
sawing  timber;  but  sometime  before  my  arrival  one  of 
the  innumerable  petty  revolutions  had  left  it  a  mere  mass 
of  rusty  scraps. 

Under  the  natural  law  of  increase  the  population  of  the 
republic  should  have  been  numbered  in  millions ;  but  close 
examination,  in  all  parts  of  its  territory,  showed  us  that 
there  were  not  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  left,  and 
that  of  these  about  one  half  were  mulattos,  the  other  half 
being  about  equally  divided  between  blacks  and  whites. 

Since  my  visit  business  men  from  the  United  States 
have  developed  the  country  to  some  extent;  but  revolu- 
tions have  continued,  each  chieftain  getting  into  place  by 
orating  loudly  about  liberty,  and  then  holding  power  by 
murdering  not  only  his  enemies,  but  those  whom  he 
thought  likely  to  become  his  enemies. 

The  late  president,  Heureaux,  was  one  of  the  most  mon- 


492  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-III 

strous  of  those  creatures  who  have  found  their  breeding- 
bed  in  Central  American  politics.  lie  seems  to  have  mur- 
dered, as  far  as  possible,  not  only  all  who  opposed  him, 
but  all  who,  he  thought,  might  oppose  him,  and  even 
members  of  their  families. 

It  was  not  at  all  surprising  that  Baez,  clear-sighted  and 
experienced  as  he  was,  saw  an  advantage  to  his  country 
in  annexation  to  the  United  States,  lie  probably  ex- 
pected that  it  would  be,  at  first,  a  Territory  of  which  he,  as 
the  foremost  man  in  the  island,  would  become  governor, 
and  that  later  it  would  come  into  the  Union  as  a  State 
which  he  would  be  quite  likely  to  represent  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  At  a  later  period,  when  I  saw  him  in  Xew 
York,  on  his  way  to  visit  the  President  at  Washington, 
my  favorable  opinion  of  him  was  confirmed.  lie  was 
quiet,  dignified,  manly,  showing  himself,  in  his  conversa- 
tion and  conduct,  a  self -respecting  man  of  the  world,  ac- 
customed to  manage  large  affairs  and  to  deal  with  strong 
men. 

The  same  desire  to  annex  the  island  to  the  United  States 
was  evident  among  the  clergy.  This  at  first  surprised  me, 
for  some  of  them  were  exceedingly  fanatical,  and  one 
of  them,  who  was  especially  civil  to  us,  had  endeavored,  a 
few  months  before  our  arrival,  to  prevent  the  proper 
burial  of  a  charming  American  lady,  the  wife  of  the 
American  geologist  of  the  government,  under  the  old 
Spanish  view  that,  not  being  a  Catholic,  she  should  be 
buried  outside  the  cemetery  upon  the  commons,  like  a  dog. 
Hut  the  desire  for  peace  and  for  a  reasonable  develop- 
ment of  the  country,  even  under  a  government  considered 
heretical,  was  everywhere  evident. 

It  became  my  duty  to  discuss  the  question  of  church 
properly  with  the  papal  nuncio  and  vicar  apostolic,  lie 
was  an  archbishop  who  had  been  sent  over  to  take  tem- 
porary charge  of  ecclesiastical  matters;  of  course  a  most 
earnest  Uonian  Catholic,  hut  thoroughly  devoted  to  the 
annexation  of  the  island  to  the  Tinted  States,  and  the 
reason  for  his  opinion  was  soon  evident.  Throughout  the 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO   SANTO  DOMINGO-1871     493 

entire  island  one  constantly  sees  great  buildings  and  other 
church  property  which  have  been  confiscated  and  sold  for 
secular  purposes.  In  the  city  itself  the  opera-house  was 
a  former  church,  which  in  its  day  had  been  very  impos- 
ing, and  everywhere  one  saw  monastery  estates  in  private 
hands.  The  authorities  in  Santo  Domingo  had  simply 
pursued  the  policy  so  well  known  in  various  Latin  coun- 
tries, and  especially  in  France,  Italy,  and  Spain,  of  allow- 
ing the  religious  orders  to  absorb  large  masses  of  prop- 
erty, and  then  squeezing  it  out  of  them  into  the  coffers 
of  the  state. 

In  view  of  this,  I  said  to  the  papal  nuncio  that  it  was 
very  important  for  the  United  States,  in  considering  the 
question  of  annexing  the  island,  to  know  what  the  church 
claimed;  that  if  the  church  demanded  the  restoration  of 
all  that  had  been  taken  from  her,  this  would  certainly 
greatly  diminish  the  value  of  the  island  in  the  eyes  of  our 
public  men.  To  this  he  answered  that  in  case  of  annexa- 
tion the  church  would  claim  nothing  whatever  beyond 
what  it  was  absolutely  and  actually  occupying  and  using 
for  its  own  purposes,  and  he  offered  to  give  me  guaran- 
tees to  that  effect  which  should  be  full  and  explicit. 

It  was  perfectly  clear  that  the  church  authorities  pre- 
ferred to  be  under  a  government  which,  even  though  they 
regarded  it  as  Protestant,  could  secure  them  their  prop- 
erty, rather  than  to  be  subject  to  a  Roman  Catholic  re- 
public in  which  they  were  liable  to  constantly  recurring 
spoliation.  This  I  found  to  be  the  spirit  of  the  clergy  of 
every  grade  in  all  parts  of  the  island :  they  had  discovered 
that  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  confis- 
cation without  compensation  is  impossible. 

It  also  fell  to  my  lot,  as  the  youngest  man  in  the  com- 
mission, to  conduct  an  expedition  across  the  mountains 
from  the  city  of  Santo  Domingo  on  the  south  coast  to 
Puerto  Plata  on  the  north. 

During  this  journey,  on  which  I  was  about  ten  days  in 
the  saddle,  it  was  my  duty  to  confer  with  the  principal 
functionaries,  and  this  gave  me  novel  experiences.  When- 


494  IX   THE    DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -III 

ever  our  cavalcade  approached  a  town,  we  halted,  a  mes- 
senger was  sent  forward,  and  soon  the  alcalde,  the  priests, 
and  other  men  of  light  and  leading,  with  a  long  train  of 
functionaries,  came  dashing  out  on  horseback  to  greet  us; 
introductions  then  took  place,  and,  finally,  there  was  a 
wild  gallop  into  the  town  to  the  house  of  the  alcalde, 
where  speeches  were  made  and  compliments  exchanged  in 
the  high  Spanish  manner. 

At  the  outset  there  was  a  mishap.  As  we  were  organiz- 
ing our  expedition,  the  gentlemen  charged  with  purchasing 
supplies  assured  me  that  if  we  wished  to  secure  proper 
consideration  of  the  annexation  question  by  the  principal 
men  of  the  various  towns,  we  must  exercise  a  large  if 
simple  hospitality,  and  that  social  gatherings  without  rum 
punch  would  be  offensive  rather  than  propitiatory.  The 
order  to  lay  in  a  sufficient  spirituous  supply  was  reluc- 
tantly given,  and  in  due  time  we  started,  one  of  our  train 
of  i tack-horses  having  on  each  side  of  the  saddle  large 
demijohns  of  the  fluid  which,  was  to  be  so  potent  for 
diplomatic  purposes.  At  the  close  of  the  first  day's  travel, 
just  as  our  hammocks  had  been  swung,  I  heard  a  scream 
and  sawr  the  people  of  our  own  and  neighboring  huts 
snatching  cups  and  glasses  and  running  pell-mell  toward 
the  point  where  our  animals  were  tethered.  On  examina- 
tion I  found  that  the  horse  intrusted  with  the  precious 
burden,  having  been  relieved  of  part  of  his  load,  had  felt 
warranted  in  disporting  himself,  and  had  finally  rolled 
over,  crushing  all  the  demijohns.  It  seemed  a  serious  mat- 
ter, but  T  cannot  say  that  it  afflicted  me  much ;  we  pro- 
pitiated the  local  functionaries  by  other  forms  of  hospi- 
tality, and  I  never  found  that  the  absence  of  rum  punch 
seriously  injured  our  diplomacy. 

Civil  war  had  been  recently  raging  throughout  the  re- 
public, and  in  one  of  the  interior  towns  I  was  one  day  no- 
tified that  a  well-known  guerrilla  general,  who  had  shown 
great  bravery  in  behalf  of  the  Baez  government,  wished 
a  public  interview.  The  meeting  took  place  in  the  large 
room  of  the  house  which  had  been  assigned  me.  The 


AS  COMMISSIONER   TO  SANTO   DOMINGO- 1871     495 

mountain  chieftain  entered,  bearing  a  rifle,  and,  the  first 
salutations  having  been  exchanged,  he  struck  an  oratori- 
cal attitude,  and  after  expressing,  in  a  loud  harangue,  his 
high  consideration  for  the  United  States,  for  its  represen- 
tative, and  for  all  present,  he  solemnly  tendered  the  rifle 
to  me,  saying  that  he  had  taken  it  in  battle  from  Luperon, 
the  arch-enemy  of  his  country,  and  could  think  of  no  other 
bestowal  so  worthy  of  it.  This  gift  somewhat  discon- 
certed me.  In  the  bitterness  of  party  feeling  at  home  re- 
garding the  Santo  Domingo  question,  how  would  it  look 
for  one  of  the  commissioners  to  accept  such  a  present? 
President  Grant  had  been  held  up  to  obloquy  throughout 
the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  land  for  accepting  a 
dog ;  what,  then,  would  happen  to  a  diplomatic  represen- 
tative who  should  accept  a  rifle?  Connected  with  the  ex- 
pedition were  some  twenty  or  thirty  representatives  of  the 
press,  and  I  could  easily  see  how  my  acceptance  of  such 
a  gift  would  alarm  the  sensitive  consciences  of  many  of 
them  and  be  enlarged  and  embroidered  until  the  United 
States  would  resound  with  indignant  outcry  against  a  com- 
mission which  accepted  presents  and  was  probably  won 
over  by  contracts  for  artillery.  My  first  attempt  was  to 
evade  the  difficulty.  Rifle  in  hand,  I  acknowledged  my  ap- 
preciation of  the  gift,  but  declared  to  the  general  that  my 
keeping  such  a  trophy  would  certainly  be  a  wrong  to  his 
family;  that  I  would  therefore  accept  it  and  transmit  it 
to  his  son,  to  be  handed  down  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion of  his  descendants  as  an  heirloom  and  a  monument 
of  bravery  and  patriotism.  I  was  just  congratulating  my- 
self on  this  bit  of  extemporized  diplomacy,  when  a  cloud 
began  to  gather  on  the  general's  face,  and  presently  he 
broke  forth,  saying  that  he  regretted  to  find  his  present 
not  good  enough  to  be  accepted;  that  it  was  the  best  he 
had;  that  if  he  had  possessed  anything  better  he  would 
have  brought  it.  At  this,  two  or  three  gentlemen  in  our 
party  pressed  around  me,  and,  in  undertones,  advised  me 
by  all  means  to  accept  it.  There  was  no  alternative;  I 
accepted  the  rifle  in  as  sonorous  words  as  I  could  muster 


496  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-III 

— "in  behalf  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States"; 
had  it  placed  immediately  in  a  large  box  with  the  words 
"War  Department "  upon  it,  in  very  staring  letters;  and 
so  the  matter  ended.  Fortunately  the  commission,  though 
attacked  for  a  multitude  of  sins,  escaped  censure  in  this 
matter. 

One  part  of  our  duty  was  somewhat  peculiar.  The 
United  States,  a  few  years  before,  had  been  on  the  point 
of  concluding  negotiations  with  Denmark  for  the  purchase 
of  St.  Thomas,  when  a  volcanic  disturbance  threw  an 
American  frigate  in  the  harbor  of  that  island  upon  the 
shore,  utterly  wrecking  both  the  vessel  and  the  treaty. 
This  experience  it  was  which  led  to  the  insertion  of  a 
clause  in  the  Congressional  instructions  to  the  commission 
requiring  them  to  make  examinations  regarding  the  fre- 
quency and  severity  of  earthquakes.  This  duty  we  dis- 
charged faithfully,  and  on  one  occasion  with  a  result  in- 
teresting both  to  students  of  history  and  of  psychology. 
Arriving  at  the  old  town  of  Cotuy,  among  the  mountains, 
and  returning  the  vicar's  call,  after  my  public  reception,  I 
asked  him  the  stereotyped  question  regarding  earthquakes, 
and  was  answered  that  about  the  year  1840  there  had 
been  one  of  a  very  terrible  sort;  that  it  had  shaken  and 
broken  his  great  stone  church  very  badly ;  that  he  had  re- 
paired the  whole  structure,  except  the  gaping  crevice 
above  the  front  entrance;  "and,"  said  the  good  old  padre, 
"that  I  left  as  a  warning  to  my  people,  thinking  that  it 
might  have  a  good  influence  upon  them. ' '  On  visiting  the 
church,  we  found  the  crevice  as  the  padre  had  described  it ; 
but  his  reasoning  was  especially  interesting,  because  it 
corroborated  the  contention  of  Buckle,  who,  but  a  few 
years  before,  in  his  "History  of  Civilization  in  England," 
had  stated  that  earthquakes  and  volcanoes  had  aided  the 
clergy  of  southern  countries  in  maintaining  superstition, 
and  who  had  afterward  defended  this  view  with  great 
wealth  of  learning  when  it  was  attacked  by  a  writer  in  the 
"Edinburgh  Keview."  Certainly  this  Santo  Domingo 
example  was  on  the  side  of  the  historian. 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO   SANTO  DOMINGO- 1871     497 

Another  day  brought  us  to  Vega,  noted  as  the  point 
where  Columbus  reared  his  standard  above  the  wonderful 
interior  valley  of  the  island ;  and  there  we  were  welcomed, 
as  usual,  by  the  officials,  and,  among  them,  by  a  tall,  ascetic- 
looking  priest  who  spoke  French.  Returning  his  call  next 
day,  I  was  shown  into  his  presence  in  a  room  utterly  bare 
of  all  ornament  save  a  large  and  beautiful  photograph  of 
the  Cathedral  of  Tours.  It  had  happened  to  me,  just  after 
my  college  days,  to  travel  on  foot  through  a  large  part  of 
northern,  western,  and  middle  France,  especially  interest- 
ing myself  in  cathedral  architecture ;  and  as  my  eye  caught 
this  photograph  I  said,  l  i  Father,  what  a  beautiful  picture 
you  have  of  the  Church  of  St.  Gatien!"  The  countenance 
of  the  priest,  who  had  at  first  received  me  very  ceremoni- 
ously and  coldly,  was  instantly  changed ;  he  looked  at  me 
for  a  moment,  and  then  threw  his  arms  about  me.  It  was 
pathetic:  of  all  who  had  ever  entered  his  door  I  was 
probably  the  only  one  who  had  recognized  the  picture  of 
the  cathedral  where  he  had  been  ordained ;  and,  above  all, 
by  a  curious  inspiration  which  I  cannot  to  this  hour  ac- 
count for,  I  had  recognized  it  by  the  name  of  the  saint  to 
whom  it  is  dedicated.  Why  I  did  not  speak  of  it  simply 
as  the  Cathedral  of  Tours  I  know  not ;  how  I  came  to  re- 
member that  it  was  dedicated  to  St.  Gatien  I  know  not; 
but  this  fact  evidently  loosened  the  cords  of  the  father's 
heart,  and  during  my  stay  at  Vega  he  was  devoted  to  me ; 
giving  me  information  of  the  greatest  value  regarding 
the  people,  their  habits,  their  diseases,  and  the  like,  much 
of  which,  up  to  that  moment,  the  commission  and  its  sub- 
ordinates had  vainly  endeavored  to  secure. 

And  here  I  recall  one  thing  which  struck  me  as  signifi- 
cant. This  ascetic  French  priest  was  very  severe  in  con- 
demnation of  the  old  Spanish  priesthood  of  the  island. 
When  I  asked  him  regarding  the  morals  of  the  people  he 
answered,  "How  can  you  expect  good  morals  in  them 
when  their  pastors  set  such  bad  examples?1'  It  was 
evident  that  the  church  authorities  at  Rome  were  of  his 
opinion;  for  in  nearly  every  town  I  found  not  only  a 

I.— 32 


498  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-  III 

jolly,  kindly,  easy-going  old  Spanish  padre,  surrounded 
!>y  "nephews"  and  "nieces,"  but  a  more  austere  ecclesi- 
astic recently  arrived  from  France  or  Italy. 

In  the  impressions  made  upon  me  by  this  long  and 
tedious  journey  across  the  island,  pleasure  and  pain  were 
constantly  mingled.  On  one  hand  was  the  wonderful 
beauty  of  the  scenery,  the  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation, 
and  the  bracing  warmth  of  the  climate,  while  the  United 
States  were  going  through  a  winter  more  than  usually 
bitter. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  whole  condition  of  the  coun- 
try seemed  to  indicate  that  the  early  Spanish  rulers  had 
left  a  curse  upon  it  from  which  it  had  never  recovered. 
Its  inhabitants,  in  revolution  after  revolution,  had  de- 
stroyed all  industry  and  industrial  appliances,  and  had 
virtually  eaten  up  each  other;  generation  after  generation 
had  thus  been  almost  entirely  destroyed. 

Finally,  after  nearly  a  fortnight  of  clambering  over 
mountains,  pushing  through  tropical  thickets,  fording 
streams,  and  negotiating  in  palm  huts,  we  approached  the 
sea  ;  and  suddenly,  on  the  north  side  of  the  island,  at  the 
top  of  the  mountain  back  of  Puerto  Plata,  we  looked  far 
down  iij')  on  its  beautiful  harbor,  in  the  midst  of  which, 
like  a  fly  upon  a  mirror,  lay  our  trim  little  frigate  Nan- 


The  vice-president  of  the  republic,  surrounded  by  the 
representatives  of  the  city,  having  welcomed  us  with  the 
usual  speeches,  we  pushed  forward  to  the  vice-presiden- 
tial villa,  where  I  was  to  be  lodged. 

I  Fax-ing  no  other  dress  with  me  than  my  traveler's  out- 
fit, of  which  the  main  features  were  a  flaming  red  flannel 
shirt,  a  poncho,  and  a  sombrero,  and  having  been  invited 
to  dine  that  evening  at  the  house  of  my  host,  with  the 
various  consuls  and  other  leaders  of  the  place,  I  ordered 
two  of  my  men  to  hurry  down  the  mountain,  and  out  to 
the  frigate,  to  bring  in  my  leather  trunk  containing  a 
costume  more  worthy  of  the  expected  ceremony;  and 
hardlv  were  we  comfortably  established  under  the  roof  of 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO   DOMINGO- 1871      499 

the  vice-president,  when  two  sailors  came  in,  bringing  the 
precious  burden. 

Now  came  a  catastrophe.  Turning  the  key,  I  noticed 
that  the  brass  fittings  of  the  lock  were  covered  with  verdi- 
gris, and,  as  the  trunk  opened,  I  shrank  back  in  horror.  It 
was  filled,  apparently,  with  a  mass  of  mossy  white-and- 
green  mold  from  which  cockroaches  of  enormous  size 
darted  in  all  directions. 

Hastily  pulling  down  the  cover,  I  called  a  council  of 
war;  the  main  personages  in  it  being  my  private  secre- 
tary, Professor  Crane,  since  acting  president  of  Cornell 
University,  and  sundry  of  the  more  important  men  in  the 
expedition.  To  these  I  explained  the  situation.  It  seemed 
bad  enough  to  lose  all  means  of  presenting  a  suitable  ap- 
pearance at  the  approaching  festivity,  but  this  was  no- 
thing compared  with  the  idea  that  I  had  requited  the  hos- 
pitality of  my  host  by  spreading  through  his  house  this 
hideous  entomological  collection. 

But  as  I  exposed  this  latter  feature  of  the  situation,  I 
noticed  a  smile  coming  over  the  faces  of  my  Dominican 
attendants,  and  presently  one  of  them  remarked  that  the 
cockroaches  I  had  brought  would  find  plenty  of  compan- 
ions; that  the  house  was  doubtless  already  full  of  them. 
This  was  a  great  relief  to  my  conscience.  The  trunk  was 
removed,  and  presently  the  clothing,  in  which  I  was  to 
be  arrayed  for  the  evening,  was  brought  in.  It  seemed  in 
a  fearful  condition,  but,  curiously  enough,  while  boots, 
shoes,  and,  above  all,  a  package  of  white  gloves  care- 
fully reserved  for  grand  ceremonies,  had  been  nearly  de- 
voured, the  garments  of  various  sorts  had  escaped  fairly 
well. 

The  next  thing  in  order  being  the  preparation  of  my 
apparel  for  use,  the  men  proceeded  first  to  deluge  it  with 
carbolic  acid;  and  then,  after  drying  it  on  the  balconies 
in  front  of  the  vice-president's  house,  to  mitigate  the 
invincible  carbolic  odor  by  copious  drenchings  of  Florida 
water.  All  day  long  they  were  thus  at  work  making 
ready  for  the  evening  ceremony.  In  due  time  it  ar- 


500  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-III 

rived;  and,  finally,  after  a  sumptuous  entertainment,  I 
stood  before  the  assembled  consuls  and  other  magnates. 
Probably  no  one  of  them  remembers  a  word  of  my  dis- 
course; but  doubtless  every  survivor  will  agree  that  no 
speaker,  before  or  since,  ever  made  to  him  an  appeal  of 
such  pungency.  I  pervaded  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the 
place;  indeed,  the  town  itself  seemed  to  me,  as  long  as  I 
remained  in  it,  to  reek  of  that  strange  mixture  of  carbolic 
acid  and  Florida  water;  and  as  soon  as  possible  after 
reaching  the  ship,  the  contents  of  the  trunk  were  thrown 
overboard,  and  life  became  less  a  burden. 

Having  been  duly  escorted  to  the  Nantasket,  and  re- 
ceived heartily  by  Commander  McCook,  I  was  assigned 
his  own  cabin,  but  soon  thought  it  expedient  to  get  out  of 
it  and  sleep  on  deck.  The  fact  was  that  the  companions 
of  my  cockroaches  had  possession  of  the  ship,  and,  to  all 
appearance,  their  headquarters  were  in  the  captain's 
room.  I  therefore  ordered  my  bed  on  deck;  and,  though 
it  was  February,  passed  two  delightful  nights  in  that 
balmy  atmosphere  of  the  tropical  seas  while  we  skirted 
the  north  side  of  the  island  until,  at  Port-au-Prince,  I  re- 
joined the  other  commissioners,  who  had  come  in  the  Ten- 
nessee, along  the  southern  coast. 

At  the  Haitian  capital  our  commission  had  interviews 
with  the  president,  his  cabinet,  and  others,  and  afterward 
we  had  time  to  look  about  us.  Few  things  could  be  more 
dispiriting.  The  city  had  been  burned  again  and  again,  and 
there  had  arisen  a  tangle  of  streets  displaying  every  sort 
of  cheap  absurdity  in  architecture.  The  effects  of  the  re- 
cent revolution— the  latest  in  a  long  series  of  civic  con- 
vulsions, cruel  and  sterile— were  evident  on  all  sides.  Oh 
the  slope  above  the  city  had  stood  the  former  residence  of 
the  French  governor :  it  had  been  a  beautiful  palace,  and, 
being  so  far  from  the  sea,  had,  until  the  recent  revolution, 
escaped  unharmed;  but  during  that  last  effort  a  squad 
of  miscreants,  howling  the  praises  of  liberty,  having  got 
possession  of  a  small  armed  vessel  in  the  harbor  and  found 
upon  it  a  rifled  cannon  of  long  range,  had  exercised  their 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO   SANTO  DOMINGO -1871     501 

monkeyish  passion  for  destruction  by  wantonly  firing 
upon  this  beautiful  structure.  It  now  lay  in  ruins.  In  its 
main  staircase  an  iron  ring  was  pointed  out  to  us,  and  we 
were  given  the  following  chronicle. 

During  the  recent  revolution  the  fugitive  President 
Salnave  had  been  captured,  a  leathern  thong  had  been 
rudely  drawn  through  a  gash  in  his  hand,  and,  attached 
by  this  to  a  cavalryman,  he  had  been  dragged  up  the  hill 
to  the  palace,  through  the  crowd  which  had  but  recently 
hurrahed  for  him,  but  which  now  jeered  and  pelted  him. 
Arriving  upon  the  scene  of  his  former  glory,  he  was  at- 
tached by  the  thong  to  this  iron  ring  and  shot. 

Opposite  the  palace  was  the  ruin  of  a  mausoleum,  and 
in  the  street  were  scattered  fragments  of  marble  sar- 
cophagi beautifully  sculptured:  these  had  contained  the 
bodies  of  former  rulers,  but  the  revolutionists  of  Haiti, 
imitating  those  of  1793  in  France,  as  apes  imitate  men, 
had  torn  the  corpses  out  of  them  and  had  then  scattered 
these,  with  the  fragments  of  their  monuments,  through  the 
streets. 

In  the  markets  of  the  city  we  had  ample  experience 
of  the  advantage  arising  from  unlimited  paper  money. 
Successive  governments  had  kept  themselves  afloat  by  new 
issues  of  currency,  until  its  purchasing  power  was  reduced 
almost  to  nothing.  Preposterous  sums  were  demanded  for 
the  simplest  articles :  hundreds  of  dollars  for  a  basket  of 
fruit,  and  thousands  of  dollars  for  a  straw  hat. 

With  us  as  one  of  our  secretaries  was  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, the  gifted  son  of  an  eminent  Virginian  and  a  slave  wo- 
man,—one  of  the  two  or  three  most  talented  men  of  color  I 
have  ever  known.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  cherished  many 
hopes  that  his  race,  if  set  free,  would  improve ;  but  it  was 
evident  that  this  experience  in  Santo  Domingo  discour- 
aged and  depressed  him.  He  said  to  one  of  us,  "If  this  is 
the  outcome  of  self-government  by  my  race,  Heaven  help 
us!" 

Another  curious  example  bearing  on  the  same  subject 
was  furnished  us  in  Jamaica,  whither  we  went  after  leav- 


502  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC1   SERVICE-III 

ing  Haiti.  Our  wish  was  to  consult,  on  our  way  home,  the 
former  president  of  the  Haitian  republic,  Geffrard,— 
who  was  then  living  in  exile  near  Kingston.  We  found 
him  in  a  beautiful  apartment,  elegantly  furnished;  and  in 
every  way  he  seemed  superior  to  the  officials  whom  we 
had  met  at  Port-au-Prince.  He  was  a  light  mulatto,  in- 
telligent, quiet,  dignified,  and  able  to  state  his  views  with- 
out undue  emphasis.  His  wife  was  very  agreeable,  and 
his  daughter,  though  clearly  of  a  melancholic  tempera- 
ment, one  of  the  most  beautiful  young  women  I  have  ever 
seen.  The  reason  for  her  melancholy  was  evident  to  any 
one  who  knew  her  father's  history.  He  had  gone  through 
many  political  storms  before  he  had  fled  from  Haiti,  and 
in  one  of  these  his  enemies  had  fired  through  the  windows 
of  his  house  and  killed  his  other  daughter. 

lie  calmly  discussed  with  us  the  condition  of  the  island, 
and  evidently  believed  that  the  only  way  to  save  it  from 
utter  barbarism  was  to  put  it  under  the  control  of  some 
civilized  power. 

Interesting  as  were  his  opinions,  he  and  his  family,  as 
we  saw  them  in  their  daily  life,  were  still  more  so.  It 
was  a  revelation  to  us  all  of  what  the  colored  race  might 
become  in  a  land  where  it  is  under  no  social  ban.  For 
generations  he  and  his  had  been  the  equals  of  the  best 
people  they  had  met  in  France  and  in  Haiti;  they  had 
been  guests  at  the  dinners  of  ministers  and  at  the  soirees 
of  savants  in  the  French  capital ;  there  was  nothing  about 
them  of  that  deprecatory  sort  which  one  sees  so  constantly 
in  men  and  women  with  African  blood  in  their  veins  in 
lands  where  their  race  has  recently  been  held  in  servitude. 

And  here  I  may  again  cite  the  case  of  President  Baez  — 
a  man  to  whom  it  probably  never  occurred  that  he  was  not 
the  equal  socially  of  the  best  men  he  met,  and  who  in  any 
European  country  would  be  at  once  regarded  as  a  man 
of  mark,  and  welcomed  at  any  gathering  of  notables. 

Among  our  excursions,  while  in  Jamaica,  was  one  to 
Spanish  Town,  Ihe  residence  of  the  British  governor. 
In  the  drawing-room  of  His  Excellency's  wife  there  was 


AS   COMMISSIONER  TO   SANTO  DOMINGO -1871     503 

shown  us  one  rather  curious  detail.  Not  long  before  our 
visit,  the  legislature  had  been  abolished  and  the  island 
had  been  made  a  crown  colony  ruled  by  a  royal  governor 
and  council ;  therefore  it  was  that,  there  being  no  further 
use  for  it,  the  gorgeous  chair  of  "Mr.  Speaker,"  a  huge 
construction  apparently  of  carved  oak,  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  her  ladyship's  drawing-room,  and  we  were  in- 
formed that  in  this  she  received  her  guests. 

From  Kingston  we  came  to  Key  West,  and  from  that 
point  to  Charleston,  where,  as  our  frigate  was  too  large  to 
cross  the  bar,  we  were  taken  off,  and  thence  reached  Wash- 
ington by  rail. 

One  detail  regarding  those  latter  days  of  our  commis- 
sion is  perhaps  worthy  of  record  as  throwing  light  on  a 
seamy  side  of  American  life.  From  first  to  last  we  had 
shown  every  possible  civility  to  the  representatives  of  the 
press  who  had  accompanied  us  on  the  frigate,  constantly 
taking  them  with  us  in  Santo  Domingo  and  elsewhere, 
and  giving  them  every  facility  for  collecting  information. 
But  from  time  to  time  things  occurred  which  threw  a  new 
and  somewhat  unpleasant  light  on  the  way  misinformation 
is  liberally  purveyed  to  the  American  public.  One  day 
one  of  these  gentlemen,  the  representative  of  a  leading 
New  York  daily,  talking  with  me  of  the  sort  of  news  his 
paper  required,  said,  "The  managers  of  our  paper  don't 
care  for  serious  information,  such  as  particulars  regarding 
the  country  we  visit,  its  inhabitants,  etc.,  etc. ;  what  they 
want,  above  all,  is  something  of  a  personal  nature,  such  as 
a  quarrel  or  squabble,  and  when  one  occurs  they  expect  us 
to  make  the  most  of  it. ' ' 

I  thought  no  more  of  this  until  I  arrived  at  Port-au- 
Prince,  where  I  found  that  this  gentleman  had  suddenly 
taken  the  mail-steamer  for  New  York  on  the  plea  of  ur- 
gent business.  The  real  cause  of  his  departure  was  soon 
apparent.  His  letters  to  the  paper  he  served  now  began 
to  come  back  to  us,  and  it  was  found  that  he  had  exer- 
cised his  imagination  vigorously.  He  had  presented  a 
mass  of  sensational  inventions,  but  his  genius  had  been 


504  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE— III 

especially  exercised  in  trumping  up  quarrels  which  had 
never  taken  place;  his  masterpiece  being  an  account  of  a 
bitter  struggle  between  Senator  Wade  and  myself.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  there  hail  never  been  between  us  the 
slightest  ill-feeling;  the  old  senator  had  been  like  a  father 
to  me  from  first  to  last. 

The  same  sort  of  thing  was  done  by  sundry  other  press 
prostitutes,  both  during  our  stay  in  the  West  Indies  and 
at  Washington;  but  I  am  happy  to  say  that  several  of  the 
correspondents  were  men  who  took  their  duties  seriously, 
and  really  rendered  a  service  to  the  American  public  by 
giving  information  worth  having. 

Our  journey  from  Charleston  to  Washington  had  one 
episode  perhaps  worthy  of  recording,  as  showing  a  pe- 
culiarity of  local  feeling  at  that  time.  Through  all  the  long 
day  we  had  little  or  nothing  to  eat,  and  looked  forward 
ravenously  to  the  dinner  on  board  the  Potomac  steamer. 
But  on  reaching  it  and  entering  the  dining-room,  we  found 
that  our  secretary,  Mr.  Frederick  Douglass,  was  abso- 
lutely refused  admittance.  He,  a  man  who  had  dined 
with  the  foremost  statesmen  and  scholars  of  our  Northern 
States  and  of  Europe,  — a  man  who  by  his  dignity,  ability, 
and  elegant  manners  was  fit  to  honor  any  company, — was, 
on  account  of  his  light  tinge  of  African  blood,  not  thought 
fit  to  sit  at  meat  with  the  motley  crowd  on  a  Potomac 
steamer.  This  being  the  case,  Dr.  Howe  and  myself  de- 
clined to  dine,  and  so  reached  Washington,  about  mid- 
night, almost  starving,  thus  experiencing,  at  a  low  price, 
the  pangs  and  glories  of  martyrdom. 

One  discovery  made  by  the  commission  on  its  return 
ought  to  be  mentioned  here,  for  the  truth  of  history.  Mr. 
Sunnier,  in  his  speeches  bo. fore  the  Senate,  had  made  a 
strong  point  by  contrasting  the  conduct  of  the  United 
States  with  that  of  Spain  toward  Santo  Domingo.  He 
had  insisted  that  the  conduct  of  Spain  had  boon  far  more 
honorable  than  that  of  the  United  States;  that  Spain  had 
"brought  no  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  Dominican  repub- 
lic; that  when  Santo  Domingo  had  accepted  Spanish  rule, 


AS   COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO— 1871     505 

some  years  before,  it  had  done  so  of  its  own  free  will ;  and 
that  "not  a  single  Spanish  vessel  was  then  in  its  waters, 
nor  a  single  Spanish  sailor  upon  its  soil."  On  the  other 
hand,  he  insisted  that  the  conduct  of  the  United  States  had 
been  the  very  opposite  of  this;  that  it  had  brought  pres- 
sure to  bear  upon  the  little  island  republic ;  and  that  when 
the  decision  was  made  in  favor  of  our  country,  there  were 
American  ships  off  the  coast  and  American  soldiers  upon 
the  island.  To  prove  this  statement,  he  read  from  a  speech 
of  the  Spanish  prime  minister  published  in  the  official 
paper  of  the  Spanish  government  at  Madrid.  To  our 
great  surprise,  we  found,  on  arriving  at  the  island,  that 
this  statement  was  not  correct;  that  when  the  action  in 
favor  of  annexation  to  Spain  took  place,  Spanish  ships 
were  upon  the  coast  and  Spanish  soldiers  upon  the 
island;  and  that  there  had  been  far  more  appearance 
of  pressure  at  that  time  than  afterward,  when  the  little 
republic  sought  admission  to  the  American  Union.  One 
of  our  first  efforts,  therefore,  on  returning,  was  to 
find  a  copy  of  this  official  paper,  for  the  purpose  of 
discovering  how  it  was  that  the  leader  of  the  Spanish 
ministry  had  uttered  so  grave  an  untruth.  The  Span- 
ish newspaper  was  missing  from  the  library  of  Con- 
gress ;  but  at  last  Dr.  Howe,  the  third  commissioner,  a  life- 
long and  deeply  attached  friend  of  Mr.  Sumner,  found  it 
in  the  library  of  the  senator.  The  passage  which  Mr. 
Sumner  had  quoted  was  carefully  marked ;  it  was  simply 
to  the  effect  that  when  the  first  proceedings  looking  toward 
annexation  to  Spain  were  initiated,  there  were  no  Spanish 
ships  in  those  waters,  nor  Spanish  soldiers  on  shore.  This 
was,  however,  equally  true  of  the  United  States ;  for  when 
proceedings  were  begun  in  Santo  Domingo  looking  to  an- 
nexation, there  was  not  an  American  ship  off  the  coast,  nor 
an  American  soldier  on  the  island. 

But  the  painful  thing  in  the  matter  was  that,  had  Mr. 
Sumner  read  the  sentence  immediately  following  that 
which  he  quoted,  it  would  have  shown  simply  and  dis- 
tinctly that  his  contention  was  unfounded ;  that,  at  the  time 


506  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-III 

when  the  annexation  proceedings  were  formally  initiated 
and  accomplished,  there  iv ere  Spanish  ships  off  those 
shores  and  Spanish  soldiers  on  the  island. 

I  recall  vividly  the  deep  regret  expressed  at  the  time  by 
Dr.  Howe  that  his  friend  Senator  Sunnier  had  been  so 
bitter  in  his  opposition  to  the  administration  that  he  had 
quoted  the  first  part  of  the  Spanish  minister 's  speech  and 
suppressed  the  second  part.  It  was  clear  that  if  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  had  read  the  whole  passage  to  the  Senate  it  would  have 
shown  that  the  conduct  of  the  United  States  had  not  been 
less  magnanimous  than  that  of  Spain  in  the  matter,  and 
that  no  argument  whatever  against  the  administration 
could  be  founded  upon  its  action  in  sending  ships  and 
troops  to  the  island. 

In  drawing  up  our  report  after  our  arrival,  an  amicable 
difference  of  opinion  showed  itself.  Senator  Wade,  being 
a  "manifest-destiny"  man,  wished  it  expressly  to  recom- 
mend annexation;  Dr.  Howe,  in  his  anxiety  to  raise  the 
status  of  the  colored  race,  took  a  similar  view;  but  I 
pointed  out  to  them  the  fact  that  Congress  had  asked,  not 
for  a  recommendation,  but  for  facts ;  that  to  give  them  ad- 
vice under  such  circumstances  was  to  expose  ourselves  to  a 
snub,  and  could  bring  no  good  to  any  cause  which  any  of 
us  might  wish  to  serve ;  and  I  stated  that  if  the  general 
report  contained  recommendations,  I  must  be  allowed  to 
present  one  simply  containing  facts. 

The  result  was  that  we  united  in  the  document  pre- 
sented, which  is  a  simple  statement  of  facts,  and  which,  as 
I  believe,  remains  to  this  day  the  best  general  account  of 
the  resources  of  Santo  Domingo. 

The  result  of  our  report  was  what  I  had  expected.  The 
Spanish  part  of  that  island  is  of  great  value  from  an  agri- 
cultural and  probably  from  a  mining  point  of  view.  Its 
valleys  being  swept  by  the  trade-winds,  its  mountain  slopes 
offer  to  a  white  population  summer  retreats  like  those 
afforded  by  similar  situations  to  the  British  occupants  of 
India.  In  winter  it  might  also  serve  as  a  valuable  sana- 
torium. I  remember  well  the  answer  made  to  me  by  a  man 


AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  SANTO  DOMINGO-1871     507 

from  Maine,  who  had  brought  his  family  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Samana  Bay  in  order  to  escape  the  rigors  of  the 
New  England  winter.  On  my  asking  him  about  the  dis- 
eases prevalent  in  his  neighborhood,  he  said  that  his  entire 
household  had  gone  through  a  light  acclimating  fever,  but 
he  added :  ' '  We  have  all  got  through  it  without  harm ;  and 
on  looking  the  whole  matter  over,  I  am  persuaded  that,  if 
you  were  to  divide  the  people  of  any  New  England  State 
into  two  halves,  leaving  one  half  at  home  and  sending  the 
other  half  here,  there  would  in  ten  years  be  fewer  deaths  in 
the  half  sent  here,  from  all  the  diseases  of  this  country, 
than  in  the  half  left  in  New  England,  from  consumption 
alone. ' ' 

A  special  element  in  the  question  of  annexation  was  the 
value  of  the  harbor  of  Samana  in  controlling  one  of  the 
great  passages  from  Europe  to  the  Isthmus.  It  is  large 
enough  to  hold  any  fleet,  is  protected  by  a  mountain-range 
from  the  northern  winds,  is  easily  fortified,  and  is  the 
natural  outlet  of  the  largest  and  most  fertile  valley  in  the 
islands.  More  than  this,  if  the  experiment  of  annexing  an 
outlying  possession  was  to  be  tried,  that  was,  perhaps,  the 
best  of  opportunities,  since  the  resident  population  to  be 
assimilated  was  exceedingly  small. 

But  the  people  of  the  United  States,  greatly  as  they 
honored  General  Grant,  and  much  as  they  respected  his 
recommendations,  could  not  take  his  view.  They  evi- 
dently felt  that,  with  the  new  duties  imposed  upon  them 
by  the  vast  number  of  men  recently  set  free  and  admitted 
to  suffrage  in  the  South,  they  had  quite  enough  to  do 
without  assuming  the  responsibility  of  governing  and  de- 
veloping this  new  region  peopled  by  blacks  and  mulattos ; 
and  as  a  result  of  this  very  natural  feeling  the  whole 
proposal  was  dropped,  and  will  doubtless  remain  in  abey- 
ance until  the  experiments  in  dealing  with  Porto  Eico 
and  the  Philippines  shall  have  shown  the  people  of  the 
United  States  whether  there  is  any  place  for  such  depen- 
dencies under  our  system. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

AS  COMMISSIONER  TO  THE  PARIS  EXPOSITION  OF  1878 

MY  next  experience  was  of  a  quasi-diplomatic  sort,  in 
connection  with  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1878,  and 
it  needs  some  preface. 

During  the  Centennial  Exposition  of  1876  at  Philadel- 
phia, I  had  heen  appointed  upon  the  educational  jury,  and, 
as  the  main  part  of  the  work  came  during  the  university 
long  vacation,  had  devoted  myself  to  it,  and  had  thus  been 
brought  into  relations  with  some  very  interesting  men. 

Of  these  may  be  named,  at  the  outset,  the  Emperor  Dom 
Pedro  of  Brazil.  I  first  saw  him  in  a  somewhat  curious 
way.  He  had  landed  at  New  York  in  the  morning,  and 
early  in  the  afternoon  he  appeared  with  the  Empress  and 
their  gentlemen  and  ladies  in  waiting  at  Booth's  Theater. 
The  attraction  was  Shakspere  's  * '  Henry  V, ' '  and  no  sooner 
was  he  seated  in  his  box  than  he  had  his  Shakspere  open 
before  him.  Being  in  an  orchestra  stall,  I  naturally  ob- 
served him  from  time  to  time,  and  at  one  passage  light 
was  thrown  upon  his  idea  of  his  duties  as  a  monarch.  The 
play  was  given  finely,  by  the  best  American  company  of 
recent  years,  and  he  was  deeply  absorbed  in  it.  But  pres- 
ently there  came  the  words  of  King  Henry— the  noted 
passage : 

"  And  what  have  kings,  that  privates  have  not  too, 
Save  ceremony,  save  general  ceremony  ? 
And  what  art  thou,  thou  idol  ceremony  ? " 

Whereupon  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  evidently  moved 
by  the  same  impression,  turned  their  heads  from  the  stage, 

508 


AS   COMMISSIONER  AT  PARIS -1878  509 

looked  significantly  at  each  other,  and  his  majesty  very 
earnestly  nodded  to  his  wife  several  times,  as  if  thor- 
oughly assenting. 

The  feeling  thus  betrayed  was  undoubtedly  sincere.  His 
real  love  was  for  science,  literature,  and  art;  but  above 
all  for  science.  Some  years  before,  at  the  founding  of 
Cornell  University,  Agassiz  had  shown  me  private  letters 
from  him  revealing  his  knowledge  of  natural  history,  and 
the  same  thirst  for  knowledge  which  he  showed  then  was 
evident  now.  From  dawn  till  dusk  he  was  hard  at  work, 
visiting  places  of  interest  and  asking  questions  which, 
as  various  eminent  authorities  both  in  the  United  States 
and  France  have  since  assured  me,  showed  that  he  kept 
himself  well  abreast  of  the  most  recent  scientific  inves- 
tigations. 

On  the  following  morning  he  invited  me  to  call  upon 
him,  and  on  my  doing  so,  he  saluted  me  with  a  multitude 
of  questions  regarding  our  schools,  colleges,  and  univer- 
sities, which  I  answered  as  best  I  could,  though  many  of 
them  really  merited  more  time  than  could  be  given  during 
a  morning  interview.  His  manner  was  both  impressive 
and  winning.  He  had  clearly  thought  much  on  educational 
problems,  and  no  man  engaged  in  educational  work  could 
fail  to  be  stimulated  by  his  questions  and  comments.  In 
his  manner  there  was  nothing  domineering  or  assuming. 
I  saw  him  at  various  times  afterward,  and  remember  es- 
pecially his  kindly  and  perfectly  democratic  manner  at 
a  supper  given  by  the  late  Mr.  Drexel  of  Philadelphia, 
when  he  came  among  us,  moving  from  group  to  group, 
recognizing  here  one  old  friend  and  there  another,  and 
discussing  with  each  some  matter  of  value. 

Republican  as  I  am,  it  is  clear  to  me  that  his  consti- 
tutional sovereignty  was  a  government  far  more  free,  lib- 
eral, and,  indeed,  republican,  than  the  rule  of  the  dema- 
gogue despots  who  afterward  drove  him  from  his  throne 
ever  has  been  or  ever  will  be. 

Another  very  interesting  person  was  a  Spanish  officer, 
Don  Juan  Marin,  who  has  since  held  high  commands  both 


510  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-IV 

in  his  own  country  and  in  the  West  Indies.  We  were  upon 
the  same  jury,  and  I  came  to  admire  him  much.  One  day, 
as  we  sat  in  our  committee-room  discussing  various  sub- 
jects brought  before  us,  there  appeared  in  the  street  lead- 
ing to  the  main  entrance  of  the  grounds  a  large  body 
of  soldiers  with  loud  drumming  and  fifing.  On  his  ask- 
ing what  troops  these  were,  I  answered  that  they  were 
the  most  noted  of  our  American  militia  regiments— the 
New  York  Seventh;  and  on  his  expressing  a  wish  to  see 
them,  we  both  walked  out  for  that  purpose.  Presently 
the  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  in  marched  the  regi- 
ment, trim  and  brisk,  bearing  aloft  the  flag  of  the  United 
States  and  the  standard  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

At  the  moment  when  the  standard  and  flag  were  abreast 
of  us,  Colonel  Marin,  who  was  in  civil  dress,  drew  himself 
up,  removed  his  hat,  and  bowed  low  with  simple  dignity. 
The  great  crowd,  including  myself,  were  impressed  by  this 
action.  It  had  never  occurred  to  any  one  of  the  rest  of  us 
to  show  such  a  tribute  to  the  flag  under  which  so  many 
good  and  true  men  had  fought  and  died  for  us ;  and,  as  one 
of  the  crowd  very  justly  remarked  afterward,  ' l  The  Span- 
iard cheapened  the  whole  lot  of  us."  With  a  single  ex- 
ception, it  was  the  finest  exhibition  of  manners  I  have  ever 
seen.1 

Still  another  delegate  was  Professor  Levasseur,  of  the 
College  of  France  and  the  French  Institute.  His  quick- 
ness in  ascertaining  what  was  of  value  in  a  politico-eco- 
nomical view,  and  his  discussions  of  geographical  matters, 
interested  and  instructed  all  who  had  to  do  with  him. 

With  him  was  Kene  Millet,  an  example  of  the  most 
attractive  qualities  of  a  serious  Frenchman— qualities 
which  have  since  been  recognized  in  his  appointments  as 
minister  and  ambassador  to  Sweden  and  to  Tunis.  Both 
these  gentlemen  afterward  made  me  visits  at  Cornell 
which  I  greatly  enjoyed. 

At  this  time,  too,  I  made  a  friendship  which  became 
precious  to  me— that  of  Gardner  Hubbard,  one  of  the 

1  See  the  chapter  on  my  attache"ship  in  Russia. 


AS  COMMISSIONER   AT   PARIS -1878  511 

best,  truest,  and  most  capable  men,  in  whatever  he  under- 
took, that  I  have  ever  seen.  The  matter  which  interested 
him  then  has  since  interested  the  world.  His  son-in-law, 
Mr.  Alexander  Graham  Bell,  was  exhibiting  what  ap- 
peared to  be  a  toy,— a  toy  which  on  one  occasion  he 
showed  to  Dom  Pedro  and  to  others  of  us,  and  which  en- 
abled us  to  hear  in  one  of  the  buildings  of  the  exposition  a 
violin  played  in  another  building.  It  was  regarded  as 
an  interesting  plaything,  and  nothing  more.  A  controlling 
right  in  its  use  might  have  been  bought  for  a  very  mod- 
erate sum— yet  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  telephone ! 

In  connection  with  these  and  other  interesting  men,  I 
had  devoted  myself  to  the  educational  exhibits  of  the  ex- 
position; and  the  result  was  that,  during  the  following 
year,  I  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State  of 
New  York  one  of  two  honorary  commissioners  to  the  Paris 
Exposition ;  the  other  being  Mr.  Morton,  afterward  Min- 
ister to  France,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  and 
Governor  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

I  was  not  inclined,  at  first,  to  take  my  appointment  very 
seriously,  but  went  to  Paris  simply  to  visit  the  exposition, 
hoping  that  my  honorary  function  would  give  me  good  op- 
portunities. But  on  arriving  I  found  the  commissioner- 
general  of  the  United  States,  Governor  McCormick,  hard 
pressed  by  his  duties,  and  looking  about  for  help.  A  large 
number  of  regular  commissioners  had  been  appointed,  but 
very  few  of  them  were  of  the  slightest  use.  Hardly  one 
of  them  could  speak  French,  and  very  few  of  them  really 
took  any  interest  in  the  duties  assigned  them.  The  main 
exception,  a  very  noble  one,  was  my  old  friend  President 
Barnard  of  Columbia  College,  and  he  had  not  yet  arrived. 
Under  these  circumstances,  I  yielded  to  the  earnest  re- 
quest of  Governor  McCormick  and  threw  myself  heartily 
into  the  work  of  making  our  part  of  the  exposition  a 
success. 

The  American  representation  at  the  Vienna  Exposition 
a  few  years  before  had  resulted  in  a  scandal  which  had 
resounded  through  Europe,  and  this  scandal  had  arisen 


IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE— IV 

from  the  fact  that  a  subordinate,  who  had  gained  the  con- 
fidence of  our  excellent  commissioner-general  at  that  post, 
had  heen  charged,  and  to  all  appearance  justly,  with 
receiving  money  for  assigning  privileges  to  bar-keepers 
and  caterers.  The  result  was  that  the  commissioner-gen- 
eral was  cruelly  wounded,  and  that  finally  he  and  his 
associates  were  ignominiously  removed,  and  the  American 
minister  to  Austria  put  in  his  place  until  a  new  commis- 
sion could  be  formed.  Of  course  every  newspaper  in  Eu- 
rope hostile  to  republican  ideas,  and  they  were  very  many, 
made  the  most  of  this  catastrophe.  One  of  them  in  Vienna 
was  especially  virulent;  it  called  attention  to  the  model 
of  an  American  school-house  in  the  exposition,  and  said 
that  "it  should  be  carefully  observed  as  part  of  the  ma- 
chinery which  trains  up  such  mercenary  wretches  as  have 
recently  disgraced  humanity  at  the  exposition." 

To  avoid  scandals,  to  negotiate  with  the  French  com- 
missioners on  one  side,  and  the  crowd  of  exhibitors  on 
the  other,  and  especially  to  see  that  in  all  particulars  the 
representatives  of  American  industry  were  fully  recog- 
nized, was  a  matter  of  much  difficulty;  but  happily  all 
turned  out  well. 

Among  the  duties  of  my  position  was  membership  of  the 
upper  jury — that  which,  in  behalf  of  the  French  Kepub- 
iic,  awarded  the  highest  prizes.  Fach  day,  at  about  nine  in 
the  morning,  we  met,  and  a  remarkable  body  it  was.  At 
my  right  sat  ^Icissonier,  then  the  most  eminent  of  French 
painters,  and  beyond  him  Quintana,  the  Spanish  poet.  Of 
the  former  of  these  two  I  possess  a  curious  memento.  He 
was  very  assiduous  in  attendance  at  our  sessions,  and  the 
moment  he  took'  his  seat  he  always  began  drawing,  his 
materials  being  the  block  of  letter-paper  and  the  pencils, 
pens,  and  ink  lying  before  him.  Xo  matter  what  was 
under  discussion,  he  kept  on  with  his  drawing.  While 
he  listened,  and  even  while  he  talked,  his  pencil  or  pen 
continued  moving  over  the  paper.  He  seemed  to  bring 
every  morning  a  mass  of  new  impressions  caught  during 
his  walk  to  the  exposition,  which  he  made  haste  to  trans- 


AS   COMMISSIONER  AT   PARIS-1878  513 

fer  to  paper.  Sometimes  he  used  a  pencil,  sometimes,  a 
quill  pen,  and  not  infrequently  he  would  plunge  the  fea- 
ther end  of  the  quill  into  his  inkstand  and  rapidly  put 
into  his  work  broader  and  blacker  strokes.  As  soon  as 
he  had  finished  a  drawing  he  generally  tore  it  into  bits 
and  threw  them  upon  the  floor,  but  occasionally  he  would 
fold  the  sketches  carefully  and  put  them  into  his  pocket. 
This  being  the  case,  no  one  dared  ask  him  for  one  of  them. 

But  one  morning  his  paper  gave  out,  and  for  lack  of  it 
he  took  up  a  boxwood  paper-knife  lying  near  and  began 
work  on  it.  First  he  decorated  the  handle  in  a  sort  of 
rococo  way,  and  then  dashed  off  on  the  blade,  with  his  pen, 
a  very  spirited  head— a  bourgeois  physiognomy  some- 
what in  Gavarni's  manner.  But  as  he  could  not  tear  the 
paper-knife  into  bits,  and  did  not  care  to  take  it  away,  he 
left  it  upon  the  table.  This  was  my  chance.  Immediately 
after  the  session  I  asked  the  director-general  to  allow  me 
to  carry  it  off  as  a  souvenir ;  he  assented  heartily,  and  so 
I  possess  a  picture  which  I  saw  begun,  continued,  and 
ended  by  one  of  the  greatest  of  French  painters. 

At  my  left  was  Tresca,  director  of  the  French  National 
Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Trades;  and  next  him,  the 
sphinx  of  the  committee — the  most  silent  man  I  ever  saw, 
the  rector  of  the  Portuguese  University  of  Coimbra.  Dur- 
ing the  three  months  of  our  session  no  one  of  us  ever 
heard  him  utter  a  word.  Opposite  was  Jules  Simon,  emi- 
nent as  an  orator,  philosopher,  scholar,  and  man  of  letters ; 
an  academician  who  had  held  positions  in  various  cab- 
inets, and  had  even  been  prime  minister  of  the  republic. 
On  one  side  of  him  was  Tullo  Massarani,  a  senator  of  the 
Italian  kingdom,  eminent  as  a  writer  on  the  philosophy  of 
art ;  on  the  other,  Boussingault,  one  of  the  foremost  chem- 
ists of  the  century ;  and  near  him,  Wischniegradsky,  direc- 
tor of  the  Imperial  Technical  Institute  at  Moscow,  whom  I 
afterward  came  to  know  as  minister  of  finance  at  St. 
Petersburg.  Each  afternoon  we  devoted  to  examining  the 
greater  exhibits  which  were  to  come  before  us  in  compe- 
tition for  the  grands  prix  on  the  following  morning. 

I.— 33 


514  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-IV 

At  one  of  our  sessions  a  curious  difficulty  arose.  The 
committee  on  the  award  of  these  foremost  prizes  for  ad- 
vanced work  in  electricity  brought  in  their  report,  and,  to 
my  amazement,  made  no  award  to  my  compatriot  Edison, 
who  was  then  at  the  height  of  his  reputation.  Presently 
Tresca,  who  read  the  report,  and  who  really  lamented  the 
omission,  whispered  to  me  the  reason  of  it.  Through  the 
negligence  of  persons  representing  Edison,  no  proper  ex- 
hibition of  his  inventions  had  been  made  to  the  committee. 
They  had  learned  that  his  agent  was  employed  in  showing 
the  phonograph  in  a  distant  hall  on  the  boulevards  to 
an  audience  who  paid  an  admission  fee ;  but,  although  they 
had  tried  two  or  three  times  to  have  his  apparatus  shown 
them,  they  had  been  unsuccessful,  until  at  last,  from  a 
feeling  of  what  was  due  their  own  self-respect,  they  passed 
the  matter  over  entirely.  Of  course  niy  duty  was  to  do 
what  was  possible  in  rectifying  this  omission,  and  in  as 
good  French  as  I  could  muster  I  made  a  speech  in  Edi- 
son's behalf,  describing  his  career,  outlining  his  work, 
and  saying  that  I  should  really  be  ashamed  to  return  to 
America  without  some  recognition  of  him  and  of  his  in- 
ventions. This  was  listened  to  most  courteously,  but  my 
success  was  insured  by  a  remark  of  a  less  serious  char- 
acter, wThich  was  that  if  Edison  had  not  yet  made  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  inventions  to  entitle  him  to  a  grand  prize, 
he  would  certainly,  at  the  rate  he  was  going  on,  have  done 
so  before  the  close  of  the  exposition.  At  this  there  was  a 
laugh,  and  my  amendment  was  unanimously  carried. 

Many  features  in  my  work  interested  me,  but  one  had 
a  melancholy  tinge.  One  afternoon,  having  been  sum- 
moned to  pass  upon  certain  competing  works  in  sculp- 
ture, we  finally  stood  before  the  great  bronze  entranee- 
dooi's  of  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  which,  having  l>een 
designed  before  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  had  but  just 
boon  finished.  They  wore  very  beautiful;  but  I  could  see 
that  my  French  associates  felt  deeply  the  changed  situa- 
tion of  affairs  which  this  exhibit  brought  to  their  minds. 

In  order  to  promote  the  social  relations  which  go  for 


AS  COMMISSIONER  AT  PARIS- 1878  515 

so  much  at  such  times,  I  had  taken  the  large  apartment 
temporarily  relinquished  by  our  American  minister,  Gov- 
ernor Noyes  of  Ohio,  in  the  Avenue  Josephine ;  and  there, 
at  my  own  table,  brought  together  from  time  to  time  a 
considerable  number  of  noted  men  from  various  parts  of 
Europe.  Perhaps  the  most  amusing  occurrence  during 
the  series  of  dinners  I  then  gave  was  the  meeting  between 
Story,  the  American  sculptor  at  Rome,  and  Judge  Brady 
of  New  York.  For  years  each  had  been  taken  for  the  other, 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  but  they  had  never  met. 
In  fact,  so  common  was  it  for  people  to  mistake  one  for 
the  other  that  both  had,  as  a  rule,  ceased  to  explain  the 
mistake.  I  was  myself  present  with  Story  on  one  occasion 
when  a  gentleman  came  up  to  him,  saluted  him  as  Judge 
Brady,  and  asked  him  about  their  friends  in  New  York: 
Story  took  no  trouble  to  undeceive  his  interlocutor,  but 
remarked  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  they  were  all  well,  and 
ended  the  interview  with  commonplaces. 

These  two  Dromios  evidently  enjoyed  meeting,  and  no- 
thing could  be  more  amusing  than  their  accounts  of  vari- 
ous instances  in  which  each  had  been  mistaken  for  the 
other.  Each  had  a  rich  vein  of  humor,  and  both  presented 
the  details  of  these  occurrences  with  especial  zest. 

Another  American,  of  foreign  birth,  was  not  quite  so 
charming.  He  was  a  man  of  value  in  his  profession ;  but 
his  desire  for  promotion  outran  his  discretion.  Having 
served  as  juror  at  the  Vienna  Exposition,  he  had  now 
been  appointed  to  a  similar  place  in  Paris ;  and  after  one 
of  my  dinners  he  came  up  to  a  group  in  which  there  were 
two  or  three  members  of  the  French  cabinet,  and  said: 
"Mr.  Vite,  I  vish  you  vould  joost  dell  dese  zhentlemen  vat 
I  am  doing  vor  Vrance.  I  vas  on  de  dasting  gommittee 
for  vines  und  peers  at  Vien,  and  it  'most  killed  me ;  and 
now  I  am  here  doing  de  same  duty,  and  my  stomach  has 
nearly  gone  pack  on  me.  Tell  dese  zhentlemen  dat  de 
French  Government  zurely  ought  to  gonfer  ubon  me  de 
Legion  of  Honor."  This  was  spoken  with  the  utmost 
seriousness,  and  was  embarrassing,  since,  of  all  subjects, 


516  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-IV 

that  which  a  French  minister  least  wishes  to  discuss  pub- 
licly is  the  conferring  of  the  red  ribbon. 

Embarrassing  also  was  the  jubilation  of  some  of  our 
American  exhibitors  at  our  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of 
July  in  the  Bois  de  Boulogne.  Doubtless  they  were 
excellent  citizens,  but  never  was  there  a  better  exempli- 
fication of  Dr.  Arnold's  saying  that  "a  traveller  is  a 
self-constituted  outlaw. "  A  generous  buffet  had  been 
provided,  after  the  French  fashion,  with  a  sufficiency  of 
viands  and  whatever  wine  was  needed.  To  my  amaze- 
ment, these  men,  who  at  home  were  most  of  them,  probably, 
steady-going  "temperance  men,"  were  so  overcome  with 
the  idea  that  champagne  was  to  be  served  ad  libitum,  that 
the  whole  thing  came  near  degenerating  into  an  orgy.  A 
European  of  the  same  rank,  accustomed  to  drinking  wine 
moderately  with  his  dinner,  would  have  simply  taken  a 
glass  or  two  and  thought  no  more  of  it ;  but  these  gentle- 
men seemed  to  see  in  it  the  occasion  of  their  lives.  Bot- 
tles were  seized  and  emptied,  glass  after  glass,  down  the 
throats  of  my  impulsive  fellow-citizens:  in  many  cases 
a  bottle  and  more  to  a  man.  Then  came  the  worst  of  it. 
It  had  been  arranged  that  speeches  should  be  made  under 
a  neighboring  tent  by  leading  members  of  the  French 
cabinet  who  had  accepted  invitations  to  address  us.  But 
when  they  proceeded  to  do  this  difficulties  arose.  A  num- 
ber of  our  compatriots,  unduly  exhilarated,  and  under- 
standing little  that  was  said,  first  applauded  on  general 
principles,  but  at  the  wrong  places,  and  finally  broke  out 
into  apostrophes  such  as  "Speak  English,  old  boy!" 
"Talk  Yankee  fashion!"  "Remember  the  glorious 
Fourth!"  "Give  it  to  the  British!"  "Make  the  eagle 
scream!"  and  the  like.  The  result  was  that  we  were 
obliged  to  make  most  earnest  appeals  to  these  gentlemen, 
begging  them  not  to  disgrace  our  country ;  and,  finally,  the 
proceedings  were  cut  short. 

Nor  was  this  the  end.  As  I  came  down  the  Champs 
^llysees  afterward,  I  met  several  groups  of  these  pa- 
triots, who  showed  by  their  walk  and  conversation  that 


AS  COMMISSIONER  AT  PARIS -1878  517 

they  were  decidedly  the  worse  for  their  celebration  of  the 
day ;  and  the  whole  thing  led  me  to  reflect  seriously  on  the 
drink  problem,  and  to  ask  whether  our  American  solution 
of  it  is  the  best.  I  have  been  present  at  many  large  fes- 
tive assemblages,  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  where  wine 
was  offered  freely  as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  never  have 
I  seen  anything  to  approach  this  performance  of  my 
countrymen.  I  have  been  one  of  four  thousand  people  at 
the  Hotel  de  Ville  in  Paris  on  the  occasion  of  a  great 
ball,  at  other  entertainments  almost  as  large  in  other 
Continental  countries,  and  at  dinner  parties  innumerable 
in  every  European  country;  but  never,  save  in  one  in- 
stance, were  the  festivities  disturbed  by  any  man  on  ac- 
count of  drink. 

The  most  eminent  of  American  temperance  advocates 
during  my  young  manhood,  Mr.  Delavan,  insisted  that  he 
found  Italy,  where  all  people,  men,  women,  and  children, 
drink  wine  with  their  meals,  if  they  can  get  it,  the  most 
temperate  country  he  had  ever  seen;  and,  having  made 
more  than  twelve  different  sojourns  in  Italy,  I  can  con- 
firm that  opinion. 

So,  too,  again  and  again,  when  traveling  in  the  old  days 
on  the  top  of  a  diligence  through  village  after  village  in 
France,  where  the  people  were  commemorating  the  patron 
saint  of  their  district,  I  have  passed  through  crowds  of 
men,  women,  and  children  seated  by  the  roadside  drinking 
wine,  cider,  and  beer,  and,  so  far  as  one  could  see,  there 
was  no  drunkenness ;  certainly  none  of  the  squalid,  brutal, 
swinish  sort.  It  may  indeed  be  said  that,  in  spite  of  light 
stimulants,  drunkenness  has  of  late  years  increased  in 
France,  especially  among  artisans  and  day  laborers.  If 
this  be  so,  it  comes  to  strengthen  my  view.  For  the  main 
reason  will  doubtless  be  found  in  the  increased  prices  of 
light  wines,  due  to  vine  diseases  and  the  like,  which  have 
driven  the  poorer  classes  to  seek  far  more  noxious  bev- 
erages. 

So,  too,  in  Germany.  Like  every  resident  in  that 
country,  I  have  seen  great  crowds  drinking  much  beer, 


518  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE- IV 

and,  though  I  greatly  dislike  that  sort  of  guzzling,  I  never 
saw  anything  of  the  beastly,  crazy,  drunken  exhibitions 
which  are  so  common  on  Independence  Day  and  county- 
fair  day  in  many  American  towns  where  total  abstinence  is 
loudly  preached  and  ostensibly  practised.  Least  of  all  do 
I  admire  the  beer-swilling  propensities  of  the  German  stu- 
dents, and  still  I  must  confess  that  I  have  never  seen  any- 
thing so  wild,  wicked,  outrageous,  and  destructive  to  soul 
and  body  as  the  drinking  of  distilled  liquors  at  bars 
which,  in  my  student  days,  I  saw  among  American  stu- 
dents. But  I  make  haste  to  say  that  within  the  last  twenty 
or  thirty  years  American  students  have  improved  im- 
mensely in  this  respect.  Athletics  and  greater  interest  in 
study,  caused  by  the  substitution  of  the  students'  own 
aims  and  tastes  for  the  old  cast-iron  curriculum,  are  doubt- 
less the  main  reasons  for  this  improvement.1 

Yet,  in  spite  of  this  redeeming  thing,  the  fact  remains 
that  one  of  the  greatest  curses  of  American  life  is  tlie 
dram-drinking  of  distilled  liquors  at  bars ;  and  one  key  of 
the  whole  misery  is  the  American  habit  of  "  treating, "—  a 
habit  unknown  in  other  countries.  For  example,  in  Amer- 
ica, if  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry  happen  to  meet  at  a  hotel, 
or  in  the  street,  to  discuss  politics  or  business,  Tom  in- 
vites Dick  and  Harry  to  drink  with  him,  which,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  code  existing  among  large  classes  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  Dick  and  Harry  feel  bound  to  do. 
After  a  little  more  talk  Dick  invites  Harry  and  Tom  to 
drink;  they  feel  obliged  to  accept;  and  finally  Harry  in- 
vites Tom  and  Dick,  with  like  result;  so  that  these  three 
men  have  poured  down  their  throats  several  glasses  of 
burning  stimulants,  perhaps  in  the  morning,  perhaps  just 
before  the  midday  meal,  or  at  some  other  especially  un- 
suitable time,  with  results  more  or  less  injurious  to  each 
of  them,  physically  and  morally. 

The  European,  more  sensible,  takes  with  his  dinner, 
as  a  rule,  a  glass  or  two  of  wine  or  beer,  and  is  little,  if 

1  Further  reasons  for  this  improvement  I  have  endeavored  to  give 
more  in  detail  elsewhere. 


AS   COMMISSIONER  AT   PARIS-1878  519 

at  all,  the  worse  for  it.  If  he  ever  takes  any  distilled 
liquor,  he  sips  a  very  small  glass  of  it  after  his  dinner, 
to  aid  digestion. 

It  is  my  earnest  conviction,  based  upon  wide  observa- 
tion in  my  own  country  as  well  as  in  many  others  during 
about  half  a  century,  that  the  American  theory  and  prac- 
tice as  regards  the  drink  question  are  generally  more 
pernicious  than  those  of  any  other  civilized  nation.  I 
am  not  now  speaking  of  total  abstinence— of  that,  more, 
presently.  But  the  best  temperance  workers  among  us 
that  I  know  are  the  men  who  brew  light,  pure  beer,  and 
the  vine-growers  in  California  who  raise  and  sell  at  a  very 
low  price  wines  pleasant  and  salutary,  if  any  wines  can 
be  so. 

As  to  those  who  have  no  self-restraint,  beer  and  wine, 
like  many  other  things,  promote  the  "  survival  of  the  fit- 
test," and  are,  like  many  other  things,  "  fool-killers, ' '  aid- 
ing to  free  the  next  generation  from  men  of  vicious  pro- 
pensities and  weak  will. 

I  repeat  it,  the  curse  of  American  social  life,  among  a 
very  considerable  class  of  our  people,  is  "  perpendicular 
drinking"— that  is,  the  pouring  down  of  glass  after  glass 
of  distilled  spirits,  mostly  adulterated,  at  all  sorts  of  in- 
opportune times,  and  largely  under  the  system  of  "treat- 
ing." 

The  best  cure  for  this,  in  my  judgment,  would  be  for 
States  to  authorize  and  local  authorities  to  adopt  the 
"Swedish  system,"  which  I  found  doing  excellent  ser- 
vice at  Gothenburg  in  Sweden  a  few  years  since,  and 
which  I  am  sorry  to  see  the  fanatics  there  have  recently 
wrecked.  Under  this  plan  the  various  towns  allowed  a 
company  to  open  a  certain  number  of  clean,  tidy  drink- 
ing-places  ;  obliged  them  to  purchase  pure  liquors ;  forbade 
them,  under  penalties,  to  sell  to  any  man  who  had  already 
taken  too  much ;  made  it  also  obligatory  to  sell  something 
to  eat  at  the  same  time  with  something  to  drink ;  and,  best 
of  all,  restricted  the  profits  of  these  establishments  to  a 
moderate  percentage,— seven  or  eight  per  cent.,  if  I  re- 


520  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-IV 

member  rightly,— all  the  surplus  receipts  going  to  public 
purposes,  and  especially  to  local  charities.  The  main  point 
was  that  the  men  appointed  to  dispense  the  drinks  had  no 
motive  to  sell  adulterated  drinks,  or  any  more  liquor  than 
was  consistent  with  the  sobriety  of  the  customer. 

I  may  add  that,  in  my  opinion,  the  worst  enemies  of  real 
temperance  in  America,  as  in  other  countries,  have  been 
the  thoughtless  screamers  against  intemperance,  who  have 
driven  vast  numbers  of  their  fellow-citizens  to  drink  in 
secret  or  at  bars.  Of  course  I  shall  have  the  honor  of 
being  railed  at  and  denounced  by  every  fanatic  who  reads 
these  lines,  but  from  my  heart  I  believe  them  true. 

I  remember  that  some  of  these  people  bitterly  attacked 
Governor  Stanford  of  California  for  the  endowment  of 
Stanford  University,  in  part,  from  the  rent  of  his  vine- 
yards. People  who  had  not  a  word  to  say  against  one 
theological  seminary  for  accepting  the  Daniel  Drew  en- 
dowment, or  against  another  for  accepting  the  Jay  Gould 
endowment,  were  horrified  that  the  Stanford  University 
should  receive  revenue  from  a  vineyard.  The  vineyards 
of  California,  if  their  product  were  legally  protected  from 
adulteration,  could  be  made  one  of  the  most  potent  influ- 
ences against  drunkenness  that  our  country  has  seen.  The 
California  wines  are  practically  the  only  pure  wines  ac- 
cessible to  Americans.  They  are  so  plentiful  that  there  is 
no  motive  to  adulterate  them,  and  their  use  among  those 
of  us  who  are  so  unwise  as  to  drink  anything  except  water 
ought  to  be  effectively  advocated  as  supplanting  the 
drinking  of  beer  poisoned  with  strychnine,  whisky  poi- 
soned with  fusel-oil,  and  "French  claret"  poisoned  with 
salicylic  acid  and  aniline. 

The  true  way  to  supplant  the  "  saloon "  and  the  bar- 
room, as  regards  working-men  who  obey  their  social  in- 
stincts by  seeking  something  in  the  nature  of  a  club,  and 
therefore  resorting  to  places  where  stimulants  are  sold, 
is  to  take  the  course  so  ably  advocated  by  Bishop  Potter : 
namely,  to  furnish  places  of  refreshment  and  amusement 
which  shall  be  free  from  all  tendency  to  beastliness,  and 


AS   COMMISSIONER  AT  PARIS-1878  521 

which,  with  cheerful  open  fireplaces,  games  of  various 
sorts,  good  coffee  and  tea,  and,  if  necessary,  light  beer 
and  wine,  shall  be  more  attractive  than  the  "saloons" 
and  ' '  dives ' '  which  are  doing  our  country  such  vast  harm. 

My  advice  to  all  men  is  to  drink  nothing  but  water. 
That  is  certainly  the  wisest  way  for  nine  men  out  of  ten, 
—and  probably  for  all  ten.  Indeed,  one  reason  why 
the  great  body  of  our  people  accomplish  so  much  more  in 
a  given  time  than  those  of  any  other  country,  and  why  the 
average  American  working-man  "catches  on"  and  "gits 
thar"  more  certainly  and  quickly  than  a  man  of  the  same 
sort  in  any  other  country  (and  careful  comparison  be- 
tween various  other  countries  and  our  own  has  shown  that 
this  is  the  case),  is  that  a  much  larger  proportion  of  our 
people  do  not  stupefy  themselves  with  stimulants. 

In  what  I  have  said  above  I  have  had  in  view  the  prob- 
lem as  it  really  stands:  namely,  the  existence  of  a  very 
large  number  of  people  who  will  have  stimulants  of 
some  kind.  In  such  cases  common  sense  would  seem  to 
dictate  that,  in  the  case  of  those  who  persist  in  using  dis- 
tilled liquors,  something  ought  to  be  done  to  substitute 
those  which  are  pure  for  those  which  are  absolutely  poi- 
sonous and  maddening;  and,  in  the  case  of  those  who 
merely  seek  a  mild  stimulant,  to  substitute  for  distilled 
liquors  light  fermented  beverages;  and,  in  the  case  of 
those  who  seek  merely  recreation  after  toil,  to  substitute 
for  beverages  which  contain  alcohol,  light  beverages  like 
coffee,  tea,  and  chocolate. 

This  is  a  long  digression,  but  liberavi  animam  meam, 
and  now  I  return  to  my  main  subject. 

The  American  commissioners  were  treated  with  great 
kindness  by  the  French  authorities.  There  were  exceed- 
ingly interesting  receptions  by  various  ministers,  and  at 
these  one  met  the  men  best  worth  knowing  in  France: 
the  men  famous  in  science,  literature,  and  art,  who  redeem 
France  from  the  disgrace  heaped  upon  her  by  the  wretched 
creatures  who  most  noisily  represent  her  through  sensa- 
tional newspapers. 


522  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-IV 

Of  the  men  who  impressed  me  most  was  Henri  Martin, 
the  eminent  historian.  He  discussed  with  me  the  history 
of  Franco  in  a  way  which  aroused  many  new  trains  of 
thought.  Jules  Simon,  eminent  hoth  as  a  scholar  and  a 
statesman,  did  much  for  me.  On  one  occasion  he  took 
me  ahout  Paris,  showing  me  places  of  special  interest  con- 
nected with  the  more  striking  scenes  of  the  Revolutionary 
period;  on  another,  he  went  with  me  to  the  distribution  of 
prizes  at  the  French  Academy — a  most  striking  scene; 
and  on  still  another  he  piloted  me  through  his  beautiful 
library,  pointing  out  various  volumes  in  which  were  em- 
bedded bullets  which  the  communards  had  fired  through 
his  windows  from  the  roof  of  the  Madeleine  just  opposite. 

Another  interesting  experience  was  a  breakfast  with  the 
eminent  chemist  Sainte-CIaire  Deville,  at  which  I  met  Pas- 
teur, who  afterward  took  me  through  his  laboratories, 
where  lie  was  then  making  some  of  his  most  important 
experiments.  In  one  part  of  his  domain  there  were  cages 
Containing  dogs,  and  on  my  asking  about  them  he  said 
that  he  was  beginning  a  course  of  experiments  bearing 
on  the  causes  and  cure  of  hydrophobia.  Nothing  could  be 
more  simple  and  modest  than  this  announcement  of  one 
of  the  most  fruitful  investigations  ever  made. 

Visits  to  various  institutions  of  learning  interested  me 
much,  among  these  a  second  visit  to  the  Agricultural  Col- 
lege at  flrignon  and  the  wonderful  Conservatoire  des  Arts 
<-t  Metiers,  which  gave  me  new  ideas  for  the  similar  de- 
partments at  Cornell,  and  a  morning  at  the  Ecole  Normale, 
where  I  saw  altogether  the  best  teaching  of  a  Latin  classic 
that  I  have  ever  known.  As  I  heard  Professor  Desjardins 
discussing  with  his  class  one  of  Cicero's  letters  in  the 
liirht  (>f  modern  monuments  in  the  Louvre  and  of  recent 
an-ha'ological  discoveries,  I  longed  to  be  a  boy  again. 

Among  the  statesmen  whom  I  met  at  that  time  in  France, 
a  strong  impression  was  made  upon  me  by  one  who  had 
played  a  leading  part  in  the  early  days  of  Napoleon  III, 
but  who  was  at  this  time  living  in  retirement,  M.  Drouyii 
de  Lhuvs.  He  had  won  distinction  as  minister  of  for- 


AS  COMMISSIONER  AT  PARIS -1878  523 

eign  affairs,  but,  having  retired  from  politics,  had  given 
himself  up  in  his  old  age  to  various  good  enterprises, 
among  these,  to  the  great  Reform  School  at  Mettray. 
This  he  urged  me  to  visit,  and,  although  it  was  at  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  Paris,  I  took  his  advice,  and  was 
much  interested  in  it.  The  school  seemed  to  me  well  de- 
serving thorough  study  by  all  especially  interested  in  the 
problem  of  crime  in  our  own  country. 

There  is  in  France  a  system  under  which,  when  any 
young  man  is  evidently  going  all  wrong,— squandering  his 
patrimony  and  bringing  his  family  into  disgrace,— a  fam- 
ily council  can  be  called,  with  power  to  place  the  wayward 
youth  under  restraint;  and  here,  in  one  part  of  the  Met- 
tray establishment,  were  rooms  in  which  such  youths  were 
detained  in  accordance  with  the  requests  of  family  coun- 
cils. It  appeared  that  some  had  derived  benefit  from  these 
detentions,  for  there  were  shown  me  one  or  two  letters 
from  them:  one,  indeed,  written  by  a  young  man  on  the 
bottom  of  a  drawer,  and  intended  for  the  eye  of  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  apartment,  which  was  the  most  contrite  yet 
manly  appeal  I  have  ever  read. 

Another  man  of  great  eminence  whom  I  met  in  those 
days  was  Thiers.  I  was  taken  by  an  old  admirer  of 
his  to  his  famous  house  in  the  Place  St.  Georges,  and 
there  found  him,  in  the  midst  of  his  devotees,  receiving 
homage. 

He  said  but  little,  and  that  little  was  commonplace ;  but 
I  was  not  especially  disappointed :  my  opinion  of  him  was 
made  up  long  before,  and  time  has  but  confirmed  it.  The 
more  I  have  considered  his  doings  as  minister  or  parlia- 
mentarian, and  the  more  I  have  read  his  works,  whether 
his  political  pamphlet  known  as  the  "History  of  the 
French  Revolution,"  which  did  so  much  to  arouse  sterile 
civil  struggles,  or  his  "History  of  the  Consulate  and  of  the 
Empire,"  which  did  so  much  to  revive  the  Napoleonic 
legend,  or  his  speeches  under  the  constitutional  monarchy 
of  Louis  Philippe,  under  the  Republic,  and  under  the  Sec- 
ond Empire,  which  did  so  much  to  promote  confusion  and 


524  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-TV 

anarchy,  the  less  I  admire  him.  lie  seems  to  me  eminently 
an  architect  of  ruin. 

It  is  true  that  when  France  was  wallowing  in  the  misery 
into  which  he  and  men  like  him  had  done  so  much  to 
plunge  her,  he  exerted  himself  wonderfully  to  accomplish 
her  rescue;  hut  when  the  history  of  that  country  during 
the  last  century  shall  he  fairly  written,  his  career,  brilliant 
as  it  once  appeared,  will  be  admired  by  no  thinking  patriot. 

I  came  to  have  far  more  respect  for  another  states- 
man whom  I  then  met— Duruy,  the  eminent  historian  of 
France  and  of  Rome,  who  had  labored  so  earnestly  under 
the  Second  Fmpire,  both  as  a  historian  and  a  minister  of 
state,  to  develop  a  basis  for  rational  liberty. 

Seated  next  me  at  dinner,  he  made  a  remark  which 
threw  much  light  on  one  of  the  most  serious  faults  of  the 
French  Republic.  Said  he,  "Monsieur,  I  was  minister  of 
public  instruction  under  the  Empire  for  seven  years  ;  since 
my  leaving  that  post  six  years  have  elapsed,  and  in  that 
time  I  have  had  seven  successors.7' 

On  another  occasion  he  discoursed  with  me  about  the 
special  difficulties  of  France;  and  as  I  mentioned  to  him 
that  I  remembered  his  controversy  with  Cardinal  de 
Bonnechose,  in  which  the  latter  tried  to  drive  him  out  of 
office  because  he  did  not  fetter  scientific  teaching  in  the 
University  of  Paris,  he  spoke  quite  freely  with  me.  Al- 
though not  at  all  a  radical,  and  evidently  willing  to  act 
in  concert  with  the  church  as  far  as  possible,  he  gave 
me  to  understand  that  the  demands  made  by  ecclesiastics 
upon  every  French  ministry  were  absolutely  unendurable; 
that  I'" ranee  never  could  yield  to  these  demands;  and  that, 
sooner  or  later,  a  great  break  must  come  between  the 
church  and  modern  society.  His  prophecy  now  seems 
Hearing  fulfilment. 

Among  the  various  meetings  which  were  held  in  con- 
nection with  the  exposition  was  a  convention  of  literary 
men  for  the  purpose  of  securing  better  international  ar- 
rangements regarding  copyright.  Having  been  elected 
a  member  of  this,  J  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  most 


AS   COMMISSIONER  AT   PARIS-1878  525 

interesting  speeches  from  Victor  Hugo,  Tourgueneff,  and 
Edmond  About.  The  latter  made  the  best  speech  of  all, 
and  by  his  exquisite  wit  and  pleasing  humor  fully  showed 
his  right  to  the  name  which  his  enemies  had  given  him— 
' '  the  Voltaire  of  the  nineteenth  century. ' ' 

The  proceedings  of  this  convention  closed  with  a  ban- 
quet over  which  Victor  Hugo  presided ;  and  of  all  the  try- 
ing things  in  my  life,  perhaps  the  most  so  was  the  speech 
which  I  then  attempted  in  French,  with  Victor  Hugo  look- 
ing at  me. 

There  were  also  various  educational  congresses  at  the 
Sorbonne,  in  which  the  discussions  interested  me  much; 
but  sundry  receptions  at  the  French  Academy  were  far 
more  attractive.  Of  all  the  exquisite  literary  perform- 
ances I  have  ever  known,  the  speeches  made  on  those  oc- 
casions by  M.  Charles  Blanc,  M.  Gaston  Boissier,  and  the 
members  who  received  them  were  the  most  entertaining. 
To  see  these  witty  Frenchmen  attacking  each  other  in  the 
most  pointed  way,  yet  still  observing  all  the  forms  of 
politeness,  and  even  covering  their  adversaries  with  com- 
pliments, gives  one  new  conceptions  of  human  ingenuity. 
But  whether  it  is  calculated  to  increase  respect  for  the 
main  actors  is  another  question. 

The  formal  closing  of  the  exposition  was  a  brilliant 
pageant.  Various  inventors  and  exhibitors  received  gifts 
and  decorations  from  the  hand  of  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  and,  among  them,  Dr.  Barnard,  Story,  and  my- 
self were  given  officers'  crosses  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
which  none  of  us  has  ever  thought  of  wearing;  but, 
alas!  my  Swiss- American  friend  who  had  pleaded  so 
pathetically  his  heroic  services  in  '  '  Basting  de  vines  und 
peers "  for  France  did  not  receive  even  the  chevalier's 
ribbon,  and  the  expression  of  his  disappointment  was  loud 
and  long. 

Nor  was  he  the  only  disappointed  visitor.  It  was  my 
fortune  one  day  at  the  American  legation  to  observe  one 
difficulty  which  at  the  western  capitals  of  Europe  has  be- 
come very  trying,  and  which  may  be  mentioned  to  show 


5:2tj  IN    THE   DIPLOMATIC    JSEKYICE-IV 

what  an  American  representative  has  sometimes  to  meet. 
As  I  was  sitting  with  our  minister,  Governor  Xoyes  of 
Ohio,  there  was  shown  into  the  room  a  lady,  very  stately, 
and  dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion.  It  was  soon  evi- 
dent that  she  was  on  the  war-path.  She  said,  "Mr. 
Minister,  I  have  come  to  ask  you  why  it  is  that  I  do  not 
receive  any  invitations  to  balls  and  receptions  given  by 
the  cabinet  ministers/"  Governor  Xoyes  answered  very 
politely,  "Mrs.  -  — ,  we  have  placed  your  name  on  the  list 
of  those  whom  we  would  especially  like  to  have  invited, 
and  have  every  hope  that  it  will  receive  attention."  She 
answered,  "AYhy  is  it  that  you  can  do  so  much  less  than 
your  predecessor  did  at  the  last  exposition?  Tlien  I  re- 
ceived a  large  number  of  invitations ;  noic  I  receive  none." 
The  minister  answered,  "I  am  very  sorry  indeed,  madam; 
but  there  are  perhaps  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  Americans 
in  Paris;  the  number  of  them  invited  on  each  occasion 
cannot  exceed  fifty  or  sixty ;  and  the  French  authorities 
are  just  now  giving  preference  to  those  who  have  come 
from  the  United  States  to  take  some  special  part  in  the 
exposition  as  commissioners  or  exhibitors."  At  this  the 
lady  was  very  indignant.  She  rose  and  said,  "I  will  give 
you  no  more  trouble,  Mr.  Minister;  but  I  am  going  back 
to  America,  and  shall  tell  Senator  (Jonkling,  who  gave 
me  my  letter  of  introduction  to  you,  that  either  he  has 
very  little  influence  with  you,  or  you  have  very  little  in- 
fluence with  the  French  Government.  Good  morning!" 
And  she  flounced  out  of  the  room. 

This  is  simply  an  indication  of  what  is  perhaps  the 
most  vexatious  plague  which  afflicts  American  represen- 
tatives in  the  leading  European  capitals,  —  a  multitude  of 
people,  more  or  less  worthy,  pressing  to  be  presented  at 
court  or  to  he  invited  to  official  functions.  The  whole 
matter  has  a  ridiculous  look,  and  has  been  used  by  sun- 
dry demagogues  as  a  text  upon  which  to  orate  against 
the  diplomatic  service  and  to  arouse  popular  prejudice 
against  it.  But  I  think  that  a  patriotic  American  may 
well  take  the  ground  that  while  there  is  so  much  snob- 


AS  COMMISSIONER  AT   PARIS-1878  527 

bery  shown  by  a  certain  sort  of  Americans  abroad,  it  is 
not  an  unwise  thing  to  have  in  each  capital  a  man  who, 
in  the  intervals  of  his  more  important  duties,  can  keep  this 
struggling  mass  of  folly  from  becoming  a  scandal  and  a 
byword  throughout  Europe.  No  one  can  know,  until  he 
has  seen  the  inner  workings  of  our  diplomatic  service, 
how  much  duty  of  this  kind  is  quietly  done  by  our  repre- 
sentatives, and  how  many  things  are  thus  avoided  which 
would  tend  to  bring  scorn  upon  our  country  and  upon 
republican  institutions. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

AS  MINISTER   TO   GERMANY  — 1879-1881 

IX  the  spring  of  1879  I  was  a  third  time  brought  into 
the  diplomatic  service,  and  in  away  which  surprised  me. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  at  that  period  was  Mr. 
Hayes  of  Ohio.  I  had  met  him  once  at  Cornell  University, 
and  had  an  interesting  conversation  with  him,  but  never 
any  other  communication,  directly  or  indirectly.  Great, 
then,  was  my  astonishment  when,  upon  the  death  of  Bay- 
ard Taylor  just  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  as  minister 
to  Germany,  there  came  to  me  an  offer  of  the  post  thus 
made  vacant. 

My  first  duty  after  accepting  it  was  to  visit  Washing- 
ton and  receive  instructions.  Calling  upon  the  Secretary 
of  State,  Mr.  Evarts,  and  finding  his  rooms  filled  with 
people,  I  said:  "Mr.  Secretary,  you  are  evidently  very 
busy;  I  can  come  at  any  other  time  you  may  name." 
Thereupon  he  answered:  "Come  in,  come  in;  there  are 
just  two  rules  at  the  State  Department :  one  is  that  no  busi- 
ness is  ever  done  out  of  office  hours;  and  the  other  is,  that 
no  business  is  ever  done  in  office  hours."  It  was  soon 
evident  that  this  was  a  phrase  to  put  me  at  ease,  rather 
than  an  exact  statement  of  fact;  and,  after  my  conference 
with  him,  several  days  were  given  to  familiarizing  myself 
with  the  correspondence  of  my  immediate  predecessors, 
and  with  the  views  of  the  department  on  questions  then 
pending  between  the  two  countries. 

I)ining  at  the  White  House  next  day,  T  heard  Mr.  Evarts 
withstand  the  President  on  a  question  which  has  always 

528 


AS   MINISTER  TO   GERMANY -1879 -1881          529 

interested  me— the  admission  of  cabinet  ministers  to 
take  part  in  the  debates  of  Congress.  Mr.  Hayes  pre- 
sented the  case  in  favor  of  their  admission  cogently ;  but 
the  Secretary  of  State  overmatched  his  chief.  This 
greatly  pleased  me;  for  I  had  been  long  convinced  that, 
next  to  the  power  given  the  Supreme  Court,  the  best 
thing  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  that 
complete  separation  of  the  executive  from  the  legislative 
power  which  prevents  every  Congressional  session  be- 
coming a  perpetual  gladiatorial  combat  or,  say,  rather, 
a  permanent  game  of  foot-ball.  Again  and  again  I  have 
heard  European  statesmen  lament  that  their  constitution- 
makers  had  adopted,  in  this  respect,  the  British  rather 
than  the  American  system.  What  it  is  in  France,  with 
cabals  organized  to  oust  every  new  minister  as  soon  as  he 
is  appointed,  and  to  provide  for  a  "new  deal"  from  the 
first  instant  of  an  old  one,  with  an  average  of  one  or  two 
changes  of  ministry  every  year  as  a  result,  we  all  know; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  German  parliament,  Con- 
tinental legislatures  generally  are  just  about  as  bad;  in- 
deed, in  some  respects  the  Italian  parliament  is  worse. 
The  British  system  would  have  certainly  excluded  such 
admirable  Secretaries  of  State  as  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Hamilton  Fish;  possibly  such  as  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Seward,  and  John  Hay.  In  Great  Britain,  having  been 
evolved  in  conformity  with  its  environment,  it  is  suc- 
cessful ;  but  it  is  successful  nowhere  else.  I  have  always 
looked  back  with  great  complacency  upon  such  men  as 
those  above  named  in  the  State  Department,  and  such  as 
Hamilton,  Gallatin,  Chase,  Stanton,  and  Gage  in  other 
departments,  sitting  quietly  in  their  offices,  giving  calm 
thought  to  government  business,  and  allowing  the  hea- 
then to  rage  at  their  own  sweet  will  in  both  houses  of 
Congress.  Under  the  other  system,  our  Republic  might 
perhaps  have  become  almost  as  delectable  as  Venezuela, 
with  its  hundred  and  four  revolutions  in  seventy  years.1 
On  the  day  following  I  dined  with  the  Secretary  of 

1  See  Lord  Lansdowne'8  speech,  December,  1902. 

1.-34 


530  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-V 

State,  and  found  him  in  his  usual  pleasant  mood.  Noting 
on  his  dinner-service  the  words,  "Facta  non  verba,"  I 
called  his  attention  to  them  as  a  singular  motto  for  an 
eminent  lawyer  and  orator;  whereupon  he  said  that,  two 
old  members  of  Congress  dining  with  him  recently,  one  of 
them  asked  the  other  what  those  words  meant,  to  which 
the  reply  was  given,  "They  mean,  *  Victuals,  not  talk/  " 
On  the  way  to  my  post,  I  stopped  in  London  and  was 
taken  to  various  interesting  places.  At  the  house  of  my 
old  friend  and  Yale  classmate,  George  Washburn  Smalley, 
I  met  a  number  of  very  interesting  people,  and  among 
these  was  especially  impressed  by  Mr.  Meredith  Town- 
shend,  whose  knowledge  of  American  affairs  seemed  amaz- 
ingly extensive  and  preternaturally  accurate.  At  the 
house  of  Sir  William  Harcourt  I  met  Lord  Ripon,  about 
that  time  Viceroy  of  India,  whose  views  on  dealings  with 
Orientals  interested  me  much.  At  the  Royal  Institution 
an  old  acquaintance  was  renewed  with  Tyndall  and  Hux- 
ley; and  during  an  evening  with  the  eminent  painter,  Mr. 
Alma-Tadema,  at  his  house  in  the  suburbs,  and  especially 
when  returning  from  it,  I  made  a  very  pleasant  acquain- 
tance with  the  poet  Browning.  As  his  carriage  did  not 
arrive,  I  offered  to  take  him  home  in  mine ;  but  hardly  had 
we  started  when  we  found  ourselves  in  a  dense  fog,  and 
it  shortly  became  evident  that  our  driver  had  lost  his 
way.  As  he  wandered  about  for  perhaps  an  hour,  hoping 
to  find  some  indication  of  it,  Browning 's  conversation  was 
very  agreeable.  It  ran  at  first  on  current  questions,  then 
on  travel,  and  finally  on  art,— all  very  simply  and  natu- 
rally, with  not  a  trace  of  posing  or  paradox.  Remem- 
bering the  obscurity  of  his  verse,  I  was  surprised  at  the 
lucidity  of  his  talk.  But  at  last,  both  of  us  becoming 
somewhat  anxious,  we  called  a  halt  and  questioned  the 
driver,  who  confessed  that  he  had  no  idea  where  he  was. 
As  good,  or  ill,  luck  would  have  it,  there  just  then  emerged 
from  the  fog  an  empty  hansom-cab,  and  finding  that  its 
driver  knew  more  than  ours,  I  engaged  him  as  pilot,  first 
to  Browning's  house,  and  then  to  my  own. 


AS  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY-1879-1881         531 

One  old  friend  to  whom  I  was  especially  indebted  was 
Sir  Charles  Reed,  who  had  been  my  fellow-commissioner 
at  the  Paris  and  Philadelphia  expositions.  Thanks  to 
him,  I  was  invited  to  the  dinner  of  the  lord  mayor  at  the 
Guildhall.  As  we  lingered  in  the  library  before  going 
to  the  table,  opportunity  was  given  to  study  various  emi- 
nent guests.  First  came  Cairns,  the  lord  chancellor,  in 
all  the  glory  of  official  robes  and  wig;  then  Lord  Derby; 
then  Lord  Salisbury,  who,  if  I  remember  rightly,  was 
minister  of  foreign  affairs;  then,  after  several  other  dis- 
tinguished personages,  most  interesting  of  all,  Lord  Bea- 
consfield,  the  prime  minister.  He  was  the  last  to  arrive, 
and  immediately  after  his  coming  he  presented  his  arm  to 
the  lady  mayoress,  and  the  procession  took  its  way  to- 
ward the  great  hall.  From  my  seat,  which  was  but  a  little 
way  from  the  high  table,  I  had  a  good  opportunity  to  ob- 
serve these  men  and  to  hear  their  speeches. 

All  was  magnificent.  Nothing  of  its  kind  could  be  more 
splendid  than  the  massive  gold  and  silver  plate  piled 
upon  the  lord  mayor's  table  and  behind  it,  nothing  more 
sumptuous  than  the  dinner,  nothing  more  quaint  than 
the  ceremonial.  Near  the  lord  mayor,  who  was  arrayed 
in  his  robes,  chain,  and  all  the  glories  of  his  office,  stood 
the  toastmaster,  who  announced  the  toasts  in  a  manner 
fit  to  make  an  American  think  himself  dreaming,— some- 
thing, in  fact,  after  this  sort,  in  a  queer  singsong  way, 
with  comical  cadences,  brought  up  at  the  end  with  a  sharp 
snap :  i '  Me  lawds,  la-a-a-dies  and  gentleme-e-e-n,  by  com- 
mawnd  of  the  Eight  Honorable  the  Lawrd  Marr,  I 
cha-a-awrge  you  fill  your  glawse-e-e-s  and  drink  to  the 
health  of  the  Eight  Honorable  the  Ur-r-rll  of  Beck'ns- 
field." 

A  main  feature  of  the  ceremony  was  the  loving-cup. 
Down  each  long  table  a  large  silver  tankard  containing 
a  pleasing  beverage,  of  which  the  foundation  seemed  to 
be  claret,  was  passed ;  and,  as  it  came,  each  of  us  in  turn 
arose,  and,  having  received  it  solemnly  from  his  neighbor, 
who  had  drunk  to  his  health,  drank  in  return,  and  then, 


532  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE -V 

turning  to  his  next  neighbor,  drank  to  him;  the  latter 
then  received  the  cup,  returned  the  compliment,  and  in  the 
same  way  passed  it  on. 

During  the  whole  entertainment  I  had  frequently  turned 
my  eyes  toward  the  prime  minister,  and  had  been  much 
impressed  by  his  apparent  stolidity.  When  he  presented 
his  arm  to  the  lady  mayoress,  when  he  walked  with  her,  and 
during  all  the  time  at  table,  he  seemed  much  like  a  wooden 
image  galvanized  into  temporary  life.  When  he  rose  to 
speak,  there  was  the  same  wooden  stiffness  and  he  went 
on  in  a  kind  of  mechanical  way  until,  suddenly,  he  darted 
out  a  brilliant  statement  regarding  the  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment that  aroused  the  whole  audience ;  then,  after  more 
of  the  same  wooden  manner  and  mechanical  procedure, 
another  brilliant  sentence;  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
speech. 

All  the  speeches  were  good  and  to  the  point.  There 
were  none  of  those  despairing  efforts  to  pump  up  fun 
which  so  frequently  make  American  public  dinners  dis- 
tressing. The  speakers  evidently  bore  in  mind  the  fact 
that  on  the  following  day  their  statements  would  be  pon- 
dered in  the  household  of  every  well-to-do  Englishman, 
would  be  telegraphed  to  foreign  nations,  and  would  be 
echoed  back  from  friends  and  foes  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

After  the  regular  speeches  came  a  toast  to  the  diplo- 
matic corps,  and  the  person  selected  to  respond  was  our 
representative,  the  Honorable  Edwards  Pierpont.  This 
he  did  exceedingly  well,  and  in  less  than  five  minutes. 
Sundry  American  papers  had  indulged  in  diatribes 
against  fulsome  speeches  at  English  banquets  by  some  of 
Mr.  Pierpont  ?s  predecessors,  and  he  had  evidently  de- 
termined that  no  such  charge  should  be  established  against 
him. 

Much  was  added  to  my  pleasure  by  my  neighbors  at 
the  table— on  one  side,  Sir  Frederick  Pollock,  the  emi- 
nent father  of  the  present  Sir  Frederick ;  and  on  the  other, 
Mr.  Eolf ,  the  ' l  remembrancer ' '  of  the  City  of  London. 

This  suggests  the  remark  that,  in  my  experience  among 


AS  MINISTER   TO   GERM  ANY -1879 -1881          533 

Englishmen,  I  have  found  very  little  of  the  coldness  and 
stiffness  which  are  sometimes  complained  of.  On  the  con- 
trary, whenever  I  have  been  thrown  among  them,  whether 
in  Great  Britain  or  on  the  Continent,  they  have  generally 
proved  to  he  agreeable  conversationists.  One  thing  has 
seemed  to  me  at  times  curious  and  even  comical :  they  will 
frequently  shut  themselves  up  tightly  from  their  com- 
patriots,—even  from  those  of  their  own  station,— and  yet 
be  affable,  and  indeed  expansive,  to  any  American  they 
chance  to  meet.  The  reason  for  this  is,  to  an  American, 
even  more  curious  than  the  fact.  I  may  discuss  it  later. 

My  arrival  in  Berlin  took  place  just  at  the  beginning  of 
the  golden-wedding  festivities  of  the  old  Emperor  Wil- 
liam I.  There  was  a  wonderful  series  of  pageants:  his- 
toric costume  balls,  gala  operas,  and  the  like,  at  court; 
but  most  memorable  to  me  was  the  kindly  welcome  ex- 
tended to  us  by  all  in  authority,  from  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  down.  The  cordiality  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
was  also  very  pleasing,  and  during  the  presentations  to 
the  ruling  family  of  the  empire  I  noticed  one  thing  espe- 
cially: the  great  care  with  which  they  all,  from  the  mon- 
arch to  the  youngest  prince,  had  prepared  themselves  to 
begin  a  conversation  agreeable  to  the  new-comer.  One 
of  these  high  personages  started  a  discussion  with  me  upon 
American  shipping ;  another,  on  American  art ;  another,  on 
scenery  in  Colorado ;  another,  on  our  railways  and  steam- 
ers; still  another,  on  American  dentists  and  dentistry; 
and,  in  case  of  a  lack  of  other  subjects,  there  was  Niagara, 
which  they  could  always  fall  back  upon. 

The  duty  of  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Hohenzollern  is 
by  no  means  light ;,  it  involves  toil.  In  my  time,  when 
the  present  emperor,  then  the  young  Prince  William, 
brought  his  bride  home,  in  addition  to  their  other  recep- 
tions of  public  bodies,  day  after  day  and  hour  after  hour, 
they  received  the  diplomatic  corps,  who  were  arranged 
at  the  palace  in  a  great  circle,  the  ladies  forming  one  half 
and  the  gentlemen  the  other.  The  young  princess,  ac- 
companied by  her  train,  beginning  with  the  ladies,  and 


534  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-V 

the  young  prince,  with  his  train,  beginning  with  the  gen- 
tlemen, each  walked  slowly  around  the  interior  of  the  en- 
tire circle,  stopping  at  each  foreign  representative  and 
speaking  to  him,  often  in  the  language  of  his  own  country, 
regarding  some  subject  which  might  be  supposed  to  in- 
terest him.  It  was  really  a  surprising  feat,  for  which,  no 
doubt,  they  had  been  carefully  prepared,  but  which  would 
be  found  difficult  even  by  many  a  well-trained  scholar. 

An  American  representative,  in  presenting  his  letter  of 
credence  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  the 
ruler  of  the  German  Empire,  has  one  advantage  in  the  fact 
that  he  has  an  admirable  topic  ready  to  his  hand,  such  as 
perhaps  no  other  minister  has.  This  boon  was  given  us 
by  Frederick  the  Great.  He,  among  the  first  of  Continental 
rulers,  recognized  the  American  States  as  an  independent 
power;  and  therefore  every  American  minister  since,  in- 
cluding myself,  has  found  it  convenient,  on  presenting  the 
President's  autograph  letter  to  the  King  or  Emperor,  to 
recall  this  event  and  to  build  upon  it  such  an  oratorical 
edifice  as  circumstances  may  warrant.  The  fact  that  the 
great  Frederick  recognized  the  new  American  Republic, 
not  from  love  of  it,  but  on  account  of  his  detestation  of 
England,  provoked  by  her  conduct  during  his  desperate 
struggle  against  his  Continental  enemies,  is,  of  course, 
on  such  occasions  diplomatically  kept  in  the  background. 

The  great  power  in  Germany  at  that  time  was  the 
chancellor,  Prince  Bismarck.  Nothing  could  be  more 
friendly  and  simple  than  his  greeting ;  and  however  stately 
his  official  entertainments  to  the  diplomatic  corps  might 
be,  simplicity  reigned  at  his  family  dinners,  when  his  con- 
yersation  was  apparently  frank  and  certainly  delightful. 
To  him  I  shall  devote  another  chapter. 

In  those  days  an  American  minister  at  Berlin  was 
likely  to  find  his  personal  relations  with  the  German 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  cordial,  but  his  official  rela- 
tions continuous  war.  Hardly  a  day  passed  without  some 
skirmish  regarding  the  rights  of  ' '  German- Americans " 
in  their  Fatherland.  The  old  story  constantly  recurred 


AS  MINISTER  TO   GERMANY-1879-1881         535 

in  new  forms.  Generally  it  was  sprung  by  some  man  who 
had  left  Germany  just  at  the  age  for  entering  the  army, 
had  remained  in  America  just  long  enough  to  secure  nat- 
uralization, and  then,  without  a  thought  of  discharging 
any  of  his  American  duties,  had  come  back  to  claim  ex- 
emption  from  his  German  duties,  and  to  flaunt  his  Ameri- 
can citizen  papers  in  the  face  of  the  authorities  of  the 
province  where  he  was  born.  This  was  very  galling 
to  these  authorities,  from  the  fact  that  such  Americans 
were  often  inclined  to  glory  over  their  old  schoolmates 
and  associates  who  had  not  taken  this  means  of  escaping 
military  duty;  and  it  was  no  wonder  that  these  brand- 
new  citizens,  if  their  papers  were  not  perfectly  regular, 
were  sometimes  held  for  desertion  until  the  American 
representative  could  intervene. 

Still  other  cases  were  those  where  fines  had  been  im- 
posed upon  men  of  this  class  for  non-appearance  when 
summoned  to  military  duty,  and  an  American  minister 
was  expected  to  secure  their  remission. 

In  simple  justice  to  Germany,  it  ought  to  be  said  that 
there  is  no  foreign  matter  of  such  importance  so  little 
understood  in  the  United  States  as  this.  The  average 
American,  looking  on  the  surface  of  things,  cannot  see 
why  the  young  emigrant  is  not  allowed  to  go  and  come  as 
he  pleases.  The  fact  is  that  German  policy  in  this  re- 
spect has  been  evolved  in  obedience  to  the  instinct  of 
national  self-preservation.  The  German  Empire,  the 
greatest  Continental  home  of  civilization,  is  an  open  camp, 
perpetually  besieged.  Speaking  in  a  general  way,  it  has 
no  natural  frontiers  of  any  sort— neither  mountains  nor 
wide  expanses  of  sea.  Eastward  are  one  hundred  and 
thirty  millions  of  people  fanatically  hostile  as  regards 
race,  religion,  and  imaginary  interests;  westward  is  an- 
other great  nation  of  forty  millions,  with  a  hatred  on  all 
these  points  intensified  by  desire  for  revenge;  northward 
is  a  vigorous  race  estranged  by  old  quarrels;  and  south 
is  a  power  which  is  largely  hostile  on  racial,  religious,  and 
historic  grounds,  and  at  best  a  very  uncertain  reliance. 


5:]G  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-V 

Under  such  circumstances,  universal  military  service  in 
Germany  is  a  condition  of  its  existence,  and  evasion  of 
tli is  is  naturally  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  treason.  The 
real  wonder  is  that  Germany  has  heen  so  moderate  in  her 
dealing  with  this  question.  The  yearly  "budgets  of  mili- 
tary cases"  in  the  archives  of  the  American  Emhassy  bear 
ample  testimony  to  her  desire  to  be  just  and  even  lenient. 

To  understand  the  position  of  Germany,  let  us  suppose 
that  our  Civil  War  had  left  our  Union  — as  at  one  time 
seemed  likely— embracing  merely  a  small  number  of  Mid- 
dle States  and  covering  a  space  about  as  large  as  Texas, 
with  a  Confederacy  on  our  southern  boundary  bitterly 
hostile,  another  hostile  nation  extending  from  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Mountains;  a  Pacific 
confederation  jealous  and  faultfinding;  British  domin- 
ions to  the  northward  vexed  by  commercial  and  personal 
grievances ;  and  Xew  England  a  separate  and  doubtful 
factor  in  the  whole  situation.  In  that  case  we  too  would 
have  established  a  military  system  akin  to  that  of  Ger- 
many; but  whether  we  would  have  administered  it  as 
reasonably  as  Germany  has  done  is  very  doubtful. 

Fortunately  for  the  United  States  and  for  me,  there  was 
in  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs,  when  I  arrived,  one  of 
the  most  admirable  men  T  have  ever  known  in  such  a 
position:  Baron  von  Billow.  He  came  of  an  illustrious 
family,  had  great  influence  with  the  old  Emperor  William, 
with  Parliament,  and  in  society;  was  independent,  large 
in  his  views,  and  sincerely  devoted  to  maintaining  the 
best  relations  between  his  country  and  ours.  In  cases  such 
as  those  just  referred  to  he  was  very  broad-minded;  and 
in  one  of  the  first  which  I  had  to  present  to  him,  when 
I  perhaps  showed  some  nervousness,  he  said,  "Mr.  Min- 
ister, don't  allow  cases  of  this  kind  to  vex  you;  I  had 
rather  give  the  United  States  two  hundred  doubtful  cases 
every  year  than  have  the  slightest  ill-feeling  arise  between 
us."  This  being  the  fact,  it  was  comparatively  easy  to 
deal  with  him.  Unfortunately,  he  died  early  during  my 
stay,  and  some  of  the  ministers  who  succeeded  him  had 
neither  his  independence  nor  his  breadth  of  view. 


AS  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY- 1879-^81         537 

It  sometimes  seemed  to  me,  while  doing  duty  at  the 
German  capital  in  those  days  as  minister,  and  at  a  more 
recent  period  as  ambassador,  that  I  could  not  enter  my 
office  without  meeting  some  vexatious  case.  One  day  it 
was  an  American  who,  having  thought  that  patriotism 
required  him,  in  a  crowded  railway  carriage,  roundly  to 
denounce  Germany,  the  German  people,  and  the  imperial 
government,  had  passed  the  night  in  a  guard-house;  an- 
other day,  it  was  one  who,  feeling  called  upon,  in  a  res- 
taurant, to  proclaim  very  loudly  and  grossly  his  unfavor- 
able opinion  of  the  Emperor,  had  been  arrested;  on  still 
another  occasion  it  was  one  of  our  fellow-citizens  who, 
having  thought  that  he  ought  to  be  married  in  Berlin  as 
easily  as  in  New  York,  had  found  himself  entangled  in  a 
network  of  regulations,  prescriptions,  and  prohibitions. 

Of  this  latter  sort  there  were  in  my  time  several  curi- 
ous cases.  One  morning  a  man  came  rushing  into  the 
legation  in  high  excitement  and  exclaimed,  "Mr.  Min- 
ister, I  am  in  the  worst  fix  that  any  decent  man  was  ever 
in ;  I  want  you  to  help  me  out  of  it. ' '  And  he  then  went 
on  with  a  bitter  tirade  against  everybody  and  everything 
in  the  German  Empire.  When  his  wrath  had  effervesced 
somewhat,  he  stated  his  case  as  follows :  ' '  Last  year,  while 
traveling  through  Germany,  I  fell  in  love  with  a  young 
German  lady,  and  after  my  return  to  America  became  en- 
gaged to  her.  I  have  now  come  for  my  bride ;  the  wedding 
is  fixed  for  next  Thursday;  our  steamer  passages  are 
taken  a  day  or  two  later;  and  I  find  that  the  authorities 
will  not  allow  me  to  marry  unless  I  present  a  multitude 
of  papers  such  as  I  never  dreamed  of;  some  of  them  it 
will  take  months  to  get,  and  some  I  can  never  get.  My  in- 
tended bride  is  in  distress;  her  family  evidently  distrust 
me;  the  wedding  is  postponed  indefinitely;  and  my  busi- 
ness partner  is  cabling  me  to  come  back  to  America  as 
soon  as  possible.  I  am  asked  for  a  baptismal  certificate— 
a  Taufschein.  Now,  so  far  as  I  know,  I  was  never  bap- 
tized. I  am  required  to  present  a  certificate  showing  the 
consent  of  my  parents  to  my  marriage— I,  a  man  thirty 
years  old  and  in  a  large  business  of  my  own !  I  am  asked 


538  JX    CUE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE- V 

to  give  bonds  for  the  payment  of  my  debts  in  Germany.  I 
owe  no  such  debts;  but  I  know  no  one  who  will  give 
such  a  bond.  1  am  notified  that  the  banns  must  be  pub- 
lished a  certain  number  of  times  before  the  wedding. 
What  kind  of  a  country  is  this,  anyhow.'" 

We  did  the  best  we  could.  In  an  interview  with  the 
minister  of  public  worship  1  was  able  to  secure  a  dispen- 
sation from  the  publishing  of  the  banns;  then  a  bond  was 
drawn  up  which  I  signed  and  thus  settled  the  question 
regarding  possible  debts  in  Oermany.  As  to  the  baptismal 
certificate,  I  ordered  inscribed,  on  the  largest  possible 
sheet  of  official  paper,  the  gentleman's  affidavit  that,  in 
the  State  of  Ohio,  where  he  was  born,  no  Taufscliein,  or 
baptismal  certificate,  was  required  at  the  time  of  his  birth, 
and  to  tli is  was  affixed  the  largest  seal  of  the  legation,  with 
plenty  of  wax.  The  form  of  the  affidavit  may  be  judged 
peculiar;  but  it  was  thought  best  not  to  startle  the  au- 
thorities with  the  admission  that  the  man  had  not  been 
baptized  at  all.  They  could  easily  believe  that  a  State  like 
<  )hio,  which  some  of  them  doubtless  regarded  as  still  in 
the  backwoods  and  mainly  tenanted  by  Ihe  aborigines, 
might  have  omitted,  in  days  gone  by,  to  require  a  Tnnf- 
Hclwin;  hut  that  an  unbaptized  Christian  should  offer  him- 
self to  be  married  in  (lermany  would  perhaps  have  so 
paralyzed  their  powers  of  belief  that  permission  for  the 
marriage  could  never  have  been  secured. 

In  this  and  various  other  ways  we  overcame  the  diffi- 
culties, and,  though  the  wedding  did  not  take  place  upon 
the  appointed  day,  and  the  return  to  America  had  to  be 
deferred,  the  couple,  at  last,  after  marriage  first  before 
the  public  authorities,  and  then  in  church,  were  able  to  de- 
part in  t  x-ace. 

Another  case  was  typical.  One  morning  a  gentleman 
came  into  the  legation  in  the  greatest  distress;  and  I  soon 
learned  that  this,  ton,  was  a  marriage  case  — but  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  other.  This  gentleman,  a  naturalized 
(Jerman  American  in  excellent  standing,  had  come  over 
to  claim  his  bride.  He  had  gone  through  all  the  formal!- 


AS  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY -1879 -1881          539 

ties  perfectly,  and,  as  his  business  permitted  it,  had  de- 
cided to  reside  a  year  abroad  in  order  that  he  might  take 
the  furniture  of  his  apartment  back  to  America  free  of 
duty.  This  apartment,  a  large  and  beautiful  suite  of 
rooms,  he  had  already  rented,  had  furnished  it  very  fully, 
and  then,  for  the  few  days  intervening  before  his  marriage, 
had  put  it  under  care  of  his  married  sister.  But,  alas !  this 
sister 's  husband  was  a  bankrupt,  and  hardly  had  she  taken 
charge  of  the  apartment  when  the  furniture  was  seized  by 
her  husband's  creditors,  seals  placed  upon  its  doors  by 
the  authorities,  "and,"  said  the  man,  in  his  distress,  "un- 
less you  do  something  it  will  take  two  years  to  reach  the 
case  on  the  calendar ;  meantime  I  must  pay  the  rent  of  the 
apartment  and  lose  the  entire  use  of  it  as  well  as  of  the 
furniture."  "But,"  said  I,  "what  can  be  done?"  He 
answered,  "My  lawyer  says  that  if  you  will  ask  it  as  a 
favor  from  the  judge,  he  will  grant  an  order  bringing  the 
case  up  immediately."  To  this  I  naturally  replied  that 
I  could  hardly  interfere  with  a  judge  in  any  case  before 
him;  but  his  answer  was  pithy.  Said  he,  "You  are  the 
American  minister,  and  if  you  are  not  here  to  get  Ameri- 
cans out  of  scrapes,  I  should  like  to  know  what  you  are 
here  for."  This  was  unanswerable,  and  in  the  afternoon 
I  drove  in  state  to  the  judge,  left  an  official  card  upon  him, 
and  then  wrote,  stating  the  case  carefully,  and  saying  that, 
while  I  could  not  think  of  interfering  in  any  case  before 
him,  still,  that  as  this  matter  appeared  to  me  one  of  especial 
hardship,  if  it  could  be  reached  at  once  the  ends  of  justice 
would  undoubtedly  be  furthered  thereby.  That  my  ap- 
plication was  successful  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
man  thus  rescued  never  returned  to  thank  his  benefactor. 
A  more  important  part  of  a  minister's  duty  is  in  connec- 
tion with  the  commercial  relations  between  the  two  na- 
tions. Each  country  was  attempting,  by  means  of  its 
tariffs,  to  get  all  the  advantage  possible,  and  there  resulted 
various  German  regulations  bearing  heavily  on  some 
American  products.  This  started  questions  which  had  to 
be  met  with  especial  care,  requiring  many  interviews  with 


540  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-V 

the  foreign  office  and  with  various  members  of  the  im- 
perial cabinet. 

In  looking  after  commercial  relations,  a  general  over- 
sight of  the  consuls  throughout  the  empire  was  no  small 
part  of  the  minister's  duty.  The  consular  body  was  good 
—remarkably  good  when  one  considers  the  radically 
vicious  policy  which  prevails  in  the  selection  and  reten- 
tion of  its  members.  But  the  more  I  saw  of  it,  the  stronger 
became  my  conviction  that  the  first  thing  needed  is  that, 
when  our  government  secures  a  thoroughly  good  man  in 
a  consular  position,  it  should  keep  him  there ;  and,  more- 
over, that  it  should  establish  a  full  system  of  promotions 
for  merit.  Under  the  present  system  the  rule  is  that,  as 
soon  as  a  man  is  fit  for  the  duties,  he  is  rotated  out  of  office 
and  supplanted  by  a  man  who  has  all  his  duties  to  learn. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  of  late  years  there  have  been  many 
excellent  exceptions  to  this  rule ;  and  one  of  my  most  ear- 
nest hopes,  as  a  man  loving  my  country  and  desirous  of  its 
high  standing  abroad,  is  that,  more  and  more,  the  ten- 
dency, both  as  regards  the  consular  and  diplomatic  service, 
may  be  in  the  direction  of  sending  men  carefully  fitted  for 
positions,  and  of  retaining  them  without  regard  to  changes 
in  the  home  administration. 

Still  another  part  of  the  minister 's  duty  was  the  careful 
collection  of  facts  regarding  important  subjects,  and  the 
transmission  of  them  to  the  State  department.  These  were 
embodied  in  despatches.  Such  subjects  as  railway  man- 
agement, the  organization  and  administration  of  city  gov- 
ernments, the  growth  of  various  industries,  the  creation 
of  new  schools  of  instruction,  the  development  of  public 
libraries,  and  the  like,  as  well  as  a  multitude  of  other 
practical  matters,  were  thus  dwelt  upon. 

It  was  also  a  duty  of  the  minister  to  keep  a  general  over- 
sight of  the  interests  of  Americans  within  his  jurisdic- 
tion. There  are  always  a  certain  number  of  Americans 
in  distress,— real,  pretended,  or  imaginary,— and  these 
must  be  looked  after ;  then  there  are  American  statesmen 
seeking  introductions  or  information,  American  scholars 


AS   MINISTER   TO   GERMANY-1879-1881          541 

in  quest  of  similar  things  in  a  different  field,  American 
merchants  and  manufacturers  seeking  access  to  men  and 
establishments  which  will  enable  them  to  build  up  their 
own  interests  and  those  of  their  country,  and,  most  in- 
teresting of  all,  American  students  at  the  university  and 
other  advanced  schools  in  Berlin  and  throughout  Ger- 
many. To  advise  with  these  and  note  their  progress 
formed  a  most  pleasing  relief  from  strictly  official  matters. 

Least  pleasing  of  all  duties  was  looking  after  fugitives 
from  justice  or  birds  of  prey  evidently  seeking  new  vic- 
tims. On  this  latter  point,  I  recall  an  experience  which 
may  throw  some  light  on  the  German  mode  of  watching 
doubtful  persons.  A  young  American  had  appeared  in 
various  public  places  wearing  a  naval  uniform  to  which 
he  was  not  entitled,  declaring  himself  a  son  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  apparently  making  ready 
for  a  career  of  scoundrelism.  Consulting  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs  one  day,  I  mentioned  this  case,  asking  him 
to  give  me  such  information  as  came  to  him.  He  an- 
swered, ' '  Remind  me  at  your  next  visit,  and  perhaps  I 
can  show  you  something. ' '  On  my  calling  some  days  later, 
the  minister  handed  me  a  paper  on  which  was  inscribed 
apparently  not  only  every  place  the  young  man  had 
visited,  but  virtually  everything  he  had  done  and  said  dur- 
ing the  past  week,  his  conversations  in  the  restaurants  be- 
ing noted  with  especial  care ;  and  while  the  man  was  evi- 
dently worthless,  he  was  clearly  rather  a  fool  than  a 
scoundrel.  On  my  expressing  surprise  at  the  fullness  of 
this  information,  the  minister  seemed  quite  as  much  sur- 
prised at  my  supposing  it  possible  for  any  good  govern- 
ment to  exist  without  such  complete  surveillance  of  sus- 
pected persons. 

Another  curious  matter  which  then  came  up  was  the 
selling  of  sham  diplomas  by  a  pretended  American  univer- 
sity. This  was  brought  to  my  notice  in  sundry  letters,  and 
finally  by  calls  from  one  or  two  young  Germans  who  were 
considering  the  advisability  of  buying  a  doctorate  from  a 
man  named  Buchanan,  who  claimed  to  be  president  of  the 


542  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-V 

"University  of  Philadelphia."  Although  I  demonstrated 
to  them  the  worthlessness  of  such  sham  degrees  of  a  non- 
existent institution,  they  evidently  thought  that  to  obtain 
one  would  aid  them  in  their  professions,  and  were  inclined 
to  make  a  purchase.  From  time  to  time  there  were  slurs 
in  the  German  papers  upon  all  American  institutions  of 
learning,  based  upon  advertisements  of  such  diplomas; 
and  finally  my  patriotic  wrath  was  brought  to  a  climax 
by  a  comedy  at  the  Royal  Theater,  in  which  the  rascal  of 
the  piece,  having  gone  through  a  long  career  of  scoun- 
drelism,  finally  secures  a  diploma  from  the  "University 
of  Pennsylvania"! 

In  view  of  this,  I  wrote  not  only  despatches  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  but  private  letters  to  leading  citizens  of 
Philadelphia,  calling  their  attention  to  the  subject,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  injury  that  this  kind  of  thing  was  doing 
to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  an  institution  of  which 
every  Philadelphian,  and  indeed  every  American,  has  a 
right  to  be  proud.  As  a  result,  the  whole  thing  was  broken 
up,  and,  though  it  has  been  occasionally  revived,  it  has  not 
again  inflicted  such  a  stigma  upon  American  education. 

But  perhaps  the  most  annoying  business  of  all  arose 
from  presentations  at  court.  The  mania  of  many  of  our 
fellow-citizens  for  mingling  with  birds  of  the  finest  feather 
has  passed  into  a  European  proverb  which  is  unjust  to  the 
great  body  of  Americans;  but  at  present  there  seems  to 
be  no  help  for  it,  the  reputation  of  the  many  suffering  for 
the  bad  taste  of  the  few.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  per- 
tinacity shown  in  some  cases.  Different  rules  prevail  at 
different  courts,  and  at  the  imperial  court  of  Germany 
the  rule  for  some  years  has  been  that  persons  eminent 
in  those  walks  of  life  that  are  especially  honored  will 
always  be  welcome,  and  that  the  proper  authority,  on  be- 
ing notified  of  their  presence,  will  extend  such  invitations 
as  may  seem  warranted.  Unfortunately,  while  some  of 
the  most  worthy  visitors  did  not  make  themselves  known, 
some  persons  far  less  desirable  took  too  much  pains  to 
attract  notice.  A  satirist  would  find  rich  material  in  the 


AS  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY- 1879 -1881          543 

archives  of  our  embassies  and  legations  abroad.  I  have 
found  nowhere  more  elements  of  true  comedy  and  even 
broad  farce  than  in  some  of  the  correspondence  on  this 
subject  there  embalmed. 

But  while  this  class  of  applicants  is  mainly  made  up  of 
women,  fairness  compels  me  to  say  that  there  is  a  similar 
class  of  men.  These  are  persons  possessed  of  an  insatiate 
and  at  times  almost  insane  desire  to  be  able,  on  their  re- 
turn, to  say  that  they  have  talked  with  a  crowned  head. 

Should  the  sovereign  see  one  in  ten  of  the  persons  from 
foreign  nations  who  thus  seek  him,  he  would  have  no  time 
for  anything  else.  He  therefore  insists,  like  any  private 
person  in  any  country,  on  his  right  not  to  give  his  time  to 
those  who  have  no  real  claim  upon  him,  and  some  very 
good  fellow-citizens  of  ours  have  seemed  almost  inclined 
to  make  this  feeling  of  his  Majesty  a  cams  belli. 

On  the  other  hand  there  are  large  numbers  of  Americans 
making  demands,  and  often  very  serious  demands,  of  time 
and  labor  on  their  diplomatic  representative  which  it  is 
an  honor  and  pleasure  to  render.  Of  these  are  such  as, 
having  gained  a  right  to  do  so  by  excellent  work  in  their 
respective  fields  at  home,  come  abroad,  as  legislators 
or  educators  or  scientific  investigators  or  engineers  or 
scholars  or  managers  of  worthy  business  enterprises,  to 
extend  their  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  their  country. 
No  work  has  been  more  satisfactory  to  my  conscience  than 
the  aid  which  I  have  been  able  to  render  to  men  and  wo- 
men of  this  sort. 

Still,  one  has  to  make  discriminations.  I  remember  es- 
pecially a  very  charming  young  lady  of,  say,  sixteen  sum- 
mers, who  came  to  me  saying  that  she  had  agreed  to  write 
some  letters  for  a  Western  newspaper,  and  that  she  wished 
to  visit  all  the  leading  prisons,  reformatory  institutions, 
and  asylums  of  Germany.  I  looked  into  her  pretty  face, 
and  soon  showed  her  that  the  German  Government  would 
never  think  of  allowing  a  young  lady  like  herself  to  in- 
spect such  places  as  those  she  had  named,  and  that  in  my 
opinion  they  were  quite  right;  but  I  suggested  a  series 


544  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE -Y 

of  letters  on  a  multitude  of  things  which  would  certainly 
prove  interesting  and  instructive,  and  which  she  might 
easily  study  in  all  parts  of  Germany.  She  took  my  advice, 
wrote  many  such  letters,  and  the  selection  which  she  pub- 
lished proved  to  be  delightful. 

But  at  times  zeal  for  improvements  at  home  goes  peril- 
ously far  toward  turning  the  activity  of  an  ambassador 
or  minister  from  its  proper  channels.  Scores  of  people 
write  regarding  schools  for  their  children,  instructors  in 
music,  cheap  boarding-houses,  and  I  have  had  an  excel- 
lent fellow-citizen  ask  me  to  send  him  a  peck  of  turnips/ 
But  if  the  applications  are  really  from  worthy  persons, 
they  can  generally  be  dealt  with  in  ways  which  require  no 
especial  labor— many  of  them  through  our  consuls,  to 
whom  they  more  properly  belong. 

Those  who  really  ask  too  much,  insisting  that  the  em- 
bassy shall  look  after  their  private  business,  may  be  re- 
minded that  the  rules  of  the  diplomatic  service  forbid 
such  investigations,  in  behalf  of  individuals,  without  pre- 
vious instructions  from  the  State  Department. 

Of  the  lesser  troublesome  people  may  be  named,  first, 
those  who  are  looking  up  their  genealogies.  A  typical 
letter  made  up  from  various  epistles,  as  a  " composite" 
portrait  is  made  out  of  different  photographs,  would  run 
much  as  follows: 

SIE  :  I  have  reason  to  suppose  that  I  am  descended  from  an 
old  noble  family  in  Germany.  My  grandfather's  name  was  Max 
Schulze.  He  came,  I  think,  from  some  part  of  Austria  or  Bavaria 
or  Schleswig-Holstein.  Please  trace  back  my  ancestry  and  let  me 
know  the  result  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

Yours  truly, 

MARY  SMITH. 

Another  more  troublesome  class  is  that  of  people  seek- 
ing inheritances.  A  typical  letter,  compounded  as  above, 
would  run  somewhat  as  follows: 

SIR  :  I  am  assured  that  a  fortune  of  several  millions  of  marks 
left  by  one  John  Miiller,  who  died  in  some  part  of  Germany  two 


AS   MINISTER  TO   GERMANY -1879 -1881          545 

or  three  centuries  ago,  is  held  at  the  imperial  treasury  awaiting 
heirs.  My  grandmother's  name  was  Miller.  Please  look  the  mat- 
ter up  and  inform  me  as  to  my  rights. 

Yours  truly, 

JOHN  MYERS. 

P.S.  If  you  succeed  in  getting  the  money,  I  will  be  glad  to  pay 
you  handsomely  for  your  services. 

Such  letters  as  this  are  easily  answered.  During  this 
first  sojourn  of  mine  at  Berlin  as  minister,  I  caused  a  cir- 
cular, going  over  the  whole  ground,  to  be  carefully  pre- 
pared and  to  be  forwarded  to  applicants.  In  this  occur 
the  following  words :  ' t  We  have  yearly,  from  various  parts 
of  the  United  States,  a  large  number  of  applications  for 
information  or  aid  regarding  great  estates  in  Germany 
supposed  to  be  awaiting  heirs.  They  are  all  more  or  less 
indefinite,  many  sad,  and  some  ludicrous.  .  .  .  There  are 
in  Germany  no  large  estates,  awaiting  distribution  to  un- 
known heirs,  in  the  hands  of  the  government  or  of  any- 
body, and  all  efforts  to  discover  such  estates  that  the  lega- 
tion has  ever  made  or  heard  of  have  proved  fruitless. ' ' 

Among  the  many  odd  applications  received  at  that  pe- 
riod, one  revealed  an  American  superstition  by  no  means 
unusual.  The  circumstances  which  led  to  it  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

An  ample  fund,  said  to  be  forty  or  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, had  been  brought  together  in  Philadelphia  for  the 
erection  of  an  equestrian  statue  to  Washington,  and  it  had 
been  finally  decided  to  intrust  the  commission  to  Profes- 
sor Siemering,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  modern  Ger- 
man sculptors.  One  day  there  came  to  me  a  letter  from 
an  American  gentleman  whom  I  had  met  occasionally 
many  years  before,  asking  me  to  furnish  him  with  a  full* 
statement  regarding  Professor  Siemering 's  works  and 
reputation.  As  a  result,  I  made  inquiries  among  the  lead- 
ing authorities  on  modern  art,  and,  everything  being  most 
favorable,  I  at  last  visited  his  studio,  and  found  a  large 
number  of  designs  and  models  of  works  on  which  he 

I.— 35 


546  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -V 

was  then  engaged,— two  or  three  being  of  the  highest 
importance,  among  them  the  great  war  monument  at 
Leipsic. 

I  also  found  that,  although  he  had  executed  and  was 
executing  important  works  for  various  other  parts  of 
Germany,  he  had  not  yet  put  up  any  great  permanent 
work  in  Berlin,  though  the  designs  of  the  admirable  tem- 
porary statues  and  decorations  on  the  return  of  the  troops 
from  the  Franco-Prussian  War  to  the  metropolis  had 
been  intrusted  largely  to  him. 

These  facts  I  stated  to  my  correspondent  in  a  letter,  and 
in  due  time  received  an  answer  in  substance  as  follows : 

SIR  :  Your  letter  confirms  me  in  the  opinion  I  had  formed. 
The  intrusting  of  the  great  statue  of  Washington  to  a  man  like 
Siemering  is  a  job  and  an  outrage.  It  is  clear  that  he  is  a  mere 
pretender,  since  he  has  erected  no  statue  as  yet  in  Berlin.  That 
statue  of  the  Father  of  our  Country  ought  to  have  been  intrusted 
to  native  talent.  I  have  a  son  fourteen  years  old  who  has  already 
greatly  distinguished  himself.  He  has  modeled  a  number  of  fig- 
ures in  butter  and  putty  which  all  my  friends  think  are  most  re- 
markable. I  am  satisfied  that  he  could  have  produced  a  work 
which,  by  its  originality  and  power,  would  have  done  honor  to 
our  country  and  to  art. 

Yours  very  truly, 


Curious,  too,  was  the  following:  One  morning  the  mail 
brought  me  a  large  packet  filled  with  little  squares  of 
cheap  cotton  cloth.  I  was  greatly  puzzled  to  know  their 
purpose  until,  a  few  days  later,  there  came  a  letter  which, 
with  changes  of  proper  names,  ran  as  follows : 

PODUNK,  -      — ,  1880. 

SIR  :  We  are  going  to  have  a  fancy  fair  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Church  in  this  town,  and  we  are  getting  ready  some  auto- 
graph bed-quilts.  I  have  sent  you  a  package  of  small  squares  of 
cotton  cloth,  which  please  take  to  the  Emperor  William  and  his 
wife,  also  to  Prince  Bismarck  and  the  other  princes  and  leading 


AS  MINISTER   TO   GERMANY- 1879 -1881          547 

persons  of  Germany,  asking  them  to  write  their  names  on  them 
and  send  them  to  me  as  soon  as  possible. 

Yours  truly, 


P.S.  Tell  them  to  be  sure  to  write  their  names  in  the  middle 
of  the  pieces,  for  fear  that  their  autographs  may  get  sewed  in. 

My  associations  with  the  diplomatic  corps  I  found  es- 
pecially pleasing.  The  dean,  as  regarded  seniority,  was 
the  Italian  ambassador,  Count  Delaunay,  a  man  of  large 
experience  and  kindly  manners.  He  gave  me  various  in- 
teresting reminiscences  of  his  relations  with  Cavour,  and 
said  that  when  he  was  associated  with  the  great  Italian 
statesman,  the  latter  was  never  able  to  get  time  for  him, 
except  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  that  this  was 
their  usual  hour  of  work. 

Another  very  interesting  person  was  the  representative 
of  Great  Britain— Lord  Odo  Russell.  He  was  full  of  in- 
teresting reminiscences  of  his  life  at  Washington,  at  Rome, 
and  at  Versailles  with  Bismarck.  As  to  Rome,  he  gave  me 
interesting  stories  of  Pope  Pius  IX,  who,  he  said,  was  in- 
clined to  be  jocose,  and  even  to  speak  in  a  sportive  way 
regarding  exceedingly  serious  subjects.1  As  to  Cavour, 
he  thought  him  a  greater  man  even  than  Bismarck;  and 
this  from  a  man  so  intimate  with  the  German  chancellor 
was  a  testimony  of  no  small  value. 

As  to  his  recollections  of  Versailles,  he  was  present  at 
the  proclamation  of  the  Empire  in  the  Galerie  des  Glaces, 
and  described  the  scene  to  me  very  vividly. 

His  relations  with  Bismarck  were  very  close,  and  the 
latter  once  paid  him  a  compliment  which  sped  far;  saying 
that,  as  a  rule,  he  distrusted  an  Englishman  who  spoke 
French  very  correctly,  but  that  there  was  one  exception— 
Lord  Odo  Russell. 

At  the  risk  of  repeating  a  twice-told  tale,  I  may  refer 
here  to  his  visit  to  Bismarck  when  the  latter  complained 
that  he  was  bothered  to  death  with  bores  who  took  his 

1  One  of  these  reminiscences  I  have  given  elsewhere. 


548  IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-V 

most  precious  time,  and  asked  Lord  Odo  how  he  got  rid 
of  them.  After  making  some  reply,  the  latter  asked  Bis- 
marck what  plan  he  had  adopted.  To  this  the  chancellor 
answered  that  he  and  Johanna  (the  princess)  had  hit 
upon  a  plan,  which  was  that  when  she  thought  her  hus- 
hand  had  been  bored  long  enough,  she  came  in  with  a  bot- 
tle and  said,  "Xow,  Otto,  you  know  that  it  is  time  for  you 
to  take  your  medicine.1'  Hardly  were  the  words  out  of 
his  mouth,  when  in  came  the  princess  with  the  bottle  and 
repeated  the  very  words  which  her  husband  had  just 
given.  Both  burst  into  titanic  laughter,  and  parted  on 
the  best  of  terms. 

At  court  festivities.  Lord  Odo  frequently  became  very 
weary,  and  as  1  was  often  in  the  same  case,  we  from  time 
to  time  went  out  of  the  main  rooms  together  and  sat 
down  in  some  quiet  nook  for  a  talk.  On  one  of  these 
occasions,  just  after  lie  had  been  made  a  peer  with  the 
title  of  Baron  Ampthill,  I  said  to  him,  "You  must  allow 
me  to  use  my  Yankee  privilege  of  asking  questions." 
On  his  assenting  to  this  pleasantly,  T  asked,  "Why  is  it 
that  you  are  willing  to  give  up  the  great  historic  name 
of  Russell  and  take  a  name  which  no  one  ever  heard  of?" 
He  answered,  "I  have  noticed  that  when  men  who  have 
been  long  in  the  diplomatic  service  return  to  England, 
they  become  in  many  cases  listless  and  melancholy,  and 
wander  about  with  no  friends  and  nothing  to  do.  They 
have  been  so  long  abroad  that  they  are  no  longer  in  touch 
with  leading  men  at  home,  and  are  therefore  shelved. 
Kntrance  into  the  House  of  Lords  gives  a  man  something 
to  do.  with  new  friends  and  pleasing  relations.  As  to  the 
name,  I  would  gladly  have  retained  my  own,  but  had  no 
choice;  in  fact,  when  Lord  John  Russell  was  made  an 
carl,  his  insisting  on  retaining  his  name  was  not  espe- 
cially liked.  Various  places  on  the  Russell  estates  were 
submitted  In  me  for  my  choice,  and  I  took'  Ainptliill." 

Alas!  his  plans  came  to  nothing.  He  died  at  his  post 
before  his  rel  i  reinenl  in  Kngland. 

Amoiji-  those  then  connected  with  the  British  Kmbassv 


AS  MINISTER  TO   GERMANY -1879 -1881          549 

at  Berlin,  one  of  the  most  interesting  was  Colonel  (now 
General)  Lord  Methuen,  who,  a  few  years  since,  took  so 
honorable  a  part  in  the  South  African  War.  He  was  at 
that  time  a  tall,  awkward  man,  kindly,  genial,  who  al- 
ways reminded  me  of  Thackeray's  " Major  Sugarplums. " 
He  had  recently  lost  his  wife,  and  was  evidently  in  deep 
sorrow.  One  morning  there  came  a  curious  bit  of  news 
regarding  him.  A  few  days  before,  walking  in  some  re- 
mote part  of  the  Thiergarten,  he  saw  a  working-man  throw 
himself  into  the  river,  and  instantly  jumped  into  the  icy 
stream  after  him,  grappled  him,  pulled  him  out,  laid  him 
on  the  bank,  and  rapidly  walked  off.  When  news  of 
it  got  out,  he  was  taxed  with  it  by  various  members  of 
the  diplomatic  corps;  but  he  awkwardly  and  blushingly 
pooh-poohed  the  whole  matter. 

One  evening,  not  long  afterward,  I  witnessed  a  very 
pleasant  scene  connected  with  this  rescue.  As  we  were  all 
assembled  at  some  minor  festivity  in  the  private  palace 
on  the  Linden,  the  old  Emperor  sent  for  the  colonel,  and 
on  his  coming  up,  his  Majesty  took  from  his  own  coat 
a  medal  of  honor  for  life-saving  and  attached  it  to  the 
breast  of  Methuen,  who  received  it  in  a  very  awkward 
yet  manly  fashion. 

The  French  ambassador  was  the  Count  de  St.  Vallier, 
one  of  the  most  agreeable  men  I  have  ever  met,  who  de- 
served all  the  more  credit  for  his  amiable  qualities  be- 
cause he  constantly  exercised  them  despite  the  most 
wretched  health.  During  his  splendid  dinners  at  the 
French  Embassy,  he  simply  toyed  with  a  bit  of  bread,  not 
daring  to  eat  anything. 

We  were  first  thrown  especially  together  by  a  represen- 
tation in  favor  of  the  double  standard  of  value,  which, 
under  instructions  from  our  governments,  we  jointly 
made  to  the  German  Foreign  Office,  and  after  that  our 
relations  became  very  friendly.  Whenever  the  Fourth 
of  July  or  Washington's  Birthday  came  round,  he  was 
sure  to  remember  it  and  make  a  friendly  call. 

My  liking  for  him  once  brought  upon  me  one  of  the 


550  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-V 

most  embarrassing  mishaps  of  my  life.  It  was  at  Nice, 
and  at  the  table  d'hote  of  a  great  hotel  on  the  Promenade 
des  Anglais,  where  I  was  seated  next  a  French  countess 
who,  though  she  had  certainly  passed  her  threescore 
years  and  ten,  was  still  most  agreeable.  Day  after  day 
we  chatted  together,  and  all  went  well;  but  one  evening, 
on  our  meeting  at  table  as  usual,  she  said,  l  i  I  am  told  that 
you  are  the  American  minister  at  Berlin. "  I  answered, 
"Yes,  madam. "  She  then  said,  "When  I  was  a  young 
woman,  I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  mother  of  the 
present  French  ambassador  there. "  At  this  I  launched 
out  into  praises  of  Count  St.  Vallier,  as  well  I  might; 
speaking  of  the  high  regard  felt  for  him  at  Berlin,  the 
honors  he  had  received  from  the  German  Government, 
and  the  liking  for  him  among  his  colleagues.  The  countess 
listened  in  silence,  and  when  I  had  finished  turned  se- 
verely upon  me,  saying,  "Monsieur,  up  to  this  moment 
I  have  believed  you  an  honest  man ;  but  now  I  really  don 't 
know  what  to  think  of  you."  Of  course  I  was  dum- 
f ounded,  but  presently  the  reason  for  the  remark  occurred 
to  me,  and  I  said,  "Madam,  M.  de  St.  Vallier  serves 
France.  Whatever  his  private  opinions  may  be,  he  no 
doubt  feels  it  his  duty  to  continue  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  It  would  certainly  be  a  great  pity  if,  at  every 
change  of  government  in  France,  every  officer  who  did 
not  agree  with  the  new  regime  should  leave  the  diplomatic 
service  or  the  military  service  or  the  naval  service,  thus 
injuring  the  interests  of  France  perhaps  most  seriously. 
Suppose  the  Comte  de  Chambord  should  be  called  to  the 
throne  of  France,  what  would  you  think  of  Orleanists 
and  republicans  who  should  immediately  resign  their 
places  in  the  army,  navy,  and  diplomatic  service,  thus 
embarrassing,  perhaps  fatally,  the  monarchy  and  the 
country  ?"  At  this,  to  my  horror,  the  lady  went  into 
hysterics,  and  began  screaming.  She  cried  out,  "Oui, 
monsieur,  il  reviendra,  Henri  Cinq;  il  reviendra,  Dieu 
est  avec  lui;  il  reviendra  malgre  tout,"  etc.,  etc.,  and 
finally  she  jumped  up  and  rushed  out  of  the  room.  The 


AS   MINISTER  TO   GERM  ANY- 1879 -1881          551 

of  the  whole  table  were  turned  upon  us,  and  I  fully 
expected  that  some  gallant  Frenchman  would  come  up 
and  challenge  me  for  insulting  a  lady ;  but  no  one  moved, 
and  presently  all  went  on  with  their  dinners.  The  next 
day  the  countess  again  appeared  at  my  side,  amiable  as 
ever,  but  during  the  remainder  of  my  stay  I  kept  far 
from  every  possible  allusion  to  politics. 

The  Turkish  ambassador,  Sadoullah  Bey,  was  a  kindly 
gentleman  who  wandered  about,  as  the  French  expres- 
sively say,  "like  a  damned  soul."  Something  seemed  to 
weigh  upon  him  heavily  and  steadily.  A  more  melan- 
choly human  being  I  have  never  seen,  and  it  did  not  sur- 
prise me,  a  few  years  later,  to  be  told  that,  after  one  of  the 
palace  revolutions  at  Constantinople,  he  had  been  executed 
for  plotting  the  assassination  of  the  Sultan. 

The  Russian  ambassador,  M.  de  Sabouroff,  was  a  very 
agreeable  man,  and  his  rooms  were  made  attractive  by 
the  wonderful  collection  of  Tanagra  statuettes  which  he 
had  brought  from  Greece,  where  he  had  formerly  been 
minister.  In  one  matter  he  was  especially  helpful  to  me. 
One  day  I  received  from  Washington  a  cipher  despatch  in- 
structing me  to  exert  all  my  influence  to  secure  the  re- 
lease of  Madame ,  who,  though  married  to  a  former 

Russian  secretary  of  legation,  was  the  daughter  of  an 
American  eminent  in  politics  and  diplomacy.  The  case 
was  very  serious.  The  Russian  who  had  married  this 
estimable  lady  had  been  concerned  in  various  shady 
transactions,  and,  having  left  his  wife  and  little  children 
in  Paris,  had  gone  to  Munich  in  the  hope  of  covering 
up  some  doubtful  matters  which  were  coming  to  light. 
While  on  this  errand  he  was  seized  and  thrown  into  jail, 
whereupon  he  telegraphed  his  wife  to  come  to  him.  His 
idea,  evidently,  was  that  when  she  arrived  she  also  would 
be  imprisoned,  and  that  her  family  would  then  feel  forced 
to  intervene  with  the  money  necessary  to  get  them  both 
out.  The  first  part  of  the  programme  went  as  he  had  ex- 
pected. His  wife,  on  arriving  in  Munich,  was  at  once 
thrown  into  prison,  and  began  thence  sending  to  the 


552  IN   THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-V 

Secretary  of  State  and  to  me  the  most  distressing  letters 
and  telegrams.  She  had  left  her  little  children  in  Paris, 
and  was  in  agony  about  them.  With  the  aid  of  the  Rus- 
sian ambassador,  who  acknowledged  that  his  compatriot 
was  one  of  the  worst  wretches  in  existence,  I  obtained 
the  release  of  the  lady  from  prison  after  long  negotia- 
tions. Unfortunately,  I  was  obliged  to  secure  that  of  her 
husband  at  the  same  time ;  but  as  he  died  not  long  after- 
ward, he  had  no  opportunity  to  do  much  more  harm. 

Of  the  ministers  plenipotentiary,  the  chief  was  Baron 
Nothomb  of  Belgium,  noted  as  the  "Belgian  father  of 
constitutional  liberty. "  He  was  a  most  interesting  old 
man,  especially  devoted  to  the  memory  of  my  prede- 
cessor, Bancroft,  and  therefore  very  kind  to  me.  Among 
the  reminiscences  which  he  seemed  to  enjoy  giving  me 
at  his  dinner-table  were  many  regarding  Talleyrand, 
whom  he  had  personally  known. 

Still  another  friend  among  the  ministers  was  M.  de 
Eudhardt,  who  represented  Bavaria.  He  and  his  wife 
were  charming,  and  they  little  dreamed  of  the  catastrophe 
awaiting  them  when  he  should  cross  Bismarck's  path. 
The  story  of  this  I  shall  recount  elsewhere.1 

Yet  another  good  friend  was  Herr  von  Nostitz-Wall- 
witz,  representative  of  Saxony,  who  was  able,  on  one 
occasion,  to  render  a  real  service  to  American  education. 
Two  or  three  young  ladies,  one  of  whom  is  now  the  ad- 
mired head  of  one  of  the  foremost  American  colleges  for 
women,  were  studying  at  the  University  of  Leipsic.  I 
had  given  them  letters  to  sundry  professors  there,  and 
nothing  could  be  better  than  the  reports  which  reached 
me  regarding  their  studies,  conduct,  and  social  standing. 
But  one  day  came  very  distressing  telegrams  and  letters, 
and,  presently,  the  ladies  themselves.  A  catastrophe  had 
come.  A  decree  had  gone  forth  from  the  Saxon  Govern- 
ment at  Dresden  expelling  all  women  students  from  the 
university,  and  these  countrywomen  of  mine  begged  me 
to  do  what  I  could  for  them.  Remembering  that  my 

1  See  chapter  on  Bismarck. 


AS  MINISTER  TO  GERMANY-1879-18S1          553 

Saxon  colleague  was  the  brother  of  the  prime  minister  of 
Saxony,  I  at  once  went  to  him.  On  my  presenting  the 
case,  he  at  first  expressed  amazement  at  the  idea  of  wo- 
men being  admitted  to  the  lecture-rooms  of  a  German 
university;  but  as  I  showed  him  sundry  letters,  espe- 
cially those  from  Professors  Georg  Curtius  and  Ebers, 
regarding  these  fair  students,  his  conservatism  melted 
away  and  he  presently  entered  heartily  into  my  view,  the 
result  being  that  the  decree  was  modified  so  that  all  lady 
students  then  in  the  university  were  allowed  to  remain 
until  the  close  of  their  studies,  but  no  new  ones  were  to 
be  admitted  afterward.  Happily,  all  this  has  been  changed, 
and  to  that,  as  to  nearly  all  other  German  universities, 
women  are  now  freely  admitted. 

Very  amusing  at  times  were  exhibitions  of  gentle  sar- 
casm on  the  part  of  sundry  old  diplomatists.  They  had 
lived  long,  had  seen  the  seamy  side  of  public  affairs,  and 
had  lost  their  illusions.  One  evening,  at  a  ball  given  by 
the  vice-chancellor  of  the  empire  which  was  extremely 
splendid  and  no  less  tedious,  my  attention  was  drawn  to 
two  of  them.  There  had  been  some  kind  of  absurd 
demonstration  that  day  in  one  of  the  principal  European 
parliaments,  and  coming  upon  my  two  colleagues,  I 
alluded  to  it. 

1  i  Yes, ' '  said  Baron  Jauru  of  Brazil,  '  '  that  comes  of  the 
greatest  lie  prevalent  in  our  time— the  theory  that  the 
majority  of  mankind  are  wise;  now  it  is  an  absolute  fact 
which  all  history  teaches,  and  to-day  even  more  than  ever, 
that  all  mankind  are  fools."  "What  you  say  is  true," 
replied  M.  de  Quade,  the  Danish  minister,  "but  it  is  not 
the  whole  truth:  constitutional  government  also  goes 
on  the  theory  that  all  mankind  are  good;  now  it  is  an  ab- 
solute fact  that  all  mankind  are  bad,  utterly  bad."  "Yes," 
said  Jauru,  "I  accept  your  amendment;  mankind  are 
fools  and  knaves."  To  this  I  demurred  somewhat,  and 
quoted  Mr.  Lincoln's  remark,  "You  can  fool  some  of  the 
people  all  the  time,  and  all  of  the  people  some  of  the  time ; 
but  you  can't  fool  all  the  people  all  the  time." 


f>:>4  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC    SERYICE-V 

This  restored  their  good  humor,  and  I  left  them  smil- 
ingly pondering  over  this  nugget  of  Western  wisdom. 

Interesting  to  me  was  the  contrast  hehveen  my  two  col- 
leagues from  the  extreme  Orient.  Then  and  since  at  Ber- 
lin I  have  known  the  Japanese  Minister  Aoki.  Like  all 
other  Japanese  diplomatic  representatives  I  have  met, 
whether  there  or  elsewhere,  he  was  an  exceedingly  accom- 
plished man:  at  the  iirst  dinner  given  me  after  my  ar- 
rival in  Berlin  he  made  an  admirable  speech  in  German, 
and  could  have  spoken  just  as  fluently  and  accurately  in 
French  or  English. 

On  the  other  hand,  Li  Fong  Pao,  the  Chinese  represen- 
tative, was  a  mandarin  who  steadily  wore  his  Chinese  cos- 
tume, pigtail  and  all,  and  who,  though  jolly,  could  speak 
only  through  an  interpreter  who  was  almost  as  difficult  to 
understand  as  the  minister  himself. 

Thus  far  it  seems  the  general  rule  that  whereas  the 
Japanese,  like  civilized  nations  in  general,  train  men 
carefully  for  foreign  service  in  international  law,  mod- 
ern languages,  history,  and  the  like,  the  Chinese,  like  our- 
selves, do  little,  if  anything,  of  the  kind.  But  I  may  add 
that  recently  there  have  been  some  symptoms  of  change 
on  their  part.  One  of  the  most  admirable  speeches  dur- 
ing the  Peace  Conference  at  The  Hague  was  made  by  a 
young  and  very  attractive  Chinese  attache.  Tt  was  in 
idiomatic  French  ;  nothing  could  be  more  admirable  either 
as  regarded  matter  or  manner;  and  many  of  the  older 
members  of  the  conference  came  afterward  to  congratulate 
him  upon  it.  The  ability  shown  by  the  Chinese  Minister 
\\  u  at  Washington  would  also  seem  to  indicate  that  China 
has  learned  something  as  to  the  best  way  of  maintaining 
her  interests  abroad. 

This  suggests  another  incident.  Tn  the  year  1SSU  the 
newspapers  informed  us  that  the  wife  of  the  Chinese  inin- 
ister  at  Berlin  had  just  sailed  from  China  to  join  her 
husband.  The  matter  seemed  to  arouse  general  interest, 
and  telegrams  announced  her  arrival  at  Sue/,  then  at 
Marseilles,  then  at  Cologne,  and  iinallv  at  Berlin.  On 


AS  MINISTER  TO   GERM  ANY -1879 -1881          555 

the  evening  of  her  arrival  at  court  the  diplomatic  corps 
were  assembled,  awaiting  her  appearance.  Presently  the 
great  doors  swung  wide,  and  in  came  the  Chinese  minister 
with  his  wife:  he  a  stalwart  mandarin  in  the  full  attire 
of  his  rank ;  she  a  gentle  creature  in  an  exceedingly  pretty 
Chinese  costume,  tripping  along  on  her  little  feet,  and 
behind  her  a  long  array  of  secretaries,  interpreters,  and 
the  like,  many  in  Chinese  attire,  but  some  in  European 
court  costume.  After  all  of  us  had  been  duly  presented 
to  the  lady  by  his  Chinese  excellency,  he  brought  her 
secretaries  and  presented  them  to  his  colleagues.  Among 
these  young  diplomatists  was  a  fine-looking  man,  evi- 
dently a  European,  in  a  superb  court  costume  frogged 
and  barred  with  gold  lace.  As  my  Chinese  colleague  in- 
troduced him  to  me  in  German,  we  continued  in  that  lan- 
guage, when  suddenly  this  secretary  said  to  me  in  Eng- 
lish, "Mr.  White,  I  don't  see  why  we  should  be  talking 
in  German ;  I  was  educated  at  Rochester  University  under 
your  friend,  President  Anderson,  and  I  come  from  Water- 
loo in  Western  New  York/'  Had  he  dropped  through 
the  ceiling,  I  could  hardly  have  been  more  surprised.  Nei- 
ther Waterloo,  though  a  thriving  little  town  upon  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad  and  not  far  from  the  city  in  which 
I  have  myself  lived,  nor  even  Rochester  with  all  the  added 
power  of  its  excellent  university,  seemed  adequate  to  de- 
velop a  being  so  gorgeous.  On  questioning  him,  I  found 
that,  having  been  graduated  in  America,  he  had  gone  to 
China  with  certain  missionaries,  and  had  then  been  taken 
into  the  Chinese  service.  It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure 
to  say  that  at  Berlin,  St.  Petersburg,  and  The  Hague, 
where  I  have  often  met  him  since,  he  has  proved  to  be 
a  thoroughly  intelligent  and  patriotic  man.  Faithful  to 
China  while  not  unmindful  of  the  interests  of  the  United 
States,  in  one  matter  he  rendered  a  very  great  service 
to  both  countries. 

But  a  diplomatic  representative  who  has  a  taste  for 
public  affairs  makes  acquaintances  outside  the  diplomatic 
corps,  and  is  likely  to  find  his  relations  with  the  ministers 


556  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-V 

of  the  German  crown  and  with  members  of  the  parlia- 
ment very  interesting.  The  character  of  German  public 
men  is  deservedly  high,  and  a  diplomatist  fit  to  represent 
his  country  should  bring  all  his  study  and  experience 
to  bear  in  eliciting  information  likely  to  be  useful  to  his 
country  from  these  as  well  as  from  all  other  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men.  My  own  acquaintance  among  these 
was  large.  I  find  in  my  diaries  accounts  of  conversations 
with  such  men  as  Bismarck,  Camphausen,  Delbriick,  Windt- 
horst,  Bennigsen,  George  von  Bunsen,  Lasker,  Treitschke, 
Gneist,  and  others;  but  to  take  them  up  one  after  the 
other  would  require  far  too  much  space,  and  I  must  be 
content  to  jot  down  what  I  received  from  them  wher- 
ever, in  the  course  of  these  reminiscences,  it  may  seem 
pertinent. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

MEN  OP  NOTE  IN  BERLIN  AND  ELSEWHERE -1879-1881 

MY  acquaintance  at  Berlin  extended  into  regions 
which  few  of  my  diplomatic  colleagues  explored, 
especially  among  members  of  the  university  faculty  and 
various  other  persons  eminent  in  science,  literature,  and 
art. 

Writing  these  lines,  I  look  back  with  admiration  and 
affection  upon  three  generations  of  Berlin  professors: 
the  first  during  my  student  days  at  the  Prussian  capi- 
tal in  1855-1856,  the  second  during  my  service  as  minister, 
1879-1881,  and  the  third  during  my  term  as  ambassador, 
1897-1902. 

The  second  of  these  generations  seems  to  me  the  most 
remarkable  of  the  three.  It  was  a  wonderful  body  of  men. 
A  few  of  them  I  had  known  during  my  stay  in  Berlin  as  a 
student;  and  of  these,  first  in  the  order  of  time,  Lep- 
sius,  the  foremost  Egyptologist  of  that  period,  whose  lec- 
tures had  greatly  interested  me,  and  whose  kindly  charac- 
teristics were  the  delight  of  all  who  knew  him. 

Ernst  Curtius,  the  eminent  Greek  scholar  and  historian, 
was  also  very  friendly.  He  was  then  in  the  midst  of  his 
studies  upon  the  famous  Pergamon  statues,  which,  by 
skilful  diplomacy,  the  German  Government  had  obtained 
from  the  Turkish  authorities  in  Asia  Minor,  and  brought 
to  the  Berlin  Museum.  He  was  also  absorbed  in  the  exca- 
vations at  Olympia,  and  above  all  in  the  sculptures  found 
there.  One  night  at  court  he  was  very  melancholy,  and  on 
my  trying  to  cheer  him,  he  told  me,  in  a  heartbroken  tone, 

557 


33S  IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC    SERVICE- VI 

that  Bismarck  had  stopped  the  appropriations  for  the 
Olympiu  researches;  but  toward  the  end  of  the  evening  he 
again  sought  me,  his  face  radiant,  and  with  great  glee  told 
me  that  all  was  now  right,  that  lie  had  seen  the  Emperor, 
and  that  the  noble  old  monarch  had  promised  to  provide 
for  the  excavations  from  his  own  purse. 

Still  another  friend  was  Rudolf  von  Gneist,the  most  emi- 
nent authority  of  his  time  upon  Roman  law  and  the  Eng- 
lish constitution.  lie  had  acted,  in  behalf  of  the  Emperor 
AYilliam,  as  umpire  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  with  reference  to  the  northwestern  boundary,  and 
had  decided  in  our  favor.  In  recognition  of  his  labor,  the 
American  Government  sent  over  a  large  collection  of  valu- 
able hooks  on  American  history,  including  various  collec- 
tions of  published  state  papers;  and  the  first  duty  I  ever 
discharged  as  minister  was  to  make  a  formal  presentation 
of  this  mass  of  books  to  him.  So  began  one  of  my  most 
cherished  connections. 

Especially  prized  by  me  was  a  somewhat  close  acquain- 
tance with  the  two  most  eminent  professors  of  modern  his- 
tory then  at  the  university  — Von  Sybel  and  Droysen. 
Kach  was  a  man  of  great  ability.  One  day,  after  I  had 
been  reading  Lanf  rev's  "Ilistoire  de  Napoleon,"  which 
I  then  thought,  and  still  think, one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
instructive  books  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Von  Sybel 
happened  to  drop  in,  and  T  asked  his  opinion  of  it.  He 
answered:  <4It  does  not  deserve  to  be  called  a  history;  it 
is  a  rhapsody."  Shortly  after  he  had  left,  in  came  Droy- 
sen, and  to  him  I  put  the  same  question,  when  he  held  up 
both  hands  and  said:  "Yes,  there  is  a  history  indeed! 
That  is  a  work  of  genius;  it  is  one  of  the  books  which 
throw  a  bright  light  into  a  dark  time:  that  book  will  live." 
Professor  Hermann  Grimm  was  then  at  the  climax  of 
his  fame,  and  Ihe  gods  of  his  idolatry  were  Goethe  and 
Knicrson ;  but  apparently  he  did  not  resemble  them  in 
soaring  above  the  petty  comforts  and  vexations  of  life. 
Any  one  inviting  him  to  dine  was  likely  to  receive  an 
answer  asking  how  the  dining-room  was  lighted — whether 


MEN   OF  NOTE   IN   BERLIN -1879 -1881  559 

by  gas,  oil,  or  wax;  also  how  the  lights  were  placed— whe- 
ther high  or  low ;  and  what  the  principal  dishes  were  to  be : 
and  on  the  answer  depended  his  acceptance  or  declination. 
Dining  with  him  one  night,  I  was  fascinated  by  his  wife ;  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  had  never  seen  a  woman  of  such 
wonderful  and  almost  weird  powers :  there  was  something 
exquisitely  beautiful  in  her  manner  and  conversation ;  and, 
on  my  afterward  speaking  of  this  to  another  guest,  he  an- 
swered : '  '  Why,  of  course ;  she  is  the  daughter  of  Goethe '& 
Bettina,  to  whom  he  wrote  the  '  Letters  to  a  Child. ' 

Another  historian  was  Treitschke,  eminent  also  as  a 
member  of  parliament— a  man  who  exercised  great  power 
in  various  directions,  and  would  have  been  delightful  but 
for  his  deafness.  A  pistol  might  have  been  fired  beside 
him,  and  he  would  never  have  known  it.  Wherever  he  was, 
he  had  with  him  a  block  of  paper  leaves  and  a  pencil,  by 
means  of  which  he  carried  on  conversation ;  in  parliament 
he  always  had  at  his  side  a  shorthand-writer  who  took 
down  the  debates  for  him. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  information  which  I  re- 
ceived regarding  historical  and  current  matters  in  Berlin 
was  from  the  biologist  Du  Bois-Reymond.  He  was  of 
Huguenot  descent,  but  was  perhaps  the  most  anti-Gallic 
man  in  Germany.  Discussing  the  results  of  the  expulsion 
of  the  Huguenots  under  Louis  XIV,  the  details  he  gave  me 
were  most  instructive.  Showing  me  the  vast  strength 
which  the  Huguenots  transferred  from  France  to  Ger- 
many, he  mentioned  such  men  as  the  eminent  lawyer 
Savigny,  the  great  merchant  Ravene,  and  a  multitude  of 
other  men  of  great  distinction,  who,  like  himself,  had  re- 
tained their  French  names;  and  he  added  very  many 
prominent  people  of  Huguenot  descent  who  had  changed 
their  French  names  into  German.  He  then  referred  to  a 
similar  advantage  given  to  various  other  countries,  and 
made  a  most  powerful  indictment  against  the  intolerance 
for  which  France  has  been  paying  such  an  enormous  price 
during  more  than  two  hundred  years. 

Interesting  in  another  way  were  two  men  eminent  in 


560  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -VI 

physical  science— Helmholtz  and  Hofmann.  Meeting 
them  one  evening  at  a  court  festivity,  I  was  told  by  Hof- 
mann of  an  experience  of  his  in  Scotland.  He  had  ar- 
rived in  Glasgow  late  on  Saturday  night,  and  on  Sunday 
morning  went  to  call  on  Professor  Sir  William  Thomson, 
now  Lord  Kelvin.  The  door-bell  was  answered  by  a  wo- 
man servant,  of  whom  Hofmann  asked  if  Sir  William  was 
at  home.  To  this  the  servant  answered,  "  Sir,  he  most 
certainly  is  not."  Hofmann  then  asked,  "Could  you  tell 
me  where  I  might  find  him?"  She  answered,  "Sir,  you 
will  find  him  at  church,  where  you  ought  to  be. ' ' 

My  acquaintance  with  university  men  was  not  confined 
to  Berlin ;  at  Leipsic,  Halle,  Giessen,  Heidelberg,  and  else- 
where, I  also  found  delightful  professorial  circles.  In  my 
favorite  field,  I  was  especially  struck  with  the  historian 
Oncken.  As  a  lecturer  he  was  perfect;  and  I  have  often 
advised  American  historical  students  to  pass  a  semester, 
if  not  more,  at  Giessen,  in  order  to  study  his  presentation 
of  historical  subjects.  As  to  manner,  he  was  the  best  lec- 
turer on  history  I  heard  in  Germany ;  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Laboulaye  at  the  College  de  France,  Seelye  at 
English  Cambridge,  and  Goldwin  Smith  at  Cornell,  the 
best  I  ever  heard  anywhere. 

Especially  delightful  were  sundry  men  of  letters.  Of 
these  I  knew  best  Auerbach,  whose  delightful  "Dorfge- 
schichten"  were  then  in  full  fame.  He  had  been  a  warm 
personal  friend  of  Bayard  Taylor,  and  this  friendship  I 
inherited.  Many  were  the  walks  and  talks  we  took  to- 
gether in  the  Thiergarten,  and  he  often  lighted  up  my 
apartment  with  his  sunny  temper.  But  one  day,  as  he 
came  in,  returning  from  his  long  vacation,  I  said  to  him : 
"So  you  have  been  having  a  great  joy  at  the  unveiling  of 
the  Spinoza  statue  at  The  Hague. "  "A  great  joy!"  he 
said.  "Bewahre!  far  from  it;  it  was  wretched— miser- 
able." I  asked,  "How  could  that  be!"  He  answered, 
"Renan,  Kuno  Fischer,  and  myself  were  invited  to  make 
addresses  at  the  unveiling  of  the  statue ;  but  when  we  ar- 
rived at  the  spot,  we  found  that  the  Dutch  Calvinist  domi- 


MEN  OF  NOTE  IN  BERLIN -1879 -1881  561 

nies  and  the  Jewish  rabbis  had  each  been  preaching  to 
their  flocks  that  the  judgments  of  Heaven  would  fall  upon 
the  city  if  the  erection  of  a  statue  to  such  a  monstrous 
atheist  were  permitted,  and  the  authorities  had  to  station 
troops  to  keep  the  mob  from  stoning  us  and  pulling  down 
the  statue.  Think  of  such  a  charge  against  the  'Gottbe- 
trunkener  Mensch,'  who  gave  new  proofs  of  God's  exist- 
ence, who  saw  God  in  everything ! ' ' 

Another  literary  man  whom  I  enjoyed  meeting  was 
Julius  Eodenberg;  his  "Reminiscences  of  Berlin,"  which 
I  have  read  since,  seem  to  me  the  best  of  their  kind. 

I  also  came  to  know  various  artists,  one  of  them  being 
especially  genial.  Our  first  meeting  was  shortly  after  my 
arrival,  at  a  large  dinner,  where,  as  the  various  guests  were 
brought  up  to  be  introduced  to  the  new  American  minister, 
there  was  finally  presented  a  little,  gentle,  modest  man  as 
"Herr  Knaus."  I  never  dreamed  of  his  being  the  fore- 
most genre-painter  in  Europe ;  and,  as  one  must  say  some- 
thing, I  said,  "You  are,  perhaps,  a  relative  of  the  famous 
painter. "  At  this  he  blushed  deeply,  seemed  greatly  em- 
barrassed, and  said:  "A  painter  I  am;  famous,  I  don't 
know.  (Maler  bin  ich;  beruhmt,  das  weiss  ich  nicht.)" 
So  began  a  friendship  which  has  lasted  from  that  day  to 
this.  I  saw  the  beginning,  middle,  and  end  of  some  of  his 
most  beautiful  pictures,  and,  above  all,  of  the  "Hinter 
den  Coulissen,"  which  conveys  a  most  remarkable  philo- 
sophical and  psychological  lesson,  showing  how  near  mirth 
lies  to  tears.  It  is  the  most  comic  and  most  pathetic  of 
pictures.  I  had  hoped  that  it  would  go  to  America;  but, 
after  being  exhibited  to  the  delight  of  all  parts  of  Ger- 
many, it  was  bought  for  the  royal  gallery  at  Dresden. 

Very  friendly  also  was  Carl  Becker.  His  "Coronation 
of  Ulrich  von  Hutten,"  now  at  Cologne,  of  which  he  al- 
lowed me  to  have  a  copy  taken,  has  always  seemed  to  me 
an  admirable  piece  of  historical  painting.  In  it  there  is 
a  portrait  of  a  surly  cardinal-bishop ;  and  once,  during  an 
evening  at  Becker's  house,  having  noticed  a  study  for  this 
bishop's  head,  I  referred  to  it,  when  he  said:  "Yes,  that 

L-36 


56L'  IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE- VI 

bishop  is  simply  the  sacristan  of  an  old  church  in  Venice, 
and  certainly  the  most  dignified  ecclesiastic  I  have  ever 
seen."  The  musical  soirees  at  Becker's  beautiful  apart- 
ments were1  among  the  delights  of  my  stay  both  then  and 
during  my  more  recent  embassy. 

Very  delightfully  dwell  in  my  memory,  also,  some  even- 
ings at  the  palace,  when,  after  the  main  ceremonies  were 
over,  Kuans,  Becker,  and  Auerbach  wandered  with  me 
through  the  more  distant  apartments  and  galleries,  point- 
ing out  the  beauties  and  characteristics  of  various  old 
portraits  and  pictures.  In  one  long  gallery  lined  with  the 
portraits  of  brides  who,  during  the  last  three  centuries, 
had  been  brought  into  the  family  of  Ilohenzollern,  we 
lingered  long. 

Then  began  also  my  friendship  with  Anton  von  Werner, 
lie  had  been  present  at  the  proclamation  of  the  Emperor 
\Yilliam  I  in  the  great  'kllall  of  Mirrors"  at  Versailles,  by 
ex  pros  invitation,  in  order  that  lie  might  prepare  his  fa- 
mous painting  of  that  historic  scene.  1  asked  him  whether 
the  inscription  on  the  shield  in  the  cornice  of  the  Galerie 
des  G  laces,  '"Passage  du  Uhin, "  which  glorified  one  of  the 
worst  outrages  committed  by  Louis  X  I  V  upon  Germany, 
was  really  in  the  place  where  it  is  represented  in  his  pic- 
ture. Me  said  that  it  was.  It  seemed  a  divine  prophecy 
of  ret  ribution. 

The  greatest  genius  in  all  modern  German  art  — Adolf 
Men/el  I  came  to  know  under  rather  curious  circum- 
stances, lie  was  a  little  man,  not  more  than  four  feet 
high,  with  an  enormous  head,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  bust 
in  the  Berlin  Museum.  On  being  presented  to  him  during 
an  evening  at  court,  I  said  to  him:  "  Herr  Professor,  in 
America  I  am  a  teacher  of  history;  and  of  all  works  I 
have  ever  seen  on  the  history  of  Frederick  the  Great,  your 
illustrations  of  Kugler's  history  have  taught  me  most." 
Thi>  was  strictly  true;  for  there  are  no  more  striking 
works  o|  genius  in  their  kind  than  those  engravings  which 
throw  a  flood  of  light  into  that  wonderful  period.  At  this 
be  invited  me  to  visit  his  studio,  which  a  few  davs  later  I 


MEN  OF  NOTE  IN  BERLIN -1879 -1881  563 

did,  and  then  had  a  remarkable  exhibition  of  some  of  his 
most  curious  characteristics. 

Entering  the  room,  I  saw,  just  at  the  right,  a  large  pic- 
ture, finely  painted,  representing  a  group  of  Frederick's 
generals,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  Frederick  himself, 
merely  outlined  in  chalk.  I  said,  "There  is  a  picture 
nearly  finished/'  Menzel  answered,  "No;  it  is  not  fin- 
ished and  never  will  be. "  I  asked,  ' l  Why  not ? "  He  said, 
"I  don't  deny  that  there  is  some  good  painting  in  it.  But 
it  is  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Leuthen ;  it  is  the  consul- 
tation of  Frederick  the  Great  with  his  generals  just  be- 
fore that  terrible  battle;  and  men  don't  look  like  that  just 
before  a  struggle  in  which  the  very  existence  of  their 
country  is  at  stake,  and  in  which  they  know  that  most  of 
them  must  lay  down  their  lives. ' ' 

We  then  passed  on  to  another.  This  represented  the 
great  Gens  d'Armes  Church  at  Berlin;  at  the  side  of  it, 
piled  on  scaffoldings,  were  a  number  of  coffins  all  decked 
with  wreaths  and  flowers ;  and  in  the  foreground  a  crowd 
of  beholders  wonderfully  painted.  All  was  finished  ex- 
cept one  little  corner ;  and  I  said,  ' '  Here  is  one  which  you 
will  finish. ' '  He  said,  ' '  No ;  never.  That  represents  the  fu- 
neral of  the  Revolutionists  killed  here  in  the  uprising  of 
1848.  Up  to  this  poirit"— and  he  put  his  finger  on  the 
unfinished  corner— "I  believed  in  it;  but  when  I  arrived  at 
this  point,  I  said  to  myself,  'No;  nothing  good  can  come 
out  of  that  sort  of  thing ;  Germany  is  not  to  be  made  by 
street  fights. '  I  shall  never  finish  it. ' ' 

We  passed  on  to  another.  This  was  finished.  It  repre- 
sented the  well-known  scene  of  the  great  Frederick  blun- 
dering in  upon  the  Austrian  bivouac  at  the  castle  of  Lissa, 
when  he  narrowly  escaped  capture.  I  said  to  him, t '  There 
at  least  is  a  picture  which  is  finished."  "Yes,"  he  said; 
"but  the  man  who  ordered  it  will  never  get  it."  I  saw 
that  there  was  a  story  involved,  and  asked,  "How  is 
that?"  He  answered,  "That  picture  was  painted  on  the 
order  of  the  Duke  of  Ratibor,  who  owns  the  castle.  When 
it  was  finished  he  came  to  see  it,  but  clearly  thought  it 


564  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VI 

too  quiet.  What  he  wanted  was  evidently  something  in 
the  big,  melodramatic  style.  I  said  nothing;  but  meeting 
me  a  few  days  afterward,  he  said,  'Why  don't  you  send 
me  my  picture  I '  '  No, '  I  said ;  '  Serene  Highness,  that  pic- 
ture is  mine. '  '  No,  said  he ;  '  you  painted  it  for  me ;  it  is 
mine. '  '  No, '  said  I  ,• '  I  shall  keep  it. '  His  Highness  shall 
never  have  it." 

My  principal  recreation  was  in  excursions  to  historical 
places.  Old  studies  of  German  history  had  stimulated  a 
taste  for  them,  and  it  was  a  delight  to  leave  Berlin  on 
Saturday  and  stay  in  one  of  these  towns  over  Sunday. 
Frequently  my  guide  was  Frederick  Kapp,  a  thoughtful 
historian  and  one  of  the  most  charming  of  men. 

A  longer  pilgrimage  was  made  to  the  mystery-play  at 
Oberammergau.  There  was  an  immense  crowd;  and,  as 
usual,  those  in  the  open,  in  front  of  our  box,  were  drenched 
with  rain,  as  indeed  were  many  of  the  players  on  the 
stage.  I  had  "come  to  scoff,  but  remained  to  pray." 
There  was  one  scene  where  I  had  expected  a  laugh— 
namely,  where  Jonah  walks  up  out  of  the  whale's  belly. 
But  when  it  arrived  we  all  remained  solemn.  It  was 
really  impressive.  We  sat  there  from  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing until  half-past  twelve,  and  then  from  half-past  one 
until  about  half-past  four,  under  a  spell  which  ban- 
ished fatigue.  The  main  point  was  that  the  actors  be- 
lieved in  what  they  represented;  there  was  nothing  in  it 
like  that  vague,  wearisome  exhibition  of  "religiosity" 
which,  in  spite  of  its  wonderful  overture,  gave  me,  some 
years  afterward,  a  painful  disenchantment— the  "Parsi- 
fal" atBayreuth. 

At  the  close  of  the  Passion  Play,  I  sought  out  some  of 
the  principal  actors,  and  found  them  kindly  and  interest- 
ing. To  the  Christus  I  gave  a  commission  for  a  carved 
picture-frame,  and  this  he  afterward  executed  beautifully. 
With  the  Judas,  who  was  by  far  the  best  actor  in  the  whole 
performance,  I  became  still  better  acquainted.  Visiting 
his  workshop,  after  ordering  of  him  two  carved  statuettes  I 
said  to  him :  ' '  You  certainly  ought  to  have  a  double  salary, 


VARIOUS  NOTABLES -1879 -1881  565 

as  the  Judas  had  in  the  miracle-plays  of  the  middle  ages ; 
this  was  thought  due  him  on  account  of  the  injury  done 
to  his  character  by  his  taking  that  part."  At  this  the 
Oberammergau  Judas  smiled  pleasantly,  and  said:  "No; 
I  am  content  to  share  equally  with  the  others;  but  the 
same  feeling  toward  the  Judas  still  exists";  and  he  then 
told  me  the  following  story:  A  few  weeks  before,  while 
he  was  working  at  his  carving-bench,  the  door  of  his  work- 
shop opened,  and  a  peasant  woman  from  the  mountains 
came  in,  stood  still,  and  gazed  at  him  intently.  On  his 
asking  her  what  she  wanted,  she  replied :  "  I  saw  you  in  the 
play  yesterday ;  I  wished  to  look  at  you  again ;  you  look 
so  like  my  husband.  He  is  dead.  He,  too,  was  a  very  bad 


man. ' ' 


Occasionally,  under  leave  of  absence  from  the  State 
Department,  I  was  able  to  make  more  distant  excursions, 
and  first  of  all  into  France.  The  President  during  one  of 
these  visits  was  M.  Grevy.  Some  years  before  I  had  heard 
him  argue  a  case  in  court  with  much  ability ;  but  now,  on 
my  presentation  to  him  at  the  palace  of  the  ^llysee,  he 
dwelt  less  ably  on  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with 
France,  and  soon  fell  upon  the  question  of  trade,  saying,  in 
rather  a  reproachful  way,  "  Vous  nous  inondez  de  vos  pro- 
duits. ' '  To  this  I  could  only  answer  that  this  inundation  of 
American  products  would  surely  be  of  mutual  benefit  to 
both  nations,  and  he  rather  slowly  assented. 

Much  more  interesting  to  me  was  his  minister  of  for- 
eign affairs,  Barthelemy-Saint-Hilaire,  a  scholar,  a  states- 
man, and  a  man  of  noble  character.  We  talked  first  of  my 
intended  journey  to  the  south  of  France ;  and  on  my  telling 
him  that  I  had  sent  my  eldest  son  to  travel  there,  for  the 
reason  that  at  Orange,  Aries,  Nimes,  and  the  like,  a  better 
idea  of  Roman  power  can  be  obtained  than  in  Italy  itself, 
he  launched  out  on  that  theme  most  instructively. 

The  conversation  having  turned  toward  politics,  he 
spoke  much  of  Bismarck  and  Moltke,  pronouncing  the 
name  of  the  latter  in  one  syllable.  He  said  that  Bismarck 
was  very  kind  personally  to  Thiers  during  the  terrible 


566  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VI 

negotiations ;  that  if  Bismarck  could  have  had  his  way  he 
would  have  asked  a  larger  indemnity,— say,  seven  mil- 
liards,—and  would  have  left  Alsace-Lorraine  to  France; 
that  France  would  gladly  have  paid  a  much  larger  sum 
than  five  milliards  if  she  could  have  retained  Alsace-Lor- 
raine; that  Bismarck  would  have  made  concessions;  but 
that  "Molkt"  would  not.  He  added  that  Bismarck  told 
"Molkt"  that  he— the  latter— had,  by  insisting  on  terri- 
tory, made  peace  too  difficult.  Saint-Hilaire  dwelt  long  on 
the  fearful  legacy  of  standing  armies  left  by  the  policy 
which  Germany  finally  adopted,  and  evidently  considered 
a  great  international  war  as  approaching.1 

Dining  afterward  at  the  Foreign  Office  with  my  old 
friend  Millet,  who  was  second  in  command  there,  I  met 
various  interesting  Frenchmen,  but  was  most  of  all 
pleased  with  M.  Ribot.  Having  distinguished  himself  by 
philosophical  studies  and  made  a  high  reputation  in  the 
French  parliament,  he  was  naturally  on  his  way  to  the 
commanding  post  in  the  ministry  which  he  afterward  ob- 
tained. His  wife,  an  American,  was  especially  attractive. 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  a  country  possessing  such 
men  is  so  widely  known  to  the  world,  not  by  these,  but  by 
novelists  and  dramatists  largely  retailing  filth,  journalists 
largely  given  to  the  invention  of  sensational  lies,  politi- 
cians largely  obeying  either  atheistic  demagogues  or  cleri- 
cal intriguers;  and  all  together  acting  like  a  swarm  of 
obscene,  tricky,  mangy  monkeys  chattering,  squealing, 
and  tweaking  one  another's  tails  in  a  cage.  Some  of  these 
monkeys  I  saw  performing  their  antics  in  the  National 
Assembly  then  sitting  at  Versailles;  and  it  saddened  me 
to  see  the  nobler  element  in  that  assemblage  thwarted  by 
such  featherbrained  creatures.1 

Another  man  of  note,  next  whom  I  found  myself  at  a 
dinner-party,  was  M.  de  Lesseps.  I  still  believe  him  to 
have  been  a  great  and  true  man,  despite  the  cloud  of 
fraud  which  the  misdeeds  of  others  drew  over  his  latter 
days.  Among  sundry  comments  on  our  country,  he  said 

i  December,  1880. 


VARIOUS  NOTABLES-1879-1881  567 

that  he  had  visited  Salt  Lake  City,  and  thought  a  policy 
of  force  against  the  Mormons  a  mistake.  In  this  I  feel 
sure  that  he  was  right.  Years  ago  I  was  convinced  by 
Bishop  Tuttle  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  who 
had  been  stationed  for  some  years  at  Salt  Lake  City,  that 
a  waiting  policy,  in  which  proper  civilization  can  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  Mormons,  is  the  true  course. 

On  the  following  Sunday  I  heard  Pere  Hyacinthe 
preach,  as  at  several  visits  before;  but  the  only  thing  at 
all  memorable  was  a  rather  happy  application  of  Vol- 
taire's remark  on  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire,  "Ni  Saint,  ni 
Empire,  ni  Romain." 

At  the  salon  of  Madame  Edmond  Adam,  eminent  as  a 
writer  of  review  articles  and  as  a  hater  of  everything 
Teutonic,  I  was  presented  to  a  crowd  of  literary  men  who, 
though  at  that  moment  striking  the  stars  with  their  lofty 
heads,  have  since  dropped  into  oblivion.  Among  these  I 
especially  remember  Smile  de  Girardin,  editor,  spouter, 
intriguer— the  "  Grand  fimile,"  who  boasted  that  he  in- 
vented and  presented  to  the  French  people  a  new  idea 
every  day.  This  futile  activity  of  his  always  seemed  to  me 
best  expressed  in  the  American  simile :  '  '  Busy  as  a  bee  in 
a  tar-barrel. ' '  There  was,  indeed,  one  thing  to  his  credit : 
he  had  somehow  inspired  his  former  wife,  the  gifted  Del- 
phine  Gay,  with  a  belief  in  his  greatness;  and  a  pretty 
story  was  current  illustrating  this.  During  the  revolution 
of  1848,  various  men  of  note,  calling  on  Madame  Girardin, 
expressed  alarm  at  the  progress  of  that  most  foolish  of 
overturns,  when  she  said,  with  an  air  of  great  solemnity, 
and  pointing  upward, '  '  Gentlemen,  there  is  one  above  who 
watches  over  France.  (II  y  a  un  Id-haut  qui  veille  sur  la 
France.)"  All  were  greatly  impressed  by  this  evidence 
of  sublime  faith,  until  the  context  showed  that  it  was  not 
the  Almighty  in  whom  she  put  her  trust,  but  the  great 
Emile,  whose  study  was  just  above  her  parlor. 

This  reminds  me  that,  during  my  student  days  at  Paris, 
I  attended  the  funeral  of  this  gifted  lady,  and  in  the  crowd 
of  well-known  persons  present  noticed  especially  Alexan- 


568  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE- VI 

dre  Dumas.  He  was  very  tall  and  large,  with  an  African 
head,  thick  lips,  and  bushy,  crisp  hair.  He  evidently  in- 
tended to  be  seen.  His  good-natured  vanity  was  as  un- 
disguised as  when  his  famous  son  said  of  him  in  his 
presence,  "My  father  is  so  vain  that  he  is  capable  of 
standing  in  livery  behind  his  own  carriage  to  make  people 
think  he  sports  a  negro  footman. ' ' 

Going  southward,  I  stopped  at  Bourges,  and  was  fas- 
cinated by  the  amazing  stonework  of  the  crypt.  How  the 
mediaeval  cathedral-builders  were  able  to  accomplish  such 
intricate  work  with  the  means  at  their  command  is  still 
one  of  the  great  mysteries.  There  is  to-day  in  the  United 
States  no  group  of  workmen  who  could  execute  anything 
approaching  this  work,  to  say  nothing  of  such  pieces  as 
the  vaulting  of  Henry  VII 's  Chapel  at  Westminster  or  of 
King's  College  Chapel  at  Cambridge. 

Thence  we  went  to  the  Church  of  Brou,  near  Lyons— 
exquisitely  beautiful,  and  filled  with  monuments  even 
more  inspiring  than  the  church  itself.  But  it  was  entirely 
evident,  from  a  look  at  the  church  and  its  surroundings, 
that  Matthew  Arnold  had  written  his  charming  poem  with- 
out ever  visiting  the  place.  Going  thence  to  Nice,  we 
stopped  at  Turin ;  and  at  the  grave  of  Silvio  Pellico  there 
came  back  to  me  vivid  memories  of  his  little  book,  which 
had  seemed  to  make  life  better  worth  living. 

At  Genoa  a  decision  had  to  be  made.  A  mass  of  letters 
of  introduction  to  leading  Italians  had  been  given  me,  and 
I  longed  to  make  their  acquaintance ;  but  I  was  weary,  and 
suddenly  decided  to  turn  aside  and  go  upon  the  Riviera, 
where  we  settled  for  our  vacation  at  Nice.  There  we 
found  various  interesting  people,  more  especially  those 
belonging  to  the  American  colony  and  to  the  ship-of-war 
Trenton,  then  lying  at  Villefranche,  near  by.  Shortly 
after  our  arrival,  Lieutenant  Emery  of  the  navy  called, 
bearing  an  invitation  to  the  ship  from  Admiral  Howell, 
who  was  in  command  at  that  station;  and,  a  day  or  two 
later,  on  arriving  in  the  harbor,  though  I  saw  a  long-boat 
dressed  out  very  finely,  evidently  awaiting  somebody,  and 


VARIOUS  NOTABLES- 1879 -1881  5G9 

suspected  that  it  was  intended  for  me,  I  quietly  evaded 
the  whole  business  by  joining  a  party  of  Americans  in  a 
steam-launch,  so  that  I  had  been  on  board  some  little  time 
before  the  admiral  realized  the  omission  in  his  pro- 
gramme. As  a  result,  in  order  to  quiet  his  conscientious 
and  patriotic  feelings,  I  came  again  a  day  or  two  after- 
ward, was  conveyed  to  the  frigate  with  the  regulation 
pomp,  and  received  the  salutes  due  an  American  minister. 
My  stay  on  the  ship  was  delightful ;  but,  though  the  admiral 
most  kindly  urged  me  to  revisit  him,  I  could  never  again 
gather  courage  to  cause  so  much  trouble  and  make  so  much 
noise. 

Most  interesting  to  me  of  all  the  persons  in  Nice  at  that 
time  was  a  young  American  about  fourteen  years  of  age, 
who  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  brightest  and  noblest  and 
most  promising  youths  I  had  ever  seen.  Alas !  how  many 
hopes  were  disappointed  in  his  death  not  long  afterward ! 
The  boy  was  young  Leland  Stanford.  The  aspirations  of 
his  father  and  mother  were  bound  up  in  him,  and  the  great 
university  at  Palo  Alto  is  perhaps  the  finest  monument 
ever  dedicated  by  parents  to  a  child. 

During  another  of  these  yearly  absences  in  Italy,  I  met 
various  interesting  men,  and,  among  these,  at  Florence  the 
syndic  Ubaldino  Peruzzi,  a  descendant  of  the  great  Per- 
uzzis  of  the  middle  ages,  and  one  of  the  last  surviving  as- 
sociates of  Cavour.  He  was  an  admirable  talker ;  but  of  all 
he  said  I  was  most  pleased  with  the  tribute  which  he  paid 
to  the  American  minister  at  Rome,  Judge  Stallo  of  Cincin- 
nati. He  declared  that  at  a  recent  conference  of  statesmen 
and  diplomatists,  Judge  Stallo  had  carried  off  all  the  hon- 
ors—speaking with  ease,  as  might  be  necessary,  in  Italian, 
French,  and  English,  and  finally  drawing  up  a  protocol 
in  Latin. 

At  Florence  also  I  made  an  acquaintance  which  has 
ever  since  been  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  me— that  of 
Professor  Villari,  senator  of  the  kingdom,  historian  of 
Florence,  and  biographer  of  Savonarola.  So  began  a 
friendship  which  has  increased  the  delights  of  many  Flor- 


570  IX   THE    DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -VI 

entine  visits  since  those  days  — a  friendship  not  only  with 
him,  but  with  his  gifted  and  charming  wife. 

This  reminds  me  that  at  Rome  the  name  of  the  eminent 
professor  once  brought  upon  me  a  curious  reproof. 

I  had  met  at  various  times,  in  the  Internal  City  and  else- 
where, a  rising  young  professor  and  officer  of  Harvard 
University;  and,  being  one  morning  in  LoescherV  famous 
book-shop  on  the  Corso,  with  a  large  number  of  purchases 
about  me,  this  gentleman  came  in  and,  looking  them  over, 
was  ]  (leased  to  approve  several  of  them.  Presently,  on 
showing  him  a  volume  just  published  and  saying,  "There 
is  the  new  volume  of  Yillari's  history,"  I  pronounced  the 
name  of  the  author  with  the  accent  on  the  first  syllable,  as 
any  one  acquainted  with  him  knows  that  it  ought  to  be 
pronounced.  At  this  the  excellent  professor  took  the  book, 
but  seemed  to  have  something  on  his  mind;  and,  having 
glanced  through  it,  lie  at  last  said,  rather  solemnly,  "Yes; 
Yilh/ri"— accenting  strongly  the  second  syllable  — "is  an 
admirahle  writer."  I  accepted  his  correction  meekly  and 
made  no  reply.  A  thing  so  trivial  would  not  be  worth  re- 
membering  were  it  not  one  of  those  evidences,  which  pro- 
fessors from  other  institutions  in  our  country  have  not 
infrequently  experienced,  of  a  "certain  condescension" 
in  sundry  men  who  do  honor  to  one  or  two  of  our  oldest 
and  greatest  universities. 

()f  all  people  at  Rome  I  was  most  impressed  by  Marco 
Mmghetli.  A  conversation  with  him  1  have  given  in  an- 
other chapter. 

Reminiscences  of  that  first  official  life  of  mine  at  "Berlin 
center,  first  of  all,  in  Bismarck,  and  then  in  the  two  great 
rulers  who  have  since  passed  away-  the  old  hero,  Km- 
pcror  \Vii!iam  I,  and  that  embodiment  of  all  qualities 
which  any  m;in  could  ask  for  in  a  monarch,  the  crown 
prince  who  afterward  became  the  Kmperor  I'Yederick  III. 

Bolh  were  kindly,  hut  the  latter  was  especially  winning. 
At  different  times  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  and  talk- 
ing with  him  on  various  subjects;  hut  perhaps  the  most 
interesting  of  these  interviews  was  one  which  took  place 


MEN   OF  NOTE   IN   BERLIN -1879 -1881  571 

when  it  became  my  duty  to  conduct  him  through  the 
American  exhibit  in  the  International  Fisheries  Exhibi- 
tion at  Berlin. 

He  had  taken  great  interest  in  developing  the  fisheries 
along  the  northern  coast  of  Germany,  and  this  exhibition 
was  the  result.  One  day  he  sent  the  vice-chancellor  of  the 
empire  to  ask  me  whether  it  was  not  possible  to  secure 
an  exhibit  from  the  United  States,  and  especially  the  loan 
of  our  wonderful  collections  from  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution and  from  the  Fisheries  Institution  of  Wood's  Holl. 
To  do  this  was  difficult.  Before  my  arrival  an  attempt 
had  been  made  and  failed.  Word  had  come  from  persons 
high  in  authority  at  Washington  that  Congress  could  not 
be  induced  to  make  the  large  appropriation  required,  and 
that  sending  over  the  collections  was  out  of  the  question. 
I  promised  to  do  what  I  could;  and,  remembering  that 
Fernando  Wood  of  New  York  was  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Ways  and  Means  in  the  House,  and  that  Gov- 
ernor Seymour,  then  living  in  retirement  near  Utica,  was 
his  old  political  associate,  and  especially  interested  in  re- 
stocking the  waters  of  New  York  State  with  fish,  I  sent 
the  ex-governor  a  statement  of  the  whole  case,  and  urged 
him  to  present  it  fully  to  Mr.  Wood.  Then  I  wrote  in  the 
same  vein  to  Senator  Conkling,  and,  to  my  great  satis- 
faction, carried  the  day.  The  appropriation  was  made 
by  Congress ;  and  the  collections  were  sent  over  under  the 
control  of  Mr.  Brown  Goode  of  the  Smithsonian,  perhaps 
the  most  admirable  man  who  could  have  been  chosen  out 
of  the  whole  world  for  that  purpose.  The  prince  was 
greatly  delighted  with  all  he  saw,  showed  remarkable  in- 
telligence in  his  questions,  and,  thanks  to  Mr.  Goode 's  as- 
sistance, he  received  satisfactory  answers.  The  result  was 
that  the  American  exhibit  took  the  great  prize— the  silver- 
gilt  vase  offered  by  the  Emperor  William,  which  is  now 
in  the  National  Museum  at  Washington. 

The  prince  showed  a  real  interest  in  everything  of  im- 
portance in  our  country.  I  remember  his  asking  me  re- 
garding the  Brooklyn  Bridge— how  it  could  possibly  be 


IX   THE    DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-VI 

sustained  without  guy-ropes.  Of  course  it  was  easy  to 
show  him  that  while  in  the  first  of  our  great  suspension- 
bridges— that  at  Niagara — guy-ropes  were  admissible,  at 
Brooklyn  they  were  not:  since  ships  of  war  as  well  as  mer- 
chant vessels  of  the  largest  size  must  pass  beneath  it;  and 
I  could  only  add  that  Roebliug,  who  built  it,  was  a  man  of 
such  skill  and  forethought  that  undoubtedly,  with  the 
weight  he  was  putting  into  it  and  the  system  of  trusses 
he  was  placing  upon  it,  no  guy-ropes  would  be  needed. 

On  many  occasions  the  prince  showed  thoughtful  kind- 
ness to  members  of  my  family  as  well  as  to  myself,  and 
the  news  of  his  death  gave  me  real  sorrow.  It  was  a  vast 
loss  to  his  country;  no  modern  monarch  has  shown  so 
striking  a  likeness  to  Marcus  Aurelius. 

Hardly  less  hearty  and  kindly  was  the  Emperor  then 
reigning— William  I.  Naturally  enough,  he  remembered, 
above  all  who  had  preceded  me,  Mr.  Bancroft.  His 
iirst  question  at  court  generally  was,  "How  goes  it 
with  your  predecessor?  (Wie  gcltt  cs  in  it  Ihrcm  Vor- 
gangcr?) "  and  1  always  knew  that  by  my  "predecessor" 
he  meant  .Bancroft.  AVhen  I  once  told  him  that  .Mr.  Ban- 
croft, who  was  not  far  from  the  old  Kaiser's  age,  had 
bought  a  new  horse  and  was  riding  assiduously  every 
day,  the  old  monarch  laughed  heartily  and  dwelt  on  his 
recollections  of  my  predecessor,  with  his  long  white  beard, 
riding  through  the  Thiergarten. 

Pleasant  to  me  was  the  last  interview,  on  the  presenta- 
tion of  my  letter  of  recall.  It  was  at  Babelsberg,  the 
Kniperor's  country-seat  at  Potsdam;  and  he  detained  me 
long,  talking  over  a  multitude  of  subjects  in  a  way  which 
showed  much  kindly  feeling.  Among1  other  things,  he 
a4:cd  where  my  family  had  been  staying  through  the 
summer.  My  answer  was  that  we  had  been  at  a  hotel  near 
the  park  or  palace  of  \Vilhelmshohe  above  Tassel;  and 
that  we  all  agreed  that  he  had  been  very  magnanimous  in 
assigning  to  the  Kniperor  Napoleon  I  IF  so  splendid  a 
prison  and  such  beautiful  surroundings.  To  this  he  an- 
swered quite  earnestly,  "Yes;  and  he  was  very  grateful 


MEN  OF  NOTE  IN  BERLIN -1879 -1881  573 

for  it,  and  wrote  me  to  say  so;  but,  after  all,  that  is  by 
no  means  the  finest  palace  in  Germany. "  To  this  I  an- 
swered, "Your  Majesty  is  entirely  right;  that  I  saw  on 
visiting  the  palace  of  Wiirzburg."  At  this  he  laughed 
heartily,  and  said,  "Yes,  I  see  that  you  understand  it; 
those  old  prince-bishops  knew  how  to  live."  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  various  prince-bishops  in  the  eighteenth  century 
impoverished  their  realms  in  building  just  such  imitations 
of  Versailles  as  that  sumptuous  Wiirzburg  Palace. 

He  then  asked  me,  "On  what  ship  do  you  go  to 
America !"  and  I  answered,  "On  the  finest  ship  in  your 
Majesty 9s  merchant  navy— the  Elbe."  He  then  asked  me 
something  about  the  ship;  and  when  I  had  told  him  how 
beautifully  it  was  equipped,— it  being  the  first  of  the 
larger  ships  of  the  North  German  Lloyd,— he  answered, 
"Yes;  what  is  now  doing  in  the  way  of  shipbuilding  is 
wonderful.  I  received  a  letter  from  my  son,  the  crown 
prince,  this  morning,  on  that  very  subject.  He  is  at  Os- 
borne,  and  has  just  visited  a  great  English  iron-clad 
man-of-war.  It  is  wonderful ;  but  it  cost  a  million  pounds 
sterling. "  At  this  he  raised  his  voice,  and,  throwing  up 
both  hands,  said  very  earnestly,  "We  can't  stand  it;  we 
can't  stand  it." 

After  this  and  much  other  pleasant  chat,  he  put  out  his 
hand  and  said,  "Auf  Wiedersehen";  and  so  we  parted, 
each  to  take  his  own  way  into  eternity. 

The  other  farewells  to  me  were  also  gratifying.  The 
German  press  was  very  kindly  in  its  references  to  my 
departure;  and  just  before  I  left  Berlin  a  dinner  was 
given  me  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Kaiserhof  by  leading  men 
in  parliamentary,  professional,  literary,  and  artistic  cir- 
cles. Kindly  speeches  were  made  by  Gneist,  Camphausen, 
Delbriick,  George  von  Bunsen,  and  others— all  forming  a 
treasure  in  my  memory  which,  as  long  as  life  lasts,  I  can 
never  lose. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

MY   RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK— 1879-1881 

MY  first  glimpse  of  Bismarck  was  obtained  during  one 
of  my  journeys  through  middle  Germany,  about  the 
time,  I  think,  of  the  Franco-Prussian  AYar.  Arriving  at 
the  Kissingen  junction,  we  found  a  crowd  gathered  out- 
side the  harriers,  and  all  gazing  at  a  railway-carriage 
about  to  be  attached  to  our  train.  Looking  toward  this,  I 
recognized  the  face  and  form  of  the  great  North-German 
statesman.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  life  — sturdy,  hearty, 
and  happy  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  children.  The 
people  at  the  station  evidently  knew  what  was  needed;  for 
hardly  had  he  arrived  when  waiters  appeared,  bearing 
salvers  covered  with  huge  mugs  of  foaming  beer.  There- 
upon Bismarck  took  two  of  the  mugs  in  immediate  succes- 
sion ;  poured  their  contents  down  his  throat,  evidently  with 
great  gusto;  and  a  burly  peasant  just  back  of  me,  unable 
longer  to  restrain  his  admiration,  soliloquized  in  a  deep, 
slow,  guttural,  reverberating  rumble:  "A-a-a-ber  er  sieht 
sehr-r-r  gut  aus."  So  it  struck  me  also;  the  waters  of 
Kissingen  had  evidently  restored  the  great  man,  and  he 
looked  like  a  Titan  ready  for  battle. 

My  personal  intercourse  with  him  began  in  187!),  when, 
as  chancellor  of  the  German  Kmpire,  he  received  me 
as  minister  of  the  Tinted  States.  On  my  entering  his 
workroom,  he  rose;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  had 
never  seen  another  man  so  towering  save  Abraham 
Lincoln.  On  either  side  of  him  were  his  two  big,  black 
dog-,  the  /{richshuttdt.';  and,  as  lie  put  out  his  hand 

574 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   BISMARCK-1879-1881     575 

with  a  pleasant  smile,  they  seemed  to  join  kindly  in  the 
welcome. 

His  first  remark  was  that  I  seemed  a  young  man  to 
undertake  the  duties  of  a  minister,  to  which  I  made  the 
trite  reply  that  time  would  speedily  cure  that  defect.  The 
conversation  then  ran,  for  a  time,  upon  commonplace 
subjects,  but  finally  struck  matters  of  interest  to  both  our 
countries. 

There  were  then,  as  ever  since,  a  great  number  of  trou- 
blesome questions  between  the  two  nations,  and  among 
them  those  relating  to  Germans  who,  having  gone  over  to 
the  United  States  just  at  the  military  age,  had  lived  there 
merely  long  enough  to  acquire  citizenship,  and  had  then 
hastened  back  to  Germany  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  both 
countries  without  discharging  the  duties  of  either.  These 
persons  had  done  great  harm  to  the  interests  of  bona-fide 
German-Americans,  and  Bismarck  evidently  had  an  in- 
tense dislike  for  them.  This  he  showed  then  and  after- 
ward; but  his  tendencies  to  severity  toward  them  were 
tempered  by  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Von  Billow, 
one  of  the  most  reasonable  men  in  public  business  with 
whom  I  have  ever  had  to  do,  and  father  of  the  present 
chancellor,  who  greatly  resembles  him. 

But  Bismarck's  feeling  against  the  men  who  had  ac- 
quired American  citizenship  for  the  purpose  of  evading 
their  duties  in  both  countries  did  not  prevent  his  taking 
a  great  interest  in  Germans  who  had  settled  in  the  United 
States  and,  while  becoming  good  Americans,  had  pre- 
served an  interest  in  the  Fatherland.  He  spoke  of  these, 
with  a  large,  kindly  feeling,  as  constituting  a  bond  between 
the  two  nations.  Among  other  things,  he  remarked  that 
Germans  living  in  the  United  States  become  more  tract- 
able than  in  the  land  of  their  birth;  that  revolutionists 
thus  become  moderates,  and  radicals  conservatives;  that 
the  word  Einigkeit  (union)  had  always  a  charm  for  them; 
that  it  had  worked  both  ways  upon  them  for  good,  the 
union  of  States  in  America  leading  them  to  prize  the 
union  of  states  in  Germany,  and  the  evils  of  disunion  in 


576  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VII 

Germany,  which  had  been  so  long  and  painful,  leading 
them  to  abhor  disunion  in  America. 

The  conversation  then  fell  into  ordinary  channels,  and  I 
took  leave  after  another  hearty  shake  of  the  hand  and 
various  kind  assurances.  A  few  days  later  came  an  invita- 
tion to  dinner  with  him ;  and  I  prized  this  all  the  more  be- 
cause it  was  not  to  be  an  official,  but  a  family  dinner,  and 
was  to  include  a  few  of  his  most  intimate  friends  in  the 
ministry  and  the  parliament.  On  the  invitation  it  was 
stated  that  evening  dress  was  not  to  be  worn ;  and  on  my 
arrival,  accompanied  by  Herr  von  Schlotzer,  at  that  time 
the  German  minister  in  Washington,  I  found  all  the  guests 
arrayed  in  simple  afternoon  costume.  The  table  had  a 
patriarchal  character.  At  the  head  sat  the  prince ;  at  his 
side,  in  the  next  seat  but  one,  his  wife ;  while  between  them 
was  the  seat  assigned  me,  so  that  I  enjoyed  to  the  full  the 
conversation  of  both.  The  other  seats  at  the  head  of  the 
table  were  occupied  by  various  guests ;  and  then,  scattered 
along  down,  were  members  of  the  family  and  some  per- 
sonages in  the  chancery  who  stood  nearest  the  chief.  The 
conversation  was  led  by  him,  and  soon  took  a  turn  espe- 
cially interesting.  He  asked  me  whether  there  had  ever 
been  a  serious  effort  to  make  New  York  the  permanent 
capital  of  the  nation.  I  answered  that  there  had  not ;  that 
both  New  York  and  Philadelphia  were,  for  a  short  period 
at  the  beginning  of  our  national  history,  provisional  capi- 
tals ;  but  that  there  was  a  deep-seated  idea  that  the  perma- 
nent capital  should  not  be  a  commercial  metropolis,  and 
that  unquestionably  the  placing  of  it  at  Washington  was 
decided,  not  merely  by  the  central  position  of  that  city,  but 
also  by  the  fact  that  it  was  an  artificial  town,  never  likely 
to  be  a  great  business  center ;  and  I  cited  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son 's  saying,  "  Great  cities  are  great  sores. "  He  an- 
swered that  in  this  our  founders  showed  wisdom ;  that  the 
French  were  making  a  bad  mistake  in  bringing  their  na- 
tional legislature  back  from  Versailles  to  Paris ;  that  the 
construction  of  the  human  body  furnishes  a  good  hint  for 
arrangements  in  the  body  politic;  that,  as  the  human  brain 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   BISMARCK-1879-1881    577 

is  held  in  a  strong  inclosure,  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
parts  of  the  body  which  are  most  active  physically,  so  the 
brain  of  the  nation  should  be  protected  with  the  greatest 
care,  and  should  not  be  placed  in  the  midst  of  a  great,  tur- 
bulent metropolis.  To  this  I  assented,  but  said  that  during 
my  attendance  at  sessions  of  the  French  legislative  bodies, 
both  in  my  old  days  at  Paris  and  more  recently  at  Ver- 
sailles, it  seemed  to  me  that  their  main  defects  are  those 
of  their  qualities ;  that  one  of  the  most  frequent  occupa- 
tions of  their  members  is  teasing  one  another,  and  that 
when  they  tease  one  another  they  are  wonderfully  witty ; 
that  in  the  American  Congress  and  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment members  are  more  slow  to  catch  a  subtle  comment  or 
scathing  witticism;  that  the  members  of  American  and 
British  assemblies  are  more  like  large  grains  of  cannon- 
powder,  through  which  ignition  extends  slowly,  so  that 
there  comes  no  sudden  explosion ;  whereas  in  the  French 
Assembly  the  members  are  more  like  minute,  bright 
grains  of  rifle-powder,  which  all  take  fire  at  the  same  mo- 
ment, with  instant  detonation,  and  explosions  sometimes 
disastrous.  He  assented  to  this,  but  insisted  that  the  curse 
of  French  assemblies  had  been  the  tyranny  of  city  mobs, 
and  especially  of  mobs  in  the  galleries  of  their  assemblies ; 
that  the  worst  fault  possible  in  any  deliberative  body  is 
speaking  to  the  galleries ;  that  a  gallery  mob  is  sure  to  get 
between  the  members  and  the  country,  and  virtually 
screen  off  from  the  assembly  the  interests  of  the  country. 
To  this  I  most  heartily  assented. 

I  may  say  here  that  there  had  not  then  been  fully 
developed  in  our  country  that  monstrous  absurdity  which 
we  have  seen  in  these  last  few  years— national  conventions 
of  the  two  parties  trying  to  deliberate  in  the  midst  of 
audiences  of  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  people;  a  vast 
mob  in  the  galleries,  often  noisy,  and  sometimes  hysteri- 
cal, frequently  seeking  to  throw  the  delegates  off  their 
bearings,  to  outclamor  them,  and  to  force  nominations 
upon  them. 

A  little  later,  as  we  discussed  certain  recent  books,  I  re- 

L-37 


578  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-VII 

furred  to  Jules  Simon's  work  on  Thiers 's  administration. 
Bismarck  said  that  Thiers,  in  the  treaty  negotiations  at 
Versailles,  impressed  him  strongly;  that  he  was  a  patriot; 
that  he  seemed  at  that  time  like  a  Roman  among  Byzan- 
tines. 

This  statement  astonished  me.  If  ever  there  existed  a 
man  at  the  opposite  pole  from  Bismarck,  Thiers  was  cer- 
tainly that  man.  I  had  studied  him  as  a  historian,  ob- 
served him  as  a  statesman,  and  conversed  with  him  as  a 
social  being;  and  he  had  always  seemed,  and  still  seems, 
to  me  the  most  noxious  of  all  the  greater  architects  of 
ruin  that  France  produced  during  the  latter  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century— and  that  is  saying  much.  His  policy 
was  to  discredit  every  government  which  he  found  exist- 
ing, in  order  that  its  ruins  might  serve  him  as  a  pedestal ; 
and,  while  he  certainly  showed  great  skill  in  mitigating 
the  calamities  which  he  did  so  much  to  cause,  his  whole 
career  was  damning. 

By  his  "History  of  the  French  Revolution"  he  revived 
the  worst  of  the  Revolution  legend,  and  especially  the  dei- 
fication of  destructiveness ;  by  his  "History  of  the  Consu- 
late and  of  the  Empire,"  and  his  translation  of  the  body  of 
Xapoleon  to  France,  he  effectively  revived  the  Napoleonic 
legend.  The  Queen  of  the  French,  when  escaping  from  the 
Tuileries  in  1S48,  was  entirely  right  in  reproaching  him 
with  undermining  the  constitutional  monarchy  of  1830; 
and  no  man  did  more  than  he  to  arouse  and  maintain  the 
anti-German  spirit  which  led  to  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 

I»y  his  writings,  speeches,  and  intrigues  he  aided  in 
upsetting,  not  only  the?  rule  of  the  Bourbons  in  1830,  but 
the  rule  of  Louis  Philippe  in  1848,  the  Second  Republic 
in  K)1,  and  llie  Second  Fmpire  in  1870;  and,  had  he 
lived,  lie  would  doubtless  have  done  the  same  by  the  pres- 
ent Republic. 

Louis  P>Ianc,  a  revolutionist  of  another  bad  sort— so 
common  in  Prance— who  can  ruin  but  not  restore,  once 
said  to  me  that  Tliiers's  "greatest  power  lay  in  his  voicing 
average,  unthinking,  popular  folly;  so  that  after  one  of  his 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   BISMARCK-1879-1881    579 

speeches  every  fool  in  France  would  cry  out  with  delight, 
* '  Mais,  voila  mon  opinion ! ' ' 

Doubtless  Bismarck  was  impressed,  for  the  time  being, 
by  Thiers  's  skill  in  negotiation ;  but  it  is  perfectly  evident, 
from  the  recollections  of  various  officials  since  published, 
that  his  usual  opinion  of  Thiers  was  not  at  all  indicated 
by  his  remark  above  cited. 

Later  the  conversation  fell  upon  travel ;  and,  as  he  spoke 
of  his  experiences  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  I  recom- 
mended America  to  him  as  a  new  field  of  observation— al- 
luding playfully  to  the  city  named  after  him,  and  suggest- 
ing that  he  take  his  family  with  him  upon  a  large  steamer, 
and,  after  seeing  the  more  interesting  things  in  the  United 
States,  pass  on  around  the  world,  calling  at  the  Samoan 
Islands,  on  which  I  had  recently  heard  him  speak  in 
parliament.  After  some  humorous  objections  to  this  plan, 
he  said  that  early  in  life  he  had  a  great  passion  for  travel, 
but  that  upon  his  father's  death  he  was  obliged  to  devote 
himself  to  getting  his  estate  in  order ;  that  ever  since  that 
time  his  political  duties  had  prevented  his  traveling  much ; 
and  that  now  he  had  lost  the  love  of  wandering,  and  in 
place  of  it  had  gained  a  desire  to  settle  down  in  the  midst 
of  his  family. 

He  spoke  English  so  perfectly  that  I  asked  him  how 
much  time  he  had  spent  in  England.  He  said,  "Very 
little— in  fact,  only  two  or  three  days."  He  had  made  but 
two  short  visits,  one  of  them  many  years  ago,— I  think  he 
said  in  1842,— the  other  during  the  exposition  of  1862.  He 
seemed  much  struck  with  the  beauty  of  England,  and  said 
that  if  his  lot  had  been  cast  there  he  would  have  been  very 
happy  as  an  English  country  gentleman ;  that  he  could  not 
understand  how  Englishmen  are  so  prone  to  live  outside 
of  their  own  country.  He  spoke  of  various  Englishmen, 
and  referred  to  Lord  Dufferin,  who  had  dined  with  him 
the  day  before,  as  one  of  the  most  abstemious  men  he  had 
ever  seen,  drinking  only  a  little  claret  and  water.  Upon 
my  speaking  of  the  great  improvement  which  I  had  noted 
in  England  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  so  that 


580  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VII 

the  whole  country  was  becoming  more  and  more  like  a 
garden,  he  said  that  such  a  statement  was  hardly  likely  to 
please  thinking  Englishmen;  that  they  could  hardly  be 
glad  that  England  should  become  more  and  more  like  a 
garden;  "for,"  he  said,  "feeding  a  great  nation  from  a 
garden  is  like  provisioning  an  army  with  plum  cake. ' ' 

He  then  dwelt  on  the  fact  that  Great  Britain  had  become 
more  and  more  dependent  for  her  daily  bread  on  other 
countries,  and  especially  on  the  United  States. 

The  conversation  next  turned  to  the  management  of  es- 
tates, and  he  remarked,  in  a  bluff,  hearty  way,  that  his 
father  had  desired  him  to  become  a  clergyman ;  that  there 
was  a  pastor's  living,  worth,  if  I  remember  rightly,  about 
fifteen  hundred  thalers  a  year,  which  his  father  thought 
should  be  kept  in  the  family.  This  led  to  some  amusing 
conversation  between  him  and  the  princess  on  what  his 
life  would  have  been  under  such  circumstances,  ending  by 
his  saying  jocosely  to  her,  "You  probably  think  that  if  I 
had  become  a  pastor  I  would  have  been  a  better  man. ' '  To 
which  she  answered  that  this  she  would  not  say;  that  it 
would  not  be  polite.  "But,"  she  continued,  "I  will  say 
this :  that  you  would  have  been  a  happier  man. ' ' 

He  referred  to  some  of  my  predecessors,  speaking  very 
kindly  of  Bayard  Taylor  and  George  Bancroft;  but  both 
he  and  the  princess  dwelt  especially  upon  their  relations 
with  Motley.  The  prince  told  me  of  their  life  together  at 
Gottingen  and  at  Berlin,  and  of  Motley's  visits  since, 
when  he  always  became  Bismarck's  guest.  The  princess 
said  that  there  was  one  subject  on  which  it  was  always  a 
delight  to  tease  Motley— his  suppressed  novel  "Merry- 
mount";  that  Motley  defended  himself  ingeniously  in 
various  ways  until,  at  his  last  visit,  being  pressed  hard,  he 
declared  that  the  whole  thing  was  a  mere  myth;  that  he 
had  never  written  any  such  novel. 

The  dinner  being  ended,  our  assembly  was  adjourned  to 
the  terrace  at  the  back  of  the  chancellor's  palace,  looking 
out  upon  the  park  in  which  he  was  wont  to  take  his  famous 
midnight  walks.  Coffee  and  cigars  were  brought,  but  for 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF   BISMARCK-1879-1881    581 

Bismarck  a  pipe  with  a  long  wooden  stem  and  a  large 
porcelain  bowl.  It  was  a  massive  affair;  and,  in  a  jocose, 
apologetic  way,  he  said  that,  although  others  might  smoke 
cigars  and  cigarettes,  he  clung  to  the  pipe— and  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that,  at  the  Philadelphia  Exposition,  as  he  had 
heard,  a  great  German  pipe  was  hung  among  tomahawks, 
scalping-knives,  and  other  relics  of  barbarism.  From  time 
to  time  a  servant  refilled  his  pipe,  while  he  discoursed  upon 
various  subjects— first  upon  the  condition  of  America  and 
of  Germany;  then  upon  South  American  matters,  and  of 
the  struggle  between  Chile  and  other  powers.  He  showed 
great  respect  for  the  Chileans,  and  thought  that  they  mani- 
fested really  sterling  qualities. 

He  spoke  of  ship-building,  and  showed,  as  it  seemed  to 
me,  rather  a  close  knowledge  of  the  main  points  involved. 
He  referred  to  the  superiority  of  Russian  ships,  the  wood 
used  being  more  suitable  than  that  generally  found  else- 
where. As  to  American  ships,  he  thought  they  were  built, 
as  a  rule,  of  inferior  woods,  and  that  their  reputation  had 
suffered  in  consequence. 

The  conversation  again  falling  upon  public  men,  a  refer- 
ence of  mine  to  Gladstone  did  not  elicit  anything  like  a 
hearty  response;  but  the  mention  of  Disraeli  seemed  to 
arouse  a  cordial  feeling. 

Among  the  guests  was  Lothar  Bucher,  whom  Bismarck, 
in  earlier  days,  would  have  hanged  if  he  had  caught  him, 
but  who  had  now  become  the  chancellor '&  most  confidential 
agent ;  and,  as  we  came  out  together,  Bucher  said :  '  '  Well, 
what  do  you  think  of  him  1 ' '  My  answer  was :  i  i  He  seems 
even  a  greater  man  than  I  had  expected. "  "Yes,"  said 
Bucher ;  i  l  and  I  am  one  of  those  who  have  suffered  much 
and  long  to  make  him  possible."  I  said:  "The  result  is 
worth  it,  is  it  not?"  "Yes,"  was  the  reply;  "infinitely 
more  than  worth  it. ' ' 

My  next  visit  was  of  a  very  peculiar  sort.  One  day 
there  arrived  at  the  legation  Mr.  William  D.  Kelly  of 
Pennsylvania,  anxious,  above  all  things,  to  have  a  talk 
with  Bismarck,  especially  upon  the  tariff  and  the  double 


582  IN   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -VII 

monetary  standard,  both  of  which  were  just  then  burning 
questions.  I  told  Mr.  Kelly  that  it  was  much  easier  to 
present  him  to  the  Emperor  than  to  the  chancellor,  but  that 
we  would  see  what  could  be  done.  Thereupon  I  wrote  a 
note  telling  Bismarck  who  Mr.  Kelly  was — the  senior 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  by  term  of  ser- 
vice, the  leading  champion  therein  of  protection  and  of  the 
double  standard  of  value;  that  he  was  very  anxious  to 
discuss  these  subjects  with  leading  German  authorities; 
and  that,  knowing  the  prince's  interest  in  them,  it  had 
seemed  to  me  that  he  might  not  be  sorry  to  meet  Mr. 
Kelly  for  a  brief  interview.  To  this  I  received  a  hearty 
response:  "By  all  means  bring  Mr.  Kelly  over  at  four 
o'clock/'  At  four  o'clock,  then,  we  appeared  at  the  pal- 
ace, and  were  received  immediately  and  cordially.  When 
we  were  seated  the  prince  said:  "I  am  very  sorry;  but  the 
new  Prussian  ministry  is  to  meet  here  in  twenty  minutes, 
and  I  must  preside  over  it."  The  meaning  of  this  was 
clear,  and  the  conversation  began  at  once,  I  effacing  my- 
self in  order  to  enjoy  it  more  fully.  In  a  few  seconds  they 
were  in  the  thick  of  the  tariff  question;  and,  as  both  were 
high  protectionists,  they  got  along  admirably.  Soon  rose 
the  question  of  the  double  standard  in  coinage;  and 
on  this,  too,  they  agreed.  Notable  was  the  denunciation 
by  the  chancellor  of  those  who  differed  from  him;  he 
seemed  to  feel  that,  as  captain  of  the  political  forces  of 
the  empire,  he  was  entitled  to  the  allegiance  of  all  honest 
members  of  parliament,  and  on  all  questions.  The  discus- 
sion ran  through  various  interesting  phases,  when,  notic- 
ing that  the  members  of  the  Prussian  ministry  were  gath- 
ering in  the  next  room,  F  rose  to  go;  whereupon  the 
pririee,  who  seemed  greatly  interested  both  in  the  presen- 
tation of  his  own  views  and  those  of  M  r.  Kelly,  said  :  4t  Xo, 
no;  let  them  wait.1'  The  new  ministers  therefore  waited, 
the  argument  on  the  tariff  and  the  double  standard  being 
more  vigorously  prosecuted  than  ever.  After  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  more,  I  rose  again;  but  Bismarck  said: 
"Xo,  no;  there  V  no  hurry;  let  's  go  and  take  a  walk." 


MY   RECOLLECTIONS   OF   BISMARCK- 1879-1881    583 

On  this  we  rose  and  went  into  the  garden.  As  we  stopped 
for  an  instant  to  enable  him  to  take  down  his  military  cap, 
I  noticed  two  large  photographs  with  autographs  beneath 
them,— one  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  and  the  other  of  King 
Victor  Emmanuel,— and,  as  I  glanced  at  the  latter,  I  no- 
ticed an  inscription  beneath  it: 

AI  mio  caro  cugino  Bismarck. 

VITTORIO  EMANUELE. 

Bismarck,  seeing  me  look  at  it,  said :  "He  calls  me  'cousin' 
because  he  has  given  me  his  Order  of  the  Annunciata." 
This  remark  for  a  moment  surprised  me.  It  was  hard  for 
me  to  conceive  that  the  greatest  man  in  Europe  could  care 
whether  he  was  entitled  to  wear  the  Annunciata  ribbon  or 
not,  or  whether  any  king  called  him  i '  cousin ' '  or  not.  He 
seemed,  for  a  moment,  to  descend  to  a  somewhat  lower 
plane  than  that  upon  which  he  had  been  standing ;  but,  as 
we  came  out  into  the  open  and  walked  up  and  down  the 
avenues  in  the  park,  he  resumed  his  discussion  of  greater 
things.  During  this,  he  went  at  considerable  length  into 
the  causes  which  led  to  the  partial  demonetization  of  silver 
in  the  empire;  whereupon  Mr.  Kelly,  interrupting  him, 
said:  "But,  prince,  if  you  fully  believed  in  using  both  the 
precious  metals,  why  did  you  allow  the  demonetization  of 
silver?"  "Well,"  said  Bismarck,  "I  had  a  great  many 
things  to  think  of  in  those  days,  and  as  everybody  said  that 

Camphausen  and  were  great  financiers,  and  that 

they  understood  all  about  these  questions,  I  allowed  them 
to  go  on ;  but  I  soon  learned,  as  our  peasants  say  of  those 
who  try  to  impose  upon  their  neighbors,  that  they  had 
nothing  but  hot  water  in  their  dinner-pots,  after  all. ' '  He 
then  went  on  discussing  the  mistakes  of  those  and  other 
gentlemen  before  he  himself  had  put  his  hand  to  the  work 
and  reversed  their  policy.  There  were  curious  allusions 
to  various  individuals  whose  ideas  had  not  suited  him, 
most  of  them  humorous,  but  some  sarcastic.  At  last,  after 
a  walk  of  about  twenty  minutes,  bearing  in  mind  the  min- 
isters who  had  been  so  long  waiting  for  their  chief,  I 


584  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE —VII 

insisted  that  we  must  go ;  whereupon  the  prince  conducted 
us  to  the  gate,  and  most  cordially  took  leave  of  us. 

As  we  left  the  place,  I  said  to  Mr.  Kelly,  knowing  that 
he  sometimes  wrote  letters  for  publication :  * i  Of  course,  in 
whatever  you  may  write  to  America,  you  will  be  careful 
not  to  mention  names  of  persons. "  ' '  Certainly, ' '  he  said ; 
1 1  that,  of  course,  I  shall  never  think  of  doing. ' '  But  alas 
for  his  good  resolutions!  In  his  zeal  for  protection  and 
the  double  standard,  all  were  forgotten.  About  a  fortnight 
later  there  came  back  by  cable  a  full  statement  regarding 
his  interview,  the  names  all  given,  and  Bismarck 's  refer- 
ences to  his  colleagues  brought  out  vividly.  The  result 
was  that  a  large  portion  of  the  German  press  was  indig- 
nant that  Bismarck  should  have  spoken  in  such  a  man- 
ner to  a  foreigner  regarding  Germans  of  such  eminence, 
who  had  been  his  trusted  colleagues,  and  who  had  ren- 
dered to  the  country  very  great  services ;  so  that,  for  some 
days,  the  "Affaire  Kelly "  made  large  demands  upon 
public  attention.  It  had  hardly  subsided  when  there  came 
notice  to  me  from  the  State  Department  at  Washington 
that  a  very  eminent  American  financier  was  about  to  be 
sent  to  Berlin ;  and  I  was  instructed  to  secure  for  him  an 
audience  with  the  chancellor,  in  order  that  some  arrange- 
ments might  be  arrived  at  regarding  the  double  standard 
of  value.  I  must  confess  that,  in  view  of  the  "Affaire 
Kelly, "  these  instructions  chilled  me.  Fortunately,  Bis- 
marck was  just  then  taking  his  usual  cure  at  Kissingen, 
during  which  he  always  refused  to  consider  any  matter  of 
business;  but,  on  his  return  to  Berlin,  I  sent  him  a  note 
requesting  an  audience  for  this  special  American  repre- 
sentative. This  brought  a  very  kind  answer  expressing 
regret  that  the  chancellor  was  so  pressed  with  arrears  of 
business  that  he  desired  to  be  excused ;  but  that  the  minis- 
ter of  finance  and  various  other  members  of  the  cabinet 
had  been  instructed  to  receive  the  American  agent  and  to 
communicate  with  him  to  the  fullest  extent.  That  was  all 
very  well,  but  there  were  my  instructions;  and  I  felt 
obliged  to  write  again,  making  a  more  earnest  request. 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK-1879-1881    585 

Thereupon  came  an  answer  that  settled  the  question:  the 
chancellor  regretted  that  he  was  too  much  overwhelmed 
with  work  to  meet  the  gentleman ;  but  said  that  he  would 
gladly  see  the  American  minister  at  any  time,  and  must, 
for  the  present,  be  excused  from  meeting  any  unaccredited 
persons. 

Of  course,  after  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  said ;  and 
the  special  American  agent  was  obliged  to  content  himself 
with  what  he  could  obtain  in  interviews  with  various 
ministers. 

Mr.  Kelly  urged,  as  his  excuse  for  publishing  personal 
details  in  his  letters,  that  it  was  essential  that  the  whole 
world  should  know  just  what  the  great  chancellor  had  said 
on  so  important  a  subject.  As  it  turned  out,  Mr.  Kelly's 
zeal  defeated  his  purpose ;  for,  had  the  special  agent  been 
enabled  to  discuss  the  matter  with  the  chancellor,  there  is 
little  doubt  that  Germany  would  have  at  least  endeavored 
to  establish  a  permanent  double  standard  of  value. 

Each  year,  during  my  stay,  Bismarck  gave  a  dinner  to 
the  diplomatic  corps  on  the  Emperor's  birthday.  The 
table  was  set  then,  as  now,  in  the  great  hall  of  the  chan- 
cellor's palace— the  hall  in  which  the  Conference  of  Ber- 
lin was  held  after  the  Russo-Turkish  War.  The  culmi- 
nating point  of  each  dinner  was  near  its  close,  when  the 
chancellor  rose,  and,  after  a  brief  speech  in  French,  pro- 
posed the  health  of  the  heads  of  all  the  states  there  rep- 
resented. This  was  followed  by  a  toast  to  the  health  of 
the  Emperor,  given  by  the  senior  member  of  the  diplo- 
matic corps,  and  shortly  after  came  an  adjournment  for 
coffee  and  cigars.  One  thing  was,  at  first  sight,  somewhat 
startling ;  for,  as  Bismarck  arose  to  propose  the  toast,  the 
big  black  head  of  a  Danish  dog  appeared  upon  the  table 
on  either  side  of  him ;  but  the  bearing  of  the  dogs  was  so 
solemn  that  they  really  detracted  nothing  from  the  dig- 
nity of  the  occasion. 

In  the  smoking-room  the  guests  were  wont  to  gather  in 
squads,  as  many  of  them  as  possible  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  our  host.  During  one  of  these  assem- 


586  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE- VII 

hinges  ho  asked  me  to  explain  the  great  success  of  Carl 
Scliurz  in  America.  My  answer  was  that,  before  the  Lin- 
coln presidential  campaign,  in  which  Scliurz  took  so  large 
a  part,  slavery  was  always  discussed  either  from  a  constitu- 
tional or  a  philanthropic  point  of  view,  orators  seeking  to 
show  either  that  it  was  at  variance  with  the  fundamental 
principles  of  our  government  or  an  offense  against  human- 
ity;  but  that  Scliurz  discussed  it  in  a  new  way,  and  mainly 
from  the  philosophic  point  of  view,  showing,  not  merely 
its  hostility  to  American  ideas  of  liLerty  and  the  wrong 
it  did  to  the  slaves,  Lut,  more  especially,  the  injury  it 
wrought  upon  the  country  at  large,  and,  above  all,  upon 
the  slave  States  themselves ;  and  that,  in  treating  all  puLlic 
questions,  he  was  philosophic,  eloquent,  and  evidently 
sincere.  Bismarck  heard  what  I  had  to  say,  and  then 
answered:  "As  a  German,  I  am  proud  of  Carl  Scliurz." 
This  was  indeed  a  confession ;  for  it  is  certain  that,  if  Bis- 
marck could  have  had  his  way  with  Carl  Scliurz  in  1848 
or  1S49,  he  would  have  hanged  him. 

The  chancellor's  discussions  at  such  times  were  fre- 
quently of  a  humorous  sort.  He  seemed,  most  of  all,  to 
delight  in  lively  reminiscences  of  various  public  men  in 
Kurope.  Nothing  could  be  more  cordial  and  hearty  than 
his  bearing;  but  that  he  could  take  a  different  tone  was 
found  out  by  one  of  my  colleagues  shortly  after  my  ar- 
rival. This  colleague  was  Ilerr  von  lludhardt,  the  diplo- 
matic and  parliamentary  representative  of  Bavaria.  I 
remember  him  well  as  a  large,  genial  man;  and  the  beauty 
and  cordial  manner  of  his  wife  attracted  general  admira- 
tion. One  day  this  gentleman  made  a  speech  or  cast  a 
vote  which  displeased  Bismarck,  and  shortly  afterward 
went  to  one  of  the  chancellor's  parliamentary  receptions. 
As  he,  with  his  wife  leaning  on  his  arm,  approached  his 
host,  the  latter  broke1  out  into  a  storm  of  reproaches,  de- 
nouncing the  minister's  conduct,  and  threatening  to  com- 
plain of  it  to  his  royal  master.  Thereupon  the  diplomatist 
simply  bowed,  nmde  no  answer,  returned  home  at  once, 
and  sent  his  resignation  to  his  government.  All  the  ef- 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK-1879-1881    587 

forts  of  the  Emperor  William  were  unable  to  appease 
him,  and  he  was  shortly  afterward  sent  to  St.  Petersburg 
as  minister  at  that  court.  But  the  scene  which  separated 
him  from  Berlin  seemed  to  give  him  a  fatal  shock;  he 
shortly  afterward  lost  his  reason,  and  at  last  accounts  was 
living  in  an  insane  asylum. 

On  another  occasion  I  had  an  opportunity  to  see  how 
the  chancellor,  so  kind  in  his  general  dealings  with  men 
whom  he  liked,  could  act  toward  those  who  crossed  his 
path. 

Being  one  evening  at  a  reception  given  by  the  Duke  of 
Ratibor,  president  of  the  Prussian  House  of  Lords,  he 
said  to  me:  "I  saw  you  this  afternoon  in  the  diplomatic 
box.  Our  proceedings  must  have  seemed  very  stupid. ' '  I 
answered  that  they  had  interested  me  much.  On  this  he 
put  his  lips  to  my  ear  and  whispered :  l '  Come  to-morrow 
at  the  same  hour,  and  you  will  hear  something  of  real  in- 
terest." Of  course,  when  the  time  arrived,  I  was  in  my 
seat,  wondering  what  the  matter  of  interest  could  be. 
Soon  I  began  to  suspect  that  the  duke  had  made  some  mis- 
take, for  business  seemed  following  the  ordinary  routine ; 
but  presently  a  bill  was  brought  in  by  one  of  the  leading 
Prussian  ministers,  a  member  of  one  of  the  most  eminent 
families  in  Germany,  a  man  of  the  most  attractive  man- 
ners, and  greatly  in  favor  with  the  Emperor  William  and 
the  crown  prince,  afterward  the  Emperor  Frederick.  The 
bill  was  understood  to  give  a  slight  extension  of  suffrage 
in  the  choice  of  certain  leading  elected  officials.  The  ques- 
tion being  asked  by  some  one  on  the  floor  whether  the  head 
of  the  ministry,  Prince  Bismarck,  approved  the  bill,  this 
leading  minister,  who  had  introduced  it,  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  and  said  that,  though  Prince  Bismarck  had 
been  kept  away  by  illness  from  the  sessions  in  which  it  had 
been  discussed,  he  had  again  and  again  shown  that  he  was 
not  opposed  to  it,  and  there  could  be  no  question  on  the 
subject.  At  this  a  member  rose  and  solemnly  denied  the 
correctness  of  this  statement ;  declared  that  he  was  in  pos- 
session of  information  to  the  very  opposite  effect;  and 


588  IN  THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE -VII 

then  read  a  paper,  claiming  to  emanate  directly  from  the 
chancellor  himself,  to  the  effect  that  he  had  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  the  bill  and  disapproved  it.  Upon  Bis- 
marck's colleagues  in  the  ministry,  who  thought  that  his 
silence  had  given  consent,  this  came  like  a  thunderbolt; 
and  those  who  had  especially  advocated  the  measure  saw 
at  once  that  they  had  fallen  into  a  trap.  The  general  opin- 
ion was  that  the  illness  of  the  chancellor  had  been  a  strata- 
gem; that  his  sudden  disclaimer,  after  his  leading  col- 
leagues had  thus  committed  themselves,  was  intended  to 
drive  them  from  the  ministry;  and  that  he  was  deter- 
mined to  prevent  the  minister  who  had  most  strongly 
supported  the  bill  from  securing  popularity  by  it.  This 
minister,  then,  and  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet  at 
once  resigned,  giving  place  to  men  whom  the  chancellor 
did  not  consider  so  likely  to  run  counter  to  his  ideas  and 
interests. 

Indeed,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  great  statesman 
not  infrequently  showed  the  defects  of  his  qualities.  As 
one  out  of  many  cases  may  be  cited  his  treatment  of  Edu- 
ard  Lasker.  This  statesman  during  several  years  ren- 
dered really  important  services.  Though  an  Israelite,  he 
showed  none  of  the  grasping  propensities  so  often  ascribed 
to  his  race.  He  seemed  to  care  nothing  for  wealth  or 
show,  lived  very  simply,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  public 
good  as  he  understood  it.  Many  capitalists,  bankers,  and 
promoters  involved  in  the  financial  scandals  which  fol- 
lowed the  Franco-Prussian  War  were  of  his  race ;  but  this 
made  no  difference  with  him :  in  his  great  onslaught  on  the 
colossal  scoundrelism  of  that  time,  he  attacked  Jew  and 
Gentile  alike;  and  he  deserved  well  of  his  country  for 
aiding  to  cleanse  it  of  all  that  fraud  and  folly.  On  a  mul- 
titude of  other  questions,  too,  he  had  been  very  serviceable 
to  the  nation  and  to  Bismarck ;  but,  toward  the  end  of  his 
career,  he  had,  from  time  to  time,  opposed  some  of  the 
chancellor's  measures,  and  this  seemed  to  turn  the  latter 
completely  against  him. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Eailway,  Lasker 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK-1879-1881     589 

was  one  of  the  invited  guests,  but  soon  showed  himself 
desperately  ill;  and,  one  day,  walking  along  a  street  in 
New  York,  suddenly  dropped  dead. 

A  great  funeral  was  given  him ;  and,  of  all  the  ceremo- 
nies I  have  ever  seen,  this  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
for  its  simplicity  and  beauty.  Mr.  Carl  Schurz  and  myself 
were  appointed  to  make  addresses  on  the  occasion  in  the 
temple  of  the  Israelites  on  Fifth  Avenue ;  and  we  agreed 
in  thinking  that  we  had  never  seen  a  ceremony  of  the  kind 
more  appropriate  to  a  great  statesman. 

At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  a  resolution  was  intro- 
duced condoling  with  the  government  of  Germany  on  the 
loss  of  so  distinguished  a  public  servant.  This  resolution 
was  passed  unanimously,  and  in  perfect  good  faith,  every 
person  present— and,  indeed,  every  citizen  in  the  whole 
country  who  gave  the  matter  any  thought— supposing  that 
it  would  be  welcomed  by  the  German  Government  as  a 
friendly  act. 

But  the  result  was  astounding.  Bismarck  took  it  upon 
himself,  when  the  resolution  reached  him,  to  treat  it  with 
the  utmost  contempt,  and  to  send  it  back  without  really 
laying  it  before  his  government,  thus  giving  the  American 
people  to  understand  that  they  had  interfered  in  a  matter 
which  did  not  concern  them.  For  a  time,  this  seemed 
likely  to  provoke  a  bitter  outbreak  of  American  feeling; 
but,  fortunately,  the  whole  matter  was  allowed  to  drift  by. 

Among  the  striking  characteristics  of  Bismarck  was  his 
evident  antipathy  to  ceremonial.  He  was  never  present 
at  any  of  the  great  court  functions  save  the  first  recep- 
tion given  at  the  golden  wedding  of  the  Emperor  William 
I,  and  at  the  gala  opera  a  few  evenings  afterward. 

The  reason  generally  assigned  for  this  abstention  was 
that  the  chancellor,  owing  to  his  increasing  weight  and 
weakness,  could  not  remain  long  on  his  feet,  as  people  are 
expected  to  do  on  such  occasions.  Nor  do  I  remember 
seeing  him  at  any  of  the  festivities  attending  the  marriage 
of  the  present  Emperor  William,  who  was  then  merely 
the  son  of  the  crown  prince.  One  reason  for  his  absence, 


590  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VII 

perhaps,  was  his  reluctance  to  take  part  in  the  Fackeltanz, 
a  most  curious  survival.  In  this  ceremony,  the  ministers 
of  Prussia,  in  full  gala  dress,  with  flaring  torches  in  their 
hands,  precede  the  bride  or  the  groom,  as  the  case  may  be, 
as  he  or  she  solemnly  marches  around  the  great  white  hall 
of  the  palace,  again  and  again,  to  the  sound  of  solemn 
music.  The  bride  first  goes  to  the  foot  of  the  throne,  and 
is  welcomed  by  the  Emperor,  who  gravely  leads  her  once 
around  the  hall,  and  then  takes  his  seat.  The  groom  then 
approaches  the  throne,  and  invites  the  Empress  to  march 
solemnly  around  the  room  with  him  in  the  same  manner, 
and  she  complies  with  his  request.  Then  the  bride  takes 
the  royal  prince  next  in  importance,  who,  in  this  particular 
case,  happened  to  be  the  Prince  of  Wales,  at  present  King 
Edward  VII ;  the  groom,  the  next  princess ;  and  so  on,  un- 
til each  of  the  special  envoys  from  the  various  monarchs  of 
Europe  has  gone  through  this  solemn  function.  So  it  is 
that  the  ministers,  some  of  them  nearly  eighty  years  of 
age,  march  around  the  room  perhaps  a  score  of  times ;  and 
it  is  very  easy  to  understand  that  Bismarck  preferred  to 
avoid  such  an  ordeal. 

From  time  to  time,  the  town,  and  even  the  empire,  was- 
aroused  by  news  that  he  was  in  a  fit  of  illness  or  ill 
nature,  and  insisting  on  resigning.  On  such  occasions 
the  old  Emperor  generally  drove  to  the  chancellor's  pal- 
ace in  the  Wilhelmstrasse,  and,  in  his  large,  kindly,  hearty 
way,  got  the  great  man  out  of  bed,  put  him  in  good  humor, 
and  set  him  going  again.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  hap- 
pening to  meet  Rudolf  von  Gneist,  who  had  been,  during  a 
part  of  Bismarck's  career,  on  very  confidential  terms  with 
him,  I  asked  what  the  real  trouble  was.  i  l  Oh, ' '  said  Gneist, 
"he  has  eaten  too  many  plover's  eggs  (Ach,  er  hat  zu  viel 
Kibitzeier  gegessen)."  This  had  reference  to  the  fact 
that  certain  admirers  of  the  chancellor  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  North  Sea  were  accustomed  to  send  him,  each 
year,  a  large  basket  of  plovers'  eggs,  of  which  he  was  very 
fond ;  and  this  diet  has  never  been  considered  favorable 
to  digestion. 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK-1879-1881    591 

This  reminds  me  that  Gneist  on  one  occasion  told  me 
another  story,  which  throws  some  light  on  the  chancellor 's 
habits.  Gneist  had  especial  claims  on  Americans.  As  the 
most  important  professor  of  Roman  law  at  the  university, 
he  had  welcomed  a  long  succession  of  American  students ; 
as  a  member  of  the  imperial  parliament,  of  the  Prussian 
legislature,  and  of  the  Berlin  town  council,  he  had  shown 
many  kindnesses  to  American  travelers ;  and  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Emperor  William  in  the  arbitration  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  on  our  north- 
western boundary,  he  had  proved  a  just  judge,  deciding  in 
our  favor.  Therefore  it  was  that,  on  the  occasion  of  one  of 
the  great  Thanksgiving  dinners  celebrated  by  the  Ameri- 
can colony,  he  was  present  as  one  of  the  principal  guests. 
Near  him  was  placed  a  bottle  of  Hermitage,  rather  a  heavy, 
heady  wine.  Shortly  after  taking  his  seat,  he  said  to  me, 
with  a  significant  smile,  1 '  That  is  some  of  the  wine  I  sent 
to  Bismarck,  and  it  did  not  turn  out  well."  "How  was 
that?"  I  asked.  "Well,"  he  said,  "one  day  I  met  Bis- 
marck and  asked  him  about  his  health.  He  answered,  'It 
is  wretched;  I  can  neither  eat  nor  sleep.'  I  replied,  'Let 
me  send  you  something  that  will  help  you.  I  have  just 
received  a  lot  of  Hermitage,  and  will  send  you  a  dozen 
bottles.  If  you  take  a  couple  of  glasses  each  day  with 
your  dinner,  it  will  be  the  best  possible  tonic,  and  will 
do  you  great  good.'  Sometime  afterward,"  continued 
Gneist,  ' '  I  met  him  again,  and  asked  how  the  wine  agreed 
with  him.  'Oh,'  said  Bismarck,  'not  at  all;  it  made  me 
worse  than  ever.'  'Why,'  said  I,  'how  did  you  take  it!' 
'Just  as  you  told  me,'  replied  Bismarck,  'a  couple  of  'bot- 
tles each  day  with  my  dinner. '  ' ' 

Bismarck's  constant  struggle  against  the  diseases  which 
beset  him  became  pathetic.  He  once  asked  me  how  I  man- 
aged to  sleep  in  Berlin;  and  on  my  answering  him  he 
said:  "Well,  I  can  never  sleep  in  Berlin  at  night  when  it 
is  quiet ;  but  as  soon  as  the  noise  begins,  about  four  o  'clock 
in  the  morning,  I  can  sleep  a  little  and  get  my  rest  for 
the  day." 


592  IX    THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-VII 

It  was  frequently  made  clear  that  the  Emperor  William 
and  the  German  officials  were  not  the  only  ones  to  experi- 
ence the  results  of  Bismarck's  ill  health:  the  diplomatic 
corps,  and  among  them  myself,  had  sometimes  to  take  it 
into  account. 

I'ismarck  was  especially  kind  to  Americans,  and,  above 
all,  to  the  American  diplomatic  representatives.  To  this 
there  was  but  one  exception,  my  immediate  successor,  and 
that  was  a  case  in  which  no  fault  need  be  imputed  to 
either  side.  That  Bismarck's  feeling  toward  Americans 
generally  was  good  is  abundantly  proven,  and  especially 
by  such  witnesses  as  Abeken,  Sidney  Whitman,  and  Moritz 
Busch,  the  last  of  whom  has  shown  that,  while  the  chan- 
cellor was  very  bitter  against  sundry  German  princes  who 
lingered  about  the  army  and  lived  in  Versailles  at  the 
public  expense,  he  seemed  always  to  rejoice  in  the  presence 
of  General  Sheridan  and  other  compatriots  of  ours  who 
were  attached  to  the  German  headquarters  by  a  tie  of 
much  less  strength. 

But,  as  I  have  already  hinted,  there  was  one  thing  which 
was  especially  vexatious  to  him;  and  this  was  the  evasion, 
as  he  considered  it,  of  duty  to  the  German  Fatherland 
by  sundry  German-Americans.  One  day  I  received  a  let- 
ter from  a  young  man  who  stated  his  case  as  follows: 
.lie  had  left  his  native  town  in  Alsace-Lorraine  just  be- 
fore arriving  at  the  military  age;  had  gone  to  the  United 
Stale-;  had  remained  there,  not  long  enough  to  learn  Eng- 
lish, but  just  long  enough  to  obtain  naturalization;  and 
had  then  lost  no  time  in  returning  to  his  native  town.  He 
had  been  immediately  thrown  into  prison;  and  thence  he 
v. Tote  me,  expressing  his  devotion  to  the  American  flag, 
hi-  pride  in  his  American  citizenship,  and  his  desire  to 
live  in  Germany.  1  immediately  wrote  to  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  stating  the  man's  case,  and  showing  that 
it  came  under  the  Bancroft  treaties,  or  at  least  under  the 
construction  of  them  which  the  German  Government  up  to 
that  time  had  freely  allowed.  To  this  I  received  an  an- 
swer that  the  Bancroft  treaties,  having  been  made  before 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK- 1879-1881    593 

Alsace-Lorraine  was  annexed  to  the  empire,  did  not  apply 
to  these  new  provinces,  and  that  the  youth  was  detained  as 
a  deserter.  To  this  I  replied  that,  although  the  minister's 
statement  was  strictly  true,  the  point  had  been  waived 
long  before  in  our  favor ;  that  in  no  less  than  eight  cases 
the  German  Government  had  extended  the  benefit  of  the 
Bancroft  treaties  over  Alsace-Lorraine;  and  that  in  one 
of  these  cases  the  acting  minister  of  foreign  affairs  had 
declared  the  intention  of  the  government  to  make  this 
extension  permanent. 

But  just  at  this  period,  after  the  death  of  Baron  von 
Billow,  who  had  been  most  kindly  in  all  such  matters,  the 
chancellor  had  fallen  into  a  curious  way  of  summoning 
eminent  German  diplomatists  from  various  capitals  of 
Europe  into  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs  for  a  limited 
time— trying  them  on,  as  it  were.  These  gentlemen  were 
generally  very  agreeable;  but  on  this  occasion  I  had  to 
deal  with  one  who  had  been  summoned  from  service  at 
one  of  the  lesser  German  courts,  and  who  was  younger 
than  most  of  his  predecessors.  To  my  surprise,  he  brushed 
aside  all  the  precedents  I  had  cited,  and  also  the  fact  that 
a  former  acting  minister  of  foreign  affairs  had  distinctly 
stated  that,  as  a  matter  of  comity,  the  German  Government 
proposed  to  consider  the  Bancroft  treaties  as  applying 
permanently  to  Alsace-Lorraine.  Neither  notes  nor  verbal 
remonstrances  moved  him.  He  was  perfectly  civil,  and 
answered  my  arguments,  in  every  case,  as  if  he  were  about 
to  yield,  yet  always  closed  with  a  "but"  —  and  did  nothing. 
He  seemed  paralyzed.  The  cause  of  the  difficulty  was  soon 
evident.  It  was  natural  that  Bismarck  should  have  a  feel- 
ing that  a  young  man  who  had  virtually  deserted  the  Ger- 
man flag  just  before  reaching  the  military  age  deserved  the 
worst  treatment  which  the  law  allowed.  His  own  sons  had 
served  in  the  army,  and  had  plunged  into  the  thickest  of 
the  fight,  one  of  them  receiving  a  serious  wound ;  and  that 
this  young  Alsatian  Israelite  should  thus  escape  service 
by  a  trick  was  evidently  hateful  to  him.  That  the  chancel- 
lor himself  gave  the  final  decision  in  this  matter  was  the 

I.— 38 


594  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VII 

only  explanation  of  the  fact  that  this  particular  acting 
minister  of  foreign  affairs  never  gave  me  an  immediate 
answer. 

The  matter  became  more  and  more  serious.  The  letter 
of  the  law  was  indeed  on  Bismarck's  side;  but  the  young 
man  was  an  American  citizen,  and  the  idea  of  an  American 
citizen  being  held  in  prison  was  anything  but  pleasant  to 
me,  and  I  knew  that  it  would  be  anything  but  pleasant 
to  my  fellow-citizens  across  the  water.  I  thought  on  the 
proud  words,  "civis  Romanus  sum,"  and  of  the  analogy 
involved  in  this  case.  My  position  was  especially  difficult, 
because  I  dared  not  communicate  the  case  fully  to  the 
American  State  Department  of  that  period.  Various  pri- 
vate despatches  had  got  out  into  the  world  and  made 
trouble  for  their  authors,  and  even  so  eminent  a  diplo- 
matist as  Mr.  George  P.  Marsh  at  Eome  came  very  near 
being  upset  by  one.  My  predecessor,  Bayard  Taylor,  was 
very  nearly  wrecked  by  another;  and  it  was  the  escape 
and  publication  of  a  private  despatch  which  plunged  my 
immediate  successor  into  his  quarrel  with  Bismarck,  and 
made  his  further  stay  in  Germany  useless.  I  therefore 
stopped  short  with  my  first  notification  to  the  State  De- 
partment—to the  effect  that  a  naturalized  American  had 
been  imprisoned  for  desertion  in  Alsace-Lorraine,  and 
that  the  legation  was  doing  its  best  to  secure  his  release. 
To  say  more  than  this  involved  danger  that  the  affair 
might  fall  into  the  hands  of  sensation-mongers,  and  result 
in  howls  and  threats  against  the  German  Government  and 
Bismarck ;  and  I  knew  well  that,  if  such  howls  and  threats 
were  made,  Bismarck  would  never  let  this  young  Israelite 
out  of  prison  as  long  as  he  lived. 

It  seemed  hardly  the  proper  thing,  serious  as  the  case 
was,  to  ask  for  my  passports.  It  was  certain  that,  if  this 
were  done,  there  would  come  a  chorus  of  blame  from  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  Deciding,  therefore,  to  imitate  the 
example  of  the  old  man  in  the  school-book,  who,  before 
throwing  stones  at  the  boy  in  his  fruit-tree,  threw  turf 
and  grass,  I  secured  from  Washington  by  cable  a  leave 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK- 1879-1881     595 

of  absence,  but,  before  starting,  saw  some  of  my  diplo- 
matic colleagues,  who  were  wont  to  circulate  freely  and 
talk  much,  stated  the  main  features  of  the  case  to  them, 
and  said  that  I  was  "  going  off  to  enjoy  myself;  that 
there  seemed  little  use  for  an  American  minister  in  a 
country  where  precedents  and  agreements  were  so  easily 
disregarded.  Next  day  I  started  for  the  French  Riviera. 
The  journey  was  taken  leisurely,  with  interesting  halts 
at  Cologne  and  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  and,  as  I  reached  the 
hotel  in  Paris,  a  telegram  was  handed  me— "  Your  man 
in  Alsace-Lorraine  is  free."  It  was  evident  that  the 
chancellor  had  felt  better  and  had  thought  more  leniently 
of  the  matter,  and  I  had  never  another  difficulty  of  the  sort 
during  the  remainder  of  my  stay. 

The  whole  weight  of  testimony  as  regards  Bismarck's 
occasional  severity  is  to  the  effect  that,  stern  and  per- 
sistent as  he  was,  he  had  much  tenderness  of  heart;  but 
as  to  the  impossibility  of  any  nation,  government,  or  press 
scaring  or  driving  him,  I  noticed  curious  evidences  during 
my  stay.  It  was  well  known  that  he  was  not  unfriendly 
to  Russia;  indeed,  he  more  than  once  made  declarations 
which  led  some  of  the  Western  powers  to  think  him  too 
ready  to  make  concessions  to  Russian  policy  in  the  East; 
but  his  relations  to  Prince  Gortchakoff,  the  former  Rus- 
sian chancellor,  were  not  of  the  best;  and  after  the  Berlin 
Conference  the  disappointment  of  Russia  led  to  various 
unfriendly  actions  by  Russian  authorities  and  individuals 
of  all  sorts,  from  the  Czar  down.  There  was  a  general 
feeling  that  it  was  dangerous  for  Germany  to  resent 
this,  and  a  statesman  of  another  mold  would  have  depre- 
cated these  attacks,  or  sought  to  mitigate  them.  Not  so 
Bismarck:  he  determined  to  give  as  good  as  was  sent; 
and,  for  a  very  considerable  time  he  lost  no  chance  to  show 
that  the  day  of  truckling  by  Germany  to  her  powerful 
neighbor  was  past.  This  became  at  last  so  marked  that 
bitter,  and  even  defiant,  presentation  of  unpalatable 
truths  regarding  Russia,  in  the  press  inspired  from  the 
chancery,  seemed  the  usual  form  in  which  all  Russian 


596  IX    THE    DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE- VII 

statesmen,  and  especially  members  of  the  imperial  house, 
were  welcomed  in  Berlin.  One  morning1,  taking  up  my 
copy  of  the  paper  most  directly  inspired  by  the  chancel- 
lor, I  found  an  article  on  the  shortcomings  of  Russia, 
especially  pungent— almost  vitriolic.  It  at  once  occurred 
to  me  to  look  among  the  distinguished  arrivals  to  see 
what  Muscovite  was  in  town ;  and  my  search  was  rewarded 
by  the  discovery  that  the  heir  to  the  imperial  crown,  after- 
ward Alexander  III,  had  just  arrived  and  was  staying 
a  day  or  two  in  the  city. 

AVhen  Bismarck  uttered  his  famous  saying,  "We  Ger- 
mans fear  God  and  naught  beside,"  he  simply  projected 
into  the  history  of  Germany  his  own  character.  Fear- 
lessness was  a  main  characteristic  of  his  from  boyhood, 
and  it  never  left  him  in  any  of  the  emergencies  of  his 
later  life. 

His  activity  through  the  press  interested  me  much  at 
times.  It  was  not  difficult  to  discern  his  work  in  many  of 
the  "inspired"  editorials  and  other  articles.  I  have  in 
my  possession  sundry  examples  of  the  originals  of  these, 
—  each  page  is  divided  into  two  columns,— the  first  the 
work  of  one  of  his  chosen  scribes,  the  second  copiously 
amended  in  the  chancellor's  own  hand,  and  always  with 
a  gain  in  lucidity  and  pungency. 

Of  the  various  matters  which  arose  between  us,  one  is 
perhaps  worthy  of  mention,  since  it  has  recently  given 
rise  to  a  controversy  between  a  German- American  jour- 
nalist and  Bismarck's  principal  biographer. 

One  morning,  as  I  sat  in  dismay  before  my  work-table, 
loaded  with  despatches,  notes,  and  letters,  besides  futili- 
ties of  every  sort,  there  came  in  the  card  of  Lothar 
Buclier.  Kverything  else  was,  of  course,  thrown  aside. 
I>ucher  never  made  social  visits.  He  was  the  pilot-fish  of 
the  wliale,  and  a  visit  from  him  "meant  business." 

Hardly  had  lie  entered  the  room  when  his  business  was 
presented:  the  chancellor  wished  to  know  if  the  United 
Stales  would  join  Germany  and  Great  Britain  in  repre- 
sentations calculated  to  stop  the  injuries  to  the  commerce 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK- 1879 -1881     597 

of  all  three  nations  caused  by  the  war  then  going  on  be- 
tween Chile  and  Peru. 

My  answer  was  that  the  United  States  could  not  join 
other  powers  in  any  such  effort;  that  our  government 
might  think  it  best  to  take  separate  action;  and  that  it 
would  not  interfere  with  any  proper  efforts  of  other  pow- 
ers to  secure  simple  redress  for  actual  grievances ;  but  that 
it  could  not  make  common  cause  with  other  powers  in  any 
such  efforts.  To  clinch  this,  I  cited  the  famous  passage 
in  Washington's  Farewell  Address  against  "entangling 
alliances  with  foreign  powers "  as  American  gospel,  and 
added  that  my  government  would  also  be  unalterably  op- 
posed to  anything  leading  to  permanent  occupation  of 
South  American  territory  by  any  European  power,  and 
for  this  referred  him  to  the  despatches  of  John  Quincy 
Adams  and  the  declarations  of  President  Monroe. 

He  seemed  almost  durnfounded  at  this,  and  to  this  day 
I  am  unable  to  decide  whether  his  surprise  was  real  or 
affected.  He  seemed  to  think  it  impossible  that  we  could 
take  any  such  ground,  or  that  such  a  remote,  sentimental 
interest  could  outweigh  material  interests  so  pressing  as 
those  involved  in  the  monkey-and-parrot  sort  of  war  going 
on  between  the  two  South  American  republics.  As  he  was 
evidently  inclined  to  dwell  on  what  appeared  to  him  the 
strangeness  of  my  answer,  I  said  to  him:  "What  I  state 
to  you  is  elementary  in  American  foreign  policy;  and  to 
prove  this  I  will  write,  in  your  presence,  a  cable  despatch 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Washington,  and  you  shall  see 
it  and  the  answer  it  brings. ' ' 

I  then  took  a  cable  blank,  wrote  the  despatch,  and 
showed  it  to  him.  It  was  a  simple  statement  of  the  chan- 
cellor 's  proposal,  and  on  that  he  left  me.  In  the  even- 
ing came  the  answer.  It  was  virtually  my  statement  to 
Bucher,  and  I  sent  it  to  him  just  as  I  had  received  it. 
That  was  the  last  of  the  matter.  No  further  effort  was 
made  in  the  premises,  so  far  as  I  ever  heard,  either  by 
Germany  or  Great  Britain.  It  has  recently  been  stated, 
in  an  American  magazine  article,  that  Bismarck,  toward 


598  IX   THE   DIPLOMATIC   SERVICE-VII 

the  end  of  his  life,  characterized  the  position  taken  by 
Mr.  Cleveland  regarding  European  acquisition  of  South 
American  territory  as  something  utterly  new  and  unheard 
of.  To  this,  Poschinger,  the  eminent  Bismarck  biogra- 
pher, has  replied  in  a  way  which  increases  my  admiration 
for  the  German  Foreign  Office;  for  it  would  appear  that 
lie  found  in  the  archives  of  that  department  a  most  exact 
statement  of  the  conversation  between  Bucher  and  myself, 
and  of  the  action  which  followed  it.  So  precise  was  his 
account  that  it  even  recalled  phrases  and  other  minutia? 
of  the  conversation  which  I  had  forgotten,  but  which  I  at 
once  recognized  as  exact  when  thus  reminded  of  them. 
The  existence  of  such  a  record  really  revives  one's  child- 
like faith  in  the  opening  of  the  Great  Book  of  human  deeds 
and  utterances  at  ''the  last  day." 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  phase  of  Bismarck's  life 
which  a  stranger  could  observe  was  his  activity  in  the 
imperial  parliament. 

That  body  sits  in  a  large  hall,  the  representatives  of  the 
people  at  large  occupying  seats  in  front  of  the  president's 
desk,  and  the  delegates  from  the  various  states — known 
as  the  Imperial  Council— being  seated  upon  an  elevated 
platform  at  the  side  of  the  room,  right  and  left  of  the 
president's  chair.  At  the  right  of  the  president,  some  dis- 
tance removed,  sits  the  chancellor,  and  at  his  right  hand 
the  imperial  ministry;  while  in  front  of  the  president's 
chair,  on  a  lower  stage  of  the  platform,  is  the  tribune  from 
which,  as  a  rule,  members  of  the  lower  house  address  the 
whole  body. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  hear  Bismarck  publicly  dis- 
cuss many  important  questions,  and  his  way  of  speaking 
was  not  like  that  of  any  other  man  I  have  ever  heard.  lie 
was  always  clothed  in  the  undress  uniform  of  a  Prussian 
general  ;  and,  as  he  rose,  his  bulk  made  him  imposing, 
llis  first  utterances  were  disappointing.  Tie  seemed 
whce/y,  rambling,  incoherent,  with  a  sort  of  burdensome 
self-consciousness  checking  his  ideas  and  clogging  his 
words.  His  manner  was  fidgety,  his  arms  being  thrown 


MY  EECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK-1879-1881    599 

uneasily  about,  and  his  fingers  fumbling  his  mustache 
or  his  clothing  or  the  papers  on  his  desk.  He  puffed, 
snorted,  and  floundered ;  seemed  to  make  assertions  with- 
out proof  and  phrases  without  point;  when  suddenly  he 
would  utter  a  statement  so  pregnant  as  to  clear  up  a  whole 
policy,  or  a  sentence  so  audacious  as  to  paralyze  a  whole 
line  of  his  opponents,  or  a  phrase  so  vivid  as  to  run 
through  the  nation  and  electrify  it.  Then,  perhaps  after 
more  rumbling  and  rambling,  came  a  clean,  clear,  histori- 
cal illustration  carrying  conviction;  then,  very  likely,  a 
simple  and  strong  argument,  not  infrequently  ended  by 
some  heavy  missile  in  the  shape  of  an  accusation  or  taunt 
hurled  into  the  faces  of  his  adversaries ;  then,  perhaps  at 
considerable  length,  a  mixture  of  caustic  criticism  and 
personal  reminiscence,  in  which  sparkled  those  wonderful 
sayings  which  have  gone  through  the  empire  and  settled 
deeply  into  the  German  heart.  I  have  known  many  clever 
speakers  and  some  very  powerful  orators;  but  I  have 
never  known  one  capable,  in  the  same  degree,  of  over- 
whelming his  enemies  and  carrying  his  whole  country  with 
him.  Nor  was  his  eloquence  in  his  oratory  alone.  There 
was  something  in  his  bearing,  as  he  sat  at  his  ministerial 
desk  and  at  times  looked  up  from  it  to  listen  to  a  speaker, 
which  was  very  impressive. 

Twice  I  heard  Moltke  speak,  and  each  time  on  the  army 
estimates.  Nothing  could  be  more  simple  and  straight- 
forward than  the  great  soldier's  manner.  As  he  rose,  he 
looked  like  a  tall,  thin,  kindly  New  England  schoolmaster. 
His  seat  was  among  the  representatives,  very  nearly  in 
front  of  that  which  Bismarck  occupied  on  the  estrade.  On 
one  of  these  occasions  I  heard  him  make  his  famous  decla- 
ration that  for  the  next  fifty  years  Germany  must  be  in 
constant  readiness  for  an  attack  from  France.  He  spoke 
very  rarely,  was  always  brief  and  to  the  point,  saying  with 
calm  strength  just  what  he  thought  it  a  duty  to  say— nei- 
ther more  nor  less.  So  Caesar  might  have  spoken.  Bis- 
marck, I  observed,  always  laid  down  his  large  pencil  and 
listened  intently  to  every  word. 


600  IN  THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE-VII 

The  most  curious  example  of  the  eloquence  of  silence  in 
Bismarck's  case,  which  I  noted,  was  when  his  strongest 
opponent,  Windthorst,  as  the  representative  of  the  com- 
bination of  Roman  Catholics  and  others  generally  in  op- 
position, but  who,  at  that  particular  time,  seemed  to  have 
made  a  sort  of  agreement  to  support  some  of  Bismarck 's 
measures,  went  to  the  tribune  and  began  a  long  and  very 
earnest  speech.  Windthorst  was  a  man  of  diminutive 
stature,  smaller  even  than  Thiers,— almost  a  dwarf,— and 
his  first  words  on  this  occasion  had  a  comical  effect.  He 
said,  in  substance,  "I  am  told  that  if  we  enter  into  a 
combination  with  the  chancellor  in  this  matter,  we  are 
sure  to  come  out  second  best."  At  this  Bismarck  raised 
his  head,  turned  and  looked  at  the  orator,  the  attention  of 
the  whole  audience  being  fastened  upon  both.  "But," 
continued  Windthorst,  "the  chancellor  will  have  to  get 
up  very  early  in  the  morning  to  outwit  us  in  this  matter. ' r 
There  was  a  general  outburst  of  laughter  as  the  two 
leaders  eyed  each  other.  It  reminded  one  of  nothing  so 
much  as  a  sturdy  mastiff  contemplating  a  snappish  terrier. 

As  to  his  relations  with  his  family,  which,  to  some  little 
extent,  I  noticed  when  with  them,  nothing  could  be  more 
hearty,  simple,  and  kindly.  He  was  beautifully  devoted 
to  his  wife,  and  evidently  gloried  in  his  two  stalwart  sons, 
Prince  Herbert  and  "Count  Bill,"  and  in  his  daughter, 
Countess  von  Rantzau;  and  they,  in  return,  showed  a 
devotion  to  him  not  less  touching.  No  matter  how  severe 
the  conflicts  which  raged  outside,  within  his  family  the 
stern  chancellor  of  "blood  and  iron"  seemed  to  disappear; 
and  in  his  place  came  the  kindly,  genial  husband,  father, 
and  host. 

The  last  time  I  ever  saw  him  was  at  the  Schonhausen 
station  on  my  way  to  Bremen.  He  walked  slowly  from  the 
train  to  his  carriage,  leaning  heavily  on  his  stick.  He 
seemed  not  likely  to  last  long;  but  Dr.  Schweninger 's 
treatment  gave  him  a  new  lease  of  life,  so  that,  on  my 
return  to  Berlin  eighteen  years  later,  he  was  still  living. 


MY  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  BISMARCK -1879 -1881    601 

In  reply  to  a  respectful  message  he  sent  me  a  kindly 
greeting,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  he  would,  ere  long, 
be  well  enough  to  receive  me ;  but  he  was  even  then  sink- 
ing, and  soon  passed  away.  So  was  lost  to  mortal  sight 
the  greatest  German  since  Luther. 

END    OF    VOLUME    I 


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