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CHARLES    SUMNER. 


FAMOUS 

AMERICAN    STATESMEN 


BY 


SARAH    K.    BOLTON 
**t 

AUTHOR    OF    "POOR    BOYS   WHO    BECAME   FAMOUS,"    "GIRLS  WHO 
BECAME    FAMOUS,"      "  FAMOUS    AMERICAN    AUTHORS," 
"  STORIES    FROM    LIFE,"    "  FROM    HEART 
AND   NATURE,"   ETC. 


"  A  nation  has  no  possessions  so  valuable  as  its  great  men, 
living  or  dead." — HON.  JOHN  BIGELOW. 


NEW   YORK 
THOMAS   Y.    CROWELL  &   CO. 

No.  13  ASTOR  PLACE 


COPYRIGHT,  1888,  BY 
THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  Co. 


ELECTROTVPED 
Bv  C.  J.  PETERS  AND  SON,  BOSTON. 


PRESSWORK  BY  BERWICK  &  SMITH,  BOSTON. 


THOMAS    Y.    CROWELL. 
RESPECTED  AS  A  PUBLISHER 

AND 

ESTEEMED  AS  A  FRIEND. 


PREFACE. 


"WiTH  the  great,  one's  thoughts  and  manners 
easily  become  great;  .  .  .  what  this  country 
longs  for  is  personalities,  grand  persons,  to  coun- 
teract its  materialities,"  says  Emerson.  Such  lives 
as  are  sketched  in  this  book  are  a  constant  inspira- 
tion, both  to  young  and  old.  They  teach  Garfield's 
oft-repeated  maxim,  that  "  the  genius  of  success  is 
still  the  genius  of  labor."  They  teach  patriotism 
—  a  deeper  love  for  and  devotion  to  America. 
They  teach  that  life,  with  some  definite  and  noble 
purpose,  is  worth  living. 

I  have  written  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of  our 
greatest  and  best  statesmen,  in  "  Poor  Boys  Who 
Became  Famous,"  which  will  explain  its  omission 
from  this  volume. 

S.   K.   B. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON     ...» 1 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN 38 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON 67 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON       99 

ANDREW  JACKSON 133 

DANIEL  WEBSTER 177 

HENRY  CLAY     .    .    .' 230 

CHARLES  SUMNER 268 

ULYSSES   S.  GRANT 307 

JAMES  A.  GARFIELD 361 

vii 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 


rriHE  "  purest  figure  in  history,"  wrote  William 
J-  E.  Gladstone  of  George  Washington. 

When  Frederick  the  Great  sent  his  portrait  to 
Washington,  he  sent  with  it  these  remarkable 
words :  "  From  the  oldest  general  in  Europe  to  the 
greatest  general  in  the  world." 

Lord  Brougham  said:  "It  will  be  the  duty  of 
the  historian,  and  the  sage  of  all  nations,  to  let  no 
occasion  pass  of  commemorating  this  illustrious 
man ;  and  until  time  shall  be  no  more  will  a  test 
of  the  progress  which  our  race  has  made  in  wisdom 
and  virtue  be  derived  from  the  veneration  paid  to 
the  immortal  name  of  Washington." 

At  Bridge's  Creek,  Maryland,  in  a  substantial 
home,  overlooking  the  Potomac,  George  Washing- 
ton was  born,  February  22,  1732.  His  father, 
Augustine,  was  descended  from  a  distinguished 
family  in  England  —  William  de  Hertburn,  a 
knight  who  owned  the  village  of  Wessyngton 
(Washington).  He  married,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  Jane  Butler,  who  died  thirteen  years  after- 
ward. Two  years  after  her  death  he  married 
1 


2  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

Mary  Ball,  a  beautiful  girl,  of  decided  character 
and  sterling  common-sense.  She  became  a  good 
mother  to  his  two  motherless  children;  two  hav- 
ing died  in  early  childhood. 

Six  children  were  born  to  them,  George  being  the 
eldest.  The  opportunities  for  education  in  the  new 
world,  especially  on  a  plantation,  were  limited. 
From  one  of  his  father's  tenants,  the  sexton  of  the 
parish,  George  learned  to  read,  write,  and  cipher. 
He  was  fond  of  military  things,  and  organized 
among  the  scholars  sham-fights  and  parades  ;  tak- 
ing the  position  usually  of  commander-in-chief,  by 
common  consent.  This  love  of  war  might  have 
come  through  the  influence  of  his  half-brother 
Lawrence,  who  had  been  in  battles  in  the  West 
Indies. 

When  George  was  twelve,  his  father  died  sud- 
denly, leaving  Mary  Ball,  at  thirty-seven,  to  care 
for  her  own  five  children,  one  having  died  in 
infancy,  and  two  boys  by  the  first  marriage. 
Fortunately,  a  large  estate  was  left  them,  which 
she  was  to  control  till  they  became  of  age. 

While  she  loved  her  children  tenderly,  she  ex- 
acted the  most  complete  obedience.  She  was  dig- 
nified and  firm,  yet  cheerful,  and  possessed  an 
unusually  sweet  voice.  To  his  mother's  intelli- 
gence and  moral  training  George  attributed  his 
success  in  life.  She  would  gather  her  children 
about  her  daily,  and  read  to  them  from  Matthew 
Hale's  "  Contemplations,  Divine  and  Moral."  The 
book  had  been  loved  by  the  first  wife,  who  wrote 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  3 

in  it,  "Jane  Washington."  Under  this  George's 
mother  wrote,  "and  Mary  Washington."  This 
book  was  always  preserved  with  tender  care  at 
Mount  Vernon,  in  later  years.  Such  teaching  the 
boy  never  forgot.  When  he  was  thirteen,  he  wrote 
"  Rules  of  courtesy  and  decent  behavior  in  com- 
pany and  conversation,"  one  hundred  and  ten 
maxims,  which  seemed  to  have  great  influence  over 
him. 

At  fourteen,  he  desired  to  enter  the  navy,  and  a 
midshipman's  warrant  was  procured  by  his  brother 
Lawrence.  Now  he  could  see  the  world,  and  was 
happy  at  the  prospect.  All  winter  long,  the 
mother's  heart  ached  as  she  thought  of  the  separa- 
tion, and  finally,  when  his  clothing  had  been  taken 
on  board  of  a  British  man-of-war,  her  affection 
triiimphed,  and  the  lad  was  kept  in  his  Virginia 
home  ;  kept  for  a  great  work.  However  disap- 
pointed he  may  have  been,  his  mother's  word  was 
law.  Those  who  learn  to  obey  in  youth  learn  also 
how  to  govern  in  later  life.  George  went  back  to 
school  to  study  arithmetic  and  land-surveying. 
He  was  thorough  in  his  work,  and  his  record 
books,  still  preserved,  are  neat  and  exact. 

It  is  never  strange  that  a  boy  who  idolizes  his 
mother  should  think  other  women  lovable.  At 
fifteen,  the  bashful,  manly  boy  had  given  his  heart 
to  a  girl  about  his  own  age,  and  it  was  long  before 
he  could  conquer  the  affection.  A  year  later  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  I  might,  was  my  heart  disen- 
gaged, pass  my  time  very  pleasantly,  as  there's 


4  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

a  very  agreeable  young  lady  lives  in  the  same 
house ;  but  as  that's  only  adding  fuel  to  fire,  it 
makes  me  the  more  uneasy,  for  by  often  and  una- 
voidably being  in  company  with  her  revives  my 
former  passion  for  your  Lowland  Beauty ;  whereas, 
was  I  to  live  more  retired  from  young  women,  I 
might  in  some  measure  alleviate  my  sorrows,  by 
burying  that  chaste  and  troublesome  passion  in  the 
grave  of  oblivion." 

Years  afterwards,  the  son  of  this  "Lowland 
Beauty,"  General  Henry  Lee,  became  a  favorite 
with  Washington  in  the  Revolutionary  War;  pos- 
sibly all  the  more  loved  from  tender  recollections 
of  the  mother.  General  Lee  was  the  father  of 
General  Robert  E.  Lee  of  the  Confederate  Army, 
in  the  Civil  War. 

At  sixteen,  the  real  work  of  "Washington's  life 
began.  Lord  Fairfax  of  Virginia  desired  his  large 
estates  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge  to  be  surveyed, 
and  he  knew  that  the  youth  had  the  courage  to 
meet  the  Indians  in  the  wilderness,  and  would  do 
his  work  well. 

Washington  and  a  friend  set  out  on  horseback 
for  the  valley  called  by  the  Indians  Shenandoah, 
"the  daughter  of  the  stars."  He  made  a  record 
daily  of  the  beauty  of  the  trees  —  every  refined 
soul  loves  trees  almost  as  though  they  were  human 
—  and  the  richness  of  the  soil,  and  selected  the  best 
sites  for  townships.  In  his  diary  he  says,  "A 
blowing,  rainy  night,  our  straw  upon  which  we 
were  lying  took  fire,  but  I  was  luckily  preserved  by 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  5 

one  of  our  men  awaking  when  it  was  in  a  flame." 
For  three  years  he  lived  this  exposed  life,  sleeping 
out-of-doors,  gaining  self-reliance,  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  Indians,  which  knowledge  he  was  soon  to 
need. 

Trouble  had  begun  already  in  the  Ohio  valley, 
between  the  French  and  English,  in  their  claims  to 
the  territory.  No  wonder  a  sachem  asked,  "  The 
French  claim  all  the  land  011  one  side  of  the  Ohio, 
the  English  claim  all  the  land  on  the  other  side  — - 
now,  where  does  the  Indians'  land  lie  ?  " 

Virginia  began  to  make  herself  ready  for  a  war 
which  seemed  inevitable.  She  divided  her  prov- 
ince into  military  districts,  and  placed  one  in 
charge  of  the  young  surveyor,  only  nineteen,  who 
was  made  adjutant-general  with  the  rank  of  major. 
Thus  early  did  the  sincere,  self-poised  young  man 
take  upon  himself  great  responsibilities.  Wash- 
ington at  once  began  to  make  himself  ready  for 
his  duties,  by  studying  military  tactics ;  taking 
lessons  in  field-work  from  his  brother  Lawrence, 
and  sword  exercise  from  a  soldier.  This  drill  was 
broken  in  upon  for  a  time  by  the  illness  and  death 
of  Lawrence,  of  whom  he  was  very  fond,  and  whom 
he  accompanied  to  the  Barbadoes.  Here  George 
took  small-pox,  from  which  he  was  slightly  marked 
through  life.  The  only  child  of  Lawrence  soon 
died,  and  Mount  Vernon  came  to  George  by  will. 
He  was  now  a  person  of  wealth,  but  riches  did  not 
spoil  him.  He  did  not  seek  ease ;  he  sought  work 
and  honor. 


6  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

Matters  were  growing  worse  in  the  Ohio  valley. 
The  Virginians  had  erected  forts  at  what  is  now 
Pittsburg;  and  the  French,  about  fifteen  miles 
south  of  Lake  Erie.  Governor  Dinwiddie  deter- 
mined to  make  a  last  remonstrance  with  the  French 
who  should  thus  presume  to  come  upon  English 
territory.  The  way  to  their  forts  lay  through  an 
unsettled  wilderness,  a  distance  of  from  live  hun- 
dred to  six  hundred  miles.  Some  Indian  tribes 
favored  one  nation ;  some  the  other.  The  gov- 
ernor offered  this  dangerous  commission  —  a  visit 
to  the  French  —  to  several  persons,  who  hastened 
to  decline  with  thanks  the  proffered  honor. 

Young  Washington,  with  his  brave  heart,  was 
willing  to  undertake  the  journey,  and  started 
September  30,  1753,  with  horses,  tents,  and  other 
necessary  equipments.  They  found  the  rivers 
swollen,  so  that  the  horses  had  to  swim.  The 
swamps,  in  the  snow  and  rain,  were  almost  impas- 
sable.. At  last  they  arrived  at  the  forts,  early  in 
December.  Washington  delivered  his  letter  to  the 
French,  and  an  answer  was  written  to  the  governor. 

On  December  25,  Washington  and  his  little 
party  started  homeward.  The  horses  were  well- 
nigh  exhausted,  and  the  men  dismounted,  put  on 
Indian  hunting-dress,  and  toiled  on  through  the 
deepening  snow.  Washington,  in  haste  to  reach 
the  governor,  strapped  his  pack  on  his  shoulders, 
and,  gun  in  hand,  with  one  companion,  Mr.  Gist, 
struck  through  the  woods,  hoping  thus  to  reach  the 
Alleghany  River  sooner,  and  cross  on  the  ice.  At 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  7 

night  they  lit  their  camp-fire,  but  at  two  in  the 
morning  they  pursued  their  journey,  guided  by  the 
north  star. 

Some  Indians  now  approached,  and  offered  their 
services  as  guides.  One  was  chosen,  but  Washing- 
ton soon  suspected  that  they  were  being  guided  in 
the  wrong  direction.  They  halted,  and  said  they 
would  camp  for  the  night,  but  the  Indian  demurred, 
and  offered  to  carry  Washington's  gun,  as  he  was 
fatigued.  This  was  declined,  when  the  Indian 
grew  sullen,  hurried  forward,  and,  when  fifteen 
paces  ahead,  levelled  his  gun  and  fired  at  Washing- 
ton. Gist  at  once  seized  the  savage,  took  his  gun 
from  him,  and  would  have  killed  him  on  the  spot 
had  not  the  humane  Washington  prevented.  He 
was  sent  home  to  his  cabin  with  a  loaf  of  bread, 
and  told  to  come  to  them  in  the  morning  with 
meat.  Probably  he  expected  to  return  before 
morning,  and,  with  some  other  braves,  scalp  the 
two  Americans;  but  Washington  and  Gist  trav- 
elled all  night,  and  reached  the  Alleghany  Kiver 
opposite  the  site  of  Pittsburg. 

Unfortunately,  the  river  was  not  frozen  as  they 
had  hoped,  but  was  full  of  broken  ice.  All  day 
long  they  worked  to  construct  a  raft,  with  but  one 
hatchet  between  them.  After  reaching  the  middle 
of  the  river  the  men  on  the  raft  were  hurled  into 
ten  feet  of  water  by  the  floating  ice,  and  Washing- 
ton was  saved  from  drowning  only  by  clinging  to 
a  log.  They  lay  till  morning  on  an  island  in  the 
river,  their  clothes  stiff  with  frost,  and  the  hands 


8  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

and  feet  of  poor  Gist  frozen  by  the  intense  cold. 
The  agony  of  that  night  Washington  never  forgot, 
even  in  the  horrors  of  Valley  Forge. 

Happily,  the  river  had  grown  passable  in  the 
night,  and  they  were  able  to  cross  to  a  place  of 
safety.  He  came  home  as  speedily  as  possible  and 
delivered  the  letter  to  Governor  Dimviddie.  His 
journal  was  sent  to  London  and  published,  because 
of  the  knowledge  it  gave  of  the  position  of  the 
French.  The  young  soldier  of  twenty-one  had 
escaped  death  from  the  burning  straw  in  survey- 
ing, from  the  Indian's  gun,  and  from  drowning. 
He  had  shown  prudence,  self-devotion,  and  hero- 
ism. "From  that  moment,"  says  Irving,  in  his 
delightful  life  of  Washington,  "  he  was  the  rising 
hope  of  Virginia."  And  he  was  the  rising  hope  of 
the  new  world  as  well. 

The  polite  letter  brought  by  Washington  to  the 
governor  had  declared  that  no  Englishmen  should 
remain  in  the  Ohio  valley  !  Dinwiddie  at  once  de- 
termined to  send  three  hundred  troops  against  the 
French,  and  offered  the  command  to  AVashington. 
He  shrunk  from  the  charge,  and  it  was  given  to 
Colonel  Fry,  while  he  was  made  second  in  com- 
mand. Fry  soon  died,  and  Washington  was  obliged 
to  assume  control.  He  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 
He  said,  "  I  have  a  constitution  hardy  enough  to 
encounter  and  undergo  the  most  severe  trials,  and, 
I  flatter  myself,  resolution  enough  to  face  what  any 
man  dares,  as  shall  be  proved  when  it  comes  to  the 
test." 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  9 

The  test  soon  came.  In  the  conflict  which  fol- 
lowed he  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  one  man 
being  killed  at  his  side.  He  wrote  to  his  brother, 
"  I  heard  the  bullets  whistle,  and,  believe  me,  there 
is  something  charming  in  the  sound."  Years  after- 
ward, he  said,  when  he  had  long  known  the  sor- 
rows of  war,  "  If  I  said  that,  it  was  when  I  was 
young." 

At  Great  Meadows,  below  Pittsburg,  he  was  de- 
feated by  superior  numbers,  and  obliged  to  evacu- 
ate the  fort,  but  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses 
thanked  him  for  his  bravery. 

The  next  year,  England  sent  out  General  Brad- 
dock,  who  had  been  over  forty  years  in  the  service, 
a  fearless  but  self-willed  officer,  to  take  command 
of  the  American  forces.  Washington  gladly  joined 
him  as  an  aide-de-camp.  They  set  out  with  two 
thousand  soldiers,  toward  Fort  du  Quesne  (Pitts- 
burg).  The  amount  of  baggage  astonished  Wash- 
ington, who  well  knew  the  swamps  and  mountains 
that  must  be  crossed,  but  Braddock  could  not  be 
influenced.  He  remarked  to  Benjamin  Franklin, 
"These  savages  may  indeed  be  a  formidable  enemy 
to  raw  militia,  but  upon  the  king's  regular  and  dis- 
ciplined troops,  sir,  it  is  impossible  they  should 
make  an  impression."  How  great  an  "  impression  " 
savages  could  make  upon  the  "king's  regular  and 
disciplined  troops  "  was  soon  to  be  shown. 

The  march  was  exceedingly  difficult.  Sometimes 
a  whole  day  was  spent  in  cutting  a  passage  of  two 
miles  over  the  mountains.  Washington  urged  that 


10  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

the  Virginia  Hangers  be  put  to  the  front,  as  they 
understood  Indian  warfare.  The  general  haughtily 
opposed  it,  and  the  regulars  in  brilliant  uniforms, 
bayonets  fixed,  colors  flying,  and  drums  l>eating, 
swept  over  the  open  plain  to  battle,  July  9.  l~r>5. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  cry,  "The  French  and 
Indians ! "  The  Indian  yell  struck  terror  to  the 
hearts  of  the  regulars.  They  fired  in  all  direc- 
tions, killing  their  own  men.  A  panic  ensued. 
Braddock  tried  to  rally  his  men;  even  striking 
them  with  the  flat  of  his  sword.  Five  horses 
were  killed  under  him.  At  last  a  bullet  entered 
his  lungs,  and  he  fell,  mortally  wounded.  Then 
the  men  fled  precipitately,  falling  over  their  dead 
comrades.  Out  of  eighty-six  officers,  twenty-six 
were  killed  and  thirty-six  wounded.  Nearly  half 
of  the  whole  army  were  dead  or  disablecL  The 
Virginia  Rangers  covered  the  retreat  of  the  flying 
regulars,  and  thus  saved  a  remnant.  Braddock, 
bequeathing  his  horse  and  servant,  Bishop,  to 
Washington,  died  broken-hearted,  moaning,  "Who 
would  have  thought  it !  ...  We  shall  better  know 
how  to  deal  with  them  another  time."  Washington 
tenderly  read  the  funeral  service,  and  Braddock 
was  buried  in  the  new  and  wild  country  he  had 
come  to  save. 

Washington  escaped  as  by  a  miracle.  He  wrote 
his  brother,  "  By  the  all-powerful  dispensations  of 
Providence,  I  have  been  protected  beyond  all 
human  probability  or  expectation ;  for  I  had  four 
bullets  through  my  coat,  and  two  horses  shot 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  H 

under  me,  yet  escaped  unhurt,  though  death  was 
levelling  my  companions  on  every  side  of  me." 
Through  life,  this  man,  great  in  all  that  mankind 
prize,  loved  and  believed  in  the  Christian  religion. 
Agnosticism  had  no  charms  for  him. 

Washington  returned  to  Mount  Vernon  tem- 
porarily broken  in  health,  and  his  fond  mother, 
who  was  living  at  the  old  homestead,  wrote  beg- 
ging that  he  would  not  again  enter  the  service.  In 
reply  he  said,  "  Honored  Madam,"  for  thus  he 
always  addressed  her,  "if  it  is  in  my  power  to 
avoid  going  to  the  Ohio  again,  I  shall ;  but  if  the 
command  is  pressed  upon  me  by  the  general  voice 
of  the  country,  and  offered  upon  such  terms  as  can- 
not be  objected  against,  it  would  reflect  dishonor 
on  me  to  refuse  it ;  and  that,  I  am  sure,  must  and 
ought  to  give  you  greater  uneasiness  than  my  go- 
ing in  an  honorable  command.'' 

Braddock's  defeat  electrified  the  colo'nies.  Gov- 
ernor Dinwiddie  at  once  called  for  troops,  and 
Washington  was  made  "commander-in-chief  of  all 
the  forces  raised  or  to  be  raised  in  Virginia."  For 
two  years  he  protected  the  people  in  the  attacks  of 
the  Indians  ;  his  heart  so  full  of  pity  that  he  wrote 
the  governor,  "  I  solemnly  declare,  if  I  know  my 
own  mind,  I  could  offer  myself  a  willing  sacrifice 
to  the  butchering  enemy,  provided  that  would  con- 
tribute to  the  people's  ease."  No  wonder  that 
such  self-sacrifice  and  unselfishness  won  the  hom- 
age of  the  State,  and  later  of  the  nation. 

In  May,  1758,  the  condition  of   the  army  was 


12  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

such,  the  men  so  poorly  clad  and  paid,  that  the 
young  commander  decided  to  go  to  Williamsburg 
to  lay  the  matter  before  the  council.  In  crossing 
the  Pamunkey,  a  branch  of  the  York  River,  he  met 
a  Mr.  Chamberlayne,  who  pressed  him  to  dine, 
more  especially  as  a  charming  lady  was  visiting  at 
his  house.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  there 
met  Martha  Custis,  a  widow  of  twenty-six,  two 
months  younger  than  himself;  a  bright,  frank, 
agreeable  woman,  with  dark  eyes  and  hair,  below 
the  middle  size,  a  contrast  indeed  to  his  striking 
physique,  six  feet  two  inches  tall,  blue  eyes,  and 
grave  demeanor. 

Martha  Daiidridge,  with  amiable  disposition  and 
winning  manners,  had  been  married  at  seventeen  to 
Daniel  Parke  Custis,  thirty-eight,  a  kind-hearted 
and  wealthy  land-owner.  For  seven  years  they 
lived  at  "The  White  House,"  on  the  Pamunkey 
River,  where  he  died,  leaving  two  children,  John 
Parke  and  Martha  Parke  Custis.  Mrs.  Custis  had 
come  to  visit  the  Chamberlaynes,  and  now  was  to 
meet  the  most  popular  officer  in  Virginia. 

The  dinner  passed  pleasantly,  and  then  Bishop, 
the  servant,  brought  Colonel  Washington's  horse 
and  his  own  to  the  gate  at  the  appointed  hour. 
But  Colonel  Washington  did  not  appear.  The 
afternoon  seemed  like  a  dream,  for  love  takes  no 
account  of  time.  The  sun  was  setting  when  he 
rose  to  go,  but  Major  Chamberlayne  urged  his 
guest  to  pass  the  night.  Probably  he  did  not  need 
to  be  urged,  for  the  most  sublime  and  beautiful 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  13 

force  in  all  the  world  now  controlled  the  fearless 
Washington.  The  next  morning  he  hastened  to 
Williamsburg,  transacted  his  business,  returned  to 
the  home  of  Martha  Custis,  where  he  spent  a  day 
and  a  night,  and  left  her  his  betrothed. 

The  commander  went  back  to  camp  with  a  new 
joy  in  living.  The  army  was  now  ordered  against 
Fort  du  Quesne,  under  Brigadier-General  Forbes  of 
Great  Britain ;  Washington  leading  the  Virginia 
troops.  He  seized  a  moment  before  leaving  to 
write  to  Mrs.  Custis,  which  letter  Lossing  gives  in 
his  interesting  lives  of  Mary  and  Martha  Wash- 
ington :  — 

"  A  courier  is  starting  for  Williamsburg,  and  I  embrace 
the  opportunity  to  send  a  few  words  to  one  whose  life  is  now 
inseparable  from  mine.  Since  that  happy  hour  when  we 
made  our  pledges  to  each  other,  my  thoughts  have  been  con- 
tinually going  to  you  as  to  another  self.  That  an  all-power- 
ful Providence  may  keep  us  both  in  safety  is  the  prayer  of 
your  ever  faithful  and 

"Ever  affectionate  friend, 

"  G.  WASHINGTON." 

The  army  marched  again  over  the  field  where  the 
bones  of  Braddock's  men  were  bleaching  in  the  sun, 
and  approached  the  fort,  only  to  find  that  the 
French  had  deserted  it  after  setting  it  on  fire,  and 
retreated  down  the  river.  Washington,  who  led 
the  advance,  planted  the  British  flag  over  the  smok- 
ing ruin  of  what  is  now  Pittsburg,  so  called  from 
the  illustrious  William  Pitt.  With  the  French 
driven  out  of  the  Ohio  valley,  Washington,  having 


14  GEORGE    \\rASUINGTo\ 

served  five  years  in  the  army,  resigned,  and  mar- 
ried Martha  Custis,  January  6,  1759.  Every  inch 
a  soldier  he  must  have  looked  in  his  suit  of  blue 
cloth  lined  with  red  silk,  and  ornamented  with  sil- 
ver trimmings ;  while  his  bride  wore  white  satin, 
with  pearl  necklace  and  ear-rings,  and  pearls  in  her 
hair.  She  rode  home  in  a  coach  drawn  by  six 
horses,  while  Colonel  Washington,  on  a  fine  chest- 
nut horse,  attended  by  a  brilliant  cortege,  rode  be- 
side her  carriage. 

The  year  previous,  1758,  Washington  had  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Assembly.  When 
he  took  his  seat,  the  House  gave  him  an  address  of 
welcome.  He  rose  to  reply,  trembled,  and  could 
not  say  a  word.  "  Sit  down,  Mr.  Washington," 
said  the  speaker ;  "  your  modesty  equals  your 
valor,  and  that  surpasses  the  power  of  any  language 
I  possess."  Beautiful  attributes  of  character,  not 
always  found  in  conjunction ;  valor  and  modesty ! 

For  three  months  Washington  remained  at  the 
home  of  his  wife,  to  attend  to  the  business  of  the 
colony  ;  becoming  also  guardian  of  her  two  pretty 
children,  four  and  six  years  of  age,  whom  he  seemed 
to  love  as  his  own.  When  he  took  his  bride  to 
Mount  Vernon  to  live,  he  wrote  to  a  relative,  "  I 
am  now,  I  believe,  fixed  in  this  spot  with  an  agree- 
able partner  for  life ;  and  I  hope  to  find  more  hap- 
piness in  retirement  than  I  ever  experienced  in  the 
wide  and  bustling  world." 

For  seventeen  years  he  lived  on  his  estate  of 
eight  thousand  acres,  delighting  in  agriculture,  and 


GEOHGE    WASHINGTON.  15 

enjoying  the  development  of  the  two  children. 
The  years  passed  quickly,  for  affection,  the  holi- 
est thing  on  earth,  brought  rest  and  contentment. 
He  or  she  is  rich  who  possesses  it.  To  have  mill- 
ions, and  yet  live  in  a  home  where  there  is  no 
affection,  is  to  be  poor  indeed. 

He  was  an  early  riser ;  in  winter  often  lighting 
his  own  fire,  and  reading  by  candle-light ;  retiring 
always  at  nine  o'clock.  He  was  vestryman  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  judge  of  the  county  court, 
as  well  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Burgesses. 
So  honest  was  he  that  a  barrel  of  flour  marked 
with  his  name  was  exempted  from  the  usual  in- 
spection in  West  India  ports. 

Into  this  busy  and  happy  life  came  sorrow,  as  it 
comes  into  other  lives.  Martha  Parke  Custis,  a 
gentle  and  lovely  girl,  died  of  consumption  at 
seventeen,  Washington  kneeling  by  her  bedside  in 
prayer  as  her  life  went  out.  The  love  of  both  par- 
ents now  centred  in  the  boy  of  nineteen,  John 
Parke  Custis,  who,  the  following  year,  left  Colum- 
bia College  to  marry  a  girl  of  sixteen,  Eleanor 
Calvert.  While  Washington  attended  the  wedding. 
Mrs.  Washington  could  not  go,  in  her  mourning 
robes,  but  sent  an  affectionate  letter  to  her  new 
daughter. 

The  quiet  life  at  Mount  Vernon  was  now  to  be 
wholly  changed.  The  Stamp  Act  and  the  oppres- 
sive taxes  had  stirred  America.  When  the  taxes 
were  repealed,  save  that  on  tea,  and  Lord  North 
was  urged  to  include  tea  also,  he  said :  "  To  tempo- 


16  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

rize  is  to  yield ;  and  the  authority  of  the  mother 
country,  if  it  is  not  now  supported,  will  be  relin- 
quished forever ;  a  total  repeal  cannot  be  thought  of 
till  America  is  prostrate  at  our  feet."  Mrs.  Wash- 
ington, like  other  lovers  of  liberty,  at  once  ceased 
to  use  tea  at  her  table. 

When  the  First  Continental  Congress  met  at 
Philadelphia,  September  5,  1774,  Washington  was 
among  the  delegates  chosen  by  Virginia.  He  rode 
thither  on  horseback,  with  his  brilliant  friends 
Patrick  Henry  and  Edmund  Pendleton.  When 
they  departed  from  Mount  Vernon,  the  patriotic 
Martha  Washington  said:  "I  hope  you  will  all 
stand  firm.  I  know  George  will.  .  .  .  God  be  with 
you,  gentlemen." 

To  a  relative,  who  wrote  deprecating  Colonel 
Washington's  "folly,"  his  wife  answered:  "Yrs; 
I  foresee  consequences  —  dark  days,  and  darker 
nights;  domestic  happiness  suspended;  social  en- 
joyments abandoned ;  property  of  every  kind  put 
in  jeopardy  by  war,  perhaps ;  neighbors  and 
friends  at  variance,  and  eternal  separations  on 
earth  possible.  But  what  are  all  these  evils  when 
compared  with  the  fate  of  which  the  Port  Bill 
may  be  only  a  threat  ?  My  mind  is  made  up, 
my  heart  is  in  the  cause.  George  is  right;  he 
is  always  right.  God  has  promised  to  protect  the 
righteous,  and  I  will  trust  him."  Blessings  on  the 
woman  who,  in  the  darkest  hour,  knows  how  to  be 
as  the  sunlight  in  her  hope  and  trust,  and  to  be 
well-nigh  a  divine  embodiment  of  courage  and  for- 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  17 

titude !  Trulys  aid  Schiller :  "  Honor  to  women ! 
they  twine  and  weave  the  roses  of  heaven  into  the 
life  of  man." 

Congress  remained  in  session  fifty-one  days. 
When  the  results  of  its  labors  were  put  before  the 
House  of  Lords,  the  great  Chatham  said :  "  When 
your  lordships  look  at  the  papers  transmitted  to  us 
from  America;  when  you  consider  their  decency, 
firmness,  and  wisdom,  you  cannot  but  respect  their 
cause,  and  wish  to  make  it  your  own.  For  myself, 
I  must  declare  and  avow  that,  in  the  master  states 
of  the  world,  I  know  not  the  people,  or  senate,  who, 
in  such  a  complication  of  difficult  circumstances, 
can  stand  in  preference  to  the  delegates  of  America 
assembled  in  General  Congress  at  Philadelphia." 

When  Patrick  Henry  was  asked,  on  his  return 
home,  who  was  the  greatest  man  in  Congess,  he 
•replied :  "  If  you  speak  of  eloquence,  Mr.  Kutledge 
of  South  Carolina  is  by  far  the  greatest  orator  ;  but 
if  you  speak  of  solid  information  and  sound  judg- 
ment, Colonel  Washington  is  unquestionably  the 
greatest  man  on  that  floor."  Wise  reading  in  all 
these  years  had  given  Washington  "solid  infor- 
mation," and  "sound  judgment"  was  partly  an 
inheritance  from  noble  Mary  Washington. 

People  all  through  New  England  were  arming 
themselves.  General  Gage,  who  had  been  sent  to 
Boston  with  British  troops,  said :  "  It  is  surprising 
that  so  many  of  the  other  provinces  interest  them- 
selves so  much  in  this.  They  have  some  warm 
friends  in  New  York,  and  I  learn  that  the  people 


18  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  are  as  inad  as  they 
are  here."  He  was  soon  to  possess  a  more  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  American  character. 

The  Boston  troops,  under  Gage,  numbered  about 
four  thousand.  He  determined  to  destroy  the  mil- 
itary stores  at  Concord,  on  the  night  of  April  18, 
1775.  It  was  to  be  done  secretly,  but  as  soon  as 
the  British  regiment  started,  under  Colonel  Smith 
and  Major  Pitcairn,  for  Concord,  the  bells  of  Bos- 
ton rang  out,  cannon  were  tired,  and  Paul  Revere, 
with  Prescott  and  Davis,  rode  at  full  speed  in  the 
bright  moonlight  to  Lexington,  to  alarm  the  neigh- 
boring country.  When  cautioned  against  making 
so  much  noise,  Revere  replied :  "  You'll  have  noise 
enough  here  before  long  —  the  regulars  are  coming 
out." 

Long  before  morning,  nearly  two-score  of  the  vil- 
lagers, under  Captain  Parker,  gathered  on  the  green, 
near  the  church,  waiting  for  the  red-coats,  who 
came  at  double-quick,  Major  Pitcairn  exclaiming, 
"  Disperse,  ye  villains !  Lay  down  your  arms,  ye 
rebels,  and  disperse !  "  Unmoved,  Captain  Parker 
said  to  his  men,  "  Don't  fire  unless  you  are  fired  on ; 
but  if  they  want  a  war,  let  it  begin  here."  The 
Revolutionary  War  began  there,  to  end  only  when 
America  should  be  free.  Seven  Americans  were 
killed,  nine  wounded,  and  the  rest  were  put  to 
flight ;  but  the  blood  shed  on  Lexington  Green 
made  liberty  dear  to  every  heart. 

The  British  now  marched  to  Concord,  where,  in 
the  early  morning,  they  found  four  hundred  and 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  19 

fifty  men  gathered  to  receive  them.  Captain  Isaac 
Davis,  who  said,  when  his  company  led  the  force, 
"  I  haven't  a  man  that  is  afraid  to  go,"  was  killed  at 
the  first  shot,  at  the  North  Bridge. 

The  British  troops  destroyed  all  the  stores  they 
could  find,  though  most  had  been  removed,  and 
then  started  toward  Boston.  All  along  the  road 
the  indignant  Americans  fired  upon  them  from 
behind  stone  fences  and  clumps  of  bushes.  Tired 
by  their  night  march,  having  lost  three  hundred  in 
killed  and  wounded,  over  three  times  as  many  as 
the  Americans,  they  were  glad  to  meet  Lord  Percy 
coming  to  their  rescue  with  one  thousand  men.  He 
formed  a  hollow  square,  and,  faint  and  exhausted, 
the  soldiers  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  within 
it,  and  rested. 

The  whole  country  seemed  to  rise  to  arms.  Men 
came  pouring  into  Boston  with  such  weapons  as 
they  could  find.  Noble  Israel  Putnam  of  Connecti- 
cut left  his  plough  in  the  field  and  hastened  to  the 
war. 

May  10,  Congress  again  met  at  Philadelphia. 
They  sent  a  second  petition  to  King  George,  which 
John  Adams  called  an  "  imbecile  measure."  They 
made  plans  for  the  support  of  the  army  already 
gathered  at  Cambridge  from  the  different  States. 
Who  should  be  the  commander  of  this  growing 
army  ?  Then  John  Adams  spoke  of  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia,  "  whose  skill  and  experience  as  an 
officer,  whose  independent  fortune,  great  talents, 
and  excellent  universal  character,  would  command 


20  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

the  approbation  of  all  America,  and  unite  the  cor- 
dial exertions  of  all  the  colonies  better  tlum  any 
other  person  in  the  Union."  June  5,  Washington 
was  unanimously  elected  conimander-in-chief. 

Kising  in  his  seat,  and  thanking  Congress,  he 
modestly  said :  "  I,  beg  it  may  be  remembered  by 
every  gentleman  in  the  room  that  I  this  day  de- 
clare, with  the  utmost  sincerity,  I  do  not  think 
myself  equal  to  the  command  I  am  honored  with. 
As  to  pay,  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  Congress  that, 
as  no  pecuniary  consideration  could  have  tempted 
me  to  accept  this  arduous  employment,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  my  domestic  ease  and  happiness,  I  do  not 
wish  to  make  any  profit  of  it.  I  will  keep  an 
exact  account  of  my  expenses.  Those,  I  doubt  not, 
they  will  discharge,  and  that  is  all  I  desire."  He 
wrote  to  his  wife  :  "  I  should  enjoy  more  real  hap- 
piness in  one  month  with  you  at  home  than  I  have 
the  most  distant  prospect  of  finding  abroad  if  my 
stay  were  to  be  seven  times  seven  years.  But  as  it 
has  been  a  kind  of  destiny  that  has  thrown  me 
upon  this  service,  I  shall  hope  that  my  undertaking 
it  is  designed  to  answer  some  good  purpose.  .  .  . 
I  shall  feel  no  pain  from  the  toil  or  danger  of  the 
campaign;  my  unhappiness  will  flow  from  the 
uneasiness  I  know  you  will  feel  from  being  left 
alone."  No  wonder  Martha  Washington  loved 
him ;  so  brave  that  he  could  meet  any  danger  with- 
out fear,  yet  so  tender  that  the  thought  of  leaving 
her  brought  intense  pain. 

He  was  now  forty-three;  the   ideal  of  manly 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  21 

dignity.  He  at  once  started  for  Boston.  Soon  a 
courier  met  him,  telling  him  of  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker Hill  —  how  for  two  hours  raw  militia  had  with- 
stood British  regulars,  killing  and  wounding  twice 
as  many  as  they  lost,  and  retreating  only  when 
their  ammunition  was  exhausted.  When  Washing- 
ton heard  how  bravely  they  had  fought,  he  ex- 
claimed :  "  The  liberties  of  the  country  are  safe." 
Under  the  great  elm  (still  standing)  at  Cambridge, 
Washington  took  command  of  the  army,  July  3, 
1775,  amid  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  and  the  roar 
of  artillery.  His  headquarters  were  established  at 
Craigie  House,  afterward  the  home  of  the  poet 
Longfellow.  Here  Mrs.  Washington  came  later, 
and  helped  to  lessen  his  cares  by  her  cheerful 
presence. 

The  soldiers  were  brave  but  undisciplined ;  the 
terms  of  enlistment  were  short,  thus  preventing 
the  best  work.  To  provide  powder  was  well-nigh 
an  impossibility.  For  months  Washington  drilled 
his  army,  and  waited  for  the  right  moment  to 
rescue  Boston  from  the  hands  of  the  British.  Gen- 
erals Howe,  Clinton,  and  Burgoyne  had  been  sent 
over  from  England.  Howe  had  strengthened  Bun- 
ker Hill,  and,  with  little  respect  for  the  feelings  of 
the  Americans,  had  removed  the  pulpit  and  pews 
from  the  Old  South  Church,  covered  the  floor  with 
earth,  and  converted  it  into  a  riding-school  for 
Burgoyne's  light  dragoons.  They  did  not  con- 
sider the  place  sacred,  because  it  was  a  "  meeting- 
house where  sedition  had  often  been  preached." 


22  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

The  "  right  moment  "  came  at  last.  In  a  single 
night  the  soldiers  fortified  Dorchester  Heights,  can- 
nonading the  enemy's  batteries  in  the  opposite 
direction,  so  that  their  attention  was  diverted  from 
the  real  work.  When  the  morning  dawned  of 
March  5,  1776,  General  Howe  saw,  through  the 
lifting  fog,  the  new  fortress,  with  the  guns  turned 
upon  Boston.  "  I  know  not  what  to  do,"  he  said. 
"The  rebels  have  done  more  work  in  one  night 
than  my  whole  army  would  have  done  in  one 
month." 

He  resolved  to  attack  the  "  rebels "  by  night, 
and  for  this  attack  twenty-five  hundred  men  were 
embarked  in  boats.  But  a  violent  storm  set  in, 
and  they  could  not  land.  The  next  day  the  rain 
poured  in  torrents,  and  when  the  second  night 
came  Dorchester  Heights  were  too  strong  to  be 
attacked.  The  proud  General  Howe  was  compelled 
to  evacuate  Boston  with  all  possible  dispatch,  March 
17,  the  navy  going  to  Halifax  and  the  army  to 
New  York.  The  Americans  at  once  occupied  the 
city,  and  planted  the  flag  above  the  forts.  Con- 
gress moved  a  vote  of  thanks  to  \Va.shington,  and 
ordered  a  gold  medal,  bearing  his  face,  as  the  de- 
liverer of  Boston  from  British  rule. 

The  English  considered  this  a  humiliating  defeat. 
The  Duke  of  Manchester,  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
said:  "British  generals,  whose  name  never  met 
with  a  blot  of  dishonor,  are  forced  to  quit  that 
town,  which  was  the  first  object  of  the  war,  the 
immediate  cause  of  hostilities,  the  place  of  arms, 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  £3 

which  has  cost  this  nation  more  than  a  million  to 
defend." 

The  Continental  Army  soon  repaired  to  New  York. 
Washington  spared  no  pains  to  keep  a  high  moral 
standard  among  his  men.  He  said,  in  one  of  his 
orders  :  "  The  general  is  sorry  to  be  informed  that 
the  foolish  and  wicked  practice  of  profane  cursing 
and  swearing  —  a  vice  heretofore  little  known  in  an 
American  army  —  is  growing  into  fashion.  He 
hopes  the  officers  will,  by  example  as  well  as  influ- 
ence, endeavor  to  check  it,  and  that  both  they  and 
the  men  will  reflect  that  we  can  have  little  hope  of 
the  blessing  of  Heaven  on  our  arms  if  we  insult  it 
by  our  impiety  and  folly.  Added  to  this,  it  is  a 
vice  so  mean  and  low,  without  any  temptation,  that 
every  man  of  sense  and  character  detests  and 
despises  it."  Noble  words  ! 

Great  Britain  now  realized  that  the  fight  must 
be  in  earnest,  and  hired  twenty  thousand  Hes- 
sians to  help  subjugate  the  colonies.  When  Ad- 
miral Howe  came  over  from  England,  he  tried 
to  talk  about  peace  with  "  Mr."  Washington,  or 
"George -Washington,  Esq.,"  as  it  was  deemed  be- 
neath his  dignity  to  acknowledge  that  the  "  rebels  " 
had  a  general.  The  Americans  could  not  talk  about 
peace,  with  such  treatment. 

Soon  the  first  desperate  battle  was  fought,  on 
Long  Island,  August  27,  1776,  partly  on  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  Greenwood  Cemetery,  between 
eight  thousand  Americans  and  more  than  twice 
their  number  of  trained  Hessians.  Washington, 


24  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

from  an  eminence,  watched  the  terrible  conflict, 
wringing  his  hands,  and  exclaiming,  ';  What  brave 
fellows  I  must  this  day  lose  !  " 

The  Americans  were  defeated,  with  great  loss. 
Washington  could  no  longer  hold  Xew  York  with 
his  inadequate  forces.  With  great  energy  and 
promptness  he  gathered  all  the  boats  possible,  and 
then,  so  secretly  that  even  his  aides  did  not  know 
his  intention,  nine  thousand  men,  horses,  and  pro- 
visions, were  ferried  over  the  East  River.  A  heavy 
fog  hung  over  the  Brooklyn  side,  as  though  pro- 
vided by  Providence,  while  it  was  clear  on  the  Nt-\v 
York  side,  so  that  the  men  could  form  in  line. 
Washington  crossed  in  the  last  boat,  having  been 
for  forty-eight  hours  without  sleep. 

In  the  morning,  the  astonished  Englishmen 
learned  that  the  prize  had  escaped.  A  Tory  wo- 
man, the  night  before,  seeing  that  the  Americans 
were  crossing  the  river,  sent  her  colored  servant  to 
notify  the  British.  A  Hessian  sentinel,  not  under- 
standing the  servant,  locked  him  up  till  morning, 
when,  upon  the  arrival  of  an  officer,  his  errand  was 
known ;  but  the  knowledge  came  too  late  ! 

On  October  28,  the  Americans  were  again  de- 
feated, at  White  Plains,  Howe  beginning  the  en- 
gagement. The  condition  of  the  Continental  Army 
was  disheartening.  They  were  half-fed  and  half- 
clothed;  the  "ragged  rebels,"  the  British  called 
them.  There  was  sickness  in  the  camp,  and  many 
were  deserting.  AVashington  said,  "Men  just 
dragged  from  the  tender  scenes  of  domestic  life, 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  25 

unaccustomed  to  the  din  of  arms,  totally  unac- 
quainted with  every  kind  of  military  skill,  are 
timid,  and  ready  to  fly  from  their  own  shadows. 
Besides,  the  sudden  change  in  their  manner  of  liv- 
ing brings  on  an  unconquerable  desire  to  return  to 
their  homes."  So  great-hearted  was  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  though  on  the  field  of  battle  he 
had  no  leniency  toward  cowards. 

Washington  retreated  across  New  Jersey  to 
Trenton.  When  he  reached  the  Delaware  Elver, 
filled  with  floating  ice,  he  collected  all  the  boats 
within  seventy  miles,  and  transported  the  troops, 
crossing  last  himself.  Lord  Cornwallis,  of  Howe's 
army,  came  in  full  pursuit,  reached  the  river  just 
as  the  last  boat  crossed,  and  looked  in  vain  for 
means  of  transportation.  There  was  nothing  to  be 
done  but  to  wait  till  the  river  was  frozen,  so  that 
the  troops  could  cross  on  the  ice. 

Washington,  December  20,  1776,  told  John  Han- 
cock, President  of  Congress,  "  Ten  days  more  will 
put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  our  army."  Yet,  on 
the  night  of  December  25,  Christmas,  with  almost 
superhuman  courage,  he  determined  to  recross  the 
Delaware,  and  attack  the  Hessians  at  Trenton. 
The  weather  was  intensely  cold.  The  boats,  in 
crossing,  were  forced  out  of  their  course  by  the 
drifting  ice.  Two  men  were  frozen  to  death.  At 
four  in  the  morning,  the  heroic  troops  took  up 
the  line  of  march,  the  snow  and  sleet  beating 
in  their  faces.  Many  of  the  muskets  were  wet 
and  useless.  "What  is  to  be  done?"  asked 


26  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

the  men.  "Push  on,  and  use  the  bayonet,"  was 
the  answer. 

At  eight  in  the  morning,  the  Americans  rushed 
into  the  town.  "  The  enemy  !  the  enemy  !  "  cried 
the  Hessians.  Their  leader,  Colonel  Rahl,  fell, 
mortally  wounded.  A  thousand  men  laid  down 
their  arms  and  begged  for  quarter.  Washington 
recrossed  the  Delaware  with  his  whole  body  of 
captives,  and  the  American  nation  took  heart  once 
more.  That 'fearful  crossing  of  the  Delaware,  in 
the  blinding  storm,  and  the  sudden  yet  marvellous 
victory  which  followed,  will  always  live  among  the 
most  pathetic  and  stirring  scenes  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. A  few  days  later,  January  3,  1777,  with  five 
thousand  men,  Washington  defeated  Cornwallis  at 
Princeton,  exposing  himself  so  constantly  to  dan- 
ger that  his  officers  begged  him  to  seek  a  place  of 
safety. 

The  third  year  of  the  Revolutionary  War  had 
opened.  France,  hating  England,  sympathizing 
with  America  in  her  struggle  for  liberty,  and 
being  encouraged  in  this  sympathy  by  the  hon- 
ored Benjamin  Franklin,  loaned  us  money,  sup- 
plied muskets  and  powder,  and  many  troops  under 
such  brave  leaders  as  Lafayette  and  De  Kalb. 
The  year  1777,  although  our  forces  were  defeated 
at  Brandywine  and  Germantown,  witnessed  the 
defeat  of  a  part  of  Burgoyne's  army  at  Benning- 
ton,  Vermont,  and,  on  the  17th  of  October,  the 
remaining  part  at  Saratoga;  over  five  thousand 
men,  seven  thousand  muskets,  and  a  great  quan- 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  27 

tity  01  military  stores.  Two  months  later,  France 
made  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the  United  States, 
to  the  joy  of  the  whole  country. 

On  December  11,  Washington  went  into  winter- 
quarters  at  Valley  Forge,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Schuylkill,  about  twenty  miles  from  Philadelphia. 
Trees  were  felled  to  build  huts,  the  men  toiling 
with  scanty  food,  often  barefoot,  the  snow  showing 
the  marks  of  their  bleeding  feet.  Continental 
money  had  so  depreciated  that  forty  dollars  were 
scarcely  equal  in  value  to  one  silver  dollar.  Sick- 
ness was  decreasing  the  forces.  Washington 
wrote  to  Congress :  "  No  less  than  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ninety-eight  men  are  now  in 
camp  unfit  for  duty,  because  they  are  barefoot  and 
otherwise  naked."  From  lack  of  blankets,  he  said, 
"  numbers  have  been  obliged,  and  still  are,  to  sit 
up  all  night  by  fires,  instead  of  taking  comfortable 
rest  in  a  natural  and  common  way."  A  man  less 
great  would  have  been  discouraged,  but  he  trusted 
in  a  power  higher  than  himself,  and  waited  in  sub- 
lime dignity  and  patience  for  the  progress  of 
events.  Martha  Washington  had  come  to  Valley 
Forge  to  share  in  its  privations,  and  to  minister  to 
the  sick  and  the  dying. 

The  years  1778  and  1779  dragged  on  with  their 
victories  and  defeats.  The  next  year,  1780,  the 
country  was  shocked  by  the  treason  of  Benedict 
Arnold,  who,  having  obtained  command  at  West 
Point,  had  agreed  to  surrender  it  to  the  British  for 
fifty  thousand  dollars  in  money  and  the  position 


28  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

of  brigadier-general  in  their  army.  On  September 
21,  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sent  Major  John  Andre,  an 
adjutant-general,  to  meet  Arnold.  He  went  ashore 
from  the  ship  Vulture,  met  Arnold  in  a  wood, 
and  completed  the  plan.  When  he  went  back  to 
the  boat,  he  found  that  a  battery  had  driven  her 
down  the  river,  and  he  must  return  by  land.  At 
Tarrytown,  on  the  Hudson,  he  was  met  by  three 
militiamen,  John  Paulding,  David  Williams,  and 
Isaac  Van  Wart,  who  at  once  arrested  him,  and 
found  the  treasonable  papers  in  his  boots.  He 
offered  to  buy  his  release,  but  Paulding  assured 
him  that  fifty  thousand  dollars  would  be  no  temp- 
tation. 

Andre  was  at  once  taken  to  prison.  WThile 
there  he  won  all  hearts  by  his  intelligence  and  his 
cheerful,  manly  nature.  He  had  entered  the  Brit- 
ish army  by  reason  of  a  disappointment  in  love. 
The  father  of  the  young  lady  had  interfered,  and 
she  had  become  the  second  wife  of  the  father  of 
Maria  Edgeworth.  Andre  always  wore  above  his 
heart  a  miniature  of  Honora  Sneyd,  painted  by 
herself.  Just  before  his  execution  as  a  spy,  he 
wrote  to  Washington,  asking  to  be  shot.  When 
he  was  led  to  the  gallows,  October  2,  1780,  and 
saw  that  he  was  to  be  hanged,  for  a  moment  he 
seemed  startled,  and  exclaimed,  "  How  hard  is  my 
fate ! "  but  added,  "  It  will  soon  be  over."  He  put 
the  noose  about  his  own  neck,  tied  the  handker- 
chief over  his  eyes,  and,  when  asked  if  he  wished 
to  speak,  said  only :  "  I  pray  you  to  bear  witness 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  29 

that  I  meet  my  fate  like  a  brave  man."  His  death 
was  universally  lamented.  In  1821,  his  body  was 
removed  to  London  by  the  British  consul,  and  bur- 
ied in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Every  effort  was  made  to  capture  Arnold,  but 
without  success.  He  once  asked  an  American, 
who  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  British,  what 
his  countrymen  would  have  done  with  him  had  he 
been  captured.  The  immediate  reply  was :  "  They 
would  cut  off  the  leg  wounded  in  the  service  of 
your  country,  and  bury  it  with  the  honors  of  war. 
The  rest  of  you  they  would  hang." 

In  1781,  the  condition  of  affairs  was  still  gloomy. 
Some  troops  mutinied  for  lack  of  pay,  but  when 
approached  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  through  two 
agents,  offering  them  food  and  money  if  they 
would  desert  the  American  cause,  the  agents  were 
promptly  hanged  as  spies.  Such  was  the  patriot- 
ism of  the  half-starved  and  half-clothed  soldiers. 

In  May  of  this  year,  Cornwallis  took  command 
of  the  English  forces  in  Virginia,  destroying  about 
fifteen  million  dollars  worth  of  property.  Early 
in  October,  Washington  with  his  troops,  and  La- 
fayette and  De  Eochambeau  with  their  French 
troops,  gathered  at  Yorktown,  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  York  River.  For  ten  days  the  siege  was 
carried  on.  The  French  troops  rendered  heroic 
service.  Washington  was  so  in  earnest  that  one 
of  his  aids,  seeing  that  he  was  in  danger,  ventured 
to  suggest  that  their  situation  was  much  exposed. 
"  If  you  think  so,  you  are  at  liberty  to  step  back," 


30  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

was  the  grave  response  of  the  general.  Shortly 
afterwards  a  musket-ball  fell  at  Washington's  feet. 
One  of  his  generals  grasped  his  arm,  exclaiming, 
"We  can't  spare  you  yet."  When  the  victory  was 
finally  won.  Washington  drew  a  long  breath  and 
said,  "The  work  is  done  and  well  done."  Corn- 
wallis  surrendered  his  whole  army,  over  seven 
thousand  soldiers,  October  19,  1781. 

The  American  nation  was  thrilled  with  joy  and 
gratitude.  Washington  ordered  divine  service  to 
be  performed  in  the  several  divisions,  saying,  "  The 
commander-in-chief  earnestly  recommends  that  the 
troops  not  on  duty  should  universally  attend, 
with  that  seriousness  of  deportment  and  gratitude 
of  heart  which  the  recognition  of  such  reiterated 
and  astonishing  interpositions  of  Providence  de- 
mands of  us."  Congress  appointed  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  and  prayer,  and  voted  two  stands  of 
colors  to  Washington  and  two  pieces  of  field- 
ordnance  to  the  brave  French  commanders.  When 
Lord  North,  Prime  Minister  of  England,  heard  of 
the  defeat  of  the  British,  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  God  ! 
it  is  all  over  !  " 

The  nearly  seven  long  years  of  war  were  ended, 
and  America  had  become  a  free  nation. 

The  articles  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States  were  not  signed  till  September 
3,  1783.  On  November  4  the  army  was  disbanded, 
with  a  touching  address  from  their  idolized  com- 
mander. On  December  4,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  a  building  on  the  corner  of  Pearl  and  Broad 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  31 

Streets,  Washington  said  good-bye  to  his  officers, 
losing  for  a  time  his  wonderful  self-command.  "  I 
cannot  come  to  each  of  you  to  take  my  leave,"  he 
said,  "but  shall  be  obliged  if  each  of  you  will  come 
and  take  me  by  the  hand."  Tears  filled  the  eyes 
of  all,  as,  silently,  one  by  one,  they  clasped  his 
hand  in  farewell,  and  passed  out  of  his  sight. 

Then  Washington  repaired  to  Annapolis,  where 
Congress  was  assembled,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  on 
the  23d  of  December,  before  a  crowded  house, 
offered  his  resignation.  "  Having  now  finished  the 
work  assigned  me,  I  retire  from  the  great  theatre  of 
action ;  and  bidding  an  affectionate  farewell  to  this 
august  body,  under  whose  orders  I  have  long  acted, 
I  here  offer  my  commission,  and  take  my  leave  of 
all  the  employments  of  public  life."  "Few  trage- 
dies ever  drew  so  many  tears  from  so  many  beautiful 
eyes,"  said  one  who  was  present. 

The  beloved  general  returned  to  Mount  Vernon, 
to  enjoy  the  peace  and  rest  which  he  needed,  and 
the  honor  of  his  country  which  he  so  well  deserved. 
John  Parke  Custis,  Mrs.  Washington's  only  re- 
maining child,  had  died,  leaving  four  children,  two 
of  whom  —  Eleanor,  two  years  old,  and  George 
Washington,  six  months  old — the  general  adopted 
as  his  own.  These  brought  additional  "  sweetness 
and  light  "  into  the  beautiful  home. 

The  following  year  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  was 
a  guest  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  went  to  Fredericks- 
burg  to  bid  adieu  to  Washington's  mother.  When 
he  spoke  in  high  praise  of  the  man  whom  he 


32  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

so  loved  and  honored,  Mary  Washington  replied 
quietly,  "I  am  not  surprised  at  what  George  has 
done,  for  he  was  always  a  good  boy."  Blessed 
mother-heart,  that,  in  training  her  child,  could  look 
into  the  future,  and  know,  for  a  certainty,  the 
result  of  her  love  and  progress  !  She  died  August 
25,  1789. 

Three  years  later  —  May  25, 1787  —  a  convention 
met  at  Philadelphia  to  forni  a  more  perfect  union 
of  the  States,  and  frame  a  Constitution.  Wash- 
ington was  made  President  of  this  convention.  He 
had  long  been  reading  carefully  the  history  and 
principles  of  ancient  and  modern  confederacies, 
and  he  was  intelligently  prepared  for  the  honor 
accorded  him.  When  the  Constitution  was  fin- 
ished, and  ready  for  his  signature,  he  said :  "  Should 
the  United  States  reject  this  excellent  Constitution, 
the  probability  is  that  an  opportunity  will  never 
again  be  offered  to  cancel  another  in  peace;  the 
next  will  be  drawn  in  blood." 

When  the  various  States,  after  long  debate,  had 
accepted  the  Constitution,  a  President  must  be 
chosen,  and  that  man  very  naturally  was  the  man 
who  had  saved  the  country  in  the  perils  of  war. 
On  the  way  to  New  York,  then  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, Washington  received  a  perfect  ovation.  The 
bells  were  rung,  cannon  fired,  and  men,  women, 
and  children  thronged  the  way.  Over  the  bridge 
crossing  the  Delaware  the  women  of  Trenton  had 
erected  an  arch  of  evergreen  and  laurel,  with  the 
words,  "The  defender  of  the  mothers  will  be  the 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  33 

protector  of  the  daughters."  As  he  passed,  young 
girls  scattered  flowers  before  him,  singing  grateful 
songs.  How  different  from  that  crossing  years 
before,  with  his  worn  and  foot-sore  army,  amid  the 
floating  ice ! 

The  streets  of  New  York  were  thronged  with 
eager,  thankful  people,  who  wept  as  they  cheered 
the  hero,  now  fifty-seven,  who  had  given  nearly  his 
whole  life  to  his  country's  service.  On  April  30, 
1789,  the  inauguration  took  place.  At  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  religious  services  were  held  in  all 
the  churches.  At  twelve,  in  the  old  City  Hall,  in 
Wall  Street,  Chancellor  Livingston  administered 
the  oath  of  office,  Washington  stooping  down  and 
kissing  the  open  Bible,  on  which  he  laid  his  hand; 
"  the  man,"  says  T.  W.  Higginson,  "  whose  general- 
ship, whose  patience,  whose  self-denial,  had  achieved 
and  then  preserved  the  liberties  of  the  nation ;  the 
man  who,  greater  than  Caesar,  had  held  a  kingly 
crown  within  reach,  and  had  refused  it."  Wash- 
ington had  previously  been  addressed  by  some  who 
believed  that  the  Colonies  needed  a  monarchy  for 
strong  government.  Astonished  and  indignant, 
he  replied :  "  I  am  much  at  a  loss  to  conceive  what 
part  of  my  conduct  could  have  given  encourage- 
ment to  an  address  which  to  me  seems  big  with  the 
greatest  mischiefs  that  can  befall  my  country." 
After  taking  the  oath,  all  proceeded  on  foot  to  St. 
Paul's  Church,  where  prayers  were  read. 

The  next  four  years  were  years  of  perplexity  and 
care  in  the  building  of  the  nation.     The  great  war 


34  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

debt,  of  nearly  one  hundred  millions,  must  be  pro- 
vided for  by  an  impoverished  nation;  commerce 
and  manufactures  must  be  developed;  literature 
and  ediication  encouraged,  and  Indian  outbreaks 
quelled.  With  a  love  of  country  that  was  above 
party-spirit,  with  a  magnanimity  that  knew  no 
self-aggrandizement,  he  led  the  States  out  of  their 
difficulties.  When  his  term  of  office  expired,  he 
would  have  retired  gladly  to  Mount  Vernon  for 
life,  but  he  could  not  be  spared.  Thomas  Jefferson 
wrote  him :  "  The  confidence  of  the  whole  Union 
is  centred  in  you.  .  .  .  North  and  South  will  hang 
together,  if  they  have  you  to  hang  on." 

Again  he  accepted  the  office  of  President.  Af- 
fairs called  more  than  ever  for  wisdom.  He 
continually  counselled  "  mutual  forbearances  and 
temporizing  yieldings  on  all  sides."  France,  who 
had  helped  us  so  nobly,  was  passing  through  the 
horrors  of  the  Revolution.  The  blood  of  kings  and 
people  was  flowing.  The  French  Republic  having 
sent  M.  Genet  as  her  minister  to  the  United  States, 
he  attempted  to  fit  out  privateers  against  Great 
Britain.  Washington  knew  that  America  could  not 
be  again  plunged  into  a  war  with  England  without 
probable  self-destruction ;  therefore  he  held  to  neu- 
trality, and  demanded  the  recall  of  Genet.  The 
people  earnestly  sympathized  with  France,  and,  but 
for  the  strong  man  at  the  head  of  the  nation,  would 
have  been  led  into  untold  calamities.  The  country 
finally  came  to  the  verge  of  war  with  France,  but 
when  Napoleon  overthrew  the  Directory,  and  made 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  35 

himself  First  Consul,  he  Avisely  made  peace  with 
the  United  States. 

Washington  declined  a  third  term  of  office,  and 
sent  his  beautiful  farewell  address  to  Congress,  con- 
taining the  never-to-be-forgotten  words  :  "  Of  all  the 
dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  pros- 
perity, religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  sup- 
ports. .  .  .  Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards 
all  nations.  Cultivate  peace  and  harmony  with 
all." 

He  now  returned  to  Mount  Vernon  to  enjoy  the 
rest  he  had  so  long  desired.  Three  years  later  the 
great  man  lay  dying,  after  a  day's  illness,  from 
affection  of  the  throat.  From  difficulty  of  breathing, 
his  position  was  often  changed.  With  his  usual 
consideration  for  others,  he  said  to  his  secretary, 
"  I  am  afraid  I  fatigue  you  too  much."  "  I  feel  I 
am  going,"  he  said  to  his  physicians.  "I  thank 
you  for  your  attentions,  but  I  pray  you  to  take 
no  more  trouble  about  me."  The  man  who  could 
face  death  on  the  battle-field  had  no  fears  in  the 
quiet  home  by  the  Potomac.  In  the  midst  of 
his  agony,  he  could  remember  to  thank  those  who 
aided  him,  and  regret  that  he  was  a  source  of 
care  or  anxiety.  Great  indeed  is  that  soul  which 
has  learned  that  nothing  in  God's  universe  is  a 
little  thing. 

At  ten  in  the  evening  he  gave  a  few  directions 
about  burial.  "  Do  you  understand  me  ?  "  he 
asked.  Upon  being  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
he  replied,  "  'Tis  well ! "  when  he  expired  without 


36  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

a  struggle,  December  14,  1799.  Mrs.  Washington, 
who  was  seated  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  said :  "  'Tis 
well.  All  is  now  over.  I  shall  soon  follow  him. 
I  have  no  more  trials  to  pass  through." 

On  December  18,  1799,  the  funeral  procession 
took  its  way  to  the  vault  on  the  Mount  Vernon 
estate.  The  general's  horse,  with  his  saddle  and 
pistols,  led  by  his  groom  in  black,  preceded  the 
body  of  his  dead  master.  A  deep  sorrow  settled 
upon  the  nation.  The  British  ships  lowered  their 
flags  to  half-mast.  The  French  draped  their  stand- 
ards with  crape. 

Martha  Washington  died  three  years  later,  May 
22,  1802,  and  was  buried  beside  her  husband.  In 
1837,  the  caskets  were  enclosed  in  white  marble 
coffins,  now  seen  by  visitors  to  Mount  Vernon.  In 
1885  a  grand  marble  monument,  five  hundred  and 
fifty-five  feet  high,  was  completed  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac,  at  the  capital,  to  the  immortal  Wash- 
ington. 

Truly  wrote  Jefferson :  "  His  integrity  was  most 
pure;  his  justice  the  most  inflexible  I  have  ever 
known;  no  motives  of  interest  or  consanguinity, 
of  friendship  or  hatred,  being  able  to  bias  his  de- 
cision. He  was,  indeed,  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
a  wise,  a  good,  and  a  great  man." 

The  life  of  George  Washington  will  ever  be  an 
example  to  young  men.  He  had  the  earnest  heart 
and  manner  —  never  trivial  —  which  women  love, 
and  men  respect.  He  had  the  courage  which  the 
world  honors,  and  the  gentleness  which  made  little 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  37 

children  cling  to  him.  He  controlled  an  army  and 
a  nation,  because  he  understood  the  secret  of 
power  —  self-control.  Well  does  Mr.  Gladstone 
call  him  the  "  purest,  figure  in  history ;  "  unselfish, 
fair,  patient,  heroic,  true. 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


"  r~TlO  say  that  his  life  is  the  most  interesting,  the 

-A-  most  uniformly  successful,  yet  lived  by  any 
American,  is  bold.  But  it  is,  nevertheless,  strictly 
true."  Thus  writes  John  Bach  McMaster,  in  his 
life  of  the  great  statesman. 

In  the  year  1706,  January  6  (old  style),  in  the 
small  house  of  a  tallow-chandler  and  soap-boiler, 
on  Milk  Street,  opposite  the  Old  South  Church, 
Boston,  was  born  Benjamin  Franklin.  Already 
fourteen  children  had  come  into  the  home  of 
Josiah  Franklin,  the  father,  by  his  two  wives,  and 
now  this  youngest  son  was  added  to  the  struggling 
family  circle.  Two  daughters  were  born  later. 

The  home  was  a  busy  one,  and  a  merry  one 
withal ;  for  the  father,  after  the  day's  work,  would 
sing  to  his  large  flock  the  songs  he  had  learned  in 
his  boyhood  in  England,  accompanying  the  words 
on  his  violin. 

From  the  mother,  the  daughter  of  Peter  Folger 
of  Nantucket,  "  a  learned  and  godly  Englishman," 
Benjamin  inherited  an  attractive  face,  and  much  of 
his  hunger  for  books,  which  never  lessened  through 
his  long  and  eventful  life.  At  eight  years  of  age, 
38 


BENJAMIN   FRANKIIN.  39 

he  was  placed  in  the  Boston  Latin  School,  and  in 
less  than  a  year  rose  to  the  head  of  his  class.  The 
father  had  hoped  to  educate  the  boy  for  the  minis- 
try, but  probably  money  was  lacking,  for  at  ten  his 
school-life  was  ended,  and  he  was  in  his  father's 
shop  filling  candle-moulds  and  running  on  errands. 

For  two  years  he  worked  there,  but  how  he  hated 
it !  not  all  labor,  for  he  was  always  industrious,  but 
soap  and  candle-making  were  utterly  distasteful  to 
him.  So  strongly  was  he  inclined  to  run  away  to 
sea,  as  an  older  brother  had  done,  that  his  father 
obtained  a  situation  for  him  with  a  maker  of 
knives,  and  later  he  was  apprenticed  to  his  brother 
James  as  a  printer. 

Now  every  spare  moment  was  used  in  reading. 
The  first  book  which  he  owned  was  Bunyan's 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and  after  reading  this  over 
and  over,  he  sold  it,  and  bought  Burton's  "  Histori- 
cal Collections,"  forty  tiny  books  of  travel,  history, 
biography,  and  adventure.  In  his  father's  small 
library,  there  was  nothing  very  soul-stirring  to  be 
found.  Defoe's  "Essays  upon  Projects,"  contain- 
ing hints  on  banking,  friendly  societies  for  the  re- 
lief of  members,  colleges  for  girls,  and  asylums  for 
idiots,  would  not  be  very  interesting  to  most  boys 
of  twelve,  but  Benjamin  read  every  essay,  and, 
strange  to  say,  carried  out  nearly  every  "  project  " 
in  later  life.  Cotton  Mather's  "Essays  to  do 
Good,"  with  several  leaves  torn  out,  was  so  eagerly 
read,  and  so  productive  of  good,  that  Franklin 
Avrote,  when  he  was  eighty,  that  this  volume  "  gave 


40  BENJAMIN    FUANKLIN. 

me  such  a  turn  of  thinking  as  to  have  an  influence 
on  my  conduct  through  life ;  for  I  have  always  set 
a  greater  value  on  the  character  of  a  doer  of  good 
than  on  any  other  kind  of  reputation;  and,  if  I 
have  been  a  useful  citizen,  the  public  owe  the  ad- 
vantage of  it  to  that  book." 

As  the  boy  rarely  had  any  money  to  buy  books, 
he  would  often  borrow  from  the  booksellers'  clerks, 
and  read  in  his  little  bedroom  nearly  all  night,  be- 
ing obliged  to  return  the  books  before  the  shop 
was  opened  in  the  morning.  Finally,  a  Boston 
merchant,  who  came  to  the  printing-office,  noticed 
the  lad's  thirst  for  knowledge,  took  him  home  to 
see  his  library,  and  loaned  him  some  volumes. 
Blessings  on  those  people  who  are  willing  to  lend 
knowledge  to  help  the  world  upward,  despite  the 
fact  that  book-borrowers  proverbially  have  short 
memories,  and  do  not  always  take  the  most  tender 
care  of  what  they  borrow. 

When  Benjamin  was  fifteen,  he  wrote  a  few  bal- 
lads, and  his  brother  James  sent  him  about  the 
streets  to  sell  them.  This  the  father  wisely  checked 
by  telling  his  son  that  poets  usually  are  beggars,  a 
statement  not  literally  true,  but  sufficiently  near 
the  truth  to  produce  a  wholesome  effect  upon  the 
young  verse-maker. 

The  boy  now  devised  a  novel  way  to  earn  money 
to  buy  books.  He  had  read  somewhere  that  vege- 
table food  was  sufficient  for  health,  and  persuaded 
James,  who  paid  the  board  of  his  apprentice,  that 
for  half  the  amount  paid  he  could  board  himself. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  41 

Benjamin  therefore  attempted  living  on  pota- 
toes, hasty  pudding,  and  rice ;  doing  his  own  cook- 
ing, —  not  the  life  most  boys  of  sixteen  would 
choose.  His  dinner  at  the  printing-office  usually 
consisted  of  a  biscuit,  a  handful  of  raisins,  and  a 
glass  of  water ;  a  meal  quickly  eaten,  and  then,  0 
precious  thought !  there  was  nearly  a  whole  hour 
for  books. 

He  now  read  Locke  on  "  Human  Understanding," 
and  Xenophon's  "  Memorable  Things  of  Socrates." 
In  this,  as  he  said  in  later  years,  he  learned  one  of 
the  great  secrets  of  success ;  "  never  using,  when  I 
advanced  anything  that  may  possibly  be  disputed, 
the  words  certainly,  undoubtedly,  or  any  others  that 
give  the  air  of  positiveness  to  an  opinion  ;  but 
rather  say,  I  conceive  or  apprehend  a  thing  to  be 
so  and  so  ;  it  appears  to  me,  or  /  should  think  it  so 
or  so,  for  such  and  such  reasons ;  or,  it  is  so,  if  I 
am  not  mistaken.  ...  I  wish  well-meaning,  sensi- 
ble men  would  not  lessen  their  power  of  doing  good 
by  a  positive,  assuming  manner,  that  seldom  fails 
to  disgust,  tends  to  create  opposition,  and  to  defeat 
every  one  of  those  purposes  for  which  speech  was 
given  to  us,  to  wit,  giving  or  receiving  information 
or  pleasure.  ...  To  this  habit  I  think  it  princi- 
pally owing  that  I  had  early  so  much  weight  with 
my  fellow-citizens,  when  I  proposed  new  institu- 
tions or  alterations  in  the  old,  and  so  much  influ- 
ence in  public  councils  when  I  became  a  member ; 
for  I  was  but  a  bad  speaker,  never  eloquent,  subject 
to  much  hesitation  in  my  choice  of  words,  and  yet 


42  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

I  generally  carried  my  points."  A  most  valuable 
lesson  to  be  learned  early  in  life. 

Coming  across  an  odd  volume  of  the  "  Spectator," 
Benjamin  was  captivated  by  the  style,  and  resolved 
to  become  master  of  the  production,  by  rewriting 
the  essays  from  memory,  and  increasing  his  fulness 
of  expression  by  turning  them  into  verse,  and  then 
back  again  into  prose. 

James  Franklin  was  now  printing  the  fifth  news- 
paper in  America.  It  was  intended  to  issue  the 
first  —  Publick  Occurrences  —  monthly,  or  oftener, 
"  if  any  glut  of  occurrences  happens."  When  the 
first  number  appeared,  September  25,  1690,  a  very 
important  "occurrence  happened,"  which  was  the 
immediate  suspension  of  the  paper  for  expressions 
concerning  those  in  official  position.  The  next 
newspaper, — the  Boston  News-Letter, — a  weekly, 
was  published  April  24,  1704 ;  the  third  was  the 
Boston  Gazette,  which  James  was  engaged  to  print, 
but,  being  disappointed,  started  one  of  his  own, 
August  17,  1721,  called  the  New  England  Con  rant. 
The  American  Weekly  Mercury  was  printed  in 
Philadelphia  six  months  before  the  Courant. 

Benjamin's  work  was  hard  and  constant.  He 
not  only  set  type,  but  distributed  the  paper  to  cus- 
tomers. "Why,"  thought  he,  "can  I  not  write 
something  for  the  new  sheet  ?  "  Accordingly,  he 
prepared  a  manuscript,  slipped  it  under  the  door  of 
the  office,  and  the  next  week  saw  it  in  print  before 
his  eyes.  This  was  joy  indeed,  and  he  wrote  again 
and  again. 


BENJAMIN  Fit  AN  KLIN.  43 

The  Courant  at  last  gave  offence  by  its  plain 
speaking,  and  it  ostensibly  passed  into  Benjamin's 
hands,  to  save  his  brother  from  punishment.  The 
position,  however,  soon  became  irksome,  for  the  pas- 
sionate brother  often  beat  Benjamin,  till  at  last  he 
determined  to  run  away.  As  soon  as  this  became 
known,  James  went  to  every  office,  told  his  side  of 
the  story,  and  thus  prevented  Benjamin  from  ob- 
taining work.  Not  discouraged,  the  boy  sold  a 
portion  of  his  precious  books,  said  good-bye  to  his 
beloved  Boston,  and  went  out  into  the  world  to 
more  poverty  and  struggle. 

Three  days  after  this,  he  stood  in  New  York, 
asking  for  work  at  the  only  printing-office  in  the 
city,  owned  by  William  Bradford.  Alas  !  there 
was  no  work  to  be  had,  and  he  was  advised  to  go 
to  Philadelphia,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  away, 
where  Andrew  Bradford,  a  son  of  the  former,  had 
established  a  paper.  The  boy  could  not  have  been 
very  light-hearted  as  he  started  on  the  journey. 
After  thirty  hours  by  boat,  he  reached  Amboy, 
and  then  travelled  fifty  miles  on  foot  across  New 
Jersey.  It  rained  hard  all  day,  but  he  plodded  on, 
tired  and  hungry,  buying  some  gingerbread  of  a 
poor  woman,  and  wishing  that  he  had  never  left 
Boston.  His  money  was  fast  disappearing. 

Finally  he  reached  Philadelphia. 

"  I  was,"  he  says  in  his  autobiography.  "  in  my 
working  dress,  my  best  clothes  being  to  come  round 
by  sea.  I  was  dirty  from  my  journey  ;  my  pockets 
were  stuffed  out  with  shirts  and  stockings,  and  I 


44  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

knew  no  soul  nor  where  to  look  for  lodging.  I  was 
fatigued  wfth  travelling,  rowing,  and  want  of  rest. 
I  was  very  hungry,  and  my  whole  stock  of  cash 
consisted  of  a  Dutch  dollar  and  about  a  shilling  in 
copper.  The  latter  I  gave  the  people  of  the  boat 
for  my  passage,  who  at  first  refused  it,  on  account 
of  my  rowing,  but  I  insisted  on  their  taking  it ; 
a  man  being  sometimes  more  generous  when  he 
has  but  a  little  money  than  when  he  has  plenty, 
perhaps  through  fear  of  being  thought  to  have  but 
little. 

"  Then  I  walked  up  the  street,  gazing  about,  till 
near  the  Market-house  I  met  a  boy  with  bread.  I 
had  made  many  a  meal  on  bread,  and,  inquiring 
where  he  got  it,  I  went  immediately  to  the  baker's 
he  directed  me  to,  in  Second  Street,  and  asked  for 
biscuit,  intending  such  as  we  had  in  Boston ;  but 
they,  it  seems,  were  not  made  in  Philadelphia. 
Then  I  asked  for  a  threepenny  loaf,  and  was  told 
they  had  none  such.  So,  not  considering  or  know- 
ing the  difference  of  money,  and  the  greater  cheap- 
ness, nor  the  names  of  bread,  I  bade  him  give  me 
threepenny-worth  of  any  sort.  He  gave  me,  ac- 
cordingly, three  great  puffy  rolls.  I  was  surprised 
at  the  quantity,  but  took  it,  and,  having  no  room 
in  my  pockets,  walked  off  with  a  roll  under  each 
arm,  and  eating  the  other. 

"  Thus  I  went  up  Market  Street  as  far  as  Fourth 
Street,  passing  by  the  door  of  Mr.  Kead,  my  future 
wife's  father ;  when  she,  standing  at  the  door,  saw 
me,  and  thought  I  made,  as  I  certainly  did,  a  most 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  45 

awkward,  ridiculous  figure.  Then  I  turned  and 
went  down  Chestnut  Street  and  part  of  Walnut 
Street,  eating  my  roll  all  the  way,  and,  coming 
round,  found  myself  again  at  Market  Street  wharf, 
near  the  boat  I  came  in,  to  which  I  went  for  a 
draught  of  the  river  water ;  and,  being  filled  with 
one  of  my  rolls,  gave  the  other  two  to  a  woman 
and  her  child  that  came  down  the  river  in  the  boat 
with  us,  and  were  waiting  to  go  farther." 

After  this,  he  joined  some  Quakers  who  were 
on  their  way  to  the  meeting-house,  which  he  too 
entered,  and,  tired  and  homeless,  soon  fell  asleep. 
And  this  was  the  penniless,  runaway  lad  who  was 
eventually  to  stand  before  five  kings,  to  become 
one  of  the  greatest  philosophers,  scientists,  and 
statesmen  of  his  time,  the  admiration  of  Europe 
and  the  idol  of  America.  Surely,  truth  is  stranger 
than  fiction. 

The  youth  hastened  to  the  office  of  Andrew  Brad- 
ford, but  there  was  no  opening  for  him.  However, 
Bradford  kindly  offered  him  a  home  till  he  could 
find  work.  This  was  obtained  with  Keimer,  a 
printer,  who  happened  to  find  lodging  for  the 
young  man  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Bead.  As  the 
months  went  by,  and  the  hopeful  and  earnest  lad 
of  eighteen  had  visions  of  becoming  a  master  print- 
er, he  confided  to  Mrs.  Bead  that  he  was  in  love 
with,  and  wished  to  marry,  the  pretty  daughter, 
who  had  first  seen  him  as  he  walked  up  Market 
Street,  eating  his  roll.  Mr.  Bead  had  died,  and  the 
prudent  mother  advised  that  these  children,  both 


46  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

under  nineteen,  should  wait  till  the  printer  proved 
his  ability  to  support  a  wife. 

And  now  a  strange  thing  happened.  Sir  William 
Keith,  governor  of  the  province,  who  knew  young 
Franklin's  brother-in-law,  offered  to  establish  him 
in  the  printing  business  in  Philadelphia,  and,  bet- 
ter still,  to  send  him  to  England  with  a  letter  of 
credit  with  which  to  buy  the  necessary  outfit. 

A  mine  of  gold  seemed  to  open  before  him.  He 
made  ready  for  the  journey,  and  set  sail,  disap- 
pointed, however,  that  the  letter  of  credit  did  not 
come  before  he  left.  When  he  reached  England, 
he  ascertained  that  Sir  William  Keith  was  without 
credit,  a  vain  man  and  devoid  of  principle.  Frank- 
lin found  himself  alone  in  a  strange  country,  doubly 
unhappy  because  he  had  used  for  himself  and  some 
impecunious  friends  one  hundred  and  seventy -five 
dollars,  collected  from  a  business  man.  This  he 
paid  years  afterward,  ever  considering  the  use  of 
it  one  of  the  serious  mistakes  of  his  life. 

He  and  a  boy  companion  found  lodgings  at 
eighty-seven  cents  per  week ;  very  inferior  lodg- 
ings they  must  have  been.  There  was  of  course 
no  money  to  buy  type,  no  money  to  take  passage 
back  to  America.  He  wrote  a  letter  to  Miss  Head, 
telling  her  that  he  was  not  likely  to  return,  dropped 
the  correspondence,  and  found  work  in  a  printing- 
office. 

After  a  year  or  two,  a  merchant  offered  him  a 
position  as  clerk  in  America,  at  five  dollars  a  week. 
He  accepted,  and,  after  a  three-months  voyage, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  47 

reached  Philadelphia,  "the  cords  of  love,"  he  said, 
drawing  him.  back.  Alas !  Deborah  Read,  per- 
suaded by  her  mother  and  other  relatives;  had 
married,  but  was  far  from  happy.  The  merchant 
for  whom  Franklin  had  engaged  to  work  soon  died, 
and  the  printer  was  again  looking  for  a  situation, 
which  he  found  with  Keimer.  He  was  now  twenty- 
one,  and  life  had  been  anything  but  cheerful  or  en- 
couraging. 

Still,  he  determined  to  keep  his  mind  cheerful 
and  active,  and  so  organized  a  club  of  eleven  young 
men,  the  "Junto,"  composed  mostly  of  mechanics. 
They  came  together  once  a  month  to  discuss  ques- 
tions of  morals,  politics,  and  science.  As  most  of 
these  were  unable  to  buy  books  —  a  book  in  those 
days  often  costing  several  dollars  —  Franklin  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  a  subscription  library,  raised  the 
funds,  and  became  the  librarian.  Every  day  he  set 
apart  an  hour  or  two  for  study,  and  for  twenty 
years,  in  the  midst  of  poverty  and  hard  work,  the 
habit  was  maintained.  If  Franklin  himself  did  not 
know  that  such  a  young  man  would  succeed,  the 
world  around  him  must  have  guessed  it.  Out  of 
this  collection  of  books  —  the  mother  of  all  the 
subscription  libraries  of  this  country  —  has  grown 
a  great  library  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia. 

Keirner  proved  a  business  failure  ;  but  kindness 
to  a  felloAv-workman,  Meredith,  a  youth  of  intem- 
perate habits,  led  Franklin  to  another  open  door. 
The  father  of  Meredith,  hoping  to  save  his  son, 
started  the  young  men  in  business  by  loaning  them 


48  BENJAMIN  FRANEL1.\. 

five  hundred  dollars.  It  was  a  modest  beginning, 
in  a  building  whose  rent  was  but  one  hundred  and 
twenty  dollars  a  year.  Their  first  job  of  printing 
brought  them  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents.  As 
Meredith  was  seldom  in  a  condition  for  labor, 
Franklin  did  most  of  the  work,  he  having  started 
a  paper  —  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette.  Somepropb- 
esied  failure  for  the  new  firm,  but  one  prominent 
man  remarked :  "  The  industry  of  that  Franklin  is 
superior  to  anything  I  ever  saw  of  the  kind.  I  see 
him  still  at  work  when  I  go  home  from  the  club, 
and  he  is  at  work  again  before  his  neighbors  are 
out  of  bed." 

But  starting  in  business  had  cost  five  hundred 
more  than  the  five  hundred  loaned  them.  The 
young  men  were  sued  for  debt,  and  ruin  stared 
them  in  the  face.  Was  Franklin  discouraged  ? 
If  so  at  heart,  he  wisely  kept  a  cheerful  face  and 
manner,  knowing  what  poor  policy  it  is  to  tell  our 
troubles,  and  made  all  the  friends  he  could.  Sev- 
eral members  of  the  Assembly,  who  came  to  have 
printing  done,  became  fast  friends  of  the  intelli- 
gent and  courteous  printer. 

In  this  pecuniary  distress,  two  men  offered  to 
loan  the  necessary  funds,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  were  gratefully  accepted  from  each.  These 
two  persons  Franklin  remembered  to  his  dying  day. 
Meredith  was  finally  bought  out  by  his  own  wish, 
and  Franklin  combined  with  his  printing  a  small 
stationer's  shop,  with  ink,  paper,  and  a  few  books. 
Often  he  wheeled  his  paper  on  a  barrow  along  the 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  49 

streets.  Who  supposed  then  that  he  would  some 
day  be  President  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Penn- 
sylvania ? 

Franklin  was  twenty-four.  Deborah  Head's  hus- 
band had  proved  worthless,  had  run  away  from  his 
creditors,  and  was  said  to  have  died  in  the  West 
Indies.  She  was  lonely  and  desolate,  and  Franklin 
rightly  felt  that  he  could  brighten  her  heart.  They 
were  married  September  1, 1730,  and  for  forty  years 
they  lived  a  happy  life.  He  wrote,  long  after- 
ward, "  We  are  grown  old  together,  and  if  she  has 
any  faults,  I  am  so  used  to  them  that-  I  don't  per- 
ceive them."  Beautiful  testimony !  He  used  to 
say  to  young  married  people,  in  later  years,  "  Treat 
your  wife  always  with  respect ;  it  will  procure  re- 
spect to  you,  not  only  from  her,  but  from  all  that 
observe  it." 

The  young  wife  attended  the  little  shop,  folded 
newspapers,  and  made  Franklin's  home  a  resting- 
place  from  toil.  He  says :  "  Our  table  was  plain 
and  simple,  our  furniture  of  the  cheapest.  My 
breakfast  was,  for  a  long  time,  bread  and  milk  (no 
tea),  and  I  ate  it  out  of  a  twopenny  earthen  por- 
ringer, with  a  pewter  spoon :  but  mark  how  luxury 
will  enter  families,  and  make  a  progress  in  spite  of 
principle.  Being  called  one  morning  to  breakfast, 
I  found  it  in  a  china  bowl,  with  a  spoon  of  silver. 
They  had  been  bought  for  me  without  my  knowl- 
edge by  my  wife,  and  had  cost  her  the  enormous 
sum  of  three  and  twenty  shillings  !  for  which  she 
had  no  other  excuse  or  apology  to  make,  but  that 


50  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

she  thought  her  husband  deserved  a  silver  spoon 
and  china  bowl  as  well  as  any  of  his  neighbors." 

The  years  went  by  swiftly,  with  their  hard  work 
and  slow  but  sure  accumulation  of  property.  At 
twenty-seven,  having  read  much  and  written  con- 
siderable, he  determined  to  bring  out  an  almanac, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  day,  "for  conveying  in- 
struction among  the  common  people,  who  bought 
scarcely  any  other  book."  "Poor  Richard"  ap- 
peared in  December,  1732 ;  price,  ten  cents.  It 
was  full  of  wit  and  wisdom,  gathered  from  ever}- 
source.  Three  editions  were  sold  in  a  month. 
The  average  annual  sale  for  twenty-five  years  was 
ten  thousand  copies.  Who  can  ever  forget  the 
maxims  which  have  become  a  part  of  our  every -day 
speech  ?  —  "  Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise,  makes  a 
man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise."  —  "  He  that  hath  a 
trade,  hath  an  estate."  —  "  One  to-day  is  worth  two 
to-morrows."  —  "Never  leave  that  till  to-morrow 
which  you  can  do  to-day."  —  "  Employ  thy  time  well 
if  thou  meanest  to  gain  leisure  ;  and  since  thou  art 
not  sure  of  a  minute,  throw  not  away  an  hour."  — 
"  Three  removes  are  as  bad  as  a  fire."  —  "  What 
maintains  one  vice  would  bring  up  two  children."  — 
"  Many  a  little  makes  amickle."  —  "  Beware  of  little 
expenses ;  a  small  leak  will  sink  a  great  ship." 
—  "  If  you  would  know  the  value  of  money,  go  and 
try  to  borrow  some ;  for  he  that  goes  a-borrowing 
goes  a-sorrowing."  —  "  Rather  go  to  bed  supperless 
than  rise  in  debt."  —  "Experience  keeps  a  dear 
school,  but  fools  will  learn  in  no  other." 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  51 

All  interesting  story  is  told  concerning  the  prov- 
erb, "  If  you  would  have  your  business  done,  go ;  if 
not,  send."  John  Paul  Jones,  one  of  the  bravest 
men  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  had  become  the 
terror  of  Britain,  by  the  great  number  of  vessels  he 
had  captured.  In  one  cruise  he  is  said  to  have 
taken  sixteen  prizes ;  burned  eight  and  sent  home 
eight.  With  the  Eanger,  on  the  coast  of  Scotland, 
he  captured  the  Drake,  a  large  sloop-of-war,  and 
two  hundred  prisoners.  At  one  time,  Captain 
Jones  waited  for  many  months  for  a  vessel  which 
had  been  promised  him.  Eager  for  action,  he 
chanced  to  see  "  Poor  Richard's  Almanac,"  and 
read,  "  If  you  would  have  your  business  done,  go  ; 
if  not,  send."  He  went  at  once  to  Paris,  sought 
the  ministers,  and  was  given  command  of  a  vessel, 
which,  in  honor  of  Franklin,  he  called  Bon  Homme 
Richard. 

The  battle  between  this  ship  and  the  Serapis, 
when,  for  three  hours  and  a  half,  they  were  lashed 
together  by  Jones'  own  hand,  and  fought  one  of  the 
most  terrific  naval  battles  ever  seen,  is  well  known 
to  all  who  read  history.  The  Bon  Homme  Richard 
sunk  after  her  victory,  while  her  captain  received 
a  gold  medal  from  Congress  and  an  appreciative 
letter  from  General  Washington. 

So  bravely  did  Captain  Pearson,  the  opponent, 
fight,  that  the  King  of  England  made  him  a  knight. 
"  He  deserved  it,"  said  Jones,  "  and,  should  I  have 
the  good-fortune  to  fall  in  with  him  again,  I  will 
make  a  lord  of  him." 


52  BENJAMIN   FRANKLI\. 

No  wonder  that  Franklin's  proverbs  were  copied 
all  over  the  continent,  and  translated  into  French, 
German,  Spanish,  Italian,  Russian,  Bohemian. 
Greek,  and  Portuguese.  In  all  these  very  busy 
years,  Franklin  did  not  forget  to  study.  When  he 
was  twenty-seven,  he  began  French,  then  Italian, 
then  Spanish,  and  then  to  review  the  Latin  of  his 
boyhood.  He  learned  also  to  play  on  the  harp, 
guitar,  violin,  and  violoncello. 

Into  the  home  of  the  printer  had  come  two  sons, 
William  and  Francis.  The  second  was  an  uncom- 
monly beautiful  child,  the  idol  of  his  father. 
Small-pox  was  raging  in  the  city,  but  Franklin 
could  not  bear  to  put  his  precious  one  in  the  slight- 
est peril  by  inoculation.  The  dread  disease  came 
into  the  home,  and  Francis  Folger,  named  for  his 
grandmother  — at  the  age  of  four  years  —  went  sud- 
denly out  of  it.  "  I  long  regretted  him  bitterly,'* 
Franklin  wrote  years  afterwards  to  his  sister  Jane. 
"  My  grandson  often  brings  afresh  to  my  mind  the 
idea  of  my  son  Franky,  though  now  dead  thirty -six- 
years  ;  whom  I  have  seldom  since  seen  equalled  in 
every  respect,  and  whom  to  this  day  I  cannot  think 
of  without  a  sigh."  On  a  little  stone  in  Christ 
Church  burying-ground,  Philadelphia,  are  the  boy's 
name  and  age,  with  the  words,  "  The  delight  of  all 
that  knew  him." 

This  same  year,  when  Franklin  was  thirty,  he 
was  chosen  clerk  of  the  General  Assembly,  his 
first  promotion.  If,  as  Disraeli  said,  "the  secret 
of  success  in  life  is  for  a  man  to  be  ready  for  his 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  53 

opportunity  when  it  comes,"  Franklin  had  pre- 
pared himself,  by  study,  for  his  opportunity. 

The  year  later,  he  was  made  deputy  postmaster, 
and  soon  became  especially  helpful  in  city  affairs. 
He  obtained  better  watch  or  police  regulations,  or- 
ganized the  first  fire-company,  and  invented  the 
Franklin  stove,  which  was  used  far  and  wide. 

At  thirty-seven,  so  interested  was  he  in  educa- 
tion that  he  set  on  foot  a  subscription  for  an 
academy,  which  resulted  in  the  noble  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  of  which  Franklin  Avas  a  trustee  for 
over  forty  years.  The  following  year  his  only 
daughter,  Sarah,  was  born, 'who  helped  to  fill  the 
vacant  chair  of  the  lovely  boy.  The  father,  Josiah, 
now  died  at  eighty-seven,  already  proud  of  his  son 
Benjamin,  for  whom  in  his  poverty  he  had  done 
the  best  he  could. 

About  this  time,  the  Leyden  jar  was  discovered 
in  Europe  by  Musschenbroeck,  and  became  the 
talk  of  the  scientific  world.  Franklin,  always 
eager  for  knowledge,  began  to  study  electricity, 
with  all  the  books  at  his  command.  Dr.  Spence,  a 
gentleman  from  Great  Britain,  having  come  to 
America  to  lecture  on  the  subject,  Franklin  bought 
all  his  instruments.  So  much  did  he  desire  to  give 
his  entire  time  to  this  fascinating  subject  that  he 
sold  his  printing-house,  paper,  and  almanac,  for 
ninety  thousand  dollars,  and  retired  from  business. 
This  at  forty -two ;  and  at  fifteen  selling  ballads 
about  the  streets !  Industry,  temperance,'  and 
economy  had  paid  good  wages.  He  used  to  say 


54  11KXJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

that  these  virtues,  with  "sincerity  and  justice," 
had  won  for  him  "the  confidence  of  his  country." 
And  yet  Franklin,  with  all  his  saving,  was  gener- 
ous. The  great  preacher  Whitefield  came  to  Phil- 
adelphia to  obtain  money  for  an  orphan-house  in 
Georgia.  Franklin  thought  the  scheme  unwise, 
and  silently  resolved  not  to  give  when  the  collec- 
tion should  be  taken.  Then,  as  his  heart  warmed 
under  the  preaching,  he  concluded  to  give  the  cop- 
per coins  in  his  pocket ;  then  all  the  silver,  several 
dollars ;  and  finally  all  his  five  gold  pistoles,  so 
that  he  emptied  his  pocket  into  the  collector's 
plate. 

Franklin  now  constructed  electrical  batteries, 
introduced  the  terms  "  positive  "  and  "  negative  " 
electricity,  and  published  articles  on  the  subject, 
which  his  friend  in  London,  Peter  Collinson,  laid 
before  the  Royal  Society.  When  he  declared  his 
belief  that  lightning  and  electricity  were  identical, 
and  gave  his  reasons,  and  that  points  would  draw 
off  electricity,  and  therefore  lightning-rods  be  of 
benefit,  learned  people  ridiculed  the  ideas.  Still, 
his  pamphlets  were  eagerly  read,  and  Count  de 
Buffon  had  them  translated  into  French.  They 
soon  appeared  in  German,  Latin,  and  Italian. 
Louis  XV.  was  so  deeply  interested  that  he  or- 
dered all  Franklin's  experiments  to  be  performed 
in  his  presence,  and  caused  a  letter  to  be  writ- 
ten to  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  expressing 
his  admiration  of  Franklin's  learning  and  skill. 
Strange  indeed  that  such  a  scientist  should  arise 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN..  55 

in  the  new  world,  be  a  man  self-taught,  and  one  so 
busy  in  public  life. 

In  1752,  when  he  was  forty-six,  he  determined 
to  test  for  himself  whether  lightning  and  elec- 
tricity were  one.  He  made  a  kite  from  a  large 
silk  handkerchief,  attached  a  hempen  cord  to  it, 
with  a  silk  string  in  his  hand,  and,  with  his  son, 
hastened  to  an  old  shed  in  the  fields,  as  the  thun- 
der-storm approached. 

As  the  kite  flew  upward,  and  a  cloud  passed 
over,  there  was  no  manifestation  of  electricity. 
When  he  was  almost  despairing,  lo  !  the  fibres  of 
the  cord  began  to  loosen;  then  he  applied  his 
knuckle  to  a  key  on  the  cord,  and  a  strong  spark 
passed.  How  his  heart  must  have  throbbed  as  he 
realized  his  immortal  discovery  ! 

A  Ley  den  jar  was  charged,  and  Franklin  went 
home  from  the  old  shed  to  be  made  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  London,  to  receive  the  Copley 
gold  medal,  degrees  from  Harvard  and  Yale  Col- 
leges, and  honors  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Ah  ! 
if  Josiah  Franklin  could  have  lived  to  see  his  son 
come  to  such  renown !  And  Abiah,  his  mother,  had 
been  dead  just  a  month  !  But  she  knew  he  was 
coming  into  greatness,  for  she  wrote  him  near  the 
last :  "  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are  so  well  respected 
in  your  town  for  them  to  choose  you  an  alderman, 
although  I  don't  know  what  it  means,  or  what  the 
better  you  will  be  of  it  besides  the  honor  of  it.  I 
hope  you  will  look  up  to  God,  and  thank  him  for 
all  his  good  providences  towards  you."  Sweetest 


56  BENJAMIN   FK  AN  KLIN. 

of  all  things  is  the  motherhood  that  never  lets  go 
the  hand  of  the  child,  and  always  points  Godward ! 

Lightning-rods  became  the  fashion,  though  there 
was  great  opposition,  because  many  believed  that 
lightning  was  one  of  the  means  of  punishing  the 
sins  of  mankind,  and  it  was  wrong  to  attempt  to 
prevent  the  Almighty  from  doing  his  will.  Some 
learned  men  urged  that  a  ball  instead  of  a  point 
be  used  at  the  end  of  the  rod,  and  George  III. 
insisted  that  the  president  of  the  Royal  Society 
should  favor  balls.  "But,  sire,"  said  Sir  John 
Pringle,  "  I  cannot  reverse  the  laws  and  operations 
of  nature." 

"Then,  Sir  John,  you  had  perhaps  better  re- 
sign," was  the  reply,  and  the  obstinate  monarch 
put  knobs  on  his  conductors. 

Through  all  the  scientific  discord,  Franklin  had 
the  rare  good-sense  to  remain  quiet,  instead  of 
rushing  into  print.  He  said,  "I  have  never  en- 
tered into  any  controversy  in  defence  of  my  philo- 
sophical opinions ;  I  leave  them  to  take  their 
chance  in  the  world.  If  they  are  right,  truth  and 
experience  will  support  them ;  if  ivrony,  they 
ought  to  be  refuted  and  rejected.  Disputes  are 
apt  to  sour  one's  temper  and  disturb  one's  quiet." 

Franklin  was  not  long  permitted  to  enjoy  his 
life  of  study.  This  sanie  year,  1752,  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly, 
and  reflected  every  year  for  ten  years,  "  without," 
as  he  says,  "  ever  asking  any  elector  for  his  vote. 
or  signifying,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  any 


HENJAM1N   FR  AS  KLIN.  57 

desire  of  being  chosen."  He  was  also,  with  Mr. 
William  Hunter  of  Virginia,  appointed  postmas- 
ter-general for  the  colonies,  having  been  the  post- 
master iu  Philadelphia  for  nearly  sixteen  years. 
So  excellent  was  his  judgment,  and  so  concilia- 
tory his  manner,  that  he  rarely  made  enemies,  and 
accomplished  much  for  his  constituents.  He  cut 
down  the  rates  of  postage,  advertised  unclaimed 
letters,  and  showed  his  rare  executive  ability  and 
tireless  energy. 

For  many  years  the  French  and  English  had 
been  quarrelling  over  their  claims  in  the  »New 
World,  till  finally  the  "  French  and  Indian  War," 
or  "Seven  Years'  War,"  as  it  was  named  in  Eu- 
rope, began.  Delegates  from  the  various  colonies 
were  sent  to  Albany  to  confer  with  the  chiefs  of 
the  Six  Nations  about  the  defence  of  the  country. 
Naturally,  Franklin  was  one  of  the  delegates. 
Before  starting,  he  drew  up  a  plan  of  union  for 
the  struggling  Americans,  and  printed  it  in  the 
Gazette,  with  the  now  well  known  wood-cut  at  the 
bottom ;  a  snake  cut  into  as  many  pieces  as  there 
were  colonies,  each  piece  having  upon  it  the  first 
letter  of  the  name  of  a  colony,  and  underneath  the 
words,  "  JOIN  or  DIE."  He  presented  his  plan  of 
union  to  the  delegates,  who,  after  a  long  debate, 
unanimously  adopted  it,  but  it  was  rejected  by 
some  of  the  colonies  because  they  thought  it  gave 
too  much  power  to  England,  and  the  king  rejected 
it  because  he  said,  "The  Americans  are  trying  to 
make  a  government  of  their  own." 


58  BENJAMIN    Fl!  AN  KLIN. 

Franklin  joined  earnestly  in  the  war,  and  com- 
manded the  forces  in  his  own  State,  but  was  sooii 
sent  abroad  by  Pennsylvania,  as  her  agent  to  bring 
some  troublesome  matters  before  royalty.  He 
reached  London,  July  27,  1757,  with  his  son 
William,  no  longer  the  friendless  lad  looking  for 
a  position  in  a  printing-house,  but  the  noted  scien- 
tist, and  representative  of  a  rising  nation.  Mem- 
bers of  the  Royal  Society  hastened  to  congratulate 
him  ;  the  universities  at  Oxford  and  Edinburgh 
conferred  degrees  upon  him.  While  he  attended  to 
matters  of  business  in  connection  with  his  mission, 
he  entertained  his  friends  with  his  brilliant  elec- 
trical experiments,  and  wrote  for  several  maga- 
zines on  politics  and  science. 

After  five  years  of  successful  labor,  Doctor 
Franklin  went  back  to  Philadelphia  to  receive 
the  public  thanks  of  the  Assembly,  and  a  gift  of 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  for  his  services.  His  son 
was  also  appointed  governor  of  New  Jersey,  by 
the  Crown.  Franklin  was  now  fifty-seven,  and 
had  earned  rest  and  the  enjoyment  of  his  honors. 
But  he  was  to  find  little  rest  in  the  next  twenty- 
five  years. 

The  "  Seven  Years'  War  "  had  been  terminated 
by  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  February  10,  1763.  Of 
course,  great  expenses  had  been  incurred.  The  fol- 
lowing year,  Mr.  Grenville,  Prime  Minister  of  Eng- 
land, proposed  that  a  portion  of  the  enormous  debt 
be  paid  by  America  through  the  Stamp  Act.  The 
colonies  had  submitted  already  to  much  taxation 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  59 

without  any  representation  in  Parliament,  and  had 
many  grievances.  The  manufacture  of  iron  and 
steel  had  been  forbidden.  Heavy  duties  had  been 
laid  upon  rum,  sugar,  and  molasses,  and  constables 
had  been  authorized  to  search  any  place  suspected 
of  avoiding  the  duties. 

When  the  Stamp  Act  was  suggested,  the  colonies, 
already  heavily  in  debt  by  the  war,  remonstrated 
in  public  meetings,  and  sent  their  protests  to  the 
king.  Franklin,  having  been  reappointed  agent 
for  Pennsylvania,  used  all  possible  effort  to  pre- 
vent its  passage,  but  to  no  avail.  The  bill  passed 
in  March,  1765.  By  this  act,  deeds  and  convey- 
ances were  taxed  from  thirty-seven  cents  to  one 
dollar  and  twenty -five  cents  apiece ;  college  de- 
grees, ten  dollars ;  advertisements,  fifty  cents  each, 
and  other  printed  matter  in  proportion. 

At  once,  the  American  heart  rebelled.  Bells 
were  tolled,  and  flags  hung  at  half-mast.  In  New 
York,  the  Stamp  Act  was  carried  about  the  streets, 
with  a  placard,  "The  folly  of  England  and  the 
ruin  of  America."  The  people  resolved  to  wear  no 
cloth  of  English  manufacture.  Agents  appointed 
to  collect  the  hated  tax  were  in  peril  of  their  lives. 
Patrick  Henry  electrified  his  country  by  the  well 
known  words,  "Caesar  had  his  Brutus,  Charles  I. 
had  his  Cromwell,  and  George  III."  —  and  when 
the  loyalists  shouted,  "  Treason ! "  he  continued, 
"  may  profit  by  their  example.  If  that  be  treason, 
make  the  most  of  it." 

Grenville  saw,  too  late,  the  storm  he  had  aroused.. 


60  BEXJAMIN   FHANKL1\. 

Franklin  was  now,  as  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "ex- 
tremely busy,  attending  members  of  both  houses, 
informing,  explaining,  consulting,  disputing,  in  a 
continual  hurry  from  morning  till  night."  His 
examination  before  the  House  of  Commons  filled 
England  with  amazement  and  America  with  joy. 
When  asked,  u  If  the  Stamp  Act  should  be  repealed, 
would  it  induce  the  Assemblies  of  America  to  ac- 
knowledge the  rights  of  Parliament  to  tax  them, 
and  would  they  erase  their  resolutions  ?  "  he  re- 
plied, "  No,  never !  " 

"What  used  to  be  the  pride  of  the  Ameri- 
cans ?  " 

"  To  indulge  in  the  fashions  and  manufactures  of 
Great  Britain." 

"  What  is  now  their  pride  ?  " 

"  To  wear  their  old  clothes  over  again,  till  they 
can  make  new  ones,"  said  the  fearless  Franklin. 

The  great  commoners  William  Pitt  and  Ed- 
mund Burke  were  our  stanch  friends.  A  cry  of 
distress  went  up  from  the  manufacturers  of  Eng- 
land, who  needed  American  markets  for  their  goods, 
and  in  1766  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed. 

America  was  overjoyed,  but  her  joy  was  of  short 
duration;  for  in  the  very  next  year  a  duty  was 
placed  on  glass,  tea,  and  other  articles.  Then  riots 
ensued.  The  duty  was  repealed  on  all  save  tea. 
When  the  tea  arrived  in  Boston  Harbor,  the  indig- 
nant citizens  threw  three  hundred  and  forty  chests 
overboard ;  in  Charlestown,  the  people  stored  it  in 
cellars  till  it  mildewed ;  and  from  New  York  and 


HEN  JAM  IN    FRANKLIN.  61 

Philadelphia  they  sent  it  home  again  to  Old  Eng- 
land. 

In  1774,  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  which  declared 
that  no  merchandise  should  be  landed  or  shipped 
at  the  wharves  of  Boston,  was  received  by  the 
colonists  with  public  mourning.  September  5  of 
this  year,  the  First  Continental  Congress  met  at 
Philadelphia,  and  again  a  manly  protest  was  sent 
to  George  III.  Again  the  great  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chat- 
ham, poured  out  his  eloquence  against  what  he  saw 
was  close  at  hand —  "a  most  accursed,  wicked,  bar- 
barous, cruel,  unjust,  and  diabolical  war."  But 
George  III.  was  immovable. 

The  days  for  Franklin  were  now  bitter  in  the 
extreme.  Ten  thousand  more  troops  had  been  sent 
to  General  Gage  in  Boston,  to  compel  obedience. 
Franklin's  wife  was  dying  in  Philadelphia,  longing 
to  see  her  husband,  who  had  now  been  absent  ten 
years,  each  year  expecting  to  return,  and  each  year 
detained  by  the  necessities  of  the  colonies.  At 
last  he  started  homeward,  landing  May  5,  1775. 
His  daughter  had  been  happily  married  to  Mr. 
Itichard  Bache,  a  merchant,  but  his  wife  was  dead, 
and  buried  beside  Franky.  The  battles  of  Lexing- 
ton and  Concord  had  been  fought ;  the  War  for 
Freedom  was  indeed  begun. 

Franklin  was  now  almost  seventy,  but  ready  for 
the  great  work  before  him.  He  loved  peace.  He 
said :  "  All  wars  are  follies,  very  expensive  and 
very  mischievous  ones.  When  will  mankind  be 
convinced  of  this,  and  agree  to  settle  their  differ- 


(32  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

ences  by  arbitration  ?  Were  they  to  do  it,  even  by 
the  cast  of  a  die,  it  would  be  better  than  by  fight- 
ing and  destroying  each  other."  But  now  war  was 
inevitable.  With  the  eagerness  of  a  boy  he  wrote 
to  Edmund  Burke  :  "  General  Gage's  troops  made 
a  most  vigorous  retreat,  —  twenty  miles  in  three 
hours,  —  scarce  to  be  paralleled  in  history ;  the 
feeble  Americans,  who  pelted  them  all  the  way, 
could  scarce  keep  up  with  them." 

He  was  at  once  made  a  member  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  called  to  meet  May  10,  at  Phila- 
delphia. George  Washington  and  Patrick  Henry, 
John  and  Samuel  Adams,  were  in  the  noted  assem- 
blage. They  came  with  brave  hearts  and  an  ear- 
nest purpose.  Franklin  served  upon  ten  commit- 
tees: to  engrave  and  print  Continental  money,  to 
negotiate  with  the  Indians,  to  send  another  but 
useless  petition  to  George  III.,  to  find  out  the 
source  of  saltpetre,  and  other  matters.  He  was 
made  postmaster-general  of  the  United  States,  and 
was  also  full  of  work  for  Pennsylvania. 

England  had  voted  a  million  dollars  to  conquer 
the  colonies,  and  had  hired  nearly  twenty  thousand 
Hessians  to  fight  against  them,  besides  her  own 
skilled  troops.  The  army  under  Washington  had 
no  proper  shelter,  little  food,  little  money,  and 
no  winter  clothing.  Franklin  was  Washington's 
friend  and  helper  in  these  early  days  of  discour- 
agement. At  first  the  people  had  hoped  to  keep 
united  to  the  mother  country ;  now  the  time  had 
arrived  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  by 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  68 

which  America  was  to  become  a  great  nation. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, Roger  Sherman  of  Connecticut,  and  Robert  R. 
Livingston  of  New  York  were  appointed  to  draw 
up  the  document.  Jefferson  wrote  the  Declara- 
tion, and  Franklin  and  Adams  made  a  few  verbal 
changes.  And  then,  with  the  feeling  so  well 
expressed  by  Franklin,  "We  must  hang  together, 
or  else,  most  assuredly,  we  shall  all  hang  sepa- 
rately," the  delegates  fearlessly  signed  their  names 
to  what  Daniel  Webster  well  called  the  "title-deed 
of  our  liberties." 

And  now  another  important  work  devolved  upon 
Franklin.  The  colonies  believed  that  the  French 
were  friendly  and  would  assist.  He  was  unani- 
mously chosen  commissioner  to  France,  to  repre- 
sent and  plead  the  cause  of  his  country.  Again 
the  white-haired  statesman  said  good-bye  to  Amer- 
ica, and  sailed  to  Europe.  As  soon  as  he  arrived, 
he  was  welcomed  with  all  possible  honor.  The 
learned  called  upon  him ;  his  pictures  were  hung 
in  the  shop-windows,  and  his  bust  placed  in  the 
Royal  Library.  When  he  appeared  on  the  street  a 
crowd  gathered  about  the  great  American.  He 
was  applauded  in  every  public  resort. 

"  Franklin's  reputation,"  said  John  Adams,  "  was 
more  universal  than  that  of  Leibnitz  or  Newton, 
Frederick  or  Voltaire ;  and  his  character  more  be- 
loved and  esteemed  than  any  or  all  of  them.  His 
name  was  familiar  to  government  and  people,  to 
kings,  courtiers,  nobility,  clergy,  and  philosophers, 


64  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

as  well  as  plebeians,  to  such  a  degree  that  there 
was  scarcely  a  peasant  or  a  citizen,  a  valet  de 
chambre,  coachman  or  footman,  a  lady's  chamber- 
maid or  a  scullion  in  a  kitchen,  who  was  not 
familiar  with  it,  and  who  did-  not  consider  him  a 
friend  to  humankind.  When  they  spoke  of  him 
they  seemed  to  think  he  was  to  restore  the  golden 
age."  Royalty  made  him  welcome  at  court,  and 
Marie  Antoinette  treated  him  with  the  gracious- 
ness  which  had  at  first  won  the  hearts  of  the 
French  to  the  beautiful  Austrian.  France  made 
a  treaty  of  alliance  with  America,  and  recognized 
her  independence,  February  6,  1778,  which  gave 
joy  and  hope  to  the  struggling  colonies.  Franklin 
was  now  made  minister  plenipotentiary.  What  a 
change  from  the  hated  work  of  moulding  tallow 
candles ! 

The  great  need  of  the  colonies  was  money  to 
carry  on  the  war,  and,  pressed  as  was  France  in 
the  days  preceding  her  own  revolution,  when  M. 
Keeker  was  continually  opposing  the  grants,  she 
loaned  our  country  —  part  of  it  a  gift  —  over  five 
million  dollars,  says  James  Parton,  in  his  admir- 
able life  of  Franklin.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as 
for  the  noble  men  like  Lafayette  who  came  to  our 
aid,  the  interests  of  France  should  always  be  dear 
to  America.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  was 
over,  Franklin  helped  negotiate  the  peace,  and 
returned  to  America  at  his  own  request  in  the  fall 
of  1785,  receiving  among  his  farewell  presents  a 
portrait  of  Louis  XVI.,  set  with  four  hundred  and 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  65 

eight  diamonds.  Thomas  Jefferson  became  minis- 
ter in  his  stead.  When  asked  if  he  had  replaced 
Dr.  Franklin,  he  replied,  "  I  succeed ;  no  one  can 
ever  replace  him." 

He  was  now  seventy-nine  years  old.  He  had 
been  absent  for  nine  years.  When  he  landed, 
cannon  were  fired,  church-bells  rung,  and  crowds 
greeted  him  with  shouts  of  welcome.  He  was  at 
once  made  President  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  at  eighty-one  a  delegate  to  the 
convention  that  framed  our  Constitution,  where  he 
sat  regularly  five  hours  a  day  for  four  months. 
To  him  is  due  the  happy  suggestion,  after  a  heated 
discussion,  of  equal  representation  for  every  State 
in  the  Senate,  and  representation  in  proportion  to 
population  in  the  House. 

At  eighty-four,  in  reply  to  a  letter  to  Washing- 
ton, he  received  these  tender  words :  — 

"  If  to  be  venerated  for  benevolence,  if  to  be  admired  for 
talents,  if  to  be  esteemed  for  patriotism,  if  to  be  beloved  for 
philanthropy,  can  gratify  the  human  mind,  you  must  have 
the  pleasing  consolation  to  know  that  you  have  not  lived  in 
vain.  And  I  flatter  myself  that  it  will  not  be  ranked 
among  the  least  grateful  occurrences  of  your  life  to  be 
assured  that,  so  long  as  I  retain  my  memory,  you  will  be 
recollected  with  respect,  veneration,  and  affection,  by  your 
sincere  friend,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

The  time  for  the  final  farewell  came,  April  17, 
1790,  near  midnight,  when  the  gentle  and  great 
statesman,  doubly  great  because  so  gentle,  slept 
quietly  in  death.  Twenty  thousand  persons  gath- 


66  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

ered  to  do  honor  to  the  celebrated  dead.  Not  only 
in  this  country  was  there  universal  mourning,  but 
across  the  ocean  as  well.  The  National  Assembly 
of  France  paid  its  highest  eulogies. 

By  his  own  request,  Franklin  was  buried  beside 
his  wife  and  Franky,  under  a  plain  marble  slab,  in 
Christ  Church  Cemetery,  Philadelphia,  with  the 
words,  — 

Benjamin 

nT, 
Deborah 


C      "90. 


He  was  opposed  to  ostentation.  He  used  to 
quote  the  words  of  Cotton  Mather  to  him  when  he 
was  a  boy.  On  leaving  the  minister's  house,  he 
hit  his  head  against  a  beam.  "  '  Stoop,'  said  Mather  ; 
'you  are  young,  and  have  the  world  before  you; 
stoop  as  you  go  through  it,  and  you  will  miss 
many  hard  thumps  !  '  This  advice,  thus  beat  into 
my  head,  has  frequently  been  of  use  to  me,  and  I 
often  think  of  it  when  I  see  pride  mortified,  and 
misfortunes  brought  upon  people  by  their  carrying 
their  heads  too  high.'' 

Tolerant  with  all  religions,  sweet-tempered,  with 
remarkable  tact  and  genuine  kindness,  honest,  and 
above  jealousy,  he  adopted  this  as  his  rule,  which 
we  may  well  follow:  "To  go  straight  forward  in 
doing  what  appears  to  me  to  be  right,  leaving  the 
consequences  to  Providence." 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


FIVE  miles  east  of  Charlottesville.  Virginia, 
near  where  the  River  Bivanna  enters  the 
James,  Thomas  Jefferson  was  born,  April  13,  1743, 
the  third  in  a  family  of  eight  children. 

Peter  Jefferson,  his  father,  descended  from  a 
Welsh  ancestry,  was  a  self-made  man.  The  son  of 
a  farmer,  with  little  chance  for  schooling,  he  im- 
proved every  opportunity  to  read,  became,  like 
George  Washington,  a  surveyor,  and  endured  cheer- 
fully all  the  perils  of  that  pioneer  life.  Often,  in 
making  his  survey  across  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains, 
he  was  obliged  to  defend  himself  against  the  at- 
tacks of  wild  beasts,  and  to  sleep  in  hollow  trees. 
When  the  provisions  gave  out,  and  his  companions 
fell  fainting  beside  him,  he  subsisted  on  raw  flesh, 
and  stayed  on  until  his  work  was  completed. 

So  strong  was  he  physically  that  when  two 
hogsheads  of  tobacco,  each  weighing  a  thousand 
pounds,  were  lying  on  their  sides,  he  could  raise 
them  both  upright  at  once.  Besides  this  great 
strength  of  body,  he  developed  great  strength  of 
mind.  Shakespeare  and  Addison  were  his  favorites. 
67 


fig  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

It  was  not  strange  that  by  and  by  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses. 

When  Peter  Jefferson  was  thirty-one,  he  married 
into  a  family  much  above  his  own  socially  —  Jane, 
the  daughter  of  Isham  Randolph,  a  rich  and  cult- 
ured gentleman.  She  was  but  nineteen,  of  a  most 
cheerful  and  hopeful  temperament,  with  a  passion- 
ate love  of  nature  in  every  flower  and  tree. 

From  these  two  the  boy  Thomas  inherited  the 
two  elements  that  make  a  man's  character  beautiful, 
not  less  than  a  woman's  —  strength  and  sweetness. 
With  his  mother's  nature,  he  found  delight  in  every 
varying  cloud,  every  rich  sunset  or  sunrise,  and  in 
that  ever  new  and  ever  wonderful  change  from 
new  moon  to  full  and  from  full  to  new  again. 
How  tender  and  responsive  such  a  soul  becomes ! 
How  it  warms  toward  human  nature  from  its  love 
for  the  material  world ! 

When  Thomas  was  five  years  old,  he  was  sent  to 
a  school  where  English  only  was  taught.  The  hours 
of  confinement  doubtless  seemed  long  to  a  child 
used  to  wander  at  will  over  the  fields,  for  one  day, 
becoming  impatient  for  school  to  be  dismissed,  he 
went  out-of-doors,  knelt  behind  the  house,  and  re- 
peated the  Lord's  Prayer,  thus  hoping  to  expedite 
matters ! 

At  nine  he  entered  the  family  of  Rev.  William 
Douglas,  a  Scotch  clergyman,  where  he  learned 
Greek,  Latin,  and  French.  So  fond  did  he  become 
of  the  classics  that  he  said,  years  later,  if  he  were 
obliged  to  decide  between  the  pleasure  derived  from 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON.  69 

them  and  the  estate  left  him  by  his  father,  he  would 
have  greatly  preferred  poverty  and  education. 

All  these  early  years  at  "  Shadwell,"  the  Jeffer- 
son home,  —  so  named  after  his  mother's  home  in 
England,  where  she  was  born,  —  Thomas  had  an 
especially  dear  companion  in  his  oldest  sister,  Jane. 
Her  mind  was  like  his  own,  quick  and  compre- 
hensive, and  her  especial  delight,  like  his,  was  in 
music.  Three  things,  he  said,  became  a  passion 
with  him,  "Mathematics,  music,  and  architecture." 
Jane  had  a  charming  voice,  and  her  brother  became 
a  skilled  performer  on  the  violin,  often  practising 
three  hours  a  day  in  his  busy  student  life. 

Peter  Jefferson,  the  strong,  athletic  Assembly- 
man, died  suddenly  when  Thomas  was  but  fourteen, 
urging,  as  his  dying  request,  that  this  boy  be  well 
educated.  There  was  but  one  other  son,  and  he 
an  infant.  The  sweet-tempered  Mrs.  Jefferson, 
under  forty,  was  left  with  eight  children  to  care 
for ;  but  she  kept  her  sunny,  hopeful  heart. 

When  Thomas  was  a  little  more  than  sixteen,  he 
entered  the  college  of  William  and  Mary,  at  Will- 
iamsburg.  He  was  a  somewhat  shy,  tall,  slight 
boy,  eager  for  information,  and  warm-hearted.  It 
was  not  surprising  that  he  made  friends  with  those 
superior  to  himself  in  mental  acquirements.  He 
says,  in  his  Memoirs  :  "  It  was  my  great  good-for- 
tune, and  what,  perhaps,  fixed  the  destinies  of  my 
life,  that  Dr.  William  Small  of  Scotland  was  the 
professor  of  mathematics,  a  man  profound  in  most 
of  the  useful  branches  of  science,  with  a  happy 


70  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

talent  of  communication,  correct  and  gentlemanly 
manners,  and  an  enlarged  and  liberal  mind.  He, 
most  happily  for  me,  became  soon  attached  to  me, 
and  made  me  his  daily  companion  when  not  engaged 
in  the  school ;  and  from  his  conversation  I  got  my 
first  views  of  the  expansion  of  science  and  of  the 
system  of  things  in  which  we  are  placed.  Fortu- 
nately, the  philosophical  chair  became  vacant  soon 
after  my  arrival  at  college,  and  he  was  appointed 
to  fill  it  per  interim  ;  and  he  was  the  first  who  ever 
gave  in  that  college  regular  lectures  in  ethics, 
rhetoric,  and  belles-lettres.  He  returned  to  Europe 
in  1762,  having  previously  filled  up  the  measure  of 
his  goodness  to  me  by  procuring  for  me,  from  his 
most  intimate  friend,  George  Wythe,  a  reception  as 
a  student  of  law  under  his  direction,  and  introduced 
me  to  the  acquaintance  and  familiar  table  of  Gov- 
ernor Fauquier,  the  ablest  man  who  had  ever  filled 
that  office." 

The  governor,  though  an  accomplished  scholar 
and  great  patron  of  learning,  was  very  fond  of 
card-playing,  and  of  betting  in  the  play.  In  this 
direction  his  influence  became  most  pernicious  to 
Virginia.  Strangely  enough,  young  Jefferson  never 
knew  one  card  from  another,  and  never  allowed 
them  to  be  played  in  his  house. 

He  devoted  himself  untiringly  to  his  books.  He 
worked  fifteen  hours  a  day,  allowing  himself  only 
time  to  run  out  of  town  for  a  mile  in  the  twilight, 
before  lighting  the  candles,  as  necessary  exercise. 
Though,  from  the  high  social  position  of  his 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  71 

mother,  he  had  many  acquaintances  at  Williams- 
burg,  Thomas  went  little  in  society,  save  to  dine 
with  the  prominent  men  above  mentioned.  These 
were  a  constant  stimulant  to  him.  A  great  man, 
or  the  written  life  of  a  great  man,  becomes  the 
maker  of  other  great  men.  The  boy  had  learned 
early  in  life  one  secret  of  success  ;  to  ally  one's 
self  to  superior  men  and  women. 

Years  afterward,  he  wrote  to  his  eldest  grand- 
son, "I  had  the  good-fortune  to  become  acquainted 
very  early  with  some  characters  of  very  high  stand- 
ing, and  to  feel  the  incessant  wish  that  I  could  ever 
become  what  they  were.  Under  temptations  and 
difficulties,  I  would  ask  myself,  what  would  Dr. 
Small,  Mr.  Wythe,  Peyton  Eandolph  do  in  this 
situation  ?  What  course  in  it  will  insure  me  their 
approbation  ?  I  am  certain  that  this  mode  of  de- 
ciding on  my  conduct  tended  more  to  correctness 
than  any  reasoning  powers  I  possessed.  Knowing 
the  even  and  dignified  lives  they  pursued,  I  could 
never  doubt  for  a  moment  which  of  two  courses 
would  be  in  character  for  them.  From  the  circum- 
stances of  my  position,  I  was  often  thrown  into  the 
society  of  horse-racers,  card-players,  fox-hunters, 
scientific  and  professional  men,  and  of  dignified 
men ;  and  many  a  time  have  I  asked  myself  in  the 
enthusiastic  moment  of  the  death  of  a  fox,  the 
victory  of  a  favorite  horse,  the  issue  of  a  question 
eloquently  argued  at  the  bar  or  in  the  great  coun- 
cil of  the  nation,  well,  which  of  these  kinds  of 
reputation  should  I  prefer  —  that  of  a  horse-jockey, 


72  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

a  fox-hunter,  an  orator,  or  the  honest  advocate  of 
my  country's  rights  ?  " 

The  very  fact  that  Jefferson  thus  early  in  life 
valued  character  and  patriotism  above  everything 
else  was  a  sure  indication  of  a  grand  and  successful 
manhood.  We  usually  build  for  ourselves  the  kind 
of  house  we  start  to  build  in  early  years.  If  it  is 
an  abode  of  pleasure,  we  live  in  the  satiety  and 
littleness  of  soul  which  such  a  life  brings.  If  it 
is  an  abode  of  worship  of  all  that  is  pure  and  ex- 
alted, we  walk  among  high  ideals,  with  the  angels 
for  ministering  spirits,  and  become  a  blessing  to 
ourselves  and  to  mankind. 

In  these  college-days,  Jefferson  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  fun-loving,  brilliant  Patrick 
Henry,  forming  a  friendship  that  became  of  great 
value  to  both.  After  two  years  in  college,  where 
he  had  obtained  a  fair  knowledge  of  French,  Span- 
ish, and  Italian,  besides  his  Latin  and  Greek,  he 
went  home  to  spend  the  winter  in  reading  law. 
But  other  thoughts  continually  mingled  with  Coke. 
On  every  page  he  read  the  name  of  a  beautiful  girl 
of  whom  he  had  become  very  fond.  She  had  given 
him  a  watch-paper,  which  having  become  spoiled 
accidentally,  the  law-student  wrote  to  his  friend 
John  Page,  afterward  governer  of  Virginia,  "  I 
would  fain  ask  the  favor  of  Miss  Becca  Burwell  to 
give  me  another  watch-paper  of  her  own  cutting, 
which  I  should  esteem  much  more,  though  it  were  a 
plain  round  one,  than  the  nicest  in  the  world,  cut 
by  other  hands."  He  asked  advice  of  Page  as  to 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  73 

whether  he  had  better  go  to  her  home  and  tell  her 
what  was  in  his  heart.  "  Inclination  tells  me  to 
go,  receive  my  sentence,  and  be  no  longer  in  sus- 
pense ;  but  reason  says,  '  If  you  go,  and  your 
attempt  proves  unsuccessful,  you  will  be  ten  times 
more  wretched  than  ever.'  " 

He  battled  with  Coke  all  winter  and  all  the  next 
summer,  —  a  young  man  in  love  who  can  thus  bend 
himself  to  his  work  shows  a  strong  will,  —  going  to 
Williamsburg  in  October  to  attend  the  General 
Court,  and  to  meet  and  ask  Miss  Burwell  for  her 
heart  and  hand.  Alas  !  he  found  her  engaged  to 
another.  Possibly,  he  was  "  ten  times  more 
wretched  than  ever,"  but  it  was  wise  to  know  the 
worst. 

A  young  man  of  twenty-one  usually  makes  the 
best  of  an  unfortunate  matter,  remembering  that 
life  is  all  before  him,  and  he  must  expect  difficul- 
ties. The  following  year,  a  sister  married  one  of 
his  dearest  friends,  Dabney  Carr ;  and  the  same 
year,  1765,  his  pet  sister,  Jane,  died.  To  the  end 
of  his  life,  he  never  forgot  this  sorrow  ;  and,  even 
in  his  extreme  old  age,  said  "that  often  in  church 
some  sacred  air,  which  her  sweet  voice  had  made 
familiar  to  him  in  youth,  recalled  to  him  sweet 
visions  of  this  sister,  whom  he  had  loved  so  well 
and  buried  so  young." 

After  five  years  spent  in  law  studies,  rising  at 
five,  even  in  winter,  for  his  work,  he  began  to  prac- 
tise, with  remarkable  success.  He  was  not  a  gifted 
speaker,  but,  having  been  a  close  student,  his  knowl- 


74  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

edge  was  highly  valued.  Years  afterward,  an  old 
gentleman  who  knew  Jefferson,  when  asked.  "  "\Yhat 
was  his  power  in  the  court-room  ?  "  answered,  "  He 
always  took  the  right  side." 

Partou  says,  in  his  valuable  life  of  Jefferson. 
"  He  had  most  of  the  requisites  of  a  great  lawyer ; 
industry,  so  quiet,  methodical,  and  sustained  that 
it  amounted  to  a  gift ;  learning,  multifarious  and" 
exact ;  skill  and  rapidity  in  handling  books ;  the 
instinct  of  research,  that  leads  him  who  has  it  to 
the  fact  he  wants,  as  surely  as  the  hound  scents  the 
game ;  a  serenity  of  temper,  which  neither  the  in- 
aptitude of  witnesses  nor  the  badgering  of  counsel 
could  ever  disturb  ;  a  habit  of  getting  everything 
upon  paper  in  such  a  way  that  all  his  stores  of 
knowledge  could  be  marshalled  and  brought  into 
action ;  a  ready  sympathy  with  a  client's  mind ;  an 
intuitive  sense  of  what  is  due  to  the  opinions,  prej- 
udices, and  errors  of  others ;  a  knowledge  of  the 
few  avenues  by  which  alone  unwelcome  truth  can 
find  access  to  a  human  mind ;  and  the  power  to 
state  a  case  with  the  clearness  and  brevity  that 
often  make  argument  superfluous." 

In  1768,  when  he  was  only  twenty -five  years  old. 
he  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  Virginia 
Legislature,  and  was  elected.  He  entered  upon 
his  public  life,  which  lasted  for  forty  years,  with 
the  resolution  "  never  to  engage,  while  in  public 
office,  in  any  kind  of  enterprise  for  the  improve- 
ment of  my  fortune ; "  and  he  kept  his  resolu- 
tion. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  75 

Two  years  after  he  began  to  practise  law,  the 
house  at  "  Shadwell  "  was  burned.  He  was  absent 
from  home,  and  greatly  concerned  about  his  library. 
When  a  colored  man  came  to  tell  him  of  his  loss, 
Jefferson  inquired  eagerly  for  his  books.  "  Oh," 
replied  the  servant,  carelessly,  "they  were  all 
burnt,  but  ah  !  we  saved  your  fiddle  !  " 

A  new  house  was  now  begun,  two  miles  from 
the  Shadwell  home,  on  a  hill  five  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  high,  which  he  called  afterwards 
"  Monticcllo,"  the  Italian  for  "  Little  Mountain." 
This  had  long  been  a  favorite  retreat  for  Jefferson. 
He  and  Dabney  Carr  had  come  here  day  after  day, 
in  the  summer-time,  and  made  for  themselves  a 
rustic  seat  under  a  great  oak,  where  they  read  law 
together,  and  planned  the  rose-colored  plans  of 
youth.  Sweet,  indeed,  is  it  that  we  have  such 
plans  in  early  years.  Those  get  most  out  of  life 
who  live  much  in  the  ideal ;  who  see  roses  along 
every  pathway,  and  hear  Nature's  music  in  every 
terrific  storm. 

Jefferson  was  building  the  Monticello  home  with 
bright  visions  for  its  future.  Another  face  had 
come  into  his  heart,  this  time  to  remain  forever. 
It  was  a  beautiful  face;  a  woman,  with  a  slight, 
delicate  form,  a  mind  remarkably  trained  for  the 
times,  and  a  soul  devoted  to  music.  She  had  been 
married,  and  was  a  widow  at  nineteen.  Her  father 
was  a  wealthy  lawyer ;  her  own  portion  was  about 
forty  thousand  acres  of  land  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five  slaves.  Although  Jefferson  had  less 


76  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

land,  his  annual  income  was  about  five  thousand 
dollars,  from  this  and  his  profession. 

Martha  Skelton  was  now  twenty-three,  and  Jef- 
ferson nearly  twenty-nine.  So  attractive  a  woman 
had  many  suitors.  The  story  is  told  that  two  in- 
terested gentlemen  came  one  evening  to  her  father's 
house,  with  the  purpose  of  having  their  future  defi- 
nitely settled.  When  they  arrived,  they  heard 
singing  in  the  drawing-room.  They  listened,  and 
the  voices  were  unmistakably  those  of  Jefferson 
and  Martha  Skelton.  Making  up  their  minds  that 
"  their  future  was  definitely  settled,"  as  far  as  she 
was  concerned,  they  took  their  hats  and  withdrew. 

Jefferson  was  married  to  the  lady  January  1, 
1772,  and  after  the  wedding  started  for  Monticello. 
The  snow  had  fallen  lightly,  but  soon  became  so 
deep  that  they  were  obliged  to  quit  the  carriage 
and  proceed  on  horseback.  Arriving  late  at  night, 
the  fires  were  out  and  the  servants  in  bed  ;  but  love 
keeps  hearts  warm,  and  darkness  and  cold  were  for- 
gotten in  the  satisfaction  of  having  won  each  other. 
This  satisfaction  was  never  clouded.  For  years, 
the  home  life  deepened  with  its  joys  and  sorrows. 
A  little  girl,  Martha,  was  first  born  into  the  home  ; 
then  Jane,  who  died  when  eighteen  months  old, 
and  then  an  only  son,  who  died  in  seventeen  days. 
Monticello  took  on  new  beauty.  Trees  were  set 
out  and  flower-beds  planted.  The  man  who  so 
loved  nature  made  this  a  restful  and  beautiful 
place  for  his  little  group. 

The  year  after  Jefferson's  marriage,  Dabney  Carr, 


THOMAS  JEFFEBSON.  77 

the  brilliant  young  member  of  the  Virginia  Assem- 
bly, a  favorite  in  every  household,  eloquent  and 
lovable,  died  in  his  thirtieth  year.  His  wife,  for 
a  time,  lost  her  reason  in  consequence.  Carr  was 
buried  at  "  Shadwell,"  as  Jefferson  was  away  from 
home  ;  but,  upon  his  return,  the  boyish  promise 
was  kept,  and  the  friend  was  interred  under  the 
old  oak  at  Monticello,  with  these  words  on  the 
stone,  written  by  Jefferson  :  — 

"To  his  Virtue,  Good-Sense,    Learning,   and   Friendship, 

this  stone  is  dedicated  by  Thomas  Jefferson,  who, 

of  all  men   living,  loved   him  most." 

At  once,  Mrs.  Carr,  with  her  six  little  children, 
came  to  Jefferson's  home,  and  lived  there  ever 
after,  he  educating  the  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters of  his  widowed  sister  as  though  they  were  his 
own.  Thus  true  and  tender  was  he  to  those  whom 
he  loved. 

For  some  years  past,  Jefferson  had  been  develop- 
ing under  that  British  teaching  Avhich  led  America 
to  freedom.  When  a  student  of  law,  he  had  lis- 
tened to  Patrick  Henry's  immortal  speech  in  the 
debate  on  the  Stamp  Act.  "  I  attended  the  debate," 
said  Jefferson  in  his  Memoir,  "  and  heard  the 
splendid  display  of  Mr.  Henry's  talents  as  a  popu- 
lar orator.  They  were  indeed  great ;  such  as  I 
have  never  heard  from  any  other  man.  He  ap- 
peared to  me  to  speak  as  Homer  Wrote.  ...  I 
never  heard  anything  that  deserved  to  be  called  by 


78  THOMAS  JEFFER80X. 

the  same  name  with  what  flowed  from  him ;  and 
where  he  got  that  torrent  of  language  from  is 
inconceivable.  I  have  frequently  shut  my  eyes 
while  he  spoke,  and,  when  he  was  done,  asked 
myself  what  he  had  said,  without  being  able  to 
recollect  a  word  of  it.  He  was  no  logician.  He 
was  truly  a  great  man,  however,  —  one  of  enlarged 
views." 

The  whole  country  had  become  aflame  over  the 
burning  of  the  Gaspee,  in  March,  1772,  —  a  royal 
schooner  anchored  at  Providence,  E.  I.  The 
schooner  came  there  to  watch  the  commerce  of 
the  colonies,  and  to  search  vessels.  She  made 
herself  generally  obnoxious.  Having  run  aground 
in  her  chase  of  an  American  packet,  a  few  Rhode 
Islanders  determined  to  visit  her  and  burn  her. 
The  little  company  set  out  in  eight  boats,  muffling 
their  oars,  reaching  her  after  midnight.  The  Gas- 
pee  was  taken  unawares,  the  hands  of  the  crew  tied 
behind  them,  and  the  vessel  burned. 

At  once  a  reward  of  five  thousand  dollars  was 
offered  for  the  detection  of  any  person  concerned ; 
but,  though  everybody  knew,  nobody  would  tell. 
Word  came  from  England  "  that  the  persons  con- 
cerned in  the  burning  of  the  Gaspee  schooner,  and 
in  the  other  violences  which  attended  that  daring 
insult,  should  be  brought  to  England  to  be  tried.'' 
This  fired  the  hearts  of  the  colonists.  The  Vir- 
ginia House  of  Burgesses  appointed  a  committee 
to  correspond  with  other  Legislatures  on  topics 
which  concerned  the  common  welfare.  The  royal 


THOMAS  JEFFERSOX.  79 

governor  of  Virginia  had  no  liking  for  such  free 
thought  and  free  speech  as  this,  and  dissolved  the 
House,  which  at  once  repaired  to  a  tavern  and  con- 
tinued its  deliberations. 

Soon  a  convention  was  called,  before  which 
Jefferson's  "Summary  View  of  the  Rights  of 
British  America"  was  laid.  It  was  worded  as 
a  skilful  lawyer  and  polished  writer  knew  how  to 
word  it ;  and  it  stated  the  case  so  plainly  that, 
when  it  was  published,  and  sent  to  Great  Britain, 
Jefferson,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  had  the  honor  of 
having  his  name  inserted  in  a  long  list  of  pro- 
scriptions enrolled  in  a  bill  of  attainder  com- 
menced in  one  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  but 
suppressed  by  the  hasty  step  of  events."  Remote- 
ness from  England  doubtless  saved  his  life. 

Jefferson  went  up  to  the  Continental  Congress 
at  Philadelphia,  which  opened  May  10, 1775,  taking 
his  "Summary  View"  with  him.  The  delegates 
were  waiting  to  see  what  Virginia  had  to  say  in 
these  important  days.  She  had  instructed  her 
men  to  offer  a  resolution  that  "the  United  Colo- 
nies be  free  and  independent  States,"  which  was 
done  by  Richard  Henry  Lee,  on  June  7.  Four 
days  later,  Congress  appointed  a  committee  of 
five  to  prepare  a  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  only  thirty-two,  one  of  the 
youngest  members  of  Congress,  was  made  chair- 
man. How  well  he  had  become  fitted  to  write 
this  immortal  document !  It  was  but  a  condensa- 
tion of  the  "  Summary  View."  He  was  also,  says 


80  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

John  T.  Morse,  in  his  life  of  Jefferson,  "a  man 
without  an  enemy.  His  abstinence  from  any  ac- 
tive share  in  debate  had  saved  him  from  giving 
irritation." 

The  Declaration  still  exists  in  Jefferson's  clear 
handwriting.  For  three  days  the  paper  was  hotly 
debated,  "  John  Adams  being  the  colossus  of  the 
debate."  Jefferson  did  not  speak  a  word,  though 
Franklin  cheered  him  as  he  saw  him  "  writhing 
under  the  acrimonious  criticism  of  some  of  its 
parts." 

When  it  was  adopted,  the  country  was  wild  with 
joy.  It  was  publicly  read  from  a  platform  in 
Independence  Square.  Military  companies  gath- 
ered to  listen  to  its  words,  fired  salutes,  and  lighted 
bonfires  in  the  evenings.  The  step,  dreaded,  yet 
for  years  longed  for,  had  been  taken  —  separation 
and  freedom,  or  union  and  slavery.  Jefferson 
came  to  that  Congress  an  educated,  true-hearted 
lover  of  his  country ;  he  went  back  to  Martha 
Jefferson  famous  as  long  as  America  shall  endure. 
He  was  reflected  to  Congress,  but  declined  to 
serve,  as  he  wished  to  do  important  work  in  his 
own  State,  in  the  changing  of  her  laws. 

But  now,  October  8,  1776,  came  a  most  tempting 
offer ;  that  of  joint  commissioner  with  Benjamin 
Franklin  and  Silas  Deane  to  represent  America  at 
the  court  of  France.  He  had  always  longed  for 
European  travel ;  he  was  a  fine  French  scholar, 
and  could  make  himself  most  useful  to  his  new 
country,  but  his  wife  was  too  frail  to  undertake 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  81 

the  long  journey.  She  was  more  to  him  than  the 
French  mission,  and  he  stayed  at  home. 

Born  with  a  belief  in  human  brotherhood  and  a 
love  for  human  freedom,  he  turned  his  attention 
in  the  Virginia  Legislature  to  the  repeal  of  the 
laws  of  entail  and  primogeniture,  derived  from 
England.  He  believed  the  repeal  of  these,  and 
the  adoption  of  his  bill  "  for  establishing  religious 
freedom,"  would,  as  he  said,  form  a  system  by 
which  every  fibre  would  be  eradicated  of  ancient 
or  future  aristocracy.  "  The  repeal  of  the  laws  of 
entail  would  prevent  the  accumulation  and  per- 
petuation of  wealth  in  select  families.  .  .  .  The 
abolition  of  primogeniture,  and  equal  partition  of 
inheritances,  removed  the  feudal  and  unnatural 
distinctions  which  made  one  member  of  every 
family  rich  and  all  the  rest  poor.  .  .  .  The  restora- 
tion of  the  rights  of  conscience  relieved  the  people 
from  taxation  for  the  support  of  a  religion  not 
theirs." 

There  was  much  persecution  of  Dissenters  by 
the  Established  Church.  Baptists  were  often 
thrown  into  prison  for  preaching,  as  Patrick 
Henry  declared,  "the  Gospel  of  the  Saviour  to 
Adam's  fallen  race."  For  nine  years  the  matter 
of  freedom  of  conscience  was  wrestled  with,  be- 
fore Virginia  could  concede  to  her  people  the  right 
to  worship  God  as  they  pleased. 

Jefferson  was  averse  to  slavery,  worked  for  the 
colonization  of  the  slaves,  and  in  1778  carried 
through  a  bill  against  their  further  importation. 


82  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

He  Avrote  later,  in  his  "Notes  on  Virginia " :  "The 
whole  commerce  between  master  and  slave  is  a  per- 
petual exercise  of  the  most  boisterous  passions,  the 
most  unremitting  despotism,  on  the  one  part,  and 
degrading  submissions  on  the  other.  ...  I  trem- 
ble for  my  country  when  I  reflect  that  God  is  just ; 
that  his  justice  cannot  sleep  forever;  that,  consider- 
ing numbers,  nature,  and  natural  means  only,  a  rev- 
olution of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  an  exchange  of 
situations,  is  among  possible  events;  that  it  may 
become  probable  by  supernatural  interference! 
The  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  can  take 
side  with  us  in  such  a  contest."  When  his  State 
could  not  bring  itself  to  adopt  his  plan  of  freeing 
the  slaves,  he  wrote  in  his  autobiography,  in  1821, 
"  The  day  is  not  distant  when  it  must  bear  and 
adopt  it,  or  worse  will  follow.  Nothing  is  more 
certainly  written  in  the  book  of  fate  than  that 
these  people  are  to  be  free."  How  great  indeed 
was  the  man  who  could  look  beyond  his  own  per- 
sonal interests  for  the  well-being  of  the  race  ! 

He  worked  earnestly  for  common  schools  and 
the  establishment  of  a  university  in  his  native 
State,  believing  that  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of 
a  nation  to  make  its  people  intelligent  and  capa- 
ble of  self-government. 

In  June,  1779,  Jefferson  was  made  governor  of 
Virginia,  to  succeed  Patrick  Henry,  her  first  gov- 
ernor. The  Revolutionary  War  had  been  going 
forward,  with  some  victories  and  some  defeats. 
Virginia  had  given  generously  of  men,  money,  and 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  83 

provisions.  The  war  was  being  transferred  to  the 
South,  as  its  battle-ground.  British  fleets  had  laid 
waste  the  Atlantic  coast.  Benedict  Arnold  and 
Cornwallis  had  ravaged  Virginia.  When  General 
Tarlton  was  ordered  bo  Charlottesville,  in  1781, 
and  it  seemed  probable  that  Monticello  would  fall 
into  his  hands,  Jefferson  moved  his  family  to  a 
place  of  safety. 

When  the  British  arrived,  and  found  that  the 
governor  was  not  to  be  captured,  they  retired 
without  committing  the  slightest  injury  to  the 
place.  This  was  in  return  for  kindness  shown  by 
Jefferson  to  four  thousand  English  prisoners,  who 
had  been  sent  from  near  New  York,  to  be  in  camp 
at  Charlottesville,  where  it  seemed  cheaper  to  pro- 
vide for  them.  Jefferson  rightly  said:  "It  is  for 
the  benefit  of  mankind  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of 
war  as  much  as  possible.  The  practice,  therefore, 
of  modern  nations,  of  treating  captive  enemies 
with  politeness  and  generosity,  is  not  only  de- 
lightful in  contemplation,  but  really  interesting  to 
all  the  world  —  friends,  foes,  and  neutrals."  « 

Two  faithful  servants  at  Monticello,  fearful  that 
the  silver  might  be  stolen  by  the  red-coats,  con- 
cealed it  under  a  floor  a  few  feet  from  the  ground ; 
Caesar,  removing  a  plank,  and  slipping  through 
the  cavity,  received  it  from  the  hands  of  Martin. 
The  soldiers  came  just  as  the  last  piece  was 
handed  to  Caesar ;  the  plank  was  immediately 
restored  to  its  place,  and  for  nearly  three  days 
and  nights  the  poor  colored  man  remained  in  the 


84  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

dark,  without  food,  guarding  his  master's  treasures. 
When  a  soldier  put  his  gun  to  the  breast  of  Mar- 
tin and  threatened  to  fire  unless  Jefferson's  where- 
abouts was  disclosed,  the  brave  fellow  answered, 
"Fire  away,  then!"  A  man  or  woman  who  wins 
and  holds  such  loyalty  from  dependents  is  no 
ordinary  character. 

After  holding  the  office  of  governor  for  two 
years,  Jefferson  resigned,  feeling  that  a  military 
man  would  give  greater  satisfaction.  Such  a  one 
followed  him,  but  with  no  better  success  among 
the  half-despairing  patriots,  destitute  of  money 
and  supplies.  Jefferson,  with  his  sensitive  spirit, 
felt  keenly  the  criticisms  of  some  of  the  people, 
saying,  "  They  have  inflicted  a  wound  on  my  spirit 
which  will  only  be  cured  by  the  all-healing  grave." 
He  refused  to  return  to  public  life,  and  looked 
forward  to  happy  years  of  quiet  study  at  Monti- 
cello. 

How  little  we  know  the  way  which  lies  before 
us.  We  long  for  sunlight,  and  perchance  have 
only. storms.  We  love  to  be  as  children  who  must 
be  carried  over  the  swamps  and  rough  places,  not 
knowing  that  strength  of  manhood  and  womanhood 
comes  generally  through  struggling.  The  "happy 
years"  at  Monticello  were  already  numbered. 
Another  little  girl  had  come  to  gladden  the  heart 
of  the  man  who  so  loved  children,  and  had  quickly 
taken  her  departure.  And  now  Martha  Jeffer- 
son, at  thirty-four,  the  sweet,  gentle  woman  who 
had  lived  with  him  only  ten  short  years,  was  also 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  85 

going  away.  She  talked  with  him  calmly  about 
the  journey ;  she  said  she  could  not  die  content  if 
she  thought  their  children  would  have  a  step- 
mother. The  young  governor,  without  a  moment's 
thought  as  to  his  future  happiness,  taking  her 
hand,  solemnly  promised  that  he  would  never 
marry  again,  and  he  kept  his  word.  It  is  not 
known  that  any  person  ever  entered  the  place  left 
vacant  in  his  heart  by  Martha  Jefferson's  death. 

For  four  months  he  had  watched  by  her  bed- 
side, or  had  his  books  so  near  her  that  he  could 
work  without  being  separated  from  her.  When 
she  died  he  fainted,  and  remained  so  long  insensi- 
ble that  the  attendants  thought  he  could  never  be 
restored  to  consciousness.  For  three  weeks  he 
kept  his  room,  ministered  to  by  his  little  daughter 
Martha,  who  wound  her  arms  about  his  neck,  with 
that  inexpressible  consolation  that  only  a  pure, 
sweet  child-nature  can  give.  She  said  years  later, 
"  I  was  never  a  moment  from  his  side.  He  walked 
almost  incessantly,  night  and  day,  only  lying  down 
occasionally,  when  nature  was  completely  ex- 
hausted. .  .  .  When,  at  last,  he  left  his  room,  he 
rode  out.  and  from  that  time  he  was  on  horseback 
rambling  about  the  mountain,  in  the  least  fre- 
quented roads,  and  just  as  often  through  the 
woods.  In  those  melancholy  rambles  I  was  his 
constant  companion,  a  solitary  witness  to  many  a 
burst  of  grief." 

He  longed  now  for  a  change  of  scene  ;  Monticello 
was  no  more  a  place  of  peace  and  rest.  Being 


86  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

elected  to  Congress,  he  took  his  seat  in  November, 
1783.  To  him  we  owe,  after  much  heated  discus- 
sion, the  adoption  of  the  present  system  of  dollars 
and  cents,  instead  of  pounds  and  shillings.  In 
May,  1784,  he  was  appointed  minister  to  France, 
to  join  Dr.  Franklin  and  John  Adams  in  negoti- 
ating commercial  treaties.  He  sailed  in  July, 
taking  with  him  his  eldest  child,  Martha,  leaving 
Mary  and  an  infant  daughter  with  an  aunt. 

The  educated  governor  and  congressman  of 
course  found  a  cordial  welcome  in  Parisian  society, 
for  was  he  not  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  endeared  to  all  lovers  of  liberty,  in 
whatever  country.  He  was  charmed  with  French 
courtesy,  thrift,  and  neatness,  but  he  was  always 
an  American  in  sentiment  and  affection.  He  wrote 
to  his  young  friend,  James  Monroe,  afterwards 
President :  "  The  pleasure  of  the  trip  to  Europe 
will  be  less  than  you  expect,  but  the  utility  greater. 
It  will  make  you  adore  your  own  country,  —  its 
soil,  its  climate,  its  equality,  liberty,  laws,  people, 
and  manners.  How  little  do  my  countrymen  know 
what  precious  blessings  they  are  in  possession  of, 
and  which  no  other  people  on  earth  enjoy  ! " 
More  and  more  he  loved,  and  believed  in,  a  republic. 
He  wrote  to  a  friend  :  "  If  all  the  evils  which  can 
arise  among  us  from  the  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment, from  this  day  to  the  day  of  judgment, 
could  be  put  into  scale  against  what  this  country 
suffers  from  its  monarchical  form  in  a  week,  or 
England  in  a  month,  the  latter  would  preponderate. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  87 

No  race  of  kings  has  ever  presented  above  one  man 
of  common-sense  in  twenty  generations.  The  best 
they  can  do  is  to  leave  things  to  their  ministers ; 
and  what  are  their  ministers  but  a  committee  badly 
chosen  ?  " 

Jefferson  spent  much  time  in  looking  up  the 
manufacturing  and  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country,  and  kept  four  colleges  —  Harvard,  Yale, 
William  and  Mary,  and  the  College  of  Philadelphia 
—  advised  of  new  inventions,  new  books,  and  new 
phases  of 'the  approaching  Revolution. 

He  had  placed  his  daughter  Martha  in  a  leading 
school.  His  letters  to  her  in  the  midst  of  his  busy 
life  show  the  beautiful  spirit  of  the  man,  who  was 
too  great  ever  to  rise  above  his  affectional  nature. 
"  The  more  you  learn  the  more  I  love  you,"  he 
wrote  her ;  "  and  I  rest  the  happiness  of  my  life  on 
seeing  you.  beloved  by  all  the  world,  which  you  will 
be  sure  to  be  if  to  a  good  heart  you  join  those  ac- 
complishments so  peculiarly  pleasing  in  your  sex. 
Adieu,  my  dear  child ;  lose  no  moment  in  improv- 
ing your  head,  nor  any  opportunity  of  exercising 
your  heart  in  benevolence." 

His  baby-girl,  Lucy,  died  two  years  after  her 
mother,  and  now  only  little  Mary  was  left  in  Amer- 
ica. He  could  not  rest  until  this  child  was  with 
him  in  France.  She  came,  with  a  breaking  heart 
on  leaving  the  old  Virginia  home  and  her  aunt. 
On  board  the  vessel  she  became  so  attached  to  the 
captain  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  take  her 
from  him.  She  spent  some  weeks  with  Mrs.  John 


88  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

Adams  in  London,  who  wrote :  "  A  finer  child  I 
never  saw.  I  grew  so  fond  of  her,  and  she  was  so 
much  attached  to  me,  that,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  sent 
for  her,  they  were  obliged  to  force  the  little  creature 
away." 

Once  in  Paris,  the  affectionate  child  was  placed 
at  school  with  her  sister  Martha,  to  whom  Jefferson 
wrote :  "  She  will  become  a  precious  charge  upon 
your  hands.  .  .  .  Teach  her,  above  all  things,  to  be 
good,  because  without  that  we  can  neither  be  val- 
ued by  others  nor  set  any  value  on  ourselves. 
Teach  her  to  be  always  true ;  no  vice  is  so  mean  as 
the  want  of  truth,  and  at  the  same  time  so  useless. 
Teach  her  never  to  be  angry ;  anger  only  serves  to 
torment  ourselves,  to  divert  others,  and  alienate 
their  esteem." 

The  love  of  truth  was  a  strong  characteristic  of 
Jefferson's  nature,  one  d|  the  most  beautiful  char- 
acteristics of  any  life.  There  is  no  other  foun- 
dation-stone so  strong  and  enduring  on  which  to 
build  a  granite  character  as  the  granite  rock  of 
truth.  Jefferson  wrote  to  his  children  and  nephews : 
"If  you  ever  find  yourself  in  any  difficulty,  and 
doubt  how  to  extricate  yourself,  do  what  is  right, 
and  you  will  find  it  the  easiest  way  of  getting  out 
of  the  difficulty.  .  .  .  Give  up  money,  give  up  fame, 
give  up  science,  give  the  earth  itself,  and  all  it  con- 
tains, rather  than  do  an  immoral  act.  And  never 
suppose  that,  in  any  possible  situation  or  any  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  best  for  you  to  do  a  dishonorable 
thing."  Again  he  wrote :  "  Determine  never  to  be 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  89 

idle.  No  person  will  have  occasion  to  complain  of 
the  want  of  time,  who  never  loses  any.  It  is  won- 
derful how  much  may  be  done  if  we  are  always 
doing." 

After  five  years  spent  in  France,  most  of  which 
time  he  was  minister  plenipotentiary,  Dr.  Franklin 
having  returned  home,  and  John  Adams  having 
gone  to  England,  Jefferson  set  sail  for  America, 
with  his  two  beloved  children,  Martha,  seventeen, 
and  Mary,  eleven.  He  had  done  his  work  well, 
and  been  honored  for  his  wisdom  and  his  peace- 
loving  nature.  Daniel  Webster  said  of  him :  "  No 
court  in  Europe  had  at  that  time  a  represent- 
ative in  Paris  commanding  or  enjoying  higher 
regard,  for  political  knowledge  or  for  general 
attainments,  than  the  minister  of  this  then  infant 
republic." 

Even  before  Jefferson  rq^ched  home  he  had  been 
appointed  Secretary  of  State  by  President  Wash- 
ington. He  accepted  with  a  sense  of  dread,  and 
his  subsequent  difficulties  with  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  realized  his  worst 
fears.  The  one  believed  in  centralization  of  power 
—  a  stronger  national  government ;  the  other  be- 
lieved in  a  pure  democracy  —  the  will  of  the  peo- 
ple, with  the  least  possible  governing  power.  The 
two  men  were  opposite  in  character,  opposite  in 
financial  plans,  opposite  in  views  of  national  polity. 
Jefferson  took  sides  with  the  French,  and  Hamilton 
with  the  English  in  the  French  Ee  volution.  The 
press  grew  bitter  over  these  differences,  and  the 


90  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

noble  heart  of  George  Washington  was  troubled. 
Finally  Jefferson  resigned,  and  retired  to  Monti- 
cello.  "I  return  to  farming,"  he  said,  "with  an 
ardor  which  I  scarcely  knew  in  ray  youth." 

Three  years  later,  he  was  again  called  into  public- 
life.  As  Washington  declined  a  reelection,  John 
Adams  and  Thomas  Jefferson  became  the  two 
Presidential  candidates.  The  one  receiving  the 
most  votes  of  the  electors  became  President,  and 
the  second  on  the  list,  Vice-President.  John 
Adams  received  three  more  votes  than  Jefferson, 
and  was  made  President. 

On  March  4,  1797,  Jefferson,  as  Vice-President, 
became  the  leader  of  the  Senate,  delivering  a  short 
but  able  address.  Much  of  the  next  four  years  he 
spent  at  Monticello,  watching  closely  the  progress 
of  events.  Matters  with  the  French  republic  grew 
more  complicated.  She  demanded  an  alliance  with 
the  United  States  against  England,  which  was  re- 
fused, and  war  became  imminent.  At  the  last 
moment,  John  Adams  rose  above  the  tempest  of 
the  hour,  went  quite  half-way  in  bringing  about  a 
reconciliation,  and  the  country  was  saved  from  a 
useless  and  disastrous  war. 

The  Federalists  had  passed  some  unwise  meas- 
ures, such  as  the  "  Alien  Law,"  whereby  the  Presi- 
dent was  authorized  to  send  foreigners  out  of  the 
country  ;  and  the  "  Sedition  Law,"  which  punished 
with  fine  and  imprisonment  freedom  of  speech  and 
of  the  press.  Therefore,  at  the  next  presidential 
election,  when  Adams  and  Jefferson  were  again 


THOMAS  JEFFEliSOtf.  91 

candidates,  the  latter  was  made  President  of  the 
United  States,  the  Federalists  having  lost  their 
power,  and  the  Republicans  —  afterwards  called 
Democrats  —  having  gained  the  ascendancy. 

The  contest  had  been  bitter.  Jefferson's  religious 
belief  had  been  strongly  assailed.  Through  it  all 
he  had  the  common-sense  to  know  that  the  cool- 
headed,  good-natured  man,  who  has  only  words  of 
kindness,  and  who  rarely  or  never  makes  an 
enemy,  is  the  man  who  wins  in  the  end.  He  con- 
trolled himself,  and  therefore  his  party,  in  a  man- 
ner almost  unexampled. 

March  4,  1801,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight,  in  a 
plain  suit  of  clothes,  the  great  leader  of  Democracy 
rode  to  the  Capitol,  hitched  his  horse  to  the  fence, 
entered  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  delivered  his 
inaugural  address.  Thus  simple  was  the  man, 
who  wished  ever  to  be  known  as  "the  friend 
of  the  people."  Alas !  that  sweet  Martha  Jef- 
ferson could  not  have  lived  to  see  this  glad  day ! 
To  what  a  proud  height  had  come  the  hard- 
working college  boy  and  the  tender-hearted,  toler- 
ant man  ! 

As  President,  he  was  the  idol  of  his  party,  and, 
in  the  main,  a  wise  leader.  He  made  few  removals 
from  office,  chiefly  those  appointed  by  John  Adams 
just  as  he  was  leaving  the  Presidency.  Jefferson 
said  removals  "  must  be  as  few  as  possible,  done 
gradually,  and  bottomed  on  some  malversation  or 
inherent  disqualification."  One  of  the  chief  acts 
was  the  purchase  from  France  of  a  great  tract  of 


92  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

land,  called  the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  for  fifteen 
million  dollars. 

During  his  second  four  years  in  office,  there  were 
more  perplexities.  Aaron  Burr,  Vice-President  dur- 
ing Jefferson's  first  term,  was  tried  on  the  charge 
of  raising  an  army  to  place  himself  on  the  throne 
of  Mexico,  or  at  the  head  of  a  South-western  confed- 
eracy. England,  usually  at  war  with  France,  had 
issued  orders  prohibiting  all  trade  with  that  coun- 
try and  her  allies  ;  Napoleon  had  retorted  by  a  like 
measure.  Both  nations  claimed  the  right  to  take 
seamen  out  of  United  States  vessels.  The  British 
frigate  Leopard  took  four  seamen  by  force  from 
the  American  frigate  Chesapeake.  The  nation 
seemed  on  the  verge  of  war,  but  it  was  post- 
poned, only  to  come  later,  in  1812,  under  James 
Madison. 

Congress  passed  the  Embargo  Act,  by  which  all 
American  vessels  were  detained  in  our  own  ports. 
It  had  strong  advocates  and  strong  opponents,  but 
was  repealed  as  soon  as  Jefferson  retired  from 
office.  Owing  to  these  measures  our  commerce 
was  well-nigh  destroyed. 

At  the  age  of  sixty-five  years,  Jefferson  retired 
to  Monticello,  "  with  a  reputation  and  popularity," 
says  Mr.  Morse,  "  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  Wash- 
ington." He  had  had  the  wisdom  never  to  assume 
the  bearing  of  a  leader.  He  had  been  careful  to 
avoid  disputes.  Once,  when  riding,  he  met  a 
stranger,  with  whom  engaging  in  conversation,  he 
found  him  bitterly  opposed  to  the  President.  Upon 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON.  93 

being  asked  if  he  knew  Mr.  Jefferson  personally, 
he  replied,  "  No,  nor  do  I  wish  to." 

"  But  do  you  think  it  fair  to  repeat  such  stories 
about  a  man,  and  condemn  one  whom  you  do  not 
dare  to  face  ?  " 

"  I  shall  never  shrink  from  meeting  him  if  he 
ever  comes  in  my  way." 

"  Will  you,  then,  go  to  his  house  to-morrow,  and 
be  introduced  to  him,  if  I  promise  to  meet  you 
there  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  will." 

The  stranger  came,  to  his  astonishment  found 
that  the  man  he  had  talked  with  was  the  President 
himself,  dined  with  him,  and  became  his  firm  friend 
and  supporter  ever  afterward. 

For  the  next  seventeen  years,  Jefferson  lived  at 
Monticello,  honored  and  visited  by  celebrities  from 
all  the  world.  Sometimes  as  many  as  fifty  persons 
stayed  at  his  home  over  night.  One  family  of  six 
came  from  abroad,  and  remained  with  him  for  ten 
months.  His  daughter  Martha,  married  to  Thomas 
Mann  Randolph,  presided  over  his  hospitable 
home,  and  with  her  eleven  children  made  the  place 
a  delight,  for  she  had  "  the  Jefferson  temperament 
—  all  music  and  sunshine."  The  beautiful  Mary, 
who  married  her  cousin,  John  W.  Eppes,  had  died 
at  twenty-six,  leaving  two  small  children,  who,  like 
all  the  rest,  found  a  home  with  Jefferson. 

In  the  midst  of  this  loving  company,  the  great 
man  led  a  busy  life,  carrying  on  an  immense  corre- 
spondence, by  means  of  which  he  exerted  a  com- 


94  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

manding  influence  on  the  questions  of  the  day  as 
well  as  on  all  social  matters.  To  a  child  named  for 
him,  he  wrote  a  letter  which  the  boy  might  read 
after  the  statesman's  death.  In  it  are  these  help- 
ful words:  "Adore  God.  Reverence  and  cherish 
your  parents.  Love  your  neighbor  as  yourself. 
Be  just.  Be  true.  Murmur  not  at  the  ways  of 
Providence." 

To  his  daughter  Mary  he  wrote  these  lines, 
which  well  might  be  hung  up  in  every  house- 
hold :- 

"  Harmony  in  the  married  state  is  the  very  first 
object  to  be  aimed  at.  Nothing  can  preserve  affec- 
tions uninterrupted  but  a  firm  resolution  never  to 
differ  in  will,  and  a  determination  in  each  to  con- 
sider the  love  of  the  other  as  of  more  value  than 
any  object  whatever  on  which  a  wish  had  been 
fixed.  How  light,  in  fact,  is  the  sacrifice  of  any 
other  wish  when  weighed  against  the  affections  of 
one  with  whom  we  are  to  pass  our  whole  life.  And 
though  opposition  in  a  single  instance  will  hardly 
of  itself  produce  alienation,  yet  every  one  has  his 
pouch  into  which  all  these  little  oppositions  are 
put.  While  that  is  filling,  the  alienation  is  insen- 
sibly going  on,  and  when  filled  it  is  complete.  It 
would  puzzle  either  to  say  why,  because  no  one 
difference  of  opinion  has  been  marked  enough  to 
produce  a  serious  effect  by  itself.  But  he  finds  his 
affections  wearied  out  by  a  constant  stream  of  little 
checks  and  obstacles. 

"Other  sources  of  discontent,  very  common  in- 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  95 

deed,  are  the  little  cross-purposes  of  husband  and 
wife,  in  common  conversation ;  a  disposition  in 
either  to  criticise  and  question  whatever  the  other 
says ;  a  desire  always  to  demonstrate  and  make 
him  feel  himself  in  the  wrong,  and  especially  in 
company.  Nothing  is  so  goading.  Much  better, 
therefore,  if  our  companion  views  a  thing  in  a  light 
different  from  what  we  do,  to  leave  him  in  quiet 
possession  of  his  view.  What  is  the  use  of  rectify- 
ing him,  if  the  thing  be  unimportant,  and,  if  im- 
portant, let  it  pass  for  the  present,  and  wait  a  softer 
moment  and  more  conciliatory  Occasion  of  revising 
the  subject  together.  It  is  wonderful  how  many 
persons  are  rendered  unhappy  by  inattention  to 
these  little  rules  of  prudence." 

Jefferson  rose  early ;  the  sun,  he  said,  had  not  for 
fifty  years  caught  him  in  bed.  But  he  bore  great 
heart-sorrow  in  these  declining  years,  and  bore  it 
bravely.  His  estate  had  diminished  in  value,  and 
he  had  lost  heavily  by  indorsements  for  others. 
His  household  expenses  were  necessarily  great. 
Finally,  debts  pressed  so  heavily  that  he  sold  to 
Congress  the  dearly  prized  library,  which  he  had 
been  gathering  for  fifty  years.  He  received  nearly 
twenty-four  thousand  dollars  for  it,  about  half  its 
original  value.  But  this  amount  brought  only 
temporary  relief. 

Then  he  attempted  to  dispose  of  some  of  his 
land  by  lottery,  as  was  somewhat  the  fashion  of 
the  times.  The  Legislature  reluctantly  gave  per- 
mission, but  as  soon  as  his  friends  in  New  York, 


96  THOMAS  JEFFERSOX. 

Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  heard  of  his  pecuniary 
condition,  they  raised  about  eighteen  thousand 
dollars  for  him,  and  the  lottery  plan  was  aban- 
doned. He  was  touched  by  this  proof  of  esteem, 
and  said :  "  No  cent  of .  this  is  wrung  from  the 
tax-payer;  it  is  the  pure  and  unsolicited  offering 
of  love." 

Jefferson  was  now,  as  he  said,  "like  an  old 
watch,  with  a  pinion  worn  out  here  and  a  wheel 
there,  until  it  can  go  no  longer."  On  July  3. 1826, 
after  a  brief  illness,  he  seemed  near  the  end.  He 
desired  to  live  till  the  next  day,  and  frequently 
asked  if  it  were  the  Fourth.  He  lingered  till 
forty  minutes  past  the  noon  of  July  4,  and  then 
slept  in  death.  That  same  day,  John  Adams,  at 
ninety-one,  was  dying  at  Quincy,  Mass.  His  last 
words  were,  as  he  went  out  at  sunset,  the  booming 
of  cannon  sounding  pleasant  to  his  patriotic  heart, 
"Thomas  Jefferson  still  lives."  He  did  not  know 
that  his  great  co-laborer  had  gone  home  at  midday. 
"The  two  aged  men,"  says  T.  W.  Higginson, 
"floated  on,  like  two  ships  becalmed  at  nightfall, 
that  drift  together  into  port,  and  cast  anchor  side 
by  side."  Beautiful  words  ! 

The  death  of  two  Presidents  at  this  memorable 
time  has  given  an  additional  sacredness  to  our 
national  Independence  Day. 

Among  Jefferson's  papers  were  found,  care- 
fully laid  away,  "some  of  my  dear,  dear  wife's 
handwriting,"  and  locks  of  hair  of  herself  and 
children.  Also  a  sketch  Qf  the  granite  stone  he 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON.  97 

desired  for  his  monument,  with  these  words  to  be 
inscribed  upon  it. 

Here  was  buried 

THOMAS  JEFFEKSON, 

Author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 

Of  the  Statute  of  Virginia  for  Religious  Freedom, 

And  Father  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 

He  was  buried  by  his  family  and  servants,  on  the 
spot  selected  by  himself  and  Dabney  Carr  in  boy- 
hood, his  wife  on  one  side  and  his  loving  Mary  on 
the  other. 

The  beloved  Monticello  passed  into  other  hands. 
Martha  Jefferson  and  her  children  would  have 
been  left  penniless  had  not  the  Legislatures  of 
South  Carolina  and  Louisiana  each  voted  her  ten 
thousand  dollars.  Thomas  Jefferson  Bandolph, 
the  grandson,  with  the  assistance  of  his  daughters, 
who  established  a  noted  school,  paid  all  the  remain- 
ing debts,  many  thousand  dollars,  to  save  the  honor 
of  their  famous  ancestor. 

To  the  last,  Jefferson  kept  his  sublime  faith  in 
human  nature  and  in  the  eternal  justice  of  repub- 
lican principles,  saying  it  is  "iny  conviction  that 
should  things  go  wrong  at  any  time,  the  people  will 
set  them  to  rights  by  the  peaceable  exercise  of  their 
elective  rights."  Whatever  his  religious  belief  in 
its  details  of  creed,  he  said,  "  I  am  a  Christian  in 
the  only  sense  in  which  Jesus  wished  any  one  to 
be  —  sincerely  attached  to  his  doctrines  in  prefer- 


98  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

ence  to  all  others."  He  compiled  a  little  book  of 
the  words  of  Christ,  saying,  "A  more  precious 
morsel  of  ethics  was  never  seen." 

In  his  public  life  he  was  honest,  in  his  domestic 
life  lovable,  and  he  died,  as  he  had  lived,  tolerant 
of  the  opinions  of  others,  even-tempered,  believing 
in  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  human  nature. 
What  though  we  occasionally  trust  too  much !  Far 
better  that  than  to  go  through  life  doubting  and 
murmuring!  That  he  believed  too  broadly  in 
States'  Eights  for  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union, 
our  late  Civil  War  plainly  showed,  and  his  views 
on  Free  Trade  are,  of  course,  shared  by  a  portion 
only  of  our  citizens.  However,  he  gave  grandly 
of  the  affection  of  his  heart  and  the  power  of  his 
intellect,  and  he  received,  as  he  deserved,  the  love 
and  honor  of  thousands,  the  world  over. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 


TO  the  quiet  and  picturesque  island  of  Nevis, 
one  of  the  West  Indies,  maiiy^ears  ago,  a 
Scotch  merchant  came  to  build  for  himself  a  home. 
He  was  of  a  proud  and  wealthy  family,  allied  cen- 
turies before  to  William  the  Conqueror. 

On  this  island  Jived  also  a  Huguenot  family,  who 
had  settled  there  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes,  which  drove  so  many  Protestants  out  of 
the  country.  In  this  family  was  a  beautiful  and 
very  intellectual  girl,  with  refined  tastes  and  gen- 
tle, cultured  manners.  Through  the  ambition  of 
her  mother  she  had  contracted  a  marriage  with  a 
Dane  of  large  wealth,  followed  by  the  usual  unhap- 
piness  of  marrying  simply  for  money.  A  divorce 
resulted,  and  the  attractive  young  woman  married 
the  Scotch  merchant,  James  Hamilton.  A  son, 
Alexander,  was  born  to  them,  January  11,  1757. 

But  he  was  born  into  privation  rather  than  joy 
and  plenty.  The  generous  and  kindly  father  failed 
in  business ;  the  beautiful  mother  died  in  his  child- 
hood, and  he  was  thrown  upon  the  bounty  of  her 
relations. 

The  opportunities  for  education   on   the   island 


100  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

were  limited.  The  child  read  all  the  books  he 
could  lay  his  hands  upon,  becoming  especially  fond 
of  Plutarch's  Lives  and  Pope's  works.  He  was 
fortunate  also  in  having  the  friendship  of  a  supe- 
rior man,  Dr.  Knox,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman,  who 
delighted  in  the  boy's  quick  and  comprehensive 
mind. 

At  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  obliged  to  earn 
money,  and  was  placed  in  the  counting-house  of 
Nicholas  Cruger.  Probably,  like  other  boys,  he 
wished  he  were  rich,  but  found  later  in  life  that 
success,  is  usually  born  of  effort  and  economy.  He 
early  chose  "  Perseverando "  for  his  motto,  and  it 
helped  to  carry  him  to  the  summit  of  power. 

That  the  counting-house  was  not  congenial  to 
him,  a  letter  to  a  school-fellow  in  New  York 
plainly  shows.  "To  confess  my  weakness,  Ned, 
my  ambition  is  prevalent,  so  that  I  contemri  the 
grovelling  condition  of  a  clerk,  or  the  like,  to  which 
my  fortune  condemns  me,  and  would  willingly  risk 
my  life,  though  not  my  character,  to  exalt  my  sta- 
tion. I  am  confident,  Ned,  that  my  youth  excludes 
me  from  any  hopes  of  immediate  preferment,  nor 
do  I  desire  it,  but  I  mean  to  prepare  the  way  for 
futurity.  I'm  no  philosopher,  you  see,  and  may  be 
justly  said  to  build  castles  in  the  air;  my  folly 
makes  me  ashamed,  and  beg  you'll  conceal  it ;  yet, 
Neddy,  we  have  seen  such  schemes  successful,  when 
the  projector  is  constant.  I  shall  conclude  by 
saying,  I  wish  there  was  a  war." 

The  " projector  was  constant,"  and  the  "schemes 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  101 

became  successful."  He  was  indeed  "preparing 
the  way  for  futurity,"  this  lad  not  yet  fourteen. 
At  this  time,  Mr.  Cruger  made  a  visit  to  New 
York,  and  left  the  precocious  boy  in  charge  of  his 
business.  Such  reliance  upon  him  increased  his 
self-reliance,  and  helped  to  fit  him  to  advise  and 
uphold  a  nation  in  later  years. 

In  these  early  days  he  began  to  write  both  prose 
and  poetry.  When  he  was  fifteen,  the  Leeward 
Islands  were  visited  by  a  terrific  hurricane.  In  one 
town  five  hundred  houses  were  blown  down.  So 
interested  was  Alexander  in  this  novel  occurrence 
that  he  wrote  a  description  of  it  for  a  newspaper. 
When  the  authorship  was  discovered,  it  was  decided 
by  the  relatives  that  such  a  boy  ought  to  be  edu- 
cated. The  money  was  raised  for  this  purpose, 
and  he  sailed  for  New  York,  taking  with  him  some 
valuable  letters  of  introduction  from  Dr.  Knox. 

He  was  soon  attending  a  grammar-school  at 
Elizabeth,  New  Jersey.  The  principal,  Francis 
Barber,  was  a  fine  classical  scholar,  patriotic,  enter- 
ing the  Eevolutionary  War  later ;  the  right  man  to 
impress  his  pupils  for  good.  Alexander,  with  his 
accustomed  energy  and  ambition,  set  himself  to 
work.  In  winter,  wrapt  in  a  blanket,  he  studied 
till  midnight,  and  in  summer,  at  dawn,  resorted  to 
a  cemetery  near  by,  where  he  found  the  quiet  he 
desired.  In  a  year  he  was  ready  to  enter  college. 

Attracted  to  Princeton,  he  asked  Dr..  Wither- 
spoon,  the  president  of  the  college,  the  privilege 
of  taking  the  course  in  about  half  the  usual  time. 


102  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

The  good  days  of  election  in  study  had  not  yet 
dawned.  The  dull  and  the  bright  must  have  the 
same  routine;  the  one  urged  to  his  duties,  the 
other  tired  by  the  delay.  The  doctor  could  not 
establish  so  peculiar  a  precedent,  and  Princeton 
missed  the  honor  of  educating  the  great  statesman. 

He  entered  Columbia  College,  and  made  an  ex- 
cellent record  for  himself.  In  the  debating  club, 
say  his  classmates,  "  he  gave  extraordinary  displays 
of  richness  of  genius  and  energy  of  mind."  He 
won  strong  friendships  to  himself  by  his  generous 
and  unselfish  nature,  and  his  ardent  love  for  others. 
It  is  only  another  proof  of  the  old  rule,  that  "  Like 
begets  like."  Those  who  give  love  in  this  world 
usually  receive  it.  Selfishness  wins  nothing  —  self- 
sacrifice,  all  things. 

The  college-boy  was  often  seen  walking  under  the 
large  trees  on  what  is  now  Dey  Street,  New  York, 
talking  to  himself  in  an  undertone,  and  apparently 
in  deep  thought.  The  neighbors  knew  the  slight, 
dark-eyed  lad,  as  the  "young  West  Indian,"  and 
wondered  concerning  his  future.  When  he  was 
seventeen,  a  "  great  meeting  in  the  fields  "  was  held 
in  New  York,  July  6,  1774.  While  Hamilton  was 
studying,  the  colonies  of  America  had  been  look- 
ing over  into  the  promised  land  of  freedom,  driven 
thither  by  some  unwise  task-masters.  Boston  had 
seasoned  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  Avith  British 
tea.  New  York,  well  filled  with  Tories,  yet  had 
some  Patriots,  who  felt  that  the  hour  was  approach- 
ing when  all  must  stand  together  in  the  demand 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  103 

for  liberty.  Accordingly,  the  "great  meeting" 
was  called,  to  teach  the  people  the  lessons  of  the 
past  and  the  duties  of  the  future. 

Hamilton  had  recently  returned  from  a  visit  to 
Boston,  and  was  urged  to  be  present  and  speak  at 
the  meeting.  He  at  first  refused,  being  a  stranger 
in  the  country  and  unknown.  He  attended,  how- 
ever; and  when  several  speakers  had  addressed 
the  eager  crowds,  thoughts  flowed  into  the  youth's 
mind  and  pleaded  for  utterance.  He  mounted  the 
platform.  The  audience  stared  at  the  stripling. 
Then,  as  he  depicted  the  long  endured  oppression 
from  England,  urged  the  wisdom  of  resistance,  and 
painted  in  glowing  colors  the  sure  success  of  the  col- 
onies, the  hearts  of  the  multitude  took  fire  with 
courage  and  hope.  When  he  closed,  they  shouted, 
"  It  is  a  collegian !  it  is  a  collegian  ! " 

Hamilton  was  no  longer  a  West  Indian ;  he  was, 
heart  and  soul,  an  American.  Liberty  now  grew 
more  exciting  than  college  books.  Dr.  Seabury, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  wrote  two  tracts 
entitled  "  Free  Thoughts  on  the  Proceedings  of  the 
Continental  Congress,"  and  "Congress  Canvassed 
by  a  Westchester  Farmer."  These  pamphlets  at- 
tempted to  show  the  foolishness  of  opposing  a 
monarchy  like  England.  They  were  scattered 
broadcast. 

Then  tracts  appeared  in  answer;  clear,  terse, 
sound,  and  able.  These  said,  "No  reason  can  be 
assigned  why  one  man  should  exercise  any  power 
or  preeminence  over  his  fellow-creatures  more  than 


104  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

another,  unless  they  have  voluntarily  vested  him 
with  it.  Since,  then,  Americans  have  not,  by  any 
act  of  theirs,  empowered  the  British  Parliament  to 
make  laws  for  them,  it  follows  they  can  have  no 
just  authority  to  do  it.  ...  If,  by  the  necessity  of 
the  thing,  manufactures  should  once  be  established, 
and  take  root  among  us,  they  will  pave  the  way 
still  more  to  the  future  grandeur  and  glory  of 
America;  and,  by  lessening  its  need  of  external 
commerce,  will  render  it  still  securer  against  the 
encroachments  of  tyranny." 

This  was  rank  heterodoxy  toward  a  power  which 
had  crippled  the  manufactures  of  America  in  all 
possible  ways,  and  wished  to  keep  her  a  great  agri- 
cultural country.  "  The  sacred  rights  of  mankind," 
said  the  writer,  "  are  not  to  be  rummaged  for  among 
old  parchments  or  musty  records ;  they  are  written, 
as  with  a  sunbeam,  in  the  whole  volume  of  human 
nature,  by  the  hand  of  the  Divinity  itself,  and  can 
never  be  erased  or  obscured  by  mortal  power." 
The  wonder  grew  as  to  the  authorship  of  these 
pamphlets.  Some  said  John  Jay  wrote  them ;  some 
said  Governor  Livingstone.  When  it  was  learned 
that  Hamilton,  only  eighteen,  had  composed  them, 
the  Tories  stood  aghast,  and  the  Patriots  saw  that 
a  new  star  had  risen  in  the  heavens. 

Hamilton  knew  that  the  war  was  inevitable ; 
that  the  time  must  soon  come  for  which  he  longed 
when  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Ned,  "  I  wish  there 
was  a  war."  He  immediately  began  to  study  mili- 
tary affairs.  There  are  always  places  to  be  filled 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  1Q5 

by  those  who  make  themselves  ready.  He  was 
learning  none  too  early.  His  corps,  called  the 
"  Hearts  of  Oak  "  in  green  uniforms  and  leathern 
caps,  drilled  each  morning.  While  engaged  in 
removing  cannon  from  the  battery,  a  boat  from 
the  Asia,  a  British  ship-of-war,  fired  into  the  men, 
killing  the  person  who  stood  next  to  Hamilton. 
At  once  the  drums  were  beaten,  and  the  people 
rushed  to  arms.  The  king's  store-houses  were  pil- 
laged, and  the  "  Liberty  Boys "  marched  through 
the  streets,  threatening  revenge  on  every  Tory. 

Young  Hamilton,  fearless  before  the  Asia,  could 
also  be  fearless  in  defence  of  his  friends.  Dr. 
Cooper,  the  President  of  Columbia  College,  was  a 
pronounced  Tory.  When  the  mob  approached  the 
steps  of  the  institution,  Hamilton,  nothing  daunted, 
appeared  before  them,  and  urged  coolness,  lest  they 
bring  "disgrace  on  the  cause  of  liberty."  Dr. 
Cooper  imagined  that  his  liberal  pupil  was  assisting 
the  mob,  and  cried  out  from  an  upper  window, 
"  Don't  listen  to  him,  gentlemen !  he  is  crazy,  he  is 
crazy ! "  But  the  mob  did  listen,  and  the  presi- 
dent was  saved  from  harm. 

The  Revolutionary  War  had  begun.  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill  were  as  beacon-fires  to  the  new 
nation.  In  1776,  the  New  York  Convention  or- 
dered a  company  of  artillery  to  be  raised,  and 
Hamilton  applied  for  the  command  of  it.  Only 
nineteen,  and  very  boyish  in  looks,  his  fitness  for 
the  position  was  doubted,  till  his  excellent  exami- 
nation proved  his  knowledge,  and  he  was  appointed 


106  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

captain.  He  used  the  last  money  sent  him  by  his 
relatives  in  the  West  Indies,  to  equip  his  company. 

College  days  were  now  over,  and  the  busy  life  of 
the  soldier  had  commenced.  For  most  young  men, 
the  stirring  events  of  the  times  would  have  filled 
every  moment  and  every  thought.  Not  so  the  man 
born  to  have  a  controlling  and  permanent  influence 
in  the  republic.  He  found  time  to  study  about 
money  circulation,  rates  of  exchange,  commerce, 
taxes,  increase  of  population,  and  the  like,  because 
he  knew  that  a  great  work  must  be  done  by  some- 
body after  the  war.  How  true  it  is  that  if  we  fit 
ourselves  for  a  great  work,  the  work  will  find  us. 

Meantime,  Captain  Hamilton  drilled  his  troops 
so  well  that  General  Greene  observed  it,  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  captain,  invited  him  to  his 
headquarters,  and  spoke  of  him  to  Washington. 
Had  not  the  work  been  well  done,  it  would  not 
have  commanded  attention,  but  this  attention  was 
an  important  stepping-stone  to  fame  and  honor. 
Hamilton  was  ever  after  a  most  loyal  friend  to 
General  Greene. 

The  company  was  soon  called  into  active  ser- 
vice. At  the  disastrous  battle  of  Long  Islancl, 
Hamilton  was  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and 
brought  up  the  rear,  losing  his  baggage  and  a  field- 
piece.  After  the  retreat  up  the  Hudson,  at  Har- 
lem Heights,  Washington  observed  the  skill  used 
in  the  construction  of  some  earthworks,  and,  find- 
ing that  the  engineer  was  the  young  man  introduced 
to  him  by  General  Greene,  invited  him  to  his  tent. 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  1Q7 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  life-long  and  most 
devoted  friendship  between  the  great  commander 
and  the  boyish  captain. 

Later,  at  the  battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton, 
Hamilton  was  fearless  and  heroic.  "  Well  do  I 
recollect  the  day,"  said  a  friend,  "  when  Hamilton's 
company  marched  into  Princeton.  It  was  a  model 
of  discipline ;  at  their  head  was  a  boy,  and  I  won- 
dered at  his  youth ;  but  what  was  my  surprise  when, 
struck  with  his  slight  figure,  he  was  pointed  out  to 
me  as  that  Hamilton  of  whom  we  had  already 
heard  so  much.  ...  A  mere  stripling,  small, 
slender,  almost  delicate  in  frame,  marching  beside 
a  piece  of  artillery,  with  a  cocked  hat  pulled  down 
over  his  eyes,  apparently  lost  in  thought,  with  his 
hand  resting  on  a  cannon,  and  every  now  and  then 
patting  it,  as  if  it  were  a  favorite  horse  or  a  pet 
plaything." 

He  had  so  won  the  esteem  and  approbation  of 
Washington  that  he  was  offered  a  position  upon 
his  staff,  which  he  accepted  March  1,  1777,  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  His  work  now 
was  constant  and  absorbing.  The  correspondence 
was  immense,  but  all  was  done  with  that  clearness 
and  elegance  of  diction  which  had  marked  the 
young  collegian.  He  was  popular  with  old  and 
young,  being  called  the  "  Little  Lion,"  as  a  term  of 
endearment,  in  appreciation  of  bravery  and  nobility 
of  character. 

When  the  skies  looked  darkest,  as  at  Valley 
Forge,  Hamilton  was  habitually  cheerful,  seeing 


108  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

always  a  rainbow  among  the  clouds.  His  enthu- 
siasm was  contagious.  He  carried  men  with  him 
by  a  belief  in  his  own  powers,  and  by  deep  sym- 
pathy with  others.  Lafayette  loved  him  as  a 
brother.  He  wrote  Hamilton,  "Before  this  cam- 
paign I  was  your  friend  and  very  intimate  friend, 
agreeably  to  the  ideas  of  the  world.  Since  my 
second  voyage,  my  sentiment  has  increased  to  such 
a  point  the  world  knows  nothing  about.  To  show 
both,  from  want  and  from  scorn  of  expression,  I 
shall  only  tell  you  —  Adieu ! " 

Baron  Steuben  used  to  say,  in  later  days,  "  The 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  my  banker ;  my  Ham- 
ilton takes  care  of  me  when  he  cannot  take  care  of 
himself." 

Hamilton  wrote  to  his  dear  friend  Laurens,  "  Cold 
in  my  professions  —  warm  in  my  friendships  —  I 
wish  it  were  in  my  power,  by  actions  rather  than 
words,  to  convince  you  that  I  love  you.  .  .  .  You 
know  the  opinion  I  entertain  of  mankind,  and  how 
much  it  is  my  desire  to  preserve  myself  free  from 
particular  attachments,  and  to  keep  my  happiness 
independent  of  the  caprices  of  others.  You  should 
not  have  taken  advantage  of  my  sensibility  to  steal 
into  my  affections  without  my  consent." 

Best  of  all,  Washington  confided  in  him,  and 
loved  him,  and  we  usually  love  those  in  whom  we 
have  confided.  When  he  wanted  a  calcitrant  gen- 
eral, like  Gates,  brought  to  terms,  he  sent  the  tact- 
ful, clear-headed  Hamilton  on  the  mission.  When 
he  wanted  decisive  action,  he  sent  the  same  fearless 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  109 

young  officer,  who  knew  no  such  word  as  failure. 
Sometimes  he  broke  down  physically,  but  the  power 
of  youth  triumphed,  and  he  was  soon  at  work 
again. 

On  his  expedition  to  General  Gates,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1777,  with  all  his  desire  to  keep  himself  "free 
from  particular  attachments,"  he  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  one  lasting  attachment  of  his  life.  At 
the  house  of  the  wealthy  and  distinguished  General 
Philip  Schuyler,  he  met  and  liked  the  second 
daughter,  Elizabeth.  Three  years  later,  in  the 
spring  of  1780,  when  the  officers  brought  their 
families  to  Morristown,  the  acquaintance  ripened 
into  love,  and  December  14,  1780,  when  Hamilton 
was  twenty-three,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Schuyler. 
The  father  of  the  young  lady  was  proud  and  happy 
in  her  choice.  He  wrote  Hamilton,  "  You  cannot, 
my  dear  sir,  be  more  happy  at  the  connection  you 
have  made  with  my  family  than  I  am.  Until  the 
child  of  a  parent  has  made  a  judicious  choice,  his 
heart  is  in  continual  anxiety  ;  but  this  anxiety  was 
removed  the  moment  I  discovered  it  was  you  on 
whom  she  placed  her  affections." 

In  this  year,  1780,  the  country  was  shocked  by 
the  treason  of  Benedict  Arnold.  Hamilton  was 
sent  in  pursuit,  only  to  find  that  he  had  escaped  to 
the  British.  He  ministered  to  the  heart-broken 
wife  of  Arnold,  as  best  he  could.  He  wrote  to  a 
friend,  "Her  sufferings  were  so  eloquent  that  I 
wished  myself  her  brother,  to  have  a  right  to  be- 
come her  defender." 


HO  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

For  Major  Andre  he  had  the  deepest  sympathy, 
and  admiration  of  his  manly  qualities.  He  wrote 
to  Miss  Schuyler,  afterward  his  wife,  "  Poor  Andre 
suffers  to-day.  Everything  that  is  amiable  in  virtue, 
in  fortitude,  in  delicate  sentiment  and  accomplished 
manners,  pleads  for  him ;  but  hard-hearted  policy 
calls  for  a  sacrifice.  I  urged  a  compliance  with 
Andre's  request  to  be  shot,  and  I  do  not  think  it 
would  have  had  an  ill  effect." 

A  month  after  his  marriage,  his  only  difficulty 
with  General  Washington  occurred.  The  comman- 
der-in-chief  had  sent  for  Hamilton  to  confer  with 
him,  who,  meeting  Lafayette,  was  stopped  by  him 
for  a  few  moments'  conversation  on  business. 
When  he  reached  Washington,  the  general  said, 
"  Colonel  Hamilton,  you  have  kept  me  waiting  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  these  ten  minutes.  I  must 
tell  you,  sir,  you  treat  me  with  disrespect."  The 
proud  young  aid  answered,  "I  am  not  conscious 
of  it,  sir ;  but  since  you  have  thought  it  necessary 
to  tell  me  so,  we  part."  He  therefore  resigned  his 
position,  glad  to  be  free  to  take  a  more  active  part 
in  the  war.  Washington,  with  his  usual  magna- 
nimity, made  overtures  of  reconciliation,  and  they 
became  ever  after  trusted  co-workers. 

All  these  years,  Hamilton  had  shown  himself 
brave  and  untiring  in  the  interests  of  his  adopted 
country.  At  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  his  horse 
was  shot  under  him.  At  Yorktown,  at  his  own 
earnest  request,  he  led  the  perilous  assault  upon 
the  enemy's  works,  and  carried  them.  When  Ham- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  HI 

ilton  saw  that  the  enemy  was  driven  back,  he 
humanely  ordered  that  not  a  British  soldier  should 
be  killed  after  the  attack.  He  says  in  his  report, 
"  Incapable  of  imitating  examples  of  barbarity,  and 
forgetting  recent  provocations,  the  soldiers  spared 
every  man  who  ceased  to  resist." 

Washington  appreciated  his  heroism,  and  said, 
"  Few  cases  have  exhibited  greater  proof  of  intre- 
pidity, coolness,  and  firmness  than  were  shown  on 
this  occasion." 

Letters  home  to  his  wife  show  the  warm  heart  of 
Hamilton.  "  I  am  unhappy  —  I  am  unhappy  be- 
yond expression.  I  am  unhappy  because  I  am  to 
be  so  remote  from  you  ;  because  I  am  to  hear  from 
you  less  frequently  than  I  am  accustomed  to  do.  I 
am  miserable,  because  I  know  you  will  be  so.  ... 
Constantly  uppermost  in  my  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions, I  am  happy  only  when  my  moments  are  de- 
voted to  some  office  that  respects  you.  I  would 
give  the  world  to  be  able  to  tell  you  all  I  feel  and 
all  I  wish ;  but  consult  your  own  heart,  and  you  will 
know  mine.  .  .  .  Every  day  confirms  me  in  the  in- 
tention of  renouncing  public  life,  and  devoting 
myself  wholly  to  you.  Let  others  waste  their  time 
and  their  tranquillity  in  a  vain  pursuit  of  power 
and  glory ;  be  it  my  object  to  be  happy  in  a  quiet 
retreat,  with  my  better  angel." 

At -the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  he  re- 
paired to  Albany,  spending  the  winter  at  the  home 
of  General  Schuyler,  his  wife's  father.  He  had  but 
little  money,  and  his  dues  in  the  service  of  an  im- 


112  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

poverished  country  were  unpaid ;  but  he  had  what 
was  far  better,  ability.  He  determined  to  study  law. 
For  four  months,  he  bent  himself  unreservedly  to 
his  work,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  stead- 
ily refused  offers  of  pecuniary  aid  from  General 
Schuyler,  preferring  to  support  his  wife  and  infant 
son  by  his  own  exertions.  Such  a  man,  of  proud 
spirit  and  unwavering  purpose,  would,  of  course, 
succeed. 

Friends  who  appreciated  the  service  he  had 
rendered  to  his  country  now  interceded  in  his 
behalf,  and  he  was  appointed  Continental  receiver 
of  taxes  for  New  York.  To  accept  a  position 
meant,  to  him,  persistent  labor,  and  success  in  it  if 
possible.  He  at  once  repaired  to  Poughkeepsie, 
where  the  Legislature  was  in  session ;  presented  his 
plans  of  taxation,  and  prevailed  upon  that  body  to 
pass  a  resolution  asking  for  a  convention  of  the 
States  that  a  Union  might  be  effected,  stronger 
than  the  existing  Confederation. 

The  position  as  receiver  of  taxes  was  sometimes 
a  disagreeable  one,  but  it  was  another  round  in  the 
ladder  which  carried  him  to  fame.  He  had  in- 
creased the  number  of  his  acquaintances.  His 
energy  and  his  knowledge  of  public  questions  had 
been  revealed  to  the  people ;  and  the  result  was  his 
election  to  Congress,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five. 
Thus  rapidly  the  ambitious',  energetic,  and  intelli- 
gent young  man  had  risen  in  influence. 

That  his  voice  would  be  heard  in  Congress  was 
a  foregone  conclusion.  General  Schuyler  wrote  his 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  H3 

daughter  soon  after  Congress  met :  "  Participate 
afresh  in  the  satisfaction  I  experience  from  the 
connection  you  have  made  with  my  beloved  Hamil- 
ton. He  affords  me  happiness  too  exquisite  for 
expression.  I  daily  experience  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  encomiums  on  his  virtue  and  abilities,  from 
those  who  are  capable  of  distinguishing  between 
real  and  pretended  merit.  He  is  considered,  as  he 
certainly  is,  the  ornament  of  his  country,  and 
capable  of  rendering  it  the  most  essential  services, 
if  his  advice  and  suggestions  are  attended  to." 

The  country  was  deeply  in  debt  from  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  It  had  no  money  with  which  to 
pay  its  soldiers ;  its  paper  currency  was  nearly 
worthless ;  dissatisfaction  was  apparent  on  every 
hand.  There  was  little  unity  of  interest  among 
the  States.  Hamilton's  plans  for  raising  money, 
and  for  a  more  centralized  government,  were  un- 
heeded ;  and,  after  a  year  in  Congress,  he  returned 
to  the  practice  of  law,  saying,  "The  more  I  see, 
the  more  I  find  reason  for  those  who  love  this 
country  to  weep  over  its  blindness." 

As  soon  as  the  war  was  over,  the  people  began 
to  grow  more  bitter  than  ever  toward  the  Tories,  or 
loyalists.  Harsh  legislative  measures  were  passed. 
The  "  Trespass  Act "  declared  that  any  person  who 
had  left  his  abode  in  consequence  of  invasion 
could  collect  damages  of  those  who  had  occupied 
the  premises  during  his  absence.  A  widow,  re- 
duced to  poverty  by  the  war,  brought  suit  against 
a  rich  Tory  merchant,  who  had  lived  in  her  house 


114  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

while  the  Tories  held  the  city.  Hamilton,  feeling 
that  a  principle  of  justice  was  involved,  took  the 
part  of  the  merchant,  and  by  a  brilliant  speech,  in 
which  he  contended  that  "the  fruits  of  immova- 
bles belong  to  the  captor  so  long  as  he  remains  in 
actual  possession  of  them,"  he  gained  the  case.  Of 
course,  he  brought  upon  himself  much  obloquy; 
was  declared  to  be  a  "Britisher,"  and  lover  of 
monarchy,  a  charge  to  which  he  must  have  grown 
accustomed  in  later  years. 

Hamilton's  pen  was  not  idle  in  this  controversy. 
He  wrote  a  -pamphlet,  advocating  respect  for  law 
and  justice,  which  was  called  "  Phocion,"  from  its 
signature.  It  was  read  widely,  both  in  England 
and  America.  Among  the  many  replies  was  one 
signed  "Mentor,"  which  drew  from  Hamilton  a 
"Second  letter  of  Phocion."  So  inflamed  did 
public  opinion  become  that  in  one  of  the  clubs  it 
was  decided  that  one  person  after  another  should 
challenge  Hamilton,  till  he  should  fall  in  a  duel. 
This  came  to  the  knowledge  of  "  Mentor  "  and  the 
abhorrent  plan  was  stopped  by  his  timely  interfer- 
ence. There  are  too  few  men  and  women  great 
enough  to  be  tolerant  of  ideas  in  opposition  to 
their  own,  or  to  persons  holding  those  ideas.  Tol- 
erance belongs  to  great  souls  only. 

Matters  in  the  States  had  so  grown  from  bad  to 
worse,  and  Congress,  with  its  limited  powers,  was 
so  helpless,  that  a  convention  was  finally  called  at 
Philadelphia,  May  25,  1787,  to  provide  for  a  more 
complete  and  efficient  Union.  Nine  States  sent 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  115 

delegates  :  Massachusetts,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  General  Washing- 
ton was  made  president  of  the  convention.  A 
plan  of  government  was  submitted,  called  the 
"  Virginia  plan,"  which  provided  for  a  Congress  of 
two  branches,  one  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  the 
other  from  names  suggested  by  the  State  Legisla- 
tures. There  was  to  be  a  President,  not  eligible 
for  a  second  term.  Then  the  "  New  Jersey  plan  " 
was  submitted ;  which  was  simply  a  revision  of  the 
Articles  of  Confederation. 

The  debates  were  earnest,  but  most  intelligent ; 
for  men  in  those  times  had  studied  the  existing 
governments  of  the  world,  and  the  fate  of  previous 
republics.  Hamilton  was  present  as  a  delegate, 
and,  early  in  the  convention,  gave  his  plan  for  a 
new  government,  in  a  powerful  speech,  six  hours 
long.  He  reviewed  the  whole  domain  of  history, 
the  present  condition  of  the  States,  and  the  reasons 
for  it,  and  then  developed  his  plan.  Those  only 
could  vote  for  President  and  Senators  who  owned 
a  certain  amount  of  real  estate.  These  officials 
were  to  hold  office  for  life  or  during  good  behavior. 
The  President  should  appoint  the  Governors  of  the 
various  States. 

Of  course,  the  believers  in  "States'  Rights" 
could  not  for  a  moment  concede  such  power  to  one 
man,  at  the  head  of  a  nation.  When  Hamilton 
affirmed  that  the  "British  government  was  the 
best  model  in  existence,"  he  awoke  the  antagonism 


116  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

of  the  American  heart.  He  probably  knew  that 
his  plan  could  not  be  adopted,  but  it  strengthened 
the  advocates  of  a  central  government.  Many 
delegates  went  home  under  protest ;  but  the  Con- 
stitution, brought  into  its  present  form  largely  by 
James  Madison,  was  finally  adopted,  and  sent  to 
the  different  States  for  ratification.  * 

The  opposition  to  its  adoption  was  very  great. 
Hamilton,  with  praiseworthy  spirit,  accepted  it  as 
the  best  thing  attainable  under  the  circumstances, 
and  worked  for  it  night  and  day  with  all  the  vigor 
and  power  of  his  masterly  intellect.  To  the  Fed- 
eralist he  contributed  fifty-one  papers  in  defence 
of  the  Constitution,  and  did  more  than  any  other 
man  to  secure  its  ultimate  adoption. 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  in  his  clear  and  admirable 
"  Life  of  Hamilton,"  says :  "  As  an  exposition  of  the 
meaning  and  purposes  of  the  Constitution,  the 
Federalist  is  now,  and  always  will  be  cited,  on  the 
bench  and  at  the  bar,  by  American  commentators, 
and  by  all  writers  on  constitutional  law.  As  a 
treatise  on  the  principles  of  federal  government 
it  still  stands  at  the  head,  and  has  been  turned 
to  as  an  authority  by  the  leading  minds  of 
Germany,  intent  on  the  formation  of  the  German 
Empire." 

Party  feeling  ran  high.  When  a  State  enrolled 
herself  in  favor  of  the  Constitution,  bonfires,  feasts, 
and  public  processions  testified  to  the  joy  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  people ;  while  the  burning  in  effigy  of 
prominent  Federalists,  mobs  and  riots,  testified  to 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 


the  anger  of  the  opponents.  In  the  State  of  New 
York  the  contest  was  extremely  bitter.  Hamilton 
used  all  his  logic,  his  eloquence,  his  fire,  and  his 
boundless  activity  to  carry  the  State  in  favor  of  the 
Constitution.  Said  Chancellor  Kent:  "He  urged 
every  motive  and  consideration  that  ought  to  sway 
the  human,  mind  in  such  a  crisis.  He  touched, 
with  exquisite  skill,  every  chord  of  sympathy  that 
could  be  made  to  vibrate  in  the  human  breast. 
Our  country,  our  honor,  our  liberties,  our  fire- 
sides, our  posterity  were  placed  in  vivid  colors 
before  us." 

When  told  by  a  friend,  who  was  just  starting  on 
a  journey,  that  he  would  be  questioned  in  relation 
to  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  Hamilton  re- 
plied :  "  God  only  knows  !  Several  votes  have  been 
taken,  by  which  it  appears  that  there  are  two  to 
one  against  us."  But  suddenly  his  face  brightened, 
as  he  said,  "Tell  them  that  the  convention  shall 
never  rise  until  the  Constitution  is  adopted." 

The  excitement  in  New  York  city  became  in- 
tense. Crowds  collected  on  the  street-corners,  and 
whispered,  "  Hamilton  is  speaking  yet  !  "  Late  in 
the  evening  of  July  28,  1788,  it  was  announced  that 
the  Constitution  had  been  adopted  by  New  York,  the 
vote  standing  thirty  to  twenty-seven.  At  once  the 
bells  were  rung  and  guns  were  fired.  A  great  pro- 
cession was  formed  of  professional  men  and  artisans, 
bearing  pictures  of  Washington  and  Hamilton,  and 
banners,  with  the  words  "  Federalist,"  "  Liberty  of 
the  Press,"  and  "The  Epoch  of  Liberty."  The 


118  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

federal  frigate  Hamilton  was  fully  manned,  and 
received  the  plaudits  of  the  crowds. 

When  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  at  last, 
Washington  was  made  President,  April  30,  1789. 
It  was  not  strange  that  he  chose  for  his  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  the  man  who  had  studied  finance  by 
the  camp-fires  of  the  Revolution.  At  thirty -two 
Hamilton  was  in  the  Cabinet  of  his  country.  At 
once  Congress  asked  him  to  prepare  a  report  on  the 
public  credit,  stating  his  plan  of  providing  for  the 
public  debt.  In  about  three  months  the  report  was 
ready.  It  advocated  the  funding  of  all  the  debts 
of  the  United  States  incurred  through  the  war. 
As  to  the  foreign  and  domestic  debts,  all  persons 
seemed  agreed  that  these  should  be  paid ;  but  the 
assumption  of  the  debts  of  the  different  States  met 
with  the  most  violent  opposition.  Those  who  owed 
a  few  million  dollars  were  unwilling  to  help  those 
who  owed  many  millions. 

Hamilton  advocated  a  foreign  loan,  not  to  ex- 
ceed twelve  millions,  and  a  revenue  derived  from 
taxes  on  imports ;  such  a  revenue  as  would  not  only 
provide  funds  for  the  new  nation,  but  protect  man- 
ufactures from  the  competition  of  the  old  world. 
The  believers  in  protection  have  had  no  more  ear- 
nest or  able  advocate  than  Hamilton. 

His  next  report  was  an  elaborate  one  upon 
national  banks,  and  the  establishment  of  a  United 
States  bank,  which  should  give  a  uniform  system 
of  bank-notes,  instead  of  the  unreliable  and  uneven 
values  of  the  notes  of  the  State  banks.  His  finan- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 


cial  policy,  while  it  aroused  the  bitterest  enmity  in 
some  quarters,  raised  the  United  States  from  bank- 
ruptcy to  the  respect  of  her  creditors,  abroad  and  at 
home.  When  the  old  cry  of  "  unconstitutional  !  " 
was  heard,  as  it  has  been  heard  ever  since  when  any 
great  matter  is  suggested,  Hamilton  taught  the  peo- 
ple to  feel  that  the  implied  powers  of  the  Constitution 
were  great  enough  for  all  needs,  and  that  the  docu- 
ment must  be  interpreted  by  the  spirit  as  well  as 
the  letter  of  the  law.  Capitalists  were  his  strong 
advocates,  as  they  well  knew  that  a  firm  and  safe 
financial  policy  was  at  the  root  of  success  and 
progress. 

Very  soon  after  his  report  on  banks,  he  trans- 
mitted to  Congress  a  report  on  the  establishment 
of  a  mint,  showing  wide  research  on  the  subject  of 
coinage.  Besides  these  papers,  he  reported  on  the 
purchase  of  West  Point,  on  public  lands,  navigation 
laws,  on  the  post-office,  and  other  matters,  always 
showing  careful  study,  good  judgment,  and  patri- 
otism. 

That  he  was  accused  of  being  a  monarchist  sig- 
nified little,  as  there  were  hundreds  of  people  at 
that  time  who  feared  that  the  republic  would  go 
down,  as  had  others  in  past  centuries.  He  so 
deprecated  the  lack  of  central  power  in  the  govern- 
ment that  he  exaggerated  the  dangers  of  the 
people's  rule.  This  lack  of  trust  in  the  masses 
and  in  the  power  of  the  Constitution,  and  Thomas 
Jefferson's  trust  in  self-government  and  belief  in 
States'  rights,  led,  at  last,  to  the  bitter  and  public 


120  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

disagreement  of  these  two  great  men,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury  and  the  Secretary  of  State. 
Each  was  honest  in  his  belief ;  each  was  tolerant 
of  most  men,  but  intolerant  of  the  other  to  the 
end  of  life. 

Hamilton  naturally  became  the  leader  of  the 
Federalists,  as  Jefferson  the  leader  of  the  Repub- 
licans, or  Democrats,  as  they  are  now  called.  One 
party  saw  in  Hamilton  the  great  thinker,  the  safe 
guardian  of  the  destinies  of  the  people ;  the  other 
party  thought  it  saw  a  bold  and  unscrupulous  man, 
who  would  sit  on  a  throne  if  that  were  possible. 
Hamilton's  character  was  assailed,  sometimes  with 
truth,  but  oftener  without  truth.  He  was  not 
perfect,  but  he  was  great,  and  in  most  respects 
noble. 

The  French  Revolution  was  now  interesting  all 
minds.  Genet  had  been  sent  to  America  by  the 
French  Republic,  as  her  minister.  Hamilton  urged 
neutrality,  and  looked  with  horror  upon  the  growing 
excesses  in  France.  Jefferson,  with  his  hatred  of 
monarchy,  was  lenient,  and,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  Revolution,  sympathetic.  The  United  States 
became  divided  into  two  great  factions,  for  and 
against  France.  Genet  fanned  the  flames  till  the 
patient  Washington  could  endure  it  no  longer ;  the 
unwise  minister  was  recalled,  and  neutrality  was 
proclaimed  April  22,  1793. 

Through  all  this  matter,  Hamilton  had  the  com- 
plete love  and  confidence  of  Washington.  When 
it  was  deemed  wise  to  send  a  special  commissioner 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  121 

to  effect  a  treaty  with  England,  that  proper  com- 
mercial relations  be  maintained,  Hamilton  was  at 
once  suggested.  Party  feeling  opposed,  and  John 
Jay  was  appointed.  When  he  returned  from  his 
mission,  Great  Britain  having  consented  to  pay  us 
ten  million  dollars  for  illegal  seizure  of  vessels, 
we  agreeing  to  pay  all  debts  owed  to  her  before  the 
Eevolutionary  War,  the  people  rose  in  wrath 
against  the  treaty,  and  burned  Jay  in  effigy.  When 
Hamilton  was  speaking  for  its  adoption  at  a  public 
meeting  in  New  York,  he  was  assaulted  by  stones. 
"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  coolly,  "  if  you  use  such 
strong  arguments,  I  must  retire."  After  this  he 
wrote  essays,  signed  "  Camillas,"  in  defence  of  the 
treaty,  and  helped  largely  to  secure  its  acceptance. 

Meantime,  the  Excise  Law,  whereby  distilled 
spirits  were  taxed,  caused  the  "  Whiskey  Insurrec- 
tion "  in  Pennsylvania.  Hamilton,  who  believed  in 
the  prompt  execution  of  law,  urged  Washington  to 
take  decisive  measures.  The  President  called  out 
thirteen  thousand  troops,  and  the  refusal  to  pay 
the  taxes  was  no  more  heard  of. 

Hamilton,  like  Jefferson,  had  become  weary  of 
his  six  years  of  public  life ;  his  increasing  family 
needed  more  than  his  limited  salary,  and  he  re- 
signed, returning  to  his  law  practice  in  the  city  of 
New  York. 

When  a  new  President  was  chosen  to  succeed 
Washington,  it  was  not  the  real  leader  of  the 
party,  Hamilton,  but  one  who  had  elicited  less  op- 
position by  strong  measures  —  John  Adams,  a  man 


122  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

of  long  and  distinguished  service,  both  in  England 
and  America.  Hamilton  seems  to  have  preferred 
Thomas  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  and  thus  to 
have  gained  the  ill-will  of  Adams,  which  helped  at 
last  to  split  the  Federal  party. 

When  Adams  and  Jefferson  became  the  Presi- 
dential nominees  in  1800,  Hamilton  threw  himself 
heartily  into  the  contest  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
Here  he  found  himself  pitted  against  a  rare  antag- 
onist, the  most  famous  lawyer  in  the  State  except 
himself,  Aaron  Burr.  He  was  well  born,  being  the 
son  of  the  president  of  the  college  at  Princeton, 
and  the  grandson  of  Jonathan  Edwards.  Like 
Hamilton,  he  was  precocious  ;  being  ready  to  enter 
Princeton  when  he  was  eleven  years  old.  He  was 
short  in  stature,  five  feet  and  six  inches  in  height ; 
with  fine  black  eyes,  and  gentle  and  winsome  man- 
ners. Both  these  men  won  the  most  enduring 
friendships  from  men  and  women  —  homage  indeed. 
Both  were  intense  in  nature,  though  Burr  had  far 
greater  self-control.  Both  were  brave  to  rashness ; 
both  were  untiring  students ;  both  loved  and  al- 
ways gained  authority.  Burr  had  won  honors  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  He  had  married  at  twenty- 
six,  a  woman  ten  years  older  than  himself,  a  widow 
with  two  children,  with  neither  wealth  nor  beauty, 
whom  he  idolized  for  the  twelve  years  she  was 
spared  to  him,  for  her  rare  mind  and  devoted  affec- 
tion. From  her  he  learned  to  value  intellect  in 
woman.  He  used  to  write  her  before  marriage, 
"Deal  less  in  sentiments,  and  more  in  ideas." 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  123 

When  she  died,  he  said,  "  The  mother  of  my  Theo 
was  the  best  woman  and  finest  lady  I  have  ever 
known."  For  his  only  child,  his  beloved  Theo- 
dosia,  he  seemed  to  have  but  one  wish,  that  she  be 
a  scholar.  He  said  to  his  wife,  "  If  I  could  foresee 
that  Theo  would  become  a  mere  fashionable  woman, 
with  all  the  attendant  frivolity  and  vacuity  of 
mind,  adorned  with  whatever  grace  and  allurement, 
I  would  earnestly  pray  God  to  take  her  forthwith 
hence.  But  I  yet  hope  by  her  to  convince  the 
world  what  neither  sex  appear  to  believe  —  that 
women  have  souls  ! " 

At  ten  years  of  age,  she  was  studying  Horace 
and  Terence,  learning  the  Greek  grammar,  speaking 
French,  and  reading  Gibbon. 

This  Theo,  the  idol  of  his  life,  afterward  mar- 
ried to  Governor  Alston  of  South  Carolina,  loved 
him  with  a  devotion  that  will  forever  make  one 
gleam  of  sunshine  in  a  life  full  of  shadows.  When 
the  dark  days  came,  she  wrote  him,  "  I  witness 
your  extraordinary  fortitude  with  new  wonder  at 
every  new  misfortune.  Often,  after  reflecting  on 
this  subject,  you  appear  to  me  so  superior,  so  ele- 
vated above  all  other  men  ;  I  contemplate  you  with 
such  a  strange  mixture  of  humility,  admiration, 
reverence,  love,  and  pride,  very  little  superstition 
would  be  necessary  to  make  me  worship  you  as  a 
superior  being ;  such  enthusiasm  does  your  char- 
acter excite  in  me.  ...  I  had  rather  not  live  than 
not  be  the  daughter  of  such  a  man." 

Burr's  success  in  the  law  had  been  phenomenal. 


124  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

When  he  was  studying  for  admission  to  the  bar,  he 
often  passed  twenty  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four 
over  his  books. 

And  now,  Colonel  Burr,  at  thirty-six,  after  being 
in  the  United  States  Senate  for  six  years,  was  the 
candidate  for  Vice-President  on  the  Jefferson  ticket. 
Hamilton's  eloquence  stirred  the  State  of  New 
York  in  the  contest;  but  Burr's  generalship  in 
politics  won  the  votes,  and  he  was  elected. 

Hamilton  went  back  again  to  his  large  law  prac- 
tice. Men  sought  him  with  the  belief  that  if  he 
would  take  their  cases,  there  was  no  doubt  of  the 
result.  An  aged  farmer  came  to  him  to  recover  a 
farm  for  which  a  deed  had  been  obtained  from  him 
in  exchange  for  Virginia  laud.  Hamilton  heard 
the  case ;  then  wrote  to  the  wealthy  speculator  to 
call  upon  him.  When  he  came,  Hamilton  said, 
"  You  must  give  me  back  that  deed.  I  do  not  say 
that  you  knew  that  the  title  to  these  lands  is  bad  ; 
but  it  is  bad.  You  are  a  rich  —  he  is  a  poor  man. 
How  can  you  sleep  on  your  pillow  ?  Would  you 
break  up  the  only  support  of  an  aged  man  and 
seven  children?  "  He  walked  the  floor  rapidly,  as 
he  exclaimed,  "  I  will  add  to  my  professional  ser- 
vices all  the  weight  of  my  character  and  powers 
of  my  nature ;  and  you  ought  to  know,  when  I  es- 
pouse the  cause  of  innocence  and  of  the  oppressed, 
that  character  and  those  powers  will  have  their 
weight." 

The  property  was  reconveyed  to  the  farmer,  who 
gratefully  asked  Hamilton  to  name  the  compensa- 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  125 

tion.  "Nothing!  nothing!"  said  he.  "Hasten 
home  and  make  your  family  happy." 

Hamilton  was  clear  in  his  reasoning ;  a  master 
in  constitutional  law;  persuasive  in  his  manner; 
sometimes  highly  impassioned,  sometimes  solemn 
and  earnest.  Says  Henry  Cabot  Lodge :  "  Force  of 
intellect  and  force  of  will  were  the  sources  of  his 
success.  .  .  .  Directness  was  his  most  distinguish- 
ing characteristic,  and,  whether  he  appealed  to  the 
head  or  the  heart,  he  went  straight  to  the  mark.  .  .  . 
He  never  indulged  in  rhetorical  flourishes,  and  his 
style  was  simple  and  severe.  .  .  .  That  which  led 
him  to  victory  was  the  passionate  energy  of  his 
nature,  his  absorption  in  his  work,  his  contagious 
and  persuasive  enthusiasm." 

"  There  was  a  fascination  in  his  manner,  by  which 
one  was  led  captive  unawares,"  says  another  writer. 
"  On  most  occasions,  when  animated  with  the  sub- 
ject on  which  he  was  engaged,  you  could  see  the 
very  workings  of  his  soul,  in  the  expression  of  his 
countenance ;  and  so  frank  was  he  in  manner  that 
he  would  make  you  feel  that  there  was  not  a 
thought  of  his  heart  that  he  would  wish  to  hide 
from  your  view." 

"  Alexander  Hamilton  was  the  greatest  man  this 
country  ever  produced,"  said  Judge  Ambrose  Spen- 
cer. ..."  He  argued  cases  before  me  while  I  sat 
as  judge  on  the  bench.  Webster  has  done  the 
same.  In  power  of  reasoning  Hamilton  was  the 
equal  of  Webster ;  and  more  than  this  can  be  said 
of  no  man.  In  creative  power  Hamilton  was  infi- 


126  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

nitely  Webster's  superior.  .  .  .  He,  more  than  any 
man,  did  the  thinking  of  the  time." 

His  chief  relaxation  from  work  was  at  "The 
Grange,"  his  summer  home  at  Harlem  Heights,  not 
far  from  the  spot,  it  is  said,  where  he  first  attracted 
the  eye  of  Washington.  Beeches,  maples,  and 
many  evergreens  abounded.  The  Hudson  River 
added  its  beauty  to  the  picturesque  place.  Here 
he  read  the  classics  for  pleasure,  and  the  Bible. 
To  a  friend  he  said :  "  I  have  examined  carefully 
the  evidence  of  the  Christian  religion ;  and,  if  I 
was  sitting  as  a  juror  upon  its  authenticity,  I 
should  unhesitatingly  give  my  verdict  in  its  favor. 
...  I  can  prove  its  truth  as  clearly  as  any  propo- 
sition ever  submitted  to  the  mind  of  man." 

At  "The  Grange  "  he  was  especially  happy  with 
his  family.  He  said,  "  My  health  and  comfort  both 
require  that  I  should  be  at  home  —  at  that  home 
where  I  am  always  sure  to  find  a  sweet  asylum 
from  care  and  pain.  ...  It  will  be  more  and  more 
my  endeavor  to  abstract  myself  from  all  pursuits 
which  interfere  with  those  of  affection.  'Tis  here 
only  I  can  find  true  pleasure." 

When  Hamilton  was  forty-four,  he  endured  the 
great  affliction  of  his  life.  His  eldest  son,  Philip, 
nineteen,  just  graduated  from  Columbia  College, 
deeply  wounded  by  the  political  attacks  upon  his 
father,  challenged  to  a  duel  one  of  the  men  who 
had  made  objectionable  remarks.  The  lad  fell  at 
the  first  fire,  a  wicked  sacrifice  to  a  barbarous  "  code 
of  honor."  After  twenty  hours  of  agony,  he  died, 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  127 

surrounded  by  the  stricken  family.  Hamilton  was 
especially  proud  of  this  son,  of  whom  he  said,  when 
he  gave  his  oration  at  Columbia  College,  "  I  could 
not  have  been  contented  to  have  been  surpassed  by 
any  other  than  my  son." 

For  three  years  Hamilton  worked  on  with  a 
hope  which  was  never  broken,  constantly  adding 
to  his  fame.  And  then  came  the  fatal  error  of  his 
life.  All  along  he  had  opposed  Aaron  Burr.  When 
named  for  a  foreign  mission,  Hamilton  helped  to  de- 
feat him.  When  the  tie  vote  came  between  Jeffer- 
son and  Burr  in  the  Presidential  returns,  Hamilton 
said,  "  The  appointment  of  Burr  as  President  will 
disgrace  our  country  abroad."  When  Burr  was 
nominated  for  Governor  of  New  York,  Hamilton 
used  every  effort  to  defeat  him,  and  succeeded. 
Burr,  exasperated  and  disappointed  at  his  failures, 
sent  Hamilton  a  challenge.  He  wrote  to  Hamilton, 
"  Political  opposition  can  never  absolve  gentlemen 
from  the  necessity  of  a  rigid  adherence  to  the  laws 
of  honor  and  the  rules  of  decorum.  I  neither 
claim  such  privilege  nor  indulge  it  in  others." 
Alas !  that  some  men  in  public  life,  even  now, 
forget  the  "laws  of  honor  and  the  rules  of  deco- 
rum "  in  their  treatment  of  opponents. 

Everything  in  Hamilton's  career  protested 
against  this  suicidal  combat.  He  was  only  forty- 
seven,  distinguished  and  beloved,  with  a  wife  and 
seven  children  dependent  upon  him. 

Before  going  to  the  fatal  meeting,  he  wrote  his 
feelings  about  duelling.  "  My  religious  and  moral 


128  ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

principles  are  strongly  opposed  to  the  practice  of 
duelling,  and  it  would  even  give  me  pain  to  be 
obliged  to  shed  the  blood  of  a  fellow-creature  in  a 
private  combat  forbidden  by  the  laws.  ...  To 
those  who,  with  me,  abhorring  the  practice  of  duel- 
ling, may  think  that  I  ought  on  no  account  to  have 
added  to  the  number  of  bad  examples,  I  answer 
that  my  relative  situation,  as  well  in  public  as 
private,  enforcing  all  the  considerations  which  con- 
stitute what  men  of  the  world  denominate  honor, 
imposed  on  me  (as  I  thought)  a  peculiar  necessity 
not  to  decline  the  call.  The  ability  to  be  in  future 
useful,  whether  in  resisting  mischief  or  effecting 
good,  in  those  crises  of  our  public  affairs  which 
seem  likely  to  happen,  would  probably  be  insepa- 
rable from  a  conformity  with  public  prejudice  in 
this  particular." 

He  made  his  will,  leaving  all,  after  the  payment 
of  his  debts,  to  his  "dear  and  excellent  wife." 
"  Should  it  happen  that  there  is  not  enough  for  the 
payment  of  my  debts,  I  entreat  my  dear  children, 
if  they,  or  any  of  them,  should  ever  be  able,  to 
make  up  the  deficiency.  I,  without  hesitation, 
commit  to  their  delicacy  a  wish  which  is  dictated 
by  my  own.  Though  conscious  that  I  have  too 
far  sacrificed  the  interests  of  my  family  to  public 
avocations,  and  on  this  account  have  the  less  claim 
to  burden  my  children,  yet  I  trust  in  their  magna- 
nimity to  appreciate  as  they  ought  this  my  re- 
quest. In  so  unfavorable  an  event  of  things,  the 
support  of  their  dear  mother,  with  the  most  re- 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON.  129 

spectful  and  tender  attention,  is  a  duty,  all  the 
sacredness  of  which  they  will  feel.  Probably  her 
own  patrimonial  resources  will  preserve  her  from 
indigence.  But  in  all  situations  they  are  charged 
to  bear  in  mind  that  she  has  been  to  them  the 
most  devoted  and  best  of  mothers."  And  then, 
the  great  statesman,  after  writing  two  farewell 
letters  to  "  my  darling,  darling  wife,"  conformed  to 
"public  prejudice"  by  hastening  with  his  second, 
at  daybreak,  to  meet  Aaron  Burr,  at  Weehawken, 
two  miles  and  a  half  above  Hoboken.  It  was  a 
quiet  and  beautiful  spot,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  Hudson  River,  shut 
in  by  trees  and  vines,  but  golden  with  sunlight  on 
that  fatal  morning. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  two  distinguished  men  were 
ready,  ten  paces  apart,  to  take  into  their  own 
hands  that  most  sacred  of  all  things,  human  life. 
There  was  no  outward  sign  of  emotion,  though  the 
one  must  have  thought  of  his  idol,  Theodosia,  and 
the  other  of  his  pretty  children,  still  asleep.  Ham- 
ilton had  determined  not  to  fire,  and  so  permitted 
himself  to  be  sacrificed.  The  word  of  readiness 
was  given.  Burr  raised  his  pistol  and  fired,  and 
Hamilton  fell  headlong  011  his  face,  his  own  weapon 
discharging  in  the  air.  He  sank  into  the  arms  of 
his  physician,  saying  faintly,  "This  is  a  mortal 
wound,"  and  was  borne  home  to  a  family  over- 
whelmed with  sorrow.  The  oldest  daughter  lost 
her  reason. 

For   thirty-one   hours  he  lay  in  agony,  talking, 


130  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

when  able,  with  his  minister  about  the  coming 
future,  asking  that  the  sacrament  be  administered, 
and  saying,  "  I  am  a  sinner.  I  look  to  Him  for 
mercy ;  pray  for  me." 

Once  when  all  his  children  were  gathered  around 
the  bed,  he  gave  them  one  tender  look,  and  closed 
his  eyes  till  they  had  left  the  room.  He  retained 
his  usual  composure  to  the  last,  saying  to  his  Avife, 
frenzied  with  grief,  "Kemember,  my  Eliza,  you 
are  a  Christian."  He  died  at  two  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  July  12,  1804.  The  whole  nation 
seemed  speechless  with  sorrow.  In  New  York  all 
business  was  suspended.  At  the  funeral,  a  great 
concourse  of  people,  college  societies,  political  asso- 
ciations, and  military  companies,  joined  in  the 
common  sorrow.  Guns  were  fired  from  the  British 
and  French  ships  in  the  harbor ;  on  a  platform  in 
front  of  Trinity  Church,  Governor  Morris  pro- 
nounced a  eulogy,  General  Hamilton's  four  sons, 
the  eldest  sixteen  and  the  youngest  four,  standing 
beside  the  speaker.  Thus  the  great  life  faded 
from  sight  in  its  vigorous  manhood,  leaving  a  won- 
derful record  for  the  aspiring  and  the  patriotic, 
and  a  prophecy  of  what  might  have  been  accom- 
plished but  for  that  one  fatal  mistake. 

Aaron  Burr  hastened  to  the  South,  to  avoid 
arrest;  but  public  execration  followed  him.  He 
became  implicated  in  a  scheme  for  putting  himself 
at  the  head  of  Mexico,  was  arrested  and  tried  for 
treason,  and,  though  legally  acquitted,  Avas  obliged 
to  flee  to  England,  and  from  there  to  Sweden  and 


ALEXANDER   HAMILTON.  131 

Germany.  Finally  he  came  home,  only  to  hear 
that  Theodosia's  beautiful  boy  of  eleven  was  dead. 
Poor  and  friendless,  he  longed  now  for  the  one 
person  who  had  never  forsaken  him,  his  daughter. 
She  started  from  Charleston  in  a  pilot-boat,  for 
New  York,  and  was  never  heard  from  afterwards. 
Probably  all  went  down  in  a  storm  off  Cape  Hat- 
teras.  When  it  was  reported  in  the  papers  that 
the  boat  had  been  captured  by  pirates,  Burr  said, 
"No,  no,  she  is  indeed  dead.  Were  she  alive,  all 
the  prisons  in  the  world  could  not  keep  her  from 
her  father.  When  I  realized  the  truth  of  her 
death,  the  world  became  a  blank  to  me,  and  life 
had  then  lost  all  its  value." 

W'hen  he  was  nearly  eighty,  he  married  a  lady 
of  wealth ;  but  they  were  unhappy,  and  soon  sepa- 
rated. He  died  on  Staten  Island,  cared  for  at  the 
last  by  the  children  of  an  old  friend.  His  courage 
and  fortitude  the  world  will  always  admire ;  but  it 
can  never  forget  the  fatal  duel  by  which  Alexander 
Hamilton  was  taken  from  his  country,  in  the  prime 
of  his  life  and  in  the  midst  of  his  great  work. 

The  name  of  Hamilton  will  not  be  forgotten. 
The  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  of  New  York,  on 
February  22,  1888,  gave  the  great  statesman  this 
well  deserved  tribute  of  praise  :  — 

"  The  political  mission  of  the  United  States  has  so  far 
been  wrought  out  by  individuals  and  territorial  conditions. 
Four  men  of  unequal  genius  have  dominated  our  century, 
and  the  growth  of  the  West  has  revolutionized  the  republic. 
The  principles  which  have  heretofore  controlled  the  policy 


132  ALEXANDER   HAMILTON. 

of  the  country  have  mainly  owed  their  force  and  acceptance 
to  Hamilton,  Jefferson,  Webster,  and  Lincoln. 

"  The  first  question  which  met  the  young  confederacy  was 
the  necessity  of  a  central  power  strong  enough  to  deal  with 
foreign  nations  and  to  protect  commerce  between  the 
States.  At  this  period  Alexander  Hamilton  became  the 
savior  of  the  republic.  If  Shakespeare  is  the  commanding 
originating  genius  of  England,  and  Goethe  of  Germany, 
Hamilton  must  occupy  that  place  among  Americans.  This 
superb  intelligence,  which  was  at  once  philosophic  and 
practical,  and  with  unrivalled  lucidity  could  instruct  the 
dullest  mind  on  the  bearing  of  the  action  of  the  present  on 
the  destiny  of  the  future,  so  impressed  upon  his  contempo- 
raries the  necessity  of  a  central  government  with  large 
powers  that  the  Constitution,  now  one  hundred  and  one 
years  old,  was  adopted,  and  the  United  States  began  their 
life  as  a  nation." 


ANDREW    JACKSON. 


EORGE  BANCROFT  said,  "No  man  in  pri- 
&te  life  so  possessed  the  hearts  of  all  around 
him ;  no  public  man  of  the  country  ever  returned 
to  private  life  with  such  an  abiding  mastery  over 
the  affections  of  the  people.  .  .  .  He  was  as  sincere 
a  man  as  ever  lived.  He  was  wholly,  always,  and 
altogether  sincere  and  true.  Up  to  the  last  he 
dared  do  anything  that  it  was  right  to  do.  He 
united  personal  courage  and  moral  courage  beyond 
any  man  of  whom  history  keeps  the  record.  .  .  . 
Jackson  never  was  vanquished.  He  was  always 
fortunate.  He  conquered  the  wilderness ;  he  con- 
quered the  savage ;  he  conquered  the  veterans  of 
the  battle-field  of  Europe ;  he  conquered  every- 
where in  statesmanship ;  and  when  death  came  to 
get  the  mastery  over  him,  he  turned  that  last 
enemy  aside  as  tranquilly  as  he  had  done  the  fee- 
blest of  his  adversaries,  and  passed  from  earth  in 
the  triumphant  consciousness  of  immortality." 

Thus  wrote  Bancroft  of  the  man  who  rose  from 

poverty   and   sorrow   to  receive   the   highest   gift 

which  the  American  nation  can  bestow.     The  gift 

did  not  come  through  chance  ;  it  came  because  the 

133 


134  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

man  was  worthy  of  it,  and  had  earned  the  love  and 
honor  of  the  people. 

In  1765,  among  many  other  emigrants,  a  man, 
with  his  wife  and  two  sons,  came  to  the  new  world 
from  the  north  of  Ireland.  They  were  linen- 
weavers,  poor,  but  industrious,  and  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  They  settled  at  Waxhaw, 
North  Carolina,  not  far  from  the  South  Carolina 
boundary,  and  the  husband  began  to  build  a  log 
house  for  his  dear  ones.  This  man  was  the  father 
of  Andrew  Jackson. 

Scarcely  had  the  log  house  been  built,  and  a  sin- 
gle crop  raised,  l>efore  the  wife  was  left  a  widow 
and  the  children  fatherless.  There  was  a  quiet 
funeral,  a  half-dozen  friends  standing  around  an 
open  grave,  and  then  the  little  house  passed  into 
other  hands,  and  Mrs.  Jackson  went  to  live  at  the 
home  of  her  brother-in-law. 

Not  long  after  the  funeral,  a  third  son  was  born, 
March  15,  1767,  whom  the  stricken  mother  named 
Andrew  Jackson,  after  his  father.  He  was  wel- 
comed in  tears,  and  naturally  became  the  idol  of 
her  young  heart.  Three  weeks  later,  she  moved  to 
the  house  of  another  brother-in-law  to  assist  in  his 
family.  She  was  not  afraid  to  work,  and  she  bent 
herself  to  the  hard  labor  of  pioneer  life.  There 
was  no  sorrow  in  the  labor,  for  was  she  not  doing 
it  for  her  sons,  and  a  noble  woman  knows  no  hard- 
ship in  her  self-sacrifice  for  love. 

Her  ambition  seems  to  have  centred  in  the 
slight,  light-haired,  blue-eyed  Andrew,  who,  she 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  135 

hoped,  one  day  might  become  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter. How  he  was  to  obtain  a  college  education, 
perhaps,  she  did  not  discern,  but  she  trusted,  and 
trust  is  a  divine  thing. 

The  barefooted  boy  attended  a  school  kept  by 
Dr.  Waddell.  He  made  commendable  progress  in 
his  studies,  from  his  quick  and  ardent  temperament, 
but  he  loved  fun  even  better  than  books.  He  was 
impulsive,  ambitious,  and  persevering.  He  could 
run  foot-races  as  rapidly  as  the  bigger  boys,  and 
loved  to  wrestle  or  engage  in  anything  which 
seemed  like  a  battle.  Says  an  old  schoolmate,  "  I 
could  throw  him  three  times  out  of  four,  but  he 
would  never  stay  throived.  He  was  dead  game, 
even  then,  and  never  would  give  up." 

To  the  younger  boys  he  was  a  protector,  but  from 
the  older  he  would  brook  no  insult,  and  was  some- 
times hasty  and  overbearing.  One  of  the  best 
traits  in  the  boy's  character  was  his  love  for  his 
mother.  His  intense  nature  knew  no  change,  and 
he  was  loyal  and  single  of  purpose  forever.  He 
used  to  say  in  later  life,  "  One  of  the  last  injunc- 
tions given  me  by  my  mother  was  never  to  insti- 
tute a  suit  for  assault  and  battery  or  for  defama- 
tion ;  never  to  wound  the  feelings  of  others  nor 
suffer  my  own  to  be  outraged :  these  were  her 
words  of  admonition  to  me ;  I  remember  them  well, 
and  have  never  failed  to  respect  them  ;  my  settled 
course  through  life  has  been  to  bear  them  in  mind, 
and  never  to  insult  or  wantonly  to  assail  the  feel- 
ings of  any  one  ;  and  yet  many  conceive  me  to  be 


136  ANDEE\V  JACKSON. 

a  most  ferocious  animal,  insensible  to  moral  duty 
and  regardless  of  the  laws  both  of  God  and  man." 

He  did  nothing  slowly  nor  indifferently.  He 
bent  his  will  to  his  work,  even  at  that  early  age, 
and  knew  no  such  word  as  failure.  When  the  boy 
was  thirteen,  an  incident  occurred  which  made  a 
lasting  impression.  The  British  General  Tarlton, 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  with  three  hundred  cav- 
alry, came  against  Waxhaw,  surprised  the  militia, 
killing  one  hundred  and  thirteen  and  wounding 
one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  little  settlement  was 
terrorized.  The  meeting-house  became  a  hospital, 
and  Mrs.  Jackson,  with  her  sons,  helped  to  minister 
to  the  wants  of  the  suffering  soldiers.  Andrew 
learned  not  only  lessons  in  war,  but  to  dream  of 
future  rewards  to  the  British. 

When  Cornwallis,  after  the  surrender  of  General 
Gates,  moved  his  whole  army  toward  Waxhaw, 
Mrs.  Jackson  and  her  sons  were  obliged  to  seek  a 
safe  retreat  with  a  distant  relative.  Here  Andrew 
did  "  chores  "  for  his  board.  "  Never,"  said  one 
who  knew  him  well  at  this  time,  "did  Andrew 
come  home  from  the  shops  without  bringing  with 
him  some  new  weapon  with  which  to  kill  the 
enemy.  Sometimes  it  was  a  rude  spear,  which  he 
would  forge  while  waiting  for  the  blacksmith  to 
finish  his  job.  Sometimes  it  was  a  club  or  a  toma- 
hawk. Once  he  fastened  the  blade  of  a  scj'the  to  a 
pole,  and,  on  reaching  home,  began  to  cut  down  the 
weeds  with  it  that  grew  about  the  house,  assailing 
them  with  extreme  fury,  and  occasionally  uttering 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  137 

words  like  these,  '  Oh,  if  I  were  a  man,  how  I 
would  sweep  down  the  British  with  my  grass 
blade!'" 

A  year  later,  when  Mrs.  Jackson  had  returned  to 
Waxhaw,  the  brothers  were  both  taken  prisoners  in 
a  skirmish.  Being  commanded  to  clean  the  boots 
of  a  British  officer,  Andrew  refused,  saying,  "  Sir, 
I  am  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  claim  to  be  treated  as 
such." 

The  angry  Englishman  drew  his  sword,  and 
rushed  at  the  boy,  who,  attempting  to  defend  him- 
self from  the  blow,  received  a  deep  gash  in  his  left 
hand,  and  also  on  his  head,  the  scars  of  which  he 
bore  through  life.  Eobert,  the  brother,  also  re- 
fused to  clean  the  boots,  and  was  prostrated  by  the 
sword  of  the  brutal  officer.  Soon  after,  the  boys 
were  taken  with  other  prisoners  to  Camden,  eighty 
miles  distant,  a  long  and  agonizing  journey  for 
wounded  men. 

They  found  the  prison  a  wretched  place,  with  no 
medical  supplies ;  the  food  scanty,  and  small-pox 
raging  among  the  inmates.  The  poor  mother,  hear- 
ing of  their  forlorn  condition,  hastened  to  the 
place.  Both  her  boys  were  ill  of  the  dreaded 
small-pox,  and  both  suffering  from  their  sword- 
wounds.  She  arranged  for  the  exchange  of  pris- 
oners, and  took  her  sons  home ;  Robert  to  die  in 
her  arms  two  days  later,  and  Andrew  to  be  saved 
at  last  after  a  perilous  illness  of  several  months. 
Her  oldest  son,  Hugh,  had  already  given  his  life  to 
his  country  in  the  war. 


1:',S  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

Almost  broken-hearted  with  the  loss  of  her  two 
sons,  yet  intensely  patriotic,  she  hastened  to  the 
Charleston  prison-ships,  to  care  for  the  wounded, 
taking  with  her  provisions  and  medicine  sent  by 
loving  wives  and  daughters.  The  blessed  ministra- 
tions proved  of  short  duration.  Mrs.  Jackson  was 
taken  ill  of  ship-fever,  died  after  a  brief  illness, 
and  was  buried  in  the  open  plain  near  by.  The 
grave  is  unmarked  and  unknown.  When,  years 
later,  her  illustrious  son  had  become  President,  he 
tried  to  find  the  burial-place  of  the  woman  he  idol- 
ized, but  it  was  impossible. 

Andrew  was  now  an  orphan,  and  poor ;  but  he 
had  what  makes  any  boy  or  man  rich,  the  memory 
of  a  devoted,  heroic  mother.  Such  a  person  has 
an  inspiration  that  is  like  martial  music  on  the 
field  of  battle  ;  he  is  urged  onward  to  duty  forever- 
more.  The  world  is  richer  for  all  such  instances 
of  ideal  womanhood;  the  womanhood  that  gives 
rather  than  receives ;  that  seeks  neither  admira- 
tion nor  self-aggrandizement ;  that,  like  the  flowers, 
sends  out  the  same  fragrance  whether  in  royal 
gardens  or  beside  the  peasant's  door;  that  lives  to 
lighten  others'  sorrows,  to  rest  tired  humanity,  to 
sweeten  the  bitterness  of  life  by  her  loveliness 
of  soul ;  that  is  to  the  world  around  her 

"  A  new  and  certain  sunrise  every  day." 

Fatherless,  motherless,  brotherless,  the  boy  of 
fifteen  looked  about  him  to  see  what  his  life-work 
should  be.  In  the  family  of  a  distant  relative  he 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  139 

found  a  home.  The  son  was  a  saddler.  For  six 
months  Andrew  worked  at  this  trade.  But  other 
plans  were  in  his  mind.  He  knew  how  his  mother 
had  desired  that  he  might  be  educated.  But  how 
could  a  boy  win  his  way  without  money  ?  For  two 
years  or  more,  little  is  known  of  him.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  he  taught  a  small  school.  When  nearly 
eighteen,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  study  law, 
a  somewhat  remarkable  decision  for  a  boy  in  his 
circumstances. 

If  he  studied  at  all,  it  should  be  under  the  best 
of  teachers ;  so  he  rode  to  Salisbury,  seventy -five 
miles  from  Waxhaw,  and  entered  the  office  of  Mr. 
Spruce  McCay,  an  eminent  lawyer,  and  later  a 
judge  of  distinction. 

For  nearly  two  years  he  studied,  enjoying  also 
the  sports  of  the  time,  and  making,  as  he  did  all 
through  life,  close  friends  who  were  devoted  to  his 
interests.  When  in  the  White  House,  forty-five 
years  afterward,  he  said,  "  I  was  but  a  raw  lad 
then,  but  I  did  my  best."  And  he  did  his  best 
through  life  ! 

He  loved  a  fine  horse  almost  as  though  it  were 
human ;  he  enjoyed  the  society  of  ladies,  and  pos- 
sessed a  grace  and  dignity  of  manner  that  sur- 
prised those  who  knew  the  hardships  of  his  life. 
His  eager  intelligence,  his  quick,  direct  glance,  that 
bespoke  alertness  of  mind,  won  him  attention,  even 
more  than  would  beauty  of  person.  Over  six  feet 
in  height,  slender  to  delicacy,  he  gave  the  impres- 
sion of  leadership,  from  his  bravery  and  self-reli- 


140  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

ance.  Emerson  well  says,  "  The  basis  of  good 
manners  is  self-reliance.  .  .  .  Self-trust  is  the  first 
secret  of  success ;  the  belief  that,  if  you  are  here, 
the  authorities  of  the  universe  put  you  here,  and 
for  cause  or  with  some  task  strictly  appointed  you 
in  your  constitution." 

When  his  two  years  of  law-study  were  ended,  the 
work  was  but  just  begun.  There  was  reputation  to 
be  made,  and  perhaps  a  fortune,  but  where  and 
how  ?  For  a  year  he  seems  not  to  have  found  a 
law  opening  ;  the  streams  of  fortune  do  not  always 
flow  toward  us  —  we  have  to  make  the  journey  by 
persistent  and  hard  rowing  against  the  tide.  He 
probably  worked  in  a  store  owned  by  some  ac- 
quaintances, earning  for  daily  needs. 

At  twenty -one  came  his  first  opportunity ;  came, 
as  it  often  comes,  through  a  friend.  Mr.  John  Mc- 
Nairy  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court 
of  the  Western  District  of  North  Carolina  (Tennes- 
see), and  young  Jackson,  his  friend,  public  prosecu- 
tor of  the  same  district.  He  moved  to  Nashville 
in  1788,  to  begin  his  difficult  work.  He  was 
obliged  to  ride  on  horseback  over  the  mountains 
and  through  the  wilderness,  often  among  hostile 
Indians,  his  life  almost  constantly  in  danger. 
Once,  while  travelling  with  a  party  of  emigrants, 
when  all  slept  save  the  sentinels,  he  sat  against  a 
tree,  smoking  his  corn-cob  pipe  and  keeping  an 
eager  watch.  Soon  he  heard  the  notes  of  what 
seemed  to  be  various  owls  !  He  quietly  roused  the 
whole  party  and  moved  them  on.  An  hour  later, 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  141 

a  company  of  hunters  lay  down  by  the  fires  which 
Jackson  had  left,  and  before  daylight  all  save  one 
man  were  killed  by  the  Indians. 

Sometimes  the  young  lawyer  slept  for  twenty 
successive  nights  in  the  wilderness.  This  was  no 
life  of  ease  and  luxury.  At  Nashville  he  found 
lodgings  in  the  house  of  the  widow  of  Colonel 
John  Donelson,  a  brave  pioneer  from  Virginia,  who 
had  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  And  here  Jack- 
son met  the  woman  who  was  to  prove  his  good 
angel  as  long  as  she  lived.'  With  Mrs.  Donelson 
lived  her  dark-haired  and  dark-eyed  daughter 
Rachel,  married  to  Lewis  Robards  from  Kentucky. 
Vivacious,  kindly,  and  sympathetic,  Rachel  had 
been  the  idol  of  her  father,  and  probably  would 
have  been  of  her  husband  had  it  not  been  for  his 
jealous  disposition.  He  became  angry  at  Jackson, 
as  he  had  been  at  others,  and  made  her  life  so  un- 
happy that  she  separated  from  him  and  went  to 
friends  in  Natchez,  with  the  approval  of  her 
mother,  and  the  entire  confidence  and  respect  of 
her  husband's  relatives. 

After  a  divorce  in  1791,  Jackson  married  her, 
when  they  were  each  twenty-four  years  old.  His- 
tory does  not  record  a  happier  marriage.  To  the 
last,  she  lived  for  him  alone,  but  not  more  fully 
than  he  lived  for  her.  With  the  world  he  was 
thought  to  be  domineering  and  harsh,  and  was  often 
profane ;  but  with  her  he  was  patient,  gentle,  and 
deferential.  When  he  won  renown,  she  was  happy 
for  his  sake,  but  she  did  not  care  for  it  for  herself. 


142  ANDShlV  JACKSON. 

Her  kindness  of  heart  took  her  among  the  sick  and 
the  unfortunate,  and  everywhere  she  was  a  wel- 
come comforter.  She  lived  outside  of  self,  and 
found  her  reward  in  the  homage  of  her  husband 
and  her  friends. 

Jackson  soon  began  to  prosper  financially. 
Often  he  would  receive  his'  fee  in  lands,  a  square 
mile  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  or  more,  so 
that  after  a  time  he  was  the  possessor  of  several 
thousand  acres.  Success  came  also  from  other 
sources.  When  a  convention  was  called  to  form  a 
constitution  for  the  new  State  of  Tennessee,  Jack- 
son was  chosen  a  delegate.  He  took  an  active 
part  in  the  organization  of  the  State  —  he  was 
active  in  whatever  he  engaged  —  and  bravely- 
espoused  her  claims  against  the  general  govern- 
ment for  expenses  incurred  in  Indian  conflicts. 
Tennessee  felt  that  she  had  a  true  friend  in  Jack- 
son, and,  when  she  wanted  a  man  to  represent  her 
in  Congress,  she  sent  him  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. This  honor  came  at  twenty-nine  years 
of  age  —  a  strange  contrast  to  the  years  when  he 
made  saddles  or  did  "chores"  for  his  board,  and 
longed  to  "  sweep  down  the  British  with  his  grass 
blade." 

Jackson  served  his  State  well  by  securing  com- 
pensation for  every  man  who  had  done  service  or 
lost  his  property  in  the  Indian  wars.  It  was  not 
strange,  therefore,  that,  when  a  vacancy  occurred 
in  the  United  States  Senate,  Jackson  was  chosen 
to  fill  the  place,  in  the  autumn  of  1797.  Only 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  143 

thirty  years  old !     Kachel  Jackson  might  well  be 
proud  of  him. 

But  the  following  year  he  resigned  his  position, 
glad  to  be,  as  he  supposed,  out  of  official  life.  He 
was,  however,  too  prominent  to  be  allowed  to 
remain  in  private  life,  and  was  elected  to  a 
judgeship  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee. 
As  he  had  made  it  a  rule  "  never  to  seek  and  never 
to  decline  public  duty,"  he  accepted,  on  the  small 
salary  of  six  hundred  dollars  a  year.  While  many 
other  men  in  the  State  were  more  learned  in  the 
law  than  Jackson,  yet  the  people  believed  in  his 
honesty  and  integrity,  and  therefore  he  was 
chosen.  Quick  to  decide  and  slow  to  change  his 
mind,  in  fifteen  days  he  had  disposed  of  fifty  cases, 
says  James  Parton,  in  his  entertaining  life  of 
Andrew  Jackson. 

After  six  years,  longing  for  a  more  active  life, 
Jackson  resigned,  and  was  made  major-general  of 
the  militia  of  the  State.  This  position  was  given, 
not  without  opposition,  he  receiving  only  one  more 
vote  than  his  chief  competitor.  That  one  vote, 
perhaps,  led  to  New  Orleans  and  the  Presidency. 
This  office  was  in  accordance  with  his  natural 
tastes.  Since  boyhood,  he  had  loved  the  stir  and 
command  of  battle,  and  believed  he  should  like  to 
conquer  an  enemy  as  he  had  met  and  conquered 
every  obstacle  that  lay  athwart  his  path. 

As  there  was  no  war  in  progress,  he  continued 
his  law  practice.  But,  not  satisfied  with  this 
alone,  he  became  a  merchant,  trading  with  the 


144  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

Indians,  selling  blankets,  hardware,  and  the  like, 
and  receiving  in  return  cotton  and  other  produce 
of  the  country.  In  the  panic  of  1798,  he  became 
financially  embarrassed,  but,  true  to  his  manly 
nature,  he  worked  steadily  on  till  every  dollar  was 
paid.  He  sold  twenty -five  thousand .  acres  of  his 
wild  land,  sold  his  home,  and  moved  into  a  log 
house  at  the  Hermitage,  seven  miles  out  from 
Nashville,  and  preserved  for  himself  the  best 
thing  on  earth,  a  good  name.  So  honest  was  he 
believed  to  be,  when  a  Tennessean  went  to  Bos- 
ton bankers  for  a  loan,  with  several  leading  names 
on  his  paper,  they  said,  "Do  you  know  General 
Jackson  ?  Could  you  get  his  endorsement  ?  " 

"  Yes,  but  he  is  not  worth  a  tenth  as  much  as 
either  of  these  men  whose  names  I  offer  you," 
was  the  response. 

"  No  matter ;  General  Jackson  has  always  pro- 
tected himself  and  his  paper,  and  we'll  let  you 
have  the  money  on  the  strength  of  his  name." 
And  the  loan  was  granted. 

Honest  and  just  though  he  was,  he  permitted 
his  own  fiery  nature,  or  a  perverted  public  opinion, 
to  lead  him  into  acts  which  tarnished  his  whole 
subsequent  career.  Quick  to  resent  a  wrong,  he 
was  morbidly  sensitive  about  the  circumstances  of 
his  marriage  with  Rachel  Robards.  When  they 
were  married,  in  1791,  they  supposed  that  the 
divorce,  applied  for.  had  been  granted,  but  they 
learned  in  1793,  two  years  afterward,  that  it  was 
not  legally  obtained  till  the  latter  .  date.  They 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  145 

were  at  once  remarried,  but  the  matter  caused 
much  idle  talk,  and,  as  General  Jackson  came 
into  prominence,  his  enemies  were  not  slow  to 
rehearse  the  story.  The  slightest  aspersion  of  his 
wife's  character  aroused  all  the  anger  of  his 
nature,  and,  says  Parton,  "  For  the  man  who  dared 
breathe  her  name  except  in  honor,  he  kept  pistols 
in  perfect  condition  for  thirty-seven  years."  And, 
as  duelling  was  the  disgraceful  fashion  of  the 
times,  Jackson  did  not  hesitate  to  use  his  pistols. 

In  1806,  when  he  was  thirty-nine,  one  of  those 
miscalled  "affairs  of  honor"  took  place.  Charles 
Dickinson,  a  prominent  man  of  the  State,  in  the 
course  of  a  long  quarrel,  had  spoken  disparagingly 
of  Mrs.  Jackson,  and  he  was  therefore  challenged 
to  mortal  combat.  Thursday  morning,  May  29,  he 
kissed  his  young  wife  tenderly,  telling  her  he  was 
going  to  Kentucky,  and  "  would  be  home,  sure,  to- 
morrow night."  He  met  Jackson  on  the  banks  of 
the  Ked  River.  The  one  was  tall,  erect,  and  in- 
tense ;  the  other  young,  handsome,  an  expert  marks- 
man, and  determined  to  make  no  mistake  in  his 
fatal  work. 

Dickinson  fired  with  his  supposed  unerring  aim, 
and  missed !  The  bullet  grazed  Jackson's  breast, 
and  years  later  was  the  true  cause  of  his  death. 
Jackson  took  deliberate  aim,  intending  to  kill  his 
opponent,  and  succeeded.  The  ball  passed  quite 
through  Dickinson's  body.  His  wife  was  sent  for, 
being  told  that  he  was  dangerously  wounded.  On 
her  way  thither  she  met,  in  a  rough  emigrant  wagon, 


146  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

the  body  of  her  husband.  He  had  "come  home, 
sure,  to-morrow  night " —  but  dead !  He  was  deeply 
mourned  by  the  State,  which  sympathized  with  his 
wife  and  infant  child.  General  Jackson  made  bit- 
ter enemies  by  this  act.  Rachel  had  been  avenged, 
but  at  what  a  fearful  cost ! 

Eighteen  years  had  gone  by  since  Jackson's  mar- 
riage. He  had  received  distinguished  honors ;  he 
had  been  a  Representative,  a  Senator,  a  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  a  Major-General 
of  the  militia,  but  one  joy  was  wanting.  Xo  chil- 
dren had  been  born  in  the  home.  Mrs.  Jackson's 
nephews  and  nieces  were  often  at  the  Hermitage, 
and  he  made  her  kindred  his  own ;  but  both  loved 
children,  and  this  one  blessing  was  denied  them. 
In  1809,  twins  were  born  to  Mrs.  Jackson's  brother. 
One  of  these,  when  but  a  few  days  old,  was  taken 
to  the  Hermitage,  and  the  general  adopted  him, 
giving  him  his  own  name,  Andrew  Jackson. 

Ever  after,  this  child  was  a  comfort  and  a  de- 
light. Visitors  would  often  find  the  general  read- 
ing, with  the  boy  in  the  rocking-chair  beside  him 
or  in  his  lap.  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  in  his 
"  Thirty  Years'  View,"  tells  this  story :  "  I  arrived 
at  his  house  one  wet,  chilly  evening  in  February, 
and  came  upon  him  in  the  twilight,  sitting  alone 
before  the  fire,  a  lamb  and  a  child  between  his 
knees.  He  started  a  little,  called  a  servant  to  re- 
move the  two  innocents  to  another  room,  and  ex- 
plained to  me  how  it  was.  The  child  had  cried 
because  the  lamb  was  out  in  the  cold,  and  begged 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  147 

him  to  bring  it  in,  which  he  had  done  to  please  the 
child,  his  adopted  son,  then  not  two  years  old. 
The  ferocious  man  does  not  do  that !  and  though 
Jackson  had  his  passions  and  his  violence,  they 
were  for  men  and  enemies  —  those  who  stood  up 
against  him  —  and  not  for  women  and  children, 
or  the  weak  and  helpless ;  for  all  whom  his  feelings 
were  those  of  protection  and  support." 

Jackson  was  always  the  friend  of  young  men  — 
a  constant  inspiration  to  them  to  do  their  best. 
He  knew  the  possibilities  of  a  barefooted  boy  like 
himself.  The  world  owes  thanks  to  those  who  are 
its  inspiration ;  whose  minds  develop  ours ;  whose 
sweetness  of  nature  makes  us  grow  lovable,  as  plants 
grow  in  the  sunshine ;  whose  ideals  become  our 
ideals ;  who  lead  us  up  the  mountains  of  faith  and 
trust  and  hope,  but  the  cord  is  silken  and  we  never 
know  that  we  are  led ;  who  go  through  life  loving 
and  serving  —  for  love  is  service ;  who  are  our 
comfort  and  strength  —  we  lean  on  those  whom  we 
love. 

While  Jackson  was  the  friend  of  young  men, 
especially  he  was  loyal  to  any  who  were  near  his 
heart.  He  was  like  another  great  man,  in  a  great 
war,  the  hero  of  1812  and  the  hero  of  1861.  Jack- 
son and  Grant  were  true  to  those  who  had  been 
true  to  them.  Only  a  man  of  small  soul  forgets 
the  ladder  by  which  he  climbs. 

The  second  war  with  Great  Britain  had  come 
upon  the  American  people,  June  19,  1812.  Our 
country  had  suffered  in  its  commerce  through  the 


148  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

continued  wars  of  England  with  France.  Vessels 
had  been  searched  by  the  English,  to  find  persons 
suspected  of  being  British  subjects ;  often  Ameri- 
can seamen  were  impressed  into  their  service.  On 
the  ocean,  the  contest  between  English  and  Ameri- 
can ships  became  almost  constant.  While  a  por- 
tion of  the  States  were  not  in  favor  of  the  war,  one 
person  was  surely  in  favor,  and  ready  for  it ;  one 
who  had  not  forgotten  the  deaths  of  his  mother 
and  brothers  in  the  Revolutionary  War ;  who  had 
not  forgotten  the  wounds  on  his  head  and  hand. 
That  person  was  General  Jackson. 

He  at.once  offered  to  the  Governor  of  Louisiana, 
for  the  defence  of  New  Orleans,  three  thousand 
soldiers.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  he  started 

for  Natchez,  there  to  await  orders.     The  men  were 

7 

in  the  best  of  spirits,  kept  hopeful  and  enthusiastic 
by  the  ardor  of  their  commander,  who  said  to  them  : 
"Perish  our  friends  —  perish  our  wives  —  perish 
our  children  (the  dearest  pledges  of  Heaven)  — 
nay,  perish  all  earthly  considerations  —  but  let  the 
honor  and  fame  of  a  volunteer  soldier  be  untar- 
nished and  immaculate.  We  now  enjoy  liberties, 
political,  civil,  and  religious,  that  no  other  nation 
on  earth  possesses.  May  we  never  survive  them  ! 
No,  rather  let  us  perish  in  maintaining  them.  And 
if  we  must  yield,  where  is  the  man  that  would  not 
prefer  being  buried  in  the  ruins  of  his  country  than 
live  the  ignominious  slave  of  haughty  lords  and 
unfeeling  tyrants  ?  " 

After  a  time  the  "  orders  "  came,  but  what  was 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  149 

the  astonishment  and  indignation  of  both  officers 
and  men  to  hear  that  their  services  were  not  needed, 
as  the  British  evidently  did  not  intend  to  attack 
New  Orleans ;  that  they  were  to  disband  and  return 
to  Tennessee.  Without  pay  or  rations,  five  hun- 
dred miles  from  home  !  —  Jackson  felt  that  it  was 
an  insult.  He  took  an  oath  that  they  should  never 
disband  till  they  were  at  their  own  doors ;  that  he 
would  conduct  his  brave  three  thousand  through 
the  wilderness  and  the  Indian  tribes,  and  be  re- 
sponsible for  expenses.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of 
his  men  were  ill.  He  put  those  who  could  ride  on 
horses,  and  then,  walking  at  their  head,  led  the 
gallant  company  toward  home. 

The  soldiers  used  to  say  that  he  was  "  tough  as 
hickory  ; "  then  "  Old  Hickory  "  grew  to  be  a  term 
of  endearment,  which  he  bore  ever  afterward.  A 
month  later,  and  the  disappointed  soldiers  were 
at  Nashville.  Before  they  disbanded,  they  were 
marched  out  upon  the  public  square,  and  received 
a  superb  stand  of  colors.  The  needle-work  was  on 
white  satin ;  eighteen  orange  stars  in  a  crescent, 
with  two  sprigs  of  laurel,  and  the  words,  "  Tennes- 
see Volunteers  —  Independence,  in  a  state  of  war, 
is  to  be  maintained  on  the  battle-ground  of  the 
Republic.  The  tented  field  is  the  post  of  honor. 
Presented  by  the  ladies  of  East  Tennessee."  Under 
these  words  were  all  the  implements  of  war ;  can- 
nons, muskets,  drums,  swords,  and  the  like.  Jack- 
son and  his  men  never  forgot  this  offering  of  love, 
and  showed  themselves  worthy  of  it  in  after  years. 


150  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

If  Jackson  was  not  needed  at  New  Orleans,  he 
was  soon  needed  elsewhere.  Tecumseh,  the  great 
Indian  chief,  saw  the  lands  of  his  fathers  passing 
into  the  hands  of  the  white  men.  He  had  long 
been  uniting  the  western  tribes  from  Florida  to 
the  northern  lakes,  and,  now  that  we  were  at  war 
with  England,  he  believed  the  hour  of  their  deliv- 
ery was  come.  He  at  once  incited  the  Creeks  of 
Alabama  to  arms. 

In  the  southern  portion  of  that  State,  forty  miles 
north  of  Mobile,  stood  Fort  Minis.  The  whites 
had  become  alarmed  at  the  hostile  attitude  of  the 
Indians,  and  over  five  hundred  men,  women,  and 
children  had  crowded  into  the  fort  for  safety. 
On  the  30th  of  August,  1813,  a  thousand  Creek 
warriors  in  their  war  paint  and  feathers,  uttering 
their  terrible  war-whoops,  rushed  into  the  fort, 
tomahawked  the  men  and  women,  and  trampled 
the  children  into  the  dust.  The  buildings  were 
burned,  and  the  plain  was  covered  with  dead 
bodies.  The  massacre  at  Fort  Mims  blanched 
every  face  and  embittered  every  heart.  The  Ten- 
nesseans  offered  at  once  to  march  against  the 
Creeks.  The  hot-headed  General  Jackson  had  been 
wounded  in  a  quarrel  with  Thomas  H.  Benton, 
and  was  suffering  from  the  ball  in  his  shoulder, 
which  he  carried  there  for  twenty  years.  But  he 
put  his  left  arm  into  a  sling,  and,  though  emaciated 
through  long  weeks  of  illness,  he  led  his  twenty- 
five  hundred  men  into  the  Indians'  country. 

The    provisions    did    not   follow   them   as   had 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  151 

been  arranged.  Jackson  wrote  home  earnestly  for 
money  and  food.  He  said,  "  There  is  an  enemy 
whom  I  dread  much  more  than  I  do  the  hostile 
Creeks,  and  whose  power,  I  am  fearful,  I  shall 
first  be  made  to  feel  —  I  mean  the  meagre  monster, 
FAMINE."  And  yet  he  encouraged  his  men  with 
these  brave  words :  "  Shall  an  enemy  wholly 
unacquainted  with  military  evolution,  and  who 
rely  more  for  victory  on  their  grim  visages  and 
hideous  yells  than  upon  their  bravery  or  their 
weapons  —  shall  such  an  enemy  ever  drive  before 
them  the  well  trained  youths  of  our  country, 
whose  bosoms  pant  for  glory  and  a  desire  to 
avenge  the  wrongs  they  have  received  ?  Your 
general  will  not  live  to  behold  such  a  spectacle  ; 
rather  would  he  rush  into  the  thickest  of  the 
enemy,  and  submit  himself  to  their  scalping- 
knives.  .  .  .  With  his  soldiers  he  Avill  face  all 
dangers,  and  with  them  participate  in  the  glory 
of  conquest." 

The  first  battle  with  the  Creeks  was  fought 
under  General  John  Coffee  at  Talluschatches,  thir- 
teen miles  from  Jackson's  camp,  the  friendly 
Creeks  leading  the  way,  wearing  white  feathers 
and  white  deer's-tails  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  hostile  tribes.  The  whites,  maddened  by  the 
memory  of  Fort  Mims,  fought  like  tigers ;  the 
Indians,  sullen  and  revengeful  at  the  prospect  of 
losing  their  homes  and  their  hunting-grounds, 
neither  asked  nor  gave  quarter,  and  fought  hero- 
ically. Nearly  the  whole  town  perished. 


152  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

On  the  battle-field  was  found  a  dead  mother 
with  her  arms  clasped  about  a  living  child.  The 
babe  was  brought  into  camp,  and  Jackson  asked 
some  of  the  Indian  women  to  care  for  it.  "  No  ! " 
said  they,  "all  his  relations  are  dead;  kill  him 
too."  The  baby  was  cared  for  at  General  Jack- 
son's expense  till  the  campaign  was  over,  and 
then  carried  to  the  Hermitage,  where  he  grew  to 
young  manhood  as  a  petted  son.  The  general  and 
his  wife  gave  him  the  name  of  Lincoyer.  In  his 
seventeenth  year  he  died  of  consumption,  sincerely 
mourned  by  his  devoted  friends. 

Following  the  battle  of  Talluschatches,  Gen- 
eral Jackson  moved  against  Talladega,  and,  after 
a  bloody  conflict,  rescued  one  hundred  and  fifty 
friendly  Creeks.  Returning  to  camp,  he  found 
starvation  staring  him  in  the  face.  The  men  were 
becoming  desperate ;  yet  he  kept  his  cheerfulness, 
dividing  with  them  the  last  crust.  One  morning  a 
gaunt,  hungry-looking  soldier  approached  General 
Jackson  as  he  was  sitting  under  a  tree,  eating,  and 
asked  for  some  food,  saying  that  he  was  nearly 
starving. 

"  It  has  been  a  rule  with  me,"  said  the  general, 
"  never  to  turn  away  a  hungry  man,  when  it  is  in 
my  power  to  relieve  him,  and  I  will  most  cheer- 
fully divide  with  you  what  I  have."  Putting  his 
hand  in  his  pocket,  he  drew  forth  a  few  acorns. 
"  This  is  the  best  and  only  fare  I  have,"  he  said, 
and  the  soldier  was  comforted. 

Many  of  the  men  had  enlisted  for  three  months 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  153 

only,  and  were  impatient  to  return  home.  Finally, 
the  militia  determined  to  return  with  or  without 
the  general's  consent.  Jackson  heard  of  their  in- 
tention, and  at  once  ordered  the  volunteers  to  de- 
tain them,  peaceably  if  they  could,  forcibly  if  they 
must.  Then  the  volunteers,  in  turn,  attempted  to 
go  back,  but  were  met  by  Jackson's  firm  resolve  to 
shoot  the  first  man  who  took  a  step  toward  home. 

"  I  cannot,"  he  said,  "  must  not  believe  that  the 
'Volunteers  of  Tennessee,'  a  name  ever  dear  to 
fame,  will  disgrace  themselves,  and  a  country 
which  they  have  honored,  by  abandoning  her 
standard,  as  mutineers  and  deserters  ;  but  should 
I  be  disappointed,  and  compelled  to  resign  this 
pleasing  hope,  one  thing  I  will  not  resign  —  my 
duty.  Mutiny  and  sedition,  so  long  as  I  possess 
the  power  of  quelling  them,  shall  be  put  down ; 
and  even  when  left  destitute  of  this,  I  will  still 
be  found  in  the  last  extremity  endeavoring  to 
discharge  the  duty  I  owe  my  country  and  my- 
self." That  one  word,  "  duty,"  was  the  key-note 
of  Jackson's  life.  It  was  his  religion  —  it  was 
his  philosophy. 

With  all  Jackson's  kindness  to  his  men,  they 
knew  that  he  could  be  severe.  John  Woods,  a  boy 
not  eighteen,  the  support  of  aged  parents,  was  shot 
for  refusing  to  obey  a  superior  officer.  That  he 
could  have  been  spared  seems  probable,  but  Jack- 
son taught  hard  lessons  to  his  undisciplined  troops, 
and  sometimes  in  a  harsh  manner. 

In  seven  months  the  Creeks  had   been   utterly 


164  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

routed;  half  their  warriors  were  dead,  and  the 
rest  were  broken  in  spirit.  Weathersford,  their 
most  heroic  chief,  the  leader  at  the  Fort  Minis 
massacre,  sought  General  Jackson  at  his  camp. 

"  How  dare  you,"  said  Jackson,  "  ride  up  to  my 
tent,  after  having  murdered  the  women  and  chil- 
dren at  Fort  Minis  ?  " 

"  General  Jackson,  I  am  not  afraid  of  you," 
was  the  reply.  "  I  fear  no  man,  for  I  am  a  Creek 
warrior.  I  have  nothing  to  request  in  behalf  of 
myself.  You  can  kill  me,  if  you  desire.  But  I 
come  to  beg  you  to  send  for  the  women  and  chil- 
dren of  the  war  party,  who  are  now  starving  in  the 
woods.  Their  fields  and  cribs  have  been  destroyed 
by  your  people,  who  have  driven  them  to  the 
woods  without  an  ear  of  corn.  I  hope  that  you 
will  send  out  parties,  who  will  conduct  them  safely 
here,  in  order  that  they  may  be  fed.  I  exerted 
myself  in  vain  to  prevent  the  massacre  of  the 
women  and  children  at  Fort  Minis.  I  am  now 
done  fighting.  The  Red  Sticks  are  nearly  all 
killed.  If  I  could  fight  you  any  longer,  I  would 
most  heartily  do  so.  Send  for  the  women  and 
children.  They  never  did  you  any  harm.  But 
kill  me,  if  the  white  people  want  it  done." 

"Kill  him!  kill  him!"  shouted  several  voices. 

"Silence!"  exclaimed  Jackson.  "Any  man 
who  would  kill  as  brave  a  man  as  this  would  rob 
the  dead ! " 

Weathersford's  request  was  granted,  and  the 
women  and  children  of  the  war  party  were  pro- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  155 

vided  for.  The  chief  died  many  years  afterward, 
a  planter  in  Alabama,  respected  by  the  Americans 
for  his  bravery  and  his  honor. 

The  Creek  war  over,  Jackson  went  back  to 
Tennessee,  a  noted,  successful  soldier.  He  had 
not  only  conquered  the  Creeks,  but  he  had  won 
for  himself  the  position  of  major-general  in  the 
United  States  army,  having  in  charge  the  depart- 
ment of  the  South.  He  was  now  forty-seven,  and 
had  indeed  reached  a  high  position.  Mississippi 
voted  him  a  sword,  and  other  States  sent  testi- 
monials of  appreciation.  All  this  time  he  was  a 
constant  sufferer  in  body,  and  only  kept  himself 
from  his  bed  by  his  indomitable  will.  The  Her- 
mitage could  not  long  keep  the  ardent,  tireless 
general  from  the  front.  He  soon  established  his 
headquarters  at  Mobile,  and  prepared  to  defend  a 
thousand  miles  of  coast  from  the  British.  He  had 
but  a  small  army  at  his  command,  and  was  far 
from  Washington,  with  scarcely  any  means  of 
communication.  Indeed,  the  English  had  cap- 
tured that  city  already,  and  burned  most  of  its 
public  buildings. 

The  English  had  attacked  Mobile  Point,  been 
defeated,  and  retired  to  Pensacola,  Florida.  Spain 
owned  Florida,  and  was  supposed  to  be  neutral, 
but  she  was  in  reality  friendly  and  helpful  to 
England,  and  allowed  her  to  use  the  State  as  a  base 
of  operations.  Jackson  wrote  to  Washington  ask- 
ing leave  to  attack  Pensacola.  The  answer  did 
not  come  back  till  the  war  of  1812  was  over  and 


156  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

Jackson  had  won  renown  for  himself  and  his  coun- 
try. He  did  not  wait  for  an  answer,  however,  but 
stormed  Pensacola,  captured  it,  and  then  hastened 
to  New  Orleans,  where  he  expected  the  next  attack 
would  be  made.  He  used  to  say  to  young  men, 
"Always  take  all  the  time  to  reflect  that  circum- 
stances will  permit;  but  when  the  time  for  action 
has  come,  stop  thinking."  And  at  Pensacola  he 
stopped  thinking,  and  acted.  Nothing  was  ready 
for  his  coming,  but  all  eyes  turned  to  the  con- 
querer  of  the  Creeks  as  the  savior  of  New  Orleans. 
Women  gathered  around  him  and  looked  trust- 
ingly toward  the  erect,  self-centred,  bronzed  sol- 
dier. Men  flocked  willingly  to  his  service,  glad  to 
do  his  bidding.  He  summoned  the  engineers  of 
the  city  and  ordered  every  bayou  to  be  obstructed 
by  earth  and  sunken  logs.  The  city  was  put 
under  martial  law.  No  person  was  permitted  to 
leave  the  place  without  a  written  permit  signed  by 
the  general  or  one  of  his  staff.  The  street  lamps 
were  extinguished  at  nine  o'clock,  after  which 
hour  any  person  without  the  necessary  permit  or 
not  having  the  countersign  was  apprehended  as  a 
spy  and  held  for  examination.  All  able-bodied 
men,  black  and  white,  were  compelled  to  serve  as 
soldiers  or  sailors. 

He  had  with  him  about  two  thousand  troops, 
and  four  thousand  more  within  ten  or  fifteen  days' 
march.  Against  these,  for  the  most  part  undis- 
ciplined troops,  a  British  force  of  twenty  thousand 
men  was  coming,  with  a  fleet  of  fifty  ships,  carry- 


ANDltEW  JACKSON.  157 

ing  a  thousand  guns.  Much  of  this  army  had 
served  under  the  great  Wellington  in  France; 
its  present  leader,  General  Packenham,  was  Well- 
ington's brother-in-law.  He  was  only  thirty -eight, 
brave,  and  the  idol  of  his  men.  Some  of  the 
ships  had  been  with  Nelson  in  the  battle  of  the 
Nile.  The  flower  of  England's  army  and  navy  had 
been  sent  to  conquer  the  independent  and  self- 
reliant  Americans. 

So  certain  were  the  British  of  conquest  that 
several  families  were  with  the  fleet,  husbands  and 
brothers  having  been  appointed  already  to  civil 
offices.  Another  person  was  also  confident  of  vic- 
tory—  the  man  who  had  seen  but  fourteen  months 
of  service,  but  who  from  boyhood  had  never  known 
what  it  was  to  be  defeated.  He  inspired  others 
with  the  same  confidence.  Says  Latour,  in  his 
history  of  the  Avar  in  West  Florida  and  Louisiana, 
"  The  energy  manifested  by  General  Jackson 
spread,  as  it  were,  by  contagion,  and  communicated 
itself  to  the  whole  army.  There  was  nothing 
which  those  who  composed  it  did  not  feel  them- 
selves capable  of  performing,  if  he  ordered  it  to 
be  done.  It  was  enough  that  he  expressed  a  wish 
or  threw  out  the  slightest  intimation,  and  immedi- 
ately a  crowd  of  volunteers  offered  themselves  to 
carry  his  views  into  execution." 

The  English  fleet  entered  Lake  Borgne,  sixty 
miles  north-east  from  New  Orleans,  on  December 
10,  1814.  Twelve  days  later  they  had  reached  the 
Mississippi  Kiver,  nine  miles  below  the  city.  The 


158  .\\DiiKn'  JACK  toy. 

next  day,  when  Jackson  was  informed  of  their 
approach,  he  said,  bringing  his  clenched  fist  down 
upon  the  table,  "  By  the  Eternal,  they  shall  not 
sleep  on  our  soil ! '' 

At  once,  with,  as  Parton  says,  that  "  calm  im- 
petuosity and  that  composed  intensity  which  be- 
longed to  him/'  he  sent  word  to  the  various  regi- 
ments to  meet  him  at  three  o'clock  at  a  specified 
place.  And  then  he  lay  down  and  slept  for  a  short 
time,  his  only  rest  during  the  next  three  days  and 
three  nights.  Few  men  except  General  Jackson, 
with  his  iron  will,  could  have  slept  at  such  a  time. 
A  messenger  came,  sent  by  some  ladies,  asking 
what  they  should  do  if  the  city  were  attacked. 

"  Say  to  them  not  to  be  uneasy.  No  British  sol- 
dier shall  enter  the  city  as  an  enemy,  unless  over 
1113-  dead  body,"  and  he  kept  his  word. 

At  three  o'clock  the  men  were  hastening  on  to 
meet  the  '<  red-coats."  Twilight  came  early,  and 
the  moon  rose  dimly  over  the  battle-field.  The  sig- 
nal of  attack  was  to  be  a  shot  fired  from  the  ship 
Carolina.  At  half-past  seven,  the  first  gun  was 
heard,  then  seven  others,  and  the  word  was  given 
—  FORWARD. 

And  forward  they  went,  with  quick  steps  and 
eager  hearts.  A  tremendous  fire  opened  upon  our 
artillery -men.  The  horses  attached  to  the  cannon 
became  unmanageable,  and  one  of  the  pieces  was 
turned  over  into  the  ditch.  Jackson  dashed  into 
the  midst  of  the  fray,  exclaiming,  u  Save  the 
guns,  my  boys,  at  every  sacrifice,"  and  the  guns 


ANDREW  JACKSOX.  159 

were  saved.  Men  fought  hand  to  hand  in  the 
smoke  and  the  darkness  ;  the  British  using  their 
bayonets,  and  the  Americans  their  long  hunting- 
knives.  Prisoners  were  taken  and  retaken.  Till 
ten  o'clock  the  battle  raged ;  when  our  men  fell 
back  upon  the  Koderiguez  canal,  to  wait  till  the 
morning  sun  should  show  where  to  begin  the  deadly 
work.  When  the  morning  came,  the  battle-field 
presented  a  ghastly  appearance.  Says  a  British 
officer  concerning  the  American  dead,  "  Their  hair, 
eyebrows,  and  lashes  were  thickly  covered  with 
hoar-frost,  or  rime,  their  bloodless  cheeks  vying 
Avith  its  whiteness.  Few  were  dressed  in  military 
uniforms,  and  most  of  them  bore  the  appearance  of 
farmers  or  husbandmen.  Peace  to  their  ashes ! 
they  had  nobly  died  in  defending  their  country." 

The  Roderiguez  canal  was  now  strongly  fortified. 
Spades,  crowbars,  and  wheelbarrows  had  been  sent 
from  the  city.  The  canal  was  deepened  and  the 
earth  thrown  up  on  the  side.  Fences  were  torn 
away,  and  rails  driven  down  to  keep  the  sand  from 
falling  back  into  the  canal.  The  line  of  defence,  a 
mile  long,  was  four  or  five  feet  high  in  some  places. 
Cotton  bales  from  a  neighboring  ship  were  used. 

"Here,"  said  Jackson,  "  we  will  plant  our  stakes, 
and  not  abandon  them  until  we  drive  these  '  red- 
coat '  rascals  into  the  river  or  the  swamp." 

While  these  busy  preparations  were  going  on, 
food  was  brought  to  General  Jackson,  which  he  ate 
ill  the  saddle.  Christmas  day  came.  The  English 
Admiral  Cochrane  had  said,  "  I  shall  eat  my  Christ- 


160  AKDKE\V  JACKSON. 

mas  dinner  in  New  Orleans."  General  Jackson 
heard  of  it,  and  remarked,  "  Perhaps  so ;  but  I 
shall  have  the  honor  of  presiding  at  that  diniu-r." 

The  Americans  were  ready,  but  the  British  did 
not  make  the  expected  attack.  Every  man  was  at 
his  post.  When  an  officer,  the  son  of  one  of  Jack- 
son's best  friends,  said  to  him,  "  May  I  go  to  town 
to-day  ?"  the  reply  was,  "Of  course,  Captain  Liv- 
ingston, you  may  go;  but  ought  you  to  go  ?  *'  The 
young  man  blushed,  bowed,  and  returned  to  duty. 

Meantime,  the  British  were  not  idle.  They  had 
determined  to  silence  the  guns  of  the  American 
ships,  and,  with  great  toil,  had  brought  up  into  the 
swampy  ground  nine  field-pieces,  two  howitzers,  one 
mortar,  a  furnace  for  heating  balls,  and  the  neces- 
sary ammunition.  At  dawn  on  the  morning  of 
December  27  the  firing  began.  The  Carolina,  after 
a  terrific  bombardment,  blew  up.  The  Louisiana 
fought  her  way  out  into  a  place  of  safety. 

The  days  went  by  slowly  under  the  dreadful  sus- 
pense. On  New  Year's  day,  General  Packenham 
cannonaded  the  Americans  and  was  driven  back. 
On  January  8,  the  final  battle  began.  Early  in  the 
morning,  the  British  moved  against  the  Americans. 
Jackson  walked  along  the  lines,  cheering  the  men, 
"  Stand  to  your  guns.  Don't  waste  your  ammuni- 
tion. See  that  every  shot  tells.  Give  it  to  them, 
boys !  Let  us  finish  the  business  to-day.1' 

And  every  shot  did  tell.  The  :  harpshooters 
aimed  at  the  officers,  and  the  batteries  mowed  down 
the  British  regulars.  Seeing  them  falter,  Packen- 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 

ham  rushed  among  the  men,  shouting,  "  For  shame  ! 
recollect  that  you  are  British  soldiers  ! "  Taking 
off  his  hat,  he  spurred  his  horse  to  the  head  of  the 
wavering  column.  A  ball  splintered  his  right  arm. 
Then  the  Highlanders  came  to  the  support  of  their 
comrades. 

"  Hurrah  !  brave  Highlanders  !  "  he  said,  as  a  mass 
of  grape-shot  tore  open  his  thigh  and  killed  his 
horse.  Another  shot  struck  him,  and  he  was  borne 
under  a  live-oak  to  die.  The  great  tree  is  still 
standing. 

At  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  battle  was 
virtually  over.  The  English  lost  seven  hundred 
killed,  fourteen  hundred  wounded,  and  five  hun- 
dred taken  prisoners  ;  while  the  Americans  lost  but 
eight  killed  and  thirteen  wounded.  "  The  field 
was  so  thickly  strewn  with  the  dead  that,  from  the 
American  ditch,  you  could  have  walked  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  to  the  front  on  the  bodies  of  the  killed 
and  disabled.  .  .  .  The  course  of  the  column  could 
be  distinctly  traced  in  the  broad  red  line  of  the 
victims  of  the  terrible  batteries  and  unerring  guns 
of  the  Americans.  They  fell  in  their  tracks ;  in 
some  places,  whole  platoons  lay  together,  as  if 
killed  by  the  same  discharge." 

The  news  of  this  great  victory  at  New  Orleans 
astonished  the  North,  and  made  Jackson  the  hero 
of  his  time.  The  whole  country  was  proud  of  a 
man  who  could  win  such  a  battle,  losing  the  lives 
of  so  few  of  his  men.  Nearly  every  State  passed 
resolutions  in  his  praise.  The  Senate  and  House 


AXDREW  J,l'  A>o.Y. 


of  Representatives  ordered  a  gold  medal  to  be 
struck  in  his  honor.  Philadelphia  enjoyed  a  gen- 
eral illumination  ;  one  of  the  transparencies  repre- 
senting the  general  on  horseback  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy,  with  the  words,  "  This  day  shall  ne'er  go 
by,  from  this  day  to  the  ending  of  the  world,  but 
He  in  it  shall  be  remembered."  Henry  Clay  said. 
"Now  I  can  go  to  England  without  mortification." 

When  Jackson  and  his  army  returned  to  New 
Orleans,  men,  women,  and  children  came  out  to 
meet  them.  Young  ladies  strewed  flowers  along 
the  way  ;  children  crowned  the  general  with  laurel. 
and  an  impressive  service  was  held  in  his  honor  in 
the  Cathedral.  He  replied,  "For  myself,  to  have 
been  instrumental  in  the  deliverance  of  such  a 
country  is  the  greatest  blessing  that  Heaven  could 
confer.  That  it  has  been  effected  with  so  little  loss 
—  that  so  few  tears  should  cloud  the  smiles  of  our 
triumph,  and  not  a  cypress  leaf  be  interwoven  in 
the  wreath  which  you  present,  is  a  source  of  the 
most  exquisite  enjoyment." 

Mrs.  Jackson  and  little  Andrew,  now  seven  years 
old,  came  down  from  the  Hermitage,  and  his  cup 
of  joy  was  indeed  full.  To  havfe  Rachel's  com- 
mendation was  more  than  to  have  that  of  all  of 
the  world  besides.  The  ladies  of  New  Orleans 
gave  to  her  a  valuable  set  of  topaz  jewelry,  and  to 
the  general  a  diamond  pin.  A  month  later,  they 
were  at  home  once  more.  He  had  shown  the  good 
judgment,  the  calm  braveiy,  the  comprehensive 
outlook,  the  quick  decision,  the  tender  compassion 


ANDHEK'  JACKSON.  168 

of  the  great  soldier.  Perhaps  the  busy  public  life 
was  over  —  who  could  tell  ? 

Four  months  later,  General  Jackson  went  to 
Washington,  at  the  request  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  to  arrange  about  the  stations  of  the  army  in 
the  South.  The  journey  thither  was  one  constant 
ovation.  At  a  great  banquet  tendered  him  at 
Lynehburg,  Virginia,  Thomas  Jefferson,  then  seven- 
ty-two, gave  this  toast :  "  Honor  and  gratitude  to 
those  who  have  filled  the  measure  of  their  coun- 
try's honor/'  At  Washington  also  he  received 
distinguished  attention. 

In  1817,  the  Seminole  Indians  of  Georgia  and 
Alabama  had  become  hostile.  General  Jackson 
was  the  man  to  conquer  them.  He  immediately 
marched  into  their  country  with  eighteen  hundred 
whites  and  fifteen  hundred  friendly  Indians,  and 
in  five  months  subjugated  them. 

Florida  was  purchased  in  1819,  and  two  years 
later  Jackson  was  appointed  its  governor,  with  a 
salary  of  five  thousand  dollars.  Mrs.  Jackson 
joined  him  there,  but  neither  was  happy,  and  he 
soon  resigned,  and  returned  with  her  to  the  Her- 
mitage. He  had  built  for  her  a  new  house,  a 
two-story  brick,  surrounded  by  a  double  piazza. 
He  was  at  this  time  frail  in  health,  and  did  not 
expect  ever  to  live  in  the  home,  but  wished  it  to 
be  made  beautiful  for  her.  He  hoped  now  to  live 
a  quiet  life,  enjoying  his  garden  and  his  farm  ;  but 
the  nation  had  other  plans  for  him. 

In    1823.    Jackson   was   elected    to    the    United 


164  AlfDBEW  JACKSON. 

States  Senate,  twenty-six  years  after  his  first  ap- 
pearance in  that  body.  He  was  now  prominently 
mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
Strange  contrast  indeed  to  the  days  when,  bare- 
footed and  orphaned,  he  struggled  for  the  rudi- 
ments of  an  education. 

While  he  had  many  ardent  friends,  he  had 
strong  opponents.  Daniel  Webster  said,  "  If  Gen- 
eral Jackson  is  elected,  the  government  of  our 
country  will  be  overthrown ;  the  judiciary  will  be 
destroyed ; "  yet  he  added,  "  His  manners  are 
more  presidential  than  those  of  any  of  the  candi- 
dates. He  is  grave,  mild,  and  reserved.  My  wife 
is  for  him  decidedly."  Jefferson  said,  "I  feel 
very  much  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  seeing  Gen- 
eral Jackson  President.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
unfit  men  I  know  of  for  the  place.  He  has  had 
very  little  respect  for  laws  or  constitution,  and  is, 
in  fact,  an  able  military  chief.  His  passions  are 
terrible.  ...  He  has  been  much  tried  since  I  knew 
him,  but  he  is  a  dangerous  man."  But  the  people 
knew  he  had  conquered  the  Indians  and  the  Brit- 
ish, and  they  believed  in  him. 

The  candidates  for  the  Presidency  in  1824  were 
Jackson,  John  Quincy  Adams,  William  H.  Craw- 
ford, and  Henry  Clay.  While  Jackson  received 
the  largest  popular  vote,  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, balloting  by  States,  elected  John  Quincy 
Adams.  It  was  believed  that  Clay  used  his  influ- 
ence for  Adams  against  Jackson,  and  this  caused 
the  election  of  Adams,  a  scholarly  man,  the 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  165 

son  of  John  Adams,  and  long  our  representative 
abroad. 

Four  years  later,  in  1828,  the  people  made  their 
voices  heard  at  the  ballot-box,  and  Jackson  was 
elected  by  a  large  majority.  The  contest  had 
been  exceedingly  personal  and  annoying.  The 
old  stories  about  his  marriage  were  again  dragged 
through  the  press.  Mrs.  Jackson,  a  victim  of 
heart-disease,  was  unduly  troubled,  and  became 
broken  in  health.  When  he  was  elected,  she  said, 
u  Well,  for  Mr.  Jackson's  sake,  I  am  glad ;  for  my 
own  part,  I  never  wished  it." 

Jackson  had  built  for  her  a  small  brick  church 
in  the  Hermitage  grounds,  and  here,  where  the 
neighbors  and  servants  gathered,  she  found  her 
deepest  happiness,  and  sighed  for  no  greater 
sphere  of  usefulness.  When  she  urged  the  general 
to  join  her  church,  he  said,  "  My  dear,  if  I  were  to 
do  that  now,  it  would  be  said,  all  over  the  country, 
that  I  had  done  it  for  the  sake  of  political  effect. 
My  enemies  would  all  say  so.  I  cannot  do  it  now, 
but  I  promise  you  that,  when  once  more  I  am  clear 
of  politics.  I  will  join  the  church." 

The  people  of  Nashville  were  of  course  proud 
that  one  from  their  city  had  been  chosen  to  so 
high  a  position,  and  tendered  him  a  banquet  on 
December  23,  the  anniversary  of  the  first  battle 
at  New  Orleans.  A  few  days  before  this,  Mrs. 
Jackson  was  taken  ill,  but  she  urged  her  husband 
to  make  himself  ready  for  the  banquet.  While  he 
had  watched  by  her  bedside  constantly,  on  the  even- 


166  AX  DREW  JACKSOy. 

ing  of  December  22,  she  was  so  much  better  that 
he  consented  to  lie  down  on  a  sofa  in  an  adjoin- 
ing room.  He  had  not  been  there  five  minutes 
before  a  cry  was  heard  from  Mrs.  Jackson.  He 
hastened  to  her,  but  she  never  breathed  again. 

He  could  not  believe  that  she  was  dead.  \Vlu-n 
they  brought  a  table  to  lay  her  body  upon  it,  he 
said  tenderly,  in  a  choking  voice,  "Spread  four 
blankets  upon  it.  If  she  does  come  to,  she  will 
lie  so  bard  upon  the  table." 

All  night  long  he  sat  beside  the  form  of  his 
beloved  Kachel,  often  feeling  of  her  heart  and 
pulse.  In  the  morning  he  was  wholly  inconsol- 
able, and,  when  he  found  that  she  was  really  dead, 
the  body  could  scarcely  be  forced  from  his  arms. 

At  the  funeral,  the  road  to  the  Hermitage  was 
almost  impassable.  The  press  said  of  her.  "  Her 
pure  and  gentle  heart,  in  which  a  selfish,  guileful. 
or  malicious  thought,  never  found  entrance,  was 
the  throne  of  benevolence.  ...  To  feed  the  hun- 
gry, to  clothe  the  naked,  to  supply  the  indigent,  to 
raise  the  humble,  to  notice  the  friendless,  and  to 
comfort  the  unfortunate,  were  her  favorite  occu- 
pations. .  .  .  Thus  she  lived,  and  when  death  ap- 
proached, her  patience  and  resignation  were  equal 
to  her  goodness ;  not  an  impatient  gesture,  not 
a  vexatious  look,  not  a  fretful  accent  escaped  her : 
but  her  last  breath  was  charged  with  an  expression 
of  tenderness  for  the  man  whom  she  loved  more 
than  her  life,  and  honored  next  to  her  God." 
Only  such  a  nature  could  have  held  the  undivided 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  167 

love  of  an  impetuous,  imperious  man.  Jackson, 
like  so  many  other  unchristian  men,  had  the  wis- 
dom to  desire  and  to  choose  for  himself  a  Chris- 
tian wife. 

He  prepared  a  tomb  for  her  like  an  open  summer- 
house,  and  buried  her  under  the  white  dome  sup- 
ported by  marble  pillars.  On  the  tablet  above  her 
are  the  words,  "  Here  lie  the  remains  of  Mrs. 
Rachel  Jackson,  wife  of  President  Jackson.-  .  .  . 
Her  face  was  fair,  her  person  pleasing,  her  temper 
amiable,  her  heart  kind  ;  she  delighted  in  relieving 
the  wants  of  her  fellow-creatures,  and  cultivated 
that  divine  pleasure  by  the  most  liberal  and  unpre- 
tending methods  ;  to  the  poor  she  was  a  benefactor; 
to  the  rich  an  example ;  to  the  wretched  a  com- 
forter ;  to  the  prosperous  an  ornament ;  her  piety 
went  hand  in  hand  with  her  benevolence,  and  she 
thanked  her  Creator  for  being  permitted  to  do  good. 
A  being  so  gentle  and  so  virtuous,  slander  might 
wound,  but  could  not  dishonor.  Even  Death,  when 
he  tore  her  from  the  arms  of  her  husband,  could 
but  transport  her  to  the  bosom  of  her  God." 

Such  a  woman  need  have  no  fear  that  she  will 
fade  out  of  a  human  heart.  While  Jackson  lived, 
he  wore  her  miniature  about  his  neck,  and  every 
night  laid  it  open  beside  her  prayer-book  at  his 
bedside.  Her  face  was  the  last  thing  upon  which 
his  eyes  rested  before  he  slept,  through  those  eight 
years  at  the  White  House,  and  the  first  thing  upon 
which  his  eyes  opened  in  the  morning.  Possibly  it 
is  not  given  to  all  women  to  win  and  hold  so 


168  ANDREW 

complete  and  beautiful  an  affection ;  perchance  the 
fault  is  sometimes  theirs. 

Andrew  Jackson  went  to  Washington,  having 
grown  "  twenty  years  older  in  a  night,"  his  friends 
said.  His  nephew,  Andrew  Jackson  Done! son,  and 
his  lovely  wife  accompanied  him.  Earl,  the  artist, 
who  had  painted  her  picture  ("  her  "  always  meant 
Rachel  with  General  Jackson),  for  this  reason 
found  a  home  also  at  the  White  House. 

The  inauguration  seemed  to  have  drawn  the 
whole  country  together.  Webster  said,  "I  never 
saw  such  a  crowd  here  before.  Persons  have  come 
five  hundred  miles  to  see  General  Jackson,  and 
they  really  seem  to  think  that  the  country  is  res- 
cued from  some  dreadful  danger."  After  the  cere- 
mony, crowds  completely  filled  the  White  House. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  Presidency,  the  un- 
fortunate maxim  which  had  found  favor  in  New 
York  politics,  "  To  the  victors  belong  the  spoils," 
began  to  be  carried  out  in  the  removal,  it  is  be- 
lieved, of  nearly  two  thousand  persons  from  office, 
and  substituting  those  of  different  political  opin- 
ions. The  removals  raised  a  storm  of  indignation 
from  the  opposite  party,  which  did  not  in  the  least 
disturb  General  Jackson. 

In  his  first  message  to  Congress,  after  maintain- 
ing that  a  long  tenure  of  office  is  corrupting,  urg- 
ing that  the  surplus  revenue  be  apportioned  among 
the  several  States  for  works  of  public  utility,  he 
took  strong  ground  against  rechartering  the  United 
States  Bank.  This  caused  much  alarm,  for  the  in- 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  169 

fluenee  of  the  bank  was  very  great.  Its  capital 
was  thirty-five  million  dollars.  The  parent  bank 
was  at  Philadelphia,  with  twenty-five  branches  in 
the  large  cities  and  towns.  Since  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton's time,  a  government  bank  had  been  a  matter 
of  contention.  When  the  second  was  started  in 
1816,  after  the  war  of  1812,  business  seemed  to  re- 
vive, but  many  persons  believed,  with  Henry  Clay, 
.that  such  a  bank  was  unconstitutional,  and  a  vast 
political  power  that  might  be,  and  was,  corruptly 
used.  Complaints  were  constantly  heard  that  offi- 
cials were  favored. 

When  the  bill  to  recharter  the  bank  passed  Con- 
gress, Jackson  promptly  vetoed  the  bill.  He  said, 
"We  can,  at  least,  take  a  stand  against  all  new 
grants  of  monopolies  and  exclusive  privileges, 
against  any  prostitution  of  our  government  to  the 
advancement  of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the 
many."  A  few  years  later  he  determined  to  put  an 
end  to  the  bank  by  removing  all  the  surplus  funds, 
amounting  to  ten  millions,  and  placing  them  in  cer- 
tain State  banks.  When  Mr.  Duane,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  would  not  remove  the  deposits, 
General  Jackson  immediately  removed  him,  putting 
Koger  B.  Taney  in  his  place.  Congress  passed  a 
vote  of  censure  on  the  President,  but  it  was  after- 
ward expunged  from  the  records.  Speculation  re- 
sulted from  the  distribution  of  the  money  ;  the 
panic  of  1836-37  followed,  which  the  Whigs  said 
was  caused  by,  the  destruction  of  the  bank,  and  the 
Democrats  by  the  bank  itself. 


170  .l.v />///•; II    JACKSON, 

The  United  States  Bank  \v;is  not  the  only  dis- 
turbing question  in  these  times.  The  tariff,  which 
was  advantageous  to  the  manufacturers  of  the 
North,  was  considered  disadvantageous  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  South.  Bitter  feeling  was 
engendered  by  the  discussion,  till  South  Carolina, 
under  the  leadership  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  declared 
that  the  acts  of  Congress  on  the  tariff  were  null 
and  void;  therefore,  nullification  or  disunion  be- 
came the  absorbing  topic.  Then  came  the  great 
dispute  between  Robert  Y.  Hayne  and  Daniel 
Webster. 

If  the  nullifiers  or  believers  in  extreme  States 
rights  supposed  Jackson  to  be  on  their  side,  they 
were  quickly  undeceived.  When  Jefferson's  birth- 
day, April  13,  was  observed  in  Washington,  as  it 
had  been  for  twenty  years.  Jackson  sent  the  fol- 
io-wing toast:  "OuR  FEDERAL  UNION:  IT  MUST 
BE  PRESERVED."  He  wrote  to  the  citizens  of 
Charleston,  "  Every  enlightened  citizen  must  know 
that  a  separation,  could  it  be  effected,  would  begin 
with  civil  discord,  and  end  in  colonial  dependence 
on  a  foreign  power,  and  obliteration  from  the  list 
of  nations."  He  said,  "  If  this  thing  goes  on,  our 
country  will  be  like  a  bag  of  meal  with  both  ends 
open.  Pick  it  up  in  the  middle  or  endwise,  it  will 
run  out." 

Still,  South  Carolina  was  not  to  be  deterred,  with 
the  eloquent  Calhoun  as  her  leader,  and  the  Nullifi- 
cation Ordinance  was  passed  November  24,  1832. 
At  once  the  governor  was  authorized  to  accept  the 


ANDliEW  JACKSON.  171 

service  of  volunteers.  Medals  were  struck  bearing 
the  words,  "  John  C.  Calhoun,  First  President  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy." 

By  the  time  South  Carolina  was  ready  to  break 
the  laws,  another  person  was  ready  to  enforce  them. 
Jackson  at  once  sent  General  Scott  to  take  com- 
mand at  Charleston,  with  gun-boats  close  by,  and 
sent  also  an  earnest  and  eloquent  protest  to  the 
seceding  State.  Public  meetings  were  held  in  the 
large  cities  of  the  North.  The  tariff  was  modified 
at  the  next  session  of  Congress,  but  the  disunion 
doctrines  were  allowed  to  grow  till  thirty  years 
later,  when  they  bore  the  bitter  fruit  of  civil  war. 

When  Jackson  was  asked,  years  afterward,  what 
he  would  have  done  with  Calhoun  and  the  milli- 
ners if  they  had  continued,  he  replied,  "  Hung 
them  as  high  as  Hainan.  They  should  have  been 
a  terror  to  traitors  to  all  time,  and  posterity  would 
have  pronounced  it  the  best  act  of  my  life."  When 
difficulties  arose  about  the  Cherokees  of  Georgia, 
he  removed  them  to  the  Indian  Territory  ;  a  harsh 
measure  it  seemed,  but  perhaps  not  harder  for  the 
tribes  than  to  have  attempted  to  live  among  hostile 
whites.  When  the  French  king  neglected  to  pay 
the  five  million  dollars  agreed  upon  for  injuries 
done  to  our  shipping,  Jackson  recommended  to 
make  reprisals  on  French  merchantmen,  and  the 
money  was  paid.  The  national  debt  was  paid  un- 
der Jackson,  who  believed  rightly  that  this,  as 
well  as  every  other  kind  of  debt,  is  a  curse.  The 
Eaton  affair  showed  his  loyalty  to  friends.  John 


172  ANDREI!'  ./J'A>o.y. 

H.  Eaton,  Secretary  of  War,  had  married  the  widow 
of  a  purser  in  the  Navy,  formerly  the  daughter  of 
a  tavern-keeper  in  Washington.  Her  conduct  had 
caused  criticism,  and  the  ladies  of  the  Cabinet 
would  not  associate  with  her  —  even  though  Presi- 
dent Jackson  tried  every  means  in  his  power  to 
compel  it,  as  Eaton  was  his  warm  friend. 

When  the  eight  years  of  presidential  life  were 
over,  Jackson  sent  his  farewell  address  to  the 
people  of  the  country,  who  had  idolized  him.  and 
whom  he  had  loved,  he  said.  ''  with  the  affection  of 
a  son,"  and  retired  to  the  Hermitage.  The  people 
of  Nashville  met  him  with  outstretched  arms  and 
tearful  faces.  He  was  seventy  years  old,  f/n>!r 
President,  and  he  had  come  home  to  live  and  die 
with  them. 

He  was  now  through  with  politics,  and  wanted 
to  carry  out  her  wishes,  to  join  the  little  Hermit- 
age church.  The  night  of  decision  was  full  of 
meditation  and  prayer.  One  morning  in  1843,  the 
church  was  crowded  to  see  the  ex-President  make 
a  public  confession  of  the  Christian  religion.  He 
went  home  to  read  his  Bible  more  carefully  than 
ever  —  he  had  never  read  less  than  three  chapters 
daily  for  thirty-five  years,  such  is  the  influence 
of  early  education  received  at  a  mother's  knee. 

The  following  year,  1844,  Commodore  Elliot 
offered  the  sarcophagus  which  he  brought  from 
Palestine,  believed  to  have  contained  the  remains 
of  the  Roman  Emperor,  Alexander  Severus.  to 
President  Jackson  for  his  final  resting-place. 


i 

ANDREW  JACKSON.  173 

A  letter  of  cordial  thanks  was  returned,  with 
the  words,  "  I  cannot  consent  that  my  mortal 
body  shall  be  laid  in  a  repository  prepared  for  an 
emperor  or  a  king.  My  republican  feelings  and 
principles  forbid  it ;  the  simplicity  of  our  system 
of  government  forbids  it.  ...  I  have  prepared  an 
humble  depository  for  my  mortal  body  beside  that 
wherein  lies  my  beloved  wife,  where,  without  any 
pomp  or  parade,  I  have  requested,  when  my  God 
calls  me  to  sleep  with  my  fathers,  to  be  laid." 

The  May  of  1845  found  General  Jackson  feeble 
and  emaciated,  but  still  deeply  interested  in  his 
country,  writing  letters  to  President  Polk  and 
other  statesmen  about  Texas,  hoping  ever  to  avert 
war  if  possible.  "If  not,"  he  said,  "let  war  come. 
There  will  be  patriots  enough  in  the  land  to  repel 
foreign  aggression,  come  whence  it  may,  and  to 
maintain  sacredly  our  just  rights  and  to  perpetuate 
our  glorious  constitution  and  liberty,  and  to  preserve 
our  happy  Union."  He  made  his  will,  bequeathing 
all  his  property  to  his  adopted,  son,  because,  said 
he,  "If  she  were  alive,  she. would  wish  him  to 
have  it  all,  and  to  me  her  wish  is  law." 

On  Sunday,  June  8,  1845,  the  family  and  ser- 
vants gathered  about  the  great  man,  who  was 
dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  having  fought 
against  wounds  and  disease  all  his  life.  "  My  dear 
children,"  he  said,  "  do  not  grieve  for  me  ;  it  is 
true  I  am  going  to  leave  you ;  I  am  well  aware  of 
my  situation.  I  have  suffered  much  bodily  pain, 
but  my  sufferings  are  but  as  nothing  compared 


174  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

with  that  which  our  blessed  Saviour  endured  upon 
that  accursed  cross,  that  all  might  be  saved  who 
put  their  trust  in  him.  ...  I  hope  and  trust  to 
meet  you  all  in  Heaven,  both  white  and  black  — 
both  white  and  black."  Then  he  kissed  each  one, 
his  eyes  resting  last,  affectionately,  upon  his  grand- 
daughter Rachel,  named  for  his  wife,  and  closely 
resembling  her  in  loveliness  of  character ;  then 
death  came. 

Two  days  before  he  died,  he  said,  "  Heaven  will 
be  no  Heaven  to  me  if  I  do  not  meet  my  wife 
there."  Who  can  picture  that  meeting  ?  He 
used  to  say,  "  All  I  have  achieved  —  fame,  power, 
everything  —  would  I  exchange,  if  she  could  be 
restored  to  me  for  a  moment."  How  blessed  must 
have  been  the  restoration,  not  "for  a  moment," 
but  for  eternity ! 

The  lawn  at  the  Hermitage  was  crowded  with 
the  thousands  who  came  to  attend  the  funeral. 
From  the  portico,  the  minister  spoke  from  the 
words,  "These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  and  washed  their  robes  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb." 

All  over  the  country,  public  meetings  were  held 
in  honor  of  the  illustrious  dead  ;  the  man  who  had 
said  repeatedly,  "  I  care  nothing  about  clamors ;  I 
do  precisely  what  I  think  just  and  right." 

"  He  had  had  honors  beyond  anything  which 
his  own  heart  had  ever  coveted,"  says  Prof.  Will- 
iam G.  Sumner,  in  his  life  of  Jackson.  "His 
successes  had  outrun  his  ambition.  He  had  held 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  17o 

more  power  than  any  other  American  had  ever 
possessed.  He  had  been  idolized  by  the  great 
majority  of  his  countrymen,  and  had  been  sur- 
feited with  adulation." 

Politicians  sometimes  sneered  about  his  "  kitchen 
cabinet"  at  Washington,  the  devoted  friends  who 
influenced  him  but  did  not  hold  official  position, 
for,  self-reliant  though  he  was  to  a  marvellous 
degree,  he  was  neither  afraid  nor  ashamed  to  be 
influenced  by  those  who  loved  him.  He  was  abso- 
lutely sincere  and  unselfish.  He  hated  intensely, 
and  loved  intensely;  with  an  affection  as  unchang- 
ing as  his  adamantine  will.  Patriotic,  determined, 
energetic,  and  heroic,  he  attained  success  where 
others  would  have  failed.  He  illustrated  Emer- 
son's words,  "  The  man  who  stands  by  himself,  the 
universe  will  stand  by  him  also."  Francis  P. 
Blair,  his  devoted  friend,  used  to  say,  "Of  all  the 
men  I  have  known.  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  one 
most  entirely  sufficient  for  himself."  During  his 
presidency,  the  steamboat  which  once  conveyed 
him  and  his  party  down  the  Chesapeake  was  unsea- 
worthy,  and  one  of  the  men  exhibited  much  alarm. 
"  You  are  uneasy,"  said  the  general ;  "  you  never 
sailed  with  me  before,  I  see." 

As  a  soldier,  he  was  a  brave,  wise,  skilful 
leader;  as  a  statesman,  honest,  earnest,  fearless, 
true  —  "  I  do  precisely  what  I  think  just  and  right." 

Said  a  friend  who  knew  him  well,  "  There  was 
more  of  the  woman  in  his  nature  than  in  that  of 
any  man  I  ever  knew  —  more  of  woman's  tender- 


176  ANDREW  JACKSON. 

ness  toward  children,  and  sympathy  with  them. 
Often  has  he  been  known,  though  he  never  had  a 
child  of  his  own,  to  walk  up  and  down  by  the  hour 
with  an  infant  in  his  arms,  because  by  so  doing  he 
relieved  it  from  the  cause  of  its  crying;  more  also 
of  woman's  patience  and -uncom  plaining,  unnotic- 
ing  submissiveness  to  trivial  causes  of  irritation. 
There  was  in  him  a  womanly  modesty  and  deli- 
cacy. .  .  .  By  no  man  was  the  homage  due  to 
woman,  the  only  true  homage  she  can  receive  — 
faith  in  her  —  more  devoutly  rendered.  .  .  .  This 
peculiar  tenderness  of  nature  entered  largely,  no 
doubt,  into  the  composition  of  that  manner  of  his, 
with  which  so  many  have  been  struck,  and  which 
was  of  the  highest  available  stamp  as  regards 
both  dignity  and  grace." 

Much  of  what  he  was  in  character  he  owed  to 
Rachel  Jackson.  He  once  said  to  a  prominent 
man,  "  My  wife  was  a  pious  Christian  woman. 
She  gave  me  the  best  advice,  and  I  have  not  been 
unmindfiil  of  it.  When  the  people,  in  their 
sovereign  pleasure,  elected  me  President  of  the 
United  States,  she  said  to  me,  '  Don't  let  your  pop- 
ularity turn  your  mind  away  from  the  duty  you 
owe  to  God.  Before  him  we  are  all  alike  sinners, 
and  to  him  we  must  all  alike  give  account.  All 
these  things  will  pass  away,  and  you  and  I  and 
all  of  us  must  stand  before  God.'  I  have  never 
forgotten  it,  and  I  never  shall." 


DAJfUCL  WKHMT.K. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER. 


IN  the  little  town  of  Salisbury,  New  Hampshire, 
now  called  Franklin,  Daniel  Webster  was  born, 
January  18,  1782,  the  ninth  in  a  family  of  ten 
children.  Ebenezer,  the  father,  descended  from  a 
sturdy  Puritan  ancestry,  had  fought  in  the  French 
and  Indian  Wars ;  a  brave,  hardy  pioneer.  He 
had  cleared  the  wilderness  for  his  log  house,  mar- 
ried a  wife  who  bore  him  five  children,  after  which 
she  died,  and  then  married  a  second  time,  Abigail 
Eastman,  a  woman  of  vigorous  understanding,  yet 
tender  and  self-sacrificing.  Of  the  five  children 
of  the  latter  wife,  three  daughters  and  two  sons, 
Daniel  was  the  fourth,  a  slight,  delicate  child, 
whose  frail  body  made  him  especially  dear  to  the 
mother,  who  felt  that  at  any  time  he  might  be 
taken  out  of  her  arms  forever. 

"  In  this  hut,"  said  Webster,  years  later,  speak- 
ing of  his  father  and  mother,  "they  endured 
together  all  sorts  of  privations  and  hardships ;  my 
mother  was  constantly  visited  by  Indians,  who  had 
never  gone  to  a  white  man's  house  but  to  kill  its 
inhabitants,  while  my  father,  perhaps,  was  g^pe, 
as  he  frequently  was,  miles  away,  carrying  on  his 
177 


178  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

back  the  corn  to  be  ground,  which  was  to  support 
his  family." 

The  father  was  absent  from  home,  also,  on  more 
important  errands.  When  the  news  of  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill  thrilled  the  colonies,  Captain 
Webster,  who  had  won  his  title  in  the  earlier  Avars, 
raised  a  company,  and  at  once  started  for  the  scene 
of  action.  He  fought  at  Bennington  under  Stark. 
being  the  first  to  scale  the  Tory  breastworks,  at 
White  Plains,  and  was  at  West  Point  when  Arnold 
attempted  to  surrender  it  to  the  British.  He 
stood  guard  before  General  Washington's  head- 
quarters, the  night  of  Arnold's  treason.  No  won- 
der, when  Washington  looked  upon  the  robust 
form  nearly  six  feet  high,  with  black  hair  and 
eyes,  and  firm  decisive  manner,  he  said,  ''Captain 
Webster,  I  believe  I  can  trust  you." 

And  so  thought  the  people  of  New  Hampshire, 
for  they  made  him  a  member  of  both  Houses  of 
the  State  Legislature  at  various  times,  and  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  his  own  county. 

The  delicate  boy  Daniel  was  unable  to  work  on 
the  farm  like  his  brother  Ezekiel,  two  years  older, 
but  found  his  pleasure  and  pastime  in  reading,  and 
in  studying  nature.  The  home,  "Elms  Farm,"  as 
it  was  called  later,  from  the  elms  about  it,  was  in  a 
valley  at  a  bend  of  the  Merrimac.  From  here  the 
boy  gazed  upon  Mount  Kearsarge,  and  Mount  Wash- 
ington, the  king  of  the  White  Mountain  peaks, 
and  if  he  did  not  dream  of  what  the  future  had  in 
store  for  him,  he  grew  broad  in  soul  from  such 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  179 

surroundings.  Great  mountains,  great  reaches  of 
sea  or  plain,  usually  bring  great  thoughts  and  plans 
to  those  who  view  them  with  a  loving  heart. 

Daniel  had  little  opportunity  for  schooling  in 
those  early  years.  He  says,  in  his  autobiography, 
"I  do  not  remember  when  or  by  whom  I  was 
taught  to  read,  because  I  cannot,  and  never  could, 
recollect  a  time  when  I  could  not  read  the  Bible. 
I  suppose  I  was  taught  by  my  mother,  or  by  my 
elder  sisters.  My  father  seemed  to  have  no  higher 
object  in  the  world  than  to  educate  his  children  to 
the  full  extent  of  his  very  limited  ability.  No 
means  were  within  his  reach,  generally  speaking, 
but  the  small  town-schools.  These  were  kept  by 
teachers,  sufficiently  indifferent,  in  the  several 
neighborhoods  of  the  township,  each  a  small  part 
of  the  year.  To  these  I  was  sent  with  the  other 
children.  ...  In  these  schools  nothing  was  taught 
but  reading  and  writing ;  and  as  to  these,  the  first 
I  generally  could  perform  better  than  the  teacher, 
and  the  last  a  good  master  could  hardly  instruct 
me  in ;  writing  was  so  laborious,  irksome,  and 
repulsive  an  occupation  to  me  always." 

Much  of  the  boy's  time  was  spent  in  rambles 
along  the  Merrimac  river,  formed  by  the  Winni- 
piseogee  and  the  Pemigewasset,  "  the  beau  ideal 
of  a  mountain  stream ;  cold,  noisy,  winding,  and 
with  banks  of  much  picturesque  beauty."  He 
loved  to  fish  along  the  streams,  having  for  com- 
pany an  old  British  soldier  and  sailor,  Robert  Wise. 
"He  was,"  says  Webster,  "my  Isaac  Walton.  He 


180  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

had  a  wife  but  no  child.  He  loved  me,  because  I 
would  read  the  newspapers  to  him,  containing  the 
accounts  of  battles  in  the  European  wars.  AVh»Mi 
I  have  read  to  him  the  details  of  the  victories  of 
Howe  and  Jervis,  etc.,  I  remember  he  was  excited 
almost  to  convulsions,  and  would  relieve  his  ex- 
citement by  a  gush  of  exulting  tears.  He  finally 
picked  up  a  fatherless  child,  took  him  home,  sent 
him  to  school,  and  took  care  of  him,  only,  as  he 
said,  that  he  might  have  some  one  to  read  the 
newspaper  to  him.  He  could  never  read  himself. 
Alas,  poor  Robert !  I  have  never  so  attained  the 
narrative  art  as  to  hold  the  attention  of  others  as 
thou,  with  thy  Yorkshire  tongue,  hast  held  mine. 
Thou  hast  carried  me  many  a  mile  on  thy  back, 
paddled  me  over  and  over  and  up  and  down  the 
stream,  and  given  whole  days  in  aid  of  my  boyish 
sports,  and  asked  no  meed  but  that,  at  night,  I 
would  sit  down  at  thy  cottage  door,  and  read  to 
thee  some  passage  of  thy  country's  glory  !" 

Daniel  heard  of  battles  from  another  source 
beside  Robert  Wise.  In  the  long  winter  evenings, 
when  the  family  were  snow-bound,  Captain  Web- 
ster would  tell  stories  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  the  boy  grew  patriotic,  as  he  heard  of  the 
brave  soldiers  who  died  to  bring  freedom  to  unborn 
generations.  When  he  was  eight  years  old,  with 
all  the  money  at  his  command,  twenty-five  cents, 
he  went  into  a  little  shop  "and  bought,"  as  he 
says,  "a  small  cotton  pocket-handkerchief,  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  printed  on 


DANIEL    WEBSTElt.  181 

its  two  sides.  From  this  I  learned  either  that 
there  was  a  Constitution,  or  that  there  were  thir- 
teen States.  I  remember  to  have  read  it,  and  have 
known  more  or  less  of  it  ever  since."  Years  after- 
ward he  said,  "that  there  was  not  an  article,  a  sec- 
tion, a  clause,  a  phrase,  a  word,  a  syllable,  or  even 
a  comma,  of  that  Constitution,  which  he  had  not 
studied  and  pondered  in  every  relation  and  in 
every  construction  of  which  it  was  susceptible." 

How  important  a  part  this  twenty-rive  cent 
handkerchief  played  in  the  lives  of  the  two  Web- 
ster boys  !  There  is  no  soil  so  mellow  as  that  of  a 
child's  mind ;  it  needs  no  enriching  save  love  that 
warms  it  like  sunshine.  What  is  planted  there 
early,  grows  rank  and  tall,  and  mothers  do  most  of 
the  planting. 

The  lad's  reading  in  these  boyish  days  was  con- 
fined mostly  to  the  "  Spectator,"  and  Pope's  "  Essay 
on  Man."  The  whole  of  the  latter  he  learned  to 
repeat.  "We  had  so  few  books,"  he  says,  "that  to 
read  them  once  or  twice  was  nothing.  We  thought 
they  were  all  to  be  got  by  heart."  The  yearly  al- 
manac was  regarded  as  "  an  acquisition."  Once 
when  Ezekiel  and  he  had  a  dispute,  after  retiring,  as 
to  a  couplet  at  the  head  of  the  April  page,  Daniel 
got  up,  groped  his  way  to  the  kitchen,  lighted  a 
candle,  looked  at  the  quotation,  found  himself  in 
the  wrong,  and  went  back  to  bed.  But  he  had  in- 
advertently, at  two  o'clock  at  night  in  midwinter, 
set  the  house  on  fire,  which  was  saved  by  his 
father's  presence  of  mind.  Daniel  said,  "They 


182  DAXIEL    WEltSTKIl. 

were  in  pursuit  of  light,  but  got  more  than  they 
wanted." 

Exceedingly  fond  of  poetry,  at  twelve  he  could 
repeat  many  of  the  hymns  of  Dr.  Watts.  Later,  he 
found  delight  in  Don  Quixote,  of  which  he  s;i\  s. 
"  I  began  to  read  it,  and  it  is  literally  true  that  I 
never  closed  my  eyes  until  I  had  finished  it ;  nor 
did  I  lay  it  down,  so  great  was  the  power  of  that 
extraordinary  book  on  my  imagination."  Later 
still,  Milton,  Shakespeare,  and  tlie  Bible  became 
his  inspiration. 

Years  after,  he  used  to  say,  "  I  have  read  through 
the  entire  Bible  many  times.  I  now  make  it  a 
practice  to  go  through  it  once  a  year.  It  is  the 
book  of  all  others  for  lawyers  as  well  as  for  di- 
vines ;  and  I  pity  the  man  that  cannot  find  in  it  a 
rich  supply  of  thought,  and  of  rules  for  his  conduct. 
It  fits  man  for  life  —  it  prepares  him  for  death ! " 

Captain  Webster  had  secretly  nourished  the 
thought  that  he  should  send  Daniel  to  college,  but 
he  was  not  a  man  to  awaken  false  hopes,  so  he  made 
no  mention  of  his  thoughts.  An  incident  related 
by  Daniel  shoAvs  his  father's  heart  in  the  matter. 
"  Of  a  hot  day  in  July,  it  must  have  been  in  one  of 
the  last  years  of  Washington's  administration,  I 
was  making  hay  with  my  father.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  the  forenoon,  the  Honorable  Abiel  Foster, 
who  lived  in  Canterbury,  six  miles  off,  called  at  the 
house,  and  came  into  the  field  to  see  my  father. 
He  was  a  worthy  man,  college-learned,  and  had 
been  a  minister,  and  was  not  a  person  of  any  con- 


DANIEL    WEBSTEU.  183 

siderable  natural  power.  He  talked  a  while  in  the 
field  and  went  on  his  way.  When  he  was  gone,  my 
father  called  me  to  him,  and  we  sat  down  beneath 
the  elm,  on  a  haycock.  He  said,  '  My  son,  that  is 
a  worthy  man ;  he  is  a  member  of  Congress  ;  he 
goes  to  Philadelphia,  and  gets  six  dollars  a  day, 
while  I  toil  here.  It  is  because  he  had  an  educa- 
tion, which  I  never  had.  If  I  had  had  his  early 
education,  I  should  have  been  in  Philadelphia  in  his 
place.  I  came  near  it  as  it  was.  But  I  missed  it, 
and  now  I  must  work  here.'  'My  dear  father,' 
said  I,  '  you  shall  not  work.  Brother  and  I  shall 
work  for  you,  and  will  wear  our  hands  out,  and  you 
shall  rest.'  And  I  remember  to  have  cried,  and  I 
cry  now  at  the  recollection.  'My  child,'  said  he, 
'  it  is  of  no  importance  to  me.  I  now  live  but  for 
my  children.  I  could  not  give  your  elder  brothers 
the  advantages  of  knowledge,  but  I  can  do  some- 
thing for  you.  Exert  yourself,  improve  your  op- 
portunities, learn,  learn,  and,  when  I  am  gone,  you 
will  not  need  to  go  through  the  hardships  which  I 
have  undergone,  and  which  have  made  me  an  old 
man  before  my  time.' " 

Daniel  never  forgot  those  precious  words,  "  Im- 
prove your  opportunities,  learn,  learn."  The  next 
year,  1796,  he  went  to  Phillips  Exeter  Academy, 
where  he  found  ninety  boys.  He  had  come  with 
his  plain  clothes  from  his  plain  home,  while  many 
of  the  others  had  come  from  rich  and  aristocratic 
families.  Sometimes  the  boys  ridiculed  his  country 
ways  and  country  dress.  Little  they  knew  of  the 


184  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

future  that  was  to  give  them  some  slight  renown 
simply  because  they  happened  to  be  in  the  same 
class  with  this  country  lad  !  When  will  the  world 
learn  not  to  judge  a  person  by  his  clothes  !  When 
the  first  term  at  Exeter  was  near  its  close,  the  usher. 
Nicholas  Emery,  afterward  an  eminent  lawyer  in 
Portland,  Maine,  said  to  Webster,  "  You  may  stop  a 
few  minutes  after  school :  I  wish  to  speak  to  you." 
He  then  told  the  lad  that  he  was  a  better  scholar 
than  any  in  his  class,  that  he  learned  more  re;idily 
and  easily,  and  that  if  he  returned  to  school  he 
should  be  put  into  a  higher  class,  and  not  be  hin- 
dered by  boys  who  cared  more  for  play  and  dress 
than  for  solid  improvement. 

"  These  were  the  first  truly  encouraging  words," 
said  Mr.  Webster,  "that  I  ever  received  with  re- 
gard to  my  studies.  I  then  resolved  to  return,  and 
pursue  them  with  diligence  and  so  much  ability  as 
I  possessed."  Blessings  on  thee,  Nicholas  Emery ! 
Strange  that  either  from  indifference,  or  what  we 
think  the  world  will  say,  we  forget  to  speak  a  help- 
ful or  an  encouraging  word.  True  appreciation  is 
not  flattery. 

Daniel  was  at  this  time  extremely  diffident  —  a 
manner  that  speaks  well  for  a  boy  or  girl  generally 
—  and  was  helped  out  of  it  by  a  noble  young  teacher, 
Joseph  Stevens  Buckminster,  who  died  at  twenty- 
eight.  Mr.  Webster  says,  "  I  believe  I  made  toler- 
able progress  in  most  branches  which  I  attended  to 
while  in  this  school;  but  there  was  one  thing  I 
could  not  do  —  I  could  not  make  a  declamation.  I 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  185 

could  not  speak  before  the  school.  The  kind  and 
excellent  Kuckminster  sought,  especially,  to  per- 
suade me  to  perform  the  exercise  of  declamation 
like  other  boys,  but  I  could  not  do  it.  Many  a 
piece  did  I  commit  to  memory,  and  recite  and  re- 
hearse in  my  own  room,  over  and  over  again,  yet, 
when  the  day  came,  when  the  school  collected  to 
hear  declamations,  when  my  name  was  called,  and 
I  saw  all  eyes  turned  to  my  seat,  I  could  not  raise 
myself  from  it.  Sometimes  the  instructors  frowned, 
sometimes  they  smiled.  Mr.  Buckminster  always 
pressed  and  entreated,  most  winmngly,  that  I  would 
venture,  but  I  could  never  command  sufficient  reso- 
lution. When  the  occasion  was  over,  I  went  home 
and  wept  bitter  tears  of  mortification." 

After  nine  months  at  Exeter,  Daniel  began  to 
study  with  Kev.  Samuel  Wood,  a  minister  in  the 
adjoining  town  of  Boscawen,  six  miles  from  Salis- 
bury. As  Captain  Webster  was  driving  over  with 
his  son,  he  communicated  to  him  his  plan  of  send- 
ing him  to  college.  "I  remember,"  says  Daniel 
Webster,  "the  very  hill  which  we  were  ascending, 
through  deep  snows,  in  a  New  England  sleigh, 
when  my  father  made  known  this  purpose  to  me. 
I  could  not  speak.  How  could  he,  I  thought,  with 
so  large  a  family,  and  in  such  narrow  circum- 
stances, think  of  incurring  so  great  an  expense  for 
me  ?  A  warm  glow  ran  all  over  me,  and  I  laid  my 
head  on  my  father's  shoulder  and  wept." 

All  through  life,  Mr.  Webster,  greatest  of  Amer- 
ican orators,  was  never  afraid  nor  ashamed  to 


186  DANIEL    WEHSTER. 

weep.  Children  are  not,  and  the  nearer  we  keep 
to  the  naturalness  of  children,  with  reasonable 
self-control,  the  more  power  we  have  over  others, 
and  the  sweeter  and  purer  grow  onr  natures. 

While  Daniel  was  at  Dr.  Wood's,  a  characteristic 
incident  occurred.  He  says  :  "  My  father  sent  for 
me  in  haying  time  to  help  him,  and  put  me  into 
a  field  to  turn  hay,  and  left  me.  It  was  pretty 
lonely  there,  and,  after  working  some  time,  I  found 
it  very  dull ;  and  as  I  knew  ray  father  was  gone 
away,  I  walked  home,  and  asked  my  sister  Sally  if 
she  did  not  want  to  go  and  pick  some  whortle- 
berries. She  said,  yes.  So  I  went  and  got  some 
horses,  and  put  a  side-saddle  on  one,  and  we  set 
off.  WTe  did  not  get  home  until  it  was  pretty  late, 
and  I  soon  went  to  bed.  When  my  father  came 
home  he  asked  my  mother  where  I  was,  and  what 
I  had  been  about.  She  told  him.  The  next  morn- 
ing, when  I  aAvoke,  I  saw  all  the  clothes  I  had 
brought  from  Dr.  Wood's  tied  up  in  a  small  bundle 
again.  When  I  saw  my  father,  he  asked  me  how  I 
liked  haying.  I  told  him  I  found  it  '  pretty  dull 
and  lonesome  yesterday.'  '  Well,'  said  he,  '  I 
believe  you  may  as  well  go  back  to  Dr.  Wood's.' 
So.  I  took  my  bundle  under  my  arm,  and  on  my 
way  I  met  Thomas  W.  Thompson,  a  lawyer  in 
Salisbury ;  he  laughed  very  heartily  when  he  saw 
me.  '  So,'  said  he,  'your  farming  is  over,  is  it  ?  " 

In  August,  1797,  when  Daniel  was  fifteen,  he 
entered  Dartmouth  College ;  there  he  proved  a 
genial,  affectionate  friend,  and  a  devoted  student. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  187 

But  for  this  natural  warmth  of  heart,  he  probably 
never  would  have  been  an  orator,  for  those  only 
move  others  whose  own  hearts  are  moved.  "  He 
had  few  intimates,"  says  Henry  Cabot  Lodge,  in 
his  admirably  written  and  discriminating  "  Life  of 
Webster,"  "  but  many  friends.  He  was  generally 
liked  as  well  as  universally  admired,  was  a  leader 
in  the  college  societies,  active  and  successful  in 
sports,  simple,  hearty,  unaffected,  without  a  touch 
of  priggishness,  and  with  a  wealth  of  wholesome 
animal  spirits." 

After  two  years,  the  unselfish  student  could  bear 
no  longer  the  thought  that  his  beloved  brother 
Ezekiel  was  not  to  enjoy  a  college  education. 
When  he  went  home  in  vacation,  he  confided  to  his 
brother  his  un happiness  for  his  sake,  and  for  a 
whole  night  they  discussed  the  subject.  It  was 
decided  that  Daniel  should  consult  the  father. 
"  This,  we  knew,"  said  Mr.  Wrebster,  "  would  be  a 
trying  thing  to  my  father  and  mother  and  two 
unmarried  sisters.  My  father  was  growing  old, 
his  health  not  good,  and  his  circumstances  far 
from  easy..  The  farm  was  to  be  carried  on,  and 
the  family  taken  care  of ;  and  there  was  nobody  to 
do  all  this  but  him,  who  was  regarded  as  the  main- 
stay—  that  is  to  say,  Ezekiel.  However,  I  ven- 
tured on  the  negotiation,  and  it  was  carried,  as 
other  things  often  are,  by  the  earnest  and  sanguine 
manner  of  youth.  I  told  him  that  I  was  unhappy 
at  my  brother's  prospects.  For  myself,  I  saw  my 
way  to  knowledge,  respectability,  and  self-protec- 


188  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

tion;  but,  as  to  him,  all  looked  the  other  way; 
that  I  would  keep  school,  and  get  along  as  well  as 
I  could,  be  more  than  four  years  in  getting  through 
college,  if  necessary,  —  provided  he  also  could  be 
sent  to  study.  .  .  .  He  said  that  to  carry  us  both 
through  college  would  take  all  he  was  worth ;  that, 
for  himself,  he  was  willing  to  run  the  risk ;  but 
that  this  was  a  serious  matter  to  our  mother  and 
two  unmarried  sisters ;  that  we  must  settle  the 
matter  with  them,  and,  if  their  consent  was  ob- 
tained, he  would  trust  to  Providence,  and  get 
along  as  well  as  he  could." 

Captain  Webster  consulted  with  his  wife ;  told 
her  that  already  the  farm  was  mortgaged  for  Dan- 
iel's education,  and  that  if  Ezekiel  went  to  college 
it  would  take  all  they  possessed.  "Well,"  said 
she,  with  her  brave  mother-heart,  "I  will  trust 
the  boys ; "  and  they  lived  to  make  her  glad  that 
she  had  trusted  them. 

The  boy  of  seventeen  went  back  to  Dartmouth 
to  struggle  with  poverty  alone,  but  he  was  happy  ; 
the  boy  of  nineteen  began  a  new  life,  studying 
under  Dr.  Wood,  and,  later,  entered  -Dartmouth 
College. 

Daniel,  as  he  had  promised,  began  to  earn  money 
to  pay  his  own  and  his  brother's  way.  By  super- 
intending a  small  weekly  paper,  called  the  Dart- 
mouth Gazette,  he  earned  enough  to  pay  his 
board.  In  the  winter  he  taught  school,  and  gave 
the  money  to  Ezekiel.  While  in  college,  his  won- 
derful powers  in  debate  began  to  manifest  them- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  189 

selves.  He  wrote  his  own  declamations.  Said  one 
of  his  classmates :  "  In  his  movements  he  was 
rather  slow  and  deliberate,  except  when  his  feel- 
ings were  aroused;  then  his  whole  soul  would 
kindle  into  a  flame.  We  used  to  listen  to  him  with 
the  deepest  respect  and  interest,  and  no  one  ever 
thought  of  equalling  the  vigor  and  flow  of  his 
eloquence." 

]>eside  his  regular  studies,  he  devoted  himself  to 
history  and  politics.  From  the  old  world  he 
learned  lessons  in  linance,  in  commerce,  in  the  sta- 
bility of  governments,  that  he  was  able  to  use  in 
after  life.  He  remembered  what  he  read.  He 
says,  "  So  much  as  I  read  I  made  my  own.  When 
a  half-hour  or  an  hour,  at  most,  had  elapsed,  I 
closed  my  book,  and  thought  over  what  I  had  read. 
If  there  was  anything  peculiarly  interesting  or 
striking  in  the  passage,  I  endeavored  to  recall  it, 
and  lay  it  up  in  my  memory,  and  commonly  I  could 
recall  it.  Then,  if,  in  debate  or  conversation  after- 
ward, any  subject  came  up  on  which  I  had  read 
something,  I  could  talk  very  easily  so  far  as  I  had 
read,  and  then  I  was  very  careful  to  stop."  In  this 
manner  Mr.  Webster  became  skilled  in  the  art  of 
conversation,  and  could  be  the  life  of  any  social 
gathering. 

On  July  4,  1800,  he  delivered  his  first  public 
speech,  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  Hanover, 
tracing  the  history  of  our  country  to  the  grand 
success  of  the  Revolution. 

On  leaving  college  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Mr. 


190  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

T.  W.  Thompson,  of  Salisbury.  He  seems  not  to 
have  inclined  strongly  to  the  law,  his  tastes  leading 
him  toward  general  literature,  but  he  was  guided 
by  the  wishes  of  his  father  and  other  friends.  His 
first  reading  was  in  the  Law  of  Nations  —  Yattd. 
Burlamaqui,  and  Montesquieu,  followed  by  Hhu-k- 
stone's  Commentaries.  After  four  months,  he  was 
obliged  to  quit  his  studies  and  earn  money  for 
Ezekiel. 

He  obtained  a  school  at  Fryeburg,  Maine,  prom- 
ising to  teach  for  six  months  for  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five  dollars.  Four  nights  each  week  he 
copied  deeds,  and  made  in  this  way  two  dollars  a 
week.  Thirty  years  afterward  he  said,  "  The  ache 
is  not  yet  out  of  my  fingers ;  for  nothing  has  ever 
been  so  laborious  to  me  as  writing,  when  under  the 
necessity  of  writing  a  good  hand." 

When  May  came  with  its  week  of  vacation,  he 
says,  "  I  took  my  quarter's  salary,  mounted  a  horse, 
went  straight  over  all  the  hills  to  Hanover,  and 
had  the  pleasure  of  putting  these,  the  first  earn- 
ings of  my  life,  into  my  brother's  hands  for  his 
college  expenses.  Having  enjoyed  this  sincere  and 
high  pleasure,  I  hied  me  back  again  to  my  school 
and  my  copying  of  deeds."  Thus  at  twenty  was 
the  great  American  living  out  Emerson's  sublime 
motto,  "  Help  somebody,"  founded  on  that  broadest 
and  sweetest  of  all  commands,  "  Love  one  an- 
other." 

"In  these  days,"  says  George  Ticknor  Curtis' 
delightful  life  of  Webster,  ''  he  was  always  digui- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  191 

fied  in  his  deportment.  He  was  usually  serious, 
but  often  facetious  and  pleasant.  He  was  an 
agreeable  companion,  and  eminently  social  with  all 
who  shared  his  friendship.  He  was  greatly  be- 
loved by  all  who  knew  him.  His  habits  were 
strictly  abstemious,  and  he  neither  took  wine  nor 
strong  drink.  He  was  punctual  in  his  attendance 
upon  public  worship,  and  ever  opened  his  school 
with  prayer.  I  never  heard  him  use  a  profane 
word,  and  never  saw  him  lose  his  temper." 

While  teaching  and  copying  deeds,  he  read 
Adam's  "  Defence  of  the  American  Constitutions," 
Williams'  "Vermont,"  Mosheim's  "Ecclesiastical 
History,"  and  continued  his  Blackstone.  He  walked 
much  in  the  fields,  alone,  and  thus  learned  to  know 
himself ;  gaining  that  power  of  thought  and  mas- 
tery of  self  which  are  essential  to  those  who  would 
have  mastery  over  others.  He  said,  "  I  loved  this 
occasional  solitude  then,  and  have  loved  it  ever 
since,  and  love  it  still.  I  like  to  contemplate  nat- 
ure, and  to  hold  communion,  unbroken  by  the 
presence  of  human  beings,  with  'this  universal 
frame — this  wondrous  fair.'  I  like  solitude  also, 
as  favorable  to  thoughts  less  lofty.  I  like  to  let 
the  thoughts  go  free,  and  indulge  excursions.  And 
when  thinking  is  to  be  done  one  must,  of  course, 
be  alone.  No  man  knows  himself  who  does  not 
thus  sometimes  keep  his  own  company.  At  a  sub- 
sequent period  of  life,  I  have  found  that  my  lonely 
journeys,  when  following  the  court  on  its  circuits, 
have  afforded  many  an  edifying  day." 


192  DAXIKL    \\'EHSTER. 

And  yet  in  this  Vmsy  life  he  called  himself 
"naturally  indolent,"  which  was  true,  probably. 
Seeing  that  most  of  us  do  not  love  work,  it  is  wise 
that  in  early  life,  if  we  would  accomplish  any- 
thing, we  are  drilled  into  habits  of  industry. 

When  he  went  back  to  the  study  of  law,  he  says, 
"  I  really  often  despaired.  I  thought  I  never  could 
make  myself  a  lawyer,  and  was  almost  going  back 
to  the  business  of  school-keeping.  There  are  prop- 
ositions in  Coke  so  abstract,  and  distinctions  so 
nice,  and  doctrines  embracing  so  many  conditions 
and  qualifications,  that  it  requires  an  effort  not 
only  of  a  mature  mind,  but  of  a  mind  both  strong 
and  mature,  to  understand  him."  And  yet  he  adds, 
"  If  one  can  keep  up  an  acquaintance  with  general 
literature  in  the  meantime,  the  law  may  help  to 
invigorate  and  unfold  the  powers  of  the  mind." 

He  longed,  as  every  ambitious  young  man  longs. 
for  a  wider  sphere.  If  he  could  only  go  to  Boston, 
and  mingle  with  the  cultivated  society  there !  —  but 
this  seemed  an  impossibility.  At  this  time  Eze- 
kiel,  through  a  college  friend,  was  offered  a  private 
school  in  Boston.  He  accepted  the  position,  and 
wrote  to  Daniel  urging  him  to  come  and  teach 
Latin  and  Greek  for  an  hour  and  a  half  each  day, 
thus  earning  enough  to  pay  his  board. 

Daniel  went  to  Boston,  poor  and  unknown. 
His  first  efforts  in  finding  an  office  in  which  to 
study  were  unsuccessful,  for  who  cares  about  a 
young  stranger  in  a  great  city  ?  If  we  looked 
upon  a  human  being  as  his  Maker  looks,  doubtless 


DANIEL    \VEB8TEH.  198 

we  should  be  interested  in  him.  He  desired  to 
study  with  some  one  already  prominent.  He  found 
his  way  to  the  office  of  Christopher  Gore,  who  was 
the  first  district  attorney  of  the  United  States  for 
Massachusetts,  a  commissioner  to  England  under 
Jay's  treaty  for  eight  years,  Ex-Governor  of  the 
State,  and  ex-senator.  Mr.  Webster  thus  narrates 
his  early  experience :  "  A  young  man,  as  little 
known  to  Mr.  Gore  as  myself,  undertook  to  intro- 
duce me  to  him.  We  ventured  into  Mr.  Gore's 
rooms,  and  my  name  was  pronounced.  I  was 
shockingly  embarrassed,  but  Mr.  Gore's  habitual 
courtesy  of  manner  gave  me  courage  to  speak.  T 
had  the  grace  to  begin  with  an  unaffected  apology, 
told  him  my  position  was  very  awkward,  my 
appearance  there  very  like  an  intrusion  ;  and  that 
if  I  expected  anything  but  a  civil  dismission,  it  was 
only  founded  in  his  known  kindness  and  generosity 
of  character.  I  was  from  the  country,  I  said  ;  had 
studied  law  for  two  years ;  had  come  to  Boston  to 
study  a  year  more  ;  had  some  respectable  acquaint- 
ances in  New  Hampshire,  not  unknown  to  him, 
but  had  no  introduction ;  that  I  had  heard  he  had 
no  clerk;  thought  it  possible  he  would  receive 
one ;  that  I  came  to  Boston  to  work,  not  to  play  ; 
was  most  desirous,  on  all  accounts,  to  be  his  pupil ; 
and  all  I  ventured  to  ask  at  present  was  that  he 
would  keep  a  place  for  me  in  his  office  till  I  could 
write  to  New  Hampshire  for  proper  letters,  show- 
ing me  worthy  of  it.  I  delivered  this  speech  trip- 
pingly on  the  tongue,  though  I  suspect  it  was 


194  It. \.\IEL    WEUSTER. 

better  composed  than  spoken.  Mr.  Gore  heard 
me  with  much  encouraging  good-nature.  He  evi- 
d*ntly  saw  my  embarrassment ;  spoke  kind  words, 
and  asked  me  to  sit  down.  My  friend  had  already 
disappeared.  Mr.  Gore  said  what  I  had  suggested 
was  very  reasonable,  and  required  little  apology. 
.  .  .  He  inquired,  and  I  told  him,  what  gentlemen 
of  his  acquaintance  knew  me  and  my  father  in 
New  Hampshire.  Among  others,  I  remember  I 
mentioned  Mr.  Peabody,  who  was  Mr.  Gore's 
classmate.  He  talked  to  me  pleasantly  for  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour ;  and,  when  I  rose  to  depart,  he 
said :  '  My  young  friend,  you  look  as  though  you 
might  be  trusted.  You  say  you  come  to  study,  and 
not  to  waste  time.  I  will  take  you  at  your  word. 
You  may  as  well  hang  up  your  hat  at  once ;  go 
into  the  other  room ;  take  your  book,  and  sit  down 
to  reading  it,  and  write  at  your  convenience  to 
New  Hampshire  for  your  letters.'  " 

The  young  man  must  have  had  the  same  earnest, 
frank  look  as  the  father  when  Washington  said  to 
him,  "  Captain  Webster,  I  believe  I  can  trust  you," 
else  he  would  not  have  won  his  way  so  quickly  to 
the  lawyer's  confidence.  Mr.  Gore  was  a  man  of 
indefatigable  research  and  great  amenity  of  man- 
ners. The  younger  man  probably  unconsciously 
took  on  the  habits  of  the  older,  for,  says  Emerson, 
"  With  the  great  we  easily  become  great." 

Webster  now  read,  in  addition  to  books  on  the 
common  and  municipal  law,  Ward's  "Law  of 
Nations,"  Lord  Bacon's  "  Elements,"  Puffendorff 's 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  195 

"  Latin  History  of  England,"  Gifford's  "  Juvenal," 
Boswell's  "Tour  to  the  Hebrides,"  Moore's 
"Travels,"  and  other  works.  When  we  know 
what  books  a  man  or  woman  reads,  we  generally 
know  the  person.  The  life  in  Mr.  Gore's  office 
was  one  long  step  on  the  road  to  fame,  and  it  did 
not  come  by  chance;  it  came  because,  even  in 
timidity,  Webster  had  the  courage  to  ask  for  a  high 
place. 

When  about  ready  for  admission  to  the  bar,  the 
position  of  Clerk  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of 
Hillsborough  County  was  offered  to  him,  an  ap- 
pointment which  had  been  the  desire  of  the  family 
for  him  for  years.  The  salary  was  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars.  This  seemed  a  fortune  indeed.  "  I 
could  pay  all  the  debts  of  the  family,"  he  says, 
'•  could  help  on  Ezekiel  —  in  short,  I  was  indepen- 
dent. I  had  no  sleep  that  night,  and  the  next 
morning  when  I  went  to  the  office  I  stepped  up 
the  stairs  with  a  lighter  heart  than  I  ever  had 
before."  He  conveyed  the  good  news  to  Mr. 
Gore. 

"Well,  my  young  friend,"  said  he,  "the  gentle- 
men have  been  very  kind  to  you ;  I  am  glad  of  it. 
You  must  thank  them  for  it.  You  will  write  imme- 
diately, of  course." 

"  I  told  him  that  I  felt  their  kindness  and  liber- 
ality very  deeply ;  that  I  should  certainly  thank 
them  in  the  best  manner  I  was  able ;  but  that,  I 
should  go  up  to  Salisbury  so  soon,  I  hardly  thought 
it  was  necessarv  to  write.  He  looked  at  me  as  if 


196  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

he  was  greatly  surprised.  'Why,'  said  he,  'you 
don't  mean  to  accept  it,  surely ! '  The  bare  idea  of 
not  accepting  it  so  astounded  me  that  I  should  have 
been  glad  to  have  found  any  hole  to  have  hid 
myself  in.  ...  'Well,'  said  he,  'you  must  decide 
for  yourself ;  but  come,  sit  down,  and  let  us  talk  it 
over.  The  office  is  worth  fifteen  hundred  a  year, 
you  say.  Well,  it  never  will  be  any  more.  Ten  to 
one,  if  they  find  out  it  is  so  much,  the  fees  will 
be  reduced.  You  are  appointed  now  by  friends; 
others  may  fill  their  places  who  are  of  different 
opinions,  and  who  have  friends  of  their  own  to 
provide  for.  You  will  lose  your  place ;  or,  sup- 
posing you  to  retain  it,  what  are  you  but  a  clerk 
for  life  ?  And  your  prospects  as  a  lawyer  are  good 
enough  to  encourage  you  to  go  on.  Go  on,  and 
finish  your  studies ;  you  are  poor  enough,,  but 
there  are  greater  evils  than  poverty :  live  on  no 
man's  favor ;  what  bread  you  do  eat,  let  it  be  the 
bread  of  independence ;  pursue  your  profession, 
make  yourself  useful  to  your  friends  and  a  little 
formidable  to  your  enemies,  and  you  have  nothing 
to  fear.' " 

Young  Webster  went  home  and  passed  another 
sleepless  night.  Then  he  borrowed  some  money, 
hired  a  sleigh,  and  started  for  Salisbury.  When 
he  reached  his  father's  house,  the  pale  old  man 
said  to  him,  "  Well,  Daniel,  we  have  got  that  office 
for  you." 

"Yes,  father,"  was  the  reply,  "the  gentlemen 
were  very  kind  ;  I  must  go  and  thank  them." 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  197 

"  They  gave  it  to  you  without  my  saying  a  word 
about  it." 

"I  must  go  and  see  Judge  Farrar,  and  tell  him 
I  am  much  obliged  to  him." 

"  Daniel,  Daniel,"  said  he,  at  last,  with  a  search- 
ing look,  "  don't  you  mean  to  take  that  office  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed,  father,"  was  the  response,  "  I  hope 
I  can  do  much  better  than  that.  I  mean  to  use  my 
tongue  in  the  courts,  not  my  pen ;  to  be  an  actor, 
not  a  register  of  other  men's  acts.  I  hope  yet,  sir, 
to  astonish  your  honor  in  your  own  court  by  my 
professional  attainments." 

He  looked  half  proud,  half  sorrowful,  and  said 
slowly,  "Well,  my  son,  your  mother  has  always 
said  you  would  come  to  something  or  nothing.  She 
was  not  sure  which;  I  think  you  are  now  about 
settling  that  doubt  for  her."  He  never  spoke  a 
word  more  upon  the  subject.  The  fifteen-hundred- 
dollar  clerkship  was  gone  forever,  but  Daniel  had 
chosen  the  right  road  to  fame  and  prosperity. 

He  returned  finally  to  the  quiet  town  of  Bos- 
cawen,  and,  not  willing  to  be  separated  from  his 
father,  began  the  .life  of  a  country  lawyer.  His 
practice  brought  not  more  than  five  or  six  hundred 
dollars  a  year,  but  it  gave  self-support.  He  had 
also  time  for  study.  "  Study,"  he  said,  "  is  the 
grand  requisite  for  a  lawyer.  Men  may  be  born 
poets,  and  leap  from  their  cradle  painters.  Nature 
may  have  made  them  musicians,  and  called  on  them 
only  to  exercise,  and  not  to  acqiiire,  ability;  but 
law  is  artificial.  It  is  a  human  science,  to  be 


198  DAXIKL    WEBSTER. 

learned,  not  inspired.  Let  there  be  a  genius  for 
whom  nature  has  done  so  much  as  apparently  to 
have  left  nothing  for  application,  yet,  to  niukf  a 
lawyer,  application  must  do  as  much  as  if  nature 
had  done  nothing.  The  evil  is  that  an  accursed 
thirst  for  money  violates  everything.  .  .  .  The  love 
of  fame  is  extinguished,  every  ardent  wish  for 
knowledge  repressed ;  conscience  put  in  jeopardy, 
and  the  best  feelings  of  the  heart  indurated  by  the 
mean,  money-catching,  abominable  practices  which 
cover  with  disgrace  a  part  of  the  modern  practi- 
tioners of  the  law." 

Webster's  first  speech  at  the  bar  was  listened  to 
by  his  proud  and  devoted  father,  who  did  not  live 
to  hear  him  a  second  time.  He  died  in  1806,  at 
sixty-seven,  and  was  buried  beneath  a  tall  pine-tree 
on  his  own  field.  Daniel  assumed  his  debts,  and 
for  ten  years  bore  the  burden,  if  that  may  be 
called  a  burden  which  we  do  willingly  for  love's 
sake. 

The  next  year  he  removed  to  Portsmouth.  He 
was  now  twenty-five,  pale,  slender,  and  of  refined 
and  apparently  delicate  organization.  He  had 
written  considerable  for  the  press,  made  several 
Fourth  of  July  orations,  and  published  a  little 
pamphlet,  "  Considerations  on  the  Embargo  Laws." 

In  June,  1808,  when  he  was  twenty-six,  he  made 
the  wisest  choice  of  his  life  in  his  marriage  to 
Grace  Fletcher,  daughter  of  Rev.  Elijah  Fletcher 
of  Hopkinton.  She  was  twenty-seven,  a  rare  com- 
bination of  intellect  and  sweetness,  just  the  woman 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  199 

to  inspire  an  educated  man  by  her  cultivated  and 
sympathetic  mind,  and  to  rest  him  with  her  gentle 
and  genial  presence.  She  had  a  quiet  dignity 
which  won  respect,  and  her  manners  were  un- 
affected, frank,  and  winning.  From  the  first  time 
he  saw  her  she  looked  "like  an  angel "  to  him,  and 
such  she  ever  remained  to  his  vision. 

And  now  began  the  happiest  years  of  his  life. 
The  small,  wooden  house  in  which  they  lived  grew 
into  a  palace,  because  love  was  there.  His  first 
child,  little  Grace,  named  for  her  mother,  became 
the  idol  of  his  heart.  Business  increased  and 
friends  multiplied  during  the  nine  years  he  lived  at 
Portsmouth.  He  was  fortunate  in  having  for  an 
almost  constant  opponent  in  the  law  the  renowned 
Jeremiah  Mason,  fourteen  years  his  senior,  and  the 
acknowledged  head  of  the  legal  profession  in  New 
Hampshire.  Mr.  Webster  studied  him  closely. 
"He  had  a  habit,"  said  Webster,  "of  standing 
quite  near  to  the  jury,  so  near  that  he  might  have 
laid  his  finger  on  the  foreman's  nose ;  and  then  he 
talked  to  them  in  a  plain  conversational  way,  in 
short  sentences,  and  using  no  word  that  was  not 
level  to  the  comprehension  of  the  least  educated 
man  on  the  panel.  This  led  me  to  examine  my 
own  style,  and  T  set  about  reforming  it  altogether." 
Before  this  his  style  had  been  somewhat  florid; 
afterward  it  was  terse,  simple,  and  graphic. 

On  July  4,  1812,  Webster  delivered  an  oration 
before  the  "Washington  Benevolent  Society,"  in 
which  he  stoutly  opposed  the  war  then  being  car- 


200  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

riecl  on  with  England.  The  address  immediately 
passed  through  two  editions,  and  led  to  his  ap- 
pointment as  delegate  to  an  assembly  of  the  people 
of  Rockingham  County,  to  express  disapproval  of 
the  war.  The  "  Rockingham  Memorial,"  which 
was  presented  to  the  President,  was  written  by  Mr. 
Webster,  and  showed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
condition  of  affairs,  and  an  ardent  devotion  to  the 
Union,  even  though  the  various  sections  of  the  coun- 
try might  differ  in  opinion.  The  result  of  this 
meeting  was  the  sending  of  Mr.  Webster  to  Con- 
gress, where  he  took  his  seat  May  24,  1813.  He 
was  thirty -one ;  the  poverty,  the  poor  clothes  in 
Dartmouth  College,  the  burden  of  the  father's  debts 
had  not  kept  him  from  success. 

Once  in  Congress,  it  was  but  natural  that  his  in- 
fluence should  be  felt.  He  did  not  speak  often,  but 
when  he  did  speak  the  House  listened.  He  was 
placed  on  the  committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  with 
Mr.  Calhoun  as  chairman.  He  helped  to  repeal  the 
Embargo  Laws,  spoke  on  the  Tariff,  showing  that 
he  was  a  Free  Trader  in  principle,  but  favored  Pro- 
tection as  far  as  expediency  demanded  it,  and  took 
strong  grounds  against  the  war  of  1812.  He  urged 
the  right  and  necessity  of  free  speech  on  all  ques- 
tions. He  said,  "  It  is  the  ancient  and  undoubted 
prerogative  of  this  people  to  canvas  public  meas- 
ures and  the  merits  of  public  men.  It  is  a  '  home- 
bred right,'  a  fireside  privilege.  It  has  ever  been 
enjoyed  in  every  house,  cottage,  and  cabin  in  the 
nation.  ...  It  is  as  undoubted  as  the  right  of 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  201 

breathing  the  air,  or  walking  on  the  earth.  Be- 
longing to  private  life  as  a  right,  it  belongs  to  pub- 
lic life  as  a  duty ;  and  it  is  the  last  duty  which 
those  whose  representative  I  am  shall  find  me  to 
abandon." 

He  was  active  in  that  almost  interminable  discus- 
sion concerning  a  United  States  Bank.  The  first 
bank,  chartered  in  1791,  had  Hamilton  for  its  de- 
fender, and  Jefferson  for  its  opponent.  In  1811, 
the  bank  failed  to  obtain  a  renewal  of  its  charter. 
During  the  war  of  1812,  the  subject  was  again 
urged.  The  Jeffersonians  were  opposed  to  any 
bank ;  another  party  favored  a  bank  which  should 
help  the  government  by  heavy  loans,  and  be  re- 
lieved from  paying  its  notes  in  specie ;  still  an- 
other party,  to  which  Webster  belonged,  favored  a 
bank  with  reasonable  capital,  compelled  to  redeem 
its  notes  in  specie,  and  at  liberty  to  make  loans  or 
not  to  the  government.  On  the  subject  of  the  cur- 
rency he  made  some  remarkable  speeches,  showing 
a  knowledge  of  the  subject  perhaps  unequalled 
since  Hamilton. 

The  bank  bill  passed  in  1816,  shorn  of  some  of 
its  objectionable  features.  On  April  26,  Mr.  Web- 
ster presented  his  resolutions  requiring  all  dues  to 
the  government  to  be  paid  in  coin,  or  in  Treasury 
notes,  or  in  notes  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States,  and  by  a  convincing  speech  aided  in  its 
adoption,  thus  rendering  his  country  a  signal  ser- 
vice. 

During  this  session   of   Congress,   Webster   re- 


202  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

ceived  a  challenge  to  a  duel  from  John  Randolph 
of  Roanoke,  and  was  brave  enough  to  refuse,  say- 
ing, "  It  is  enough  that  I  do  not  feel  myself  bound, 
at  all  times  and  under  any  circumstances,  to  accept 
from  any  man,  who  shall  choose  to  risk  his  own 
life,  an  invitation  of  this  sort." 

The  time  had  come  now  in  Mr.  Webster's  life  for 
a  broader  sphere ;  he  decided  to  move  to  Boston. 
His  law  practice  had  never  brought  more  than  two 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  he  needed  more  than 
this  for  his  growing  family.  Besides,  his  house  at 
Portsmouth,  costing  him  six  thousand  dollars,  had 
been  burned,  his  library  and  furniture  destroyed, 
and  he  must  begin  the  world  anew. 

The  loss  of  property  was  small  compared  with 
another  loss  close  at  hand.  Grace,  the  beautiful, 
precocious  first-born,  the  sunshine  of  the  home, 
died  in  her  father's  arms,  smiling  full  in  his  face  as 
she  died.  He  wept  like  a  child,  and  could  never 
forget  that  parting  look. 

After  settling  in  Boston,  business  flowed  in  upon 
him,  until  he  earned  twenty  thousand  dollars  a 
year.  He  would  work  hard  in  the  early  morning 
hours,  coming  home  tired  from  the  courts  in  the 
afternoon.  Says  a  friend,  "  After  dinner,  Mr.  Web- 
ster would  throw  himself  upon  the  sofa,  and  then 
was  seen  the  truly  electrical  attraction  of  his  char- 
acter. Every  person  in  the  room  was  drawn  imme- 
diately into  his  sphere.  The  children  squeezing 
themselves  into  all  possible  places  and  postures 
upon  the  sofa,  in  order  to  be  close  to  him  ;  Mrs. 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  203 

Webster  sitting  by  his  side,  and  the  friend  or  social 
visitor  only  too  happy  to  join  in  the  circle.  All 
this  was  not  from  invitation  to  the  children ;  he 
did  nothing  to  amuse  them,  he  told  them  no  stories ; 
it  was  the  irresistible  attraction  of  his  character, 
the  charm  of  his  illumined  countenance,  from 
which  beamed  indulgence  and  kindness  to  every 
one  of  his  family." 

Among  the  celebrated  cases  which  helped  Mr. 
Webster's  renown  was  the  Dartmouth  College  case 
in  1817.  The  college  was  originally  a  charity 
school  for  the  instruction  of  the  Indians  in  the 
Christian  religion,  founded  by  Rev.  Eleazer  Whee- 
lock.  He  solicited  and  obtained  subscriptions  in 
England,  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth  being  a  generous 
giver.  A  charter  was  obtained  from  the  Crown  in 
1709,  appointing  Dr.  Wheelock  president,  and  em- 
powering him  to  name  his  successor,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  trustees.  In  1815  a  quarrel  began 
between  two  opposite  political  and  religious  fac- 
tions. The  Legislature  was  applied  to,  which 
changed  the  name  from  college  to  university,  en- 
larged the  number  of  trustees,  and  otherwise  modi- 
fied the  rights  of  the  corporation  under  the  charter 
from  England.  The  new  trustees  took  possession 
of  the  property.  The  old  board  brought  action 
against  the  new,  but  the  courts  of  New  Hampshire 
decided  that  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  were  con- 
stitutional. The  case  was  appealed  to  Washington, 
and  on  March  10,  1818,  Mr.  Webster  made  his 
famous  speech  of  over  four  hours,  proving  that  by 


204  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  charter 
of  an  institution  is  a  contract  which  a  State  Legis- 
lature cannot  annul. 

In  closing  he  said  to  the  Chief  Justice,  "  This, 
sir,  is  my  case.  It  is  the  case,  not  merely  of  that 
humble  institution,  it  is  the  case  of  every  college  in 
our  land.  It  is  more.  It  is  the  case  of  every  elee- 
mosynary institution  throughout  our  country  —  of 
all  those  great  charities  founded  by  the  piety  of 
our  ancestors,  to  alleviate  human  misery  and  scat- 
ter blessings  along  the  pathway  of  life.  It  is 
more  !  It  is,  in  some  sense,  the  case  of  every  man 
among  us  who  has  property  of  which  he  may  be 
stripped,  for  the  question  is  simply  this  :  Shall  our 
State  Legislatures  be  allowed  to  take  that  which  is 
not  their  own,  to  turn  it  from  its  original  use,  and 
apply  it  to  such  ends  or  purposes  as  they  in  their 
discretion  shall  see  fit  ?  Sir,  you  may  destroy  this 
little  institution ;  it  is  weak  ;  it  is  in  your  hands  ! 
I  know  it  is  one  of  the  lesser  lights  in  the  literary 
horizon  of  our  country.  You  may  put  it  out. 
But,  if  you  do  so,  you  must  carry  through  your 
work  !  You  must  extinguish,  one  after  another, 
all  those  greater  lights  of  science  which,  for  more 
than  a  century,  have  thrown  their  radiance  over 
our  land ! 

"  It  is,  sir,  as  I  have  said,  a  small  college.  And 
yet  there  are  those  who  love  it  —  " 

Here  Mr.  Webster  broke  down,  overcome  by  the 
recollections  of  those  early  days  of  poverty,  and 
the  self-sacrifice  of  the  dead  father.  The  eyes  of 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  205 

Chief  Justice  Marshall  were  suffused  with  tears,  as 
were  those  of  nearly  all  present.  When  Mr.  Web- 
ster sat  down,  for  s6me  moments  the  silence  was 
death-like,  and  then  the  people  roused  themselves 
as  though  awaking  from  a  dream.  Nearly  seventy 
years  after  this, when  the  Hon.  Mellen  Chamberlain, 
Librarian  of  the  Boston  Public  Library,  gave  his 
eloquent  address  at  the  dedication  of  Wilson  Hall, 
the  library  building  of  Dartmouth  College,  he  held 
in  his  hand  the  very  copy  of  Blackstone  from 
which  Webster  quoted  in  his  great  argument,  with 
his  autograph  on  the  fly-leaf.  Of  Webster  he  said, 
"  His  imagination  transformed  the  soulless  body 
corporate  —  the  fiction  of  the  king's  prerogative  — 
into  a  living  personality,  the  object  of  his  filial  de- 
votion, the  beloved  mother  whose  protection  called 
forth  all  his  powers,  and  enkindled  in  his  bosom  a 
quenchless  love." 

Several  years  later,  Webster  won  the  great  case 
of  Gibbons  vs.  Ogden,  which  settled  that  the  State 
of  New  York  had  no  right,  under  the  Constitution, 
to  grant  a  monopoly  of  steam  navigation,  on  its 
waters,  to  Fulton  and  Livingston. 

He  now  took  an  active  part  in  the  revision  of  the 
Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  helping  to  do  away 
with  the  religious  test,  that  a  person  holding  office 
must  declare  his  belief  in  the  Christian  religion. 
A  believer  himself,  he  was  unwilling  to  force  his 
views  upon  others.  December  22,  1820,  he  deliv- 
ered an  oration  at  Plymouth,  commemorating  the 
two-hundredth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the 


206  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Pilgrims.  It  was  a  grand  theme,  and  the  theme 
had  a  master  to  handle  it.  He  began  simply,  "Let 
us  rejoice  that  we  behold  this  day.  Let  us  be 
thankful  that  we  have  lived  to  see  the  bright  and 
happy  breaking  of  the  auspicious  morn  which 
commences  the  third  century  of  the  history  of 
New  England.  .  .  .  Forever  honored  be  this,  the 
place  of  our  fathers'  refuge  !  Forever  remembered 
the  day  which  saw  them,  weary  and  distressed, 
broken  in  everything  but  spirit,  poor  in  all  but 
faith  and  courage,  at  last  secure  from  the  danger  of 
wintry  seas,  and  impressing  this  shore  with  the  first 
footsteps  of  civilized  man  ! " 

Then  the  picture  was  sketched  on  a  glowing  can- 
vas;— the  noble  Pilgrims;  the  progress  of  New 
England  during  the  century  ;  the  grand  government 
under  which  we  live  and  develop,  with  the  Chris- 
tian religion  for  our  comfort  and  our  hope.  In  clos- 
ing he  said,  "  The  hours  of  this  day  are  rapidly 
flying,  and  this  occasion  will  soon  be  passed. 
Neither  we  nor  our  children  can  expect  to  behold 
its  return.  They  are  in  the  distant  regions  of 
futurity,  they  exist  only  in  the  all-creating  power 
of  God,  who  shall  stand  here,  a  hundred  years 
hence,  to  trace  through  us  their  descent  from  the 
Pilgrims,  and  to  survey,  as  we  have  now  surveyed, 
the  progress  of  their  country  during  the  lapse  of  a 
century.  We  would  anticipate  their  concurrence 
with  us  in  our  sentiments  of  deep  regard  for  our 
common  ancestors.  We  would  anticipate  and  par- 
take the  pleasure  with  which  they  will  then  re- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  207 

count  the  steps  of  New  England's  advancement. 
On  the  morning  of  that  day,  although  it  will  not 
disturb  us  in  our  repose,  the  voice  of  acclamation 
and  gratitude,  commencing  on  the  Rock  of  Plym- 
outh, shall  be  transmitted  through  millions  of  the 
sons  of  the  Pilgrims,  till  it  lose  itself  in  the  mur- 
murs of  the  Pacific  seas." 

The  people  heard  the  oration  as  though  en- 
tranced. Said  Mr.  Ticknor,  a  man  of  remarkable 
culture,  "  I  was  never  so  excited  by  public  speaking 
before  in  my  life.  Three  or  four  times  I  thought 
my  temples  would  burst  with  the  gush  of  blood ; 
for,  after  all,  you  must  know  that  I  am  aware  it  is 
no  connected  and  compacted  whole,  but  a  collection 
of  wonderful  fragments  of  burning  eloquence,  to 
which  his  whole  manner  gave  tenfold  force.  When 
I  came  out  I  was  almost  afraid  to  come  near  to 
him.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  he  was  like  the  mount 
that  might  not  be  touched,  and  that  burned  with 
fire." 

John  Adams  wrote  him,  "  If  there  be  an  Ameri- 
can who  can  read  it  without  tears,  I  am  not  that 
American.  .  .  .  Mr.  Burke  is  no  longer  entitled  to 
the  praise  — the  most  consummate  orator  of  modern 
times.  .  .  .  This  oration  will  be  read  five  hundred 
years  hence  with  as  much  rapture  as  it  was  heard. 
It  ought  to  be  read  at  the  end  of  every  century, 
and  indeed  at  the  end  of  every  year,  forever  and 
ever." 

From  the  day  he  delivered  that  oration,  Mr.  Web- 
ster was  the  leading  oratpr  of  America.  From 


208  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

that  day  he  belonged  not  to  Grace  Webster  alone, 
not  to  Massachusetts,  not  to  one  political  party, 
but  to  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Five  years 
after  that,  he  delivered  the  address  at  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone  of  Bunker  Hill  monument.  Who 
does  not  remember  the  impassioned  words  to  the 
survivors  of  the  Revolution,  "  Venerable  men !  you 
have  come  down  to  us  from  a  former  generation. 
Heaven  has  bounteously  lengthened  out  your  lives 
that  you  might  behold  this  joyous  day.  You  are 
now  where  you  stood  fifty  years  ago,  this  very  hour, 
with  your  brothers  and  your  neighbors,  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  in  the  strife  for  your  country.  Behold, 
how  altered !  The  same  heavens  are  indeed  over 
your  heads ;  the  same  ocean  rolls  at  your  feet ;  but 
all  else,  how  changed  !  You  hear  now  no  roar  of 
hostile  cannon,  you  see  no  mixed  volumes  of  smoke 
and  flame  rising  from  burning  Charlestown.  The 
ground  strewed  with  the  dead  and  the  dying ;  the 
impetuous  charge ;  the  steady  and  succussful  re- 
pulse ;  the  loud  call  to  repeated  assault,  the  sum- 
moning of  all  that  is  manly  to  repeated  resistance ; 
a  thousand  bosoms  freely  and  fearlessly  bared  in  an 
instant  to  whatever  of  terror  there  may  be  in  war 
and  death, — all  these  you  have  witnessed,  but  you 
witness  them  no  more.  .  .  .  All  is  peace ;  and  God 
has  granted  you  this  sight  of  your  country's  happi- 
ness, ere  you  slumber  in  the  grave  forever.  He 
has  allowed  you  to  behold  and  to  partake  the  re- 
ward of  your  patriotic  toils,  and  he  has  allowed  us. 
vour  sons  and  countrymen,  to  meet  you  here,  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  209 

in  the  name  of  the  present  generation,  in  the  name 
of  your  country,  in  the  name  of  liberty,  to  thank  you ! 

"  But,  alas  !  you  are  not  all  here  !  Time  and  the 
sword  have  thinned  your  ranks.  Prescott,  Putnam, 
Stark,  Brooks,  Read,  Pomeroy,  Bridge  !  our  eyes 
seek  for  you  in  vain  amidst  this  broken  band.  You 
are  gathered  to  your  fathers,  and  live  only  to  your 
country  in  her  grateful  remembrance  and  your  own 
bright  example." 

Who  has  not  read  that  address  delivered  at  Fan- 
euil  Hall,  Boston,  in  commemoration  of  the  lives 
and  services  of  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, who  died  July  4,  1826.  Who  does  not  remem- 
ber that  imaginary  speech  of  John  Adams,  "  Sink 
or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or  perish,  I  give  my 
hand  and  my  heart  to  this  vote.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  in  the  beginning  we  aimed  not  at  indepen- 
dence. But  there's  a  Divinity  which  shapes  our 
ends.  .  .  .  Sir,  I  know  the  uncertainty  of  human 
affairs,  but  I  see,  I  see  clearly  through  this  day's 
business.  You  and  I,  indeed,  may  rue  it.  We  may 
not  live  to  see  the  time  when  this  declaration  shall 
be  made  good.  We  may  die,  —  die  colonists,  —  die 
slaves ;  —  die,  it  may  be,  ignominiously  and  on  the 
scaffold.  Be  it  so.  Be  it  so.  If  it  be  the  pleasure 
of  Heaven  that  my  country  shall  require  the  poor 
offering  of  my  life,  the  victim  shall  be  ready  at  the 
appointed  hour  of  sacrifice,  come  when  that  hour 
may.  But,  while  I  do  live,  let  me  have  a  country, 
or  at  least  the  hope  of  a  country,  and  that  a  free 
country." 


210  DANIEL    WEBS'lER. 

Concerning  this  speech  of  John  Adams,  begin- 
ning, "  Sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,"  Mr.  Webster 
said,  "  I  wrote  that  speech  one  morning  before 
breakfast,  in  my  library,  and  when  it  was  finished 
my  paper  was  wet  with  my  tears."  In  delivering 
this  oration,  his  manuscript  lay  near  him  on  a  small 
table,  but  he  did  not  once  refer  to  it.  As  far  as 
possible  in  his  addresses,  he  preferred  Anglo-Saxon 
words  to  those  with  Latin  origin ;  therefore,  this 
great  speech  is  so  simple  that  school-boys  the  coun- 
try over  can  declaim  it  and  understand  it. 

In  1823,  when  Webster  was  forty-one,  Boston 
elected  him  to  Congress.  He  was,  of  course,  widely 
known  and  observed;  courtly  in  physique,  impas- 
sioned yet  calm,  easy  yet  dignified,  comprehensive 
in  thought,  a  lover  of  and  expounder  of  the  Consti- 
tution. 

The  following  year  he  visited  Marshneld,  on  the 
south-east  shore  of  Massachusetts,  and  saw  the 
home  which  he  afterward  purchased,  and  which, 
with  its  eighteen  hundred  acres,  became  the  joy  of 
his  later  years.  Here  he  planted  flowers  and  trees. 
He  would  often  say  to  others,  "  Plant  trees,  adorn 
your  grounds,  live  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  shall 
come  after  you."  Here  he  watched  every  sunrise 
and  sunset,  every  moon  rise  from  new  to  full,  and 
grew  rested  and  refreshed  by  these  ever  recurring 
glimpses  of  divine  power.  He  said,  "  I  know  the 
morning ;  I  am  acquainted  with  it,  and  I  love  it, 
fresh  and  sweet  as  it  is,  a  daily  creation,  breaking 
forth  and  calling  all  that  have  life,  and  breath,  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  211 

being,  to  new  adoration,  new  enjoyments,  and  new 
gratitude." 

Here  he  enjoyed  the  ocean  as  he  had  enjoyed  it 
in  his  boyhood,  and  years  later,  when  his  brain  was 
tired  from  overwork,  he  would  exclaim,  plaintively, 
"Oh,  Marshfield!  the  Sea!  the  Sea!" 

This  year  also  Webster  paid  a  visit  to  Thomas 
Jefferson  at  Monticello.  In  his  conversation  with 
the  ex-President,  he  told  this  story  of  himself, 
which  well  illustrates  the  fact  that  all  the  knowl- 
edge which  we  can  acquire  becomes  of  use  to  us  at 
one  time  or  another  in  life.  When  a  young  lawyer 
in  Portsmouth,  a  blacksmith  brought  him  a  case 
under  a  will.  As  the  case  was  a  difficult  one,  he 
spent  one  month  in  the  study  of  it,  buying  fifty  dol- 
lars' worth  of  books  to  help  him  in  the  matter.  He 
argued  the  case,  won  it,  and  received  a  fee  of  fifteen 
dollars.  Years  after,  Aaron  Burr  sent  for  him  to 
consult  with  him  on  a  legal  question  of  consequence. 
The  case  was  so  similar  to  that  of  the  blacksmith 
that  Webster  could  cite  all  the  points  bearing  upon 
it  from  the  time  of  Charles  II.  Mr.  Burr  was  aston- 
ished, and  suspected  he  was  the  counsel  for  the  op- 
posite side.  Webster  received  enough  compensa- 
tion from  Burr  to  cover  the  loss  of  time  and  money 
in  the  former  case,  and  gained,  besides,  Burr's  ad- 
miration and  respect. 

In  the  winter  of  1824,  Webster's  youngest  child, 
Charles,  died,  at  the  age  of  two  years.  Mrs.  Web- 
ster wrote  her  absent  husband,  "I  have  dreaded 
the  hour  which  should  destroy  your  hopes,  but 


212  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

trust  you  will  not  let  this  event  afflict  you  too 
much,  and  that  we  both  shall  be  able  to  resign  him 
without  a  murmur,  happy  in  the  reflection  that  he 
has  returned  to  his  Heavenly  Father  pure  as  I  re- 
ceived him.  .  .  .  Do  not,  my  dear  husband,  talk  of 
your  own  'final  abode;'  that  is  a  subject  I  never 
can  dwell  on  for  a  moment.  With  you  here,  my 
dear,  I  can  never  be  desolate.  Oh,  may  Heaven,  in 
its  mercy,  long  preserve  you ! " 

Four  years  later,  "  the  blessed  wife,"  as  he  called 
her,  went  to  her  "final  abode."  Mr.  Webster 
watched  by  her  side  till  death  took  her.  Then  at 
the  funeral,  in  the  wet  and  cold  of  that  January 
day,  he  walked  close  behind  the  hearse,  holding 
Julia  and  Fletcher,  his  two  children,  by  the  hand. 
Her  body  was  placed  beneath  St.  Paul's  Church. 
Boston,  beside  her  children.  All  were  removed 
afterward  to  Marshfield. 

Webster  went  back  to  Washington,  having  been 
made  United  States  senator,  but  he  seemed  broken- 
hearted, and  unable  to  perform  his  duties.  He 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  Like  an  angel  of  God,  indeed. 
I  hope  she  is  in  purity,  in  happiness,  and  in  immor- 
tality ;  but  I  would  fain  hope  that,  in  kind  remem- 
brance of  those  she  has  left,  in  a  lingering  human 
sympathy  and  human  love,  she  may  yet  be,  as  God 
originally  created  her,  a  'little  lower  than  the  an- 
gels.' I  cannot  pursue  these  thoughts,  nor  turn 
back  to  see  what  I  have  written."  Again  he  wrote, 
"I  feel  a  vacuum,  an  indifference,  a  want  of  motive, 
which  I  cannot  describe.  I  hope  my  children,  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  213 

the  society  of  my  best  friends,  may  rouse  me ;  but 
I  can  never  see  such  days  as  I  have  seen.  Yet  I 
should  not  repine ;  I  have  enjoyed  much,  very 
much  ;  and,  if  I  were  to  die  to-night,  I  should  bless 
God  most  fervently  that  I  have  lived." 

Judge  Story  spoke  of  Mrs.  Webster  as  a  sister 
with  "her  kindness  of  heart,  her  generous  feelings, 
her  mild  and  conciliatory  temper,  her  warm  and 
elevated  affections,  her  constancy,  purity,  and 
piety,  her  noble  disinterestedness,  and  her  excel- 
lent sense." 

Later,  Mr.  Webster  married  Caroline  Le  Roy, 
the  daughter  of  a  New  York  merchant,  but  no 
affection  ever  effaced  from  his  heart  the  memory  of 
Grace  Webster,  whom  he  always  spoke  of  as  "  the 
mother  of  his  children." 

The  next  year,  1829,  his  idolized  brother  Ezekiel 
died  suddenly  at  forty-nine,  while  he  was  address- 
ing a  jury  in  the  court-house  at  Concord,  New 
Hampshire. 

Daniel  Webster  said  of  this  shock,  "  I  have  felt 
but  one  such  in  life  ;  and  this  follows  so  soon  that 
it  requires  more  fortitude  than  I  possess  to  bear  it 
with  firmness,  and,  perhaps,  as  I  ought.  I  am 
aware  that  the  case  admits  no  remedy,  nor  any 
present  relief ;  and  endeavor  to  console  myself 
with  reflecting  that  I  have  had  much  happiness 
with  lost  connections,  and  that  they  must  expect 
to  lose  beloved  objects  in  this  world  who  have  be- 
loved objects  to  lose." 

Recently,  at  the  home  of  Kate  Sanborn  in  New 


214  DAS  I  EL    WEHSTER. 

York,  the  grand-niece  of  Daniel  Webster,  I  met 
the  sweet-faced  wife  of  Ezekiel,  young  in  her  feel- 
ings and  young  in  face  despite  her  four-score 
years.  Here  I  saw  a  picture  of  the  great  orator  in 
his  youth,  the  desk  on  which  he  wrote,  and  scores 
of  mementos  of  Marshfield  and  "Elms  Farms," 
treasured  by  the  cultivated  woman  who  bears 
token  of  her  renowned  kinship. 

With  all  these  sorrows  crowded  into  Mr.  Web- 
ster's life,  he  could  not  cease  his  pressing  work  in 
Congress.  Andrew  Jackson  had  become  President, 
and  John  C.  Calhoun  had  preached  his  Nullifica- 
tion doctrines  till  South  Carolina  was  ready  to  sep- 
arate herself  from  the  Union,  because  of  her  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  tariff  laws.  Webster  had 
somewhat  changed  his  views,  and  had  become 
a  supporter  of  the  "  American  System  "  of  Henry 
Clay,  the  system  of  "  protection,"  because  he 
thought  the  interests  of  his  constituents  demanded 
it.  For  himself,  he  loved  agriculture,  but  he  saw 
the  need  of  fostering  manufactures  if  we  would 
have  a  great  and  prosperous  country: 

On  December  29,  1829,  Mr.  Foote,  a  senator 
from  Connecticut,  introduced  a  resolution  to  in- 
quire respecting  the  sales  and  surveys  of  western 
lands.  In  a  long  debate  which  followed,  General 
Hayne  of  South  Carolina  took  occasion  to  chastise 
New  England,  in  no  tender  words,  for  her  desire  to 
build  up  herself  in  wealth  at  the  expense  of  the 
West  and  South.  On  January  20,  Webster  made 
his  first  reply  to  the  General,  having  only  a  night 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  215 

in  which  to  prepare  his  speech.  The  notes  filled 
three  pages  of  ordinary  letter  paper,  while  the 
speech,  as  reported,  filled  twenty  pages. 

Again  General  Hayne  spoke  in  an  able  yet  per- 
sonal manner,  asserting  the  doctrines  of  nullifica- 
tion, and  attempting  to  justify  the  position  of  his 
State  in  seceding.  Mr.  Webster  took  notes  while 
he  was  speaking,  but,  as  the  Senate  adjourned,  his 
speech  did  not  come  till  the  following  day.  Again 
he  had  but  a  night  in  which  to  prepare. 

When  the  morning  of  January  26  came,  the 
galleries,  floor,  and  staircase  were  crowded  with 
eager  men  and  women.  "  It  is  a  critical  moment," 
said  Mr.  Bell,  of  New  Hampshire,  to  Mr.  Webster, 
"  and  it  is  time,  it  is  high  time,  that  the  people  of 
this  country  should  know  what  this  Constitution 
is."  "  Then,"  answered  Webster,  "  by  the  blessing 
of  Heaven  they  shall  learn,  this  day,  before  the 
sun  goes  down,  what  I  understand  it  to  be." 

When  Webster  began  speaking  his  words  were 
slowly  uttered.  "  Mr.  President,  —  When  the 
mariner  has  been  tossed,  for  many  days,  in  thick 
weather,  and  on  an  unknown  sea.  he  naturally 
avails  himself  of  the  first  pause  in  the  storm,  the 
earliest  glance  of  the  sun,  to  take  his  latitude,  and 
ascertain  how  far  the  elements  have  driven  him 
from  his  true  course.  Let  us  imitate  this  pru- 
dence, and  before  we  float  farther  on  the  waves  of 
this  debate,  refer  to  the  point  from  which  we  de- 
parted, that  we  may  at  least  be  able  to  conjecture 
where  we  now  are.  I  ask  for  the  reading  of  the 
resolution." 


216  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

And  then  with  trenchant  sarcasm,  unanswerable 
logic,  and  the  intense  feeling  which  belongs  to 
true  oratory.  Mr.  Webster  taught  the  American 
people  the  strength  and  holding  power  of  the  Con- 
stitution, which  a  civil  war,  thirty  years  later, 
was  to  prove  unalterably.  The  speech,  which 
filled  seventy  printed  pages,  came  from  only  five 
pages  of  notes.  When  asked  how  long  he  was  in 
preparation  for  the  reply  to  Hayne,  he  answered, 
his  "  whole  life." 

How  often  his  loving  defence  of  Massachusetts 
has  been  quoted  !  "  Mr.  President,  I  shall  enter  on 
no  encomiums  upon  Massachusetts.  She  needs 
none.  There  she  is  —  behold  her,  and  judge  for 
yourselves.  There  is  her  history :  the  world  knows 
it  by  heart.  The  past,  at  least,  is  secure.  There 
is  Boston,  and  Concord,  and  Lexington,  and  Bun- 
ker Hill,  —  and  there  they  will  remain  forever. 
The  bones  of  her  sons,  falling  in  the  great  struggle 
for  Independence,  now  lie  mingled  with  the  soil  of 
every  State,  from  New  England  to  Georgia;  and 
there  they  will  lie  forever.  And,  sir,  where 
American  liberty  raised  its  first  voice,  and  where 
its  youth  was  nurtured  and  sustained,  there  it  still 
lives,  in  the  strength  of  its  manhood  and  full  of  its 
original  spirit.  If  discord  and  disunion  shall 
wound  it  —  if  party  strife  and  blind  ambition  shall 
hawk  at  and  tear  it  —  if  folly  and  madness,  if 
uneasiness  under  salutary  and  necessary  restraint, 
shall  succeed  to  separate  it  from  that  union,  by 
which  alone  its  existence  is  made  sure,  it  will 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  217 

stand,  in  the  end,  by  the  side  of  that  cradle  in 
which  its  infancy  was  rocked :  it  will  stretch  forth 
its  arm,  with  whatever  of  vigor  it  may  still  retain, 
over  the  friends  who  gather  round  it ;  and  it  will 
fall  at  last,  if  fall  it  must,  amidst  the  proudest 
monuments  of  its  own  glory,  and  on  the  very  spot 
of  its  origin. 

"  When  my  eyes  shall  be  turned  to  behold  for 
the  last  time  the  sun  in  heaven,  may  I  not  see 
him  shining  on  the  broken  and  dishonored  frag- 
ments of  a  once  glorious  Union;  on  States  dis- 
severed, discordant,  belligerent ;  on  a  land  rent 
with  civil  feuds,  or  drenched,  it  may  be,  in  frater- 
nal blood  !  —  Let  their  last  feeble  and  lingering 
glance  rather  behold  the  goi-geous  ensign  of  the 
republic,  now  known  and  honored  throughout  the 
earth,  still  full  high  advanced,  its  arms  and  tro- 
phies streaming  in  their  original  lustre,  not  a  stripe 
erased  or  polluted,  nor  a  single  star  obscured  — 
bearing  for  its  motto  no  such  miserable  interroga- 
tory as  What  is  all  this  worth  ?  Nor  those  other 
words  of  delusion  and  folly,  Liberty  first,  and 
Union  afterwards  —  but  everywhere,  spread  all 
over  in  characters  of  living  light,  blazing  on  all  its 
ample  folds,  as  they  float  over  the  sea  and  over  the 
land,  and  in  every  wind  under  the  whole  heavens, 
that  other  sentiment,  dear  to  every  true  American 
heart  —  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one 
and  inseparable ! " 

Of  course,  this  reply  to  Hayne  electrified  the 
country,  and  Webster  began  to  be  mentioned  for 


218  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

the  presidential  chair.  No  one  who  ever  heard 
him  speak,  with  his  wonderful  magnetism,  his 
majestic  enthusiasm,  his  rich,  full  voice,  and  his 
unsurpassed  physique,  could  ever  forget  the  man, 
his  words,  or  his  presence.  When  he  visited 
Europe,  some  said,  "  There  goes  a  king."  "NYhen 
Sydney  Smith  saw  him,  he  exclaimed,  "  Good 
Heavens  !  he  is  a  small  cathedral  by  himself." 

Through  Jackson's  administration  Webster  was 
his  courteous  opponent  in  most  measures,  but  in 
the  nullification  scheme  he  was  heart  and  hand 
with  the  fearless,  self-willed  general.  When  Henry 
Clay  brought  forward  his  compromise  tariff  bill, 
which  pacified  the  nullifiers,  Webster  opposed  it, 
believing  that,  in  the  face  of  this  opposition  to  the 
Constitution,  concession  was  unwise. 

In  1833,  the  famous  statesman  made  an  extended 
journey  through  the  West,  and  was  everywhere 
honored  and  feted.  Church-bells  were  rung,  can- 
non fired,  and  houses  decorated  at  his  coming. 
Great  crowds  gathered  everywhere  to  hear  him 
speak. 

By  this  time  a  party  was  developing  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  unusual  powers  exercised  by  General 
Jackson,  whose  great  victory  at  New  Orleans  had 
made  him  the  idol  of  the  people.  The  party  was 
the  more  easily  formed  from  the  financial  troubles 
under  Van  Buren,  he  having  reaped  the  harvest  of 
which  Jackson  had  sown  the  seed.  Naturally,  Mr. 
Webster  became  the  leader  of  this  Whig  party,  so 
called  from  the  Whig  party  in  England,  formed  to 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  219 

resist  the  ultra  demands  of  the  king.  Massachu- 
setts favored  him  for  the  presidency.  Boston  pre- 
sented him  with  a  massive  silver  vase,  before  an 
audience  of  four  thousand  persons.  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore  gave  him  public  dinners.  Letters 
came  from  various  States  urging  his  name  upon 
the  National  Convention,  which  met  at  Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania,  December  4,  1839.  But  Mr.  Web- 
ster had  been  so  prominent  that  his  views  upon 
all  public  questions  were  too  well  known,  there- 
fore General  William  Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  an 
honored  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812,  was  chosen,  as 
being  a  more  "  available  "  candidate. 

Webster  must  have  been  sorely  disappointed,  as 
were  his  friends,  but  he  at  once  began  to  work 
earnestly  for  his  party,  spoke  constantly  at  meet- 
ings, and  helped  to  elect  Harrison,  who  died  one 
month  after  the  exciting  election,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-eight.  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  the  Vice- 
President,  succeeded  him,  and  Mr.  Webster  re- 
mained Secretary  of  State  under  him,  as  he  had 
been  under  Harrison.  Here'  the  duties  were  ardu- 
ous and  complicated. 

For  many  years  the  north-eastern  boundary  had 
been  a  matter  of  dispute  between  England  and  the 
United  States.  Bitter  feeling  had  been  engendered 
also  by  trouble  in  Canada  in  1837.  Several  of 
those  in  rebellion  had  fled  from  Canada  to  the 
States,  had  fitted  out  an  American  steamboat,  the 
Carolina,  to  make  incursions  into  that  country. 
She  was  burned  by  a  party  of  Canadians,  and  an 


220  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

American  was  killed.  McLeod,  from  Canada, 
acknowledged  himself  the  slayer,  was  arrested, 
and  committed  for  murder.  The  British  were 
angered  by  this,  as  were  the  Americans  by  the 
search  of  their  vessels  by  British  cruisers.  Lord 
Ashburton  was  finally  sent  as  a  special  envoy  to 
the  United  States,  and  largely  through  the  states- 
manship of  Mr.  Webster  the  Ashburton  treaty  was 
concluded,  and  war  between  the  nations  avoided. 

Meantime,  President  Tyler  had  vetoed  the  bill 
for  establishing  another  United  States  Bank,  and 
thereby  set  his  own  party  against  him.  Most  of 
the  cabinet  resigned,  and  although  much  pressure 
was  brought  by  the  Whig  party  upon  Mr.  Webster, 
that  he  resign  also,  he  remained  till  the  treaty 
matter  was  settled.  Then  he  returned  to  Marsh- 
field,  and  devoted  himself  once  more  to  the  law. 

He  had  spent  lavishly  upon  his  farm ;  he  had 
also  bought  western  land,  and  lost  money  by  his 
investments.  He  felt  obliged  to  entertain  friends, 
and  this  was  expensive.  Besides,  he  never  kept 
regular  accounts,  often  in  his  generosity  gave  five 
hundred  dollars  when  he  should  have  given  but 
five,  and  now  found  himself  embarrassed  by  debts 
which  were  a  source  of  sorrow  to  his  friends  as 
well  as  to  himself,  and  a  source  of  advantage  to  his 
enemies.  Thirty-five  thousand  dollars  were  now 
given  him  by  his  admirers,  from  which  he  received 
a  yearly  income. 

In  1844,  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  a  lead- 
ing presidential  question.  Until  1836  she  was  a 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  221 

province  of  Mexico,  but  in  1835  she  resorted  to 
arms  to  free  herself.  On  March  6,  1836,  a  Texan 
fort,  called  the  Alamo,  was  surrounded  by  eight 
thousand  Mexicans,  led  by  Santa  Anna.  The 
garrison  was  massacred.  The  next  month  the 
battle  of  San  Jacinto  was  fought,  and  Texas 
became  independent.  When  she  asked  admission 
to  the  Union,  the  Democrats  favored  and  the 
Whigs  opposed,  because  she  would  naturally  be- 
come slave  territory.  Already,  August  30,  1843, 
the  "  Liberty  Party  "  had  assembled  at  Baltimore 
and  nominated  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 
The  North  was  becoming  agitated  on  the  subject 
of  slavery,  but  the  Whigs  avoided  both  the  sub- 
jects of  slavery  and  Texas  in  their  platform,  and 
nominated  as  their  presidential  candidate  not  Dan- 
iel Webster  but  Henry  Clay. 

Again  Webster  worked  earnestly  for  his  party 
and  its  nominee,  but  the  Whigs  were  defeated,  as 
is  usually  the  case  when  a  party  fears  to  touch  the 
great  questions  which  public  opinion  demands. 
They  learned  a  lesson  when  it  was  too  late,  and 
other  political  parties  should  profit  by  their  ex- 
ample. 

James  K.  Polk  of  Tennessee  was  elected,  Texas 
was  admitted  to  the  Union,  and  the  Mexican  War 
resulted.  War  was  declared  by  Congress  May  11, 
1846,  vigorously  prosecuted,  and  Mexico  was 
defeated.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  concluded 
February  2,  1848,  New  Mexico  and  Upper  Califor- 
nia were  given  to  the  United  States, 


222  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

Webster,  who  had  been  returned  to  the  Senate 
by  Massachusetts,  opposed  the  war  as  he  had  the 
annexation  of  Texas.  At  this  time  a  double 
sorrow  came  to  him.  His  second  son,  Major 
Edward  Webster,  a  young  man  of  fine  abilities, 
courage,  and  high  sense  of  honor,  died  near  the 
city  of  Mexico,  from  disease  induced  by  exposure. 
His  body  arrived  in  Boston  May  4,  and,  only 
three  days  before,  Webster's  lovely  daughter, 
Julia,  who  had  married  Samuel  Appleton  of  Bos- 
ton, was  carried  to  her  grave  by  consumption. 
Her  death,  at  thirty,  was  beautiful  in  its  resignation 
and  faith,  even  though  she  left  five  little  children 
to  the  care  of  others.  Her  last  words  were,  "  Let 
me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh,"  which  words  were 
placed  upon  her  tombstone. 

Mr.  Webster  was  indeed  crushed  by  this  new 
sorrow.  He  wrote  to  his  friend  Mrs.  Ticknor,  "  I 
cannot  speak  of  the  lost  ones  ;  but  I  submit  to  the 
will  of  God.  I  feel  that  I  am  nothing,  less  even 
than  the  merest  dust  of  the  balance ;  and  that  the 
Creator  of  a  million  worlds,  and  the  judge  of  all 
flesh,  must  be  allowed  to  dispose  of  me  and 
mine  as  to  his  infinite  wisdom  shall  seem  best." 

In  1848,  when  Mr.  Webster  was  sixty-six,  the 
presidency  once  more  eluded  his  grasp  by  the 
nomination  of  another  "available"  man,  General 
Zachary  Taylor,  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  Mexican 
War.  Webster  had  spoken  earnestly  for  Harrison 
and  Clay ;  now  he  was  unwilling  longer  to  work 
for  the  party  which  had  ignored  him  and  nomi- 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  223 

nated  a  man  whom,  though  an  able  soldier,  he 
thought  unfitted  for  the  place  as  a  statesman.  If 
it  was  a  mistake  to  show  that  he  was  wounded  in 
spirit,  as  it  undoubtedly  was  for  so  great  a  man,  it 
was  nevertheless  human. 

The  thing  which  Mr.  Webster  had  feared  these 
many  years  was  now  coming  to  pass.  A  violent 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  in  the  Territories 
was  upon  the  nation.  For  thirty  years  slavery  had 
been  odious  to  the  North,  and  carefully  nurtured 
by  the  South.  In  1820,  when  Missouri  was  ad- 
mitted as  a  State,  the  North  insisted  that  a  clause 
prohibiting  slavery  should  be  inserted  as  a  condi- 
tion of  her  admission  to  the  Union.  Henry  Clay 
devised  the  compromise  by  which  slavery  was 
prohibited  in  all  the  new  territory  lying  north  of 
latitude  36°  30',  which  was  the  southern  boun- 
dary of  Missouri.  This  line  was  called  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line,  from  the  names  of  the  two  surveyors 
who  ran  the  boundary  line  between  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania. 

Year  by  year  the  hatred  of  slavery  had  intensi- 
fied at  the  North.  February  1,  1847,  David  Wil- 
inot  of  Pennsylvania  introduced  in  Congress  his 
famous  proviso,  by  which  slavery  was  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  all  territory  thereafter  acquired  or 
annexed  by  the  United  States.  And  now,  in  1849, 
the  conflict  on  the  slavery  question  was  more 
virulent  than  ever.  California,  having  framed 
a  constitution  prohibiting  slavery,  applied  for 
admission  to  the  Union.  New  Mexico  asked  for 


224  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

a  territorial  government  and  for  the  exclusion  of 
slavery. 

The  South  claimed  that  the  Missouri  Compro- 
mise, extending  to  the  Pacific  coast,  guaranteed  the 
right  to  introduce  slavery  into  California  and  New 
Mexico,  and  threatened  secession  from  the  Union. 
Again  Henry  Clay  settled  the  matter,  —  for  a  time 
only,  as  it  proved,  —  by  his  famous  Compromise  of 
1850,  by  which  California  was  admitted  as  a  free 
State,  the  Territories  taken  from  Mexico  left  to  de- 
cide the  slavery  question  as  they  chose,  the  slave- 
trade  abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  more 
effectual  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law 
demanded,  with  some  other  minor  provisions. 

The  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  wrhich  provided  for  the 
return  of  the  fugitives  without  trial  by  jury,  and 
expected  Christian  people  to  aid  the  slave-dealers 
in  capturing  their  slaves,  was  especially  obnoxious 
to  the  North.  Some  of  the  States  had  passed 
"  Personal  Liberty  Bills,"  punishing  as  kidnappers 
persons  who  sought  to  take  away  alleged  slaves. 

Mr.  Webster  saw  with  dismay  all  this  bitterness, 
and  knew  that  the  Union  which  he  loved  was  in 
danger.  He  hoped  to  avert  civil  war,  perhaps  to 
still  the  tumult  forever,  and  so  gave  his  great 
heart  and  brain  to  the  Clay  compromise.  On 
March  7,  1850,  he  delivered  in  Congress  his  famous 
speech  on  the  Compromise  bill.  The  Senate  cham- 
ber was  crowded  with  an  intensely  excited  au- 
dience. Mr.  Webster  discussed  the  whole  history 
of  slavery,  opposed  the  Wilrnot  Proviso,  because  he 


bANIEL    WEBSTER.  225 

thought  every  part  of  the  county  settled  as  to 
slavery,  either  by  law  or  nature,  —  he  could  not 
look  into  the  future  and  see  Kansas,  —  and  then 
condemned  the  course  of  the  North  in  its  resist- 
ance to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  which  he  held  to 
be  constitutional.  The  words  in  reference  to  re- 
storing fugitive  slaves  created  a  storm  of  indigna- 
tion at  the  North,  which  had  looked  upon  Webster 
as  a  great  anti-slavery  leader,  and  who  had  said  in 
the  oration  at  Plymouth,  "  I  hear  the  sound  of  the 
hammer,  I  see  the  smoke  of  the  furnaces  where 
manacles  and  fetters  are  still  forged  for  human 
limbs.  I  see  the  visages  of  those  who,  by  stealth 
and  at  midnight,  labor  in  this  work  of  hell,  foul 
and  dark,  as  may  become  the  artificers  of  such  in- 
struments of  misery  and  torture.  Let  that  spot  be 
purified,  or  let  it  cease  to  be  of  New  England. 
Let  it  be  purified,  or  let  it  be  set  aside  from  the 
Christian  world ;  let  it  be  put  out  of  the  circle  of 
human  sympathies  and  human  regards,  and  let  civ- 
ilized man  henceforth  have  no  communion  with  it." 
In  his  speech  to  Hayne  he  had  said,  "  I  regard 
domestic  slavery  as  one  of  the  greatest  evils,  both 
moral  and  political." 

Probably  Mr.  Webster  had  not  changed  his  mind 
at  all  in  regard  to  the  enormity  of  slavery,  but  he 
hoped  to  save  the  Union  from  war.  He  indeed 
helped  to  postpone  the  conflict,  but  if  the  presi- 
dency had  before  this  been  a  possibility  to  him,  it 
became  now  an  impossibility  forever,  and  his  own 
words  had  done  it. 


226  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

President  Taylor  died  July  9,  1850,  when  the 
discussion  of  the  Compromise  matter  was  at  its 
height,  and  Millard  Fillmore  became  President. 
He  at  once  made  Webster  Secretary  of  State.  Mr. 
Webster  bore  bravely  the  reproaches  of  the  North. 
He  said,  "  I  cared  for  nothing,  I  was  afraid  of  noth- 
ing, but  I  meant  to  do  my  duty.  Duty  performed 
makes  a  man  happy ;  duty  neglected  makes  a  man 
unhappy.  ...  If  the  fate  of  John  Rogers  had 
stared  me  in  the  face,  if  I  had  seen  the  stake,  if  I 
had  heard  the  fagots  already  crackling,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  Almighty  God  I  would,  have  gone  on  and 
discharged  the  duty  which  I  thought  my  country 
called  upon  me  to  perform." 

At  the  next  national  Whig  convention,  General 
Winfield  Scott  was  nominated  to  the  presidency. 
Multitudes  throughout  the  country  were  disap- 
pointed that  Webster  was  not  chosen.  Boston  gave 
him  a  magnificent  reception.  Marshfield  welcomed 
him  with  a  gathering  of  thousands  of  people  nine 
miles  from  his  home,  who  escorted  him  thither, 
scattering  garlands  along  the  way.  "  I  remember 
how,"  says  Charles  Lanman,  "  after  the  crowd  had 
disappeared,  he  entered  his  house  fatigued  beyond 
measure,  and  covered  with  dust,  and  threw  himself 
into  a  chair.  For  a  moment  his  head  fell  upoii  his 
breast,  as  if  completely  overcome,  and  he  then 
looked  up  like  one  seeking  something  he  could  not 
find.  It  was  the  portrait  of  his  darling  but  de- 
parted daughter,  Julia,  and  it  happened  to  be  in 
full  view.  He  gazed  upon  it  for  some  time  in  a 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  227 

kind  of  trance,  and  then  wept  like  one  whose  heart 
was  broken,  and  these  words  escaped  his  lips,  '  Oh, 
[  am  so  thankful  to  be  here.  If  I  could  only  have 
my  will,  never,  never  would  I  again  leave  this 
home ! ' " 

Here  he  was  happy.  Here  he  had  gathered  a 
large  library,  many  of  his  books  being  on  science, 
of  which  he  was  very  fond.  Of  geology  and  phys- 
ical geography  he  had  made  a  careful  study.  Hum- 
boldt's  "  Cosmos  "  was  an  especial  favorite. 

In  the  spring  of  1852,  Mr.  Webster  fell  from  his 
carriage,  and  from  this  fall  he  never  entirely  recov- 
ered. In  the  fall  he  made  his  will,  and  wrote  these 
words  for  his  monument,  "  Lord,  I  believe ;  help 
thou  mine  unbelief.  Philosophical  argument,  es- 
pecially that  drawn  from  the  vastness  of  the  uni- 
verse in  comparison  with  the  apparent  insignifi- 
cance of  this  globe,  has  sometimes  shaken  my  rea- 
son for  the  faith  that  is  in  me  ;  but  my  heart  has 
assured  and  reassured  me  that  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  must  be  a  Divine  Reality. 

"  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  cannot  be  a  merely 
human  production.  This  belief  enters  into  the  very 
depth  of  my  conscience.  The  whole  history  of  man 
proves  it." 

Mr.  Webster  had  repeatedly  given  his  testimony 
in  favor  of  the  Christian  religion.  "  Religion,"  he 
said,  "  is  a  necessary  and  indispensable  element  in 
any  great  human  character.  There  is  no  living 
without  it.  Religion  is  the  tie  that  connects  man 
with  his  Creator,  and  holds  him  to  his  throne.  If 


228  DANIEL    WEBSTEtt. 

that  tie  be  all  sundered,  all  broken,  he  floats  away, 
a  worthless  atom  in  the  universe ;  its  proper  at- 
tractions all  gone,  its  destiny  thwarted,  and  its 
whole  future  nothing  but  darkness,  desolation,  and 
death." 

Once,  at  a  dinner  party  of  gentlemen,  he  was 
asked  by  one  present,  "  What  is  the  most  important 
thought  that  ever  occupied  your  mind  ?  " 

The  reply  came  slowly  and  solemnly,  "  My  in- 
dividual responsibility  to  God !  " 

When  the  last  of  October  came,  Mr.  Webster 
was  nearing  the  end  of  life.  About  a  week  before 
he  died  he  asked  that  a  herd  of  his  best  oxen 
might  be  driven  in  front  of  his  windows,  that  he 
might  see  their  honest  faces  and  gentle  eyes.  A 
man  who  thus  loves  animals  must  have  a  tender 
heart. 

A  few  hours  before  Mr.  Webster  died,  he  said 
slowly,  "  My  general  wish  on  earth  has  been  to  do 
my  Maker's  will.  I  thank  him  now  for  all  the 
mercies  that  surround  me.  .  .  .  No  man,  who  is 
not  a  brute,  can  say  that  he  is  not  afraid  of  death. 
No  man  can  come  back  from  that  bourne  ;  no  man 
can  comprehend  the  will  or  the  works  of  God. 
That  there  is  a  God  all  must  acknowledge.  I  see 
him  in  all  these  wondrous  works  —  himself  how 
wondrous  ! 

/"  The  great  mystery  is  Jesus  Christ  —  the  Gos- 
peL  What  would  the  condition  of  any  of  us  be  if 
we  had  not  the  hope  of  immortality  ?  .  .  .  Thank 
God,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  brought  life  and 


DANIEL    WEBSTER.  229 

immortality  to  light,  rescued  it  —  brought  it  to 
liyht."J  He  then  began  to  repeat  the  Lord's 
prayer,  saying  earnestly,  "Hold  me  up,  I  do  not 
wish  to  pray  with  a  fainting  voice." 

He  longed  to  be  conscious  when  death  came.  At 
midnight  he  said,  "  I  still  live,"  his  last  coherent 
words.  A  little  after  three  he  ceased  to  breathe. 

He  was  buried  as  he  had  requested  to  be,  "with- 
out the  least  show  or  ostentation,"  on  October  29, 
1852.  The  coffin  was  placed  upon  the  lawn,  and 
more  than  ten  thousand  persons  gazed  upon  the 
face  of  the  great  statesman.  One  unknown  man, 
in  plain  attire,  said  as  he  looked  upon  him,  all  un- 
conscious that  anybody  might  hear  his  words, 
"  Daniel  Webster,  the  world  without  you  will  seem 
lonesome."  Six  of  his  neighbors  bore  him  to  his 
grave  and  laid  him  beside  Grace  and  his  children. 

When  the  Civil  War  came,  which  Mr.  Webster 
had  done  all  in  his  power  to  avert,  it  took  the  last 
child  out  of  his  family  :  Fletcher,  a  colonel  of  the 
Twelfth  Massachusetts  volunteers,  fell  in  the  bat- 
tle of  August  29,  1862,  near  Bull  Run. 


HENRY   CLAY. 


HENRY  CLAY,  the  "  mill-boy  of  the  Slashes," 
was  born  April  12,  1777,  in  Hanover 
County,  Virginia,  in  a  neighborhood  called  the 
"Slashes,"  from  its  low,  marshy  ground.  The 
seventh  in  a  family  of  eight  children,  says  Dr. 
Calvin  Colton,  in  his  "  Life  and  Times  of  Henry 
Clay,"  he  came  into  the  home  of  Rev.  John  Clay,  a 
true-hearted  Baptist  minister,  poor,  but  greatly 
esteemed  by  all  who  knew  him.  Mr.  Clay  used 
often  to  preach  out-of-doors  to  his  impecunious 
flock,  who,  beside  loving  him  for  his  spiritual 
nature,  admired  his  fine  voice  and  manly  pres- 
ence. 

When  Henry  was  four  years  old  the  father  died, 
leaving  the  wife  to  struggle  for  her  daily  bread, 
rich  only  in  the  affection  which  poverty  so  often 
intensifies  and  makes  heroic.  She  was  a  devoted 
mother,  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary  mind,  and 
extremely  patriotic,  a  quality  transmitted  to  her 
illustrious  son. 

Says  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  in  his  valuable  Life  of 

Clay,   "  There  is  a  tradition   in  the   family   that, 

when  the  dead  body  [of  the  father]  was  still  lying 

in   the   house,   Colonel    Tarleton,   commanding    a 

230 


^^7  f 


f*-      £r~l£^- 


HENRY  CLAY.  231 

cavalry  force  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  passed 
through  Hanover  County  on  a  raid,  and  left  a 
handful  of  gold  and  silver  on  Mrs.  Clay's  table  as 
a  compensation  for  some  property  taken  or  de- 
stroyed by  his  soldiers ;  but  that  the  spirited 
woman,  as  soon  as  Tarleton  was  gone,  swept  the 
money  into  her  apron  and  threw  it  into  the  fire- 
place. It  would  have  been  in  no  sense  improper, 
and  more  prudent,  had  she  kept  it,  notwithstanding 
her  patriotic  indignation." 

Anxious  that  her  children  be  educated,  Mrs. 
Clay  sent  them  to  the  log  school-house  in  the 
neighborhood,  to  learn  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic from  Peter  Deacon,  an  Englishman,  who 
seems  to  have  succeeded  well  in  teaching,  when 
sober.  The  log  house  was  a  small  structure,  with 
earth  floor,  no  windows,  and  an  entrance  which 
served  for  continuous  ventilation,  as  there  was  no 
door  to  keep  out  cold  or  heat.  Henry  had  nothing 
of  consequence  to  remember  of  this  school  save 
the  marks  of  a  whipping  received  from  Peter  Dea- 
con when  he  was  angry. 

As  soon  as  school  hours  were  over  each  day,  he 
had  to  work  to  help  support  the  family.  Now  the 
bare-footed  boy  might  be  seen  ploughing ;  now, 
mounted  on  a  pony  guided  by  a  rope  bridle,  with  a 
bag  of  meal  thrown  across  the  horse's  back,  he 
might  be  seen  going  from  his  home  to  Mrs.  Darri- 
cott's  mill,  on  the  Pamunky  River.  The  people 
nicknamed  him  "  The  mill-boy  of  the  Slashes,"  and, 
years  later,  when  the  same  bare-footed,  mother- 


232  HENRY  CLAY. 

loving  boy  was  nominated  for  the  presidency,  the 
term  became  one  of  endearment  and  pride  to  hun- 
dreds of  thousands,  who  knew  by  experience  what 
a  childhood  of  toil  and  hardship  meant.  He  be- 
came the  idol  of  the  poor  not  less  than  of  the  rich, 
because  he  could  sympathize  in  their  privations, 
and  sympathy  is  usually  born  of  suffering.  Per- 
chance we  ought  to  welcome  bitter  experiences, 
for  he  alone  has  power  who  has  great  sympathy. 

After  some  years  of  widowhood,  Mrs.  Clay 
married  Captain  Henry  Watkins  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and,  though  she  bore  him  seven  children, 
he  did  not  forget  to  be  a  father  to  the  children  of 
her  former  marriage.  When  Henry  was  fourteen, 
Captain  Watkins  placed  him  in  Richard  Denny's 
store  in  Richmond.  For  a  year  the  boy  sold  gro- 
ceries and  dry-goods  in  the  retail  store,  reading  in 
every  moment  of  leisure.  His  step-father  thought 
rightly  that  a  boy  who  was  so  eager  to  read  should 
have  better  advantages,  and  therefore  applied  to 
his  friend,  Colonel  Tinsley,  for  a  position  in  the 
office  of  the  Clerk  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery, 
the  clerk  being  the  brother  of  the  colonel. 

"  There  is  no  vacancy,"  said  the  clerk. 

"Never  mind,"  said  the  colonel,  "you  must  take 
him  ;  "  and  so  he  did. 

The  glad  mother  cut  and  made  for  Henry  an  ill- 
fitting  suit  of  gray  "figinny"  (Virginia)  cloth, 
cotton  and  silk  mixed,  and  starched  his  linen  to  a 
painful  stiffness.  When  he  appeared  in  the 
clejrk's  office  he  was  tall  and  awkward,  and  the 


HENRY  CLAY.  233 

occupants  at  the  desks  could  scarcely  restrain  their 
mirth  at  the  appearance  of  the  new-comer.  Henry 
was  put  to  the  task  of  copying.  The  clerks  wisely 
remained  quiet,  and  soon  found  that  the  boy  was 
proud,  ambitious,  quick,  willing  to  work,  and 
superior  to  themselves  in  common-sense  and  the 
use  of  language. 

Every  night  when  they  went  in  quest  of  amuse- 
ment young  Clay  went  home  to  read.  It  could  not 
have  been  mere  chance  which  attracted  to  the 
studious,  bright  boy  the  attention  of  George 
Wythe,  the  Chancellor  of  the  High  Court  of  Chan- 
cery. He  was  a  rioted  and  noble  man,  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  for  ten 
years  teacher  of  jurisprudence  at  William  and 
Mary's  College,  a  man  so  liberal  in  his  views  in 
the  days  of  slavery  that  he  emancipated  all  his 
slaves  and  made  provision  for  their  maintenance ; 
the  same  great  man  in  whose  office  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son gained  inspiration  in  his  youth. 

George  Wythe  selected  Clay  for  his  amanuensis 
in  writing  out  the  decisions  of  the  courts.  He 
soon  became  greatly  attached  to  the  boy  of  fifteen, 
directed  his  reading,  first  in  grammatical  studies, 
and  then  in  legal  and  historical  lines.  He  read 
Homer,  Plutarch's  Lives,  and  similar  great  works. 
The  conversation  of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Wythe  was 
to  Clay  what  that  of  Christopher  Gore  was  to 
Daniel  Webster,  or  that  of  Judge  Story  to  Charles 
Sumner.  Generally  men  who  have  become  great 
have  allied  themselves  to  great  men  or  great  prin- 


234  HENRY  CLAY. 

ciples  early  in  life.  When  Clay  had  been  four 
years  with  the  chancellor  he  naturally  decided  to 
become  a  lawyer.  Poverty  did  not  deter  him ; 
hard  work  did  not  deter  him.  Those  who  fear  to 
labor  must  not  take  a  step  on  the  road  to  fame. 

Clay  entered  the  office  of  Attorney-General 
Kobert  Brooke,  a  man  prominent  and  able.  Here 
he  studied  hard  for  a  year,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  having  gained  much  legal  knowledge  in 
the  previous  four  years.  During  this  year  he  min- 
gled with  the  best  society  of  Richmond,  his  own 
intellectual  ability,  courteous  manners,  and  good 
cheer  making  him  welcome,  not  less  than  the  well 
known  friendship  of  Chancellor  Wythe  for  him. 
Clay  organized  a  debating  society,  and  the  "mill- 
boy  of  the  Slashes  "  quite  astonished,  not  only  the 
members  but  the  public  as  well,  by  his  unusual 
powers  of  oratory. 

The  esteem  of  Kichmond  society  did  not  bring 
money  quickly  enough  to  the  enterprising  young 
man.  His  parents  had  removed  to  Kentucky,  and 
he  decided  to  go  there  also,  "  and  grow  up  with  the 
country."  He  was  now  twenty-one,  poor,  not  as 
thoroughly  educated  as  he  could  have  wished,  but 
determined  to  succeed,  and  when  one  has  this  de- 
termination the  battle  is  half  won.  That  he  re- 
gretted his  lack  of  early  opportunities,  a  speech 
made  on  the  floor  of  Congress  years  afterward 
plainly  showed.  In  reply  to  Hon.  John  Randolph 
he  said,  "  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  was  pleased 
to  say  that  in  one  point,  at  least,  he  coincided  with 


HENRY  CLAY.  235 

me  in  an  humble  estimate  of  my  grammatical  and 
philological  acquisitions.  I  know  my  deficiencies. 
I  was  born  to  no  proud  patrimonial  estate.  I  in- 
herited only  infancy,  ignorance,  and  indigence.  I 
feel  my  defects.  But,  so  far  as  my  situation  in 
early  life  is  concerned,  I  may,  without  presump- 
tion, say  it  was  more  my  misfortune  than  my  fault. 
But,  however  I  regret  my  want  of  ability  to  fur- 
nish the  gentleman  with  a  better  specimen  of 
powers  of  verbal  criticism,  I  will  venture  to  say 
it  is  not  greater  than  the  disappointment  of 
this  committee  as  to  the  strength  of  his  argu- 
ment." 

When  Clay  arrived  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  he 
found  not  the  polished  society  of  Richmond,  but  a 
genial,  warm-hearted,  high-spirited  race  of  men  and 
women,  who  cordially  welcomed  the  young  lawyer 
with  his  sympathetic  manner  and  distinguished  air, 
the  result  of  an  inborn  sense  of  leadership.  Soon 
after  he  began  to  practise  law,  he  joined  a  debating 
society,  and,  with  his  usual  good-sense,  did  not  take 
an  active  part  until  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
members. 

One  evening,  after  a  subject  had  been  long  de- 
bated, and  the  vote  was  to  be  taken,  Clay,  feeling 
that  the  matter  was  not  exhausted,  rose  to  speak. 
At  first  he  was  embarrassed,  and  began,  "  Gentle- 
men of  the  jury  !  "  The  audience  laughed.  Eoused 
to  self-control  by  this  mistake,  his  words  came  fast 
and  eloquent,  till  the  people  held  their  breath  in 
amazement.  From  that  day,  Lexington  knew  that 


236  HENRY  CLAY. 

a  young  man  of  brilliancy  and  power  had  come 
within  her  borders. 

Nearly  fifty  years  later,  he  said  in  the  same  city, 
when  he  retired  from  public  life,  "  In  looking  back 
upon  my  origin  and  progress  through  life,  I  have 
great  reason  to  be  thankful.  My  father  died  in  1781, 
leaving  me  an  infant  of  too  tender  years  to  retain 
any  recollection  of  his  smiles  or  endearments.  My 
surviving  parent  removed  to  this  State  in  1792, 
leaving  me,  a  boy  fifteen  years  of  age,  in  the 
office  of  the  High  Court  of  Chancery,  in  the  city  of 
Richmond,  without  guardian,  without  pecuniary 
means  of  support,  to  steer  my  course  as  I  might  or 
could.  A  neglected  education  was  improved  by  my 
own  irregular  exertions,  without  the  benefit  of  sys- 
tematic instruction.  I  studied  law  principally  in 
the  office  of  a  lamented  friend,  the  late  Governor 
Brooke,  then  attorney-general  of  Virginia,  and  also 
under  the  auspices  of  the  venerable  and  lamented 
Chancellor  Wythe,  for  whom  I  had  acted  as  aman- 
uensis. I  obtained  a  license  to  practise  the  profes- 
sion from  the  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  established  myself  in  Lexington  in  1797. 
without  patrons,  without  the  favor  or  countenance 
of  the  great  or  opulent,  without  the  means  of  pay- 
ing my  weekly  board,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  bar  un- 
commonly distinguished  by  eminent  members.  I 
remember  how  comfortable  I  thought  I  should  be 
if  I  could  make  one  hundred  pounds,  Virginia 
money,  per  year,  and  with  what  delight  I  received 
the  first  fifteen-shilling  fee.  My  hopes  were  more 


HENRY  CLAY.  237 

than  realized.  I  immediately  rushed  into  a  success- 
ful and  lucrative  practice." 

His  cases  at  first  were  largely  criminal.  His 
first  marked  case  was  that  of  a  woman  who,  in  a 
moment  of  passion,  shot  her  sister-in-law.  Clay 
could  not  bear  to  see  a  woman  hanged,  and  she 
heretofore  the  respected  wife  of  a  respected  man. 
He  pleaded  "  temporary  delirium,"  and  saved  her 
life. 

It  is  said  that  no  murderer  ever  suffered  the  ex- 
treme penalty  of  the  law  who  was  defended  by 
Henry  Clay.  He  saved  the  life  of  one  Willis,  ac- 
cused of  an  atrocious  murder.  Meeting  the  man 
later,  he  said,  "Ah!  Willis,  poor  fellow,  I  fear  I 
have  saved  too  many  like  you  who  ought  to  be 
hanged."  When  Clay  was  public  prosecutor,  he 
took  up  the  case  of  a  slave,  much  valued  for  his  in- 
telligence and  honor,  who,  in  the  absence  of  his 
owner,  had  been  unmercifully  treated  by  an  over- 
seer. In  self-defence  the  slave  killed  the  overseer 
with  an  axe.  Clay  argued  that  had  the  deed  been 
done  by  a  free  man  it  would  have  been  man- 
slaughter, but  by  a  slave,  who  should  have  sub- 
mitted, it  was  murder.  The  colored  man  was 
hanged,  meeting  death  heroically.  Clay  was  so 
overcome  by  the  painful  result  of  his  own  unfor- 
tunate reasoning  that  he  at  once  resigned  his  posi- 
tion, and  never  ceased  to  be  sorry  for  his  connection 
with  the  affair. 

Sometimes  the  ending  of  a  case  was  ludicrous  as 
well  as  pathetic.  Two  Germans,  father  and  son, 


238  HENRY  CLAY. 

were  indicted  for  murder  in  the  first  degree.  The 
mother  and  wife  were  present,  and,  of  course,  in- 
tensely interested.  When  Clay  obtained  the 
acquittal  of  the  accused,  the  old  lady  rushed 
through  the  crowd,  flung  her  arms  around  the 
neck  of  the  stylish  young  attorney,  and  clung  to 
him  so  persistently  that  it  was  difficult  for  him  to 
free  himself ! 

He  soon  began  to  engage  more  exclusively  in 
civil  suits,  especially  those  growing  out  of  the  land 
laws  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky,  and  quickly  acquired 
a  leading  position  at  the  bar.  He  had  already 
married,  at  twenty-two.  Lucretia  Hart,  eighteen 
years  old,  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hart, 
a  well  known  and  respected  citizen  of  Lexington. 
She  was  a  woman  of  practical  common-sense,  de- 
voted to  him,  and  a  tender  mother  to  their  eleven 
children,  six  daughters  and  five  sons. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  Clay  had  earned  sufficient  money 
he  bought  Ashland,  an  estate  of  six  hundred  acres, 
a  mile  and  a  half  south-east  from  Lexington  court- 
house. A  spacious  brick  mansion,  with  flower 
gardens  and  groves,  made  it  in  time  one  of  the 
most  attractive  places  in  the  South.  Here,  later, 
Clay  entertained  Lafayette,  Webster,  Monroe,  and 
other  famous  men  from  Europe  and  America. 

Mr.  Clay  began  his  political  life  when  but 
twenty-two.  Kentucky,  in  1799,  in  revising  her 
constitution,  considered  a  project  for  the  gradual 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  State.  Clay  was  an 
ardent  advocate  of  the  measure.  He  wrote  in 


HENRY  CLAY.  239 

favor  of  it  in  the  press,  and  spoke  earnestly  in  its 
behalf  in  public.  He,  however,  received  more 
censure  than  praise  for  the  position  he  took,  but 
his  conduct  was  in  keeping  with  his  declaration 
years  later  :  "  I  had  rather  be  right  than  be  Pres- 
ident." 

All  his  life  he  rejoiced  that  he  had  thus  early 
favored  the  abolition  of  slavery.  He  said,  thirty 
years  later,  "  Among  the  acts  of  my  life  which  I 
look  back  to  with  most  satisfaction  is  that  of  my 
having  cooperated  with  other  zealous  and  intelli- 
gent friends  to  procure  the  establishment  of  that 
system  in  this  State.  We  were  overpowered  by 
numbers,  but  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the 
majority  with  that  grace  which  the  minority  in  a 
republic  should  ever  yield  to  that  decision.  I 
have,  nevertheless,  never  ceased,  and  shall  never 
cease,  to  regret  a  decision  the  effects  of  which  have 
been  to  place  us  in  the  rear  of  our  neighbors,  who 
are  exempt  from  slavery,  in  the  state  of  agriculture, 
the  progress  of  manufactures,  the  advance  of  im- 
provements, and  the  general  progress  of  society." 

From  this  time  Clay  spoke  on  all  important 
political  questions.  Once,  when  he  and  George 
Nicholas  had  spoken  against  the  alien  and  sedition 
laws  of  the  Federalists,  so  pleased  were  the  Ken- 
tuckians  that  both  speakers  were  placed  in  a  car- 
riage and  drawn  through  the  streets,  the  people 
shouting  applause.  Thus  foolishly  are  persons  — 
usually  young  men  —  willing  to  be  considered 
horses  through  their  excitement ! 


240  UENRT  CLAY. 

When  Clay  was  twenty-six,  so  effective  had 
been  his  eloquence  that  he  was  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature.  Who  would  have  prophesied 
this  when  he  carried  meal  to  Mrs.  Darricott's  mill ! 
Reading  evenings,  when  other  boys  roamed  the 
streets,  had  been  an  important  element  in  this 
success ;  friendship  with  those  older  and  stronger 
than  himself  had  given  maturity  of  thought  and 
plan. 

When  he  was  thirty  he  was  chosen  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of 
another.  At  once,  despite  his  youth,  he  took  an 
active  part  in  debate,  was  placed  on  important 
committees,  and  advocated  "internal  improve- 
ments," as  he  did  all  the  rest  of  his  life,  desiring 
always  that  America  become  great  and  powerful. 
He  was  happy  in  this  first  experience  at  the 
national  capital.  He  wrote  home  to  his  wife's 
father:  "My  reception  in  this  place  has  been 
equal,  nay,  superior  to  my  expectations.  I  have 
experienced  the  civility  and  attention  of  all  I  was 
desirous  of  obtaining.  Those  who  are  disposed  to 
flatter  me  say  that  I  have  acquitted  myself  with 
great  credit  in  several  debates  in  the  Senate.  But, 
after  all  I  have  seen,  Kentucky  is  still  my  favorite 
country.  There  amidst  my  dear  family  I  shall 
find  happiness  in  a  degree  to  be  met  with  nowhere 
else." 

As  soon  as  Clay  was  home  again,  Kentucky  sent 
him  to  her  State  Legislature,  where  he  was  elected 
speaker.  Already  the  conflicts  between  England 


HENRY  CLAY.  241 

and  France  under  Napoleon  had  seriously  affected 
our  commerce  by  the  unjust  decrees  of  both 
nations.  Mr.  Clay  strongly  denounced  the  Orders 
in  Council  of  the  British,  and  praised  Jefferson  for 
the  embargo.  He  urged,  also,  partly  as  a  retalia- 
tory measure,  and  partly  as  a  measure  of  self-pro- 
tection, that  the  members  of  the  Legislature  wear 
only  such  clothes  as  were  made  by  our  own  manu- 
facturers. Humphrey  Marshall,  a  strong  Federalist, 
and  a  man  of  great  ability,  denounced  this  resolu- 
tion as  the  work  of  a  demagogue.  The  result  was 
a  duel,  in  which,  after  Clay  and  Marshall  were 
both  slightly  wounded,  the  seconds  prevented 
further  bloodshed.  Once  before  this  Clay  had 
accepted  a  challenge,  and  the  duel  was  prevented 
only  by  the  interference  of  friends.  Had  death 
resulted  at  either  time,  America  would  have  missed 
from  her  record  one  of  the  brightest  and  fairest 
names  in  her  history. 

When  Clay  was  thirty-three  he  was  again  sent 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  fill  an  unex- 
pired  term  of  two  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
Kentucky  was  too  proud  of  him  to  allow  his 
returning  to  private  life.  He  was  therefore  elected 
to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  took  his  seat 
November  4,  1811.  He  was  at  once  chosen 
speaker,  an  honor  conferred  for  seven  terms,  four- 
teen years. 

"  Henry  Clay  stands,"  says  Carl  Schurz,  "  in  the 
traditions  of  the  House  of  Representatives  as  the 
greatest  of  its  speakers.  His  perfect  mastery  of 


242  HENRY  CLAY. 

parliamentary  law,  his  quickness  of  decision  in 
applying  it,  his  unfailing  presence  of  mind  and 
power  of  command  in  moments  of  excitement  and 
confusion,  the  courteous  dignity  of  his  bearing,  are 
remembered  as  unequalled  by  any  one  of  those  who 
had  preceded  or  who  have  followed  him." 

Here  in  the  excitement  of  debate  he  was  happy. 
He  could  speak  at  will  against  the  British,  who  had 
seized  more  than  nine  hundred  American  ships,  and 
the  French  more  than  five  hundred  and  fifty. 
When  several  thousand  Americans  had  been  im- 
pressed as  British  seamen,  the  hot  blood  of  the 
Kentuckian  demanded  war.  He  said  in  Congress, 
"  We  are  called  upon  to  submit  to  debasement,  dis- 
honor, and  disgrace ;  to  bow  the  neck  to  royal  in- 
solence, as  a  course  of  preparation  for  manly  re- 
sistance to  Gallic  invasion !  What  nation,  what 
individual  was  ever  taught  in  the  schools  of  igno- 
minious submission  these  patriotic  lessons  of  free- 
dom and  independence  ?  .  .  .  An  honorable  peace 
is  attainable  only  by  an  efficient  war.  My  plan 
would  be  to  call  out  the  ample  resources  of  the 
country,  give  them  a  judicious  direction,  prosecute 
the  war  with  the  utmost  vigor,  strike  wherever  we 
can  reach  the  enemy,  at  sea  or  on  land,  and  nego- 
tiate the  terms  of  a  peace  at  Quebec  or  at  Halifax. 
We  are  told  that  England  is  a  proud  and  lofty  na- 
tion, which,  disdaining  to  wait  for  danger,  meets  it 
half  way.  Haughty  as  she  is,  we  once  triumphed 
over  her,  and,  if  we  do  not  listen  to  the  counsels  of 
timidity  and  despair,  we  shall  again  prevail.  In 


HENRY  CLAY.  243 

such  a  cause,  with  the  aid  of  Providence,  we  must 
come  out  crowned  with  success ;  but  if  we  fail, 
let  us  fail  like  men,  lash  ourselves  to  our  gal- 
lant tars,  and  expire  together  in  one  common 
struggle,  fighting  for  FREE  TRADE  AND  SEAMEN'S 

RIGHTS." 

The  War  of  1812  came,  even  though  New  Eng- 
land strongly  opposed  it.  The  country  was  poorly 
prepared  for  a  great  contest  by  land  or  by  sea,  but 
Clay's  enthusiasm  seemed  equal  to  a  dozen  armies. 
He  cheered  every  regiment  by  his  hope  and  his 
patriotism.  When  defeats  came  at  Detroit  and  in 
Canada,  Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts,  leader  of 
the  Federalists,  said,  "  Those  must  be  very  young 
politicians,  their  pin-feathers  not  yet  grown,  and, 
however  they  may  flutter-  on  this  floor,  they  are  not 
fledged  for  any  high  or  distant  flight,  who  think 
that  threats  and  appealing  to  fear  are  the  ways  of 
producing  any  disposition  to  negotiate  in  Great 
Britain,  or  in  any  other  nation  which  understands 
what  it  owes  to  its  own  safety  and  honor." 

Clay  answered  in  a  two-days  speech  that  was 
never  forgotten.  He  scourged  the  Federalists  with 
stinging  words :  "  Sir,  gentlemen  appear  to  me  to 
forget  that  they  stand  on  American  soil ;  that  they 
are  not  in  the  British  House  of  Commons,  but  in 
the  chamber  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  ;  that  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  affairs  of  Europe,  the  partition  of  territory  and 
sovereignty  there,  except  so  far  as  these  things  af- 
fect the  interests  of  our  own  country.  Gentlemen 


244  HENRY  CLAY. 

transform  themselves  into  the  Burkes,  Chathams, 
and  Pitts  of  another  country,  and  forgetting,  from 
honest  zeal,  the  interests  of  America,  engage  with 
European  sensibility  in  the  discussion  of  European 
interests.  ...  I  have  no  fears  of  French  or  Eng- 
lish subjugation.  If  we  are  united  we  are  too  pow- 
erful for  the  mightiest  nation  in  Europe,  or  all 
Europe  combined.  If  we  are  separated  and  torn 
asunder,  we  shall  become  an  easy  prey  to  the  weak- 
est of  them.  In  the  latter  dreadful  contingency, 
our  country  will  not  be  worth  preserving. 

"  The  war  was  declared  because  Great  Britain  ar- 
rogated to  herself  the  pretension  of  regulating  our 
foreign  trade,  under  the  delusive  name  of  retaliatory 
orders  in  council  —  a  pretension  by  which  she  un- 
dertook to  proclaim  to  American  enterprise,  '  Thus 
far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  further '  —  orders  which 
she  refused  to  revoke,  after  the  alleged  cause  of 
their  enactment  had  ceased ;  because  she  persisted 
in  the  practice  of  impressing  American  seamen ; 
because  she  had  instigated  the  Indians  to  commit 
hostilities  against  us ;  and  because  she  refused  in- 
demnity for  her  past  injuries  upon  our  commerce. 
I  throw  out  of  the  question  other  wrongs.  The 
war  in  fact  was  announced  on  our  part  to  meet  the 
war  which  she  was  waging  on  her  part." 

The  speech  electrified  the  country.  The  army 
was  increased,  the  nation  encouraged,  and  the  war 
carried  to  a  successful  issue.  Such  a  power  had 
Clay  become  that  Madison  talked  of  making  him 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  but  Gallatin  dis- 


HENRY   CLAY.  245 

suaded  him,  saying,  "What  shall  we  do  without 
Clay  in  Congress  ?  " 

When  the  war  was  nearing  its  end  —  before 
Jackson  had  fought  his  famous  battle  at  New  Or- 
leans —  and  a  treaty  of  peace  was  to  be  effected, 
the  President  appointed  five  commissioners  to  con- 
fer with  the  British  government :  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Clay,  Bayard,  Jonathan  Russell,  Minister 
to  Sweden,  and  Albert  Gallatin. 

They  reached  Ghent,  in  the  Netherlands,  July  6, 
1814,  a  company  of  earnest  men,  not  always  in  ac- 
cord, but  desirous  of  accomplishing  the  most  possi- 
ble for  America.  Adams  was  able,  courageous,  ir- 
ritable, and  sometimes  domineering;  Clay,  impet- 
uous, spirited,  genial,  making  friends  of  the  Brit- 
ish commissioners  as  they  played  at  whist  —  he 
never  allowed  cards  to  come  into  his  home  at  Ash- 
land ;  Gallatin,  discreet,  a  peace-maker,  and  digni- 
fied counsellor. 

For  five  months  the  commissioners  argued,  waited 
to  see  if  their  respective  countries  would  accede  to 
the  terms  proposed,  and  finally  settled  an  honora- 
ble peace.  Then  Clay,  Adams,  and  Gallatin  spent 
three  months  in  London  negotiating  a  treaty  of 
commerce.  Clay  had  meantime  heard  of  the  battle 
of  New  Orleans,  and  said,  "  Now  I  can  go  to  Eng- 
land without  mortification."  In  Paris  he  met  Ma- 
dame de  Stael.  "I  have  been  in  England,"  said 
she,  "  and  have  been  battling  for  your  cause  there. 
They  were  so  much  enraged  against  you  that  at 
one  time  they  thought  seriously  of  sending  the 


246  HENRY  CLAY. 

Duke  of  Wellington  to  lead  their  armies  against 
you." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  replied  Clay,  "  that  they  did 
not  send  the  duke." 

"  And  why  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Because  if  he  had  beaten  us,  we  should  have 
been  in  the  condition  of  Europe,  without  disgrace. 
But  if  we  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  defeat  him, 
we  should  have  greatly  added  to  the  renown  of  our 
arms." 

When  Clay  returned  to  America,  he  was  wel- 
comed in  New  York  and  Lexington  with  public 
dinners.  That  the  war  had  produced  good  results 
was  well  stated  in  his  Lexington  address.  "  Abroad, 
our  character,  which,  at  the  time  of  its  declaration, 
was  in  the  lowest  state  of  degradation,  is  raised  to 
the  highest  point  of  elevation.  It  is  impossible  for 
any  American  to  visit  Europe  without  being  sensi- 
ble of  this  agreeable  change  in  the  personal  atten- 
tions which  he  receives,  in  the  praises  which  are 
bestowed  on  our  past  exertions,  and  the  predic- 
tions which  are  made  as  to  our  future  prospects. 
At  home,  a  government,  which,  at  its  formation,  was 
apprehended  by  its  best  friends,  and  pronounced 
by  its  enemies  to  be  incapable  of  standing  the 
shock,  is  found  to  answer  all  the  purposes  of  its 
institution." 

Clay  was  now  famous ;  commanding  in  presence, 
with  a  winsome  rather  than  handsome  face,  exuber- 
ant in  spirits,  generous  by  nature,  polite  to  the 
poorest,  self-possessed,  with  a  voice  unsurpassed,  if 


HENRY   CLAY.  247 

ever  equalled,  for  its  musical  tone  ;  a  man  who 
made  friends  everywhere  and  among  all  classes, 
and  never  lost  them;  who  was  always  a  gentle- 
man, because  always  kind  at  heart.  Manner, 
which  Emerson  calls  the  "  finest  of  the  fine  arts," 
gave  Clay  the  "  mastery  of  palace  and  fortune " 
wherever  he  went.  That  voice  and  hand-grasp, 
that  remembrance  of  a  face  and  a  name,  won  him 
countless  admirers. 

President  Madison  offered  him  the  mission  to 
Eussia,  which  he  declined,  as  also  a  place  in  the 
Cabinet,  as  Secretary  of  War,  preferring  to  speak 
on  all  those  matters  which  helped  to  build  up 
America.  On  the  question  of  the  United  States 
Bank  he  made  a  strong  speech  against  its  constitu- 
tionality, which  Andrew  Jackson  said  later  was  his 
most  convincing  authority  when  he  destroyed  the 
bank.  Clay's  views  changed  in  after  years,  and 
made  him  at  bitter  enmity  with  Andrew  Jackson 
and  John  Tyler,  both  of  whom  vigorously  opposed 
a  bank,  with  its  vast  capital  and  consequent  power 
in  politics. 

Clay's  desire  for  the  rapid  development  of  Amer- 
ica led  him  to  become  a  "  protectionist,"  and  the 
leader  of  the  so-called  "American  system,"  as 
opposed  to  Free  Trade  or  the  Foreign  System. 
He  believed  that  only  as  we  encourage  our  own 
manufactures  can  we  become  a  powerful  nation, 
paying  high  wages,  shutting  out  the  products  of 
the  cheap  labor  of  Europe,  increasing  our  home 
market,  and  becoming  independent  of  the  foreign 


248  HENRY  CLAY. 

market.  Clay's  speeches  were  read  the  country 
over,  and  won  him  thousands  of  followers. 

Like  others  in  public  life,  he  now  and  then  gave 
offence  to  his  constituents.  He  had  voted  for  a 
bill  to  increase  the  pay  of  members  of  Congress 
from  six  dollars  a  day  to  a  salary  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  a  year.  To  the  farmers  of  Kentucky 
this  amount  seemed  far  too  great.  He  one  day  met 
an  old  hunter  who  had  always  voted  for  him,  but 
was  now  determined  to  vote  against  a  man  so 
extravagant  in  his  ideas ! 

"My  friend,"  said  Clay,  "have  you  a  good 
rifle  ?  " 

"Yes." 

"  Did  it  ever  flash  ?  " 

"Yes;  but  only  once." 

"What  did  you  do  with  the  rifle  when  it 
flashed  ?  —  throw  it  away  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  picked  the  flint,  tried  again,  and  brought 
down  the  game." 

"  Have  I  ever  flashed,  except  upon  the  compen- 
sation bill  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Well,  will  you  throw  me  away  ?  " 

"  No,  Mr.  Clay  ;  I  will  pick  the  flint  and  try  you 
again." 

Mr.  Clay  was  returned  to  Congress,  and  voted 
for  the  repeal  of  the  fifteen  hundred  dollar  salary. 

The  subject  which  was  to  surpass  all  other  sub- 
jects in  interest,  and  well-nigh  destroy  the  Union, 
was  coming  into  prominence  —  slavery.  Henry 


HENRY  CLAY.  249 

Clay,  from  a  boy,  when  George  Wythe,  the  Vir- 
ginia chancellor,  freed  his  slaves,  had  looked  upon 
human  bondage  as  a  curse.  He  used  to  say,  "  If  I 
could  be  instrumental  in  eradicating  this  deepest 
stain  from  the  character  of  our  country,  and  re- 
moving all  cause  of  reproach  on  account  of  it,  by 
foreign  nations  ;  if  I  could  only  be  instrumental  in 
ridding  of  this  foul  blot  that  revered  State  that 
gave  me  birth,  or  that  not  less  beloved  State  which 
kindly  adopted  me  as  her  son,  I  would  not  ex- 
change the  proud  satisfaction  which  I  should 
enjoy  for  the  honor  of  all  the  triumphs  ever 
decreed  to  the  most  successful  conqueror. 


"  When  we  consider  the  cruelty  of  the  origin  of 
negro  slavery,  its  nature,  the  character  of  the 
free  institutions  of  the  whites,  and  the  irre- 
sistible progress  of  public  opinion  throughout 
America,  as  well  as  in  Europe,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  anticipate  frequent  insurrections  among  the 
blacks  in  the  United  States ;  they  are  rational  beings 
like  ourselves,  capable  of  feeling,  of  reflection, 
and  of  judging  of  what  naturally  belongs  to  them 
as  a  portion  of  the  human  race.  By  the  very  con- 
dition of  the  relation  which  subsists  between  us, 
we  are  enemies  of  each  other.  They  know  well 
the  wrongs  which  their  ancestors  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  our  ancestors,  and  the  wrongs  which  they 
believe  they  continue  to  endure,  although  they 
may  be  unable  to  avenge  them.  They  are  kept  in 


250  HENRY  CLAY. 

subjection  only  by  the  superior  intelligence  and 
superior  power  of  the  predominant  race." 

At  the  North,  anti-slavery  sentiments  had  inten- 
sified ;  at  the  South,  where  slavery  was  at  first  re- 
garded as  an  evil,  the  consequent  ease  and  wealth 
from  slave  labor  had  changed  public  opinion,  and 
had  made  the  people  jealous  of  northern  discussion. 
Through  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin,  by  Eli 
Whitney,  the  value  of  cotton  exports  had  quadru- 
pled in  twenty  years,  and  the  value  of  slaves  had 
trebled.  Comparatively  good  feeling  was  main- 
tained by  the  two  sections  of  the  country  as  long 
as  for  every  slave  State  admitted  to  the  Union  a 
free  State  was  also  admitted. 

In  1818,  the  people  of  Missouri  desired  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union.  Mr.  Tallmadge  of  New 
York  proposed  that  the  further  introduction  of 
slavery  should  be  prohibited,  and  that  all  children 
born  within  the  said  State  should  be  free  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years.  The  discussion  grew  strong 
and  bitter.  Two  years  later  the  inhabitants  of  the 
State  proceeded  to  adopt  a  constitution  which  for- 
bade free  negroes  from  coming  into  the  territory  or 
settling  in  it.  The  discussion  grew  more  bitter 
still.  Threats  of  disunion  and  civil  war  were 
heard.  Jefferson  wrote  from  his  Monticello  home, 
"  The  Missouri  question  is  the  most  portentous  one 
that  ever  threatened  the  Union.  In  the  gloomiest 
moments  of  the  Revolutionary  War  I  never  had 
any  apprehension  equal  to  that  I  feel  from  this 
source." 


HENRY  CLAY.  251 

A  senator  from  Illinois,  Mr.  Thomas,  proposed 
that  no  restriction  as  to  slavery  be  imposed  upon 
Missouri,  but  that  in  all  the  rest  of  the  territory 
ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States,  north  of  36° 
30',  this  being  the  southern  boundary  of  Missouri, 
there  should  be  no  slavery.  Then  Mr.  Clay,  with 
his  intense  love  for  the  Union,  bent  all  his  energies 
to  effect  this  compromise  suggested  by  Thomas. 
He  spoke  earnestly  in  its  behalf,  and  went  from 
member  to  member,  persuading  and  beseeching 
with  all  his  genius  and  winsomeness.  When  Clay 
had  effected  the  passage  of  the  bill,  the  "great 
pacificator  "  became  more  beloved  than  ever.  He 
had  saved  the  Union,  and  now  was  talked  of  as  the 
successor  to  President  Monroe. 

Clay  was  now  forty-seven,  the  polished  orator, 
the  consummate  leader,  one  of  the  great  trio  whom 
all  visitors  to  Washington  wished  to  look  upon: 
Clay,  Webster,  and  Calhoun.  Kentucky  was  ear- 
nest in  her  support  of  Clay  as  President. 

When  the  time  came  for  voting,  six  candidates 
were  before  the  people :  John  Quincy  Adams, 
Jackson,  Clay,  Calhoun,  Clinton  of  New  York,  and 
Crawford  of  Georgia.  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton  of 
Missouri  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  Clay,  and 
travelled  over  several  States  speaking  in  his  be- 
half. 

Clay  was  anxious  for  the  position,  but  would  do 
nothing  unworthy  to  obtain  it.  He  wrote  to  a 
friend,  "  On  one  resolution,  my  friends  may  rest  as- 
sured, I  will  firmly  rely,  and  that  is,  to  participate 


252  HENRY  CLAY. 

in  no  intrigue,  to  enter  into  no  arrangements,  to 
make  no  promises  or  pledges  ;  but  that,  whether  I 
am  elected  or  not,  I  will  have  nothing  to  reproach 
myself  with.  If  elected,  I  will  go  into  the  office 
with  a  pure  conscience,  to  promote  with  my  utmost 
exertions  the  common  good  of  our  country,  and  free 
to  select  the  most  able  and  faithful  public  seTvants. 
If  not  elected,  acquiescing  most  cheerfully  in  the 
better  selection  which  will  thus  have  been  made,  I 
will  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  preserving  my 
honor  unsullied  and  my  heart  uncorrupted.'' 

After  the  vote  had  been  taken,  as  no  candidate 
received  a  clear  majority,  the  election  necessarily 
went  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Though 
Jackson  received  the  most  electoral  votes,  Clay, 
not  friendly  to  him,  used  his  influence  for  Adams 
and  helped  obtain  his  election.  Clay  was,  of 
course,  bitterly  censured  by  the  followers  of  Jack- 
son, and  when  Adams  made  him  Secretary  of 
State  the  cry  of  "  bargain  and  sale "  was  heard 
throughout  the  country.  Though  both  Adams  and 
Clay  denied  any  promise  between  them,  the  Jack- 
son men  believed,  or  professed  to  believe  it,  and 
helped  in  later  years  to  spoil  his  presidential  suc- 
cess. Adams  said,  "  As  to  my  motives  for  tender- 
ing him  the  Department  of  State  when  I  did,  let 
the  man  who  questions  them  come  forward.  Let 
him  look  around  among  the  statesmen  and  legisla- 
tors of  the  nation  and  of  that  day.  Let  him  then 
select  and  name  the  man  whom,  by  his  preeminent 
talents,  by  his  splendid  services,  by  his  ardent  pa- 


HENRY  CLAY.  253 

triotism,  by  his  all-embracing  public  spirit,  by  his 
fervid  eloquence  in  behalf  of  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  mankind,  by  his  long  experience  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Union,  foreign  and  domestic,  a  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  intent  only  upon  the 
honor  and  welfare  of  his  country,  ought  to  have 
preferred  to  Henry  Clay." 

Returning  to  Kentucky  before  taking  the  posi- 
tion of  Secretary  of  State,  his  journey  thither  was 
one  constant  ovation.  Public  dinners  were  given 
him  in  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio.  In  the 
midst  of  this  prosperity,  sorrow  laid  her  hand 
heavily  upon  the  great  man's  heart.  His  children 
were  his  idols.  They  obeyed  him  because  they 
loved  him  and  were  proud  of  him.  Lucretia, 
named  for  her  mother,  a  delicate  and  much  be- 
loved daughter,  died  at  fourteen.  Eliza,  a  most 
attractive  girl,  with  her  father's  magnetic  manners, 
died  on  their  journey  to  Washington.  A  few  days 
after  her  death,  another  daughter,  Susan  Hart,  then 
Mrs.  Durolde  of  New  Orleans,  died,  at  the  age  of 
twenty. 

There  was  work  to  be  done  for  the  country,  and 
Mr.  Clay  tried  to  put  away  his  sorrow  that  he 
might  do  his  duty.  As  Secretary  of  State  he 
helped  to  negotiate  treaties  with  Prussia,  Den- 
mark, Austria,  Russia,  and  other  nations.  The 
opposition  to  Adams  and  Clay  became  intense. 
The  Jackson  party  felt  itself  defrauded.  John 
Randolph  of  Virginia  was  an  outspoken  enemy, 
closing  a  scathing  speech  with  the  words,  "  by  the 


254  HENRY  CLAY. 

coalition  of  Blifil  and  Black  George  —  by  the 
combination,  unheard  of  till  then,  of  the  Puritan 
with  the  blackleg.7' 

Clay  was  indignant,  and  sent  Randolph  a  chal- 
lenge, which  he  accepted.  On  the  night  before  the 
duel,  Randolph  told  a  friend  that  he  had  deter- 
mined not  to  return  Clay's  fire.  "  Nothing,"  he 
said,  "  shall  induce  me  to  harm  a  hair  of  his  head. 
I  will  not  make  his  wife  a  widow  and  his  children 
orphans.  Their  tears  would  be  shed  over  his 
grave  ;  but  when  the  sod  of  Virginia  rests  on  my 
bosom,  there  is  not  in  this  wide  world  one  individ- 
ual to  pay  this  tribute  upon  mine." 

The  two  men  met  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
near  sunset.  Clay  fired  and  missed  his  adversary, 
while  Randolph  discharged  his  pistol  in  the  air. 
As  soon  as  Clay  perceived  this  he  came  forward 
and  exclaimed,  "  I  trust  in  God,  my  dear  sir,  that 
you  are  unhurt ;  after  what  has  occurred,  I  would 
not  have  harmed  you  for  a  thousand  worlds.' 
Years  afterward,'  a  short  time  before  Randolph's 
death,  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Philadelphia, 
he  stopped  in  Washington,  and  was  carried  into 
the  Senate  chamber  during  its  all-night  session. 
Clay  was  speaking.  "  Hold  me  up,"  he  said 
to  his  attendants ;  "  /  have  come  to  hear  that 
voice." 

At  the  presidential  election  of  1828  Andrew 
Jackson  was  the  successful  candidate,  and  Clay 
retired  to  his  Ashland  farm,  where  he  took  espe- 
cial delight  in  his  fine  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep. 


HENEY  CLAY.  255 

But  he  was  soon  returned  to  the  Senate  by  his 
devoted  State. 

The  tariff  question  was  now  absorbing  the  public 
mind.  The  South,  under  Calhoun's  leadership,  had 
been  opposed  to  protection,  which  they  believed 
aided  northern  manufacturers  at  the  expense  of 
southern  agriculturists.  When  the  tariff  bill  of 
1832  was  passed,  and  South  Carolina  talked  of 
nullification  and  secession,  Clay  said :  "  The  great 
principle  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  free 
government  is  that  the  majority  must  govern,  from 
which  there  can  be  no  appeal  but  the  sword.  That 
majority  ought  to  govern  wisely,  equitably,  moder- 
ately, and  constitutionally ;  but  govern  it  must, 
subject  only  to  that  terrible  appeal.  If  ever  one 
or  several  States,  being  a  minority,  can,  by  mena- 
cing a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  succeed  in  forcing 
an  abandonment  of  great  measures  deemed  essen- 
tial to  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  the  whole,  the 
Union  from  that  moment  is  practically  gone.  It 
may  linger  on  in  form  and  name,  but  its  vital 
spirit  has  fled  forever." 

South  Carolina  passed  her  nullification  ordi- 
nance, and  prepared  to  resist  the  collection  of 
revenues  at  Charleston.  Then  Jackson,  with  his 
undaunted  courage  and  indomitable  will,  ordered 
a  body  of  troops  to  South  Carolina,  and  threatened 
to  hang  Calhoun  and  his  milliners  as  "high  as 
Haman." 

Then  the  "  great  pacificator  "  came  forward  to 
heal  the  wounds  between  North  and  South,  and 


256  HENRY  CLAY. 

preserve  the  Union.  He  prepared  his  "Compro- 
mise Bill,"  which  provided  for  a  gradual  reduction 
of  duties  till  the  year  1842,  when  twenty  per  cent, 
at  a  home  valuation  should  become  the  rate  on 
dutiable  goods.  He  spent  much  time  and  thought 
on  this  bill,  visiting  the  great  manufacturers  of  the 
country,  and  urging  them  to  accede  for  the  sake  of 
peace. 

After  this  bill  passed  he  was  more  esteemed 
than  ever.  He  visited  by  request  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  States,  and  spoke  to  great  gatherings 
of  people  in  nearly  all  the  large  cities.  A  platform 
having  been  erected  on  the  heights  of  Bunker  Hill, 
Edward  Everett  addressed  him  in  the  presence  of 
an  immense  audience,  and  Clay  responded  with  his 
usual  eloquence.  The  young  men  of  Boston  pre- 
sented him  a  pair  of  silver  pitchers,  weighing  one 
hundred  and  fifty  ounces.  The  young  men  of 
Troy,  New  York,  gave  him  a  superbly  mounted 
rifle.  Other  cities  made  him  expensive  presents. 

After  the  first  four  years  of  Jackson's  "  reign," 
as  it  was  called  by  those  who  deprecated  the 
unusual  power  held  by  the  executive,  Clay  was 
again  nominated  for  the  presidency  by  the  Whigs, 
and  again  defeated,  Jackson  receiving  two  hundred 
and  nineteen  electoral  votes  and  Clay  only  forty- 
nine. 

Again  in  1840,  after  the  four  years'  term  of  Van 
Buren,  the  protege  of  Jackson,  all  eyes  turned 
toward  Clay  as  the  coming  President.  But  already 
he  had  been  twice  the  nominee  and  been  twice 


HENRY  CLAY.  257 

defeated.  The  anti-slavery  element  had  become 
a  serious  factor  in  party  plans.  The  secretary  of 
the  American  Anti-Slavery  Society  in  New  York 
wrote  Clay :  "  I  should  consider  the  election  of 
a  slave-holder  to  the  presidency  a  great  calamity  to 
the  country."  The  slave-holders  meantime  de- 
nounced Clay  as  an  abolitionist. 

When  the  Whig  national  convention  met,  De- 
cember 4,  1839,  they  chose,  not  Clay,  but  General 
William  Henry  Harrison,  a  good  man  and  a  suc- 
cessful soldier,  but  a  very  different  man  from  the 
popular  Clay.  The  statesman  was  sorely  disap- 
pointed. "  I  am,"  he  said,  "  the  most  unfortunate 
man  in  the  history  of  parties :  always  run  by  my 
friends  when  sure  to  be  defeated,  and  now  betrayed 
for  a  nomination  when  I  or  any  one  would  be  sure 
of  an  election." 

His  friends  throughout  the  country  were  grieved 
and  indignant.  But  Clay  supported  with  all  his 
power  the  true-hearted  old  soldier,  who,  when 
elected,  offered  him  the  first  place  in  the  Cabinet, 
which  was  declined.  Harrison  died  a  month  after 
his  inauguration,  and  John  Tyler  became  Presi- 
dent. Clay  and  Tyler  differed  constantly,  till 
Clay  determined  to  retire  from  the  Senate.  He 
said :  "  I  want  rest,  and  my  private  affairs  want 
attention.  Nevertheless,  I  would  make  any  per- 
sonal sacrifice  if,  by  remaining  here,  I  could  do  any 
good;  but  my  belief  is  I  can  effect  nothing,  and 
perhaps  my  absence  may  remove  an  obstacle  to 
something  being  done  by  others."  When  it  became 


258  HENRY  CLAY. 

known  that  Clay  would  make  a  farewell  address, 
the  Senate  chamber  was  crowded. 

He  spoke  of  his  long  career  of  public  service. 
and  the  memorable  scenes  they  had  witnessed  to- 
gether. His  feelings  nearly  overcame  him  as  he 
said  :  "  I  emigrated  from  Virginia  to  the  State  of 
Kentucky  now  nearly  forty-five  years  ago  ;  1  went 
as  an  orphan  boy  who  had  not  yet  attained  the 
age  of  majority,  who  had  never  recognized  a  father's 
smile  nor  felt  his  warm  caresses,  poor,  penniless, 
without  the  favor  of  the  great,  with  an  imperfect 
and  neglected  education,  hardly  sufficient  for  the 
ordinary  business  and  common  pursuits  of  life ; 
but  scarce  had  I  set  foot  upon  her  generous  soil 
when  I  was  embraced  with  parental  fondness,  ca- 
ressed as  though  I  had  been  a  favorite  child,  and 
patronized  with  liberal  and  unbounded  munifi- 
cence. From  that  period  the  highest  honors  of  the 
State  have  been  freely  bestowed  upon  me ;  and 
when,  in  the  darkest  hour  of  calumny  and  detrac- 
tion, I  seemed  to  be  assailed  by  all  the  rest  of  the 
world,  she  interposed  her  broad  and  impenetrable 
shield,  repelled  the  poisoned  shafts  that  were 
aimed  for  my  destruction,  and  vindicated  my  good 
name  from  every  malignant  and  unfounded  asper- 
sion. I  return  with  indescribable  pleasure  to 
linger  a  while  longer,  and  mingle  with  the  warm- 
hearted and  whole-souled  people  of  that  State  : 
and,  when  the  last  scene  shall  forever  close  upon 
me,  I  hope  that  my  earthly  remains  will  be  laid 
under  her  green  sod  with  those  of  her  gallant  and 
patriotic  sons." 


HENRY  CLAY.  259 

When  Clay  reached  Lexington  he  was  welcomed 
like  a  prince.  A  great  public  feast  was  given  in 
his  honor.  In  his  speech  to  the  people  he  said : 
"I  have  been  accused  of  ambition,  often  accused 
of  ambition.  If  to  have  served  my  country  during 
a  long  series  of  years  with  fervent  zeal  and  un- 
shaken fidelity,  in  seasons  of  peace  and  war,  at 
home  and  abroad,  in  the  legislative  halls  and  in  an 
executive  department ;  if  to  have  labored  most 
sedulously  to  avert  the  embarrassment  and  dis- 
tress which  now  overspread  this  Union,  and,  when 
they  came,  to  have  exerted  myself  anxiously,  at 
the  extra  session  and  at  this,  to  devise  healing 
remedies ;  if  to  have  desired  to  introduce  economy 
and  reform  in  the  general  administration,  curtail 
enormous  executive  power,  and  amply  provide,  at 
the  same  time,  for  the  wants  of  the  government 
and  the  wants  of  the  people,  by  a  tariff  which 
would  give  it  revenue  and  then  protection ;  if  to 
have  earnestly  sought  to  establish  the  bright  but 
too  rare  example  of  a  party  in  power  faithful  to 
its  promises  and  pledges  made  when  out  of  power, 
—  if  these  services,  exertions,  and  endeavors 
justify  the  accusation  of  ambition,  I  must  plead 
guilty  to  the  charge. 

"  I  have  wished  the  good  opinion  of  the  world ; 
but  I  defy  the  most  malignant  of  my  enemies  to 
show  that  I  have  attempted  to  gain  it  by  any  low 
or  grovelling  acts,  by  any  mean  or  unworthy  sacri- 
fices, by  the  violation  of  any  of  the  obligations  of 
honor,  or  by  a  breach  of  any  of  the  duties  which  I 
owed  to  my  country." 


260  HENRY  CLAY. 

In  1844,  at  the^Whig  convention  at  Baltimore, 
May  1,  Clay  was  unanimously  nominated  for  the 
presidency,  with  a  great  shout  that  shook  the 
building.  It  seemed  as  though  his  hour  of  tri- 
umph had  come  at  last.  James  K.  Polk  was  the 
Democratic  nominee.  Another  party  now  appeared, 
the  "Liberty  Party,"  with  James  G.  Birney  of 
Kentucky  as  its  candidate. .  He  was  an  able  law- 
yer, and  a  man  who  had  liberated  his  slaves 
through  principle.  The  contest  was  one  of  the 
most  acrimonious  in  our  national  history.  Texas 
was  clamoring  for  admission  to  the  Union,  with 
the  Mexican  War  sure  to  result.  The  Whigs 
feared  to  commit  themselves  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. When  the  votes  were  counted  Birney  had 
received  over  sixty-two  thousand,  enough  to  throw 
the  election  into  the  hands  of  the  Democrats.  The 
abolitionists  had  done  what  they  were  willing  to 
do,  —  bury  the  WThig  party,  that  from  its  grave 
might  arise  another  party,  which  should  fearlessly 
grapple  with  slavery,  and  they  accomplished  their 
desire,  when,  in  1860,  the  Kepublican  party  made 
Abraham  Lincoln  President. 

The  disappointment  to  Mr.  Clay  was  extreme, 
but  he  bore  it  bravely.  His  friends  all  over  the 
country  seemed  broken-hearted.  Letters  of  sor- 
row poured  into  Ashland.  "I  write,"  said  one, 
"  with  an  aching  heart,  and  ache  it  must.  God 
Almighty  save  us !  Although  our  hearts  are 
broken  and  bleeding,  and  our  bright  hopes  are 
crushed,  we  feel  proud  of  our  candidate.  God 


HENRY  CLAY.  261 

bless  you  !  Your  countrymen  do  bless  you.  All 
know  how  to  appreciate  the  man  who  has  stood  in 
the  first  rank  of  American  patriots.  Though  un- 
known to  you,  you  are  by  no  means  a  stranger  to 
me."  Another  wrote :  '•'  I  have  buried  a  revolu- 
tionary father,  who  poured  out  his  blood  for  his 
country;  I  have  followed  a  mother,  brothers,  sis- 
ters, and  children  to  the  grave  ;  and,  although  I 
hope  I  have  felt,  under  all  these  afflictions,  as  a 
son,  a  brother,  and  a  father  should  feel,  yet  noth- 
ing has  so  crushed  me  to  the  earth,  and  depressed 
my  spirits,  as  the  result  of  our  late  political  con- 
test." 

"  Permit  me,  a  stranger,  to  address  you.  From 
my  boyhood  I  have  loved  no  other  American  states- 
man so  much  except  Washington.  I  write  from 
the  overflowing  of  my  heart.  I  admire  and  love  you 
more  than  ever.  If  I  may  never  have  the  happi- 
ness of  seeing  you  on  earth,  may  I  meet  you  in 
heaven." 

A  lady  wrote,  "  I  had  indulged  the  most  joyous 
anticipations  in  view  of  that  political  campaign 
which  has  now  been  so  ingloriously  ended.  I  con- 
sidered that  the  nation  could  never  feel  satisfied  un- 
til it  had  cancelled,  in  some  degree,  the  onerous 
obligations  so  long  due  to  its  faithful  and  distin- 
guished son." 

Another  lady  wrote,  "  My  mind  is  a  perfect 
chaos  when  I  dwell  upon  the  events  which  have 
occurred  within  the  last  few  weeks.  My  heart  re- 
fused to  credit  the  sad  reality.  Had  I  the  elo- 


262  HENRY  CLAY. 

quence  of  all  living  tongues,  I  could  not  shadow 
forth  the  deep,  deep  sorrow  that  has  thrilled 
iny  inmost  soul.  The  bitterest  tears  have  flowed 
like  rain-drops  from  my  eyes.  Never,  till  now, 
could  I  believe  that  truth  and  justice  would  not 
prevail." 

A  lady  in  Maryland,  ninety-three  years  old, 
wrought  for  Clay  a  counterpane  of  almost  num- 
berless pieces.  New  York  friends  sent  a  silver 
vase  three  feet  high.  The  ladies  of  Tennessee  sent 
a  costly  vase.  Tokens  of  affection  came  from  all 
directions.  But  the  grief  was  so  great  that  in 
some  towns  business  was  almost  suspended,  while 
the  people  talked  "  of  the  late  blow  that  has  fallen 
upon  our  country." 

Other  troubles  were  pressing  upon  Mr.  Clay's 
heart.  By  heavy  expenditures  and  losses  through 
his  sons,  his  home  had  become  involved  to  the  ex- 
tent of  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  mortgage  was 
to  be  foreclosed,  and  Henry  Clay  would  be  penni- 
less. A  number  of  friends  had  learned  these  facts, 
and  sent  him  the  cancelled  obligation.  He  was 
overcome  by  this  proof  of  affection,  and  exclaimed, 
"Had  ever  any  man  such  friends  or  enemies  as 
Henry  Clay ! " 

Two  years  later,  his  favorite  son,  Colonel  Henry 
Clay,  was  killed  under  General  Taylor,  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Buena  Vista.  "My  life  has  been  full  of 
domestic  affliction,"  said  the  father,  "  but  this  last 
is  the  severest  among  them."  A  few  years  before, 
while  in  Washington,  a  brilliant  and  lovely  married 


HENEY  CLAY.  268 

daughter  had  died.  When  Mr.  Clay  opened  the 
letter  and  read  the  sad  news,  he  fainted,  and  re- 
mained in  his  room  for  days. 

Mr.  Clay  was  now  seventy  years  old.  Chastened 
by  sorrow,  he  determined  to  unite  with  the  Episco- 
pal Church.  Says  one  who  was  present  in  the 
little  parlor  at  Ashland,  "  When  the  minister  en- 
tered the  room  on  this  deeply  solemn  and  interest- 
ing occasion,  the  small  assembly,  consisting  of  the 
immediate  family,  a  few  family  connections,  and 
the  clergyman's  wife,  rose  up.  In  the  middle  of 
the  room  stood  a  large  centre-table,  on  which  was 
placed,  filled  with  water,  the  magnificent  cut-glass 
vase  presented  to  Mr.  Clay  by  some  gentlemen  of 
Pittsburg.  On  one  side  of  the  room  hung  the 
large  picture  of  the  family  of  Washington,  him- 
self an  Episcopalian  by  birth,  by  education,  and  a 
devout  communicant  of  the  church ;  and  immedi- 
ately opposite,  on  a  side-table,  stood  the  bust  of  the 
lamented  Harrison,  with  a  chaplet  of  withered 
flowers  hung  upon  his  head,  who  was  to  have  been 
confirmed  in  the  church  the  Sabbath  after  he  died, 
—  fit  witnesses  of  such  a  scene.  Around  the  room 
were  suspended  a  number  of  family  pictures,  and 
among  them  the  portrait  of  a  beloved  daughter, 
who  died  some  years  ago,  in  the  triumphs  of  that 
faith  which  her  noble  father  was  now  about  to  em- 
brace; and  the  picture  of  the  late  lost  son,  who 
fell  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista.  Could  these 
silent  lookers-on  at  the  scene  about  transpiring 
have  spoken  from  the  marble  and  the  canvas,  they 


264  HEX  BY  CLAY. 

would  heartily  have  approved  the  act  which  dedi- 
cated the  great  man  to  God." 

In  1848,  Clay  was  again  talked  of  for  the  presi- 
dency, but  the  party  managers  considered  General 
Taylor,  of  the  Mexican  War,  a  more  available  candi- 
date, and  he  was  nominated  and  elected.  Clay  was 
again  unanimously  chosen  to  the  Senate  for  six 
years  from  March  4,  1849.  Seven  years  before,  he 
had  said  farewell.  Now,  at  seventy-two,  he  was 
again  to  debate  great  questions,  and  once  more  save 
the  nation  from  disruption  and  civil  war,  —  for  a 
time  ;  he  hoped,  for  all  time. 

The  territory  obtained  from  Mexico  became  a 
matter  of  contention  as  to  whether  it  should  be 
slave  territory  or  not.  California  asked  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  without  slavery.  The  North 
favored  this,  while  the  South  insisted  that  the 
Missouri  Compromise  of  1820,  which  forbade  slav- 
ery north  of  36°  30',  if  continued  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  would  entitle  them  to  California.  Already 
the  Wilmot  Proviso,  which  sought  to  exclude  slavery 
from  all  territory  hereafter  acquired  by  the  United 
States,  had  aroused  bitter  feeling  at  the  South. 
Clay,  loving  the  Union  beyond  all  things  else, 
thought  out  his  compromise  of  1850.  As  he 
walked  up  to  the  Capitol  to  make  his  last  great 
speech  upon  the  measure,  he  said  to  a  friend  accom- 
panying him,  "  Will  you  lend  me  your  arm  ?  I 
feel  myself  quite  weak  and  exhausted  this  morn- 
ing." The  friend  suggested  that  he  postpone  his 
speech. 


HENRY  CLAY.  265 

"  I  consider  our  country  in  danger,"  replied 
Clay ;  "•  and  if  I  can  be  the  means  in  any  measure 
of  averting  that  danger,  rny  health  and  life  are  of 
little  consequence." 

Great  crowds  had  come  from  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Boston,  and  elsewhere  to  hear  the  speech, 
which  occupied  two  days.  He  said :  "  War  and 
dissolution  of  the  Union  are  identical ;  they  are 
convertible  terms ;  and  such  a  war  !  ...  If  the 
two  portions  of  the  confederacy  should  be  involved 
in  civil  war,  in  which  the  effort  on  the  one  side 
would  be  to  restrain  the  introduction  of  slavery 
into  the  new  territories,  and,  on  the  other  side,  to 
force  its  introduction  there,  what  a  spectacle  should 
we  present  to  the  contemplation  of  astonished 
mankind !  An  effort  to  propagate  wrong !  It 
would  be  a  war  in  which  we  should  have  no  sym- 
pathy, no  good  wishes,  and  in  which  all  mankind 
would  be  against  us,  and  in  which  our  own  history 
itself  would  be  against  us." 

For  six  months  the  measure  was  debated.  Clay 
came  daily  to  the  Senate  chamber,  so  ill  he  could 
scarcely  walk,  but  determined  to  save  the  Union. 
"  Sir,"  said  the  grand  old  man,  "  I  have  heard  some- 
thing said  about  allegiance  to  the  South.  I  know 
no  South,  no  iSTorth,  no  East,  no  West,  to  which  I 
owe  any  allegiance.  .  .  .  Let  us  go  to  the  fountain 
of  unadulterated  patriotism,  and,  performing  a 
solemn  lustration,  return  divested  of  all  selfish, 
sinister,  and  sordid  impurities,  and  think  alone  of 
our  God,  our  country,  our  conscience,  and  our 


266  HENRY  CLAY. 

glorious  Union.  ...  If  Kentucky  to-morrow  un- 
furls the  banner  of  resistance  unjustly,  I  never  will 
fight  under  that  banner.  I  owe  a  paramount  alle- 
giance to  the  whole  Union,  —  a  subordinate  one  to 
my  own  State.  When  my  State  is  right,  when  it 
has  a  cause  for  resistance,  when  tyranny  and 
wrong  and  oppression  insufferable  arise,  I  will 
then  share  her  fortunes ;  but  if  she  summons  me 
to  the  battlefield,  or  to  support  her  in  any  cause 
which  is  unjust  against  the  Union,  never,  never 
will  I  engage  with  her  in  such  a  cause ! " 

Finally  the  Compromise  Bill  of  1850  was  sub- 
stantially adopted.  Among  its  several  provisions 
were  the  admission  of  California  as  a  free  State, 
the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  in  the  District  of 
Columbia,  the  organization  of  the  Territories  of 
New  Mexico  and  Utah  without  conditions  as  to 
slavery,  and  increased  stringency  of  the  Fugutive 
Slave  Laws. 

Mr.  Clay's  hopes  as  to  peace  seemed  for  a  few 
brief  months  to  be  realized.  Then  the  North,  ex- 
asperated by  the  provisions  of  the  Fugutive  Slave 
Bill,  by  which  all  good  citizens  were  required  to 
aid  slave-holders  in  capturing  their  fugitive  slaves, 
began  to  resist  the  bill  by  force.  Clay  could  do  no 
more.  He  must  have  foreseen  the  bitter  end. 
Worn  and  tired,  he  went  to  Cuba  to  seek  restora- 
tion of  health. 

In  1852  he  was  urged  to  allow  his  name  to  be 
used  again  for  the  presidency.  It  was  too  late 
now.  He  returned  to  Washington  at  the  opening 


HENRY  CLAY.  267 

of  the  thirty-second  Congress,  but  he  entered  the 
Senate  chamber  but  once.  During  the  spring, 
devoted  friends  and  two  of  his  sons  watched  by  his 
bedside.  He  said :  "  As  the  world  recedes  from 
me,  I  feel  my  affections  more  than  ever  concen- 
trated on  my  children  and  theirs." 

The  end  came  peacefully,  June  29, 1852,  when  he 
was  seventy-six.  On  July  1  the  body  lay  in  state 
in  the  Senate  chamber,  and  was  then  carried  to 
Lexington.  In  all  the  principal  cities  through 
which  the  cortege  passed,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  Albany,  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Cincinnati, 
and  others,  thousands  gathered  to  pay  their  hom- 
age to  the  illustrious  dead,  weeping,  and  often 
pressing  their  lips  upon  the  shroud.  On  July  10, 
when  the  body,  having  reached  Lexington,  was 
ready  for  burial,  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  per- 
sons were  gathered.  In  front  of  the  Ashland 
home,  on  a  bier  covered  with  flowers,  stood  the 
iron  coffin.  Senators  and  scholars,  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  the  white  and  the  black,  mourned  to- 
gether in  their  common  sorrow.  The  great  man 
had  missed  the  presidency,  but  he  had  not  missed 
the  love  of  a  whole  nation.  The  "  mill-boy  of  the 
Slashes,"  winsome,  sincere,  had,  unaided,  become 
the  only  and  immortal  Henry  Clay. 


CHARLES   SUMNER. 


TTENRY  WARD  BEECHER  said  of  Charles 
J — L  Sumner  :  "  He  was  raised  up  to  do  the  work 
preceding  and  following  the  war.  His  eulogy  will 
be,  a  lover  of  his  country,  an  advocate  of  universal 
liberty,  and  the  most  eloquent  and  high-minded  of 
all  the  statesmen  of  that  period  in  which  America 
made  the  transition  from  slavery  to  liberty." 

"The  most  eloquent  and  high-minded."  Great 
praise,  but  worthily  bestowed  ! 

Descended  from  an  honorable  English  family 
who  came  to  Massachusetts  in  1637,  settling  in 
Dorchester,  and  the  son  of  a  well  known  lawyer, 
Charles  Sumner  came  into  the  world  January  6, 
1811,  with  all  the  advantages  of  birth  and  social 
position.  That  he  cared  comparatively  little  for 
the  family  eoat-of-arms  of  his  ancestors  is  shown 
by  his  words  in  his  address  on  "  The  True  Grand- 
eur of  Nations."  "  Nothing  is  more  shameful  for 
a  man  than  to  found  his  title  to  esteem  not  on  his 
own  merits,  but  on  the  fame  of  his  ancestors.  The 
glory  of  the  fathers  is,  doubtless,  to  their  children, 
a  most  precious  treasure ;  but  to  enjoy  it  without 
268 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  269 

transmitting  it  to  the  next  generation,  and  with- 
out adding  to  it  yourselves,  —  this  is  the  height  of 
imbecility." 

Sumner  added  to  the  "glory  of  the  fathers." 
not  by  ease  and  self-indulgence,  not  by  conforming 
to  the  opinions  of  the  society  about  him,  but  by  a 
life  of  labor,  and  heroic  devotion  to  principle.  He 
had  such  courage  to  do  the  right  as  is  not  common 
to  mankind,  and  such  persistency  as  teaches  a  les- 
son to  the  young  men  of  America. 

Charles  was  the  oldest  of  nine  children,  the 
twin  brother  of  Matilda,  who  grew  to  a  beautiful 
womanhood,  and  died  of  consumption  at  twenty- 
one.  The  family  home  was  at  No.  20  Hancock 
Street,  Boston,  a  four-story  brick  building. 

Charles  Pinckney  Sumner,  the  father,  a  schol- 
arly and  well  bred  man  of  courtly  manners,  while 
he  taught  his  children  to  love  books,  had  the  se- 
verity of  nature  which  forbade  a  tender  compan- 
ionship between  him  and  his  oldest  son.  This  was 
supplied,  however,  by  the  mother,  a  woman  of 
unusual  amiability  and  good-sense,  who  lived  to 
be  his  consolation  in  the  struggles  of  manhood, 
and  to  be  proud  and  thankful  when  the  whole 
land  echoed  his  praises. 

The  boy  was  tall,  slight,  obedient,  and  devoted 
to  books.  He  was  especially  fond  'of  reading  and 
repeating  speeches.  When  sent  to  dancing-school 
he  showed  little  enjoyment  in  it,  preferring  to  go 
to  the  court-room  with  his  father,  to  listen  to  the 
arguments  of  the  lawyers.  When  he  visited  his 


270  CHARLES   SUMNER. 

mother's  early  home  in  Hanover,  he  had  the  ex- 
treme pleasure  of  reciting  in  the  country  woods 
the  orations  which  he  had  read  in  the  city. 

In  these  early  days  he  was  an  aspiring  lad,  with 
a  manner  which  made  his  companions  say  he  was 
"  to  the  manor  born."  The  father  had  decided  to 
educate  him  in  the  English  branches  only,  thus 
fitting  him  to  earn  his  living  earlier,  as  his  income 
from  the  law,  at  this  time,  was  not  large.  Charles, 
however,  had  purchased  some  Latin  books  with  his 
pocket  money,  and  surprised  his  father  with  the 
progress  he  had  made  by  himself  when  ten  years 
old.  He  was  therefore,  at  this  age,  sent  to  the 
Boston  Latin  School.  So  skilful  was  he  in  the 
classics  that  at  thirteen  he  received  a  prize  for  a 
translation  from  Sallust,  and  at  fifteen  a  prize  for 
English  prose  and  another  for  a  Latin  poem.  At 
the  latter  age  he  was  ready  to  enter  Harvard  Col- 
lege. He  had  desired  to  go  to  West  Point,  but, 
fortunately,  there  was  no  opening.  The  country 
needed  him  for  other  work  than  war.  To  lead  a 
whole  nation  by  voice  and  pen  up  to  heroic  deeds 
is  better  than  to  lead  an  army. 

All  this  time  he  read  eagerly  in  his  spare  mo- 
ments, especially  in  history,  enjoying  Gibbon's 
"  Rome,"  and  making  full  extracts  from  it  in  his 
notebooks.  At  fourteen  he  had  written  a  com- 
pendium of  English  history,  from  Caesar's  conquest 
to  1801,  which  filled  a  manuscript  book  of  eighty- 
six  pages. 

His  first  college  room  at  Harvard  was  No.  17 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  271 

Stoughton  Hall.  "When  he  entered,"  says  one  of 
his  class-mates,  "  he  was  tall,  thin,  and  somewhat 
awkward.  He  had  but  little  inclination  for  en- 
gaging in  sports  or  games,  such  as  kicking  foot-ball 
on  the  Delta,  which  the  other  students  were  in 
almost  the  daily  habit  of  enjoying.  He  rarely 
went  out  to  take  a  walk ;  and  almost  the  only 
exercise  in  which  he  engaged  was  going  on  foot  to 
Boston  on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  then  returning 
in  the  evening.  He  had  a  remarkable  fondness 
for  reading  the  dramas  of  Shakespeare,  the  works 
of  Walter  Scott,  together  with  reviews  and  maga- 
zines of  the  higher  class.  He  remembered  what 
he  read,  and  quoted  passages  afterwards  with  the 
greatest  fluency.  ...  In  declamation  he  held  rank 
among  the  best;  but  in  mathematics  there  were 
several  superior.  He  was  always  amiable  and  gen- 
tlemanly in  deportment,  and  avoided  saying  any- 
thing to  wound  the  feelings  of  his  class-mates." 
One  of  the  chief  distinguishing  marks  of  a  well 
bred  man  is  that  he  speaks  ill  of  no  one  and 
harshly  to  no  one. 

In  Sumner's  freshman  year  his  persistency 
showed  itself,  as  in  his  childhood,  when,  in  quar- 
relling with  a  companion  over  a  stick,  he  held  it 
till  his  bleeding  hands  frightened  his  antagonist, 
who  ran  away.  By  the  laws  of  the  college,  stu- 
dents wore  a  uniform,  consisting  of  an  Oxford 
cap,  coat,  pantaloons,  and  vest  of  the  color  known 
as  "  Oxford  mixed."  In  summer  a  white  vest  was 
allowed.  Sumner,  having  a  fancy  for  a  buff  vest. 


272  CHARLES  SUMNEB. 

purchased  one,  wore  it,  and  was  summoned  before 
the  teachers  for  non-conformity  to  rules.  He 
insisted,  with  much  eloquence,  that  his  vest  was 
white.  Twice  he  was  admonished,  and  finally,  as 
the  easiest  way  to  settle  with  the  good-principled 
but  persistent  student,  it  was  voted  by  the  board, 
"that  in  future  Sumner's  vest  be  regarded  as 
white  ! " 

In  scholarship  in  college  he  ranked  among  the 
first  third.  He  gave  much  time  to  general  read- 
ing, especially  the  old  English  authors,  Milton, 
Pope,  Dryden,  Addison,  Goldsmith.  Hazlitt's 
"  Select  British  Poets  "  and  Harvey's  "  Shakes- 
peare "  he  kept  constantly  on  his  table  in  later 
life,  ready  for  use.  The  latter,  which  he  always 
called  THE  BOOK,  was  found  open  on  the  day  of 
his  death,  with  the  words  marked  in  Henry  VI :  — 

"Would  I  were  dead!  if  God's  good  will  were  so  ; 
For  what  is  in  this  world  but  grief  and  woe  ?" 

On  leaving  college,  Sumner's  mind  was  not  made 
up  as  to  his  future  work.  He  was  somewhat 
inclined  to  the  law,  but  questioned  his  probable 
success  in  it.  He  spent  a  year  at  home  in  study, 
mastering  mathematics,  which  he  so  disliked,  and 
reading  Tacitus,  Juvenal,  Persius,  Hume,  Hallam, 
and  the  like.  In  the  winter  he  composed  an  essay 
on  commerce,  and  received  the  prize  offered  by  the 
"  Boston  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful 
Knowledge."  Daniel  Webster,  the  president  of 
the  society,  gave  the  prize,  Liebner's  "  Encyclo- 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  273 

paedia  Americana,"  to  Sunnier,  taking  his  hand  and 
calling  him  his  "young  friend."  He  did  not  know 
that  this  youth  would  succeed  him  in  the  Senate, 
and  thrill  the  nation  by  his  eloquence,  as  Webster 
himself  had  done. 

Simmer's  class-mates  were  proud  that  he  had 
gained  this  prize,  and  one  wrote  to  another,  "  Our 
friend  outstrips  all  imagination.  He  will  leave  us 
all  behind  him.  ...  He  has  been  working  hard  to 
lay  a  foundation  for  the  future.  I  doubt  whether 
one  of  his  class-mates  has  filled  up  the  time  since 
commencement  with  more,  and  more  thorough 
labor ;  and  to  keep  him  constant  he  has  a  pervad- 
ing ambition,  —  not  an  intermittent,  fitful  gust  of 
an  affair,  blowing  a  hurricane  at  one  time,  then 
subsiding  to  a  calm,  but  a  strong,  steady  breeze, 
which  will  bear  him  well  on  in  the  track  of  honor." 

In  the  fall  of  1831  Sumner  had  decided  to  study 
law,  and  began  in  earnest  at  the  Harvard  Law 
School.  Early  and  late  he  was  among  his  books, 
often  until  two  in  the  morning.  He  soon  knew 
the  place  of  each  volume  in  the  law  library,  so 
that  he  could  have  found  it  in  the  dark.  He  read 
carefully  in  common  law,  French  law,  and  inter- 
national law  ;  procured  a  common-place  book,  and 
wrote  out  tables  of  English  kings  and  lord-chancel- 
lors, sketches  of  lawyers,  and  definitions  and  inci- 
dents from  Blackstone.  He  made  a  catalogue  of 
the  law  library,  and  wrote  articles  for  legal  maga- 
zines. He  went  little  into  society,  because  he  pre- 
ferred his  books.  Judge  Story,  a  man  twice  his 


274  CHARLES  8UMNEH. 

own  age,  became  his  most  devoted  friend,  and  to 
the  end  of  his  life  Sumner  loved  him  as  a  brother. 

Chief  Justice  Story,  whom  Lord  Brougham 
called  the  "  greatest  justice  in  the  world,"  was  a 
man  of  singularly  sweet  nature,  appreciative  of  the 
beautiful  and  the  pure,  as  well  as  a  man  of  pro- 
found learning.  The  influence  of  such  a  lovable 
and  strong  nature  over  an  ambitious  youth,  who  can 
estimate  ? 

The  few  friends  Sumner  made  among  women 
were,  as  a  rule,  older  than  himself,  a  thing  not 
unusual  with  intellectual  men.  He  chose  those 
whose  minds  were  much  like  his  own,  and  who 
were  appreciative,  refining,  and  stimulating.  Brain 
and  heart  seemed  to  be  the  only  charms  which 
possessed  any  fascination  for  him. 

The  eminent  sculptor,  W.  W.  Story  of  Rome, 
says,  "  Of  all  men  I  ever  knew  at  his  age,  he  was 
the  least  susceptible  to  the  charms  of  women. 
Men  he  liked  best,  and  with  them  he  preferred  to 
talk.  It  was  in  vain  for  the  loveliest  and  liveliest 
girl  to  seek  to  absorb  his  attention.  He  would  at 
once  desert  the  most  blooming  beauty  to  talk  to 
the  plainest  of  men.  This  was  a  constant  source 
of  amusement  to  us,  and  we  used  to  lay  wagers 
with  the  pretty  girls  that  with  all  their  art  they 
could  not  keep  him  at  their  side  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  Nor  do  I  think  we  ever  lost  one  of  these 
bets.  I  remember  particularly  one  dinner  at  my 
father's  house,  when  it  fell  to  his  lot  to  take  out 
a  charming  woman,  so  handsome  and  full  of 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  275 

that  any  one  at  the  table  might  well  have  envied 
him  his  position.  She  had  determined  to  hold  him 
captive,  and  win  her  bet  against  us.  But  her  efforts 
were  all  in  vain.  Unfortunately,  on  his  other 
side  was  a  dry  old  savant,  packed  with  informa- 
tion ;  and  within  five  minutes  Sunnier  had  com- 
pletely turned  his  back  on  his  fair  companion  and 
engaged  in  a  discussion  with  the  other,  which 
lasted  the  whole  dinner.  We  all  laughed.  She 
cast  up  her  eyes  deprecatingly,  acknowledged  her- 
self vanquished,  and  paid  her  bet.  Meantime, 
Sumner  was  wholly  unconscious  of  the  jest  or  of 
the  laughter.  He  had  what  he  wanted  —  sensible 
men's  talk.  He  had  mined  the  savant  as  he 
mined  every  one  he  met,  in  search  of  ore,  and  was 
thoroughly  pleased  with  what  he  got." 

In  manner  Sumner  was  natural  and  sincere, 
friendly  to  all,  winning  at  the  first  moment  by  his 
radiant  smile.  A  sunny  face  is  a  constant  benedic- 
tion. How  it  blesses  and  lifts  burdens  from  ach- 
ing hearts !  Sumner  had  heart-aches  like  all  the 
rest  of  mankind,  but  his  face  beamed  with  that 
open,  kindly  expression  which  is  as  sweet  to  hun- 
gering humanity  as  the  sunshine  after  rain.  And 
this  "genial  illuminating  smile,"  says  Mr.  Story, 
"  he  never  lost." 

These  days  in  the  law  school  were  happy-  days 
for  the  lover  of  learning.  Forty  years  afterward. 
Mr.  Sumner  said,  in  an  address  to  the  colored  law 
students  of  Howard  University,  Washington, 
"  These  exercises  carry  me  back  to  early  life.  .  .  . 


276  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

I  cannot  think  of  those  days  without  fondness. 
They  were  the  happiest  of  my  life.  .  .  .  There  is 
happiness  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  which 
surpasses  all  common  joys.  The  student  who  feels 
that  he  is  making  daily  progress,  constantly  learn- 
ing something  new,  —  who  sees  the  shadows  by 
which  he  was  originally  surrounded  gradually  ex- 
changed for  an  atmosphere  of  light,  —  cannot  fail 
to  be  happy.  His  toil  becomes  a  delight,  and  all 
that  he  learns  is  a  treasure,  —  with  this  difference 
from  gold  and  silver,  that  it  cannot  be  lost.  It  is 
a  perpetual  capital  at  compound  interest." 

While  at  the  law  school,  Sumner  wrote  a  friend, 
"  A  lawyer  must  know  everything.  He  must  know 
law,  history,  philosophy,  human  nature ;  and,  if  he 
covets  the  fame  of  an  advocate,  he  must  drink  of 
all  the  springs  of  literature,  giving  ease  and  ele- 
gance to  the  mind,  and  illustration  to  whatever  sub- 
ject it  touches.  So  experience  declares,  and  re- 
flection bears  experience  out.  .  .  .  The  lower  floor 
of  Divinity  Hall,  where  I  reside,  is  occupied  by 
law  students.  There  are  here  Browne  and  Dana  of 
our  old  class,  with  others  that  I  know  nothing  of, 
—  not  even  my  neighbor,  parted  from  me  by  a 
partition  wall,  have  I  seen  yet,  and  I  do  not  wish 
to  see  him.  I  wish  no  acquaintances,  for  they  eat 
up  time  like  locusts.  The  old  class-mates  are 
enough."  To  another  he  wrote,  "Determine  that 
you  will  master  the  whole  compass  of  law  ;  and  do 
not  shrink  from  the  crabbed  page  of  black-letter, 
the  multitudinous  volumes  of  reports,  or  even  the 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  277 

gigantic  abridgments.  Keep  the  high  standard  in 
your  mind's  eye,  and  you  will  certainly  reach  some 
desirable  point.  .  .  .  You  cannot  read  history  too 
much,  particularly  that  of  England  and  the  United 
States.  History  is  the  record  of  luiman  conduct 
and  experience  ;  and  it  is  to  this  that  jurisprudence 
is  applied.  .  .  .  Above  all  love  and  honor  your  pro- 
fession. You  can  make  yourself  love  the  law, 
proverbially  dry  as  it  is,  or  any  other  study.  Here 
is  an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  will.  De- 
termine that  you  will  love  it,  and  devote  yourself 
to  it  as  to  a  bride." 

When  the  study  at  the  law  school  was  over, 
Sumner  returned  to  Boston,  and  entered  the  office 
of  Benjamin  Rand,  Court  Street,  a  man  distin- 
guished for  learning  rather  than  for  oratory.  The 
young  lawyer  succeeded  fairly  well,  though  he 
loved  study  better  than  general  practice.  Two 
years  later  he  gave  instruction  at  the  law  school 
when  Judge  Story  was  absent,  and  then  reported 
his  opinions  in  the  Circuit  Court,  in  three  volumes. 
He  assisted  Professor  Greenleaf  in  preparing  "  Re- 
ports of  the  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Maine,"  revised,  with  much  labor,  Dunlap's  "Ad- 
miralty Practice,"  and  edited  "  The  American 
Jurist." 

In  the  midst  of  this  hard  work  he  spent  a  brief 
vacation  at  Washington,  writing  to  his  father,  "  I 
shall  probably  hear  Calhoun,  and  he  will  be  the 
last  man  I  shall  ever  hear  speak  in  Washington.  I 
probably  shall  never  come  here  again.  I  have  lit- 


278  CHARLES 

tie  or  no  desire  ever  to  come  again  in  any  capacity. 
Nothing  that  I  have  seen  of  politics  has  made  me 
look  upon  them  with  any  feeling  other  than  loath- 
ing. The  more  I  see  of  them  the  more  I  love  law, 
which,  I  feel,  will  give  me  an  honorable  livelihood." 

When  he  visited  Niagara,  he  wrote  home,  "I 
have  sat  for  an  hour  contemplating  this  delightful 
object,  with  the  cataract  sounding  like  the  voice  of 
God  in  my  ears.  But  there  is  something  oppres- 
sive in  hearing  and  contemplating  these  things. 
The  mind  travails  with  feelings  akin  to  pain,  in  the 
endeavor  to  embrace  them.  I  do  not  know  that  it 
is  so  with  others ;  but  I  cannot  disguise  from  my- 
self the  sense  of  weakness,  inferiority,  and  incom- 
petency  which  I  feel." 

When  Sumner  was  twenty-six,  he  determined  to 
carry  out  a  life-long  plan  of  visiting  Europe,  to 
study  its  writers,  jurists,  and  social  customs.  He 
needed  five  thousand  dollars  for  this  purpose.  He- 
had  earned  two  thousand,  and,  borrowing  three 
from  three  friends,- he  started  December  8,  1837. 
Emerson  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Car- 
lyle,  Story  to  some  leading  lawyers,  and  Washing- 
ton Allston  to  Wordsworth.  Judge  Story  said  in 
his  letter,  "  Mr.  Sumner  is  a  practising  lawyer  at 
the  Boston  bar,  of  very  high  reputation  for  his 
years,  and  already  giving  the  promise  of  the  most 
eminent  distinction  in  his  profession ;  his  literary 
and  judicial  attainments  are  truly  extraordinary. 
He  is  one  of  the  editors,  indeed,  the  principal  edi- 
tor, of  '  The  American  Jurist,'  a  quarterly  journal 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  279 

of  extensive  circulation  and  celebrity  among  us, 
and  without  a  rival  in  America.  He  is  also  the  re- 
porter of  the  court  in  which  I  preside,  and  has 
already  published  two  volumes  of  reports.  His 
private  character,  also,  is  of  the  best  kind  for 
purity  and  propriety." 

His  friend  Dr.  Lieber  gave  him  some  good  sug- 
gestions about  travelling.  "Plan  your  journey. 
Spend  money  carefully.  Keep  steadily  a  journal. 
Never  think  that  an  impression  is  too  vivid  to  be 
forgotten.  Believe  me,  time  is  more  powerful  than 
senses  or  memory.  Keep  little  books  for  addresses. 
Write  down  first  impressions  of  men  and  coun- 
tries." 

Just  before  Sumner  started  from  New  York,  he 
wrote  to  his  little  sister,  Julia,  then  ten  years  old, 
"  I  am  very  glad,  my  dear,  to  remember  your  cheer- 
ful countenance.  .  .  .  Let  it  be  said  of  you  that 
you  are  always  amiable.  .  .  .  Cultivate  an  affec- 
tionate disposition.  If  you  find  that  you  can  do 
anything  which  will  add  to  the  pleasure  of  your 
parents,  or  anybody  else,  be  sure  to  do  it.  Con- 
sider every  opportunity  of  adding  to  the  pleasure 
of  others  as  of  the  highest  importance,  and  do  not 
be  unwilling  to  sacrifice  some  enjoyment  of  your 
own,  even  some  dear  plaything,  if  by  doing  so  you 
can  promote  the  happiness  of  others.  If  you  fol- 
low this  advice,  you  will  never  be  selfish  or  ungen- 
erous, and  everybody  will  love  you." 

To  his  brother  George,  six  years  younger  than 
himself,  he  wrote,  "  Do  not  waste  your  time  in 


280  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

driblets.  Deem  every  moment  precious,  —  far 
more  so  than  the  costliest  stones.  .  .  .  Keep  some 
good  book  constantly  on  hand  to  occupy  every  stray 
moment." 

As  soon  as  Sumner  reached  Paris  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  language,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  speak  what  he  could  write  already.  He  at- 
tended lectures  given  by  the  professors  of  colleges, 
became  acquainted  with  Victor  Cousin,  the  noted 
writer  on  morals  and  metaphysics,  and  the  friend 
of  authors,  lawyers,  and  journalists.  He  said, 
years  later,  in  an  eloquent  tribute  to  Judge  Story  : 
"  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  know  the  chief  jurists 
of  our  time  in  the  classical  countries  of  jurispru- 
dence, —  France  and  Germany.  I  remember  well 
the  pointed  and  effective  style  of  Dupin,  in  one  of 
his  masterly  arguments  before  the  highest  court 
of  France ;  I  recall  the  pleasant  converse  of  Par- 
dessus,  to  whom  commercial  and  maritime  law  is 
under  a  larger  debt,  perhaps,  than  to  any  other  mind, 
while  he  descanted  on  his  favorite  theme ;  I  wander 
in  fancy  to  the  gentle  presence  of  him  with  flowing 
silver  locks  who  was  so  dear  to  Germany,  Thi- 
baut,  the  expounder  of  Roman  law,  and  the  earnest 
and  successful  advocate  of  a  just  scheme  for  the 
reduction  of  the  unwritten  law  to  the  certainty  of 
a  written  text ;  from  Heidelberg  I  pass  to  Berlin, 
where  I  listen  to  the  grave  lecture  and  mingle  in 
the  social  circle  of  Savigny,  so  stately  in  person 
and  peculiar  in  countenance,  whom  all  the  continent 
of  Europe  delights  to  honor ;  but  my  heart  and  my 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  281 

judgment,  untravelled,  fondly  turn  with  new  love 
and  admiration  to  my  Cambridge  teacher  and 
friend.  Jurisprudence  has  many  arrows  in  her 
quiver,  but  where  is  one  to  compare  with  that 
which  is  now  spent  in  the  earth  ?  " 

After  some  months  in  Paris,  Sumner  went  to 
England,  remaining  ten  months,  and  receiving  at- 
tentions rarely  if  ever  accorded  to  an  American. 
He  used  some  letters  of  introduction,  but  generally 
he  was  welcomed  to  the  houses  of  lords  and  authors 
simply  because  the  young  man  of  learning  was 
honored  for  his  refinement  and  nobility  of  soul. 
He  was  admitted  to  the  clubs,  attended  debates  in 
Parliament,  was  present  at  the  coronation  of 
Queen  Victoria  in  Westminster  Abbey,  sat  on  the 
bench  at  Westminster  Hall,  dined  often  with  Lord 
Brougham,  Sir  William  Hamilton,  Jeffrey  of  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  Lord  Morpeth  the  Chief  Sec- 
retary for  Ireland,  Hallam,  Caiiyle,  Lord  Holland, 
Lord  Houghton,  Grote,  Sydney  Smith,  Macau- 
lay,  Landor,  Leigh  Hunt,  and  scores  of  others, 
the  greatest  in  the  kingdom.  An  English  writer 
said :  "  He  presents  in  his  own  person  a  decisive 
proof  that  an  American  gentleman,  without  official 
rank  or  widespread  reputation,  by  mere  dint  of 
courtesy,  candor,  an  entire  absence  of  pretension, 
an  appreciating  spirit,  and  a  cultivated  mind,  may 
be  received  on  a  perfect  footing  of  equality  in  the 
best  English  circles,  social,  political,  and  intellect- 
ual." 

Sumner  wrote  back  to  his  friends  in  America: 


282  CHARLES   SUMNER. 

"  I  have  made  myself  master  of  English  practice 
and  English  circuit  life.  I  cannot  sufficiently  ex- 
press my  admiration  of  the  heartiness  and  cordial- 
ity which  pervade  all  the  English  bar.  They  are 
truly  a  band  of  brothers,  and  I  have  been  received 
among  them  as  one  of  them.  I  have  visited  many 
—  perhaps  I  may  say  most  —  of  the  distinguished 
men  of  these  glorious  countries  (England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland),  at  their  seats,  and  have  seen  Eng- 
lish country  life,  which  is  the  height  of  refined  lux- 
ury, in  some  of  its  most  splendid  phases.  For  all 
the  opportunities  I  have  had  I  feel  grateful." 

Sumner  found,  what  all  travellers  find,  that  cul- 
tivated, well  bred  people  all  speak  a  common  lan- 
guage, that  of  universal  courtesy  and  kindness. 
The  English  did  not  ask  if  he  had  wealth  or 
distinguished  parentage  ;  it  was  enough  that  he 
was  intelligent  on  all  topics,  considerate,  gentle  in 
manner,  a  gentleman  in  every  possible  situation. 

Every  letter  home  teemed  with  descriptions  of 
visits  to  Wordsworth,  then  sixty-nine  years  of  age  ; 
to  Macaulay,  whom  Sydney  Smith  called  "  a  tre- 
mendous machine  for  colloquial  oppression  ;  "  to 
the  beautiful  Caroline  Norton,  the  poet,  "  one  of 
the  brightest  intellects  I  have  ever  met,"  with 
"  the  grace  and  ease  of  the  woman,  with  a  strength 
and  skill  of  which  any  man  might  well  be  proud ;  " 
to  Lord  Brougham,  with  "  a  fulness  of  information 
and  physical  spirits,  which  make  him  more  com- 
manding than  all." 

Sumner   spent   three   months  in  Rome,  at   first 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  288 

studying  the  language  from  six  to  twelve  hours  a 
day.  He  became  the  friend  of  the  artist  Thomas 
Crawford,  then  poor,  but  with  high  ambition.  He 
Wrote  his  praises  home  to  his  friends,  induced 
them  to  buy  one  of  his  earliest  works  and  exhibit 
it  in  Boston  ;  cheered  the  half-despairing  artist  by 
assuring  him  that  he  would  be  "  a  great  and  suc- 
cessful sculptor,  and  be  living  in  a  palace,"  all  of 
which  came  true.  A  noble  nature,  indeed,  that 
could  pause  in  its  own  aspiring  work  and  lift  an- 
other to  fame  and  success  ! 

Six  months  were  spent  in  Germany  by  Sumner, 
where  he  studied  language  and  law  as  earnestly  as 
he  had  in  France  and  Italy.  The  rich,  full  days 
of  literary  intercourse  were  coming  to  an  end.  He 
wrote  to  his  intimate  friend  Longfellow  :  "  I  shall 
soon  be  with  you ;  and  I  now  begin  to  think  of 
hard  work,  of  long  days  filled  with  uninteresting 
toil  and  humble  gains.  I  sometimes  have  a  mo- 
ment of  misgiving,  when  I  think  of  the  certainties 
which  I  abandoned  for  travel,  and  of  the  uncer- 
tainties to  which  I  return.  But  this  is  momen- 
tary ;  for  I  am  thoroughly  content  with  what  I 
have  done.  If  clients  fail  me ;  if  the  favorable 
opinion  of  those  on  whom  professional  reputation 
depends  leaves  me  ;  if  I  find  myself  poor  and  soli- 
tary, —  still  I  shall  be  rich  in  the  recollection  of 
what  I  have  seen,  and  will  make  companions  of  the 
great  minds  of  these  countries  I  have  visited." 

In  the  spring  of  1840  Sumner  was  home  again, 
having  been  abroad  for  two  and  one-half  years. 


284  I'lIABLES   St'MXKR. 

The  father  and  his  sister  Jane,  a  lovely  girl  of 
seventeen,  had  both  died  during  his  absence.  He 
went  at  once  to  the  Hancock  Street  home,  and 
began  his  professional  labors  from  nine  till  five  or 
six  in  the  afternoon.  In  the  evening  he  read  as 
formerly  till  midnight  or  later,  going  every  Satur- 
day evening  to  spend  the  night  with  Longfellow  at 
Craigie  House. 

This  affection  for  Longfellow  never  changed. 
When  the  poet  went  abroad  in  1842,  Sumner  wrote 
him,  "We  are  all  sad  at  your  going;  but  I  am 
more  sad  than  the  rest,  for  I  lose  more  than  they 
do.  I  am  desolate.  It  was  to  me  a  source  of 
pleasure  and  strength  untold  to  see  you ;  and, 
when  I  did  not  see  you,  to  feel  that  you  were  near, 
with  your  swift  sympathy  and  kindly  words.  I 
must  try  to  go  alone,  —  hard  necessity  in  this  rude 
world  of  ours,  for  our  souls  always  in  this  life  need 
support  and  gentle  beckonings,  as  the  little  child 
when  first  trying  to  move  away  from  its  mother's 
knee.  God  bless  you,  my  dear  friend,  from  my 
heart  of  hearts.  My  eyes  overflow  as  I  now  trace 
these  lines." 

Sumner  was  full  of  incident  and  vivid  descrip- 
tion of  his  life  abroad,  and  the  most  charming 
homes  of  Boston  were  open  to  him  whenever  he 
had  the  time  to  visit,  which  was  seldom.  The 
letters  from  Europe  made  the  long  days  of  law 
practice  less  monotonous.  He  wrote  much  on 
legal  matters ;  and  now,  at  thirty -three,  undertook 
to  edit  the  "Equity  Reports"  of  Francis  Vesey, 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  285 

Jr.,  numbering  twenty  volumes,  for  two  thousand 
dollars.  By  the  terms  agreed  upon,  a  volume  was 
to  be  ready  each  fortnight.  He  worked  night  and 
day,  took  no  recreation,  and  soon  broke  down  in 
health;  and  his  life  was  despaired  of.  He  wel- 
comed death,  for  he  had  before  this  time  become 
somewhat  despondent.  Most  of  his  friends  were 
married,  and  some,  like  Prescott  and  Longfellow, 
had  come  to  fame  already.  He  felt  that  his  life 
was  not  showing  the  results  of  which  his  youth 
gave  promise. 

Had  he  found  at  this  time '"  the  perfect  woman  " 
for  whom  he  used  to  tell  his  friends  he  was  seek- 
ing, and  made  her  his  wife,  there  would  doubtless 
have  come  into  his  life  satisfaction  and  rest. 
That  he  did  not  marry  was  the  more  strange  since 
women  admired  him  for  the  qualities  which  are 
especially  attractive  to  the  sex ;  a  knightly  sense 
of  honor,  fidelity  in  friendship,  fearlessness,  and 
affectionate  confidence. 

Sumner  recovered  his  health,  while  his  beloved 
sister  Mary,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  faded  from 
his  sight  by  consumption.  He  wrote  his  brother 
George  :  "  She  herself  wished  to  die  ;  and  I  believe 
that  we  all  became  anxious  at  last  that  the  angel 
should  descend  to  bear  her  aloft.  From  the  beau- 
tiful flower  of  her  life  the  leaves  had  all  gently 
fallen  to  the  earth ;  and  there  remained  but  little 
for  the  hand  of  death  to  pluck.  During  the  night 
preceding  the  morning  on  which  she  left  us,  she 
slept  like  a  child  ;  and  within  a  short  time  of  her 


286  CHARLES   SUMXER. 

death,  when  asked  if  she  were  in  pain,  she  said, 
'No  ;  angels  are  taking  care  of  me.'  " 

To  Charles  Sumner  this  death  was  an  incompa- 
rable loss.  She  was  especially  beautiful  and 
lovely,  and  the  idol  of  his  heart.  Possibly  it 
helped  to  make  him  ready  for  his  great  work. 

Into  most  lives,  especially  those  designed  for 
great  deeds,  there  seem  to  come  decisive  moments 
when  events  open  the  door  from  the  darkness  of 
obscurity  into  the  noonday  glare  of  fame.  Such  a 
time  came  to  Sumner  in  1845.  He  was  asked  to 
deliver  the  usual  Fourth  of  July  address  at  Tre- 
mont  Temple,  Boston,  as  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
Horace  Mann,  and  others  had  done  in  previous 
years.  He  chose  for  his  subject  "  The  True  Gran- 
deur of  Nations,"  showing  that  the  "  true  grandeur  " 
is  peace  and  not  war.  He  dealt  vigorously  with 
the  Mexican  War,  then  impending,  as  a  result  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  with  consequent  enlarge- 
ment of  slave  territory. 

Sumner  was  now  thirty-four,  well  developed 
physically,  his  face  handsome  and  radiant  as  ever, 
with  the  smile  of  his  boyhood,  his  voice  clear  and 
resonant,  his  mind  full  to  overflowing.  He  spoke 
for  two  hours,  without  notes.  He  said :  "  The  true 
greatness  of  a  nation  cannot  be  in  triumphs  of  the 
intellect  alone.  Literature  and  art  may  widen 
the  sphere  of  its  influence ;  they  may  adorn  it ; 
but  they  are  in  their  nature  but  accessories.  The 
true  grandeur  of  humanity  is  in  moral  elevation, 
sustained,  enlightened,  and  decorated  by  the  intellect 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  287 

of  man.  ...  In  our  age  there  can  be  no  peace 
that  is  not  honorable  ;  there  can  be  no  war  that  is 
not  dishonorable.  The  true  honor  of  a  nation  is 
to  be  found  only  in  deeds  of  justice  and  benefi- 
cence, securing  the  happiness  of  its  people,  —  all 
of  which  are  inconsistent  with  war.  In  the  clear 
eye  of  Christian  judgment,  vain  are  its  victories, 
infamous  are  its  spoils.  He  is  the  true  benefactor, 
and  alone  worthy  of  honor,  who  brings  comfort 
where  before  was  wretchedness;  who  dries  the 
tear  of  sorrow ;  who  pours  oil  into  the  wounds  of 
the  unfortunate  ;  who  feeds  the  hungry,  and  clothes 
the  naked ;  who  unlooses  the  fetter  of  the  slave ; 
who  does  justice  ;  who  enlightens  the  ignorant ; 
who,  by  his  virtuous  genius  in  art,  in  literature,  in 
science,  enlivens  and  exalts  the  hours  of  life  ;  who, 
by  words  or  actions,  inspires  a  love  for  God  and  for 
man.  This  is  the  Christian  hero ;  this  is  the  man 
of  honor  in  a  Christian  land." 

The  believers  in  war  felt  somewhat  hurt  by 
Sumner's  plainness  of  speech,  but  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton and  the  State  of  Massachusetts  awoke  to  the 
knowledge  of  an  eloquent  man  in  their  midst,  who 
had  doubtless  a  work  before  him.  Mrs.  Lydia 
Maria  Child  wrote  him :  "  How  I  did  thank  you  for 
your  noble  and  eloquent  attack  upon  the  absurd 
barbarism  of  war  !  It  was  worth  living  for  to  have 
done  that,  if  you  never  do  anything  more.  But 
the  soul  that  could  do  that  will  do  more." 

Chancellor  Kent  wrote  him,  "  I  am  very  strongly 
in  favor  of  the  institution  of  a  congress  of  nations 


288  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

or  system  of  arbitration  without  going  to  war. 
Every  effort  ought  to  be  made  by  treaty  stipula- 
tion, remonstrance,  and  appeal  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
resort  to  brutal  force  to  assert  claims  of  right. 
The  idea  of  war  is  horrible.  I  remember  I  was 
very  much  struck,  even  in  my  youth,  by  the  ob- 
servation (I  think  it  was  in  Tom  Paine's  '  Crisis ') 
that  '  he  who  is  the  author  of  war  lets  loose  the 
whole  contagion  of  hell,  and  opens  a  vein  that 
bleeds  a  nation  to  death.' " 

Seven  thousand  copies  of  this  oration  were  dis- 
tributed by  the  Peace  Societies  of  England,  and  it 
had  a  wide  reading  in  our  own  country. 

Sumner  was  now  called  upon  to  speak  with  Gar- 
rison, Phillips,  and  others,  on  the  question  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas  with  her  slave  territory.  He 
said,  "  God  forbid  that  the  votes  and  voices  of  the 
freemen  of  the  North  should  help  to  bind  anew  the 
fetters  of  the  slave  !  God  forbid  that  the  lash  of 
the  slave-dealer  should  be  nerved  by  any  sanction 
from  New  England !  God  forbid  that  the  blood 
which  spurts  from  the  lacerated  quivering  flesh  of 
the  slave  should  soil  the  hem  of  the  white  gar- 
ments of  Massachusetts." 

The  educated  Boston  lawyer,  the  friend  of  hosts 
of  authors  and  jurists  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean, 
the  accomplished  and  aristocratic  scholar,  Sumner 
had  placed  himself  among  the  despised  Abolition- 
ists !  Many  of  his  friends  stood  aghast,  even  re- 
fusing to  recognize  him  on  the  street.  This  act 
required  great  moral  heroism,  but  he  was  equal  to 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  289 

the  occasion.  The  door  had  opened  to  fame  and 
immortality,  even  though  they  came  to  him  through 
contumely  and  well-nigh  martyrdom. 

In  1846,  Mr.  Sumner  spoke  before  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  University :  "  We  stand 
on  the  threshold  of  a  new  age,  which  is  preparing 
to  recognize  new  influences.  The  ancient  divinities 
of  violence  and  wrong  are  retreating  to  their  kin- 
dred darkness.  The  sun  of  our  moral  universe  is 
entering  a  new  ecliptic,  no  longer  deformed  by 
those  images,  Cancer,  Taurus,  Leo,  Sagittarius,  but 
beaming  with  the  mild  radiance  of  those  heavenly 
signs,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity. 

"  '  There's  a  fount  about  to  stream ; 
There's  a  light  about  to  beam; 
There's  a  warmth  about  to  glow; 
There's  a  flower  about  to  blow; 
There's  a  midnight  blackness  changing 

Into  gray  : 
Men  of  thought  and  men  of  action, 

Clear  the  way  ! '  " 

Theodore  Parker  wrote  to  the  orator,  "  You  have 
planted  a  seed,  '  out  of  which  many  and  tall  branches 
shall  arise,'  I  hope.  The  people  are  always  true  to 
a  good  man  who  truly  trusts  them.  You  have  had 
opportunity  to  see,  hear,  and  feel  the  truth  of  that 
oftener  than  once.  I  think  you  will  have  enough 
more  opportunities  yet ;  men  will  look  for  deeds 
noble  as  the  words  a  man  speaks" 

And  Charles  Sumner  became  as  noble  as  the 
words  he  had  spoken.  It  makes  us  stronger  to 


290  CHARLES   SUMNER. 

commit  ourselves  before  the  world.  We  are  com- 
pelled to  live  up  to  the  standard  of  our  speech,  or 
be  adjudged  hypocrites. 

Before  the  Bostou  Mercantile  Library  Associa- 
tion, Sumner  read  a  brilliant  paper  on  "  White  Slav- 
ery in  the  Barbary  States,"  and  gave  an  address  be- 
fore Amherst  College  on  "  Fame  and  Glory.''  He 
spoke  earnestly  in  the  Whig  conventions,  asking 
them  to  come  out  against  slavery.  He  urged  Dan- 
iel Webster,  the  Defender  of  the  Constitution,  to 
become  the  "  Defender  of  Humanity,"  "  by  the  side 
of  which  that  earlier  title  shall  fade  into  insignifi- 
cance, as  the  Constitution,  which  is  the  work  of 
mortal  hands,  dwindles  by  the  side  of  man,  who  is 
created  in  the  image  of  God."  But  the  words  of 
entreaty  came  too  late;  the  Whig  party  did  not 
dare  take  up  the  cause  of  human  freedom. 

In  1851,  when  Sumner  was  forty,  the  new  era  of 
his  life  came.  The  Free-Soil  party,  organized  Au- 
gust 9,  1848,  the  successor  of  the  "  Liberty  "  party 
formed  eight  years  earlier,  wanted  him  as  their 
leader.  Would  he  separate  from  the  Whigs  ? 
Yes,  for  he  had  said,  "  Loyalty  to  principle  is 
higher  than  loyalty  to  party.  The  first  is  a  heav- 
enly sentiment  from  God ;  the  other  is  a  device  of 
this  earth.  ...  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I 
belong  to  the  party  of  freedom,  —  to  that  party 
which  plants  itself  on  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
...  It  is  said  that  we  shall  throw  away  our  votes, 
and  that  our  opposition  will  fail.  Fail,  sir  !  Xo 


CHARLES   SUMNEE.  291 

honest,  earnest  effort  in  a  good  cause  ever  fails. 
It  may  not  be  crowned  with  the  applause  of  man ; 
it  may  not  seem  to  touch  the  goal  of  immediate 
worldly  success,  which  is  the  end  and  aim  of  so 
much  of  life ;  but  still  it  is  not  lost.  It  helps  to 
strengthen  the  weak  with  new  virtue,  to  arm  the 
irresolute  with  proper  energy,  to  animate  all  with 
devotion  to  duty,  which  in  the  end  conquers  all. 
Fail !  Did  the  martyrs  fail  when  with  their  pre- 
cious blood  they  sowed  the  seed  of  the  Church  ?  .  .  . 
Did  the  three  hundred  Spartans  fail  when,  in  the 
narrow  pass,  they  did  not  fear  to  brave  the  innu- 
merable Persian  hosts,  whose  very  arrows  darkened 
the  sun  ?  No  !  Overborne  by  numbers,  crushed  to 
earth,  they  have  left  an  example  which  is  greater 
far  than  any  victory.  And  this  is  the  least  we  can 
do.  Our  example  shall  be  the  source  of  triumph 
hereafter." 

Millard  Fillmore  had  signed  the  hated  Fugitive 
Slave  Bill,  and  Webster  had  made  his  disastrous 
speech  of  March  7,  1850,  urging  conformity  to  the 
demands  of  the  bill.  Sumner's  hour  had  come. 
By  a  union  of  the  Free-Soil  and  Democratic  parties, 
he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States 
for  six  years,  over  the  eloquent  Robert  C.  Win- 
throp,  the  Whig  candidate.  The  contest  was  bit- 
ter. Sumner  would  give  no  pledges,  and  said  he 
would  not  walk  across  the  room  to  secure  the  elec- 
tion. On  Monday,  December  1,  1851,  he  took  his 
seat.  Devotion  to  principle  had  gained  him  an  ex- 
alted position. 


292  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

Months  went  by  before  he  could  possibly  obtain 
a  hearing  on  the  slavery  question,  on  which  issue 
he  had  been  elected.  Finally,  the  long  sought 
opportunity  came  by  introducing  an  amendment 
that  the  Fugitive  Slave  Bill  should  be  repealed. 
He  spoke  for  four  hours  as  only  Charles  Sumner 
could  speak.  Despised  by  the  slave-holders,  they 
listened  to  his  burning  words.  In  closing,  he 
said  :  "  Be  admonished  by  those  words  of  oriental 
piety,  —  '  Beware  of  the  groans  of  wounded  souls. 
Oppress  not  to  the  utmost  a  single  heart;  for  a 
solitary  sigh  has  power  to  overset  a  whole  world.'  " 

Mr.  Polk  of  Tennessee  said  to  him :  "  If  you 
should  make  that  speech  in  Tennessee,  you  would 
compel  me  to  emancipate  my  niggers." 

The  vote  on  the  repeal  stood :  Yeas,  four ;  nays, 
forty-seven.  Alas !  how  many  years  he  wrought 
before  the  repeal  came. 

Sumner  had  been  heard  not  merely  by  Congress ; 
he  had  been  heard  by  two  continents.  Hencefor- 
ward, for  twenty -three  years,  he  was  to  be  in  Con- 
gress the  great  leader  in  the  cause  of  human 
freedom. 

In  1854  the  advocates  of  slavery  brought  for- 
ward the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  by  which  a  large 
territory,  at  the  recommendation  of  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  was  to  be  left  open  for  slavery  or  no 
slavery,  as  the  dwellers  therein  should  decide.  On 
the  night  of  the  passage  of  this  bill,  Sumner  made 
an  eloquent  protest.  "  Sir,  the  bill  which  you  are 
now  about  to  pass  is  at  once  the  worst  and  the 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  293 

best  bill  on  which  Congress  ever  acted.  Yes,  sir, 
WORST  and  BEST  at  the  same  time. 

"  It  is  the  worst  bill,  inasmuch  as  it  is  a  present 
victory  of  slavery.  ...  It  is  the  best,  for  it  pre- 
pares the  way  for  that  '  All  hail  hereafter,'  when 
slavery  must  disappear.  .  .  .  Thus,  sir,  now  stand- 
ing at  the  very  grave  of  freedom  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  I  lift  myself  to  the  vision  of  that  happy 
resurrection  by  which  freedom  will  be  secured 
hereafter,  not  only  in  these  Territories  but  every- 
where under  the  national  government.  More 
clearly  than  ever  before,  I  now  see  '  the  beginning 
of  the  end '  of  slavery.  Proudly  I  discern  the  flag 
of  my  country  as  it  ripples  in  every  breeze,  at  last 
become  in  reality,  as  in  name,  the  flag  of  freedom, 
—  undoubted,  pure,  and  irresistible.  Am  I  not 
right,  then,  in  calling  this  bill  the  best  on  which 
Congress  ever  acted  ? 

"  Sorrowfully  I  bend  before  the  wrong  you  are 
about  to  enact.  Joyfully  I  welcome  all  the  prom- 
ises of  the  future." 

After  the  passage  of  the  bill  the  excitement  at 
the  North  was  intense.  Public  meetings  were 
held,  denouncing  the  new  scheme  of  the  slave- 
power  to  acquire  more  territory.  So  bitter  grew 
the  feeling  that  Sumner  was  urged  by  his  friends 
to  leave  Washington,  lest  harm  come  to  him ;  but 
he  walked  the  streets  unarmed.  "  He  was  as- 
sailed," said  the  noble  Joshua  R.  Giddings  of  Ohio, 
"  by  the  whole  slave-power  in  the  Senate,  and,  for  a 
time,  he  was  the  constant  theme  of  their  vitupera- 


294  CHARLES   SUMXER. 

tion.  The  maddened  waves  rolled  and  dashed 
against  him  for  two  or  three  days,  until  eventually 
he  obtained  the  floor  himself ;  then  he  arose  and 
threw  back  the  dashing  surges  with  a  power  of 
inimitable  eloquence  utterly  indescribable." 

The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  produced  its  legiti- 
mate result,  —  civil  war  in  the  Territory.  Slave- 
holders rushed  in  from  Missouri,  bringing  their 
slaves  with  them  ;  free  men  came  from  the  East  to 
build  homes,  school-houses,  and  churches  on  these 
fertile  lands.  The  struggles  at  the  ballot-box  over 
illegal  elections  were  followed  by  struggles  on  the 
battle-field.  At  the  village  of  Ossawatomie  twen- 
ty-eight Free  State  men  led  by  John  Brown  de- 
feated on  the  open  prairie  fifty-six  Slave  State 
men.  Houses  were  burned,  and  men  murdered. 
Two  State  constitutions  were  adopted :  one  at  Le- 
compton,  representing  the  pro-slavery  element ;  the 
other  at  Lawrence,  representing  the  anti-slavery 
party.  Finally,  the  President,  in  1855,  appointed  a 
military  governor  to  restore  Kansas  to  order.  But, 
while  order  might  be  restored  there,  the  whole 
country  seemed  on  the  verge  of  civil  war. 

Meantime  the  Republican  party  had  been  formed 
in  1854,  the  outgrowth  of  the  "Liberty"  and 
"  Free  Soil "  parties.  A  "  Bill  for  the  Admission 
of  Kansas  into  the  Union  "  having  been  presented, 
Sumner  made  his  celebrated  speech  "The  Crime 
against  Kansas,"  on  the  19th  and  20th  of  May, 
1856.  He  spoke  eloquently  and  fearlessly,  arous- 
ing more  than  ever  the  hot  blood  of  the  South. 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  295 

Two  days  later,  as  Mr.  Sumner  was  sitting  at  his 
desk  in  the  Senate  chamber,  his  head  bent  for- 
ward in  writing,  the  Senate  having  adjourned, 
Preston  S.  Brooks,  a  nephew  of  Mr.  Butler,  a  sena- 
tor of  South  Carolina,  stood  before  him.  "  I  have 
read  your  speech  twice  over,  carefully,"  he  said. 
"It  is  a  libel  on  South  Carolina  and  Mr.  Butler, 
who  is  a  relative  of  mine."  Instantly  he  struck 
Mr.  Sumner  on  the  back  of  the  head,  with  his  hol- 
low gutta-percha  cane,  making  a  long  and  fearful 
gash,  repeating  the  blows  in  rapid  succession. 
Sumner  wrenched  the  desk  from  the  floor,  to 
which  it  was  screwed,  but,  unable  to  defend  him- 
self, fell  forward  bleeding  and  insensible.  He  was 
carried  by  his  friends  to  a  sofa  in  the  lobby,  and 
during  the  night  lay  pale  and  bewildered,  scarcely 
speaking  to  any  one  about  him. 

The  indignation  and  horror  of  the  North  beggar 
description.  That  a  man,  in  this  age  of  free  speech, 
should  be  publicly  beaten,  and  that  by  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  was,  of  course,  a 
disgrace  to  the  nation.  Said  Joseph  Quincy : 
"Charles  Sumner  needs  not  our  sympathy.  If  he 
dies  his  name  will  be  immortal  —  his  name  will  be 
enrolled  with  the  names  of  Warren,  Sidney,  and 
Russell ;  if  he  lives  he  is  destined  to  be  the  light 
of  the  nation."  Wendell  Phillips  said:  "The 
world  will  yet  cover  every  one  of  those  scars  with 
laurels.  He  must  not  die  !  We  need  him  yet,  as 
the  van-guard  leader  of  the  hosts  of  Liberty. 
Nay,  he  shall  yet  come  forth  from  that  sick-cham- 


296  CHARLES   8VMNER. 

her,  and  every  gallant  heart  in  the  commonwealth 
be  ready  to  kiss  his  very  footsteps." 

Brooks  was  censured  by  the  House  of  Kepresen- 
tatives,  resigned  his  seat,  and  died  the  following 
year.  Sumner  returned  to  Boston  as  soon  as  he 
was  able.  Houses  were  decorated  for  his  coming, 
and  banners  flung  to  the  breeze  with  the  words, 
"  Welcome,  Freedom's  Defender,"  "  Massachusetts 
loves,  honors,  will  sustain  and  defend  her  noble 
SUMNER."  The  home  on  Hancock  Street  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  crowd.  He  appeared  at  the 
window  with  his  widowed  mother,  and  bowed  to 
their  cheers.  For  several  months  he  enjoyed  the 
tender  care  of  this  mother,  now  almost  alone.  Her 
son  Horace  had  been  lost  in  the  ship  Elizabeth, 
July  16,  1850,  when  Margaret  Fuller,  her  hus- 
band, and  child  were  drowned.  Albert,  a  sea- 
captain,  had  been  lost  with  his  wife  and  only 
daughter  on  their  way  to  France.  And  now,  per- 
haps, her  distinguished  son  Charles  was  to  give  his 
life  to  help  bring  freedom  to  four  millions  in 
slavery. 

In  1857  Sumner  was  almost  unanimously  ree'lec- 
ted  to  the  Senate  for  six  years,  but  Brooks  had 
done  his  dreadful  work  too  well.  Broken  in 
health,  he  sailed  for  Europe.  Nearly  twenty 
years  before  he  had  gone  to  meet  the  honored  and 
famous,  his  future  all  unknown ;  now  he  went  as 
the  stricken  leader  of  a  great  cause,  one  of  the 
most  able  and  eloquent  men  of  the  new  world. 
Twenty  years  before  he  was  restless  and  unhappy 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  297 

because  he  did  not  see  his  life-work  before  him ; 
now  he  was  happy  in  spite  of  physical  agony,  be- 
cause he  knew  he  was  helping  humanity. 

After  travelling  in  Switzerland,  Germany,  and 
Great  Britain,  he  returned  and  took  his  seat  in 
Congress,  but,  finding  his  health  still  impaired,  he 
sailed  again  to  Europe.  He  regretted  to  leave  the 
country,  but  was,  as  he  says,  "  often  assured  and 
encouraged  to  feel  that  to  every  sincere  lover  of 
civilization  my  vacant  chair  was  a  perpetual 
speech."  On  this  second  visit  he  came  under  the 
treatment  of  Dr.  Brown-Sequard,  who,  when  asked 
by  Mr.  Sumner  what  would  cure  him,  replied, 
"  Fire."  At  once  the  dreadful  remedy  was  applied. 
The  physician  says,  when  he  first  met  the  senator, 
"  He  could  not  make  use  of  his  brain  at  all.  He 
could  not  read  a  newspaper,  could  not  write  a 
letter.  He  was  in  a  frightful  state  as  regards  the 
activity  of  the  mind,  as  every  effort  there  was  most 
painful  to  him.  ...  I  told  him  the  truth,  —  that 
there  would  be  more  effect,  as  I  thought,  if  he  did 
not  take  chloroform ;  and  so  I  had  to  submit  him 
to  the  martyrdom  of  the  greatest  suffering  that 
can  be  inflicted  on  mortal  man.  I  burned  him  with 
the  first  moxa.  I  had  the  hope  that  after  the  first 
application  he  would  submit  to  the  use  of  chloro- 
form ;  but  for  five  times  after  that  he  was  burned 
in  the  same  way,  and  refused  to  take  chloroform. 
I  have  never  seen  a  patient  who  submitted  to  such 
treatment  in  that  way." 

Sumner   wrote  home :    "  It  is  with  a  pang  un- 


CHARLES  SUMMER. 

speakable  that  I  find  myself  thus  arrested  in  the 
labors  of  life  and  in  the  duties  of  my  position. 
This  is  harder  to  bear  than  the  fire." 

Four  years  elapsed  before  he  regained  his  health ; 
indeed  his  death  finally  resulted  from  the  attack  of 
Brooks.  No  sooner  had  he  returned  to  the  Senate 
than  he  made  another  great  speech  against  slavery. 
The  country  was  agitated  by  the  coming  presiden- 
tial election.  John  Brown  had  captured,  with  a 
force  of  twenty-two  men,  the  United  States  arsenal 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  with  the  fallacious  hope  of  set- 
ting the  slaves  at  liberty.  He  was  of  course  over- 
powered, his  sons  killed  at  his  side,  as  others  of 
his  sons  had  been  on  the  Kansas  battlefields,  and 
he  led  out  to  execution,  December  2,  1859,  with  a 
radiant  face  and  an  overflowing  heart,  because  he 
knew  that  his  death  would  arouse  the  nation  to 
action. 

Mr.  Sumner  spoke  to  an  immense  audience  at 
Cooper  Institute,  urging  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  By  this  election,  he  said,  "  we  shall  save 
the  Territories  from  the  five-headed  barbarism  of 
slavery ;  we  shall  save  the  country  and  the  age 
from  that  crying  infamy,  the  slave-trade ;  we 
shall  help  save  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
now  dishonored  and  disowned  in  its  essential,  life- 
giving  truth,  —  the  equality  of  men.  ...  A  new 
order  of  things  will  begin;  and  our  history  will 
proceed  on  a  grander  scale,  in  harmony  with  those 
sublime  principles  in  which  it  commenced.  Let 
the  knell  sound !  — 


CHARLES  SUMNER.  299 

" '  Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new! 
Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true ! 

Ring  out  a  slowly  dying  cause, 
And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife! 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 
With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws.'  " 

A  "new  order  of  things"  was  indeed  begun. 
South  Carolina  very  soon  seceded  from  the  Union, 
and  other  southern  States  followed  her  example. 
Sunnier  now  spoke  and  wrote  constantly.  He 
urged  Massachusetts  to  be  "firm,  FIRM,  FIRM  ! 
against  every  word  or  step  of  concession.  .  .  . 
More  than  the  loss  of  forts,  arsenals,  or  the  national 
capital,  I  fear  the  loss  of  our  principles." 

In  1861,  Mr.  Sumner  was  made  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  How  different 
his  position  from  that  day,  ten  years  before,  when 
he  stood  almost  alone  in  the  Senate,  a  hated  aboli- 
tionist ! 

When  the  war  began,  he  saw  with  prophetic  eye 
the  necessity  of  emancipating  the  slaves.  He 
urged  it  in  his  public  speeches.  When  Lincoln 
hesitated  and  the  country  feared  the  result,  he  said 
to  a  vast  assembly  at  Cooper  Institute,  "  There  has 
been  the  cry,  (  On  to  Richmond  ! '  and  still  another 
worse  cry,  '  On  to  England ! '  Better  than  either 
is  the  cry,  '  On  to  freedom  ! ' ' 

As  the  war  went  forward  he  was  ever  at  his  post, 
working  for  Henry  Wilson's  bill  for  the  abolishing 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  for  the 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  Hayti  and  Li- 


300  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

beria,  for  the  final  suppression  of  the  coastwise 
trade  in  slaves,  for  the  employment  of  colored 
troops  in  the  army,  and  for  a  law  that  "  no  person 
shall  be  excluded  from  the  cars  on  account  of  color," 
on  various  specified  lines  of  railroad.  He  spoke 
words  of  encouragement  constantly  to  the  North, 
"  This  is  no  time  to  stop.  FORWARD  !  FORWARD  ! 
Thus  do  1,  who  formerly  pleaded  so  often  for  peace, 
now  sound  to  arms ;  but  it  is  because,  in  this  terri- 
ble moment,  there  is  no  other  way  to  that  sincere 
and  solid  peace  without  which  there  will  be  end- 
less war.  .  .  .  Now,  at  last,  by  the  death  of  slav- 
ery, will  the  republic  begin  to  live ;  for  what  is 
life  without  liberty  ? 

"  Stretching  from  ocean  to  ocean,  teeming  with 
population,  bountiful  in  resources  of  all  kinds,  and 
thrice  happy  in  universal  enfranchisement,  it  will 
be  more  than  conqueror,  —  nothing  too  vast  for  its 
power,  nothing  too  minute  for  its  care." 

He  wrote  for  the  magazines  on  the  one  great  sub- 
ject. He  helped  organize  the  Freedman's  Bureau, 
which  he  called  the  "Bridge  from  Slavery  to  Free- 
dom." He  urged  equal  pay  to  colored  soldiers. 
He  was  invaluable  to  President  Lincoln.  Though 
they  did  not  always  think  alike,  Lincoln  said  to 
Sumner,  "There  is  no  person  with  whom  I  have 
more  advised  throughout  my  administration  than 
with  yourself." 

When  Lincoln  was  assassinated,  Sumner  wept  by 
his  bedside.  '•  The  only  time,"  said  an  intimate 
friend,  "I  ever  saw  him  weep."  When  he  deliv- 


CHARLES   SUMNER.  301 

ered  his  eloquent  eulogy  on  Lincoln  in  Boston,  he 
said,  "  That  speech,  uttered  on  the  field  of  Gettys- 
burg, and  now  sanctified  by  the  martyrdom  of  its 
author,  is  a  monumental  act.  In  the  modesty  of 
his  nature,  he  said,  '  The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember,  what  we  say  here ;  but  it  can  never 
forget  what  they  did  here.' 

"He  was  mistaken.  The  world  noted  at  once 
what  he  said,  and  will  never  cease  to  remember  it. 
The  battle  itself  was  less  important  than  the 
speech.  Ideas  are  more  than  battles." 

And  so  the  great  slavery  pioneer  and  the  great 
emancipator  will  go  down  in  history  together. 
How  the  world  worships  heroic  manhood  !  Those 
who,  with  sweet  and  unselfish  natures,  seek  not  their 
own  happiness,  but  are  ready  to  die  if  need  be  for 
the  right  and  the  truth  ! 

Sumner  aided  in  those  three  grand  amendments 
to  the  Constitution,  the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and 
fifteenth.  "Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servi- 
tude, except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof 
the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall  ex- 
ist within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject 
to  their  jurisdiction.  .  .  .  All  persons  born  or 
naturalized  in  the  United  States,  and  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No 
State  shall  make  or  enforce  any  law  which  shall 
abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due 


302  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

process  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its 
jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws.  .  .  . 
The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United 
States,  or  by  any  State,  on  account  of  race,  color, 
or  previous  condition  of  servitude." 

In  June,  1866,  Mr.  Sumner  came  home  to  say 
good-bye  to  his  dying  mother.  True  to  her  noble 
womanhood,  she  urged  that  he  should  not  be  sent 
for,  lest  the  country  could  not  spare  him  from  his 
work.  Beautiful  self-sacrifice  of  woman  !  Heaven 
can  possess  nothing  more  angelic.  0  mother,  wife, 
and  loved  one,  know  thine  unlimited  powers,  and 
hold  them  forever  for  the  ennobling  of  men  ! 

When  Mrs.  Sumner  was  buried,  her  son  turned 
away  sorrowfully,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  have  now  no 
home."  He  had  a  house  in  Washington,  where  he 
had  lived  for  many  years,  but  it  was  only  home  to 
him  where  a  sweet-faced  and  sweet- voiced  woman 
loved  him. 

In  1869,  Mr.  Sumner  made  his  remarkable  speech 
on  the  "  Alabama  "  claims,  which  for  a  time  caused 
some  bitter  feeling  in  England.  This  vessel,  built 
at  Liverpool,  and  manned  by  a  British  crew,  was 
sent  out  by  the  Confederate  government,  and  de- 
stroyed sixty-six  of  our  vessels,  with  a  loss  of  ten 
million  dollars.  In  1864,  she  was  overtaken  in  the 
harbor  of  Cherbourg,  France,  by  Captain  Winslow, 
commander  of  the  steamer  Kearsarge,  and  sunk, 
after  an  hour's  desperate  fighting.  Her  com- 
mander, Captain  Raphael  Semmes,  was  picked  up 


UHAKLE8   SUMNEP.  303 

by  the  English  Deerhound,  and  taken  to  Southamp- 
ton. In  the  siimmer  of  1872,  a  board  of  arbitration 
met  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  and  awarded  the  Uni- 
ted States  over  fifteen  million  dollars  as  damages, 
which  Great  Britain  paid. 

On  May  12,  1870,  Mr.  Sumner  introduced  his 
supplementary  Civil-Rights  Bill,  declaring  that  all 
persons,  without  regard  to  race  or  color,  are  entitled 
to  equal  privileges  afforded  by  railroads,  steam- 
boats, hotels,  places  of  amusement,  institutions  of 
learning,  religion,  and  courts  of  law.  His  maxim 
was,  "  Equality  of  rights  is  the  first  of  rights." 

He  supported  Horace  Greeley  for  President,  thus 
separating  himself  from  the  Republican  party,  and 
carrying  out  his  life-long  opinion  that  principle  is 
above  party.  After  another  visit  to  Europe,  in 
1872,  when  he  was  sixty-one  years  old,  feeling  that, 
the  war  being  over  and  slavery  abolished,  the  two 
portions  of  the  country  should  forget  all  animosity 
and  live  together  in  harmony,  he  introduced  a  reso- 
lution in  the  Senate,  "That  the  names  of  battles 
with  fellow-citizens  shall  not  be  continued  in  the 
army  register  or  placed  on  the  regimental  colors  of 
the  United  States." 

Massachusetts  hastily  passed  a  vote  of  censure 
upon  her  idolized  statesman,  which  she  was  wise 
enough  to  rescind  soon  after.  This  latter  action 
gave  Mr.  Sumner  great  comfort.  He  said,  "  The 
dear  old  commonwealth  has  spoken  for  me,  and 
that  is  enough." 

In  his  freestone  house,  full  of  pictures  and  books, 


304  CHARLES  SUMMER. 

overlooking  Lafayette  Square  in  Washington,  on 
March  11,  1874,  Charles  Sumner  lay  dying.  The 
day  previous,  in  the  Senate,  he  had  complained  to  a 
friend  of  pain  in  the  left  side.  On  the  morning  of 
the  eleventh  he  was  cold  and  well  nigh  insensible. 
At  ten  o'clock  he  said  to  Judge  Hoar,  "  Don't  for- 
get my  Civil-Rights  Bill."  Later,  he  said,  "My 
book !  my  book  is  not  finished.  ...  I  am  so  tired ! 
I  am  so  tired ! " 

He  had  worked  long  and  hard.  He  passed  into 
the  rest  of  the  hereafter  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Grand,  heroic  soul !  whose  life  will  be 
an  inspiration  for  all  coming  time. 

The  body,  enclosed  in  a  massive  casket,  upon 
which  rested  a  wreath  of  white  azaleas  and  lilies, 
was  borne  to  the  Capitol,  followed  by  a  company 
of  three  hundred  colored  men  and  a  long  line  of 
carriages.  The  most  noticeable  among  the  floral 
gifts,  says  Elias  Nason,  in  his  Life  of  Sumner, 
"  was  a  broken  column  of  violets  and  white  azaleas, 
placed  there  by  the  hands  of  a  colored  girl.  She 
had  been  rendered  lame  by  being  thrust  from  the 
cars  of  a  railroad,  whose  charter  Mr.  Sumner,  after 
hearing  the  girl's  story,  by  a  resolution,  caused  to 
be  revoked."  From  there  it  was  carried  to  the 
State  House  in  Boston,  and  visited  by  at  least  fifty 
thousand  people.  In  the  midst  of  the  beautiful 
floral  decorations  was  a  large  heart  of  flowers,  from 
the  colored  citizens  of  Boston,  with  the  words, 
"  Charles  Sumner,  you  gave  us  your  life ;  we  give 
you  our  hearts." 


CHARLES  SUMNEB.  305 

Through  a  dense  crowd  the  coffin  was  borne  to 
Mount  Auburn  cemetery,  and  placed  in  the  open 
grave  just  as  the  sun  was  setting,  Longfellow, 
Holmes,  Emerson,  and  other  dear  friends  standing 
by.  The  grand  old  song  of  Luther  was  sung, 
"Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott."  Strange  con- 
trast !  the  quiet,  unknown  Harvard  law  student ;  — 
the  great  senator,  doctor  of  laws,  author,  and 
orator.  Simmer  had  his  share  of  sorrow.  He 
lived  to  see  seven  of  his  eight  brothers  and  sisters 
taken  away  by  death.  He  who  had  longed  for 
domestic  bliss  did  not  find  it.  He  married,  when 
he  was  fifty-five,  Mrs.  Alice  Mason  Hooper,  but 
the  companionship  did  not  prove  congenial,  and  a 
divorce  resulted,  by  mutual  consent. 

He  forgot  the  heart-hunger  of  his  early  years  in 
living  for  the  slaves  and  the  down-trodden,  whether 
white  or  black.  Through  all  his  struggles  he  kept 
a  sublime  hope.  He  used  to  say,  "  All  defeats  in  a 
good  cause  are  but  resting-places  on  the  road  to 
victory  at  last."  He  had  defeats,  as  do  all,  but  he 
won  the  victory. 

Well  says  Hon.  James  G.  Elaine,  in  his  "  Twenty 
Years  of  Congress,"  "Mr.  Sumner  must  ever  be  re- 
garded as  a  scholar,  an  orator,  a  philanthropist,  a 
philosopher,  a  statesman,  whose  splendid  and  un- 
sullied fame  will  always  form  part  of  the  true 
glory  of  the  nation." 

"  He  belongs  to  all  of  us,  in  the  North  and  in  the 
South,"  said  Hon.  Carl  Schurz,  in  his  eulogy  deliv- 
ered in  Music  Hall,  Boston,  "to  the  blacks  he 


306  CHARLES  SUMNER. 

helped  to  make  free,  and  to  the  whites  he  strove  to 
make  brothers  again.  On  the  grave  of  him  whom 
so  many  thought  to  be  their  enemy,  and  found  to 
be  their  friend,  let  the  hands  be  clasped  which  so 
bitterly  warred  against  each  other.  Upon  that 
grave  let  the  youth  of  America  be  taught,  by  the 
story  of  his  life,  that  not  only  genius,  power,  and 
success,  but,  more  than  these,  patriotic  devotion 
and  virtue,  make  the  greatness  of  the  citizen." 


U.   S.   GRANT. 


"HAT  Longfellow  wrote  of  Charles  Sumner 
may  well  be  applied  to  Grant :  — 

"Were  a  star  quenched  on  high, 

For  ages  would  its  light, 
Still  travelling  downward  from  the  sky, 
Shine  on  our  mortal  sight. 

"So  when  a  great  man  dies, 
For  years  beyond  our  ken 
The  light  he  leaves  behind  him  lies 
Upon  the  paths  of  men." 

The  light  left  by  General  Grant  will  not  fade  out 
from  American  history.  To  be  a  great  soldier  is 
of  course  to  be  immortal ;  but  to  be  magnanimous 
to  enemies,  heroic  in  affections,  a  master  of  self, 
without  vanity,  honest,  courageous,  true,  invin. 
cible,  —  such  greatness  is  far  above  the  glory  of 
battlefields.  Such  greatness  he  possessed,  who, 
born  in  comparative  obscurity,  came  to  be  num- 
bered in  that  famous  trio,  dear  to  every  American 
heart :  Washington,  Lincoln,  Grant. 

Ulysses  Simpson  Grant  was  born  April  27,  1822, 
in  a  log  house  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Ohio.  The  boy 
seems  to  have  had  the  blood  of  soldiers  in  his 
307 


308  &•    8.    GRANT. 

veins,  for  his  great-grandfather  and  great-uncle 
held  commissions  in  the  English  army  in  1756,  in 
the  war  against  the  French  and  Indians,  and  both 
were  killed.  His  grandfather  served  through  the 
entire  war  of  the  Revolution. 

His  father,  Jesse  R.  Grant,  left  dependent  upon 
himself,  learned  the  trade  of  a  tanner,  and  by  his 
industry  made  a  home  for  himself  and  family. 
Unable  to  attend  school  more  than  six  months  in 
his  life,  he  was  a  constant  reader,  and  through  his 
own  privations  became  the  more  anxious  that  his 
children  should  be  educated. 

Ulysses  was  the  first-born  child  of  Jesse  Grant 
and  Hannah  Simpson,  who  were  married  in  June, 
1821.  When  their  son  was  about  a  year  old,  they 
moved  to  Georgetown,  Ohio,  and  here  the  boy 
passed  a  happy  childhood,  learning  the  very  little 
which  the  schools  of  the  time  were  able  to  impart. 

He  was  not  fond  of  study,  and  enjoyed  the  more 
active  life  of  the  farm.  He  says  in  his  personal 
memoirs :  "  While  my  father  carried  on  the  manu- 
facture of  leather  and  worked  at  the  trade  himself, 
he  owned  and  tilled  considerable  land.  I  detested 
the  trade,  preferring  almost  any  other  labor;  but 
I  was  fond  of  agriculture,  and  of  all  employment  in 
which  horses  were  used.  We  had,  among  other 
lands,  fifty  acres  of  forest  within  a  mile  of  the 
village.  In  the  fall  of  the  year,  choppers  were 
employed  to  cut  enough  wood  to  last  a  twelve- 
month. When  I  was  seven  or  eight  years  of  age, 
I  began  hauling  all  the  wood  used  in  the  house 


U.    S.    GRANT.  309 

and  shops.  I  could  not  load  it  on  the  wagons,  of 
course,  at  that  time,  but  I  could  drive,  and  the 
choppers  would  load,  and  some  one  at  the  house 
unload.  When  about  eleven  years  old,  I  was  strong 
enough  to  hold  a  plough.  From  that  age  until 
seventeen  I  did  all  the  work  done  with  horses, 
such  as  breaking  up  the  land,  furrowing,  plough- 
ing corn  and  potatoes,  bringing  in  the  crops  when 
harvested,  hauling  all  the  wood,  besides  tending 
two  or  three  horses,  a  cow  or  two,  and  sawing 
wood  for  stoves,  etc.,  while  still  attending  school. 
For  this  I  was  compensated  by  the  fact  that  there 
never  was  any  scolding  or  punishing  by  my  parents ; 
no  objection  to  rational  enjoyments,  such  as  fish- 
ing, going  to  the  creek  a  mile  away  to  swim  in 
summer,  taking  a  horse  and  visiting  my  grand- 
parents in  the  adjoining  county,  fifteen  miles  off, 
skating  on  the  ice  in  winter,  or  taking  a  horse  and 
sleigh  when  there  was  snow  on  the  ground." 

The  indulgent  father  allowed  his  son  some  unique 
experiences.  Ulysses,  at  fifteen,  having  made  a 
journey  to  Flat  Rock,  Kentucky,  seventy  miles 
away,  with  a  carriage  and  two  horses,  took  a 
fancy  to  a  saddle-horse  and  offered  to  trade  one 
which  he  was  driving,  for  this  animal.  The  owner 
hesitated  about  trading  with  a  lad,  but  finally  con- 
sented, and  the  untried  colt  was  hitched  to  the 
carriage  with  his  new  mate.  After  proceeding  a 
short  distance,  the  animal  became  frightened  by  a 
dog,  kicked,  and  started  to  run  over  an  embank- 
ment. Ulysses,  nothing  daunted,  took  from  his 


310  U.    S.    GRANT. 

pocket  a  large  handkerchief,  tied  it  over  the  horse's 
eyes,  and  sure  that  the  terrified  creature  would  see 
no  more  dogs,  though  he  trembled  like  an  aspen 
leaf,  drove  peacefully  homeward. 

Young  Grant  was  as  truthful  as  he  was  calm 
and  courageous.  He  tells  this  story  of  himself. 
"There  was  a  Mr.  Ralston  living  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  village,  who  owned  a  colt  which  I 
very  much  wanted.  My  father  had  offered  twenty 
dollars  for  it,  but  Ralston  wanted  twenty-five.  I 
was  so  anxious  to  have  the  colt  that  after  the 
owner  left  I  begged  to  be  allowed  to  take  him  at 
the  price  demanded.  My  father  yielded,  but  said 
twenty  dollars  was  all  the  horse  was  worth,  and 
told  me  to  offer  that  price ;  if  it  was  not  accepted, 
I  was  to  offer  twenty-two  and  a  half,  and  if  that 
would  not  get  him,  to  give  the  twenty -five.  I  at 
once  mounted  a  horse  and  went  for  the  colt.  When 
I  got  to  Mr.  Ralston's  house,  I  said  to  him  :  '  Papa 
says  I  may  offer  you  twenty  dollars  for  the  colt ; 
but  if  you  won't  take  that,  I  am  to  offer  twenty-two 
and  a  half ;  and  if  you  won't  take  that,  to  give  you 
twenty-five.'  It  would  not  require  a  Connecticut 
man  to  guess  the  price  finally  agreed  upon.  .  .  . 

"  I  could  not  have  been  over  eight  years  at  the 
time.  This  transaction  caused  me  great  heart- 
burning. The  story  got  out  among  the  boys  of 
the  village,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  heard 
the  last  of  it.  Boys  enjoy  the  misery  of  their 
companions,  at  least  village  boys  in  that  day  did, 
and  in  later  life  I  have  found  that  all  adults  are 


[7.    5.    GRANT.  311 

not  free  from  the  peculiarity.  I  kept  the  horse 
until  he  was  four  years  old,  when  he  went  blind, 
and  I  sold  him  for  twenty  dollars.  When  I  went 
to  Maysville  to  school,  in  1836,  at  the  age  of  four- 
teen, I  recognized  my  colt  as  one  of  the  blind 
horses  working  on  the  tread-wheel  of  the  ferry- 
boat." 

All  this  time  the  father  was  desirous  of  an  edu- 
cation for  his  child.  The  son  of  a  neighbor  had 
been  appointed  to  West  Point,  and  had  failed  in 
his  examinations.  Mr.  Grant  applied  for  his  son. 
"  Ulysses,"  he  said  one  day,  "  I  believe  you  are 
going  to  receive  the  appointment."  "  What  ap- 
pointment !  "  was  the  response.  "  To  West  Point. 
I  have  applied  for  it."  "  But  I  won't  go,"  said  the 
impetuous  boy.  But  the  father's  will  was  law,  and 
the  son  began  to  prepare  himself.  He  bought  an 
algebra,  but,  having  no  teacher,  he  says,  it  was 
Greek  to  him.  He  had  no  love  for  a  military  life, 
and  looked  forward  to  the  West  Point  experience 
only  as  a  new  opportunity  to  travel  East  and  see 
the  country. 

At  seventeen  he  took  passage  on  a  steamer  for 
Pittsburg,  in  the  middle  of  May,  1839.  Fortunately 
the  accommodating  boat  remained  for  several  days 
at  every  port,  for  passengers  or  freight,  and  mean- 
time the  curious  boy  used  his  eyes  to  learn  all  that 
was  possible.  When  he  reached  Harrisburg,  he 
rode  to  Philadelphia  on  the  first  railroad  which  he 
had  ever  seen  except  the  one  on  which  he  had  just 
crossed  the  summit  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 


312  U-    8.    GRANT. 

"In  travelling  by  the  road  from  Harrisburg,"  he 
says,  "  I  thought  the  perfection  of  rapid  transit  had 
been  reached.  We  travelled  at  least  eighteen  miles 
an  hour,  when  at  full  speed,  and  made  the  whole 
distance  averaging  probably  as  much  as  twelve 
miles  an  hour.  This  seemed  like  .annihilating 
space.  I  stopped  five  days  in  Philadelphia;  saw 
about  every  street  in  the  city,  attended  the  theatre, 
visited  Girard  College  (which  was  then  in  course  of 
construction),  and  got  reprimanded  from  home 
afterwards,  for  dallying  by  the  way  so  long.  .  . 

"  I  reported  at  West  Point  on  the  30th  or  31st 
of  May,  and  about  two  weeks  later  passed  my 
examinations  for  admission,  without  difficulty,  ver}r 
much  to  my  surprise.  A  military  life  had  no 
charms  for  me,  and  I  had  not  the  faintest  idea 
of  staying  in  the  army  even  if  I  should  be  gradu- 
ated, which  I  did  not  expect.  The  encampment 
which  preceded  the  commencement  of  academic 
studies  was  very  wearisome  and  uninteresting. 
When  the  28th  of  August  came  —  the  date  for 
breaking  up  camp  and  going  into  barracks  —  I  felt 
as  though  1  had  been  at  West  Point  always,  and 
that  if  I  stayed  to  graduation  I  would  have  to 
remain  always.  I  did  not  take  hold  of  my  studies 
with  avidity,  in  fact  I  rarely  ever  read  over  a  les- 
son the  second  time  during  my  entire  cadetship. 
I  could  not  sit  in  my  room  doing  nothing.  There 
is  a  fine  library  connected  with  the  academy,  from 
which  cadets  can  get  books  to  read  in  their  quar- 
ters. I  devoted  more  time  to  these  than  to  books 


U.   S.   GRANT.   .  313 

relating  to  the  course  of  studies.  Much  of  the 
time,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  was  devoted  to  novels,  but 
not  those  of  a  trashy  sort.  I  read  all  of  Bulwer's 
then  published,  Cooper's,  Marryat's,  Scott's,  Wash- 
ington Irving's  works,  Lever's,  and  many  others 
that  I  do  not  now  remember.  Mathematics  was 
very  easy  to  me,  so  that  when  January  came  I 
passed  the  examination,  taking  a  good  standing  in 
that  branch.  In  French,  the  only  other  study  at 
that  time  in  the  first  year's  course,  my  standing 
was  very  low.  In  fact,  if  the  class  had  been  turned 
the  other  end  foremost,  I  should  have  been  near 
the  head." 

The  years  at  West  Point  did  not  go  by  quickly  ; 
only  the  ten  weeks  of  vacation  which  seemed  shorter 
than  one  week  in  school.  Sometimes  at  the  acad- 
emy a  great  general,  like  Winfield  Scott,  came  to 
review  the  cadets.  "  With  his  commanding  figure," 
says  young  Grant,  "his  quite  colossal  size,  and 
showy  uniform,  I  thought  him  the  finest  specimen 
of  manhood  my  eyes  had  ever  beheld,  and  the  most 
to  be  envied.  I  could  never  resemble  him  in  ap- 
pearance, but  I  believe  I  did  have  a  presentiment, 
for  a  moment,  that  some  day  I  should  occupy  his 
place  on  review  —  although  I  had  no  intention  then 
of  remaining  in  the  army.  My  experience  in  a 
horse  trade  ten  years  before,  and  the  ridicule  it 
caused  me,  were  too  fresh  in  my  mind  for  me  to 
communicate  this  presentiment  to  even  my  most 
intimate  chum."  How  often  into  lives  there 
comes  a  feeling  that  there  is  a  specified  work  to 


314  U.   S.   GRANT. 

be  done  by  us  that  no  other  person  can  or  will 
ever  do ! 

When  the  years  were  over  at  West  Point,  each 
"four  times  as  long  as  Ohio  years,"  young  Grant 
was  anxious  to  enter  the  cavalry,  especially  as  he 
had  suffered  from  a  cough  for  six  months,  and  his 
family  feared  consumption.  Having  gone  home, 
he  waited  anxiously  for  his  new  uniform.  "  I  was 
impatient,"  he  says,  "  to  get  on  my  uniform  and 
see  how  it  looked,  and  probably  wanted  my  old 
school-mates,  particularly  the  girls,  to  see  me  in 
it.  The  conceit  was  knocked  out  of  me  by  two 
little  circumstances  that  happened  soon  alter  the 
arrival  of  the  clothes,  which  gave  me  a  distaste 
for  military  uniform  that  I  never  recovered  from. 
Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  suit  I  donned  it,  and 
put  off  for  Cincinnati  on  horseback.  While  I  was 
riding  along  a  street  of  that  city,  imagining  that 
every  one  was  looking  at  me  with  a  feeling  akin 
to  mine  when  I  first  saw  General  Scott,  a  little 
urchin,  bareheaded,  barefooted,  with  dirty  and 
ragged  pants  held  up  by  a  single  gallows  —  that's 
what  suspenders  were  called  then  —  and  a  shirt  that 
had  not  seen  a  washtub  for  weeks,  turned  to  me 
and  cried :  <  Soldier,  will  you  work  ?  No  sir-ee  ; 
I'll  sell  my  shirt  first ! '  The  horse  trade  and  its 
dire  consequences  were  recalled  to  mind. 

"  The  other  circumstance  occurred  at  home. 
Opposite  our  house  in  Bethel  stood  the  old  stage 
tavern  where  'man  and  beast'  found  accommoda- 
tion. The  stable-man  was  rather  dissipated,  but 


U.    S.    GRANT.  315 

possessed  of  some  humor.  On  my  return,  I  found 
him  parading  the  streets,  and  attending  in  the 
stable,  barefooted,  but  in  a  pair  of  sky-blue  nan- 
keen pantaloons  —  justr  the  color  of  my  uniform 
trousers  —  with  a  strip  of  white  cotton  sheeting 
sewed  down  the  outside  seams  in  imitation  of  mine. 
The  joke  was  a  huge  one  in  the  minds  of  many  of 
the  people,  and  was  much  enjoyed  by  them  ;  but  I 
did  not  appreciate  it  so  highly." 

In  September,  1843,  Grant  reported  for  duty  at 
Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  the  largest  military 
post  in  the  United  States  at  that  time.  His  hope 
was  to  become  assistant  professor  of  mathematics 
at  West  Point,  and  he  would  have  been  appointed 
had  not  the  Mexican  War  begun  soon  after. 

A  new  page  was  now  to  be  turned  in  the  event- 
ful life  of  the  young  officer ;  when  he  was  to  have, 
as  Emerson  beautifully  says  of  love,  "  the  visita- 
tion of  that  power  to  his  heart  and  brain  which 
created  all  things  anew ;  which  was  the  dawn  in 
him  of  music,  poetry,  and  art ;  which  made  the 
face  of  nature  radiant  with  purple  light ;  the  morn- 
ing and  the  night  varied  enchantments ;  when  a 
single  tone  of  one  voice  could  make  the  heart  bound, 
and  the  most  trivial  circumstance  associated  with 
one  form  is  put  in  the  amber  of  memory ;  when  he 
became  all  eye  when  one  was  present,  and  all  mem- 
ory when  one  was  gone ;  .  .  .  when  the  moonlight 
was  a  pleasing  fever,  and  the  stars  were  letters, 
and  the  flowers  ciphers,  and  the  air  was  coined 
into  song;  when  all  business  seemed  an  imperti- 


316  U.    S.    GRANT. 

nence,  and  all  the  men  and  women  running  to  and 
fro  in  the  streets  were  pictures." 

At  West  Point,  Grant's  class-mate  was  F.  T. 
Dent,  whose  family  resided  five  miles  west  of  Jef- 
ferson Barracks.  "  Two  of  his  unmarried  broth- 
ers," says  Grant,  "were  living  at  home  at  that 
time,  and,  as  I  had  taken  with  me  from  Ohio  my 
horse,  saddle,  and  bridle,  I  soon  found  my  way  out 
to  White  Haven,  the  name  of  the  Dent  estate. 
As  I  found  the  family  congenial,  my  visits  became 
frequent.  There  were  at  home,  besides  the  young 
men,  two  daughters,  one  a  school  miss  of  fifteen, 
the  other  a  girl  of  eight  or  nine.  There  was  still 
an  older  daughter,  of  seventeen,  who  had  been 
spending  several  years  at  boarding-school  in  St. 
Louis,  but  who,  though  through  school,  had  not 
yet  returned  home.  ...  In  February  she  returned 
to  her  country  home.  After  that  I  do  not  know 
but  my  visits  became  more  frequent ;  they  cer- 
tainly did  become  more  enjoyable.  We  would  of- 
ten take  walks,  or  go  on  horseback  together  to 
visit  the  neighbors,  until  I  became  quite  well 
acquainted  in  that  vicinity.  ...  If  the  fourth  in- 
fantry had  remained  at  Jefferson  Barracks  it  is 
possible,  even  probable,  that  this  life  might  have 
continued  for  some  years  without  my  finding  out 
that  there  was  anything  serious  the  matter  with 
me ;  but  in  the  following  May  a  circumstance  oc- 
curred which  developed  my  sentiment  so  palpably 
that  there  was  no  mistaking  it." 

This    "circumstance"    was    the    annexation    of 


U.    S.    GEANT.  317 

Texas,  the  probability  of  a  war  with  Mexico,  and 
the  necessity  of  leaving  Jefferson  Barracks  for  the 
Texan  frontier.  Alas  !  now  that  days  full  of  hope, 
and  the  sweet  realization  of  a  divine  companion- 
ship had  come,  they  must  have  sudden  ending. 
Grant  took  a  brief  furlough,  went  to  say  good-bye 
to  his  father  and  mother,  and  then  to  White  Haven 
to  see  Julia  Dent.  In  crossing  a  swollen  stream, 
his  uniform  was  wet  through,  but  he  donned  the 
suit  of  a  future  brother-in-law,  and  appeared  be- 
fore his  beloved  to  ask  her  hand  in  marriage,  to 
receive  her  acceptance,  and  then  to  hasten  to  the 
scene  of  action.  He  saw  her  but  once  in  the  next 
four  years  and  three  months ;  four  anxious  years  to 
her,  when  death  often  stared  her  lover  in  the  face. 
As  soon  as  Texas  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  in 
1845,  the  "  army  of  occupation,"  as  the  three  thou- 
sand men  under  General  Zachary  Taylor  were 
called,  advanced  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  built  a  fort. 
When  the  first  hostile  gun  was  fired,  Grant  says, 
"  I  felt  sorry  that  I  had  enlisted.  A  great  many 
men,  when  they  smell  battle  afar  off,  chafe  to  get 
into  the  fray.  When  they  say  so  themselves,  they 
generally  fail  to  convince  their  hearers  that  they 
are  as  anxious  as  they  would  like  to  make  believe, 
and  as  they  approach  danger  they  become  more 
subdued.  This  rule  is  not  universal,  for  I  have 
known  a  few  men  who  were  always  aching  for  a 
fight  when  there  was  no  enemy  near,  who  were  as 
good  as  their  word  when  the  battle  did  come  on. 
But  the  number  of  such  men  is  small." 


U.   S.    GRANT. 

The  first  battle  was  at  Palo  Alto,  meaning  "tall 
trees  or  woods,"  six  miles  from  the  Rio  Grande. 
Early  in  the  forenoon  of  May  8,  Taylor's  three 
thousand  men  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle, 
opposed  by  superior  numbers.  The  infantry  was 
armed  with  flintlock  muskets  and  paper  cartridges 
charged  with  powder,  buckshot,  and  ball.  "  At 
the  distance  of  a  few  hundred  yards,"  says  Grant, 
"  a  man  might  fire  at  you  all  day  without  your  find- 
ing it  out."  The  artillery  consisted  of  two  batteries 
and  two  eighteen-pounder  iron  guns,  with  three  or 
four  twelve-pounder  howitzers  throwing  shell.  The 
firing  was  brisk  on  both  sides.  One  cannon-ball 
passed  near  Grant,  killing  several  of  his  compan- 
ions. After  a  hard  day's  fight,  the  enemy  retreated 
in  the  night.  The  war  had  now  begun  in  earnest, 
and  the  man  who  at  the  first  hostile  gun  "felt 
sorry  that  he  had  enlisted "  was  ready  to  brave 
danger  on  any  field. 

In  the  hard-fought  battle  of  Monterey,  between 
sixty-five  hundred  men  under  Taylor  and  ten  thou- 
sand Mexicans,  Grant's  curiosity  got  the  better  of 
his  judgment,  and,  leaving  the  camp,  where  he  had 
been  ordered  to  remain,  he  mounted  a  horse  and 
rode  to  the  front.  He  made  the  charge  with  the 
men,  when  about  a  third  of  their  number  were 
killed.  He  loaned  his  horse  to  the  adjutant  of  the 
regiment,  Lieutenant  Hoskins,  who  was  soon  killed, 
and  Grant  was  designated  to  act  in  his  place. 

The  ammunition  became  low,  and  to  return  for  it 
was  so  dangerous  that  the  general  commanding  did 


U.   S.    GRANT.  319 

not  like  to  order  any  one  to  fetch  it,  so  called  for  a 
volunteer.  Grant  modestly  says,  "  I  volunteered 
to  go  back  to  the  point  we  had  started  from.  .  .  . 
My  ride  back  was  an  exposed  one.  Before  starting, 
I  adjusted  myself  on  the  side  of  my  horse  furthest 
from  the  enemy,  and  with  only  one  foot  holding  to 
the  cantle  of  the  saddle,  and  an  arm  over  the  neck 
of  the  horse  exposed,  I  started  at  full  run.  It  was 
only  at  street-crossings  that  my  horse  was  under 
fire,  but  these  I  crossed  at  such  a  flying  rate  that 
generally  I  was  past  and  under  cover  of  the  next 
block  of  houses  before  the  enemy  fired.  I  got  out 
safely,  without  a  scratch." 

When  Monterey  was  conquered,  and  the  garrison 
marched  out  as  prisoners,  young  Grant  was  moved 
to  pity,  as  he  says  in  his  Memoirs,  thus  showing  a 
gentle  nature,  which  he  bore  years  later  when  thou- 
sands were  falling  around  him,  and  he  was  still 
obliged  to  say,  "Forward." 

After  the  capture  of  Vera  Cruz  and  the  surprise 
at  Cerro  Gordo,  where  three  thousand  Mexicans 
were  made  prisoners,  the  army  advanced  toward  the 
City  of  Mexico.  Between  three  and  four  miles 
from  the  city  stood  Molino  del  Rey,  the  "mill  of 
the  King,"  an  old  stone  structure,  one  story  high, 
flat-roofed,  and  several  hundred  feet  long.  Sand- 
bags were  laid  along  the  roof,  and  good  marksmen 
fought  behind  them.  Near  by  was  Chepultepec, 
three  hundred  feet  high,  fortified  on  the  top  and  on 
its  rocky  sides.  From  the  front,  guns  swept  the 
approach  to  Molino.  Yet,  on  the  morning  of  Sep- 


320  V.    S.    GRANT. 

tember  8,  the  assault  upon  Molino  was  made,  young 
Grant  being  among  the  foremost.  The  loss  was 
severe,  especially  among  commissioned  officers. 

Grant  says,  "I  was  with  the  earliest  of  the 
troops  to  enter  the  mills.  In  passing  through  to 
the  north  side,  looking  toward  Chepultepec,  I  hap- 
pened to  notice  that  there  were  armed  Mexicans 
still  on  top  of  the  building,  only  a  few  feet  from 
many  of  our  men.  Xot  seeing  any  stairway  or  lad- 
der reaching  to  the  top  of  the  building,  I  took  a 
few  soldiers,  and  had  a  cart  that  happened  to  be 
standing  near  brought  up,  and,  placing  the  shafts 
against  the  wall,  and  chocking  the  wheels  so  that 
the  cart  could  not  back,  used  the  shafts  as  a  sort  of 
ladder,  extending  to  within  three  or  four  feet  of 
the  top.  By  this  I  climbed  to  the  roof  of  the 
building,  followed  by  a  few  men,  but  found  a  pri- 
vate soldier  had  preceded  me  by  some  other  way. 
There  were  still  quite  a  number  of  Mexicans  on 
the  roof,  among  them  a  major  and  five  or  six  offi- 
cers of  lower  grades,  who  had  not  succeeded  in 
getting  away  before  our  troops  occupied  the  build- 
ing. They  still  had  their  arms,  while  the  soldier 
before  mentioned  was  walking  as  sentry,  guarding 
the  prisoners  he  had  surrounded,  all  by  himself.  I 
halted  the  sentinel,  received  the  swords  from  the 
commissioned  officers,  and  proceeded,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  soldiers  now  with  me,  to  disable 
the  muskets  by  striking  them  against  the  edge 
of  the  wall,  and  throwing  them  to  the  ground 
below." 


U.    S.    GRANT.  321 

Five  days  after  the  fall  of  Molino.  Chepultepec 
was  taken,  with  severe  loss.  Grant  was  mentioned 
in  the  official  report  as  having  "  behaved  with  dis- 
tinguished gallantly."  Just  before  the  City  of 
Mexico  fell  into  our  hands,  Grant  was  made  first 
lieutenant.  Promotion  had  not  come  rapidly.  It 
is  sometimes  better  if  success  does  not  come  to  us 
early  in  life.  To  learn  how  to  work  steadily,  day 
after  day,  with  an  unalterable  purpose  ;  to  learn 
how  to  concentrate  thought  and  will-power,  how  to 
conquer  self  through  failure  and  hope  deferred,  is 
often  essential  for  him  who  is  to  govern  either  by 
physical  or  moral  power. 

After  Mexico  fell,  and  General  Scott  lived  in  the 
halls  of  the  Montezumas,  he  controlled  the  city  as 
a  Havelock  or  a  Gordon  might  have  done;  and 
Grant  learned  by  observation  the  best  of  all  les- 
sons for  a  soldier,  to  be  magnanimous  to  a  fallen 
foe.  He  learned  other  valuable  lessons  in  this 
war;  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  officers  with 
whom  he  was  to  measure  his  strength,  in  the 
most  stupendous  war  of  modern  times,  twenty 
years  later. 

When  the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  between 
our  country  and  Mexico,  February  2, 1848,  whereby 
we  paid  fifteen  million  dollars  for  the  territory 
ceded  to  us,  Grant  obtained  leave  of  absence  for 
four  months.  One  person  must  have  been  inex- 
pressibly thankful  that  his  life  had  been  spared. 
Four  years,  and  she  had  seen  him  but  once  !  How 
noble  we  often  become  by  the  mellowing  power  of 


322  U.   S.    GRANT. 

circumstances  which  prevent  our  having  our  own 
way  !  Discipline  may  be  only  another  word  for 
achievement. 

U.  S.  Grant  and  Julia  Dent  were  married  August 
22,  1848,  when  he  was  twenty-six,  and  began  a  life 
of  affection  and  helpfulness,  which  grew  brighter  till 
the  end  came  on  Mt.  McGregor.  There  was  reason 
why  the  affection  lasted  through  all  the  years  ;  in 
the  best  sense  they  lived  for  each  other.  Those 
who  find  their  happiness  outside  the  home  are  apt 
to  find  little  inside  the  home.  Devotion  begets  de- 
votion, and  men  and  women  must  expect  to  receive 
only  what  they  give.  Affection  scattered  produces 
a  scanty  harvest. 

The  winter  of  1848  was  spent  at  the  post  at 
Sackett's  Harbor,  New  York;  the  next  two  years 
at  Detroit,  Michigan.  In  1852,  Grant  was  ordered 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  And  now  the  young  husband 
and  wife  must  be  separated  ;  she  to  go  to  her  home 
in  St.  Louis,  and  he  to  the  then  unsettled  West. 
When  Aspinwall  was  reached  the  streets  of  the  town 
were  a  foot  under  water,  in  a  blazing,  tropical  sun. 
Cholera  broke  out  among  the  troops,  as  it  had 
among  the  inhabitants,  and  a  third  of  the  people 
died.  The  crossing  of  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  on 
the  backs  of  mules,  was  tedious  and  trying.  San 
Francisco  was  reached  early  in  September.  The 
gold-mining  fever  was  at  its  height.  Soon  the 
troops  passed  up  to  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia 
River,  and  a  quiet  and  dull  life  began.  Measles 
and  small-pox  were  killing  the  Indians  so  rapidly 


U.    S.   GRANT.  323 

that  the  gun  of  the  white  man  was  superfluous  as 
an  agent  of  destruction. 

In  1854,  six  years  after  Grant's  marriage,  de- 
spairing of  supporting  his  wife  and  two  children  on 
the  Pacific  coast  with  his  pay  as  an  army  officer, 
he  resigned.  His  prospects  now  were  not  bright. 
Without  a  profession,  save  that  of  arms,  he  was  to 
begin,  at  thirty-two,  a  struggle  for  support,  which 
must  have  tested  the  affection  of  the  woman  who 
married  the  young  officer  in  her  hopeful  girlhood. 
She  owned  a  farm  in  St.  Louis,  and  thither  they 
moved  as  their  home.  He  says  of  the  farm  :  "  I 
had  no  means  to  stock  it.  A  house  had  to  be 
built  also.  I  worked  very  hard,  never  losing  a  day 
because  of  bad  weather^  and  accomplished  the 
object  in  a  moderate  way.  If  nothing  else  could 
be  done,  I  would  load  a  cord  of  wood  on  a  wagon 
and  take  it  to  the  city  for  sale.  I  managed  to 
keep  along  very  well  until  1858,  when  I  was 
attacked  by  fever  and  ague.  I  had  suffered  very 
severely  and  for  a  long  time  from  this  disease 
while  a  boy  in  Ohio.  It  lasted  now  over  a  year, 
and,  while  it  did  not  keep  me  in  the  house,  it  did 
interfere  greatly  with  the  amount  of  work  I  was 
able  to  perform.  In  the  fall  of  1858  I  sold  out  my 
stock,  crops,  and  farming  utensils  at  auction,  and 
gave  up  farming." 

Four  years  of  struggling  had  not  paid  pecuni- 
arily. Poverty  is  not  a  pleasant  school  in  which 
to  be  nurtured.  Blessings  upon  those  who  do  not 
grow  harsh  or  discontented  Avith  its  bitter  lessons. 


324  V-   S.   GRANT. 

To  keep  sunshine  in  the  face  when  want  knocks  at 
the  heart  is  to  win  the  victory  in  a  dreadful  battle. 
And  yet  many  are  able  to  accomplish  this,  and 
brighten  with  their  happy  faces  lives  more  pros- 
perous than  their  own. 

In  the  winter  of  1858  Captain  Grant  established 
a  partnership  with  a  cousin  of  his  wife  in  the  real 
estate  business.  Again  separation  came.  The 
little  family  were  left  on  the  farm  while  the 
father  tried  another  method  of  earning  a  living  for 
them.  "  Our  business,"  he  says,  "  might  have 
become  prosperous  if  I  had  been  able  to  wait  for 
it  to  grow.  As  it  was,  there  was  no  more  than  one 
person  could  attend  to,  and  not  enough  to  support 
two  families.  While  a  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  and 
engaged  in  the  real  estate  agency  business,  I  was  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  county  engineer,  an 
office  of  respectability  and  emolument  which  would 
have  been  very  acceptable  to  me  at  that  time. 
The  incumbent  was  appointed  by  the  county  court, 
which  consisted  of  five  members.  My  opponent 
had  the  advantage  of  birth  over  me  (he  was  a  citi- 
zen by  adoption),  and  carried  off  the  prize.  I  now 
withdrew  from  the  co-partnership  with  Boggs,  and, 
in  May,  1860,  removed  to  Galena.  Illinois,  and  took 
a  clerkship  in  my  father's  store." 

He  was  once  more  in  the  tannery  business,  which 
he  had  so  hated  when  a  boy.  It  is  well  that  men 
and  women  are  spurred  to  duty  because  somebody 
depends  upon  them  for  daily  food,  otherwise  this 
life  of  often  uncongenial  labor  would  be  unbear- 


U.    S.    GRANT.  325 

able.  We  rarely  do  what  we  like  to  do  in  this 
world  ;  —  we  do  what  the  merciless  goad  of  circum- 
stance forces  us  to  do.  He  is  wise  who  goes  to  his 
work  with  a  smile. 

The  year  1860  opened  upon  a  new  era  in  this 
country.  Slavery  and  anti-slavery  had  struggled 
together  till  the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to 
the  presidency  told  that  the  decisive  hour  had 
come.  The  nation  could  no  longer  exist  "  half 
slave  and  half  free." 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated,  March  4, 
1861,  the  Southern  States  seceded,  one  after 
another,  until  eleven  had  separated  from  the 
Union.  Most  of  the  Southern  forts  were  already 
in  the  hands  of  the  Confederates.  Fort  Sumter,  in 
the  harbor  of  Charleston,  still  remained  under  the 
control  of  the  Union.  While  besieged  by  the 
South,  an  effort  was  made  to  send  supplies  to  our 
starving  garrison.  The  fort  was  fired  upon  April 
11,  1861,  and  that  shot,  like  the  one  at  Concord, 
was  "  heard  round  the  world." 

From  that  hour  slavery  was  doomed.  The  Pres- 
ident issued  his  first  call  for  seventy-five  thousand 
volunteers  for  ninety  days.  The  North  and  West 
seemed  to  respond  as  one  man.  The  intense  ex- 
citement reached  the  little  town  of  Galena.  The 
citizens  were  at  once  called  together.  Business 
was  suspended.  In  the  evening  the  court-house 
was  packed.  Captain  Grant  was  asked  to  conduct 
the  meeting.  The  people  naturally  turned  to  one 
who  understood  battles,  when  they  saw  war  close  at 


326  U.    S.    GRANT. 

hand.  With  much  embarrassment  Grant  presided. 
The  leather  business  was  finished  for  him  from  that 
eventful  night.  The  women  of  Galena  were  as 
deeply  interested  as  the  men.  They  came  to  Grant 
to  obtain  a  description  of  the  United  States  uni- 
form for  infantry,  subscribed  and  bought  the  mate- 
rial, procured  tailors  to  cut  the  garments,  and 
made  them  with  their  own  willing  hands.  More 
and  more,  with  their  superior  education,  women 
are  to  play  an  important  part  in  this  country,  both 
in  peace  and  war. 

Captain  Grant  was  now  asked  by  Governor  Yates, 
of  Illinois,  to  go  into  the  adjutant-general's  office, 
and  render  such  assistance  as  he  could,  which  posi- 
tion he  accepted,  but  he  modestly  says,  "  I  was  no 
clerk,  nor  had  I  any  capacity  to  become  one.  The 
only  place  I  ever  found  in  my  life  to  put  a  paper 
so  as  to  find  it  again  was  either  a  side  coat-pocket 
or  the  hands  of  a  clerk  or  secretary  more  careful 
than  myself.  But  I  had  been  quartermaster,  com- 
missary, and  adjutant  in  the  field.  The  army  forms 
were  familiar  to  me,  and  I  could  direct  how  they 
should  be  made  out." 

Though  a  man  of  few  words,  those  few  could  be 
effective  if  Grant  chose  to  use  them.  Meeting  in 
St.  Louis,  in  a  street-car,  a  young  braggart,  who 
said  to  him,  "  Where  I  came  from,  if  a  man  dares 
to  say  a  word  in  favor  of  the  Union  we  hang  him 
to  a  limb  of  the  first  tree  we  come  to,"  Grant 
replied,  "  We  are  not  so  intolerant  in  St.  Louis  as  we 
might  be.  I  have  not  seen  a  single  rebel  hung  yet, 


U.    S.    GRANT.  327 

nor  heard  of  one.  There  are  plenty  of  them  who 
ought  to  be,  however."  The  young  man  did  not  con- 
tinue the  conversation.  In  May,  1861,  Grant  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army  at 
Washington,  saying  that,  as  he  had  been  in  the  reg- 
ular army  for  fifteen  years,  and  educated  at  govern- 
ment expense,  he  tendered  his  services  for  the  war. 
No  notice  was  ever  taken  of  the  letter,  and,  of 
course,  no  answer  was  returned.  Soon  after  he 
spent  a  week  with  his  parents,  in  Covington,  Ken- 
tucky. Twice  he  called  upon  Major-General  Mc- 
Clellan,  at  Cincinnati,  just  across  the  river,  whom 
he  had  known  slightly  in  the  Mexican  War,  with 
the  hope  that  he  would  be  offered  a  position  on  his 
staff.  But  he  failed  to  see  the  general,  and  re- 
turned to  Illinois.  He  was  not  to  serve  under  Mc- 
Clellan.  A  different  destiny  awaited  him. 

President  Lincoln  now  called  for  three  hundred 
thousand  men  to  enlist  for  three  years  or  the  war. 
Governor  Yates  appointed  Grant  colonel  of  the 
Twenty-First  Illinois  regiment.  Another  separa- 
tion from  wife  and  children  had  come  ;  the  begin- 
ning of  a  great  career  had  come  also.  The  regiment 
repaired  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  and,  after  some  time 
spent  in  drill,  was  ordered  to  move  against  Colonel 
Thomas  Harris,  encamped  at  the  little  town  of 
Florida.  There  was  no  bravado  in  the  man  who 
had  fought  so  bravely  in  all  the  battles  of  the  Mex- 
ican War.  He  says  :  "  As  we  approached  the  brow 
of  the  hill  from  which  it  was  expected  we  could 
see  Harris'  camp,  and  possibly  find  his  men  ready 


328  U.    S.    GRANT. 

formed  to  meet  us,  my  heart  kept  getting  higher 
and  higher  until  it  felt  to  me  as  though  it  was  in 
my  throat.  I  would  have  given  anything  then  to 
have  been  back  in  Illinois,  but  I  had  not  the  moral 
courage  to  halt  and  consider  what  to  do ;  I  kept 
right  on.  When  we  reached  a  point  from  which 
the  valley  below  was  in  full  view,  I  halted.  The 
place  where  Harris  had  been  encamped  a  few  days 
before  was  still  there,  and  the  marks  of  a  recent 
encampment  were  plainly  visible,  but  the  troops 
were  gone.  My  heart  resumed  its  place.  It  oc- 
curred to  me  at  once  that  Harris  had  been  as  much 
afraid  of  me  as  I  had  been  of  him.  This  was  a 
view  of  the  question  I  had  never  taken  before,  but 
it  was  one  I  never  forgot  afterwards.  From  that 
event  to  the  close  of  the  war,  I  never  experienced 
trepidation  upon  confronting  an  enemy,  though  I 
always  felt  more  or  less  anxiety.  I  never  forgot 
that  he  had  as  much  reason  to  fear  my  forces  as  I 
had  his.  The  lesson  was  valuable." 

Soon  after  this  Lincoln  asked  the  Illinois  delega- 
tion in  Congress  to  recommend  some  citizens  of 
the  State  for  the  position  of  brigadier-general,  and 
Grant,  to  his  great  surprise,  was  recommended  first 
on  a  list  of  seven.  After  his  appointment  he  spent 
several  weeks  in  Missouri,  whither  he  had  been 
ordered.  His  first  battle  was  at  Belmont,  where, 
in  a  severe  engagement  of  four  hours,  the  loss  on 
our  side  was  485,  and  the  Confederate  loss  642. 
Grant's  horse  was  shot  under  him.  After  the  bat- 
tle the  Confederates  received  reinforcements,  and 


U.    S.    GRANT.  329 

there  was  danger  that  our  men  could  not  return  to 
the  transports  on  which  they  had  come  to  Belmont. 
"We  are  surrounded,"  they  cried. 

"  Well,"  said  their  cool  leader,  "  if  that  be  so, 
we  must  cut  our  way  out  as  we  cut  our  way  in  ;  " 
and  so  they  did. 

Grant,  meantime,  rode  out  into  a  cornfield  alone 
to  observe  the  enemy.  While  there,  as  he  after- 
wards learned,  the  Southern  General  Polk  and  one 
of  his  staff  saw  the  Union  soldier,  and  said  to  their 
men,  "  There  is  a  Yankee  ;  you  may  try  your  marks- 
manship on  him  if  you  wish ; "  but,  strangely 
enough,  nobody  fired,  and  Grant's  valuable  life  was 
spared. 

He  soon  perceived  that  he  was  the  only  man 
between  the  Confederates  and  the  boats.  His 
horse  seemed  to  realize  the  situation.  Grant  says  : 
"There  was  no  path  down  the  bank,  and  every  one 
acquainted  with  the  Mississippi  Elver  knows  that 
its  banks,  in  a  natural  state,  do  not  vary  at  any 
great  angle  from  the  perpendicular.  My  horse  put 
his  fore  feet  over  the  bank  without  hesitation  or 
urging,  and,  with  his  hind  feet  well  under  him, 
slid  down  the  bank  and  trotted  aboard  the  boat, 
twelve  or  fifteen  feet  away,  over  a  single  gang- 
plank. I  dismounted  and  went  at  once  to  the 
upper  deck.  .  .  .  When  I  first  went  on  deck  I 
entered  the  captain's  room,  adjoining  the  pilot- 
house, and  threw  myself  on  a  sofa.  I  did  not 
keep  that  position  a  moment,  but  rose  to  go  out  on 
the  deck  to  observe  what  was  going  on.  I  had 


330  U.    S.   GRANT. 

scarcely  left  when  a  musket-ball  entered  the  room, 
struck  the  head  of  the  sofa,  passed  through  it,  and 
lodged  in  the  boat/'  Thus  again  was  his  life 
saved. 

Until  February  of  the  following  year,  1862,  little 
was  done  by  the  troops,  except  to  become  ready 
for  the  great  work  before  them.  The  enemy  occu- 
pied strong  points  on  the  Tennessee  and  Cumber- 
land rivers,  at  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  points 
as  essential  to  us  as  to  them.  These  Grant  deter- 
mined to  take,  if  possible.  Truly  said  President 
Lincoln,  "  Wherever  Grant  is  things  move.  I  have 
noticed  that  from  the  beginning." 

On  February  2  the  expedition  started  against 
Fort  Henry,  with  about  seventeen  thousand  men. 
Several  gun-boats,  under  Commodore  Foote,  accom- 
panied the  army.  At  a  given  hour  the  troops  and 
gun-boats  moved  together,  the  one  to  invest  the 
garrison,  the  other  to  attack  the  fort.  After  a  severe 
fight  of  an  hour  and  a  half  every  gun  was  silenced. 
General  Lloyd  Tilghman  surrendered,  with  his 
seventeen  heavy  guns,  ammunition,  and  stores. 

Fort  Donelson  must  now  be  taken,  strongly  for- 
tified as  it  was.  It  stood  on  high  ground,  with 
rifle-pits  running  back  two  miles  from  the  river, 
and  was  defended  by  fifteen  heavy  guns,  two  car- 
ronades,  and  sixty -five  pieces  of  artillery.  Outside 
the  rifle-pits,  trees  had  been  felled,  so  that  the  tops 
lay  toward  the  attacking  army.  Our  men  had  no 
shelter  from  the  snow  and  rain  in  this  midwinter 
siege.  No  campfires  could  be  allowed  where  the 


U.   S.   GRANT.  331 

enemy  could  see  them.  In  the  march  from  Fort 
Henry  to  Fort  Donelson  numbers  of  the  tired 
troops  had  thrown  away  their  blankets  and  over- 
coats, and  there  was  much  real  suffering.  But 
war  means  discomfort  and  woe  as  well  as  death 
itself. 

At  three  o'clock,  February  14,  Commodore 
Foote's  gun-boats  attacked  the  water  batteries,  and 
after  a  severe  encounter  several  of  them  were  disa- 
bled. The  one  upon  which  the  commodore  stood 
was  hit  about  sixty  times,  one  shot  killing  the 
pilot,  carrying  away  the  wheel,  and  wounding  the 
commander.  The  night  came  on  intensely  cold. 
The  next  morning,  the  enemy,  taking  heart,  came 
against  the  national  forces  to  cut  their  way  out. 
Then  Grant  rode  among  his  men,  saying,  "Which- 
ever party  first  attacks  now  will  whip,  and  the 
rebels  will  have  to  be  very  quick  if  they  beat  me. 
.  .  .  Fill  your  cartridge-boxes  quick,  and  get  into 
line ;  the  enemy  is  trying  to  escape,  and  he  must 
not  be  permitted  to  do  so." 

Our  men  worked  their  way  through  the  abatis 
of  trees,  took  the  outer  line  of  rifle-pits,  and 
bivouacked  within  the  enemy's  lines.  A  driving 
storm  of  snow  and  hail  set  in,  and  many  soldiers 
were  frozen  on  that  dismal  night.  There  must 
have  been  little  sleep  amid  the  firing  of  the  Con- 
federate pickets  and  the  groans  of  the  wounded  on 
that  frozen  ground. 

During  the  night  the  Confederate  Generals 
Floyd  and  Pillow  left  the  fort  with  three  thousand 


332  U.   8.   GRANT. 

men  and  Forrest  with  another  thousand.  On  the 
morning  of  February  16,  Brigadier-General  S.  B. 
Buckner  sent  a  note  to  General  Grant,  suggesting 
an  armistice.  The  following  reply  was  returned  at 
once : — 

"  Sir,  —  Yours  of  this  date,  proposing  armistice 
and  appointment  of  commissioners  to  settle  terms 
of  capitulation,  is  just  received.  No  terms  except 
an  unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  can  be 
accepted.  I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon 
your  works." 

From  that  day  U.  S.  Grant  became  to  the  people 
of  the  North  "  Unconditional  Surrender "  Grant ; 
precious  words,  indeed,  to  the  army  as  well  as  the 
people,  to  whom  decisive  action  meant  peace  at  last. 

General  Buckner  considered  the  terms  "ungen- 
erous and  unchivalrous,"  but  he  surrendered  his 
sixty-five  guns,  seventeen  thousand  six  hundred 
small  arms,  and  nearly  fifteen  thousand  troops. 
Our  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing  was 
about  two  thousand ;  the  Confederate  loss  was  be- 
lieved to  be  about  twenty-five  hundred. 

This  victory,  the  first  great  victory  of  the  war, 
caused  much  rejoicing  at  the  North,  and  Grant  was 
at  once  made  major-general  of  volunteers.  Two 
weeks  from  this  time  he  was  virtually  under  arrest 
for  not  conforming  to  orders  which  he  never  re- 
ceived, but  he  was  soon  restored  to  his  position. 
The  country  was  to  learn  later,  what  Lincoln 
learned  early  in  the  war,  that  one  head  for  an 
army  is  better  than  several  heads. 


U.    S.   GRANT.  333 

The  next  great  battle  under  Grant  was  at  Shiloh, 
near  Pittsburg  Landing.  On  the  morning  of  April 
6,  1862,  the  Confederates,  under  General  Albert 
Sidney  Johnston  and  Beauregard,  rushed  upon  the 
national  lines.  All  day  Sunday  the  battle  raged, 
and  at  night  the  Union  forces  had  fallen  back  a 
mile  in  the  rear  of  their  position  in  the  morning. 
Sherman,  who  commanded  the  ridge  on  which  stood 
the  log  meeting-house  of  Shiloh,  was  twice  shot, 
once  in  the  hand  and  once  in  the  shoulder,  a  third 
ball  passing  through  his  hat.  Grant  could  well  say 
of  this  brave  officer,  "  I  never  deemed  it  important 
to  stay  long  with  Sherman." 

During  the  night  after  the  desperate  battle  the 
rain  fell  in  torrents  upon  the  two  armies,  who  slept 
upon  their  arms.  General  Grant's  headquarters 
were  under  a  tree,  a  few  hundred  yards  back  from 
the  river.  "  Some  time  after  midnight,"  he  says, 
"  growing  restive  under  the  storm  and  the  contin- 
uous rain,  I  moved  back  to  the  log  house  under  the 
bank.  This  had  been  taken  as  a  hospital,  and  all 
night  wounded  men  were  brought  in,  their  wounds 
dressed,  a  leg  or  an  arm  amputated,  as  the  case 
might  require,  and  everything  being  done  to  save 
life  or  alleviate  suffering.  The  sight  was  more  un- 
endurable than  encountering  the  enemy's  fire,  and 
I  returned  to  my  tree  in  the  rain." 

In  battle,  the  great  general  could  look  on  men 
falling  about  him  apparently  unmoved ;  when  the 
battle  was  over,  he  could  not  bear  the  sight  of 
pain.  The  men  revered  him,  because,  while  he 


334  V.   S.    GRANT. 

led  them  into  death,  he  almost  surely  led  them 
into  victory. 

On  April  7  the  battle  raged  all  along  the  line, 
and  the  enemy  were  everywhere  driven  back.  At 
three  o'clock  Grant  gathered  up  a  couple  of  regi- 
ments, formed  them  into  line  of  battle,  and  marched 
them  forward,  going  in  front  himself  to  prevent  long- 
range  firing.  The  command  '•'  Charge  "  was  given, 
and  it  was  executed  with  loud  cheers  and  a  run, 
and  the  enemy  broke.  Grant  came  near  losing 
his  life.  A  ball  struck  the  metal  scabbard  of 
his  sword,  just  below  the  hilt,  and  broke  it 
nearly  off.  iNight  closed  upon  a  victorious  Union 
army,  but  the  victory  had  been  gained  at  a  fearful 
cost. 

"  Shiloh,"  says  General  Grant,  "  was  the  severest 
battle  fought  at  the  West  during  the  war,  and  but 
few  in  the  East  equalled  it  for  hard,  determined 
fighting.  I  saw  an  open  field,  in  our  possession  on 
the  second  day,  over  which  the  Confederates  had 
made  repeated  charges  the  day  before,  so  covered 
with  dead  that  it  would  have  been  possible  to  walk 
across  the  clearing,  in  any  direction,  stepping  on 
dead  bodies,  without  a  foot  touching  the  ground. 
On  our  side  national  and  Confederate  troops  were 
mingled  together  in  about  equal  proportions ;  but  on 
the  remainder  of  the  field  nearly  all  were  Confed- 
erates. On  one  part,  which  had  evidently  not  been 
ploughed  for  several  years,  probably  because  the 
land  was  poor,  bushes  had  grown  up,  some  to  the 
height  of  eight  or  ten  feet.  There  was  not  one  of 


U.    S.    GRANT.  335 

these  left  standing  unpierced  by  bullets.  The 
smaller  ones  were  all  cut  down." 

During  the  first  day  the  brave  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston  was  wounded.  He  would  not  leave  the 
battle-field,  but  continued  in  the  saddle,  giving 
commands,  till,  exhausted  by  loss  of  blood,  he  was 
taken  from  his  horse,  and  died  soon  after.  The 
Union  loss  was  reported  to  be  over  thirteen  thou- 
sand. Some  estimate  the  losses  as  not  less  than 
fifteen  thousand  on  each  side.  Up  to  this  time, 
Grant  had  hoped  that  a  few  such  victories  as  Fort 
Donelson  would  dishearten  the  South ;  now  he  saw 
that  conquest  alone  could  compel  peace,  with  a 
brave  and  heroic  people,  of  our  own  blood  and 
race.  From  this  time  the  work  of  laying  waste 
the  enemy's  country  began,  with  the  hope  that  the 
sooner  supplies  were  exhausted  the  sooner  peace 
would  be  possible. 

On  October  25,  the  battle  of  Corinth  having  been 
fought  October  3,  General  Grant  was  placed  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee, 
and  began  the  Vicksburg  campaign.  The  capture 
of  this  place  would  afford  free  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi.  For  three  months  plan  after  plan  was 
tried  for  the  reduction  of  this  almost  impregnable 
position.  Sherman  made  a  direct  attack  at  the 
only  point  where  a  landing  was  practicable,  and 
failed.  Grant's  army  was  stationed  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  on  marshy  ground,  full  of  mala- 
ria, from  recent  rains.  The  troops  were  ill  of 
fever,  measles,  and  small-pox,  and  many  died. 


U.   8.   GRANT. 

There  could  be  found  scarcely  enough  dry  land  on 
which  to  pitch  their  tents. 

It  was  finally  decided  to  cut  a  canal  across  the 
peninsula  in  front  of  Vicksburg,  that  the  gun-boats 
might  safely  pass  through  to  a  point  below  the 
city.  Four  thousand  men  began  work  on  the  canal, 
but  a  sudden  rise  in  the  river  broke  the  dam  and 
stopped  the  work.  A  second  method  was  tried,  by 
breaking  levees  and  widening  and  connecting 
streams  between  Lake  Providence,  seventy  miles 
above  Vicksburg,  through  the  Red  River,  into  the 
Mississippi  again  four  hundred  miles  below,  but 
this  project  was  soon  abandoned.  Meantime,  the 
North  had  become  restless,  and  many  clamored  for 
Grant's  removal,  declaring  him  incompetent,  but, 
amid  all  the  reproaches,  he  kept  silent.  When 
Lincoln  was  urged  to  make  a  change,  he  said  sim- 
ply, "  I  rather  like  the  man ;  I  think  we'll  try  him 
a  little  longer ! " 

At  length  it  was  decided  to  attempt  to  rufl  the 
gun-boats  past  the  batteries,  march  the  troops  down 
the  west  bank  of  the  river,  cross  over  to  the  east 
side,  and  attack  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  The 
steamers  were  protected  as  far  as  possible  with 
bales  of  hay,  cotton,  and  grain,  for  the  boilers 
could  not  bear  the  enemy's  fire.  On  the  16th  of 
April,  1863,  on  a  dark  night,  the  fleet  was  ready  for 
the  dangerous  passage.  As  soon  as  the  boats  were 
discovered,  the  batteries  opened  fire,  piles  of  com- 
bustibles being  lighted  along  the  shore  that  proper 
aim  might  be  taken  against  the  fleet.  Every  trans- 


U.    S.    GRANT.  337 

port  was  struck.  As  fast  as  the  shots  made  holes, 
the  men  put  cotton  bags  in  the  openings.  For 
nearly  three  hours  the  eight  gun-boats  and  three 
steamers  were  under  a  merciless  fire.  The  Henry 
Clay  was  disabled,  and  soon  set  on  fire  by  the 
bursting  of  a  shell  in  the  cotton  packed  about  her 
boilers.  Grant  watched  the  passage  of  the  fleet 
from  a  steamer  in  the  river,  and  felt  relieved  as 
though  the  victory  were  close  at  hand. 

Soon  after,  the  whole  force  of  thirty-three  thou- 
sand men  were  crossed  below  Vicksburg.  Fifty 
miles  to  the  east,  the  Confederate  General  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  had  a  large  army,  which  must  be  crip- 
pled before  Vicksburg  could  be  besieged.  Port 
Gibson,  near  the  river,  was  first  taken  by  our 
troops ;  then  Raymond,  May  12 ;  Jackson,  May  18  ; 
Champion  Hill,  May  16;  and  then  Black  River 
Bridge.  Grant  had  beaten  Johnston  in  the  rear  ; 
now  he  must  beat  Pemberton  with  his  nearly  fifty 
thousand  men  shut  up  in  Vicksburg. 

On  May  19,  the  city  of  Vicksburg  was  completely 
invested  by  otfr  troops.  Says  General  Grant, 
"  Five  distinct  battles  had  been  fought  and  won  by 
the  Union  forces ;  the  capital  of  the  State  had 
fallen,  and  its  arsenals,  military  manufactories,  and 
everything  useful  for  military  purposes  had  been 
destroyed ;  an  average  of  about  one  hundred  and 
eighty  miles  had  been  marched  by  the  troops  en- 
gaged ;  but  five  days'  rations  had  been  issued,  and 
no  forage  ;  over  six  thousand  prisoners  had  been 
captured,  and  as  many  more  of  the  enemy  had  been 


338  U.    8.    GRANT. 

killed  or  wounded ;  twenty-seven  heavy  cannon. 
and  sixty -one  field-pieces  had  fallen  into  our  hands ; 
and  four  hundred  miles  of  the  river,  from  Vicks- 
burg  to  Port  Hudson,  had  become  ours." 

And  now  the  siege  began.  By  June  30,  there 
were  two  hundred  and  twenty  guns  in  position,  be- 
sides a  battery  of  heavy  guns,  manned  and  com- 
manded by  the  navy.  The  besiegers  had  no  mor- 
tars, save  those  of  the  navy  in  front  of  the  city, 
but  they  took  tough  logs,  bored  them  out  for  six  or 
twelve-pound  shells,  bound  them  with  strong  iron 
bands,  and  used  them  effectively  in  the  trenches  of 
the  enemy. 

The  eyes  of  the  whole  country  were  centred  on 
Vicksburg.  Mines  were  dug  by  both  armies,  and 
exploded.  Among  the  few  men  who  reached  the 
ground  alive  after  having  been  thrown  up  by  the 
explosions  was  a  colored  man,  badly  frightened. 
Some  one  asked  how  high  he  had  gone  up.  "  Dun- 
no,  massa;  but  tink  'bout  free  mile,"  was  the 
reply. 

Meantime,  the  people  in  Vicksburg  were  living 
in  caves  and  cellars  to  escape  the  shot  and  shell. 
Starvation  began  to  stare  them  in  the  face.  Flour 
was  sold  at  five  dollars  a  pound ;  molasses  at  ten 
and  twelve  dollars  a  gallon.  Yet  the  brave  people 
held  out  against  surrender.  A  Confederate  woman, 
says  General  Badeau,  in  h^s  graphic  "Military  His- 
tory of  U.  S.  Grant,"  asked  Grant,  tauntingly,  as 
he  stopped  at  her  house  for  water,  if  he  ever  ex- 
pected to  get  into  Vicksburg. 


U.    S.   GRANT.  339 

"Certainly,"  he  replied. 

"  But  when  ?  " 

"I  cannot  tell  exactly  when  I  shall  take  the 
town ;  but  7  mean  to  stay  here  till  I  do,  if  it  takes 
me  thirty  years." 

All  through  the  siege,  the  men  of  both  armies 
talked  to  each  other ;  the  Confederates  and  Union- 
ists calling  each  other  respectively  "  Yanks  "  and 
"  Johnnies.-''  "  Well,  Yank,  when  are  you  coming 
into  town  ?  " 

"  We  propose  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July 
there,  Johnnie." 

The  Vicksburg  paper  said,  prior  to  the  Fourth,  in 
speaking  of  the  Yankee  boast  that  they  would  take 
dinner  in  Vicksburg  that  day,  "  The  best  receipt 
for  cooking  a  rabbit  is.  '  First  ketch  your  rabbit ! ' ' 
The  last  number  of  the  paper  was  issued  on  July 
4,  and  said,  "  The  Yankees  have  caught  the  rabbit." 

On  July  3,  at  ten  o'clock,  white  flags  began  to 
appear  on  the  enemy's  works,  and  two  men  were 
seen  coming  towards  the  Union  lines,  bearing  a 
white  flag.  They  bore  a  message  from  General 
Pemberton,  asking  that  an  armistice  be  granted, 
and  three  commissioners  appointed  to  confer  with 
a  like  number  named  by  Grant.  "I  make  this 
proposition  to  save  the  further  effusion  of  blood," 
said  General  Pemberton,  "which  must  otherwise 
be  shed  to  a  frightful  extent,  feeling  myself  fully 
able  to  maintain  my  position  for  a  yet  indefinite 
period." 

To  this  Grant  replied  :  "  The  useless  effusion  of 


340  U.    S.    GRANT. 

blood  you  propose  stopping  by  this  course  can  be 
ended  at  any  time  you  choose,  by  the  unconditional 
surrender  of  the  city  and  garrison.  Men  who  have 
shown  so  much  endurance  and  courage  as  those 
now  in  Vicksburg  will  always  challenge  the  re- 
spect of  an  adversary,  and,  I  can  assure  you,  will  be 
treated  with  all  the  respect  due  to  prisoners  of  war." 

In  the  afternoon  of  July  3,  Grant  and  Pemberton 
met  under  a  stunted  oak-tree,  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  the  Confederate  lines.  They  had  known  each 
other  in  the  Mexican  War.  A  kindly  conference 
was  held,  and  honorable  terms  of  surrender  agreed 
upon,  the  officers  taking  their  side-arms  and  cloth- 
ing, and  staff  and  cavalry  officers  one  horse  each. 
When  the  men  passed  out  of  the  works  they  had 
so  gallantly  defended,  not  a  cheer  went  up  from 
our  men  nor  was  a  remark  made  that  could  cause 
pain.  The  garrison  surrendered  at  Vicksburg  num- 
bered over  thirty-one  thousand  men,  with  sixty 
thousand  muskets,  and  over  one  hundred  and  sev- 
enty cannon.  Five  days  later,  Port  Hudson,  lower 
on  the  river,  surrendered,  with  six  thousand  prison- 
ers and  fifty-one  guns. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  at  the  North.  Lincoln 
wrote  to  Grant :  "  My  dear  general,  I  do  not  remem- 
ber  that  you  and  I  have  ever  met  personally.  I 
write  this  now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  for 
the  almost  inestimable  service  yoii  have  done  the 
country.  I  write  to  say  a  word  further.  When 
you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,  I 
thought  you  should  do  what  you  finally  did,  march 


U.    8.    GRANT.  341 

the  troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries  with 
the  transports,  and  then  go  below;  and  I  never 
had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope  that  you  knew 
better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  and 
the  like  could  succeed.  When  you  got  below  and 
took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf,  and  vicinity,  I 
thought  you  should  go  down  the  river  and  join 
General  Banks,  and  when  you  turned  northward, 
east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  feared  it  was  a  mistake. 
I  wish  now  to  make  the  personal  acknowledg- 
ment that  you  were  right  and  I  was  wrong." 

Rare  is  that  soul  which  is  able  to  see  itself  in  the 
wrong,  and  rarer  still  one  which  has  the  generosity 
to  acknowledge  it. 

In  October,  Grant,  who  had  now  been  made  a 
major-general  in  the  regular  army,  as  he  had  before 
been  appointed  to  the  same  rank  in  the  volunteers, 
was  placed  in  command  of  the  military  division  of 
the  Mississippi.  Later  he  defeated  Bragg  at  Chat- 
tanooga, November  24  and  25,  1863,  in  the  memo- 
rable battles  of  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout 
Mountain.  General  Halleck  said  in  his  annual 
report,  "  Considering  the  strength  of  the  rebel 
position  and  the  difficulty  of  storming  his  intrench- 
ments,  the  battle  of  Chattanooga  must  be  considered 
the  most  remarkable  in  history.  Not  only  did  the 
officers  and  men  exhibit  great  skill  and  daring  in 
their  operations  on  the  field,  but  the  highest  praise 
is  due  to  the  commanding  general  for  his  admirable 
dispositions  for  dislodging  the  enemy  from  a  posi- 
tion apparently  impregnable." 


342  U.    S.    GRANT. 

How  our  brave  men  fought  at  Missionary  Eidge 
and  Lookout  Mountain  has  never  been  more  graph- 
ically and  touchingly  told  than  by  the  late  lamented 
Benjamin  F.  Taylor :  "  They  dash  out  a  little  way 
and  then  slacken ;  they  creep  up  hand  over  hand, 
loading  and  firing,  and  wavering  and  halting,  from 
the  first  line  of  works  to  the  second ;  they  burst 
into  a  charge,  with  a  cheer,  and  go  over  it.  Sheets 
of  flame  baptize  them ;  plunging  shots  tear  away 
comrades  on  left  and  right ;  it  is  no  longer  shoul- 
der to  shoulder ;  it  is  God  for  us  all !  Under  tree- 
trunks,  among  rocks,  stumbling  over  the  dead, 
struggling  with  the  living,  facing  the  steady  fire  of 
eight  thousand  infantry  poured  down  upon  their 
heads  as  if  it  were  the  old  historic  curse  from 
heaven,  they  wrestle  with  the  Ridge.  Ten,  fif- 
teen, twenty  minutes  go  by,  like  a  reluctant  cen- 
tury. The  batteries  roll  like  a  drum.  Between 
the  second  and  last  lines  of  rebel  works  is  the  tor- 
rid zone  of  the  battle.  The  hill  sways  up  like  a 
wall  before  them  at  an  angle  of  forty -five  degrees, 
but  our  brave  mountaineers  are  clambering  steadily 
on — up  —  upward  still !  .  .  They  seem  to  be  spurn- 
ing the  dull  earth  under  their  feet,  and  going  up  to 
do  Homeric  battle  with  the  greater  gods." 

When  this  costly  victory  had  been  gained,  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  appointed  a  day  of  national  thanks- 
giving. Congress  passed  a  unanimous  vote  of 
thanks  to  Grant  and  his  officers  and  men,  and  or- 
dered a  medal  to  be  struck  in  his  honor :  his  face 
on  one  side,  surrounded  by  a  laurel  wreath  j  on  the 


U.   8.   GRANT.  343 

other  side,  Fame  seated  on  the  American  eagle, 
holding  in  her  right  hand  a  scroll  with  the  words, 
Corinth,  Vicksburg,  Mississippi  Kiver,  and  Chatta- 
nooga. 

Early  in  1864,  a  distinguished  honor  was  paid 
him.  Since  the  death  of  Washington,  only  one 
man  had  been 'appointed  a  lieutenant-general  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States,  —  Winfield  Scott. 
Congress  now  revived  this  grade,  and  on  March  1, 
1864,  Lincoln  appointed  Grant  to  this  position. 
On  March  9,  before  the  President  and  his  cabinet, 
his  commission  was  formally  presented  to  him, 
Lincoln  saying,  "  As  the  country  herein  trusts  you, 
so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain  you."  Grant  now  had 
all  the  Union  armies  under  his  control  — over  seven 
hundred  thousand  men.  When  he  was  in  the 
Galena  leather  store,  men  said  his  life  was  a  fail- 
ure !  Was  it  a  failure  now  ?  And  yet  he  was  the 
same  modest,  unostentatious  man  as  when  he 
tried  farming  to  support  his  beloved  family. 

Immediately  Grant  planned  two  great  campaigns : 
one  against  Richmond,  which  was  defended  by 
Lee  ;  the  other  against  Atlanta,  under  Sherman, 
defended  by  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Sherman's  march 
to  the  sea  immortalized  him ;  Grant's  march  to 
Richmond  was  the  crowning  success  in  the  greatest 
of  modern  wars.  President  Lincoln,  reposed  the 
"utmost  confidence  in  Grant.  He  wrote  him : 
"  The  particulars  of  your  plans  I  neither  know  nor 
seek  to  know.  You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant, 
and,  pleased  with  this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude  any 


344  U.    S.    GRANT. 

constraints  or  restraints  upon  you.  While  I  am 
very  anxious  that  any  great  disaster  or  the  capture 
of  our  men  in  great  numbers  shall  be  avoided,  I 
know  these  points  are  less  likely  to  escape  your 
attention  than  they  would  be  mine.  If  there  is 
anything  wanting  which  is  within  my  power  to 
give,  do  not  fail  to  let  me  know  it.  And  now,  with 
a  brave  army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain 
you." 

The  end  was  coming.  On  May  4,  1864,  Grant 
crossed  the  Rapidan  with  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac, about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  men, 
intending  to  put  his  forces  between  Lee  and  Rich- 
mond.  Lee,  perceiving  this  design,  met  the  army 
at  the  Wilderness,  a  portion  of  country  covered  by 
a  dense  forest.  The  undergrowth  was  so  heavy 
that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  see  more  than  one 
hundred  paces  in  any  direction.  All  day  long, 
May  5,  a  bloody  battle  was  waged  in  the  woods. 

Says  Private  Frank  Wilkeson,  "I  heard  the 
hum  of  bullets  as  they  passed  over  the  low  trees. 
Then  I  noticed  that  small  limbs  of  trees  were 
falling  in  a  feeble  shower  in  advance  of  me.  It  was 
as  though  an  army  of  squirrels  were  at  work  cut- 
ting off  nut  and  pine-cone  laden  branches  prepara- 
tory to  laying  in  their  winter's  store  of  food. 
Then,  partially  obscured  by  a  cloud  of  powder 
smoke,  I  saw  a  straggling  line  of  men  clad  in  blue. 
They  were  not  standing  as  if  on  parade,  but  they 
were  taking  advantage  of  the  cover  afforded  by 
trees,  and  they  were  firing  rapidly.  Their  line 


U.    S.    GRANT.  345 

officers  were  standing  behind  them  or  in  line  with 
them.  The  smoke  drifted  to  and  fro,  and  there 
were  many  rifts  in  it.  ...  We  had  charged,  and 
charged,  and  charged  again,  and  had  gone  wild 
with  battle  fever.  We  had  gained  about  two 
miles  of  ground.  We  were  doing  splendidly.  I 
cast  my  eyes  upward  to  see  the  sun,  so  as  to  judge 
of  the  time,  as  I  was  hungry,  and  wanted  to  eat, 
and  I  saw  that  it  was  still  low  above  the  trees. 
The  Confederates  seemed  to  be  fighting  more 
stubbornly,  fighting  as  though  their  battle-line  was 
being  fed  with  more  troops.  They  hung  on  to  the 
ground  they  occupied  tenaciously,  and  resolutely 
refused  to  fall  back  further.  Then  came  a  swish 
of  bullets  and  a  fierce  exultant  yell,  as  of  thou- 
sands of  infuriated  tigers.  Our  men  fell  by  scores. 
Great  gaps  were  'struck  in  our  lines.  There  was 
a  lull  for  an  instant,  and  then  Longstreet's  men 
sprang  to  the  charge.  It  was  swiftly  and  bravely 
made,  and  was  within  an  ace  of  being  successful. 
There  was  great  confusion  in  our  line.  The  men 
wavered  badly.  They  fired  wildly.  They  hesi- 
tated. .  .  .  The  regimental  officers  held  their  men 
as  well  as  they  could.  We  could  hear  them  close 
behind  us,  or  in  line  with  us,  saying,  'Steady, 
men,  steady,  steady,  steady ! '  as  one  speaks  to 
frightened  and  excited  horses." 

Grant  says,  "More  desperate  fighting  has  not 
been  witnessed  on  this  continent  than  that  of  May 
5  and  6.  ...  The  ground  fought  over  had  varied 
in  width,  but  averaged  three-quarters  of  a  mile. 


346  U.    S    GRANT. 

The  killed  and  many  of  the  severely  wounded  of 
both  armies  lay  within  this  belt  where  it  was  im- 
possible to  reach  them.  The  woods  were  set  on 
flre  by  the  bursting  shells,  and  the  conflagration 
raged.  The  wounded  who  had  not  strength  to 
move  themselves  were  either  suffocated  or  burned 
to  death.  Finally  the  fire  communicated  with  our 
breastworks  in  places.  Being  constructed  of  wood, 
they  burned  with  great  fury.  But  the  battle  still 
raged,  our  men  firing  through  the  flames  until  it 
became  too  hot  to  remain  longer." 

After  a  loss  of  from  fourteen  to  fifteen  thou- 
sand men  on  each  side,  Lee  remained  in  his  in- 
trenchments  and  Grant  still  moved  on  toward 
Richmond.  The  armies  met  at  Spottsylvania  Court- 
House,  and  here  was  fought  one  of  the  bloodiest 
battles  of  the  war,  with  about  the  same  loss  as  in 
the  Wilderness.  Sometimes  the  conflict  was  hand 
to  hand,  men  using  their  guns  as  clubs,  being  too 
close  to  fire.  In  one  place  a  tree,  eighteen  inches 
in  diameter,  was  cut  entirely  down  by  musket 
balls.  Grant  wrote  to  Washington,  May  11 : 
"  We  have  now  ended  the  sixth  day  of  very  hard 
fighting.  The  result  up  to  this  time  is  much  in 
our  favor.  But  our  losses  have  been  heavy,  as 
well  as  those  of  the  enemy.  We  have  lost  to 
this  time  eleven  general  officers  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  and  probably  twenty  thousand  men. 
I  think  the  loss  of  the  enemy  must  be  greater. 
We  have  taken  over  four  thousand  prisoners  in 
battle,  whilst  he  has  taken  from  us  but  few  except 


U.    S.   GRANT.  347 

a  few  stragglers.  I  am  now  sending  back  to 
Belle  Plain  all  my  wagons  for  a  fresh  supply  of 
provisions  and  ammunition,  and  purpose  to  fight  it 
out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer." 

After  this  came  the  battles  of  Drury's  Bluff, 
North  Anna,  Totopotomoy,  and  Cold  Harbor,  with 
its  brilliant  assault  and  deadly  repulse,  with  a  loss 
of  from  ten  to  fourteen  thousand  men  on  the  latter 
field. 

Lee  had  now  been  driven  so  near  to  Kichmond, 
and  the  swamps  -of  the  Chickahominy  were  so 
impassable,  that  Grant  determined  to  move  his 
army,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  men,  south 
of  the  James  River  and  attack  Kichmond  in  the 
rear.  The  move  was  hazardous,  but  he  reached 
City  Point  safely.  General  Butler  here  joined 
him,  and  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  twenty  miles 
below  Richmond,  began,  and  was  continued  through 
the  winter  and  spring. 

On  July  30,  1864,  a  mine  was  exploded  under 
one  of  the  enemy's  forts.  The  gallery  to  the  mine 
was.  over  five  hundred  feet  long  from  where  it 
entered  the  ground  to  the  point  where  it  was  under 
the  enemy's  works.  Eight  chambers  had  been  left, 
requiring  a  ton  of  powder  each  to  charge  them. 
It  exploded  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  making 
a  crater  twenty  feet  deep  and  about  one  hundred 
feet  in  length.  Instantly  one  hundred  and  ten 
cannon  and  fifty  mortars  commenced  work  to  cover 
our  troops  as  they  entered  the  enemy's  lines.  "  The 
effort,"  says  Grant,  "  was  a  stupendous  failure.  It 


348  U.    8.    GRANT. 

cost  us  about  four  thousand  men,  mostly,  however, 
captured,  and  all  due  to  inefficiency  on  the  part  of 
the  corps  commander  and  the  incompetency  of  the 
division  commander  who  was  sent  to  lead  the  as- 
sault." 

Meanwhile  Sheridan  had  destroyed  the  power  of 
the  South  in  the  Shenandoah  valley.  Again  the 
army  began  its  march  toward  Kichmond.  On  April 
1,  1865,  the  battle  of  Five  Forks  was  fought,  nearly 
six  thousand  Confederates  being  taken  prisoners ; 
then  Petersburg  was  captured?  and  on  April  3 
General  Weitzel  took  possession  of  Eichmond,  the 
enemy  having  evacuated  it,  the  city  having  been 
set  on  fire  before  their  departure. 

For  five  days  Lee's  army  was  pursued  with  more 
or  less  fighting.  On  April  7,  Grant  wrote  a  letter 
to  Lee,  saying :  "  The  results  of  the  last  week  must 
convince  you  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resist- 
ance on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
in  this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it 
as  my  duty  to  shift  from  myself  the  responsibility 
of  any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you 
the  surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate 
States  Army  known  as  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 
ginia." 

Lee  replied,  "  I  reciprocate  your  desire  to  avoid 
useless  effusion  of  blood,  and  therefore,  before  con- 
sidering your  proposition,  ask  the  terms  you  will 
offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender." 

The  answer  came  :  "  Peace  being  my  great  desire, 
bhere  is  but  one  condition  I  would  insist  upon, 


U.    S.    GRANT. 

namely :  that  the  men  and  officers  surrendered 
shall  be  disqualified  for  taking  up  arms  again 
against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  until 
properly  exchanged." 

A  place  of  meeting  was  designated,  and  on  April 
9  Grant  and  Lee  met  at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Mc- 
Lean, at  Appomattox  Court-House.  Grant  says, 
"When  I  had  left  camp  that  morning,  I  had  not 
expected  so  soon  the  result  that  was  then  taking 
place,  and  consequently  was  in  rough  garb,  and  I  was 
without  a  sword,  as  I  usually  was  when  on  horse- 
back on  the  field,  and  wore  a  soldier's  blouse  for  a 
coat,  with  the  shoulder-straps  of  my  rank  to  indi- 
cate to  the  army  who  I  was.  When  I  went  into 
the  house  I  found  General  Lee.  We  greeted  each 
other,  and,  after  shaking  hands,  took  our  seats.  I 
had  my  staff  with  me,  a  good  portion  of  whom 
were  in  the  room  during  the  whole  of  the  interview. 

"  What  General  Lee's  feelings  were  I  do  not  know. 
As  he  was  a  man  of  much  dignity,  with  an  impas- 
sible face,  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether  he  felt 
inwardly  glad  that  the  end  had  finally  come,  or  felt 
sad  over  the  result,  and  was  too  manly  to  show  it. 
Whatever  his  feelings,  they  were  entirely  concealed 
from  my  observation  ;  but  my  own  feelings,  which 
had  been  quite  jubilant  on  the  receipt  of  his  letter, 
were  sad  and  depressed.  I  felt  like  anything  rather 
than  rejoicing  at  the  downfall  of  a  foe  who  had 
fought  so  long  and  valiantly,  and  had  suffered  so 
much  for  a  cause,  though  that  cause  was,  I  believe, 
one  of  the  worst  for  which  a  people  ever  fought, 


350  U.    S.    GRANT. 

and  one  for  which  there  was  the  least  excuse.  I 
do  not  question,  however,  the  sincerity  of  the  great 
mass  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  us. 

"General  Lee  was  dressed  in  a  full  uniform 
which  was  entirely  new,  and  was  wearing  a  sword 
of  considerable  value,  very  likely  the  sword  which 
had  been  presented  by  the  State  of  Virginia ;  at  all 
events,  it  was  an  entirely  different  sword  from  the 
one  that  would  ordinarily  be  worn  in  the  field.  In 
my  rough  travelling  suit,  the  uniform  of  a  private, 
with  the  straps  of  a  lieutenant-general,  I  must  have 
contrasted  very  strangely  with  a  man  so  hand- 
somely dressed,  six  feet  high,  and  of  faultless  form. 
But  this  was  not  a  matter  that  I  thought  of  until 
afterwards." 

When  the  terms  of  surrender  were  completed, 
Lee  remarked  that  his  men  had  been  living  for 
some  days  on  parched  corn  exclusively,  and  asked 
for  rations  and  forage,  which  were  cordially  granted. 
"When  news  of  the  surrender  first  reached  our 
lines,"  says  Grant.  "  our  men  commenced  firing  a 
salute  of  a  hundred  guns  in  honor  of  the  victory. 
I  at  once  sent  word,  however,  to  have  it  stopped. 
The  Confederates  were  now  our  prisoners,  and  we 
did  not  want  to  exult  over  their  downfall."  True 
and  noble  spirit !  Twenty-seven  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  officers  and  men  were  paroled  at 
Appomattox.  At  the  North,  crowds  came  together 
to  pray  and  give  thanks,  in  the  churches,  that  the 
war  was  over.  Mourning  garb  seemed  to  be  in 
every  house,  and  the  joy  was  sanctified  by  tears. 


U.    S.    GRANT.  351 

The  Army  of  the  Potomac  marched  to  Washington, 
and  was  disbanded  June  30. 

The  great  war  was  ended.  In  July,  1866,  Con- 
gress created  the  rank  of  general  for  the  heroic, 
true-hearted,  grand  man,  of  quiet  manner  but  in- 
domitable will,  who  had  saved  the  Union.  He 
was  now  but  forty-four  years  of  age,  and  what 
a  record ! 

Two  years  later,  in  1868,  at  the  Chicago  Repub- 
lican national  convention,  Grant  was  unanimously 
nominated  to  the  presidency.  After  the  assassi- 
nation of  Lincoln,  and  the  disagreement  between 
Congress  and  Andrew  Johnson  in  the  matter  of 
reconstruction,  it  was  believed  that  Grant  would 
"  settle  things."  To  the  committee  from  the  con- 
vention who  announced  his  nomination  to  him,  he 
said,  "  I  shall  have  no  policy  of  my  own  to  enforce 
against  the  will  of  the  people." 

During  the  eight  years  of  Grant's  presidency, 
from  1869  to  1877,  the  country  was  prosperous, 
save  the  financial  depression  of  1873.  The  Ala- 
bama claims  were  settled,  whereby  our  country 
received  from  Great  Britain  fifteen  million  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  damages.  Grant  favored 
the  annexation  of  the  island  of  Santo  Domingo, 
but  the  measure  was  defeated  by  Congress.  The 
International  Exposition  was  held  in  Philadelphia 
in  1876,  with  an  average  daily  attendance,  for 
five  months,  of  over  sixty-one  thousand  persons. 
While  a  large  number  of  the  people  advocated  a 
third  term  for  General  Grant,  a  nation  loving  free- 


352  V.   S.   GRANT. 

dom  hesitated  to  establish  such  a  precedent,  and 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was  chosen  President.  It 
was  well,  in  the  exciting  times  preceding  this  elec- 
tion, when  the  number  of  votes  for  Hayes  and 
Tilden  was  decided  by  an  electoral  commission, 
that  a  strong  hand  was  on  the  helm  of  State,  to 
keep  the  peace. 

After  all  these  years  of  labor,  General  Grant 
determined  to  make  the  tour  of  the  world,  and. 
with  his  family  and  a  few  others,  sailed  for 
Europe,  May  17,  1877.  From  the  moment  they 
arrived  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  to  their 
return,  no  American  ever  received  such  an  ovation 
as  Grant.  Thousands  crowded  the  docks  at  Liver- 
pool, and  the  mayor  gave  an  address  of  welcome. 
At  Manchester,  ten  thousand  people  listened  to 
his  brief  address.  "As  I  have  been  aware.''  he 
said,  "  for  years  of  the  great  amount  of  your  manu- 
factures, many  of  which  find  their  ultimate  desti- 
nation in  my  own  country,  so  I  am  aware  that  the 
sentiments  of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of 
Manchester  went  out  in  sympathy  to  that  coun- 
try during  the  mighty  struggle  in  which  it  fell  to 
my  lot  to  take  some  humble  part." 

In  London,  the  present  Duke  of  Wellington 
gave  him  a  grand  banquet  at  Apsley  House.  At 
Marlborough  House,  the  Prince  of  Wales  i;nve 
him  private  audience.  The  freedom  of  the  city 
of  London  was  presented  to  him  in  a  gold  casket, 
supported  by  golden  American  eagles,  standing  on 
a  velvet  plinth  decorated  with  stars  and  stripes. 


U.    8.   GRANT.  353 

He  and  his  family  dined  with  the  Queen,  at  Wind- 
sor Castle. 

In  Scotland,  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  Edin- 
burgh was  conferred  upon  him.  At  a  grand  ova- 
tion at  Newcastle,  between  forty  and  fifty  thou- 
sand people  were  gathered  on  the  moor  to  see  the 
illustrious  general.  To  the  International  Arbitra- 
tion Union  in  Birmingham  he  said,  "Nothing 
would  afford  me  greater  happiness  than  to  know, 
as  I  believe  will  be  the  case,  that  at  some  future 
day  the  nations  of  the  earth  will  agree  upon  some 
sort  of  congress  which  shall  take  cognizance  of 
international  questions  of  difficulty,  and  whose 
decisions  will  be  as  binding  as  the  decision  of  our 
Supreme  Court  is  binding  upon  us."  In  Belgium, 
the  king  called  upon  him,  and  gave  a  royal  ban- 
quet in  his  honor.  In  Berlin,  Bismarck  called 
twice  to  see  him,  shaking  hands  cordially,  and 
saying,  "Glad  to  welcome  General  Grant  to  Ger- 
many." In  Turkey,  he  was  presented  with  some 
beautiful  Arabian  horses  by  the  Sultan.  King 
Humbert  of  Italy  and  the  Czar  of  Russia  showed 
him  marked  attentions.  In  Norway  and  SAveden, 
Spain,  China,  Egypt,  and  India,  he  was  everywhere 
received  as  the  most  distinguished  general  of  the  age. 

On  his  return  to  America,  at  San  Francisco  and 
Sacramento,  thousands  gathered  to  see  him.  At 
Chicago,  he  said,  in  addressing  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  "  Let  us  be  true  to  ourselves,  avoid  all 
bitterness  and  ill-feeling,  either  on  the  part  of 
sections  or  parties  toward  each  other,  and  we  need 


354  V.    8.   GRANT. 

have  no  fear  in  future  of  maintaining  the  stand 
we  have  taken  among  nations,  so  far  as  opposition 
from  foreign  nations  goes.''  In  Philadelphia, 
where  he  was  royally  entertained  by  his  friend 
Mr.  George  W.  Childs,  he  said  to  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  "What  I  want  to  impress  upon 
you  is  that  you  have  a  country  to  be  proud  of,  and 
a  country  to  fight  for,  and  a  country  to  die  for  if 
need  be.  ...  In  no  other  country  is  the  young 
and  energetic  man  given  such  a  chance  by  industry 
and  frugality  to  acquire  a  competence  for  himself 
and  family  as  in  America.  Abroad  it  is  difficult 
for  the  poor  man  to  make  his  way  at  all.  All 
that  is  necessary  is  to  know  this  in  order  that  we 
may  become  better  citizens."  On  his  return  to 
New  York,  he  was  presented  by  his  friends  with  a 
home  in  that  city,  and  also  with  the  gift  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

He  was  soon  prevailed  upon  to  enter  a  banking 
firm  with  Ferdinand  Ward  and  James  D.  Fish. 
The  bank  failed,  Grant  found  himself  financially 
ruined,  and  the  two  partners  were  sent  to  prison. 
He  was  now  to  struggle  again  for  a  living,  as  in  the 
early  days  in  the  Galena  leather  store.  A  timely 
offer  came  from  the  Century  magazine,  to  write 
his  experiences  in  the  Civil  War.  Very  simply,  so 
that  an  uneducated  person  could  understand,  Grant 
modestly  and  fairly  described  the  great  battles  in 
which  he  was  of  necessity  the  central  figure.  Un- 
used to  literary  labor,  he  bent  himself  to  the  task, 
working  seven  and  eight  hours  a  day. 


U.    S.   GRANT.  355 

On  October  22,  1884,  cancer  developed  in  the 
throat,  and  for  nine  months  Grant  fought  with 
death,  till  the  two  great  volumes  of  his  memoirs 
could  be  completed  and  given  to  the  world,  that 
his  family  might  not  be  left  dependent.  Early  in 
June,  1885,  as  he  was  failing  rapidly,  he  was  taken 
to  Mt.  McGregor,  near  Saratoga,  where  a  cottage 
had  been  offered  him  by  Mr.  Joseph  "W.  Drexel. 
He  worked  now  more  heroically  than  ever,  till  the 
last  page  was  written,  with  the  words :  "  The  war 
has  made  us  a  nation  of  great  power  and  intelli- 
gence. We  have  but  little  to  do  to  preserve  peace, 
happiness,  and  prosperity  at  home,  and  the  respect 
of  other  nations.  Our  experience  ought  to  teach 
us  the  necessity  of  the  first ;  our  power  secures  the 
latter. 

"  I  feel  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  new  era, 
when  there  is  to  be  great  harmony  between  the 
Federal  and  Confederate.  I  cannot  stay  to  be  a 
living  witness  to  the  correctness  of  this  prophecy ; 
but  I  feel  it  within  me  that  it  is  to  be  so.  The 
universally  kind  feeling  expressed  for  me  at  a  time 
when  it  was  supposed  that  each  day  would  prove 
my  last  seemed  to  me  the  beginning  of  the  answer 
to  '  Let  us  have  peace.'  " 

Night  and  day  the  nation  watched  for  tidings 
from  the  bedside  of  the  dying  hero.  At  last,  in 
July,  when  he  knew  that  the  end  was  near,  he 
wrote  an  affectionate  letter  to  the  Julia  Dent  whom 
he  had  loved  in  his  early  manhood,  and  put  it  in 
his  pocket,  that  she  might  read  it  after  all  was 


356  *'.  s.  GRANT. 

over.  "Look  after  our  dear  children,  and  direct 
them  in  the  paths  of  rectitude.  It  would  distress 
me  far  more  to  think  that  one  of  them  could  de- 
part from  an  honorable,  upright,  and  virtuous  life, 
than  it  would  to  know  that  they  were  prostrated  on 
a  bed  of  sickness  from  which  they  were  never  to 
arise  alive.  They  have  never  given  us  any  cause 
for  alarm  on  their  account,  and  I  earnestly  pray 
they  never  will. 

"  With  these  few  injunctions  and  the  knowledge 
I  have  of  your  love  and  affection,  and  of  the  duti- 
ful affection  of  all  our  children,  I  bid  you  a  final 
farewell,  until  we  meet  in  another,  and,  I  trust,  a 
better  world.  You  will  find  this  on  my  person 
after  my  demise."  Blessed  home  affection,  that 
brightens  all  the  journey,  and  makes  human  nature 
well-nigh  divine ! 

On  July  23,  1885,  a  few  minutes  before  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  end  came.  In  the 
midst  of  his  children,  Colonel  Frederick,  Ulysses, 
Jesse,  and  Xellie  Grant-Sartoris,  and  his  grand- 
children, his  wife  bending  over  him,  he_  sank  to 
rest.  In  every  city  and  town  in  the  land  there 
was  genuine  sorrow.  Letters  of  sympathy  came 
from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Before  the  body  was 
put  in  its  purple  casket,  the  eldest  son  placed  a 
plain  gold  ring  upon  the  little  finger  of  the  right 
hand,  the  gift  years  before  of  his  wife,  but  which 
had  grown  too  large  for  the  emaciated  finger  in 
life.  In  his  pocket  was  placed  a  tiny  package  con- 
taining a  lock  of  Mrs.  Grant's  hair,  in  a  good-bye 


U.    S.    GRANT.  357 

letter.  Sweet  and  beautiful  thought,  to  bury  with 
our  dead  something  which  belongs  to  a  loved  one, 
that  they  may  not  sleep  entirely  alone  ! 

"We  shall  wake,  and  remember,  and  under- 
stand." Let  the  world  laugh  at  sentiment  out- 
wardly—  the  hearts  of  those  who  laugh  are  often 
hungering  for  affection ! 

The  body,  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes,  without 
military,  was  laid  in  the  casket.  Then,  in  the  little 
cottage  on  the  mountain-top,  Dr.  Newman,  his  pas- 
tor, gave  a  beautiful  address,  from  the  words, 
"  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant ;  enter 
thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  "His  was  the 
genius  of  common-sense,  enabling  him  to  contem- 
plate all  things  in  their  true  relations,  judging 
what  is  true,  useful,  proper,  expedient,  and  to 
adopt  the  best  means  to  accomplish  the  largest 
ends.  From  this  came  his  seriousness,  thoughtful- 
ness,  penetration,  discernment,  firmness,  enthusi- 
asm, triumph.  .  .  .  Temperate  without  austerity; 
cautious  without  fear ;  brave  without  rashness ; 
serious  without  melancholy,  he  was  cheerful  with- 
out frivolity.  His  constancy  was  not  obstinacy  ; 
his  adaptation  was  not  fickleness.  His  hopefulness 
was  not  Utopian.  His  love  of  justice  was  equalled 
only  by  his  delight  in  compassion,  and  neither  was 
sacrificed  to  the  other.  .  .  .  The  keenest,  closest, 
broadest  of  all  observers,  he  was  the  most  silent  of 
men.  He  lived  within  himself.  His  thought-life 
was  most  intense.  His  memory  and  his  imagina- 
tion were  picture  galleries  of  the  world  and  libra- 


358  f'.    S.    GRANT. 

ries  of  treasured  thought.  He  was  a  world  to 
himself.  His  most  intimate  friends  knew  him 
only  in  part.  He  was  fully  and  best  known 
only  to  the  wife  of  his  bosom  and  the  children 
of  his  loins.  To  them  the  man  of  iron  will  and 
nerve  of  steel  was  gentle,  tender,  and  confiding, 
and  to  them  he  unfolded  his  beautiful  religious 
life." 

After  the  services,  the  body  of  the  great  soldier 
was  placed  upon  the  funeral  car,  and  conveyed  to 
Albany,  where  it  lay  in  state  at  the  Capitol.  At 
midnight  dirges  were  sung,  while  eager  multitudes 
passed  by  looking  upon  the  face  of  the  dead.  Ar- 
riving in  New  York,  the  casket  was  laid  in  the 
midst  of  exquisite  flowers  in  the  City  Hall.  On 
this  very  day  memorial  services  were  held  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  Canon  Farrar  delivering  an  elo- 
quent address. 

During  the  first  night  at  the  City  Hall,  about 
fifteen  thousand  persons  passed  the  coffin,  and  the 
next  day  ninety  thousand ;  rich  and  poor,  black 
and  white;  men,  women,  and  little  children.  A 
man  on  crutches  hobbled  past  the  casket,  bowed 
with  grief.  "  Move  on,"  said  one  of  the  guards  of 
honor.  "  Yes,"  replied  the  old  man,  "  as  well  as  I 
can  I  will.  I  left  this  leg  in  the  Wilderness."  An 
aged  woman  wept  as  she  said,  "  Oh  !  general,  I  gave 
you  my  husband,  my  sons,  and  my  son's  beautiful 
boys." 

On  August  8,  General  Grant  was  laid  in  his  tomb 
at  Riverside  Park,  on  the  Hudson  River,  a  million 


U.    S.    GRANT.  359 

people  joining  in  the  sad  funeral  ceremonies.  The 
catafalque,  with  its  black  horses  led  by  colored 
grooms,  moved  up  the  street,  followed  by  a  proces- 
sion four  miles  long.  When  the  tomb  was  reached, 
the  casket,  placed  in  a  cedar  covering,  leaden  lined, 
was  again  enclosed  in  a  great  steel  casket,  round 
like  an  immense  boiler,  weighing  thirty-eight  hun- 
dred pounds.  The  only  touching  memento  left 
upon  the  coffin  was  a  wreath  of  oak-leaves  wrought 
together  by  his  grandchild  Julia,  on  his  dying  day, 
with  the  words,  "  To  Grandpa."  Guns  were  fired, 
and  cannon  reverberated  through  the  valley,  as 
the  pall-bearers,  Confederate  and  Union  generals, 
turned  their  footsteps  away  from  the  resting-place 
of  their  great  leader.  It  was  fitting  that  North 
and  South  should  unite  in  his  burial.  Here,  too, 
will  sometime  be  laid  his  wife,  for  before  his 
death  he  exacted  a  promise  from  his  oldest  son : 
"Wherever  I  am  buried,  promise  me  that  your 
mother  shall  be  buried  by  my  side."  Already  she 
has  received  over  three  hundred  thousand  dollars 
in  royalty  on  the  memoirs  which  he  wrote  in 
those  last  months  of  agony.  Beautifully  wrote 
Richard  Watson  Gilder  :  — 


"  All's  over  now;  here  let  our  captain  rest,  — 
The  conflict  ended,  past  men's  praise  and  blame; 
Here  let  him  rest,  alone  with  his  great  fame,  — 
Here  in  the  city's  heart  he  loved  the  best, 
And  where  our  sons  his  tomb  may  see 
To  make  them  brave  as  he:  — 


360  V>    8.    GRANT. 

"  As  brave  as  he,  —  he  on  whose  iron  arm 
Our  Greatest  leaned,  our  gentlest  and  most  wise,- 
Leaned  when  all  other  help  seemed  mocking  lies, 
While  this  one  soldier  checked  the  tide  of  harm, 
And  they  together  saved  the  State, 
And  made  it  free  and  great." 


JAMES   A.   GARFIELD. 


T  far  from  where  I  write  is  a  tall  gray 
stone  monument,  in  the  form  of  a  circular 
tower,  lined  with  various  polished  marbles,  and  ex- 
quisite stained-glass  windows.  It  stands  on  a  hill- 
top in  the  centre  of  three  acres  of  green  lawn,  look- 
ing out  upon  blue  Lake  Erie  and  the  busy  city  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Within  this  tower  rests  the  body  of  one  whom 
the  nation  honors,  and  will  honor  in  all  time  to 
come ;  one  who  was  nurtured  in  the  wilderness 
that  he  might  have  a  sweet,  natural  boyhood;  who 
studied  in  the  school  of  poverty  that  he  might  sym- 
pathize with  the  sons  of  toil ;  who  grew  to  an 
ideal  manhood,  that  other  American  boys  might 
learn  the  lessons  of  a  grand  life,  and  profit  by 
them. 

In  the  little  town  of  Orange,  Ohio,  James  Abram 
Garneld  was  born,  November  19,  1831.  The  home 
into  which  he  came  was  a  log  cabin,  twenty  by 
thirty  feet,  made  of  unhewn  logs,  laid  one  upon 
another,  to  the  height  of  twelve  feet  or  more,  the 
space  between  the  logs  being  filled  with  clay  or 
361 


362  JAMES  A.    GABF1ELD. 

mud.  Three  other  children  were  in  this  home  in 
the  forest  already  ;  Mehetabel,  Thomas,  and  .Mary. 

Abram,  the  father,  descended  from  Revolutionary 
ancestors,  was  a  strong-bodied,  strong-brained  man, 
who  moved  from  Worcester,  Otsego  County,  New 
York,  to  test  his  fortune  in  the  wilderness.  In  his 
boyhood,  he  had  played  with  Eliza  Ballon,  de- 
scended from  Maturin  Ballon,  a  Huguenot,  from 
France.  She  also  at  fourteen  moved  with  her 
family  from  New  Hampshire,  into  the  Ohio  wilder- 
ness. Abram  was  more  attracted  to  Ohio  for  that 
reason.  They  renewed  the  affection  of  their  child- 
hood, and  were  married  February  3,  1821,  settling 
first  in  Newburg,  near  Cleveland,  and  later  buying 
eighty  acres  in  Orange,  at  two  dollars  an  acre.  Here 
their  four  children  were  born,  seven  miles  from 
any  other  cabin. 

When  the  boy  James  was  eighteen  months  old, 
a  shadow  settled  over  the  home  in  the  woods.  A 
fire  broke  out  in  the  forest,  threatening  to  sweep 
away  the  Gartield  cabin.  For  two  hours  one  hot 
July  day  the  father  fought  the  flames,  took  a 
severe  cold,  and  died  suddenly,  saying  to  his  wife, 
"  I  have  planted  four  saplings  in  these  woods ;  I 
must  now  leave  them  to  your  care."  He  had  kept 
his  precious  ones  from  being  homeless,  only  to 
leave  them  fatherless.  Who  would  have  thought 
then  that  one  of  these  saplings  would  grow  into  a 
mighty  tree,  admired  by  all  the  world  ? 

In  a  corner  of  the  wheat-field,  in  a  plain  box,  the 
young  husband  was  buried.  What  should  the 


JAMES  A.    GAEFIELD.  g63 

mother  do  with  her  helpless  flock  ?  "  Give  them 
away,"  said  some  of  the  relatives,  or  "  bind  them 
out  in  far-away  homes." 

"No,"  said  the  brave  mother,  and  put  her 
woman's  hands  to  heavy  work.  She  helped  her 
boy  Thomas,  then  nine  years  old,  to  split  rails  and 
fence  in  the  wheat-field.  She  corded  the  wool  of 
her  sheep,  wove  the  cloth,  and  made  garments  for 
her  children.  She  sold  enough  land  to  pay  off  the 
mortgage,  because  she  could  not  bear  to  be  in 
debt,  and  then  she  and  Mehetabel  and  Thomas 
ploughed  and  planted,  and  waited  in  faith  and 
hope  till  the  harvest  came.  When  the  food  grew 
meagre  she  sang  to  her  helpful  children,  and 
looked  ever  toward  brighter  days.  And  such 
days  usually  come  to  those  who  look  for  them. 

It  was  not  enough  to  widow  Garfield  that  her 
children  were  decently  clothed  and  fed  in  this 
isolated  home.  They  must  be  educated  ;  but  how  ? 
A  log  school-house  was  finally  erected,  she  wisely 
giving  a  corner  of  her  farm  for  the  site.  The 
scholars  sat  on  split  logs  for  benches,  and  learned 
to  read  and  write  and  spell  as  best  they  could  from 
their  ordinary  teaching.  James  was  now  nearly 
three,  and  went  and  sat  all  day  on  the  hard 
benches  with  the  rest. 

But  a  school-house  was  not  sufficient  for  these 
New  England  pioneers ;  they  must  have  a  church 
building  where  they  could  worship.  Mrs.  Gar- 
field  loved  her  Bible,  and  had  taught  her  children 
daily,  so  that  James  even  knew  its  stories  by 


364  JAMES  A.   GAB  FIELD. 

heart,  and  many  of  its  chapters.  A  church  was 
therefore  organized  in  the  log  school-house,  and 
now  they  could  work  happily,  year  after  year, 
wondering  perchance  what  the  future  would  bring. 

James  began  to  show  great  fondness  for  read- 
ing. As  he  lay  on  the  cabin  floor,  by  the  big  fire- 
place, he  read  by  its  light  his  "  English  Reader," 
"  Robinson  Crusoe "  again  and  again,  and,  later, 
when  he  was  twelve,  "  Josephus,"  and  "  Goodrich's 
History  of  the  United  States."  He  had  worked  on 
the  farm  for  years ;  now  he  must  earn  some  money 
for  his  mother  by  work  for  the  neighbors.  He 
had  helped  his  brother  Thomas  in  enlarging  the 
house,  and  was  sure  that  he  could  be  a  carpenter. 

Going  to  a  Mr.  Trent,  he  asked  for  work. 

"  There  is  a  pile  of  boards  that  I  want  planed," 
said  the  man,  "and  I  will  pay  you  one  cent  a 
board  for  planing." 

James  began  at  once,  and  at  the  end  of  a  long 
day,  to  the  amazement  of  Mr.  Trent,  he  had  planed 
one  hundred  boards,  each  over  twelve  feet  long, 
and  proudly  carried  home  one  dollar  to  his  mother. 
After  this  he  helped  to  build  a  barn  and  a  shed 
for  a  potashery  establishment  for  leeching  ashes. 
The  manufacturer  of  the  "  black-salts  "  seemed  to 
take  a  fancy  to  the  lad,  and  offered  him  work  at 
nine  dollars  a  month  and  his  board,  which  James 
accepted.  In  the  evenings  he  studied  arithmetic 
and  read  books  about  the  sea.  This  arrangement 
might  have  continued  for  some  time  had  not  the 
daughter  of  the  salt-maker  remarked  one  evening 


JAMES   A.    G  Alt  FIELD.  365 

to  her  beau,  as  they  sat  in  the  room  where  James 
was  reading,  "  I  should  think  it  was  time  for  hired 
servants  to  be  abed." 

James  had  not  realized  how  the  presence  of  a 
third  party  is  apt  to  restrain  the  confidential  conver- 
sation of  lovers.  He  was  hurt  and  angered  by  the 
words,  and  the  next  day  gave  up  his  work,  and 
went  home  to  his  mother,  to  receive  her  sympathy 
and  find  employment  elsewhere.  Doubtless  he  was 
more  careful,  all  his  life,  from  this  circumstance, 
lest  he  wound  the  feelings  of  others. 

Soon  after  this  he  heard  that  his  uncle  in  New- 
burg  was  hiring  wood-choppers.  He  immediately 
went  to  see  him,  and  agreed  to  cut  one  hundred 
cords  of  wood,  at  twenty-five  cents  a  cord.  It  was 
a  man's  work,  but  the  boy  of  sixteen  determined  to 
do  as  much  as  a  man.  Each  day  he  cut  two  cords, 
and  at  last  carried  twenty -five  dollars  to  his  mother ; 
a  small  fortune,  it  seemed  to  the  earnest  boy. 

While  he  chopped  wood  he  looked  out  wistfully 
upon  Lake  Erie,  recalled  the  sea  stories  which  he 
had  read,  and  longed  more  than  ever  to  become  a 
sailor.  The  Orange  woods  were  growing  too 
cramped  for  him.  He  was  restless  and  eager  for 
a  broader  life.  It  was  the  unrest  of  ambition, 
which  voiced  itself  twenty  years  later  in  an  address 
at  Washington,  D.  C.,  to  young  men.  "Occasion 
cannot  make  spurs,  young  men.  If  you  expect  to 
wear  spurs,  you  must  win  them.  If  you  wish  to 
use  them,  you  must  buckle  them  to  your  own  heels 
before  you  go  into  the  fight.  Any  success  you  may 


366  JAMES  A.    GAitFIELD. 

achieve  is  not  worth  the  having  unless  you  fight 
for  it.  Whatever  you  win  in  life  you  must  conquer 
by  your  own  efforts  ;  and  then  it  is  yours  —  a  part 
of  yourself.  .  .  .  Let  not  poverty  stand  as  an  ob- 
stacle in  your  way.  Poverty  is  uncomfortable,  as  I 
can  testify;  but  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  best 
thing  that  can  happen  to  a  young  man  is  to  be  tossed 
overboard,  and  compelled  to  sink  or  swim  for  him- 
self. In  all  my  acquaintance  I  have  never  known 
one  to  be  drowned  who  was  worth  saving.  ...  To 
a  young  man  who  has  in  himself  the  magnificent 
possibilities  of  life,  it  is  not  fitting  that  he  should 
be  permanently  commanded ;  he  should  be  a  com- 
mander. You  must  not  continue  to  be  employed; 
you  must  be  an  employer.  You  must  be  promoted 
from  the  ranks  to  a  command.  There  is  something, 
young  men,  that  you  can  command;  go  and  find  it, 
and  command  it.  You  can  at  least  command  a 
horse  and  dray,  can  be  generalissimo  of  them  and 
may  carve  out  a  fortune  with  them." 

Mrs.  Garfield,  with  her  mother's  heart,  deprecated 
a  life  at  sea  for  her  boy,  and  tried  to  dissuade  him. 
Through  the  summer  he  worked  in  the  hay-field, 
and  then,  the  sea-fever  returning,  his  mother  wisely 
suggested  that  he  seek  employment  on  Lake  Erie 
and  see  if  he  liked  the  life. 

With  his  clothing  wrapped  in  a  bundle,  he  walked 
seventeen  miles  to  Cleveland,  with  glowing  visions 
of  being  a  sailor.  Reaching  the  wharf,  he  went  on 
board  a  schooner,  and  asked  for  work.  A  drunken 
captain  met  him  with  oaths,  and  ordered  him  oft' 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  367 

the  boat.  The  first  phase  of  sea  life  had  been  dif- 
ferent from  what  he  had  read  in  the  books,  and  he 
turned  away  somewhat  disheartened. 

However,  he  soon  met  a  cousin,  who  gave  him 
the  opportunity  of  driving  mules  for  a  canal  boat. 
To  walk  beside  slow  mules  was  somewhat  prosaic, 
as  compared  with  climbing  masts  in  a  storm,  but 
he  accepted  the  position,  receiving  ten  dollars  a 
month  and  his  board.  Says  William  M.  Thayer, 
in  his  "  From  Log-Cabin  to  the  Wh^te  House  " : 
"  James  appeared  to  possess  a  singular  affinity  for 
the  water.  He  fell  into  the  water  fourteen  times 
during  the  two  or  three  months  he  served  on  the 
canal  boat.  It  was  not  because  he  was  so  clumsy 
that  he  could  not  keep  right  side  up,  nor  because 
he  did  not  understand  the  business  ;  rather,  we 
think,  it  arose  from  his  thorough  devotion  to  his 
work.  He  gave  more  attention  to  the  labor  in  hand 
than  he  did  to  his  own  safety.  He  was  one  who 
never  thought  of  himself  when  he  was  serving 
another.  He  thought  only  of  what  he  had  in  hand 
to  do.  His  applicafion  was  intense,  and  his  per- 
severance royal." 

After  a  few  weeks  he  contracted  fever  and  ague, 
and  went  home  to  be  cared  for  by  his  mother, 
through  nearly  five  months  of  illness.  The  sea- 
fever  had  somewhat  abated.  Could  he  not  go  to 
school  again  ?  urged  the  mother.  Thomas  and  she 
could  give  him  seventeen  dollars ;  not  much,  to  be 
sure,  for  some  people,  but  much  for  the  widow  and 
her  son. 


368  JAMES  A.   GARFIELD. 

At  last  he  decided  to  go  to  Geauga  Seminary,  at 
Chester;  a  decision  which  took  him  to  the  presi- 
dential chair.  March  5,  1849,  when  he  was  eigh- 
teen, James  and  his  cousins  started  on  foot  for 
Chester,  carrying  their  housekeeping  utensils,  plates, 
knives  and  forks,  kettle,  and  the  like ;  for  they 
must  board  themselves.  A  small  room  was  hired 
for  a  pittance,  four  boys  rooming  together. 

The  seventeen  dollars  soon  melted  away,  and 
James  found  work  in  a  carpenter's  shop,  where  he 
labored  nights  and  mornings,  and  every  Saturday. 
Though  especially  fond  of  athletic  games,  he  had 
no  time  for  these.  The  school  library  contained 
one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes ;  a  perfect  mine  of 
knowledge  it  seemed  to  the  youth  from  Orange. 
He  read  eagerly  biography  and  history  ;  joined  tin- 
debating  society,  where,  despite  his  awkward  man- 
ners and  poor  clothes,  his  eloquence  soon  attracted 
attention ;  Avent  home  to  see  his  mother  at  the  end 
of  the  first  term,  happy  and  courageous,  and  re- 
turned with  ninepence  in  his  pocket,  to  renew  the 
struggle  for  an  education.  The  first  Sunday,  at 
church,  he  put  this  ninepence  into  the  contribution 
box,  probably  feeling  no  poorer  than  before. 

While  at  Chester,  the  early  teaching  of  his 
mother  bore  fruit,  in  his  becoming  a  Christian, 
and  joining  the  sect  called  "  Disciples."  "  Of 
course,"  said  Garfield,  years  later,  "that  settled 
canal,  and  lake,  and  sea,  and  everything."  A  new 
life  had  begun  —  a  life  devoted  to  the  highest 
endeavor. 


JAMES   A.    GAEFIELD.  369 

Each  winter,  while  at  Chester,  he  taught  a  dis- 
trict school,  winning  the  love  of  the  pupils  by  his 
enthusiasm  and  warm  heart,  and  inciting  them  to 
study  from  his  love  of  books.  He  played  with 
them  as  though  a  boy  like  themselves,  as  he  was, 
in  reality,  and  yet  demanded  and  received  per- 
fect obedience.  He  "boarded  around,"  as  was  the 
custom,  and  thus  learned  more  concerning  both 
parents  and  pupils  than  was  always  desirable, 
probably ;  but  in  every  house  he  tried  to  stimulate 
all  to  increased  intelligence. 

During  his  last  term  at  the  seminary,  he  met  a 
graduate  of  a  New  England  college,  who  urged  that 
he  also  attend  college ;  told  how  often  men  had 
worked  their  way  through  successfully,  and  had 
come  to  prominence.  Young  Garfield  at  once  be- 
gan to  study  Latin  and  Greek,  and  at  twenty  years 
of  age  presented  himself  at  Hiram  College,  Ohio, 
a  small  institution  at  that  time,  which  had  been 
started  by  the  "  Disciples."  He  sought  the  princi- 
pal, and  asked  to  ring  the  bell  and  sweep  the  floors 
to  help  pay  his  expenses.  He  took  a  room  with 
four  other  students,  not  a  wise  plan,  except  for  one 
who  has  will  enough  to  study  whether  his  compan- 
ions work  or  play,  and  rose  at  five  in  the  morning, 
to  ring  his  bell. 

A  lady  who  attended  the  college  thus  writes  of 
him :  "  I  can  see  him  even  now,  standing  in  the 
morning  with  his  hand  on  the  bell-rope,  ready  to 
give  the  signal  calling  teachers  and  scholars  to  en- 
gage in  the  duties  of  the  day.  As  we  passed  by, 


370  JAMES   A.    GARFIELH. 

entering  the  school-room,  he  had  a  cheerful  word 
for  every  one.  He  was  probably  the  most  popular 
person  in  the  institution.  He  was  always  good-nat- 
ured, fond  of  conversation,  and  very  entertaining. 
He  was  witty  and  quick  at  repartee,  but  his  jokes, 
though  brilliant  and  sparkling,  were  always  harm- 
less, and  he  never  would  willingly  hurt  another's 
feelings. 

"  Afterward,  he  became  an  assistant  teacher,  and 
while  pursuing  his  classical  studies,  preparatory  to 
his  college  course,  he  taught  the  English  branches. 
He  was  a  most  entertaining  teacher,  —  ready  with 
illustrations,  and  possessing  in  a  marked  degree 
the  power  of  exciting  the  interest  of  the  scholars, 
and  afterward  making  clear  to  them  the  lessons. 
In  the  arithmetic  class  there  were  ninety  pupils, 
and  I  cannot  remember  a  time  when  there  was  any 
flagging  in  the  interest.  There  were  never  any 
cases  of  unruly  conduct,  or  a  disposition  to  shirk. 
With  scholars  who  were  slow  of  comprehension,  or 
to  whom  recitations  were  a  burden  on  account  of 
their  modest  or  retiring  dispositions,  he  was  spe- 
cially attentive,  and  by  encouraging  words  and 
gentle  assistance  would  manage  to  put  all  at  their 
ease,  and  awaken  in  them  a  confidence  in  them- 
selves. ...  He  was  a  constant  attendant  at  the  reg- 
ular meetings  for  prayer,  and  his  vigorous  exhorta- 
tions and  apt  remarks  upon  the  Bible-lessons  were 
impressive  and  interesting.  There  was  a  cordiality 
in  his  disposition  which  won  quickly  the  favor  and 
esteem  of  others.  He  had  a  happy  habit  of  shak- 


JAMES  A.    GAEFIELD.  371 

ing  hands,  and  would  give  a  hearty  grip  which  be- 
tokened a  kind-hearted  feeling  for  all.  .  .  . 

"  One  of  his  gifts  was  that  of  mezzotint  drawing, 
and  he  gave  instruction  in  this  branch.  I  was  one 
of  his  pupils  in  this,  and  have  now  the  picture  of 
a  cross  upon  which  he  did  some  shading  and  put 
on  the  finishing  touches.  Upon  the  margin  is 
written,  in  the  hand  of  the  noted  teacher,  his  own 
name  and  his  pupil's.  There  are  also  two  other 
drawings,  one  of  a  large  European  bird  on  the 
bough  of  a  tree,  and  the  other  a  church-yard  scene 
in  winter,  done  by  him  at  that  time.  In  those  days 
the  faculty  and  pupils  were  wont  to  call  him  'the 
second  Webster,'  and  the  remark  was  common, 
'He  will  fill  the  White  House  yet.'  In  the  Ly- 
ceum, he  early  took  rank  far  above  the  others  as  a 
speaker  and  debater. 

"During  the  month  of  June  the  entire  school 
went  in  carriages  to  their  annual  grove  meeting  at 
Randolph,  some  twenty-five  miles  away.  On  this 
trip  he  was  the  life  of  the  party,  occasionally 
bursting  out  in  an  eloquent  strain  at  the  sight  of  a 
bird  or  a  trailing  vine,  or  a  venerable  giant  of  the 
forest.  He  would  repeat  poetry  by  the  hour,  hav- 
ing a  very  retentive  memory." 

The  college  library  contained  about  two  thou- 
sand volumes,  and  here  Garfield  read  systemati- 
cally and  topically,  a  habit  which  continued  through 
life,  and  made  him  master  of  every  subject  which 
he  touched.  Tennyson's  poetry  became,  like  the 
Bible,  his  daily  study. 


372  JAMES  A.    GARFIELD. 

Mr.  J.  M.  Bundy,  in  his  Life  of  Garfield,  said, 
years  later,  "  His  house  at  Washington  is  a  work- 
shop, in  which  the  tools  are  always  kept  within 
immediate  reach.  Although  books  overrun  his 
house  from  top  to  bottom,  his  library  contains  the 
working  material  on  which  he  mainly  depends. 
And  the  amount  of  material  is  .enormous.  Large 
numbers  of  scrap-books  that  have  been  accumulat- 
ing for  over  twenty  years  in  number  and  value  — 
made  up  with  an  eye  to  what  either  is  or  may 
become  useful,  which  would  render  the  collection 
of  priceless  value  to  the  library  of  any  first-class 
newspaper  establishment  —  are  so  perfectly  ar- 
ranged and  indexed  that  their  owner,  with  his  all- 
retentive  memory,  can  turn  in  a  moment  to  the 
facts  that  may  be  needed  for  almost  any  conceiva- 
ble emergency  in  debate.  These  are  supplemented 
by  diaries  that  preserve  Garfield's  multifarious, 
political,  scientific,  literary,  and  religious  inquiries, 
studies,  and  readings.  And,  to  make  the  machin- 
ery of  rapid  work  complete,  he  has  a  large  box, 
containing  sixty-three  different  drawers,  each  prop- 
erly labelled,  in  which  he  places  newspaper  cut- 
tings, documents,  and  slips  of  paper,  and  from 
which  he  can  pull  out  what  he  wants  as  easily  as 
an  organist  can  play  on  the  stops  of  his  instru- 
ment." 

In  Hiram  College  he  formed  an  intellectual 
friendship  with  a  fellow-student  to  whose  inspir- 
ing help  he  testified  gratefully  to  the  end  of  his 
life ;  Miss  Almeda  A.  Booth,  eight  years  his 


JAMES  A.    GAEFIELD.  373 

senior,  a  brilliant  and  noble  woman,  pledged  to 
"virgin  widowhood"  by  the  death  of  the  young 
man  to  whom  she  was  promised  in  marriage. 
Twenty  years  later,  Garfield  said,  in  a  memorial 
address  at  Hiram  College,  "  On  my  own  behalf  I 
take  this  occasion  to  say  that  for  her  generous  and 
powerful  aid,  so  often  and  so  efficiently  rendered, 
for  her  quick  and  never  failing  sympathy,  and  for 
her  intelligent,  unselfish,  and  unswerving  friend- 
ship, I  owe  her  a  debt  of  gratitude  and  affection 
for  the  payment  of  which  the  longest  term  of  life 
would  have  been  too  short.  ...  I  remember  that 
she  and  I  were  members  of  the  class  that  began 
Xenophon's  '  Anabasis '  in  the  fall  of  1852.  Near 
the  close  of  that  term  I  also  began  to  teach  in  the 
Eclectic  [College],  and,  thereafter,  like  her,  could 
keep  up  my  studies  only  outside  of  my  own  class 
hours.  In  mathematics  and  the  physical  sciences 
I  was  far  behind  her ;  but  we  were  nearly  at  the 
same  place  in  Greek  and  Latin,  each  having  studied 
them  about  three  terms.  She  had  made  her  home 
at  President  Hayden's  almost  from  the  first ;  and  I 
became  a  member  of  his  family  at  the  beginning  of 
the  winter  term  of  1852-53.  Thereafter,  for  nearly 
two  years,  she  and  I  studied  together,  and  recited 
in  the  same  classes  (frequently  without  other 
associates)  till  we  had  nearly  completed  the  classi- 
cal course.  .  .  . 

"  During  the  fall  of  1853  she  read  one  hundred 
pages  of  Herodotus,  and  about  the  same  of 
Livy.  During  that  term,  also,  Professors  Dun- 


374  JAMES  A.    GAItFIELD. 

shee  and  Hull,  Miss  Booth,  and  I  met  at  her  room 
two  evenings  of  each  week  to  make  a  joint  transla- 
tion of  the  Book  of  Romans.  Professor  Dunshee 
contributed  his  studies  of  the  German  commenta- 
tors De  Wette  and  Tholuck;  and  each  of  the 
translators  made  some  special  study  for  each 
meeting.  How  nearly  we  completed  the  transla- 
tion I  do  not  remember ;  but  I  do  remember  that 
the  contributions  and  criticisms  of  Miss  Booth 
were  remarkable  for  suggestiveness  and  sound 
judgment.  Our  work  was  more  thorough  than 
rapid,  for  I  find  this  entry  in  my  diary  for  Decem- 
ber 15,  1853 :  '  Translation  Society  sat  three  hours 
at  Miss  Booth's  room,  and  agreed  upon  the  transla- 
tion of  nine  verses.' 

"  During  the  winter  term  of  1853-54  she  con- 
tinued to  read  Livy,  and  also  the  whole  of 
Demosthenes  '  On  the  Crown.'  During  the  spring 
term  of  1854  she  read  the  '  Germania '  and  '  Agric- 
ola '  of  Tacitus  and  a  portion  of  Hesiod." 

To  Garfield  she  was  another  Margaret  Fuller. 
"  I  venture  to  assert  that  in  native  powers  of  mind, 
in  thoroughness  and  breadth  of  scholarship,  in 
womanly  sweetness  of  spirit,  and  in  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  effective,  unselfish  work  done,  she 
has  not  been  excelled  by  any  American  woman. 
...  I  can  name  twenty  or  thirty  books  which  will 
forever  be  doubly  precious  to  me  because  they 
were  read  and  discussed  in  company  with  her.  .  .  . 
She  was  always  ready  to  aid  any  friend  with  her 
best  efforts.  When  I  was  in  the  hurry  of  prepar- 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  375 

ing  for  a  debate  with  Mr.  Denton,  in  1858,  she 
read  not  less  than  eight  or  ten  volumes,  and  made 
admirable  notes  for  me  on  those  points  which 
related  to  the  topics  of  discussion.  In  the  autumn 
of  1859  she  read  a  large  portion  of  Blackstone's 
'Commentaries,'  and  enjoyed  with  keenest  relish 
the  strength  of  the  author's  thought  and  the  beauty 
of  his  style.  From  the  rich  stores  of  her  knowl- 
edge she  gave  with  unselfish  generosity.  The  fore- 
most students  had  no  mannish  pride  that  made 
them  hesitate  to  ask  her  assistance  and  counsel. 
In  preparing  their  orations  and  debates  they 
eagerly  sought  her  suggestions  and  criticisms.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  quite  probable  that  John  Stuart  Mill  has 
exaggerated  the  extent  to  which  his  own  mind  and 
works  were  influenced  by  Harriet  Mill.  I  should 
reject  his  opinion  on  that  subject,  as  a  delusion, 
did  I  not  know  from  my  own  experience,  as  well  as 
that  of  hundreds  of  Hiram  students,  how  great  a 
power  Miss  Booth  exercised  over  the  culture  and 
opinions  of  her  friends." 

The  influence  of  such  a  woman  upon  an  intellect- 
ual young  man  can  scarcely  be  estimated,  or  over- 
estimated. The  world  is  richer  and  nobler  for 
such  women.  Garfield  never  forgot  her  influence. 
The  year  he  died,  he  said  at  a  Williams  College 
banquet  held  in  Cleveland,  January  10,  1881 :  "  I 
am  glad  to  say,  reverently,  in  the  presence  of  the 
many  ladies  here  to-night,  that  I  owe  to  a  woman, 
who  has  long  since  been  asleep,  perhaps  a  higher 
debt  intellectually  than  I  owe  to  any  one 


376  JAMES  A.    G  A  It  FIELD. 

else.  After  that  comes  my  debt  to  Williams  Col- 
lege." 

He  used  to  say,  "  Give  me  a  log  hut  with  only  a 
simple  bench,  Mark  Hopkins  on  one  end  and  I  on 
the  other,  and  you  may  have  all  the  buildings,  ap- 
paratus, and  libraries  without  him." 

After  two  years  at  Hiram  College,  Garfield  de- 
cided to  enter  some  eastern  college,  and  wrote 
to  Yale,  Brown,  and  Williams.  Their  replies  are 
shown  in  his  letter  to  a  friend  at  this  time.  "  Their 
answers  are  now  before  me.  All  tell  me  I  can 
graduate  in  two  years.  They  are  all  brief  business 
notes ;  but  President  Hopkins  concludes  with  this 
sentence :  '  If  you  come  here,  we  shall  be  glad  to 
do  what  we  can  for  you.'  Other  things  being  so 
nearly  equal,  this  sentence,  which  seems  to  be  a 
kind  of  friendly  grasp  of  the  hand,  has  settled  the 
question  for  me.  I  shall  start  for  Williams  next 
week."  A  kind  sentence  gave  to  Williams  a  dis- 
tinguished honor  for  all  coming  years. 

Garfield  had  not  only  paid  his  way  while  at 
Hiram,  but  he  had  saved  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  his  course  at  Williams.  Here  he  earned 
money,  as  he  had  at  Hiram,  by  teaching,  and  bor- 
rowed a  few  hundreds  from  Dr.  J.  P.  Kobinson  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  offering  a  life  insurance  policy  as 
security. 

In  college,  says  Dr.  Hopkins,  "  as  General  Gar- 
field  was  broad  in  his  scholarship,  so  was  he  in  his 
sympathies.  No  one  thought  of  him  as  a  recluse 
or  as  bookish.  Not  given  to  athletic  spoils,  he 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  377 

was  fond  of  them.  His  mind  was  open  to  the  im- 
pression of  natural  scenery,  and,  as  his  constitution 
was  vigorous,  he  knew  we^_  the  fine  points  on  the 
mountains  around  us.  He  was  also  social  in  his 
disposition,  both  giving  and  inspiring  confidence. 
So  true  is  this  of  his  intercourse  with  the  officers  of 
the  college,  as  well  as  with  others,  that  he  was  never 
even  suspected  of  anything  low  or  trickish.  .  .  . 
General  Garfield  gave  himself  to  study  with  a  zest 
and  delight  wholly  uuknown  to  those  who  find  in 
it  a  routine.  A  religious  man  and  a  man  of  princi- 
ple, he  pursued  of  his  own  accord  the  ends  pro- 
posed by  the  institution.  He  was  prompt,  frank, 
manly,  social,  in  his  tendencies ;  combining  active 
exercise  with  habits  of  study,  and  thus  did  for 
himself  what  it  is  the  object  of  a  college  to  en- 
able every  young  man  to  do,  —  he  made  himself 
a  MAN." 

When  Garfield  was  at  Williams,  the  slavery 
question  had  become  the  exciting  topic  of  the  day. 
Preston  Brooks'  attack  on  Charles  Sumner  had 
aroused  the  indignation  of  the  students,  who  called 
a  meeting,  at  which  Garfield  made  an  eloquent  and 
powerful  speech.  At  his  graduation  in  1856,  when 
he  was  twenty-five,  he  delivered  the  metaphysical 
oration,  the  highest  honor  awarded.  He  now  re- 
turned to  Hiram  College,  having  been  appointed 
professor  of  Greek  and  Latin.  At  once  he  began 
his  work  with  zest.  He  said  later  :  "  I  have  taken 
more  solid  comfort  in  the  thing  itself,  and  received 
more  moral  recompense  and  stimulus  in  after  life 


378  JAMES  A.    GABFIELD. 

from  capturing  young  men  for  an  education  than 
from  anything  else  in  the  world. 

"  As  I  look  back  over  my  life  thus  far,  I  think 
of  nothing  that  so  fills  me  with  pleasure  as  the 
planning  of  these  sieges,  the  revolving  in  my  mind 
of  plans  for  scaling  the  walls  of  the  fortress ;  of 
gaining  access  to  the  inner  soul-life,  and  at  last 
seeing  the  besieged  party  won  to  a  fuller  apprecia- 
tion of  himself,  to  a  higher  conception  of  life  and 
of  the  part  he  is  to  bear  in  it.  The  principal  guards 
which  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  overcome  in 
gaining  these  victories  are  the  parents  or  guardi- 
ans of  the  young  men  themselves.  I  particularly 
remember  two  such  instances  of  capturing  young 
men  from  their  parents.  Both  of  those  boys  are 
to-day  educators,  of  wide  reputation,  —  one  presi- 
dent of  a  college,  the  other  high  in  the  ranks  of 
graded-school  managers.  Neither,  in  my  opinion, 
would  to-day  have  been  above  the  commonest  walks 
of  life  unless  I,  or  some  one  else,  had  captured 
him.  There  is  a  period  in  every  young  man's  life 
when  a  very  small  thing  will  turn  him  one  way  or 
the  other.  He  is  distrustful  of  himself,  and  uncer- 
tain as  to  what  he  should  do.  His  parents  are  poor, 
perhaps,  and  argue  that  he  has  more  education 
than  they  ever  obtained,  and  that  it  is  enough. 
These  parents  are  sometimes  a  little  too  anxious  in 
regard  to  what  their  boys  are  going  to  do  when 
they  get  through  with  their  college  course.  They 
talk  to  the  young  man  too  much,  and  I  have  noticed 
that  the  boy  who  will  make  the  best  man  is  some- 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  379 

times  most  ready  to  doubt  himself.  I  always  re- 
member the  turning  period  in  my  own  life,  and 
pity  a  young  man  at  this  stage  from  the  bottom  of 
my  heart.  One  of  the  young  men  I  refer  to  came 
to  me  on  the  closing  day  of  the  spring  term,  and 
bade  me  good-by  at  my  study.  I  noticed  that  he 
awkwardly  lingered  after  I  expected  him  to  go,  and 
had  turned  to  my  writing  again. 

" '  I  suppose  you  will  be  back  again  in  the  fall, 
Henry,'  I  said,  to  fill  in.  the  vacuum.  He  did  not 
answer,  and,  turning  toward  him,  I  noticed  that  his 
eyes -were  filled  with  tears,  and  that  his  counte- 
nance was  undergoing  contortions  of  pain.  He  at 
length  managed  to  stammer  out,  'No,  I  am  not 
coming  back  to  Hiram  any  more.  Father  says  I 
have  got  education  enough,  and  that  he  needs  me 
to  work  on  the  farm ;  that  education  don't  help 
along  a  farmer  any.' 

"  '  Is  your  father  here  ? '  I  asked,  almost  as  much 
affected  by  the  statement  as  the  boy  himself.  He 
was  a  peculiarly  bright  boy, —  one  of  those  strong, 
awkward,  bashful,  blond,  large-headed  fellows, 
such  as  make  men.  He  was  not  a  prodigy  by  any 
means ;  but  he  knew  what  work  meant,  and,  when 
he  had  won  a  thing  by  true  endeavor,  he  knew  its 
value. 

"  '  Yes ;  father  is  here,  and  is  taking  my  things 
home  for  good,'  said  the  boy,  more  affected  than 
ever. 

"'Well,  don't  feel  badly,'  I  said.  'Please  tell 
him  Mr.  Garfield  would  like  to  see  him  at  his  study, 


380  JAMES  A.   GARFIELD. 

before  he  leaves  the  village.  Don't  tell  him  that  it 
is  about  you,  but  simply  that  I  want  to  see  him.' 
In  the  course  of  half  an  hour  the  old  gentleman,  a 
robust  specimen  of  a  Western  Reserve  Yankee, 
came  into  the  room  and  awkwardly  sat  down.  I 
knew  something  of  the  man  before,  and  I  thought 
I  knew  how  to  begin.  I  shot  right  at  the  bull's- 
eye  immediately. 

"'So  you  have  come  up  to  take  Henry  home 
with  you,  have  you  ? '  The  old  gentleman  answered, 
1  Yes.'  '  I  sent  for  you  because  I  wanted  to  have  a 
little  talk  with  you  about  Henry's  future.  He  is 
coming  back  again  in  the  fall,  I  hope  ? ' 

" '  Wai,  I  think  not.  I  don't  reckon  I  can  afford 
to  send  him  any  more.  He's  got  eddication  enough 
for  a  farmer  already,  and  I  notice  that  when  they 
git  too  much  they  sorter  git  lazy.  Yer  eddicated 
farmers  are  humbugs.  Henry's  got  so  far  'long 
now  that  he'd  rather  hev  his  head  in  a  book  than 
be  workin'.  He  don't  take  no  interest  in  the  stock 
nor  in  the  farm  improvements.  Everybody  else  is 
dependent  in  this  world  on  the  farmer,  and  I  think 
that  we've  got  too  many  eddicated  fellows  setting 
around  now  for  the  farmers  to  support.' 

" '  I  am  sorry  to  hear  you  talk  so,'  I  said ;  '  for 
really  I  consider  Henry  one  of  the  brightest  and 
most  faithful  students  I  have  ever  had.  I  have 
taken  a  very  deep  interest  in  him.  What  I  wanted 
to  say  to  you  was,  that  the  matter  of  educating 
him  has  largely  been  a  constant  outgo  thus  far,  but, 
if  he  is  permitted  to  come  next  fall  term,  he  will 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  381 

be  far  enough  advanced  so  that  he  can  teach  school 
in  the  winter,  and  begin  to  help  himself  and  you 
along.  He  can  earn  very  little  on  the  farm  in  the 
winter,  and  he  can  get  very  good  wages  teaching. 
How  does  that  strike  you  ? ' 

"  The  idea  was  a  new  and  good  one  to  him.  He 
simply  remarked,  'Do  you  really  think  he  can 
teach  next  winter  ?  ' 

"  '  I  should  think  so,  certainly,'  I  replied.  '  But, 
if  he  cannot  do  so  then,  he  can  in  a  short  time, 
anyhow.' 

" '  Wai,  I  will  think  on  it.  He  wants  to  come 
back  bad  enough,  and  I  guess  I'll  have  to  let  him. 
I  never  thought  of  it  that  way  afore.' 

"  I  knew  I  was  safe.  It  was  the  financial  ques- 
tion that  troubled  the  old  gentleman,  and  I  knew 
that  would  be  overcome  when  Henry  got  to  teach- 
ing, and  could  earn  his  money  himself.  He  would 
then  be  so  far  along,  too,  that  he  could  light  his 
own  battles.  He  came  all  right  the  next  fall,  and, 
after  finishing  at  Hiram,  graduated  at  an  eastern 
college." 

One  secret  of  Garfield's  success  in  teaching  was 
his  deep  interest  in  the  young.  He  said,  "  I  feel  a 
profounder  reverence  for  a  boy  than  for  a  man.  I 
never  meet  a  ragged  boy  of  the  street  without  feel- 
ing that  I  may  owe  him  a  salute,  for  I  know  not 
Avhat  possibilities  may  be  buttoned  up  under  his 
shabby  coat.  When  I  meet  you  in  the  full  flush  of 
mature  life,  I  see  nearly  all  there  is  of  you ;  but 
among  these  boys  are  the  great  men  of  the  future, 


382  JAMES  A.   GAEFIELD. 

the  heroes  of  the  next  generation,  the  philosophers, 
the  statesmen,  the  philanthropists,  the  great  re- 
formers and  moulders  of  the  next  age.  Therefore, 
I  say,  there  is  a  peculiar  charm  to  me  in  the  exhi- 
bitions of  young  people  engaged  in  the  business  of 
an  education." 

He  made  himself  a  student  with  his  students. 
He  said:  "I  shall  give  you  a  series  of  lectures 
upon  history,  beginning  next  week.  I  do  this  not 
alone  to  assist  you ;  the  preparation  for  the  lectures 
will  compel  me  to  study  history." 

He  was  always  a  worker.  "  When  I  get  into  a 
place  that  I  can  easily  fill,  I  always  feel  like  shov- 
ing out  of  it  into  one  that  requires  of  me  more 
exertion." 

His  active  mind  was  not  content  with  teaching. 
He  delivered  lectures  in  the  neighboring  towns  on 
geology,  illustrated  by  charts  of  his  own  making ; 
upon  "Walter  Scott;"  Carlyle's  "Frederick  the 
Great ; "  the  "  Character  of  the  German  People  ; " 
government,  and  the  topics  of  the  times.  He 
preached  almost  every  Sabbath  in  some  Disciple 
church.  A  year  after  his  return  from  Williams 
he  was  promoted  to  the  presidency  of  Hiram 
College. 

In  1858,  when  he  was  twenty-seven,  he  married 
Lucretia  Rudolph,  whom  he  had  known  at  Geauga 
Seminary,  and  who  was  his  pupil  in  Latin  and 
Greek  at  Hiram.  He  had  been  engaged  to  her 
four  years  previously,  when  he  entered  Williams, 
she  being  a  year  his  junior.  Slje  was  his  compan- 


JAMES  A.   GARFIELD.  383 

t 

ion  in  study,  as  well  as  domestic  life,  and  helped 
him  onward  in  his  great  career. 

This  same  year,  1858,  he  entered  his  name  as  a 
student  at  law,  with  a  Cleveland  firm,  carrying  on 
his  studies  at  home,  and  fitted  himself  for  the  bar 
in  the  usual  time  devoted  by  those  who  have  no 
other  work  in  hand. 

The  following  year,  having  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  Republican  campaign  for  John  C.  Fremont 
for  the  presidency,  Garfield  was  chosen  State  sena- 
tor. The  same  year  Williams  College  invited  him 
to  deliver  the  master's  oration  on  Commencement 
day.  On  the  journey  thither,  he  visited  Quebec, 
taking  with  his  wife  their  first  pleasure  trip_ 
Only  eight  years  before  this  he  was  ringing  the 
bell  at  Hiram.  Promotion  had  come  rapidly,  but 
deservedly. 

In  the  Legislature  he  naturally  took  a  prominent 
part.  Lincoln  had  been  elected  and  had  issued  his 
call  for  seventy-five  thousand  men.  Garfield,  in  an 
eloquent  speech,  moved,  "That  Ohio  contribute 
twenty  thousand  men,  and  three  million  dollars,  as 
the  quota  of  the  State."  The  motion  was  enthusi- 
astically carried. 

Governor  Dennison  appointed  Garfield  colonel  of 
the  Forty-second  Ohio  Regiment,  and  he  left  the 
Senate  for  the  battlefield,  nearly  one  hundred 
Hiram  students  enlisting  under  him.  At  once  he 
began  to  study  military  tactics  in  earnest.  He 
organized  a  school  among  the  officers,  and  kept  the 
men  at  drill  till  they  were  efficient  in  the  art  of 


384  JAMES  A.    GARFIELD. 

t 

war.  January  10,  1862,  he  fought  the  battle  of 
Middle  Creek,  with  eleven  hundred  men,  driving 
General  Marshall  out  of  Eastern  Kentucky,  with 
five  thousand  men.  The  battle  raged  for  five  hours, 
sometimes  a  desperate  hand-to-hand  fight.  General 
Buell  said  in  his  official  report  of  Garfield  and  his 
regiment :  "  They  have  overcome  formidable  diffi- 
culties in  the  character  of  the  country,  the  condi- 
tion of  the  roads,  and  the  inclemency  of  the  sea- 
son, and,  without  artillery,  have  in  several  engage- 
ments, terminating  in  the  battle  of  Middle  Creek, 
driven  the  enemy  from  his  intrenched  positions 
and  forced  him  back  into  the  mountains,  with  the 
loss  of  a  large  amount  of  baggage  and  stores,  and 
many  of  his  men  killed  and  captured.  These  ser- 
vices have  called  into  action  the  highest  qualities 
of  a  soldier  —  fortitude,  perseverance,  and  courage." 
After  this  battle,  President  Lincoln  made  Garfield 
a  brigadier-general. 

Says  Mr.  Bundy  :  "  Having  cleared  out  Hum. 
phrey  Marshall's  forces,  Garfield  moved  his  com- 
mand to  Piketon,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Sandy,  from  which 
place  he  covered  the  whole  region  about  with  expe- 
ditions, breaking  up  rebel  camps  and  perfecting  his 
work.  Finally,  in  that  poor  and  wretched  country, 
his  supplies  gave  out,  and,  as  usual,  taking  care  of 
the  most  important  matter  himself,  he  went  to  the 
Ohio  Kiver  for  supplies,  got  them,  seized  a  steamer, 
and  loaded  it.  But  there  was  an  unprecedented 
freshet,  navigation  was  very  perilous,  and  no  cap. 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  385 

tain  or  pilot  could  be  induced  to  take  charge  of  the 
boat.  Garfield  at  once  availed  himself  of  his 
canal-boat  experience,  took  charge  of  the  boat, 
stood  at  the  helm  for  forty  out  of  forty -eight  hours, 
piloted  the  steamer  through  an  untried  channel 
full  of  dangerous  eddies  and  wild  currents,  and 
saved  his  command  from  starvation." 

Later,  Garfield  became  chief  of  General  Kose- 
crans'  staff,  was  in  the  dreadful  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga,  and  was  made  major-general  "for  gallant 
and  meritorious  services  "  in  that  battle.  Eosecrans 
said :  "  All  my  staff  merited  my  warm  approbation 
for  ability,  zeal,  and  devotion  to  duty ;  but  I  am 
sure  they  will  not  consider  it  invidious  if  I  espe- 
cially mention  Brigadier-General  Garfield,  ever 
active,  prudent,  and  sagacious.  I  feel  much  in- 
debted to  him  for  both  counsel  and  assistance  in 
the  administration  of  this  army.  He  possesses  the 
energy  and  the  instinct  of  a  great  commander." 

In  the  summer  of  1862  the  Nineteenth  Congres- 
sional District  of  Ohio  elected  Garfield  to  Congress. 
He  hesitated  about  leaving  the  army,  but,  being 
urged  by  his  friends  that  it  was  his  duty  to  serve 
his  country  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  he 
took  his  seat  December,  1863.  Among  such  men 
as  Colfax,  Washburn,  Conkling,  Allison,  and 
others,  he  at  once  took  an  honorable  position.  He 
was  made  chairman  of  military  affairs,  then  of 
banking  and  currency,  of  appropriations,  and  other 
committees. 

On   the   slavery  question   he  had   always   been 


386  JAMES  A.    GAHFIELD. 

outspoken.  He  said,  on  the  constitutional  amend- 
ment abolishing  slavery :  "  All  along  the  coast  of 
our  political  sea  these  victims  of  slavery  lie  like 
stranded  wrecks  broken  on  the  headlands  of  free- 
dom. How  lately  did  its  advocates,  with  impious 
boldness,  maintain  it  as  God's  own ;  to  be  vener- 
ated and  cherished  as  divine  !  It  was  another  and 
higher  form  of  civilization.  It  was  the  holy 
evangel  of  America  dispensing  its  mercies  to  a 
benighted  race,  and  destined  to  bear  countless 
blessings  to  the  wilderness  of  the  "West.  In  its 
mad  arrogance  it  lifted  its  hand  to  strike  down 
the  fabric  of  the  Union,  and  since  that  fatal  day  it 
has  been  '  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  in  the  earth.' 
Like  the  spirit  that  Jesus  cast  out,  it  has,  since 
then,  been  '  seeking  rest  and  finding  none.'  It  has 
sought  in  all  the  corners  of  the  republic  to  find 
some  hiding-place  in  which  to  shelter  itself  from 
the  death  it  so  richly  deserves.  It  sought  an 
asylum  in  the  untrodden  territories  of  the  West, 
but  with  a  whip  of  scorpions  indignant  freemen 
drove  it  thence.  I  do  not  believe  that  a  loyal  man 
can  now  be  found  who  would  consent  that  it  should 
again  enter  them.  It  has  no  hope  of  harbor  there. 
It  found  no  protection  or  favor  in  the  hearts  or 
consciences  of  the  freemen  of  the  republic,  and  has 
fled  for  its  last  hope  of  safety  behind  the  shield  of 
the  Constitution.  We  propose  to  follow  it  there, 
and  drive  it  thence,  as  Satan  was  exiled  from 
heaven.  ...  To  me  it  is  a  matter  of  great  sur- 
prise that  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  should  wish 


JANES  A.    GARFIELD.  387 

to  delay  the  death  of  slavery.  I  can  only  account 
for  it  on  the  ground  of  long  continued  familiarity 
and  friendship.  .  .  .  Has  she  not  betrayed  and 
slain  men  enough  ?  Are  they  not  strewn  over  a 
thousand  battle-fields  ?  Is  not  this  Moloch  already 
gorged  with  the  bloody  feast  ?  Its  best  friends 
know  that  its  final  hour  is  fast  approaching.  The 
avenging  gods  are  on  its  track.  Their  feet  are  not 
now,  as  of  old,  shod  with  wool,  nor  slow  and 
stately  stepping,  but  winged  like  Mercury's  to  bear 
the  swift  message  of  vengeance.  No  human  power 
can  avert  the  final  catastrophe." 

On  the  currency  he  spoke  repeatedly  and  ear- 
nestly. He  carefully  studied  English  financial 
history,  and  mastered  the  French  and  German  lan- 
guages that  he  might  study  their  works  on  political 
economy  and  finance.  Says  Captain  F.  H.  Mason, 
late  of  the  Forty-second  Ohio  Regiment,  in  his 
sketch  of  Garfield,  "In  May,  1868,  when  the 
country  was  rapidly  drifting  into  a  hopeless  confu- 
sion of  ideas  on  financial  subjects,  and  when 
several  prominent  statesmen  had  come  forward 
with  specious  plans  for  creating  '  absolute  money ' 
by  putting  the  government  stamp  upon  bank  notes, 
and  for  paying  off  with  this  false  currency  the 
bonds  which  the  nation  had  solemnly  agreed  to 
pay  in  gold,  General  Garfield  stood  up  almost 
single-handed  and  faced  the  current  with  a  speech 
which  any  statesman  of  this  century  might  be 
proud  to  have  written  on  his  monument.  It  em- 
braced twenty -three  distinct  but  concurrent  topics, 


388  JAMES  A.    GAEFIELD. 

and  occupied  in  delivering  an  entire  day's  session 
of  the  House." 

"For  my  own  part,"  he  said,  "my  course  is 
taken.  In  view  of  all  the  facts  of  our  situation,  of 
all  the  terrible  experiences  of  the  past,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  of  the  united  testimony  of 
the  wisest  and  bravest  statesmen  who  have  lived 
and  labored  during  the  past  century,  it  is  my  firm 
conviction  that  any  considerable  increase  of  the 
volume  of  our  inconvertible  paper  money  will 
shatter  public  credit,  will  paralyze  public  industry, 
and  oppress  the  poor ;  and  that  the  gradual  resto- 
ration of  our  ancient  standard  of  value  will  lead 
us  by  the  safest  and  surest  paths  to  national  pros- 
perity and  the  steady  pursuits  of  peace." 

Again  he  said :  "  I  for  one  am  not  willing  that 
my  name  shall  be  linked  to  the  fate  of  a  paper 
currency.  I  believe  that  any  party  which  commits 
itself  to  paper  money  will  go  down  amid  the  gen- 
eral disaster,  covered  with  the  curses  of  a  ruined 
people. 

"Mr.  Speaker,  I  remember  that  on  the  monu- 
ment of  Queen  Elizabeth,  where  her  glories  were 
recited  and  her  honors  summed  up,  among  the  last 
and  the  highest  recorded  as  the  climax  of  her 
honors  was  this  :  that  she  had  restored  the  money 
of  her  kingdom  to  its  just  value.  And  when  this 
House  shall  have  done  its  work,  when  it  shall  have 
brought  back  values  to  their  proper  standard,  it  will 
deserve  a  monument." 

On  the  tariff  question,  General  Garfield  took  the 


JAMES  A.    GARFIELD.  389 

side  of  protection,  yet  was  no  extremist.  His  oft 
reiterated  belief  was,  "As  an  abstract  theory,  the 
doctrine  of  free  trade  seems  to  be  universally  true, 
but  as  a  question  of  practicability,  under  a  govern- 
ment like  ours,  the  protective  system  seems  to  be 
indispensable." 

He  said  in  Congress :  "  We  have  seen  that  one 
extreme  school  of  economists  would  place  the  price 
of  all  manufactured  articles  in  the  hands  of  foreign 
producers  by  rendering  it  impossible  for  our  manu- 
facturers to  compete  with  them ;  while  the  other 
extreme  school,  by  making  it  impossible  for  the 
foreigner  to  sell  his  competing  wares  in  our  mar- 
ket, would  give  the  people  no  immediate  check 
upon  the  prices  which  our  manufacturers  might 
fix  for  their  products.  I  disagree  with  both  these 
extremes.  I  hold  that  a  properly  adjusted  compe- 
tition between  home  and  foreign  products  is  the 
best  gauge  by  which  to  regulate  international  trade. 
Duties  should  be  so  high  that  our  manufacturers 
can  fairly  compete  with  the  foreign  product,  but 
not  so  high  as  to  enable  them  to  drive  out  the  for- 
eign article,  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  trade,  and 
regulate  the  price  as  they  please.  This  is  my  doc- 
trine of  protection.  If  Congress  pursues  this  line 
of  policy  steadily,  we  shall,  year  by  year,  approach 
more  nearly  to  the  basis  of  free  trade,  because  we 
shall  be  more  nearly  able  to  compete  with  other 
nations  on  equal  terms.  I  am  for  a  protection 
which  leads  to  ultimate  free  trade.  I  am  for  that 
free  trade  which  can  only  be  achieved  through  a 


390  JAMES  A.  GAR  FIELD. 

reasonable  protection.  ...  If  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world  should  become  the  kingdom  of  the  Trincr 
of  Peace,  then  I  admit  that  universal  free  trade 
ought  to  prevail.  But  that  blessed  era  is  yet  too 
remote  to  be  made  the  basis  of  the  practical  legis- 
lation of  to-day.  We  are  not  yet  members  of  '  the 
parliament  of  man,  the  federation  of  the  world.' 
For  the  present,  the  world  is  divided  into  separate 
nationalities  ;  and  that  other  divine  command  still 
applies  to  our  situation, '  He  that  provideth  not  for 
his  own  household  has  denied  the  faith,  and  is 
worse  than  an  infidel,'  and  until  that  latter  era 
arrives  patriotism  must  supply  the  place  of  univer- 
sal brotherhood." 

Again  he  said :  "  Those  arts  that  enable  our 
nation  to  rise  in  the  scale  of  civilization  bring 
their  blessings  to  all,  and  patriotic  citizens  will 
cheerfully  bear  a  fair  share  of  the  burden  neces- 
sary to  make  their  country  great  and  self-sustain- 
ing. I  will  defend  a  tariff  that  is  national  in  its 
aims,  that  protects  and  sustains  those  interests 
without  which  the  nation  cannot  become  great 
and  self-sustaining.  ...  So  important,  in  my 
view,  is  the  ability  of  the  nation  to  manufact- 
ure all  these  articles  necessary  to  arm,  equip,  and 
clothe  our  people,  that  if  it  could  not  be  secured 
in  any  other  way  I  would  vote  to  pay  money  out 
of  the  federal  treasury  to  maintain  government 
iron  and  steel,  woollen  and  cotton  mills,  at  what- 
ever cost.  Were  we  to  neglect  these  great  inter- 
ests and  depend  upon  other  nations,  in  what  a 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD.  391 

condition  of  helplessness  would  we  find  ourselves 
when  we  should  be  again  involved  in  war  with  the 
very  nations  on  whom  we  were  depending  to  fur- 
nish us  these  supplies  ?  The  system  adopted  by 
our  fathers  is  wiser,  for  it  so  encourages  the  great 
national  industries  as  to  make  it  possible  at  all 
times  for  our  people  to  equip  themselves  for  war, 
and  at  the  same  time  increase  their  intelligence 
and  skill  so  as  to  make  them  better  fitted  for  all 
the  duties  of  citizenship  in  war  and  in  peace.  We 
provide  for  the  common  defence  by  a  system  which 
promotes  the  general  welfare.  ...  I  believe  that 
we  ought  to  seek  that  point  of  stable  equilibrium 
somewhere  between  a  prohibitory  tariff  on  the  one 
hand  and  a  tariff  that  gives  no  protection  on  the 
other.  What  is  that  point  of  stable  equilibrium  ? 
In  my  judgment,  it  is  this  ;  a  rate  so  high  that  for- 
eign producers  cannot  flood  our  markets  and  break 
down  our  home  manufacturers,  but  not  so  high  as 
to  keep  them  altogether  out,  enabling  our  manu- 
facturers to  combine  and  raise  the  prices,  nor  so 
high  as  to  stimulate  an  unnatural  and  unhealthy 
growth  of  manufactures. 

"In  other  words,  I  would  have  the  duty  so 
adjusted  that  every  great  American  industry  can 
fairly  live  and  make  fair  profits,  and  yet  so  low 
that,  if  our  manufacturers  attempted  to  put  up 
prices  unreasonably,  the  competition  from  abroad 
would  come  in  and  bring  down  prices  to  a  fair 
rate." 

On   special   occasions,  such   as   his  eulogies  on 


392  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 

Lincoln  and  General  Thomas,  and  on  Decoration 
Day  at  Arlington  Heights,  Garfield  was  very  elo- 
quent. At  the  latter  place,  he  said :  "  If  silence  is 
ever  golden,  it  must  be  here,  beside  the  graves  of 
fifteen  thousand  men,  whose  lives  were  more  sig- 
nificant than  speech,  and  whose  death  was  a  poem 
the  music  of  which  can  never  be  sung.  With 
words,  we  make  promises,  plight  faith,  praise  vir- 
tue. Promises  may  not  be  kept ;  plighted  faith 
may  be  broken ;  and  vaunted  virtue  may  be  only 
the  cunning  mask  of  vice.  We  do  not  know  one 
promise  these  men  made,  one  pledge  they  gave, 
one  word  they  spoke ;  but  we  do  know  they 
summed  up  and  perfected,  by  one  supreme  act, 
the  highest  virtues  of  men  and  citizens.  For  love 
of  country  they  accepted  death,  and  thus  resolved 
all  doubts,  and  made  immortal  their  patriotism  and 
their  virtue. 

"For  the  noblest  man  that  lives  there  still  re- 
mains a  conflict.  He  must  still  withstand  the 
assaults  of  time  and  fortune;  must  still  be  as- 
sailed with  temptations  before  which  lofty  natures 
have  fallen.  But  with  these,  the  conflict  ended, 
the  victoiy  was  won,  when  death  stamped  on  them 
the  great  seal  of  heroic  character,  and  closed  a 
record  which  j-ears  can  never  blot." 

Professor  R  A.  Hinsdale,  the  intimate  friend  of 
Garfield,  says,  in  his  "Hiram  College  Memorial," 
"  General  Garfield's  readiness  on  all  occasions  has 
often  been  remarked.  Probably  some  have  attrib- 
uted this  readiness  to  the  inspiration  of  genius. 


JAMES  A.  GAEFIELD.  393 

The  explanation  lies  partly  in  his  genius,  but  much 
more  in  his  indefatigable  work.  He  treasured  up 
knowledge  of  all  kinds.  '  You  never  know,'  he 
would  say,  '  how  soon  you  will  need  it.'  Then 
he  forecasted  occasions,  and  got  ready  to  meet 
them.  One  hot  day  in  July,  1876,  he  brought  to 
his  Washington  house  an  old  copy  of  The  Congres- 
sional Globe.  Questioned,  he  said,  'I  have  been 
told,  confidentially,  that  Mr.  Lamar  is  going  to 
make  a  speech  in  the  House  on  general  politics,  to 
influence  the  presidential  canvass.  If  he  does,  I 
shall  reply  to  him.  Mr.  Lamar  was  a  member  of 
the  House  before  the  war ;  and  I  am  going  to  read 
some  of  his  old  speeches,  and  get  into  his  mind.' 
Mr.  Lamar  made  his  speech  August  2,  and  Mr. 
Garfield  replied  August  4.  Men  expressed  sur- 
prise at  the  fulness  and  completeness  of  the  reply, 
delivered  on  such  short  notice.  But  to  one  know- 
ing his  habits  of  mind,  especially  to  one  who  had 
the  aforesaid  conversation  with  him,  the  whole 
matter  was  as  light  as  day.  His  genius  was  em- 
phatically the  genius  of  preparation." 

Both  in  Congress  and  in  the  army  Garfield  gave 
a  portion  of  each  day  to  the  classics,  especially  to 
his  favorite,  Horace.  He  was  always  an  omnivo- 
rous reader. 

In  1880,  he  was  elected  United  States  senator. 
After  the  election  he  said,  "During  the  twenty 
years  that  I  have  been  in  public  life,  almost  eight- 
een of  it  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  I 
have  tried  to  do  one  thing.  Whether  I  was  mis- 


394  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 

taken  or  otherwise,  it  has  been  the  plan  of  my  life 
to  follow  my  convictions,  at  whatever  personal  cost 
to  myself.  I  have  represented  for  many  years  a 
district  in  Congress  whose  approbation  I  greatly 
desired;  but,  though  it  may  seem,  perhaps,  a  little 
egotistical  to  say  it,  I  yet  desired  still  more  the 
approbation  of  one  person,  and  his  name  was  Gar- 
field.  He  is  the  only  man  that  I  am  compelled  to 
sleep  with,  and  eat  with,  and  live  with,  and  die 
with;  and  if  I  could  not  have  his  approbation  I 
should  have  had  bad  companionship." 

All  these  years  the  home  life  had  been  helpful 
and  beautiful.  Of  his  seven  children,  two  were 
sleeping  in  the  Hiram  church-yard.  Five,  Harry, 
James,  Mollie,  Irvin,  and  Abrani,  made  the  Wash- 
ington home  a  place  of  cheer  in  winter,  and 
the  summer  home,  at  Mentor,  Ohio,  a  feAv  miles 
from  Hiram,  a  place  of  rest  and  pleasure.  Here 
Garfield,  beloved  by  his  neighbors,  ploughed  and 
sewed  and  reaped,  as  when  a  boy.  His  mother 
lived  in  his  family,  happy  in  his  success. 

When  the  national  Republican  convention  met 
in  June,  1880,  at  Chicago,  the  names  of  several 
presidential  candidates  came  before  the  people, — 
Grant,  Elaine,  and  others.  Garfield  nominated 
John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  in  a  chaste  and  eloquent 
speech.  He  said :  "  I  have  witnessed  the  extraor- 
dinary scenes  of  this  convention  with  deep  solic- 
itude. No  emotion  touches  my  heart  more  quickly 
than  a  sentiment  in  honor  of  a  great  and  noble 
character;  but,  as  I  sat  on  these  seats  and  wit- 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD.  395 

nessed  these  demonstrations,  it  seemed  to  me  you 
were  a  human  ocean  in  a  tempest. 

"  I  have  seen  the  sea  lashed  into  fury  and  tossed 
into  spray,  and  its  grandeur  moves  the  soul  of  the 
dullest  man  ;  but  I  remember  that  it  is  not  the  bil- 
lows but  the  calm,  level  of  the  sea  from  which  all 
heights  and  depths  are  measured.  When  the  storm 
has  passed  and  the  hour  of  calm  settles  on  the 
ocean,  when  the  sunlight  bathes  its  smooth  surface, 
then  the  astronomer  and  surveyor  takes  the  level 
from  which  he  measures  all  terrestrial  heights  and 
depths. 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  convention,  your  present 
temper  may  not  mark  the  healthful  pulse  of  our 
people.  When  our  enthusiasm  has  passed,  when 
the  emotions  of  this  hour  have  subsided,  we  shall 
find  that  calm  level  of  public  opinion,  below  the 
storm,  from  which  the  thoughts  of  a  mighty  people 
are  to  be  measured,  and  by  which  their  final  action 
will  be  determined.  Not  here  in  this  brilliant  cir- 
cle, where  fifteen  thousand  men  and  women  are 
assembled,  is  the  destiny  of  the  Republican  party 
to  be  decreed.  Not  here,  where  I  see  the  enthusi- 
astic faces  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty-six  delegates, 
waiting  to  cast  their  votes  into  the  urn  and  deter- 
mine the  choice  of  the  republic,  but  by  four  million 
Republican  firesides,  where  the  thoughtful  voters, 
with  wives  and  children  about  them,  with  the  calm 
thoughts  inspired  by  love  of  home  and  country, 
with  the  history  of  the  past,  the  hopes  of  the 
future,  and  reverence  for  the  great  men  who  have 


396  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD. 

adorned  and  blessed  our  nation  in  days  gone  by 
burning  in  their  hearts,  —  there  God  prepares  the 
verdict  which  will  determine  the  wisdom  of  our 
work  to-night.  Not  in  Chicago,  in  the  heat  of 
June,  but  at  the  ballot-boxes  of  the  republic,  in 
the  quiet  of  November,  after  the  silence  of  delib- 
erate judgment,  will  this  question  be  settled." 

The  thousands  were  at  fever-heat  hour  after  hour, 
in  their  intense  excitement.  After  thirty-four  inef- 
fectual ballots,  on  the  thirty-fifth,  fifty  votes  were 
given  for  Garfield.  The  tide  had  turned  at  last. 
The  delegates  of  State  after  State  gathered  around 
the  man  from  Ohio,  holding  their  flags  over  him, 
while  the  bands  played,  "  Rally  round  the  flag, 
boys,"  and  fifteen  thousand  people  shouted  their 
thanksgiving  for  the  happy  choice.  Outside  the 
great  hall,  cannons  were  fired,  and  the  crowded 
streets  sent  up  their  cheers.  From  that  moment 
Garfield  belonged  to  the  nation,  and  was  its  idol. 

On  March  4,  1881,  in  the  presence  of  a  hundred 
thousand  people,  the  boy  born  in  the  Orange  wil- 
derness was  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States.  None  of  us  who  were  present  will  ever 
forget  the  beauty  of  his  address  from  the  steps  of 
the  national  Capitol,  or  the  kiss  given  to  white- 
haired  mother  and  devoted  wife  at  the  close. 
Afterward,  the  great  procession,  three  hours  in 
passing  a  given  point,  was  reviewed  by  President 
Garfield  from  a  stand  erected  in  front  of  the  White 
House. 

Four  months  after  this  scene,  on  July  2,  1881, 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD.  397 

the  nation  was  thrilled  with  sorrow.  As  General 
Garfield  and  his  Secretary  of  State,  James  G. 
Elaine,  aria  in  arm,  were  entering  the  Baltimore 
&  Potomac  Railroad  depot,  two  pistol  shots  were 
fired ;  one  passing  through  Garfield's  coat-sleeve, 
the  other  into  his  body.  He  fell  heavily  to  the 
floor,  and  was  borne  to  the  White  House.  The 
assassin  was  "Charles  Guiteau,  a  half-crazed  aspirant 
for  office,  entirely  unknown  to  the  President.  The 
man  was  hanged. 

Through  four  long  months  the  nation  prayed, 
and  hoped,  and  agonized  for  the  life  of  its  beloved 
President.  Gifts  poured  in  from  every  part  of  the 
Union,  but  gifts  were  of  no  avail.  On  September 
5,  Garfield  was  carried  to  Elberon,  Long  Branch, 
~New  Jersey,  where,  in  the  Francklyn  Cottage,  he 
seemed  to  revive  as  he  looked  out  upon  the  sea, 
the  sea  he  had  longed  for  in  his  boyhood.  The 
nation  took  heart.  But  two  weeks  later,  at  thirty- 
five  minutes  past  ten,  on  the  evening  of  September 
19,  the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
the  President  passed  from  an  unconscious  state  to 
the  consciousness  of  immortality.  At  ten  minutes 
past  ten  he  had  said  to  General  Swaim,  who  was 
standing  beside  him,  as  he  put  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,  "  I  have  great  pain  here." 

The  whole  world  sympathized  with  America  in 
her  great  sorrow.  Queen  Victoria  telegraphed  to 
Mrs.  Garfield :  "  Words  cannot  express  the  deep 
sympathy  I  feel  with  you  at  this  terrible  moment. 
May  God  support  and  comfort  you,  as  he  alone  can." 


398  JAMES  A.  GAltFIELD. 

On  September  21,  the  body  of  the  President  was 
taken  to  Washington.  At  the  Princeton  Station, 
three  hundred  students  from  the  college,  with  un- 
covered heads,  strewed  the  track  and  covered  the 
funeral  car  with  flowers.  At  the  Capitol,  where  he 
had  so  recently  listened  to  the  cheers  of  the  people 
at  his  inauguration,  one  hundred  thousand  passed  in 
silence  before  his  open  coffin.  The  casket  was  cov- 
ered with  flowers  ;  one  wreath  bearing  a  card  from 
England's  queen,  with  the  words  :  "  Queen  Victoria, 
to  the  memory  of  the  late  President  Garfield,  an 
expression  of  her  sorrow  and  sympathy  with  .Mrs. 
Garfield  and  the  American  nation." 

The  body  was  borne  to  Cleveland,  the  whole 
train  of  cars  being  draped  in  black.  Fifty  thou- 
sand persons  assembled  at  the  station,  and  followed 
the  casket  to  a  catafalque  on  the  public  square. 
During  the  Sabbath,  an  almost  countless  throng 
passed  beside  the  beloved  dead.  On  Monday,  Sep- 
tember 26,  through  beautiful  Euclid  Avenue,  the 
body  was  borne  six  miles,  to  its  final  resting-place. 
Every  house  was  draped  in  mourning.  Streets 
were  arched  with  exquisite  flowers  on  a  background 
of  black.  One  city  alone,  Cincinnati,  sent  two  car- 
loads of  flowers.  Among  the  many  floral  designs 
was  a  ladder  of  white  immortelles,  with  eleven 
rounds,  bearing  the  words  :  "  Chester,"  "  Hiram.'' 
"  Williams,"  "  Ohio  Senate,"  "  Colonel,"  "  General." 
"  Congress,"  "  United  States  Senate,"  "  President," 
"  Martyr." 

After   appropriate  exercises,  the  sermon   being 


JAMES  A.  GARFIELD.  399 

preached  by  Eev.  Isaac  Errett,  D.D.,  of  Cincin- 
nati, according  to  a  promise  made  years  before, 
the  casket,  followed  by  a  procession  five  miles  long, 
was  carried  to  the  cemetery.  It  was  estimated 
that  a  quarter  of  a  million  people  were  gathered 
along  the  streets ;  not  idle  sight-seers,  but  men 
and  women  who  loved  the  boy,  and  revered  the 
man  who  had  come  to  distinguished  honor  in  their 
midst. 

Not  only  in  Cleveland  were  memorial  services 
held.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  spoke  touch- 
ing words  in  London.  In  Liverpool,  in  Manches- 
ter, in  Glasgow,  and  hundreds  of  other  cities,  public 
services  were  held.  Messages  of  condolence  were 
sent  from  many  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe. 

Under  the  white  stone  monument  in  Lake  View 
Cemetery,  the  statesman  has  been  laid  to  rest. 
For  centuries  the  tomb  will  tell  to  the  thousands 
upon  thousands  who  visit  it  the  story  of  struggle 
and  success  ;  of  work,  of  hope,  of  courage,  of  de- 
votion to  duty.  Like  Abraham  Lincoln,  Garfield 
was  born  in  a  log  cabin,  battled  with  poverty,  was 
honest,  great-hearted,  a  lover  of  America,  and,  like 
him,  a  martyr  to  the  republic.  To  the  world  both 
deaths  seemed  unbearable  calamities,  but  nations, 
like  individuals,  are  chastened  by  sorrow,  and  learn 
great  lessons  through  great  trials.  "  Now  we  know 
in  part ;  but  then  shall  we  know  even  as  also  we 
are  known." 


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