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HARPER'S ENCYCLOPiEDIA
of
UNITED STATES HISTORY
From 458 a.d. to 1909 \
BASED UPON THE PLAN OF ',' , * ',
BENSON JOHN LOSSINQ, LL.D.
SOMETIME EDITOR OF "THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL RECORD" AND AUTHOR CF ^ , ^
" THE PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE revolution" " THE PICTORIAL FIELD- > )^
BOOK OF THE WAR OF l8l2" ETC., ETC., ETC. ','",' ''
/ITH SPECIAL CONTRIBUTIONS COVERING EVERY PHASE OF AMERICAN HISTORY ,\ND '
DEVELOPMENT BY EMINENT AUTHORITIES, INCLUDING ""'
OHN FISKE. WOODROW WILSON, Ph.D., LL.D. ,
THE AMERICAN HISTORrAN PRESIDENT OE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
VM. R. HARPER, Ph.D., LL.D,, D.D. GOLDWIN SMITH, D.C.L., LL.D; !
PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PROE. OF HISTOR } UNIV. OF TOR()NTO ,
ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D. MOSES COIT TYLER, LL.D.
/'ROE. OF HISTORY AT HARVARD PROE. OF HISTORY AT CORNEU, .
OHN B. MOORE. EDWARD G. BOURNE, Ph.D.
PROt. OP IMEKNAIIONAL LAIV AT COLUMBIA PROF. OF HISTORY AT YALB
OHN FRYER, A.M., LL.D. R. J. H. GOTTHEIL, Ph.D.
IROE. OE LITERATURE AT UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA PROF. OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES AT COLUMBIA
VILLIAM T. HARRIS, Ph.D., LL.D, ALFRED T. MAHAN, D.C.L,, LL,D.
U. S. COMMISSIONER .OF EDUC.-1TION CAPTAIN UNITED STATES NAVY [Retired)
ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC.
WITH A PREFACE ON THE STUDY OF AMERICAN HISTORY BY
WOODROW WILSON, Ph.D., LL.D.
PRESIDENT OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
AUTHOR OF
"A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE," ETC., ETC.
WITH ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, PORTRAITS, MAPS, PLANS, ^'c.
COMPLETE IN TEN VOLUMES
VOL. Ill
1ARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
^lEW YORK = - = LONDON
Copyright, 1905, by Harper & Brothers.
Copyright, 1901, by Harper & Brothers,
^// rishts resefved.
\
LIST OF PLATES
President Millard Fillmore Frentispieee
Fac-simile op the Original Draft of the Decla-
ration OF Independence Facing page 40
Reading the Declaration of Independence,
City Hall Square, New York City . . . . " "38
Independence Hall, Philadelphia " "48
PoNTiAc's Attack on Fort Detroit " ** 108
Admiral George Dewey " "112
Admiral David G. Farragut ....... *' "318
The Battle of Fredericksburg — Volunteers
Crossing the River " " 430
* ^ t"" *^ <pa '''-^
HARPER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA
UNITED STATES HISTORY
D.
Dablon, Claude, Jesuit missionary;
born in Dieppe, France, in 1618; began a
mission to the Onondaga Indians in New
York in 1655, and six years afterwards he
accompanied Druillettes in an overland
journey to the Hudson Bay region. In
1668 he went with Marquette to Lake
Superior, and in 1670 was appointed su-
perior of the missions of the Upper Lakes.
He prepared the Relations concerning New
France for 1671-72, and also a narrative
of Marquette's journey, published in John
Gilmary Shea's Discovery and Explora-
tion of the Mississippi Valley (1853). He
died in Quebec, Canada, Sept. 20, 1697.
Dabney, Richard Heath, educator;
born in Memphis, Tenn., March 29,
1860; graduated at the University of Vir-
ginia in 1881; Professor of History in the
University of Virginia in 1897. He is the
author of John Randolph ; The Causes of
the French Revolution, etc.
Dabney, Robert Lewis, clergyman;
born in Louisa county, Va., March 5,
1820; graduated at the University of Vir-
ginia in 1842; ordained a Presbyterian
minister in 1847; and became Professor
of Church History in Union Seminary, Vir-
ginia, in 1853. When the Civil War bi'oke
out he entered the Confederate army as
chaplain, and later became chief of staff to
Gen. Thomas J. Jackson. His publica-
tions include Life of T. J. Jackson, and
Defence of Virginia and the South. He
died in Victoria, Texas, Jan. 3, 1898.
Dabney, Waltek David, lawyer; born
in Albemarle county, Va., in 1853; grad-
UI. — A 1
uated at the law department of the Uni-
versity of Virginia in 1875; appointed
legal secretary of the United States in-
ter-State commerce commission in 1890,
and, later, solicitor of the State Depart-
ment. In 1895 he became Professor of
Common and Statute Law in the Univer-
sity of Virginia. He died in Charlottes-
ville, Va., March 12, 1899.
Dabney's Mills, Va. See Hatcher's
Run.
Dacres, James Richard, naval officer;
born in Suffolk, England, Aug. 22, 1788;
JAMES RICUAKU DACRES.
DADE— DAHLGREN
son of Vice-Admiral Dacres, who was a
commander in the battle with Arnold on
Lake Champlain in 1776. The son en-
tered the royal navy in 1796, and, being
placed in command of the frigate Guer-
riere in 1811, was sent to fight the Amer-
icans. He proudly boasted that he would
" send the Constitution to Davy Jones's
locker " when he should be so fortunate
as to meet her. She had escaped him in
her famous retreat, but willingly met and
fought the Guerriere afterwards. Dacres
was then captain. He attained the rank
of flag-officer in 1838, and in 1845 was
vice-admiral and commander - in - chief of
the fleet at the Cape of Good Hope. He
was presented with a gratuity from the
" Patriotic Fund " at Lloyd's, in con-
sideration of his wound. He was mar-
ried, in 1810, to Arabella Boyd, who
died in 1828. He died in Hampshire,
England, Dec. 4, 1853. See Constitution
(frigate) .
Dade, Francis Langhorn, military
officer ; born in Virginia ; entered the army
as third lieutenant in 1813. During the
war with the Seminole Indians, while on
the march to Fort King, he, with almost
the entire detachment, was destroyed by
a treacherous attack of the Indians, Dec.
28, 1835. A monument at West Point was
erected to the memory of Major Dade and
the men in his command, and Fort Dade,
35 miles from Tampa, Fla., is named in
his honor.
Daggett, Naphtali, clergyman; born
in Attleboro, Mass., Sept. 8, 1727; grad-
uated at Yale College in 1748; ordain-
ed pastor of a Presbyterian church at
Smithtown, Long Island, in 1751; and
in 1755 was chosen professor of divinity
at Yale, which place he held until his
death, in New Haven, Conn., Nov. 25,
1780. In 1766, on the resignation of
President Clap, he was chosen presi-
dent of, the college pro tempore and
officiated in that capacity more than a
year. He was an active patriot when
the War of the Revolution broke out; and
when the British attacked New Haven, in
1779, he took part in the resistance made
by the citizens and surrounding militia.
Dr. Daggett was made a prisoner, and the
severe treatment to which he was sub-
jected so shattered his constitution that
he never recovered his health. After the
famous Dark Day {q. v.), in 1780, he
published an account of it.
Dahlgren, John Adolph, naval officer;
born in Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1809; en-
tered the navy in 1826, and was made rear-
admiral in 1863. He was the inventor of
JOHN ADOLPH DAHLGREN.
the Dahlgren gun, which he perfected at
the navy-yard at Washington, and in 1862
he was made chief of the bureau of ord-
nance. In July, 1863, he took command
of the South Atlantic squadron, and, with
the land forces of General Gillmore, capt-
ured Morris Island and Fort Wagner,
and reduced Fort Sumter to a heap of
ruins. He conducted a successful ex-
pedition up the St. John's River, in
Florida, in 1864, and co-operated with
General Sherman in the capture of Savan-
nah. After the evacuation of Charleston
he moved his vessels up to that city.
Admiral Dahlgren, besides being the in-
ventor of a cannon, introduced into the
navy the highly esteemed light boat-
howitzer. He was author of several
works on ordnance, which became text-
books. He died in Washington, D. C.
July 12, 1870.
Dahlgren, Madeleine Vinton, author;
born in Gallipolis, 0., about 1835; widow
of Rear-Admiral John A. Dahlgren. She
established and was the vice-president for
several years of the Literary Society of
Washington; was opposed to woman suf-
frage, against which she published a
weekly paper for two years, and also sent
2
DAHLGREN— DAIQUIRI
a petition bearing many signatures to Con-
gress, requesting that women should not be
given the elective franchise. Popes Pius
IX. and Leo XIII. several times thanked
her for the various services she had ren-
dered to the Roman Catholic Church. Her
publications include Thoughts on Female
Suffrage; Memoirs of John A. Dahlgren,
etc. She. died in Washington, D. C, May
28, 1898.
Dahlgren, Ulric, artillery officer ; born
in Bucks county. Pa., in 1842; son of
Eear-Admiral Dahlgren. At the outbreak
of the Civil War he became aide first to
his father and later to General Sigel, and
was Sigel's chief of artillery at the second
battle of Bull Run. He distinguished
himself in an attack on Fredericksburg
and at the battle of Chancellorsville, and
on the retreat of the Confederates from
Gettysburg he led the charge into Hagers-
town. He lost his life in a raid under-
taken for the purpose of releasing Na-
Huguenot faith in 1683, and removed t«
New York to work among the French
under the Reformed Church. In 1688 the
French erected their first church in
Marketfield Street, between Broad and
Whitehall streets; in 1692 Daille narrowly
escaped imprisonment because he had de-
nounced the violent measures of Jacob
Leisler {q. v.); and in 1696 he became
pastor of the School Street Church in
Boston. He died in Boston, Mass., May
21, 1715.
Daiquiri, a sea-coast town in the
province of Santiago, about 15 miles east
of Santiago, Cuba. It was here that the
American army of invasion disembarked
after the declaration of war against Spain
in 1898. After Gen. William Rufus
Shafter iq. v.), commander of the expe-
dition, had accepted the ofl'er of the services
of the Cuban troops under General Garcia,
he furnished them with rations and am-
munition. A number of sharp-shooters.
DAIQCIKI, WHERE THE AMERICAN ARMY OP INVASION DISEMBARKED.
tional prisoners at Libby prison and Belle machine - guns, and mountain artillery
Isle, near King and Queen's Court-house, were landed to aid the Cubans in clear-
Va., March 4, 1864. ing the hills, after which 6,000 men were
Daille, Pierre, clergyman; born in put ashore on June 22. The landing was
France in 1649; banished because of his difficult on account of the defective trans-
DAKOTA— DALE
port facilities, but still the Spaniards
could offer no serious opposition, as they
were held in check by the Cubans and the
shells of the American warships, and also
by the feint of Admiral Sampson to bom-
bard Juragua. On June 23, 6,000 more
troops were landed, and a division under
Maj.-Gen. Henry W. Lawton (q. v.)
inarched to Sibonet (q.v.) in order to give
place to the division of Maj.-Gen. Jacob
F. I^NT {q. V.) While General Shafter
conducted the disembarkation, Maj.-Gen.
Joseph Wheeler directed the operations
ashore. The only losses sustained in this
landing were one killed and four wounded.
Dakota, originally formed a part of
Minnesota Territory. It was a portion
of the great Louisiana purchase in 1803.
The Nebraska Territory was formed in
1854, and comprised a part of what be-
came Dakota. The latter Territory was
organized by act of Congress, approved
March 2, 1861, and included the present
States of Montana and Washington. In
1803 a part of the Territory was included
in Idaho, of which the northeastern part
was organized as Montana in 1864, and
the southern part was transferred to
Dakota. In 1868 a large area was taken
from Dakota to form Wyoming Territory.
The first permanent settlements of Euro-
peans in Dakota were made in 1859, in
what were then Clay, Union, and Yank-
ton counties. The first legislature con-
vened March 17, 1862, Emigration was
limited until 1866, when settlers began to
flock in, and population rapidly increased.
In 1889, two States were created out
of the Territory of Dakota, and ad-
mitted to the Union as North Dakota
and South Dakota (qq. v.).
Dakota Indians. See Sioux Ind-
ians.
Dale, Richard, naval officer; born
near Norfolk, Va., Nov. 6, 1756; went
to sea at twelve years of age, and at
nineteen commanded a merchant ves-
sel. He was first a lieutenant in the
Virginia navy, and entered the Con-
tinental navy, as midshipman, in 1776.
He was captured in 1777, and confined
in Mill PrisOii, England, from which
be escaped, but was recaptured in Lon-
don and taken back. The next year
he escaped, reached France, joined
Paul Jones, and soon became lieu-
tenant of the Bon Homme Richard, recefiv-
ing a wound in the famous battle with the
Serapis. He continued to do good service
RICHARD DALE.
to the end of the war, and in 1794 was
made captain. He commanded the squad-
ron ordered to the Mediterranean in 1801,
and in April, 1802, returning home, he
resigned his commission. He spent the
latter years of his life in ease in Phila-
delphia, where he died, Feb. 24, 1826.
The remains of Commodore Dale were
buried in Christ Church-yard, Philadel-
phia, and over the grave is a white marble
slab with a long inscription.
>^5^-'
DALE'S MONtTMENT
DALE— DALY
Dale, Samuel, pioneer; born in Rock-
bridge county, Va., in 1772. His parents
emigrated to Georgia in 1783. In 17'J3,
alter the death of his parents, he enlist-
ed in the United States army as a scout,
and subsequently became well known as
'■ Big Sam." In 1831 he supervised the re-
moval of the Choctaw Indians to the Ind-
ian Territory. He died in Lauderdale
county. Miss., May 24, 1841.
Dale, Sir Thomas, colonial governor;
was a distinguished soldier in the Low
Countries, and was knighted by King
James in 1G06. Appointed chief magis-
trate of Virginia, he administered the gov-
ernment on the basis of martial law;
planted new settlements on the James,
towards the Falls (now Richmond) ; and
introduced salutary changes in the land
laws of the colony. He conquered the Ap-
pomattox Indians. In IGll Sir Thomas
Gates succeeded him, but he resumed the
office in 1614. In 1616 he returned to
England; went to Holland; and in 1619
was made commander of the East India
fleet, when, near Bantam, he fought the
Dutch. He died near Bantam, East Indies,
early in 1620.
Dall, William Healey, naturalist;
born in Boston, Mass., Aug. 21, 1845 ; took
part in the international telegraph ex-
pedition to Alaska in 1865-68; appointed
assistant in the United States coast sur-
vey of Alaska in 1871, where he spent
several years in various kinds of work,
which included the geography, natural his-
tory, geology, etc., of Alaska and adjacent
islands. Among his books are Alaska and
its Resources; Tribes of the Extreme
Xorthtoest ; Scientific Results of the Ex-
ploration of Alaska, etc.
Dallas, a city in Georgia, where, dur-
ing the Atlanta campaign, Sherman's ad-
vance under General Hooker was tempo-
rarily checked. May 25, 1864. Three days
later Hardee attacked McPherson on the
right, with great loss. The Confederates
retired May 29.
Dallas, Alexander James, statesman;
born in the island of Jamaica, June 21,
1759; lett iiume in 1783, settled in Phila-
delphia, and was admitted to the bar.
He soon became a practitioner in the Su-
preme Court of the United States. He
wrote for the newspapers, and at one time
was the editor of the Columbian Maf/a~i)i<
He was appointed secretary of state ot
Pennsylvania in 1791, and was engaged as
paymaster of a force to quell the Whiskey
Insurrection (q. v.). In 1801 he was ap-
pointed United States attorney for the
Eastern Department of Pennsylvania, and
he held that place until called to the cabi-
net of Madison as Secretary of the Treas-
ury in October, 1814. In 1815 he also
performed the duties of the War Office,
and was earnest in his efforts to re-
establish a national bank. He resigned
in November, 1810, and resumed the prac-
tice of law. He died in Trenton, N. J.,
Jan. 16, 1817.
Dallas, George Mifflin, statesman;
born in Philadelphia, July 10, 1792 ; a
son of the preceding; graduated at the
College of New Jersey in 1810, and ad-
mitted to the bar in 1813. He went
with Mr. Gallatin to Russia aa private
secretary, and returned in 1814, when
he assisted his father in the Treasury
Department. In 1828 he was mayor of
Philadelphia; United States Senator from
1832 to 1833. and declined a re-election.
He was ambassador to Russia from
1837 to 1839, and Vice-President of the
United States from 1845 to 1849. From
1856 to 1861 he was American minister
in London. INIr. Dallas was an able
lawyer and statesman. He died in Phila-
delphia, Dec. 31, 1864.
Dallas-Clarendon Treaty, a convention
negotiated in 1S5G for the adjustment of
difficulties between the United States and
Great Britain arising under the Clay-
ton-Bulwer Treaty ( q. v. ) . It was re-
jected by the Senate.
Dalton, a city in Georgia, strongly
fortified by the Confederates under Gen.
Joseph E. Johnston, who checked the ad-
vance of General Sherman until forced to
evacuate by a flank movement by General
McPherson, May 12, 1864.
Daly, Charles Patrick, jurist; born
in New York City, Oct. 31, 1816; ad-
mitted to the bar in 1839; elected to the
New York Assembly in 1843; became jus-
tice in 1844, and chief- justice of the
Court of Common Pleas in 1871 ; presi-
dent of the American Geographical So-
ciet}'' for more than forty years. Among
his writings are History of Natural-
ization ; First Settlement of Jeics in
"North America; What We Know of Maps
5
DALZELL— DANA
and Map-Making before the Time of Mer-
cator, etc. He died on Long Island,
N. Y., Sept. 19, 1899.
Dalzell, James, military officer; was in
early life a companion of Israel Putnam.
He marched to the relief of the garrison
of Detroit with 260 men in 1763; and on
July 30, the day after his arrival, he led
a sally against the Indians, in which they
Avere Isadly defeated. During the struggle
Dalzell was killed. The rivulet which was
the scene of this defeat is known to this
day as " Bloody Run."
Dalzell, Robert M., inventor; born
near Belfast, Ireland, in 1793; was driven
into exile with his family by the Irish
Rebellion of 1798, and came to New York.
In 1826 he settled in Rochester, N. Y.,
where he became a millwright. Later he
invented and introduced the elevator sys-
tem for handling and storing grain. He
died in Rochester. N. Y., Jan. 22, 1873.
Dames of the Revolution, a patriotic
organization established in the United
States in 1896. The qualifications for
membership are that applicants be above
the age of eighteen years, of good moral
standing, and descended in their own
right from a military, naval, or marine
officer, or official, who aided in founding
American independence during the Revo-
lutionary War. Local chapters may be
formed when authorized by the board
of managers of the society. The presi-
dent in 1900 was Mrs. Edward Paulet
Steers, and the secretary and historian
Miss Mary A. Phillips. The headquarters
were at 64 Madison Avenue, New York.
Dana, Charles Anderson, journalist;
born in Hinsdale, N. H., Aug. 8, 1819;
was for a time a student in Harvard
College; joined the Brook Farm Associa-
tion iq. V.) in 1842; and, after two years
of editorial work in Boston, became at-
tached to the staff of the New York
Tribune in 1847. In 1848 he went to
Europe as correspondent for several
American newspapers, dealing particu-
larly with the numerous foreign revolu-
tions. Soon after his return to New
York he became managing editor of the
Tribune, and held the place till 1862,
when he was appointed assistant Secre-
tary of War. In 1866 he organized the
stock company which bought the old New
York Sun, of which he became editor-
in-chief, continuing so till his death. In
addition to his work as a journalist, in
conjunction with the late George Ripley,
he planned and edited the New American
6
CHARLES ANDERSON DANA.
Cyclopcedia (16 vols., 1857-63), which
they thoroughly revised and reissued
under the title of the American Cyclopcedia
(1873-76). In 1883, in association with
Rossiter Johnson, he edited Fifty Perfect
Poems, and subsequently, in association
with Gen. James H. Wilson, he wrote the
Life of Ulysses 8. Grant. In 1897 his
Reminiscences of the Civil War and East-
ern Journeys were published posthumous-
ly; he was also the compiler of House-
hold Book of Poetry. He died on Long
Island, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1897.
Dana, Francis, jurist; born in Charles-
town, Mass., June 13, 1743; son of Rich-
ard Dana; graduated at Harvard in
1762. He was admitted to the bar in
1767; was an active patriot; a delegate
to the Provincial Congress in 1774; went
to England in 1775 with confidential let-
ters to Franklin; was a member of the
executive council from 1776 to 1780;
member of the Continental Congress from
1776 to 1778, and again in 1784; member
of the board of war, Nov. 17, 1777; and
was at the head of a committee charged
with the entire reorganization of the
army. When Mr. Adams went on an em-
bassy to negotiate a treaty of peace and
commerce with Great Britain, Mr. Dana
was secretary of the legation. At Paris,
SANA
early in 1781, he received the appointment
from Congress of minister to Russia,
clothed with power to make the accession
of the United States to the " armed neu-
trality." He resided two years at St. Pe-
tersburg, and returned to Berlin in 1783.
He was again in Congress in the spring of
1784, and the next year was made a justice
of the Supreme Court ■ of Massachusetts.
In 1791 he was appointed chief-justice of
Massachusetts, which position he held
fifteen years, keeping aloof from political
life, except in 1792 and 1806, when he was
Presidential elector. He retired from the
bench and public life in 1806, and died in
Cambridge, Mass., April 25, 1811.
Dana, James Dwight, mineralogist;
born in Utica, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1813;
graduated at Yale College in 1833; went
to the Mediterranean in the Delaware as
teacher of mathematics in the United
States navy, and was mineralogist and
geologist of Wilkes's exploring expedi-
tion, 1838-42 (see Wilkes, Charles).
For thirteen years afterwards Mr. Dana
was engaged in preparing the reports of
this expedition and otlier scientific labors.
These rejjorts were published by the gov-
ernment, with atlases of drawings made by
1 »4»\\\ffll
JAMES DWIGHT DANA.
Mr. Dana. He was elected to the chair of
Silliman Professor of Natural History
and Geology in Yale College in 1850,
entered on his duties in 1855, a place he
held till 1890, and was for many years
associated with his brother-in-law, Ben-
jamin Silliman, Jr., in editing and pub-
lishing the American Journal of Scieiice
and Art, founded by the elder Silliman in
1819. Professor Dana contributed much
to scientific journals, and was a member
of many learned societies at home and
abroad. In 1872 the Wollaston gold
medal, in charge of the London Geologi-
cal Society, was conferred upon him. He
died in New Haven, April 14, 1895.
Dana, Napoleon Jackson TECtfMSEH,
military officer; born in Fort Sullivan,
Eastport, Me., April 10, 1822; gradu-
ated at West Point in 1842; served in the
war with Mexico; resigned in 1855; and
in October, 1801, became colonel of the 1st
Minnesota Volunteers. He was in the bat-
tle at Ball's Bluff (q. v.) ; was made
brigadier-general early in 1862; was ac-
tive throughout the whole campaign on
the Peninsula, participating in all the
battles ; and at Antietam commanded a
brigade, and was wounded. A few weeks
later he was promoted to major-general
of volunteers; was with the Army of the
Gulf in 1863; commanded the 13th Army
Corps a while; and had charge of the
district of Vicksburg and west Tennes-
see in 1864. From December, 1864, to
May, 1865, he was in command of the
Department of the Mississippi. He re-
signed in 1865, and was reappointed to
the army with the rank of captain, and re-
tired in 1894.
Dana, Richard, jurist ; born in Cam-
bridge, Mass., July 7, 1099; graduated
at Harvard in 1718; and was a leader of
the bar in the Revolutionary period. He
was a member of the Sons of Liberty, and
also a member of the committee to in-
vestigate the incidents of the Boston
massacre in 1770. He died May 17, 1772.
Dana, Richard Henry, poet and essay-
ist ; born in Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 15,
1787; son of Francis Dana; chose the
profession of law, but his tastes led him
into literary pursuits. In 1814 he and
others founded the North American Re-
view, of which he was sole conductor for
a while. He closed his connection with
it in 1820. It was while Dana was editor
of the Review that Bryant's Tlianatopsis
was published in its pages, the author
beins: then unknown. In 1821 the first
DANA— DANENHO WER
volume of The Idle Man was published.
It was unprofitable, and Mr. Dana
dropped it. In it he published stories
and essays from his own pen. In the
same year he contributed to the New
York Review (then under the care of Mr.
Bryant) his first poem of much preten-
sion, The Dying Raven. In 1827 his most
celebrated poetical production. The Bucca-
neer, was published, with some minor
poems. After 1833 Mr. Dana wrote but
little. He died in Boston, Feb. 2, 1879.
Dana, Richard Henry, 2d, lawyer
born in Cambridge, Mass., Aug. 1, 1815
graduated at Harvard University in 1837
admitted to the ba-r in 1840; author of
Tioo Years Before the Mast and many ar-
ticles on legal subjects; reviser of Whea-
ton's International Law; nominated min-
ister to Great Britain in 1876, but not
confirmed by the Senate; United States
counsel at the Halifax conference. He
died in Rome, Italy, Jan. 7, 1882.
Danbury, Destruction of. Governor
Tryon was one of the most malignant foes
of the American patriots during the Revo-
lutionary War. He delighted, apparently,
in conspicuously cruel acts ; and when any-
thing of that nature was to be done he
was employed to do it by the more re-
spectable British officers. He was chosen
to lead a marauding expedition into Con-
necticut from New York in the spring of
1777. At the head of 2,000 men, h'e left
that city (April 23), and landed at
Compo, between Norwalk and Fairfield,
two days later. They pushed on towards
Danbury, an inland town, where the
Americans had gathered a large quantity
of provisions for the army. The maraud-
ers reached the town unmolested (April
25) by some militia that had retired, and,
not contented with destroying a large
quantity of stores gathered there, they
laid eighteen houses in the village in
ashes and cruelly treated some of the
inhabitants. General Silliman, of the
Connecticut militia, was at his home in
Fairfield when the enemy landed. He im-
mediately sent out expresses to alarm the
country and call the militia to the field.
The call was nobly responded to. Hear-
ing of this gathering from a Tory scout,
Tryon made a hasty retreat by way of
Ridgefield, near which place he was con-
fronted by the militia under Generals
Wooster, Arnold, and Silliman. A sharp
skirmish ensued, in which Wooster was
killed, and Arnold had a narrow escape
from capture, after his horse had been
shot under him. For his gallantry on that
occasion the Congress presented him with
a horse richly caparisoned. Tryon spent
the night in the neighborhood for his
troops to rest, and early the next morn-
ing he hurried to his ships, terribly smit-
ten on the way by the gathering militia,,
and at the landing by cannon-shot direct-
ed by Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald. They
escaped capture only through the gal-
lant services of some marines led by Gen-
eral Erskine. About sunset the fleet de-
parted, the British having lost about 300
men, including prisoners, during the in-
vasion. The Americans lost about 100
men. The private losses of property at
Danbury amounted to about $80,000.
Danbury is now a city widely known for
its extensive manufactures of hats, and
has an assessed property valuation ex-
ceeding $11,500,000. The population in
1890 was 16,552; in 1900, 16,537.
Dane, Nathan, jurist; born at Ips-
wich, Mass., Dee. 27, 1752; graduated
at Harvard in 1778. An able lawyer
and an influential member of Congress
(1785-88), he was the framer of the cele-
brated ordinance of 1787. He was a
member of the Massachusetts legislature
several years, and was engaged to revise
the laws of the State (1799), and rfevise
and publish the charters (1811) which
had been granted therein. Mr. Dane was
a member of the Hartford Convention (see
Hartford) in 1814. His work entitled A
General Abridgment and Digest of Amer-
ican Laio, in 9 large volumes (1823-29),
is a monument of his learning and in-
dustry. He founded the Dane professor-
ship of law in Harvard University. He
died in Beverly, Feb. 15, 1835.
Danenhower, John Wilson, explorer;
born in Chicago, 111., Sept. 30, 1849;
graduated at the United States Naval
Academy in 1870 ; served on the Vandalia
during Gen. U. S. Grant's visit to Egypt
and the Levant; and was promoted lieu-
tenant in 1879. He joined the Arctic
steamer Jeanette as second in command
in 1878. The vessel sailed from San
Francisco on July 8, 1879, through Ber-
ing Straits into the Arctic Ocean, where
8
DANFORTH— DANISH WEST INDIES
it was held in the ice-pack for twenty-two Daniel, William, prohibitionist; born
months. From the place where the in Somerset county, Md., Jan. 24, 1826;
steamer was caught the crew travelled graduated at Dickinson College in 1848;
south for ninety-five days over the ice, admitted to the bar in 1851; elected
drawing three boats with them. They to the Maryland legislature in 1853,
then embarked, but were separated by a and to the State Senate in 1857; was
storm. Lieutenant Danenhower's boat an ardent supporter of temperance meas-
reached the Lena delta, where the Tun- ures, and in 1884 joined the National
guses saved the crew, Sept. 17, 1881. Prohibition party, which nominated him
After making an unsuccessful search for for Vice-President of the United States
'the other boats he left Engineer George with William St. John for President. The
W. Melville {q. v.) to continue the Prohibition ticket received about 150,000
search for Lieut. George W. De Long votes.
{q. v.), and with his crew made a journey Daniels, William Haven, author; born
of 6,000 miles to Orenburg. He arrived in in Franklin, Mass., May 18, 1836; edu-
the United States in June, 1882. He pub- cated at Wesleyan University; Professor
lished The Narrative of the Jeannctte. of Rhetoric there in 1868-69. He then
He died in Annapolis, Md., April 20, 1887. devoted himself to religious work, chiefly
Danforth, Thomas, colonial governor ; in the capacity of an evangelist. His pub-
born in Suffolk, England, in 1622; set- lications include The Illustrated History
tied in New England in 1634; in 1679 was of Methodism in the United States; A
elected president of the province of Maine; Short History of the People called
and was also a judge of the Superior Methodist, etc.
Court, in which capacity he strongly con- Danish West Indies, a group of
demned the action of the court in the islands lying east by southeast of Porto
witchcraft excitement of 1692. He died Rico, and consisting of St. Croix, St.
in Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 5, 1699. Thomas, and St. John. St. Croix is the
Dangers from Slavery. See Parker, largest, being about 20 miles long and 5
Theodore. miles wide, with an area of 110 square
Daniel, John Moncure, editor; born in miles. It is generally flat, well watered,
Stafford county, Va., Oct. 24, 1825; in and fertile. Two-fifths of the surface is
1853 was appointed minister- to Italy, in sugar plantations, and the principal
Garibaldi requested Daniel to annex Nice crops are sugar, cotton, coffee, indigo,
to the United States, but Daniel declined and rum. The climate is unhealthful at
on the ground that such action would be all seasons, and hurricanes and earth-
contrary to the Monroe doctrine. When quakes occur frequently. The population
the Civil War broke out Daniel hastened is about 18,000. St. Thomas is about
home and entered the Confederate army, 17 miles long by 4 miles wide. Its sur-
but resigned and resumed the editorship face is rugged and elevated, reaching its
of the Richmond Examiner, in which he greatest height towards the centre. The
attacked Jefferson Davis. He died in soil is sandy, and mostly uncultivated.
Richmond, Va., March 30, 1865. Charlotte Amalie, which is the principal
Daniel, John Warwick, legislator; town and the seat of government for the
born in Lynchburg, Va., Sept. 5, 1842; Danish West Indies, has an excellent
served through the Civil War in the Con- harbor and large trade. The population
federate army; member of Congress in of the island is about 14,000. St. John
1885-87 and of the United States Senate has an area of 42 square miles. The
in 1887-1905; author of Attachments chief exports are cattle and bay-rum,
under the Code of Virginia, etc. and the population is about 1,000. Ne-
Daniel, Petl: Vivian, statesman; born gotiations with Denmark for the cession
in Stafford county, Va., April 24, 1784; of the islands to the United States began
graduated at Princeton in 1805; appoint- in 1898, after the close of the war with
ed judge of the LTnited States Circuit Spain; but owing to political changes in
Court in 1836; and to the United States the Danish government, no definite re-
Supreme Court in 1841. He died in Rich- suits were then attained. In December,
niond. Va., June 30, 1860. 1900, Congress became favorable to the
9
DANITES— DARIEN SHIP CANAL
bill of Senator Lodge, advising the pur- for the ships to return to England for
chase of the islands, and negotiations to supplies, and, to hasten them, White went
that end were reopened. On Dec. 29, with them, leaving behind eighty - nine
1900, the United States offered to pay men, seventeen women, and two children.
$3,240,000 for the islands; but the Danish Among the women was his married daugh-
Upper House rejected the treaty to sell, ter, Eleanor Dare, who had given birth
Oct. 22, 1902. to a daughter, in August, 1587, to whom
Danites, an alleged secret - order so- they gave the name of Virginia. On his
ciety of the Mormons, accused of various way home, White touched at Ireland,
crimes in the interest of Mormonism. where he left some potatoes which he took
These are denied by the Mormons. " Dan from Virginia — the first of that kind ever
shall be a serpent by the way, an adder seen in Europe. He started back with two
in the path," Gen. xlix. 17. TTie members ships laden with supplies; but instead
were also known as the Destroying An- of going directly to Virginia, he pur-
gels. See Mormons. sued Spanish ships in search of plunder.
Darby, William, geographer; born in His vessels were so battered that he was
Pennsylvania in 1775; served under Gen- obliged to return to England, and Span-
eral Jackson in Louisiana ; and was one isli war - vessels in British waters pre-
of the surveyors of the boundary between vented his sailing for America again until
Canada and the United States. Among 1590. He found Roanoke a desolation,
his works are Oeographical Description of and no trace of the colony was ever
Louisiana; Geography and History of found. It is believed that they became
Florida; Vieiv of the United States; Lect- mingled with the natives, for long years
ures on the Discovery of America; etc. afterwards families of the Hatteras tribe
He died in Washington, D. C, Oct. 9, 1854. exhibited unmistakable specimens of blood
Darbytown Road, Va., the place of mixed with that of Europeans. It is sup-
three fights during the Richmond and pcsed the friendly " Lord of Roanoke "
Petersburg campaigns. The first, July 29, had saved their lives.
1864, between Hancock's corps under Darien Ship Canal, one of the great
Gregg and Kautz and the Confederates; interoceanic canal projects which have
the second, Oct. 7, when Kautz was de- attracted the attention of interested na-
feated; and the third, Oct. 13, when the tions for many years, and, most particu-
Nationals under Butler were defeated, larly, the United States. In 1849 an
General Lee claimed to have captured Irish adventurer published a book in
1 000 Nationals. which he said he had crossed and re-
Dare, Virginia, the first child of Eng- crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and that
lish parents born in the New World. In in the construction of a canal there
1587 John White went to Roanoke Island only "3 or 4 miles of deep rock cut-
as governor of an agricultural colony sent ting " would be required. Believing this,
out by Sir Walter Raleigh. He was ac- an English company was formed for the
companied by his son - in - law, William purpose, with a capital of $75,000,000,
Dare, and his young wife. It was in- and an engineer was sent to survey a
tended to plant the colony on the main- route, who reported that the distance be-
land, but White went no farther than tween " tidal effects " was only 30 mile^,
Roanoke. The new colonists determined to and the summit level only 150 feet. The
cultivate the friendship of the Indians, governments of England, France, the
Manteo (the chief who accompanied United States, and New Granada joined,
Amidas and Barlow to England), living late in 1853, in an exploration of the best
with his mother and relatives on Croatan route for a canal. It was soon ascer-
Island, invited the colonists to settle on tained that the English engineer had
his domain. White persuaded him to re- never crossed the isthmus at all. The
ceive the rites of Christian baptism, and summit level to which he directed the
bestowed upon him the title of baron, expedition was 1,000 feet above tide-
as Lord of Roanoke — the first and last water, instead of 150 feet. The expedi-
peerage ever created on the soil of the tion effected nothing.
American republic. It became necessary In 1854 Lieut. Isaac Strain led an
10
DARK AND BLOODY GROUND— DARLEY
American expedition for the same purpose.
They followed the route pointed out by
the English engineer, and, after intense
suffering, returned and reported the pro-
posed route wholly impracticable. The
success of the Suez Canal revived the
project, and in 1870 two expeditions were
sent out by the United States govern-
ment — one under Commander T. O. Sel-
fridge, of the United States navy, to the
Isthmus of Darien; and the other, under
Captain Shufeldt, of the navy, to the
Isthmus of Tehuanteijec. Three routes
were surveyed across the narrow part
of the Isthmus of Darien by Selfridge,
and he reported all three as having ob-
stacles that made the construction of a
canal impracticable. He reported a
route by the Atrato and Napipi rivers as
perfectly feasible. It would include 150
miles of river navigation and a canal less
than 40 miles in extent. It would call
for 3 miles of rock cutting 125 feet
deep, and a tunnel of 5 miles, with a roof
sufficiently high to admit the tallest-
masted ships. Selfridge estimated the en-
tire cost at $124,000,000. The whole mat-
ter was referred in 1872 to a commission
to continue investigations. A French
company undertook the construction of a
canal between Aspinwall and Panama in
1881, under the direction of Ferdinand
de Lesseps. After expending many mill-
ions, the project was temporarily aban-
doned in 1890. See Clayton - Bulwer
Treaty; Nicaragua Ship Canal; Pan-
ama Canal.
Dark and Bloody Ground. Two sec-
tions of the United States have received
this appellation. First it was applied
to Kentucky, the great battle-field be-
tween the Northern and Southern Indians,
and afterwards to the portion of that
State wherein Daniel Boone and his com-
panions were compelled to carry on a
warfare with the savages. It was also
applied to the Valley of the Mohawk, in
New York, and its vicinity, known as
Tryon county, wherein the Six Nations
and their Tory allies made fearful forays
during the Revolution.
Dark Day. On May 12, 1780, a re-
markable darkness overspread all New
England, varying in intensity at different
places. In some sections persons could
not read common printed matter in the
open air. Birds became silent and went
to rest; barn-yard fowls went to roost,
and cattle sought their accustomed even-
ing resorts. Houses were lighted with
candles, and nearly all out-of-door work
was suspended. The obscuration began
at ten o'clock in the morning and con-
tinued until night. The cause of the
darkness has never been revealed. The
air was unclouded.
Darke, William, military officer; born
in Philadelphia county, Pa., in 1736;
served under Braddock in 1755, and was
with him at his defeat; entered the patriot
army at the outbreak of the Revolution as
a captain ; was captured at the battle of
Germantown ; subsequently was promoted
colonel; and commanded the Hampshire
and Berkeley regiments at the capture of
Cornwallis in 1791. He served as lieuten-
ant-colonel under General St. Clair, and
was wounded in the battle with the Miami
Indians, Nov. 4, 1791. He died in Jeffer-
son county, Va., Nov. 20, 1801.
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, de-
signer and painter ; born in Philadel-
phia June 23, 1822; evinced a taste for
drawing at an early age, and while a lad
in a mercantile house spent his leisure
time in sketching. For some of these
he was offered a handsome sum, and this
induced him to choose art as a life pur-
suit. He spent several years in Phila-
delphia, always living by his pencil, and
in 1848 he went to New York, where he
made admirable illustrations for some of
Irving's humorous works. Among these
were The Legend of Slcepij Hollow and
Rip Van WinJcle. These works procured
for him the reputation, at home and
abroad, as a leader in the art of outline
illustrations. He illustrated a great many
books and made numerous admirable de-
signs for bank-notes. For Cooper's works
he made 500 illustrations. More than
sixty of them were engraved on steel.
He executed four large works ordered by
Prince Napoleon while in this country.
These were: Emigraats Attacked by
Indians on the Prairies; The Village
Blacksmith; The Unwilling Laborer, and
Ihe Repose. He illustrated several of
Dickens's works, and during the Civil
War delineated many characteristic
scenes. Some of the more elaborate pict-
ures on the United States government
11
DARLING— DARTMOOR PRISON
bonds were made by liim ; and also the
beautiful design of the certificate of stock
given as evidence of subscription for the
Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Among
his later works in book illustrations
were 500 beautiful designs for Lossing's
Our Country. Mr. Darley went to Europe
near the close of the war, studied models
in Rome, and returned with a portfolio
full of personal sketches. He died in
Claymont, Del., March 27, 1888.
Darling, Henky, clergyman; born in
Reading, Pa., Dec. 27, 1823; graduated
at Amherst College in 1842; ordained to
the ministry of the Presbyterian Church
in 1847; published Slavery and the War
(1863), etc. He died in Clinton, N. Y.,
April 20, 1891.
Darlington, William, scientist; born
of Quaker parents in Birmingham, Pa.,
April 28, 1782; studied medicine, lan-
guages, and botany, and went to Calcutta
as surgeon of a ship. Returning in 1807,
he practised medicine at West Chestet"
with success; was a Madisonian in poli-
tics, and when the war broke out in 1812
he assisted in raising a corps for the ser-
vice in his neighborhood. He was chosen
major of a volunteer regiment, but did
not see any active service. He was a mem-
ber of Congress from 1815 to 1817 and
from 1819 to 1823. In his town he
founded an academy, an athenaeum, and a
society of natural history. Dr. Darling-
ton was an eminent botanist, and a new
and remarkable variety of the pitcher
plant, found in California in 1853, was
named, in his honor, Darlingtonica Cali-
fornia. He wrote "and published works
on botany, medicine, biography, and his-
tory. Dr. Darlington was a member of
about forty learned societies in America
and Europe. He died in West Chester,
Pa., April 23, 1863.
Darrah, Lydia, heroine; place and date
of birth unknown; lived in Philadelphia
in 1777. One of the rooms in her house
was used by the British officers, who
planned to surprise Washington's army.
She overheard their plans, and early in
the morning of Dec. 3 left her home,
ostensibly for the purpose of purchasing
flour, but in reality to give warning to
Washington. After a walk of several
miles in the snow she met one of Wash-
ington's officers, to whom she revealed
what she had overheard. Through this
timely information Washington was pre-
pared and the British expedition proved
to be a failure.
Dartmoor Prison, a notable place of
detention in Devonshire, England. At the
close of the War of 1812-15 prisoners
held by both parties were released as soon
as proper arrangements for their enlarge-
ment could be made. At the conclusion
of peace there were about 6,000 Ameri-
can captives confined in Dartmoor Prison,
including 2,500 American seamen im-
pressed by British cruisers, who had re-
fused to fight in the British navy against
their countrymen, and were there when
the war began. Some had been captives
ten or eleven years. The prison was situ-
ated on Dart Moor, a desolate region in
Devonshire, where it had been con-
structed for the confinement of French
prisoners of war. It comprised about 30
acres, enclosed within double walls, with
seven distinct prison - houses, with en-
closures. The place, at the time in ques-
tion, was in charge of Capt. T. G. Short-
land, with a military guard. He was
accused of cruelty towards the captives.
It was nearly, three months after the
treaty of peace was signed before they
were permitted to know the fact. From
that time they were in daily expectation
of release. Delay caused uneasiness and
impatience, and symptoms of a deter-
mination to escape soon appeared. On
April 4 the prisoners demanded bread
instead of hard biscuit, and refused
to receive the latter. On the 6th,
so reluctantly did the prisoners obey
orders to retire to their quarters, that
when some of them, with the appearance
of mutinous intentions, not only refused
to retire, but passed beyond the prescribed
limits of their confinement, they were fired
upon by order of Captain Shortland, for
the purpose of intimidating all. The fir-
ing was followed up by the soldiers, with-
out excuse. Five prisoners were killed and
thirty-three were wounded. This act was
regarded by the Americans as a wanton
massacre, and when the British authori-
ties pronounced it " justifiable " the
hottest indignation was excited through-
out the republic. The last survivor of the
Dartmoor prisoners was Lewis P. Clover,
who died in Brooklyn, Long Island, N. Y.,
12
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
DARTMOOR HRISOX.
in February, 1879, at the age of eighty-
nine years.
Dartmouth College, one of the highest
institutions of learning in the English-
American colonies; chartered in 1769. It
grew out of an earlier school established
by Rev. Dr. Wheelock at Lebanon, Conn.,
designed for the education of Indian chil-
dren, he being encouraged by his success
in educating a young Mohegan, Samson
Occom, who became a remarkable preacher.
Pupils from the Delaware tribe were re-
ceived, and the school soon attracted pub-
lic attention. James Moor, a farmer, gave
two acres of land and a house for the use
of the school, and from that time it was
known as Moor's Indian Charity School.
Occom accompanied Rev. N. Whittaker to
I'lngland to raise funds for the increase of
the usefulness of the school, and about
$50,000 were subscribed. A board of trus-
tees was organized, of which Lord Dart-
mouth, one of the subscribers, was elected
president. The children of the New Eng-
land Indians came to the school in large
numbers, and Dr. Wheelock resolved to
transfer it to a place nearer the heart of
the Indian population in that region. He
selected Hanover, on the Connecticut
River, in the western part of New Hamp-
shire, and grants of about 44,000 acres of
land were made. Governor Wentworth
gave it a charter (1769), under the title of
Dartmouth College, so named in honor of
Lord Dartmouth. The institution was re-
moved, with the pupils, to Hanover, in
1770, where President Wheelock and all
others lived in log cabins, for it was an
almost untrodden wilderness. Dr. Whee-
lock held the presidency until his death, in
1779 (see Wheelock, Eleazar), and was
succeeded by his son, John, who was sent
to Europe to procure funds for the sup-
port of the college. He obtained consider-
able sums, and philosophical implements.
In 1816 a religious controversy led to a
conflict with the legislature, and the latter
created a new corporation, called Dart-
mouth University, in which the property
of the old corporation was vested. A law-
suit ensued, carried on for the college by
Daniel Webster, which resulted (1819),
finally, in the establishment of the in-
violability of chartered rights and the
restoration of the old charter. Wheelock
was raised to the presidency in 1817, by
the new board, but died a few months
afterwards. He was succeeded by William
13
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE DECISION— DAVENANT
Allen. At the close of 1900 the college the constitution, are " social, literary, his-
reported sixty-one professors and instruct- torical, monumental, benevolent, and hon-
ors, 741 students, 85,000 volumes in the orable in every degree." In 1900 there
library, 9,000 graduates, and $2,300,000 in were 400 chapters in the United States,
productive funds. Eev. William J. Tucker, North and South, with about 8,000 mem-
D.D., LL.D., was president. bers. The president was Mrs. Kate Cabell
Dartmouth College Decision. By an Currie, Dallas, Tex.; recording secretary,
act of the legislature of New Hampshire Mrs. John P. Hickman, Nashville, Tenn.
in 1816, the name of Dartmouth College Daughters of the King, The, a re-
was changed to Dartmouth University, the ligious society of the Protestant Episco-
managementwas changed, and the State un- pal Church, founded in New York City,
dertookto control the affairs of the college. Piaster evening, 1885. It is often eon-
Daniel Webster was retained to oppose the fused with the King's Daughters {q. v.),
action of the State, and the case was ulti- a society from which it differs in many
mately carried up to the United States Su- respects. Its chief purposes are to aid
preme Court, the decision of which estab- rectors in their parish work and to ex-
lished the inviolability of private trusts. tend Christianity among young women.
Daston, Saeah, an alleged witch; born In 1900 the president of the council was
about 1613. When eighty years old she Mrs. E. A. Bradley; secretary, Miss
was imprisoned in Salem as a witch, and Elizabeth L. Ryerson. The office of the
although the practice of punishing sup- council is in the Church Missions House,
posed witches was meeting with public dis- 281 Fourth Avenue, New York City,
approbation the superstitious party clam- Daughters of the Revolution, an
ored for her conviction. She was tried organization established in New York
in Charlestown, Mass., in February, 1693, City, Aug. 20, 1891. Any woman is
and was acquitted. Later her persecutor, eligible for membership who is a lineal
Minister Parris, was driven out of Salem, descendant of a military, naval, or marine
Daughters of Liberty, a society of officer, or of a soldier or marine or sailor
women founded in Boston in 1709, pledg- in actual service under the authority of
ing themselves to refrain from buying any State or colony or of the Continental
English goods. Congress, or of the Congress of any of the
Daughters of the American Revolu- colonies or States, or of a signer of the
tion, a society organized in Washington, Declaration of Independence, or of a mem-
D. C, Oct. 11, 1890. All women above ber of the Continental Congress, or of any
eighteen years of age who are descended colonial or State Congress, and of any
from patriots, soldiers, sailors, or civil other recognized official who supported
officers who supported the cause of inde- the cause of American independence,
pendence, are eligible to membership. In State societies exist in a large number of
1900 there were 492 State chapters in States. In 1900 the president-general
fourteen States and Territories, in the was Mrs. Henry Sanger Snow; recording
District of Columbia, and in Hawaii, with secretary-general, Mrs. L. D. Gallison.
a total membership of about 27,000. The The office of the general society is at 156
president-general was Mrs. Daniel Man- Fifth Avenue, New York,
ning ; recording secretary - general, Mrs. Davenant, Sir William, dramatist and
Albert Ackers, Nashville, Tenn. The poet; born in Oxford, England, in 1605;
membership was reported as 35,092 in sou of an innkeeper, at whose house
February, 1901. Shakespeare often stopped while on his
Daughters of the Confederacy, an journeys between Stratford and London,
organization established in Nashville, and who noticed the boy. Young Davenant
Tenn., Sept. 10, 1894. Its membership left college without a degree. Showing
consists of the Avidows, wives, mothers, much literary talent, he was encouraged
sisters, and lineal female descendants of in writing plays by persons of distinction,
the men who served in the Confederate and on the death of Ben Jonson in 1637
army and navy, or who were connected he was made poet-laureate. He adhered
in any way with the Confederate cause, to the royal cause during the civil war
The objects of the society, as declared in in England, and escaped to France, where
14
DAVENPORT— DAVIDSON
he became a Roman Catholic. After the spiritual retreats for the laity. In 180G
Itl f F r^^ T-J''*,'.^ ^.'^^'^ "" '^' ""'''^^"^ ^ professorship in the College
colony of French people in Virginia, the of St. Mary's; in 1810 went West and
only American province that adhered to founded the St. Thomas Theological
royalty, and, with a vessel filled with Seminary in Bardstown, Ky.; and in Isi
French men, women and children, he secured a charter from the Kentucky
sailed for Virginia. The ship was capt- legislature raising the institution he had
ured by a parliamentary cruiser, and the founded to the giade of a university He
passengers were landed in England, where died in Bardstown Ky in 1841
the We of Sir William was spared, it is be- Davidson, George, astronomer'; born in
heved, by the intervention of John Milton, Nottingham, England, May 9, 1825- cane
he poet, who was Cromwell's Latin secre- to the United States in 1832; gradu-
tary. Sir William had a strong personal ated at the Central High School Phila-
resemblance to Shakespeare, and it was delphia, in 1845; engaged in geodetic field
currently believed that he was a natural and astronomical work in the Easte n
son of the great dramatist This idea Sir States in 1845-50, and then went to San
William encouraged. He died in April, 1668. Francisco, and became eminent in the
Davenport Henry Kallock, naval coast survey of the Pacific; retiring after
officer; born m Savannah, Ga., Dec. 10, fifty years of active service in June! 1895
18-0; joined the navy m 1838; command- He then became Professor of Geography in
ed the steamer Hetzel m 1861-64; took the University of California. Of his
part in the engagements on James River numerous publications, The Coast Pilot
c.lf.^ri".'r? i'"r'^"'^';'''P'°™"*'^ '^ f^^^^f^'-''^^'' Oregon, and Washington;
captain "i 1868 He died m Franzensbad, and The Coast Pilot of Alaska are uni-
Bohemia, Aug. 18, 1872. versally known and esteemed.
Davenport John, colonist; born in Davidson, Joim Wynn, military
Coventry England, in 1597. Educated at officer; born in Fairfax county, Va Au<.
+ofr'^J'%?*''i'^^i.'™^''^'*'^°^*''''^"- ^^' ^^24; graduated at West Point in
tabhshed Church. He finally became a 1845, entering the dragoons. Accompany-
^on-confonnist, was persecuted, and re- ing Kearny to California in 1846 he
tired to Holland, where he engaged in was in the principal battles of the war
secular teaching in a private school. He with Mexico. He was also active in
returned to London and came to America New Mexico, afterwards, against the.Ind-
m June, 1637, where he was received with ians. In 1861 he was made maior of
great respect. The next year he assisted cavalry, and early in 1862 bri^dier-
m founding the New Haven colony, and general of volunteers, commanding^ bri-
I? T XT ' f""''^ "''^'" P'"^^''"' gade in the Army of the Potomac? After
.17 ^v^^^ ^™^- , ?,^ concealed Goffe serving in the campaign on the Peninsula,
and Whalley, two of the "regicides," in he was transferred (August, 1862) to the
his house, and by his preaching induced Department of the Mississippi, and co-
the people to protect them from the King's operated with General Steele in the capt-
commissioncrs sent over to arrest them ure of Little Rock, Ark. He was brevet-
(see Regicides). In 1668 he was or- ted major-general of volunteers in March,
darned minister of the first church in 1865; promoted to lieutenant-colonel,
Boston, and left New Haven. He was the 10th Cavalry, in 1866; was Professor of
Zl f A ^Z <^ontroversial pamphlets, Military Science in Kansas Agricultural
and of A Discourse about Civil Govern- College in 1868-71; promoted to colonel
ment ma Neio Plantation. He died in 2d Cavalry, in 1879. He died in St. Paul
Boston March 15, 1670. Minn., June 26, 1881.
David, Jean Baptist, clergyman; born Davidson, William, military officer;
m France m 1761; educated at the born in Lancaster county. Pa., in 1746-
Diocesan Seminary of Nantes; became a was appointed major in one of the North
Fn i7oo" ^ ' ''''™^*''*''^^"'*'^^*^^^^ Carolina regiments at the outbreak of
in 17 J- ; and was superintendent of mis- the Revolution; took part in the battles
sions m lower Maryland. He was the of Brandywine, Germanto^vn, and Mon-
nrst priest in America to establish mouth; commissioned brigadier-general;
15
DAVIE— DAVIS
and was at Cowan's Ford, N. C, Feb. 1,
1781, when the British army under Corn-
wallis forced a passage. During the fight
General Davidson was killed.
Davie, William Richardson, military
officer; born near Whitehaven, England,
June 20, 1756; came to America in 1764
with his father, and settled in South
Carolina with his uncle, who educated
him at the College of New Jersey (where
WILLIAM RICHARDSON DAVIE.
he graduated in 1776), and adopted him
as his heir. He prepared himself for
the law as a profession, but became an ac-
tive soldier in the Revolution in a troop of
dragoons. When he was in command of
the troop he annexed it to Pulaski's
Legion. He fought at Stono, Hanging
Rock, and Rocky Mount; and at the head
of a legionary corps, with the rank of
major, he opposed the advance of Corn-
wallis into North Carolina. After the
overthrow of the American army at Cam-
den he saved the remnant of it; and he
was a most efficient commissary under
General Greene in the Southern Depart-
ment. He rose to great eminence as a
lawyer after the war, and was a delegate
to the convention that framed the na-
tional Constitution, but sickness at home
compelled him to leave before the work
Was accomplished. In the convention of
North Carolina he was its most earnest
16
and able supporter. In 1799 he was gov-
ernor of North Carolina, but was soon
afterwards sent as one of the envoys to
the French Directory. Very soon after
his return he withdrew from public life.
In March, 1813, he was appointed a ma-
jor-general, but declined the service on
account of bodily infirmities. He died in
Camden, S. C, Nov. 8, 1820.
Davis, Andrew Jackson, spiritualist;
born in Blooming Grove, Orange co., N. Y.,
Aug. 11, 1826. While a shoemaker's ap-
prentice in Poughkeepsie, eariy in 1843,
remarkable clairvoyant powers were de-
veloped in him by the manipulation of
mesmeric influences by William Leving-
ston. He was quite uneducated, yet while
under the influence of mesmerism or ani-
mal magnetism he would discourse fluent-
ly and in proper language on medical,
psychological, and general scientific sub-
jects. While in a magnetic or trance
state he made medical diagnoses and gave
prescriptions. In March, 1844, he fell
into a trance state without any previous
manipulations, during which he con-
versed for sixteen hours, as he alleged,
with invisible beings, and received inti-
mations and instructions concerning the
position he was afterwards to occupy as
a teacher from the interior state. In
1845, while in this state, he dictated to
Rev. William Fishbough his first and
most considerable work. The Principles of
Nature, her Divine Revelations, and a
Voice to Mankind, which embraces '. wide
range of subjects. He afterwards pub-
lished several works, all of which he
claimed to have been the production c ;' his
mind under divine illumination ant the
influence of disembodied spirits. Among
his most considerable works are T'/ie,
Great Harmonia, in 4 volumes ; "he '
Penetralia; History and Philosophy of
Evil; The Harbinger of Health; Stellar
Key to the Summer Land; and Mental
Diseases and Disorders of the Brain. Mr.
Davis may be considered as the pioneer
of modern spiritualism.
Davis, Charles Henry, naval officer;
born in Boston, Jan. 16, 1807; entered
the naval service as midshipman in 1823;
was one of the chief organizers of the ex-
pedition against Port Royal, S. C, in
1861, in which he bore a conspicuous part.
For his services during the Civil War he
DAVIS
received the thanks of Congress and pro- (q. v.). In 1872 he was nominated for
motion to the rank of rear-admiral. In President by the Labor Keform party, but
1805 he became superintendent of the declined to run after the re{j;uhir Demo-
Naval Observatory at Washington. He cratic and Republican nominations had
was a recognized authority on tidal ac- been made. He resigned in 1883 and re-
tions and published several works on that tired to Bloomington, 111., where he died
subject. He died in Washington, D. C, June 26, 1886.
Feb. 18, 1877. Davis, George Wiiitefield, military
Davis, CusHMAN Kellogg, statesman; officer; born in Thompson, Conn., July 26,
born in Henderson, N. Y., June 16, 1838; 1839; entered the Union army as quarter-
master's sergeant in the 11th Connecticut
Infantry, Nov. 27, 18G1 ; became first lieu-
tenant April 5, 1862; and was mustered
out of the service, April 20, 1866. On
Jan. 22, 1867, he was appointed captain
in the 14th United States Infantry. At
the beginning of the war with Spain he
was commissioned brigadier-general of vol-
unteers; and on Oct. 19, 1899, he was
promoted to colonel of the 23d United
States Infantry; and on the reorganiza-
tion of the regular army, in February,
1901, he was appointed one of the new
brigadier - generals. He was for several
years a member of the board on Public
W^ar Records ; commanded a division in
the early part of the war with Spain; in
May, 1899, was appointed governor-general
of Porto Rico; and in 1904 governor of the
American zone of the Panama Canal ces-
CUSHMAN KELLOGG DAVIS.
graduated at the University of Michi-
gan in 1857 ; studied law and began prac-
tice in Waukesha, Wis. During the Civil
Davis, Henry Gassaway, legislator;
War he served three years in the Union born in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 16, 1823; re-
army. In 1865 he removed to St. Paul, ceived a country-school education; was an
Minn. He was a member of the Minne- employee of the Baltimore & Ohio Rail-
sota legislature in 1867; United States road Company for fourteen years; after-
district attorney for Minnesota in 1868-
73; governor of Minnesota in 1874-75;
and elected to the United States Senate
in 1887, 1893, and 1899. For several years
he was chairman of the Senate committee
on foreign relations, and was a member
of the commission to negotiate peace with
Spain after the war of 1898. He pub-
lished The Laio in Shakespeare. He died
in St. Paul, Nov. 27, 1900.
Davis, David, jurist; born in Cecil
county, Md., March 9, 1815; graduated
at Kenyon College, O., 1832; admitted
to the bar of Illinois in 1835; elected
to the State legislature in 1834; and
appointed a justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States in 1862. He resign-
ed this post to take his seat in the United
States Senate on March 4, 1877, having
been elected to succeed John A. Logan
III. — B 17
BRIG. -GEN. GGORGS WHITEPIELD DATift
DAVIS
ward engaged in banking and coal-raining
in Piedmont, W. Va.; and was president
of the Piedmont National Bank. In 1865
he was elected to the House of Delegates
of West Virginia; was a member of the
national Democratic conventions in 1868
and 1872; State Senator in 1867-69; and
a United States Senator in 1871-83. He
also served on the Inter-continental Rail-
way Commission, as chairman of the
American delegation to the Pan-American
Congress, and was the Democratic candi-
date for Vice-President in 1904.
Davis, Henry Winter, legislator ; born
in Annapolis, Md., Aug. 16. 1817; gradu-
ated at Kenyon College in 1837; elected
to Congress as a Whig in 1854, and ai
the dissolution of that party joined the
American or Know -No^iing party, and
was re-elected to Congress in 1858. In
1861 he announced himself in favor of an
unconditional Union while a candidate
for re-election. He was overwhelmingly
defeated, but in 1863 was re-elected. Al-
though representing a slave State, Senator
Davis was a strong antislavery advo-
cate. He died in Baltimore, Md., Dec. 30,
1865.
Davis, Isaac, patriot; born in 1745;
took part in the fight with the British
soldiery at Concord bridge, April 19, 1775,
and wag killed by the first volley.
DAVIS, JEFFERSON"
Davis, Jefferson, statesman; born in was a continuous ovation. He made
ChristiaA county, Ky., June 3, 1808; twenty-five speeches on the way. Mem-
sraduated at West Point in 1828; served bers of the convention and the authorities
as lieutenant in the Black Hawk War of Montgomery met him eight "ules from
(a V.) in 1831-32, and resigned in 1835 the city. He arrived at the Alabama
to become a cotton-planter in Mississippi, capital at eight o'clock at night. Can-
He was a member of Congress in 1845-46, non thundered a welcome, and the shouts
and served as colonel of a Mississippi regi- of a multitude greeted hmi. Formally re-
ment in the war with Mexico. He was ceived at the railway station, he made a
United States Senator from 1847 to 1851, speech, in which he briefly reviewed the
and from 1857 to 1861. He was called to position of the South, and said^the time
the cabinet of President Pierce as Secre- for compromises had passed We are
tarv of War in 1853, and remained four now determined," he said, to maintain
years. He resigned his seat in the Senate our position, and make all who oppose us
in January, 1861, and was chosen pro- smell Southern powder and feel Southern
visional President of the Southern Con- steel We will maintain our rights
federacy in February. In November, 1861, and our government at all hazards
he was elected permanent President for six We ask nothing-we want nothing-and
vears. Early in April, 1865, he and his we will have no complications. If the
associates in the government fled from other States join our Confederacy, they
Richmond, first to Danville, Va., and then can freely come in on our terms. Our
towards the Gulf of Mexico. He was ar- separation from the Union is complete,
rested in Georgia, taken to Fort Monroe, and no compromise, no reconstruction
and confined on a charge of treason for can now be entertained The inaugural
about two years, when he was released on ceremonies took place at noon Feb. 18 on
bail, Horace Greeley's name heading the a platform erected in front of the portico
list of bondsmen for $100,000. He was of the State-house. Davis and the Vice-
never tried. He published The Rise and President elect, Alexander H. Stephens
Fall of the Confederate Government {q. v.), with Rev. Dr. Marly, rode m
(1881) He died in New Orleans, La., an open barouche from the Exchange
Dec 6 1889 Hotel to the capitol, followed by a multi-
Mr 'Davis was at his home, not far tude of State officials and citizens. The
from Vicksburg, when apprised of his oath of office was administered to Davis
election as President of the Confederacy by Howell Cobb, president _ of the Con-
formed at Montgomery, February, 1861. gress, at the close ^^ ^i!/"f"f^^^l, 7;
He hastened to that city, and his journey dress. In the eyening President Davis held
18
DAVIS, JEFFERSON
JEFFKItSON DAVIS.
a levee at Estelle Hall, and the city was
brilliantly lighted up by bonfires and
illuminations. President Davis chose for
his constitutional advisers a cabinet com-
prising Robert Toombs, of Georgia, Sec-
retary of State; Charles G. Memminger,
of South Carolina, Secretary of the
Treasury; Le Roy Pope Walker, of Ala-
bama, Secretary of War; Stephen R.
Mallory, of Florida, Secretary of the
Navy, and John H. Reagan, of Texas,
postmaster-General. Afterwards, Judali
P. Benjamin was made Attorney-General.
Two days after President Lincoln's call
for troops. President Davis issued a procla-
mation, in the preamble of which he said
the President of the United States had
" announced the intention of invading the
Confederacy with an armed force for the
purpose of capturing its fortresses, and
thereby subverting its independence, and
subjecting the free people thereof to the
dominion of a foreign power." He said
it was the duty of his government to re-
pel this threatened invasion, and " defend
the rights and liberties of the people by
all the means which the laws of nations
and usages of civilized warfare placed at
19
DAVIS, JEFFERSON
its disposal." He invited the people of family and property, riding rapidly 18
the Confederacy to engage in privateering, miles. They were near Irwmsville, south
and he exhorted those who had "felt the of Macon, Ga. The tents were pi ched at
wrongs of the past" from those whose night, and the weaned ones retired o
^nZty was "more implacable, because rest, intending to resume their flight m
unp Ivok'd" to exert themselves in pre- the morning, ^-eral Wilson a Macon
servinrord r and maintaining the author- hearing of Davis's flight towards the Gulf,
t7of the Confederate laws. This procla- had sent out Michigan and Wiscons n
mation was met by President Lincoln by cavalry, whose -f^^^-^-^^oOO for the
a nublic notice that he should imme- by the offered reward of $100,000 lor the
Lxtely order a blockade of all the South- arrest of the fugitive Simultaneously
fports claimed as belonging to t^ from opposi^te PO-^s, ^^^-^^^^ P^;\'^^^^
fedeiacy; and also that if any person, approached the camp of Davis and his ht
under the pretended authority of such tie party just at dawn. May 11, 1865.
States or ^under any other pretence. Mistaking each other for foes, they ex-
?1 ould molest a vessel of the United changed shots with such precision that
S at s o" the person or cargo on board two men were killed and several wounded
o her, "ich person would be held amen- before the error was discovered. Th
able to the laws of the United States for sleepers were aroused. The camp was
the prevention and punishment of piracy, surrounded, and Davis, while attempting
With Iws opposing proclamation the to escape in disguise, was captured and
^^a't cfvU wTr'was\cfively begun. conveyed to . ^^^^^^^^f jf ^wrapper"
In April, 1865, Mr. Davis's wife and quarters. Davis had slept "^ ^J'^^PP^[^
children' ^nd his wife's sister, had -^ -^^^ ^^^^ thf t nt door He oi
accompanied him from Danville to boots and went to the tent door ^iie OD
Washington, Ga., where, for prudential served the Naional cavalry^ Then you
reasons,%h; father separated from the are capturedf' ^-l-^f, \\ /^ ,pp'er
others. He soon learned that some Con- an instant she fastened the JJ^pper
federL soldiers, believing that the treas- around him before ^e jas ^ware^ and
adieu, urged him
to go to a spring
near by, where his
horse and arms
were. He complied,
and as he was
leaving the tent-
door, followed by
a servant with a
water - bucket, his
sister-in-law flung
a shawl over his
head. It was in
this disguise that
he was captured.
Such is the story
as told by C. E. L.
Stuart, of Davis's
staff. The Confed-
erate President
was taken to Fort
Monroe by way of
ure that was carried away from Rich- Savannah and the sea. Reagan, who was
mond was with Mrs. Davis, had formed captured with Davis and Alexander IL
a plot to seize all her trunks in search Stephens were sent to Fort Warren, in
of it. He hastened to the rescue of his Boston Harbor.
20
JEFFERSON DAVIS'S HOME IN RICHMOND.
DAVIS, JEFFERSON
Inaugural Address. — The following is serted llie right which the Declaration of
the text of the inaugural address, deliv- Independence of 177G defined to be in-
ered at Montgomery, Ala., Feb. 18, 18G1: alienable. Of the time and occasion of
its exercise they as sovereigns were the
Gentlemen of the Congress of the Con- final judges, each for himself. The im-
federate States of America, Friends, and partial, enlightened verdict of mankind
Fellow-Citizens, — Called to the difficult will vindicate the rectitude of our con-
and responsible station of chief executive duct; and He who knows the hearts of
of the provisional government which you men will judge of the sincerity with which
have instituted, I approach the discharge we labored to preserve the government of
of the duties assigned me with an humble our fathers in its spirit,
distrust of my abilities, but with a sus- The right solemnly proclaimed at the
taining confidence in the wisdom of those birth of the States, and which has been
who are to guide and aid me in the ad- affirmed and reaffirmed in the bills of
ministration of public affairs, and an rights of the States subsequently ad-
abiding faith in the virtue and patriotism mitted into the Union of 1789, undeniably
of the people. Looking forward to the recognizes in the people the power to re-
speedy establishment of a permanent gov- sume the authority delegated for the pur-
ernment to take the place of this, and poses of government. Thus the sovereign
which by its greater moral and physical States here represented proceeded to
power will be better able to combat with form this Confederacy, and it is by the
the many difficulties which arise from the abuse of language that their act has been
conflicting interests of separate nations, denominated revolution. They formed a
^ enter upon the duties of the office to new alliance, but within each State its
which I have been chosen with the hope government has remained. The rights of
that the beginning of our career as a person and property have not been dis-
confederacy may not be obstructed by turbed. The agent through whom they
hostile opposition to our enjoyment of communicated with foreign nations is
the separate existence and independence changed, but this does not necessarily in-
which we have asserted, and which, with terrupt their international relations,
the blessing of Providence, we intend to Sustained by the consciousness that the
maintain. transition from the former Union to the
Our present condition, achieved in a present Confederacy has not proceeded
manner unprecedented in the history of from a disregard on our part of our just
nations, illustrates the American idea obligations or any failure to perform
that governments rest upon the consent every constitutional duty, moved by no
of the governed, and that it is the right interest or passion to invade the rights
of the people to alter and abolish govern- of others, anxious to cultivate peace and
ments whenever they become destructive commerce with all nations, if we may not
to the ends for which they were estab- hope to avoid war, we may at least ex-
lished. The declared compact of the pect that posterity will acquit us of hav-
Union from which we have withdrawn ing needlessly engaged in it. Doubly
was to establish justice, insvire domestic justified by the absence of wrong on our
tranquillity, provide for the common de- part, and by wanton aggression on the
fence, promote the general welfare, and part of others, there can be no cause to
secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves doubt the courage and patriotism of the
and our posterity; and when, in the judg- people of the Confederate States will be
ment of the sovereign States now com- found equal to any measures of defence
posing this Confederacy, it has been per- which soon their security may require,
verted from the purposes for which it was An agricultural people, whose chief in-
ordained, and ceased to answer the ends terest is the export of a commodity re-
for which it was established, a peaceful quired in every manufacturing country,
appeal to the ballot-box declared that, as our true policy is peace, and the freest
far as they were concerned, the govern- trade which our necessities will permit,
ment created by that compact should It is alike our interest, and that of all
cease to exist. In this they merely as- those to whom we would sell and from
21
DAVIS, JEFFERSON
whom Ave would buy, that there should be required. These necessities have, doubt-
be the fewest practicable restrictions upon less, engaged the attention of Congress,
the interchange of commodities. There With a constitution differing only from
can be but little rivalry between ours that of our fathers in so far as it is ex-
and any manufacturing or navigating planatory of their well-known intent,
community, such as the Northeastern freed from sectional conflicts, which have
States of the American Union. It must interfered with the pursuit of the general
follow, therefore, that mutual interest welfare, it is not unreasonable to ex-
would invite good-will and kind offices, pect that the States from which we have
If, however, passion or lust of dominion recently parted may seek to unite their
should cloud the judgment or inflame the fortunes to ours, under the government
ambition of those States, we must pre- which we have instituted. For this your
pare to meet the emergency and maintain constitution makes adequate provision,
by the final arbitrament of the sword but beyond this, if I mistake not, the judg-
the position which we have assumed ment and will of the people are, that
among the nations of the earth. union with the States from which they
We have entered upon a career of inde- have separated is neither practicable nor
pendence, and it must be inflexibly pur- desirable. To increase the power, de- v
sued through many years of controversy velop the resources, and promote the hap-
with our late associates of the Northern piness of the Confederacy, it is requisite
States. We have vainly endeavored to there should be so much homogeneity that
secure tranquillity and obtain respect for the welfare of every portion would be the .
the rights to which we are entitled. As aim of the whole. Where this does not
a necessity, not a choice, we have re- exist, antagonisms are engendered which
sorted to the remedy of separation, and must and should result in separation,
henceforth our energies must be directed Actuated solely by a desire to preserve
to the conduct of our own affairs, and the our own rights, and to promote our own
perpetuity of the Confederacy which we welfare, the separation of the Confeder-
have formed. If a just perception of mu- ate States has been marked by no ag-
tual interest shall permit us peaceably to gression upon others, and followed by no
pursue our separate political career, my domestic convulsion. Our industrial pur-
most earnest desire will have been ful- suits have received no check, the cultiva-
filled. But if this be denied us, and the tion of our fields progresses as hereto-
integrity of our territory and jurisdiction fore, and even should we be involved in
be assailed, it will but remain for us war, there would be no considerable dimi-
with firm resolve to appeal to arms and nution in the production of the staples
invoke the blessing of Providence on a just which have constituted our exports, in
cause. which the commercial world has an in-
As a consequence of our new condition, terest scarcely less than our own. This
and with a view to meet anticipated common interest of producer and con-
wants, it will be necessary to provide a sumer can only be intercepted by an ex-
speedy and efficient organization of the terior force which should obstruct its
branches of the executive department hav- transmission to foreign markets, a course
ing special charge of foreign intercourse, of conduct which would be detrimental to
finance, military affairs, and postal ser- manufacturing and commercial interests
vice. For purposes of defence the Con- abroad.
federate States may, under the ordinary Should reason guide the action of the
circumstances, rely mainly upon their government from which we have sepa-
militia; but it is deemed advisable in the rated, a policy so detrimental to the civ-
present condition of affairs that there ilized world, the Northern States included,
should be a well-instructed, disciplined could not be dictated by even a stronger
army, more numerous than would usually desire to inflict injury upon us ; but if it
be required on a peace establishment. I be otherwise, a terrible responsibility will
also suggest that, for the protection of rest upon it, and the suffering of millions
our harbors and comrnerce on the high will bear testimony to the folly and wick-
seas, "a navy adapted to those objects will cdness of our aggressors. In the mean
2i?
DAVIS
time there will remain to us, besides the edged, we may hopefully look forward to
ordinary remedies before suggested, the success, to peace, to prosperity,
well-known resources for retaliation upon Davis, Jefferson C, military officer;
the commerce of an enemy. born in Clarke county, Ind., March 2,
Experience in public stations of a 1828; served in the war with Mexico;
subordinate grade to this which your kind- was made lieutenant in 1852; and was
ness had conferred has taught me that cne of the garrison of Fort Sumter dur-
care and toil and disappointments are the ing the bombardment in April, 1861, The
price of official elevation. You will see same year he was made captain, and be-
many errors to forgive, many deficiencies came colonel of an Indiana regiment of
to tolerate, but you shall not find in me volunteers. In December he was pro-
either want of zeal or fidelity to the moted to brigadier-general of volunteers,
cause that is to me the highest in hope and commanded a division in the battle
and of most enduring affection. Your of Pea Ridge early in 1862, He partici-
generosity has bestowed upon me an un-
deserved distinction, one which I neither
sought nor desired. Upon the continu-
ance of that sentiment, and upon your
wisdom and patriotism, I rely to direct
and support me in the performance of the
duties required at my hands.
We have changed the constituent parts
but not the system of our government.
The Constitution formed by our fathers
is that of these Confederate States. In
their exposition of it, and in the judicial
construction it has received, we have a
light which reveals its true meaning. Thus
instructed as to the just interpretation
of that instrument, and ever remembering
Vnat all offices are but trusts held for the
people, and that delegated powers are
to be strictly construed, I will hope by
due diligence in the performance of my
duties, though I may disappoint your ex-
pectation, yet to retain, when retiring, pated in the battle of Corinth in 1862;
something of the good-will and confidence commanded a division in the battles of
which will welcome my entrance into Stone River, Murfreesboro, and Chicka-
office, mauga in 1862-63; and in 1864 com-
It is joyous in the midst of perilous manded the 14th Army Corps in the At-
times to look around upon a people imited lanta campaign and in the March through
in heart, when one purpose of high resolve Georgia and the Carolinas. He was
animates and actuates the whole,, where brevetted major-general in 1865, and the
the sacrifices to be made are not weighed next year was commissioned colonel ot
in the balance, against honor, right, lib- the 23d Infantry. He was afterwards on
erty, and equality. Obstacles may re- the Pacific coast; commanded troops in
tard, but they cannot long prevent the Alaska; and also commanded the forces
progress of a movement sanctioned by that subdued the Modocs, after the murder
its justice and sustained by a virtuous of Gen. Edward R. S. Canby (q. v.), in
people. Reverently let us invoke the God 1873. He died in Chicago, 111., Nov. 30,
of our fathers to guide and protect us 1879.
in our efforts to perpetuate the princi- Davis, John, jurist; born in Plymouth,
pies which by His blessing they were able Mass., Jan. 25, 1761 ; graduated at Har-
to vindicate, establish, and transmit to vard College in 1781 ; admitted to tlie
their posterit}'; and Avith a continuance bar and began practice at Plymoiith in
of His favor, ever gratefully acknowl- 1786. He was the last surviving member
23
<^.
JEFFERSON C. DAVIS.
DAVIS— DAWES
of the convention that adopted the federal active in other engagements. He wag pro-
Constitution; comptroller of the United moted rear-admiral and retired m No-
States Treasury in 1795-96; and eminent vember, 1886. He died in Washington,
for his knowledge of the history of New March 12, 1889. u ■„
Engjand. In 1813 he made an address Davxs, John W., statesman; born in
on the Landing of the Pilgrims before the Cumberland county, Pa., July 17, 1799;
Massachusetts Historical Society, over paduated at the Baltimore Medical Col-
which he presided in 1818-43. His pub- lege In 1821; settled in Carlisle Ind
lications include an edition of Morton's in 1823; member of Congress m 1835-37
Nezo England Memorial, with many im- 1839-41 and 1843-4J; speaker of the
portant notes; Eulogy on George Wash- House of Representatives during his last
ington; and An Attempt to Explain the term; United States commissioner to
nscription on Dighton Roek. He died in China in 1848-50; and governor of Ore-
T^lV+nr, Mpc,^ Tan 14 1847 gon in 1853-54. He was president of the
''tavL J n^^^^^^^^^^ Lvention in 1/52 which nominated
boro, Mass., Jan. 13, 1787; graduated at Franklin Pierce for President He died
Yale in 1812 ; admitted to the bar in 1815 ; in Carlisle, Ind., Aug. 22 1859._
number of ' Congress in 1824-34, dur- ^.^fvis^^"' \TtAs ZZeoTZ
i.g which time ^^;^oppos^d Henry^^^^^^^^^^^ ^w tr^k 'su^reml^'crt,' 1^857%rber
:L' r 18t5^'and^ sYgn'^S^\n\'8\tl bl of Congress, f869-70; United States dis-
: me go\^rnor of MasLhusetts. He was trict attorney, l^^^^^^-^^f ^Ve'pre!
a stronrr antagonist of Jackson and Van New York Supreme Court, 1872 He pre
Buren and was re-elected to the United sided at the trial of Stokes for the murder
States Senate in 1845, but declined to of Jim Fiske and at the trial of William
serve He protested st;ongly against the M. Tweed. He retired in 1887 and died
war with Mexico, and was in favor of the m New York City, March 20, 1902.
exclusion of sla^4ry in the United States Davis Richard Hahding, author ; born
Territories. He died in Worcester, Mass. in Philadelphia, Pa., April 18, 1864 son
April 19 1854 • of Rebecca Harding Davis; educated at
Davis! John Chandler Bancroft, Lehigh University and Johns Hopkins
statesman; born in Worcester, Mass., Dec. University. In 1888 he joined the staff
29 1822; graduated at Harvard in 1840; of the New York Evemng Sun. In 1890
appointed secretary of the United States he became the managing editor of Har-
locration in London in 1849; and assistant per's Weekly. His publications include
Secretary of State in 1869, which post Our English Cousins; About Parts; The
he resigned in 1871 to represent the Rulers of the Mediterranean; Three
United "states at the Geneva court of Gringos in Venezuela and Central Amer-
arbitration on the Alabama claims. He ica; Cuba in War Time; Cuban and
«'as appointed United States minister to Porto Rican Campaigns, etc.
Germany S 1874, judge of the United Davis, Varina Anne Jefferson
States court of cairns in 1878, and re- author; second daughter of Jeffer«,n
porter of the United States Supreme Court Davis; born in Richmond, Va-, June 2J
L 1883 He is the author of The Case 1864; known popularly in the South as
of tie UnUed States laid before the Tri- "the Daughter of the Confederacy." Her
inat of Arbitration at Geneva; Treaties childhood was mostly ^P^^t abroad and
cTtLuM States, with Notes, etc. for several years she devoted herself to
Davis John Lee, naval officer; born in literature. Her works include An Irish
CaTltsTe Ind Sept 3, 1825; joined the Knight of the Nineteenth Century;
naw1n'l84l' served ^th the Gulf block- Sketch of the Life of Robert Emmet; The
adS^ sauadr;n [n 18^^ as executive offi- Veiled Doctor; Foreign Education for
ferZZwateTwitch; and on Oct. 12 American Girls; and A Romance of Sum-
Tf thit yea^toolc part in the action with rner Seas She died at Narraganset Pier,
the Confederate ram Manassas, and in R. I., bept. l», i».i».
that wUh the fleet near Pilot Town. Dur- Dawes, Henht La^ens statesman;
ing the remainder of the war he was born in Cummington, Mass., Oct. 30, 1816,
^ 24
DAWES— DAYTON.
graduated at Yale in 1839; admitted to 1870; studied law and was admitted to
the bar in 1842; served in the State leg- the bar in 1872; began practice at Can-
islature in 1848-50, and in the State ton, 0.; served as judge in the court of
Senate in 1850-52; member of Congress common pleas in 1886-90; appointed
in 1857-73, and of the United States Sen- judge of the United States district court
ate in 1875-93; and then became chairman for the northern district of Ohio in 1889,
of the commission of the five civilized but resigned before taking ofiice on ac-
tribes. He was author of many tariff
measures, and to him was due the intro-
duction of the Weather Bulletin in 1869.
He died in Pittsfield, Mass., Feb. 5, 1903.
Dawes, William, patriot. On April 18,
1775, he accompanied Paul Revere, riding
through Koxbury, while Revere went by
way of Charlestown. On the following
day, when Adams and Hancock received
the message from Warren, Revere, Dawes,
and Samuel Prescott rode forward, arous-
ing tlie inhabitants. They were surprised
bj' a number of British at Lincoln, and
botli Dawes and Revere were captured,
Prescott making good iiis escape to Con-
cord.
Dawson, Henry Barton, author; born
in Lincolnshire, England, Jime 8, 1821;
came to New York with his parents in
1834. He was the author of Battles of the
United States by Sea and Land; Recol-
lections of the Jersey Prison-ship ; West-
chester County in the Revolution ; etc. For
many years he was editor of the Histori-
cal Magazine. He died in 1889.
WILLIAM RUFDS DAY.
count of ill health. In March, 1397, he
was made assistant Secretary of State,
Day. The Washington Prime Meridian and on April 26, 1898, succeeded John
Conference adopted a resolution declaring Sherman as head of the department,
the universal day to be the mean solar While in the State Department he had
day, beginning, for all the world, at the charge, under the President, of the deli-
moment of mean midnight of the initial catc diplomatic correspondence preced-
meridian, coinciding with the civil day, ing and during the war with Spain, and
and that meridian be counted from zero of the negotiation of the protocol of
up to 24 hours, Oct. 21, 1884. See Stand- peace. After the latter had been ac-
ARD Time. cepted Judge Day was appointed chief
Day, or Daye, Stephen, the first of the United States peace commission, his
printer in the English-American colonies; place as Secretary of State being filled
born in London in 1611; went to Massa- by John Hay, American ambassador to
chusetts in 1638, and was employed to Great Britain. Judge Day was appointed
manage the printing-press sent out by judge of the United States Circuit Court
Rev. Mr. Glover. He began printing at for the sixth judicial circuit, Feb. 25, 1899,
Cambridge in ]\Tarch, 1639. He was not and an associate justice of the United
a skilful workman, and was succeeded in States Supreme Court in February, 1903.
the management, about 1648, by Samuel Dayton, Elias, military officer; born
Green, who employed Day as a journey- in Elizabethtown, N. J., in July, 1737;
man. He died at Cambridge, Mass., Dec. fought with the Jersey Blues under Wolfe
22, 1668. at Quebec; was member of the corn-
Day, William Rufits, statesman ; born mittee of safety at the beginning of the
in Ravenna, O., April 17, 1849; grad- Revolution, and became colonel of the 3^
uated at the University of Michigan in New Jersey Regiment. He served in New
25
DAYTON— DEANE
York and New Jersey; fought in several asylums have since been established, num-
battles, the last at Yorktown, and in baring thirty-six in 1870, and a national
January 1783, was made a brigadier-gen- deaf mute college was established at
cral He was a member of Congress in Washington in 1864. In 1876 there were
1787-88 and was afterwards in the New about 4,400 pupils in these institutions.
Jersey legislature. He died in Elizabeth- At the close of the school year 1898
town July 17, 1807. tlie total number of schools for deaf
Dayton, Jonathan, statesman; born in mutes reporting to the United States
Elizabethtown, N. J., Oct. 16, 1760; son of bureau of education was 105, with 1,100
Elias; graduated at the College of New instructors and 10,878 pupils. There were
Jersey in 1776; entered the army as pay- fifty-one State public schools, which had
master of his father's regimeilt in August; 945 instructors in the departments of ar-
aided in storming a redoubt at Yorktown, ticulation, aural development, and m-
which was taken by Lafayette ; and served dustrial branches, and 9,832 pupils, about
faithfully until the close of the war. He one-third of whom were taught by the com-
was a member of the convention that bined system and the others by the manual
framed the national Constitution in 1787, method. The above institutions had
and was a representative in Congress from grounds and buildings valued at $11,175,-
1791 to 1799. He was speaker in 1795, 933 and libraries containing 94,269 vol-
and was made United States Senator in times. The total expenditure for support
1799 He held the seat until 1805. He was $2,208,704. There were also 483
served in both branches of his State legis- pupils with eighty-one instructors en-
lature. Suspected of complicity in Burr's rolled in private schools for the deaf, and
conspiracy, he was arrested, but was never 563 pupils with seventy-four instructors
prosecuted. He died in Elizabethtown, in various public day schools for the deaf.
Oct 9 1824 Dean, John Ward, historian; born in
Dayton," William Lewis, statesman; Wiscasset, Me., March 13, 1815; became
born in Baskingridge, N. J., Feb. 17, 1807; librarian of the New England Historical
graduated at Princeton College in 1825; Genealogical Society, and edited 9 vol-
studied at the famous law school in umes of its Register. He has also writ-
Litchfield, Conn., and was admitted to ten Memoir of Nathaniel ^Yard; Michael
the bar in 1830; became associate judge Wigglesworth; Story of the Embarkation
of the Supreme Court of New Jersey in of Cromivell and his Friends for New
1838, and entered the United States Senate England, etc. He died Jan. 22, 1902.
in 1842 In 1856 he was the candidate of Deane, Charles, historian; born m
the newly formed Republican party for Biddeford, Me., Nov. 10, 1813; became a
Vice-President. From 1857 to 1861 he member of the chief historical societies
was attorney-general of New Jersey, and of the country; author of Some Notices
in the latter year was appointed minister of Samuel Gorton; First Plymouth Pat-
to France, where he remained till his ent; BibliograpJiy of Governor Eutchm-
death Dec. 1, 1864. son's Publications; Wingfield's Discourse
Deaf Mutes, Education of. As early of Virginia; Smith's True Relation; and
as 1793 Dr. W. Thornton published an editor of Bradford's History of Plymouth
essay in Philadelphia on Teaching the Plantation, etc. He died in Cambridge,
Dumb to Speak, but no attempt was made Mass., Nov. 13, 1889.
to establish a school for the purpose here Deane, James, missionary to the bix
until 1811, when the effort was unsuccess- Nations; born in Groton, Conn., Aug.
ful. A school for the instruction of the 20, 1748; graduated at Dartmouth Col-
silent that proved successful was opened in lege in 1773. From the age of twelve
Hartford, Conn., by Rev. Thomas H. Gal- years he was with a missionary in the
LAUDET (^. f;.) in 1817, and was chartered Oneida tribe of Indians, and mastered
under the name of the "New England their language. After his graduation he
Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb." Con- went as a missionary to the Caughnawa-
gress granted for its support a township gas and St. Francis tribes for two years;
of land in Alabama, the proceeds of which and when the Revolution broke out, Con-
formed a fund of about $340,000. Other gress employed him to conciliate the
26
DEANE
tribes along the northern frontier. He
was made Indian agent and interpreter
at Fort Stanvvix with the rank of major.
He was many years a judge in Oneida
county, and twice a member of tlie New
York Assembly. Mr. Deane wrote an Ind-
ian mythology. He died in Westmore-
land, N. Y., Sept. 10, 1823.
Deane, Silas, diplomatist; born in
Groton, Conn., Dee. 24, 1737; graduated
at Y^ale College in 1758; became a
merchant in Wethersfield, Conn. ; and
was a delegate to the first Continental
SILAS DEANE.
Congress. He was very active in Con-
gress, in 1775, in fitting out a naval
force for the colonies, and in the spring
of 1776 was sent to France as a secret
political and financial agent, with au-
thority to operate in Holland and else-
where. He was to ascertain the feeling
of the French government towards the re-
volted colonies and Great Britain, and
to obtain military supplies. Mr. Deane
went in the character of a Bermuda mer-
chant ; and, the better to cover his de-
signs, he did not take any considerable
sum of money or bills of exchange with
him for his support. The secret com-
mittee was to send them after him by
way of London, to arrive in Paris nearly
as soon as himself, lest a capture should
betray his secret. On his arrival in Paris
he sought an interview with the Count de
Vergennes, the minister for foreign afi'airs,
but no notice was taken of him. He re-
peated his application in vain. His re-
mittances were all captured or lost. He
soon expended the cash he took with him,
27
and was in great distress. His landlady
became importunate, and he was threat-
ened with ejectment into the street. He
again repeated his application for an in-
terview with Vergennes, but was denied.
Which way to turn he knew not. He
walked in the fields in the suburbs in de-
spair. There he met a citizen to whom
he revealed his distressed condition. The
citizen invited him to make his house his
home until remittances should arrive.
Losing hope of either funds or an inter-
view with the minister, he resolved to
return to America, and was actually pack-
ing his wardrobe when two letters reached
him, announcing the Declaration of Inde-
pendence by Congress and the action of
Arnold with the British fleet on Lake
Champlain. Two hours later he received
a card from Vergennes, requesting his
company immediately. Deane, indignant
at the treatment be had received, refused
to go. The next morning, as he was ris-
ing from his bed, an under-secretary
called, inviting him to breakfast with the
count. He again refused; but, on the
secretary's pressing him to go, he con-
sented, and was received very cordially
by Vergennes. A long conversation on
American affairs took place, when Deane
acquainted the minister with the nature
of his mission. So began the diplomatic
relations between France and the United
States which resulted in the negotiation
of a treaty of amity and alliance between
the two nations.
To him were intrusted the receipts and
expenditures of money by the commission-
ers to Europe. Dr. Franklin had de-
served confidence in his ability and
honesty. The jealous, querulous Arthur
Lee (q. v.), who became associated with
him and Franklin, soon made trouble. He
wrote letters to his brother in Congress
(Richard Henry Lee), in which he made
many insinuations against the probity of
both his colleagues. Ralph Izard, com-
missioner to the Tuscan Court, off'ended
because he was not consulted about the
treaty with France, had written home
similar letters; and William Carmiehael,
a secretary of the commissioners, who had
returned to America, insinuated in Con-
gress that Deane had appropriated the
public money to his own use. Deane was
recalled, by order of Congress, Nov. 21,
DEANE— DEARBORN
1777; arrived at Philadelphia Aug. 10, Aug. 23, 1789. " In 1842 Deane's long-
1778- and on the 13th reported to Con- disputed claim was adjusted by Congress,
gress In that body he found false re- a large sum being paid over to his heirs,
ports operating against him; and finally. Dearborn, Fort. See Chicago.
exasperated by the treatment which he re- Dearborn, Henky, military officer;
ceived at their hands, he engaged in a born in Northampton, N. H., i;eb. 23,
controversy with influential members. 1751; became a physician, and employed
Out of this affair sprang two violent par- his leisure time in the study of military
ties, Robert Morris and other members of science. At the head of sixty volunteers
Congress who were commercial experts he hastened to Cambridge on the day after
taking the side of Deane, and Richard the affair at Lexington, a distance of 65
Henry Lee, then chairman of the com- miles. He was appointed a captain in
mittee on foreign affairs, being against Stark's regiment, participated in the bat-
jjjjQ tie of Bunker Hill, and in September fol-
Deane published in the Philadelphia lowing (1775) accompanied Arnold in his
Gazette an " Address to the People of expedition to Quebec. He participated in
the United States," in which he referred the siege of Quebec, and was made
to the brothers Lee with much severity, prisoner, but was paroled in May, 1776,
and claimed for himself the credit of ob- when he became major of Scammel's New
taining supplies from France through Hampshire regiment. He was in the bat-
Beaumarchais. Thomas Paine (q. v.), ties of Stillwater and Saratoga in the
then secretary of the committee on for- fall of 1777, and led the troops in
eign affairs, replied to Deane (Jan. 2, those engagements — in the^ latter as
1779), availing himself of public docu- lieutenant-colonel. He was in the bat-
ments in his charge. In that reply he tie of Monmouth, was in _ Sulli-
declared that the arrangement had been van's campaign against the Indians m
made by Arthur Lee, in London, and re- 1779, and in 1781 was attached to Wash-
vealed the secret that the supplies, ington's staff as deputy quartermaster-
though nominally furnished by a com- general, with the rank of colonel. In
mercial house, really came from the that capacity he served in the siege of
French government. This statement Yorktown. In 1784 he settled in Maine,
called out loud complaints from the and became general of militia. He was
French minister (Gerard), for it exposed marshal of Maine, by the appointment of
the duplicity of his government, and to Washington, in 1789, member of Congress
soothe the feelings of their allies. Con- from 1793 to 1797, and was Secretary of
gress, by resolution, expressly denied that War under Jefferson from 1801 to 1809.
any gratuity had been received from the irom 1809 till 1812 he was collector of
French Court previous to the treaty of the port of Boston, when he was appointed
alliance. This resolution gave Beau- senior major-general in the United States
marchais a valid claim upon Congress for army, and commander-in-chief of the
payment for supplies which he, under the Northern Department. On Sept. 1, 1812,
firm name of Hortales & Co., had sent General Bloomfield had collected about
to America (see Beaumarchais, Pierre 8,000 men— regulars, volunteers, and mili-
AuGUSTiN). Paine's indiscretion cost tia— at Plattsburg, on Lake Champlam,
him his place. He was compelled to re- besides some small advanced parties^ at
sign his secretaryship. The discussion Chazy and Champlain. On the arrival
among the diplomatic agents soon led to of General Dearborn, he assumed direct
the recall of all of them excepting Dr. command of all the troops, and on Nov.
Franklin, who remained sole minister at 16 he moved towards the Canada line
the French Court. Deane, who was un- with 3,000 regulars and 2,000 militia.
doubtedly an able, honest man, preferred He moved on to the La Colle, a small
claims for services and private expen- tributary of the Sorel, where he was met
ditures abroad, but, under the malign in- by a considerable force of mixed British
fluence of the Lees, he was treated with and Canadian troops and Indians, under
neglect and fairly driven into poverty Lieutenant-Colonel De Salaberry, an ac-
and exile, and died in Deal, England, tive British commander. Just at dawn,
28
DEARING— DEBTS
on the morning of the 20th, Col. Zebulon
M. Pike crossed the La Colle and sur-
rounded a block-house. Some New York
militia approaching were mistaken, in the
dim light, for British soldiers. Pike's men
opened fire upon them, and for nearly
half an hour a sharp conflict was main-
tained. When they discovered their mis-
take, they found De Salaberry approach-
ing with an overwhelming force. These
were fiercely attacked, but the Americans
were soon forced to retreat so precipi-
tately that they left five of their number
dead and five wounded on the field. The
army, disheartened, returned to Platts-
burg. Dearborn was superseded July 6,
1813, in consequence of being charged with
political intrigue. He asked in vain for
a couit of inqviiry. In 1822-24 he was
the American minister in Portugal. He
died in Roxbury, near Boston, Juno 6,
1829.
Bearing, James, soldier ; born in Camp-
bell county, Va., April 25, 1840; gradu-
ated at Hanover Academy; became a
cadet at West Point, but at the outbreak
of the Civil War resigned to join the Con-
federate army, in which he gained the
rank of brigadier-general. He took part
in the principal engagements between the
Army of the Potomac and the Army of
Northern Virginia, and was mortally
wounded in an encounter with Brig.-Gen.
Theodore Eead, of the National army. The
two generals met on opposite sides of the
Appomattox in April, 1865, and in a pis-
tol fight Read was shot dead and Bearing
was so severely wounded that he died soon
afterwards in Lynchburg, Va.
Death Penalty. See Livingston, Ed-
ward.
Deatonsville, Va. See Sailor's Creek.
De Bow, James Dunwoody Brownson,
journalist; born in Charleston, S. C,
July 10, 1820; became editor of the South-
ern Quarterly Review in 1844, but with-
drew the next year and established De
Bow's Commercial Review in New Orleans,
which was successful until the Civil War.
After the war it was resumed in New
York City, subsequently in Nashville,
Tenn. He died in Elizabeth, N. J., Feb.
22, 1867.
Debs, Eugene Victor, labor leader;
born in Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 5, 1855;
grand secretary and treasurer of the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in
1880-93; president of the American Rail-
way Union in 1893-97 ; and in June of
the latter year was made chairman of the
national council of the Social Democracy
of America. When president of the Amer-
ican Railway Union he conducted a strike
on the Great Northern Railway, and in
1894 directed another on the Western rail-
roads, for which he was charged with con-
spiracy, but was acquitted, and subse-
quently, in 1895, served a sentence of six
months' imprisonment for contempt of
court in violating its injunction. In 189G
he lectured on The Relations of the Church
to Labor, and in 1900, 1904, and 1908
was the candidate of the Social Demo-
cratic National party for President.
Debt, National. Tlie tables on pages
39 and 31 show the amount and details of
the public debt of the United States on
July 1, 1902, according to the official re-
port of the Secretary of the Treasury.
See Assumption ; National Debt.
Debtors. In the United States even as
late as 1829 it was estimated that there
were 3,000 debtors in prison in Massa-
chusetts; 10,000 in New York; 7,000 in
Pennsylvania ; and a like proportion in
the other States. Imprisonment for debt
was abolished in the United States by an
act of Congress in 1833, though not fully
enforced until 1839. Kentucky abolished
the law in 1821; Ohio in 1828; Maryland
in 1830; New York in 1831; Connecticut
in 1837; Alabama in 1848.
In 1828 there were 1,088 debtors im-
prisoned in Philadelphia; the sum total
of their debts Avas only $25,409, and the
expense of keeping them $362,076, which
was paid by the city, and the total amount
recovered from prisoners by this process
was only $295.
Debts, British. When the Revolution
broke out many American citizens owed
money to British creditors. These debts
were generally repudiated, but the treaty
of 1783 provided for their payment. Some
of the State governments permitted the
payment of such debts into the State
Treasuries, and then refused to entertain
suits on the part of the creditors. The
United States Supreme Court, in the case
of Ware vs. Hylton, decided that such
debts should be paid, but payments were
evaded in various ways.
'id
DEBT, NATIONAL
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! ca a
DECATUR
Decatur, Stephen, naval officer; born
in Sinnepuxent, Md., Jan. 5, 1779; died
near Washington, D. C, March 22, 1820;
entered the United States navy as a
midshipman April 30, 1798, and rose to
STEPHEN DECATOR
captain in 1804. His first notable ex-
ploit was the destruction of the Phila-
delphia in the harbor of. Tripoli, in the
Preble Expedition, for which Congress
gave him thanks, a sword, and promotion.
The Philadelphia had chased a Tripolitan
ship into the harbor in front of that town,
and struck upon a rock not laid down on
the charts. Fast bound,, she was captured
by the Tripolitans, and Captain Bain-
bridge and his officers were made
prisoners of war, and the crew
were made slaves.
Decatur caught a Tripolitan
ketch laden with maidens, whom
the Bashaw was sending to the
Sultan at Constantinople as a
present.
The captured ketch was taken
into the United States service and
renamed the Intrepid. In her
Decatur and seventy -four brave
young men sailed for Tripoli, ac-
companied by the Siren, under
Lieutenant (afterwards Commo-
dore) Stewart.
On a bright moonlit evening
they sailed boldly into the harbor,
warped alongside the Philadelphia,
sprang on board, and after a fierce
struggle all the Tripolitans were
killed or driven into the sea, the
Philadelphia was set on fire, and
the Intrepid was towed out of the
harbor by the boats of the Siren.
The Bashaw was greatly alarm-
ed by this display of American
energy and boldness, and acted
with more caution in the future.
Decatur commanded a division
of gunboats in the attack on Trip-
oli, Aug. 3, 1804. In this action
Decatur commanded a gunboat,
which he laid. alongside of a large
Tripolitan war-ship, which he
captured after a brief struggle.
Immediately boarding another ves-
sel, Decatur had a desperate per-
sonal struggle with the command-
er. The fight was brief but deadly.
Decatur slew his antagonist,
and the vessel was captured. The
Americans withdrew, but four
days later renewed the confiict,
which was indecisive, but on Aug.
24 and 28, and Sept. 3, Preble re-
peated the attack, and on the night of
Sept. 4 the Intrepid, under Captain Som-
crs as a fire-ship, was lost in the attack,
with all on board.
In command of the frigate United
32
DECATUR, STEPHEN
States, Decatur
captured the
frigate Macc-
(Innlnn, Oct. 25,
1812, for which
Congress gave
him a gold med-
al. The Mace-
donian was a
new ship, rated
at thirty - six,
but carrying
forty-nine guns.
She was badly
cut in the fight,
and Decatur
thought best to
order his prize
to Newport,
while he return-
ed in the United
States to New
London. Both
vessels sailed
into New York harbor on New Year's Day,
1813. The Corporation gave Decatur the
" freedom of the city," and requested his
portrait for the picture-gallery in the City
Hall, where it still hangs. In January, 1815,
after a running fight, the President, his flag-
ship, was captured by a British squadron ;
KALORAMA.
:-!3
ALGIEK.S l.\ lyl2.
and a few months later he was sent to the
Mediterranean, and compei 'ed the govern-
ment of Algiers to relinquish its barbarous
conduct towards other powers and to pay
for American property destroyed (see Al-
giers). He was appointed a navy com-
missioner in November, 1815, and made
his residence in the
fine mansion of Kal-
orama, about a mile
from Georgetown,
built by Joel Bar-
low. Decatur had
opposed the rein-
statement of Barron
to his former posi-
tion in the navy, and
a duel was the con-
sequence. They
fought at the famous
duelling-ground near
Bladensburg, when
Decatur was mortal-
ly wounded, and was
taken to Washing-
ton. Gen. Solomon
Van Rensselaer
wrote to his wife
from that city, on
March 20, 1820, as
follows: " I have
only time, after
DECATUR— DECLARATION OF COLONIAL EIGHTS
writing to several, to say that an affair to Philadelphia and reinterred, with ap-
pf honor took place this morning between propriate ceremonies, in St. Peter's ceme-
Commodores Decatur and Barron, in which tery. Over them a beautiful monument,
both fell at the first fire. The ball en- delineated in the accompanying engraving,
tered Decatur's body two inches above the was erected.
hip and lodged against the opposite side. Decimal System. In 1782, Gouverneur
I just came from his house. He yet lives, Morris, assistant fiscal agent of the Conti-
but will never see another sun. Barron's nental Congress, reported a decimal cur-
wound is severe, but not dangerous. The rency system, designed to harmonize the
moneys of the States. He ascer-
_-- ■ - tained that the 1,440th part of a
Spanish dollar was a common di-
visor for the various currencies.
With this as a unit he proposed
the following table of moneys: 10
units to be equal to 1 penny, 10
pence to 1 bill, 10 bills 1 dollar
(about 75 cents of the present
currency), 10 dollars 1 crown. In
1784, Mr. Jefferson, as chairman
of a committee of Congress, pro-
posed to strike four coins upon the
basis of the Spanish dollar, as fol-
lows: A gold piece worth 10 dol-
lars, a dollar in silver, a 10th of
a dollar in silver, a 100th of a
dollar in copper. Congress adopt-
ed his proposition, hence the cent,
dime, dollar, and eagle of the Unit-
ed States currency. See Metric
System.
Declaration of Colonial Rights.
In the first Continental Congress
(1774) a committee of two from
each colony framed and reported,
in the form of a series of ten re-
solves, a declaration of the rights
of the colonies: 1. Their natural
ball struck the upper part of his hip and rights; 2. That from their ancestry they
turned to the rear. He is ruined in pub- were entitled to all the rights, liberties,
lie estimation. The excitement is very and immunities of free and natural-born
great." Decatur died March 22, and his subjects of England; 3. That by the emi-
remains were taken from the house in gration to America by their ancestors they
Washington to Kalorama by the following never lost any of those rights, and that
officers: Commodores Tingey, Macdonough, their descendants were entitled to the
Rodgers, and Porter, Captains Cassin, Bal- exercise of those rights ; 4. That the foun-
lard, and Chauncey, Generals Brown and dation of all free governments is in the
Jesup, and Lieutenant McPherson. The right of the people to participate in their
funeral was attended by nearly all the legislative council; and as the Ainerican
public functionaries in Washington, Amer- colonists could not exercise such right in
ican and foreign, and a great number of the British Parliament, they were entitled
citizens. While the procession was mov- to a free and exclusive power of legisla-
ing minute-guns were fired at the navy- tion in their several provincial legislat-
yard. His remains were deposited in Joel ures, where the right of representation
Barlow's vault at Kalorama, where they could alone be preserved. (They conceded
remained until 1846, when they were taken the right of Parliament to regulate ex-
34
DECATUR S MONUMENT.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
ternal commerce, but denied its right to That the exercise of legishitive power in
tax them in any way, without their con- several colonies by a council appointed
sent, for raising an internal or external during pleasure by the crown was uncon-
revenue.) 5. That they were entitled to stitutional, dangerous, and destructive to
the common law of England, and more the freedom of American legislation The
especially the great privilege of being report of the committee designated the
tried by their peers of the vicinage ac- various acts of Parliament which were
cording to the course of law; 6. That they infringements and violations of the ri^^hts
were entitled to the benefit of English of the colonists, and declared that the" re-
statutes at the time of the emigration of peal of them was essentially necessary in
their ancestors; 7. That they were en- order to restore harmony between Great
titled to all the immunities and privi- Britain and the American colonies The
leges conferred upon them by royal char- acts enumerated were eleven in number
ters or secured to them by provincial laws; —namely. Sugar act, stamp act, two quar-
8. That they had a right peaceably to as- tering acts, tea act, act suspending the
semble, state their grievances, and peti- New York legislature, two acts for the
tion the King without interference of trial in Great Britain of offences commit-
ministers; 9. That the keeping of a stand- ted in America, Boston Port bill, the act
ing army in any colony, without the con- for regulating [subverting] the govern-
sent of the legislature, was unlawful; 10. ment of Massachusetts, and the Quebec act.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Declaration of Independence. It was ish armament, under the brothers Howe,
very important to have Lee's resolution at Sandy Hook. Immediate and united
for independence, offered June 7, 1776, action was essential. McKean, one of the
prefaced by a preamble that should clear- two representatives of Delaware present,
ly declare the causes which impelled the burning with a desire to have the vote
representatives of the people to adopt it. of his colony recorded in the affirmative,
To avoid loss of time, a committee was sent an express after the third delegate,
appointed (June 11) to prepare such Caesar Rodney. He was 80 miles from
declaration. The committee was composed Philadelphia. Ten minutes after receiving
of^ Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benja- McKean's message Rodney was in the sad-
niin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Rob- die, and, riding all night, he reached the
ert R. Livingston. Mr. Lee having been floor of Congress (July 4) just in time
called home before the appointment of the to secure the vote of Delaware in favor
committee, Mr. Jefferson was put in his of independence. All three of the delegates
place. He was requested by the com- from Delaware voted for the declaration,
mittee, after discussing the topics, to The vote of Pennsylvania was also secured,
make a draft of a declaration of inde- a majority of its seven delegates being in
pendence. It was discussed in committee, favor of the measure; and on the 4th of
amended very slightly, and finally report- July, 1776, the Declaration of Indepen-
cd. Debates upon it were long and ani- dence was adopted by the unanimous vote
mated. There was some opposition to of the Congress. See Wintiirop, R. C.
voting for independence at all, and it was On Thursday, July 4, 1776, agreeable
considerably amended. It was evident fo the order of the day. Congress resolved
from the beginning that a majority of the itself into a committee of the whole to
colonies would vote for independence (the consider the declaration, President John
vote in Congress was by colonies), but it Hancock in the chair. The secretary,
was important that the vote should be Benjamin Harrison, reported that the
unanimous. committee had agreed upon a declaration,
The declaration was warmly debated on which was read and adopted as follows:
the day (July 2) when the resolution was
passed, and also on the 3d. Meanwhile When, in the course of human events,
news came of the arrival of a large Brit- it becomes necessary for one people to
35
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
dissolve the political bands which have experience hath sho\vn that mankind are
connected them with another, and to as- more disposed to suffer, while evils are
sume among the powers of the earth the sufferable, than to right themselves by
separate and equal station to which the abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when a
long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing in-
variably the same object,
evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute des-
potism, it is their right, it
is their duty, to throw off
such government and to
provide new guards for
their future security. Such
has been the patient suf-
ferance of these colonies;
and such is now the ne-
cessity which constrains
them to alter their formal
system of government. The
history of the present King
of Great Britain is a his-
tory of repeated injuries
and usurpations, all hav-
ing in direct object the es-
tablishment of an abso-
lute tyranny over these
States. To prove this,
let facts be submitted to a
candid world,
laws of nature and of nature's God en- He has refused his assent to laws the
title them, a decent respect for the opin- most wholesome and necessary for the
ions of mankind requires that they should public good.
declare the causes which impel them to He has forbidden his governors to pass
the separation. laws of immediate and pressing impor-
We hold these truths to be self-evident: tance, unless suspended in their opera-
that all men are created equal; that they tions till his assent should be obtained;
are endowed by • their Creator with cer- and, when so suspended, he has utterly
tain inalienable rights; that among these neglected to attend to them,
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap- He has refused to pass other laws for
piness; that, to secure these rights, the accommodation of large districts of
governments are instituted among men, people, unless those people would relin-
deriving their just powers from the con- quish the right of representation in the
sent of the governed; that whenever any legislature — a right inestimable to them,
form of government becomes destructive and formidable to tyrants only,
of these ends, it is the right of the people He has called together legislative boiies
to alter or to abolish it, and to institute at places unusual, uncomfortable, and dis-
a new government, laying its foundation tant from the depository of their public
on such principles, and organizing its records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing
powers in such form, as to them shall them into compliance with his measures,
seem most likely to effect their safety and He has dissolved representative houses
happiness. Prudence, indeed, will die- repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firra-
tate that governments long established ness, his invasions on the rights of the
should not be changed for light and people.
transient causes; and, accordingly, all He has refused, for a long time after
36
HOUSE IN WHICH JEFFERSON WROTE THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
such dissolutions, to cause others to be
elected; whereby the legislative powers,
incapable of annihilation, have returned
to the people at large for their exercise;
the State remaining, in the mean time,
exposed to all the danger of invasion from
without and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the popu-
lation of these States; for that purpose
He has made judges dependent on his
will alone for the tenure of their offices
and the amount and payment of theii
salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new of-
fices, and sent hither swarms of officers,
to harass our people and eat out their
substance.
He has kept among us, in time of peace,
INDKPEIMDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. , v
obstructing the laws for naturalization of standing armies, without the consent of
foreigners, refusing to pass others to en- our legislatures.
courage their migration hither, and rais- He has ati"ected to render the military
ing the conditions of new appropriations independent of and superior to the civil
of lands. power.
He has obstructed the administration of He has combined with others to subject
justice, by refusing his assent to laws for us to a jurisdiction foreign to our consti-
3stablishing judiciary powers. tution and unacknowledged by our laws-
37
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
GARDEN HOUSE IN WHICH JEFFERSON AND OTHKRS CKLEBRATED
THE PASSAGE OP THE DECLARATION.
For abolishing the free system
of English law in a neighboring
province, establishing therein an ar-
bitrary government, and enlarging
its boundaries so as to render it at
once an example and fit instru-
ment for introducing the same ab-
solute rule into these colonies:
For taking away our charters,
abolishing our most valuable laws,
and altering fundamentally the
forms of our government:
For suspending our own legislat-
vires, and declaring themselves in-
vested with power to legislate for
us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here
by declaring us out of his protec-
tion, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, rav-
aged our coasts, burned our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our peo-
ple,
giving his assent to their acts of pre- He is at this time transporting large
tended legislation, — armies cf foreign mercenaries, to com-
For quartering large bodies of armed plete the works of death, desolation, and
troops among
us:
For protect-
ing them, by a
mock trial, from
punishment • for
any murders
which they
should commit
on the inhabi-
tants of these
States:
For cutting
off our trade
Avith all parts
of the world:
For imposing
taxes on us
without our
consent:
For depriving
us, in many
cases, of the
benefits of trial
by jury:
For trans-
porting us be-
yond seas, to be
tried for pre-
tended offences : table and chair used at the signing of the declaration op independenob.
38
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DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
tyranny, already begun, with circum- Britain is, and ought to be, totally dis-
stances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely solved; and that, as free and independent
paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and States, they have full power to levy war,
totally unworthy the head of a civilized conclude peace, contract alliances, estab-
"'^^i^"- lish commerce, and to do all other acts and
He has constrained our fellow-citizens, things which independent states may of
taken captive on the high seas, to bear right do. And for the support of this
arms against their country, to become the declaration, with a firm reliance on the
executioners of their friends and breth- protection of Divine Providence, we mu-
ren, or to fall themselves by their hands, tually pledge to each other our lives, our
He has excited domestic insurrections fortunes, and our sacred honor,
among us, and has endeavored to bring Signed by order and in behalf of the
on the inhabitants of our frontiers the Congress.
merciless Indian savages, whose known t tt -^ . ,
rule of warfare is an undistinguished de- , ,, , ^™ Hancock, President,
struction of all ages, sexes, and condi- ^"^«^^^' Charles Thompson, Secretary.
*'°"^- A'ett? Hampshire.
In every stage of these oppressions we Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple,
have petitioned for redress in the most Matthew Thornton.
humble terms; our petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Massachusetts Bay.
prince whose character is thus marked Samuel Adams, John Adams,
by every act which may define a tyrant, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.
is unfit to be ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in attention Rhode Island, Etc.
to our British brethren. We have warned Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery.
them, from time to time, of attempts „ .
made by their legislatures to extend an ^ Connecticut.
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We ^^^^ Sherman, Samuel Huntington,
have reminded them of the circumstances ^"^^^^^^ Williams, Oliver Wolcott.
of our emigration and settlement here. 2V^e^y York.
We have appealed to their native justice William Floyd, Philip Livingston
and magnanimity, and we have conjured Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris.'
tnem, by the ties of our common kindred,
to disavow these usurpations, which would "New Jersey.
inevitably interrupt our connections and Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon,
correspondence. They, too, have been Francis Hopkinson, John Hart,'
deaf to the voice of justice and consan- • Abraham Clark.
guinity. We must therefore acquiesce in
the necessity which denounces our separa- riorth Carolina.
tion, and hold them, as we hold the rest William Hooper, Joseph Hewes,
of mankind, enemies in war — in peace, John Penn.
friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of t, r^ 01 gta.
the United States of America, in general ^^^™^ Gwinnett, Lyman Hall,
Congress assembled, appealing to the Su- George Walton.
preme Judge of the world for the recti- Pennsylvania.
\lfZ\T' '^^'''^•r'/?^ ''" *^r "'""f ^^'^^^•^^^ ^^«''^^^^«' Benjamin Rush,
and by the authority of he good people Benjamin Franklin, John Morton,
of these colonies, solemnly publish and q^orge Clymer, James Smith.
declare that these united colonies are, Qeorge Taylor, William Pac-i
and of good right ought to be, free and q^^rge Ross.
independent States; that they are ab-
solved from all allegiance to the British Delaware.
crown, and that all political connection Caesar Rodney, George Read,
between them and the states of Great Thomas M'Kean.
39
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
Maryland. for such an act, he characterized it as
Samuel Chase, James Wilson, made up of " glittering and sounding gen-
Thomas Stone, eralities of natural right." What the
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. great advocate then so unhesitatingly sug-
gested, many a thoughtful American since
then has at least suspected — that our
Virginia.
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, ^^^^^ proclamation, as a piece of political
Thomas Jefferson, literature, cannot stand the test of modern
Benjamin Harrison analysis; that it belongs to the immense
Thomas Iselson, Jr., ^j^^^ ^^ over-praised productions; that it
Francis Lightfoot Lee, j^^ .^ ^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^j^ patch-work of sweep-
Carter Braxton. .^^ propositions of somewhat doubtful
South Carolina. validity; that it has long imposed upon
Edward Rutledge, mankind by the well-known effectiveness
Thomas Heyward, Jr., of verbal glitter and sound; that, at the
Thomas Lynch, Jr., best, it is an example of florid political
Arthur Middleton. declamation belonging to the sophomoric
Declaration of Independence in tlie period of our national life, a period which,
Light of Modern Criticism, The. As a as we flatter ourselves, we have now out-
student, critic, and compiler of American grown.
history Prof. Moses C. Tyler {q. v.) held Nevertheless, it is to be noted that what-
an established position among the most ever authority the Declaration of Inde-
eminent scholars. In 1867 he was appoint- pendence has acquired in the world, has
ed to the chair of English Literature at been due to no lack of criticism, either at
the University of Michigan, which he the time of its first appearance, or since
occupied until 1881, when he was called then; a fact which seems to tell in favor
to the University of Cornell as Professor of its essential worth and strength. From
of American History. On the subject of the date of its original publication down
criticisms on the Declaration of Indepen- to the present moment, it has been at-
dence he writes: tacked again and again, either in anger
or in contempt, by friends as well as by
It can hardly be doubted that some enemies of the American Revolution, by
hinderance to the right estimate of the liberals in politics as well as by conser-
Declaration of Independence is occa- vatives. It has been censured for its sub-
sioned by either of two opposite condi- stance, it has been censured for its form,
tions of mind, both of which are often to for its misstatements of fact, for its fal-
be met with among us: on the one hand, lacies in reasoning, for its audacious novel-
a condition of hereditary, uncritical awe ties and paradoxes, for its total lack of all
and worship of the American Revolution, novelty, for its repetition of old and
and of that state paper as its absolutely threadbare statements, even for its down-
perfect and glorious expression ; on the right plagiarisms ; finally for its grandiose
other hand, a later condition of cultivated and vaporing style.
distrust of the Declaration as a piece of One of the earliest and ablest of its
writing lifted up into inordinate renown assailants was Thomas Hutchinson, the
by the passionate and heroic circumstances last civil governor of the colony of Massa-
o'f its origin, and ever since then extolled chusetts, who, being stranded in London
beyond reason by the blind energy of by the political storm which had blown
patriotic enthusiasm, Turning from the him thither, published there, in the
former state of mind, which obviously autumn of 1776, his Strictures Upon the
calls for no further comment, we may Declaration of the Congress at Phila-
note, as a partial illustration of the latter, clelphia, wherein, with an unsurpassed
that American confidence in the supreme knowledge of the origin of the contro-
intellectual merit of this all-famous docu- versy, and with an unsurpassed acumen
ment received a serious wound from the in the discussion of it, he traverses the
hand of Rufus Choate, when, with a cour- entire document, paragraph by para-
ao^e greater than would now be required graph, for the purpose of showing that
"^ • 40
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41
BECLABATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
its allegations in support of American Philip II. to the people of the Nether-
independence are " false and frivolous." lands.
A better-written, and, upon the whole, This temperate criticism from an able
a more plausible and a more powerful, and a liberal English statesman of the
arraignment of the great declaration was nineteenth century may be said to touch
the celebrated pamphlet by Sir John the very core of the problem as to the his-
Dalrymple, The Rights of Great Britain toric justice of our great indictment of
Asserted against the Claims of America: the last King of America; and there is
Being an Answer to the Declaration of deep significance in the fact that this is
the General Congress — a pamphlet scat- the very criticism upon the document,
tered broadcast over the world at such a which, as John Adams tells us, he himself
rate that at least eight editions of it had in mind when it was first submitted
were published during the last three or to him in committee, and even when,
four months of the year 1776. Here, shortly afterwards, he advocated its adop-
again, the manifesto of Congress is sub- tion by Congress. After mentioning cer-
jected to a searching examination, in tain things in it with which he was de-
order to prove that " the facts are either lighted, he adds :
wilfully or ignorantly misrepresented, " There were other expressions which I
and the arguments deduced from premises would not have inserted if I had drawn it
that have no foundation in truth." It is up — particularly that which called the
doubtful if any disinterested student of King tyrant. I thought this too personal ;
history, any competent judge of reason- for I never believed George to be a tyrant
ing, will now deny to this pamphlet the in disposition and in nature. I always be-
praise of making out a very strong case lieved him to be deceived by his courtiers
against the historical accuracy and the on both sides of the Atlantic, and in his
logical soundness of many parts of the official capacity only cruel. I thought the
Declaration of Independence. expression too passionate, and too much
Undoubtedly, the force of such cen- like scolding, for so grave and solemn a
sures is for us much broken by the fact document; but, as Franklin and Sherman
that they proceeded from men who were were to inspect it afterwards, I thought it
themselves partisans in the Revolutionary would not become me to strike it out. I
controversy, and bitterly hostile to the consented to report it."
whole movement which the declaration A more minute and more poignant criti-
was intended to justify. Such is not the cism of the Declaration of Independence
case, however, with the leading modern has been made in recent years by still
English critics of the same document, another English writer of liberal ten-
who, while blaming in severe terms the dencies, who, however, in his capacity as
policy of the British government towards critic, seems here to labor under the dis-
the thirteen colonies, have also found advantage of having transferred to the
much to abate from the confidence due to document which he undertakes to judge
this official announcement of the reasons much of the extreme dislike which he has
for our secession from the empire. For for the man who wrote it, whom, indeed,
example, Earl Russell, after frankly he regards as a sophist, as a demagogue,
saying that the great disruption pro- as quite capable of inveracity in speech,
claimed by the Declaration of Indepen- and as bearing some resemblance to Robes-
dence was a result which Great Britain pierre " in his feline nature, his malig-
had " used every means most fitted to nant egotism, and his intense suspicions-
bring about," such as " vacillation in ness, as well as in his bloody-minded, yet
council, harshness in language, feebleness possibly sincere, philanthropy." In the
in execution, disregard of American sym- opinion of Prof. Goldwin Smith, our great
pathies and affections," also pointed out national manifesto is written " in a high-
that "the truth of this memorable decla- ly rhetorical strain"; "it opens with
ration " was " warped " by " one singular sweeping aphorisms about the natural
defect" — namely, its exclusive and ex- rights of man, at which political science
cessive arraignment of George III. " as now smiles, and which . . . might seem
a single and despotic tyrant," much like strange when framed for slave-holding
42
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
communities by a publicist who himself
held slaves"'; while, in its specifications
of fact, it " is not more scrupulously
truthful than are the general utterances "
of the statesman who was its scribe. Its
charges that the several offensive acts of
the King, besides " evincing a design to
reduce the colonists under absolute
despotism," " all had as their direct object
the establishment of an absolute tyranny,"
are simply " propositions which history
cannot accept." Moreover, the declara-
tion " blinks the fact that many of the
acts, styled steps of usurpation, were
measures of repression, which, however
unwise or excessive, had been provoked by
popular outrage." " No government could
allow its officers to be assaulted and their
houses sacked, its loyal lieges to be tarred
and feathered, or the property of mer-
chants sailing under its flag to be thrown
by lawless hands into the sea." Even
" the preposterous violence and the mani-
fest insincerity of the suppressed clause "
against slavery and the slave-trade " are
enough to create suspicion as to the spirit
in which the whole document was framed."
Finally, as has been already intimated,
not even among Americans themseh^es has
the Declaration of Independence been per-
mitted to pass on into the enjoyment of
its superb renown without much critical
disparagement at the hands of statesmen
and historians. No doubt Calhoun had
its preamble in mind when he declared
that " nothing can be more unfounded
and false " than " the prevalent opinion
tliat all men are born free and equal " ;
for " it rests upon the assumption of a
fact which is contrary to universal ob-
servation." Of course, all Americans
who have shared to any extent in Cal-
lionn's doctrines respecting human society
could hardly fail to agree with him in re-
garding as fallacious and worthless those
general propositions in the declaration
which seem to constitute its logical start-
ing-point, as well as its ultimate defence.
Perhaps, however, the most frequent
form of disparagement to which Jeffer-
son's great state paper has been subjected
among us is that which would minimize
his merit in composing it, by denying to
it the merit of originality. For example,
Richard Henry Lee sneered at it as a
thing " copied from Locke's Treatise on
Government." The author of a life of
Jefferson, published in the year of Jeffer-
son's retirement from the Presidency, sug-
gests that the credit of having composed
the Declaration of Independence " has
been perhaps more generally, than trul}',
given by the public" to that great man.
Charles Campbell, the historian of Vir-
ginia, intimates that some expressions in
the document were taken without ac-
knowledgment from Aphra Behn's tragi-
comedy, The Widow-Ranter, or the His-
tory of Bacon in Virginia. John Stock-
ton Littell describes the Declaration of
Independence as " that enduring monu-
ment at once of patriotism, and of genius
and skill in the art of appropriation " —
asserting that " for the sentiments and
much of the language " of it, Jefferson
was indebted to Chief-Justice Drayton's
charge to the grand jury of Charleston,
delivered in April, 177G, as well as to the
Declaration of Independence said to have
been adopted by some citizens of Mecklen-
burg county, N. C, in May, 1775. Even
the latest and most critical editor of the
writings of Jefferson calls attention to
the fact that a glance at the Declaration
of Rights, as adopted by Virginia on June
12, 177G, "would seem to indicate the
source from which Jefferson derived a
most important and popular part " of his
famous production. By no one, however,
has the charge of a lack of originality
been pressed with so much decisiveness
as by John Adams, who took evident
pleasure in speaking of it as a document
in which were merely " recapitulated "
previous and well-known statements of
American rights and wrongs, and who,
as late as in the year 1822, deliberately
wrote :
" There is not an idea in it but what
had been hackneyed in Congress for two
years before. The substance of it is con-
tained in the declaration of rights and the
violation of those rights, in the journals
of Congress, in 1774. Indeed, the essence
of it is contained in a pamphlet, voted
and printed by the to^vn of Boston, before
the first Congress met, composed by
James Otis, as I suppose, in one of his
lucid intervals, and pruned and polished
by Samuel Adams."
Perhaps nowhere in our literature
v/ould it be possible to find a criticism
43
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
brought forward by a really able man opinions as to men and as to events in ali
against any piece of writing less appli- that ugly quarrel, their notions of justice,
cable to the case, and of less force and of civic dignity, of human rights; finally,
value, than is this particular criticism by their memories of wrongs which seemed
John Adams and others, as to the lack of to them intolerable, especially of wrongs
originality in the Declaration of Inde- inflicted upon them during those twelve
pendence. Indeed, for such a paper as years by the hands of insolent and brutal
Jefferson was commissioned to write, the men, in the name of the King, and by his
one quality which it could not properly apparent command?
have had, the one quality which would Moreover as the nature of the task laid
have been fatal to its acceptance either upon him made it necessary that he should
by the American Congress or by the thus state, as the reasons for their in-
American people — is originality. They tended act, those very considerations both
were then at the culmination of a tre- as to fact and as to opinion which had
mendous controversy over alleged griev- actually operated upon their minds, so
ances of the most serious kind — a con- did it require him to do so, to some ex-
troversy that had been steadily raging tent, in the very language which the
for at least twelve years. In the course people themselves, in their more formal
of that long dispute, every phase of it, and deliberate utterances, had all along
whether as abstract right or constitu- been using. In the development of po-
tional privilege or personal procedure, had litical life in England and America, there
been presented in almost every conceiv- had already been created a vast literature
able form of speech. At last, they had of constitutional progress — a literature
resolved, in view of all this experience, no common to both portions of the English
longer to prosecute the controversy as race, pervaded by its own stately tra-
members of the empire; they had resolved ditions, and reverberating certain great
to revolt, and, casting off forever their phrases which formed, as one may say,
ancient fealty to the British crown, to almost the vernacular of English justice,
separate from the empire, and to estab- and of English aspiration for a free,
lish themselves as a new nation among manly, and orderly political life. In this
the nations of the earth. In this emer- vernacular the Declaration of Indepen-
gency, as it happened, Jefferson was called dence was written. The phraseology thus
upon to put into form a suitable state- characteristic of it is the very phrase-
ment of the chief considerations which ology of the champions of constitutional
prompted them to this great act of revolu- expansion, of civic dignity and progress,
tion, and which, as they believed, justified within the English race ever since Magna
it. What, then, was Jefferson to do? Was Charta; of the great state papers of Eng-
he to regard himself as a mere literary lish freedom in the seventeenth century,
essayist, set to produce before the world particularly the Petition of Right in 1629.
a sort of prize dissertation — a calm, ana- and the Bill of Rights in 1789; of the
lytic, judicial treatise on history and poll- great English charters for colonization in
tics with a particular application to Anglo- America; of the great English exponents
American affairs — one essential merit of of legal and political progress— Sir Ed-
which would be its originality as a con- ward Coke, John Milton, Sir Philip Sid-
tribution to historical and political lit- ney, John Locke; finally, of the great
erature? Was he not, rather, to regard American exponents of political liberty,
himself as, for the time being, the very and of the chief representative bodies,
mouthpiece and prophet of the people whether local or general, which had con-
whom he represented, and as such required vened in America from the time of the
to bring together and to set in order, in Stamp Act Congress until that of the
their name, not what was new, but what Congress which resolved upon our in-
was old; to gather up into his own soul, dependence. To say, therefore, that the
as much as possible, whatever was then official declaration of that resolve is a
also in their souls, their very thoughts and paper made up of the very opinions, be-
passions, their ideas of constitutional liefs, unbeliefs, the very sentiments, prej-
law, their interpretations of fact, their udices, passions, even the errors in judg-
44
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
ment and the personal misconstructions —
if they were such — which then actually
impelled the American people to that
mighty act, and that all these are ex-
pressed in the very phrases which they
had been accustomed to use, is to pay
to that state paper the highest tribute as
to its fitness for the purpose for which it
was framed.
Of much of this, also, Jefferson him-
self seems to have been conscious; and
perhaps never does he rise before us with
more dignity, with more truth, than when,
late in his lifetime, hurt by the captious
and jangling words of disparagement then
recently put into writing by his old com-
rade, to the effect that the Declaration
of Independence " contained no new ideas,
that it is a commonplace compilation, its
sentences hackneyed in Congress for two
years before, and its essence contained in
Otis's pamphlet," Jeft'erson quietly re-
marked that perhaps these statements
might "all be true: of that I am not
to be the judge. . . . Whether I had
gathered my ideas from reading or re-
flection, I do not know. I only know that
I turned to neither book nor pamphlet
while writing it. I did not consider it
as any part of my charge to invent new
ideas altogether and to offer no senti-
ment which had ever been expressed be-
fore."
Before passing from this phase of the
subject, however, it should be added that,
while the Declaration of Independence
lacks originality in the sense just indi-
cated, in another and perhaps in a higher
sense, it possesses originality — it is in-
dividualized by the character and by the
genius of its author. Jefferson gathered
up the thoughts and emotions and even
the characteristic phrases of the people
for whom he wrote, and these he per-
fectly incorporated with what was al-
ready in his mind, and then to the music
of his own keen, rich, passionate, and en-
kindling style, he mustered them into that
stately triumphant procession wherein, as
some of us still think, they will go march-
ing on to the world's end.
There were then in Congress several
other men who could have written the
Declaration of Independence, and written
it well — notably Franklin, either of the
two Adamses, Richard Henry Lee, William
45
Livingston, and, best of all, but for his
own opposition to the measure, John
Dickinson; but had any one of these other
men written the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, while it would have contained, doubt-
less, nearly the same topics and nearly
the same great formulas of political state-
ment, it would yet have been a wholly dif-
ferent composition from this of Jeffer-
son's. No one at all familiar with his
other writings, as well as with the writ-
ings of his chief contemporaries, could
ever have a moment's doubt, even if the
fact were not already notorious, that this
document was by Jefferson. He put into
it something that was his own, and that
no one else could have put there. He put
himself into it — his own genius, his own
moral force, his faith in God, his faith in
ideas, his love of innovation, his passion
for progress, his invincible enthusiasm,
his intolerance of prescription, of injus-
tice, of cruelty; his sympathy, his clarity
of vision, his affluence of diction, his
power to fling out great phrases which
will long fire and cheer the souls of men
struggling against political unrighteous-
ness.
And herein lies its essential original-
ity, perhaps the most precious, and, in-
deed, almost the only, originality ever
attaching to any great literary product
that is representative of its time. He
made for himself no improper claim,
therefore, when he directed that upon the
granite obelisk at his grave should be
carved the words : " Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declara-
tion of Independence."
If the Declaration of Independence is
now to be fairly judged by us, it must
be judged with reference to what it was
intended to be — namely, an impassioned
manifesto of one party, and that the
weaker party, in a violent race-quarrel ;
of a party resolved, at last, upon the
extremity of revolution, and already
menaced by the inconceivable disaster of
being defeated in the very act of armed
rebellion against the mightiest military
power on earth. This manifesto, then, is
not to be censured because, being avow-
edly a statement of its own side of the
quarrel, it does not also contain a mod-
erate and judicial statement of the op-
posite side; or because, being necessarily
DECLABATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
partisan in method, it is likewise both fact, when he should make his first at-
partisan and vehement in tone; or be- tempt to gain all power over his people,
cause it bristles with accusations against by assuming the single power to take
the enemy so fierce and so unqualified their property without their consent,
as now to seem in some respects over- Hence it was, as Edmund Burke pointed
drawn; or because it resounds with cer- out in the House of Commons only a
tain great aphorisms about the natural few weeks before the American Revolution
rights of man, at which, indeed, political entered upon its military phase, that:
science cannot now smile, except to its " The great contests for freedom • . .
own discomfiture and shame — aphorisms were from the earliest times chiefly upon
which are likely to abide in this world as the question of taxing. Most of the con-
the chief source and inspiration of heroic tests in the ancient commonwealths turned
enterprises among men for self-deliver- primarily on the right of election of mag-
auce from oppression. istrates, or on the balance among the sev-
Taking into account, therefore, as we eral orders of the state. The question
are bound to do, the circumstances of its of money was not with them so immediate,
origin, and especially its purpose as a But in England it , was otherwise. On
solemn and piercing appeal to mankind on this point of taxes the ablest pens and
behalf of a small and weak nation against most eloquent tongues have been ex-
the alleged injustice and cruelty of a ercised, the greatest spirits have acted
great and powerful one, it still remains and suffered. . . . They took infinite pains
our duty to inquire whether, as has been to inculcate, as a fundamental principle,
asserted in our time, history must set that in all monarchies the people must in
aside either of the two central charges efl'ect, themselves, mediately or immediate-
embodied in the Declaration of Inde- ly, possess the power of granting their own
pendence. money, or no shadow of liberty could sub-
The first of these charges aflSrms that sist. The colonies draw from you, as
the several acts complained of by the with their life-blood, these ideas and prin-
colonists evinced "a design to reduce ciples. Their love of liberty, as with you,
them under absolute despotism," and had fixed and attached on this specific point
as their " direct object the establishment of taxing. Liberty might be safe or might
of an absolute tyranny " over the Ameri- be endangered in twenty other particulars
can people. Was this, indeed, a ground- without their being much pleased or
less charge, in the sense intended by alarmed. Here they felt its pulse, and as
the words " despotism " and " tyranny " they found that beat, they thought them
— that is, in the sense commonly given selves sick or sound."
to those words in the usage of the Eng- Accordingly, the meaning which the
lish - speaking race? According to that English race on both sides of the Atlantic
usage, it was not an Oriental despotism were accustomed to attach to the words
that was meant, nor a Greek tyranny, nor " tyranny " and " despotism," was a mean-
a Roman, nor a Spanish. The sort of ing to some degree ideal ; it was a meaning
despot, the sort of tyrant, whom the dra^vn from the extraordinary political
English people, ever since the time of sagacity with which that race is- endow-
King John, and especially during the ed, from their extraordinary sensitive-
period of the Stuarts, had been accus- ness as to the use of the taxing-power
tomed to look for and to guard against, in government, from their instinctive per-
was the sort of tyrant or despot that could ception of the commanding place of the
be evolved out of the conditions of Eng- taxing-power among all the other forms
lish political life. Furthermore, he was of power in the state, from their perfect
not by them expected to appear among assurance that he who holds the purse
them at the outset in the fully developed with the power to fill it and to empty it,
shape of a Philip or an Alva in the holds the key of the situation — can main-
Netherlands. They were able to recog- tain an army of his own, can rule without
nize him, they were prepared to resist consulting Parliament, can silence criti-
him, in the earliest and most incipient cism, can crush opposition, can strip hia
stage of his being — at the moment, in subjects of every vestige of political life;
46
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
in other words, he can make slaves of
them, he can make a despot and a tyrant
of himself. Therefore, the system which
in the end might develop into results so
palpably tyrannic and despotic, they
bluntly called a tyranny and a despotism
in the beginning. To say, therefore, that
the Declaration of Independence did the
same, is to say that it spoke good Eng-
lish. Of course, history will be ready to
set aside the charge thus made in language
not at all liable to be misunderstood, just
so soon as history is ready to set aside the
common opinion that the several acts of
the British government, from 1764 to
1776, for laying and enforcing taxation in
America, did evince a somewhat particu-
lar and systematic design to take away
some portion of the property of the Amer-
ican people without their consent.
The second of the two great charges
contained in the Declaration of Indepen-
dence, while intimating that some share
in the blame is due to the British Par-
liament and to the British people, yet
fastens npon the King himself as the one
person chiefly responsible for the scheme
of American tyranny therein set forth,
and culminates in the frank description
of him as " a prince whose character is
thus marked by every act which may de-
fine a tyrant." Is this accusation of
George III. now to be set aside as unhis-
toric? Was that King, or was he not,
chiefly responsible for the American policy
of the British government between the
years 1764 and 1776? If he was so, then
the historic soundness of the most im-
portant portion of the Declaration of In-
dependence is vindicated.
Fortunately, this question can be an-
swered without hesitation, and in a few
words ; and for these few words, an
American writer of to-day, conscious of
his own basis of nationality, will rightly
prefer to cite such words as have been
uttered npon the subject by the ablest
English historians of our time. Upon
their statements alone it must be con-
cluded that George III. ascended his
throne with the fixed purpose of resum-
ing to the crown many of those powers
which, by the constitution of England, did
not then belong to it, and that in this
purpose, at least during the first twenty-
fire years of his reign, he substantial-
47
ly succeeded — himself determining what
should be the policy of each administra-
tion, what opinions his ministers should
advocate in Parliament, and what meas-
ures Parliament itself should adopt. Says
Sir Erskine May:
" The King desired to undertake per-
sonally the chief administration of public
affairs, to direct the policy of his minis-
ters, and himself to distribute the patron-
age of the crown. He was ambitious not
only to reign, but to govern." " Strong
as were the ministers, the King was re-
solved to wrest all power from their
hands, and to exercise it himself." " But
what was this in effect but to assert that
the King should be his own minister? . . .
The King's tactics were fraught with dan-
ger, as well to the crown itself as to the
constitutional liberties of the people."
Already, prior to the year 1778, accord-
ing to Lecky, the King had " laboriously
built up " in England a " system of per-
sonal government"; and it was because
he was unwilling to have this system dis-
turbed that he then refused, " in defiance
of the most earnest representations of his
own minister and of the most eminent
politicians of every party ... to send
for the greatest of living statesmen at the
moment when the empire appeared to be
in the very agonies of dissolution. . . .
Either Chatham or Rockingham would
have insisted that the policy of the coun-
try should be directed by its responsible
ministers and not dictated by an irrespon-
sible sovereign."
This refusal of the King to pursue the
course which was called for by the con-
stitution, and which would have taken the
control of the policy of the government
out of his hands, was, according to the
same great historian, an act " the most
criminal in the whole reign of George III.
. . . as criminal as any of those acts
which led Charles I. to the scaffold."
Even so early as the year 1768, accord-
ing to John Richard Green, " George
III. had at last reached his aim. . . .
In the early days of the ministry "
(which began in that year) "his in-
fluence was felt to be predominant. In
its later and more disastrous days it was
supreme ; for Lord North, who became the
head of the ministry on Grafton's retire-
ment in 1770, was the mere mouthpiece
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, CRITICISMS ON THE
of the King. ' Not only did he direct the
minister,' a careful observer tells us, ' in
all important matters of foreign and do-
mestic policy, but he instructed him as
to the management of debates in Parlia-
ment, suggested what motions should be
made or opposed, and how measures should
be carried. He reserved for himself all
the patronage, he arranged the whole cast
of the administration, settled the relative
place and pretensions of ministers of
state, law officers, and members of the
household, nominated and promoted the
English and Scotch judges, appointed and
translated bishops and deans, and dis-
pensed other preferments in the Church.
He disposed of military governments,
regiments, and commissions, and himself
ordered the marching of troops. He gave
and refused titles, honors, and pensions.'
All this immense patronage was steadily
used for the creation of a party in both
Houses of Parliament attached to the King
himself. . . . George was, in fact, sole
minister during the fifteen years which fol-
lowed; and the shame of the darkest hour
of English history lies wholly at his
door."
Surely, until these tremendous verdicts
of English history shall be set aside, there
need be no anxiety in any quarter, as to
the historic soundness of the two great
accusations which together make up the
principal portion of the Declaration of
Independence. In the presence of these
verdicts also, even the passion, the in-
tensity of language, in which those ac-
cusations are uttered, seem to find a per-
fect justification. Indeed, in the light of
the most recent and most unprejudiced
expert testimony, the whole document,
both in its substance and in its form,
seems to have been the logical response of
a nation of brave men to the great words
of the greatest of English statesmen, as
spoken in the House of Commons precise-
ly ten years before:
" This kingdom has no right to lay a
tax on the colonies. Sir, I rejoice that
America has resisted. Three millions of
people, so dead to all the feelings of lib-
erty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves,
would have been fit instruments to make
slaves of the rest."
Thus, ever since its first announcement
to the world, and down almost to the
present moment, has the Declaration of
Independence been tested by criticism of
every possible kind— by criticism intended
and expected to be destructive. Apparent-
ly, however, all this criticism has failed
to accomplish its object.
It is proper for us to remember, also,
that Avhat we call criticism is not the
only valid test of the genuineness and
worth of any piece of writing of great
practical interest to mankind : there is,
in addition, the test of actual use and ser-
vice, in direct contact with the common
sense and the moral sense of large masses
of men, under various conditions, and for
a long period. Probably no writing which
is not essentially sound and true has ever
survived this test.
Neither from this test has the great
Declaration any need to shrink. As to
the immediate use for which it was sent
forth — that of rallying and uniting the
friends of the Revolution, and bracing
them for their great task — its effective-
ness was so great and so obvious that it
has never been denied. During the
century and a quarter since the Revolu-
tion, its influence on the political char-
acter and the political conduct of the
American people has been great beyond
calculation. For example, after we had
achieved our own national deliverance,
and had advanced into that enormovis and
somewhat corrupting material prosperity
which followed the adoption of the Con-
stitution and the development of the cot-
ton interest and the expansion of the re-
public into a' transcontinental power, we
fell under an appalling temptation — the
temptation to forget, or to repudiate, or
to refuse to apply to the case of our
human brethren in bondage, the principles
which we had once proclaimed as the
basis of every rightful government. The
prodigious service rendered to us in this
awful moral emergency by the Declara-
tion of Independence was, that its public
repetition, at least once every year, in the
hearing of vast throngs of the American
people in every portion of the republic,
kept constantly before our minds, in a
form of almost religious sanctity, those
few great ideas as to the dignity of
human nature, and the sacredness of per-
sonality, and the indestructible rights of
man as mere man, with which we had so
48
INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, IN THE CENTENNIAL YEAR.
DECLAKATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
gloriously identified the beginnings of our up in the nursery of every king, and
national existence. It did at last become blazoned on the porch of every royal pal-
very hard for us to listen each year to the ace," it is because it has become the
preamble of the Declaration and still to classic statement of political truths which
remain the owners and users and must at last abolish kings altogether, or
catchers of slaves; still harder, to accept else teach them to identify their existence
the doctrine that the righteousness and with the dignity and happiness of human
prosperity of slavery was to be accepted nature.
as the dominant policy of the nation. The Declaration of Independence, Dutch.
logic of Calhoun was as flawless as usual. The following is the text of the declara-
vvhen he concluded that the chief ob- tion of the States General of the United
struction in the way of his system was Provinces, setting forth that Philip II.
the preamble of the Declaration of In- had forfeited his right of sovereignty over
dependence. Had it not been for the in- the said provinces, promulgated at The
violable sacredness given by it to those Hague, July 26, 1581:
sweeping aphorisms about the natural TJie States General of the United Prov-
rights of man, it may be doubted whether
Calhoun might not have won over an im-
mense majority of the American people
to the support of his compact and plaus-
inces of the Loiv Countries, to all whom
it may concern, do by these Presents
send greeting:
As 'tis apparent to all that a prince is
ible scheme for making slavery the basis constituted by God to be ruler of a people,
of the republic. It was the preamble of to defend them from oppression and vio-
the Declaration of Independence which lence as the shepherd his sheep; and
elected Lincoln, which sent forth the whereas God did not create the people
Emancipation Proclamation, which gave slaves to their prince, to obey his com-
victory to Grant, which ratified the Thir- mands, whether right or wrong, but
teenth Amendment. rather the prince for the sake of the sub-
We shall not here attempt to delineate jects (without which he could be no
the influence of this state paper upon prince), to govern them according to
mankind in general. Of course, the equity, to love and support them as a
emergence of the American Republic as an father his children or a shepherd his flock,
imposing world-power is a phenomenon and even at the hazard of life to defend
which has now for many years attracted and preserve them. And when he does not
the attention of the human race. Surely, behave thus, but, on the contrary, op-
no slight efi"ect must have resulted from presses them, seeking opportunities to
the fact that, among all civilized peoples, infringe their ancient customs and privi-
the ■one American document best known leges, exacting from them slavish compli-
is the Declaration of Independence and ance, then he is no longer a prince, but a
that thus the spectacle of so vast and tyrant, and the subjects are to consider
beneficent a political success has been him in no other view. And particularly
everywhere associated with the assertion when this is done deliberately, unauthor-
of the natural rights of man. " The doc- ized by the States, they may not only
trines it contained," says Buckle, " were disallow his authority, but legally pro-
not merely welcomed by a majority of the ceed to the choice of another prince for '
French nation, but even the government their defence. This is the only method
itself was unable to withstand the gen- left for subjects whose humble petitions
eral feeling." " Its eff'ect in hastening and remonstrances could never soften their
the approach of the French Revolu- prince or dissuade him from his tyran-
tion . . . was indeed most remark- nical proceedings; and this is what the
able." Elsewhere, also, in many lands, law of na,ture dictates for the defence of
among many peoples, it has been cited liberty, which we ought to transmit to
again and again as an inspiration to po- posterity, even at the hazard of our lives,
litical courage, as a model for political And this we have seen done frequently in
conduct; and if, as the brilliant historian several countries upon the like occasion,
just alluded to has affirmed, " that noble whereof there are notorious instances, and
Declaration . . . ought to be hung more justifiable in our land, which has
m. — D. 40
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
teen always governed according to their
ancient privileges, wliich are expressed in
the oath taken by the prince at his ad-
mission to the government; for most of
the provinces receive their prince upon
certain conditions, Avliich he swears to
maintain, which, if the prince violates, he
is no longer sovereign. Now thus it was
with the King of Spain after the demise
of the Emperor, his father, Charles the
Fifth, of glorious memory (of whom he
received all these provinces), forgetting
the services done by the subjects of these
countries, both to his father and himself,
by whose valor he got so glorious and
memorable victories over his enemies that
his name and power became famous and
dreaded over all the world, forgetting also
the advice of his said imperial majesty,
made to him before to the contrary, did
rather hearken to the counsel of those
Spaniards about him, who had conceived a
secret hatred to this land and to its lib-
erty, because they could not enjoy posts of
honor and high employments here under
the States as in Naples, Sicily, Milan, and
the Indies, and other countries under the
King's dominion. Thus allured by the
riches of the said provinces, wherewith
many of them were well acquainted, the
said counsellors, I say, or the principal of
them, frequently remonstrated to the King
that it was more for his majesty's reputa-
tion and grandeur to subdue the Low Coun-
tries a second time, and to make himself
absolute (by which they mean to tyran-
nize at pleasure), than to govern accord-
ing to the restrictions he had accepted,
and at his admission sworn to observe.
From that time forward the King of
Spain, following these evil counsellors,
sought by all means possible to re-
duce this country (stripping them of their
ancient privileges) to slavery, under
the government of Spaniards having first,
under the mask of religion, endeavored to
settle new bishops in the largest and
principal cities, endowing and incorporat-
ing them with the richest abbeys, assign-
ing to each bishop nine canons to assist
him as counsellors, three whereof should
superintend the inquisition. By this in-
corporation the said bishops (who might
be strangers as well as natives) would
have had the first place and vote in the
assembly of the States, and always the
50
.prince's creatures at devotion ; and by
the addition of the said canons he would
have introduced the Spanish inquisition,
which has been always as dreadful and
detested in these provinces as the worst
of slavery, as is well known, in so much
that his imperial majesty, having once
before proposed it to these States, and
upon whose remonstrances did desist, and
entirely gave it up, hereby giving proof of
the great affection he had for his sub-
jects. But, notwithstanding the many
remonstrances made to the King both by
the provinces and particular towns, in
writing as well as by some principal lords
by word of mouth; and, namely, by the
Baron of Montigny and Earl of Egmont,
who with the approbation .of the Duchess
of Parma, then governess of the Low
Countries, by the advice of the council of
State were sent several times to Spain
upon this affair. And, although the King
had by fair words given them grounds to
hope that their request should be com-
plied with, yet by his letters he ordered
the contrary, soon after expressly com-
manding, upon pain of his displeasure, to
admit the new bishops immediately, and
put them in possession of their bishop-
rics and incorporated abbeys, to hold
the court of the inquisition in the places
where it had been before, to obey and
follow the decrees and ordinances of the
Council of Trent, which in many articles
are destructive of the privileges of the
country. This being come to the knowl-
edge of the people gave just occasion to
great uneasiness and clamor among them,
and lessened that good affection they had
always borne toward the King and his
predecessors. And, especially, seeing that
he did not only seek to tyrannize over
their persons and estates, but also over
their consciences, for which they be-
lieved themselves accountable to God only.
Upon this occasion the chief of the nobil-
ity in compassion to the poor people, in
the year 1566, exhibited a certain re-
monstrance in form of a petition, humbly
praying, in order to appease them and
prevent public disturbances, that it would
please his majesty (by shewing that
clemency due from a good prince to his
people) to soften the said points, and
especially with regard to the rigorous
inquisition, and eanital punishments tor,
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
matters of religion. And to inform the as one of its greatest enemies, accom-
King of this affair in a more solemn man- panied with counsellors too like himself,
ner, and to represent to him how neces- And, although he came in without the
sary it was for the peace and prosperity least opposition, and was received by the
of the public to remove the aforesaid in- poor subjects with all marks of honor
novations, and moderate the severity of and respects, as expecting no less from
his declarations published concerning di- him than tenderness and clemency, which
vine worship, the Marquis de Berghen, the King had often hypocritically promised
and the aforesaid Baron of Montigny had in his letters, and that himself intended
been sent, at the request of the said to come in person to give orders to their
lady regent, council of state, and of the general satisfaction, having since the de-
States General as ambassadors to Spain, parture of the Duke of Alva equipped a
where the King, instead of giving them fleet to carry him from Spain, and an-
audience, and redress the grievances they other in Zealand to come to meet him at
had complained of (which for want of a the great expense of the country, the bet-
timely remedy did always appear in their tei to deceive his subjects, and allure
evil consequences among the common them into the toils, nevertheless the said
people), did, by the advice of Spanish duke, immediately after his arrival
council, declare all those who were con- (though a stranger, and no way related
ce.rned in preparing the said remonstrance to the royal family), declared that he had
to be rebels, and guilty of high treason, a captain-general's commission, and soon
and to be punished with death, and con- after that of governor of these provinces,
fifecation of their estates ; and, what's contrary to all its ancient customs and
more (thinking himself well assured of privileges; and, the more to manifest his
reducing these countries under absolute designs, he immediately garrisons the
tyranny by the army of the Duke of principal towns and castles, and caused
Alva), did soon after imprison and put fortresses and citadels to be built in the
to death the said lords the ambassadors, great cities to awe them into subjection,
and confiscated their estates, contrary to and very courteously sent for the chief
the law of nations, which has been always nobility in the King's name, under pre-
religiously observed even among the most tence of taking their advice, and to em-
tyrannic and barbarous princes. And, al- ploy them in the service of their country,
though the said disturbances, which And those who believed his letters were
in the year 1566 happened on the seized and carried out of Brabant, con-
fcre-mentioned occasion, were now ap- trary to law, where thoy were imprisoned
peased by the governess and her and prosecuted as criminals before him
ministers, and many friends to lib- who had no right, nor could be a com-
erty were either banished or sub- petent judge; and at last he, without
dued, in so much that the King had not hearing their defence at large, sentenced
any shew of reason to use arms and vio- them to death, which was publicly and
lences, and further oppress this country, ignominiously executed. The others, bet-
yet for these causes and reasons, long ter acquainted with Spanish hypocrisy, re-
time before sought by the council of siding in foreign countries, were declared
Spain (as appears by intercepted letters outlawries, and had their estates confis-
from the Spanish ambassador, Alana, then cated, so that the poor subjects could
in France, writ to the Duchess of Parma), make no use of their fortresses nor be as-
to annul all the privileges of this conn- sisted by their princes in defence of their
try, and govern it tyrannically at pleasure liberty against the violence of the pope;
as in the Indies; and in their new con- besides a great number of other gentle-
quests he has, at the instigation of the men and substantial citizens, some of
council of Spain (shewing the little re- whom were executed, and others banished
gard he had for his people, so contrary to that their estates might be confiscated,
the duty which a good prince owes to his plaguing the other honest inhabitants, not
subjects), sent the Duke of Alva with a only by the injuries done to their wives,
powerful army to oppress this land, who children, and estates by the Spanish sol-
for his inhumane cruelties is looked upon diers lodged in their houses, as likewise
51
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
by diverse contributions, which they were
forced to pay toward building citadels and
new fortifications of towns even to their
own ruin, besides the taxes of the hun-
dredth, twentieth and ten the penny, to
pay both the foreign and those raised in
the country, to be employed against their
fellow-citizens and against those who at
the hazard of their lives defended their
liberties. In order to impoverish the sub-
jects, and to incapacitate them to hinder
his design, and that he might with more
ease execute the instructions received in
Spain, to treat these countries as new
conquests, he began to alter the course of
justice after the Spanish mode, directly
contrary to our privileges; and, imagin-
ing at last he had nothing more to fear,
he endeavored by main force to settle a
tax called the tenth penny on merchandise
and manufactury, to the total ruin of
these countries, the prosperity of which
depends upon a flourishing trade, notwith-
standing frequent remonstrances, not by
a single province only, but by all of them
imited, which he had effected, had it not
been for the Prince of Orange with diverse
gentlemen and other inhabitants, who had
followed this prince in his exile, most
of whom were in his pay, and banished by
the Duke of Alva with others who
espoused the liberty of their country.
Soon after the provinces of Holland and
Zealand for the most part revolted, put-
ting themselves under the protection of
the Prince of Orange, against which
provinces the said duke during his gov-
ernment, and the great commander (whom
the King sent ■ to these countries, not to
heal the evil, but to pursue the same tyran-
nical courses by more secret and cautious
methods) who succeeded him, forced the
provinces, who by garrisons and citadels
were already reduced under the Spanish
yoke, both with their lives and fortunes
to conquer them, shewing no more mercy
to those they employ to assist them than
if they had been enemies, permitting the
Spaniards, under pretence of mutiny, to
enter the city of Antwerp forcibly, in the
sight of the great commander, and to live
there at discretion for the space of six
weeks at the expense of the inhabitants,
and obliging them (to be free from
Spanish violence) to furnish the sum of
four hundred thousand florins for the
payment of the troops. After which
the said troops, made more insolent
by the connivance of their command-
ers, proceeded to open violence, endeavor-
ing first to surprise the city of Brus-
sels, the prince's usual residence, to
be the magazine of their plunder; but,
not succeeding in that, they took by force
the town of Alost, and after that surprised
and forced Maestricht, and soon after the
said city of Antwerp, which they plundered
and biynt, and massacred the inhabitants
in a most barbarous manner, to the irrep-
arable loss not only of the citizens, but to
all nations who had any effects there. And
notwithstanding the said Spaniards had
been, by the covmcil of state (upon which
the King, after the decease of the great
commander, had conferred the government
of the country) in the presence of Jeron-
imo de Rhoda, declared enemies to the
States, by reason of their outrageous vio-
lences, nevertheless the said Rhoda, upon
his own authority (or as it is imagined)
by virtue of certain private instructions
which he might possibly have received
from Spain, undertook to head the
Spaniards and their accomplices, and to
use the King's name (in defiance of the
said council) and authority, to counterfeit
the great seal, and act openly as governor
and lieutenant - general, which gave oc-
casion to the States at the same time to
agree with the aforesaid Prince of Orange,
in conjunction with the provinces of Hol-
land and Zealand, which agreement was
approved by the said council of state (as
the only legal governors of the country),
to declare war unanimously against the
Spaniards as their common enemy, to
drive them out of the country; at the
same time, like good subjects, making use
of all proper applications, humbly peti-
tioning the King to have compassion on ac-
count of the calamities already suffered,
and of the greater expected hourly, unless
his majesty would withdraw his troops,
and exemplarily punish the authors of the
plundering and burning of our principal
cities as some small satisfaction to the
distressed inhabitants, and to deter others
from committing the like violences.
Nevertheless, the King would have us be-
lieve that all this was transacted without
his knowledge, and .that he intended tc
punish the authors, and that for the future
52
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
we might expect all tenderness and clem- terest in order, by their assistance, to
ency, and as a gracious prince would give force those who would not join with him
all necessary orders to procure the public in making war against the Prince of
peace. And yet he not only neglected to Orange, and the provinces of Holland and
do us justice in punishing the oll'enders; Zealand, more cruel and bloody than any
that, on the contrary, it is plain all was war before. But, as no disguises can long
done by orders concerted in the council conceal our intentions, this project was
of Spain; for soon after the letters were discovered before it could be executed;
intercepted directed to Rhoda and other and he, unable to perform his promises,
captains, who were the authors of all our and instead of that peace so much boasted
miseries, under the King's own hand, in of at his arrival a new war kindled, not
which he not only approves of their pro- yet extinguished. All these considera-
ceedings, but even praises and promises tions give us more than sufficient reason
them rewards, and particularly to the said to renounce the King of Spain, and seek
Rhoda as having done him singular ser- some other powerful and more gracious
vices, which he performed to him and to prince to take us under his protection ;
all the rest who were ministers of his and, more especially, as these countries
tyranny, upon his return to Spain. And, have been for these twenty years aban-
the more to blind his subjects, he sent doned to disturbance and oppression by
at the same time Don John, his natural their King, during which time the in-
brother, as of his blood, to govern habitants were not treated as subjects,
these countries, who under pretence but enemies, enslaved forcibly by their
of approving the treaty of Ghent con- own governors.
firming the promise made to the Having also, after the decease of Don
States of driving out the Spaniards, John, sufficiently declared by the Baron
of punishing the authors of the dis- de Selles that he would not allow the
turbances, of settling the public peace, and pacification of Ghent, the which Don John
of re-establishing their ancient liberties, had in his majesty's name sworn to main-
endeavored to divide the said estates in tain, but daily proposing new terme of
order to enslave one after another, which agreement less advantageous. Notwith-
was soon after discovered by the provi- standing these discouragements we used
dence of God, who is an enemy to all all possible means, by petitions in writing
tyranny, by certain intercepted letters, from and the good offices of the greatest princes
which it appeared that he was charged by in Christendom, to be reconciled to our
the King to follow the instructions of King, having lastly maintained for a long
Rhoda; and, the better to conceal this time our deputies at the Congress of
fraud, they were forbidden to see one an- Cologne, hoping that the intercession of
other, but that he should converse friendly his imperial majesty and of the electors
with the principal lord of the country, would procure an honorable and lasting
that, gaining them over to his party, he peace, and some degree of liberty, particu-
might by their assistance reduce Holland larly relating to religion (which chiefly
and Zealand, after which the other prov- concerns God and our own consciences),
inces would be easily subdued. Whereupon at last we found by experience that noth-
Don John, notwithstanding his solemn ing would be obtained of the King by
promise and oath, in the presence of all prayers and treaties, which latter he
the aforesaid States, to observe the pacifi- made use of to divide and weaken the
cation of Ghent, and other articles stipu- provinces, that he might the easier exe-
lated between him and the States of all cute his plan rigorously, by subduing
the provinces, on the contrary sought, by them one by one, which afterwards plain-
all possible promises made to the colonels ly appeared by certain proclamations and
already at his devotion, to gain the Ger- proscriptions published by the King's
man troops, who were then garrisoned in orders, by virtue of which we and all offi-
the principal fortresses and the cities, cers and inhabitants of the United Prov-
that by their assistance he might master inces with all our friends are declared
them, as he had gained many of them al- rebels, and as such, to have forfeited our
ready, and held them attached to his in- lives and estates. Thus, by rendering us
53
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, DUTCH
odious to all, he might interrupt our
commerce, likewise reducing us to despair,
offering a great sum to any that would
assassinate the Prince of Orange. So,
having no hope of reconciliation, and find-
ing no other remedy, we have, agreeable
to the law of nature in our own defence,
and for maintaining the rights, privi-
leges, and liberties of our countrymen,
wives, and children, and latest posterity
from being enslaved by the Spaniards,
been constrained to renounce allegiance
to the King of Spain, and pursue such
methods as appear to us most likely
to secure our ancient liberties and privi-
leges. Know all men by these pres-
ents that, being reduced to the last ex-
tremity, as above mentioned, we have
unanimously and deliberately declared,
and do by these presents declare, that the
King of Spain has forfeited, ipso jure, all
hereditary rights to the sovereignty of
those countries, and are determined from
henceforward not to acknowledge his
sovereignty or jurisdiction, nor any act
of his relating to the domains of the Low
Countries, nor make use of his name as
prince, nor suffer others to do it. In con-
sequence whereof we also declare all offi-
cers, judges, lords, gentlemen, vassals, and
all other the inhabitants of this country
of what condition or quality soever, to
be henceforth discharged from all oaths
and obligations whatsoever made to the
King of Spain as sovereign of those
countries. And whereas, upon the motives
already mentioned, the greater part of
the United Provinces have, by common
consent of their members, submitted to
the government and sovereignty of the il-
lustrious Prince and Duke of Anjou. upon
certain conditions stipulated with his
highness, and whereas the most serene
Archduke Matthias has resigned the gov-
ernment of these countries with our ap-
probation, we command and order all
justiciaries, officers, and all whom it may
concern, not to make use of the name,
titles, great or privy seal of the King of
Spain from henceforward; but in lieu of
them, as long as his highness the Duke
of Anjou is absent upon urgent affairs re-
lating to the welfare of these countries,
having so agreed with his highness or
otherwise, they shall provisionally use
the name anJ title of the president and
council of the province. And, until such
a president and counsellors shall be nomi-
nated, assembled, and act in that capac-
ity, they shall act in our name, except
that in Holland and Zealand where they
shall use the name of the Prince of
Orange, and of the States of the said
provinces till the aforesaid council shall
legally sit, and then shall conform to the
directions of that council agreeable to the
contract made with his highness. And,
instead of the King's seal aforesaid, they
shall make use of our great seal, contre-
seal, and signet, in affairs relating to the
public, according as the said council shall
from time to time be authorized. And in
affairs concerning the administration of
justice, and transactions peculiar to each
province, the provincial council and other
councils of that country shall use respec-
tively the name, title, and seal of the said
province, where the case is to be tried,
and no other, on pain of having all let-
ters, documents, and despatches annulled.
And, for the better and effectual perform-
ance hereof, we have ordered and com-
manded, and do hereby order and com-
mand, that all the seals of the King of
Spain which are in these United Prov-
inces shall immediately, upon the publi-
cation of these presents, be delivered to
the estate of each province respectively,
or to such persons as by the said estates
shall be authorized and appointed, upon
peril of discretionary punishment.
Moreover, we order and command that
from henceforth no money coined shall be
stamped with the name, title, or arms of
the King of Spain in any of these United
Provinces, but that all new gold and silver
pieces, with their halves and quarters,
shall only bear such impressions as the
States shall direct. We order likewise and
command the president and other lords of
the privy council, and all other chancel-
lors, presidents, and lords of the provin-
cial council, and all presidents, account-
ant-general, and to others in all the
chambers of accounts respectively in these
said countries, and likewnse to all other
judges and officers, as we hold them dis-
charged from henceforth of their oath
made to the King of Spain, pursuant to
the tenor of their commission, that they
shall take a new oath to the States of
that country on whose jurisdiction they
54
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
depend, or to commissaries appointed by comprised a number of resolutions
them, to be true to us against the King adopted at a meeting of the citizens of
of Spain and all his adherents, according Mecklenburg covmty, N. C, in May, 1775,
to the formula of words prepared by the thus antedating by more than a year that
States General for that purpose. And which is now universally recognized as
we shall give to the said counsellors, the American Declaration of Indepen-
justiciaries, and officers employed in these dence. The Mecklenburg Declaration has
provinces, who have contracted in our been a subject of historical controversy
name with his highness the Serenisme, from the time that it was first made pub-
Duke of Anjou, an act to continue them lie, and this controversy has given birth
in their respective offices, instead of new to a literature which sharply questions
commissions, a clause annulling the for- the authenticity of the declaration. The
mer provisionally till the arrival of his circumstances alleged under which this
highness. Moreover to all such counsel- declaration was made known are, in brief,
lors, accomptants, justiciaries, and officers as follows: In the spring of 1775, Col.
in these provinces, who have not contract- Adam Alexander called upon the people of
ed with his highness aforesaid, we shall Mecklenburg county to appoint delegates
grant new commissions under our hands to a convention to devise ways and means
and seals, unless any of the said officers to assist their brethren in Boston. The
are accused and convicted of having acted delegates met in Charlotte on May 19, al-
under their former commissions against most immediately after the receipt of
the liberties and privileges of this coun- news of the battle of Lexington. Colonel
try or of other the like maladministra- Alexander was elected chairman, and John
tion. We further command the president McKnitt Alexander clerk of the conven-
and members of the privy council, chan- tion. After a free and full discussion of
cellor of the Duchy of Brabant, also the the various objects for which the conven-
chancellor of the Duchy of Gueldres, and tion had been called, it was unanimously
county of Zutphen, to the president and ordained:
members of the council of Holland, to the
receivers of great officers of Beooster- 1. Resolved, that whosoever directly or
Scheldt and Bewesterscheldt in Zealand, to indirectly abetted, or in any way, form,
the president and council of Frise, and to or manner, countenanced the unchartered
the Escoulet of Mechelen, to the president and dangerous invasions of our rights, as
and members of the council of Utrecht, claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy
and to all other justiciaries and officers to this country, to American, and to the
whom it may concern, to the lieutenants inherent and inalienable rights of man.
all and every of them, to cause this our 2. Resolved, that we, the citizens of
ordinance to be published and proclaimed Mecklenburg county, do hereby dissolve
throughout their respective jurisdictions, the political bands which have connected
in the usual places appointed for that pur- us to the mother - country, and hereby
pose, that none may plead ignorance. And absolve ourselves from allegiance to the
to cause our said ordinance to be observed British crown, and abjure all political
inviolably, punishing the offenders im- connection, contract, or association with
partially and without delay; for so 'tis that nation, who have wantonly trampled
found expedient for the public good. And, on our rights and liberties, and in-
for better maintaining all and every arti- humanly shed the innocent blood of
cle hereof, we give to all and every of American patriots at Lexington,
you, by express command, full power and 3. Resolved, that we do hereby declare
authority. In witness wherof we have ourselves a free and independent people;
hereunto set our hands and seals, dated are, and of right ought to be, a sovereign
in our assembly at the Hague, the six and and self-governing association, under the
twentieth day of July, 1581, indorsed by control of no power other tlian that of
the orders of the States General, and our God and the general qrovernment of
signed J. de Asseliers. the Congress; to the maintenance of
Declaration of Independence, Meck- which independence we solemnly pledge
LENBURG, a document alleged to have to each other our mutual co-operation,
55
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, MECKLENBURG
our lives, our fortunes, and our most the crown of Great Britain never can be
sacred honor. considered as holding rights, privileges,
4. Resolved, that, as we acknowledge immunities, or authority therein,
the existence and control of no law or 5. Resolved, that it is also further de-
legal officer, civil or military, within this creed that all, each, and every military
county, we do hereby ordain and adopt, officer in this county is hereby rein-
as a rule of life, all, each, and every of stated to his former command and au-
our former lawsj wherein, nevertheless, thority, he acting conformably to these
J^ Jf}0m 'SJeM
'ij^e f^l^yn^t
AUTOGRAPHS OP THB MEHBBRS OP THE MECKLENBURG COMMrrTBK.
56
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
regulations, and that every member pres-
ent of this delegation shall henceforth be
a civil officer — viz., a justice of the peace
in the character of a " committee-man," to
issue process, hear and determine all
matter of controversy, according to said
adopted laws, and to preserve peace, and
union, and harmony in said county, and
to use every exertion to spread the love
of country and fire of freedom through-
out America, until a more general and
organized government be established in
this province.
These resolutions were supplemented by
a number of minor provisions to insure
the safety of the citizens, and at 2 a.m.
on May 20, the resolutions were unani-
mously adopted. A few days afterwards
Capt. James Jack, of Charlotte, was ap-
pointed messenger to convey a draft of the
resolutions to the Congress then in session
in Philadelphia, and on the return of
Captain Jack, the Charlotte convention
was informed that their proceedings had
been individually approved by the mem-
bers of Congress, but that it was deemed
premature to lay them before the House.
On April 30, 1818, a copy of the alleged
Declaration of Independence was first
made public in the Ealeigh Register, and
folloAving the text was a certificate
signed " James McKnitt," tending to show
that the text was a true copy of the papers
left in his hands by John Matthew Alex-
o,nder, deceased ; and that the original
book was burned in April, 1800. When
the Raleigh Register published this state-
ment there was a general demand for the
proof concerning such an important event,
that had been allowed to slumber for
more than forty years. All the questions
involved were investigated by a committee
of the North Carolina legislature in 1831,
and its report so far satisfied the people
of that State that May 20 was made a
State holiday. In 1838, Peter Force, a
well-known scholar, announced the dis-
covery of another set of resolutions, en-
dorsed as having been adopted by the peo-
ple of Mecklenburg county on May 31, or
eleven days after the resolutions above
quoted. The last set of resolutions num-
bered twenty, and made no declaration
of independence. Some parties who de-
fended the resolutions of May 20 claimed
that there should be no question as to the
57
mere day of the month on the ground that
this discrepancy was explainable by the
use of the old style and the new style of
calendars; but they ignored the facts that
the two sets of resolutions were dissimi-
lar, that the latter were comparatively
mild, and that the former contained ex-
pressions almost identical with the ac-
cepted Declaration of Independence of
1776. It is to be further slated that an
attempt was made to reconcile these dis-
crepancies and similarities on the ground
that as the book alleged to have contained
the original text had been destroyed by
fire, some one, years afterwards, had pre-
pared from recollection the draft of the
resolutions which were published in the
Raleigh Register. The fact has been es-
tablished by acceptable evidence that the
document taken to Philadelphia by Cap-
tain Jack contained the twenty resolutions
of May 31, and not the declaration of
May 20. The foregoing are the principal
facts touching this historical controversy;
and while Bancroft accepts the declaration
as an authentic document, equally emi-
nent historians have agreed that it was
not entitled to the standing of a verified
document.
Declaration of Paris. See Cuba: Mo-
Kiriley'S Message.
Declaration of Rights by Virginia.
George Mason drafted for Virginia a
declaration of rights, and on May 27, 1770,
Archibald Carey presented it to the Vir-
ginia convention. On June 12 it was
adopted. It declared that all men are
by nature equally free, and are invested
with inalienable rights — namely, the en-
joyment of life, liberty, property, and the
pursuit of happiness and safety; that all
power is vested in, and consequently de-
rived from, the people ; that government
is, or ought to be, instituted for the com-
mon benefit and security of the people,
nation, or community, and that when gov-
ernment shall fail to perform its required
functions, a majority of the people have
an inalienable right to reform or abolish
it; that, public services not being de-
scendible, the office of magistrate, legis-
lator, or judge ought not to be hereditary;
that the legislative and executive powers
of the state should be distinct from the
judicature, and that the members of the
first two should, at fixed periods, return
DECLARATORY ACT— DEEHriELD
unto the body from which they were and vehemently declared that " taxation
originally taken, and the vacancies be sup- and representation are inseparable." The
plied by frequent elections; that elections declaratory act became a law, but it was
ought to be free; that all men having a distasteful to thinking Americans, for it
permanent interest in and attachment to involved the kernel of royal prerogative,
the country have the right of suffrage, which the colonists rejected. But it was
and cannot be taxed or deprived of their overlooked. Pitt had the honor of the
property for public uses without their own repeal. The London merchants lauded
consent or that of their representatives him as a benefactor, and there was a
freely elected, nor bound by any law to burst of gratitude towards him in Amer-
which they have not, in like manner, as- ica. New York voted a statue to Pitt and
sented; that there ought to be no arbi- the King; Virginia voted a statue to the
trary power for suspending laws, for re- monarch ; Maryland passed a similar vote,
quiring excessive bail, or for granting of and ordered a jiortrait of Lord Camden;
general warrants; that no man ought to and the authorities of Boston ordered full-
be deprived of liberty except by the law length portraits of Barre and Conway,
of the land or the judgment of his peers, friends of the Americans, for Faneuil Hall,
holding sacred the ancient trial by jury; Decoration Day. See Memorial Day.
that the freedom of the press is one of De Costa, Benjamin Feanklin, clergy-
the greatest bulwarks of liberty, and can man; born in Charlestown, Mass., July
never be restrained but by despotic gov- 10, 1831; graduated at the Concord
ernments; that a well-regulated militia. Biblical Institute in 1856; was a chaplain
composed of the body of the people, trained in the National army in 1861-63; and is
to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe the author of Tlie Pre-Columbian Dis-
defence of a free state; that standing covery of America by the Northmen; The
armies in times of peace should be avoided Northmen in Maine, etc.
as dangerous to liberty, and in all cases Deep Bottom, Va. In Grant's Virginia
the military should be under strict subor- campaign in 1864 this place, then held by
dination to the civil power ; that the General Foster, was attacked by a part of
people have a right to uniform govern- Lee's army without success, June 21. A
ment; that no free government can be counter attack by the Nationals was order-
preserved but by a firm adherence to jus- ed July 26 and 27, which was partly suc-
tice, moderation, temperance, frugality, cessful. The Confederates retired to Cha-
and virtue, and by frequent recurrences to pin's Bluff, which they continued to hold,
fundamental principles; and that religion Deerfield, a town on the west bank of
can be directed only by reason and con- the Connecticut River, in Franklin
viction, not by force or violence; there- county, Mass.; notable as having been
fore all men are equally entitled to the twice the victim of a foray by French and
free exercise of. it according to the die- Indians. During King Philip's War a
tates of conscience. The unanimous voice terrible slavighter occurred a mile from the
of the convention approved of this dec- town, Sept. 18 (0. S.), 1675. The Ind-
laration. ians had burned Deerfield and murdered
Declaratory Act, The. Pitt concluded some of the inhabitants. Tlie survivors
his speech in the British House of Com- fled, leaving about 3,000 bushels of wheat
mons against the Stamp Act by a propo- in stacks in the field. Capt. Thomas Lo-
sition for its absolute and immediate re- throp, commanding part of a force at Had-
peal, at the same time recommending an ley, was sent with eighty men to secure
act, to accompany the repeal, declaring, this grain. As they approached Deerfield
in the most unqualified terms, the sov- they fell into an Indian ambush, and the
ereign authority of Great Britain over her captain and seventy-six men were slain,
colonies. This was intended as a salve In 1704, a party of French and Indians,
for the national honor, necessary, as Pitt under Maj. Hertel de Rouville, who had
knew, to secure the repeal of the act. But tiavelied on snow-shoes from Canada, ap-
Lord Camden, who was the principal sup- proaelied Deerfield. The chief object of
porter of the repeal bill in the Upper tlie expedition was to procure a little bell
House, was opposed to the declaratory act, hung over the meeting-house in that vil-
58
DEERHOUND— DELAFIELD
lage. It had been bought in Fiance for
the church in tlie Indian village of
Caughnawaga, 10 miles above Montreal.
The vessel that bore it to America was
captured by a New England privateer and
taken into Boston Harbor. The bell was
sold to the Deerfield congregation. Father
Nicolas, the priest at Caughnawaga, per-
suaded the Indians to accomjiany him,
under De Rouville, to get the bell. When
the invaders approached Deerfield, the
snow lay 4 feet deep in that region, and
was covered by a hard crust that bore the
men. Upon drifts that lay by the pali-
sades they were able to crawl over these
defences in the gloom of night, while the
inhabitants were slumbering. The first
intimation the villagers had of danger was
the bursting in of the doors before the
dawn (March 1, 1704), and the terrible
sound of the war-whoop. The people were
dragged from their beds and murdered,
without regard to age or sex, or carried
into captivity. The village was set on
fire, and every building, excepting the
chapel and one dwelling-house, was laid in
ashes. Forty-seven of the inhabitants
were killed, and 120 were captives on their
way through the wilderness towards
Canada an hour after sunrise. Under the
direction of Father Nicolas, the bell was
carried away, and finally found its des-
tined place in the belfry of the church
at Caughnawaga, where it still hangs.
Among the victims of this foray were
Rev. John Williams {q. v.), pastor of
the church at Deerfield, and his family,
who were carried into captivity, except-
ing two children, who were murdered.
Deerhound, the name of an English
yacht, which, while conveying arms to the
Carlists, was seized by the Spanish gov-
ernment vessel Buenaventura, off Biarritz,
and captain and crew imprisoned, Aug. 13,
1873; and released about Sept. 18. This
yacht rescued Captain Semmes and part
of his crew from the Alahama after her
destruction by the Kearsarge, June 19,
1864.
Defective Classes. In no country on
earth has there been such a general and
liberal provision by national and local
authorities, societies, and individuals for
the education of defective youth as in the
United States. For details of this grand
work, see Blind, Education of the;
Deaf Mutes, Education of the; Feeble-
minded, Education of the; and Reform
Schools.
De Forest, John William, military
oflicer; born in Humphreysville (now
Seymour), Conn., March 31, 1820; entered
the National army as captain at the be-
ginning of the Civil War; served con-
tinuously till January, 18G5; and was ad-
jutant-general of the Veteran Reserve
Corps in 18G5-G8. His publications in-
clude The History of the Indians of Con-
necticut, from the Earliest-known Period
to 1850, etc.
De Grasse, Count. See Grasse-Tilly,
Francois Joseph Paul, Count de.
De Haas, John Philip, military offi-
cer; born in Holland about 1735; was de-
scended from an ancient family in north-
ern France; came to America in 1750;
was an ensign in the French and Indian
War; participated in a sharp conflict
with Indians near Pittsburg; and was
colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment
in 177G. He served in the American
army in Canada, and afterwards at Ticon-
deroga. He led his regiment from Lake
Champlain to New York, and partici-
pated in the battle on Long Island in
August, 1776. In February, 1777, he was
promoted to brigadier-general. General
De Haas was a good disciplinarian, and
served in various capacities during the
entire war with credit to himself and
benefit to his adopted country. The lat-
ter years of his life were passed in Phila-
delphia, where he died June 3, 1786.
De Haven, Edwin J., explorer; born
in Philadelphia in 1819; entered the navy
as midshipman, rose to lieutenant in 1841,
and resigned in 1857. He was with
Wilkes in his great exploring expedition
in 1838-42, and commanded the first ex-
ploring expedition fitted out at New York
to search for Sir John Franklin in the
Arctic seas. The expedition consisted of
the Advance, 140 tons, and the Rescue, 90
tons. Dr. Kane, who accompanied the ex-
pedition, published a full account of it.
After his return Lieutenant De Haven
was employed on coast survey duty and
in the Naval Observatory. He died in
Philadelphia Oct. 2, 1865.
De Kalb, Johann, Baron. See Kalb,
Johann, Baron de.
Delafield, Richard, military engineer;
59
DELAGOA BAY— DE LANCET
born in New York City, Sept. 1, 1798;
graduated at the United States Mili-
tary Academy in 1818, and entered the
corps of engineers; was engaged in build-
ing the defences of Hampton Roads, the
fortifications in the district of the Mis-
sissippi, and those within the vicinity
of Delaware River and Bay in 1819-38;
superintendent of West Point in 1838-45
and in 185G-G1; and became chief of en-
gineers in 18G4. At the close of the Civil
War he was brevetted major-general, U.
S. A., " for faithful, meritorious, and dis-
tinguished services in the engineer depart-
ment during the rebellion," He was re-
tired in 1866. He died in Washington,
D. C, Nov. 5, 1873.
Delagoa Bay, a large bay, the estuary
of several rivers, on the southeast coast
of Africa, situated between lat. 25° 40'
and 26° 20' S. It extends 60 miles from
north to south, and 20 miles from east to
west. It was discovered by the Portu-
guese in 1498, and for nearly 400 years
was in dispute between England and Por-
tugal, the Boers also putting in a claim
to it in 1835. It is the only seaport avail-
able for the Transvaal, but it is not in
that territory. The contention between
England and Portugal was referred to
President Thiers, and settled by President
MacMahon, his successor, in 1875, in
favor of Portugal. By an agreement Eng-
land received the right of pre-emption.
It was understood in the early part of the
war between the British and the Boers
(1899-1900) that Great Britain had
either purchased the bay and its imme-
diate surroundings outright or had nego-
tiated an arrangement with Portugal by
which the bay could not be used for any
purpose hostile to British interest. In
1883 Col. Edward McMurdo, a civil engi-
neer of Kentucky, received from the King
of Portugal an extremely liberal conces-
sion for the construction of a railroad
from Lorenzo Marques to the Transvaal
frontier, a distance of 57 miles. This
concession also included the grant of large
tracts of land along the projected route,
the territory upon which much of the
town of Lorenzo Marques now stands, an
island in Delagoa Bay, and certain com-
mercial privileges along the shore. By
the aid of British capital the road was
completed in November, 1887, to what the
Portuguese engineers certified was the bor-
der of the Transvaal. In 1889 the Portu-
guese government served notice on Colonel
McMurdo that the real frontier was 6
miles further inland, and that if the road
was not built to that point within four
months it would be seized by Portugal.
Before McMurdo's side of the contro-
versy could be heard, Portugal confiscated
the entire property (June, 1889). The
United States, in behalf of the McMurdo
interests, united with England to compel
Portugal to make proper reparation, and
Portugal consented to have the dispute
settled by arbitration. The tribunal was
organized in Berne, Switzerland, in 1890,
but it was not till March 29, 1900, that a
conclusion was reached. The total award
to the claimants was $3,202,800, with in-
terest from 1889, and by a compromise
the Reirs of Colonel McMurdo were award-
ed $500,000 towards the close of 1900.
De Lancey, Edwaed Ployd, historian;
born at Mamaroneck, N. Y., April 3,
1821; graduated at Hobart College in
1843; is a member and officer of many
historical organizations, and the author
of biographies of James De Lancey, James
W, Seekman, William Allen; Document-
ary History of New York; Capture of Fort
Washington, and many other historical
works.
De Lancey, Etienne (Stephen) ; mer- -
chant; born in Caen, France, Oct. 24,
1663; fled to Holland on the revocation
of the Edict of Nantes; and went thence
to England and became a British subject.
He landed in New York, June 7, 1686;
became a merchant and amassed a large
fortune; and was at all times a public-
spirited citizen. In 1700 he built the De
Lancey house, which subsequently became
known as the " Queen's Head " and
" Fraunce's Tavern." In the large room,
originally Mrs. De Lancey's drawing-room,
Washington bade farewell to the officers
of the Army of the Revolution. He died
in New York City, Nov. 18, 1741.
De Lancey, James, jurist; born in
NewJYork City, Nov. 27, 1703; eldest son
of Etienne De Lancey; graduated at
the University of Cambridge, England,
and soon after his return to New York
(1729) was made a justice of the Su-
preme Court of that province, and chief-
justice in 1733. For two years, as lieU'
60
DE LANCEY— DELAWARE
tenant-governor, he was acting governor
(1753-55), after the death of Governor
Osborn. Judge De Lancey was for many
years the most influential man in the
politics and legislation of the colony, and
was one of the founders of King's Col-
lege (now Columbia University). He
wrote a Review of the Military Opera-
tions from 1753 to 1156. He died in New
York City, July 30, 17G0.
De Lancey, Olivek, military officer;
born in New York City, Sept. 16, 1708;
brother of Judge De Lancey; for many
years a member of the Assembly and
Council, also a colonel of the pro-
vincial troops, and when the Revolution
broke out he organized and equipped,
chiefly at his own expense, a corps of
loyalists. In 1777 he was appointed a
brigadier-general in the royal service. His
military operations were chiefly in the
region of New Y^ork City. At the evacua-
tion of that city in 1783 he went to Eng-
land. He died in Beverley, England,
Nov. 27, 1785.
De Lancey, Olivkk, military officer;
born in New Y^ork City in 1752; edu-
cated abroad ; entered the British army
in 17GG, and rose to major in 1773; was
with the British army in Boston during
the siege in 1775-76, and accompanied it
to Nova Scotia. He returned with it to
Staten Island in June, and commanded the
British cavalry when the army invaded
Long Island in August, which formed the
advance of the right column. To him Gen-
eral Woodhull surrendered under promise
of protection, but it was not afl'orded, and
the patriot was murdered. He was active
under Sir Henry Clinton throughout the
war. In 1781 he succeeded Major Andre as
adjutant - general, and on his return to
England undertook the arrangement of the
claims of the loyalists for compensation
for losses in America. He was also at the
head of a commission for settling all
army accounts during the war. Because
of defalcations in his public accounts, he
was removed from office. He was elected
to Parliament in 179G; was promoted to
lieutenant-general in 1801, and to general
in 1812. He died in Edinburgh, Scotland,
Sept. 3, 1822.
Delano, Columbus, statesman; born in
Shoreham, Vt., June 5, 1809; settled in
Mount Vernon, O., in 1817; admitted
to the bar in 1831, and became prominent
as a criminal lawyer. He was a member
of Congress in 1844-64 and 1866-68; was
appointed United States commissioner of
internal revenue in 1869, and later by
reorganizing the bureau increased the re-
ceipts in eight months more than 100 per
cent.; and was Secretary of the Depart-
ment of the Interior in 1870-75. He died
in Mount Vernon, 0., Oct. 23, 1890.
Delaware, the first of the thirteen
original States that ratified the federal
Constitution; takes its name from Lord
De la Warr (Delaware), who entered the
bay of that name in 16 10, when he was
governor of Virginia. It had been dis-
covered by Hudson in 1609. In 1629
Samuel Godyn, a director of the Dutch
West India Company, bought of the Ind-
ians a tract of land near the mouth of
the Delaware; and the next year De
Vries, with twenty colonists from Hol-
land, settled near the site of Lewes. The
colony was destroyed by the natives three
years afterwards, and the Indians had
sole possession of that district until 1638,
when a colony of Swedes and Finns
STATE SEAL OF DELAWARE.
landed on Cape Henlopen, and purchased
the lands along the bay and river as far
north as the falls at Trenton (see New
Sweden). They built Fort Christiana
near the site of Wilmington. Their settle-
ments were mostly planted within the
present limits of Pennsylvania. The
Svredes were conquered by the Dutch of
61
DELAWARE
OLD SWEDISH CUDKCH, WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.
New Netherland in 1655, and from
that time until 1664, when New Nether-
land was conquered by the English,
the territory was claimed by the
Dutch, and controlled by them. Then
Lord Baltimore, proprietor of Maryland,
claimed all the territory on the west side
of Delaware Bay, and even to lat. 40° ;
and settlers from Maryland attempted to
drive away the settlers from the present
State of Delaware. When William Penn
obtained a grant of Pennsylvania, he v/as
very desirous of owning the land on Dela-
ware Bay to the sea, and procured from
the Duke of York a release of all his title
and claim to New Castle and 12 miles
around it, and to the land between that
tract and the sea ; and in the presence of
all the settlers he produced his deeds
(October, 1682), and formally accepted
the surrender of the territory. Lord Bal-
timore pressed his claim, but in 1685 the
Lords of Trade and Plantations made a
decision in Penn's favor. A compromise
afterwards adjusted all conflicting claims.
The tracts which now constitute the State
of Delaware, Penn called " The Terri-
tories," or " Three Lower Counties on the
Delaware." They were governed as a
part of Pennsylvania for about twenty
62
DELAWARE
years afterwards, and each county had
SIX delegates in the legislature. Then
Penn allowed them a separate legislature;
but the colony was under the governor of
Pennsylvania until 1776, when the in-
habitants declared it an independent
State. A constitution was adopted by a
convention of the people of the three
counties — New Castle, Kent, and Sussex
— Sept. 20, 1776. A State government
was organized, and John McKinley was
elected its first governor. In 1792 a sec-
ond constitution was framed and adopted.
Although Delaware was a slave State, it
refused to secede at the outbreak of the
Civil War; and, though it assumed a
sort of neutrality, it furnished several
regiments of volunteers for the Union
army. In all the wars Delaware patri-
otically furnished its share of men and
money for the public defence. In 1902
*he State had an assessed property valua-
tion of $09,351,696; and in 1904 had
assets of $635,250, in excess of all lia-
bilities. The population in 1890 was
168,493; in 1900, 184,735.
When Howe entered Philadelphia (Sep-
tember, 1777) the Americans still held
control of the Delaware River below that
citJ^ On Mud Island, near the confluence
of the Schuylkill and Delaware, was
built Fort Mifflin. On the New Jersey
shore, opposite, at Red Bank, was Fort
Mercer, a strong redoubt, well furnished
with heavy artillery. At Billingsport, on
the same shore, 3 miles lower down, were
extensive but unfinished works designed
to guard some obstructions in the river
there. Other formidable obstructions
were placed in the river below forts
Mifflin and Mercer, in the form of
chcvaux-de-frise — sunken crates of stones,
with heavy spears of iron-pointed timber,
to receive and pierce the bows of vessels.
Besides these, there were floating batteries.
^ee Mekcer, Fort; Mifflin, Fort; Unit-
ed States — Delaware, in vol. ix.
GOVERNORS OF DF.LAWARE.
UNDKR THE SWEDKS.
GOVERNORS OP DELAWARE— Con<mMed!.
ENGLISH COLONIAL.
From 16G4 up to 1G82, under the government of New
York; and from 1083 up to 1773, under the proprietary
government of Pennsylvauia.
Name.
Peter Minuit 1638 to ]fi40
Peter Hollender Ifi40 " 1642
Johan Printz 1643 " 1652
Johan Pappegoia 1653 " 1654
Johan C. Rising 1654" 1655
UNDER THB DUTCH.
Peter Stnyvegant | 1655 to 1664
Date.
John McKinley
Caesar Rodney
John Dicliinson
John Cook
Nicholas Van Dyke...,
Thomas Collins
Joshua Clayton
Gunning Bedford
Daniel Rodgers
Richard Bassett
James Sykes
David Hall
Nathaniel Mitchell
George Truitt
Joseph Hazlett
Daniel Rodney
John Clark
Jacob Stout
John Collins
Caleb Rodney
Joseph Hazlett
Samuel Pnynter
Charles Polk
David Hazzard
Caleb P. Bennett
Charles Polk
Cornelius P. Comegys.
William B. Cooper....
Thomas Stockton
Joseph Maul
William Temple
"William Thorp
William H. Ross
Peter F. Cansey
William Burton
William Gannon
Grove Saulsbury
James Ponder
John P. Cochran
John W. Hall
Charles C. Stockley...
Benjamin T. Biggs....
Robert J. Reynolds...
Joshua H. Marvil
William T. Watson...
Ebe W. Tunnell
John Hunn
Preston Lea
Date.
1776 to 1777
1778 " 1781
1782 " 1783
1783
1784 to 1786
1786 " 1789
1789 " 1796
1796 " 1797
1797 " 1798
1798 " 1801
1801 " 1802
1802 " 1805
1805 " 1808
1808 " 1811
1811 " 1814
1814 " 1817
1817 " 1820
1820 " 1821
1821 " 1822
1822 " 18'23
1823 " 1824
1824 " 1827
1827 " 1830
1830 " 1833
1833 " 1836
1836 " 1837
1837 " 1840
1840 " 1844
1844 " 1846
1846
1846
1847 to 1851
1851 " 1855
1855 " 1859
1859 " 1863
1863 " 1867
1867 " 1871
1871 " 1875
1875 " 1879
1879 " 1883
1883 " 1887
1887 " 1891
1891 " 1895
1895
1895 to 1897
1897 " 1901
1901 " 1905
1905 " 1909
UNITED STATES SENATORS
Richard Bassett
George Read
Henry Latimer
John Vining
Joshua Clavton
William Hill Wells..
Samuel White
James A. Bayard. ..
Outerbridge Horsev.
William Hill Wells.
Nicholas Van Dyke.
Ccesar A. Rodney. ..
Thomas Clayton
Daniel Rodney
Henry M. Ridgely..
Louis McLane
John M. Clayton
Arnold Naudain
Richard H. Bayard.
Thomas Clayton
John M. Clayton....
63
No. of
Congress |
1st and 2d (
1st
" 2d
3d
to 6th
3d
" 5th
5 th
5th
to 8th
7th
" nth
8th
" 12lh
nth
" 16th
13th
" 14th
15th
" 19th
1
7 th
18th
to 19th
19th 1
19th
to 2nth
20th
" 21st
21st
" 23d
21st
" 23d
24th
" 28th
24th
" 29th
29tb
" 30th
Date.
1789 to
1789 "
1793 "
1793 "
1798
1799 to
1801 "
1805 "
1810 "
1813 "
1817 "
1821 "
1824 "
1826
1827 to
1827 "
1829 "
1830 "
1836 "
1837 "
1845 "
1793
1793
1801
1798
1805
1809
1813
1821
1817
1827
1823
1827
1829
1829
1835
1836
1845
1847
184a
DELAWARE— DELAWARE INDIANS
UNITED STATES SENATORS— Cora^mwed.
Name,
No. of Congress.
Date.
30th to 31st
30th " 32d
1849 to
1847 "
1851
Presley Spru;inco
1853
James A. Bayard
3'2d " 38th
1851 "
1864
33d " 34th
34th
1853 "
1856
18.%
Joseph P. Comegys
Martin Bates
35 Ih
1858
Willard Saulsburv
3Gth to 41st
1859 to
1871
George Read Kiddle
38th " 40th
18G4 "
1867
James A. Bayard
40th
1867 "
1869
Thomas Francis Bayard..
41st to 48th
1869 "
1885
i'2iX " 50th
49th «' 5Gth
1871 "
1885 "
1889
George Gray
1899
Anthony Higgins
51st " 54th
1889 "
1895
Richard R. Kenney
54th " 56th
1897 "
1901
J.ewis H. Ball
58th
58th to 59th
59th " ■ ■
1903 "
1903 "
1907 "
1905
1907
Henry A. Dupont
Delaware, or Delawarr, Thomas West,
3d Lord; appointed governor of Virginia
in 1609. He built two forts at the mouth
of the James River, which he named
Henry and Charles, in honor of the King's
sons. In 1611 he sailed for the West
Indies, but was driven back by a storm
and landed at the mouth of the Delaware
River, whence he sailed for England. In
1618 he embarked for Virginia and died
on the voyage.
Delaware Indians, an important fam-
ily of the Algonquian nation, also called
Lenni-Lenapes, or " men." When the
Europeans found them, they were dwell-
ing in detached bands, under separate
sachems on the Delaware River. The
Dutch traded with tlitm as early as 1613,
and held frieudly relations with them;
but in 1632 the Dutch settlement of Swan-
endael was destroyed by them. The
Swedes found them peaceful when they
settled on the Delaware. This family
claim to have come from the west with
the Minquas, to whom they became vas-
sals. They also claimed to be the source
of all the Algonquians, and were styled
" grandfathers." The Delawares com-
prised three powerful families (Turtle,
Turkey, and Wolf), and were known as
Minseys, or Munsees, and Delawares
proper. The former occupied the northern
part of New Jersey and a portion of Penn-
sylvania, and the latter inhabited lower
New Jersey, the banks of the Delaware
below Trentou, and the whole valley of
the Schuylkill. After the conquest of
New Netherland, the English kept up
trade with the Delawares, and William
Penn and his followers bought large tracts
of land from them. They were parties
on the Indian side to the famous treaty
with Penn. At that time the Indians
within the limits of his domain were
estimated at 6,000 in number. The Five
WILLIAM PENN PDRCHASING LAND FROM THE DELAWARE INDIANS.
04
DELAWARE INDIANS— DELMAR
Nations iq. v.) conquered the Delawares, of a treaty in 1787, a small band of Dela-
and called them " women " in contempt ; v/ares returned to the Muskingum, the
and when, at the middle of the eighteenth remainder being hostile. These fought
century, the latter, dissatisfied with the Wayne, and were parties to the treaty at
interpretation of a treaty, refused to Greenville in 1795. The scattered tribes
leave their land, the Five Nations in Ohio refused to join Tecumseh in the _
haughtily ordered them to go. War of 1812, and in 1818 they ceded all "
Commingling with warlike tribes, the their lands to the United States, and set-
Delawareslbecame warlike themselves, and tied on the White River, in Illinois, to
developed great energy on the war-path, the number of 1,800, leaving a small
They fought the Cherokees, and in 1773 remnant behind. They finally settled in
some of them went over the mountains Kansas, where missions were established
and settled in Ohio. As early as 1741 among them, and they rapidly increased
the Moravians had begun missionary work in the arts of civilized life. In the Civil
among them on the Lehigh, near Bethle- War, the Delawares furnished 170 soldiers
hem and Nazareth, and a little church for the National army. Having acquired
was soon filled with Indian converts. At land from the Cherokees in the Indian
the beginning of the French and Indian Territory, they now occupy the Coowees-
War the Delawares were opposed to the coowee and Delaware districts; numbered
English, excepting a portion who were led 754 in 1900.
by the Moravians; but in treaties held Delaware River, Washington s Pas-
at Easton Pa., at difTerent times, from sage of the. At the close of November,
1756 until 17G1, they made peace with the 177G, the British occupied New Jersey,
Eno-lish and redeemed themselves from and only the Delaware River shut of! Corn-
thetr vassalage to the Six Nations ((Z.t^.). wallis from Philadelphia. On Dec. 2,
They settled on the Susquehanna, the Washington, with a considerable force,
Christian Indians apart. Then another crossed the river, securing every boat so
emigration over the mountains occurred, that the British were unable to follow
and they planted a settlement at Mus- him. Determined to surprise the Hessians,
kin^um 0. These joined Pontiac, and under Colonel Rahl, at Trenton, Washing-
besi1?c.ed Fort Pitt and other frontier ton recrossed the river a few miles above
postst but were defeated in August, 17G3, Trenton on Dec. 25, with 2,400 men and
by Colonel Bouquet, and their great chief, twenty pieces of artillery. Owing to the
Teedyuscung, was killed. Their towns darkness and the floating ice it was 4
were ravaged, and the Moravian converts, a.m. on the 26th before the entire force
who were innocent, fled for refuge to had crossed. General Knox, the constant
Philadelphia. These returned to the Sus- companion of Washington throughout the
quehanna in 1764, and the Ohio portion war, had crossed the river before it became
made peace at Muskingum the same choked with ice, and during the night
year and at Fort Pitt in 1765. The that Washington and his party recrossed
remainder in Pennsylvania emigrated to it, Knox stood on the opposite shore, and
Ohio and in 1786 not a Delaware was indicated where a landing could be safely
left 'east of the Alleghany Mountains, made. See Tkenton, Battle of.
Moravian missionaries went with their Delfthaven, the port of Holland from
flocks and the Christian Indians increased, which the Pilgrim fathers sailed m the
The pagans kept upon the war-path until Speedwell, July 22, 1620, for Southamp-
they were severely smitten in a drawn ton. They embarked on the Mayfloioer at
tattle at Point Pleasant, in 1774. Plymouth.
The Delawares joined the English when Delmar, Alexander, political ecx.no-
the Revolutionary War broke out, but mist; born in New York, Aug. 9, 1S30;
made peace with the Americans in 1778, edited Daihj American Ttmes ; Hunt s
when a massacre of ninety of the Chris- Merchants' Magazine; Financial Chron-
lian Indians in Ohio by the Americans iele, etc., and published Gold Money and
aroused the fury of the tribe. Being Paper Money; Treatise on Taxation; The
almost powerless, they fled to the Huron -National Banking System; History o)
River and Canada. Under the provisions Money and the Monetary System, etc.
III. — E
Gl
DE LONO— DEMOCRACY IN NEW NETHERLAND
De Long, George Washington, ex- port, Melville with his party started im-
plorer; born in New York City, Aug. 22, mediately on a search for De Long and
1844; graduated at the United States his companions, and on March 23, 1882,
Naval Academy in 1865, and promoted found their remains, together with the
ensign in 1866; master in 1868; lieuten- records of the expedition and De Long's
ant in 1869; a^d lieutenant-commander, diary written up to Oct. 30 previous. The
Nov. 1, 1879. He was with Capt. Daniel United States government had the remains
L. Braine on the Juniata, when he was of De Long and his companions brought
ordered, in 1873, to search for the miss- home and they were interred with appro-
ing Arctic steamer Polaris and her crew, priate honors on Feb. 22, 1884. See The
On July 8, 1879, he was given command of Voyage of the Jeannette, by Mrs. De
the Jeannette, which had been fitted out Long; and In the Lena Delta, by George
by James Gordon Bennett, Jr. {q. v.) , W. Melville.
for a three years' exploration trip via Deming, William, gun-founder; born
Bering Strait. By an act of Congress the in 1736; during the Revolution construct-
vessel was placed under the authority of ed the first wrought-iron cannon ever made
the government. After touching at Ouna- in America, one of which was captured
laska, St. Michael's and St. Lawrence by the British at the battle of Brandy-
Bay, the Jeannette sailed to Cape Serdze wine, and is kept as a curiosity at the
Kamen, Siberia, in search of Professor Tower of London. He died in Mifflin, Pa.,
Nordenskjold, the Swedish explorer. Sail- Dec. 19, 1830.
ing northward the vessel was caught in Democracy in New Netherland.
the pack-ice, Sept. 5, 1879, off Herald Isl- Gov. William Kieft {q. v.) had resolved
and, and, after drifting 600 miles to the to chasten the Raritan Indians for a grave
northwest in a devious course, was crushed offence. He called upon the people to
by the ice, June 13, 1881. Thus Lieuten- shoulder their muskets for a fight. They
ant-Commander De Long and his crew knew his avarice and greed, and withal his
were adrift in the Arctic Sea 150 miles cowardice, and boldly charged these things
from the New Siberian Islands and more upon him. " It is all well for you," they
than 300 miles from the nearest point of said, " who have not slept out of the fort
the mainland of Asia. With his party he a single night since you came, to endanger
started southward, and on July 28, 1881, our lives and our homes in undefended
arrived at Bennett Island, and on Aug. 20 places," and they refused to obey. This
at Thaddeus Island, from which place they attitude of the people transformed the
travelled in boats. De Long, with four- governor. He invited (Aug. 23, 1641) the
teen others out of his crew of thirty- heads of families of New Amsterdam to
three, reached the main mouth of the meet him in consultation on public af-
Lena River, Sept. 17, having travelled fairs. They assembled at the fort, and
about 2,800 miles, and landing on the promptly chose twelve citizens to represent
mainland about 500 miles from their ship. them. So appeared the first popular as-
With his men he proceeded as fast as he sembly, and so was chosen the first rep-
could until Oct. 9, when it became im- resentative congress in New Netherland.
possible to travel farther owing to the It was a spontaneous outgrowth of the
debility of the men. The party had sepa- innate spirit of democracy that animated
rated into three branches, one command- the people. The twelve were the vigorous
ed by De Long, the second by Lieutenant seeds of that representative democracy
Chipp, and the third by Chief Engineer which bore fruit in all the colonies more
George W. Melville {q. v.) . All of De than a century later. Again, when the
Long's party, excepting two, perished; colony was threatened with destruction by
Chipp's boat was lost in a gale, with the Indians, Kieft summoned the people
eight men; but Melville, with nine others, into council (September, 1643), who
succeeded in reaching a small village on chose eight men as the popular represen-
the Lena. The two survivors of the De tatives to act with the governor in pub-
Long party, who had been sent by that lie affairs. Again when Gov. Peter
officer in search of relief, met the Melville Stxjyvesant {q. v.) found the finances of
party on Oct. 29. On hearing their re- the colony of New Netherland in such a
66
DEMOCRACY IN NEW NETHERLAND
wretched condition that taxation was was to form and adopt a remonstrance
necessary, he dared not tax the people against the tyrannous rule of the govern-
without their consent, for fear of offend- or. It was drawn by Baxter, signed by
ing the States-General, so he called a all the delegates present, and sent to the
convention of citizens, and directed them governor, with a demand that he should
to choose eighteen of their best men, of give a " categorical answer." In it the
whom he might select nine as represen- grievances of the people were stated
latives of the tax-payers, and who should under six heads. Stuyvesant met this
form a co-ordinate branch of the local severe document with his usual pluck,
government. He tried to hedge them He denied the right of some of the dele-
around with restrictions, but the nine gates to seats in the convention. He de-
proved to be more potent in promoting nounced the whole thing as the wicked
popular liberty than had Kieft's twelve, work of Englishmen, and doubted whether
They nourished the prolific seed of George Baxter knew what he was about,
democracy, which burst into vigorous life He wanted to know whether there was
in the time of Jacob Leisi.er {q. v.). no one among the Dutch in New Nether-
Stuy\'esant tried to stifle its growth. The land " sagacious and expert enough to
more it was opposed, the more vigorous draw up a remonstrance to the Director-
it grew. General and his council," and severely
Late in the autumn of 1G53 a conven- reprimanded the new city government of
tion of nineteen delegates, who represented New Amsterdam (New York) for " seiz-
eight villages or communities, assembled ing this dangerous opportunity for con-
at the town-hall in New Amsterdam, os- spiring with the English [with whom
tensibly to take measures to secure them- Holland was then at war], who were ever
selves from the depredations of the bar- hatching mischief, but never performing
barians around them and sea-rovers. The their promises, and who might to-morrow
governor tried in vain to control their ally themselves with the North " — mean-
action; they paid very little attention to ing Sweden and Denmark. The conven-
his wishes or his commands. He stormed tion was not to be intimidated by bluster,
and threatened, but prudently yielded to They informed Stuyvesant, by the mouth
the demands of the people that he should of Beeckman, that unless he answered
issue a call for another convention, and their complaints, they would appeal to
give legal sanction for the election of dele- the States-General. At this the governor
gates thereto. These met in New Am- took fire, and, seizing his cane, ordered
sterdam on Dec. 10, 1653. Of the eight Beeckman to leave his presence. The
districts represented, four were Dutch and plucky ambassador coolly folded his arms,
four English. Of the nineteen delegates, and silently defied the magistrate,
ten were of Dutch and nine were of Eng- When Stuyvesant's anger had abated, he
lish nativity. This was the first really asked Beeckman's pardon for his rude-
rcprcsentative assembly in the great State ness. He was not so complaisant with the
of New York chosen by the people. The convention. He ordered them to dis-
names of the delegates were as follows: perse on pain of his "high displeasure."
From New Amsterdam, Van Hattera, The convention executed their threat by
Kregier, and Van de Grist; from sending an advocate to Holland to lay
Breucklen (Brooklyn), Lubbertsen, Van their grievances before the States-Gen-
der Beeck, and Beeckman ; from Flushing, eral.
Hicks and Flake; from Newtown, Coe and It has been observed how the first germ
Hazard; from Heemstede (Hempstead), of democracy or republicanism appeared
Washburn and Somers; from Amersfoort in New Amsterdam, and was checked in
(Flatlands), Wolfertsen, Strycker, and its visible growth by the heel of power.
Swartwout; from Midwont (Flatbush), It grew, nevertheless. It was stimulated
Elbertsen and Spieer; and from Graves- by the kind acts of Gov. Thomas Dongan
end, Baxter and Hubbard. Baxter was {q. v.) ; and when the English revolution
at that time the English secretary of of 1688 had developed the strength of
the colony, and he led the English the people's will, and their just aspira-
delegates. The object of this convention tions were formulated in the Bill of
67
DEMOCBACY IN THE UNITED STATES
Rights, it sprang up into a vigorous
fruit-bearing plant. Its power was mani-
fested in the choice and administration
of Leisler as ruler until a royal governor
was appointed, and his death caused the
line of separation between democracy and
aristocracy — republicanism and monarchy
— " Leislerians " and " Anti-Leislerians "
— to be distinctly drawn. During the
exciting period of Leisler's rule, the
aristocratic or royalist party were led by
Nicholas Bayard (q. v.), a wealthy and
influential citizen, who was warmly sec-
onded by Robert Livingston {q. v.).
These two men were chiefly instrumental
in bringing Leisler to the scaffold and
treating his family and friends in a
shameful manner. This conduct was con-
tinued until the Earl of Bellomont suc-
ceeded Fletcher as governor, when the
" Anti-Leislerians " were reduced to a
minority, and kept quiet for a while.
After the death of Bellomont (March 5,
1701), John Nanfan, his lieutenant, ruled
for a while. Nanfan favored the demo-
cratic party. As soon as it was known
that Lord Cornbury {q. v.), a thorough
aristocrat and royalist, had been appointed
governor. Bayard and his party heaped
abuse not only upon the dead Bellomont,
but upon Nanfan. The latter saw that
Bayard was on the verge of a pit which
he had digged himself, and he pushed him
into it. Bayard had procured an act, in
1691, aimed at Leisler and his supporters,
providing that any person who should in
any manner endeavor to disturb the gov-
ernment of the colony should be deemed
■'■ rebels and traitors unto their majesties,"
and should incur the pains and penalties
of the laws of England for such offence.
Bayard was arrested on a charge of
treason, tried, convicted, and received the
horrid sentence then imposed by the Eng-
lish law upon traitors — to be hanged, quar-
tered, etc. Bayard applied for a reprieve
until his Majesty's pleasure should be
known. It was granted, and in the mean
time Cornbury arrived, when all was re-
versed. Bayard was released and rein-
stated. The democrats were placed under
the lash of the aristocrats, which Bayard
and Livingston used without mercy by the
hand of the wretched ruler to whom they
offered libations of flattery. The chief-
justice who tried Bayard, and the advocate
who opposed him, were compelled to fly to
England. From that time onward there
was a continuous conflict by the democ-
racy of New York with the aristocracy
as represented by the royal governors and
their official parasites. It fought bravely,
and won many victories, the greatest of
which was in a fierce battle for the free-
dom of the press, in the case of John
Peter Zenger (g. v.).
DEMOCRACY
Democracy in the United States,
Character of.*- — Prof. Woodrow Wilson
of Princeton University (Professor of
Jurisprudence and Politics), the well-
known author, critic, and lecturer, writes
as follows:
Everything apprises us of the fact that
we are not the same nation now that
we were when the government was form-
ed. In looking back to that time, the im-
pression is inevitable that we started with
sundry wrong ideas about ourselves. We
deemed ourselves rank democrats, whereas
we were in fact only progressive English-
men. Turn the leaves of that sage man-
ual of constitutional interpretation and
* By courtesy of Messrs. Charles Scribner's
Sons.
advocacy, the Federalist, and note the
perverse tendency of its writers to refer
to Greece and Rome for precedents — that
Greece and Rome which haunted all our
earlier and even some of our more mature
years. Recall, too, that familiar story of
Daniel Webster which tells of his coming
home exhausted from an interview with
the first President-elect Harrison, whose
Secretary of State he was to be, and ex-
plaining that he had been obliged in the
course of the conference, which concerned
the inaugural address about to be deliver-
ed, to kill nine Roman consuls whom it
had been the intention of the good con-
queror of Tippecanoe publicly to take into
office with him. The truth is that we long
imagined ourselves related in some un-
explained way to all ancient republicans.
J
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
Strangely enough, too, we at the same syniioathy also, though little justification,
time accepted the quite incompatible for such as caught a generous elevation
theory that we were related also to the of spirit from the speculative enthusiasm
French philosophical radicals. We claim- of Rousseau.
ed kinship with democrats everywhere — For us who stand in the dusty matter-
with all democrats. We can now scarcely of-fact world of to-day, there is a touch
realize the atmosphere of such thoughts, of pathos in recollections of the ardor for
We are no longer wont to refer to the democratic liberty that filled the air
ancients or to the French for sanction of of Europe and America a century ago
what we do. We have had abundant ex- with such quickening influences. We
perience of our own by which to reckon, may sometimes catch ourselves regretting
" Hardly any fact in history," says Mr. that the inoculations of experience have
Bagehot, writing about the middle of the closed our systems against the infections
century, " is so incredible as that forty of hopeful revolution,
and a few years ago England was ruled
by Mr. Perceval. It seems almost the " S!,'f ,7,tf '* '° ^''^^ ^^"^l *° ^^ ^l!^^;
■^ , . , J , X, T. , ^"t to ^^ young was very heaven ! O tlmef
same as being ruled by the Record news- lu which the meagre, stale, forbidding
paper." (Mr. Bagehot would now prob- ways
ably say the Standard newspaper.) "He Sf custom law and statute took at once
, , -, t ii: i,i ii, ^^^ attraction of a country in romance !
had the same poorness of thought, the ^hen Reason seemed the most to assert
same petty conservatism, the same dark her rights.
and narrow superstition." " The mere fact When most intent on making of herself
of such a premier being endured shows A prime Enchantress, to assist the work
, 1 1 i, , , j_- T ■ -^ 1 \\hich then was going forward in her
how deeply the whole national spirit and name !
interest was absorbed in the contest with Not favored spots alone, but the whole
Napoleon, how little we understood the r.,,®^',*:^'
1 <r t 111 1 i -i. The beauty wore of promise, that which
sort of man who should regulate its con- gg(^g , i ai,
duct — 'in the crisis of Europe,' as Sydney (As at some moment might not be unfelt
Smith said, ' he safely brought the cu- Among the bowers of paradise itself)
rates' salaries improvement bill to a hear- '^''biown.'^.*^'"^ ''""^^ ^^""^^ ^^^^ ''"'^ ^""
ing'; and it still more shows the horror
of all innovation which the recent events Such was the inspiration which not
of French history had impressed on our Wordsworth alone, but Coleridge also,
wealthy and comfortable classes. They and many another generous spirit whom
were afraid of catching revolution, as old we love, caught in that day of hope,
women of catching cold. Sir Archibald It is common to say, in explanation of
Alison to this day holds that revolution our regret that the dawn and youth of
is an infectious disease, beginning no one democracy's day are past, that our prin-
knows how, and going on no one knows ciples are cooler now and more circum-
where. There is but one rule of escape, spect, with the coolness and circum-
explains the great historian: 'Stay still; spection of advanced years. It seems to
don't move; do what you have been ac- some that our enthusiasms have become
customed to do ; and consult your grand- tamer and more decorous because our
mother on everything.' " sinews have hardened ; that as experience
Almost equally incredible to us is the has grown idealism has declined. But to
ardor of revolution that filled the world in speak thus is to speak with the old self-
those first days of our national life — the deception as to the character of our
fact that one of the rulers of the world's politics. If we are suflTering disappoint-
mind in that generation was Rousseau, ment. it is the disappointment of an
the apostle of all that is fanciful, unreal, awakening: we were dreaming. For we
and misleading in politics. To be ruled never had any business hearkening to
by him was like taking an account of life Rousseau or consorting with Europe in
from Mr. Rider Haggard. And yet there revolutionary sentiment. The government
is still much sympathy in this timid world which we founded one hundred years ago
for the dull people who felt safe in the was no type of an experiment in ad-
hands of Mr. Perceval, and, happily, much vanced democracy, as we allowed Europe
60
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OP
and even ourselves to suppose; it was freedom of thought and the diffusion of
simply an adaptation of English consti- enlightenment among the people. Steam
tutional government. If we suffered Eu- and electricity have co-operated with sys-
rope to study our institutions as instances tematic popular education to accomplish
in point touching experimentation in this diffusion. The progress of popular
politics, she was the more deceived. If education and the progress of democracy
we began the first century of our national have been inseparable. The publication
existence under a similar impression our- of their great encyclopaedia by Diderot
selves, there is the greater reason why and his associates in France in the last
we should start out upon a new century century, was the sure sign of the change
of national life with more accurate con- that was setting in. Learning was turn-
ceptions. ing its face away from the studious few
To this end it is important that the towards the curious many. The intellect-
following, among other things, should be ual movement of the modern time was
kept prominently in mind: emerging from the narrow courses of
1. That there are certain influences scholastic thought, and beginning to
astir in this country which make for spread itself abroad over the extended, if
democracy the world over, and that these shallow, levels of the common mind. The
influences owe their origin in part to the serious forces of democracy will be found,
radical thought of the last century; but upon analysis, to reside, not in the dis-
that it was not such forces that made ua turbing doctrines of eloquent revolution-
democratic, nor are we responsible for firy writers, not in the turbulent discon-
them. tent of the pauperized and oppressed, so
2. That, so far from owing our gov- much as in the educational forces of the
ernments to these general influences, we last 150 years, which have elevated the
began, not by carrying out any theory, masses in many countries to a plane of
■ but by simply carrying out a history — understanding and of orderly, intelligent
inventing nothing, only establishing a purpose more nearly on a level with the
specialized species of English govern- average man of the classes that have
ment; that we founded, not democracy, hitherto been permitted to govern. The
but constitutional government in America, movements towards democracy which
3. That the government which we thus have mastered all the other political ten-
set up in a perfectly normal manner dencies of our day are not older than the
has nevertheless changed greatly under niddle of the last century ; and that is just
our hands, by reason both of growth and the age of the now ascendant movement
of the operation of the general democratic towards systematic popular education,
forces — the European, or rather world- Yet organized popular education is only
wide, democratic forces of which I have one of the quickening influences that have
spoken. been producing the general enlighten-
4. That two things, the great size to ment which is everywhere becoming the
which our governmental organism has promise of general liberty. Rather, it is
attained, and, still more, this recent ex- only part of a great whole, vastly larger
posure of its character and purposes to than itself. Schools are but separated
the common democratic forces of the age seed-beds, in which the staple thoughts
of steam and electricity, have created new of the steady and stay-at-home people are
problems of organization, which it be- prepared and nursed. Not much of the
hooves us to meet in the old spirit, but world, moreover, goes to school in the
with new measures. school-house. But through the mighty
influences of commerce and the press the
I world itself has become a school. The
First, then, for the forces which are air is alive with the multitudinous voices
bringing in democratic temper and method of information. Steady trade-winds of
the world over. It is matter of familiar intercommunication have sprung up which
knowledge what these forces are, but it carry the seeds of education and enlight-
will be profitable to our thought to pass enment, wheresoever planted, to every
them once more in review. They are quarter of the globe. No scrap of new
70
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHABACTER OF
thought can escape being borne away without stirring from home, by merely
from its place of birth by these all- spelling out the print that covers every
absorbing currents. No idea can be kept piece of paper about him. If men are
exclusively at home, but is taken up thrown, for any reason, into the swift
by the trader, the reporter, the tra-weller, and easy currents of travel, they find
the missionary, the explorer, and is given themselves brought daily face to face with
to all the world in the newspapers, the persons native of every clime, with prao-
novel, the memoir, the poem, the treatise, tices suggestive of whole histories, with
till every community may know, not only a thousand things which challenge
itself, but all the world as well, for the curiosity, inevitably provoking inquiries
small price of learning to read and keep- such as enlarge knowledge of life and
ing its ears open. All the world, so shake the mind imperatively loose from
far as its news and its most insistent old preconceptions.
thoughts are concerned, is fast being made These are the forces which have estab-
every man's neighbor. lished the drift towards democracy.
Carlyle unquestionably touched one of When all sources of information are
the obvious truths concerning modern accessible to all men alike, when the
democracy when he declared it to be the world's thought and the world's news are
result of printing. In the newspaper scattered broadcast where the poorest
press a whole population is made critic may find them, the non-democratic forms
of all human affairs; democracy is "virtu- of government must find life a desperate
ally extant," and " democracy virtually venture. Exclusive privilege needs pri-
extant will insist on becoming palpably vacy, but cannot have it. King.inip of
extant." Looked at in the large, the the elder patterns needs sanctity, but can
newspaper press is a type of democracy, find it nowhere obtainable in a world of
bringing all men without distinction un- news items and satisfied curiosity. Tire
der comment made by any man without many will no longer receive submissively
distinction; every topic is reduced to a the thought of a ruling few, but insist
common standard of news; everything upon having opinions of their own. The
is noted and argued about by everybody, reaches of public opinion have been in-
Nothing could give surer promise of finitely extended; the number of voices
popular power than the activity and that must be heeded in legislation and
alertness of thought which are made in executive policy has been infinitely
through such agencies to accompany the multiplied. Modern influences have in-
training of the public schools. The ae- clined every man to clear his throat for
tivity may often be misdirected or un- a word in the world's debates. They have
wholesome, may sometimes be only fever- popularized everything they have touched.
ish and mischievous, a grievous product In the newspapers, it is true, there is
of narrow information and hasty con- very little concert between the writers;
elusion ; but it is none the less a stirring little but piecemeal opinion is created by
and potent activity. It at least marks their comment and argument; there is
the initial stages of effective thought. It no common voice amid their counsellings.
makes men conscious of the existence and But the aggregate voice thunders with
interest of affairs lying outside the dull tremendous volume; and that aggregate
round of their own daily lives. It gives voice is " public opinion." Popular edu-
them nations, instead of neighborhoods, cation and cheap printing and travel
to look upon and think about. They vastly thicken the ranks of thinkers every-
catch glimpses of the international con- where that their influence is felt, and by
nections of their trades, of the universal rousing the multitude to take knowledge
application of law, of the endless variety of the affairs of government prepare the
of life, of diversities of race, of a world time when the multitude will, so far as
teeming with men like themselves, and possible, take charge of the affairs of
yet full of strange customs, puzzled by government — the time when, to repeat
dim omens, stained by crime, ringing with Carlyle's phrase, democracy will become
voices familiar and unfamiliar. palpably extant.
And all this a man can nowadays get But, mighty as such forces are, demo-
71
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
cratic as they are, no one can fail to per-
ceive that they are inadequate to produce
of themselves such a government as ours.
There is little in them of constructive
efficacy. They could not of themselves
build any government at all. They are
critical, analytical, questioning, quizzing
forces; not architectural, not powers that
devise and build. The influences of pop-
ular education, of the press, of travel,
of commerce, of the innumerable agen-
cies which nowadays send knowledge and
thought in quick pulsations through every
part and member of society, do not neces-
sarily mould men for effective endeavor.
They may only confuse and paralyze the
mind with their myriad stinging lashes of
excitement. They may only strengthen
the impression that " the world's a stage,"
and that no one need do more than sit
and look on through his ready glass, the
newspaper. They overwhelm one with im-
pressions, but do they give stalwartness
to his manhood? Do they make his hand
any steadier on the plough, or his pur-
pose any clearer with reference to the
duties of the moment? They stream light
about him, it may be, but do they clear
his vision? Is he better able to see be-
cause they give him countless things to
look at? Is he better able to judge be-
cavise they fill him with a delusive sense
of knowing everything? Activity of mind
is not necessarily strength of mind. It
may manifest itself in mere dumb show;
it may run into jigs as well as into stren-
uous work at noble tasks. A man's farm
does not yield its fruits the more abun-
dantly in their season because he reads
the world's news in the papers. A mer-
chant's shipments do not multiply because
he studies history. Banking is none the
less hazardous to the banker's capital and
taxing to his powers because the best
writing of the best essayists is to be
bought cheap.
II
Very diff"erent were the forces behind
us. Nothing establishes the republican
state save trained capacity for self-gov-
ernment, practical aptitude for public af-
fairs, habitual soberness and temperate-
ness of united action. When we look
back to the moderate sagacity and stead
fast, self-contained habit in self-govern
ment of the men to whom we owe the
establishment of our institutions in the
United States, we are at once made aware
that there is no communion between their
democracy and the radical thought and
restless spirit called by that name in
Europe. There is almost nothing in com-
mon between popular outbreaks such as
took place in France at her great Revolu-
tion and the establishment of a government
like our own. Our memories of the year
1789 are as far as possible removed from
the memories which Europe retains of
that pregnant year. We manifested 100
years ago what Europe lost, namely, self-
command, self-possession. Democracy in
Europe, outside of closeted Switzerland,
has acted always in rebellion, as a de-
structive force: it can scarcely be said
to have had, even yet, any period of
organic development. It has built such
temporary governments as it has had op-
portunity to erect on the old foundations
and out of the discredited materials of
centralized rule, elevating the people's
representatives for a season to the throne,
but securing almost as little as ever of
that every-day local self-government which
lies so near to the heart of liberty. Democ-
racy in America, on the other hand, and
in the English colonies has had, almost
from the first, a truly organic growth.
There was nothing revolutionary in its
movements ; it had not to overthrow other
polities; it had only to organize itself.
It had not to create, but only to expand,
self-government. It did not need to
spread propaganda: it needed nothing but
to methodize its ways of living.
In brief, we were doing nothing essen-
tially new a century ago. Our strength
and our facility alike inhered in our tra-
ditions; those traditions made our char-
acter and shaped our institutions. Lib-
erty is not something that can be created
by a document ; neither is it something
which, when created, can be laid away in
a document, a completed work. It is an
organic principle — a principle of life, re-
newing and being renewed. Democratic
institutions are never done ; they are like
living tissue, always a-making. It is a
strenuous thing, this of living the life of
a free people; and our success in it de-
pends upon training, not upon clever
invention.
72
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHAEACTER OF
Our democracy, plainly, was not a body
of doctrine; it was a stage of develop-
ment. Our democratic state was not a
piece of developed theory, but a piece of
developed habit. It was not created by
mere aspirations or by new faith ; it was
built up by slow custom. Its process was
experience, its basis old wont, its meaning
national organic oneness and effective life.
It came, like manhood, as the fruit of
youth. An immature people could not have
had it, and the maturity to which it
was vouchsafed was the maturity of free-
dom and self-control. Such government
as ours is a form of conduct, and its only
stable foundation is character. A par-
ticular form of government may no more
be adopted than a particular type of
character may be adopted : both institu-
tions and character must be developed
by conscious effort and through trans-
mitted aptitudes.
Governments such as ours are founded
upon discussion, and government by dis-
cussion comes as late in political as scien-
tific thought in intellectual development.
It is a habit of state life created by long-
established circumstance, and is possible
for a nation only in the adult age of its
political life. The people who success-
fully maintain such a government must
have gone through a period of political
training which shall have prepared them
by gradual steps of acquired privilege
for assuming the entire control of their
affairs. Long and slowly widening ex-
perience in local self-direction must have
prepared them for national self-direction.
They must have acquired adult self-re-
liance, self-knowledge, and self-control,
adult soberness and deliberateness of
judgment, adult sag&jcity in self-govern-
ment, adult vigilance of thought and
quickness of insight. When practised, not
by small communities, but by wide na-
tions, democracy, far from being a crude
form of government, is possible only
among peoples of the highest and steadi-
est political habit. It is the heritage of
races purged alike of hasty barbaric pas-
sions and of patient servility to rulers,
and schooled in temperate common counsel.
It is an institution of political noonday,
not of the half-light of political dawn.
It can never be made to sit easily or safely
on first generations, but strengthens
through long heredity. It is poison to the
infant, but tonic to the man. Monarchies
may be made, but democracies must grow.
It is a deeply significant fact, therefore,
again and again to be called to mind, that
only in the United States, in a few other
governments begotten of the English race,
and in Switzerland, where old Teutonic
habit has had the same persistency as in
England, have examples yet been furnish-
ed of successful democracy of the modern
type. England herself is close upon
democracy. Her backwardness in entering
upon its full practice is no less instruc-
tive as to the conditions prerequisite to
democracy than is the forwardness of her
offspring. She sent out to all her colonies
which escaped the luckless beginning of
being made penal settlements, compara-
tively small, homogeneous populations of
pioneers, with strong instincts of self-
government, and with no social materials
out of which to build government other-
wise than democratically. She, herself,
meanwhile, retained masses of population
never habituated to participation in gov-
ernment, untaught in political principle
either by the teachers of the hustings or of
the school-house. She has had to approach
democracy, therefore, by slow and cau-
tious extensions of the franchise to those
prepared for it ; while her better colonies,
born into democracy, have had to receive
all comers within their pale. She has
been paring down exclusive privileges and
levelling classes; the colonies have from
the first been asylums of civil equality.
They have assimilated new while she has
prepared old populations.
Erroneous as it is to represent govern-
ment as only a commonplace sort of busi-
ness, little elevated in method above mer-
chandising, and to be regulated by count-
ing-house principles, the favor easily won
for such views among our own people is
very significant. It means self-reliance in
government. It gives voice to the emi-
nently modern democratic feeling that
government is no hidden cult, to be left
to a few specially prepared individuals,
but a common, every-day concern of life,
even if the biggest such concern. It is
this self-confidence, in many cases mis-
taken, no doubt, which is gradually
spreading among other peoples, less justi-
fied in it than are our own.
73
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
One cannot help marvelling that facts by neighbors, by peoples not only homo-
so obvious as these should have escaped geneous, but characterized within by the
the perception of some of the sagest existence among their members of a quick
thinkers and most thorough historical sympathy and easy neighborly knowl-
scholars of our day. Yet so it is. Sir edge of each other. Not foreseeing steam
Henry Maine, even, the great interpreter and electricity or the diffusion of new3
to Englishmen of the historical forces and knowledge which we have witnessed,
operative in law and social institutions, our fathers were right in thinking it im-
has utterly failed, in his plausible work possible for the government which they
on Popular Government, to distinguish had founded to spread without strain or
the democracy, or rather the popular break over the whole of the continent,
government, of the English race, which Were not California now as near neighbor
is bred by slow circumstance and founded to the Atlantic States as Massachusetts
upon habit, from the democracy of other then was to New York, national self-gov-
peoples, which is bred by discontent and ernment on our present scale would as-
founded upon revolution. He has missed suredly hardly be possible, or conceivable
that most obvious teaching of events, that even. Modern science, scarcely less than
successful democracy diflfers from unsuc- our pliancy and steadiness in political
cessful in being a product of history — ■ habit, may be said to have created the
a product of forces not suddenly become United States of to-day.
operative, but slowly working upon whole Upon some aspects of this growth it is
peoples for generations together. The very pleasant to dwell, and very profit-
level of democracy is the level of every- able. It is significant of a strength which
day habit, the level of common national it is inspiring to contemplate. The ad-
experiences, and lies far below the eleva- vantages of bigness accompanied by
tions of ecstasy to which the revolutionist abounding life are many and invaluable,
climbs. It is impossible among us to hatch in a
JII corner any plot which will affect more
than a corner. With life everywhere
While there can be no doubt about the throughout the continent, it is impossi-
derivation of our government from habit ble to seize illicit power over the whole
rather than from doctrine, from English people by seizing any central offices. To
experience rather than from European hold Washington would be as useless to
thought; while it is evident that our in- a usurper as to hold Duluth. Self-gov-
stitutions were originally but products of ernment cannot be usurped,
a long, unbroken, unperverted constitu- A French writer has said that the au-
tional history; and certain that we shall tocratic ascendency of Andrew Jackson
preserve our institutions in their integrity illustrated anew the long - credited ten-
and efficiency only so long as we keep dency of democracies to give themselves
true in our practice to the traditions from over to one hero. The country is older
which our first strength was derived, now than it was when Andrew Jackson
there is, nevertheless, little doubt that delighted in his power, and few can be-
the forces peculiar to the new civilization lieve that it would again approve or ap-
of our day, and not only these, but also plaud childish arrogance and ignorant
the restless forces of European democratic arbitrariness like his ; but even in his
thought and anarchic turbulence brought case, striking and ominous as it was, it
to us in such alarming volume by immi- must not be overlooked that he was suf-
gration, have deeply affected and may fered only to strain the Constitution, not
deeply modify the forms and habits of to break it. He held his office by order-
our politics. ]y election; he exercised its functions
All vital governments — and by vital within the letter of the law; he could
governments I mean those which have silence not one word of hostile criticism;
life in their outlyir* members as well and, his second term expired, he passed
as life in their heads — all systems in into private life as harmlessly as did
which self-government lives and retains James Monroe. A nation that can quiet-
its self-possession, must be governments ly reabsorb a vast victorious army is no
74
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
more safely free and healthy than is a
nation that could reabsorb such a Presi-
dent as Andrew Jackson, sending him
into seclusion at the Hermitage to live
without power, and die almost forgotten.
A huge, stalwart body politic like
ours, with quick life in every individual
town and county, is apt, too, to have
the strength of variety of judgment.
Thoughts which in one quarter kindle en-
thusiasm may in another meet coolness
or arouse antagonism. Events which are
fuel to the passions of one section may
be but as a passing wind to another sec-
tion. No single moment of indiscretion,
surely, can easily betray the whole coun-
try at once. There will be entire popula-
tions still cool, self-possessed, unaffect-
ed. Generous emotions sometimes sweep
whole peoples, but, happily, evil passions,
sinister views, base purposes, do not and
cannot. Sedition cannot surge through
the hearts of a wakeful nation as patriot-
ism can. In such organisms poisons dif-
fuse themselves slowly; only healthful
life has unbroken course. The sweep of
agitations set afoot for purposes unfamil-
iar or uncongenial to the customary pop-
ular thought is broken by a thousand ob-
stacles. It may be easy to reawaken old
enthusiasms, but it must be infinitely
hard to create new ones, and impossible
to surprise a whole people into unpre-
meditated action.
It is well to give full weight to these
great advantages of our big and strenu-
ous and yet familiar way of conducting
affairs ; but it is imperative at the same
time to make very plain the influences
which are pointing towards changes in
our politics — changes which threaten loss
of organic wholeness and soundness. The
union of strength with bigness depends
upon the maintenance of character, and
it is just the character of the nation
which is being most deeply affected and
modified by the enormous immigration
which, year after year, pours into the
country from Europe. Our own tem-
perate blood, schooled to self-possession
and to the measured conduct of self-gov-
ernment, is receiving a constant infusion
and yearly experiencing a partial corrup-
tion of foreign blood. Our own equable
habits have been crossed with the fever-
ish humors of the restless Old World.
We are unquestionably facing an ever-in-
creasing difficulty of self-command with
ever-deteriorating materials, possibly with
degenerating fibre. We have so far suc-
ceeded in retaining
" Some sense of duty, something of a faith,
Some reverence for the laws ourselves have
made,
Some patient force to change them when
we will,
Some civic manhood firm against the
crowd ;"
But we must reckon our power to con-
tinue to do so with a people made up of
" minds cast in every mould of race —
minds inheriting every bias of environ-
ment, warped by the diverse histories of
a score of different nations, warmed or
chilled, closed or expanded, by almost
every climate on the globe."
What was true of our early circum-
stances is not true of our present. We
are not now simply carrying out under
normal conditions the principles and
habits of English constitutional history.
Our iasks of construction are not done.
We have not simply to conduct, but also
to preserve and freshly adjust our gov-
ernment. Europe has sent her habits
to us, and she has sent also her politi-
cal philosophy, a philosophy which has
never been purged by the cold bath of
practical politics. The communion which
we did not have at first with her heated
and mistaken ambitions, with her radi-
cal, speculative habit in politics, with her
readiness to experiment in forms of gov-
ernment, we may possibly have to enter
into now that we are receiving her popu-
lations. Not only printing and steam
and electricity have gotten hold of us to
expand our English civilization, but also
those general, and yet to us alien, forces
of democracy of which mention has al-
ready been made; and these are apt to
tell disastrously upon our Saxon habits in
government.
IV .
It is thus that Ave are brought to our
fourth and last point. We have noted
( 1 ) the general forces of democracy which
have been sapping old forms of govern-
ment in all parts of the world; (2) the
error of supposing ourselves indebted to
those forces for the creation of our gov-
75
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
ernment, or in any way connected with
them in our origins; and (3) the effect
they have nevertheless had upon us as
parts of the general influences of the age,
as well as by reason of our vast immigra-
tion from Europe. What, now, are the
new problems which have been prepared
for our solution by reason of our growth
and of the effects of immigration? They
may require as much political capac-
ity for their proper solution as any that
confronted the architects of our govern-
ment.
These problems are chiefly problems of
organization and leadership. Were the
nation homogeneous, were it composed
simply of later generations of the same
stock by which our institutions were
planted, few adjustments of the old ma-
chinery of our politics would, perhaps,
be necessary to meet the exigencies of
growth. But every added element of va-
riety, particularly every added element
of foreign variety, complicates even the
simpler questions of politics. The dan-
gers attending that variety which is hete-
rogeneity in so vast an organism as ours
are, of course, the dangers of disintegra-
tion — nothing less; and it is unwise to
think these dangers remote and merely
contingent because they are not as yet
very menacing. We are conscious of one-
ness as a nation, of vitality, of strength,
of progress ; but are we often conscious of
common thought in the concrete things of
national policy? Does not our legislation
wear the features of a vast conglomerate?
Are we conscious of any national leader-
ship? Are we not, rather, dimly aware
of being pulled in a score of directions
by a score of crossing influences, a multi-
tude of contending forces?
This vast and miscellaneous democracy
of ours must be led ; its giant faculties
must oe schooled and directed. Leader-
ship cannot belong to the multitude;
masses of men cannot be self - directed,
neither can groups of communities. We
speak of the sovereignty of the people,
but that sovereignty, we know very well,
is of a peculiar sort ; quite unlike the
sovereignty of a king or of a small, easily
concerting group of confident men. It
is judicial merely, not creative. It passes
judgment or gives sanction, but it can-
not direct or suggest. It furnishes stand-
ards, not policies. Questions of govern-
ment are infinitely complex questions, and
no multitude can of themselves form clear-
cut, comprehensive, consistent conclusions
touching them. Yet without such conclu-
sions, without single and prompt purposes,
government cannot be carried on. Neither
legislation nor administration can be done
at the ballot-box. The people can only
accept the governing act of representa-
tives. But the size of the modern de-
mocracy necessitates the exercise of per-
suasive power by dominant minds in the
shaping of popular judgments in a very
different way from that in which it was
exercised in former times. " It is said
by eminent censors of the press," said Mr.
Bright on one occasion in the House of
Commons, " that this debate will yield
abovit thirty hours of talk, and will end
in no result. I have observed that all
great questions in this country require
thirty hours of talk many times repeat-
ed before they are settled. There is much
shower and much sunshine between the
sowing of the seed and the reaping of the
harvest, but the harvest is generally reap-
ed after all." So it must be in all self-
governing nations of to-day. They are
not a single audience within soimd of an
orator's voice, biit a thousand audiences.
Their actions do not spring from a single
thrill of feeling, but from slow conclu-
sions following upon much talk. The talk
must gradually percolate through the
whole mass. It cannot be sent straight
through them so that they are electrified
as the pulse is stirred by the call of a
trumpet. A score of platforms in every
neighborhood must ring with the insistent
voice of controversy; and for a few hun-
dreds who hear what is said by the public
speakers, many thousands must read of
the matter in the newspapers, discuss it
interjeetionally at the breakfast - table,
desultorily in the street-cars, laconically
on the streets, dogmatically at dinner;
all this with a certain advantage, of
course. Through so many stages of con-
sideration passion cannot possibly hold
out. It gets chilled by over-exposure. It
finds the modern popular state organized
for giving and hearing counsel in such a
way that those who give it must be care-
ful that it is such counsel as will wear
well. Those who hear it handle and ex-
76
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES, CHARACTER OF
amine it enough to test its wearing quali-
ties to the utmost. All this, however,
when looked at from another point of
view, but illustrates an infinite difficulty
of achieving energy and organization.
There is a certain peril almost of disinte-
gration attending such phenomena.
Every one now knows familiarly enough
bow we accomplished the wide aggre-
gations of self-government characteristic
of the modern time, bow we have articu-
lated governments as vast and yet as
whole as continents like our own. The
instrumentality has been representation,
of which the ancient world knew nothing,
and lacking which it always lacked nation-
al integration. Because of representation
and the railroads to carry representatives
to distant capitals, we have been able to
rear colossal structures like the govern-
ment of the United States as easily as the
ancients gave political organization to a
city; and our great building is as stout
as was their little one.
But not until recently have we been
able to see the full effects of thus send-
ing men to legislate for us at capitals dis-
tant the breadth of a continent. It makes
the leaders of our politics, many of them,
mere names to our consciousness instead
of real persons whom we have seen and
heard, and whom we know. We have to
accept rumors concerning them, we have
to know them through the variously col-
ored accounts of others ; we can seldom
test our impressions of their sincerity by
standing with them face to face. Here
certainly the ancient pocket republics had
much the advantage of us: in them citi-
zens and leaders were always neighbors ;
they stood constantly in each other's pres-
ence. Every Athenian knew Themisto-
cles's manner, and gait, and address, and
felt directly the just influence of Aris-
tides. No Athenian of a later period need-
ed to be told of the vanities and fop-
peries of Alcibiades, any more than the
elder generation needed to have described
to them the personality of Pericles.
Our separation from our leaders is the
greater peril, because democratic govern-
ment more than any other needs organiza-
tion in order to escape disintegration ; and
it can have organization only by full
knowle(}ge of its leaders and full confi-
dence in them. Just because it is a vast
body to be persuaded, it must know its
persuaders; in order to be effective, it
must always have choice of men who are
impersonated policies. Just because none
but the finest mental batteries, with pure
metals and unadulterated acids, can send
a current through so huge and yet so rare
a medium as democratic opinion, it is the
more necessary to look to the excellence
of these instrumentalities. There is no per-
manent place in democratic leadership
except for him who " hath clean hands
and a pure heart." If other men come
temporarily into power among us, it is
because we cut our leadership up into
so many small parts, and do not subject
any one man to the purifying influences
of centred responsibility. Never before
was consistent leadership so necessary;
never before was it necessary to concert
measures over areas so vast, to adjust
laws to so many interests, to make a com-
pact and intelligible unit out of so many
fractions, to maintain a central and domi-
nant force where there are so many
forces.
It is a noteworthy fact that the admira-
tion for our institutions which has during
the past few years so suddenly grown to
large proportions among publicists abroad
is almost all of it directed to the restraints
we have effected vipon the action of gov-
ernment. Sir Henry Maine thought our
federal Constitution an admirable reser-
voir, in which the mighty waters of de-
mocracy are held at rest, kept back from
free destructive course. Lord Rosebery
has wondering praise for the security of
our Senate against usurpation of its func-
tions by the House of Representatives.
Mr. Goldwin Smith supposes the saving
act of organization for a democracy to
be the drafting and adoption of a written
constitution. Thus it is always the static,
never the dynamic, forces of our govern-
ment which are praised. The greater part
of our foreign admirers find our success
to consist in the achievement of stable
safeguards against hasty or retrogressive
action; we are asked to believe that we
have succeeded because we have taken Sir
Archibald Alison's advice, and have resist-
ed the infection of revolution by staying
quite still.
But, after all, progress is motion, gov-
ernment is action. The waters of democ-
77
DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES— DEMOCRATIC PARTY
racy are useless in their reservoirs unless We shall not again have a true national
they may be used to drive the wheels of life until we compact it by such legisla-
policy and administration. Though we tive leadership as other nations have. But
be the most law-abiding and law-directed once thus compacted and embodied, our
nation in the world, law has not yet nationality is sate.
attained to such efficacy among us as to Democratic Clubs. The opposiHon
frame, or adjust, or administer itself, party to Washington formed many clubs
It may restrain, but it cannot lead us; or societies to express sympathy with
and I believe that unless we concentrate France and the principles of the French
legislative leadership— leadership, that is, Revolution in 1793 and 1794. They
in progressive policy — unless we give leave passed out of existence about the end of
to our* nationality and practice to it by the 18th century. See Genest, Edmox^,
such concentration, we shall sooner or later Charles: Democratic Societies.
suffer something like national paralysis in Democratic Party. For the origin and
the face of emergencies. We have no one early development of the party, see the
in Congress who stands for the nation, article Republican Party. Its mam
Each man stands but for his part of the tenets were strict construction of the
nation ; and so management and combina- Constitution and opposition to extension
tion, which may be effected in the dark, of the federal powers. Jefferson, Madi-
are given the place that should be held son, and Monroe were members of the then
by centred and responsible leadership, dominant party, and under the last-named
which would of necessity work in the President party lines for a short time
focus of the national gaze. disappeared in the so-called " era of
What is the valuable element in mon- good feeling." Soon afterwards the
archy which causes men constantly to turn Democrats came under the leadership of
to it as to an ideal form of government, Jackson, and were opposed to the Na-
could it but be kept pure and wise? It tional Republicans and Whigs. Jackson's
is its cohesion, its readiness and power to successor, Van Buren, was a Democrat. A
act, its abounding loyalty to certain con- Whig interval (1841-45) ensued. Then
Crete things, to certain visible persons, its followed the Democratic administration
concerted organization, its perfect model of Polk, succeeded (1849-53) by another
of progressive order. Democracy abounds Whig administration. Pierce and Bu-
with vitality; but how shall it combine chanan were the last Presidents elected
with its other elements of life and by the party for a long period. In the
strength this power of the governments general confusion caused by the increas-
that know their own minds and their own ing prominence of slavery the Democrats
aims? We have not yet reached the age at first profited, while the Whigs disap-
when government may be made imper- peared. In the Civil War many "war
gonal. Democrats" acted temporarily with the
The only way in which we can preserve Republicans. McClellan, though defeated,
our nationality in its integrity and its received a large popular vote in 1864.
old-time originative force in the face of Seymour in 1868, Greeley in 1872 were de-
growth and imported change is by concen- feated. In 1876 the Democrats came near
trating it; by putting leaders forward, success (see Electoral Commission;
vested Avith abundant authority in the Hayes, Rutherford Burchard; Tilden,
conception and execution of policy. There Samuel Jones). The House was now
is plenty of the old vitality in our na- frequently Democratic, but the Presidency
tional character to tell, if we will but was again taken by their competitors in
give it leave. Give it leave, and it will 1880. In 1884 they succeeded in a close
the more impress and mould those who campaign. The two wings of the party,
come to us from abroad. I believe that revenue reform and protectionist, long re-
we have not made enough of leadership. fused to work together. Under the leader-
ship of Morrison, Carlisle, and Cleveland,
" A people is but the attempt of many ^^^^j^ reform became the dominating issue.
To rise to the completer life of one; -^ \. , , ■ -.^.r,,-. j^t. t-v j. • j
And those who live as models for the mass Defeated m 1888, the Democrats _ gained
Are singly of more Talue than they all." a sweeping victory in 1890, and in 1892
78
DEMOCRATIC SOCIETIES
regained control of all departments, only
to lose all again in 189G, when the party
allowed itself to be diverted from its orig-
inal principles by the Populists and sil-
ver men. In 1900 the same elements con-
trolled it, with the addition of the Anti-
Expansionists. In both 1896 and 1900 it
lost its national ticket. See Bkyan,
William Jennings.
Democratic Societies. In imitation of
the Jacobin clubs in Paris, members of
tificate of every member, in which he was
commended to the good offices of every
similar society in the Union. The in-
formed and thoughtful citizens saw scarce-
ly any resemblance between French and
American democracy. The former as-
sumed the aspect of violence in every
form, while the latter was calm, just, and
peaceful. A pamphlet was published in
1790 in which the difference is delineated
by an engraving called The Contrast. It
THE CONTRAST.
the Eepublican party, at about the time was soon after that these societies began
when Genet arrived from France, formed to dwindle in numbers and soon disap-
secret associations, which they called peared.
" Democratic societies." Their ideas and The certificate of membership in these
feelings were almost wholly French, and societies read as follows: "To all other
a large proportion of their membership societies established on principles of
consisted of French people. They were Liberty,
disloyal to the government of the United Equality,
States, and sought to control the politics Union, P a -
of the Union. They seem to have been triotic Vir-
inspired with the fanaticism which at that tue, and Per-
time controlled France. They vigorously severance: We,
denounced and opposed Washington's the members of
proclamation of neutrality. The societies the Republican
existed in various States, and first intro- Society of
duced the word " Democrat " into Ameri- Baltimore, cer-
can politics. Many of the Republican par- tify and declare
ty would not adopt the word, preferring to all Repub-
the old name, until the combined oppo- lican or Demo-
sition became known as the Democratic cratic societies,
Eepublican party. The Democratic so- and to all Re- seal.
cieties flourished for a while with great publicans in-
vigor. Their members were pledged to dividually, that citizen hath been
secrecy. Each society had a distinct seal admitted, and now is a member of our
of its own, which was attached to the cer- society, and that, from his known zeal
79
DE MONTS
to promote Republican principles and the full powers to settle and rule in a region
rights of humanity, we have granted extending over six degrees of latitude,
him this our certificate (which he has from Cape May to Quebec. The domain
signed in the margin), and do recommend was named Cadie in the charter (see
^ Acadia). Vested with the
monopoly of the fur-trade in
the region of the river and
gulf of St. Lawrence, they at-
tempted to make a settlement
on the former. Making ar-
rangements with Champlain
as chief navigator, De Monts
sailed from France in March,
1604, with four ships, well
manned, accompanied by his
bosom friend, the Baron de
Poutrincourt, and Pont-
Greve as his lieutenants; and
finding the St. Lawrence ice-
bound, on his arrival early in
April, he determined to make
a settlement farther to the
southward. The ships also
bore a goodly company of
Protestant and Eoman Cath-
olic emigrants, with soldiers,
artisans, and convicts. There
were several Jesuits in the
company. Passing around
Cape Breton and the penin-
sula of Nova Scotia into the
Bay of Fundy, they anchored
in a fine harbor on the north-
ern shore of that peninsula
early in May. Poutrincourt
was charmed with the coun-
try, ard was allowed to re-
main with a part of the com-
pany, while De Monts, with
the remainder, seventy in
number, went to Passama-
qvioddy Bay, and on an isl-
and near the mouth of the
him to all Republicans, that they may re- St. Croix, built a fort, and there spent a
ceive him with fraternity, which we offer terribly severe winter, that killed halt ot
to all those who may come to us with them. , . t, +.•«
similar credentials. In witness where- In the spring they returned to Poutrm-
of etc. Alexander McKinn, president; court's settlement, which he had named
George Sears, secretary." The seal of the Port Royal— now Annapolis, N. b^ Lariy
Baltimore Society, which issued the the next autumn De Monts and Poutrm-
above certificate, is composed of a figure court returned to France, leaving Cham-
of Liberty, with pileus, Phrygian cap, and plain and Pont-Grev6 to make further ex-
fasces, with the name of the society. plorations. There was a struggle for rule
De Monts, Sieur (Pierre de Gast), and existence at Port Royal tor a lew
was a wealthy Huguenot, who was com- years. Poutrincourt returned to France
missioned viceroy of New France, with for recruits for his colony. Jesuit
80
SIEUR DE MONTS.
DENISON— DENNISON
priests who accompanied him on his re-
turn to Acadia (Nova Scotia) chximed
the right to supreme rule by virtue of
their holy office. Poutrincourt resisted
their claim stoutly, saying, " It is my part
to rule you on earth; it is your part to
guide me to heaven." When he finally
left Port Royal (1612) in charge of his
son, the Jesuit priests made the same
claim on the fiery young Poutrincourt,
who threatened them with corporal pun-
ishment, when they withdrew to Mount
Desert Island and set up a cross in token
of sovereignty. They were there in 10 13,
when Samuel Argall, a freebooter of the
seas, went, under the sanction of the gov-
ernor of Virginia, to drive the French
from Acadia as intruders on the soil of
a powerful English company. The Jesuits
at Mount Desert, it is said, thirsting for
vengeance, piloted Argall to Port Royal.
He plundered and burned the town, drove
the inhabitants to the woods, and broke
up the settlement. Unable to contend
with the .English company, De Monts
abandoned Acadia and proposed to plant
a colony on the St. Lawrence River, under
the direction of Champlain and Pont-
Greve. But his monopoly was partially
revoked in 1G08. Under the auspices of
a company of merchants at Dieppe and
St. Malo, settlements were begun at
Quebec and Montreal. Soon afterwards
the fortune of De Monts was so much re-
duced that he could not pursue his scheme
of colonization, and it was abandoned.
Denison, Daniel, military officer; born
in England in 1613; settled in New Eng-
land about 1631 ; was commissioner to
arrange the differences with D'Aulny, the
French commander at Penobscot, in 1646
and 1653; and later was major-general of
the colonial forces for ten years. He was
made commander-in-chief of the Massa-
chusetts troops in 1675, but owing to ill-
ness during that year was not able to
lead his forces in the Indian War. He
published Irenicon, or Salve for New Eng-
land's Sore. He died in Ipswich, Mass.,
Sept. 20, 1682.
Denison, Frederic, clergyman ; born in
Stonington, Conn., Sept. 28, 1819; grad-
uated at Brown College in 1847; or-
dained to the Baptist ministry; chaplain
of the 3d Rhode Island Heavy Artillery
for three years in the Civil War. His pub-
ni. — F 8
lications include History of the 1st Rhode
Island Cavalry; Westerly and Its Wit-
nesses for 250 Years; History of the 3d
Rhode TsJ-and Hexivy Artillery, etc. Tb
died in Providence, R. I., Aug. 16, lOO^
Dennie, Joseph, journalist; born in
Boston, Aug. 30, 1768; graduated at
Harvard in 1790; became a lawyer; but
abandoned his profession for the pursuit
of literature. He contributed articles to
various newspapers, while yet practising
low, over the signature of " Farrago." In
1795 he became connected with a Boston
weekly newspaper called The Tablet. It
survived only three months, when Dennie
became the editor of the Farmer's Weekly
Museum, at Walpole, N. H., which ac-
quired an extensive circulation. To it he
contributed a series of attractive essays
under the title of The Lay Preacher. These
gave their author a high reputation and
were extensively copied into the news-
papers of the country. He went to Phil-
adelphia in 1799, where he was confiden-
tial secretary to Timothy Pickering, then
Secretary of State. In that place he re-
mained for a few months, and after edit-
ing for a short time the United States
Gazette, he commenced, in conjunction
with Asbury Dickens, the Portfolio, at
first a weekly, but afterwards a monthly
periodical, which acquired a high reputa-
tion. In that publication he adopted the
literary name of " Oliver Oldschool." The
Portfolio became the recognized leader in
periodical literature, and was enriched by
the contributions of some of the foremost
writers in the country. Mr. Dennie con-
tinued his connection with it until his
death, Jan. 7, 1812.
Dennison, William ; war governor ;
born in Cincinnati, O., Nov. 23, 1815; was
educated at the Miami University, and
graduated in 1835. Admitted to the bar
in 1840, he became an eminent practi-
tioner. In 1848-50 he was a member of
the Ohio legislature; and he took an
active part in financial and railroad mat-
ters. Mr. Dennison was one of the
founders of the Republican party in 1856.
In 1860 he was chosen governor of Ohio,
which office he held two years, during
which time he performed most important
official service in putting troops into the
field for the Union army. From October,
1864, to July, 1866, he was Postmaster-
DE NONVILLE— DENTISTRY
WILLIAM DENNISOR.
General, when he withdrew from the cab-
inet of President Johnson. He died in
Columbus, 0., June 15, 1882.
De Nonville, Marquis, military officer ;
after reaching the rank of colonel in the
French army was appointed (1685) gov-
ernor of Canada, with instructions to
** humble the pride of the Iroquois," who
were the friends of the English and had
rejected overtures from the French. He
took post at Fort Frontenac, on the site
of Kingston, Canada, and there prepared
ing from the west. Thence he pene-
trated to Ontario county, where he was
attacked by a party of Senecas in ambush,
but he repulsed his assailants. The next
day two old Seneca prisoners, after hav-
ing been confessed by the Jesuit priests,
were cooked and eaten by the savages and
the French. Withdrawing to a point in
Monroe county, De Nonville proceeded to
take possession of the whole Seneca
country (July, 1687) in the name of
King Louis, with pompous ceremonies.
After destroying all the stored corn (more
than 1,000,000 bushels), the growing
crops, cabins, and a vast number of swine
belonging to the natives whose country
he had invaded, De Nonville returned to
Irondequoit Bay and thence to Montreal.
An act of gross treachery committed by
him before he undertook the expedition,
in seizing deputies from those nations and
sending them to France, gave the death-
blow to Jesuit missions among the Five
Nations. Lamberville, a faithful mis-
sionary, barely escaped with his life,
through the generosity of the Ononda-
gas.
Dent, Frederick Tracy, military offi-
cer; born in White Haven, Mo., Dec. 17,
1820; graduated at the United States
for an expedition against a portion of the Military Academy in 1843; served in the
war with Mexico with marked distinction;
and later was prominent in frontier duty.
In 1863-64 he commanded a regiment in
New York City to suppress riots; in the
latter year he became a staff officer to
General Grant; and in 1865 was command-
ant of Richmond and of the garrison at
Washington. After the war he received
the brevets of brigadier-general in the
regular and volunteer armies; retired in
1883. He died in Denver, Col., Dec. 24,
1892.
Dent, John Herbert, naval officer;
born in Maryland in 1782; entered the
navy in 1798; served on the frigate Con-
stellation in 1799 when she captured the
French vessels Insurgente and La Ven-
geance. He had command of the Nautilus
and Scourge in Preble's squadron during
the war with Tripoli, and took part in
the assault on the city of Tripoli in
1804; and was promoted captain in 1811.
He died in St. Bartholomew's parish, Md.,
July 31, 1823.
Dentistry, Schools of. The develop-
Five Nations. He declared to his
sovereign that the Indians sustained
themselves only by the aid of the English,
who were " the chief promoters of the in-
solence and arrogance of the Iroquois."
He tried to indvice them to meet him in
council, to seduce them from the influence
of the English, and a few went to Fronte-
nac; but when Dongan heard of the de-
signs of the French he invited representa-
tives of the Five Nations to a council in
New York City. They came, and Dongan
told them the King of England would be
their " loving father," and conjured them
not to listen to the persuasions of the
French. Finally, in May, 1687, De Non-
ville was joined by 800 French regulars
from France, and soon afterwards he,
assembling more than 2,000 French regu-
lars, Canadians, and Indians, proceed-
ed, at their head, to attack the Sene-
cas. He coasted along the southern shores
of Lake Ontario to Irondequoit Bay, in
Monroe county, where he landed and was
joined by some French and Indians com-
82
DENTON— DEPENDENT CHILDREN
ment of the science of dentistry in the
United States is well attested by the num-
ber of institutions giving instruction
therein. For the most part these schools
are departments of the universities and
large colleges which are authorized to
grant degrees and diplomas. At the end
of the school year 1898 there were fifty
such departments or schools, having 961
professors and instructors, 6,774 students,
and graduating classes aggregating 1,849
students. In the ten years then ending
tlie number of schools had exactly doubled,
and the number of students showed an in-
crease of 327 per cent.
Denton, Daniel, author; in 1670 he
published in London A Brief Description
of New York, which in 1845 was repub-
lished with notes in New York. It is be-
lieved that this was the first printed Eng-
lish history of New Yorlc and New Jer-
sey.
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
Dependent Children, Care of. Henri- and the reduction to mechanical routine
etta Christian Wright, an American lady of all the ordinary offices of life, the child
who has taken an active interest in had become dulled in faculty, unthinking,
philanthropic work, and has been specially and dependent. In the institution, he had
interested in the condition of poor chil- been, during the formative period of his
dren deprived of their natural protectors, life, a " number," and he " ate, drank,
and whose education and training, there- studied, niarched, played and slept in
fore, have to be assumed by the com- companies, platoons, and regiments." A
munity, writes as follows: visitor to one institution found a class of
boys between eleven and thirteen years of
The history of the state care of children age who had never brushed their own hair,
the world over has been that of the work-
house or almshouse. In France, indeed,
boarding-out seems to have been applied
widely as early as 1450, when an ordi-
nance was passed regulating the salaries
the matron having found it easier to stand
them in rows and perform this service for
them than to teach each individual boy
how to do it for himself. Hundreds of
girls in their teens left the institution
of the nurses and agents employed in car- yearly who had never made a fire, placed
ing for pauper children in country homes, a tea-kettle to boil, or performed any of
Fosterage existed even earlier in England, the minor household duties so necessary
Avhere, in the reign of Edward III., an to their training as domestic servants. It
act was passed forbidding English chil- was, in fact, discovered that the child,
dren from being cared for by Irish foster who, at great expense to the state, had
parents, as it had been found that such been fed and taught for a long period of
care denationalized the children. Statis- years, was less capable of earning his
tics attest the evils of the workhouse and living than the youth who had grown up
the almshouse, where the children were *' half naked and half starved " in his
herded with adult paupers, unfitting them parents' cottage in the peat bogs of Ire-
for anything but lives of pauperism and land.
lowest crime. The pauper child, helpless and hopeless.
The efTorts of private individuals at last had made an appeal to nature, and nature
rescued the workhouse waifs, and placed had avenged him. In place of the promise^
them in institutions set apart for the care of youth and the ideals which were to
of children alone. Here the child was guarantee the security of the state, she
made cleanly in habit, and amenable to returned, for value received, the institu-
discipline, while ophthalmia, scrofula, and tionalized youth, a drag upon society, and,
other diseases inherent in institution life in the end, an added burden to the tax-
showed some signs of abatement. But
when the child left the institution, it was
found that he still lacked in the great es-
sential to success — capacity. From the sys-
tem of constant espionage and guidance,
payer. Grave as were these defects, there
was added the still graver one that in-
stitutions increased juvenile pauperism.
Wherever a new institution arose, there
sprang up, as if from the ground, hun-
83
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
dreds of applicants for admission. The sent themselves and their wards at the
idle and vicious parents eagerly took ad- annual meetings of the society, the so-
vantage of the means thus offered for the ciety paying the travelling expenses. It
support of their children during the non- was found that the cost under the board-
wage-earning period; and, with every ing-out system was one-third per capita
new gift of a costly edifice, the state of that expended in institutions, while
found itself putting a premium upon the the rate of mortality was under 1 per
poverty it was vainly endeavoring to cent. In 1859, thirty-one years after the
stamp out. establishment of the society, the death
In the mean time a remedy for the evil rate of the children in a single work-
had already arisen. In 1828, an educa- house in Cork was 80 per cent, in one
tion inquiry commission, reporting upon year, while nearly all the survivors were
the condition of the Protestant charter aifiicted with scrofula. These horrors
schools of Ireland, found so discredit- were exceeded by the revelations of the
able a state of things that the schools Dublin workhouse, which so excited popu-
were abolished, no provision being made, lar indignation that an act was passed
meanwhile, for the orphans of that faith, in 1862 authorizing the boarding-out of
Not long afterwards, three Protestant workhouse children.
Irish workingmen, considering it their That the problem of the state care of
duty to care for the children of a com- children was solved by the incorporation
rade who had just died, started a sub- of the Protestant Orphan Society of Ire-
scription of a penny a week, and, with land is proved by the subsequent history
the sum of threepence as capital, founded of dependent child-life in nearly every
a refuge for the children among some re- civilized quarter of the globe. In places
spectable laboring people of their own widely separated by geographical limits,
faith. as well as by the differences of race and
On the ruins of the charter schools creed, the state care of children is evolv-
arose, from the act of these workingmen, ing from institutionalism to the natural
the Protestant Orphan Society of Ireland, conditions of home life. England, Ire-
which has been the parent of the modern land, Russia, Italy, Scotland, Germany,
system of boarding - out the dependent Switzerland, and other European coun-
children of the state. The methods of tries have their several modifications of
this society have been sustained, in the the boarding-out system, attributable to
main, by succeeding organizations. The the varying conditions of social life, but
orphans were placed, as far as possible, conforming in the main to the leading
in the families of small farmers, or features of the original plan. And al-
laborers, whose station in life corre- though no one of these countries is yet
sponded to their own. In every case, the freed entirely from the bane of institu-
children were given into the charge of tionalism, yet year by year fosterage
the mother of the family, who was made is becoming more popular, as its benefi-
directly responsible for their care. A cent effects become more and more widely
certificate of character was required from known. In Belgium, so thoroughly rec-
the parish priest and the nearest magis- ognized is the value of home training
trate, attesting to her " morality and for future citizens, that all boys under
sobriety, to the suitability of her house the care of the state are boarded out.
and family, and the possession of one or though the girls are in many cases still
more cows," while it was also stipulated retained in institutions. In some of the
that she receive no children from the departments of France, the system of
foundling hospital or any other chari- fosterage has arrived at the precision
table institution. The homes were visited of a military organization. Here the
by inspectors, whose reports contained child, who would otherwise be placed
the history of every child while u/ider the in a foundling or orphan asylum, is en-
care of the society. The Protestant rolled at birth as an enfant de la patrie,
clergyman of each district was also a and, whenever possible, is placed at once
regular correspondent of the society, and in a foster-home in the country. There
the foster-mothers were required to pre- his physical and moral welfare and his
84
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
odiication are watched over by the agent
de surveillance, in whose quarterly reports
is recorded the history of the child until
his twelfth year. He is then eligible for
apprenticeship, and he receives from the
state a certain sum of money for an out-
fit. But, in nearly all cases, the affec-
tion between the' child and its foster-
parents has become by this time so strong
that he is either adopted legally or re-
tained in the family as an apprentice,
the money that he earns being placed in
the savings-bank, in order that he may
liave a little capital to begin the world
with on reaching his majority.
Australia has, perhaps, the most perfect
system of boarding-out yet evolved. As
early as 1852 the first legislature of
South Australia decreed that no public
money should be given to denominational
schools, whether educational or charitable.
Twenty-five years ago the state began
boarding-out its dependent children; the
saving to the government, as well as the
rapid decrease in the juvenile pauper class,
at once made the new departure accept-
able, though the law compelling children
to attend school throughout tlie entire
year increased the expense of fosterage in
Australia beyond that in European coun-
tries.
The American poorhouse, from the first
fell into line with the English workhouse
in its influence as a breeder of crime and
pauperism. The poorhouse child came
either from the directly vicious class, or
from those " waterlogged " families with
whom pauperism was hereditary, and, as a
rule, he left his early home but to return
to it in later life. The enactment of each
new law to mitigate the evils of the alms-
house only made the idle and vicious
parent more eager to accept the advan-
tages thus offered to his offspring, and
pauperism increased out of all proportion
to the growth of the country.
Outside the almshouse there was a con-
dition even worse. All over the country,
and especially in cities, there arose a class
of children who anticipated in character
the adult tramp of to-day. These were
in many cases runaways, to whom the
restraints of the almshouse were irksome,
and they also formed the larger propor-
tion of juvenile criminals. Tn 1848 there
were, in New York City alone, 30,000 such
waifs, known as " street children," who
had no homes, who begged and stole their
food, who slept in the streets, assisted
professional criminals in their nefarious
practices, and in time were graduated into
the ranks of the adult criminal. This
menace to society, undreamed of by the
more orderly class, was made officially
public by the report of the superintendent
of police, and out of the exigency arose, in
1853, the New York Children's Aid So-
ciety, whose president, Charles Loring
Brace, grasped with the intuition of genius
the true solution of the problem of child-
saving. When Mr. Brace asked the chief
of police to confer with him in regard to
means for saving these children, the chief
replied that the attempt would be use-
less. Nevertheless Mr. Brace began his
work ; and, knowing that this wreckage
of civilization could be saved only by a
return to nature, he at once began
placing the wards of the society in
homes in the East and West. In
1854 the first company of forty-six
children left the office of the society,
the greater number to find homes in
Michigan and Iowa. Within the sec-
ond year the society had placed nearly
800 children in homes in the Eastern and
Western States. The society has contin-
ued its work on the same lines, and
through its efforts thousands of men and
women have been saved from lives of
pauperism and crime. The reports of the
society, which has always kept in touch
with its wards, show how fully the faith
of its founders has been justified, and how
they builded even better than they knew.
From out this army of waifs, rescued from
the gutter and the prison, there have
come the editor, the judge, the bank presi-
dent, the governor, while thousands of
simpler careers attest the beneficence of
this noble charity. There is small reason
to doubt that, if the guardianship of the
entire dependent children of the State had
been given over to the Children's Aid So-
ciety, the question of juvenile pauperism
and crime would long since have been
solved. But this was not to be, and alms-
houses and institutions still retained the
greater number of children committed to
their care. The evil was greatly aug-
mented by the passage of the now cele-
brated " children's law " in 1875, which
85
DEPENDENT CHILDBEN, CARE OF
contained a clause providing that all chil- before the passage of the " children's
dren committed to institutions should be law," showed that only 8 per cent, of the
placed in those controlled by persons of total had been in institutions over five
the same religious faith as the parents of years. An equally striking fact is that,
the children. Mrs. Charles Russell Low- since the passage of the " children's
ell says: "The direct effect of this pro- law," the number of children placed in
vision is found in the establishment of families by institutions has greatly de-
nine Roman Catholic and two Hebrew in- creased. In 1875, out of 14,773 children
stitutions to receive committed children, in institutions, there were 823 placed in
all except three having between 300 and families. In 1884, out of 33,558 children
1,300 inmates each." in institutions, there were only 1,370
Within twenty years after this law placed in families. While the population
passed the number of inmates in the of the State of New York increased but
twenty-seven institutions benefited direct- 38 per cent, during the first seventeen
ly by it increased from 9,000 to 16,000. years after the passage of the law, the
In 1889, of the 20,384 children cared for number of children in institutions in-
in the city institutions, only 1,776 were creased 96 per cent.
orphans and 4,987 half-orphans. The re- In New York City a report of 1894
maining 13,621 had been committed by shows the distribution of its 15,331 de-
magistrates, many on the request of par- pendent children as follows: 1,975 in
ents, or had been brought by parents Hebrew institutions, 2,789 in Protestant
voluntarily to the institution. In Kings institutions, 10,567 in Roman Catholic
county alone, five years after the passage institutions. This did not include the
of the " children's law," the number of blind, deaf, feeble-minded, and delinquent
dependent children increased from 300 to children who are cared for in special in-
1,479, most of the commitments being stitutions.
made by parents anxious to be relieved As opposed to its institutions, the State
of the care of their children until the has, in several of its counties, adopted to
wage-earning period was reached. An- some degree the more natural method of
other objectionable feature arose from the child-saving,with marked results. Alarmed
greater length of time that children have at the increasing expense of its juvenile
been retained in institutions since the institutions, Erie county in 1879 began
passage of the law. With a direct per to take measures for boarding-out its de-
capita income from the State, the institu- pendent children, and through the me-
tions have not been able to withstand the diumship of the newspapers the agent
temptation to keep their charges as long placed the needs of the county before the
as possible. The reports of the comp- people. He also interested clergymen and
troller's office for October, 1894, showed editors in the project. Advertising cards,
that 1,935 children in institutions had with pictures of the children, were sent
been inmates over five years; fifty-five of out, and this vigorous canvass resulted in
these were in Protestant institutions, 268 speedy applications for the children, who
in Hebrew institutions, and 1,612 in Roman were sent to good country homes by the
Catholic institutions. The same year show- score. The agent always impressed upon
ed an average of 567 children in institu- the foster-parents the fact that the child
tions between thirteen and fourteen years was still the ward of the county, which
of age, 444 between fourteen and fifteen, expected them to co-operate with it in
and 247 between fifteen and sixteen years training him to a life of usefulness. The
of age. One institution in 1892 had wards chief opposition came from the institu-
twenty-two years old, and was " caring tions, which in many cases refused to let
for " 129 youths over seventeen years of the children go. But the board of super-
age. In 1894 it was found that 23 per visors met this obstacle by reducing the
cent, of the dependent children of New per capita price of board, and by passing
York City had been in institutions at pub- a resolution declaring that, if any child
lie cost over periods ranging from five was refused to the county's agent, the
to fourteen years. A report of the State superintendent of the poor would at once
board of charities for 1873, three years stop payment for his board. This opened
86
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
the doors of the institutions, and Erie as fast as the general population. When
county, which in 1879 was paying $48,000
yearly for the support of its dependent
children, had by 1892 decreased its ex-
penses two-thirds, though the population
had increased one-third. Monroe, West-
chester, and Orange counties also placed
out their children to some extent.
When the revised constitution went into
ofTect there were 15,000 children, or more,
in institutions in New York City, costing
the city over $1,500,000 yearly. The in-
New York City had a population of
1,750,000, it supported over 15,000 chil-
dren in institutions, or one dependent child
to every 117 of population. The number of
dependent children in Philadelphia in
1894 was one to every 1,979 of its popula-
tion. This difference arises from the fact
tliat Philadelphia had ceased to be an
institutionalized city, and boarded or
placed out nearly all its dependent chil-
dren, the Philadelphia Children's Aid So-
stitutions througliout the State received ciety being the agent employed. Nearly
about $2,500,000 yearly for the support of every county poor-board also takes advan-
their charges. The revised constitution tage of its aid to place its dependent
gave the State board of charities juris- children, as far as possible, in its care,
diction over all the charities in the State, During the thirteen years of its exist-
whether public or private, and a law was ence the Children's Aid Society had re-
enacted by the legislature putting the ceived about 6,004 children from the vari-
placing-out of children into the hands of ous almshouses, poor-boards, and courts,
this board. Under this law, during the and placed them in homes in the country,
years 1896 and 1897, 1,500 children were It has the names of over 700 families
placed in homes in the rural communities.
The number of children in institutions
was further decreased by the action of the
State Charities Aid Association in ap-
pointing examiners to investigate the
whose respectability and fitness are
vouched for, the society's agents having
visited and ascertained by personal in-
vestigation their status in the commu-
nity. Most of these families are at a dis-
status of the children already in institu- tance of at least 100 miles from any large
tions, or for whom application had been city, it being deemed best, in case of de-
made. The official report of the examin- linquent children especially, to bring
ers for 1896 and 1897 shows that, out of them up amid strictly rural surroundings.
26,561 investigations, 7,303 cases were dis- The attitude of the society towards its
approved, though the children in many
cases had been in the institutions for
years.
Boys of twelve, thirteen, fifteen, six-
teen, and seventeen years of age were
found, whose families were amply able
to provide for them, but who had been
supported by the State for periods rang-
ing from six to nine years. One girl of
sixteen was found who had spent twelve
years of her life in institutions, being left
at the critical age without home ties or
interests, and with an utter lack of train-
ing in ordinary domestic affairs. The
monthly reports from the comptroller's
office show a pecuniary saving from the
decrease of dependent children, while the
moral gains through the return of these
children to the normal ways of life is,
of course, incalculable. Hitherto the
charges is that " its duty to the child is
not one of mere support, but one of
preparation for life," and that the sole
question arising in the mind of the ob-
server of city-institution life should be,
" Is the precise thing which I am looking
at the very best thing that can be pro-
vided, in order that the child may have
the same reliance which makes the coun-
try boy, on the whole, the best wage-
earner that the city ever sees?"
The society possesses thousands of rec-
ords attesting the happiness and well-
being of its wards, and the imwritten
records obtained through personal visits
from its agents are more satisfactory
still. The agent finds the little sickly
two-year-old, whom she left a few months
before hardly expecting to see it alive
again, well nourished and radiant with
State of New Y^ork has paid two-fifths of returning vitality, surrounded by toys,
all the money spent in the United States dressed in clean clothing, the care and
for the care of dependent children, while the pet of the whole family. One baby,
child pauperism has increased three times left at the age of eleven months unable
87
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
to hold up its head or sit alone, had been
restored to perfect health. The foster-
mother here had expressed a preference
for a " real smart baby," one that she
could show off to her neighbors. But, as
she bent over this tiny sufferer, his little,
thin face made its undeniable appeal, and
she said, as she cried over him, that
'•' somebody vi^ould have to keep him, and
she calculated she could do it as well
as any one else." The agent carries away
innumerable mental pictures of these
little waifs who have found home and
health in the beautiful hill country of
Pennsylvania. She sees the children on
the benches of the village school, or shar-
ing the innocent pleasures of childhood in
wood and meadow. She finds them in the
barn or field with the foster-father, pick-
ing up useful knowledge, learning ways
of industry and honest living, and, above
all, sharing the interest of the family as
if he were to the manor born. Very
often these boarded-out children step
into a place left vacant by death, and
often they bring to a childless home the
first knowledge of the privileges and bless-
ings that come with children. The so-
ciety has innumerable photographs show-
ing the children in their comfortable
homes, studying in the cosey sitting-
rooms, playing games with the farmer's
older boys, or with the farmer himself,
and sharing, in fact, in all the simple and
sv;eet scenes of family life.
A most careful method of supervision
is enforced by the society, not only
through frequent visits of its agents, but
through numerous reports made by the
physicians, school - teachers, and other
reliable and interested persons. Ques-
tion blanks are sent for these reports,
which are filed and make a full record of
the child's history while under the care
of the society. As far as possible, the
children are boarded in families of the
same religion as that of their parents.
In order not to create a class distinction,
the society does not allow the boarded-out
children of a village or farming district
ever to exceed 2 or 3 per cent, of the
child population.
Massachusetts, with a population to
the square mile exceeding that of New
York, and in which the artificial condi-
tions of living are practically the same.
has no dependent children, technically
speaking, in institutions supported by tht
State. Largely affected by the problem
of immigration, and under the strain pro-
duced by great centres of population en-
gaged in mill and factory work, and so
removed from the more healthful in-
fluences of smaller village and country
life, this State has yet so successfully
solved the problem of juvenile pauperism
that, out of a population of 2,500,000, it
has only 2,852 wards to support. The
State has a nursery at Roxbury, where
destitute infants are cared for while re-
quiring medical or surgical treatment,
and where children boarded out are
brought for treatment when necessary.
The nursery is a temporary home only in
the strictest sense of the word, boarding-
out being the end in view. There is also
a temporary boarding-place at Arlington,
and a home for wayward boys. The
State has two industrial schools, the Ly-
man School for Boys, and the State In-
dustrial School for Girls. There are
also two reform schools. With these
exceptions, the dependent children of
Massachusetts are placed or boarded
out.
In 1889 California paid $231,215 for
the support of 36,000 children in
asylums, while Michigan, with double the
population of California, paid only $35,-
000 for the support of 230 children. In
1893, California, still working under the
old system, paid $250,000 for the support
of 40,000 children in institutions, while
Minnesota, with a population about equal
to California, supported only 169 depend-
ent children in its State public schools,
the remainder being placed or boarded
out.
There are, in all, perhaps eight or nine
States in the Union in which boarding-
out and placing-out are carried on in
greater or less degree, these systems af-
fecting about three-tenths of the depend-
ent children in the country. The remain-
ing seven-tenths, numbering more than
70,000, are still in institvitions.
The United States is an institutional-
ized land, and the great republic, which
boasts of freedom and equality, still re-
gards her dependent children as aliens
and brands them with the stigma ot
pauperism.
88
DEPENDENT CHILDREN, CARE OF
The evolutionist sees the earliest mani- posited in the letter-boxes were delivered?
festation of altruism in that primary in-
stinct, found even in the lowest forms
of plant life, to protect the young in
the seed and bud — the instinct of mother-
hood. Upon this eternal principle of life
the problem of child-saving must rest.
There is no one so morally fit to rear an
unfortunate child as the mother of a re-
spectable family, whose experience with
her own brood has taught her the needs
and demands of childhood. Nowhere else
is so abundantly manifested that trust in
the " larger hope," as in the patience that
waits upon motherhood. To this patience
and this hope the State may well com-
mit the welfare of its most unfortunate
class. For, although the institution life
of to-day is not accompanied by all the
horrors that once disfigured it, yet sore
eyes, diseased bodies, and a high death
rate still prevail. According to the official
report of 1897 the death rate at the In-
fants' Asylum on Randall's Island was,
for foundlings, 80 per cent.; for other
children without their mothers, 59 per
cent.; children with their mothers, 13 per
cent. Out of 366 children under six
months of age, admitted without their
mothers in 1896, only twelve lived, the
remainder dying between five and six
weeks after admission to the asylum. In-
stitutionalism is an artificial system, with
the stigma of failure attaching to it, in-
asmuch as its presence always indicates
an increase of the very evil it was origi-
nally meant to combat. Without admit-
ting as truth the statement, made by some
experts, that all institution-bred children
turn out either knaves or fools, sufficient
testimony may be found to force home
the startling argument that, of the 100,-
000 children cared for by the State to-
day, there is grave danger that the seven-
tenths who are in institutions will carry
through life the brand of a system which
has handicapped them in the race for
success.
Mr. Homer Folks, secretary of the State
Charities Aid Association of New York,
in speaking of child-saving, says: "Would
the directors of a bank be satisfied with
knowing that most of its funds were not
stolen? Would the working of the pos-
tal department be considered satisfactory
if simply a majority of the letters de-
Would the community rest contented iii
the satisfaction that a large majority of
its citizens were not unjustly thrown into
prison? Would a father be satisfied to
know that five of his six children were
not actually suffering from hunger and
cold?" And this is the principle upon
which child-savers must act. The insti-
tution may save the child up to a certain
point. But we want him saved for all
time. Only the abandonment of the cost-
ly institutions — the expensive buildings
might with profit in New York City be
turned into public schools — and an ac-
ceptance of the method which experience
has so far shown to be the best, can solve
the question of pauperism in the United
States with success.
The boarding-out system is another ex-
ample of the truth of the adage that
" mercy is twice blessed." The love and
care of the foster-parents are in large
measure repaid by their charges, who yield
them in old age that affectionate pro-
tection which is the privilege of children.
\Vnien at service, they save their wages
and deny themselves little luxuries, that
they may help their foster-parents. They
come back to their former homes to be
married; and, in case of a family, if
either parent dies, the survivor brings the
children to the foster-mother to be cared
for. Joy and sorrow are shared together,
and, when attacked by fatal sickness, it
is to the foster-home that the child re-
turns to die.
Nature, the wise teacher, has sealed her
approval of fosterage by forging that
mysterious tie which binds parent and
child, which no absence may sunder and
v/hich remains unbroken even in death.
Boarding-out has paid in every sense. Out
of the class in which pauperism was
hereditary — sometimes three or four gen-
erations of the same family being paupers
— it has created a respectable working
class, at a cost in dollars and cents far be-
low the cost of institution life. Over the
neglected and despised pauper child it has
extended the a^gis of the State, making
the least of these little ones understand
that, though deprived of love and home by
fate, he has still a mother-land whose care
will guard him lovingly and whose honol
must be his sacred ideal.
89
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
Depew, tiiAUNCEY Mitchell, capital- the following oration at the centennial of
ist; born in Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, Washington's inauguration as first Presi-
1834; graduated at Yale University in dent of the United States, in New York
1856; studied law and was admitted to City:
the bar in 1858; member of New York
Assembly in 1861-62; secretary of state We celebrate to-day the centenary of
of New York in 1863. He became attorney our nationality. One hundred years ago
for the New York and Harlem River Rail-
road in 1866, and for the New York Cen-
the United States began their existence.
The powers of government were assumed
by the people of the republic, and they
became the sole source of authority. The
solemn ceremonial of the first inaugura-
tion, the reverent oath of Washington, the
acclaim of the multitude greeting their
President, marked the most unique event
of modern times in the development of free
institutions. The occasion was not an
accident, but a result. It was the culmina-
tion of the working out by mighty forces
through many centuries of the problem of
self-government. It was not the triumph
of a system, the application of a theory,
or the reduction to practice of the ab-
stractions of philosophy. The time, the
country, the heredity and environment of
the people, the folly of its enemies, and
the noble courage of its friends, gave to
liberty, after ages of defeat, of trial, of
experiment, of partial success and sub-
stantial gains, this immortal victory.
Henceforth it had a refuge and recruiting
station. The oppressed found free homes
in this favored land, and invisible armies
marched from it by mail and telegraph,
tral and Hudson River Railroad in 1869. by speech and song, by precept and ex-
He was second vice-president of the last ample, to regenerate the world,
mentioned road in 1885-98, and also presi- Puritans in New England, Dutchmen in
dent of the West Shore Railroad until New York, Catholics in Maryland, Hugue-
1898, when he became chairman of the nots in South Carolina, had felt the fires
board of directors of the New York Cen- of persecution and were wedded to re-
tral and Hudson River, the Lake Shore ligious liberty. They had been purified
and Michigan Southern, the Michigan in the furnace, and in high debate and on
Central, and the New York, Chicago, and bloody battle-fields had learned to sacri-
St. Louis railroads. In 1885 he refused to fice all material interests and to peril
be a candidate for the United States Sen- their lives for human rights. The prin-
ate, and also declined the office of United ciples of constitutional government had
States Secretary of State, offered by Presi- been impressed upon them by hundreds of
dent Benjamin Harrison. In 1888 he was years of struggle, and for each principle
a prominent candidate for the Presidential they could point to the grave of an an-
nomination in the National Republican cestor whose death attested the ferocity
Convention, and in 1899 was elected of the fight and the value of the conces-
United States Senator from New York, sion wrung from arbitrary power. They
He is widely known as an orator and knew the limitations of authority, they
after-dinner speaker. could pledge their lives and fortunes to
Washington Centennial Oration. — On resist encroachments upon their rights,
April 30, 1889, Senator Depew delivered but it required the lesson of Indian massa-
90
CHAUNCEY MITCHEI.L DEPEW.
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
eres, the invasion of the armies of France
from Canada, the tyranny of the British
crown, the seven years' war of Revolu-
tion, and the five years of chaos of the
Confederation to evolve the idea upon
which rest the power and permanency of
the republic, that liberty and union are
one and inseparable.
The traditions and experience of the
colonists had made them alert to discover
and quick to resist any peril to their lib-
erties. Above all things, they feared and
distrusted power. The town-meetings
and the colonial legislature gave them
confidence in themselves, and courage to
check the royal governors. Their inter-
ests, hopes, and aff"ections were in their
several commonwealths, and each blow by
the British ministry at their freedom,
each attack upon their rights as English-
men, weakened their love for the mother-
land, and intensified their hostility to
the crown. But the same causes which
broke down their allegiance to the central
government increased their confidence in
their respective colonies, and their faith
in liberty wa§ largely dependent upon the
maintenance of the sovereignty of their
several States. The farmers' shot at Lex-
ington echoed round the world, the spirit
which it awakened from its slumbers
could do and dare and die, but it had not
yet discovered the secret of the perma-
nence and progress of free institutions.
Patrick Henry thundered in the Virginia
convention ; James Otis spoke with trump-
et tongue and fervid eloquence for united
action in Massachusetts; Hamilton, Jay,
and Clinton pledged New York to respond
with men and money for the common
cause; but their vision only saw a league
of independent colonies. The veil was not
yet drawn from before the vista of popu-
lation and power, of empire and liberty,
which would open with national union.
The Continental Congress partially
grasped, but completely expressed, the
central idea of the American republic.
More fully than any other body which
ever assembled did it represent the victo-
ries won from arbitrary power for human
rights. In the New World it was tlie con-
servator of liberties secured through cen-
turies of struggle in the Old. Among the
delegates were the descendants of the men
who had stood in that brilliant array
upon the field of Runnymede, which
wrested from King John Magna Charta,
that great charter of liberty, to which
Hallam, in the nineteenth century, bears
witness " that all which had been since
obtained is little more than as confirma-
tion or commentary." There were the
grandchildren of the statesmen who had
summoned Charles before Parliament and
compelled his assent to the Petition of
Rights, which transferred power from the
crown to the commons, and gave repre-
sentative government to the English-
speaking race. And there were those who
had sprung from the iron soldiers who
had fought and charged with Cromwell at
Naseby and Dunbar and Marston Moor.
Among its members were Huguenots,
whose fathers had followed the white
plume of Henry of Navarre and in an age
of bigotry, intolerance, and the deification
of absolutism had secured the great edict
of religious liberty from French despot-
ism; and who had become a people with-
out a country, rather than surrender their
convictions and forswear their consciences.
In this Congress were those whose ances-
tors were the countrymen of William of
Orange, the Beggars of the Sea, who had
survived the cruelties of Alva, and broken
the proud yoke of Philip of Spain, and
who had two centuries before made a
declaration of independence and formed
a federal union which were models of
freedom and strength.
These men were not revolutionists,
They were the heirs and the guardians of
the priceless treasures of mankind. The
British King and his ministers were the
revolutionists. They were reactionaries,
seeking arbitrarily to turn back the hands
upon the dial of time. A year of doubt
and debate, the baptism of blood upon bat-
tle-fields, where soldiers from every colony
fought, under a common standard, and
consolidated the Continental arm.y, grad-
ually lifted the soul and understanding of
this immortal Congress to the sublime
declaration : " We, therefore, the repre-
sentatives of the United States of Amer-
ica, in general Congress assembled, appeal-
ing to the Supreme Judge of the World
for the rectitude of our intentions, do,
in the name and by the authority of the
good people of these colonies, solemnly
publish and declare that these united
91
DEPEW, CHAUWCEY MITCHELL
colonies are, and of right ouglit to be,
free and independent States."
To this declaration John Hancock, pro-
scribed and threatened with death, affixed
a signature which stood for a century like
the pointers to the north star in the fir-
mament of freedom; and Charles Carroll,
taunted that among many Carrolls, he,
the richest man in America, might escape,
added description and identification with
'• of Carrollton." Benjamin Harrison, a
delegate from Virginia, the ancestor of
the distinguished statesman and soldier
who to-day so worthily fills the chair of
Washington, voiced the unalterable de-
termination and defiance of the Congress.
He seized John Hancock, upon whose head
a price was set, in his arms, and placing
him in the Presidential chair, said: "We
will show Mother Britain how little we
care for her by making our President a
Massachusetts man, whom she has excluded
from pardon by public proclamation " ;
and when they were signing the declara-
tion, and the slender Elbridge Gerry ut-
tered the grim pleasantry, " We must hang
together or surely we will hang separate-
ly," the portly Harrison responded with
a more daring humor, " It will be all over
■ with me in a moment, but you will be
kicking in the air half an hour after I
am gone." Thus flashed athwart the
great charter, which was to be for the
signers a death-warrant or a diploma of
immortality, as with firm hand, high pur-
pose and undaunted resolution, they sub-
scribed their names, this mockery of fear
and the penalties of treason.
The grand central idea of the Declara-
tion of Independence was the sovereignty
of the people. It relied for original power,
not upon States or colonies, or their citi-
zens as such, but recognized as the au-
thority for nationality the revolutionary
rights of the people of the United States.
It stated with marvellous clearness the
encroachments upon liberties which
threatened their suppression and justified
revolt, but it was inspired by the very
genius of freedom, and the prophetic pos-
sibilities of united commonwealths cover-
ing the continent in one harmonious re-
public, when it made the people of the
thirteen colonies all Americans and de-
volved upon them to administer by them-
selves, and for themselves, the preroga-
tives and powers wrested from crown and
parliament. It condensed Magna Charta,
the Petition of Rights, the great body of
English liberties embodied in the common
law and accumulated in the decisions of
the courts, the statutes of the realm, and
an undisputed though unwritten constitu-
tion; but this original principle and dy-
namic force of the people's power sprang
from these old seeds planted in the virgin
soil of the New World.
More clearly than any statesman of the
period did Thomas Jefferson grasp and
divine the possibilities of popular govern-
ment. He caught and crystallized the
spirit of free institutions. His philosophi-
cal mind was singularly free from the
power of precedents or the chains of preju-
dice. He had an unquestioning and abid-
ing faith in the people, which was ac-
cepted by but few of his compatriots.
Upon his famous axiom, of the equality
of all men before the law, he constructed
his system. It was the trip-hammer es-
sential for the emergency to break the
links binding the colonies to imperial au-
thority, and to pulverize the privileges
of caste. It inspired him to write the
Declaration of Independence,, and per-
suaded him to doubt the wisdom of
the powers concentrated in the Con-
stitution. In his passionate love of
liberty he became intensely jealous of au-
thority. He destroyed the substance
of royal prerogative, but never emerged
from its shadow. He would have the
States as the guardians of popular rights,
and the barriers against centralization,
and he saw in the growing power of the
nation ever - increasing encroachments
upon the rights of the people. For the
success of the pure democracy which must
precede presidents and cabinets and con-
gresses, it was, perhaps, providential that
its apostle never believed a great people
could grant and still retain, could give
and at will reclaim, could delegate and
jet firmly hold the authority which ulti-
mately created the power of their re-
public and enlarged the scope of their
own liberty.
Where this master-mind halted, all
stood still. The necessity for a permanent
union was apparent, but each State must
have hold upon the bowstring which en-
circled its throat. It was admitted that
92
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
union gave the machinery required suc-
cessfully to fight the common enemy, but
yet there was fear that it might become
a Frankenstein and destroy its creators.
Thus patriotism and fear, difficulties of
communication between distant com-
munities, and the intense growth of
provincial pride and interests, led this
Congress to frame the Articles of Con-
federation, happily termed the League of
Friendship. The result was not a govern-
ment, but a ghost. By this scheme the
American people were ignored and the
Declaration of Independence reversed. The
States, by their legislatures, elected dele-
gates to Congress, and the delegate rep-
resented the sovereignty of his common-
wealth. All the States had an equal
voice without regard to their size or popu-
lation. It required the vote of nine States
to pass any bill, and five could block the
wheels of government. Congress had none
of the powers essential to sovereignty. It
could neither levy taxes nor impose duties
nor collect excise. For the support of
the army and navy, for the purposes of
war, for the preservation of its own func-
tions, it could only call upon the States,
but it possessed no power to enforce its
demands. It had no president or executive
authority, no supreme court with gen-
eral jurisdiction, and no national power.
Each of the thirteen States had seaports
and levied discriminating duties against
the others, and could also tax and thus
prohibit interstate commerce across its
territory. Had the Confederation been a
union instead of a league, it could have
raised and equipped three times the num-
ber of men contributed by reluctant States,
and conquered independence without for-
eign assistance. This paralyzed govern-
ment, without strength, because it could
not enforce its decrees ; without credit,
because it could pledge nothing for the
payment of its debts ; without respect,
because without inherent authority;
would, by its feeble life and early death,
have added another to the historic trag-
edies which have in many lands marked
the suppression of freedom, had it not
been saved by the intelligent, inherited,
and invincible vmderstanding of liberty
by the people, and the genius and pa-
triotism of their leaders.
But while the perils of war had given
temporary strength to the Confederation;
peace developed this fatal weakness. It
derived no authority from the people, and
could not appeal to them. Anarchy
threatened its existence at home, and con-
tempt met its representatives abroad.
" Can you fulfil or enforce the obliga-
tions of the treaty on your part if we
sign one •^'ith you?" was the sneer of the
courts of the Old World to our ambassa-
dors. Some States gave a half-hearted
support to its demands; others defied
them. The loss of public credit was
speedily followed by universal bankruptcy.
The wildest fantasies assumed the force
of serious measures for the relief of the
general distress. States passed exclusive
and hostile laws against each other, and
riot and disorder threatened the disin-
tegration of society. " Our stock is stolen,
our houses are plundered, our farms are
raided," cried a delegate in the Massa-
chusetts Convention ; " despotism is better
than anarchy!" To raise $4,000,000 a
year was beyond the resources of the gov-
ernment, and $300,000 was the limit of the
loan it could secure from the money-lend-
ers of Europe. Even Washington ex-
claimed in despair: "I see one head
gradually changing into thirteen ; I see
one army gradually branching into thir-
teen; which, instead of looking up to Con-
gress as the supreme controlling power,
are considering themselves as depending
on their respective States." And later,
when independence had been won, the
impotency of the government wrung from
him the exclamation : " After gloriously
and successfully contending against the
usurpation of Great Britain, we may fall
a prey to ovir own folly and disputes."
But even through this Cimmerian dark-
ness shot a flame which illuminated the
coming century and kept bright the beacon
fires of liberty. The architects of constitu-
tional freedom formed their institutions
with wisdom which forecasted the future.
They may not have understood at first the
whole truth, but, for that which they
knew, they had the martyrs' spirit and the
crusaders' enthusiasm. Though the Con-
federation was a government of checks
without balances, and of purpose without
power, the statesmen who guided it
demonstrated often the resistless force of
great souls animated by the purest pa-
93
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
iriotisin, and united in judgment and
effort to promote the common good, by
lofty appeals and high reasoning, to ele-
vate the masses above local greed and
apparent self-interest to their own broad
plane.
The most significant triumph of these
moral and intellectual forces was that
which secured the assent of the States to
the limitation of their boundaries, to the
grant of the wilderness beyond them to
the general government, and to the in-
sertion in the ordinance erecting the
Northwest Territories, of the immortal
proviso prohibiting " slavery or invol-
untary servitude" within all that broad
domain. The States carved out of this
splendid concession were not sovereign-
ties which had successfully rebelled, but
they were the children of the Union, born
of the covenant and thrilled with its life
and liberty. They became the bulwarks
of nationality and the buttresses of free-
dom. Their preponderating strength first
checked and then broke the slave power,
their fervid loyalty halted and held at
bay the spirit of State rights and seces-
sion for generations ; and when the crisis
came, it was with their overwhelming as-
sistance that the nation killed and buried
its enemy. The corner-stone of the edifice
whose centenary we are celebrating was
the ordinance of 1787. It was constructed
by the feeblest of Congresses, but few en-
actments of ancient or modern times have
had more far-reaching or beneficial in-
fluence. It is one of the sublimest para-
doxes of history that this weak confed-
eration of States should have welded the
chain against which, after seventy-four
years of fretful efl'orts for release, its
own spirit frantically dashed and died.
The government of the republic by a
Congress of States, a diplomatic con-
vention of the ambassadors of petty com-
monwealths, after seven years' trial was
falling asunder. Threatened with civil
war among its members, insurrection and
lawlessness rife within the States, foreign
eommerce ruined and internal trade para-
lyzed, its currency worthless, its mer-
chants bankrupt, its farms mortgaged, its
markets closed, its labor unemployed, it
was like a helpless wreck upon the ocean,
tossed about by the tides and ready to be
engulfed by the storm. Washington gave
the warning and called for action. It was
a voice accustomed to command, but now
entreating. The veterans of the war and
the statesmen of the Revolution stepped
to the front. The patriotism which had
been misled, but had never faltered, rose
above its interests of States and the
jealousies of jarring confederates to find
the basis for union. " It is clear to
me as A B C," said Washington, " that
an extension of federal powers would
make us one of the most happy, wealthy,
respectable, and powerful nations that
ever inhabited the terrestrial globe. With-
out them we should soon be everything
which is the direct reverse. I predict the
worst consequences from a half-starved,
limping government, always moving upon
crutches, and tottering at every step."
The response of the country was the con-
vention of 1787, at Philadelphia. The
Declaration of Independence was but the
vestibule of the temple which this illustri-
ous assembly erected. With no successful
precedents to guide, it auspiciously
worked out the problem of constitutional
government, and of imperial power and
home rule, supplementing each other in
promoting the grandeur of the nation and
preserving the liberty of the individual.
The deliberations of great councils have
vitally affected, at different periods, the
history of the world and the fate of em-
pires, but this congress builded, upon
popular sovereignty, institutions broad
enough to embrace the continent, and
elastic enough to fit all conditions of race
and traditions. The experience of a hun-
dred years has demonstrated for us the
perfection of the work, for defence against
foreign foes and for self-preservation
against domestic insurrections, for limit-
less expansion in population and material
development, and for steady growth in
intellectual freedom and force. Its con-
tinuing influence upon the welfare and
destiny of the human race can only be^
measured by the capacity of man to culti-
vate and enjoy the boundless opportuni-
ties of liberty and law. The eloquent
characterization of Mr. Gladstone con-
denses its merits: "The American Consti-
tution is the most wonderful work ever
struck off at a given time by the brain
and purpose of man."
The statesmen who composed this great
94
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
senate were equal to their trust. Their render the advantage of their position
conclusions were the result of calm de- and the smaller States saw the dan-er to
bate and wise concession. Their character their existence. Roman conquest and as-
and abilities were so pure and great as similation had strewn the shores of time
to command tlie confidence of the country with the wrecks of empires, and plun-ed
for the reversal of the policy of the in- civilization into the perils and horrors" of
dependence of the State of the power of the dark ages. The government of Crom-
the general government, which had well was the isolated power of the mic^ht-
hitherto been the invariable practice and iest man of his age, without popular "au-
almost universal opinion, and for the thority to fill his place or the hereditary
adoption of the idea of the nation and its principle to protect his successor The
supremacy. _ past furnished no light for our State
lowering in majesty and influence builders, the present was full of doubt
al)Dve them all stood Washington, their and despair. The future, the experiment
President. Beside him was the vener- of self-government, the perpetuity and
able Franklin, who, though eighty-one development of freedom, almost the
years of age, brought to the deliberations destiny of mankind, was in their hands
ot the convention the unimpaired vigor At this crisis the courage and confi^
and resources of the wisest brain, the dence needed to originate a system
most hopeful philosophy, and the largest weakened. The temporizing spirit of
experience of the times. Oliver Ells- compromise seized the convention with
T-f ; J^/tf'-^^'-^^-^^ chief-justice of the the alluring proposition of not proceed-
United States, and tlw profoundest juror ing faster than the people could be edu-
in the country; Robert Morris, the won- cated to follow. The cry "Let us not
derful financier of the Revolution, and waste our labor upon conclusions which
Gouverneur Morris, the most versatile will not be adopted, but amend and ad^
genius of his period; Roger Sherman, one journ," was assuming startling unanim-
of the most eminent of the signers of ity. But the supreme force and majestic
the Declaration of Independence; and sense of Washington brougiit the assem-
John Rutledge, Rufus King, Elbridge blage to the lofty plane of its duty and
(jerry, Edmund Randolph, and the Pinck- opportunity. He said: "It is too prob-
neys, were leaders of unequalled patriot- able that no plan we propose will be
ism, courage, ability, and learning; while adopted. Perhaps another dreadful con-
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, flict is to be sustained. If, to please the
as original thinkers and constructive people, we offer what we ourselves dis-
statesmen, rank among the immortal few approve, how can we afterwards defend
whose opinions have for ages guided our work? Let us raise a standard to
ministers of state, and determined the which the wise and honest can repair-
aestinies of nations. the event is in the hands of God." " 1
rhi^ great convention keenly felt, and am the state," said Louis XIV., but his
with devout and serene intelligence met, line ended in the grave of absolutism
is tremendous responsibilities. It had "Forty centuries look down upon you"
the_ moral support of the few whose aspi- was Napoleon's address to his army in
rations for liberty had been inspired or the shadow of the Pyramids, but his
renewed by the triumph of the American soldiers saw only the dream of Eastern
Revolution, and the active hostility of empire vanish in blood. Statesmen and
every government in the world. parliamentary leaders have sunk into
Ihere were no examples to follow, and oblivion or led their party to defeat by
the experience of its members led part of surrendering their convictions to the
them to lean towards absolute central- passing passions of the hour; but Wash-
ization as the only refuge from the an- ington in this immortal speech struck
archy of the confederation, while the rest the keynote of representative obligation,
clung to the sovereignty of the States, for and propounded the fundamental prin-
tear that the concentration of power ciple of the purity and perpetuity of
would end in the absorption of liberty, constitutional government
The large States did not want to sur- Freed from the Jimitations of its en-
95
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
vironment, and the question of the adop-
tion of its work, the convention erected
its government upon the eternal foun-
dations cf the power of the people. It dis-
missed the delusive theory of a compact
between independent States, and derived
national power from the people of the
United States. It broke up the ma-
chinery of the Confederation and put in
practical operation the glittering gener-
alities of the Declaration of Independence.
From chaos came order, from insecurity
came safety, from disintegration and civil
war came law and liberty, with the prin-
ciple proclaimed in the preamble of the
great charter: "We, the people of the
United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquillity, provide for the com-
mon defence, promote the general welfare,
and secure the blessings of liberty to our-
selves and our posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States." With a wisdom inspired of God,
to work out upon this continent the lib-
erty of man, they solved the problem of
the ages by blending and yet preserving
local self-government with national au-
thority, and the rights of the States with
the majesty and power of the republic.
The government of the States, under the
Articles of Confederation, became bank-
rupt because it could not raise $4,000,000;
the government of the Union, under the
Constitution of the United States, raised
$6,000,000,000, its credit growing firmer
as its power and resources were demon-
strated. The Congress of the Confed-
eration fled from a regiment which ^ it
oould not pay ; the Congress of the Union
reviewed the comrades of 1,000,000 of
its victorious soldiers, saluting, as they
marched, the flag of the nation, whose
supremacy they had sustained. The
promises of the confederacy were the scoff
of its States; the pledge of the republic
was the honor of its people.
The Constitution, which was to be
straightened by the strains of a century,
to be a mighty conqueror without a sub-
ject province, to triumphantly survive
the greatest of civil wars without the con-
fiscation of an estate or the execution of
a political offender, to create and grant
home rule and State sovereignty to
twenty-nine additional commonwealths,
and yet enlarge its scope and broaden its
powers, and to make the name of an
American citizen a title of honor through-
out the world, came complete from this
great convention to the people for adop-
tion. As Hancock rose from his seat in
the old Congress, eleven years before, to
sign the Declaration of Independence,
Franklin saw emblazoned on the back of
the President's chair the sun partly above
the horizon, but it seemed setting in a
blood-red sky. During the seven years of
the Confederation he had gathered no
hope from the glittering emblem, but now,
as with clear vision he beheld fixed upon
eternal foundations the enduring struct-
ure of constitutional liberty, pointing to
the sign, he forgot his eighty-two years,
and with the enthusiasm of youth elec-
trified the convention with the declara-
tion : " Now I know that it is the rising
sun."
The pride of the States and the am-
bition of their leaders, sectional jealousies,
and the overwhelming distrust of central-
ized power, were all arrayed against the
adoption of the Constitution. North
Carolina and Rhode Island refused to join
the Union until long after Washington's
inauguration. For months New York was
debatable ground. Her territory, extend-
ing from the sea to the lakes, made her
the keystone of the arch. Had Arnold's
treason in the Revolution not been foiled
by the capture of Andre, England would
have held New York and subjugated the
colonies, and in this crisis, unless New
York assented, a hostile and powerful
commonwealth dividing the States made
the Union impossible.
Success was due to confidence in Wash-
ington and the genius cf Alexander Ham
ilton. Jefl'erson was the inspiration
independence, but Hamilton was the
carnation of the Constitution. In no age
or country has there appeared a more
precocious or amazing intelligence than
Hamilton. At seventeen he annihilated
the president of his college upon the ques-
tion of the rights of the colonies in a series
of anonymous articles which were credited
to the ablest men in the country; at
forty-seven, when he died, his briefs had
become the law of the land, and his
fiscal system was, and after 100 years re-
mains, the rule and policy of our govern-
,m-
ige 1
ore 1
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
ment. He gave life to the corpse of na-
tional credit, and the strength for self-
possession and aggressive power to the
federal union. Both as an expounder of
the principles and an administrator of
the affairs of government he stands su-
preme and unrivalled in American his-
tory. His eloquence was so magnetic, his
language so clear and his reasoning so
irresistible, that he swayed with equal
ease popular assemblies, grave senates,
and learned judges. He captured the peo-
ple of the whole country for the Constitu-
tion by his papers in The Federalist, and
conquered the hostile majority in the New
York convention by the splendor of his
oratory.
But the multitudes whom no arguments
could convince, who saw in the executive
power and centralized force of the Con-
stitution, under another name, the dread-
ed usurpation of king and ministry, were
satisfied only with the assurance, " Wash-
ington will be President." " Good," cried
John Lamb, the able leader of the Sons
of Liberty, as he dropped his opposition,
''■ for to no other mortal would I trust
authority so enormous." " Washington
will be President" was the battle-cry of
the Constitution. It quieted alarm and
gave confidence to the timid and courage
to the weak. The country responded with
enthusiastic unanimity, but the chief with
the greatest reluctance. In the supreme
moment of victory, when the world ex-
pected him to follow the precedents of the
past and perpetuate the power a grateful
country would willingly have left in his
hands, he had resigned and retired to
Mount Vernon to enjoy in private sta-
tion his well-earned rest. The convention
created by his exertions to prevent, as he
said, " the decline of our federal dignity
into insignificant and wretched fragments
of empire," had called him to preside over
its deliberations. Its work made possible
the realization of his hope that "we
might survive as an independent repub-
lic," and again he sought the seclusion of
his home. But, after the triumph of the
war and the formation of the Constitu-
tion, came the third and final crisis: the
initial movements of government which
were to teach the infant State the steadier
Bteps of empire.
He alone could stay assault and in-
III. — G f)
spire confidence while the great and com-
plicated machinery of organized govern-
ment was put in order and set in motion.
Doubt existed nowhere except in his mod-
est and unambitious heart. " My move-
ments to the chair of government," he
said, "' will be accompanied by feelino-s
not unlike those of a culprit who is goinw
to the place of his execution. So unwill-
ing am I, in the evening of life, nearly
consumed in public cares, to quit a peace-
ful abode for an ocean of difficulties, with-
out that competency of political skill,
abilities, and inclination, which are neces-
sary to manage the helm." His whole
life had been spent in repeated sacrifices
for his country's welfare, and he did not
hesitate now, though there is an under-
tone of inexpressible sadness in this entry
in his diary on the night of his departure:
" About 10 o'clock I bade adieu to Mount
Vernon, to private life, and to domestic
felicity, and with a mind oppressed with
more anxious and painful sensations than
I have words to express, set out for New
York with the best disposition to render
service to my country in obedience to its
call, but with less hope of answering its
expectations."
No conqueror was ever accorded such a
triumph, no ruler ever accorded such a
welcome. In this memorable march of
six days to the capital, it was the pride
of States to accompany him with the
masses of their people to their borders,
that the citizens of the next common-
wealth might escort him through its terri-
tory. It was the glory of cities to re-
ceive him with every civic honor at their
gates, and entertain him as the savior of
their liberties. He rode under triumphal
arches from which children lowered laurel
wreaths upon his brow. The roadways
were strewn with flowers, and as they
were crushed beneath his horse's hoofs,
their sweet incense wafted to heaven the
ever-ascending prayers of his loving
countrymen for his life and safety. The
swelling anthem of gratitude and rever-
ence greeted and followed him along the
country-side and through the crowded
streets: "Long live George Washington!
Long live the father of his people!"
His entry into New York was worthy
the city and State. He was met by the
chief officers of the retiring government
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
of the country, by the governor of the and of hope from the generous assistance
commonwealth, and the whole population, of France, and peace had come and inde-
This superb harbor was alive with fleets pendence triumphed. As the last soldier
and flags., and the ships of other na- of the invading enemy embarks, Wash-
tions, with salutes from their guns and ington, at the head of the patriotic host,
the cheers of their crews, added to the enters the city, receives the welcome and
joyous acclaim. But as the captains who gratitude of its people, and in the tavern
had asked the privilege, bending proudly which faces us across the way, in silence
to their oars, rowed the President's barge more eloquent than speech, and with
swiftly through these inspiring scenes, tears which choke the words, he bids
Washington's mind and heart were full farewell forever to his companions in
of reminiscence and foreboding. arms. Such were the crowding memories
He had visited New York thirty-three of the past suggested to Washington m
years before, also in the month of April, 1789 by his approach to New York. But
in the full perfection of his early man- the future had none of the splendor of
hood, fresh from Braddock's bloody field, precedent and brilliance of promise which
and wearing the only laurels of the battle, have since attended the inauguration of
bearing the prophetic blessing of the ven- our Presidents. An untried scheme,
erable President Davies, of Princeton Col- adopted mainly because its administra-
lege, as " that heroic youth Colonel Wash- tion was to be confided to him, was to
ington, whom I cannot but hope Provi- be put in practice. He knew that he was
dence has hitherto preserved in so signal to be met at every step of constitutional
a manner for some important service to progress by factions temporarily hushed
the country." It was a fair daughter of into unanimity by the terrific force of
our State whose smiles allured him here, the tidal wave which was bearing him to
and whose coy confession that her heart the President's seat, but fiercely hostile
was another's recorded his only failure upon questions affecting every power of
and saddened his departure. Twenty years nationality and the existence of the
passed, and he stood before the New York federal government.
Congress, on this very spot, the unani- Washington was never dramatic, but
mously chosen commander-in-chief of the on great occasions he not only rose to the
Continental army, urging the people to full ideal of the event, he became him-
more vigorous measures, and made pain- self the event. One hundred years ago to-
fully aware of the increased despera- day, the procession of foreign ambassa-
tion of the struggle, from the aid dors, of statesmen and generals, of civic
to be given to the enemy by domestic societies and military companies, which
sympathizers, when he knew that the escorted him, marched from Franklin
same local military company which es- Square to Pearl street, through Pearl to
corted him was to perform the like ser- Broad, and up Broad to this spot, but
vice for the British Governor Tryon on the people saw only Washington. As he
his landing on the morrow. Returning stood upon the steps of the old govern-
for the defence of the city the next sum- ment building here, the thought must
mer, he executed the retreat from Long have occurred to him that it was a cradle
Island, which secured from Frederick the of liberty, and, as such, giving a bright
Great the opinion that a great com- omen for the future. In these halls in
niander had appeared, and at Harlem 1735, in the trial of John Zenger, had
Heights he won the first American vie- been established, for the first time in its
tory of the Revolution, which gave that history, the liberty of the press. Here
confidence to our raw recruits against the the New York Assembly, in 1764, made
famous veterans of Europe which carried the protest against the Stamp Act, and
our army triumphantly through the war. proposed the general conference, which
Six years more of untold sufferings, was the beginning of united colonial ac-
cf freezing and starving camps, of tion. In this old State-house, in 1765,
marches over the snow by barefooted the Stamp Act Congress, the first and the
soldiers to heroic attack and splendid father of American congresses, assembled
"victory, of despair with an unpaid army, and presented to the English government
98
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
that vigorous protest which caused the
repeal of the act and checked the first
step towards the usurpation which lost the
American colonies to the British Empire.
Within these walls the Congress of the
Confederation had commissioned its am-
bassadors abroad, and in ineffectual efforts
at government had created the necessity
for the concentration of federal authority,
now to be consummated.
The first Congress of the United States
gathered in this ancient temple of liberty,
greeted Washington, and accompanied him
to the balcony. The famous men visible
about him were Chancellor Livingston,
Vice-President John Adams, Alexander
Hamilton, Governor Clinton, Roger Sher-
man, Richard Henry Lee, General Knox,
and Baron Steuben. But we believe that
among the invisible host above him, at
this supreme moment of the culmination
in permanent triumph of the thousands
of years of struggle for self-government,
were the spirits of the soldiers of the
Revolution who had died that their coun-
try might enjoy this blessed day, and
with them were the barons of Runny-
mede, and William the Silent, and Sidney,
and Russell, and Cromwell, and Hampden,
and the heroes and martyrs of liberty of
every race and age.
As he came forward, the multitude in
the streets, in the windows, and on the
roofs sent up such a rapturous shout that
Washington sat down overcome with emo-
tion. As he slowly rose and his tall and
majestic form again appeared, the people,
deeply affected, in awed silence viewed the
scene. The chancellor solemnly read to
him the oath of office, and Washington,
repeating, said : " I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute the office of
President of the United States, and will,
to the best of my ability, preserve, pro-
tect, and defend the Constitution of the
United States." Then he reverently bent
low and kissed the Bible, uttering with
profovind emotion : " So help me, God."
The chancellor waved his robes and shout-
ed: "It is done; long live George Wash-
ington, President of the United States!"
" Long live George Washington, our first
President!" was the answering cheer of
the people, and from the belfries rang the
bells, and from forts and ships thundered
the cannon, echoing and repeating the cry
with responding acclaim all over the
land: "Long live George Washington,
President of the United States!"
The simple and imposing ceremony over,
the inaugural read, the blessing of God
prayerfully petitioned in old St. Paul's,
the festivities passed, and Washington
stood alone. No one else could take
the helm of state, and enthusiast and
doubter alike trusted only him. The
teachings and habits of the past had edu-
cated the people to faith in the indepen-
dence of their States, and for the supreme
authority of the new government there
stood against the precedent of a century
and the passions of the hour little besides
the arguments of Hamilton, Madison, and
Jay in The Federalist, and the judgment
of Washington. With the first attempt
to exercise national power began the duel
to the death between State sovereignty,
claiming the right to nullify federal laws
or to secede from the Union, and the
power of the republic to command the re-
sources of the country, to enforce its au-
thority, and protect its life. It was the
beginning of the sixty years' war for the
Constitution and the nation. It seared
consciences, degraded politics, destroyed
parties, ruined statesmen, and retarded
the advance and development of the coun-
try; it sacrificed thousands of precious
lives and squandered thousands of
millions of money; it desolated the fair-
est portion of the land, and carried mourn-
ing into every home. North and South ;
but it ended at Appomattox in the abso-
lute triumph of the republic.
Posterity owes to Washington's ad-
ministration the policy and measures, the
force and direction, which made possible
this glorious result. In giving the organ-
ization of the Department of State and
foreign relations to Jefferson, the Treas-
ury to Hamilton, and the Supreme Court
to Jay, he selected for his cabinet and
called to his assistance the ablest and
most eminent men of his time. Hamil-
ton's marvellous versatility and genius
designed the armory and the weapons for
the promotion of national power and
greatness, but Washington's steady sup-
port carried them through. Parties
crystallized, and party passions were in-
tense, debates were intemperate, and the
Union openly threatened and secretly
99
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
plotted against, as the firip pressure of the Deity and believed liberty impossible
this mighty personality funded the debt without law. He spoke to the sober judg-
and established credit, assumed the State ment of the nation, and made clear the
debts incurred in the War of the Eevo- danger. He saved the infant government
lution and superseded the local by the from ruin, and expelled the French minis-
national obligation, imposed duties upon ter who had appealed from him to the
imports and excise upon spirits, and ere- people. The whole land, seeing safety only
ated revenue and resources, organized a in his continuance in office, joined Jeflfer-
national banking system for public needs son in urging him to accept a second term,
and private business, and called out an " North and South," pleaded ine becrfe-
army to put down by force of arms resist- tary, " will hang together while they have
ance to the federal laws imposing un- you to hang to."
popular taxes. Upon the plan marked No man ever stood for so much to his
out by the Constitution, this great ar- country and to mankind as George Wash-
chitect, with nnfailing faith and unfalter- ington. Hamilton, Jefferson and Adams,
ing courage, builded the republic. He Madison and Jay, each represented some
gave to the government the principles of of the elements which formed the Union,
action and sources of power which carried Washington embodied them all. They
it successfully through the wars with fell, at times, under popular disapprov-
Great Britain in 1812 and Mexico in 1848, al, were burned in effigy, were stoned,
wliich enabled Jackson to defeat nullifica- but he, with unerring judgment, was
tion, and recruited and equipped millions always the leader of the people. Milton
of men for Lincoln, and justified and said of Cromwell, " that war made him
sustained his proclamation of emancipa- great, peace greater." The superiority
tion. of Washington's character and genius
The French Revolution was the bloody were more conspicuous in the formation
reality of France and the nightmare of the of our government and in putting it
civilized world. The tyranny of centuries on indestructible foundations than in
culminated in frightful reprisals and reck- leading armies to victory and conquering
less revenges. As parties rose to power the independence of his country. "The
and passed to the guillotine, the frenzy of Union in any event," is the central
the revolt against all authority reached thought of his farewell address, and all
every country and captured the imagina- the years of his grand life were devoted
tions and enthusiasm of millions in every to its formation and preservation. He
land, who believed they saw that the mad- fought as a youth with Braddock and in
ness of anarchy, the overturning of all the capture of Fort Duquesne for the pro-
institutions, the confiscation and distribu- tection of the whole country. As com-
tion of property, would end in a millenni- mander-in-chief of the Continental army,
um for the masses and the universal his commission was from the Congress
brotherhood of man. Enthusiasm for of the united colonies. He inspired
France, our late ally, and the terrible the movement for the republic, was the
commercial and industrial distress occa- president and dominant spirit of the con-
sioned by the failure of the government vention which framed its Constitution,
under the Articles of Confederation, and its President for eight years, and
aroused an almost unanimous cry for guided its course until satisfied that, mov-
the yoiing republic, not yet sure of its ing safely along the broad highway of
own existence, to plunge into the vor- time, it would be surely ascending towards
tex. The ablest and purest statesmen of the first place among the nations of the
the time bent to the storm, but Washing- world, the asylum of the oppressed, the
ton was unmoved. He stood like the rock- home of the free.
ribbed coast of a continent between the Do his countrymen exaggerate his vir-
surging billows of fanaticism and the child tues? Listen to Guizot, the historian of
of his love. Order is Heaven's first law, civilization: "Washington did the two
and the mind of Washington was order, greatest things which in politics it is
I'he Revolution defied God and derided permitted to man to attempt. He main-
the law. Washington devoutly reverenced tained by peace the independence of his
100
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY MITCHELL
country wliicli he conquered by war. lie
founded a free government in the name
of the princijiles of order and by re-
establishing their s^way." Hear Lord
Ersl-cine, the most faivious of English ad-
vocates: "You are the only being for
whom I have an awful reverence." Re-
member the tribute of Charles James Fox,
the greatest parliamentary orator who
ever swayed the British House of Com-
mons: "Illustrious man, before whom all
borrowed greatness sinks into insig-
nificance." Contemplate the character
of Lord Brougham, pre-eminent for two
generations in every department of hu-
man activity and thought, and then im-
press upon the memories of your children
his deliberate judgment: "Until time
shall be no more will a test of the prog-
ress which our race has made in wisdom
and virtue be derived from the venera-
tion paid to the immortal name of Wash-
ington."
Chatham, who, with Clive, conquered
an empire in the East, died broken-
hearted at the loss of the empire in the
West, by follies which even his power
and eloquence could not prevent. Pitt
saw the vast creations of his diplomacy
shattered at Austerlitz, and fell murmur-
ing: "My country! how I leave my
country!" Napoleon caused a noble
tribute to Washington to be read at the
head of his armies, but, unable to rise
to Washington's greatness, witnessed the
vast structure erected by conquest and
cemented by blood, to minister to his own
ambition and pride, crumble into frag-
ments, and, an exile and a prisoner, he
breathed his last babbling of battle-fields
and carnage. Washington, with his finger
upon his pulse, felt the presence of death,
and, calmly reviewing the past and fore-
casting the future, answered to the sum-
mons of the grim messenger, " It is well,"
and, as his mighty soul ascended to God,
the land was deluged with tears and the
world united in his eulogy. Blot out from
the page of history the names of all the
great actors of his time in the drama of
nations, and preserve the name of Wash-
ington, and the century would be re-
nowned.
We stand to-day upon the dividing line
between the first and second century of
constitutional government. There are no
clouds overhead and no convulsions under
our feet. We reverently return • thanks
lo Almighty God for the past, and with
confident and hopeful promise march upon
sure ground towards the future. The sim-
ple facts of these 100 years paralyze the
imagination, and we contemplate the vast
accumulations of the century with awe
and pride. Our population has grown
from 4,000,000 to 05,000,000. Its centre,
moving westward 500 miles since 1789, is
eloquent with the founding of cities and
the birth of States. New settlements,
clearing the forests and subduing the
prairies, and adding 4,000,000 to the few
thousands of farms which were the sup-
I^ort of Washington's republic, create one
of the great granaries of the world, and
open exhaustless reservoirs of national
wealth.
The infant industries, which the first
act of our first administration sought to
encourage, now give remunerative employ-
ment to more people than inhabited the re-
public at the beginning of Washington's
Presidency. The grand total of their
annual output of $7,000,000,000 in value
places the United States first among the
manufacturing countries of the earth.
One-half the total mileage of all the rail-
roads, and one-quarter of all the telegraph
lines of the world within our borders,
testify to the volume, variety, and value
of an internal commerce which makes
these States, if need be, independent
and self-supporting. These 100 years of
development under favoring political con-
ditions have brought the sum of our na-
tional wealth to a figure which has passed
the results of 1,000 years for the mother-
land herself, otherwise the richest of mod-
ern empires.
During this generation, a civil war of
unequalled magnitude caused the expendi-
ture and loss of $8,000,000,000, and kill-
ed 000,000, and permanently disabled over
1,000,000 young men, and yet the impetu-
ous progress of the North and the mar-
vellovis industrial development of the new
and free South have obliterated the evi-
dences of destruction, and made the war
a memory, and have stimulated pro-
duction until our annual surplus nearly
equals that of England, France, and Ger-
many combined. The teeming millions of
Asia till the patient soil and work tha
101
DEPEW, CHATTNCEY MITCHELL
shuttle and loom as their fathers have rope. Most of the kings, princes, dukes,
done for ages ; modern Europe has felt the and margraves of Germany, who reigned
influence and received the benefit of the in- despotically, and sold their soldiers for
calculable multiplication of force by in- foreign service, have passed into history,
ventive genius since the Napoleonic wars; and their heirs have neither prerogatives
and yet, only 269 years after the little nor domain. Spain has gone through
band of Pilgrims landed on Plymouth many violent changes, and the permanency
Rock, our people, numbering less than of her present government seems to depend
one-fifteenth of the inhabitants of the upon the feeble life of an infant prince,
globe, do one-third of its mining, one- France, our ancient friend, with repeated
fourth of its manufacturing, one-fifth of and bloody revolution, has tried the gov-
its agriculture, and own one-sixth of its ernment of Bourbon and convention, of di-
wealth. rectory and consulate, of empire and citi-
This realism of material prosperity, zen king, of hereditary sovereign and re-
surpassing the wildest creations of* the ro- public, of empire, and again republic. The
mancers who have astonished and delighted Hapsburg and Hohenzollern, after convul-
mankind, would be full of dangers for sions which have rocked the foundations
the present and menace for the future, if of their thrones, have been compelled to
the virtue, intelligence, and independence concede constitutions to their people and
of the people were not equal to the wise to divide with them the arbitrary power
regulation of its uses and the stern pre- wielded so autocratically and brilliantly
vention of its abuses. But following the by Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great,
growth and power of the great factors. The royal will of George III. could crowd
whose aggregation of capital made possible the American colonies into rebellion, and
the tremendous pace of the settlement wage war upon them until they were lost
of our national domain, the building of to his kingdom, but the authority of the
our great cities and the opening of the crown has devolved upon ministers who
lines of communications which have hold office subject to the approval of
united our country and created our re- the representatives of the people, and
sources, have come national and State the equal powers of the House of Lords
legislation and supervision. Twenty mill- have been vested in the Commons, leaving
ions, a vast majority of our people of in- to the peers only the shadow of their an-
telligent age, acknowledging the author- cient privileges. But to-day the American
ity of their several churches, 12,000,000 people, after all the dazzling developments
of children in the common schools, 345 of the century, are still happily living un-
universities and colleges for the higher der the government of Washington. The
education of men and 200 for women, 450 Constitution during all that period has
institutions of learning for science, law, been amended only upon the lines laid
medicine, and theology, are the despair of down in the original instrument, and in
the scoffer and the demagogue, and the conformity with the recorded opinions of
firm support of civilization and liberty. the Fathers. The first great addition was
Steam a^nd electricity have changed the the incorporation of a bill of rights, and
commerce not only, they have revolution- the last the embedding into the Constitu-
ized also the governments of the world, tion of the immortal principle of the
They have given to the press its power, Declaration of Independence — of the
and brought all races and nationalities equality of all men before the law. No
into touch and sympathy. They have test- crisis has been too perilous for its powers,
ed and are trying the strength of all sys- no revolution too rapid for its adaptation,
tems to stand the strain and conform to and no expansion beyond its easy grasp
the conditions which follow the germinat- and administration. It has assimilated
ing influences of American democracy. At diverse nationalities with warring tradi-
the time of the inauguration of Washing- tions, customs, conditions, and languages,
ton, seven royal families ruled as many imbued them with its spirit, and won their
kingdoms in Italy, but six of them have passionate loyalty and love,
seen their thrones overturned and their The flower of the youth of the nations
countries disappear from the map of Eu- of continental Europe are conscripted from
102
DEPEW— DERMEB
productive industries and drilling in ing past and splendid present, the people
camps. Vast armies stand in battle array of these United States, heirs of 100 years
along the frontiers, and a kaiser's whim marvellously rich in all which adds to
or a minister's mistake may, precipitate the glory and greatness of a nation, with
the most destructive war of modern times, an abiding trust in the stability and elas-
Both monarchical and republican govern- ticity of their Constitution, and an
ments are seeking safety in the repression abounding faith in themselves, hail the
and suppression of opposition and criti- coming century with hope and joy.
cism. The volcanic forces of democratic De Peyster, Abraham, jurist; born in
aspiration and socialistic revolt are rapid- New Amsterdam (New York), July 8,
ly increasing and threaten peace and se- 1G58; eldest son of Johannes De Peyster,
curity. We turn from these gathering a noted merchant of his day. Between 1691
storms to the British Isles and find their and 1605 he was mayor of the city of
people in the throes of a political crisis in- New York; was first assistant justice and
volving the form and substance of their then chief-justice of New York, and was
government, and their statesmen far from one of the King's council under Governor
confident that the enfranchised and un- Hyde (afterwards Lord Cornbury), and
prepared masses will wisely use their as its president was acting-governor for
power. a time in 1701. Judge De Peyster was
But for us no army exhausts our re- colonel of the forces in New York and
sources nor consumes our youth. Our treasurer of that province and New
navy must needs increase in order that the Jersey. He was a personal friend and
protecting flag may follow the expanding correspondent of William Penn. Having
commerce which is successfully to compete amassed considerable wealth, he built a
in all the markets of the world. The sun fine mansion, which stood, until 1856, in
of our destiny is still rising, and its rays Pearl street. It was used by Washington
illumine vast territories as yet unoccu- as his headquarters for a while in 1776.
pied and undeveloped, and which are to He died in New York City Aug. 10, 1728.
be the happy homes of millions of people. De Peyster, Johannes, founder of the
The questions which affect the powers of De Peyster family; born in Haarlem, Hol-
government and the expansion or limita- land, about 1600; emigrated to America
tion of the authority of the federal Con- on account of religious persecution, and
stitution are so completely settled, and so died in New Amsterdam (now New York
unanimously approved, that our political City) about 1685.
divisions produce only the healthy antag- De Peyster, John Watts, military his-
onism of parties, which is necessary for torian ; born in New York City, March
the preservation of liberty. Our insti- 9, 1821; elected colonel New York militia
tutions furnish the full equipment of in 1845; appointed adjutant-general New
shield and spear for the battles of freedom, York, 1855; is author of The Dutch at
and absolute protection against every dan- the North Pole; The Dutch in Maine;
ger which threatens the welfare of the peo- Decisive Conflicts of the Late Civil War;
pie will always be found in the intelli- Life of Gen. Philip Kearny, etc. He died
gence which appreciates their value, and in N. Y. City, May 5, 1907.
the courage and morality with which Dermer, Thomas, an active friend of
their powers are exercised. The spirit of colonization schemes, and a man of pru-
Washington fills the executive office, dence and industry, was employed by the
Presidents may not rise to the full meas- Plymouth Company after his return from
ure of his greatness, but they must not Newfoundland, in 1618, to bring about, if
fall below his standard of public duty possible, reconciliation with the Indians
and obligation. His life and character, of New England, and to make further ex-
consoientiously studied and thoroughly plorations. He sailed from Plymouth with
understood by coming generations, will two vessels (one a small, open pinnace)
be for them a liberal education for pri- in February, 1619, touched at Mohegan
vate life and public station, for citizen- Island, and then visited the coast. Der-
ship and patriotism, for love and devotion nier was accompanied from England by
to union and liberty. With their inspir- Squanto; also by Samoset, a native of
103
DERNE EXPEDITION— DE SMET
Sagadalioek, whom John Mason, governor the siege of Louisburg {q. v.) , and was
of Newfoundland, had lately sent home, aide-de-camp to Wolfe when he fell at
he having been one of Hunt's captives. Quebec, that general dying in Desbarres's
Dermer succeeded, in a degree, and pro- arms. He was active in the retaking of
ceeded to explore the coast to Virginia. Newfoundland in 1762, and for ten years
He sent home his ship from Mohegan Isl- afterwards he was employed in a coast
and, laden with fish and furs, and, leav- survey of Nova Scotia. He prepared
ing Squanto at Saco, sailed southward, charts of the North American coasts in
Near Cape Cod he was captured by Ind- 1775 for Earl Howe, and in 1777 he pub-
dians, but ransomed himself by a gift of lished The Atlantic Neptune, in two large
some hatchets. Passing Martin's (Mar- folios. He was made governor of Cape
tha's) Vineyard, he navigated Long Isl- Breton, with the military command of
and Sound by the help of an Indian pilot, Prince Edward's Island, in 1784, and in
the first Englishman who had sailed upon 1804, being then about eighty-two years
these waters, and passed out to sea at of age, he was made lieutenant-governor
Sandy Hook. The current was so swift of Prince Edward's Island. He died in
that he did not stop at Manhattan; but Halifax, N. S., Oct. 24, 1824.
on his return from Virginia (1620) he Deseret, Proposed State of. See Mor-
touched there and held a conference with mons.
some Dutch traders " on Hudson's River," Desert Land Act, passed March 3,
warning them that they were on English 1877, allowing settlers 640 acres for pur-
territory. Dermer sent a journal of his poses of irrigation and improvement,
proceedings to Gorges, and thus, no doubt,- De Smet, Peter John, missionary;
hastened the procurement of the new char- born in Termonde, Belgium, Dec. 31, 1801;
ter for the Plymouth Company {q. v.). studied in the Episcopal seminary of
Derne Expedition. See Tripoli, War Mechlin. With five other students he
WITH. sailed from Amsterdam in 1821 for the
Derry, Joseph T., author ; born in Mil- United States, and entered the Jesuit
ledgeville, Ga., Dec. 13, 1841 ; graduated school at Whitemarsh, Md. In 1828 he
at Emory College in 1860; enlisted in the went to St. Louis and aided in founding
Oglethorpe Infantry in January, 1861, the University of St. Louis, where he
and with his company joined the Confed- later became a professor. In 1838 he
erate army, March 18, 1861 ; served founded a mission among the Pottawat-
throughout the war, participating in the tomie Indians on Sugar Creek. In July,
West Virginia, the Tennessee, and the 1840, he went to the Peter Valley in the
Atlanta campaigns, being taken prisoner Rocky Mountains, where he met about
at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, June 1,600 Flathead Indians. By the help of
27, 1864. Among his works are a School an interpreter he translated the Command-
Eistory of the United States; History of ments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Creed
Georgia; and the volume on Georgia in into their language, and these within two
the Confederate Military History of which weeks' time the Flatheads learned. Dur-
Gen. Clement A. Evans is editor. ing his journey back to St. Louis he was
De Russy, Fort ( La. ) , captured March several times surrounded by the Black-
14, 1864, by Gen. A. J. Smith with 10,000 feet Indians, who, when they saw his cru-
Nationals. Gen. Dick Taylor surrendered cifix and black gown, showed him the
with about 10,000 men. See Red Rivee greatest respect. On Sept. 24, 1841, with
Expedition. a party of other missionaries, he reached
Desbarres, Joseph Frederick Wal- Bitter Root River, where the mission of
let, military officer; born in England, of St. Mary's was begun. After spending
French ancestry, in 1722; educated for about a year in learning the Blackfeet
the army at the Royal Military College language and in endeavoring to make St.
at Woolwich, and, as lieutenant, came to Mary's a permanent mission, he went to
America in 1756, and, raising 300 recruits P]urope to solicit aid. After arousing
in Pennsylvania and Maryland, formed great enthusiasm in Belgium and France
them into a corps of field-artillery. He he sailed from Antwerp in December,
distinguished himself as an engineer in 1843, wuth five Jesuits and six sisters,
104
DE SOTO
and in August, 1844, arrived at Fort Van-
couver, and planted a central mission on
the Willamette River. In 1845 he under-
took a series of missions among the Sin-
poils, Zingomenes, Okenaganes, Koote-
nays, and Flatbows. He made several
trips to Europe for aid. Father De Smet
wrote The Oregon Missions and Travels
Over the Rocky Mountains ; Western Mis-
sions and Missionaries; New Indian
Sketches, etc. He died in St. Louis, Mo.,
in May, 1872.
De Soto, Fernando, discoverer ; born
in Xeres, Estremadura, Spain, about 1496,
of a noble but impoverished family. Da-
vila, governor of Darien, was his kind
patron, through whose generosity he re-
ceived a good education, and who took
him to Central America, Avhere he en-
gaged in exploring the coast of the Pacific
Ocean hundreds of miles in search of a
supposed strait connecting the two oceans.
When Pizarro went to Peru, De Soto ac-
companied him, and was his chief lieu-
tenant in achieving the conquest of that
country. Brave and judicious, De Soto
was the chief hero in the battle that re-
sulted in the capture of Cuzco, the capital
FERNANDO DE SOTO.
of the Incas, and the destruction of their
empire. Soon after that event he re-
turned to Spain with large wealth, and
was received by King Charles V. with
great consideration. He married Isabella
Bobadilla, a scion of one of the most re-
nowned of the Castilian families, and his
influence at Court was thereby strength-
ened. Longing to rival Cortez and Pi-
zarro in the brilliancy of his deeds, and
believing Florida to be richer in the pre-
cious metals than Mexico or Peru, De Soto
offered to conquer it at his own expense.
Permission was readily given him by his
King, who commissioned him governor of
Cuba, from which island he would set out
on his conqviering expedition. Elegant in
deportment, winning in all his ways, an
expert horseman, rich and influential, and
then thirty-seven years of age. hundreds
of young men, the flower of the Spanish
and Portuguese nobility, flocked to his
standard, the wealthier ones dressed in
suits of gorgeous armor and followed by
trains of servants. With these and his
beautiful young wife and other noble
ladies De Soto sailed from Spain early in
April, 1538, with seven large and three
small vessels, the San Christoval, of 800
tons, being his flag-ship.
Amply supplied and full of joy in the
anticipation of entering an earthly para-
dise, gayety and feasting, music and
dancing prevailed on board the flag-ship
during that sunny voyage, in which richly
dressed ladies, with handsome pages to do
their bidding, were conspicuous, especially
on warm moonlit nights within the tropic
of Cancer. At near the close of May the
fleet entered Cuban waters. De Soto occu-
pied a whole year preparing for the expe-
dition, and at the middle of May, 1539, he
sailed from Cuba with nine vessels, bearing
1,000 followers, and cattle, horses, mules,
and swine, the first of the latter seen on
the American continent. He left public af-
fairs in Cuba in the hands of his wife and
the lieutenant-governor. The voyage to
Florida was pleasant, and the armament
landed on the shores of Tampa Bay on
May 25, near where Narvaez had first
anchored. Instead of treating the natives
kindly and winning their friendship,
De Soto unwisely sent armed men to
capture some of them, in order to learn
something about the country he was to
conquer. The savages, cruelly treated by
Narvaez, and fearing the same usage by
De Soto, were cautious. They were also
wily, expert with the bow, revengeful, and
fiercely hostile. With cavaliers clad in
105
DE SOTO, rEENANDO
DE SOTO DISCOVERING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
glided across the
river, and with kind
words welcomed the
Spaniards and of-
fered them her
services. Presents
were exchanged. A
magnificent string of
peai'ls was hung
upon her neck. This
she drew over her
head and hung it
around the neck of
De Soto as a token
of her regard. Then
she invited him and
his followers to cross
over to her village.
In canoes and on
log-rafts they pass-
ed the stream, and,
encamping in the
shadows of mul-
berry-trees, they
soon received a
bountiful supply of
steel and riding 113 horses, with many venison and wild turkeys. There they en-
footmen armed with arquebuses, cross- joyed the young queen's hospitality until
bows, swords, shields, and lances, and a May, and when they departed De Soto
single cannon, and supplied with savage requited the kindness of the royal maiden
bloodhounds from Cuba, and handcuffs, with foul treachery. He carried her away
iron neck-collars, and chains for the cap- a prisoner, and kept her near his person
tives, De Soto began his march in June, as a hostage for the good behavior of her
1539. He was accompanied by mechanics, people towards the Spaniards. She finally
priests, inferior clergy, and monks in escaped, and returned home a bitter
sacerdotal robes bearing images of the enemy of the perfidious white people.
Virgin, holy relics, and sacramental bread De Soto crossed the beautiful country
and wine, wherewith to make Christians of the Cherokees (see Cherokee Indians),
of the captured pagans. and penetrated the fertile Coosa region.
At the very outset the expedition met where the Spaniards practised the^ most
with determined opposition from the dusky cruel treachery towards the friendly
inhabitants, but De Soto pressed forward natives. De Soto was rewarded in kind
towards the interior of the fancied land not long afterwards, and in a terrible
of gold. He wintered east of the Flint battle with the Mobilians, on the site of
River, near Tallahassee, on the borders of Mobile, the expedition was nearly ruined.
Georgia, and in March, 1540, broke up his Turning northward with the remnant of
encampment and marched northward, hav- his forces, he fought his way through the
ing been told that gold would be found in Chickasaw country (see Chickasaw Ind-
that direction. He reached the Savannah lANS), and reached the upper waters of
Eiver, at Silver Bluff. On the opposite the Yazoo River late in December, where
side of the stream, in (present) Barnwell he wintered, in great distress. Moving
county, lived an Indian queen, young, beau- westward in the spring, he discovered the
tiful, and a maiden, who ruled over a large Mississippi River, in all its grandeur, m
extent of country. In a richly wrought May, 1541. It was near the Lower Chica-
canoe, filled with shawls and skins and saw Bluff, in Tunica county, Miss. Cross-
other things for presents, the dusky ca<;ica ing the mighty stream, De Soto went west-
106
DE SOTO— DE TROBRIAND
ward in his yet fruitless search for gold,
and spent a year in the country towards
the eastern slojics of the Rocky Mountains.
Returning to the Mississij)pi in May,
1542, he died of a fever on its banks on
the 21st.
As he had declared to the Indians, who
were sun-worshippers, that he was a son of
the sun, and that Christians could not die,
it was thought wise to conceal his death
from the pagans. He was secretly buried
in the gateway of the Spanish camp. The
Indians knew he was sick. He was not to
be seen, and they saw a new-made grave.
They looked upon it and pondered. Mos-
eoso ordered the body to be taken up at
the dead of night. He was wrapped in
mantles in which sand had been sewed up,
taken in a boat to the middle of the great
river, and there dropped to the bottom in
19 fathoms of water. Ilerrera says it
was sunk in a hollow live-oak log. When
the Indian chief asked Moscoso for De
Soto, that leader replied, " He has ascend-
ed to heaven, but will retui-n soon."
Before his death De Soto had conferred
the leadership of the expedition upon
Moscoso, his lieutenant, who, with the
wretched remnant of the expedition,
made their way to Mexico, where the ele-
gant Castilian ladies at the court of the
viceroy were enraptured by the beauty of
the dusky Mobilian girls. The news of
De Soto's death cast a gloom over Havarja,
and poor Dona Isabella, wife of the great
leader, who had so long waited ^or his
return, died of a broken heart.
Despard, John, military officer; born
in 1745; joined the British army in 1760;
came to America in 1773; was present
at the capture of Fort Montgomery and
of Charleston; and was with Cornwallis
in the campaign which culminated in the
surrender at Yorktown. He was promoted
colonel in 1795, and major-general in
1798. He died in Oswestry, England,
Sept. 3, 1829.
D'Estaing, Count. See Estaing,
Charles Hector, Count d'.
Destroying Angels. See Danites.
De Trobriand, Philippe Regis, mili-
tary officer; born in Chateau des Ro-
chettes, France, June 4, 1816; came to the
United States in 1841; joined the Nation-
al army as colonel of the 55th New York
Regiment in August, 1861 ; took part in
the engagements at Fredericksburg, Chan-
cellorsville, Gettysburg, etc.; was present
THE BURIAL OF DE SOTO.
wandered another year in the region west
of the Mississippi ; and returning to that
river in May, 1543, they built rude ves-
sels, and, with a number of beautiful Ala-
bama girls whom thoy had carried away
captive after the battle at Maubila, they
as the commander of a division at Lee's
surrender; received the brevet of major-
general of volunteers in April, 1865. He
joined the regular army in 1866; received
the brevet of brigadier-general in 1867;
retired in 1879. He published Quatre ans
107
DETROIT
de campagnes a I'armee du PotonMc. He
died in Bayport, L. I., July 7, 1897.
Detroit, a city, port of entry, metropolis
of Michigan, and county seat of Wayne
county; on the Detroit River, 7 miles
from Lake St. Clair, and about 18 miles
from Lake Erie. It is noted for the
variety and extent of its manufactures
and for its large traffic on the Great
Lakes. For the defence of the harbor and
Foreign commerce and interstate trade
are facilitated by an excellent harbor, ex-
tensive dry-docks, and important steam-
boat and railroad connections. According
to the census of 1000 the city had 2,847
manufacturing establishments, employing
$71,751,193 capital and 45,707 wage-
earners; paying $18,718,081 for wages and
$52,349,347 for materials used; and hav-
ing a combined output valued at $100,-
LANDING OF CADILLAC.
city the federal government is construct-
ing Fort Wayne, a short distance below
the city, which is designed to be the
strongest American fortification on the
northern frontier. The value of the
foreign trade of the city in merchandise
during the fiscal year ending June 30,
1904, was: Imports, $4,467,154; exports,
$23,698,435, both a considerable increase
over the returns of the previous year.
The principal shipments are grains, meat,
wool, iron and copper ores, and lumber.
892,838. The principal manufactures were:
Foundry and machine-shop products, $8,-
943,311; druggists' preparations, $4,915,-
913; smoking and chewing tobacco and
snuff, $3,746,045; iron and steel, $3,198,-
881; packed meat, $3,167,430; cigars and
cigarettes, $2,790,268; malt liquors, $2,-
593,093; and steam-heating apparatus, $2,-
104,066. In 1903 the assessed property
valuations were: Real estate, $190,197,-
060; personal, $81,671,860— total, $271,-
868,920; and the tax rate was $16.57 per
108
DETROIT
$1,000. The city owned property free were forced to make a precipitate retreat
from all encumbrance estimated in 1902 in the darkness, leaving twenty of their
at $25,427,139. The net general city debt, comrades killed and forty-two wounded
Jan. 1, 1904, was $3,637,938; net special on the border of the brook, which has
debt, $291,276— total net debt, $3,929,214, ever since been called Bloody Run. Dal-
besides a water debt of about $1,000,000. zell was slain while trying to carry off
The population in 1890 was 205,876; in some of the wounded, and his scalp be-
1900, 285,704. came an Indian's trophy. Pontiac con-
Detroit was first settled by Antoine Ca- tinued the siege of Detroit until the ar-
dillac, July 24, 1701, with fifty soldiers rival of Colonel Bradstreet in May, 1704.
and fifty artisans and traders. Three In January, 1774, the British Parlia-
years later the first white child, a daugh- ment included Detroit and its dependent
ter of Cadillac, was baptized in the place, territory with Canada, and the first civil
which was- called by the French "La Ville government was instituted June 22, 1774,
d'Etroit." The French surrendered Detroit with General Henry Hamilton {q.v.) ag
to the English, under Maj. Robert Rodgers, governor. Governor Hamilton, a human
Nov. 29, 1700. tiger, delighting in blood, instigated the
The tragedy of Pontiac's War opened Indians to murder the defenceless set-
in Detroit. Under pretext of holding a lers on the border. He organized an ex-
friendly council with Major Gladwin, com- pedition in 1779 to capture Vincennes,
mander of the fort, the wily chief entered but General George Rogers Clark {q. v.)
it in May, 1703, with about 300 warriors, attacked him on the way on March 5,
each carrying a knife, tomahawk, and and forced him to an unconditional sur-
short gun under his blanket. When Pon- render. Hamilton was sent to Virginia,
tiac should rise and present the green side put into irons by Thomas Jefferson, and
of a belt, the massacre of the garrison escaped hanging only through the inter-
was to begin. Gladwin was warned of cession of Washington, but was finally
the plot the day before by a friendly Ind- paroled. The British troops were allowed
ian, and the calamity was averted by to return to Detroit.
the appointment of another day for the In 1782 Detroit had a permanent popu-
council. When the Indians retired, the lation of 2.190, of whom 178 were slaves,
gates of the fort were closed upon them, but the withdrawal of the British gar-
and, knowing the reason, Pontiac began risen and the exodus of the English set-
a siege that lasted a year. tiers to found Amherstburg reduced the
General Amherst hastily collected a inhabitants to about 500. most of whom
small body in the East for the rel::' of were of French descent. During the forty-
Detroit and reinforcement of Fort Ni- five years after the close of the war
agara, and sent them under the command Detroit grew slowly, in 1828 having a
of Captain Dalzell, one of his aides. Dal- population of 1,517 only. The opening of
zell left reinforcements at Niagara, and the Erie Canal in 1825 sent a tide of emi-
proceeded to Detroit with the remainder gration westward, and Detroit began its
of his troops and provisions in a vessel marvellous growth. Beginning with 2,222
that arrived on the evening of July 30. inhabitants in 1830, it has on an average
They succeeded in entering the fort with doubled each decade.
provisions. Pontiac had already sum- The city was the scene of disastrous
moned Gladwin to surrender; now Dal- operations in the early part of the War
zell proposed to make a sortie and attack of 1812-15. In August, 1812, General
the besieging Indians. Gladwin thought Brock, governor of Upper Canada, with
it would be imprudent, but Dalzell per- a few regulars and 300 militia, hastened
sisted, and before daylight on the morn- to Amherstburg, arriving there on the
ing of July 31 he- sallied out with 240 night of Aug. 13, and on the following
chosen men to attack the Indians, who lay morning hckl a conference with Tecumseh
about a mile up the river. Pontiac was and 1,000 Indians, telling them he had come
on the alert, and, at a small stream on to assist in driving the Americans from
the northern verge of Detroit, the Eng- their rightful hunting-grounds north of the
lish, furiously assailed by the Indians, Ohio. The Indians were pleased, and, at
109
DETROIT
a subsequent interview with Tecumseh
and the other chiefs, they assured him
that the Indians would give him all
their strength in the undertaking. Then
Broc^.c marched from Maiden to Sandwich,
which the Americans had deserted, and a
battery was planted opposite Detroit,
which commanded the fort there. The
American artillerists begged permission
to open fire upon it, and Captain Snelling
asked the privilege of going over in the
night to capture the British works, Hull
would not allow any demonstrations
against the enemy, and the latter pre-
pared for assault without any molesta-
tion. Hull was much deceived by letters
intended to be intercepted, showing
preparations for large and immediate re-
inforcements to Brock's army; and he
had also been deceived into the belief
that a large portion of the followers of
the latter, who were only militia, were
regulars. The militia had been dressed
in scarlet uniforms, and were paraded so
as to show treble their real number. Hull
was hemmed in on every side; his pro-
visions were scarce, and he saw no chance
of receiving any from Ohio. He knew
that if the Indians were exasperated
and the fort should be taken there
would be a general massacre of the
garrison and the inhabitants, and his
kindness of heart and growing caution,
incident to old age, made him really
timid and fearful. When Brock's prepa-
rations for attack were completed (on the
15th), he sent a summons to Hull for an
unconditional surrender of the post. In
that demand was a covert threat of let-
ting loose the bloodthirsty Indians in
case of resistance. Hull's whole effective
force at that time did not exceed 1,000
men. The fort was thronged with trem-
bling women and children and decrepit
old men of the village and surrounding
country, who had fled to it for protection
from the Indians. He kept the flag that
bore the summons waiting fully two hours,
for his innate bravery and patriotism bade
him refuse and fight, while his fear of
dreadful consequences to his army and the
people bade him surrender. His troops
were confident in their ability to success-
fully confront the enemy, and he finally
refused compliance with the demand. Ac-
tive preparations were then made for de-
A BUSINESS STREET IN DETROIT IN 1899.
110
DETROIT— DE VRIES
fence. The British opened a cannonade
and bombardment from their battery,
which was kept up until near midnight.
The firing was returned with spirit; but
Hull would listen to no suggestion for
the erection of a battery at Spring Wells
to oppose the enemy if they should at-
tempt to cross the river. Early on the
morning of the 16th they crossed and
landed unmolested; and as they moved
towards the fort, in single column, Te-
cumseh and his Indians, 700 strong, who
had crossed 2 miles below during the
night, took' position in the woods on their
left a%s flankers, while the right was pro-
tected by the gims of the Queen Charlotte.
in the river. They had approached to a
point witliin 500 yards of the American
line, when Hull sent a peremptory order
for the soldiers to retreat within the al-
ready overcrowded fort. The infuriated
soldiers reluctantly obeyed; and while
the enemy were preparing to storm the
fort, Hull, without consulting any of his
oflicers, hoisted a white flag, and a capitu-
lation for a surrender was soon agreed
upon. The surrender took place at noon,
Aug. 10, 1812. The fort, garrison, army,
and the Territory of Michigan were in-
cluded in the terms of surrender. The
spoils of victory for the British were
2,.500 stand of arms, twenty-five iron and
eight brass pieces of ordnance, forty bar-
rels of gunpowder, a^ stand of colors, a
great quantity of military stores, and the
armed brig John Adams. One of the
brass cannon bore the following inscrip-
tion: "Taken at Saratoga on the 17th
of October, 1777." General Hull and his
fellow-captives were sent first to Fort
George and then to Montreal, where they
arrived Sept. 6, when they were paroled,
and returned to their homes. Hull was
tried for treason and cowardice, and sen-
tenced to be shot, but was pardoned by
the President. His character has since
been fully vindicated. See Hull, Will-
iam.
Detroit, Fort. The old French village
of Detroit contained 160 houses in 1812,
and about 800 souls. It stretched along
the river at a convenient distance from
the water, and the present Jefferson Ave-
nue was the principal street. On the high
ground in the rear, about 250 yards from
the river, stood Fort Detroit, built by the
English after the conquest of Canada, in
1760. It was quadrangular in form, with
bastions and barracks, and covered about
two acres of ground. The embankments
were nearly 20 feet high, with a deep
ditch, and were surrounded with a double
row of pickets. The fort did not com-
mand the river. The town, also, was sur-
rounded by pickets 14 feet in height, with
loop-holes to shoot through.
De Vaca. See Cabeza de Vaca.
Devens, Charles, jurist; born in
Charlestown, Mass., April 4, 1820; grad-
uated at Harvard University in 1838;
studied at the Cambridge Law School, and
practised the profession of law several
years. In 1848 he was a State Senator,
and from 1849 to 18.53 was United States
marshal for Massachusetts. He was en-
gaged in his profession at Worcester,
Mass., when the Civil War began, and
was one of the earliest Union volunteers,
becoming major of a rifle battalion April
16, 1861, and colonel of the 15th Massa-
chusetts Regiment in July following. Be-
fore the arrival of Colonel Baker, he com-
manded at Ball's Bluff (q.v.), and again
after that officer's death. In April, 1862,
te was made brigadier-general ; served on
the Peninsula; was wounded at Fair
Oaks; was in the battles of South Moun-
tain and Antietam; and commanded a
division in the 11th Army Corps at
Chancellorsville. In the Pichmond cam-
paign of 1864-65 he was continually en-
gaged, and in December, 1864, he was in
temporary command of the 24th Army
Corps. In April, 1865, he was brevetted
major-general of volunteers, and in 1867
was appointed a justice of the Superior
Court of Massachusetts. He was United
States Attorney - General in 1877-81, and
justice of the Massachusetts Supreme
Court from 1881 till his death, in Boston.
Jan. 7, 1891.
De Vries, David Pieterssen, colonist.
In December, 1630, he sent out a number
of emigrants from Holland who establish-
ed a settlement called Swanendal, near the
mouth of the Delaware Piver, where they
began the cultivation of grain and to-
bacco. Two years later when De Vries
arrived at the head of a second party he
found that all the first settlers had been
massacred by the Indians. In April, 1634,
he concluded that his enterprise was un*
11
DEWEY
successful, and the expedition returned to
Holland. He is the author of Voyages from
Holland to America, from 1632 till 164^.
Dewey, George, naval officer; born in
Montpelier, Vt., Dec. 26, 1837; gradu-
ated at the United States Naval Academy
in 1858; and served on the frigate Wa-
bash in the Mediterranean squadron until
the beginning of the Civil War, when he
was assigned to the steam sloop Missis-
sippi of the West Gulf squadron. On
April 19, 1861, he was commissioned lieu-
tenant, and was with Admiral Farragut
when the latter's squadron forced the
passage of forts St. Philip and Jackson
in April, 1862. He also took part in the
attack on Fort St. Philip and the subse-
quent battles with gunboats and iron-
clads which gave Farragut control of New
Orleans. In the smoke of the battle the
Mississippi ran aground within range of
the shore batteries. When it was seen
in 1884 to captain; and in 1896 to com-
modore. He was appointed to command
the Asiatic squadron in January, 1898, an
assignment then considered but little
short of exile. About March of the same
year, when it became evident that war
would be declared between the United
States and Spain, Commodore Dewey, act-
ing on orders from Washington, began to
mobilize his vessels in the harbor of
Hong-Kong. After the declaration of
war he received orders to capture or de-
stroy the Spanish fleet known to be in
Philippine waters. It was then supposed
that the harbor of Manila, where the Span-
ish fleet was most likely to rendezvous,
was mined with explosives and supplied
with search-lights, and that the forts of
Cavite (g. V.) had been put in readiness
for an attack. Taking all chances, the
United States squadron sailed boldly into
the bay on the night of April 30. Dewey's
BIRTHPLACE OF ADMIRAL DEWEY.
that the ship could not be saved, the offi-
cers and men set her afire and escaped in
the boats. Later, Dewey served in the
North Atlantic blockading squadron, and
still later with the European squadron.
In 1872 he was promoted to commander;
squadron comprised the flagship Olympia,
a first-rate steel-protected cruiser; the
Boston, the Baltimore, and the Raleigh,
second-rate steel-protected cruisers; the
Concord and Petrel, steel gunboats ; the
McCulloch, revenue-cutter; and two new
112
ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY
DEWEY, GEORGE
TRIUMPHAL ARCH ERKCTED IN NEW YORK CITY TO CELKBRATE DEWEY'S RETURN.
ly purchased supply ships. The Spanish
squadron consisted of the Rcina Christina,
steel cruiser ; the Castilia, wooden cruiser ;
the Don Antonio de TJlloa, iron cruiser;
the Don Juan dc Austria, iron cruiser; the
Isla de Cuba, steel protected cruiser; the
Isla de Luzon, steel protected cruiser;
the Isla de Mindanao, auxiliary cruis-
er; Ahe gunboats General Lezo, El Cano,
and Marques del Duero, and two
torpedo - boats. Early on Sunday morn-
ing, May 1, Dewey attacked the Spanish
squadron, under command of Admiral
Montojo. Two engagements were fought;
during the interval between them the
American ships drew off to the east side
of the bay, that the men might rest and
have breakfast. The fight lasted two
hours, and resulted in the destruction of
the Spanish squadron, by fire and sinking,
without the loss of an American ship or
man. Immediately after the receipt of
Dewey's brief message of victory, the Pres-
ident promoted him to rear-admiral, and
Congress voted him the thanks of the coun-
try and a sword. Subsequently, the grade
of admiral was revived, and the President
conferred it on him. Holding the bay of
Manila and the Cavite works, he had
ni. — H 1
the chief city of the Philippines at his
mercy, but made no attempt to occupy
that city. There ensued a period of mas-
terful diplomacy, which won for the victor
high commendation. Between the im-
minent dangers of foreign complications
and the operations of the native insur-
gents under Aguinaldo {q. v.), he
acquitted himself with rare judgment.
After the occupation of Manila (q. v.)
by the American troops, he was granted
leave to return home, whenever and how-
ever it should suit his convenience; and,
sailing in his battle-scarred flag-ship, he
reached New York on Sept. 26, 1899, and
was given the grandest reception ever
accorded a public officer, the demonstra-
tions comprising a naval parade up the
river to General Grant's tomb, on the 29th,
and a land parade on the following day.
Subsequently, he established his residence
in Washington, D. C, in a dwelling pre-
sented to him by popular subscription.
Dewey, Melvil, librarian; born in
Adams Centre, N. Y., Dec. 10, 1851;
graduated at Amherst in 1874; edited the
Library Journal in 1876-81; became di-
rector of the New York State Library in
1888; is author of Decimal Classification
13
DE WITT— DICKINSON
and Relative Index; Library School Rules,
etc.
De Witt, Simeon, surveyor; born in
Ulster county, N. Y., Dec. 26, 1756;
graduated at Queen's (now Rutgers) Col-
lege in 1776; joined the army under
Gates; and was made assistant geog-
rapher to the army in 1778, and chief
geographer in 1780. He was surveyor-
general of New York fifty years (1784-
1834). In 1796 he declined the appoint-
ment of surveyor-general of the United
States. He was regent, vice-chancellor,
and chancellor of the State of New York,
member of many learned societies, and
author of Elements of Perspective (1835).
He died in Ithaca, N. Y., Dec. 3, 1834.
Dexter, Henry Martyn, clergyman;
born in Plympton, Mass., Aug. 13, 1821 ;
graduated at Yale in 1840; became pas-
tor of the Congregational Church in
Manchester in 1844; removed to Boston
as pastor of the Berkeley Street Church
in 1849. He is the author of Congregation-
alism of the Last 300 Years; As to Roger
Williams and his Banishment from the
Massachusetts Colony; History of Old
Plymouth Colony; and the editor of
Church's Eastern Expeditions ; Entertain-
ing Passages Relating to Philip's War. He
died in New Bedford,' Mass., Nov. 13, 1890.
Dexter, Samuel, jurist; born in Bos-
ton, May 14, 1701 ; graduated at Har-
vard in 1781; studied law at Worces-
ter, and became a State legislator, in
which place he was distinguished for in-
tellectual ability and oratory. President
Adams appointed him, successively. Sec-
retary of War (1800) and of the Treas-
ury ( 1801 ) , and for a while he had charge
of the State Department. On the acces-
sion of Jefferson (1801) he resumed the
practice of law. He declined foreign em-
bassies offered by Adams and Madison.
Mr. Dexter was a Federalist until the
War of 1812, when, being in favor of that
measure, he separated himself from his
party. He was the first president of the
first temperance society formed in Massa-
chusetts. He died in Athens, N. Y., May
4, 1816.
Dexter, Timothy, merchant; born in
Maiden, Mass., Jan. 22, 1743. Inordinate
vanity and extraordinary shrewdness were
combined in him with almost imbecility
in all matters excepting those of trade.
1
It is of him that the story is told that
he sent a lot of warming-pans to the West
Indies, which he disposed of at a large
profit to the sugar manufacturers for use
as skimmers. He died in Newburyport,
Mass., Oct. 26, 1806.
De Zeng, Frederick Augustus, Baron,
military officer; born in Dresden, Saxony,
in 1756; came to America in 1780 as cap-
tain in one of the Hessian regiments; and
at the end of the Revolutionary War mar-
ried an American lady and settled in Red
Hook, N. Y. He was naturalized in 1789,
and became intimate with Chancellor
Livingston, Governor Clinton, General
Schuyler, and others, and was greatly in-
terested in the opening of canals and in
the navigation of the interior waters and
lakes. He died in Clyde, N. Y., April 26,
1838.
Diamond State. A name applied to
the State of Delaware because of its
small size, its wealth, and its importance.
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal, military
officer; born in Medina del Campo, Spain,
about 1498; came to America as an ad-
venturer in 1514, joining the expedition
of Cordova in 1517, Grijalva in 1518, Cor-
tez, 1519-21, and he was engaged in 119
battles and skirmishes. He wrote a his-
tory of the conquest of New Spain in
1568 criticising Gomara's Chronicle of
Neio Spain, in which nearly all the glory
was given to Cortez. Diaz was a rough,
unlettered soldier, and his history has
been pronounced a " collection of fables."
He died in Guatemala, about 1593.
Dickerson, Mahlon, statesman ; born
in Hanover, N. J., April 17, 1770; grad-
uated at Princeton in 1789; practised law
in Philadelphia, where he became recorder
of the city court. He returned to New
Jersey, was elected a member of the leg-
islature in 1814, governor of the State
in 1815, and United States Senator in
1816. He was Secretary of the Navy un-
der Presidents Jackson and Van Buren.
He died in Succasunna, N, J., Oct. 5,
1853.
Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth, reformer;
born in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 28, 1842;
made her first appearance among public
speakers in 1857, and spoke frequently on
temperance and slavery. During the Civil
War she was employed by Republican com-
mittees to make addresses, and after its
14
DICKINSON
JOHN DICKINSON.
conclusion she lectured on reconstruction May of that year. He was successively
and on woman's work and wages. She president of the States of Delaware and
was an advocate for woman's suffrage. Pennsylvania (1781-85), and a member
Dickinson, Charles Wesley, inventor; of the convention that framed the na-
born in Springfield, N. J., Nov. 23, 1823; tional Constitution (1787). Letters from
became a machinist, and gave his attention his pen, over the signature of " FabiuB,"
to fine machinery. He perfected the bank-
note engraving lathe, first used by the
national government in 1862; and invent-
ed a pantograph tracer, improved type-
setting and type-distributing machines,
etc. He died in Belleville, N. J., July 2,
1900.
Dickinson, Don M., lawyer; born in
Port Ontario, N. Y., Jan. 17, 1846; set-
tled in Michigan in 1848; graduated at
the Law Department of the University of
Michigan in 1866; began practice in
Detroit ; member of the Democratic
National Committee in 1884-8.5; served as
Postmaster-General of the United States
in 1888-89. He was appointed senior
counsel for the United States before the
Bering Sea Claims Commission in 1896.
Dickinson, Jacob McG., born in Col-
umbus, Miss., Jan. 30, 1851, graduated at
University of Nashville in 1871, appointed
Secretary of War by President Taft in
1909.
Dickinson, John, publicist; born in advocating the adoption of the national
Maryland, Nov. 13, 1732; son of Chief- Constitution, appeared in 1788; and an-
Justice Samuel D. Dickinson; studied law other series, over the same signature, on
in Philadelphia and at the Temple in Lon- our relations with France, appeared in
don, and practised his profession in Phila- 1797. Mr. Dickinson assisted in framing
delphia. In the Pennsylvania Assembly, the constitution of Delaware in 1792. His
to which he was elected in 1764, he showed monument is Dickinson College {q. v.),
great legislative ability, and was a ready at Carlisle, Pa., which he founded and
and vehement debater. At the same time, liberally endowed. He died in Wilmington,
he wrote much on the subject of British Del., Feb. 14, 1808.
infringement on the liberties of the colo- Dickinson, Philemon, military officer;
nies. The most noted of these writings born in Croisedore, Md., April 5, 1739;
were papers (twelve in number) entitled settled near Trenton, N. J. In July, 1775,
Letters from a Pennsylvania Farmer, etc., he entered the patriot army; in October
published in the Pennsylvania Chronicle in of the same year was promoted brigadier-
1767. Mr. Dickinson was a member of general ; in 1776 was a delegate to the Pro-
the first Continental Congress, and wrote vincial Congress of New Jersey; in 1777
several of the state papers put forth by was promoted major-general of the New
that body. Considering the resolution of Jersey troops; in October of that year
independence unwise, he voted against it marched against the British on Staten Isl-
and the Declaration, and did not sign the and, for which he received the thanks of
latter document. This made him unpopu- Washington; and served with marked dis-
lar. In 1777 he was made a brigadier-gen- tinction during the remainder of the Revo-
eral of the Pennsylvania militia. He was lutionary War. In 1784 he served on the
elected a representative in Congress from commission to choose a site for the city
Delaware in 1779, and wrote the Address of Washington. He died near Trenton,
to the States put forth by that body in N. J., Feb. 4, 1809.
115
DICKINSON COLLEGE— DINWIDDIE
Dickinson College, a co-educational
institution in Carlisle, Pa. ; under the con-
trol of the Methodist Episcopal Church ;
organized in 1783; reported at the end of
1900, thirty professors and instructors,
480 students, 45,000 volumes in the
library, 3,951 graduates, and $375,000 in
productive funds; president, George E.
Reed, S.T.D., LL.D.
Dickson, John, statesman ; born in
Keene, N. H., in 1783; graduated at
Middlebury College in 1808; practised law
in Rochester, N. Y., in 1813-25; member
of Congress in 1831-35. He is credited
with having delivered " the first important
anti-slavery speech ever made in Con-
gress." He published Remarks on the Pres-
entation of Several Petitions for the
Abolition of Slavery and the Slave-trade
in the District of Columbia. He died in
West Bloomfield, N. Y., Feb. 22, 1852.
Dieskau, Ludwig August, Baron, mili-
tary officer; born in Saxony in 1701; was
lieutenant-colonel of cavalry under Mar-
shal Saxe, and was made brigadier-gen-
eral of infantry in 1748, and commander
of Brest. In 1755 he was sent to Canada
with the rank of major-general ; and in an
attack upon the fortified encampment of
Gen. William Johnson at the head of Lake
George (Sept. 8, 1755) he was so severely
wounded that he died in Surenne, near
Paris, Sept. 8, 1757.
Digges, Edward, colonial governor;
born in England in 1620; came to Ameri-
ca and introduced the silk-worm into Vir-
ginia; became governor of that colony in
1655, but before the close of the year
resigned and became the bearer of a letter
from the Virginia Assembly to Cromwell.
He died in Virginia, March 15, 1675.
Dimick, Justin, military officer; born
in Hartford county, Conn., Aug. 5, 1800;
graduated at the United States Mili-
tary Academy in 1819; served in the war
with Mexico, and greatly distinguished
himself at Contreras and Churubusco. In
1861-63 he commanded the depot of
prisoners at Fort Warren, Mass. He was
retired in 1863; received the brevet of
brigadier-general, U. S. A., in 1865. He
died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 13, 1871.
Dingley, Nelson, legislator; born in
Durham, Me., Feb. 15, 1832; gradu-
ated at Dartmouth College in 1855;
studied law in Auburn and was admitted
to the bar there in 1856; and in the last
mentioned year became editor and pro-
prietor of the Lewiston Journal, a con-
nection he retained till his death. From
1861 till 1873 he was a member of the
State legislature, and in 1873 and 1875
was elected governor of Maine. In 1881
he was elected to Congress to fill the va-
cancy caused by the election of William
P. Frye to the United States Senate, and
by re-elections held the seat till his death.
NELSON DING LET.
From the opening of his congressional
career he was conspicuous as an advocate
of high tariff. In 1890 he aided in the
formulation of the McKinley tariff bill ; in
1894 was a strong opponent of the Wilson
bill ; and in 1897, as chairman of the
committee on ways and means, he brought
forward the tariff bill which was adopted
under his name. President McKinley
tendered him the post of Secretary of the
Treasury, but he declined it. In 1898 he
became a member of the Joint High Com-
mission to negotiate a settlement of ex-
isting differences between the United
States and Canada. He died in Washing-
ton, D. C, Jan. 13, 1899.
Dinwiddle, Robert, colonial governor;
born in Scotland about 1690. While act-
ing as clerk to a collector of customs in
the West Indies he discovered and ex-
posed enormous frauds practised by his
principal, and was rewarded with the
116
DINWIDDIE, ROBEBT
office of surveyor of the customs, and
afterwards with that of lieutenant-govern-
or of Virginia. He arrived in the colony
in 1752. He was rapacious, and unscrupu-
lous in the accumulation of wealth.
Owing to his exaction of enormous fees
authorized by the board of trade for the
issue of patents for lands, he gained the
ill-will of the people of Virginia, and
when he called for money to enable him
to oppose the encroachments of the
French, the House of Burgesses paid no
attention to his expressed wishes. Din-
widdle, unmindful of this conduct, en-
listed a captain's command, and sent them
to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio
(now Pittsburg), and called on neighbor-
ing colonies for aid in the work. He sent
George Washington to the French com-
mander on a mission of observation.
Washington proved himself to be a zeal-
ous officer; and Dinwiddle, discovering his
capacity, made him adjutant-general of a
military district.
The revelations made to Washington
at Fort Le Boeuf, the evident preparations
of the French to make a concerted move-
ment to secure the occupation of the Ohio
region, and the tenor of St. Pierre's an-
swer to Dinwiddle's letter, convinced the
J
m
f"!^
m
»N
^
^P
^fi
Oi^rz^Cui^
latter of the necessity of quick and ener-
getic countervailing measures. St. Pierre
declared that he was acting under the in-
structions of his superior, the INIarquis
Duquesne, at Montreal, and refused to
1
withdraw his troops from the disputed
territory. Dinwiddle immediately pre-
pared for an expedition against the
French, and a.sked the other colonies to
co-operate with Virginia. This was the
first call for a general colonial union
against the common enemy. All hesi-
tated excepting North Carolina. The
legislature of that province promptly voted
400 men, who were soon on the march
for Winchester, the place of rendezvous;
but they eventually proved of little worth,
for, doubtful of being paid for their ser-
vices, a great part of them were dis-
banded before they reached the Shenan-
doah Valley. Some volunteers from
South Carolina and New York hastened
to the gathering - place. Virginia respond-
ed to the call to arms by organizing
a regiment of 600 men, of which Joshua
Fry was appointed colonel and Major
Washington lieutenant-colonel. The Vir-
ginians assembled at Alexandria, on
the Potomac, whence Lieutenant - Colonel
Washington, with the advance, marched
(April 2, 1754) at their head for the
Ohio. Meanwhile Captain Trent had re-
cruited a company among the traders west
of the mountains, and had begun the erec-
tion of a fort at the forks of the Ohio.
They were attacked (April 18) by a party
of French and Indians, who expelled Trent
and his men, completed the fort, and
named it Duquesne, in honor of the cap-
tain - general of Canada. News of this
event reached Washington at Will's
Creek (now Cumberland). He pushed
foiward with 150 men to a point on the
Monongahela less than 40 miles from Fort
Duquesne. There he was informed that
a strong force of French and Indians was
marching to intercept him. He wisely fell
back to the Great Meadows, where he
erected a stockade, and called it Fort Ne-
cessity. Before it was completed, a few
of his troops attacked an advanced party
of the enemy under Jumonville in the
night, and the commander and several of
his men were killed. Some of his capt-
ured men were sent to Governor Dinwid-
dle. Reinforced, Washington marched for
Fort Duquesne again, but was driven back
to Fort Necessity, which he was obliged
to surrender on July 3. See Necessity,
Fort.
Dinwiddle was the first to suggest to
17
DINWIDDIE COURT-HOUSE— DIPLOMATIC SERVICE
the British board of trade the taxing of
the colonies (1754) for funds to carry on
the war with the French and Indians;
and he was one of the five colonial gov-
ernors who memorialized Parliament
(1755) in favor of the measure. He had
much clashing and vexation with the
House of Burgesses; and worn out with
trouble and age, he left Virginia under
a cloud caused by a charge made by his
enemies that he had appropriated to his
own use £20,000 transmitted to him for
compensation to the Virginians for money
expended by them in the public service.
He died in Clifton, England, Aug. 1, 1770.
Dinwiddle Court-house, Actions at.
In March, 1865, the National force under
General Sheridan crossed the Appomat-
tox Kiver from Bermuda Hundred, passed
to the rear of the army before Peters-
burg, and early on the morning of the 29th
marched down the Jerusalem plank-road,
and turning westward pushed on by way
of Reams's Station to Dinwiddle Court-
house, where he halted for the night at
5 P.M. Sheridan expected to cut loose
from the rest of the army on the 30th
to make a raid on the South Side and Dan-
ville railroads, but General Grant sud-
denly changed his plans. General Lee,
seeing that his only line of communication
might be cut off at any hour, and feeling
the necessity of maintaining his ex-
tended line of works covering Peters-
burg and Richmond, concentrated a force
of about 15,000 men, and hastened to place
them in front of the 5th and 2d Corps of
*he National army. He then sought to
strike a heavy blov? on the extreme west
of Grant's lines, then held by Sheridan,
which he supposed was a weak point.
Sheridan captured the works at Five
Forks, and so gained the key to the whole
region that Lee was striving to protect.
In the struggle to regain this point strong
parts of both armies were soon facing each
other at Dinwiddle Court - house. Here
Sheridan won the day after a severe en-
gagement, the Confederates being unable
to make any rally, and the fighting ceased
with darkness. During the night the Con-
federates retired.
Diocese, originally a division of de-
partments or districts under the civil
government of the Roman Empire, sub-
sequently restricted to the territory under
the supervision of a bishop. In the United
States dioceses of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church bear the name of the State,
part of the State, or Territory under the
bishop's jurisdiction; in the Roman
Catholic Church they take the name of
the city containing the bishop's cathedral.
Diplomatic Service. The following is
a table of the chiefs of the United States
embassies and legations in foreign coun-
tries on Jan. 1, 1901:
Argentine Eepublic.
William P. Lord, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Buenos
Ayres.
Austria-Hungary.
Addison C. Harris, Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Vienna.
Belgium,
Lawrence Townsend, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Brussels.
Bolivia.
George H. Bridgman, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, La
Paz.
Brazil.
Charles Page Bryan, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Rio
de Janeiro.
Chile.
Henry L. Wilson, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Santiago.
China.
Edwin H. Conger, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Peking.
Colombia.
Charles Burdett Hart, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Bogota.
Costa Rica.
William L. Merry, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, San
Jose.
Denmark.
Laurits S. Swenson, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Copenhagen.
DIPLOMATIC SERVICE
Dominican Eeptjblic. Netherlands.
William F. Powell, Cliarg6 d'Affaires, Stanford Newel, Envoy Extraordinary
Port au Prince. and Minister Plenipotentiary, The Hague,
Ecuador. Nicaragua and Salvador.
Archibald J. Sampson, Envoy Extraor- William L. Merry, Envoy Extraordinary
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and Minister Plenipotentiary, San Jo86.
Quito.
Egypt.
John G. Long, Agent and Consul-Gen
eral, Cairo.
France.
(See Costa Rica.)
Paraguay and Uruguay.
Horace Porter, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary, Paris.
German Empire.
Andrew D. White, Ambassador Ex-
traordinary and Plenipotentiary, Berlin.
Great Britain.
Joseph H. Choate, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary, London.
Greece, Rumania, and Servia.
Arthur S. Hardy, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Athens.
Guatemala and Honduras.
W. Godfrey Hunter, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Guatemala City.
Haiti.
William F. Powell, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Port
au Prince.
Italy.
, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary, Rome.
Japan.
Alfred E. Buck, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Tokio.
William R. Finch, Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Montevideo.
Persia.
Herbert W. Bowen, Minister Resident
and Consul-General, Teheran.
Peru.
Irving B. Dudley, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lima.
Portugal.
John N. Irwin, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lisbon.
Russia.
Charlemagne Tower, Ambassador Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
St. Petersburg.
SlAM.
Hamilton King, Minister Resident and
Consul-General, Bangkok.
Spain.
Bellamy Storer, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Madrid.
Sweden and Norway.
William W. Thomas, Jr., Envoy Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Stockholm.
Switzerland.
Korea
Horace N.
and Consul-General, Seoul.
John G. A. Leishman, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Allen, Minister Resident Berne.
Turkey.
Liberia.
Owen L. W. Smith, Minister Resident
and Consul-General, Monrovia.
Mexico.
Powell Clayton, Ambassador Extraor- nary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Cara-
dinary and Plenipotentiary, Mexico. cas.
119
Oscar S. Straus, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, Constanti-
nople.
Venezuela.
Francis B. Loomis, Envoy Extraordi-
DIPLOMATIC SERVICE
The following is a table of the chiefs
of the foreign embassies and legations in
the United States on Jan. 1, 1901 :
Argentine Eepublic.
Dr. Eduardo Wilde, Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Austria-Hungary.
Mr. Ladislaus Hengelmuller von Hen-
gervar, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary.
Belgium.
Count G. de Lichtervelde, Envoy Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Bolivia.
Seiior Don Fernando E. Guachalla,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary.
Brazil.
de Assis-Brasil, Envoy Ex-
and Minister Plenipoten-
Mr. J. F
traordinary
tiary.
Chile.
Senor Don Carlos Morla Vicuna, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten- and Minister Plenipotentiary,
tiary.
China. Mexico,
Mr. Wu Ting-Fang, Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Germany
Herr von HoUeben, Ambassador Ex-
traordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Great Britain.
The Right Honorable Lord Pauncefote,
of Preston, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Guatemala.
Senor Don Antonio Lazo Arriaga, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary.
Haiti.
Mr. J. N. Leger, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Italy.
Baron de Fava, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Japan.
Mr. Kogoro Takahira, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Korea.
Mr. Chin Pom Ye, Envoy Extraordinary
Colombia,
Senor Dr. Luis Cuervo Marquez,
Chargg d' Affaires.
Costa Rica,
Senor Don Joaquin Bernardo Calvo,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiarj.
potentiary.
Senor Don Manuel de Azpiroz, Am-
bassador Extraordinary and Plenipoten-
tiary.
Netherlands.
Baron W. A. F. Gevers, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Nicaragua.
Senor Don Luis F. Corea, Envoy Ex-
Denmark.
Mr. Constantin Brun, Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary,
Dominican Republic.
Senor Don Emilio C. Joubert, Charge
d'Affaires.
Ecuador,
Senor Don Luis Felipe Carbo, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary,
France.
M. Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary.
120
Peru.
Mr. Manuel Alvarez Calderon, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary.
Portugal.
Viscount de Santo-Thyrso, Envoy Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Russia.
Comte Cassini, Ambassador Extraor-
dinary and Plenipotentiary.
Salvador.
Senor Don Rafael Zaldivar, Envoy Ex-
traordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
DIRECTORY— DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
SlAM.
Phya Prashiddhi, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary, accredited
both to the United States and Great
Britain.
Spain.
Duke de Arcos, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Sweden and Norway.
Mr. A. Grip, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary.
Switzerland.
Mr. J. B. Pioda, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Turkey.
Ali Ferrouh Bey, Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Uruguay,
Senor Dr. Don Juan Cuestas, Minis-
ter Resident.
Venezuela.
Senor Don Augusto F. Pulido, Charge
d'Affaires ad interim.
See Consular Service.
Directory, French, the name given to
the government of the French Republic,
established by a constitution in August,
1795, framed by the moderate republican
party after the fall of Robespierre and the
end of the Reign of Terror. The executive
directory consisted of five persons, who
promulgated the laws, appointed the min-
isters, and had the management of mili-
tary and naval affairs. They decided ques-
tions by a majority vote, and presided, by
turns, three months each, the presiding
member having the signature and the seal.
During their terms of office none of them
could have a personal command, or absent
himself for more than five days from the
place where the council held its sessions
without its permission. The legislative
power, under the constitution, was vested
in two assemblies, the Council of Five
Hundred and the Council of the Ancients,
the former having the exclusive right of
preparing laws for the consideration
of the latter. The judicial authority was
committed to elective judges. The first
directors chosen (Nov. 1, 1795) were MM.
Barras, Revelliere-Lepeaux, Rewbell, Le-
tourneur, and Carnot. The latter organ-
ized the armies with great skill.
Disbanding of the Union Armies.
See Arjiy, Disbanding of the Union
Armies.
Disbrowe, Samuel, magistrate; born
in Cambridgeshire, England, Nov. 30,
1C19; came to America in 1639; and
bought from the Indians the site of Guil-
ford, Conn. The constitution of this set-
tlement in the writing of Disbrowe is still
preserved and provides for judiciary, ex-
ecutive, and legislative departments, etc.
He returned to England in 1G50, and died
in Cambridgeshire, Dec. 10, 1G90.
Disciples of Christ, a religious body
founded in Washington, Pa., 1811, by
Thomas Campbell, a minister who had
left the Presbyterian Church in Ire-
land and came to the United States in
1807. He deplored the divided state of
the Church and the evils which arose there-
from. He held that the only remedy for
this was a complete restoration of primi-
tive apostolic Christianity. This view met
with some approval, a new sect was
formed, and the first church was organized
on May 4, 1811. In addition to the funda-
mental truths which the Disciples of
Christ hold in common with all Chris-
tian bodies the following may be cited as
some of their more particular principles:
1. The Church of Christ is intentionally
and constitutionally one; and all divisions
which obstruct this unity are contrary to
the will of God, and should be ended. 2.
As schisms sprang from a departure from
the New Testament Christianity, the rem-
edy for them is to be found in the restora-
tion of the Gospel in its purity. 3. Iq
order to accomplish this restoration all
human formulation of doctrine as authori-
tative bases for church membership must
be surrendered, and the Bible received
alone as the basis of all faith and prac-
tice; the exchange of all party names for
scriptural names, and the restoration of
the ordinances as they were originally.
The polity of the Disciples is congrega-
tional ; the local churches have elders and
deacons. They have no general body for
legislative purposes, but combine in dis-
trict and national organizations for mis-
sionary work. In 1900 they reported 6,528
ministers, 10,528 churches, and 1,149,982
communicants.
21
DISCOVERIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY— DISMAL SWAMP
Discoveries of the Nineteenth Cen-
tury. Alfred Russell Wallace, in his book,
The Wonderful Century, makes a compari-
son between the great inventions and dis-
coveries of the nineteenth century and
those of the entire previous historical pe-
riod, which is as follows:
Of the Nineteenth Century.
1. Railways.
2. Steamships.
3. Electric telegraphs.
4. The telephone.
5. Lucifer matches.
6. Gas illumination.
7. Electric lighting.
8. Photography.
9. The phonograph.
10. Rontgen rays.
11. Spectrum- analysis.
12. Anaesthetics.
13. Antiseptic surgery.
14. Conservation of energy.
15. Molecular theory of gases.
16. Velocity of light directly measured,
and earth's rotation experimental-
ly shown.
17. The uses of dust.
18. Chemistry, definite proportions.
19. Meteors and the meteoritic theory.
20. The Glacial Epoch.
21. The antiquity of man.
22. Organic evolution established.
23. Cell theory and embryology.
24. Germ theory of disease, and the
function of the leucocytes.
Of all Preceding Ages.
1. The mariner's compass.
2. The steam-engine.
3. The telescope.
4. The barometer and thermometer.
5. Printing.
6. Arabic numerals.
7. Alphabetical writing.
8. Modern chemistry founded.
9. Electric science founded.
10. Gravitation established.
11. Kepler's laws.
12. The differential calculus.
13. The circulation of the blood.
14. Light proved to have finite ve-
locity.
15. The development of geometry.
Disfranchisement. Several of the
Southern States have revised, and others
contemplate the revision, of their consti-
tutions with a view to disfranchise illit-
erate negroes.
Louisiana. — There is an educational
qualification, which, however, does not ap-
ply to men or to the sons or grandsons of
men who were qualified to vote in 1867,
nor to foreigners naturalized before Jan.
1, 1898.
Mississippi. — An educational qualifica-
tion and a poll tax of $2, which may be
further increased by a county poll tax
of $1.
North Carolina. — An educational quali-
fication and a poll tax are necessary, with
the exception that the educational qualifi-
cation shall not apply to any one who
was entitled to vote under the laws of any
State in the United States on Jan. 1, 1867.
South Carolina. — On Jan. 1, 1896, a
new constitution went into effect by which
voters could be enrolled up to Jan. 1,
1898, provided they could read or could
explain to the satisfaction of the register-
ing oSicer such parts of the Constitution
of the United States as might be read
to them, but after Jan, 1, 1898, only
those able to read and write any re-
quired part of the Constitution, or who
could prove themselves tax-payers on
property worth not less than $300, could
be enrolled as voters.
Maryland. — A new law was passed
March 20, 1901, practically making an
educational qualification to read and write
necessary for enrolment as a voter.
See also Elective Franchise.
Dismal Swamp, a morass in southern
Virginia, extending into North Carolina.
It was formerly 40 miles long and 25
miles wide, but has become somewhat re-
duced in area by drainage of its border.
It is densely timbered with cypress, juni-
per, cedar, pine, etc. Lake Drummond,
near its centre, covers about 6 square
miles. This swamp rises towards its
centre, which is considerably higher than
its margin. The canal, constructed
through the swamp to connect Chesapeake
Bay with Albemarle Sound, has large his-
toric interests. The company organized
to build the canal received a joint charter
from the legislative assemblies of Vir-
ginia and North Carolina on Dec. 1, 1787.
The canal was opened to navigation in
1822; was wholly finished in 1828; and
22
DISOSW AY— DISUNION
was built with the assistance of the na-
tional government and the State of Vir-
ginia at a cost of $1,800,000. Originally
it was 32 feet wide and 4 feet deep. Sub-
sequently the width was increased to 40
feet and the depth to 6 feet, and the de-
caying wooden locks were replaced with
stone ones. This canal was for many
years the principal means of communi-
cation between the North and the South,
and was a very profitable venture. After
the Civil War its usefulness departed.
Early in 1899, the canal, as entirely re-
constructed, was reopened to navigation.
It now extends from the village of Deep
Creek, Va., to South Mills, N. C, a dis-
tance of 22 miles. The present canal is
one of the most important links in the
chain of inland waterways along the coast
from New York to Florida, and, as the
dangers of Cape Hatteras are avoided by
it, it has a large value both in peace and
war. Thomas Moore the poet, while at
Norfolk, put into verse an Indian legend,
under the title of Tlie Lake of the Dismal
Swamp.
Disosway, Gabriel Poillon, anti-
quary; born in New York City, Dec. 6,
1799; graduated at Columbia College in
1819; author of The Earliest Churches of
New York and its Vicinity. He died on
Staten Island, N. Y., July 9, 1868.
District of Columbia, the Federal Dis-
trict and seat of government of the United
States. In 1791 the District was erected
into two counties, as divided by the Poto-
mac, and was placed under the jurisdic-
tion of a circuit court, composed of a
chief -justice and two assessors ; the judg-
ment of this court to be final in criminal
cases, but in civil cases, where the amount
in dispute exceeded $100 in value, a writ
of error to lie in the Supreme Court of
the United States. This arrangement was
afterwards modified. Instead of provid-
ing a homogeneous code of laws for the
District, those of Maryland and Virginia
were continued. A bill to abolish slavery
in the District was passed by the Congress
(April 11, 1862), and became a law by
the signature of the President, April 16.
It provided for the payment, out of the
treasury of the United States, of an aver-
age of $300 to the master or mistress of
each slave thus emancipated. Thus eman-
cipation began at the national capital. In
connection with this event was a curious
proceeding. A free negro of the District,
who had bought and paid for his slave
wife, she and her children being, by the
slave code, his lawful slaves, claimed and
received compensation for her and her
half-dozen children. In 1871, the District
was organized as a Territory with a ter-
ritorial form of government. So extrava-
gant, however, were the expenditures made
for public improvements by the officials of
the Territory, that in 1874 Congress re-
pealed the act creating the Territory, and
invested the executive powers of the munic-
ipality in three commissioners — two civil-
ians and a United States engineer officer — •
appointed by the President. All legisla-
tive powers were assumed by Congress.
The law provided was the common law of
England, modified by acts of Congress.
There is a supreme court of six justices,
with other tribunals and officials. The
expenses of the municipality are defrayed
one-half by revenues from taxes levied on
private property, and one-half by con-
gressional appropriations. The citizens
have no right to vote on national or local
questions.
In 1900 the city of Washington (q.v.)
was co-extensive with the District of Co-
lumbia, the former corporations of George-
town and Washington having been abol-
ished, and the public affairs of the district
placed under the management of three
commissioners. The total funded debt was
$1.5,091,300, and the assessed valuation
$191,049,744. The population in 1890 was
230,392; in 1900, 278,718. See United
States — District of Columbia, in vol. ix.
Disunion, Early Threats of. In
angry debates in Congress on the subject
of the fisheries, in 1779, threats of dis-
imion were made by deputies of the
North and the South. It was shown that
the prosperity of New England depended
on the fisheries; but in this the Southern
States had no common interest. Indeed,
in all the States the doctrine of State
supremacy was so universally prevalent
that the deputies in Congress, instead of
willingly legislating for the whole, legis-
lated for their respective States. When
appeals had been made in Congress for a
favorable consideration of New England
in relation to the fisheries without eff"ect,
Samuel Adams said that " it would be-
23
DIVORCE LAWS
come more and more necessary for the
two empires [meaning the Northern and
Southern States divided by Mason and
Dixon's line] to separate." When the
North offered a preliminary resolution
that the country, even if deserted by
France and Spain, would continue the war
for the sake of the fisheries, four States
drew up a protest, declaring peremptorily
that if the resolution should be adopted
they would withdraw from the confedera-
tion. These sectional interests continu-
ally stood in the Avay of a perfect union
of the struggling colonists. The inflexible
tenacity with which each State asserted
its title to complete sovereignty often
menaced the Union with destruction, and
independence became, in the minds of
some, an idle dream. When, in August,
1781, envoys from Vermont were in Phila-
delphia, entreating for the admission of
their State into the Union, the measure
was opposed by the Southern delegates,
because it would " destroy the balance of
power " between the two sections of the
confederacy, and give the preponderance
to the North. The purchase of Louisiana
was deprecated and violently opposed by
the Federalist leaders, because it would
strengthen the Southern political influ-
ence then controlling the national govern-
ment. They professed to regard the meas-
ure as inimical to the Northern and East-
ern sections of the Union. The Southern
politicians had made them familiar with
the prescription of disunion as a remedy
for incurable political evils, and they re-
solved to try its efficacy in the case in
question. All through the years 1803 and
1804 desires for and fears of a dissolu-
tion of the Union were freely expressed in
what were free-labor States in 1861. East
of the Alleghanies, early in 1804, a select
convention of Federalists, to be held in
Boston, was contemplated, in the ensuing
autumn, to consider the question of dis-
union. Alexander Hamilton was invited
to attend it, but his emphatic condemna-
tion of the whole plan, only a short time
before his death, seems to have discon-
certed the leaders and dissipated the
t-oheme. The Rev. Jedidiah Morse, then
very influential in the Church and in poli-
tics in New England, advocated the sever-
ance of the Eastern States from the Union,
so as to get rid of the evils of the slave
system; and, later, Josiah Quincy, in a
debate in the House of Representatives,
expressed his opinion that it might be-
come necessary to divide the Union as a
cure of evils that seemed to be already
chronic.
DIVOBCE LAWS
Divorce Laws. Excepting in South
Carolina, which has no divorce laws, a
violation of the marriage vow is cause
for divorce in all' the States and Ter-
ritories. Other legal causes are shown
below:
Alabama. — Voluntary abandonment for
two years; habitual drunkenness after
marriage and incapacity; imprisonment
in penitentiary for two years on a sen-
tence of seven years or more. In making
decree chancellor may decide whether de-
fendant may marry again or not. Resi-
dence of one year in State required; but
if the application is made on ground ot
desertion, three years' residence is re-
quired.
Arizona. — Excesses or cruel treatment;
habitual intemperance ; abandonment for
six months; wilful neglect to provide on
part of husband; conviction of felony.
Residence required, six months; either
party may marry again.
Arkansas. — Permanent or incurable in-
sanity; wilful desertion one year; convic-
tion of felony or other infamous crime;
cruel treatment as to endanger life; per-
sonal indignities such as to render con-
dition intolerable; habitual drunkenness
one year. Residence required, one year;
either party may marry again.
California.— E.ahii\\3\ drunkenness, neg-
lect, or wilful desertion one year; ex-
treme cruelty; conviction of felony. Resi-
dence required, one year; either may re-
marry.
Colorado. — Habitual drunkenness; wil-
ful desertion or failure on part of hus-
band to provide for wife, either continuea
for one year; conviction of felony; ex-
treme cruelty, causing either mental or
124
DIVORCE LAWS
physical suffering. Residence required, dence required, six months; either may
one year; neither can remarry within remarry.
one year. Illinois. — Extreme and repeated cruel-
Connecticut. — Habitual intemperance; ty; conviction of felony or other infamous
intolerable cruelty; sentence to imprison- crime; attempt by either party on life
ment for life; fraudulent contract; wil- of other; wilful desertion two years.
ful desertion and total neglect of duty Residence required, one year; no statute
for three years; absent and unheard of as to remarrying.
seven years; any infamous crime involv- Indiana. — Habitual drunkenness; cruel
ing violation of conjugal duty, and pun- and inhuman treatment; abandonment
ishable by imprisonment in State prison, two years; failure on part of husband to
Residence required, three years; either support wife for two years. Residence
may remarry. required, two years; either may marry
Delaware. — Married under age; force or again, except as limited in decree,
fraud in procuring marriage; extreme Kansas. — Fraudulent contract; convic-
cruelty; habitual drunkenness; convic- tion of and imprisonment for felony;
tion of felony; desertion three years; wil- habitual drunkenness; extreme cruelty;
ful failure of husband to provide three gross neglect of duty; abandonment one
years. No statute as to residence; either year. Residence required, one year; par-
may remarry, but party guilty of infi- ties may remarry at once, unless appeal
delity must not marry party with whom is taken, and then thirty days after final
crime was committed. judgment on the appeal.
District of Columbia. — Wilful desertion Kentucky. — Uniting with religious so-
for two years; habitual drunkenness; ciety which forbids marriage of husband
cruelty and abuse endangering life or and wife; abandonment one year; living
health; insane at marriage. Divorces apart without cohabitation five years;
from bed and board may be granted for condemnation for felony; force, duress or
cruelty and reasonable apprehension of fraud in procuring marriage. Wife may
physical harm. Residence required, two obtain divorce for husband's neglect to
years; no statutory provision as to re- provide, and habitually treating her in
marrying. such cruel and inhuman manner as to de-
Florida. — Wilful, obstinate, and contin- stroy her peace and happiness; cruel beat-
ued desertion one year; habitual intem- ing or injury indicating outrageous temper
perance for one year; extreme cruelty; and endangering her life; confirmed hab-
habitual indulgence in violent temper, its of intoxication. Residence required,
A person who has been a resident of Flor- one year ; either may remarry.
ida for two years, and whose husband Louisiana. — Desertion for five years,
or wife has procured a divorce in any having been summoned to return within
other State or country, may obtain a one year of filing claim; attempt on life
divorce. Residence required, two years; of other; fugitive from justice; habitual
either may marry again. intemperance to excess; condemnation to
Georgia. — Habitual drunkenness; cruel ignominious punishment; cruel treat-
treatment; wilful desertion three years; ment or outrages of such nature as to
mental incapacity at time of marriage; render living together insupportable. No
conviction of crime involving moral turpi- divorce, except for infidelity, shall be
tude under which party has been sen- granted, except decree of separation pre-
tenced to imprisonment for two years or viously had and parties lived apart one
longer; force, menaces, threats, duress, year. No statute as to previous resi-
and fraud in procuring marriage. In pro- dence ; woman cannot marry for ten
curing divorce, concurrent verdict of two months after marriage is dissolved ; on
juries at different terms of court are divorce for infidelity guilty party shall
necessary. Applicant must reside in State: not marry person with whom crime was
no statute as to marrying again. committed.
Idaho. — Conviction of felony; extreme Maine. — Sentence to imprisonment for
cruelty; habitual intemperance; wilful life; desertion for three years; failure
desertion and neglect one year. Resi- of husband to provide for wife; cruel and
125
DIVORCE LAWS
abusive ti'eatment; gross and confirmed
habits of intoxication. Residence re-
quired, one year; either may remarry.
Maryland. — Abandonment three years ;
any cause which would render marriage
void ab initio. Residence required, two
years; in cases of divorce for infidelity,
court may decree that guilty party shall
not marry during life of other.
Massachusetts. — Sentence to hard labor
for five years or longer; where either
party has joined religious society that
professes to believe relation of husband
and wife unlawful, and has continued
with such society three years, refusing
for that time to cohabit; husband cruelly
and wantonly refusing to provide; gross
and confirmed habits of intoxication with
liquors, by opium or other drugs; cruel
and abusive treatment; utter desertion
three years. Residence required, three
years where parties have resided together
in State, otherwise five years; guilty
party cannot marry for two years.
Michigan. — Imprisonment for life or
three years or more; where either has
obtained divorce in another State ; neglect
by husband to provide; habitual drunken-
ness; desertion for two years. Resi-
dence required, one year; court may or-
der that guilty party shall not marry for
term not exceeding two years.
Minnesota. — Wilful desertion, one year;
sentence to State prison; cruel and in-
human treatment; habitual drunkenness
one year. Residence required, one year;
either party may marry again.
Mississippi. — Insanity or idiocy at time
of marriage unknown to other; habitual
cruel and inhuman treatment; habitual
drunkenness; wilful desertion two years;
sentenced to penitentiary. Residence re-
quired, one year; court may decree that
guilty party shall not remarry.
Missouri. — Conviction of crime or felony
prior to marriage unknown to other; con-
viction of felony or infamous crime; ab-
sent without cause one year ; habitual
drunkenness one year ; husband guilty of
such conduct as to constitute him a va-
grant; cruel or barbarous treatment as to
endanger life; indignities as to render
condition intolerable. Residence required,
one year; either may remarry.
Montana. — Extreme cruelty; conviction
of felony or infamo'JS crime; habitual
drunkenness one year; desertion one year,
husband deserting wife and leaving State
without intention of returning. Resi-
dence required, one year.
Nebraska. — Extreme cruelty; utter de-
sertion two years; sentenced to imprison-
ment for life or for three years or more;
habitual drunkenness ; wilful desertion for
five years. Divorce from bed and board
or from bonds of matrimony may be
granted for extreme cruelty by personal
violence or other means, utter desertion
two years, or failure of husband to pro-
vide. Previous residence, six months;
neither can remarry within time allowed
for appeal, nor before final judgment if
appeal is taken.
Nevada. — Neglect of husband to pro-
vide for one year; extreme cruelty; wilful
desertion one year; conviction of felony
or infamous crime; habitual gross drunk-
enness. Residence required, six months;
either may remarry.
New Hampshire. — Conviction of crime
and imprisonment for one year ; extreme
cruelty; where either party has treated
other as to injure health or endanger
reason; habitual drunkenness three years;
absent and unheard of three years ; deser-
tion for three years with refusal to co-
habit; desertion for three years with re-
fusal to support; where either party has
joined society professing to believe rela-
tion of husband and wife unlawful, and
refusal to cohabit with other for six
months; where wife has resided out of
State ten years without husband's con-
sent, without returning to claim her mari-
tal rights; where wife of alien has resided
in State three years, and her husband has
left United States with intention of be-
coming citizen of another country, not
having made suitable provision for her
support. One or the other must be resi-
dent of State one year, unless both were
domiciled in State when action was com-
menced, or defendant was served with pro-
cess in State, the plaintiff being domiciled
therein; either can remarry.
Nev) Jersey. — Extreme cruelty; wilful,
continued and obstinate desertion for
two years. Residence required, three
years; no statutory provision as to re-
marriage.
New Mexico. — Neglect of husband to
provide; habitual drunkenness; cruel or
126
DIVORCE -LAWS
inhuman treatment; abandonment. Resi-
dence required, one year.
New York. — Absolute divorce granted
only for adultery. Residence required,
one year. When woman under age of six-
teen is married without consent of parent
or guardian, when consent was obtained
by fraud, force or duress, or where either
party was insane or idiot, marriage may
be annulled. In such cases either party
may remarry, but in cases of absolute di-
vorce guilty party shall not marry during
life of other, with the following excep-
tions: He may be permitted by court to
remarry upon proving that the other party
has remarried, that five years have elapsed
since divorce was granted, and that his
conduct has been uniformly good. If the
guilty party marries in another State in
accordance with laws of that State, the
marriage will be held good in New York.
North Carolina. — Divorce may be
granted to wife if husband is indicted for
felony, and flees from the State and does
not return for one year; to the husband
if wife refuses relations with him for one
year. Divorces from bed and board may
be granted for habitual drunkenness,
abandonment, cruel or barbarous treat-
ment endangering life, indignities to per-
son as to render condition intolerable,
maliciously turning other out - of - doors.
Residence ' required, two years ; on abso-
lute divorce either may remarry.
North Dakota. — Conviction of felony;
extreme cruelty, wilful desertion, wilful
neglect and habitual intemperance, each
continued for one year. Residence re-
quired, ninety days; guilty party cannot
marry during life of other. South Dakota
same.
Ohio. — Imprisonment in penitentiary ;
gross neglect of duty; extreme cruelty;
habitual drunkenness for three years;
fraudulent contract; divorce procured by
either in another State. Residence re-
quired, one year ; either may remarry.
Oklahoma. — Habitual intemperance ; ex-
treme cruelty; abandonment one year;
fraudulent contract; gross neglect of
duty; conviction of felony and imprison-
ment. Residence required, ninety days;
decree does not become absolute till six
months after its date.
Oregon. — Wilful desertion one year;
habitual, gross drunkenness one year ; con-
viction of felony; personal indignities or
cruel and inhuman treatment rendering
life burdensome. Residence required, one
year; neither can marry until expira-
tion of time for appeal, and in case of ap-
peal, until after judgment on the appeal.
Pennsylvania. — Conviction of felony
and sentence for two years or longer; wil-
ful and malicious desertion for two years,
or where husband by cruelty and abuse
has endangered his wife's life, or offered
such indignities to her person as to render
her condition intolerable and her life
burdensome, and thereby forced her to
withdraw from his home and family;
where wife, by cruel and barbarous treat-
ment, renders husband's condition intoler-
able; fraud, force or coercion in procuring
marriage. Residence required, one year;
either may remarry.
Rhode Island. — Where marriage was
void or voidable by law; where either
party is for crime deemed civilly dead, or
from absence or other circumstances pre-
sumed to be dead; wilful desertion for
five years or for a shorter time, in discre-
tion of court; extreme cruelty; continued
drunkenness; neglect or refusal of hus-
band to provide, or for any other gross
misbehavior or wickedness in either party
repugnant to or in violation of the mar-
riage covenant, and where parties have
lived apart for ten years. Residence re-
quired, one year; no statute as to re-
marrying.
Tennessee. — Habitual drunkenness ; wil-
ful or malicious desertion for two years;
attempting life of other ; conviction of in-
famous crime; conviction and sentence to
penitentiary for felony; refusal of wife to
move into this State, and wilfully absent-
ing herself from husband for two years.
Divorces from bed and board may be
granted for cruel and inhuman treatment
to wife, indignities to her person render-
ing her condition intolerable, and forcing
her to withdraw, abandoning her or turn-
ing her out-of-doors, and refusing or neg-
lecting to provide for her. Residence re-
quired, two years; on absolute divorce
either may remarry, but on divorce for in-
fidelity guilty one shall not marry party
with whom crime was committed during
life of other.
Texas. — Desertion for three years ; ex-
cesses ; conviction of felony and imprison-
127
DIVORCE LAWS
ment in State prison; cruel treatment or ual drunkenness for one year; imprison-
outrages, if of nature to render living to- ment for life or for three years or more;
gether insupportable. Residence required, cruel and inhuman treatment by personal
six months; either may remarry. violence; where parties have voluntarily
Utah. — Conviction of felony; habitual lived apart five years. Residence re-
drunkenness; wilful neglect to provide for quired, one year; either may remarry,
wife; wilful desertion more than one Wyoming. — Conviction of felony or in-
year; cruel treatment as to cause bodily famous crime prior to marriage unknown
injuries or mental distress. Residence re- to other; conviction and sentence for fel-
quired, one year; either may remarry.
Vermont. — Sentence to hard labor in
State prison for life or for three years or
more; fraud or force in procuring mar-
riage, or either under age of consent; hus-
band grossly, wantonly, and cruelly neg-
lecting to provide; wilful desertion three
years, or absence seven years unheard of;
intolerable severity. Petitioner must re-
side in the State at least one year ; guilty beth Cady Stanton (q. v.) ,
party shall not marry again for the term known advocate of woman's
ony; wilful desertion one year; neglect of
husband to provide for one year; habitual
drunkenness; such indignities as to ren-
der condition intolerable. Residence re-
quired, six months; no statute as to re-
marrying.
Divorce Laws, Uniform. Upon the
question of the desirability of a uniform
divorce law in the United States, Eliza-
the well-
suffrage,
of three years. writes as follows:
Virginia. — Wilful desertion five years;
fugitive from justice two years; convic- There has been much discussion of late in
tion of infamous offence prior to mar- regard to the necessity for an entire re-
riage unknown to other; sentenced to vision of the laws on divorce. For this pur-
confinement in penitentiary. Divorces pose, the State proposes a committee of
from bed and board may be granted for learned judges, the Church another of dis-
cruelty, reasonable apprehension of bodily tinguished bishops, to frame a national
harm, abandonment or desertion. Resi- law which shall be endorsed by both Church
dence required, one year; court may de- and State. Though women are as deeply
cree that guilty party may not remarry interested as men in this question, there
without the consent of court. is no suggestion that women shall be
Washington. — Abandonment one year; represented- on either committee. Hence,
habitual drunkenness or neglect or re- the importance of some expressions of
their opinions before any changes are
made. As judges and bishops are pro-
verbially conservative, their tendency
would be to make the laws in the free
States more restrictive than they now
are, and thus render it more difficult for
wives to escape from unhappy marriages.
The States which have liberal divorce
fusal to provide; consent to marriage ob-
tained by force or fraud; cruel treatment
or personal indignities rendering life bur-
densome; chronic mania or dementia of
either party for ten years; imprisonment
in penitentiary or any other cause deemed
sufficient by the court. Residence re-
quired, one year; neither party can marry
until time for repeal has elapsed, or if laws are to women what Canada was to
appeal is taken, not until after final judg- the slaves before the emancipation. The
ment.
West Virginia. — Wilful desertion three
years ; husband notoriously immoral ; wife
immoral before marriage unknown to hus-
band; imprisonment in penitentiary.
Divorces from bed and board may be
granted for habitual drunkenness, aban-
donment, desertion, cruel and inhuman
applicants for divorce are chiefly women,
a3 Naquet's bill, which passed the
Chamber of Deputies of France, abun-
dantly proves. In the first year there were
3,000 applications, the greater number
being women.
Unhappy husbands have many ways of
mitigating their miseries which are not
treatment, or reasonable apprehension of open to wives, who are financial depend-
bodily harm. Residence required, one ants and burdened with children. Hus-
year; no statute as to remarriage. bands can leave the country and invest
Wisconsin. — Neglect to provide; habit- their property in foreign lands. Laws
126
DIVORCE LAWS, UNITOBM
affect only those who respect and obey necessary that a private act of Par-
them. Laws made to restrain iinprin- liament should be passed in order that a
cipled men fall with crushing weight on divorce could be obtained. In 1857, the
women. A young woman with property State took action looking towards the
of her own can now easily free herself granting of divorces by the courts with-
from an unworthy husband by spending out the interposition of Parliament, but
a year Ir a free State, and in due time this action has not been sanctioned by
she can marry again. the Church of England. Hence has arisen
Because an inexperienced girl has a peculiar state of affairs in England,
made a mistake — partly, in many cases, which has led to considerable confusion,
through the bad counsel of her advisers — The Church forbids the marriage of either
shall she be denied the right to marry party, except of the innocent parties in
again? We can trace the icy fingers of cases where the cause is adultery. But as
the canon law in all our most sacred the State permits the marriage of divorced
relations. Through the evil influences of parties, the ministers of the Church of
that law, the Church holds the key to England were put in an awkward position,
the situation, and is determined to keep As ministers of the Church, they were
it. At a triennial Episcopal convention forbidden to marry these persons, but as
held in Washington, D. C, bishops, with the Church is allied to the State, and to
closed doors, discussed the question of a certain extent subject to it, a number
marriage and divorce ad libitum, a large of them believed it their civil duty to per-
majority of the bishops being in favor of form such marriages, and they performed
the most restrictive canons; and, though them in violation of the canonical law.
an auxiliary convention was held at the The agitation over this question has at-
same time, composed of 1,500 women, tracted a great deal of attention during
members of the Episcopal Church, they the last few years, and is looked upon as
had no part in the discussion, covering being one of the most powerful causes
a dozen or more canon laws. which may lead to the disestablishment of
A recent writer on this subject says: the Church of England.
Marriage should be regarded as a. civil
"There is no doubt that the sentiment in contract, entirely under the jurisdiction
the Episcopal Church, at least among the ^f ^^^ g^^^g_ ^j^^ 1 latitude the
clergy, is strongly m favor of the Church „, , , . . , „. .
setting its face firmly against divorce. An Church has in our temporal affairs, the
evidence of this is the circulation of a peti- better.
tion to the convention requesting that it Lord Brougham says: "Before woman
adopt some stringent rule for this purpose, i • i- i j.i i r -n
which has already received the signatures of ^^n have any justice by the laws of Eng-
about 2,000 of the clergy. The proposition to land, there must be a total reconstruction
adopt a stringent canon received the undivid- of the whole marriage system; for any at-
ed support of the High Church ministers, ^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ j^ ^^o\,,j .^^^ useless,
and finds many supporters in the Low „, ^ , , , . ,,■,.,.
Church." ^^^^ great charter, m establishing the su-
premacy of law over prerogative, provided
The question of marriage and divorce, only for justice between man and man;
and the attitude the Church should take for woman nothing was left but common
towards divorced persons who wish to law, accumulations and modifications of
marry again, has been up before many original Gothic and Roman heathenism,
general conventions. The attitude of the which no amount of filtration through ec-
Episcopal Church has always been strongly clesiastical courts could change into
against divorce, and particularly against Christian laws. They are declared un-
the marriage of divorced persons. The worthy of a Christian people by great
Catholic Church takes a still narrower jurists; still, they remain unchanged."
ground, positively declining to recognize There is a demand just now for an
such an institution as divorce. amendment to the United States Consti-
As early as the year 1009, it was en- tution that shall make the laws of mar-
aoted by the Church authorities of Eng- riage and divorce the same in all the
land that a Christian should never marry States of the Union. As the suggestion
a divorced woman. Down to 1857, it was comes uniformly from those who con-
m.— I 129
DIVORCE l-AWS, UNITORM
sider the present divorce laws too liberal, wholly to the civil rather than to the
we may infer tliat the proposed national canon law, to the jurisdiction of the sev-
law is to place the whole question on the eral States rather than to the nation,
narrowest basis, rendering null and void As many of our leading ecclesiastics and
the laws that have been passed in a statesmen are discussing this question, it
broader spirit, according to the needs and is surprising that women, who are equally
experiences of certain sections of the sover- happy or miserable in these relations,
eign people. And here let us bear in mind manifest so little interest in the pending
that the widest possible law would not proposition, and especially as it is not
make divorce obligatory on any one, while to their interest to have an amend-
a restricted law, on the contrary, would ment to the national Constitution estab-
compel many, who married, perhaps, un- lishing a uniform law. In making any
der more liberal laws, to remain in uncon- contract, the parties are supposed to have
genial relations. an equal knowledge of the situation, and
We are still in the experimental stage an equal voice in the agreement. This
on this question; we are not qualified to has never been the case with the contract
make a law that would work satisfactorily of marriage. Women are, and always
over so vast an area as our boundaries now have been, totally ignorant of the pro-
embrace. I see no evidence in what has visions of the canon and civil laws, which
been published on this question, of late, men have made and administered, and
by statesmen, ecclesiasts, lawyers, and then, to impress woman's religious nat-
judges, that any of them have thought ure with the sacredness of this one-sided
sufficiently on the subject to prepare a contract, they claim that all these heter-
well-digested code, or a comprehensive ogeneous relations called marriage are
amendment of the national Constitution, made by God, appealing to that passage
Some view marriage as a civil contract, of Scripture, " What God hath joined
though not governed by the laws of other together, let no man put asunder."
contracts; some view it as a religious or- Now, let us substitute the natural laws
dinance — a sacrament; some think it a for God. When two beings contract, the
relation to be regulated by the State, State has the right to ask the question,
others by the Church, and still others Are the parties of proper age, and have
think it should be left wholly to the indi- they sufficient judgment to make so im-
vidual. With this divergence of opinion portant a contract? And the State should
among our leading minds, it is quite evi- have the power to dissolve the contract
dent that we are not prepared for a na- if any incongruities arise, or any deception
tional law. has been practised, just as it has the
Local self-government more readily per- power to cancel the purchase of a horse,
mits of experiments on mooted questions, if he is found to be blind in one eye, balks
which are the outcome of the needs and when he should go, or has a beautiful
convictions of the community. The false tail, skilfully adjusted, which was
smaller the area over which legislation the chief attraction to the purchaser,
extends, the more pliable are the laws. We must remember that the reading
By leaving the States free to experiment of the marriage service does not signify
in their local affairs we can judge of the that God hath joined the couple together,
working of different laws under varying That is not so. Only those marriages that
circumstances, and thus learn their com- are harmonious, where the parties are
parative merits. The progress education really companions for each other, are in
has made in America is due to the fact the highest sense made by God. But
that we have left our system of public in- what shall we say of that large class of
struction in the hands of local author- men and women who marry for wealth,
ities. How different would be the solu- position, mere sensual gratification, with-
tion of the great educational question of out any real attraction or religious sense
manual labor in the schools, if the matter of loyalty towards each other. You might
had to be settled at Washington! as well talk of the same code of regula-
From these considerations, ovir wisest tions for honest, law-abiding citizens, and
course seems to be to leave these questions for criminals in our State prisons, as for
130
DIX
these two classes. The former are a law latures to aid the unfortunate, and was in-
to themselves; they need no iron chains strumental in bringing about the founda-
to hold them together. The other class, tion of several State asylums for the in-
having no respect for law whatever, will sane. At the breaking out of the Civil War
defy all constitutional provisions. The she was appointed superintendent of hos-
time has come when the logic of facts pital nurses, and after the close of the
is more conclusive than the deductions war she resumed her efforts in behalf of
of theology. the insane. She died in Trenton, N. J.,
It is a principle of the common law of July 19, 1887.
England that marriage is a civil contract, Dix, John Adams, military officer;
and the same law has been acknowl- born in Boscawen, N. H., July 24, 1798.
edged by statutes in several of our After he left the academy at Exeter, N. H.,
American States; and in the absence of he completed his studies in a French
expressed statute to the contrary, the college at Montreal. He entered the army-
common law of England is deemed the as a cadet in 1812, when the war with
common law of our country.
Questions involved in marriage and
divorce should be, in the churches, mat-
ters of doctrinal teaching and discipline
only; and, after having discussed for
centuries the question as to what the
Bible teaches concerning divorce, without
arriving at any settled conclusion, they
should agree somewhat among themselves
before they attempt to dictate State legis-
lation on the subject. It simplifies this
question to eliminate the pretensions of
the Church and the Bible as to its reg-
ulation. As the Bible sanctions divorce
and polygamy, in the practice of the
chosen people, and is full of contradic-
tions, and the canon law has been pliable
in the hands of ecclesiastics, enforced or
set aside at the behests of kings and
nobles, it would simplify the discussion England began. While his father, Lieu-
to confine it wholly to the civil law, re- tenant-Colonel Dix, was at Fort McHenry,
garding divorce as a State question. Baltimore, young Dix pursued his studies
Dix, Dorothea Lynde, philanthropist; at St. Mary's College. In the spring of
born in Worcester, Mass., about 1794. 1813 he was appointed an ensign in the
After her father's death she supported her- army, and was soon promoted to third
self by teaching a school for young girls lieutenant, and made adjutant of an in-
in Boston. Becoming interested in the dependent battalion of nine companies,
welfare of the convicts in the State prison He was commissioned a captain in 1825,
at Charlestown, her philanthropic spirit and having continued in the army sixteen
expanded and embraced all of the unfort- years, in 1828 he left the military service,
unate and suffering classes. Having in- His father had been mortally hurt at
herited from a relative property sufficient Chrysler's Field, and the care of extri-
to render her independent, she went to eating the paternal estate from difficulties,
Europe for her health. Returning to Bos- for the benefit of his mother and her nine
ton in 1837, she devoted her life to the children, had devolved upon him. He had
investigation and alleviation of the con- studied law while in the army. After
dition of paupers, lunatics, and prisoners, visiting Europe for his health, Captain
encouraged by her friend and pastor, Dr. Dix settled as a lawyer in Cooperstown,
Channing. In this work she visited every N. Y. He became warmly engaged in
State in the Union east of the Rocky politics, and in 1830 Governor Throop ap-
Mountains, endeavoring to persuade legis- pointed him adjutant-general of the State.
131
JOHN ADAMS DIX.
ji^i
2S^
aUo4My
132
DIX, JOHN A.
In 1833 he was elected secretary of state
of New York, which office made him a
member of the Board of Regents of the
University and conferred upon him other
important positions. Chiefly through his
exertions public libraries were introduced
into the school districts of the State and
the school laws systematized. In 1842
he was a member of the New York As-
sembly, and from 1845 to 1849 of the
United States Senate. In the discussion of
the question of the annexation of Texas and
of slavery he expressed the views of the
small Free Soil party whose candidate for
governor he was in 1848. In 1859 he was
appointed postmaster of New York City;
and when in January, 1861, Buchanan's
cabinet was dissolved, he was called to the
post of Secretary of the Treasury. In that
capacity he issued a famous order under
the following circumstances : He found
the department in a wretched condition,
and proceeded with energy in the adminis-
tration of it. Hearing of the tendency
in the slave-labor States to seize United
States property within their borders, he
sent a special agent of his department
(Hemphill Jones) to secure for service
revenue cutters at Mobile and New Or-
leans. He found the Lewis Cass in the
hands of the Confederates at Mobile. The
Robert McClelland, at New Orleans, was
in command of Capt. J. G. Breshwood, of
the navy. Jones gave the captain an
order from Dix to sail to the North.
Breshwood absolutely refused to obey the
order. This fact Jones made known, by
telegraph, to Dix, and added that the col-
lector at New Orleans (Hatch) sustained
the rebellious captain. Dix instantly tele-
graphed back his famous order, of which
THE DIX MEDAL.
a fac-simile is given on the opposite pages.
The Confederates in New Orleans had pos-
session of the telegraph, and did not allow
this despatch to pass, and the McClelland
was handed over to the authorities of
Louisiana. As Secretary Dix's order was
flashed over the land it thrilled every heart
with hope that the temporizing policy of
the administration had ended. The loyal
people rejoiced, and a small medal was
struck by private hands commemorative
of the event, on one side of which was
the Union flag, and around it the words,
" The Flag of our Union, 1863 " ; on the
other, in two circles, the last clause of
Dix's famous order. After the war the
authorship of the famous order was
claimed for different persons, and it was
asserted that General Dix was only the
medium for its official communication.
In reply to an inquiry addressed to Gen-
eral Dix at the close of August, 1873,
he responded as follows from his country
residence:
Seafield, West Haven, N. Y , Sept. 21, 1873.
" Your favor Is received. The ' order ' al-
luded to was written by myself, without any
suggestion from any one, and it was sent off
three days before it was communicated to the
President or cabinet. Mr. Stanton's letter to
Mr. Bonner, of the Ledger, stating that it
was wholly mine, was published in the New
York Times last October or late in Septem-
ber, to silence forever the misrepresentations
in regard to it. After writing it (about seven
o'clock in the evening), I gave it to Mr.
Hardy, a clerk in the Treasury Department,
to copy. The copy was signed by me, and
sent to the telegraph office the same evening,
and the original was kept, like all other
original despatches. It is now, as you state,
in possession of my son. Rev. Dr. Dix, No.
27 West Twenty-fifth street, New York. It
was photographed in 1863 or 1864, and you,
no doubt, have the facsimile thus made.
" Very truly yours, John A. Dix."
General Dix was appointed major-gen-
eral of volunteers May 16, 1861; com-
mander at Baltimore, and then at Fort
Monroe and on the Virginia peninsula;
and in September, 1862, he was placed in
command of the 7th Army Corps. He was
also chosen president of the Pacific Rail-
way Company. In 1866 he was appointed
minister to France, which post he filled
until 1869. He was elected governor of
the State of New York in 1872, and re-
tired to private life at the end of the
term of two years, at which time he per-
formed rare service for the good name of
the State of New York. General Dix was
a fine classical scholar, and translated
several passages from Catullus, Virgil, and
33
DIXIE— DODGE
others into polished English verse. He Docks, artificial basins for the re-
made a most conscientious and beautiful ception of vessels for safety, for repairing,
translation of the Dies Irce. He died in and for commercial traffic. Those for the
New York City, April 21, 1879. safety of vessels are known as wet-docks;
Dixie, a supposed imaginary land of those for repairing only, as dry - docks ;
luxurious enjoyment somewhere in the and those for commercial traffic, as basins
Southern States, and during the Civil War or docks. Wet and dry docks are float-
it became a collective designation for the ing or stationary, according to construc-
slave-labor States. " Dixie " songs and tion. Basins or docks are constructed over
" Dixie " music prevailed all over those large areas, comprising docks for loading
States and in the Confederate army. It and unloading vessels, and convenient
had no such significance. It is a simple waterways for the movement of vessels.
refrain that originated among negro emi- The most notable dry-docks in the United
grants to the South from Manhattan, or States are at Boston, Mass.; Portland,
New York, island about 1800. A man Me.; Norfolk, Va. ; Savannah, Ga. ; Mare
named Dixy owned a large tract of land Island, Cal.; Detroit, Mich.; and Puget
on that island and many slaves. They Sound, Wash. The costliest of these are
became unprofitable, and the growth of at the navy-yards. In 1901 one of the
the abolition sentiment made Dixy's largest dry-docks in the world was under
slaves uncertain property. He sent quite construction at Newport News. At New
a large number of them to Southern York City, as well as all the largfe ports,
planters and sold them. The heavier there are numerous floating dry-docks for
burdens imposed upon them there, and the repair of the merchant marine. The
the memories of their birthplace and its most notable basins or docks for com-
comforts on Manhattan, made them sigh mercial traffic are in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
for Dixy's. It became with them synon- where over 4,000 vessels are annually un-
ymous with an earthly paradise, and the loaded. The chief of these is the Atlantic
exiles sang a simple refrain in a pathetic Docks, covering an area of 40 acres,
manner about the joys of Dixy's. Ad- and capable of accommodating 500 ves-
ditions to it elevated it into the dignity sels at one time. South of this artiflcial
of a song, and it was chanted by the construction are the Erie and Brooklyn
negroes all over the South, which, in the basins, similar in design and purpose, and
Civil War, was called the "Land of still further south are two other docks
Dixie." ^^ the repair character.
Dixon, William Hepworth, author; Dodge, Gkenville Mellen, military
born in Yorkshire, England, June 30, officer; born in Danvers, Mass., April 12,
1821; was mostly self-educated. He visit- 1831; educated at Partridge's Mill-
ed the United States in 1866 and 1874. tary Academy, Norwich, Conn., and be-
His treatment of the United States in his came a railroad surveyor and engineer
published works has been considered un- in Illinois, Iowa, and the Rocky Moun-
fair and incorrect in this country. His tains. He was sent to Washington in
books relating to the United States in- 1861 to procure arms and equipments for
elude White Conquest (containing in- Iowa volunteers, and became colonel of
formation of the Indians, negroes, and the 4th Iowa Regiment in July. He com-
Chinese in America) ; Life of William nianded a brigade on the extreme right at
Penn; and New America. He died in Lon- the battle of Pea Ridge, and was wounded,
don, Dec. 27, 1879. For his services there he was made
Dobbin, James Cochrane, statesman; brigadier - general. He was appointed to
born in Fayetteville, N. C, in 1814; grad- the command of the District of the
uated at the University of North Caro- Mississippi in June, 1862. He was with
Una in 1832; elected to Congress in 1845; Sherman in his Georgia campaign, and
and in 1848 to the State legislature, of vvas promoted to major-general. He final-
which he became speaker in 1850. In ly commanded the 16th Corps in that
1853 President Pierce appointed him campaign, and in December, 1864, he
Secretary of the Navy. He died in succeeded Rosecrans in command of the
Fayetteville, Aug. 4, 1857. Department of Missouri. In 1867-69 he
134
DODGE— DOirALDSON
was a member of Congress from Iowa,
and subsequently was engaged in railroad
business.
Dodge, Henry, military ofScer; born
in Vincennes, Ind., Oct. 12, 1782; com-
manded a company of volunteers in the
War of 1812-15, and rose to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel of mounted infantry
in 1814. He fought the Indians from
1832 to 1834, when he made peace on the
frontiers, and in 1835 commanded an ex-
pedition to the Rocky Mountains. He
was governor of Wisconsin and superin-
tendent of Indian affairs from 1836 to
1841; a delegate in Congress from 1841
to 1845; and United Slates Senator from
1849 to 1S57. He died in Burlington,
la., June 19, 1867.
Dodge, Richard Irving, military offi-
cer ; born in Huntsville, N. C, May 19,
1827; graduated at the United States
Military Academy in 1848 ; served
through the Civil War; was commissioned
colonel of the 11th Infantry June 26,
1882; retired May 19, 1891. His pub-
lications include The Black Hills; The
Plain of the Great West; Our Wild Ind-
ians, etc. He died in Sackett's Harbor,
June 18, 1895.
Dodge, Theodore Ayraxjlt, military
officer; born in Springfield, Mass., May
28, 1842; graduated at London Uni-
versity in 1861; enlisted in the National
army in 1861; promoted first lieutenant
Feb. 13, 1862; brevetted colonel in 1866;
retired in 1870. He is the author of
Bird's-Eye View of the Civil War; Cam-
paign of Chancellor sville ; Great Cap-
tains, etc.
Dole, Sanford Ballard, statesman;
born in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 23,
1844; son of American missionaries; edu-
cated at Oahu College, Hawaii, and
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass. ;
was admitted to the bar in Boston, and
returned to Honolulu to practise. He
v/as a member of the Hawaii legislature
in 1884 and 1886; became active in the
reform movement of 1887 ; was judge of
the Supreme Court of Hawaii in 1887-93;
was chosen chief of tlie provisional gov-
ernment in 1893, and in the following
year was elected president under the con-
stitution of the newly formed republic
for the period of seven years. He Avas
an active promoter of the movement for
'•J
SANFORD BALLARD DOLE.
the annexation of Hawaii to the United
States, was governor of the Territory of
Hawaii in 1900-03; then became United
States district judge for Hawaii.
Dollar. Stamped Spanish dollars
(value 4s. 9d. ) were issued from the
British mint in March, 1797, but called
in in October following. The dollar is the
unit of the United States money. It is
coined in silver, formerly also in gold, and
is worth 4s. \y^d. English money. See
Coinage.
Dominion of Canada. See Canada.
Donaldson, Edward, naval officer; born
in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 17, 1816; joined
the navy in 1835; during the Civil War
he took part in the capture of New
Orleans, the passage of Vicksburg, the
battle of Mobile Bay, etc. ; was promoted
rear-admiral Sept. 21, 1876, and retired
a few days later. He died in Baltimore,
Md., May 15, 1889.
Donaldson, James Lowry, military of-
ficer; born in Baltimore, Md., March 7,
1814; graduated at the United States
Military Academy in 1836; served in the
war with Mexico and through the Civil
War; was promoted colonel and brevetted
major-general of volunteers; resigned in
January, 1874. He was a personal friend
of Gen. G. H. Thomas, to whom he made
known a plan to establish cemeteries for
the scattered remains of soldiers who had
been killed in battle. It was this sugges-
tion which led to the institution of Deco-
ration, or Memorial, Day. He died in Bal-
timore, Md., Nov. 4, 1885.
135
DONELSOU— DONELSON", TORT
Donelson, Andrew Jackson, states-
man; born in Nashville, Tenn., Aug. 25,
1800; graduated at West Point in 1820;
resigned from the army in 1822; appoint-
ed minister to the republic of Texas in
1844; minister to Prussia in 1846; and
to the Federal Government of Germany
in 1848. He abandoned the Democratic
party, joined the American party, and was
its candidate for Vice-President on the
ticket with Millard Fillmore in 1856. He
died in Memphis, Tenn., June 26, 1871.
Donelson, Fort, a notable fortification
on the Cumberland Eiver in Tennessee,
63 miles northwest of Nashville. After
the capture of Fort Henry (q. v.), there
was no hinderance to the river navy going
up the Tennessee to the fertile cotton
regions of the heart of the Confederacy.
Foote sent Lieut.-Com. S. L. Phelps, with
three vessels, to reconnoitre the borders
ated on the high left bank of the Cum-
berland River, at Dover, the capital of
Stewart county, Tenii. It was formed
chiefly of outlying intrenchments, cover-
ing about 100 acres, upon hills furrowed
by ravines. At Fort Henry, General
Grant reorganized his army in three di-
visions, under Generals McClernand,
Smith, and Lew. Wallace. Commodore
Foote returned to Cairo to take his mor-
tar-boats up the Cumberland River to
assist in the attack. On the morning of
Feb. 12, 1862, the divisions of McCler-
nand and Smith marched for Fort Donel-
son, leaving Wallace with a brigade tc
hold the vanquished forts on the Ten-
nessee. On the same evening Fort
Donelson was invested.
Grant resolved to wait for the arrival
of the flotilla bearing troops that would
complete Wallace's division before making
i,)i|f|p]i!|!|!i!psifii;™|»^^ ,!!!!liR!l!;iiifflt1Ji
-1 , ,^:f|!,,„.
iiji^
FORT DONELSON.
of that river. They penetrated to Flor- the attack. General Pillow was in com-
ence, Ala., seizing Confederate vessels and mand of the fort; but, on the morning
destroying Confederate property, and dis- of the 13th, General Floyd arrived from
covered the weakness of the Confederacy Virginia with some troops and superseded
in all that region, for Unionism was him. They were assisted by Gen. Simon
everywhere prevalent, but suppressed by B. Buckner {q. v.), a better soldier than
the "mailed hand of the Confederate lead- either. All day (Feb. 13) there was skir-
ers. Phelps's report caused an immediate mishing, and at night the weather became
expedition against Fort Donelson, situ- extremely cold, while a violent rain-storm
136
DONELSON, FOBT
was falling. { Thf National troops, biv-
ouacking without tents, suffered intense-
ly. Tliey dared not light camp-tires, for
they would expose them to the guns of
their foes. They were without sufficient
food and clothing. Perceiving the perils
of his situation, Grant had sent for Wal-
lace to bring over his troops. He arrived
about noon on the 14th. The transports
had arrived, and Wallace's division was
completed and posted between those of
McClernand and Smith, by which the
thorough investment of the fort was com-
pleted. At three o'clock that afternoon
the bombardment of the fort was begun
by the Carondelet, Captain Walke, and
she was soon joined by three others ar-
mored gunboats in the front line. A sec-
ond line was formed of unarmored boats.
The former were exposed to a tremendous
pounding by missiles from the shore-bat-
teries; and they were compelled to retire,
after receiving 140 shots and having fifty-
four men killed and wounded. Foote re-
turned to Cairo to repair damages and to
bring up a sufficient naval force to assist
in carrying on the siege. Grant resolved
to wait for the return of Foote and the
arrival of reinforcements. But he was
not allowed to wait.
>0n the night of the 14th the Confeder-
ate leaders held a council of war and it
was concluded to make a sortie early the
next morning, to rout or destroy the in-^
vading forces, or to cut through them and
escape to the open country in the direc-
tion of Nashville. This was attempted
at five o'clock (Feb. 15). The troops en-
gaged in it were about 10,000 in number,
commanded by Generals Pillow and Bush-
rod R. Johnson. They advanced from
Dover — Mississippians, Tennesseeans, and
Virginians — accompanied by Forrest's
cavalry. The main body was directed to
attack McClernand's division, who occu-
pied the heights that reached to the river.
Buckner was directed to strike Wallace's
division, in the centre, at the same time,
so that it might not be in a condition to
help McClernand. These movements were
not suspected by the Nationals, and so
quick and vigorous was Pillow's attack
that Grant's right wing was seriously
menaced within twenty minutes after the
sortie of the Confederates was known. The
attack was quick, furious, and heavy.
137
Oglesby's brigade received the first shock,
but stood firm until their ammunition
began to fail, when they gave way under
the tremendous pressure, excepting the ex-
treme left, held by Col. John A. Logan
(q. v.), with his Illinois regiment. Imi-
tating their commander, they stood as
firmly as a wall, and prevented a panic
and a rout. The light batteries of Tay-
lor, McAllister, and Dresser, shifting posi-
tions and sending volleys of grape and
canister, made the Confederate line recoil
again and again. At eight o'clock Mc-
Clernand's division was so hard pressed
that he sent to Wallace for help. Wallace,
being assigned to a special duty, could
not comply without orders, for which he
sent. Grant was away, in consultation
with Commodore Foote, who had arrived.
Again McClernand sent for help, say-
ing his flank was turned. Wallace took
the responsibility. Then Buckner ap-
peared. The battle raged fiercely. McCler-
nand's line was falling back, in good
order, and calling for ammunition. Wal-
lace took the responsibility of order-
ing some up. Then he thrust his brigade
(Colonel Thayer commanding) between
the retiring troops and the advancing
Confederates, flushed with hope, and
formed a new line of battle across the
road. Back of this was a reserve. In this
position they awaited an attack, while
McClernand's troops supplied themselves
with ammunition frOm wagons which Wal-
lace had ordered up. Just then the com-
bined forces of Pillow and Buckner fell
upon them and were repulsed by a bat-
tery and the 1st Nebraska. The Confed-
erates, after a severe struggle, retired to
their works in confusion. This was the
last sally from the fort. " God bless you!'''
wrote Grant's aide the next day to Wal-
lace, " you did save the day on the right."
It was now noon. Grant was in the
field, and after consultation with McCler-
nand and Wallace, he ordered the former
to retake the hill he had lost. This was
soon bravely done, and the troops biv-
ouacked on the field of victory that cold
winter night. Meanwhile, General Smith
had been smiting the Confederates so vig-
orously on their right that, when night
came on, they were imprisoned within
their trenches, unable to escape. Find-
ing themselves closely held by Grant, the
DONGAir
question, How shall we escape? was a duke's domain, and he took measures to
paramount one in the minds of Floyd protect the territory from encroach-
and Pillow. At midnight the three Con- ments. Dongan managed the relations
federate commanders held a private coun- between the English, French, and Indians
oil, when it was concluded that the gar- with dexterity. He was not deceived by
rison must surrender, "/ cannot sur- the false professions of the French rulers
render," said Floyd ; " you know my po- or the wiles of the Jesuit priests ; and
sition with the Federals; it won't do, when De Nonville (q. v.) invaded the
it won't do." Pillow said, "I will not country of the Five Nations (1G86) he
surrender myself nor my command; I showed himself as bold as this leader in
will die first." " Then," said Buckner, defence of the rights of Englishmen,
coolly, " the surrender will devolve on Dongan sympathized with the people of
me." Then Floyd said, "General, if his province in their aspirations for lib-
you are put in command, will you allow erty, which his predecessor (Andros) had
me to take out, by the river, my brigade?" denied; and he was instrumental in the
" If you will move before I surrender," formation of the first General Assembly
Buckner replied. Floyd offered to sur- of New York, and in obtaining a popular
render the command, first, to Pillow, who form of government. When the King vio-
replied, " I will not accept it — I will never lated his promises while he was duke,
surrender." Buckner said, like a true Dongan was grieved, and protested; and
soldier, " I will accept it, and share the when the monarch ordered him to intro-
fate of my command." Within an hour duce French priests among the Five Na-
after the conference Floyd fled up the tions, the enlightened governor resisted
river with a part of his command, and Pil- the measure as dangerous to English
low sneaked away in the darkness and power on the continent. His firmness in
finally reached his home in Tennessee, defence of the rights of the people and
The Confederates never gave him employ- the safety of the English colonies in
ment again. The next morning, the fort America against what he could not but
and 13,500 men were surrendered, and the regard as the treachery of the King
spoils of victory were 3,000 horses, forty- finally offended his sovereign, and he was
eight field-pieces, seventeen heavy guns, dismissed from office in the spring of
20,000 muskets, and a large quantity of 1688, when Andros took his place, bear-
military stores. During the siege the ing a vice-regal commission to rule all
Confederates lost 237 killed and 1,000 New England besides. Dongan remained
wounded ; the National loss was estimated in the province until persecuted by Leisler
at 446 killed, 1,755 wounded, and 152 in 1690, when he withdrew to Boston. He
made prisoners. died in London, England, Dec. 14, 1715.
Dongan, Thomas, colonial governor; On May 24, 1901, eight loose sheets of
born in Castletown, county Kildare, Ire- parchment, containing the engrossed acts
land, in 1634; a younger son of an Irish passed during 1687-88, and bearing the
baronet; was a colonel in the royal army, signature of Thomas Dongan as governor
and served under the French King. In of the province of New York, were re-
1678 he was appointed lieutenant-governor stored to the State of New York by the
of Tangier, Africa, whence he was re- Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This in-
called in 1680. The relations between teresting historical find was accounted
England and France were then delicate, for on the presumption that the docu-
and Dongan being a Roman Catholic, like ments had formed a part of the archives
the proprietor of New York, he was of Massachusetts since the time of Sir Ed-
chosen by Duke James governor of that mund Andros, and the fact that they
province (1683), as it was thought his related to the province of New York had
experience in France might make it easier been entirely overlooked,
to keep up friendly relations with the The dates and titles of the Dongan
French on the borders. Dongan caused acts are:
a company of merchants in New York to March 17, 1686-87.— An Act to Prevent
be formed for the management of the Frauds and Abuses in the County of Suf-
fisheries at Pemaquid, a part of the folk.
138
DONGAN CHARTER— DORCHESTER HEIGHTS
June 17, 1687. — An Act for Raising i^c?. and from Concord, April 19, 1775, by the
per Pound on All Real Estates.
Aug. 20, 1687.— A Bill for Raising Id.
per Pound on All Persons, Estates, etc.
Sept. 2, 1687.— An Act for Raising y^d.
per Pound on All Persons, Estates, etc.
rebels." He died near Bristol, England,
in March, 1821.
Donnelly, Ignatius, author; born in
Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 3, 1831; removed
to Minnesota in 1856; elected lieutenant-
Sept. 2, 1687. — An Act for Regulating governor of the State in 1859 and 1861;
the Collection of His Majesty's Excise. Representative in Congress, 1863-69;
Sept. 27, 1687. — An Act for Naturaliz- president of the State Farmers' Alliance
ing Daniel Duchemin. of Minnesota for several years ; nominee of
Oct. 11, 1087. — A Bill to Prevent Frauds the Anti - Fusion People's party for Vice-
in His Majesty's Excise by Ordinary Keep- President of the United States in 1900.
ers. He was the author of Atlantis, the Antedi-
May 17, 1688. — An Act for Raising liivian World; The Great Cryptogram, in
£2,555 6s. on or before the First Day of which he undertook to prove by a word
November, 1688. See New York. cipher that Francis Bacon was the author
Dongan Charter, The. See New York of Shakespeare's plays; The American
City. People's Money, etc. He died in Min-
Doniphan, Alexander William, mili- neapolis, Minn., Jan. 2, 1901.
tary officer; born in Kentucky, July 9, Donnohue, Dilliard C, lawyer; born
1808; graduated at Augusta College in in Montgomery county, Ky., Nov. 20, 1814;
1826; admitted to the bar in 1830. In was appointed a special commissioner to
addition to his legal studies he was in- Haiti in 1863 to investigate the practica-
terested in military matters and became bility of colonizing the slaves of the South
brigadier-general in the Missouri State in that republic after their freedom. Both
militia. In 1838 he compelled the Mor- President Lincoln and Secretary Seward
MONS (q. v.), under Joseph Smith, to give favored this plan, but the report of Mr.
up their leaders for trial, lay down their Donnohue showed that it would not be
arms, and leave the State. In 1840 he feasible. He died in Greencastle, Ind.,
entered the United States service as colo- April 2, 1898.
nel of the 1st Missouri Regiment; in De- Donop, Carl Emil Kurt von, mili-
eember of that year he defeated a superior tary officer; born in Germany, in 1740;
force of Mexicans at Braceti Kiver ( tj. was in command of a detachment of mer-
V. ) ; two days later he occupied El Paso, eenary Hessian troops during the early
In February, 1847, with less than 1,000 part of the Revolutionary War. On Oct.
men, after a march of over 200 miles 22, 1777, while leading a charge against
through a sterile country, he met a force Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, N. J., he
of 4,000 Mexicans at the pass of Sacra- was mortally wounded, and died on the
mento. He attacked with such vigor that 25th.
the Mexicans were soon overpowered, hav- Doolittle, Amos, engraver ; born in
ing lost over 800 in killed and wounded, Cheshire, Conn., in 1754; was self-edu-
Doniphan's own loss being one man killed, cated ; served an apprenticeship with a
eleven wounded. He subsequently marched silversmith ; and established himself as
700 miles through a hostile country until an engraver on copper in 1775. While a
he reached Saltillo. He died in Richmond, volunteer in the camp at Cambridge
Mo., Aug. 8, 1887. (1775) he visited the scene of the skir-
Donkin, Robert, military officer; born mish at Lexington and made a drawing
March 19, 1727; joined the British army and engraving of the affair, which fur-
in 1746; served through the Revolution- nishes the historian with the only correct
ary War, first as aide-de-camp to General representation of the buildings around
Gage, and then as major of the 44th the " Green " at that time. He after-
Regiment. He published Military Col- wards made other historical prints of the
lections and Remarks, " published for the time. He died in New Haven, Conn.,
benefit of the children and widows of the Jan. 31, 1832.
valiant soldiers inhumanly and wantonly Dorchester Heights, an elevation south
butchered when peacefully marching to of Boston, which, on March 4, 1776, was
139
DOBNIN— DOUBLEDAY
occupied by the Americans, who threw of the Territories of Iowa and Wisconsin,
up strong intrenchments during the night. He aided in founding Madison, Wis., which
This movement had much to do with city was made the capital of the State
the evacuation of Boston by the British through his efforts. He held a seat in
on March 17 following. Congress in 1836-41 and 1849-53;
Dornin, Thomas Aloysius, naval of- governor of Wisconsin in 1841-44; and
ficer; born in Ireland about 1800; entered was appointed governor of Utah in 1864.
the United States navy in 1815; prevented He died in Salt Lake City, Ut., June 13,
William Walker's expedition from invad- 1865.
ing Mexico in 1851; later sailed to Ma- Doubleday, Abner, military officer;
zatlan and secured the release of forty born in Ballston Spa, N. Y., June 26,
Americans there held as prisoners; after- 1819; graduated at West Point in 1842;
wards captured two slavers with more
than 1,400 slaves, and took them to Li-
beria; was promoted commodore and re-
tired during the Civil War. He died in
Norfolk, Va., April 22, 1874.
Dorr, Thomas Wilson, politician;
born in Providence, R. I., Nov. 5, 1805;
graduated at Harvard in 1823; stud-
ied law with Chancellor Kent; and be-
gan its practice in 1827. He is chiefly
conspicuous in American history as the
chosen governor of what was called the
" Suffrage party," and attempted to take
the place of what was deemed to be
the legal State government (see Rhode
Island). He was tried for and convicted
of high treason, and sentenced to im-
prisonment for life in 1842, but was par-
doned in 1847; and in 1853 the legislat-
ure restored to him his civil rights and
ordered the record of his sentence to be
expunged. He lived to see his party tri- served in the artillery in the war with
umph. He died in Providence, Dec. 27, Mexico; rose to captain in 1855; and
1854. served against the Seminole Indians
Dorr's Rebellion. See Dorr, Thomas in 1856-58. Captain Doubleday was an
Wilson; Rhode Island. efficient officer in Fort Sumter with Major
Dorsey, Stephen Wallace, politician; Anderson during the siege. He fired the
born in Benson, Vt., Feb. 28, 1842; re- first gun (April 12, 1861) upon the Con-
ceived a common - school education; re- federates from that fort. On May 14 he
moved to Oberlin, O. ; served in the Civil was promoted to major, and on Feb. 3,
War in the National army; was elected 1862, to brigadier-general of volunteers,
president of the Arkansas Central Rail- In Hooker's corps, at the battle of Antie-
way; removed to Arkansas; chosen chair- tam, he commanded a division; and when
man of the Republican State Committee; Reynolds fell at Gettysburg, Doubleday
was United States Senator in 1873-79; took command of his corps. He had been
was twice tried for complicity in the Star made major-general in November, 1862,
Route Frauds (q. v.), the second trial and had been conspicuously engaged in
resulting in a verdict of not guilty. the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancel-
Doty, James Duane, governor; born in lorsville. He was brevetted brigadier-gen-
Salem, N. Y., in 1799; studied law and eral and major-general of the United States
settled in Detroit; member of the Michi- army in March, 1865; was commissioned
gan legislature in 1834, and there intro- colonel of the 35th Infantry in September,
duced the bill which provided for the 1867 ; and was retired in December, 1873.
division of Michigan and the establishment He died in Mendham, N. J., Jan. 26, 1893.
140
ABNER DOUBLEDAY.
DOUGHFACES— DOUGLAS
General Doubleday was author of Reminis-
cences of Forts Sumter and Moultrie in
1860-61; Chancellorsville and Gettysburg,
and other military works.
Doughfaces. During the great debate
on the slavery question in 1820, elicited
by proceedings in relation to the admis-
sion of Missouri as a free-labor or slave-
labor State, eighteen Northern men were
induced to vote for a sort of compromise,
by which the striiving out the prohibition
of slavery from the Missouri bill was car-
ried by 90 to 87. John Randolph, who
denounced the compromise as a " dirty
bargain," also denounced these eighteen
Northern representatives as " dough-
faces " — plastic in the hands of expert
demagogues. The epithet was at once
adopted into the political vocabulary of
the republic, wherein it remains.
Douglas, Sir Charles, naval officer;
born in Scotland; joined the British navy;
was placed in command of the fleet sent
to the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the begin-
ning of the Revolutionary War. Early
in 1776 he relieved Quebec, then under
siege by the Americans, after a difficult
voyage through the drifting ice of the
river. He introduced locks in lieu of
matches for firing guns on board ships ;
and was promoted rear-admiral in 1787.
He died in 1789.
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
Douglas, Stephen Arnold, statesman; the leading political topics which now agi-
born in Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813; tate the public mind. By an arrangement
learned the business of cabinet-making; between Mr. Lincoln and myself, we are
studied law; became an auctioneer's clerk present here to-day for the purpose of bav-
in Jacksonville, 111. ; and taught school ing a joint discussion, as the representa-
until admitted to the bar, when he soon fives of the two great political parties of
became an active politician. Because of the State and Union, upon the principles
his small stature and power of intellect in issue between those parties; and this
and speech he was called " The Little vast concourse of people shows the deep
Giant." He was attorney-general of Illi- feeling which pervades the public mind in
nois in 1835; was in the legislature; regard to the questions dividing us.
chosen secretary of state in 1840; judge Prior to 1854, this country was divided
in 1841 ; and was in Congress in 1843-47. into two great political parties, known as
He was a vigorous promoter of the war the Whig and Democratic parties. Both
with Mexico, and was United States Sena- were national and patriotic, advocating
tor from 1847 to 1861. He advanced and principles that were universal in their
supported the doctrine of popular sov- application. An old-line Whig could pro-
ereignty in relation to slavery in the Terri- claim his principles in Louisiana and
torics, and was the author of the Kansas- Massachusetts alike. Whig principles
Nebraska bill (see Kansas) ; and in had no boundary sectional line: they were
1856 was a rival of Buchanan for the not limited by the Ohio River, nor by the
nomination for the Presidency. He took Potomac, nor by the line of the free and
sides in favor of freedom in Kansas, and slave States, but applied and were pro-
so became involved in controversy with claimed wherever the Constitution ruled
President Buchanan, He was a candidate or the American flag waved over the
of the Democratic party in 1860 for Presi-
dent of the United States, but was de-
feated by Abraham Lincoln. He died in
Chicago, 111., June 3, 1861. See Kansas.
The Douglas-Lincoln Debate. — In open-
ing this famous debate, in Ottawa, 111.,
American soil. So it was and so it is
with the great Democratic party, which,
from the days of Jefferson until this
period, has proven itself to be the historic
party of this nation. While the Whig
and Democratic parties differed in regard
on Aug. 21, 1858, Mr. Douglas spoke as tc a bank, the tariff, distribution, the
follows: specie circular, and the sub-treasury, they
agreed on the great slavery question which
Ladies and Gentlemen, — I appear before now agitates the Union. I say that the
you to-day for the purpose of discussing Whig party and the Democratic party
141
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS.
agreed on the slavery question, while they the Presidency, the first thing it did was
differed on those matters of expediency to to declare the compromise measures of
which I have referred. The Whig party 1S50, in substance and in principle, a suit-
and the Democratic party jointly adopted able adjustment of that question. [Here
the compromise measures of 1850 as the the speaker was interrupted by loud and
basis of a proper and just solution of the long-continued applause.] My friends,
slavery question in all its forms. Clay silence will be more acceptable to me in
was the great leader, with Webster on the discussion of these questions than
his right and Cass on his left, and sus- applause. I desire to address myself to
tained by the patriots in the Whig and your judgment, your understanding, and
Democratic ranks who had devised and your consciences, and not to your passions
enacted the compromise measures of
1850.
In 1851 the Whig party and the Demo-
cratic party united in Illinois in adopting
resolutions endorsing and approving the
principles of the compromise measures
of 1850 as the proper adjustment of that
or your enthusiasm. When the Demo-
cratic convention assembled in Baltimore
in the same year, for the purpose of nom-
inating a Democratic candidate for the
Presidency, it also adopted the com-
promise measures of 1850 as the basis of
Democratic action. Thus you see that up
question. In 1852, when the Whig party to 1853-54 the Whig party and the Demo-
assembled in convention at Baltimore for cratic party both stood on the same plat-
tbe purpose of nominating a candidate for form with regard to the slavery question.
142 " "
DODGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
That platform was the right of the peo- was then about to become vacant, and
pie of each State and each Territory to that Trumbull should have my seat when
decide their local and domestic institu- my term expired. Lincoln went to work
tions for themselves, subject only to the to abolitionize the Old Whig party all
federal Constitution. over the State, pretending that he was
During the session of Congress of 1853- then as good a Whig as ever; and Trum-
54 I introduced into the Senate of the bull went to work in his part of the State
United States a bill to organize the Ter- preaching abolitionism in its milder and
ritories of Kansas and Nebraska on that lighter form, and trying to abolitionize
principle which had been adopted in the the Democratic party, and bring old
compromise measures of 1850, approved by Democfi-ats handcuffed and bound hand
the Whig party and the Democratic party and foot into the abolition camp. In pur-
in Illinois in 1851, and endorsed by the suance of the arrangement the parties met
Whig party and the Democratic party at Springfield in October, 1854, and pro-
in national convention in 1852. In order claimed their new platform. Lincoln
that^ there might be no misunderstand- was to bring into the abolition camp the
ing in relation to the principle involved cld-line Whigs, and transfer them over to
in the Kansas and Nebraska bill, I put Giddings, Chase, Fred Douglass, and Par-
forth the true intent and meaning of the
act in these words : " It is the true in-
tent and meaning of this act not to legis-
late slavery into any State or Territory,
or to exclude it therefrom, but to leave
the people thereof perfectly free to form
and regulate their domestic institutions
in their own way, subject only to the fed-
eral Constitution." Thus you see that up
to 1854, when the Kansas and Nebraska
bill was brought into Congress for the
purpose of carrying out the principles
which both parties had up to that time en-
dorsed and approved, there had been no
division in this country in regard to that
principle except the opposition of the abo-
litionists. In the House of Representa-
tives of the Illinois legislature, upon a
resolution asserting that principle, every
Whig and every Democrat in the House
voted in the affirmative, and only four
men voted against it, and those four were
old-line abolitionists.
In 1854 Mr. Abraham Lincoln and Mr.
Lyman Trumbull entered into an arrange-
ment, one with the other, and each with
his respective friends, to dissolve the old
Whig party on the one hand, and to dis-
solve the old Democratic party on the
other, and to connect the members of
both into an abolition party, under the
name and disguise of a Republican party
The terms of that arrangement between
Lincoln and Trumbull have been pub-
lished by Lincoln's special friend, James
H. Matheny, Esq. ; and they were that
Lincoln should have General Shields's
place in the United States Senate, which
143
MONUMENT TO STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
son Lovejoy, who were ready to receive sitions; and yet I venture to say that
them and christen them in their new you cannot get Mr. Lincoln to come out
faith They laid down on that occasion and say that he is now in favor of each one
a platform for their new Republican party, of them. That these propositions one and
which was thus to be constructed. I have all, constitute the platform of the Black
the resolutions of the State convention Republican party of this day, I have no
then held, which was the first mass State doubt; and, when you were not aware for
convention ever held in Illinois by the what purpose I was reading them, your
Black Republican party; and I now hold Black Republicans cheered them as good
them in my hands and will read a part Black Republican doctrines. My object
of them, and cause the others to be in reading these resolutions was to put
printed Here are the most important the question to Abraham Lincoln this day,
and material resolutions of this abolition whether he now stands and will stand by
platform: ^^^^^ article in that creed, and carry it
out.
" 1. Resolved, That we believe this truth j desire to know whether Mr. Lincoln
to be self-evident, that, when parties become ^^.^j stands as he did in 1854, in favor
lSnsi.'.l°or"'r.o''aAlI'"o,"';S„;S ?;: of the unconditional repeal of the fugitive-
government to the true principles of the Con- slave law. I desire him to answer whether
stitution, it is the right and duty of the peo-
ple to dissolve the political bands by which
they may have been connected therewith, and
to organize new parties upon such principles
and with such views as the circumstances
and the exigencies of the nation may de-
mand. ^. ,
'2. Resolved, That the times imperatively
he stands pledged to-day, as he did in
1854, against the admission of any more
slave States into the Union, even if the
people want them. I want to know
whether he stands pledged against the ad-
mission of a new State into the Union
"2. Resolved, mat tne vimes imijciaui.cij ,., ,. .i t ^f
demand the reorganization of parties, and, with such a constitution as the people oi
repudiating all previous party attachments, ^^^^^ State may see fit to make. I want
names, and P^f "actions we unite ourselves whether he stands to-day pledged
SftuU^n of r/rc^olnty'lnd'wlfl h^ereSe'r to the abolition of slavery in the District
co-operate as the Republican party, pledged
to the accomplishment of the following pur-
poses : to bring the administration of the
government back to the control of first prin-
ciples ; to restore Nebraska and Kansas to
the position of free Territories ; that, as the
Constitution of the United States vests in the
States, and not in Congress, the power to
legislate for the extradition of fugitives from
repeal and entirely abrogate the
of Columbia. I desire him to answer
whether he stands pledged to the pro-
hibition of the slave-trade between the
different States. I desire to know whether
he stands pledged to prohibit slavery in
all the Territories of the United States,
north as well as south of the Missouri
Compromise line. I desire him to answer
labor, to -„^__- _ _ ^
fugitive-slave law ; to restrict slavery to ^yj^g^j^gj. ^e is opposed to the acquisition
those States in which it exists; to prohibit territory unless slavery is
the admission of any more slave States into ot any more territory unies,b j
the UnTon : to abolish slavery in the District prohibited therein. I want his answer
of Columbia ; to exclude slavery from all the ^^ these questions. Your affirmative
Territories over which the general govern-
ment has exclusive jurisdiction ; and to resist
the acquirement of any more Territories un-
less the practice of slavery therein forever
shall have been prohibited.
" 3. Resolved. That in furtherance of these
cheers in favor of this abolition plat-
form are not satisfactory. I ask Abraham
Lincoln to answer these questions, in
order that, when I trot him down to lower
furtherance ottnese ^^^ ^^^^ questions to
nrincinles we will use such constitutional and ^-'eJt^^> ^ •; ^. , xr, ^^.^r.^
fawful means as shall seem best adapted to him. My principles are the same every-
their accomplishment, and that we will sup- where. I can proclaim them alike m the
port no man for office, under the general or -^^^^^ ^^^ South, the East, and the West
State government, who is not positively and '• „;^i.„ ,„;n ov>t^W wliorpvpr thp Con
My principles will apply wherever the Con-
stitution prevails and the American flag
waves. I desire to know whether Mr.
Lincoln's principles will bear transplant-
ing from Ottawa to Jonesboro? I put
Now, gentlemen, your Black Republi- these questions to him to-day distinctly,
cans have" cheered every one of those propo- and ask an answer. I have a right to an
144
fully committed to the support of these prin
ciples, and whose personal character and con-
duet is not a guarantee that he is reliable,
and who shall not have abjured old party
allegiance and ties.
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
answer; for I quote from the platform of brated proviso, and the abolition tornado
the Republican party, made by himself swept over the country, Lincoln again
and others at the time that party was turned up as a member of Congress from
formed, and the bargain made by Lincoln the Sangamon district. I was then in the
to dissolve and kill the Old Whig party. Senate of the United States, and was
and transfer its members, bound hand and glad to welcome my old friend and com-
foot, to the abolition party, under the panion. While in Congress, he distin-
direction of Giddings and Fred Douglass, guished himself by his opposition to the
In the remarks I have made on this plat- Mexican War, taking the side of the corn-
form, and the position of Mr. Lincoln mon enemy against his own country;
upon it, I mean nothing personally dis- and, when he returned home, he found
respectful or unkind to that gentleman, that the indignation of the people fol-
I have known him for nearly twenty-five lowed him every^vhere, and he was again
years. There were many points of sym- submerged, or obliged to retire into pri-
pathy between us when we first got ac- vate life, forgotten by his former friends,
quainted. We were both comparatively He came up again in 1854, just in time
boys, and both struggling with poverty to make this abolition or Black Repub-
in a strange land. I was a school-teacher lican platform, in company with Gid-
in the town of Winchester, and he a dings, Lovejoy, Chase, and Fred Doug-
flourishing grocery-keeper in the town lass, for the Republican party to stand
of Salem. He was more successful upon. Trumbull, too, was one of our own
in his occupation than I was in mine, contemporaries. He was born and raised
and hence more fortunate in this world's in old Connecticut, was bred a Federalist,
goods. but, removing to Georgia, turned nulli-
Lincoln is one of those peculiar men fier when nullification was popular, and,
who perform with admirable skill ev- as soon as he disposed of his clocks and
erything which they undertake. I made wound up his business, migrated to Illi-
as good a school-teacher as I could, nois, turned politician and lawyer here,
and, when a cabinet-maker, I made a and made his appearance in 1841 as a
good bedstead and tables, although my member of the legislature. He became
old boss said I succeeded better with noted as the author of the scheme to re-
bureaus and secretaries than with any- pudiate a large portion of the State debt
thing else! but I believe that Lincoln of Illinois, which, if successful, would
was always more successful in business have brought infamy and disgrace upon
than I, for his business enabled him to the fair escutcheon of our glorious State,
get into the legislature. I met him The odium attached to that measure con-
there, however, and had sympathy with signed him to oblivion for a time. I
him, because of the uphill struggle we helped to do it. I walked into a public
both had in life. He was then just as meeting in the hall of the House of Repre-
good at telling an anecdote as now. sentatives, and replied to his repudiating
He could beat any of the boys wrestling speeches, and resolutions were carried
or running a foot-race, in pitching over his head denouncing repudiation,
quoits or tossing a copper; could ruin and asserting the moral and legal obliga-
more liquor than all the boys of the town tion of Illinois to pay every dollar of the
together; and the dignity and impartial- debt she owed and every bond that bore
ity with which he presided at a horse- her seal. Trumbull's malignity has fol-
race or fist-fight excited the admiration lowed me since I thus defeated his infa-
and won the praise of everybody that was mous scheme.
present and participated. I sympathized These two men, having formed this
with him because he was struggling with combination to abolitionize the Old Whig
difficulties, and so was I. Mr. Lincoln party and the old Democratic party, and
served with me in the legislature in 1836, put themselves into the Senate of the
when we both retired ; and he subsided or United States, in pursuance of their bar-
became submerged, and he was lost sight gain, are now carrying out that arrange-
of as a public man for some years. In ment. Matheny states that Trumbull
1846, when Wilmot introduced his cele- broke faith; that the bargain was that
in. — K 145
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
Lincoln should be the Senator in Shields's I am delighted to hear you Black Re-
place, and Trumbull was to wait for publicans say, " Good." I have no doubt
mine; and the story goes that Trumbull that doctrine expresses your sentiments;
cheated Lincoln, having control of four and I will prove to you now, if you will
or five abolitionized Democrats who were listen to me, that it is revolutionary and
holding over in the Senate. He would destructive of the existence of this gov-
not let them vote for Lincoln, which ernment. Mr. Lincoln, in the extract
obliged the rest of the abolitionists to from which I have read, says that this
support him in order to secure an aboli- government cannot endure permanently in
tion Senator. There are a number of the same condition in which it was made
authorities for the truth of this besides by its framers — divided into free and slave
Matheny, and I suppose that even Mr. States. He says that it has existed for
Lincoln will not deny. about seventy years thus divided, and yet
Mr. Lincoln demands that he shall have he tells you that it cannot endure per-
the place intended for Trumbull, as Trum- manently on the same principles and in
bull cheated him and got his; and Trum- the same relative condition in which our
bull is stumping the State, traducing me fathers made it. Why can it not exist
for the purpose of securing the position divided into free and slave States? Wash-
for Lincoln, in order to quiet him. It ington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison,
was in consequence of this arrangement Hamilton, Jay, and the great men of that
that the Republican convention was im- day made this government divided into
panelled to instruct for Lincoln and no- free States and slave States, and left each
body else; and it was on this account ctate perfectly free to do as it pleased on
that they passed resolutions that he was :ne subject of slavery. Why can it not
their first, their last, and their onl--/ exist on the same principles on which
choice. Archy Williams was nowher . our fathers made it? They knew when
Browning was nobody, Wentworth was they framed the Constitution that in a
not to be considered; they had no man country as wide and broad as this, with
in the Republican party for the place ex- such a variety of climate, production, and
cept Lincoln, for the reason that he de- interest, the people necessarily required
nianded that they should carry out the ar- different laws and institutions in different
rangement. localities. They knew that the laws and
Having formed this new party for the regulations which would suit the granite
benefit of deserters from Whiggery and hills of New Hampshire would be un-
deserters from Democracy, and having suited to the rice plantations of South
laid down the abolition platform which I Carolina; and they therefore provided
Lave read, Lincoln now takes his stand that each State should retain its own
and proclaims his abolition doctrines, legislature and its own sovereignty, with
Let me read a part of them. In his the full and complete power to do as it
speech at Springfield to the convention pleased within its own limits, in all that
which nominated him for the Senate he was local and not national. One of the
said: reserved rights of the States was the
right to regulate the relations between
master and servant, on the slavery ques-
At the time the Constitution was
framed there were thirteen States in the
dure permanently half slave and half free ^nion, twelve of which were slave-hold-
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I „ , - oa a o
do not expect the house to fall— but I do mg States, and one a tree btate. bup-
expect it will cease to be divided. It will be- pose this doctrine of uniformity preached
come all one thing or all the other. Either ^^ jyjj. Lincoln, that the States should all
the opponents of slavery will arrest the fur- .•' . „ , , , , „-i„j „„a
ther spread of it, and place it where the be free or all be slave, had prevailed; and
public mind shall rest in the belief that it what would have been the result? Of
is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its course, the twelve slave-holding States
advocates will push it forward till it shall n, i „,„ „„„„^„i^,q +i,« r^^a fvo^ Qfo+o-
become alike lawful in all the States-old as ^o"!^ ^^^^ overruled the one free State,
well as new, North as well as South." and slavery would have been fastened by
" In my opinion, it will not cease until a
crisis shall have been reached and passed.
* A house divided against itself cannot tion
stand.' I believe this government cannot en
[" Good, " Good," and cheers.]
a constitutional provision on every inch
146
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
of the American republic, instead of being of schools and churches, reads from the
left, as our fathers wisely left it, to each Declaration of Independence that all men
State to decide for itself. Here I assert were created equal, and then asks how
that uniformity in the local laws and can you deprive a negro of that equality
institutions of the different States is which God and the Declaration of Inde-
neither possible nor desirable. If uniform- pendence award to him? He and they
ity had been adopted when the govern- maintain that negro equality is guaranteed
ment was established, it must inevitably by the laws of God, and that it is assert-
have betn the unformity of slavery every- ed in the Declaration of Independence. If
where, or else the uniformity of negro they think so, of course they have a right
citizenship and negro equality every- to say so, and so vote. I do not question
where. Mr. Lincoln's conscientious belief that the
We are told by Lincoln that he is utter- negro was made his equal, and hence is
ly opposed to the Dred Scott decision, Ins brother; but, for my own part, I do
and will not submit to it, for the reason not regard the negro as my equal, and
that he says it deprives the negro of the positively deny that he is my brother or
rights and privileges of citizenship. That any kin to me whatever. Lincoln has evi-
ls the first and main reason which he as- dently learned by heart Parson Lovejoy's
signs for his warfare on the Supreme catechism. He can repeat it as well as
Court of the United States and its deei- Farnsworth, and he is worthy of a medal
sion. I ask you. Are you in favor of from Father Giddings and Fred Douglass
conferring upon the negro the rights and for his abolitionism. He holds that the
privileges of citizenship? Do you desire negro was born his equal and yours, and
to strike out of our State constitution that that he was endowed with equality by the
clause which keeps slaves and free negroes Almighty, and that no human law can de-
out of the State, and allow the free ne- prive him of these rights which were'
groes to flow in, and cover your prairies guaranteed to him by the Supreme Ruler
with black settlements? Do you desire of the universe. Now I do not believe that
to turn this beautiful State into a free ihe Almighty ever intended the negro to
negro oolony, in order that, when Missouri be the equal of the white man. If he did,
abolishes slavery, she can send 100,000 he has been a long time demonstrating the
emancipated slaves into Illinois, to be- fact. For thousands of years the negro
come citizens and voters, on an equality has been a race upon the earth ; and dur-
with yourselves? If you desire negro citi- ing all that time, in all latitudes and
zenship, if you desire to allow them to climates, wherever he has wandered or
come into the State and settle with the been taken, he has been inferior to the
white man, if you desire them to vote on race which he has there met. He belongs
an equality with yourselves, and to make to an inferior race, and must always oc-
them eligible to office, to serve on juries, cupy an inferior position. I do not hold
and to adjudge your rights, then support that, because the negro is our inferior,
Mr. Lincoln and the Black Republican therefore he ought to be a slave. By no
party, who are in favor of the citizenship means can such a conclusion be drawn
of the negro. For one, I am opposed to from what I have said. On the contrary,
negro citizenship in any and every form. I hold that humanity and Christianity
I believe this government was made on both require that the negro shall have and
the white basis. I believe it was made enjoy every right, every privilege, and
by white men, for the benefit of white every immunity consistent with the safety
men and their posterity forever: and I of the society in which he lives. On that
am in favor of confining citizenship to point, I presume, there can be no diversity
white men, men of European birth of opinion. You and I are bound to ex-
and descent, instead of conferring it tend to our inferior and dependent beings
upon negroes, Indians, and other inferior every right, every privilege, every facility,
races. ond immimity consistent with the pub-
Mr. Lincoln, following the example and lie good. The question then arises,
lead of all the little abolition orators who What rights and privileges are con-
go around and lecture in the basements sistent with the public good? This
147
DOUGLAS, STEPHEN ARNOLD
is a question which each State and
each Territory must decide for it-
self. Illinois has decided it for
herself. We have provided that the negro
shall not be a slave; and we have also
provided that he shall not be a citizen, but
protect him in his civil rights, in his life,
his person, and his property, only depriv-
ing him of all political rights whatsoever,
and refusing to put him on an equality
with the white man. That policy of Illi-
nois is satisfactory to the Democratic
party and to me, and, if it were to the
Republicans, there would then be no ques-
tion upon the subject; but the Republi-
cans say that he ought to made a citi-
zen, and, when he becomes a citizen, he
becomes your equal, with all your rights
and privileges. They assert the Dred
Scott decision to be monstrous because it
denies that the negro is or can be a citi-
zen under the Constitution.
Now I hold that Illinois had a right
to abolish and prohibit slavery as she did,
and I hold that Kentucky has the same
right to continue and protect slavery that
Illinois had to abolish it. I hold that New
York had as much right to abolish slavery
as Virginia had to continue it, and that
each and every State of this Union is a
sovereign power, with the right to do as
it pleases upon this question of slavery
and upon all its domestic institutions.
Slavery is not the only question which
comes up in this controversy. There is a
far more important one to you; and that
is. What shall be done with the free negro?
We have settled the slavery question as
far as we are concerned: we have prohibit-
ed it in Illinois forever, and, in doing so,
I think we have done wisely, and there
is no man in the State who would be
more strenuous in his opposition to the
introduction of slavery than I would; but,
when we settled it for ourselves, we ex-
hausted all our power over that subject.
We have done our whole duty, and can
do no more. We must leave each and
every other State to decide for itself the
same question. In relation to the policy
to be pursued towards the free negroes,
we have said that they shall not vote;
while Maine, on the other hand, has said
that they shall vote. Maine is a sovereign
State, and has the power to regulate the
qualifications of voters within her limits.
1
I would never consent to confer the right
of voting and of citizenship upon a negro,
but still I am not going to quarrel with
Maine for differing from me in opinion.
Let Maine take care of her own negroes,
and fix the qualifications of her own voters
to suit herself, without interfering with
Illinois; and Illinois will not interfere
with Maine. So with the State of New
York. She allows the negro to vote pro-
vided he owns two hundred and fifty dol-
lars' worth of property, but not otherwise.
While I would not make any distinc-
tion whatever between a negro who
held property and one who did not, yet,
if the sovereign State of New York
chooses to make that distinction, it is
her business, and not mine ; and I will
not quarrel with her for it. She can do as
she pleases on this question if she minds
her own business, and we will do the
same thing. Now, my friends, if we will
only act conscientiously and rigidly
upon this great principle of popular
sovereignty, which guarantees to each
State and Territory the right to do as
it pleases on all things local and domes-
tic, instead of Congress interfering, we
will continue at peace one with another.
Why should Illinois be at war with Mis-
souri, or Kentucky with Ohio, or Vir-
ginia with New York, merely because
their institutions differ? Our fathers
intended that our institutions should
differ. They knew that the North and
the South, having different climates, pro-
ductions, and interests, required different
institutions. This doctrine of Mr. Lin-
coln, of uniformity among the institu-
tions of the different States, is a new
doctrine, never dreamed of by Washing-
ton, Madison, or the framers of this
government. Mr. Lincoln and the Re-
publican party set themselves up as
wiser than these men who made this gov-
ernment, which has flourished for seventy
years under the principle of popular
sovereignty, recogniziag the right of each
State to do as it pleased. Under that
principle, we have grown from a na-
tion of .3,000,000 or 4,000,000 to a nation
of about .'50,000,000 people. We have
crossed the Alleghany Mountains and
filled up the whole Northwest, turning
the prairie into a garden, and building
up churches and schools, thus spreading
48
DOUGLAS— DOW
civilization and Christianity where before the subject of slavery. On his return, in
there was nothing but savage barbarism. 1847, he began the publication, at Roches-
Under that principle we have become, ter, N. Y., of the 'North iStar (afterwards
from a feeble nation, the most powerful Frederick Douglass's Paper). In 1870 he
on the face of the earth ; and, if we only
adhere to that principle, we can go for-
ward increasing in territory, in power,
in strength, and in glorj' until the re-
public of America shall be the north star
that shall guide the friends of freedom
throughout the civilized world. And
why can we not adhere to the great prin-
ciple of self-government upon which 0'>t
institutions were originally based? I
believe that this new doctrine preached
by Mr. Lincoln and his party will dis-
solve the Union if it succeeds. They are
trying to array all the Northern States
in one body against the South, to excite
a sectional war between the free States
and the slave States, in order that the
one or the other may be driven to the
wall.
For Mr. Lincoln's reply, see Lincoln,
Abraham.
Douglas, William, military officer;
born in Plainfield, Conn., Jan. 17, 1742;
served in the French and Indian War,
and was present at the surrender of Quebec.
He recruited a company at the beginning lumbia; in 1876-81 was United States
of the Revolutionary War and accom- marshal for the District; in 1881-86 was
panied Montgomery in the expedition recorder of deeds there; and in 1889-91
against Canada. He participated in the was United States minister to Haiti. He
unfortunate campaign which ended in the was author of Narrative of My Experi-
fall of New York, and greatly distinguished ences in Slavery (1844); My Bondage
himself in the engagements on Long Island and My Freedom (1855); and Life and
and Harlem Plains. He died in North- Times of Frederick Douglass (1881). He
ford. Conn., May 28, 1777. died near Washington, D. C, Feb. 20,
Douglass, Frederick, diplomatist; 1895.
born in Tuckahoe, Talbot co., Md., in Feb- Dow, Lorenzo, clergyman; born in
ruary, 1817; was a mulatto, the son of a Coventry, Conn., Oct. 16, 1777; was
slave mother; lived in Baltimore after he ordained in the Methodist ministry; went
was ten years of age, and secretly taught as a missionary to Ireland in 1799 and
himself to read and write. Endowed with 1805; introduced camp-meetings into Eng-
great natural moral and intellectual abil- land; and through a discussion which re-
ity, he fled from slavery at the age of suited from these the Primitive Methodist
twenty-one years, and, going to New Bed- Church was organized. On account of his
ford, married, and supported himself by eccentricities he was nicknamed " Crazy
day-labor on the wharves and in work- Dow." He died in Georgetown, D. C,
shops. In 1841 he spoke at an anti-slavery Feb. 2, 1834.
convention at Nantucket, and soon after- Dow, Neal, reformer; born in Port-
wards was made the agent of the Massa- land. Me., March 20, 1804. From the
chusetts Anti - slavery- Society. He lect- time he was a boy he was noted for his
ured extensively in New England, and, zeal in the temperance cause, and was
going to Great Britain, spoke in nearly one of the founders of the Prohibition
all the large towns in that country on party. In 1851 he drafted the famous
149
FREDERICK DOUGLASS.
became editor of the National Era at
Washington City; in 1871 was appointed
assistant secretary of the commission to
Santo Domingo; then became one of the
Territorial Council of the District of Co-
DO WIE— DRAKE
prohibitory law of ?»Iaine, and was elected
mayor of Portland in 1851 and 1854. In
the Civil War he was commissioned colonel
of the 13th Maine Volunteers; was pro-
moted to brigadier-general; and was a
prisoner of war at Mobile and in Libby
prison. In 1880 he was the candidate of
the Prohibition party for President, and
in 1894 temperance organizations through-
out the world observed his ninetieth birth-
day. He died in Portland, Me., Oct. 2, 1897.
Dowie, John Alexander, adventurer;
born in Scotland. At one time a pastor
in Australia, he afterwards went to Chi-
cago, III., and became a " healer," real-
estate operator, newspaper proprietor, and
manufacturer. He founded a lace-making
industry near Waukegan, 111. The place
was called " Zion " and his followers
" Zionites." He announced that he was
the Prophet Elijah returned to earth, and
surrounded himself with armed guards.
In 1904 he proclaimed himself First Apos-
tle of the Christian Catholic Church. He
died in Chicago, March 9, 1907.
Downie, George, naval officer; born in
Eoss, Ireland; at an early age entered the
British navy; in 1812 was given command
of the squadron on the Lakes and com-
manded the British fleet at the battle of
Plattsburg, in which he was killed, Sept.
11, 1814.
Draft Riots. See Conscription; New
York ( city ) .
Dragoons, an old name for cavalry.
Drainsville, Skirmish at. The loyal
people of the country became impatient
because the Army of the Potomac, fully
200,000 strong at the end of 1861, was
seemingly kept at bay by 60,000 Con-
federates. There was a sense of relief
when, on Dec. 20, Gen. E. O. C. Ord had
a sharp skirmish with a Confederate
force near Drainsville, led by Gen. J. E. B.
Stuart. Ord had gone out to capture
Confederate foragers, and to gather for-
age from the farms of Confederates. He
was attacked by Stuart, who had come up
from Centreville. A severe fight occurred,
and the Confederates were beaten and
fled. The Nationals lost seven killed and
sixty - three wounded ; the Confederates
lost forty-three killed and 143 wounded.
The Nationals returned to camp with six-
teen wagon-loads of hay and twenty-two
of corn.
1
Drake, Sir Francis, navigator; born
near Tavistock, Devonshire, England, be-
tween 1539 and 1540. Becoming a seaman
in early youth, he was owner and master
of a ship at the age of eighteen years.
After making commercial voyages to
Guinea, Africa, he sold her, and invested
the proceeds in an expedition to Mexico,
under Captain Hawkins, in 1567. The
fleet was nearly destroyed in an attack
by the Spaniards at San Juan de Ulloa
( near Vera Cruz ) , and Drake returned to
England stripped of all his property. The
Spanish government refused to indemnify
him for his losses, and he sought revenge
and found it. Queen Elizabeth gave him
a commission in the royal navy, and in
1572 he sailed from Plymouth with two
ships for the avowed purpose of plunder-
ing the Spaniards. He did so successfully
on the coasts of South America, and re-
turned in 1573 with greater wealth than
he ever possessed before. Drake was wel-
comed as a hero; he soon won the title
honorably by circumnavigating the globe.
He had seen from a mountain on Darien
the w^aters of the Pacific Ocean, and re-
solved to explore them. Under the patron-
age of the Queen, he sailed from Plymouth
in December, 1^577 ; passed through the
Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean;
pillaged the Spanish settlements on the
coasts of Peru and Chile, and a Spanish
galleon laden with gold and silver bullion;
and, pushing northward, discovered the bay
of San Francisco, took possession of Cali-
fornia in the name of his Queen, and
named the country New Albion, or New
England.
He had sailed northward as high, prob-
ably, as latitude 46°, or near the boundary
between Oregon and the British posses-
sions, and possibly he went farther north,
for he encountered very cold weather in
June, and turned back. Drake entered a
fine bay and landed his stores, prepara-
tory to repairing his ship; and he re-
mained on the coast fully a month,
hospitably treated by the natives. Late
in June he was visited by the king of the
country and his official attendants. The
former was dressed in rabbit- skins — a
peculiar mark of distinction. His officers
were clad in feathers, and his other fol-
lowers were almost naked. Drake received
them cordially. The sceptre-bearer and
.50
DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS
another officer made speeches, after which
the natives indulged in a wild dance, in
which the women joined. Then Drake
was asked to sit down, when the king and
his people desired liim to " become the
king and governor of the country." Then
country to the English by the king and
people. On the same plate were engraved
the portrait and arms of the Queen and
the navigator. Then he sailed for the
Molucca Islands. It is believed that Sir
Francis Drake entered the " Golden Gate "
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
the king, singing with all the rest, set a
crown upon Drake's head, and saluted him
as Bioh, or sovereign. Drake accepted the
honor in the name of Queen Elizabeth.
After taking possession of the country he
erected a wooden post, placed upon it a
copper plate, with an inscription, on which
was asserted the right of Queen Elizabeth
and Jier successors to the kingdom, with
the time of his arrival there, and a state-
ment of the voluntary resignation of the
1
of San Francisco Bay, and that near its
shores the ceremony of his coronation took
place.
Fearing encounters with the Spaniards
on his return with his treasure-laden ves-
sels, Drake sought a northeast passage to
England. Met by severe cold, he turned
back, crossed the Pacific to the Spice Isl-
nnds, thence over the Indian Ocean, and,
doubling the Cape of Good Hope, reached
England in November, 1580. The delighted
51
DRAKE
Queen knighted Drake, who afterwards
plundered Spanish towns on the Atlantic
ecasts of America ; and, returning, took
a distressed English colony from Roanoke
Island and carried them to England. In
command of a fleet of thirty vessels, in
1587, he destroyed 100 Spanish vessels in
the harbor of Cadiz; and from a captured
vessel in the East India trade the English
learned the immense value of that trade
and how to carry it on. As vice-admiral,
Drake materially assisted in defeating the
Spanish Armada in 1588; and the next
year he ravaged the coasts of the Spanish
peninsula. After various other exploits
of a similar kind, he accompanied Haw-
kins to the West Indies in 1595. Haw-
kins died at Porto Rico, and Drake, in
supreme command, gained victory after
raphy ; Life of Gen. Henry Knox; The
Town of Roxhury ; Indian History for
Young Folks, etc. He edited Schoolcraft's
History of the Indians. He died in Wash-
ington, D. C, Feb. 22, 1885.
Drake, Joseph Rodman. See Halleck,
Fitz-Greene.
Drake, Samuel Adams, historian; born
in Boston, Mass., Dec. 20, 1833; adopted
journalism as a profession, but at the be-
ginning of the Civil War entered the
National service and rose to the rank
of colonel of United States volunteers in
1863. He wrote ^'ooks and Corners of the
Neto England Coast; The Making of New
England; Old Landmarks of Boston. He
died in Kennebunkport, Me., Dec. 4, 1905.
Drake, Samuel Gardner, antiquarian;
born in Pittsfield, N. H., Oct. 11, 1798; re-
-%J^ Q[}' ^ *- ^
PART OF MAP OP DRAKE'S VOYAGES, PrBLISHED AT CLOSE OP SIXTEENTH CENTDTtT.
victory over the Spaniards. He died near
Puerto Bello, Dec. 27, 1595, and was
buried at sea.
Drake, Francis Samuel, biographer;
born in Northwood, N. H., Feb. 22, 1828;
son of Samuel Gardner Drake. He is the
author of Dictionary of American Biog-
ceived a common-school education, and
taught in a district school for several
years. Settling in Boston, he there estab-
lished the first antiquarian book-store in
the United States, in 1828. He was cne
of the founders of the New England His-
torical Genealogical Society, of which he
152
DRAMA— DRAPER
was at one time president, and in 1847
began the publication of the 'New England
Genealogical Register, continuing it many
years as editor and publisher, making
large contributions of biography to its
pages. Mr. Drake resided in London
about two years (1858-60). He prepared
many valuable books on biographical and
liistorical subjects. His Book of the Ind-
ians is a standard work on Indian history
and biography. He prepared an excellent
illustrated History of Boston, and his
illustrative annotations of very old Amer-
ican books and pamphlets aVe of exceed-
ing value. He died in Boston, June 14,
1875.
Drama, Early American. As early
as 1733, there appears to have been a
sort of theatrical performance in the city
of New York. In October of that year,
George Talbot, a merchant, published a
notice in Bradford's Gazette, directing in-
quiries to be made at his store " next
door to the Play-house." In 1750 some
young Englishmen and Americans got up
a coffee-house representation of Otway's
Orphans in Boston. The pressure for en-
trance to the novelty was so great tliat
a disturbance arose, which gave the au-
thorities reason for taking measures for
the suppression of such performances. At
the next session of the legislature a law
was made prohibiting theatrical enter-
tainments, because, as it was expressed
in the preamble, they tended not only " to
discourage industry and frugality, but
likewise greatly to increase immoral-
ity, impiety, and a contempt for religion."
Regular theatrical performances were in-
troduced into America soon afterwards,
when, in 1752, a company of actors from
London, led by William and Lewis Hal-
lam, played (a part of them) the Beaux'
Stratagem at Annapolis. Soon afterwards
the whole brought out the play of the
Merchant of Venice at Williamsburg, Va.
The same company afterwards played at
Philadelphia, Perth Amboy, New York,
and Newport. The laws excluded them
from Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Dramatic Art. See Jefferson, Jo-
seph.
Draper, John William, scientist; born
in St. Helen's, near Liverpool, England,
May 5, 1811; was educated in scientific
studies at the University of London ; came
to the United States in 1833, and con-
tinued his medical and chemical studies
in the University of Pennsylvania, where
JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER.
he took the degree of M.D. He became
(1836-30) Professor of Chemistry, Natural
Philosophy, and Physiology in Hampden-
Sidney College, Virginia. From 1839 Dr.
Draper was connected, as professor, with
the University of the City of New York,
and aided in establishing the University
Medical College, of which he was appoint-
ed (1841) Professor of Chemistry. In 1850
physiology was added to the chair of
chemistry. From that year he was the
president of the medical faculty of the in-
stitution, and in 1874 he was also presi-
dent of the scientific department of the
university. Dr. Draper was one of the
most patient, careful, and acute of scien-
tific investigators. His industry in ex-
perimental researches was marvellous, and
his publications on scientific subjects are
voluminous. He contributed much to
other departments of learning. His His-
tory of the Intellectual Development of
Europe appeared in 1862; his Thoughts
on the Future Civil Policy of America, in
1865; and his History of the American
Civil War, in 3 volumes, appeared be-
tween 1867 and 1870. To Dr. Draper are
due many fundamental facts concerning
the phenomena of the spectrum — of light
and heat. Among his later productions
were reports of experimental examinations
of the distribution of heat and of cherai-
153
DRAPER— DRAYTON
cal force in the spectrum. Dr. Draper's
researches materially aided in perfecting
Daguerre's great discovery. In 1876 the
Rumford gold medal was bestowed upon
Dr. Draper by the American Academy of
Sciences. He died Jan. 4, 1882.
Draper, Lyman Copeland, historian;
born in Evans, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1815. In
1833 he gathered information regarding
the Creek chief Weatherford, and from
that time onward he was an indefatigable
student, devoting his life to the collection
of materials bearing upon the history of
the Western States and biographies of
the leading men of the country. In 1853
he was appointed secretary of the Wis-
consin State Historical Society and was
connected with the library of the society,
with a few short intervals, till his death.
He published the Collections of the State
Historical Society (10 volumes); The
Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,
etc. He died in Madison, Wis., Aug. 26,
1891.
Drayton, Percival, naval officer; born
in South Carolina, Aug. 25, 1812; entered
the navy as a midshipman in 1827; was
promoted lieutenant in 1838; took part in
the Paraguay expedition in 1858; com-
manded the monitor Passaic in the bom-
bardment of Fort McAllister, and Far-
ragut's flag - ship, the Hartford, in the
battle of Mobile Bay, Aug. 5, 1864; and
afterwards became chief of the bureau of
navigation. He died in Washington, D. C,
Aug. 4, 1865.
Drayton, William Henry, statesman;
born in Drayton Hall, S. C, in Septem-
ber, 1742; educated in England, and on
his return he became a political writer.
In 1771 he was appointed privy coun-
cillor for the province of South Carolina,
but he soon espoused the cause of the
patriots, and protested against the pro-
ceedings of his colleagues. In 1774 he
addressed a pamphlet to the Continental
Congress, in which he stated the griev-
ances of the Americans, and drew up a
bill of rights, and substantially marked
out the line of conduct adopted by the
Congress. He was appointed a judge in
1774, but was suspended from the office
when he became a member of the com-
mittee of safety at Charleston. The first
charge to the grand jury at Camden, S. C,
in 1774, by Judge Drayton is conspicuous
1
in American history. " In order to
stimulate your exertions in favor of your
civil liberties, which protect your relig-
ious rights," he said, " instead of dis-
coursing to you on the laws of other
states and comparing them to our own,
allow me to tell you what your civil lib-
erties are, and to charge you, which I do
in the most solemn manner, to hold them
dearer than your lives — a lesson and
charge at all times proper from a judge,
but particularly so at this crisis, when
America is in one general and grievous
commotion touching this truly important
point." The judge then discoursed on
the origin of the colony, the nat-
ure of the constitution, and their
civil rights under it, and concluded by
saying that some might think his charge
inconsistent with his duty to the King
who had just placed him on the bench;
WILLIAM HENRY DRAYTON.
" but, for my part," he said, " in my
judicial character I know no master but
the law. I am a servant, not to the King,
but to the constitution; and, in my esti-
mation, I shall best discharge my duty
as a good servant to the King and a trusty
officer under the constitution when I
boldly declare the laws to the people and
instruct them in their civil rights." This
charge, scattered broadcast by the press,
had a powerful influence in the colonies,
and, with other patriotic acts, cost Judge
Drayton his office. In 1775 ha was presi-
dent of the Provincial Congress of South
Carolina. In 1776 he became chief- jus-
tice of the State; and his published charge
54
DRED SCOTT CASE— DBXTMMOND
to a grand jury in April, that year, dis- "all men are created equal"; that the
played great wisdom and energy, and was patriots of the Revolution and their pro-
widely circulated and admired. Mr. Dray- gcnitors "for more than a century be-
ton was chosen president, or governor, of fore " regarded the negro race as so far
South Carolina in 1777, and in 1778-79 inferior that they had no rights which
was a member of the Continental Congress, the white man was bound to respect and
He wrote a history of the Revolution to that they were never spoken of except as
the end of the year 1778, which was pub- property. He also declared that the
(ished by his son in 1821. He died in framers of the national Constitution
Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 1779. held the same views. The chief-justice
Dred Scott Case, The. At about the went further in his extra-judicial decla-
hme that Mr. Buchanan became Presi- rations, saying that the Missouri
dent-elect of the republic, a case of much Compromise (g. v.) and all other acts
moment was adjudicated by the Supreme restricting slavery were unconstitu-
Court of the United States. A negro tional, and that neither Congress nor
named Dred Scott had been the slave of local legislatures had any authority for
a United States army officer living in restricting the spread over the whole
Missouri. He was taken by his master Union of the institution of slavery. The
to a military post in Illinois, to which dominant party assumed that the de-
the latter had been ordered in the year ciaion was final; that slavery was a na-
1834. There Scott married the female tional institution, having the right to
elave of another officer, with the consent exist anywhere in the Union, and that
of their respective masters. They had the boast of a Georgia politician that
two children born in that free-labor Ter- he should yet " count his slaves on
ritory. The mother was bought by the Bunker Hill" might be legally carried
master of Scott, and parents and chil- out. President Buchanan, who had been
dren were taken by that officer back to informed of this decision before its
Missouri and there sold. Scott sued for promulgation, foreshadowed his course in
his freedom on the plea of his involun- the matter in his inaugural address
tary residence m a free-labor Territory (March 4, 1857), in which he spoke of
and State for several years. The case the measure as one which would " speed-
was tried in the Circuit Court of St. ily and finally" settle the slavery ques-
Louis, and the decision was in Scott's tion. The decision was promul<^ated
favor. The Supreme Court of the State March 6, 1857. "^
reversed the decision, and the case was Drewry's, or Drury's Bluff, See
carried to the Supreme Court of the Unit- Rodgers, John.
ed States, Chief- Justice Roger B. Drum, Richard Coulter, military otti-
Taney [q. V.) presiding. The chief-jus- cer; born in Pennsylvania, May 28, 1835;
tice and a majority of the court were joined the army in 184G, and served in the
friends of the slave system, and their de- Mexican War, being present at the siege
cision, which, for prudential reasons, was of Vera Cruz and the actions of Chapul-
withheld until after the Presidential elec- tepee and Mexico City. He was com-
tion in 1856, was against Scott. The missioned colonel and assistant adju-
chief -justice declared that any person tant-general, Feb. 22, 1869; promoted
" whose ancestors were imported into this brigadier-general and adjutant-general,
country and held as slaves" had no right June 15, 1880; and retired May 28, 1889.
to sue in a court in the United States; Drummond, Sir George Gordon, mili-
in other^ words, he denied the right of tary officer; born in Quebec in 1771; en-
citizenship to any person who had been tered the British army in 1789; served in
a slave or was a descendant of a slave. Holland and Egypt; and in 1811 was
The chief-justice, with the sanction of a made lieutenant-general. In 1813 he was
majority of the court, further declared second in command to Sir George Prevost;
that the framers and supporters of the planned the capture of Fort Niagara in
Declaration of American Independence December of that year; took the villages
did not include the negro race in our of Black Rock and Buffalo; captured Os-
eountry in the great proclamation that wego in May, 1814; and was in chief com*
155
DRTJMMOND— DTJANE
mand of the British forces at the battle In 1783-84 he was a member of the coun-
of Lundy's Lane (q. v.) in July. In Au- cil and State Senator, and in 1788 was a
gust he was repulsed at Fort Erie, with member of the convention of New York
heavy loss, and was severely wounded. He that adopted the national Constitution,
succeeded Prevost in 1814, and returned From 1789 to 1794 he was United States
to England in 1816. The next year he re- district judge. He died in Duanesburg,
ceived^the grand cross of the Bath. He N. Y., Feb. 1, 1797.
died in London, Oct. 10, 1854. Late in May, 1775, Judge Duane moved
Drummond, William, colonial gov- in Congress, in committee of the whole,
ernor; born in Scotland; was appointed the "opening of negotiations in order to
o-overnor of the Albemarle county colony accommodate the unhappy disputes sub-
by Sir William Berkeley, governor of Vir- sisting between Great Britain and the col-
ginia, and joint proprietary of Carolina, onies, and that this be made a part of the
During the Bacon rebellion (see Bacon, [second] petition to the King" prepared
Nathaniel), when Berkeley retreated to by John Jay. It was a dangerous pro-
Accomac, Drummond proposed that
Berkeley should be deposed. This prop-
osition met with the favor of the lead-
ing planters, who met at Williamsburg
and agreed to support Bacon against
the government. The death of Bacon
left the rebellion without a competent
leader. Sir William Berkeley wreaked
his vengeance on thirty-three of the
principal offenders. When Drummond
was brought before him Berkeley ex-
claimed: "I am more glad to see you
than any man in Virginia. You shall
be hanged in half an hour." He died
Jan. 20, 1677.
Drury's Bluff, Battle at. See
EoDGERS, John.
Dry Tortugas, a group of several
small, barren islands, about 40 miles
west of the Florida Keys. They served
as a place of imprisonment during the
Civil War.
Dryden, John Fairfield, states-
man; born near Farmington, Maine,
Aug. 7, 1839; educated at Yale Uni-
versity; removed to New Jersey, 1871;
established the Prudential Insurance
Company in 1875; elected to the Unit-
ed States Senate from New Jersey to
fill vacancy caused by the death of
General Sewell in 1901.
Duane, James, jurist; born in New posal at that time, as it was calculated
York City, Feb. 6, 1733. In 1759 he to cool the ardor of resistance which then
married a daughter of Col. Robert Liv- animated the people. Duane was a stanch
ingston. He was a member of the first patriot, but was anxious for peace, if it
Continental Congress (1774) ; of the could be procured with honor and for the
Provincial Convention of New York in good of his country. His proposition was
1776-77; also in Congress, 1780-82. considered by Congress at the same time
He returned to New York City in 1783*, when a proposition for a similar purpose
after the evacuation, and was the first which had come from Lord North was
mayor of that city after the Revolution, before that body. The timid portion of
156
DTTANE— DCr CHAILLU
Congress prevailed, and it was resolved sion of Idaho to the Union in 1890; and
to address another petition to his Majesty, was its first Senator, serving from 1891
but at the same time to put the colonies to 1897; and was re-elected in 1901.
into a state of defence. Duane's motion Dubois, William Edward B., educator;
was carried, but against a most deter- born in Great Barrington, Mass., Feb. 23,
mined and unyielding opposition, and it
rather retarded the prospect of a peaceful ■*'^ '""''>¥,.
solution. It had no practical significance,
unless it was intended to accept the
proposition of Lord North as the basis for
an agreement.
Duane, James Chatham, military offi-
cer; born in Schenectady, N. Y., June 30,
1824; graduated at the United States
Military Academy in 1848, and served
with the corps of engineers till 1854.
He rendered excellent work during the
Civil War, notably in the building of a
bridge 2,000 feet long over the Chicka-
hominy River. He was brevetted brig-
adier-general in 18G5; promoted brig-
adier-general and chief of engineers, U. S.
A., in 1886; retired June 30, 1888. From
his retirement till his death, Nov. 8, 1897,
he was president of the New York
Aqueduct Commission.
Duane, William, statesman; born in
Devonshire, England, March 18, 1747; re- \i
moved to New York in 1768; member of Harvard University in 1890; and became
the New York provincial congress; dele- professor of economics and history in At-
gate to the Continental Congress, 1777-78; lanta University in 1896. He wrote The
secretary of the treasury board, 1789; Suppression of the Slave Trade, etc.
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni, explorer;
Hamilton. He died in New York City, born in New Orleans, La., July 31, 1838.
May 7, 1799. He is best known by the results of two
Duane, William Alexander, jurist; exploring trips to west Africa, during
born in Rhinebeck, N. Y., Sept. 8, 1780; which he discovered and examined consid-
entered the United States navy in 1798; erable territory almost unknown previous-
admitted to the bar in 1802; member of ly, and added sixty species of birds and
the State Assembly; judge of the New twenty of mammals to the zoology of
York Supreme Court, 1822-29; president Africa. His accounts of the gorillas and
of Columbia College, 1829-42. He wrote pygmies excited a large interest among
The Life of Lord Sterling, The Steamboat scientists, and for a time many of his as-
Controversy, etc. He died in New York sertions were sharply contradicted as be-
City, May 30, 1858. ing impossible; but subsequent explo-
Duane, William John, la^vyer; born rations by others confirmed all that he
in Ireland in 1780; was Secretary of the had claimed. His publications include
United States Treasviry in 1833, but was Explorations and Adventures in Equa-
opposed to General Jackson's action in the torial Africa; A Journey to Ashango
mm^^fP^
PAtTL BELLONI DU CHAILLIT.
of negro descent; was graduated at
matter of the United States Bank, and
was therefore removed from office. He
died in Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 27, 1865.
Dubois, Fred T., legislator; born in
Crawford county, 111., May 27, 1851 ; re-
Land; Stories of the Gorilla Country;
Wild Life Under the Equntor ; My Apingi
Kingdom; The Country of the Dvxirfs;
The Land of the Midnight Sun; The
Viking Age; Ivar, the Y iking ; The
moved to Idaho in 1880; was a member of People of the Great African Forest; etc.
Congress in 1887-91; secured the admis- He died in St. Petersburg, April 29 1903.
157
DTTCHfi— DUDLEY
Duche, Jacob, clergyman; born in
Philadelphia, in 1737; educated at the
University of Pennsylvania; and became
an eloquent Episcopalian. A descendant
of a Huguenot, he naturally loved free-
dom. He was invited by the Con-
tinental Congress of 1774 to open
their proceedings with prayer. In 1775 he
became rector of Christ Church, and
espoused the patriot cause. Of a timid
nature, Duche, when the British took pos-
session of Philadelphia ( 1777) , alarmed by
the gloomy outlook, forsook the Amer-
icans, and, in a letter to Washington,
urged him to do likewise. This letter
was transmitted to Congress, and Duche
fled to England, where he became a popu-
lar preacher. His estate was confiscated,
and he was banished as a traitor. In 1790
Duche returned to Philadelphia, where he
died Jan. 3, 1798.
First Prayer in Conr/ress. — The follow-
ing is the text of Dr. Duche's first prayer
in Congress:
Lord, our Heavenly Father, high and
mighty King of kings and Lord of lords,
Who dost from Thy throne behold all the
dwellers of the earth, and reignest with
power supreme and uncontrollable over
the kingdoms, empires, and governments,
look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on
these American States, who have fled to
Thee from the rod of the oppressor and
thrown themselves on Thy gracious pro-
tection. Desiring to be henceforth only
dependent on Thee, to Tliee have they ap-
pealed for the righteousness of their
cause: to Thee do they now look up for
that countenance and support which
Thou alone canst give. Take them, there-
fore. Heavenly Father, nnder Tliy nurtur-
ing care: give them wisdom in covmcil
and valor in the field. Defeat '^he
malicious designs of our adversaries,
convince- them of the unrighteousness of
their cause; and, if they still persist in
their sanguinary purpose, oh ! let the voice
of Tliy unerring justice, sounding in their
hearts, constrain them to drop the
weapons of war in their unnerved hands
in the day of battle. Be Thou present, O
God of wisdom, and direct the councils of
this honorable assembly; enable them
to settle things on the best and surest
foundation, that the scene of blood may
be speedily closed; that order, harmony,
and peace may be restored, and truth and
justice, religion and piety prevail and
flourish among the people. Preserve the
health of their bodies and the vigor of
their minds; shower down on them and
the millions they represent such temporal
blessings as Thou seest expedient for them
in this world, and crown them with ever-
lasting glory in the world to come. All
this we ask in the name and through the
merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our
Saviour. Amen.
Duchesne, Philippa Rose, missionary;
born in France in 1769; came to America
in 1818 and engaged in religious work
among the Indians of Louisiana. In 1820
she founded in Barriens, on the Bois-
Brule, the first permanent home of the
sisterhood of the Sacred Heart in America,
and lived to see the order established in
all the large cities of the United States.
She died in St. Charles, La., in 1852.
Ducking-stool. The English colonies
in America continued for a long time the
manners and customs of their native land;
among others, that of the use of the duck-
ing-stool for the punishment of inveterate
scolding women. Bishop Meade, in Old
Churches, Ministers, and Families in Vir-
ginia, says, " If a woman was convicted
of slander, her husband was made to pay
five hundred-weight of tobacco " ; but the
law proving insufficient, the penalty was
changed to ducking. Places for ducking
were prepared at court-houses. An in-
stance is mentioned of a woman who was
ordered to be ducked three times from a
vessel lying in the James River. The
woman was tied to a chair at the longer
end of a lever, controlled at the shorter
end by men with a rope. The stool being
planted firmly, the woman was raised on
the lever, and then lowered so as to be
plunged under the water.
Dudley, Dean, genealogist; born in
Kingsfield, Me., May 23, 1823; admitted
to the bar in 1854. Among his works are
genealogies of the Dudley and Swift
families; Officers of Our Union Army and
l^avy, etc.
Dudley, Joseph, colonial governor;
born in Roxbury, Mass., July 23, 1647;
graduated at Harvard in 1665 ; pre-
pared for the ministry, but, preferring
politics, became a representative in th«3
158
DUDLEY— DUG SPRINGS
?«77f i^^'i^^"'^ "" magistrate. From 1644. He died in Eoxbury, Mass., July
lb/7 to 1681 he was one of the commis- 31, 1653.
sioners for the united colonies of New Eng- Duelling. See Bladensbukg Duel-
land. He was in the battle with the Nar- ling Field.
raganseta in 1675, and was one of the com- Duer, William, statesman; born in
missioners who dictated the terms of a Devonshire, England March 18 1747-
ti-eaty with that tribe. In September, 1685, in 1767 was aide to Lord Clive in India-
King Jaines commissioned him president came to America, and in 1768 purchased
of New England, and in 1687 he was made a tract of land in Washington county,
chief -justice of the Supreme Court. Dud- N. Y.; became colonel of the militia
ley was sent to England with Andros judge of the county court, member of the
in 1689, and the next year was made New York Provincial Congress, and of
chief-justice of New York. He went to the committee of safety. He was one of
li-ngland m 1693, and was deputy govern- the committee that drafted the first consti-
or of the Isle of Wight. He entered tution of the State of New York (1777)
Parliament in 1701, and from 1702 to and was a delegate in Congress in 1777-
1/15 he was captain-general and governor 78; and he was secretary of the Treasury
of Massachusetts. Then he retired to his Board until the reorganization of the
S 9 T'o''^ Ro-^bury, where he died, finance department under the national
rnv, "'i^ ^"^^ ^^ . Constitution. He was assistant Secre-
Ihe disputes between the royal govern- tary of the Treasury under Hamilton
crs and the people, which continued until 1790. Colonel Duer married (1779)
about seventy years, were begun in Mas- Catharine, daughter of Lord Stirling
sachusetts with Dudley. In his first He died in New York City, May 7 1799
speech he demanded a " fit and convenient Duffield, William Ward military
house for the governor, and a settled officer; born in Carlisle, Pa., Nov 19
and stated salary for him. The House, 1823; graduated at Columbia College
in their answer the next day, observed in 1842; served with gallantry in the war
that they would proceed to the considera- with Mexico. In 1801 he was made
tion of these propositions "with all con- colonel of the 9th Michigan Infantry in
venient speed. They resolved to present, 1862 he captured the Confederate fo/c^ at
T^L ^ ^'J !f treasury, the sum of Lebanon, and was made commander of all
±500 and said, as to settling a salary the troops in Kentucky. He was brevetted
tor the governor, it is altogether new to major-general of volunteers in 1863 and
us, nor can we think it agreeable to our was compelled by his wounds to resign
present constitution, but we shall be from the army before the close of the
ready to do, according to our ability, war. He published School of Brigade and
what may be proper on our part for the Evolutions of the Line
support of the government." The govern- Dug Springs, Battle at. General
or sent for the speaker and the repre- Lyon was 80 miles from Springfield when
sentatives to come to his chamber, when he heard of the perils of Sigel after the
he declared his disappointment because fight at Carthage. He pushed on to the
ot their procedure, and expressed a hope relief of the latter, and on July 13 1861
that they would think better of the mat- he and Sigel joined their forces,' when
T^ ^^ T *^^^ general took the chief command. The
uuaiey, Ihomas, colonial governor; combined armies numbered, at that time
born m Northampton, England, in 1576; about 6,000 men, horse and foot with
was an officer of Queen Elizabeth, serving eighteen pieces of artillery. There Lyon
in Holland; and afterwards he became a remained in a defensive attitude for some
Puritan and retrieved the fortunes of time, waiting for reinforcements which had
the Earl of Lincoln by a faithful care of been called for, but which did not come
his estate as his steward. He came to The Confederates had been largely rein-
Boston in 1630, as deputy governor, with forced; and at the close of July
his son-m-law, Simon Bradstreet, and Lyon was informed that they were
held the office ten years. He was ap- marching upon Springfield in two col-
pointed major-general of the colony in umns — 20,000 — under the respective
,150
DU LHUT— DUNLAP
commands of Generals Price, McCul- erected on the site of what is now Brattle-
loch, Pearce, McBride, and Rains, boro, in Vermont, the oldest English set-
Lyon went out to meet them with tlement in that State.
about 6 000 men, foot and horse, and Dummer, Jeremiah, patriot; born m
eighteen' cannon, leaving a small force Boston, Mass., in 1680; was graduated at
to'' guard Springfield. At Dug Springs, Harvard in 1099; went to England as
19 miles southwest of Springfield, in a agent of Massachusetts in 1710, and re-
broken, oblong valley, they encountered mained in London till 1721. He published
a large Confederate force under G«n- a defence of the New England charters,
eral Rains. While the National vanguard in which he claimed that the colonists
of infantry and cavalry, under Steele and through redeeming the wilderness did not
Stanley were leading, they were unex- derive their rights from the crown but
pectedly attacked by Confederate infan- by purchase or conquest from the natives,
try, who suddenly emerged from the He died in Plaistow, England, May 19,
woods. A sudden charge of twenty-five of 1739.
Stanley's horsemen scattered the Confed- Dunkards, or German Baptists, a
erates in every direction. The charge was body of Christians who trace their origin
fearful, and the slaughter was dreadful, back to Alexander Mack, one of a small
" Are these men or devils, they fight so ?" number of Pietists who had migrated to
asked some of the wounded. Confederate the province of Witgenstein, Germany, to
cavalry now appeared emerging from the escape persecution. In 1708 he became
woods when some of Lyon's cannon, man- their minister, and after they were bap-
aged by Captain Totten, threw shells that tized in the Eder by being thrice im-
frightened the horses, and the Confeder- niersed, a church was formed. In 1719
ates were scattered. They then withdrew, Mr. Mack and all his followers came by
leaving the valley in the possession of the way of Holland to America and settled
Nationals. Lyon's loss was eight men in and around Philadelphia. From this
killed and thirty wounded; that of Rains beginning the Dunkards have spread
was about forty killed and as many through the Eastern, Northern, and West-
wounded, ern States. Their doctrine is similar to
Du Lhut, or Duluth, Daniel Grey- that of the Evangelical Churches. They
SOLON, explorer; born in Lyons, France; endeavor to follow closely the teachings
carried on a traffic in furs under the pro- of the Bible. They dress plainly, refrain
tection of Count Frontenac; explored the from taking active part in politics, affirm
upper Mississippi in 1678-80, at which instead of taking an oath, settle their
time he joined Father Hennepin and his quarrels among themselves without going
companions. He took part in the cam- to law, do not join secret societies, etc.
paign against the Seneca Indians in 1687 They hold that every believer should be
and brought with him a large number of immersed face forward, being dipped at
Indians from the upper lakes. In 1695 he the mention of each name of the Trinity,
was placed in command of Fort Frontenac The Dunkards now consist of three bodies
and in 1697 was promoted to the command —the Conservative, Old Order, and Pro-
of a company of infantry. He died near gressive. In 1900 they reported 2,993
Lake Superior in 1709. The city of ministers, 1,123 churches, and 111,287
Duluth was named after him. members, the strongest branch being
Dummer, Fort. In the war against the Conservatives, who had 2,612 mmis-
the Norridgewock Indians (1723) repeated ters, 850 churches, and 95,000 members. _
attempts were made to engage the as- Dunlap, John, printer; born m
sistance of the Mohawks, but they were Strabane, Ireland, in 1747; learned the
unsuccessful, and Massachusetts was ad- printing trade from his uncle, who was in
vised, with justice, to make peace by re- business in Philadelphia, and at the age of
storing to the Indians their lands. The eighteen began the publication of the
attacks of the barbarians extended all Pennsylvania Packet. This was made a
along the northern frontier as far west daily paper in 1784, and was the first
as the Connecticut River. To cover the daily issued in the United States. The
towns in that valley Fort Dummer was title was afterwards changed to the tiorth-
160
DUNLAP— DUNMORE
LORD DUXMORE'S SIGNATURE.
American and United States Gazette. As was the same day which had been ap-
printer to Congress Mr. Dunlap printed pointed by the Massachusetts legislature
the Declaration of Independence. He died for the same purpose.
in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 27, 1812, In 1775, finding the people of his
Dunlap, William, painter, dramatist, colony committed to the cause of free-
and historian; born in Perth Amboy, dom, he engaged in a conspiracy to bring
N. J., Feb, 19, 1766. His father, being a the Indians in hostile array against
loyalist, went to New York City in 1777, the Virginia frontier. He employed Dr.
where William began to paint. He made John Connelly, whom he had commis-
a portrait of Washington at Rocky Hill, sioned in 1774 to lead a movement for
N. J., m 1783. The next year he went to sustaining the claims of Virginia to the
England and received instructions from whole district of Pennsylvania west of
Benjamin West. He became an actor
for a short time, and in 1796 was one of
the managers of the John Street Theatre,
New York. He took the Park Theatre in
1798. From 1814 to 1816 he was pay-
master-general of the New York State
militia. He began a series of paintings
in 1816, In 1833 he published a History
of the American Theatres, and in 1834 a
History of the Arts of Design. His His-
tory of New Netherland and the State of
Neio York was published in 1840. Mr. ''-he Alleghany Mountains. He was a na-
Dunlap was one of the founders of the tive of Petmsylvania, and lived at Pitts-
National Academy of Design. He died in burg; and it is believed that he suggested
New York City, Sept. 28, 1839. to Dunmore the plan of combining the
Dunmore, John IMukray, Earl of, VVestern Indians against the colonists,
royal governor; born in Scotland in t^^e visited General Gage at Boston early
1732; was descended in the feminine line i» the autumn of 1775, and immediately
from the house of Stuart. He was after his return to Williamsburg he left
made governor of New York in January, Dunmore and departed for the Ohio ooun-
1770, and of Virginia, July, 1771, arriv- try, with two companions. They were
ing there early in 1772. When the Vir- slopped near Hagerstown as suspicious
ginia Assembly recommended a committee persons, sent back to Frederick, and there
of correspondence (March, 1773), he im- an examination of Connelly's papers re-
vealed the whole nefarious plot. He bore
Dunmore's commission of colonel, and was
directed to raise a regiment in the west-
ern country and Canada, the rendezvous
to be at Detroit, where hostilities against
the white people might be more easily
fomented among the Indians. Thence he
was to march in the spring, enter Vir-
ginia with a motley force, and meet Dun-
more at Alexandria, on the Potomac, who
would be there with a military and naval
force. Tlie arrest of Connelly frustrated
the design. He was put in jail and his
papers were sent to the Continental Con-
gress. He was kept a prisoner until
about the end of the war.
mediately dissolved it, and in May, 1774, What is known historically as "Dun-
he again dissolved the Assembly because more's War " was a campaign against
it had passed a resolution making the 1st the Ohio Indians undertaken by Lord
of June a day of fasting and prayer. This Dunmore in 1774.
III.— L 161
SEAL OP LORD DUNMORE.
DUNMORE, JOHN MUBBAY, EABL OF
The cold-blooded murder of the family
of Logan ( q. v. ) , an eminent Mingo chief,
and other atrocities, had caused fearful
retaliation on the part of the barbarians.
While Pennsylvanians and the agents of
the Six Nations were making eflorts for
peace, Governor Dunmore, bent on war,
called for volunteers, and 400 of these
were gathered on the banks of the Ohio, a
little below Wheeling. This force marched
against and destroyed (Aug. 7, 1774) a
Shawnee town on the Muskingum. They
were followed by Dunmore, with 1,500 Vir-
ginians, who pressed forward against an
Indian village on the Scioto, while Col.
Andrew Lewis, with 1,200 men, encoun-
tered a force of Indians at Point Pleasant,
at the mouth of the Great Kanawha
Eiver (Oct. 10), where a bloody battle en-
sued. The Indians were led by Logan,
Cornstalk, and other braves. The Vir-
ginians were victorious, but lost seventy
men killed and wounded. Dunmore was
charged with inciting the Indian war and
arranging the campaign so as to carry out
his political plans. It was charged that
he arranged the expedition so as to have
the force imder Lewis annihilated by the
Indians, and thereby w^eaken the physical
strength and break down the spirits of
the Virginians, for they were defying royal
power. His eflforts afterwards to incite
a servile insurrection in Virginia for the
same purpose show that he was capable
of exercising almost any means to accom-
plish his ends. The Indians in the Ohio
country, alarmed at the approach of Dun-
more, had hastened to make peace. Logan
refused to attend the conference for the
purpose, but sent a speech which became
famous in history. Dunmore's officers in
that expedition, having heard of the move-
ments in New England, and of the Con-
tinental Congress, held a meeting at Fort
Gower (mouth of the Hockhocking River) ,
and after complimenting the governor and
declaring their allegiance to the King, re-
solved to maintain the rights of the colo-
nists by every means in their power.
The bold movement in the Virginia
convention (March, 1775) excited the
official wrath of Governor Dunmore, who
stormed in proclamations; and to frighten
the Virginians (or, probably, with a more
mischievous intent), he caused a rumor
to be circulated that he intended to excite
an insurrection among the slaves. Final-
ly, late in April, he caused marines to
come secretly at night from the Fowey,
a sloop-of-war in the York River, and carry
to her the powder in the old magazine at
Williamsburg. The movement was dis-
covered. The minute-men assembled at
dawn, and were with difficulty restrained
from seizing the governor. The assembled
people sent a respectful remonstrance to
Dunmore, complaining of the act as spe-
cially cruel at that time, when a servile
insurrection was apprehended. The gov-
ernor replied evasively, and the people de-
manded the return of the powder. When
Patrick Henry heard of the act, he gath-
ered a corps of volunteers and marched
towards the capital. The frightened gov-
162
KBMAINS OF LORD DUSMORB'S PALACE.
ernor sent a deputation to meet him. One
of them was the receiver-general of the
province. They met 16 miles from Will-
iamsburg, where the matter was com-
promised by the receiver-general paying
the full value of the powder. Henry sent
the money to the public treasury and re-
turned home.
In November, 1775, Lord Dunmore pro-
ceeded in the war-ship Foioey to Norfolk,
where he proclaimed freedom to all slaves
who should join the royal standard, which
he had unfurled, and take up arms against
the " rebels." He declared martial law
throughout Virginia, and made Norfolk
the rendezvous for a British fleet. He sent
marauding parties on the shores of the
Elizabeth and Jaines rivers to distress the-
Whig inhabitants. Being repelled with
spirit, he resolved to strike a severe blow
that should produce terror. He began to
lay waste the country around. The peo-
ple were aroused and the militia were
rapidly gathering for the defence of the
inhabitants, when Dunmore, becoming
DUNMORE'S WABr-DUPONT
alarmed, constructed batteries at Norfolk, the preparation of his system of military
tactics for the use of the United States
troops. From 1781 to 1783 he was secre-
tary to Robert R. Livingston, then at the
armed the Tories and negroes, and fortified
a passage over the Elizabeth River, known
as the Great Bridge, a point where he ex-
pected the militiamen to march to
attack him. Being repulsed in a
battle there (Dec. 9, 1775), Dun-
more abandoned his intrenchments
at Norfolk and repaired to his
ships, when, menaced by famine
— for the people would not furnish
supplies — and annoyed by shots
from some of the houses, he can-
nonaded the town (Jan. 1, 177G)
and sent sailors and marines
ashore to set it on fire. The
greater portion of the compact
part of the city was burned while
the cannonade was kept up. The
part of the city which escaped was
presently burned by the Virgin-
ians to prevent it from becoming
a shelter to the enemy. Thus perished, a head of the foreign office of the govern-
prey to civil war, the largest and richest ment; and then studying law, was ad-
of the rising towns of Virginia. After mitted to practice in 1785, becoming emi-
committing other depredations on the Vir- nent in the profession on questions of civil
ginia coast, he landed on Gwyn's Isl- and international law. He finally devoted
THE OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG.
and, in Chesapeake Bay, with 500 men,
black and white, cast up some intrench-
ments, and built a stockade fort. Virginia
militia, under Gen. Andrew Lewis, at-
tacked and drove him from the island.
In this engagement Dunmore was wounded.
Burning several of his vessels that were
aground, Dunmore sailed away with the
remainder, with a large amount of booty,
among which were about 1,000 slaves.
After more plundering on the coast the
himself to literature and science, and
made many valuable researches into the
language and literature of the North
American Indians. In 1819 he published
a Memoir on the Structure of the Indian
Languages. When seventy-eight years of
age (1838) he published a Dissertation on
the Chinese Language ; also a translation
of a Description of New Sweden. In 1835
the French Institute awarded him a prize
for a disquisition on the Indian languages
vessels were dispersed, some to the West of North America. Mr. Duponceau opened
Indies, some to the Bermudas and St.
Augustine, and Dunmore himself pro-
ceeded to join the naval force at New
York, and soon afterwards went to Eng-
land. In 1786 Dunmore was made gov-
a law academy in Philadelphia in 1821,
and wrote several essays on the subject of
law. He died in Philadelphia, April 2,
1844.
Du Pont, Eleuthere Irenee, scientist;
ernor of Bermuda. He died in Ramsgate, born in Paris, France, June 24, 1771; son
England, in May, 1809. of Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours;
Dunmore's War. See Cresap, Mi- emigrated to the United States in 1799;
ciiAEL; Dunmore, John Murray, Earl bought a tract of land near Wilmington,
of; Logan. Del., where he established the powder
Duponceau, Peter Stephen, philolo- woi-ks, which have since been maintain-
gist; born in the Isle of Rht?, France,
June 3, 17G0; went to Paris in 1775, where
he became acquainted with Baron Steu-
ben, and accompanied him to America as
his secretary. He was brevetted a captain
(February, 1778), and assisted Steuben in
ed by the Dupont (modern form) family.
He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Oct. 31,
1834.
Dupont, Samuel Francis, naval officer ;
born in Bergen Point, N. J., Sept. 27,
1803; entered the United States navy as
163
DTJPORTAIL— DtJQUESNE
midshipman at twelve years of age, and
became commander, Oct. 28, 1842. He
saw much active service on the California
coast during the war with Mexico, clear-
ing the Gulf of California of Mexican ves-
sels. He was promoted to captain in
1855; and in October, 1861, he pro-
ceeded, in command of the South Atlantic
squadron, to capture Port Royal Island,
on the South Carolina coast, to secure
a central harbor and depot of supplies on
the Southern shores. In July Commodore
Dupont was made a rear-admiral, and in
April, 1863, he commanded the fleet which
made an unsuccessful effort to capture
Charleston. Admiral Dupont assisted in
organizing the naval school at Annapolis,
and was the author of a highly com-
SAMITEL FRANCIS DUPONT.
mended report on the use of floating bat-
teries for coast defence. He died in Phila-
delphia, June 23, 1865.
Duportail, Louis Lebegue, Chevalier,
military officer; born in France in 1736;
came to America in the early part of the
E evolutionary War, and was appointed
brigadier-general in the Continental army
in November, 1777, and major - general,
November, 1781. He was directing engi-
neer at the siege of Yorktown in the fall
of 1781. Returning to France, he was
named mnrechal-de-camp ; and in Novem-
ber, 1790, was made minister of war. In
December, 1791, he resigned; and when
engaged in military service in Lorraine,
he received a warning of the designs of
the Jacobins, and sought safety in
America. He died at sea in 1802, when
returning to France.
Dupratz, Antoine Simon Le Page, ex-
plorer ; born in Tourcoing, France, in
1689; settled on the Mississippi River
among the Natchez Indians in 1720. For
eight years he explored the regions water-
ed by the Missouri and Arkansas rivers.
He published a History of Louisiana, or of
the Western Parts of Virginia and Caro-
lina. He died in Paris, France, in 1775.
Duquesne, Fort, a fortification erected
by the French on the site of the city of
Pittsburg, Pa., in 1754. While Captain
Trent and his company were building this
fort. Captain Contrecceur, with 1,008
Frenchmen and eighteen cannon, went
down the Alleghany River in sixty bateaux
and 300 canoes, took possession of the un-
finished fortification, and named it Fort
Duquesne, in compliment to the captain-
general of Canada. Lieutenant-Colonel
Washington, with a small force, hurried
from Cumberland to recapture it, but
was made a prisoner, with about 400 men,
at Fort Necessity. In 1755 an expedition
for the capture of Fort Duquesne, com-
manded by Gen. Edward Braddock
{q. V.) , marched from Will's Creek ( Cum-
berland) on June 10, about 2,000 sti-ong,
British and provincials. On the banks
of the Monongahela Braddock was de-
feated and killed on July 9, and the ex-
pedition was ruined.
Washington was a lieutenant-colonel
imder Braddock in the expedition against
Fort Duquesne, in 1755, and in that of
1758. In the former he was chiefly in-
strumental in saving a portion of the
British and provincial troops from utter
destruction. At the battle near the Mo-
nongahela, where Braddock was killed, ev-
ery officer but Washington was slain or
wounded; and he, alone, led the surviv-
ors on a safe retreat. He was not injured
during the battle. To his mother he
wrote : " I luckily escaped unhurt,
though I had four bullets through my
coat, and two horses shot under me."
I'o his brother he wrote : " By the all-
powerful dispensation of Providence, I
have been protected beyond all human
probability or expectation. Death was
levelling my companions on every side."
An Indian chief, who, fifteen years after-
wards, travelled a long way to see Wash*
164
DUQUESNE— DURAND
/'
Ington when he
was in Ohio, said
he had singled him
out for death, and
directed his fellows
to do the same.
He fired more than
a dozen fair shots
at him, but could
not hit him. " We
felt," said the
chief, " that some
Manitou guarded
your life, and that
you could not be
killed."
The expedition of
1 7 5 8 w a s c o m -
manded by Gen.
John Forbes, who
had about 9,000
men at his dis-
posal at Fort
Cumberland and
Raystown. These
included Virginia
troops under Colonel Washington, the
Eoyal Americans from South Carolina,
and an auxiliary force of Cherokee Ind-
ians. Sickness and perversity of will
and judgment on the part of Forbes
caused delays almost fatal to the expedi-
tion. He was induced, by the advice of follow. When the Virginians were within
some Pennsylvania land speculators, to a day's march of the fort, they were dis-
use the army in constructing a military covered by some Indians, who so alarmed
road farther north tlian the one made by the garrison by an exaggerated account
Braddock. Washington, who knew the of the number of the approaching troops
country well, strongly advised against that the guardians of Fort Duquesne, re-
this measure, but he was unheeded, and duced to 500, set it on fire (Nov. 24), and
so slow was the progress of the troops fled down the Ohio in boats with such
towards their destination, that in Sep- haste and confusion that they left every-
teniber, when it wag known that there thing behind them. The Virginians took
were not more than SOO men at Duquesne, possession, the next day, and the name
Forbes, Avith 6,000 troops, was yet east of the fortress was changed to Fort Pitt,
CAl'TUKE OF FOKT Dlql-ESXE.
Forbes intended to propose an abandon-
ment of the enterprise, when three
prisoners gave information of the ex-
treme weakness of the French garrison.
Washington was immediately sent for-
ward, and the whole army prepared to
of the Alleghany Mountains. Major
Grant, with a scouting-party of Colonel
P'ouquet's advance corps, was attacked
(Sept. 21), defeated, and made a pris-
oner. Still Forbes went creeping on,
in honor of the great English statesman. /
Durand, Asiier Brown, painter and en-
graver; born in JefTerson, N. J., Aug. 21,
1796. His paternal ancestors were Hugue-
nots. His father was a watch-maker, and
wasting precious time, and exhausting the in his shop he learned engraving. In 1812
patience and respect of Washington and he became an apprentice to Peter Mave-
other energetic officers; and when Bou- rick, an engraver on copper-plate, and be-
quet joined the army it was 50 miles came his partner in 1817. Mr. Durand's
from Fort Duquesne. The winter was ap- ilrst large work was his engraving on
proaching, the troops were discontented, copper of Trumbull's Declaration of In-
and a council of war was called, to which dependence. He was engaged upon it a
165
DXJBANT— DUSTIN
year, and it gave him a great reputation.
His engravings of Musidora and Ariadne
place him among the first line-engravers of
his time. In 1835 he abandoned that art
for painting. Mr. Durand was one of the
first officers of the National Academy of
Design, and was its president for several
years. He died in South Orange, N. J.,
Sept. 17, 1886.
Durant, Henry Towle, philanthropist;
born in Hanover, N. H., Feb. 20, 1822;
graduated at Harvard College in 1841 ;
admitted to the bar in 1846; and be-
came connected with Rufus Choate and
other celebrated lawyers in practice in
Boston. Later he devoted himself to the
promotion of education, and through his
eff"orts Wellesley College was founded at
a cost of $1,000,000. It was opened in
1875, was maintained by him at an ex-
pense of $50,000 a year until his death,
and afterwards was aided by his widow.
He died in Wellesley, Mass., Oct. 3, 1881.
Durell, Edward Henry, jurist; born in
Portsmouth, N. H., July 14, 1810; gradu-
ated at Harvard in 1831; removed to New
Orleans in 1836. He held many offices
under the State government; resisted se-
cession in 1861 ; president of the Louisiana
constitutional convention in 1864. Among
his publications are History of Seventeen
Years from 1S60 to 1877; Essay on the
History of France; etc. He died in Scho-
harie, "n. Y., March 29, 1887.
Durrie, Daniel Steele, antiquarian;
born in Albany, N. Y., Jan. 2, 1819;
appointed librarian of the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin in 1858; published
genealogies of the Steele and Holt
families; also a BihliograpMca Genea-
logica Americana; History of Madison,
Wis.; History of Missouri; and the Wis-
consin Biographical Dictionary.
Duryee, Abram, military officer; born
in New York City, April 29, 1815; joined
the State militia in 1833; became colonel
of the 27th Regiment, now the 7th, in
1849; commanded his regiment during the
Astor Place riots. In April, 1861, he
raised a regiment known as " Duryee's
Zouaves," which took part in the battle of
Big Bethel. In 1861 he was promoted to
brigadier-general, and served with the
Army of the Potomac until 1863, when he
resigned. He died in New York City,
Sept. 27, 1890.
Dustin, Hannah, heroine; born about
1660; married Thomas Dustin, of Haver-
hill, Mass., Dec. 3, 1677. When, in the
spring of 1697, the French and Indians
devastated the New England frontier set-
tlements, Haverhill, within 30 miles of
Boston, suff"ered severely, forty of its in-
habitants being killed or carried into cap-
tivity. Among the latter were a part of
the family of Thomas Dustin, who was in
the field when the savages first appeared.
Mounting his horse, he hastened to his
house to bear away his wife, eight chil-
dren, and nurse to a place of safety. His
youngest child was only a week old. He
ordered his other children to fly. While
he was lifting his wife and her babe from
the bed the Indians attacked his house.
" Leave me," cried the mother, " and fly
to the protection of the other children."
Remounting his horse he soon overtook the
precious flock, and placing himself be-
tween them and the pursuing Indians, he
defended them so valiantly with his gun
that he pressed back the foe. Meanwhile
the savages had entered the house, ordered
the feeble mother to rise and follow them,
killed the infant, and set fire to the dwell-
ing. Half dressed, she was compelled to
go with her captors through melting snow
in their hasty retreat, accompanied by
her nurse. They walked 12 miles the first
day without shoes, and were compelled to
lie on the wet ground at night, with no
covering bvit the cold gray sky. This was
repeated day after day, until they reached
an island in the Merrimae 6 miles above
Concord, N. H., the home of the leader of
the savages, who claimed Mrs. Dustin and
her nurse as his captives. They were
lodged with his family, which consisted
of two men, three women, seven children,
and a captive English boy, who had been
with them more than a year. They were
told that they would soon start for an
Indian village where they would be com-
pelled to "run the gantlet"; that is, be
stripped naked, and run for their lives be-
tween two files of Indian men, women,
and children, who would have the privilege
of scoffing at them, beating them, and
wounding them with hatchets.
The two women resolved not to endure
the indignity. Mrs. Dustin planned a
means of escape, and leagued the nurse
and the English boy with her in the exe-
166
DTJSTIN— DUTCH GAP CANAL
cution of it. Believing in the faithful-
ness of the lad and the timidity of the
women, the Indians did not keep watch
at night. Through inquiries made by the
lad, Mrs. Dustin learned how to kill a
man instantly, and to take off his scalp.
Before daylight one morning, when the
whole family were asleep, Mrs. Dustin
and her companions instantly killed ten
of the slumberers, she killing her captor,
and the boy despatching the man who
told him how to do it. A squaw and a
child fled to the woods and escaped. After
scuttling all the boats but one, they fled
in it down the river, with provisions from
the wigwam. Mrs. Dustin remembered
they had not scalped the victims, so, re-
turning, they scalped the slain savages,
and bore their trophies away in a bag, as
evidence of the truth of the story they
might relate to their friends. At Haver-
liill they were received as persons risen
from the dead. Mrs. Dustin found her hus-
band and children safe. Soon afterwards
she bore to the governor, at Boston, the
gun, tomahawk, and ten scalps, and the
general court gave these two women $250
shire erected a commemorative monu-
ment in 1874. On it are inscribed the
names of Hannah Dustin, Mary Neff, and
Samuel Leonardson, the latter the Eng-
lish lad.
Dutch Gap Canal. There is a sharp
bend in the James River between the
Appomattox and Richmond, where the
stream, after flowing several miles, ap-
proaches itself within 500 yards. To
flank Confederate works and to shorten
the passage of the river 6 or 7 miles.
General Butler set a large force of
colored troops at work, in the summer of
1864, in cutting a canal for the passage
of vessels across this peninsula. This
canal was completed, with the exception
of blowing out the bulkhead, at the close
of December, 1804. It was 500 yards in
length, 60 feet in width at top, and 65
below the surface of the bluff. It was
excavated 15 feet below high- water mark.
On New Year's Day, 1865, a mine of
12,000 lbs. of gunpowder was exploded
under the bulkhead, and the water
rushed through, but not in sufficient
depth for practical purposes, for the mass
HANNAH DUSTIN ESOAHINO FROM THE INDIANS.
each, as a reward for their heroism. They
received other tokens of regard. The
island where the scene occurred is called
Dustin's Island. On its highest point
citizens of Massachusetts and New Hamp-
of the bulkhead (left to keep out the
water) fell back into the opening after
tlie explosion. The canal was then swept
by Confederate cannon, and could not be
dredged. As a military operation, it was
167
DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY
a failure. It was excavated in 140 days,
and has since been made navigable.
While a greater part of the National
naval force on the James River was on
the expedition against Fort Fisher
{q. v.), the Confederates sent' down from
the shelter of Fort Darling, on Drewry's
Bluff, a squadron of vessels for the pur-
pose of breaking the obstructions at the
lower end of the Dutch Gap Canal, and
destroying the pontoon bridges below, so
as to separate the National troops lying
on both sides of the James. The squad-
ron moved silently under cover of dark-
ness, but was observed and fired upon
when passing Fort Brady. The vessels
responded, and dismounted a 100-pounder
Parrott gun in the fort. The Fredericks-
burg broke the obstructions at Dutch Gap
and passed through, but two other
iron-clads and an unarmored gunboat
grounded. At dawn the gunboat Drewry
had been abandoned, and a shell from a
National battery exploded her magazine,
when she was blown to a wreck. So hot
was the fire from the shore that the voy-
age of the Confederate vessels -was
checked, and all but the ruined Drewry
fied up the river.
Dutch West India Company. The
Dutch East India Company was a great
monopoly, the profits of the trade of which
were enormous. Their ships whitened the
Indian seas, and in one year the share-
holders received in dividends the amount
of three-fourths of their invested capital.
It was believed that trade with the West-
ern Continent might be made equally
profitable, and as early as 1607 William
Ussellinx suggested a similar association
to trade in the West Indies. The States-
General of Holland Avere asked to incor-
porate such an association. The govern-
ment, then engaged in negotiations for a
truce with Spain, refused; but when that
truce expired, in 1621, a charter was
granted to a company of merchants which
gave the association almost regal powers
to " colonize, govern, and protect " New
Netherland for the term of twenty- four
years. It was ordained that during that
time none of the inhabitants of the United
Provinces (the Dutch Republic) should be
permitted to sail thence to the coasts of
Africa between the tropic of Cancer and
the Cape of Good Hope; nor to the coasts
1
of America or the West Indies between
Newfoundland and the Strait of Magellan,
except with the permission of the com-
pany. It was vested with sovereign
powers, to be exercised in the name of the
States-General, and to report to that body,
from time to time, all its transactions.
The government of the company was
vested in five separate chambers of mana-
gers, the principal one at Amsterdam, and
the other four in as many separate cities.
General executive powers were intrusted
to a board of nineteen delegates, called the
College of Nineteen, in which one dele-
gate represented the States-General, by
whom the company was guaranteed pro-
tection, and received assistance to the
amount of $380,000.
The company was organized on June
21, 1623; and with such a charter,
such powers, and such privileges, it be-
gan the settlement and development of
New Netherland. The English claimed
the domain, and the Dutch hastened to ac-
quire eminent domain, according to the
policy of England, by planting permanent
settlements there; and the same year
(1623) they sent over thirty families,
chiefly Walloons, to Manhattan. The
management of New Netherland was in-
trusted to the Amsterdam chamber. Their
traffic was successful. In 1624 the ex-
ports from Amsterdam, in two ships, were
worth almost $10,000, and the returns
from New Netherland were considerably
more. The company established a trad-
ing-post, called Fort Orange, on the site
of Albany, and traffic was extended east-
ward to the Connecticut River, and even
to Narraganset Bay; northward to the
Mohawk Valley, and southward and west-
ward to the Delaware River and beyond.
To induce private capitalists to engage in
the settlement of the country, the com-
pany gave lands and special privileges to
such as would guarantee settlement and
cultivation. These became troublesome
landholders, and in 1638 the rights of the
company, it was claimed, were interfered
with by a settlement of Swedes on the
Delaware. In 1640 the company establish-
ed the doctrines and rituals of the Re-
formed Church in the United Provinces
as the only theological formula to be al-
lowed in public worship in New Nether-
land. The spirit of popular freedom,
68
BUTTON— DWIGHT
which the Dutch brought with them from
Holland, asserted its rights under the
tyranny of William Kieft (q. v.), and a
sort of popular assembly was organized at
New Amsterdam. Its affairs in New
Netherland were necessarily under the di-
rect management of a director-general
or governor, whose powers, as in the
case of Kieft and Stuyvesant, were
sometimes so arbitrarily exercised that
much popular discontent was mani-
fested, and their dealings with their
neighbors Avere not always satis-
factory to the company and the States-
General ; yet, on the whole, when we
ctmsider the spirit of the age, "the colony,
which, before it was taken possession of
by the English in 1664, was of a mixed
population, was managed wisely and well ;
and the Dutch West India Company was
one of the most important instruments in
planting the good seed from which our
nation has sprung.
Button, Clarence Edward, military
officer; born in Wallingford, Conn., May
15s 1841 ; graduated at Yale College
in 1860 ; served in the National army in
1862-64 and took part in several impor-
tant engagements ; was appointed a second
lieutenant of ordnance, U. S. A., Jan. 20,
1864; and was promoted major May 1,
1890. After the close of the Civil War
he was assigned to duty with the United
States Geological Survey. His publi-
cations include Geology of the High
Plateaus of Utah; natvaiian Volcanoes;
The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 ; Ter-
tiary History of the Grand Canon Dis-
trict; Mount Taylor and the Zuni
Plateau, etc.
Duval, Gabriel, statesman; born in
Prince George county, Md., Dec. 6, 1752;
was a member of Congress, 1794-96, when
he resigned upon his appointment as judge
of the Supreme Court of Maryland. In
1811 he was appointed to the United
States Supreme Court and served until
1836, when he resigned. He died in Prince
George county, March 6, 1844.
Duyckinck, Evert Augustus, author;
born in New York City, Nov. 23, 1816;
graduated at Columbia College in 1835.
His father was a successful publisher,
and Evert early showed a love for
books and a taste for literary pursuits.
In December, 1840, he commenced the pub-
lication of Aroturus: a Journal of Books
and Opinions, in connection with Cor-
nelius Matthews, which was continued
about a year and a half. He contributed
to the early numbers of the New York
Review. In 1847, in connection with his
brother George, he commenced the Liter-
ary World, a periodical which continued
(with an interval of a year and five
months) until the close of 1853. In
1856 the brothers completed the Cyclo-
pcedia of American Literature, in 2 vol-
umes, a work of great research and value.
To this Evert added a supplement in 1865.
His other important works are. Wit and
Wisdom of Sidney Smith; 'National Por-
trait-Gallery of Eminent Americans ; His-
tory of the War for the Union; History
of the World from the Earliest Period
to the Present Time; and Portrait - Gal-
lery of Eminent Men and Women of
Europe and America (2 volumes). Mr.
Duyckinck's latest important literary
labor was in the preparation, in connection
with William Cullen Bryant {q. v.), of
a ne^Y and thoroughly annotated edition
of Shakespeare's writings. Evert died in
New York City, Aug. 13, 1878. His
brother, George Long, was born in New
York City, Oct. 17, 1823; graduated
at the University of the City of New
York in 1843. Besides his assistance in
the conduct of the Literary World and
the preparation of the Cyclopcedia of
American Literature, he published biog-
raphies of George Herbert (1858), Bishop
Thomas Ken (1859), Jeremy Taylor
(1860), and Bishop Latimer (1861). He
died in New York City March 30, 1863.
Dwight, Theodore, journalist; born
in Northampton, Mass., Dec. 15, 1764;
was a grandson of the eminent theologian
Jonathan Edwards ; became eminent as a
lawyer and political writer ; was for
many years in the Senate of Connecticut ;
and in 1806-7 was in Congress, where
he became a prominent advocate for the
suppression of the slave-trade. During
the War of 1812-15 he edited the Mirror,
at Hartford, the leading Federal news-
paper in Connecticut ; and was secretary
of the Hartford Convention (q. v.) in
1814, the proceedings of which he pub-
lished in 1833. He published the Albany
Daily Advertiser in 1815, and was the
founder, in 1817, of the New York Daily
169
DWIGHT— DYER
Advertiser, with which he was connected
until the great fire in 1835, when he re-
tired, with his family, to Hartford. Mr.
Dwight was one of the founders of the
American Bible Society. He was one of
the writers of the poetical essays of the
" Echo " in the Hartford Mercury. He
was also the author of a Dictionary of
Roots and Derivations. He died in New
York City, July 12, 1846.
Dwightj Theodore, author; born in
Hartford, Conn., March 3, 1796; grad-
uated at Yale College in 1814; set-
tled in Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1833. In as-
sociation with George White it is said
that he induced about 9,000 people to
leave the East and settle in Kansas. He
was the author of a New Gazetteer of the
United States (with William Darby) ;
History of Connecticut ; The Kansas War:
or the Exploits of Chivalry in the 'Nine-
teenth Century ; Autobiography of General
Garibaldi, etc. He died in Brooklyn, N.
Y., Oct. 16, 1866.
Dwight, TnEODOBE William, educator
and jurist; born in Catskill, N. Y., July
18, 1822; graduated at Hamilton College
in 1840; appointed Professor of Municipal
Law in Columbia in 1858; Professor of
Constitutional Law in Cornell in 1868,
and lecturer on constitutional law in Am-
herst in 1869; appointed a judge of the
Dwight, Timothy; born in Norwich,
Conn., Nov. 16, 1828; graduated at Yale
in 1849; tutored at Yale 1851-55; Profes-
THEODORE WILLIAM DWIGHT.
commission of appeals in January, 1874.
Professor Dwight was the most distin-
guished teacher of law in the United
States. He died in Clinton, N. Y., June
28, 1892.
TiaOTHT DWIGHT.
sor of Sacred Literature and New Testa-
ment Greek at Yale, 1858-86; president
of Yale University, 1886-99, when he re-
signed the office.
Dwight, Timothy, educator; born in
Northampton, Mass., May 14, 1752;
graduated at Yale College in 1769, and
was a tutor there from 1771 to 1777, when
he became an army chaplain, and served
until October, 1778. In 1781 and 1786
was a member of the Connecticut legis-
lature. In 1783 he was a settled minister
at Greenfield and principal of an academy
there; and from 1795 until his death was
president of Yale College. He published
Travels in New England and New York,
in 4 volumes. He died in New Haven,
Conn., Jan. 11, 1817.
Dyer, David Patterson, lawyer; born
in Henry county, Va., Feb. 12, 1838; re-
moved to Missouri in 1841; educated at
St. Charles College; admitted to the bar
in 1859, and practised till 1875. He was
a member of Congress in 1869-71; ap-
pointed United States attorney in 1875;
removed to St. Louis; prosecuted the
great "Whisky Ring" in 1875-76; was
defeated for governor of Missouri in 1880;
delegate-at-large to the National Republi-
can Convention in 1888 and 1900; and be-
came United States attorney for the east-
ern district of Missouri in 1902.
Dyer, Eliphalet, jurist; born in
170
DYER
Windham, Conn., Sept. 28, 1721; gi'ad-
uated at Yale College in 1740; became
a lawyer ; and was a member of the
Connecticut legislature from 174.5 to 1762.
He commanded ? regiment in the French
and Indian War; was made a member
of the council in 1702; and, as an active
member of the Susquehanna Company,
went to England as its agent in 17G3.
Mr. Dyer was a member of the Stamp Act
Congress in 1765, and was a member of
the first Continental Congress in 1774.
He remained in that body during the en-
tire war excepting in 1779. He was judge
of the Supreme Court of Connecticut in
1766, and was chief -justice from 1789 to
1793. He died in Windham, May 13,
1807. Judge Dyer is alluded to in the
famous doggerel poem entitled Laicyers
and Bullfrogs, the introduction to which
aver-s that at Old Windham, in Connecti-
cut, after a long drought, a frog-pond be-
came almost dry, and a terrible battle was
fought one night by the frogs to decide
which should keep possession of the re-
maining water. Many " thousands were
defunct in the morning." There was an
uncommon silence for hours before the
battle commenced, when, as if by a pre-
concerted agreement, every frog on one
side of the ditch raised the w'ar-cry,
'•' Colonel Dyer! Colonel Dyer!" and at
the same instant, from the opposite side,
resounded the adverse shout of " ElderJcin
too ! Elder'kin too !" Owing to some pecu-
liarity in the state of the atmosphere, the
sounds seemed to be overhead, and the
people of Windham were greatly fright-
ened. Tlie poet says:
" This terrible night the parson did fright
His people almost in despair ;
For poor Windham souls among the bean-
jjoles
He made a most wonderful prayer.
Lawyer Lucifer called up his crew ;
Dyer and I-Mderliin, you must come, too:
Old Colonel Dyer you know well enough.
He had an old negro, his name was Cuff."
Dyer, Mary, Quaker martyr; was the
wife of a leading citizen of Rhode Island.
Having embraced the doctrines and dis-
cipline of the Friends, or Quakers, she
became an enthusiast, and went to Boston,
whence some of her sect had been banished,
to give her " testimony to the truth." In
that colony the death penalty menaced
those who should return after banish-
ment. Mary was sent away and returned,
and was released while going to the gal-
lows with Marmaduke Stevenson with a
rope around her neck. She unwillingly
returned to her family in Rhode Island;
but she went back to Boston again for the
purpose of ofTering up her life to the
cause she advocated, and she was hanged
in 1660. Mary had once been whipped on
her bare back through the streets of Bos-
ton, tied behind a cart.
Dyer, Oliver, author; born in Porter,
N. Y., April 26, 1824; was educated at
the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima,
N. Y. ; taught school; and later lectured
on and taught the Isaac Pitman system of
phonography. In 1848 he became a re-
porter in the United States Senate; later
studied law and practised for a short time,
abandoning it to devote himself to jour-
nalism; and was on the staff of the
Tribune, Sun, and Ledger of New York.
He was ordained in the Swedenborgian
Church in 1876. and had charge of a
church in Mount Vernon. He was au-
thor of The Wickedest Man in New
York; Great Senators of the United
States Forty Years Ago; Life of An-
dreio Jackson; and Sketch of Henry W.
Grady.
E.
E Pluribus Unum. Its earliest oc-
currence is in a Latin poem called More-
turn, which is ascribed to Virgil. It was
suggested as the motto for the Seal of
THE United States [q. v.) by the com-
mittee of the Great Seal, consisting of
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and
Thomas Jefferson, on Aug. 10, 1776.
Eads, James Buchanan, engineer;
born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., May 23, 1820.
In 1861 he was employed by the national
government to construct gunboats suit-
able for use in Western rivers. In the
space of sixty-five days he constructed
seven iron-clad gunboats. In 1862 he built
six more; also heavy mortar-boats. At
JAMES BDCHANAN EADS.
the beginning of July, 1874, he completed
the magnificent iron railroad bridge across
the Mississippi at St. Louis. Then he
pressed upon the attention of the govern-
ment his plan for improving the naviga-
1
tion of the mouth of the Mississippi by
jetties. He was authorized to undertake
it (and was very successful), for which
the government paid him $5,125,000. At
the time of his death, in Nassau, N. P.,
March 8, 1887, he was engaged in the pro-
motion of a project he had conceived of
constructing a ship railway across the
Isthmus of Tehuantepec, between the At-
lantic and Pacific oceans. In 1881 he re-
ceived the Albert medal from the British
Society of Arts, the first American to be
thus honored.
The jetty system consists simply of a
dike or embankment projecting into the
water, whose purpose is to narrow the
channel so that the natural action of the
water will keep it clear of sediment or
other obstruction. The Mississippi River
is, at its mouth, 40 feet deep and 1%
miles wide, and carries every minute
72,000,000 feet of water to the Gulf,
which holds in solution nearly 20 per
cent, of mud and sand. The river has
three channels to the sea — the Southwest
Pass, the Passe I'Outre, and the South
Pass — the first carrying out about 50
per cent, of its water, the second 40 per
cent., and the third 10 per cent. There
is a bar at the mouth of each pass, and
each has a channel Ihrough which large
vessels may pass. This channel is about
1,200 feet wide and 50 feet deep in the
large passes, and 600 feet wide and 35
feet deep in the small one. The swift
and concentrated current keeps the chan-
nel open, but the bar is continually
spreading outward, and as it thus
spreads the water excavates a channel
through it, though not of a uniform depth
or width. Thus, a frequent dredging of
the channel was necessary to prevent the
continual grounding of vessels upon it.
Captain Eads was the first to suggest
that this laborious and expensive dredg-
ing process might be done away with by
72
EADS— EAGLE
the use of jetties. He reasoned that if in the Gulf. Five and a half million cubic
the banks of the passage through the bar yards of earth had been removed, mainly
could be extended, not gradually, but by the action of the strong current
immediately, into the deep water of the created by the jetty. In the construc-
PORT EADS, SOUTH PASS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
Gulf some 2 miles or more, it would tion of this important improvement the
produce force enough to excavate a following amount of material had been
channel the whole length of the bar. used: Willow, 502,000 cubic yards; stone.
This project he imdertook to carry out 100,000 cubic yards; gravel, 10,000 cubic
at his own expense, agreeing not to re- yards; concrete, 9,000 tons; piling and
ceive compensation for the work until it lumber, 12,000,000 feet. Captain Eads's
was completed; and the truth of his rea- plan has been proved to be very success-
soning was proved by the results. In ful, for the banks of the jetty continue
the winter of 1874-75 he laid his plan be- firm, and the channel is kept clear by
fore Congress, and in March, 1875, a bill the movement of the concentrated current
was passed empowering him to put it between them.
into execution. The work was begun in Eagan, Charles Patrick, military offi-
June, 1875. The jetties were laid out cer ; born in Ireland in January, 1841;
parallel with the current of the river, served through the Civil War in the 1st
and at right angles with the Gulf cur- Washington Territory Infantry; was corn-
rent, extending with a slight curve 214 missioned 2d lieutenant 9th United States
miles out from the mouth of the river. Infantry in 1866; and became brigadier-
Piles were first driven in to mark the general and commissary-general May 3,
path of the jetties; then willows fastened 1898. During the American-Spanish War
together in enormous mattresses were he was in charge of the commissary de-
sunk, and these filled in with stones and partment of the army, and in January,
gravel. This work was done on the 1899, was tried by court-martial for criti-
South Pass, the narrowest of the three cising General Miles during an investiga-
channels of the Mississippi delta. Cap- tion into the character of supplies furnish-
tain Eads wished to try his experiment ed to the army during the war; was sus-
on the Southwest Pass, the deepest and pended from rank and duty for six years
widest channel, but Congress would not on Feb. 9 ; and was restored and imme-
permit him to do so. The work of mak- diatcly retired Dec. 6, 1900.
ing the South Pass jetties was completed Eagle, the standard of the Persian and
July 9, 1879. A channel 30 feet deep, the Roman; also adopted by Charlemagne
with a minimum width of 45 feet, had with a second head as the standard of the
been made from the river to deep water holy Roman empire of Germany. The
173
EAGLE— EARLE
eagle was the standard of France during Englaiid; Chirm- Collecting in America;
the empire, as it is now of Austria, Rus- Customs and Fashions in Old New Eng-
sia, and Prussia. The great seal of the land; Life of Margaret Winthrop; Diary
United States (see Seal of the United of a Boston School- Girl; Costume of
States) bears a shield on the breast of Colonial Times; Colonial Dames and
the eagle. The $10 gold coin of the Goodmives; Old Narraga/nsett ; Colonial
United States is also called an eagle. It Days in Old New York; Curious Punish-
was first coined in 1794. No eagles were 7nents of Bygone Days; Home Life in
coined between 1805 and 1837. The $20 Colonial Days; Child Life in Colonial
gold coin is popularly known as the double Days; Coach and Tavern Days ; and was
ea^le. part author of Early Prose and Verse;
Eagle, Henry, naval officer; born in Historic New York; Chap Book Essays;
New York City, April 7, 1801; entered the Old-Time Gardens, Sundials, and Roses of
navy in 1818; and had command of the Yesterday; etc.
bomb-vessel JEtna and also a part of the Earle, Pliny, inventor; born in Leices-
Gulf fleet during the Mexican War. At ter, Mass., Dec. 17, 1762; became connect-
the beginning of the Civil War he carried ed with Edward Snow in 1785 in the man-
important messages from Brooklyn to ufacture of machine and hand cards for
Washington. While in command of the carding wool and cotton. Mr. Earle had
MonticeUo he was engaged in the first first made them by hand, but afterwards
naval engagement of the war, silencing the by a machine of his own invention,
guns of Sewell's Point battery, Va., May Oliver Evans (q. v.) had already invent-
19, 1861. He was promoted commodore in ed a machine for making card-teeth, which
1862; retired in January, 1863. He died produced 300 a minute. In 1784 Mr. Crit-
in November, 1882. tenden, of New Haven, Conn., invented a
Eagle, James Phillip, clergyman ; born machine which produced 86,000 card-
in Maury county, Tenn., Aug. 10, 1837 ; teeth, cut and bent, in an hour. These
acquired a country-school and a collegiate card-teeth were put up in bags and dis-
education; served in the Confederate tributed among families, in which the
army in the Civil War, and attained the women and children stuck them in the
rank of colonel. After the war he became leather. Leicester was the chief seat of
a Baptist minister and cotton-planter; this industry, and to that place Samuel
was a member of the Arkansas legislature Slater {q. v.) , of Rhode Island, went
for four years; and of the constitutional for card clothing for the machines in his
convention in 1874; one of the commis- cotton-mill. Hearing that Pliny Earle
sioners to adjust the debt of the Brook- Avas an expert card-maker, he went to him
Baxter war over the governorship in 1874; and told him what he wanted. Mr. Earle
and was governor of Arkansas in 1889-93. invented a machine for pricking the holes
Eames, Wilberforce, librarian; born in the leather — a tedious process by hand
in Newark, N. J., Oct. 12, 1855; appointed — and it worked admirably. A few years
assistant in the Lenox Library, 1885; li- afterwards Eleazer Smith (see Whitte-
brarian in 1893. He is the author of more, Amos) made a great improvement
many bibliographical books, among them by inventing a machine that not only
an account of the early New England cat- pricked the holes, but set the teeth more
echisms, a comparative edition of the va- expertly than human fingers could do.
rious texts of Columbus's letter announc- About 1843 William B. Earle, son of
ing the discovery of America, and editor Pliny, improved Smith's invention, and
of several volumes of Sabin's Dictionary the machine thus produced for making
of Books relating to America, besides card clothing proved the best ever made,
many articles on bibliographical subjects. By Mr. Earle's first invention the labor of
Earle, Alice Morse, author; born in a man for fifteen hours could be perform-
Worcester, Mass.. April 27, 1853. She ed in fifteen minutes. Mr. Earle possessed
has written extensively on the manner and extensive attainments in science and liter-
customs of the colonial periods in New ature. He died in Leicester, Nov. 19, 1832.
England and New York. Among her publi- Earle, Thomas, statesman ; born in Lei-
cations are The Sabbath in Puritan New cester, Mass., April 21, 1796; removed to
174
EARLY— EARTHQUAKES
J'hiladelphia in 1817; he edited succes-
sively The Columhian Observer, standard,
Fennsylvanimi, and Mechanics' Free Press
and Reform Advocate. He was a member
of the Pennsylvania constitution conven-
tion of 1837, and is believed to have draft-
ed the new constitution. He died in Phila-
delphia, July 14, 1849.
Early, Jubal Anderson, military offi-
cer ; born in Franklin county, Va., Nov.
3, 1816; graduated from West Point in
1837, and served in the Florida war the
same year. In 1838 he resigned his com-
mission and studied law. In 1847 he
JUBAL A. EARLY.
served as a major-general of volunteers
during the war with Mexico. He was ap-
pointed colonel in the Confederate ser-
vice at the outbreak of the Civil War. He
was one of the ablest and most successful
ef the Confederate generals, but was de-
feated at Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and
Cedar Creek. At Gettysburg he com-
manded a division of Lee's army, and the
second at Cedar Creek, where Sheridan
arrived in time to rally his men after his
famous ride. In 1888 he published a book
giving the ni3tory of the last year of the
Divil War, during which time he was in
command of the army of the Shenandoah.
He died in Lynchburg, Va., March 2, 1894.
Earthquakes. On June 1, 1038, be-
tween the hours of 3 and 4 p.m., the
weather clear and warm, and the wind
westerly, all New England was violently
shaken by an internal convulsion of the
earth. It came on with a noise like con-
1
tinned thunder, and the shock lasted about
four minutes. The earth shook with such
violence that in some places the people
could not stand upright without difficulty,
and many movable articles in the houses
were thrown down. The earth was unquiet
for twenty days afterwards. On Jan. 26,
1663, a heavy shock of earthquake was
felt in New England and in New York,
and was particularly severe in Canada,
where it was recorded that " the doors
opened and shut of themselves with a
fearful clattering. The bells rang with-
out being touched. The walls were
split asunder. The floors separated and
fell down. The fields put on the appear-
ance of precipices, and the mountains
seemed to be moving out of their places."
Small rivers were dried up; some moun-
tains appeared to be much broken and
moved, and half-way between Quebec and
Tadousac two mountains were shaken
down, and formed a point of land extend-
ing some distance into the St. Lawrence.
On Oct. 29, 1727, there was a severe
earthquake in New England, lasting about
two minutes. Its course seemed to be
from the Delaware River, in the south-
west, to the Kennebec, in the northeast,
a distance of about 700 miles. It oc-
curred at about twenty minutes before
eleven o'clock in the morning, and the
sky was serene. Pewter and china were
cast from their shelves, and stone walls
and chimney-tops were shaken down. In
some places doors were burst open, and
people could hardly keep their feet.
There had been an interval of fifty-five
years since the last earthquake in New
England. On the same day the island of
Martinique, in the West Indies, was
threatened with total destruction by an
earthquake which lasted eleven hours.
On Nov. 18, 1755, an earthquake shock
was felt from Chesapeake Bay along the
coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, about 800
miles; and in the interior it seems to
have extended, from northwest to south-
east, more than 1,000 miles. In Boston
100 chimneys were levelled with the roofs
of the houses, and 1,500 shattered. The
vane on the public market was thrown to
the earth. At New Haven, Conn., the
ground moved like waves of the sea; the
houses shook and cracked, and many
chimneys were thrown down. It oc-
75
EARTHQUAKES— EAST INDIA COMPANY
5 "
A RESULT OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN CHARLESTON, AUGUST 31, 1886.
curred at four o'clock in the morning, 2,000 houses were overthrown; and half
and lasted four and a half minutes. At of the island of Madeira, 660 miles south-
the same time there was a great tidal- west from Portugal, became a waste,
wave in the West Indies. In April, the The last earthquake of consequence was
same year, Quito, in South America, was on Aug. 31, 1886, when a large part of
destroyed by an earthquake; and eighteen the city of Charleston, S. C, was de-
days before the earthquake in North stroyed, with many lives.
America there was an awful and exten- East India Company, The. At the
sive one in southern Europe that extend- close of 1600, Queen Elizabeth granted a
ed into Africa. The earth was violently charter to a company of London mer-
shaken for 5,000 miles — even to Scotland, chants for the monopoly of the trade over
In eight minutes the city of Lisbon, with a vast expanse of land' and sea in the re-
50,000 inhabitants, was swallowed up. gion of the East Indies, for fifteen years.
Other cities in Portugal and Spain were The charter was renewed from time to
partially destroyed. One half of Fez, in time. The first squadron of the company
northern Africa, was destroyed, and more ffive vessels) sailed from Torbay (Feb.
than 12,000 Arabs perished. In the islan . 15, 1601) and began to make footholds,
of Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago, speedily, on the islands and continental
176
EASTMAN— EASTPORT
shores of the East, establishing factories
in many places, and at length obtaining
a grant (1098) from a native prince of
Calcutta and two adjoining villages, with
the privilege of erecting fortifications.
This was the first step towards the ac-
quirement by the company, under the
auspices of the British government, of
vast territorial possessions, with a popu-
lation of 200,000,000, over which, in 1877,
Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress.
The company had ruled supreme in India,
with some restrictions, until 1858, when
the government of that Oriental empire
was vested in the Queen of England.
Though the company was not abolished,
it was shorn of all its political power, as
it had been of its trade monopoly. The
East India Company first introduced tea
into England, in the reign of Charles
II.
Eastman, Harvey Gridley, educator;
born in Marshall, Oneida co., N. Y., Oct.
16, 1832: after attending the common
schools of his neighborhood, completed his
education at the State Normal School at
Albany; and at the age of twenty-three
opened a commercial school at Oswego,
N. Y., having been a teacher in a similar
school kept by his uncle in Rochester. In
that school he first conceived the plan of a
commercial or business college. On Nov. 3,
1859, Mr. Eastman opened a business col-
lege in Poughkeepsie, with a single pupil.
In 1865 there were more than 1,700 stu-
dents in the college. It was the first insti-
tution in which actual business was
taught. Mr. Eastman was a very liberal
and enterprising citizen, foremost in every
judicious measure which promised to bene-
fit the community in which he lived. He
was twice elected mayor of the city, and
held that office at the time of his death,
in Denver, Col., July 13, 1878. On the
day of his funeral the city was draped in
mourning and nearly all places of busi-
ness were closed, for he was eminently re-
spected as a citizen and as a public officer.
Easton, James, military officer; born in,
Hartford, Conn. : became a builder, and
settled in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1763. Ac-
tive in business and strong in intellect, he
became a leader in public affairs there,
and was chosen to a seat in the Massa-
chusetts Assembly in 1774. He was also
colonel in the militia, and held the posi-
177
tion of leader of the minute-men of that
town. When the expedition to assail
Ticonderoga was organized in western
Massachusetts, Colonel Easton joined
Allen and Arnold in accomplishing the
undertaking, and it was he who bore the
first tidings of success to the Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts. He died in
I'ittsfield, Mass.
Easton, John, colonial governor; son
of Nicholas; was governor of Rhode Island
in 1690-95. He was the author of a 'Nar-
rative of the Causes which led to Philip's
Indian War.
Easton, Langdon Cheves, military offi-
cer; born in St. Louis, Mo., Aug. 10, 1814;
graduated at the United States Mili-
tary Academy in 1838; and served in the
Florida, Mexican, and Civil wars. In
December, 1863, he was appointed chief
quartermaster of the Army of the Cumber-
land; and in May, 1864, was assigned the
same post in the army under General
Sherman. He received the brevet of ma-
jor-general in March, 1865; retired in Jan-
uary, 1881. He died in New York City,
April 29, 1884.
Easton, Nicholas, colonial governor;
born in 1593; came to America in 1634,
and settled in Ipswich, Mass. In 1638
he removed to Rhode Island and erected
the first house in Newport; was govern-
or of Rhode Island and Providence in
1650-52. He died in Newport, R. I., Aug.
15, 1675.
Eastport, Capture of. Early in July,
1814, Sir Thomas M. Hardy sailed secretly
from Halifax with a squadron, consisting
of the Ramillics (the flag-ship), sloop
Martin, brig Borer, the Bream, the bomb-
ship Terror, and several transports, with
troops under Col. Thomas Pilkington. The
squadron entered Passamaquoddy Bay on
the 11th, and anchored off Fort Sullivan,
at Eastport, Me., then in command of Maj.
Perley Putnam with a garrison of fifty
men, having six pieces of artillery. Hardy
demanded an instant surrender, giving
Putnam only five minutes to consider.
The latter promptly refused, but at the
importunity of the alarmed inhabitants,
who were indisposed to resist, he surren-
dered the post on condition that, while the
British should take possession of all
public property, private property should
be respected. This was agreed to, and
EATON
1,000 armed men, with women and chil- the United States Bureau of Education
dren, a battalion of artillery, and fifty or for sixteen years, addresses, and numerous
sixty pieces of cannon were landed on the magazine articles. He died in Washing-
main, when formal possession was taken ton, D. C, Feb. 9, 1906.
of the fort, the town of Eastport, and all Eaton, John Henry, statesman; born
the islands and villages in and around in Tennessee in 1787; was United States
Passamaquoddy Bay. Several vessels laden Senator from Tennessee in 1818-20; re-
with goods valued at $300,000, ready to be signed to become Secretary of War under
smuggled into the United States, were President Jackson; appointed governor
seized. Sixty cannon were mounted, and of Florida Territory in 1834; resigned to
civil rule was established under British become United States minister to Spain
officials. The British held quiet posses- in 1836. He published a Life of Andrew
eion of that region until the close of the Jackson, who was his colleague in the
■war. Senate for two years. He died in Wash-
ngton, D. C, Nov. 17, 1856. See Eaton,
sIargaret Ij. O'Neill.
Eaton, Margaret L. O'Neill, daughter
3f William O'Neill, an Irish hotel-keep-
er in Washington; born in 1796, and after
the death of her first Viusband, John B.
Timberlake, she married John Henry
Eaton, United States Senator from Ten-
nessee. Upon the appointment of her
Eaton, DoRMAN Bridgman, lawyer; borr
in Hardwick, Vt., June 27, 1823; grad-
uated at the University of Vermont ii
1848; was active in promoting civil ser
vice reform, and was a membei' of th
United States Civil Sei'vice Commissio
for many years. He was the author oi
Civil Service in Great Britain; The In-
dependent Movemerd in New York, etc.;
and editor of the 7th edition of Kent's husband to the office of Secretary of War,
Commentaries. He died in New York Mrs. Eaton was not recognized socially
City, Dec. 23, 1900. by the wives of the other members of the
Eaton, John, educator ; born in Sut- cabinet. President Jackson interfered, and
ton, N. H., Dec. 5, 1829; was graduated demanded that Mrs. Eaton should receive
at Dartmouth College in 1854; applied the usual social courtesies. In consequence
himself to educational pursuits till 1859, of these social quarrels, a disruption of the
when he entered Andover Theological cabinet took place in 1831. After Mr.
Seminary, and in 1862, after his ordi- Eaton's death his widow married an Ital-
nation, was appointed chaplain of the ian. She died in Washington, Nov. 8,
27th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In No- 1879.
vember of the same year he was made Eaton, Theophiltts, colonial governor;
superintendent of freedmen, and later born in Stony Stratford, England, in
was given supervision of all military 1591 ; was bred a merchant, and was for
posts from Cairo to Natchez and Fort some years the English representative at
Smith. In October, 1863, he became the Court of Denmark. Afterwards he was
colonel of the 63d United States Colored a distinguished London merchant, and ac-
Infantry, and in March, 1865, was companied Mr. Davenport to New Eng-
brevetted brigadier-general. He was editor land in 1637. With him he assisted in
of the Memphis Post in 1866-67, and founding the New Haven colony, and was
State superintendent of public instruc- chosen its first chief magistrate. Mr.
tion in Tennessee in 1867-69. From 1871 Eaton filled the chair of that office con-
to 1886 he was commissioner of the United tinuously until his death, Jan. 7, 1658.
States Bureau of Education, and then be- Eaton, William, military officer; born
came president of Marietta College, O., in Woodstock, Conn., Feb. 23, 1764; grad-
where he remained until 1891; was presi- uated at Dartmouth College in 1790; en-
dent of the Sheldon Jackson College of tered the Continental army at the age
Salt Lake City in 1895-98, when he was of sixteen; and was discharged in 1783.
appointed inspector of public education In 1797 he was appointed American con-
in Porto Rico. He is author of History sul at Tunis, and arrived there in 1799.
of Thetford Academy; Mormons of To- He acted with so much boldness and tact
day; The Freedman in the War (re- that he secured for his country the free-
port) ; Schools of Tennessee; reports of dom of its commerce from attacks by
178
EBEN-EZEEr— ECONOCHACA
Tunisian cruisers. He returned to the
United States in 1803; was appointed
naval agent of the United States for the
Barbary States, and accompanied the
American fieet to the Mediterranean in
1804. He assisted Hamet Caramelli, the
rightful ruler of Tripoli, in an attempt to
recover his throne, usurped by his brother.
Soon afterwards Eaton returned to the
United States, and passed tlie remainder of
his life at Brimfield. For his services to
American commerce the State of Massa-
chusetts gave him 10,000 acres of land.
The King of Denmark gave him a gold
box in acknowledgment of his services to
commerce in general and for the release
of Danish captives at Tunis. Burr tried
1o enlist General Eaton in his conspiracy,
and the latter testified against him on
his trial. He died in Brimfield, Mass.,
June 1, 1811. See Tripoli, War with.
Eben-Ezer or Amana Community.
A communistic society originating in Ger-
many at the beginning of tlie eighteenth
century. They removed to America in
1843 and settled near Buffalo, N. Y., but
removed to Iowa in 1855.
Eckford, Henry, naval constructor;
born in Irvine, Scotland, March 12, 1775;
learned his profession with an uncle at
Quebec, began business for himself in New
York in 1796, and soon took the lead in
his profession. During the War of 18 IS-
IS he constructed ships-of-war on the
Lakes with great expedition and skill ;
and soon after the war he built the steam-
ship Robert Fulton, in which, in 1822,
he made the first successful trip in a craft
of that kind to New Orleans and Havana.
Made naval constructor at Brooklyn in
"820, six ships-of-the-line were built after
his models. Interference of the board of
naval commissioners caused him to leave
the service of the government, but he
afterwards made ships-of-war for Euro-
pean powers and for the independent
states of South America. In 1831 he
built a war-vessel for the Sultan of Tur-
key, and, going to Constantinople, organ-
ized a navy-yard there, and there he died,
Nov. 12, 1832.
Econochaca, Battle at. Marching
from Fort Deposit, in Butler covmty, Ala.
(December, 1813), General Claiborne,
pushing through the wilderness nearly
30 miles with horpe and foot and friendly
Choctaw Indians, arrived near Econocha-
ca, or Holy Ground, a village built by
Weathersford upon a bluflT on the left
bank of the Alabama, just below Powell's
Ferry, Lowndes co., in an obscure place,
as a "city of refuge" for the wounded
and dispersed in battle, fugitives from
their homes, and women and children.
No path or trail led to it. It had been
dedicated to this humane purpose by
Tecumseh and the Prophet a few months
before, and the Cherokees had been assured
by them that, like Auttose, no white man
could tread upon the ground and live.
There the Indian priests performed their
incantations, and in the square in the
centre of the town the most dreadful
cruelties had already been perpetrated.
White prisoners and Creeks friendly to
them had been there tortured and roasted.
On the morning of Dec. 23 Claiborne ap-
peared before the town. At that moment
a number of friendly half-bloods of both
sexes were in the square, surrounded by
pine-wood, ready to be lighted to consume
them, and the prophets were busy in their
mummery. The troops advanced in three
columns. The town was almost surround-
ed by swamps and deep ravines, and the
Indians, regarding the place as holy, and
having property there of great value,
though partially surprised, prepared to
fight desperately. They had conveyed
their women and children to a place of
safety deep in the forest. By a simul-
taneous movement, Claiborne's three col-
umns closed upon the town at the same
moment. So unexpected was the attack
that the dismayed Indians broke and fled
before the whole of the troops could get
into action. Weathersford was there. The
Indians fled in droves along the bank of
the river, and by swimming and the use
of canoes they escaped to the other side
and joined their families in the forest.
Weathersford, when he found himself de-
serted by his warriors, fled swiftly on a
horse to a bluff on the river between two
ravines, hotly pursued, when his horse made
a mighty bound from it, and the horse
and rider disappeared under the water for
a moment, when both arose, Weathersford
grasping the mane of his charger with one
hand and his rifle with the other. He
escaped in safety. Econochaca was plun-
dered by the Choctaws and laid in ashes.
170
EDDIS— ED&AB
Fully 200 houses were destroyed, and office many of the tea-party disguised
thirty Indians killed. The Tennesseeans themselves, and were there regaled with
lost one killed and six wounded. punch after the exploit at the wharf was
Eddis, William, royalist; born in Eng- performed. He began, with Mr. Gill, in
land about 1745; came to America in 1769, 1755, the publication of the Boston Gazette
and settled in Annapolis, Md. He was and Country Journal, which became a
surveyor of customs till the troubles be- very popular newspaper, and did eminent
tween the colonies and the home govern- service in the cause of popular liberty,
ment became so strong that it was unsafe Adams, Hancock, Otis, Quincy, Warren,
for royalists to remain in the country. On and other leading spirits were constant
June 11, 1776, he was ordered, with others, contributors to its columns, while Mr.
by the patriot " Committee of Observa- Edes himself wielded a caustic pen. He
tion," to leave the country before Aug. 1. was in Watertown during the siege of
His time, however, was extended, and he Boston, from which place he issued the
continued in office till April, 1777, when Gazette, the " mouth-piece of the Whigs."
he returned to England. He was the au- It was discontinued in 1798, after a life,
thor of Letters from America. sustained by Edes, of forty years. He
Eddy, Richard, author; born in Provi- died in Boston, Dec. 11, 1803.
dence, R. I., June 21, 1828; removed to Edes, Henry Herbert, historian; born
Clinton, N. Y., in 1848; studied theology in Charlestown, Mass., March 29, 1849;
there, and was ordained to the ministry of is a member of many historical societies,
the Unitarian Church. In 1861-63 he was and the author of History of the Harvard
chaplain of the 60th New York Regiment; Church in Charlestown; Historical Sketch
in 1878 was elected president of the Uni- of Charlestown ; editor of Wy man's
tarian Historical Society; and became edi- Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown;
tor of the Universalist Quarterly. His Foote's Annals of King's Chapel, Boston,
publications include a History of the 60th etc.; and a contributor to the Memorial
Regiment, Neto York State Volunteers; History of Boston.
Vniversalism in America, a History ; Alco- Edes, Peter, patriot; born in Boston,
hoi in History; and three sermons on Lin- Mass., Dec. 17, 1756; educated at the
coin, entitled The Martyr to Liberty. Boston Latin School. Shortly after the
Eden, Charles, colonial governor; battle of Bunker Hill he was impris-
born in England in 1073; appointed gov- oned by General Gage, who charged him
ernor of North Carolina, July 13, 1713. with having fire-arms concealed in his
During his administration he arrested house. He spent 107 days in a room of
the pirate Edward Teach, usually called the Boston jail. He was the publisher
" Black-Beard." He died in North Caro- of an edition of the Fifth of March Ora-
lina, March 17, 1722. tions ; also an oration on Washington.
Eden, Sir Robert,, royal governor ; born In 1837 the diary of his imprisonment,
in Durham, England. Succeeding Gov- containing a list of the prisoners capt-
ernor Sharpe as royal governor of Mary- ured at Bunker Hill, was published in
land in 1768, he was more moderate in Bangor, and a letter about the " Boston
his administration than his predecessors, tea-party," addressed to his grandson, ap-
He complied with the orders of Congress pears in the Proceedings of the Massa-
to abdicate the government. He went to chusetts Historical Society. He died in
England, and at the close of the war re- Bangor, Me., March 30, 1840.
turned to recover his estate in Maryland. Edgar, Henry Cornelius, clergyman;
He had married a sister of Lord Balti- born in Rahway, N. J., April 11, 1811;
more, and was created a baronet, Oct. 19, graduated at Princeton College in 1831 ;
1776. He died in Annapolis, Md., Sept. 2, became a merchant; was licensed to
1786. preach by the Presbyterian Church in
Edes, Benjamin, journalist; born in 1845. During the Civil War he spoke
Charlestown, Mass., Oct. 14, 1732; was forcibly against slavery. His published
captain of the Ancient and Honorable Ar- orations and sermons include Three Lect-
tillery Company in 1760, and one of the tires on Slavery; Four Discourses Occa-
Boston Sons of Liberty. In his printing- sioned hy the Death of Lincoln; An Ex-
180
EDGREN— EDISON
position of the Last Nine Wars/ Chris-
tianity our Nation's Wisest Policy; A
Discourse Occasioned
President Garfield., etc,
Pa., Dec. 23, 1884.
Edgren, August
born in Wermland,
1840; graduated at the University of Up-
sola ; came to the United States, and
joined the National army in January,
the news headings of his papers. The re-
lations which he thus formed with tele-
hy the Death of graph operators awakened a desire to
He died in Easton, learn telegrapliy. Not content with the
opportunities ofi'ered by the railway tele-
graph, he, with a neighbor who had simi-
lar inclinations, built a line a mile long
through a wood which separated their
homes. Edison made the instruments, but
having no way of getting a battery felt
Hjalmar, author
Sweden, Oct. IS
1862; was promoted first lieutenant and at a loss as to how he should proceed. He
assigned to the Engineer Corps in Au- soon thought of a novel expedient, but
gust, 1863. Soon after he returned to its application proved a total failure.
Sweden. His publications include The Lit- Having noticed that electric sparks were
erature of America; The Public Schools generated by rubbing a cat's back, he fas-
and Colleges of the United States; Amer- tened a wire to a cat's leg, and rubbing
ican Antiquities, etc.
Edict of Nantes, The, an edict pro-
mulgated by Henry IV. of France, which
gave toleration to the Protestants in
feuds, civil and religious, and ended the
religious wars of the country. It was
published April 13, 1598, and was con-
its fur briskly, watched for an effect upon
the instrument, but none followed. While
engaged in commercial telegraphy in Cin-
cinnati in 1867, he conceived the idea of
transmitting two messages over one wire
at the same time, totally ignorant that
this had been attempted by electricians
firmed by Louis XIII. in 1610, after the many years before. He continued to make
murder of his father; also by Louis XIV. experiments in every branch of telegraphy,
in 1652; but it was revoked by him, Oct. attending to his office duties at night and
22, 1685. It was a great state blunder, experimenting in the daytime. In 1869
for it deprived France of 500,000 of her he retired from the operator's table, and,
best citizens, who fled into Germany, Eng- leaving Boston, where he was then em-
land, and America, and gave those coun-
tries the riches that flow from industry,
skill, and sobriety. They took with them
to England the art of silk-weaving, and
60 gave France an important rival. in that
branch of industry.
Edison, Thomas Alva, electrician;
born in Milan, O., Feb. 11, 1847. He was
taught by his mother till he was twelve
years old, when he began work as a news-
paper boy, obtaining an exclusive contract
for the sale of newspapers on the Detroit
division of the Grand Trunk Railway. He
continued at this work for five years.
Meanwhile he bought a small printing
outfit, which he carried on the train, and
by which he printed a small weekly paper,
called The Grand Trunk Herald. Its sub-
scription list showed 450 names. When
the Civil War broke out the enormous in-
crease in newspaper traffic confined his
whole attention to that branch of his busi-
ness. He conceived and carried out the
idea of having large bulletin-boards set
up at every station along the line of the
railroad, on which he caused to be chalked
by telegraph operators and station agents In New York he soon formed an alliance
181
THOMAS ALVA EDISON.
ployed, went to New York with original
apparatus for duplex and printing teleg-
raphy, the latter being the basis of nearly
all the subsequent Gold and Stock Ex-
change telegraph reporting instruments.
EDMONDS— EDUCATION
GKORGE FRANKLIN EDMUNDS.
with electricians and manufacturers, and, elusion of twenty-five years of uninter-
after a few years of varied experience with rupted service. In 1897 he was chosen
partners in the laboratory and in tlie shop, chairman of the monetary commissiou
he removed to Menlo Park, N. J., in 1876,
where he established himself on an inde-
pendent footing, with everything which
could contribute to or facilitate invention
and research. In 1886 Mr. Edison bought
property in Llewellyn Park, Orange, N.
J., and later removed there from Menlo
Park. His inventions are many and
varied. His contributions to the develop-
ment of telegraphy are represented by
sixty patents and caveats assigned to the
Gold and Stock Telegraph Company of
New York, and fifty to the Automatic
Telegraphy Company. His inventions in-
clude the incandescent electric light, the
carbon telegraph transmitter, the micro-
tasimeter for the detection of small
changes in the temperature; the mega-
phone, to magnify sound; the phonograph,
the patent of which he sold for $1,000,000;
the aerophone; the kinetoscope, etc. On
Sept. 27, 1889, he was made a Chevalier
of the Legion of Honor by the French gov-
ernment, appointed by the Indianapolis monetary
Edmonds, John Worth, lawyer; born conference, which reported to Congress a
in Hudson, N. Y., March 13, 1799; grad- scheme of currency reform,
uated at Union College in 1816; ad- Education. Popular education made
mitted to the bar in 1819; elected to the rapid progress in the United States dur-
New York Assembly in 1831, and the New ing the nineteenth century. In 1776 there
York Senate in 1832; became a circuit were seven colleges in the English-
judge in 1845, and was appointed to the American colonies, and the common
Court of Appeals in 1852. He was the schools were few and very inferior. At
author of Spiritualism; Letters and the end of the school year, 1898-99, the
Tracts on Spiritualism, besides a number population of the country was estimated
of law books. He died in New York City, at 76,000,000, of which 201/3 per cent.
April 5, 1874. was enrolled in the public elementary
Edmunds, George Franklin, states- and high schools, or 15,138,715; and the
man; born in Richmond, Vt., Feb. 1, total in all schools, elementary, second-
1828; took an early and active part in ary, and higher, both public and private,
Vermont politics, serving several terms in was 16,738,362. Of the total enrolment,
both houses of the legislature; was 10,389,407 were in average daily attend-
speaker of the House of Representatives ance in the public schools. There was a
and president pro tern., of the Senate. In total of 415,660 teachers (males, 131,793;
1866 he entered the United States Senate females, 283,867), to whom $128,662,880-
as a Republican, and till 1891 was one was paid in salaries. All public-school
of the foremost men in Congress. Towards property had a value of $524,689,255. The
the close of his senatorial career he was receipts of the school-year were $194,-
the author of the acts of 1882 and 1887 998,237; the expenditures, exclusive of
for the suppression of polygamy and the payments on bonded debts, $197,281,603.
regulation of affairs in Utah, and of the The expenditure per capita of population
anti-trust law (1890). In 1886 he framed was $2.67, and the average daily expendi-
thc act for counting the electoral vote, ture per pupil, 13.3 cents. These figures
He resigned his seat in 1891 at the con- exclude statistics of the education of the
182
EDUCATION"
blind, the deaf, and other defective
classes, which are treated separately in
this work, and also Secondary Schools
(q. v.).
Education, American Public. See
Holland, Josiah Gilbert.
Education, Chautauqua System of.
See Chautauqua System of Education.
Education, Elementary. William
ToRREY Harris (q. v.), the U. S. Com-
missioner of Education since 1S89, one of
the highest authorities on the subject of
education, writes as follows:
At the meeting in 1892 the National
Educational Association appointed a com-
mittee of ten persons to consider and re-
port upon the subjects of study and the
methods of instruction in secondary
schools, including public high schools,
private academies, and schools preparing
students for college. President Eliot, of
Harvard, was appointed chairman, with
nine associates, four of whom were presi-
dents of colleges, one a professor in a col-
lege, two principals of public high
schools, and one head master of a pre-
paratory school. This committee of ten,
as it is generally called, had author-
ity to select the members of special con-
ferences and to arrange meetings for the
discussion of the principal subjects taught
in preparatory schools. The subjects rep-
resented were Latin, Greek, English, other
modern languages, mathematics, natural
philosophy (including physics, astronomy,
and chemistry), natural history (and
biology, including botany, zoology, and
physiology), history (including also civil
government and political economy),
geography (including physical geography,
geology, and meteorology). The National
Educational Association appropriated the
sum of .$2,500 towards defraying the ex-
penses of the conferences.
The report was completed and pub-
lished in the spring of 1894. Thirty
thousand copies were distributed by the
national bureau of education, and since
then edition after edition has been print-
ed and sold by the National Educational
Association through an agent.
No educational document before pub-
lished in this country has been more
widely read or has excited more helpful
discussion. The secondary instruction of
the country has been considered to be the
weakest part of the entire system, al-
though it is conceded on all hands that
the teachers in secondary schools are, on
the average, much superior in profes-
sional and general culture to the teachers
in elementary schools, if not to those in
colleges. The reason for this defect in
secondary schools has been found in the
course of study. A majority of the pub-
lic high schools and a larger majority of
the private academies dilute their sec-
ondary course of study by continuing ele-
mentary studies beyond their proper limit.
Arithmetic, descriptive geography, gram-
mar, history of one's native country, lit-
erature written in the colloquial vocabu-
lary, are each and all very nourishing to
the mind when first begun, but their edu-
cative value is soon exhausted. The
mind needs for its continuous develop-
ment more advanced branches, such as
algebra and geometry, physical geogra-
phy, a foreign language, general history.
But for these the secondary school often
substitutes other branches that involve no
new methods nor more complex ideas,
and the pupil stops in the elementary
stage of growth.
The influence of the report of the com-
mittee of ten has been to impel secondary
schools towards the choice of well-bal-
anced courses of study containing subjects
which belong essentially to secondary edu-
cation, like algebra, Latin, or physics ; and
at the same time either to discontinue
elementary branches, or to apply to the
study of these a superior method, by which
their principles are traced into higher
branches and explained.
The success of the report of the com-
mittee of ten has been such as to arouse
eager interest in a similar inquiry into
the work of the elementary schools. Al-
ready, in February, 1893, a committee
had been appointed by the department of
superintendence in the National Educa-
tional Association. It was made to con-
sist of fifteen members instead of ten,
and has been known as the committee of
fifteen.
The report of this committee of fif-
teen was submitted to the department
of superintendents at the meeting in 1895.
It is the object of this paper to indicate
briefly the points that give it importance.
183
EDUCATION, ELEMENTARY
If one were to summarize concisely the
bistory of educational progress in the
United States for the nineteenth century
as regards the elementary schools, he
would say that there has been a change
from the ungraded school in the sparsely
settled district to the graded school of
the city and large village. The ungraded
school held a short session of three or
four months, was taught by a makeshift
teacher, had mostly individual instruc-
tion, with thirty or forty recitations to
be heard and five minutes or less of the
teacher's time ])er day for each.
The graded school has classified its
pupils according to the degree of advance-
ment and assigns two classes to a teacher.
Instead of five minutes for a recitation,
there are twenty or thirty minutes, and
the teacher has an opportunity to go be-
hind the words of the book and by discus-
sion and questioning probe the lesson, find
what the pupil really understands and
can explain in his own words. Each mem-
ber of the class learns more from the an-
swers of his fellow-pupils and from the
cross-questioning of the teacher than he
could learn from a lesson of equal length
with a tutor entirely devoted to himself.
The graded school continues for ten
months instead of three, and employs or
may employ a professional educated teach-
er. This is the most important item of
progress to be mentioned in the history
of our education. Normal schools, 200
in number, have been created in the va-
rious States, and it is estimated that the
cities, large and small, have an average
of 50 per cent, of professionally trained
teachers, while the ungraded schools in
the rural districts are taught by persons
who leave their regular vocations and re-
sort to teaching for a small portion of the
year.
The urban and suburban population,
counting in the large villages, is at pres-
ent about 50 per cent, of the population
of the whole country.
One improvement leads to another, and
where the graded school has been estab-
lished with its professionally trained
teachers it has been followed by the ap-
pointment of experts as superintendents,
until over 800 cities and towns in the
nation have such supervision. The fifty
States have each a State superintendent,
184
who, in most cases, controls the licensing
of teachers in rural districts.
With the advent of the professional
teacher and the expert supervisor, there
has arrived an era of experiment and agi-
tation for reforms.
The general trend of school reforms may
be characterized as in the direction of se-
curing the interest of the pupil. All the
new devices have in view the awakening
of the pupil's inner spring of action. Pie
is to be interested and made to act along
lines of rational culture through his own
impulse. The older methods looked less
to interesting the pupil than to disciplin-
ing the will in rational forms. " Make
the pupil familiar with self - sacrifice,
make it a second nature to follow the be-
hest of duty and heroically stifle selfish
desires " — this was their motto, expressed
or implied. It was an education ad-
dressed primarily to the will. The new
education is addressed to the feelings and
desires. Its motto is: "Develop the
pupil through his desires and interests."
Goethe preached this doctrine in his Wil-
helm Meister. Froebel founded the
kindergarten system on it. Colonel
Parker's Quincy school experiment was,
and his Cook County Normal School is,
a centre for the promulgation of this
idea. Those who advocate an extension
of the system of elective studies in the
colleges and its introduction even into
secondary and elementary schools justify
it by the principle of interest.
It is noteworthy that this word " in-
terest " is the watchword of the disciples
of the Herbartian system of pedagogy.
Herbart, in his psychology, substituted
desire for will. He recognizes intellect
and feeling and desire (Begierde) . De-
sire is, of course, a species of feeling —
for feeling includes sensations and desires,
the former allied to the intellect and the
latter to the will. But sensation is not
yet intellect, nor is desire will ; both are
only feeling.
I have described and illustrated this
general trend of school reform in order
to show its strength and its weakness,
and to indicate the province marked out
for a report that should treat of the
branches of study and the methods of in-
struction in the elementary schopl and.
suggest improvement..
EDUCATION, ELEMENTARY
While the old education in its exclusive
devotion to will-training has slighted the
intellect and the heart (or feelings), the
new education moves likewise towards an
extreme as bad, or worse. It slights di-
rect will-culture and tends to exaggerate
impulse and inclination or interest. An
educational psychology that degrades will
to desire must perforce construct an
elaborate system for the purpose of de-
veloping moral interests and desires.
This, however, does not quite succeed until
the old doctrine of self-sacrifice for the
sake of the good is reached.
" Our wills are ours, to make them thine."
The philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita
holds that the goal of culture is to anni-
hilate all interest and attain absolute in-
difference — this is adopted by Buddhism
in the doctrine of Nirvana. Indian re-
nunciation reaches the denial of selfhood,
while the Christian doctrine of renunci-
ation reaches only to the denial of selfish-
ness and the adoption of altruistic in-
terests.
However this may be, the pedagogic im-
pulse to create devices for awakening the
interest of the pupil becomes sometimes
a craze for novelty. Change at any price
and change of any kind is clamored for.
It is a trite saying that change is not
progress. It is more apt to be movement
in a circle or even retrogression. An
amusing example was lately furnished in
educational circles. A superintendent of
rural schools defended their want of classi-
fication as an advantage. It was " individ-
ual instruction," and, as such, an improve-
ment over that of the graded school of
the cities. His reactionary movement re-
ceived the support of some of the advo-
cates of educational reform on the ground
that it was a new departure. This hap-
pened at a time when one-half of the
school children in the United States are
still taught, or rather allowed to memo-
rize their text-books, by this method.
The sub-committees on training of
teachers and on organization of city
school systems have brought forward, in
their respective reports, the latest de-
vised measures for the perfection of nor-
mal schools and the procurement of ex-
pert supervisors for city school systems.
The importance of the recommendations
regarding schools for the training of
teachers is seen when one recalls to mind
the fact that the entire upward movement
of the elementary schools has been in-
itiated and sustained by the employment
of professionally trained teachers, and
that the increase of urban population has
made it possible. In the normal school
the candidate is taught the history of
education, the approved methods of in-
struction, and the grounds of each
branch of study as they are to be found
in the sciences that it presupposes.
The method of eliminating politics
from the control of a city school system is
discussed in Judge Draper's frank and
persuasive style, and a plan in essential
particulars similar to that adopted in
the city of Cleveland is recommended for
trial in all large cities. A small school-
board of five or ten members is appointed
by the mayor, which, in turn, elects a
school-director (but this officer may also
be appointed by the mayor), who takes
charge of the business side of the manage-
ment of schools. For the professional
side of the work a superintendent is ap-
pointed by the school-director, with the
approval of two-thirds or three-fourths
of the school-board. The terms of office
suggested are, respectively, for the mem-
bers of the school-board appointed by the
mayor, five years ; for the school-director,
five years; for the superintendent, five
to ten years. The superintendent ap-
points all teachers from an eligible list
of candidates whose qualifications are de-
fined by the school-board.
This plan of government is based on
the idea of the importance of personal
responsibility at all points in the ad-
ministration. Only an actual trial can
determine its strength or weakness. All
plans, as Judge Draper well says, pre-
suppose a public spirit and a moral sense
on the part of the people; they presuppose
a sincere desire for good schools and a fair
knowledge of what good schools are and of
the best means of creating them. Where
the whole people possesses political power,
the intelligent and virtuous citizens must
exert a continual influence or else the
.demagogues will come into office. For the
natural representative of the weakling
classes is the demagogue. Whether the
citizen is weak in intellect, or thrift, or
3,8,5
EDTJCATIOIT, ELEMENTARY
morals, it is all the same ; he will vote peal to experimental psychology in dealing
for the demagogue as ruler.
The report on the correlation of studies
is an attempt to reconcile the old and the
new in education by discovering what in
the course of study is or should be perma-
nent and what in the nature of things is
transient. It admits the claims of the new
education, as to making the appeal to the
child's interest paramount, so far as this
relates to the methods of instruction, but
it finds a limit to this in the matters to
be taught. It discusses the educational
value of the five principal factors of the
course of study in order to determine
clearly where the proposed new branches
of study belong and what they add to the
old curriculum. These five components of
a course of study are : ( 1 ) Grammar, as a
study of the structure of language; (2)
Literature, as a study of the art form of
language — literature as furnishing a reve-
lation of human nature in all its types;
(3) Mathematics, as furnishing the laws
of matter in movement and rest — the laws
grounded in the nature of space and time;
(4) Geography, as a compend of natural
and social science — unfolding later, in
secondary and higher education, into
geology, botany, zoology, meteorology on
the one hand, and into anthropology and
sociology, economics and politics on the
other; (5) History, as showing the origin
and growth of institutions, especially of
the state. It appears that these five
branches cover the two worlds of man and
nature, and that all theoretical studies fall
within these lines. This is the correlation
of study. Each essential branch has some
educational value that another does not
possess. Each branch also serves the func-
tion of correlating the child to his environ-
ment — namely, to the two worlds of
nature and human society.
Hitherto, we are told in this report,
the course of study has been justified on
psychological grounds — " literature culti-
vates the memory and the imagination " ;
" arithmetic the reason," etc. But each
branch has in some measure a claim on
all the faculties. Arithmetic cultivates
the memory of quantity, the imagination
of successions, and the reason in a peculiar
figure of the syllogism different from the
three figures used in qualitative reasoning.
The report, however, makes frequent ap-
with the question of the time devoted to
the several branches. For example, it
often discusses the danger of too much
thoroughness of drill in teaching and the
use of processes that become mechanical
after some time. The rapid addition of
numbers, the study of the geometrical
solids, the identification of the colors of
the spectrum, the reading of insipid pieces
written in the colloquial vocabulary, the
memorizing of localities and dates; all
these things may be continued so long un-
der the plea of " thoroughness " as to para-
lyze the mind, or fix it in some stage of ar-
rested growth.
The committee have been at much pains
to point out the importance of leaving a
branch of study when it has been studied
long enough to exhaust its educational
value. It is shown in the case of arithme-
tic that it ought to be replaced by algebra
two years earlier than is the custom in
the public schools at present. The arith-
metical method should not be used to solve
the class of problems that are more easily
solved by algebra. So, too, it is contended
that English grammar should be discon-
tinued at the close of the seventh year,
and French, German, or Latin — preferably
the last — substituted for it. The edu-
cative value of a study on its psychological
side is greatest at the beginning. The
first six months in the study of algebra
or Latin — it is claimed that even the first
four weeks — are more valuable than the
same length of time later on. For the
first lessons make one acquainted with a
new method of viewing things.
In recommending the introduction of
Latin and algebra into the seventh and
eighth years of the elementary school
course, the committee are in accord with
the committee of ten, who urged the
earlier commencement of the secondary
course of study.
The committee urge strongly the subor-
dination of elocution and grammar in the
reading exercises to the study of the con-
tents of the literary work of art, holding
that the best lesson learned at school is
the mastery of a poetic gem or a selection
from a great prose writer. It is contend-
ed that the selections found in the school
readers often possess more literary vmity
than the whole works from which they
186
EDUCATIONAL LAND GRANTS— EDWARDS
were takerij as in the case of Byron's Bat- called Fort Lyman after their commander.
tie of Waterloo from Childc Harold. The A garrison of 2,500 men under the Earl of
importance of studying the unity of a London, and later under General Webb,
work of art is dwelt upon in different made several expeditions against Canada,
parts of the report, and the old method After Munro's defeat at Fort William
of parsing works of art censured. Henry (q. v.) the remnant of the Amer-
An example of the Herbartian correla- ican army fled to Fort Edward. During
tion is found in the method recommended Burgoyne's advance in July, 1777, General
for teaching geography — namely, that the Schuyler sought shelter here. See Hur.-
industrial and commercial idea should be rardton. Battle of: McCrra. .Tw^
the centre from which the pupil moves Edward VII., Albert Edward, King
out in two directions — from the supply of of Great Britain and Emperor of India;
his needs for food, clothing, shelter, and born in Buckingham Palace, Nov. 9,
culture he moves out on the side of nat- 1S41 ; eldest son of Queen Victoria and
lire to the "elements of difference," that Ihe Prince Consort; created Prince of
is to say, to the differences of climate, soil, Wales and Earl of Chester a month after
productions, and races of men, explaining his birth ; educated by private tutors,
finally by geology, astronomy, and meteor- at Christ Church, Oxford, and at Cam-
ology how these differences arose. On the bridge. In 18G0, under the guidance of
other hand, he moves towards the study the Duke of Newcastle, he visited the
of man, in his sociology, history, and United States, where he received an en-
economics, discovering what means the thusiastie welcome. President Buchanan
race has invented to overcome those " ele- and his official family extended to him
ments of difference " and supply the mani- a grand entertainment at the national
fold wants of man wherever he lives by capital, and the cities which he visited
making him participant in the produc- vied with one another in paying him
tions of all climes through the world com- high honors. The courtesies so generous-
merce. ly extended to hini laid the foundation
Likewise in the study of general his- for the strong friendship which he always
tory the committee suggest that the old afterwards manifested for Americans,
method of beginninof with the earliest ages After this trip he travelled in Germany,
be discontinued and that a regressive Italy, and the Holy Land. In 1863 he
method be adopted, proceeding from married the Princess Alexandra, daughter
United States history back to English of Christian IX., King of Denmark, and
history, and thence to Rome, Greece, and after his marriage he made prolonged
Judea, and the other sources of our civili- tours in many foreign countries, most
zation. notably in Egypt and Greece in 1809, and
In contrast to this genuine correlation in British India in 1875-76. He has al-
the report describes an example of what ways been exceedingly fond of out-door
it calls "artificial eorrelation " — where sports and athletics in general, and has
Rohinson Crusoe or some literary work of kept himself in close touch with his peo-
art IS made the centre of study for a con- pie. On the death of Queen Victoria,
siderable period of time, and geography, Jan. 22, 1901, he succeeded to the throne,
arithmetic, and other branches taught in- and was formally proclaimed king and
eidentally in connection with it. emperor at St. James's Palace, London,
Educational Land Grants. The United on the 24th.
States has granted nearly 100,000,000 Edward, Fort, a defensive work built
acres to the individual States for educa- by the New England troops in 1755 on the
tional endowments, or the erection of east bank of the Hudson River, 45 miles
schools and colleges. In many instances north of Albany.
these grants were mismanaged, but in Edwards, Jonathan, theologian; born
others they have proved of great service, in East Windsor, Conn., Oct. 5, 1703;
Edward, Fort, on the Hudson River, giaduated at Yale College in 1720, having
forty-five miles north of Albany; built by begun to study Latin when he was six
the 6,000 New England troops in the years of age. He is said to have reasoned
French and Indian war in 1755; originally out for himself his doctrine of free-will
— 187
EDWARDS— EGBERT
before he left college, at the age of seven- fice until its organization as a State in
teen. He began preaching to a Presby- 1818. From 1818 till 1824 he was United
terian congregation before he was twenty States Senator, and frqm 1826 to 1830
years old, and became assistant to his governor of the State. He did much, by
grandfather. Rev. Mr. Stoddard, minister promptness and activity, to restrain Indian
at Northampton, Mass., whom he sue- hostilities in the Illinois region during the
ceeded as pastor. He was dismissed in War of 1812. He died in Belleville, 111.,
1750, because he insisted upon a purer July 20, 1833. See A. B. Plot.
and higher standard of admission to the Edwards, Oliver, military officer ; born
in Springfield, Mass., Jan. 30, 1835; was
commissioned first lieutenant in the 10th
Massachusetts Volunteers at the outbreak
of the Civil War, and was promoted brig-
adier-general. May 19, 1865, for " con-
spicuous gallantry." He received the
surrender of Petersburg, Va., and com-
manded Forts Hamilton and Lafayette, in
New York Harbor, during the draft riots
of 18G3. He was mustered out of the
army in 1806.
Edwards, Pierrepont, jurist; born in
Northampton, Mass., April 8, 1750; the
youngest son of Jonathan Edwards, Sr. ;
graduated at the College of New Jersey
in 1768. His youth was spent among
the Stockbridge Indians, where his father
was missionary, and he acquired the
language perfectly. He became an emi-
nent lawyer ; espoused the cause of the
communion - table. Then he began his patriots, and fought for liberty in the
missionary work (1751) among the Stock- army of the Revolution. He was a mem-
bridge Indians, and prepared his greatest ber of the Congress of the Confederation
work, on The Freedom, of the Will, which in 1787-88, and in the Connecticut con-
was published in 1751. He was inaugu- vention warmly advocated the adoption of
rated president of the College of New the national Constitution. He was judge
Jersey, in Princeton, Feb. 16, 1758, and of the United States District Court in
died of small-pox, March 22, 1758. He Connecticut at the time of his father's
married Sarah Pierrepont, of New Haven, death. Mr. Edwards was the founder of
in 1727, and they . became the grand- the "Toleration party" in Connecticut,
parents of Aaron Burr. which made him exceedingly unpopular
Edwards, Ninian, jurist; born in with the Calvinists. He died in Bridge-
Montgomery county, Md., in March, 1775. port. Conn., April 5, 1826.
JONATHAN EDWARDS.
William Wirt directed his early educa-
tion, which was finished at Dickinson Col-
Egbert, Harry C, military officer ; born
in Pennsylvania, Jan. 3, 1839; joined the
lege, and in 1819 he settled in the Green 12th United States Infantry, Sept. 23,
River district of Kentucky. Before he 1861 ; served with distinction in the ac-
was twenty-one he became a member of tions of Gaines's Mills, Malvern Hill, Cedar
the Kentucky legislature; was admitted Mountain, Gettysburg, etc. He was taken
to the bar in Kentucky in 1798, and to prisoner at Cedar Mountain and at Get-
that of Tennessee the next year, and rose tysburg, and was seriously wounded at
very rapidly in his profession. He passed Bethesda Church. When the war with
through the offices of circuit judge and Spain broke out he was lieutenant-colonel
judge of appeals to the bench of chief-jus- of the 6th United States Infantry, which
tice of Kentucky in 1808. The next year he commanded in the Santiago campaign
he was appointed the first governor of the until he was shot through the body at
Territory of Illinois, and retained that of- El Caney, July 1, 1898. He was pro-
188
EGGLESTOlSr— EL CANEY
moted colonel of the 22d Infantry, and
before his wound was completely healed
sailed for the Philippine Islands. He ar-
rived at Manila with his command, March
4, 1899, and while leading a charge
against Alalinta he received a wound,
from which he died March 26 following.
Eggleston, Edward, author; born in
Vevay, Ind., Dec. 10, 1837; was mainly
self-educated ; later became a minister
in the Methodist Episcopal Church. His
publications of a historical character in-
clude History of the United States and
Its People; Household History of the
United States and Its People; A First
Book of Americam. History ; and The Be-
ginners of a Nation-. He died at Lake
George, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1902.
Eggleston, George Gary, author; born
in Vevay, Ind., Nov. 26, 1839; brother of
Edward Eggleston; began the practice of
law in Virginia; served in the Confed-
erate army during the Civil War, and
then removed to the West. His publica-
tions include Red Eagle and the War
with the Creek Indians; Strange Stories
from History; an edition of Haydn's Dic-
tionary of Dates; and compilations of
Ainerican War Ballads and Southern Sol-
dier Stories.
Eggleston, Joseph, military officer;
born in Amelia county, Va., Nov. 24, 1754;
was graduated at William and Mary Col-
lege in 1776; joined the cavalry of the
American army; became captain, and ac-
quired the reputation of being an officer
of great efficiency. In 1781 he displayed
remarkable bravery in the action of Guil-
ford Court-house and in the siege of Au-
gusta; later in the same year he won the
hrst success in the battle of Eutaw by a
well-directed blow against the vanguard
of the British column. He held a seat
in Congress in 1798-1801. He died in
Amelia county, Va., Feb. 13, 1811.
Egle, William Henry, librarian; born
in Harrisburg, Pa., Sept. 17, 1830; grad-
uated at the University of Pennsylvania
in 1859; is the author of History of
Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania in the Rev-
olution; Pennsylvania Genealogies; His-
torical, Biographical, and Genealogical
Notes and Queries; Some Pennsylvania
Women in the Revolution, etc.
Elbert, Samuel, military officer; born
in Prince William parish, S. C., in 1743;
was made captain of a grenadier company
in 1774; joined the Revolutionary army
in 1776. He led an expedition into East
Florida in April, 1778, and took Fort
Oglethorpe; afterwards displayed great
bravery in the assault on Savannah in
December, 1778. He was captured by the
British in the engagement at Brier Creek,
March 3,1779; afterwards was exchanged
and re-entered the American army; was
brevetted brigadier-general, Nov. 3, 1783;
became governor of Georgia in 1785. He
died in Savannah, Ga., Nov. 2, 1788.
El Caney, an elevated suburban vil-
lage 3 miles northeast of Santiago, in the
province of Santiago, Cuba. It was here,
on July 1, 1898, that the American army
of liberation met its first serious oppo-
sition. After the landing of the troops
at Daiquiri (g. v.) on June 20-22, a
SPANISH EARTHWORKS A.ND INTRENCHMENTS AT BL OANET.
J89
ELDORADO— ELECTION BILL
forward movement began, and by the 27th
the whole army, 16,000 strong, had
reached points within 3 miles of Santiago.
General Shatter, in consultation with the
other generals, determined on an envelop-
ing movement to prevent a junction of
the forces under General Pando and those
under General Linares in Santiago. In
accordance with this plan the division of
General Lawton moved out on June 30,
into positions previously determined. By
BLOCK-HOUSE AT EL CANEY.
daylight on July 1, Capt. Allyn K. Cap-
ron's light battery reached a commanding
hill, 2,400 yards from the village. The
brigade of Ma j. -Gen. Adna E. Chaffee was
assigned a position east of El Caney that
be might be prepared to attack after the
first bombardment, and Brig.-Gen. Will-
iam Ludlow went around to the west with
his brigade for the purpose of preventing
a retreat of the Spaniards into Santiago.
As soon as the battery opened fire upon
the stone block-house and church in the
centre of the village, and also the
trenches where the Spanish infantry was
situated, General Chaffee's brigade, com-
posed of the 7th, 12th, and 17th Infantry,
moved to attack in the front, keeping up
a constant but careful fire, as the men
had only 100 rounds of ammunition each-
In the rear. General Ludlow moved his
troops forward, and from the south came
the reserves of Brig.-Gen. Evan Miles,
I'hus the village was the centre of a con-
centrated fire and was nearly encircled
with the lines steadily closing in. So
stubborn, however, was the defence that
reinforcements under Ma j. -Gen. John C.
Bates were ordered up to strengthen the
line, which had been considerably weak-
ened in the desperate assaults. After the
enemy b.ad left their intrenchments, the
fire was concentrated upon the brick fort,
from which the Spaniards poured a gall-
ing musketry fire into the American lines.
The fort could not long withstand the
attack, and rents were soon torn in its
thick walls. At this juncture the com-
mands under Chaffee, Bates, and Miles
made a charge, and captured the work,
but not until all the men defending it
were killed or wounded. After its capt-
ure the smaller block-houses ceased fight-
ing, with the exception of one which was
soon destroyed by a few shots of Cap-
ron's battery. The brave defence of El
Caney was directed by Brig.-Gen. Vera de
Rey (who died fighting), with 520 men, of
whom scarcely a fifth remained alive at the
end of the action. See San Juan Hill.
Eldorado, the fabled country in Amer-
ica containing nuraerovis kingdoms, the
cities of which were filled with gold.
Eldridge, Hamilton N., military offi-
cer; born in South Williamstown, Mass.,
Aug. 23, 1831; graduated at Williams
College in 1856; and engaged in law
practice in 1857. He recruited the 127th
Illinois Regiment in July, 1862; was pro-
moted colonel ; and was brevetted briga-
dier-general of volunteers in recognition of
his bravery at Vicksburg. He died in Chi-
cago, 111., Nov. 27, 1882.
ELECTION BILL, FEDERAL
Election Bill, Federal. During the cussion which it aroused, both in and out
discussion on the Federal Election Bill, of Congress, is a long bill. Yet if anj^ one
the Hon. Thomas Brackett Reed, Speak- will take the trouble to compare it with
er of the House of Representatives (q. v.), the general election laws of most, if not all,
wrote as follows: of the States, he will find that in its class
— it is more conspicuous for brevity than
The national election bill of 1890, as was for length. The truth is that no election
pointed out several times during the dis- law which attempts to provide accurately
190
ELECTION BILL, FEDERAL
for all the diflferent stages of an election
can be otherwise than long. At the same
time, although it takes many paragraphs
in a bill to state exactly how each act,
great and small, having relation to an
election shall be performed, it is perfectly
easy to put into very few words the pur-
pose of an election law and the methods
by which it proposes to accomplish that
purpose.
The first object of the national elec-
tion law was to secure entire publicity
in regard to every act connected with the
election of members of Congress. To ef-
fect this it provides for the appointment
of United States officers, selected from the
two leading political parties, to watch
over and report upon naturalization
registration, the conduct of the election
the count of the ballots, and the certifi
cation of the members. These officers
have no power whatever to interfere with
local officers or existing methods. Their
only duty is to protect the honest voter,
secure evidence to punish wrong-doers,
and make public every fact in connection
with the election. The State systems,
whether they provide for the secret and
official ballot or otherwise, are all care-
fully protected under this law against
any interference from United States offi-
cera. Moreover, if the officers of the
United States at any election precinct
exercise their powers improperly, the
local officers are there to report their
conduct. Thus is obtained a double as-
surance of publicity from two sets of men,
among whom both the leading political
parties are represented, without any in-
terference with local officers or local sys-
tems.
At only one point does the United
States take what may be called control
of any essential step in the election of
Representatives. Where an entire con-
gressional district is placed under the
law, a United States board of canvassers
appointed for the district receives the
supervisors' returns, and on those returns
issues a certificate for the candidate who
appears to be elected. If that certificate
agrees with the certificate of the State
officers, the name of the candidate who
holds them both is, of course, placed upon
the roll of members of the House. If the
two certificates disagree, then the certifi-
I
cate of the United States board is prima
facie evidence and places the name of the
holder upon the roll of Representatives;
but in this case any candidate may appeal
from the decision of the board of can-
vassers to the circuit court of the United
States, which has power to set aside the
certificate of the canvassers and virtually
decide whose name shall be placed on the
roll of the House. A candidate who is
not willing to have his cause tried by a
court of high jurisdiction must be hard
to please, when we consider that the only
other known method is that of a com-
mittee of Congress made up of party
representatives.
Thus it will be seen that the whole pur-
pose of this bill may be summed up in
one word — " publicity." It proceeds on
the sound American theory that all that
is necessary, in the long run, to secure
good government and to cure evils of any
kind in the body politic is that the people
should be correctly informed and should
know all the facts. It proposes, therefore,
by making public all the facts relating to
elections, to protect the voters and to
render easy the punishment of fraud. If
wrong exists, it will disclose and punish
it. If all is fair and honest, it proves that
all is well, restores public confidence, and
removes suspicion. There is absolutely
nothing in this bill except provisions to
secure the greatest amount of publicity
in regard to elections, and to protect
the ballot-box by making sure the pun-
ishment of those who commit crimes
against the suflfrage. It interferes with
no man's rights ; it changes no local
system; it disturbs no local officers; but
it gives publicity to every step and detail
of the election, and publicity is the best,
as it is the greatest, safeguard that we
can have in this country for good govern-
ment and honest voting. No wrong can
long continue when the people see and
understand it, and nothing that is right
and honest need fear the light. The
Southern Democrats declare that the en-
forcement of this or any similar law will
cause social disturbances and revolution-
ary outbreaks. As the negroes now dis-
franchised certainly will not revolt be-
cause they receive a vote, it is clear, there-
fore, that this means that the men who
now rule in those States will make social
91
ELECTION BILL, EEDEBAL
disturbances and revolution in resistance
to a law of the United States. It is also
not a little amusing to observe that small
portion of the newspaper press which has
virtue generally in its peculiar keeping,
raving in mad excitement merely because
it is proposed to make public everything
which affects the election of the repre-
sentatives of the people in Congress. There
must be something very interesting in the
methods by which these guardians of vir-
tue hope to gain and hold political power
when they are so agitated at the mere
thought of having the darkness which now
overhangs the places where they win their
victories dispersed.
So much for the purpose of the bill.
A word now as to some of the objections
which have been raised against it. The
most common is that which is summed up
in the phrase " force bill." There is noth-
ing very novel in this epithet, for it can
hardly be called an argument, or the sug-
gestion of one. It proceeds on the old
doctrine of giving a dog a bad name — a
saying which is valuable, but perhaps a
trifle musty. There was a bill introduced
many years ago to which that description
was applied not without effect; and the
persons opposed to the new measure, whose
strongest intellectual quality is not orig-
inality, brought out the old name with-
out much regard to its appropriateness.
The trouble with this is that the old bill
and the new one are totally unlike, and
that what applies to one has no applica-
tion to the other except that they both
aim to protect American voters in their
rights. There is no question of force in
the new bill. One able editor referred to
it as " bristling with bayonets in every
line"; but as there is absolutely no allu-
sion to anything or anybody remotely con-
nected with bayonets, it is to be feared
that the able editor in question had not
read the bill. So anxious, indeed, are the
opponents of the measure on this point
that, not finding any bayonets in the bill,
they themselves have put them in rather
than not have them in at all. One news-
paper took a clause from the revised
statutes of the United States relating to
United States troops and printed it as a
part of the election bill, although the
bill contains no such clause, but merely
re-enacts a law which has been on the
statute-books for twenty years, and which
would have remained and been in force,
whether re-enacted or not, so long as it
was not repealed.
The President of the United States has
from the beginning of the government had
power to use the army and navy in sup-
port of the laws of the United States, and
this general power was explicitly con-
ferred many years ago in that portion of
the revised statutes which now comes
under the title " civil rights." The new
election bill neither adds to nor detracts
from that power, and as the liberties of
the country have been safe under it for
at least twenty years, it is not to be ap-
prehended that they will now be in danger.
The fact is that the talk about this being
a " force bill " and having bayonets in
every line is mere talk designed to
frighten the unwary, for the bill is really
an " anti-force " bill, intended to stop the
exercise of illegal force by those who use
it at the polls North or South; and it is
exactly this which the opponents of the
bill dread. The United States have power
to enforce all the laws which they make,
whether they are laws regulating elections
or for other purposes. That power the
United States must continue to hold and
to exercise when needful, and the na-
tional election law neither affects nor
extends it in any way.
The objection next in popularity is that
the measure is sectional, and not national.
That this should be thought a valuable
and important shibboleth only shows how
men come to believe that there is real
meaning in a phrase if they only shout it
often enough and loudly enough. Repeti-
tion and reiteration are, no doubt, pleas-
ant political exercises, but they do not
alter facts. In the first place, if we look
a little below the surface, it will be found
that no more damaging confession could
be made than this very outcry. The law
when applied can have but one of two
lesults. It will either disclose the exist-
ence of fraud, violence, or corruption in
a district, or show that the election is
fair and honest. If the latter proves to
be the case, no one can or would object
to any law which demonstrates it. If, on
the other hand, fraud is disclosed, then
the necessity of this legislation is proved.
The election law is designed to meet and
192
ELECTION BILL, FEDERAL
overcome fraud, force, or corruption, as abridgment of those liberties with tht
the case may be, in elections anywhere and ballot-box of which the performances in
everywhere, and if it is sectional, it can Hudson county, N. J., have afforded the
only be so because fraudulent elections are most recent illustration. The South
sectional. Those who rave against the bill shouts loudest, but it is merely because
as sectional — that is, as directed against the ruling statesmen there think they have
the South, for Southern and sectional ap- most to lose by fair elections. What
pear to have become synonymous terms— chiefly troubles the opponents of the bill
admit by so doing that they have a North and South is, not that it is sec-
monopoly of impure elections. If it were tional, but that it will check, if not stop,
otherwise, che law, even when applied, cheating at the polls everywhere,
would not touch them except to exhibit Another objection of a sordid kind
their virtues in a strong light. brought forward against the bill is that
In the sense, however, in which the it will cost money. If this or any other
charge of sectionalism is intended there measure will tend to keep the ballot-box
is no truth in it. Why, it has been asked, pure, it is of little consequence how much
did not the Republicans accept the amend- it costs. The people of the United States
ment of Mr. Lehlbach, of New Jersey, and can afford to pay for any system which
make the measure really national? The protects the vote and makes the verdict
Lehlbach amendment, if adopted, would of the ballot-box so honest as to command
have made the bill universally compulsory, universal confidence; but it is, of course,
but would not have made it one whit more for the interest of the enemies of the law
national than it now is. The clause on to make the expense seem as startling as
which the accusation of sectionalism rests possible. They talk about $10,000,000 be-
is that which makes the application of the ing the least probable expenditure. As-
bill optional ; but to make a measure op- suming, as they do, that the law will be
tional is not to make it sectional. If put in operation everywhere, this sum is
everybody and every part of the country at least twice too large. Careful and lib-
have the option, the bill is as broadly na- eral estimates put the cost, supposing the
tional as if every provision in it were law were to be applied in every district,
compulsory. No one would think of call- at less than $5,000,000; but as there is
ing the local-option liquor laws, which are no probability that the law will be asked
not uncommon in the States, special and for in a third of the districts, the cost
not general legislation ; and it is equally would not reach a third of the sum ac-
absurd to call an election law containing tually necessary for all districts. Admit-
the local-option principle sectional. A ting, however, that $5,000,000 or $6,000,-
law which may be applied anywhere on 000 would be expended, no better expendi-
the fulfilment of a simple and easily-ful- ture of money could be made than one
filled condition is as national and general which would protect the ballot, give.pub-
as a law which must be applied every- licity to the conduct of elections, and
where, whether asked for or not. demonstrate to all men their fairness and
Moreover, the origin of the legislation honesty. The States of the North have
of which this is a mere continuance is the not hesitated to take upon themselves the
best proof of its national character. The burden of the expense of their own elec-
original supervisors' law, of which this tions under the secret and official ballot,
is an extension, was designed especially and the wisdom of this policy is beyond
to meet the notorious frauds in the city question. It is difficult to see why the
of New York, and the new bill aims quite policy which is sound for the States is
as much to cure frauds in the great cities not sound for the United States,
of the North as in any part of the coun- It is also objected that the penal clauses
try. It is, indeed, the knowledge of this are very severe. This is perfectly true,
fact which sharpens the anguish of the They are very severe; and if any crime is
Northern Democrats at what they pa- more deserving of severe punishment or
thetically call an invasion of State rights, more dangerous to the public weal than
It is not the peril of State rights which a crime against the ballot, it has not yet
afflicts them, but the thought of an been made generally known in this eoun-
ra.— N 193
ELECTION BILL, FEDERAL
try. The penal clauses of the law are of the House materially, and as Congress
intentionally severe, and the penalties are has no such power, the cry, of course, is
purposely made heavy. The penalties wholly without meaning. So keen, how-
against murder, highway robbery, and ever, is the sympathy of the Northern
burglary are also heavy and severe, but in Democrats with this view of the subject,
every case it is easy to avoid them. Do that definite threats of war against the
not be a murderer, a burglar, or a high- national government have been heard,
wayman; do not commit crimes against But there is, unfortunately, a much
the ballot, and the penalties for these more serious side to this phase of the
offences will be to you as if they never question. Legislation is proposed which
existed. the South does not like, and, thereupon.
The last objection here to be touched, headed by the gallant Governor Gordon,
and the only one remaining which has Southern leaders and Southern news-
been zealously pushed, is that the enforce- papers begin to threaten and bluster as
ment of this law will endanger Northern if we were back in the days of South
property and affect Northern business in Carolinian nullification. It is the old
the South. It is not easy to see why honest game of attempting to bully the North
elections, whether State or national, should and West by threats. The North and
affect injuriously either property or busi- West are to be boycotted for daring to
ness. If honest elections are hostile to protect citizens in their constitutional
property and business, then the American rights, and even more dreadful things are
system of free government is indeed in to follow. It has been generally believed
danger; and no more infamous reflection that the war settled the proposition that
could be made upon the people of America this country is a nation, and that the
than to say that they cannot be trusted to nation's laws lawfully enacted are su-
express their will by their votes, but preme. Yet here we have again the old
must have their votes suppressed in the slavery spirit threatening to boycott
interests of order and virtue. No one. Northern business, trying to bully the
however, really believes in anything of Northern people, raising the old sectional
the sort. This is simply a revival of the cry, and murmuring menaces of defiance
old cry of the Northern " doughface " and resistance if a certain law which can
against the agitation of the slavery ques- injure no honest man is enacted. The
tion in the days before the war. It was war was not wholly in vain, and it is
base and ignoble then, but at that dark time that this vaporing was stopped,
period there was at least a real danger The laws of the United States will be
of war and bloodshed behind the issue, obeyed; election laws, as well as every
Now it is not only as utterly ignoble and other, will be enforced; and the sensible
base as before, but it is false and ludi- way is to discuss the question properly
crous besides. Property and business in and have the people pass upon it, and
the Southern States, as elsewhere, de- to throw aside these threats of boycott
pend almost wholly for protection on and nullification as unworthy the use or
State laws and municipal ordinances; notice of intelligent men.
and neither this nor any other national The difficulty, however, with all these
law, even if it could be conceived to be objections, both for those who make them
injurious to business interests, could and those who reply to them, is that they
touch either State or municipal govern- are utterly unreal. They are but the
ments. The proposition, without any beating of gongs and drums, without any
disguise, really is that fair elections of greater significance than mere noise can
Congressmen would endanger business possess. The national election bill is a
and property in the Southern States ; and moderate measure. It is not a force bill ;
the mere statement of the proposition it does not interfere in any way with
is its complete confutation, for, even if local elections or local government. It
Congress had the power or the desire to does not involve extravagant expendi-
interfere in local legislation, the election ture, nor is it sectional in its scope. It
of fifteen or twenty Republicans in the does not seek to put the negro or any
South would not affect the composition other class of citizens in control any-
194
ELECTION BILL— ELECTIONS
where, but aims merely to secure to
every man who ought to vote the right
to vote and to have his vote hon-
estly counted. No one knows these
facts to be true better than the opponents
of the bill; but their difficulty is that they
cannot bring forward their real and hon-
est objection, and so they resort to much
shrieking and many epithets. They be-
lieve, whether rightly or wrongly, that
fair elections mean the loss of the na-
tional House at least nine times out of
ten to the party to which they belong.
They believe that fair elections mean the
rise of a Republican party in every South-
ern State, led by and in good part com-
posed of white men, native to the ground,
whose votes are now suppressed under the
pretence of maintaining race supremacy as
against the negro. They believe that the
law threatens the disappearance of the
race issue on which they found their power
and the fall of the narrow oligarchy which
for so many years has ruled with iron
hand in the Southern States and in the
national conventions of the Democratic
party.
The real objection to the bill, in other
words, comes from the fact that one of
the two great parties believes that free
elections imperil their power. They know
that by this bill the United States officers,
taken from both parties, are appointed by
the courts, the body furthest removed
from politics. They know that these United
States officers will be held in check by
local officers and be utterly unable to in-
terfere with the proper conduct of the
election. But they know also that the
result will be publicity, and they believe
that in consequence of publicity many dis-
tricts will be lost to them. This law is as
fair to one party as another; but if one
party is cheating that party will suffer,
and where the cry against the law is loud-
est it is the best evidence of its necessity,
and proves that those who resist it profit
by the wrong-doing which it seeks to cure.
The Constitution of the United States
promises equal representation to the peo-
ple, and it makes the negro a citizen.
Equality of representation has been de-
stroyed by the system in the South which
makes one vote there overweigh five or
six votes in the North, and the negro has
been deprived of the rights the nation
gave. No people can afford to stand quiet
and see its charter of government made a
dead-letter; and no wrong can endure and
not be either cured or expiated. Fair elec-
tions North and South are vital to the
republic. If we fail to secure them, or if
we permit any citizen, no matter how
humble, to be wronged, we shall atone
for it to the last jot and tittle. No
great moral question of right and
wrong can ever be settled finally except
in one way, and the longer the day
of reckoning is postponed the larger
will be the debt and the heavier its pay-
ment.
Elections, Federal Control of. When
the question of the federal control of
elections was under discussion, the Hon.
Henry Cabot Lodge, U. S. Senator from
Massachusetts, wrote:
No form of government can be based on
systematic injustice; least of all a repub-
lic. All governments partake of the im-
perfections of human nature, and fall far
short not only of the ideals dreamed of by
good men, but even of the intentions of
ordinary men. Nevertheless, if perfection
be unattainable, it is still the duty of
every nation to live up to the principles
of simple justice, and at least follow the
lights it can clearly see.
Whatever may have been the intentions
of our forefathers, the steady growth of
our government has been towards a
democracy of manhood. One by one the
barriers which kept from the suffrage the
poor and the unlearned have been swept
away, and, in the long run, no majority
has been great enough, no interest has
been strong enough, to stand up against
that general public opinion which con-
tinually grows in the direction of larger
liberty. That public opinion has never
known a refluent wave. What democracy
has gained it has always kept. If you
suppose that the progress of democracy
among white men has been pleasant for
those gentlemen who were at ease in their
possessions, you have not read history.
It is not an agreeable thing in any day
or generation to distribute power which
any set of men have always had exclu-
sively to themselves among those who nev-
er had it before. It lessens one and exalts
the other.
195
ELECTIONS, FEDERAL CONTROL OF
We of the North have by no means
reached the perfection of self-government.
Our apportionments of congressional dis-
tricts are by no means utterly fair; but
there is a limitation to injustice beyond
which no party does to go, except in In-
diana, where 4,000 majority in the State
gives Republicans but three out of thir-
teen Congressmen. Our voters are not
entirely free from undue influence, but
there is a point beyond which no employer
dares to go; and the votes in manufact-
uring districts show how sturdy is the
defiance of most workingmen to even a
dictation which is only inferred. Many
a man seems to vote against his own and
his employer's interest to show that he
is in every way his own master. But
whichever way he votes, his vote gets
counted, and his will, whether it be feeble
or sturdy, gets expressed.
It often happens that when debate
springs up about the condition of affairs
in other parts of the Union, when in-
timidation with shot-guns and mobs, when
systematic falsifications of returns, are
made subjects of comment, the errors and
shortcomings in the North are dragged
in as a justification for all that has hap-
pened of illegal action elsewhere. This
kind of answer is so common, and so re-
minds one of the beam and the mote of
Scripture, that it is worth analyzing.
It is founded on the axiom of geometry
that things which are equal to the same
thing are equal to each other. This is
undoubtedly true, if you are sure of the
first equality. All things arc not equal
because they have the same names.
When an employer intimates to some of
his workmen that he cares most for men
who look after his interests, and that his
interests are with such and such a party,
that employer is guilty of intimidation.
When the interesting collection of gentle-
men in a- Southern district go forth to fire
guns all night, in order, as the mem-
ber from that distiict phrased it in open
House, " to let the niggers know there is
going to be a fair election the next
day," they also are guilty of intimidation.
Nevertheless, there is a difference ; espe-
cially if there be an honest eye to see it.
Murder and catching fish out of season
are both crimes; but there are odds in
crimes. Is a community where men vio-
late the laws relating to close time de-
barred from complaining of murder else-
where when its own families suffer by it?
Must we ourselves reach absolute perfec-
tion before we ask others to treat us de-
cently? Is robbery by violence to be tol-
erated and approved until we have utterly
abolished petty larceny? The difference
between the nation of highest and the
nation of lowest civilization is only in
degree.
But, after all, have we any right to
complain of bad actions in the South?
Why should not the citizens of each State
be allowed to manage their own affairs?
If you have any confidence in a repub-
lican form of government, why not show
it? Let them wrestle with their problem
alone. It is theirs ; let them manage it.
If it were founded on fact, this would be
a powerful appeal to one who believes as
does the writer of this article, in democ-
racy — which is to say, in government by
all the people; who believes that no com-
munity can permanently dethrone justice;
who believes that all the laws of this uni-
verse are working towards larger liberty,
greater equality, and truer fraternity.
But so far as federal elections are con-
cerned, this appeal is founded on no fact
"whatever. When he goes to elect a mem-
ber of Congress, the man from Missis-
sippi or the man from Maine does not go
to the polls as a citizen of Mississippi or
of Maine, but as one of the people of the
United States. All meet on common
ground. They are citizens of one great
republic — one and indivisible. Each one
votes for the government of himself and
of the other. The member from Missis-
sippi whom the one elects and the mem-
ber from Maine whom the other sends to
Washington must unite in making the
laws which govern both. The member
from Mississippi has the same right to de-
mand that the member from Maine shall
be elected according to the law of the
land as he has to demand the same thing
of a colleague from his own State,
The object of assembling the Congress
together is to declare the will of the peo-
ple of the United States. How can that
Avill be declared if there be more than
twenty men returned to the House who
never were elected, whose very presence
is a violation of the Constitution of the
19«
ELECTIONS, FEDERAL CONTROL OP
United States and of the law of the hind?
Still less will the will of the people be
declared if those twenty men shift the
control of the House from one party to
the other. All free countries are gov-
erned by parties. They can never be gov-
erned any other way. If, then, fraud
clianges the very principles on which a
country be governed, how can it be justi-
fied?
The attempted justification is this:
We in the South, inasmuch as you have
conferred the right of suffrage on the
negro, and inasmuch as he is in the ma-
jority in many of our States, are in grave
danger of being overwhelmed by mere
ignorant numbers. We white people who
pay the taxes will never permit these bar-
barians to rule over us. When we
thought it necessary to prevent their
domination, we swarmed around their
cabins by night ; we terrorized them ; we
showed them by examples that to be a
politician was dangerous — that it led to
death even. Those things have in great
measure passed away now, and we simply
falsify the count; we stuff the ballot-
boxes. That makes less trouble and is
just as effectual. Finding that their
votes do not count, the negroes have lately
ceased to vote. Whether clothed in the
fervid eloquence of the late Mr. Grady or
in the strange language of the governor
of South Carolina, which will be quoted
further on, this is the justification.
But this justification docs not in the
least touch the subject of federal elec-
tions. Every Southern man knows that
there is no possibility of negro domination
in the United States. No federal taxes
will ever be imposed by the negro. No
federal control is within his power. If
all this wrong at the ballot-box be needed
to preserve a proper local State govern-
ment, to keep the Caucasian supreme in
the State, not a living soul can dare to
say that the same wrong, or any other,
is necessary for Caucasian supremacy in
the United States. In fact, transferred to
thfc broader arena, the struggle is between
the proud Caucasian and the Caucasian
who is not so proud. If it be a race ques-
tion, is there any reason why the white
man in the South should have two votes
to my one? Is he alone of mortals to eat
his cake and hare it too? Is he to sup-
I>ress his negro and have him also? Among
all his remedies, he has never proposed
to surrender the representation which he
owes to the very negro whose vote he re-
fuses. The negro is human enough to be
represented, but not human enough to
have his vote counted.
Suppose it were a fact that negro domi-
nation and barbarism would follow from
honest voting in the Southern State elec-
tions; suppose it were a fact that disre-
gard of law and complete violation of the
rights secured to the negro by the Con-
stitution were absolutely necessary to pre-
serve the civilization of the South; what
has that to do with federal elections?
Violation of law and disregard of statutes
are not needed to save the United States.
Evidently, then, the question of race
supremacy and of good government in the
South has nothing whatever to do with
that other question which concerns our
whole people, whether the Republican
party of the United States shall receive
and have counted the votes which belong
to it by virtue of the Constitution of the
country. If you tell us that these are
ignorant votes and ought not to be
counted, we answer — and the answer is
conclusive— that ignorance is everywhere,
and that the Democratic party never
failed to vote its ignorance to the vitter-
most verge of the law. Why should they,
of all partisans, claim that only scholars
should vote? Is the high and honorable
esteem in which the cliief officers of the
greatest Democratic city — the city of New
York — are now held among men an ex-
ample of what intelligence will do for a
community? If a man thinks the same
thing of the republic that I do, must
there be an inquest held over his intelli-
gence before I can have his vote counted
with mine in the government of the
United States?
Or, to put it more directly, in the lan-
guage of ex-Governor Bullock, of Georgia,
which is quoted in the Atlanta Constitu-
tion, " It is now generally admitted with
us that there is no more danger to the
body politic from an ignorant and vicious
black voter than from an illiterate and
vicious white voter."
This system of false counting is not in-
dulged in with impunity. Its baleful in-
fluence has nowhere more clearly shown
197
ELECTIONS, FEDERAL CONTROL OF
itself than in its effects upon the sense of
justice of Southern men. Where else on
earth would you get such a declaration
as came from John P. Finley, of Green-
ville, Miss., for twelve years treasurer of
his county — a declaration made in the
presence of his fellow-citizens — that he did
not consider ballot-box stuffing a crime,
but a necessity; that in a case of race
supremacy a man who stuffed a ballot-
box would not forfeit either his social or
business standing; and that ballot-box
stuffing, so far as he knew, was looked
upon by the best element in the South as
a choice between necessary evils? You
would search far before you would find
the parallel of what Watt K. Johnson
said in the same case (Hill vs. Catchings).
" I would stuff a ballot-box," said he, " if
required to do it, to put a good Republi-
can in office, as I would a Democrat, as
my object is to have a good honest gov-
ernment."
" Good honest government " by ballot-
box stuffing! Think of the moral condi-
tion of a community where a man would
dare openly to make such an avowal. In
saying this there is no purpose to speak
unkindly, but only to point out the inevi-
table effect upon public morals of con-
tinued violation of law. No commimity
can encourage systematic disregard of
law, even for purposes deemed justifiable,
without injury to all other laws and to
its own moral sense. It only needs to
have the fence broken down in one place
to have the bad cattle range through the
whole garden.
While this state of things exists in Mis-
sissippi, a glance at South Carolina will
give even more food for reflection. In
that State, by law there was but one reg-
istration at the home of the voter (at the
polling precinct), which took place in
1882. Since that time all additions to the
list have been made at the county seats.
Whenever a man moves not merely from
county to county, not merely from town
to town, not only from precinct to pre-
cinct, but whenever he removes from house
to house in the same precinct, he
must have a new certificate from the
supervisor of registration, who, nomi-
nally at least, has his office at the county
seat. Without this changed certificate, he
is disfranchised. If he travels to the county
seat and cannot find his supervisor, he
has no remedy. Even among the most
intelligent and alert politicians it is easy
to see what a vast chance there is for mis-
behavior, and it needs no specification to
show how it works in South Carolina
among that part of the population which
has just struggled to manhood. But in
order that the work of government by the
minority may be complete, the law decrees
that there shall be eight different ballot-
boxes, so that those who can read can
know where to put their tickets and those
who cannot read can exercise their ingenu-
ity. The law also provides that the officials,
who alone are present with the voter,
shall read to him the inscriptions on the
ballot-boxes; but as the governor provides
that all the officials shall be of one party,
it is easy to see how valuable this provi-
sion is. In order that the negro shall
have no advantage from the position of
the boxes becoming known, the boxes are
shuffled from time to time, and if a ballot
gets into a wrong box it cannot be count-
ed. In the Miller and Elliott case, Mr.
Elliott's counsel, unable to deny the shift-
ing of ballot - boxes, justifies it on the
ground that there is no law against it,
and on the further ground that it is in
the spirit of the law; which last defence
is true.
With this preliminary statement the
reader can enter into the grim humor of
the reply of the governor of South Caro-
lina, himself a candidate for re-election,
when the Republicans asked that among
the judges of election should be some Re-
publicans. It would seem not unreason-
able that one of the great parties to the
political contest should have a " sworn
official " to see that the voter was correct-
ly told which box to put his vote into, and
to see that the vote was rightly counted.
The governor, however, rose above party,
rejected the Republican request, put none
but Democrats on guard, and in his reply
used, among other similar things, the fol-
lowing words:
" To the eternal honor of our State and
the Democratic party, it can now be said
that oiu' elections are the freest and fairest
in the world, and that not a single citizen
of hers, no matter what his rank, color, or
condition, can, under her just and equal
laws, impartially administered, as they are,
be by any perversion or intimidation barred
19a
ELECTIONS, FEDERAL CONTROL OF
at the polls from the free and full exercise which it did after waitinc for the death
of his suffrage. There is not only perfect ^f ^j contestaiit
freedom in voting, but the amplest protection contestant.
afforded the voter." if any man replies, as sometimes peo-
ple do, " You are assuming that the
These words were in his letter of Sept. colored man will vote your ticket, and
29, 1888. On July 30 preceding, just that is not so," the plain answer is: "It
two months before, that same governor is either so or not so. If it is so, then
said, in a public speech, which you will we are deprived of a vote which belon"-s
find in the Charleston News and Courier to us under the Constitution of the
of the 31st, the following: United States. If it be not so, and the
., „, , negro is voting the Democratic ticket
army at Austerlitz or Waterloo or Gettys- ^^ "°'-". White man and negro are agreed
burg could ever be wielded like that mass of on white supremacy, why do you send
(iOO,()00 people. The only thing which stands so much Southern eloquence North to
to-day between us and their rule is a flimsy +,,,,,.1, ^,„, n,,,„„ ■ i j. «)>
statute-the eight-box law-which depends ^""''f. °7 Caucasian hearts?"
for its effectiveness upon the unity of the ^'^^^ state of things cannot be good for
white people." this nation, either North or South. Re-
member that this is not a question of
Of course, the utterance of July 30 was outcries and epithets, of reproaches and
for the home market, and the letter of hysterics. It is a plain question of jus-
September for export. But when you tice and fair-dealing. Both sections of
consider that both these statements were this country can aiford to be fair and
made to the same community, by the open with each other. If you say that
governor of the State, you can form you have a right of local self-government
some idea of the effect which this system which we have no business to interfere
of action at the polls has had on the with, and that, unless you are allowed
morale of the people. to go on in your own way, you fear
This course of utterly riding over the disaster most foul, the next thing for
will of the voter has been carried to such all of us to do is to find some plan
excess as was never dreamed at the out- which will give us the votes of the whole
set, even by those who planned the first people of the United States, and leave
great wrongs. When South Carolina, by you your local self-government.
a gerrymander which remains up to date To put this whole matter in a nutshell,
the greatest spectacle that has ever been the Republican party alleges that it is
put upon a map, and which to this day deprived by all manner of devices— differ-
almost defies belief, put 31,000 colored ing in different States, but having one
people in one district with only 0,000 common purpose — of votes which under
whites, the framers of the act meant at the Constitution of the land that party
least that that district should have the is entitled to. To this the parties offend-
representative of its choice. But, en- ing reply that the suppression of votes
couraged by the success of the Southern and voters is necessary to prevent the
plan elsewhere, even that district has threatened destruction of local self-gov-
been taken away. It is well knowTi that eminent by the numerical superiority of
in the South itself this was regarded as race ignorance in very many States. We
an outrage, but the voice of those so re- have a right, say they, to prevent, by vio-
garding it has fallen into the silence of lence or by fraiid, if need be, the control
consent. of the ignorant in our own States.
In Alabama the 4th district was so Suppose all that to be so; suppose that
made that 27,000 colored men were all you are doing is needful for your pres-
packed in with 0,000 whites, and at every ervation, and that you must keep on at
election the Democratic candidate is re- all costs: how does that give you the
turned. So flagrant was one of the in- right to govern us by your methods?
stances that the Forty-eighth Congress, If you have the right of local self-govern-
Democratic by ninety-five majority, was ment, have we not the right of national
obliged to disgorge the sitting member, self-government? If you of the States
199
ELECTIONS, rEDERAli CONTROL OF
are willing to take all hazards to save
yourselves from ignorant negro domina-
tion, are you going to blame us of the
United States if we refuse to submit to
fraudulent domination? You think negro
domination unbearable. We think fraudu-
lent domination a crime.
But we need not quarrel. There must
be some remedy consistent with the Con-
stitution, which was intended to provide
for this very local government, and for
this very federal government. Each was
to be respected within its sphere, and each
was to subsist side by side with the other.
So far as the election of members of Con-
gress was concerned, the Constitution pro-
vides for the very condition in which we
find ourselves. In the first instance, the
legislature of the State may make the
regulations for the election of members,
but Congress may make or alter them in
accordance with its own will. It may
alter them by providing for federal super-
vision, or it may make such new regula-
tions as will assume the entire election
from registration to certification.
We have, then, two kinds of remedy —
the alteration of State regulations and the
making of new ones ot our own. As to
the first method, so far as it was ex-
hibited in the proposed Senate bill for su-
pervision, the Senator from Alabama, Mr.
Pugh, when the bill was presented in the
Senate, rose and declared:
" If the bill becomes a law, its execution
will insure the shedding of blood and the
destruction of the peace and good order
of this country. Its passage will be resisted
by every parliamentary method, and every
method allowed by the Constitution of the
United States."
This declaration, made at a time when
debate is not usual on a bill, will attract
attention to the objections which are urged
against the supervisor law. Some of
them are worth reproducing in order that
people may carefully consider all parts
of a question which must have a settle-
ment, and can never have any final settle-
ment which is not right. The supervisor
law is the subject of objection, among
other things, because, while it leaves the
elections in the hands of the States, it
proposes to set watchers over the State
officials, and to use a kind of dual control
liable to all manner of friction. More-
over, the exercise of this supervisorj)
power is to be called into being by
petition, thus singling out by their own
signatures those persons who are respon-
sible for the claim that the elections need
supervision, and who thereby become ob-
noxious to the very violence which they
are striving to avoid.
In some States, like North Carolina
and Virginia, a supervisor law would be
very helpful; but there are States and
communities with regard to which it is
said that it would be assuming a terrible
responsibility to enact it. Against such
a law the South urges sectionalism and its
interference with local self-government;
for no supervision which does not examine
all the boxes and count all the votes is
worth the trouble of enacting. It is true
that in New York City, under the able and
thorough management of the chief super-
visor, great results have been accom-
plished by this law, and elections are held
so satisfactory to both parties that there
have been no contested elections from that
city in my remembrance. Whether in
other regions, among a different people, in
sparsely settled places, this could be so
well done is the point at issue.
In what we call theory, no really valid
objection can be urged against federal
supervision, for an honest count can hurt
no one. Even if all the boxes are sub-
jected to the supervision of a second set
of men, the result in New York proves
that when once established it is a solid
safeguard satisfactory to honest people.
So easily does the system now move, and
so free is it from friction, that it is doubt-
ful if a tenth of the readers of this article
even remember that the system is fully
established. Many contests, however,
were necessary to thus establish it in New
York City. But this is a practical world,
where all unnecessary difficulties ought to
be avoided, and where the middle way is
often the best because it is the middle
way.
In this case the middle course is ap-
parently — but only apparently — the most
radical. Let the country at once assume
at least the count and return of its own
elections. It may be that this could be
done in a way that would leave the States
%Adiich object to supervision free from all
interference from their neighbors, as it
200
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE
ivould certainly leave us free from false ton in cities and towns and in voting pre
counting and false returns. They could
then govern their own people in their own
way, free from federal supervision in
congressional elections, and the United
States could govern itself free from all
fear of those practices deemed indispen-
satile to local government. All we ask is
that in national matters the majority
of the voters in this country may rule.
Why should any Southern man object to
this"?
Elective Franchise. During the Colo-
nial period the people elected their repre-
sentatives in the nssemblies or legislatures
by ballot or, as in Virginia, by a i^ira voce
vote. The governors of Rhode Island
and Connecticut were the only ones elected
by the people, with the exception of Massa-
chusetts from 1620 to 1601. The Consti-
tution OF THE United States {q. v.) pre-
scribes the methods of electing the Presi-
dent, Vice-president, and members of each
House of Congress. Local elections are
regulated by State laws. In all the
States except Wyoming and Colorado
cincts having 250 voters or more.
In Texas cities of 10,000 or over may
require registration. In Rhode Island
non-taxpayers are required to register be-
fore Dec. 31, each year. Registration is
prohibited by constitutional provision in
Arkansas and West Virginia.
The qualifications for voting in each
State and the classes excluded from suf-
frage are as follows:
Alabama. — Citizen or alien who has de-
clared intention ; must have resided in
State one year, county three months, town
or precinct thirty days ; persons convicted
of crime punishable by imprisonment,
idiots or insane excluded from suffrage.
Arkansas. — Citizen or alien who has
declared intention ; must have resided in
State one year, county six months, pre-
cinct thirty days ; persons convicted of
felony, until pardoned, failing to pay poll
tax, idiots or insane excluded.
California. — Citizen by nativity, nat-
uralization or treaty of Queretaro; must
have resided in State one year, county
(where women are entitled to full suf- ninety days, precinct thirty days; Chinese,
frage) the right to vote at general elec-
tions is restricted to males twenty-one
years of age or over.
The registration of voters is required in
the following States and Territories:
Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois,
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mon-
tana, Nevada, Xew Hampshire, New Jer-
sey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Penn-
sylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont,
Virginia and Wyoming. In some counties
in Georgia registration is required by
local law. In Kentucky registration is
insane, embezzlers of public moneys, con-
victed of infamous crime excluded.
Colorado. — Citizen or alien who has
declared intention four months previous
to offering to vote; must have resided in
State six months, county ninety days,
towu or precinct ten days; persons under
guardianship, in prison, insane or idiots
excluded.
Connecticut. — Citizen who can read
constitution or statutes; must have re-
sided in State one year, town six months;
persons convicted of felony or theft ex-
eluded.
Delaware. — Citizen and paying county
required in cities; in Kansas in cities of tax after age of twenty-two; must have
the first and second class ; in Nebraska resided in State one year, county one
and Iowa in cities of 2,500 population month, precinct fifteen days; idiots, in-
and over ; in North Dakota in cities of sane, paupers, felons excluded,
over 3,000; in Ohio in some cities; in Florida. — Citizen or alien who has de-
Maine in towns of 500 or more voters; in clared intention and paid capitation tax
South Dakota in cities and towns of over two years ; must have resided in State one
1,000 voters and in counties where regis- year, county six months ; persons under
tration has been adopted by popular vote;
in Tennessee in all counties of 50,000 or
more inhabitants; in New York in all
cities and villages of over 5,000 popula-
tion ; in Missouri in cities of 100,000 ; in
'rViaconsin in some cities. In Washing-
20J.
guardianship, insane, convicted of felony
or any infamous crime excluded.
Georgia. — Citizen who has paid all his
taxes since 1877; must have resided in
State one year, county six months ; idiots,
insane, convicted of crime punishable by
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE
imprisonment until pardoned, tax delin- Massachusetts. — Citizen who can read
quents excluded. constitution in English, and write; must
Idaho. — Citizen; must have resided in have resided in State one year, town six
State six months, county thirty days; Chi- months; paupers (except United States
nese, Indians, Mormons, felons, insane, soldiers and sailors honorably discharged)
convicted of treason or election bribery and persons under guardianship excluded,
excluded. Michigan: — Citizen or inhabitant who
Illinois. — Citizen; must have resided has declared intention under United States
in State one vear, county ninety daj's, laws two years and six months before elec-
town or precinct thirty days; persons con- tion and lived in State two and a half
victed of crime punishable in penitentiary years; must have resided in State six
until pardoned and restored to rights ex- months, town or county twenty days;
eluded. Indians, duellists, and accessories ex-
Indiana. — Citizen or alien who has de- eluded,
clared intention and resided one year in Minnesota. — Citizen or alien who has
United States and six months in State; declared intention and civilized Indians;
must have resided in State six months, must have resided in United States one
town sixty days, precinct thirty days; year prior to election, State four months,
persons convicted of crime and disfran- town oi- precinct ten days; persons con-
chised by judgment of court excluded. victed of treason or felony unless pardon-
loica. — Citizen; must have resided in ed, under guardianship or insane excluded.
State six months, county sixty days; idiots, Mississippi. — Citizen who can read or
insane, convicted of infamous crime, non- understand constitution after Jan. 1,
resident United States soldiers and ma- 1S92; must have resided in State two
rines excluded. years, town or precinct one year (except
Kansas. — Citizen or alien who has de- clergymen, who are qualified after six
clared intention; must have resided in months in precinct) ; insane, idiots, Ind-
State six months, town or precinct thirty ians not taxed, felons, persons who have
days; idiots, insane, convicts, rebels not not paid taxes excluded,
restored to citizenship, persons under Missouri. — Citizen or alien who has de-
guardianship, public embezzlers, bribed, clared intention not less than one year nor
excluded. more than five before off'ering to vote;
Kentucky. — Citizen; must have resided must have resided in State one year, town
in State one year, county six months, town sixty days ; United States soldiers and
or precinct sixty days; idiots, insane, marines, paupers, criminals convicted once
persons convicted of treason, felony, or until pardoned, felons and violators of
bribery at election excluded. sufi"rage laws convicted a second time
Louisiana. — Citizen or alien who has de- excluded,
clared intention; must have resided in Montana. — Citizen; must have resided
State one year, county six months, pre- iii State one year, county thirty days;
cinct thirty days ; idiots, insane, persons Indians, felons, and soldiers excluded,
convicted of treason, embezzlement of pub- Neiraska.- — Citizen or alien who has de-
lic funds, or any crime punishable by im- clared intention thirty daj^s prior to elec-
prisonment in penitentiary excluded. tion ; must have resided in State six
Maine. — Citizen; must have resided in months, county forty days, town or pre-
town three months; paupers, persons un- cinct ten days; idiots, insane, convicted
der guardianship, Indians not taxed, and of treason or felony unless pardoned, sol-
in 1893 all new voters who cannot read diers and sailors excluded,
constitution or write their own names in 'Nevada. — Citizen ; must have resided in
English excluded. State six months, town or precinct thirty
Maryland. — Citizen; must have resided days; idiots, insane, convicted of treason
in State one year, county six months ; per- or felony, unamnestied Confederates who
sons over twenty-one years convicted of bore arms against the United States ex-
larceny or other infamous crime unless eluded.
pardoned, under guardianship as lunatics 'Neio Hampshire. — Inhabitants, native or
or non compos mentis excluded. naturalized ; must have resided in town
202
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE— ELECTORAL COLLEGES
six months; paupers (except United
States soldiers and sailors honorably dis-
charged ) , persons excused from paying
taxes at their own request excluded.
New Jersey. — Citizen ; must have re-
sided in State one year, county five
months; idiots, insane, paupers, persons
convicted of crimes (unless pardoned)
which exclude them from being witnesses
excluded.
New York. — Citizen ninety days previ-
ous to election; must have resided in
State one year, county four months, town
or precinct thirty days; persons convicted
of bribery or any infamous crime, unless
sentenced to reformatory or pardoned, bet-
tors on result of any election at which
they offer to vote, bribers and bribed for
votes excluded.
North Carolina. — Citizen; must have
resided in State one year, county ninety
days; persons convicted of felony or other
infamous crime, idiots, and lunatics ex-
cluded.
North Dakota. — Citizen, alien who has
declared intention one year, or civilized
Indian who has severed tribal relations
two years prior to election ; must have re-
sided in State one year, county six months,
precinct ninety days; United States sol-
diers and sailors, persons non compos men-
tis, and felons excluded.
Ohio. — Citizen; must have resided in
State one year, county thirty days, pre-
cinct twenty days; persons convicted of
felony until pardoned and restored to citi-
zenship, idiots, insane, United States sol-
diers and sailors excluded.
Oregon. — Citizen or alien who has de-
clared intention one year ; must have re-
sided in State six months ; idiots, insane,
convicted of felony. United States soldiers
and sailors, and Chinese excluded.
Pennsylvania. — Citizen one month, and
if twenty-two years or over must have
paid tax within two years; must have re-
sided in State one year, or six months if
after having been a qualified elector or
native he shall have removed and return-
ed ; in precinct two months ; non - tax-
payers and persons convicted of some of-
fence whereby right of suffrage is forfeit-
ed excluded.
Rhode Island. — Citizen ; must have re-
sided in State two years, town six
months; paupers, lunatics, persons non
eoinpos mentis, convicted of bribery or in-
famous crime until restored to right to
vote, under guardianship excluded.
South Carolina. — Citizen; must have
resided in State one year, town sixty days ;
persons convicted of treason, murder, or
other infamous crime, duelling, paupers,
insane, and idiots excluded.
South Dakota. — Citizen or alien who
has declared intention; must have resided
in United States one year. State six
months, county thirty days, precinct ten
days; persons under guardianship, idiots,
insane, convicted of treason or felony un-
less pardoned excluded.
Tennessee. — Citizen ; must have resided
in State one year, county six months, and
be resident of precinct or district ; persons
convicted of bribery or other infamous of-
fence excluded.
Texas. — Citizen; must have resided in
State one year, town six months, and be
actual resident of precinct or district;
idiots, lunatics, paupers. United States
soldiers and sailors, and persons convicted
of felony excluded.
Vermont.- — -Citizens must have resided
in State one year, town or precinct three
months (if residing in State one year,
bona fide resident in precinct at time of
registration may vote) ; unpardoned con-
victs, deserters during Civil War, and ex-
Confederates excluded.
Virginia. — Citizen ; must have resided
in State one year, town three months,
precinct thirty days ; idiots, lunatics,
persons convicted of bribery at election,
embezzlement of public funds, treason,
felony, and petty larceny, duellists and
abettors, unless pardoned by legislature,
excluded. See Disfranchisement.
Electoral Colleges, The. The people
do not vote directly for President and
Vice-President, but they choose, for each
congressional district in the respective
States, a representative in an electoral
college, which consists of as many mem-
bers as there are congressional districts
in each State, besides its two Senators.
The theory of the framers of the Consti-
tution was that by this means the best
men of the country would be chosen in the
several districts, and they would better
express the wishes of the people concern-
ing a choice of President and Vice-Presi-
dent than a vote directly by the people
203
ELECTORAL COMMISSION
for these officers. The several electors
chosen in the different States meet at
their respective State capitals on the first
Wednesday in December, and name in
their ballots the persons for President and
Vice-President. Then each electoral col-
lege makes three lists of the names voted
for these offices. These lists must be sent
to the president of the Senate by the first
Wednesday of January. Congress meets
in joint session to count the votes on the
second Wednesday of February. See
President, Vote for.
Electoral Commission. A Republican
National Convention assembled at Cincin-
nati, June 16, 187G, and nominated
Eutherford Birchard Hayes, of Ohio, for
President, and William A. Wheeler, of
New York, for Vice-President. On the
27th a Democratic National Convention
assembled at St. Louis and nominated
Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, for Presi-
dent, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indi-
ana, for Vice-President. A very excited can-
vass succeeded, and so vehement became
the lawlessness in some of the Southern
States that at times local civil war seemed
inevitable. The result of the election was
in doubt for some time, each party claim-
ing for its candidate a majority. In the
electoral college 185 votes were necessary
to the success of a candidate. It was de-
cided after the election that Mr. Tilden
had 184. Then ensued a long and bitter
contest in South Carolina, Florida, and
Louisiana over the official returns, each
party charging the other with fraud.
There was intense excitement in the Gulf
region. In order to secure fair play,
President Grant issued an order (Nov. 10,
1876) to General Sherman to instruct
military officers in the South to be vigi-
lant, to preserve peace and good order, and
see that legal boards of canvassers of the
votes cast at the election were unmo-
lested. He also appointed distinguished
gentlemen of both political parties to go
to Louisiana and Florida to be present at
the reception of the returns and the count-
ing of the votes. The result was that it
was decided, on the count by returning
boards, that Hayes had a majority of the
electoral votes. The friends of Mr. Tilden
were not satisfied. There was a. Demo-
cratic majority in the House of Repre-
sentatives. On Dec. 4 a resolution was
adopted, providing for the investigation of
the action of returning boards in South
Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. There
was much excitement in Congress and anx-
iety among the people. Thoughtful men
saw much trouble at the final counting
of the votes of the electoral colleges by
the president of the Senate, according to
the prescription of the Constitution, for
already his absolute power in the matter
was questioned. Proctor Knott, of Ken-
tucky, oft'ered a resolution for the appoint-
ment of a committee of seven members, to
act in conjunction with a similar commit-
tee that might be appointed by the Senate,
to prepare and report a plan for the crea-
tion of a tribunal to count the electoral
votes, whose authority no one could ques-
tion, and who^ decision all could accept
as final. The resolution was adopted.
The Senate appointed a committee; and on
Jan. 18, 1877, the joint committee, con-
sisting of fourteen members, reported a
bill that provided for the meeting of both
Hoiises in the hall of the House of Repre-
sentatives on Feb. 1, 1877, to there count
the votes in accordance with a plan which
the committee proposed. In case of more
than one return from a State, all such re-
turns, having been made by apj)ointed
tellers, should be, upon objections being
made, submitted to the judgment and de-
cision, as to which was the lawful and true
electoral vote of the State, of a commis-
sion of fifteen, to be composed of five mem-
bers from each House, to be appointed
viva voce, Jan. 30, with four associate
justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States, who should, on Jan. 30,
select another of the justices of the Su-
preme Court, the entire commission to be
presided over by the associate justice long-
est in commission. After mu.ch debate,
the bill passed both Houses. It became
a law, by the signature of the Presi-
dent, Jan. 29, 1877. The next day the
two Houses each selected five of its
members to serve on the Electoral Com-
mission, the Senate members being George
r. Edmunds (Vt.), Oliver P. Morton
(Ind. ), Frederick T. Frelinghuysen
(N. J.), Thomas F. Bayard (Del.), and
Allen G. Thurman (0.), and the House
members, Henry B. Payne (O. ), Eppa
Hunton (Va. ), Josiah G. Abbott (Mass.),
James A. Garfield (O.), and George F,
204
ELECTRICITY— ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
ARC LIGHT.
floar (Mass.). Senator Francis Kernan Faraday pronounced it perfect. Starr
(N. Y. ) was afterwards substituted for was so excited by his success that he died
Senator Thurman, who liad become ill. that night, and nothing more was done
Judges ClifTord, Miller, Field, and Strong, with the invention. In 18.50 Prof. Moses
of the Supreme Court, were named in the C Farmer (g. v.) liglited a parlor at
bill, and these chose as the fifth member Salem, Mass., by an
of associate justices Joseph P. Bradley, electric lamp, but the
The Electoral Commission assembled in cost of producing it,
the hall of the House of Representatives, by means of a gal-
Feb. 1, 1877. The legality of returns vanic battery in the
from several States was questioned, and cellar, was so great
was passed upon and decided by the com- that the use of it was
mission. The counting was completed on abandoned. These
March 2, and the commission made the were the pioneers in
final decision in all cases. The president our country. Now the
of the Senate then announced that Hayes generation of electric-
and Wheeler were elected. The forty- ity by dynamos, mag-
fourth Congress finally adjourned on Sat- nets, etc., produces
urday, March 3. March 4, prescribed as brilliant light at less
the day for the taking of the oath of office cost than by illumi-
by the President, falling on Sunday, Mr. nating gas. It is used
Hayes, to prevent any technical objections so extensively in cities
that might be raised, privately took the for various purposes
oath of office on that day, and on Monday, that it has created a
the 5th, he was publicly inaugurated, in new phrase in our
the presence of a vast multitude of his vocabulary. — " Indus-
fellow-citizens, trial Electricity." For
Electricity. The employment of elec- the provision of light,
tricity for illumination, and as a mover heat, and motive power, extensive plants
of machinery, has added an interesting are established in almost every city,
chapter to the' volume of our national town, and village in the country. For
history; and the name of Edison as one light, two kinds of lamps are used —
of the chief promoters of the use of the the arc and the incandescent. Elec-
mysterious agent for light- tricity moves sewing-machines, elevators,
ing, heating, and motive street-railway cars, the machinery of fac-
power is coextensive with tories, agricultural implements, and min-
the realm of civilization, ing drills; and, with all its marvellous
Ever since the discovery of adaptations and achievements towards
electro-magnetism, thought- the close of the nineteenth century, its
ful men have contemplated development was then considered still in
the possibility of producing its infancy.
a controllable electric il- Electricity, Farming by. See Farm-
luminator and motor. In inq by Electricity.
184.5 John W. Starr, of Electricity in the Nineteenth Cen-
Cincinnati, filed a caveat in tury. Eliiiu Thomson [q. v.), the cele-
tlie United States Patent brated inventor and electrician, writes as
Office for a "divisible elec- follows:
trie light." He went to
England to complete and The latter half of the nineteenth cen-
prove the utility of his in- tury must ever remain memorable, not
vention. There George Pea- only for the great advances in nearly all
body, the American banker, offered him the useful arts, but for the peculiarly
all the money he miglit need, in case his rapid electric progress, and the profound
experiment should be successful. It effect which it has had upon the lives and
proved so at an exhibition of it at Man- business of the people. In the preceding
Chester before scientific men. Professor century we find no evidences of the ap-
205
INCANDKSCENT
LAMP.
ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
plication of electricity to any useful pur- enough to stop and start a current in a
pose. Few of the more important prin- line of wire connecting two points, but
ciples of the science were then known, something more than that was requisite.
Franklin's invention of the lightning-rod A good receiver, or means for recognizing
was not intended to utilize electric force, the presence or absence of current in the
but to o-uard life and property from the wire or circuit, did not exist. The art
perils of the thunder-storm. Franklin's had to wait for the discovery of the effects
kite experiment confirmed the long-sus- of electric current upon magnets and the
pected identity of lightning and electric production of magnetism by such currents,
sparks. It was not, however, until the Curiously, even in 1802 the fact that a
discovery by Alexander Volta, in 1799, wire conveying a current would deflect
of his pile, or battery, that electricity a compass needle was observed by
could take its place as an agent of prac- Romagnosi, of Trente, but it was after-
tical value. Volta, when he made this wards forgotten, and not until 1819 was
great discovery, was following the work any real advance made.
of Galvani, begun in 1786. But Galvani It was then that Oersted, of Copenhagen,
in his experiments mistook the effect for showed that a magnet tends to set itself
the cause, and so missed making the at right angles to the wire conveying cur-
unique demonstration that two different rent and that the direction of turning
metals immersed in a solution could set depends on the direction of the current,
up an electric current. Volta brought to The study of the magnetic effects of elee-
the notice of the world the first means for trie currents by Arago, Ampere, and the
obtaining a steady flow of electricity. production of the electro-magnet by Stur-
The simplest facts of electro-magnetism, geon, together with the very valuable
upon which much of the later 'electrical work of Henry and others, made possible
developments depend, remained entirely the completion of the electric telegraph,
unknown until the first quarter of the This was done by Morse and Vail in
nineteenth century. Davy first showed America, and almost simultaneously by
the electric arc or " arch " on a small workers abroad, but, before Morse had
scale between pieces of carbon. He also entered the field. Prof. Joseph Henry
laid the foundation for future electro- had exemplified by experiments the work-
chemical work by decomposing by the bat- ing of electric signalling by electro-
tery current potash and soda, and thus magnets over a short line. It was Henry,
isolating the alkali metals, potassium and in fact, who first made a practically use-
sodium, for the first time. A fund was ful electro-magnet of soft iron. The his-
soon subscribed by " a few zealous culti- tory of the electric telegraph teaches us
vators and patrons of science," interested that to no single individual is the in-
in the discovery of Davy, and he had at vention due. The Morse system had been
his service no less than 2,000 cells of demonstrated in 1837, but not until 1844
voltaic battery. With the intense cur- was the first telegraph line built. It con-
rents obtained from it he again demon- nected Baltimore and Washington, and
strated the wonderful and brilliant the funds for defraying its cost were only
phenomenon of the electric arc, by first obtained from Congress after a severe
closing the circuit of the battery through struggle. The success of the Morse tele-
terminals of hardwood charcoal and then graph was soon followed by the establish-
separating them for a short distance. A ment of telegraph lines as a means of
magnificent arch of flame was maintained -communication between all the large cities
between the separated ends, and the light and populous districts. Scarcely ten
from the charcoal pieces was of dazzling years elapsed before the possibility of a
splendor. Thus was born into the world transatlantic telegraph was mooted. The
the electric arc light, of which there are cable laid in 1858 was a failure. A few
now many hundreds of thousands burn- words passed, and then the cable broke
ing nightly in our own country alone. down completely. A renewed effort to
As early as 1774 attempts were made lay a cable was made in 1866, but disap-
by Le Sage, of Geneva, to apply frictional pointment again followed: the cable broke
electricity to telegraphy. It was easy in mid-ocean. The great task was suc-
206
ELECTBICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
eei;.oXully accomplished in the following may be delivered to the electric line a&
year. Even the lost cable of 1866 was electric energy. The electric motor, now
found,' spliced to a new cable, and com- so common, is a machine like the dynamo,
pleted soon after as a second working line, in which the principle of action is simply
The delicate instruments for the working reversed; electric energy delivered from
of these long cables were due to the genius the lines becomes again mechanical motion
of Sir William Thomson, now Lord Kel- or power.
vin. The number of cables joining the The decade between 1860 and 1870 open-
Eastern and Western hemispheres has ed a new era in the construction and work-
been increased from time to time, and the ing of dynamo machines and motors,
opening of a new cable is now an ordinary Gramme, in 1870, first succeeded in pro-
occurrence, calling for little or no especial dncing a highly efficient, compact, and
"ote- durable continuous-current dynamo. It
The introduction of the electric tele- was in a sense the culmination of many
graph was followed by the invention of years of development, beginning with the
various signalling systems, the most im- early attempts immediately following
portant being the fire-alarm telegraph, Faraday's discovery, already referred to.
automatic clock systems, automatic elec- In 1872 Von Hefner Alteneck, in Berlin,
trie fire signals, burglar alarms, telegraphs modified the ring winding of Gramme and
which print words and characters, as in produced the " drum winding," which
the stock " ticker," the telautograph, in avoided the necessity for threading wire
which writing is reproduced at the re- through the centre of the iron ring as in
eeiving end of the line, the duplex, quad- the Gramme construction.
ruplex, and multiplex systems of teleg- At the Centennial Exhibition, held at
raphy, automatic transmitting machines Philadelphia in 1876, but two exhibits of
and rapid recorders, etc. electric-lighting apparatus were to be
The most important invention is proba- found. Of these one was the Gramme and
bly that of wireless telegraphy, Avhich is the other the Wallace-Farmer exhibit. The
in use on ships, and, to a limited extent, Wallace exhibit contained other examples
on land. reflecting great credit on this American
The first example of a working type pioneer in dynamo work. Some of these
of an arc lamp was that of W. E. Staite, machines were very similar in construction
in 1847. But it was a long time before to later forms which went into very ex-
the electric arc acquired any importance tensive use. The large search-lights oc-
as a practical illuminant; the expense was casionally used in night illumination dur-
too great, and the batteries soon became ing the exhibitions were operated by the
exhausted. Michael Faraday, a most current from Wallace-Farmer machines,
worthy successor of Davy, made the ex- The Centennial Exhibition also marks
ceedingly important observation that a the beginning — the very birth, it may be
wire, if moved in the field of a magnet, said— of an electric invention destined tn
would yield a current of electricity, become, before the close of the century, a
Simple as the discovery was, its effect has most potent factor in human affairs. The
been stupendous. The fundamental prin- speaking telephone of Alexander Graham
ciple of the future dynamo electric ma- Bell was there exhibited for the first time
chine was discovered by him. This was in to the savants, among whom was the dis-
1831. Both the electric motor and the tinguished electrician and scientist Sir
dynamo generator were now potentially William Thomson. For the first time in
present with us. Here, then, was the em- the history of the world a structure of
bryo dynamo. The century closed with copper wire and iron spoke to a listening
single dynamo machines of over 5,000 ear. The instruments were, moreover, the
horse-power capacity, and with single acme of simplicity. Within a year many
power stations in which the total electric a boy had constructed a pair of telephones
generation by such machines is 75,000 to at an expenditure for material of only a
100,000 horse-power. So perfect is the few pennies. The transmitter was only
modern dynamo that out of 1,000 horse- suited for use on short lines, and was soon
power expended in driving it, 950 or more afterwards replaced by various forms of
207
ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
carbou microphone transmitters, to the idea of incandescent platinum strips or
production of which many inventors had wires, but without success. Tlie announce-
turned tlieir attention, notably Edison, ment of his lamp caused a heavy drop
Hughes, Blake, and Runnings. in gas shares, long before the problem
Few of those who talk between Boston was really solved by a masterly stroke in
and Chicago know that in doing so they his carbon filament lamp. Curiously, the
have for the exclusive use of their voices nearest approach to the carbon filament
a total of over 1,000,000 lbs. of copper lamp had been made in 1845, by Starr,
wire in the single line. There probably an American, who described in a British
now exist in the United States alone be- patent specification a lamp in which elec-
tween 75,000 and 100,000 miles of hard- trie current passed through a thin strip
drawn copper wire for long-distance tele- of carbon kept it heated while surrounded
phone service, and over 150,000 miles of by a glass bulb in which a vacuum was
wire in underground conduits. There are maintained. Starr had exhibited his
upward of 750,000 telephones in the lamps to Faraday, in England, and was
United States, and, including both over- preparing to construct dynamos to furnish
head and underground lines, a total of electric current for them in place of bat-
more than 500,000 miles of wire. teries, but sudden death put an end to his
The display of electric light during the labors.
Paris Exposition of 1878 was the first The Edison lamp differed from those
memorable use of the electric light on a which preceded it in the extremely small
large scale. The source of light was the section of the carbon strip rendered hot by
" electric candle " of Paul JablochkoflF, a the current, and in the perfection of the
Russian engineer. It was a strikingly vacuum in which it was mounted. Edison
original and simple arc lamp. Instead of first exhibited his lamp in his laboratory
placing the two carbons point to point, at Menlo Park, in December, 1879; but
as had been done in nearly all previous before it could be properly utilized an
lamps, he placed them side by side, wnth a enormous amount of work had to be done,
strip of baked kaolin between them. Owing His task was not merely the improvement
to unforeseen difficulties it was gradually of an art already existing; it was the
abandoned, after having served a great pur- creation of a new art. The details of all
pose in directing the attention of the world parts of the system were made more per-
to the possibilities of the electric arc feet, and in the hands of Edison and others
in lighting. the incandescent lamps, originally of high
Inventors in America were not idle, cost, were much cheapened and the quality
By the close of 1878, Brush, of Cleve- of the production was greatly improved,
land, had brought out his series system In spite of the fact that it was well
of arc lights, including special dynamos, known that a good dynamo when reversed
lamps, etc., and by the middle of 1879 had could be made a source of power, few
in operation machines each capable of electric motors were in use until a con-
maintaining sixteen arc lamps on one wire, siderable time after the establishment of
Weston, of Newark, had also in operation the first lighting stations. Even in 1884,
circuits of arc lamps, and the Thomson- at the Philadelphia Electrical Exhibition,
Houston system had just started in com- only a few electric motors were shown,
mercial work with eight arc lamps in Twenty years ago an electric motor was
series ffom a single dynamo. Maxim and a curiosity; fifty years ago crude examples
Fuller, in New York, were working arc run by batteries were only to be oc-
lamps from their machines. easionally found in cabinets of scientific
Almost simultaneously with the begin- apparatus. Machinery Hall, at the Cen-
ning of the commercial work of arc light- tennial Exhibition of 1876, typified the
ing, Edison, in a successful effort to mill of the past, never again to be re-
provide a small electric lamp for general produced, with its huge engine and line?
distribution in place of gas, brought to of heavy shafting and belts conveying
public notice his carbon filament incan- power. The wilderness of belts and pul
descent lamp. Edison worked for nearly leys is gradually being cleared away, and
two years on a lamp based upon the old electric distribution of power substituted.
208
ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Moreover, the lighting of the modern mill
or factory is done from the same electric
plant which distributes power.
The electric motor has already partly
revolutionized the distribution of power
for stationary machinery, but as applied
to railways in place of animal power the
revolution is complete. The period which
has elapsed since the first introduction of
electric railways is barely a dozen years.
It is true that a few tentative experimente
in electric traction were made some time
in advance of 1888, notably by Siemens,
in Berlin, in 1879 and 1880, by Stephen D.
Field, by T. A. Edison, at Menlo Park, by
-J. C. Henry, by Charles A. Van Depoele,
and others. Farmer, in 1847, tried to pro-
pel railway cars by electric motors driven
by currents from batteries carried on the
cars. These efi'orts were, of course, doom-
ed to failure, for economical reasons. The
plan survives, however, in the electric
automobile, best adapted to cities, where
facilities for charging and caring for the
batteries can be had.
The modern overhead trolley, or under-
running trolley, as it is called, seems to
have been first invented by Van Depoele,
and used by him in practical electric rail-
way work about 1886 and thereafter. The
year 1888 may be said to mark the be-
ginning of this work, and in that year
Frank J. Sprague put into operation the
electric line at Richmond, Va., using
the under-running trolley. The Richmond
line was the first large undertaking. It
had about 13 miles of track, numer-
ous curves, and grades of from 3 to 10 per
cent. The Richmond installation, kept
in operation as it was in spite of all diffi-
culties, convinced Mr. Henry M. Whitney
and the directors of the West End Street
Railway, of Boston, of the feasibility of
equipping the entire railway system of
Boston electrically.
The West End Company, with 200 miles
of track in and around Boston, began to
equip its lines in 1888 with the Thomson-
Houston plant. The success of this great
undertaking left no doubt of the future
of electric traction. The difficulties which
had seriously threatened future success
were gradually removed.
The electric railway progress was so
great in the United States that about
Jan. 1, 1891, there were more than 240
lines in operation. About 30,000 horses
and nuiles were rejjlaced by electric power
in the single year of 1891. In 1892 the
Thomson-Houston interests and those of
the Edison General Electric Company
were merged in the General Electric Com-
pany, an event of unusual importance, as
it brought together the two great com-
petitors in electric traction at that date.
Other electric manufacturers, chief among
which was the Westinghouse Company,
also entered the field and became promi-
nent factors in railway extension.. In a
few years horse traction in the United
States on tramway lines virtually disap-
peared. While the United States and
Canada have been and still are the theatre
of the enormous advance in electric trac-
tion, as in other electric work, many elec-
tric car lines have in recent years been
established in Great Britain and on the
continent of Europe. Countries like
Japan, Australia, South Africa, and South
America have also in operation many elec-
tric trolley lines, and the work is rapidly
extending. Most of this work, even in
Europe, has been carried out either by
importation of equipment from America,
or by apparatus manufactured there, but
following American practice closely.
In Chicago the application of motor-
cars in trains upon the elevated railway
followed directly upon the practical dem-
onstration at the World's Fair of the
capabilities of third-rail electric traction
on the Intramural Elevated Railway, and
the system is rapidly extending so as to
include all elevated city roads. A few
years will doubtless see the great change
accomplished.
The motor-car, or car propelled by its
own motors, has also been introduced upon
standard steam roads to a limited extent
as a supplement to steam traction. The
earliest of these installations are the one
at Nantasket, Mass., and that between
Hartford and New Britain, in Connec-
ticut. A number of special high-speed
lines, Tising similar plans, have gone into
operation in recent years.
The three largest and most powerful
electric locomotives ever put into service
are those which are employed to take
trains through the Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad tunnel at Baltimore. They have
been in service about seven or eight years,
209
ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
and are fully equal in power to the large obtained from residues in sufficient amount
steam locomotives used on steam roads, to pay well for the process.
There was opened, in London, in I'JOO, At Niagara also are works for the
the Central Underground, equipped with production of the metal aluminum from
twenty-six electric locomotives for draw- its ores. This metal, which competes in
ing its trains. The electric and power price with brass, bulk for bulk, was only
equipment was manufactured in America obtainable before its electric reduction
to suit the needs of the road. at $25 to $30 per pound. The metal
The alternating current transformer not sodium is a' so extracted from soda. A
only greatly extended the radius of supply large plant at Niagara also uses the elec-
from a single station, but also enabled trie current for the manufacture of
the station to be conveniently located chlorine for bleach, and caustic soda, both
where water and coal could be had without from common salt. Chlorine of potas-
difficulty. It also permitted the distant slum is also made at Niagara by elec-
water-powers to become sources of electric trolysis. The field of electro-chemisty
energy for lighting, power, or for other is, indeed, full of great future pos-
service. For example, a water-power sibilities. Large furnaces heated by elec-
located at a distance of 50 to 100 miles tricity, a single one of which will Con-
or more from a city, or from a large man- sume more than LOOO horse- power, exist
ufacturing centre where cost of fuel is at Niagara. In these furnaces is manuf act-
high, may be utilized. ured from coke and sand, by the Acheson
A gigantic power-station has lately been process, an abrasive material called car-
established at Niagara. Ten water-wheels, borvmdum, which is almost as hard as
located in an immense wheel-pit about diamond, but quite low in cost. It is
200 feet deep, each wheel of a capacity of made into slabs and into wheels for grind-
5,000 horse-power, drive large vertical ing hard substances. The electric furnace
shafts, at the upper end of which are furnishes also the means for producing
located the large two-phase dynamos, each artificial plumbago, or graphite, almost
of 5,000 horse-power. The electric energy perfectly pure, the raw material being
from these machines is in part raised in coke powder.
pressure by huge transformers for trans- A large amount of power from Niagara
mission to distant points, such as the city is also consumed for the production in
of Buffalo, and a large portion is delivered special electric arc furnaces of carbide
to the numerous manufacturing plants of calcium from coke and lime. This is
located at moderate distances from the the source of acetylene gas, the new il-
power-station. Besides the supply of luminant, which is generated when water
energy for lighting, and for motors, in- is brought into contact with the carbide,
eluding railways, other recent uses of While it is not likely that electricity will
electricity to which we have not yet al- soon be used for general heating, special
hided are splendidly exemplified at Niag- instances, such as the warming of electric
ara. The arts of electro-plating of cars in winter by electric heaters, the oper-
metals, such as electro-gilding, silver- ation of cooking appliances by electric
plating, nickel-plating, and copper de- current, the heating of sad-irons and the
position as in electrotyping, are now like, give evidence of the possibilities
practised on a very large scale. Moreover, should there ever be found means for the
since the introduction of dynamo current, generation of electric energy from fuel
electrolysis has come to be employed in with such high efficiency as 80 per cent,
huge plants, not only for separating or more. Present methods give, under
metals from each other, as in refining most favorable conditions, barely 10 per
them, but in addition for separating cent., 90 per cent, of the energy value of
them from their ores, for the manufacture the fuel being unavoidably wasted,
of chemical compounds before unknown, The electric current is used for welding
and for the cheap production of numer- together the joints of steel car-rails, for
ovis substances of use in the various arts welding teeth in saws, for making many
on a large scale. Vast quantities of cop- parts of bicycles, and in tool making. An
per are refined, and silver and gold often instance of its peculiar adaptability to
210
ELECTRICITY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY— ELECTROCUTION
unusual conditions is the welding of the velopments are to come, who can predict?
iron bands embedded within the body of The electrical progress has been great —
a rubber vehicle tire for holding the tire very great — but after all only a part of
in place. For this purpose the electric that grander advance in so many other
weld has been found almost essential. fields. Man still spends his best effort,
Another branch of electric development and has always done so, in the construc-
concerns the storage of electricity. The tion and equipment of his engines of
storage battery is based upon principles destruction, and now exhausts the mines
discovered by Gaston Plante, and applied, of the world of valuable metals, for ships
since 1881, by Brush, by Faure, and of war, whose ultimate goal is the bottom
others. Some of the larger lighting sta- of the sea. Perhaps all this is necessary
tions employ as reservoirs of electric now, and, if so, well. But if a fraction
energy large batteries charged by surplus of the vast expenditure entailed were
dynamo current. This is afterwards turned to the encouragement of advance
drawn upon when the consumer's load is in the arts and employments of peace, can
heavy, as during the evening. The storage it be doubted that, at the close of the
battery is, however, a heavy, cumbrous ap- twentieth century, the nineteenth century
paratus, of limited life, easily destroyed might come to be regarded, in spite of its
unless guarded with skill. If a form not achievements, as a rather wasteful, semi-
possessing these faults be ever found, the barbarous transition period?
field of possible application is almost Electrocution. The popular name of a
limitlese. method of inflicting capital punishment
The wonderful X-rays, and the rich by electricity as ordered by the legislature
scientific harvest which has followed the of New York in 1888 and amended in 1892.
discovery by RiJntgen of invisible radiation New York is the only State in the coun-
from a vacuum tube, was preceded by try where this metliod of capital punish-
much investigation of the effects of elec- ment has been sanctioned. The first per-
tric discharges in vacuiim tubes, and Hit- son executed by the new method was
torf, followed by Crookes, has given special William Kemmler, a convicted murderer,
study to these effects in very high or on whom the death sentence was thus
nearly perfect vacua. It was as late as carried out in Auburn Prison, Aug. 6,
1896 that Rontgen announced his dis- 1S90. The apparatus used in the execu-
covery. Since that time several other tion, as officially described, consisted of a
sources of invisible radiation have been stationary engine, alternating-current
discovered, more or less similar in effect dynamo and exciter, a voltmeter with
to the radiations from a vacuum tube, but extra resistance coil, calibrated from a
emitted, singular as the fact is, from rare range of from 30 to 2,000 volts, an am-
substances extracted from certain min- meter for alternating currents from 0.10
erals. Leaving out of consideration the to 3 amperes, a Wheatstone-bridge rheostat,
great value of the X-ray to physicians and bell signals, and a number of switches,
surgeons, its eft'ect in stimulating scientific The death-chair had an adjustable head-
inquiry has almost been incalculable. It rest, binding-straps, and two adjustable
is as unlikely that the mystery of the electrodes, one of which was placed on
material universe will ever be completely the top of the head and the other at the
solved as it is that we can gain an lower part of the spine. The execution
adequate conception of infinite space or room contained only the death-chair, the
time. But we can at least extend the electrodes, and the wires attached to them,
range of our mental vision of the processes the remainder of the equipment being in
of nature as we do our real vision into the adjoining room. At the end of seven-
space depths by the telescope and spectro- teen seconds after the contact was made
scope. the victim was pronounced dead. The
The nineteenth century closed with current strength was believed to have been
many imjjortant problems in electrical at least 1,500 volts, although there was no
science unsolved. What great or far- official record kept of many details, but
reaching discoveries are yet in store, who in later executions the electromotive press-
can tell? What valuable practical de- ure varied from 458 to 716 volts, while
211
ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH— ELIOT
the ammeter has shown a variation in
current of from 2 to 7 amperes. After
the first execution there was rather a
widespread protest against this method of
carrying out capital punishment, and the
constitutionality of the legislative act was
taken to the Supreme Court of the United
States, and was there affirmed.
Electro-magnetic Telegraph. This
invention, conceived more than a century
ago, was first brought to perfection as an
intelligent medium of communication be-
MORSE APPARATUS, CIRCUIT AND EATTI.RV.
tween points distant from each other by
Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse (q. v.) , of New
York, and was first presented to public
notice in 1838. In the autumn of 1837
he filed a caveat at the Patent Office; and
he gave a private exhibition of its mar-
vellous power in the New York Univer-
sity in January, 1838, when intelligence
was instantly transmitted by an alphabet
composed of dots and lines, invented by
IVTorse, through a circuit of 10 miles of
wire, and plainly recorded. Morse ap-
plied to Congress for pecuniary aid to
enable him to construct an experimental
line between Washington and Baltimore.
For four years he waited, for the action
of the government was tardy, in conse-
quence of doubt and positive opposition.
At the beginning of March, 1842, Congress
MORSE KKY.
appropriated $30,000 for his use; and in
May, 1844, he transmitted from Washing-
ton to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles,
the first message, furnished him by a
young lady — " What hath God wrought ! "
The first public message was the announce-
ment of the nomination by the Democratic
National Convention in Baltimore (May,
1844) of James K. Polk for President of
the United States. Professor Morse also
originated submarine telegraphy. He pub-
licly suggested its feasibility in a letter
to the Secretary of the Treasury in 1843.
As early as 1842 he laid a submarine cable,
or insulated wire, in the harbor of New
York, for which achievement the American
Institute awarded him a small gold medal.
In 1858 he participated in the labors and
honors of laying a cable under the sea be-
tween Europe and America. (See Atlan-
tic Telegraph ) . Monarchs gave him med-
als and orders. Y^ale College conferred
upon him the honorary degree of LL.D.,
and in 18.58, at the instance of the Emper-
or of the French, several European govern-
ments combined in the act of giving Pro-
fessor Morse the sum of $80,000 in gold as
a token of their appreciation. Vast im-
provements have been made since in the
transmission of messages. For more than
a quarter of a century the messages were
each sent over a single wire, only one way
MORSK KEGISTKR.
at a time. Early in 1871, through the in-
ventions of Edison and others, messages
were sent both ways over the same wire
at the same instant of time. Very soon
four messages were sent the same 'way.
Now multiplex transmission is a matter
of every-day business. See Vail, A. H.
Eliot, Andrew, clergyman; born in
Boston, Mass., Dec. 28, 1718; graduated
at Harvard College in 1737; ordained
associate pastor of the New North Church
in Boston, where he was sole pastor
after 1750. When the British occupied
12
ELIOT
Boston he did much to ameliorate
the condition of the people. He also
saved valuable manuscripts, among them
the second volume of the History of
Massachusetts Bay, when the house of
Governor Hutchinson was invested by a
mob. He died in Boston, Mass., Sept.
13, 1778.
Eliot, Charles William, educator;
born in Boston, Mass., March 20, 1834;
graduated at Harvard University in
1853; was a tutor in mathematics at
Harvard and a student in chemistry with
Prof. Josiah P. Cooke, 1854-58; served as
Assistant Professor of Mathematics and
Chemistry, Lawrence Scientific School,
Harvard, in 1858-63; when he went
abroad, studied chemistry and investigated
European educational methods. In 18G5-
09 he was Professor of Analytical Chem-
istry, Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology, and in 18G9 became president of
CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT.
Harvard University, retiring in 1909. He
is a Fellow of the American Academy ot
Arts and Sciences, the American Philo-
sophical Society, etc. He has given many
noteworthy addresses on educational and
9c-ientific subjects. He is the author of
Manual of Qualitative Chemical Analysis
(with Prof. Francis H. Storer) ; Manual
of Inorganic Chemistry (with the same) ;
Five American Contributions to Civiliza-
tion, and other Essays; Educational Re-
form, etc.
Eliot, Jared, educator and clergyman;
born in Guilford, Conn., Nov. 7, 1685;
sou of Joseph and grandson of John
Eliot; graduated at Yale College in 1706,
and from 1709 until his death he was
minister of the first church at Killing-
worth, Conn. He was a most practical
and useful man, and did much for the ad-
vancement of agriculture and manufact-
ures in New England. He strongly
urged in essays the introduction into the
colonies of a better breed of sheep. In
1747 he wrote: "A better breed of sheep
is what we want. The English breed of
Cotswold sheep cannot be obtained, or at
least not without great difficulty; for
wool and live sheep are contraband goods,
which all strangers are prohibited from
carrying out on pain of having the right
hand cut off." In 1761 the London So-
(iety for the Encouragement of Arts,
Manufactures, and Commerce honored him
with its medal, for produsing malleable
iron from American black sand, and he
was made a member of the Royal Society
of London. He was the first to introduce
the white mulberry into Connecticut, and
with it silk-worms, and published a
treatise on silk-culture. Mr. Eliot was
also an able physician, and was particu-
larly successful in the treatment of in-
sanity and chronic complaints. He died
in Killingworth, Conn., April 22, 1763.
Eliot, Joiix, the Apostle to the Indians ;
born either in Nasing, Essex, or Widford,
Hertfordshire, England, presumably in
1604, as he was baptized in Widford, Aug.
5, 1604. Educated at Cambridge, he re-
moved to Boston in 1631, and the next
year was appointed minister at Roxbury.
Seized with a passionate longing for the
conversion of the Indians and for improv-
ing their condition, he commenced his
labors among the twenty tribes within
the English domain in Massachusetts in
October, 1646. He acquired their lan-
guage through an Indian servant in his
family, made a grammar of it, and trans-
lated the Bible into the Indian tongue.
It is claimed that Eliot was the first
Protestant minister who preached to the
Indians in their native tongue. An Ind-
ian town called Natick was erected on the
Charles River for the "praying Indians"
in 1657, and the first Indian church was
established there in 1660. During King
213
ELIOT, JOHN
JOHN ELIOT.
Philip's War Eliot's efforts in behalf of
the praying Indians saved them from de-
struction by the white people. He trav-
elled extensively, visited many tribes,
planted several churches, and once
preached before King Philip, who treated
him with disdain. He persuaded many to
adopt the customs of civilized life, and
lived to see twenty-four of them become
preachers of the Gospel to their own
tribes. His influence among the Indians
was unbounded, and his generosity in
helping the sick and afllicted among them
was unsparing. Cotton Mather affirmed,
'• We had a tradition that the country
could never perish as long as Eliot was
alive." He published many small works
on religious subjects, several of which
were in the Indian language. His great-
est work was the translation of the Bible
into the Indian language (1661-66), and
was the first Bible ever printed in Amer-
ica. It is much sought after by collectors.
The language in which it was written has
perished. He died in Roxbury, Mass.,
May 20, 1690.
The Brief 'Narrative. — This was the
last of Eliot's publications relating to the
progress of Christianity among the
American Indians. Its full title was:
" A Brief Narrative of the Progress of
the Gospel amongst the Indians In New Eng-
land, in the Year 1670, given in by the Rever-
end Mr. John Elliot, Minister of the Gospel
there, in a Letter by him directed to the
Right Worshipfull the Commissioners under
Jiis Majesties Great-Seal for Propagation of
the Gospel amongst the poor blind Natives in
JOHN ELIOT PREACHING TO THE INDIANS.
214
ELIOT— ELIZABETH
those United Colonies. LONDON, I'rinted
tor John Allen, formerly living iu Littlc-
Britain at the Rising-Sun, and now in Went-
worth Street near Bel-Lane, 1671."
Eliot, John, clergyman; born in Bos-
ton, Mass., May 31, 1754; son of Andrew;
Eliot; graduated at Harvard College in
1772; succeeded his father as minister
of the New North Church in November,
1779; was one of the founders of the
Massachusetts Historical Society. He
published a Biographical Dictionary of
Eminent Characters in New England.
He died in Boston, Mass., Feb. 14, 1813.
Eliot, Samuel, historian; born in Bos-
ton, Mass., Dec. 22, 1821; graduated
at Harvard College in 1839; professor of
History and Political Science in Trinity
College in 18.'5G-G4. His publications in-
clude Passages from the History of Lib-
erty; History of Liberty (in five parts,
the last of which is entitled the Amer-
ican Nation) ; and a Manual of United
States History between the Years 1792
and 1850. He died in Beverly, Mass.,
Sept. 14, 1898.
Elizabeth, Queen of England ; born in
Greenwich, Sept. 7, 1533; daughter of
Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn. Under the
tuition of Roger Ascham she acquired
much proficiency in classical learning, and
before she was seventeen years of age
she was mistress of the Latin, French, and
Italian languages, and had read several
works in Greek. By education she was
attached to the Protestant Church, and
was persecuted by her half-sister, Mary,
who was a Roman Catholic. Elizabeth
never married. When quite young her
father negotiated for her nuptials with
the son of Francis I. of France, but it
failed. She flirted awhile with the am-
bitious Lord Seymour. In 1558 she de-
clined an offer of marriage from Eric,
King of Sweden, and also from Philip of
Spain. Her sister Mary died Nov. 17,
1558, when Elizabeth was proclaimed
Queen of England. With caution she pro-
ceeded to restore the Protestant religion
to ascendency in her kingdom. Her re-
form began by ordering a large part of the
church service to be read in English, and
forbade the elevation of the host in her
presence. Of the Roman Catholic bishops,
only one consented to officiate at her coro-
nation. In 1559 Parliament passed a bill
21
wliich vested in the crown the supremacy
claimed by the pope; the mass was abol-
ished, and the liturgy of Edward VI. re-
stored. In one session the whole system
of religion in England was altered by the
will of a single young woman. When
Francis II. of France assumed the arms
and title of King of England in right
of his wife, Mary Stuart, Elizabeth sent
an army to Scotland which drove the
French out of the kingdom. She sup-
ported the French Huguenots with money
and troops in their struggle with the
Roman Catholics in 1562. In 1563 the
Parliament, in an address to the Queen,
entreated her to choose a husband, so as
to secure a Protestant succession to the
crown. She returned an evasive answer.
She gave encouragement to several suitors,
after she rejected Philip, among them
Archduke Charles of Austria, the Duke of
Anjou, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leices-
ter. The latter remained her favorite un-
til his death in 1588. During the greater
part of Elizabeth's reign, Cecil, Lord Bur-
leigh, was her prime minister. For more
than twenty years from 1564 England was
at peace with foreign nations, and enjoyed
great prosperity. Because of the opposite
interests in religion, and possibly because
of matrimonial affairs, Elizabeth and
Philip of Spain were mutually hostile,
and in 1588 the latter sent the " invincible
Armada " for the invasion of England.
It consisted of over 130 vessels and 30,000
men. It was defeated and dispersed (Aug.
8), and in a gale more than fifty of the
Spanish ships were wrecked. On the death
of Leicester the Queen showed decided
partiality for the Earl of Essex. Her
treatment and final consent to the execu-
tion, by beheading, of Mary, Queen of
Scots, has left a stain on the memory of
Elizabeth. She assisted the Protestant
Henry IV. of France in his struggle with
the French Roman Catholics, whom Philip
of Spain subsidized. Her reign was vigor-
ous, and is regarded as exceedingly bene-
ficial to the British nation. Literature
was fostered, and it was illustrated dur-
ing her reign by such men as Spenser,
Shakespeare, Sidney, Bacon, and Raleigh.
Elizabeth was possessed of eminent ability
and courage, but her personal charac-
ter was deformed by selfishness, incon-
stancy, deceit, heartlessness. and other un-
ELIZABETHTOWN CLAIMANTS
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
womanly faults. She signified her will
on her death-bed that James VI. of Scot-
land, son of the beheaded Mary, shovild
be her successor, and he was accordingly
crowned as such. She died March 24,
1()03.
Elizabethtown Claimants. For more
tlian a century the dispute between the
first settlers at Elizabethtown, N. J. (who
came from Long Island and New Eng-
land), and, first, the proprietors of New
Jersey, and, next, the crown, arose and
continued concerning the title to the lands
on which these settlers were seated. The
dispute occurred in consequence of con-
flicting claims to eminent domain, caused
by a dispute about the original title of
the soil. The Elizabethtown settlers ob-
tained their land from the Indians, with
the consent of Governor Nicolls ; but al-
ready the Duke of York, without the
knowledge of Nicolls or the settlers, had
sold the domain of New Jersey to Berke-
ley and Carteret. The new proprietors ig-
nored the title of the settlers, and made
demands as absolute proprietors of the
soil, which the latter continually resisted
themselves, and so did their heirs. Fre-
quent unsuccessful attempts at ejectment
were made; the settlers resisted by force.
The Assembly, called upon to interfere,
usually declined, for that body rather fa-
vored the Elizabethtown claimants. Final-
ly, in 1757, Governor Belcher procured an
16
ELIZABETHTOWN EXPEDITION— ELKSW ATA WA
act of assembly by which all past differ-
ences should be buried. It was not ac-
ceptable; and in 1751 the British govern-
ment ordered a commission of inquiry to
determine the law and equity in the case.
The proprietors also began chancery suits
against the heirs of the Elizabethtown set-
tlers, and these were pending when the
Revolution broke out (1775) and settled
the whole matter.
Elizabethtown, or Elizabeth, as the place
is now called, was settled in 1GG5; was the
colonial capital from 1755 to 1757, and
the State capital till 1790, when Trenton
became the seat of government; and be-
came a city in 1865. It contains an old
tavern where Washington stopped on his
way to New York for his first inaugura-
tion, Gen. Winfield Scott's home, the Bou-
dinot House, and the old Livingston Man-
sion. The College of New Jersey, now
Princeton University, chartered in 1746,
was opened here in May, 1747.
Elizabethtown Expedition, a military
movement in the War of 1812-15, in
which an American force under Major
Forsyth captured Elizabethtown (near
Brockville), Canada, Feb. 7, 1813, released
the American prisoners, seized some of the
garrison and a quantity of stores, and re-
turned to the United States without the
loss of a man.
Elk Creek, or Honey Springs, a local-
ity in the Indian Territory, where, on July
17, 1863, Gen. James G. Blunt, with a
force of Kansas cavalry, artillery, and
Indian home guards, defeated a Confeder-
ate force under Gen. S. H. Cooper, the
latter losing nearly 500 in killed and
wounded.
Elkhorn, Battle of. See Pea Ridge.
Elkins, Stephen Benton, legislator;
born in Perry county, Ohio, Sept. 26,
1841; graduated at the Missouri Univer-
sity in 1860; admitted to the bar in 1863;
captain in the 77th Missouri Regiment
1862-63; removed to New Mexico in
1864, where he engaged in mining; elect-
ed member of the Territorial legislature
in 1864; became attorney-general of the
Territory in 1868; United States district
attorney in 1870; member of Congress in
1873-77; Secretary of War in 1891-94;
and elected United States Senator from
West Virginia in 1895 and IDOL
Blkswatawa, Indian, known as the
Prophet; brother of the famous Tecumseh ;
born in Piqua, the seat of the Piqua
clan of the Shawnees, about 4 miles
north of Springfield, O., early in 1775. He
was a shrewd deceiver of his people by
means of pretended visions and powers of
divination. By harangues he excited the
superstition of the Indians; and such be-
came his fame as a " medicine-man," or
prophet, that large numbers of men, wom-
en, and children of the forest came long
217
KLKSWATAWA, THE PKOI'HKT.
distances to see this oracle of the Great
Spirit, who they believed could work mir-
acles. His features were ugly. He had
lost one eye in his youth, and, owing to
dissipation, he appeared much older than
his brother Tecumsch. The latter was
really an able man, and used this brother
as his tool. The Prophet lost the con-
fidence of his people by the events of the
battle of Tippecanoe. On the evening be-
fore the battle the demagogue pre-
pared for treachery and murder. He
brought out a magic bowl, a sacred
torch, a string of holy beans, and his
followers were all required to touch these
talismans and be made invulnerable, and
then to take an oath to exterminate
the pale-faces. When this was accom-
plished the Prophet went through a
ELLERY— ELLET
CHARLES ELLET.
long series of incantations and mystical revenue at Newport. Mr. Ellery was a
movements; then, turning to his highly strenuous advocate of the abolition of
excited band — about 700 in number — slavery. He died in Newport, Feb. 15,
he told them that the time to attack 1820.
the white men had come. " They are Ellet, Charles, engineer ; born in
in your power," he said, holding up Penn's Manor, Buclcs co., Pa., Jan. 1,
the holy beans as a reminder of their
oath. " They sleep now, and will never
awake. The Great Spirit will give light to
us and darkness to the white men. Their
bullets shall not harm us; your weapons
shall be always fatal." Then followed
war songs and dances, until the Indians,
wrought up to a perfect frenzy, rushed
forth to attack Harrison's camp, without
any leaders. Stealthily they crept through
the long grass of the prairie in the deep
gloom, intending to surround their en-
emy's position, kill the sentinels, rush
into the camp, and massacre all. The re-
sult of the battle of Tippecanoe (g. v.)
caused the Indians to dovibt his inspira-
tion by the Great Spirit. They covered
him with reproaches, when he cunningly
told them that his predictions concerning
the battle had failed because his wife had
touched the sacred vessels and broken the 1810; planned and built the first wire
charm. Even Indian superstition and suspension bridge in the United States,
credulity could not accept that transparent across the Schuylkill at Fairmount ; and
falsehood for an excuse, and the Prophet planned and constructed the first sus-
was deserted by his disappointed followers pension bridge over the Niagara Eiver
and compelled to seek refuge among the below the Falls, and other notable
Wyandottes. bridges. When the Civil War broke out
Ellery, William, a signer of the he turned his attention to the construc-
Declaration of Independence ; born in tion of steam " rams " for the Western
Newport, R. I., Dec. 22, 1727; grad-
uated at Harvard in 1747; became _
a merchant in Newport; and was
naval officer of Rhode Island in
1770. He afterwards studied and
practised law at Newport, and gain-
ed a high reputation. An active
patriot, he was a member of Con-
gress from 1776 to 1785, excepting
two years, and was very viseful in
matters pertaining to finance and
diplomacy. He was especially ser-
viceable as a member of the marine
committee, and of the board of ad-
miralty. During the occupation of
Rhode Island by the British he suf-
fered great loss of property, but
bore it with quiet cheerfulness as a
sacrifice for the public good. He was rivers, and a plan proposed by him to
chief - justice of the Superior Court of the Secretary of War (Mr. Stanton) was
Rhode Island, and in 1790 collector of the adopted, and he soon converted ten or
218
ELLET'S STERN-WHEEL RAM.
ELLET— ELLIOTT
twelve powerful steamers on the Missis-
sippi into " rams," with which he ren-
dered great assistance in the capture of
Memphis. In the battle there he was
struck by a musket-ball in the knee, from
the effects of which he died, in Cairo, 111.,
June 21, 18G2. Mr. Ellet proposed to
General McClellan a plan for cutting off
the Confederate army at Manassas, wliich
the latter rejected, and the engineer wrote
and published severe strictures on Mc-
Clellan's mode of conducting the war.
Ellet, Elizabeth Fries, author; born
in Sodus Point, N. Y., in 1818; was au-
thor of Domestic History of the American
Revolution ; Women of the American Rev-
olution; Pioneer Women of the West ; and
Queens of American Society. She died
June 3, 1877.
Ellicott, Andrew, civil engineer; born
in Bucks county, Pa., Jan. 24, 1754. His
father and uncle founded the town of
Ellicott's Mills (now Ellicott City), Md.,
in 1790. Andrew was much engaged in
public surveying for many years after
settling in Baltimore in 1785. In 1789
he made the first accurate measurement
of Niagara River from lake to lake, and
in 1790 he was employed by the United
States government in laying out the city
of Washington. In 1792 he was made
surveyoi'-general of the United States, and
in 179G he was a commissioner to de-
termine the southern boundary between
the territory of the United States and
Spain, in accordance with a treaty.
From Sept. 1, 1813, until his death, Aug.
29, 1820, he was professor of mathematics
and civil engineering at West Point.
Elliott, Charles, clergyman; born in
Creenconway, Ireland, May 16, 1792; be-
came a member of the Wesleyan Church ;
came to the United States about 1815;
joined the Ohio Methodist conference in
1818. He was the author of History of
the Great Secession from the Methodist
Episcopal Church; Southiocstcrn Method-
ism; two publications against slavery, etc.
He died in Mount Pleasant, la., Jan. 0,
1869.
Elliott, Charles Loring, painter;
born in Scipio, N. Y., in December, 1812;
was the son of an architect, who pre-
pared him for that profession. He be-
came a pupil of Trumbull, in New York,
and afterwards of Quidor, a painter of
fancy-pieces. Having acquired the tech-
nicalities of the art, his chief employ-
ment for a time was copying engravings
in oil, and afterwards he attempted por-
traits. He practised portrait-painting in
the interior of New York for about ten
years, when he went to the city (1845),
where he soon rose to the head of his pro-
fession as a portrait-painter. It is said
that he painted 700 portraits, many of
them of distinguished men. His like-
nesses were always remarkable for fidel-
ity, and for beauty and vigor of coloring.
He died in Albany, Aug. 25, 1868.
Elliott, Charles Wyllys, author; born
in Guilford, Conn., May 27, 1817. His pub-
lications relating to the United States in-
clude New England History, from the
Discovery of the Continent by the North-
men, A. D. 968, to 1776; and The Book
of American Interiors, prepared from ex-
isting Houses. He died Aug. 23, 1883.
Elliott, Jesse Duncan, naval officer;
born in Maryland, July 14, 1782; entered
the United States navy as midshipman in
JESSE DUNCAN ELLIOTT.
April, 1804; and rose to master, July 24,
1813. He was with Barron in the Tripoli-
tan War, and served on the Lakes with
Chauneey and Perry in the War of 1812-
15. He captured two British vessels, De-
troit and Caledonia, at Fort Erie, for
which exploit he was presented by Con-
gress with a sword. He was in command
of the Niagara in Perry's famous combat
on Lake Erie, to which the Commodore
219
ELLIOTT— ELLIS
THE ELLIOTT MEDAL.
went from the Lawrence during the ac-
tion. He succeeded Perry in command on
Lake Erie in October, 1813. Elliott was
with Decatur in the Mediterranean in 1815,
and was promoted to captain in March,
1818. He commanded the West India
squadron (1829-32); took charge of the
navy-yard at Charleston in 1833; and af-
terwards cruised several years in the Med-
iterranean. On his return he was court-
martialled, and suspended from command
for four years. A part of the sentence
was remitted, and in 1844 he was ap-
pointed to the command of the navy-yard
at Philadelphia. For the part which Elli-
ott took in the battle of Lake Erie Con-
gress awarded him the thanks of the na-
tion and a gold medal. He died in
Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1845.
Elliott, Jonathan, author; born in
Carlisle, England, in 1784; emigrated to
New York in 1802; served in the United
States army in the War of 1812. Among
his writings are American Diplomatic
Code; Debate on the Adoption of the Con-
stitution; The Comparative Tariffs, etc.
He died in Washington, D. C, March 12,
1846.
Elliott, Susannah, heroine; born in
South Carolina about 1750; made for
Colonel Moultrie's regiment two stand-
ards, which she embroidered; and assist-
ed several American officers in escaping
by concealing them in a hidden room in
her house.
Ellis, George Edward, clergyman; born
in Boston, Mass., Aug. 8, 1814; grad-
uated at Harvard in 1833; ordained a
Unitarian pastor in 1840; president of the
Massachusetts Historical Society, and au-
thor of History of the Battle of Bunker
mil, and biographies of John Mason, Will-
iam Penn, Anne Hutchinson, Jared Sparks,
Count Rumford, etc. He died in Boston,
Mass., Dec. 20, 1894.
Ellis, Henry, colonial governor; born
in England in 1721; studied law; appoint-
ed lieutenant - governor of Georgia, Aug.
15, 1756; became royal governor. May 17,
1758. He proved himself a wise admin-
istrator, and succeeded in establishing
good-will between the colonists and the
Creeks. The climate proving bad for his
health, he returned to England in Novem-
ber, 1760. He was author of Heat of the
Weather in Georgia, etc. He died Jan.
21, 1806.
Ellis, John Willis, governor; born in
Rowan county, N. C, Nov. 25, 1820;
graduated at the University of North
Carolina in 1841, and admitted to the bar
in 1842. He was governor of North Caro-
lina in 1858-61. In the name of his State
he occupied Fort Macon, the works at
Wilmington, and the United States arse-
nal at Fayetteville, Jan. 2, 1861. In
April of the same year he ordered the
seizure of the United States mint at
Charlotte. He died in Raleigh, N. C,
in 1861.
220
ELLIS— ELMIBA
Ellis, Seth H.. politician; was can-
date of the Union Kefoiin party for
President in 1900, with Samuel T. Nicho-
las, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President.
They received a popular vote of 5,698.
Ellison's Mill. See Mechanicsville,
Battle ob\
Ellmaker, Amos, jurist; born in New
Holland, Pa., Feb. 2, 1787; admitted to
the bar in 1808; elected to the State legis-
lature in 1812; appointed district judge
in 1815; attorney-general of the State in
1816; was candidate for Vice-President on
the Anti-Masonic ticket in 1832. He
died in Lancaster, Pa., Nov. 28, 1851.
Ellsworth, Epiiraim Elmer, military
officer; born in Mechanicsville, N. Y.,
April 23, 1837 ; was first engaged in mer-
cantile business in Troy, N. Y., and as a
patent solicitor in Chicago he acquired
a. good income. While studying law he
joined a Zouave corps at Chicago, and
in July, 1860, visited some of the Eastern
cities of the Union with them and at-
tracted great attention. On his return he
organized a Zouave regiment in Chicago;
and in April, 1861, he organized another
from the New Yoi'k Fire Department.
These were among the earlier troops that
hastened to Washington. Leading his
Zouaves to Alexandria, Ellsworth was
shot dead by the proprietor of the Mar-
shall House, while he was descending the
stairs with a Confederate flag which he
EPHRAIM ELMER ELLSWORTH.
It was then taken to New York, where
it lay in state in the City Hall, and, after
being carried in procession through the
streets of the city, it was conveyed to his
birthplace for burial. He was young and
handsome, and his death, being the first
of note that had occurred in the opening
war, produced a profound sensation
throughout the country.
Ellsworth, Oliver, LL.D., jurist;
born in Windsor, Conn., April 29, 1745;
had pulled down. May 24, 1861. His body
was taken to Washington, and lay in state
in the East Room of the White House.
OLIVKR ELLSWORTH.
graduated at the College of New Jer-
sey in 1766; was admitted to the bar
in 1771; practised in Hartford, Conn.;
and was made State attorney. When the
Revolutionary War was kindling he took
the side of the patriots in the leg-
islature of Connecticut, and was a dele-
gate in Congress from 1777 to 1780. He
became a member of the State council,
and in 1784 was appointed a judge of the
Supreme Court. Judge Ellsworth was one
of the framers of the national Constitu-
tion, but, being called away before the
adjournment of the convention, his name
was not attached to that instrument. He
was the first United States Senator from
Connecticut (1789-95), and drew up the
bill for organizing the Judiciary Depart-
ment. In 1796 he was made chief-justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States,
and at the close of 1799 he was one of the
envoys to France. He died in Windsor.
Nov.' 26, 1807.
Elmira, Battle of. See Sullivan,
John.
281
EL MOLINO DEL REY
El Molino del Bey, Capture of. Al-
most within cannon-shot distance of the
city of Mexico is Chapultepec, a hill com-
posed of porphyritic rock, and known in
the Aztec language as "Grasshoppers' Hill."
It rises from the ancient shore of Lake
Tezcuco, and was the favorite resort of the
Aztec princes, it was also the site of the
palace and gardens of Montezuma. That
hill was crowned with a strong castle and
military college, supported by numerous
outworks, which, with the steepness of the
ascent to it, seemed to make it impregna-
ble. Only the slope towards the city was
easily ascended, and that was covered with
a thick forest. At the foot of the hill
was a stone building, with thick high
walls, and towers at the end, known as El
BATTLE OP KL MOLINO DEL RET.
222
EL MOLINO DEL BEY— ELY
Molino del Rey — " The King's Mill." About
400 yards from this was another massive
stone building, known as Casa de Mata.
The former was used (1847) as a cannon
foundry by the Mexicans, and the latter
was a depository of gunpowder. Both
were armed and strongly garrisoned. Gen-
eral Scott, at Tacubaya, ascertained that
Santa Ana, while negotiations for peace
were going on, had sent church-bells out
of the city to be cast into cannon, and he
determined to seize both of these strong
buildings and deprive the Mexicans of
those sources of strength. He proposed to
first attack El Molino del Rey, which was
commanded by General Leon. The Mex-
ican forces at these defences were about
14,000 strong, their left wing resting on
El Molino del Rey, their centre forming
a connecting line with Casa de ]\Iata. and
supported by a field-battery, and their
right wing resting on the latter. To the
division of General Worth was intrust-
ed the task of assailing the works
before them. At three o'clock on the
morning of Sept. 8 (1847) the assaulting
columns moved to the attack, Garland's
brigade forming the right wing. The bat-
tle began at dawn by Huger's 24-pounder
opening on El Molino del Rey, when Ma-
jor Wright, of the 8th Infantry, fell upon
the centre with 500 picked men. On the
left was the 2d Brigade, commanded by
Colonel Mcintosh, supported by Duncan's
battery. The assault of Major Wright on
the centre drove back infantry and artil-
lery, and the Mexican field-battery was
captured. The Mexicans soon rallied and
regained their position, and a terrible
struggle ensued. El Molino del Rey was
soon assailed and carried by Garland's
brigade, and at the same time the battle
around Casa de Mata was raging fiercely.
For a moment the Americans reeled, but
soon recovered, when a large column of
Mexicans was seen filing around the right
of their intrenchments to fall upon the
Americans who had been driven back,
when Duncan's battery opened upon them
so destructively that the Mexican column
was scattered in confusion. Then Sum-
ner's dragoons charged upon them, and
their rout was complete. The slaughter
had been dreadful. Nearly one-fourth of
Worth's corps were either killed or wound-
ed. The Mexicans had left 1,000 dead on
the field. Their best leaders had been
slain, and 800 men had been made prison-
ers. The strong buildings were blown up,
and none of the defences of Mexico out-
side its gates remained to them, excepting
the castle of Ciiapultepec {q. v.) and
its supports.
Elwyn, AxFRED Langdon, philanthro-
pist; born in Portsmouth, N. H., July
9, 1804; graduated at Harvard College
in 1823; studied medicine, but never
practised; became known as a philanthro-
pist. He originated the Pennsylvania
Agricultural Society and Farm-school, of
which he was president in 1850; was also
president of various philanthropic insti-
tutions. He was the author of Glossary
of Supposed Americanisms; and Letters
to the Hon. John Langdon, during and
after the Revolution. He died in Phila-
delphia, Pa., March 15, 1884.
Ely, Alfred, lawyer; born in Lyme,
Conn., Feb. 18, 1815; settled in Rochester,
N. Y., in 1835; admitted to the bar in
1841; member of Congress in 1859-63.
He was taken prisoner by the Confederates
while visiting the battle-field of Bull Run
in July, 18G1, and confined in Libby
prison for six months; was then ex-
changed for Charles J. Faulkner, the min-
ister to France, who had been arrested
for disloyalty. While in Libby prison
he kept a journal, which was later pub-
lished as the Journal of Alfred Ely, a
Prisoner of War in Richmond. He died
in Rochester, N. Y., May 18, 1892.
Ely, RicPiARD Theodoke, political econ-
omist; born in Ripley, N. Y., April 13,
1854; graduated at Columbia University
in 1876; became Professor of Politi-
cal Economy in the University of Wis-
consin in 1892. Among his works are
French and German Socialism ; Taxation
in American States; Socialism and Social
Reform; The Social Law of Service; The
Labor Movement in Aynerica, etc.
Ely, William G., military officer; born
about 1835; joined the National army on
the first call for volunteers. On June
13, 1863, he was captured in the engage-
ment at Fort Royal Pike. After spend-
ing eight months in Libby prison, he en-
deavored to make his escape with 108
others through the famous underground
passage dug beneath Twentieth Street.
Four days later fifty of the number, in-
223
ELZEY— EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS
eluding Colonel Ely, were retaken. He
was, however, soon afterwards exchanged,
and led his regiment, on June 4, 18(31,
at the battle of Piedmont; received the
brevet of brigadier-general of volunteers
in the same year.
Elzey, Arnold, military officer; born in
Somerset county, Md., Dec. 18, 1816;
graduated at the United States Military
Academy in 1837; served with distinction
through the Florida and Mexican wars.
When the Civil War broke out he resigned
from the National army and entered
that of the Confederates; was promoted
on the field to the rank of brigadier-gen-
eral by Jefferson Davis for gallant ser-
vice, and later attained to that of major-
general. He died in Baltimore, Md., Feb.
21, 1871.
Emancipatioii Proclamations. For
many years there has been a fiction that
Gen. Benjamin F. Butler issued the first
proclamation freeing the slaves. That
officer never issued such a proclamation,
but he was the first to suggest to the gov-
ernment a partial solution of the very
perplexing question as to what was to be
done with the slaves during the Civil War.
It was held that the Constitution of the
United States did not give to Congress, or
to the non-slave-holding States, any right
to interfere with the institution of slavery.
This was reaffirmed by Congress in a reso-
lution passed by the House, Feb. 11, 1861,
Vv'ithout a dissenting voice, to reassure the
South that, in spite of the election of Mr.
Lincoln, the North had no intention of
usurping power not granted by the Con-
stitution. But when, after the outbreak
of the war, the army began to occupy
posts in the seceding and slave-holding
States, the negroes came flocking into thv^
Union lines, large numbers being set free
bj- the disorganized condition of affairs
from the usual labor on the farms and
plantations of the South. Then the ques-
tion arose. What can be done with them?
General Butler, when they came into his
camp at Fort Monroe, detained them and
refused to surrender them upon the appli-
cation of their owners on the plea that
they were contraband of war, that is,
property which could be used in military
operations, and therefore, by the laws of
war, subject to seizure. He set the able-
bodied men to work upon government for-
tifications, and when they brought their
women and children with them he issued
rations to them and charged them to the
service of the men. The President sustain-
ed General Butler's action in this case and
the example was followed by other com-
manders. The government ordered strict
accounts to be kept of the labor thus per-
foi'med, as it was not yet determined that
these laborers should be regarded as free.
On Aug. 6, 1861, the President signed an
act passed by Congress which declared that
when any slave was employed in any mili-
tary or naval service against the govern-
ment the person by whom his labor was
claimed, that is, his owner, should forfeit
all claims to such labor. The intent at the
time this bill was passed was that it should
be in force only tentatively, for few were
then able to see what proportions the
war would assume and what other meas-
ures would be found necessary to end it.
General Fremont, then in command of the
Western Department of the army, chose
to assume that the confiscation act of
Congress had unlimited scope, and Aug.
31, 1861. issued a proclamation confis-
cating the property and freeing the
slaves of all citizens of Missouri who had
taken, or should take, up arms against
the government. This action of Fremont
embarrassed President Lincoln greatly.
For whatever may have been his hope that
the outcome of the war would be the final
abolition of slavery, he could not fail to
see that to permit the generals of the
army to take such a course then in this
matter was rather premature. He ac-
cordingly wrote to General Fremont re-
questing him to modify his proclamation.
The general replied with a request that
the President himself would make the
necessary modifications. President Lin-
coln therefore issued a special order,
Sept. 11, 1861, declaring that the emanci-
pation clause of General Fremont's procla-
mation " be so modified, held, and con-
strued as to conform with and not to
transcend the provisions on the same sub-
ject contained in the act of Congress ap-
proved Aug. 6," preceding.
Another instance of the kind occurred
at the hands of General Hunter, the fol-
lowing year. That officer, being in com-
mand at Hilton Head, N. C, proclaimed
the States of Georgia, Florida, and South
224
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS
Carolina, in his department, under mar- tained in the act. Finally, in September,
tial law, and May 'J, 18G2, issued an he issued the following warning procla-
order in which occurred these words: niation:
" Slavery and martial law in a free *' PROCLAMATION,
country are altogether incompatible. The .. j^ Abraham I/incoln, President of the
persons in these States — Georgia, Florida, United States of America, and Commander-
and South Carolina — heretofore held as in-chief of the Army and Navy thereof, do
slaves are therefore declared forever ^""''f^ proclaim and declare that hereafter,
IT-,., • , 1 ^s heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for
free. Though President Lincoln had the object of practically restoring the con-
been bitterly censured by extremists for stitutional relation between the United
his action towards General Fremont, and states and each of the States, and the peo-
,, 1 1 1 .1 . . • . r •;i. pie thereof, in which States that relation is
though he knew that to interfere with ^^ ^.^y be suspended or disturbed.
General Hunter would only bring upon " That it is my purpose, upon the next
him even a worse storm of reproaches, meeting of Congress, to again recommend
he did not shrink from what he believed ^^^ adoption of a practical measure tender-
. TT • ,-1 ^^S pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or
his duty m the matter. He immediately rejection of all slave States, so-called, the
issued a proclamation sternly revoking people whereof may not then be in rebellion
General Hunter's order, saying that the against the United States, and which States
,,, ii.ji ij may then have voluntarily adopted, or there-
government had not had any knowledge ^^^^^ ^^^ voluntarily adopt, immediate or
of the general's intention to issue an gradual abolishment of slavery within their
order, and distinctly stating that "neither respective limits ; and that the efforts to
General Hunter nor any other commander ^'olonize persons of AfMcan descent, with
'' . their consent, upon this continent or else-
or person has been authorized by the gov- where, with the previously obtained consent
ernment of the United States to make of the governments existing there, will be
proclamation declaring the slaves of any continued. , „ , ^ , , ^^
c,, i r 5j ii T r fu 11 » That on the first day of January, in the
State free. "I further make known, ^^^^ ^j ^^^. Lord one thousand eight hun-
he continued, " that whether it be com- dred and sixty-three, all persons held as
petent for me, as commander-in-chief of slaves within any State, or designated part
the army and navy, to declare the slaves f ^ f ^^te, the people whereof shall then be
, •' , ^-, / ' . J 1 ,, In rebellion against the United States, shall
of any State or States free; and whether, ^g tj^gQ^ thenceforward, and forever free;
at any time or in any case, it shall have and the Executive Government of the United
become a necessity indispensable to the States, including the military and naval
. ./ ^ , . authority thereof, will recognize and main-
maintenance of the government to exer- ^^j^ ^he freedom of such persons, and will
else such supposed power, are questions do no act or acts to repress such persons,
v/hich, under my responsibilitv, I reserve or any of them, in any efforts they may
to myself, and which I cannot feel justi- '^'^I^^^T th'^ Exeamve^witon the first day
fied in leaving to commanders in the /^ January aforesaid, by proclamation, des-
field." Though much displeasure was ex- ignate the States and parts of States, If
pressed by many at the time concerning any. in which the people thereof respectively
t, .,. .1.1 1 xv -n -if shall then be in rebellion against the United
the position thus taken by the President, ^^^^^^^ and the fact that any State, or the
it was generally admitted later that he people thereof, shall on that day be in good
was justified in taking it, since it was faith represented in the Congress of the
from no lack of sympathy with the cause United States by "^/^^ers chosen thereto
, . . , , , -ii 1 11 1 ■ at elections wherein a majority of the quali-
of emancipation that he withheld his ^^(j voters of such State shall have partic-
sanction from the premature attempts ipated. shall, in the absence of strong coun-
to secure it tervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive
^ T 1 ic lo^o <-i J „ evidence that such State, and the people
On July 16, 1862, Congress passed an thereof, are not then in rebellion against
act for the suppression of slavery, one the United States.
provision of which declared the absolute " That attention is hereby called to an act
"freedom of the slaves of rebels" under oL^.?"^'T'* t^V*'^**. w ° /"■* *.° .n^Mm-^ih
,,.,„, additional Article of War,' approved March
certain operations of Avar therein defined, jg^ ^ggo, and which act is in the words and
This gave the President a wide field for figures following :
the exercise of executive power, but he " ' Be it enacted by the fSenate and House
J .. ... i. J rri, i- i. of Representatives of the United States of
ttsed It with great prudence. The patient /„,,^j^„ ^„ Conffress assembled. That here-
Lincoln hoped the wise men among the after the following shall be promulgated as
Confederates might heed the threat con- an additional article of war for the govern-
Ill.— P 225
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATIONS
ment of the army of the United States, and
shall be obeyed and observed as such :
" ' Article — . All oflicers or persons in the
military or naval service of the United
States are prohibited from employing any
of the forces under their respective com-
mands for the purpose of returning fugitives
from service or labor who may have escaped
from any persons to whom such service or
labor is claimed to be due ; and any officer
who shall be found guilty by a court martial
of violating this article shall be dismissed
from the service.
" ' Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That
this act shall take effect from and after its
passage.'
" Also, to the ninth and tenth sections
af an act entitled ' An Act to Suppress In-
surrection, to Punish Treason and Rebellion,
to Seize and Confiscate I'l'operty of Rebels,
and for other Purposes," approved July 17,
1862, and which sections are in the words
and figures following :
" ' Sec. 9. And ie it further enacted. That
all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be
engaged in rebellion against the Government
of the United States, or who shall In any
way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping
from such persons and taking refuge within
the lines of the army ; and all slaves captured
from such persons, or deserted by them and
coming under the control of the Government
of the United States ; and all slaves of such
persons found on (or) being within any
place occupied by rebel forces and after-
ward occupied by the forces of the United
States, shall be deemed captives of war, and
shall be forever free of their servitude, and
not again held as slaves.
" ' Sec. 10. And he it further enacted. That
no slave escaping into any State, Territory,
or the District of Columbia, from any other
State, shall be delivered up, or in any way
impeded or hindered of his liberty, except
for crime, or some offence against the laws,
unless the person claiming said fugitive shall
first make an oath that the person to whom
the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged
to be due is his lawful owner, and has not
borne arms against the United States in the
present rebellion, nor In any way given aid
and comfort thereto ; and no persons en-
gaged in the military or naval service of the
United States shall, under any pretence
whatever, assume to decide on the validity
of the claim of any person to the service
or labor of any other person, or surrender
up any such person to the claimant, on pain
of being dismissed from the service.'
" And I do hereby enjoin upon and order
ull persons engaged in the military and naval
service of the United States to observe, obey,
and enforce, within their respective spheres
of service, the act and sections above re-
cited.
" And the Executive will in due time rec-
ommend that all citizens of _ the United
States who shall have remained loyal thereto
throughout the rebellion shall (upon the
restoration of the constitutional relation be-
tween the United States and their respec-
tive States and people, if that relation shall
have been suspended or disturbed) be com-
pensated for all losses by acts of the United
States, including the loss of slaves.
" In witness whereof I have hereunto set
my hand and caused the seal of the United
States to be attixed.
" Done at the city of Washington, this
twenty-second day of September, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and.
sixty-two, and of the Independence of the
United States the eighty-seventh.
" Abraham Lincoln.
" By the President :
" William H. Sewahd, Secretary of State."
This warning was unheeded, and on the
day mentioned the President issued the
following proclamation :
" PROCLAMATION.
" Whereas, On the 22d day of September,
In the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was
issued by the President of the United States,
containing, among other things, the follow-
ing, to wit :
" ' That on the first day of January, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three, all persons held
as slaves within any State or designated
part of a State, the people whereof shall then
be in rebellion against the United States,
shall be then, thenceforward, and forever
free ; and the Executive Government of
the United States, including the military
and naval authorities thereof, will recognize
and maintain the freedom of such persons,
and will do no act or acts to repress such
persons, or any of them, in any efforts they
may make for their actual freedom.
" ' That the Executive will, on the first
day of January aforesaid, by proclamation,
designate the States and parts of States,
if any. In which the people thereof, respec-
tively, shall then be in rebellion against the
United States ; and the fact that any State,
or the people thereof, shall on that day he
in good faith represented in the Congress
of the United States by members chosen
thereto at elections wherein a majority of the
qualified voters of such States shall have
participated, shall, in tlie absence of strong
countervailing testimony, be deemed con-
clusive evidence that such State, and the
people thereof, are not then in rebellion
against the United States.'
" Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States, by virtue of
the power in me vested as Commander-in-
chief of the Army and Navy of the United
States in time of actual armed rebellion
against the authority and Government of the
United States, and as a fit and necessary
war measure for suppressing said rebellion,
do, on this first day of January, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hi^dred and
sixty-three, and in accordance with my pur-
pose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the
full period of one hundred days from the da.^j
first above mentioned, order and designate.
226
FACSIMILE OF THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION.
(//' i^i^tCu ijLuJX^uiij tf!cSS» CtfT»'<22«u-^ C4yti*4n^ arC^^*^ ^^U«^ /?&
" That on the first day of January, In the day of January aforesaid, by proclamation,
year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- designate the States and parts of States, if
dred and sixty-three, all persons held as any, in which the people thereof, respec-
slaves within any State or designated part tively, shall then be in rebellion against the
of a State, the people whereof shall then be United States ; and the fact that any State,
in rebellion against the United States, shall or the people thereof, shall on that day be
be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; in good faith represented in the Congress of
and the Executive Government of the United the United States, by members chosen thereto
States, including the military and naval at elections wherein a majority of the quali-
authority thereof, will recognize and maintain fled voters of such State shall have partic-
the freedom of such persons, and will do ipated, shall, in the absence of strong coun-
no act or acts to repress such persons, or tervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive
any of them, in any efforts thty may make evidence that such State, and the people
for their actual freedom. thereof, are not then in rebellion against the
" That the Executive will, on the first United States."
/Cpffy^.^^%^^^,£U'^-^>C*^- iy^~ Ib^Hu-e^ 0^^^ sA^^ a^^^-^^y J\ra^ cr^L-^f^
227
>^n*t»*<W. Jnu^^^ff^, lfe/yift£rv>*^^, tB^ptx^ ^A, I^^T^KoAy, nP^PUMaS^.
tOtS^C^ w*^ ^^»w«t/ 'nl&fvCCj^c'rfWM^c' j/t'^fCa'£e^ ^^^i /P'*'^! tf^**- * *" t-^^tn*
fJ^^iOO fi.u^4>^ A^v<knw ojf >^**vOi^6 <?,^rvua^cZZin»/ A/lAA^
/iJUjet<^eMj i^*^ jt^l^Ui oy^yt^^ju,^ A^%'xrx>^:2i cr^jt^vo CC*\yCO^^^
/^'biftO.
74l Io<^tClJ/ irMijY ^/ax>^ iUAxu^fuH SJ7'~0yy^ ,
?-<^Wt <^ Kcvs...JAj~A Cu^ SU^^fFef iUuLlL^ £C^ <rT ^IjU
EMANCIPATION PEOCLAMATIONS
as the Statef5 and parts of States^ wherein
the people thereof, respectively, are this day
in rebellion against the United States, the
following, to wit :
" Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the
parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jeffer-
son, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, As-
cension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, La-
fourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans,
including the city of New Orleans), Missis-
sippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Caro-
lina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except
the forty-eight counties designated as West
Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley,
Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York,
Princess Anne and Norfolk, including the
cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and
which excepted parts are, for the present,
left precisely as if this proclamation were
not Issued.
" And by virtue of the power and for the
purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare
that all persons held. as slaves within said
designated States and parts of States are,
and henceforward shall be, free ; and that the
Executive Government of the United States,
including the military and naval authorities
thereof, will recognize and maintain the free-
dom of said persons.
" And I hereby enjoin upon the people so
declared to be free to abstain from all
violence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and
I recommend to them that, in all cases when
allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable
wages.
" And I further declare and make known
that such persons, of suitable condition, will
be received into the armed service of the
United States, to garrison forts, positions,
stations, and other places, and to man ves-
sels of all sorts in said service.
" And upon this act, sincerely believed to
be an act of justice, warranted by the Con-
stitution, upon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind, and
the gracious favor of Almighty God.
" In testimony whereof I have hereunto
set my name, and caused the seal of the
United States to be affixed.
" Done at the City of Washing-
ton, this first day of January, in
[L.S.] the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, and
of the Independence of the United
States the eighty-seventh.
" Abraham Lincoln.*
" By the President :
" William H. Seward, Secretary of State."
By the Emancipation Proclamation
3,063,392 slaves were set free, as follows :
Arkansas 111,104
Alabama 435,132
Florida 61,753
Georgia 462,232
Mississippi 436,696
North Carolina 275,081
South Carolina 402,541
Texas 180,682
Virginia (part) 450.437
Louisiana (part) 247,734
* The pen with wiiioh I'resident Lincoln wrote his Proclamation of Emancipation was given to Senator Sumner
by the President, at the request of the former, and by him presented to the late George IJvermore, of Boston. It
is a steel-pen, of the l<ind called "The Washington," in a common cedar holder— all as plain and unostentatious as
was the President himselt.
230
EMBARGO ACTS
The institution was not disturbed by the
proclamation in eight States, which con-
tained 831,780 slaves, distributed as fol-
lows:
Delaware 1,798
Kentucky 225,490
Maryland 87,188
Missouri 114,465
Tennessee 275,784
Louisiana (part) 85,281
West Virginia 12,761
Virginia (part) 29,013
The remainder were emancipated by the
Thirteenth Amendment to the national
Constitution, making the whole number
set free 3,895,172.
On the preceding pages is given a fac-
simile of the Proclamation of Emancipa-
tion.
Embargo Acts. The British Orders in
Council (Nov. 6, 1793) and a reported
speech of Lord Dorchester (Guy Carleton)
to a deputation of the Western Indians,
produced much indignation against the
British government. Under the stimulus
of this excitement Congress passed
(March 26, 1794) a joint resolution lay-
ing an embargo on commerce for thirty
days. The measure seemed to have chief-
ly in view the obstructing the supply of
provisions for the British fleet and army
in the West Indies. It operated quite
as much against the French. Subse-
quently (April 7) a resolution was intro-
duced to discontinue all commercial inter-
course with Great Britain and her sub-
jects, as far as respected all articles of
the growth or manufacture of Great
Britain or Ireland, until the surrender of
the Western posts and ample compen-
sation should be given for all losses and
damages growing out of British aggres-
sion on the neutral rights of the Ameri-
cans. It was evident from the course that
the debate assumed and from the temper
manifested by the House that the resolu-
tion would be adopted. This measure
would have led directly to war. To avert
this calamity, Washington was inclined
to send a special minister to England.
The appointment of John Jay (q. v.) fol-
lowed.
On the receipt of despatches from Minis-
ter Armstrong, at Paris, containing infor-
mation about the new interpretation of
the Berlin decree and also of the British
Orders in Council, President Jeflferson,
who had called Congress together earlier
than usual (Oct. 25, 1807), sent a mes-
sage to that body communicating facts in
his possession and recommending the pas-
sage of an embargo act — " an inhibition
of the departure of our vessels from the
ports of the United States." The Senate,
after a session of four hours, passed a
bill — 22 to 6 — laying an embargo on all
shipping, foreign and domestic, in the
ports of the United States, with specified
exceptions and ordering all vessels abroad
to return home forthwith. This was done
in secret session. The House, also with
closed doors, debated the bill three days
and nights, and it Avas passed by a vote
of 82 to 44, and became a law Dec. 22,
1807.
Unlimited in its duration and uni-
versal in its application, the embargo
was an experiment never before tried by
any nation — an attempt to compel two
belligerent powers to respect the rights
of neutrals by withholding intercourse
with all the world. It accomplished noth-
irg, or worse than nothing. It aroused
against the United States whatever spirit
of honor and pride existed in both na-
tions. Opposition to the measure, in and
out of Congress, was violent and incessant,
and on March 1, 1809, it was repealed.
At the same time Congress passed a law
forbidding all commercial intercourse with
France and England until the Orders in
Council and the decrees should be re-
pealed.
Bonaparte's response to the Embargo
Act of 1807 was issued from Bayonne,
April 17, 1808. He was there to dethrone
his Spanish ally to make place for one
of his own family. His decree authorized
the seizure and confiscation of all Ameri-
can vessels in France, or which might
arrive in France. It was craftily an-
swered, when Armstrong remonstrated,
that, as no American vessels could be
lawfully abroad after the passage of
the Embargo Act, those pretending to
be such must be British vessels in dis-
guise.
Feeling the pressure of the opposition
to the embargo at home, Pinckney was
authorized to propose to the British min-
istry a repeal of the Embargo Act, as to
Great Britain, on condition of the recall
231
EMBARGO ACTS
of her Orders in Council. Not wishing the least sign of yielding while the slight-
to encounter a refusal, Pinckney sounded est doubt existed of its unequivocal fail-
Canning, the secretary of foreign af- ure, or the smallest link in the confed-
fairs, who gradually led the American eracy against her remained undissolved.
The disconcerted
American ambassador,
evidently piqued at
the result of his prop-
osition, advised his
government to perse-
vere in the embargo.
The embargo was far
less effectual abroad
than it was supposed
it would be, and the
difficulty of maintain-
ing it strictly at home
caused its repeal in
March, 1809. The de-
cided support of the
embargo given by both
Houses of Congress
was supplemented by
resolutions of the leg-
islatures of Georgia,
minister into making a formal proposi- the Carolinas, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylva-
tion. To this Canning made a reply nia, and New Hampshire. An enforce-
(Sept. 28, 1808) in writing, unsurpassed ment act was passed (January, 1809),
in diplomatic cunning and partially con- and, to make it efficient, the employment
cealed sarcasm. It also contained sound of twelve additional revenue cutters was
views on the whole subject of the orders authorized; also the fitting out for ser-
and decrees. Canning insisted that, as vice of all the ships-of-war and gunboats.
France was the original aggressor, by the This enforcement act was despotic, and
issuing of the Berlin decree, retaliation Avould not have been tolerated except as a
(the claimed cause of the embargo) temporary expedient, for the Orders in
ought, in the first instance, to have been Council were mild in their effects upon
directed against that power alone; and American trade and commerce compared
England could not consent to buy off a with that of this Embargo Act. It pretty
hostile procedure, of which she ought effectually suppressed extensive smug-
never to have been made the object, at gling, which was carried on between the
the expense of a concession made, not to United States and Canada and at many
the United States, upon whom the opera- sea-ports, especially in New England,
tion of the British orders was merely in- But the opposition clamored for its re-
cidental, but to France, against which peal. At the opening of 1814 there were
country, in a spirit of just retaliation, expectations, speedily realized, of peace
they had been originally aimed. The Ber- near; also of a general pa.cification of
lin decree had been the beginning of an Europe. These signs were pointed to by
attempt to overthrow the political power the opposition as cogent reasons for the
of Great Britain by destroying her com- repeal. These considerations had weight,
merce, and almost all Europe had been added to which was the necessity for in-
compelled to join in that attempt; and creasing the revenue. Finally, on Jan.
the American embargo had, in fact, come 19 (1814), the President recommended
in aid of Napoleon's continental system, the repeal of the Embargo Act, and it was
This attempt, Canning said, was not like- done by Congress on April 14. There
ly to succeed, yet it was important to the were great rejoicings throughout the coun-
reputation of Great Britain not to show try, and the demise of the Terrapin was
232
EMBARGO ACTS
hailed as a good omen of commercial
prosperity. The Death of the Embargo
was celebrated in verses published in the
Federal Republican newspaper of George-
town, in the District of Columbia. These
were reproduced in the New York Even-
ing Post, with an illustration designed by
John Wesley Jarvis, the painter, and
drawn and engraved on wood by Dr. Alex-
ander Anderson. The picture was re-
drawn and engraved by Dr. Anderson, on
a reduced scale, in 1864, after a lapse of
exactly fifty years. The lines which it
illustrates are as follows:
TERRAPIN'S ADDRESS.
" Reflect, my friend, as you pass by,
As you are now, so once was I :
As / am now, so you may be — •
Laid on your bacl< to die like me !
I was, iudeed, true sailor born ;
To quit my friend in death I scorn.
Once Jemmy seemed to be my friend,
But basely brought me to my end !
Of head bereft, and light, and breath,
I hold Fidelity in death :
For 'Sailors' Rights' I still will tug;
And Madison to death I'll hug,
I'or his perfidious zeal displayed
For ' Sailors' Rights and for Free-trade.'
This small atonement I will have —
I'll lug down Jemmy to the grave.
Then trade and commerce shall be free,
And sailors have their liberty.
Of head bereft, and light, and breath,
The Terrapin, still true in death.
Will punish Jemmy's perfidy —
Leave trade and brother sailors free."
DKATH OP TERRAPIN, OR THE EMBARGO.
PASSENGER'S REPLY.
Yes, Terrapin, bereft of breath.
We see thee faithful still in death.
Stiek to't — ' Free-trade and Sailors' Rights.'
Hug Jemmy — press him — hold him — bite.
Never mind thy head — thou'lt live with-
out It ;
Spunk will preserve thy life — don't doubt
It.
Down to the grave, t' atone for sin,
Jemmy must go with Terrapin.
Bear him but off, and we shall see
Commerce restored and sailors free I
Hug, Terrapin, with all thy might —
Now for ' Free-trade and Sailors' Right.'
Stick to him. Terrapin ! to thee the nation
Now eager looks — then die for her salva-
tion.
" Ploreat Respublica.
" Banks of Goose Creek, City of Wash-
ington, 15th April, 1814."
The continued aggressions of the British
upon American commerce created a power-
ful war party in the United States in
1811, and a stirring report of the com-
mittee on foreign relations, submitted to
Congress in November, intensified that
feeling. Bills were speedily passed for
augmenting the army, and other prepara-
tions for war were made soon after the
opening of the year 1812. The President
v/as averse to war, but his party urged
and threatened him so pertinaciously that
he consented to declare war against Great
Britain. As a preliminary measure he
sent a confidential message to Congress
(April 1, 1812) recommending the pas-
sage of an act laying an embargo for sixty
days. A bill was introduced to that effect
by Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, which
prohibited the sailing of
any vessel for any foreign
port, except foreign ships
with such cargoes as they
might have on board when
notified of the act. The
bill was passed (April 6),
and was speedily followed
by a supplementary act
(April 14) prohibiting ex-
po r t a t i o n s by land,
whether of goods or specie.
The latter measure was
called the land embargo.
It was vehemently de-
nounced, for it suddenly
suppressed an active and
lucrative trade between the
United States and Canada.
It was ascertained that the British
blockading squadron in American waters
was constantly supplied with provisions
from American ports by unpatriotic men ;
233
EMBRY— EMMET
also that British manufactures were being
introduced on professedly neutral vessels.
Such traffic was extensively carried on,
especially in New England ports, where
magistrates were often leniently disposed
towards such violators of law. In a con-
fidential message (Dec. 9, 1813) the Presi-
dent recommended the passage of an em-
bargo act to suppress the traffic, and one
passed both Houses on the 17th, to remain
in force until Jan. 1, 1815, unless the war
should sooner cease. It prohibited, under
severe penalties, the exportation, or at-
tempt at exportation, by land or water, of
any goods, produce, specie, or live-stock;
and to guard against evasions even the
coast trade was entirely prohibited. This
bore heavily on the business of some of
the New England sea-coast towns. No
transportation was allowed, even on inland
waters, without special permission from
the President. While the act bore so
heavily on honest traders, it pretty effect-
ually stopped the illicit business of
'■ speculators, knaves, and traders, who en-
riched themselves at the expense of the
community." This act, like all similar
ones, was called a " terrapin policy " ; and
illustrative of it was a caricature repre-
senting a British vessel in the offing, some
men embarking goods in a boat on the
shore, and a stout man carrying a barrel
of flour towards the boat, impeded by
being seized by the seat of his pantaloons
by an enormous terrapin, urged on by a
man who cries out, " D — n it, how he nicks
'em." The victim exclaims, " Oh ! this
ing gratuitously. He died in Camden,
N. Y., in August, 1775.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, author;
leader of the transcendental school of
New England; born in Boston, May 25,
1803; graduated at Harvard in 1821;
taught school five years, and in 1826 was
licensed to preach by the Middlesex
(Unitarian) Association. In the winter
of 1833-34, after retui'ning from Europe,
he began the career of a lecturer and es-
sayist. Marrying in 1835, he fixed his
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
residence at Concord, Mass., and was a
contributor to, and finally editor of. The
Dial, a quarterly magazine, and organ of
the New England transcendentalists. He
lived the quiet life of a literary man and
philosopher for more than forty years.
cursed Ograbme!"— the letters of the last He published essays, poems, etc. He died
word, transposed, spell embargo. This act in Concord, Mass.. April 27, 1882
was repealed in April,' 1814
See Thayer,
Embry, James Crawford, clergyman;
born of negro parents in Knox county,
Ind., Nov. 2, 1834 ; became a minister in
the African Methodist Episcopal Church
in 1863; author of Condition and Pros-
pects of the Colored American.
Embury, Philip, clergyman; born in
Ballygaran, Ireland, Sept. 21, 1729; came
to New Yoi'k in 1760, and at the solicita-
tion of Barbara Heck he began to hold
services in his own house, and later on in
a rigging-loft. This was the foundation
of Methodism in the United States. The
first Methodist church was built in John
Street in 1768, under the supervision of
Embury, he himself working on the build-
Emigrant Aid Company.
Eli.
Emigration. See Immigration.
Emmet, Thomas Addis, patriot; born
in Cork, Ireland, April 24, 1763; grad-
uated at Trinity College, Dublin; first
studied medicine, and then law, and was
admitted to the Dublin bar in 1791. He
became a leader of the Association of Unit-
ed Irishmen, and was one of a general
committee whose ultimate object was to
secure the freedom of Ireland from British
rule. With many of his associates, he was
arrested in 1798, and for more than two
years was confined in Fort George, Scot-
land. His brother Robert, afterwards
engaged in the same cause, was hanged in
234
EMMO JJJ S— EMUCr AU
Dublin in 1803. Thomas was liberated and Emott, James, jurist; born in Pough-
banished to France after the treaty of keepsie, N. Y., March 14, 1771; grad-
Amiens, the severest penalties being pro- uated at Union College in 1800, and began
iiounced against him if he should return the practice of law at Ballston Centre, but
to Great Britain. His wife was permitted soon removed to Albany. He represented
to join him, on condition that she should that district in the legislature in 1804. He
never again set foot on British soil. He practised law a while in New Ybrk City,
came to the United States in 1804, and be- and then returned to Poughkeepsie. He
came very eminent in his profession in the was in Congress from 1809 to 1813, and
city of New York. He was made attorney- v/as a leader of the Federal party therein,
general of the State in 1812. A monu- He was again in the legislature (1814-17),
ment — an obelisk — was erected to his and was speaker of that body. From 1817
memory in St. Paul's cliurch-yard. New to 1823 he was first judge of Dutchess
York, on Broadway. He died in New county, and was judge of the second cir-
York, Nov. 14, 1827. cuit from 1827 to 1831, when he retired
Emmons, George Foster, naval officer; from public life. He died in Poughkeepsie,
born in Clarendon, Vt., Aug. 23, 1811; April 10, 18.50.
entered the navy in 1828; took part in sev- Em.pire State, a popular name given
eral engagements during the Mexican to the State of New Y'ork, because it is
War; served through the Civil War, and the most populous, wealthy, and politi-
in 1866 commanded the Ossipee, which cally powerful State in the Union, it
carried the United States commissioners is sometimes called the " Excelsior State,"
to Alaska for the purpose of hoisting the from the motto Excelsior — " higher " —
American flag over that region. He was on its seal and coat-of-arms. The city of
promoted rear-admiral in 1872; retired in New York, its commercial metropolis,
1873; author of The Navy of the United and the largest city in the Union, is some-
States from 1775 to 1853. He died in times called the " Empire City. "
Princeton, N. J., July 2, 1884. Employers' Liability Law, approved
Emory, William Helmsley, military April 22, 1008, regulated tlie liability of
officer; born in Queen Anne's county, common carriers by railroad to their em-
Md., Sept. 9, 1811; graduated at West ployees in certain cases.
Point in 1831. He was appointed lieu- Emucfau, Battle of. On a bend in
tenant of the topographical engineers July the Tallapoosa River, in Alabama, was
7, 1833; was aide to General Kearny in a Creek village named Emucfau. Jack-
California in 1846-47, and was made lieu- son, with a considerable force, approaching
tenant-colonel, Sept. 30, 1847. He was as- the place (Jan. 21, 1814), saw a well-
tronomer to the commission to determine beaten trail and some prowling Indians,
the boundary between the United States and prepared his camp that night for an
and Mexico. He was serving as captain attack. At six o'clock the next morning
of cavalry in Mexico when the Civil War a party of Creek warriors fell upon him
broke out, and brought his command into with great fury. .\t dawn a vigorous
Kansas in good order. In May, 1861, he cavalry charge was made upon the foe
was made lieutenant - colonel of the 6th by General Coflfee, and they were dis-
Cavalry; served in the campaign of 1802 persed. Coffee pursued the barbarians
in the Army of the Potomac, and was made for 2 miles with much slaughter. Then
brigadier-general of volunteers in March a party was despatched to destroy the
of that year. He did good service under Indian encampment at Emucfau, but it
Banks in Louisiana, and under Sheridan was found to be too strongly fortified to
in the Shenandoah Valley. He was made be taken without artillery. When Coffee
colonel of the 5th Cavalry in the fall of fell back to guard approaching cannon,
1863; in March, 1865, was brevetted brig- the Indians, thinking it was a retreat,
adier-general and major-general of the again fell upon Jackson, but, after a
United States army; and in 1876 was re- severe struggle, were repulsed. Jackson
tired with the full rank of brigadier- made no further attempt to destroy the
general. He died in Washington, D, C, encampment at Emucfau. He was aston-
Dec. 1, 1887. ished at the prowess of the Creek war-
235
ENDICOTT— ENGINEERING
yiors. In their retrograde movement
(Jan. 24), the Tennesseeans were again
threatened by the Indians, near Eno-
tochopco Creek. A severe engagement
soon ensued; but the Tennesseeans, hav-
ing planted a (i-pounder cannon on an
eminence, poured a storm of grape-shot
on the Indians, which sent them yelling
in all directions. The slaughter among
the Indians was heavy, while that among
the white troops was comparatively
light. In the two engagements (Emucfau
and Enotochopco) , Jackson lost twenty
killed and seventy-five wounded.
Endicott, John, colonial governor;
born in Dorchester, England, in 1589; was
JOHN ENDICOTT.
sent by the Massachusetts Company to
superintend the plantation at Naumkeag;
arrived there Sept. 6 (N. S.), and in
April next year was appointed governor
of the colony, but was succeeded by John
Winthrop. In 1636 he was sent with
Captain Underhill, with about ninety
men, on an expedition against Indians
on Block Island and the Pequods. Mr.
Endicott was deputy-governor of Massa-
chusetts several years, and also govern-
or, in which office he died, March 15,
1665. Bold, energetic, sincere, and
bigoted, he was the strongest of the Puri-
tans, and was severe in the execution of
laws against those who differed from the
prevailing theology of the colony. He
was one of the most persistent persecut-
ors of the Quakers, and stood by unmoved,
as governor, when they were hanged in
Boston; and so violent were his feelings
against the Roman Catholics, and any-
thing that savored of " popery," that he
caused the red cross of St. George to be
cut out of the military standard. He
opposed long hair on men, and insisted
that the women should use veils in public
assemblies. During his several adminis-
trations many were punished for the
slightest offences, and four Quakers were
hanged in Boston.
Endicott, William Crowninshield,
jurist; born in Salem, Mass., Nov. 19,
1827; graduated at Harvard in 1847; ad-
mitted to the bar in 1850; appointed
judge of the Supreme Court of Massa-
chusetts in 1873; became Secretary of
War in 1885. Judge Endicott was a
Democrat, and the unsuccessful candidate
of his party for governor of Massachu-
setts in 1884. His daughter, Mary, mar-
ried Joseph Chamberlain, English colo-
nial secretary. He died in Boston, May
6, 1900.
ENGINEERING
Engineering. Mr. Thomas C. Clarke divided into structural engineering, or
(q. v.), Past President of the Society of that of railways, bridges, tunnels, build-
Civil Engineers, writes as follows on the ings, etc.; also, into hydraulic engineer-
subject of engineering, with special refer- ing, which governs the application of wa-
ence to American engineers and their ter to canals, river improvements, harbors,
works in the United States. the supply of water to towns and for ir-
rigation, disposal of sewage, etc.
Dynamical engineering can be divided
Engineering is sometimes divided into into mechanical engineering, which cov-
civil, military, and naval engineering, ers the construction of all prime motors.
The logical classification is: statical en- the transmission of power, and the use of
gineering and dynamical. machines and machine tools. Closely al-
Statical engineering can be again sub- lied is electrical engineering, the art of
236
ENGINEERING
the transformation and transmission of
energy for traction, lighting, telegraphy,
telephoning, operating machinery, and
many other uses, such as its electrolytic
application to ores and metals.
Then we have the combined application
of statical, mechanical, and electrical en-
gineering to what is now called indus-
trial engineering, or the production of
articles useful to man. This may be di-
vided into agricultural, mining, metal-
lurgical, and chemical engineering.
Structural Engineering. — This is the
oldest of all. We have not been able to
surpass the works of the past in grandeur
or durability. The pyramids of Egypt
still stand, and will stand for thousands
of years. Roman bridges, aqueducts, and
sewers still perform their duties. Joseph's
canal still irrigates lower Egypt. The
great wall of China, running for 1,500
miles over mountains and plains, con-
tains 150,000,000 cubic yards of mate-
rials and is the greatest of artificial
works. No modern building compares in
grandeur with St. Peter's, and the me-
diaeval cathedrals shame our puny imita-
tions.
Railways. — The greatest engineering
work of the nineteenth century was the
development of the railway system which
has changed the face of the world. Be-
ginning in 1829 with the locomotive of
George Stephenson, it has extended with
such strides that, after seventy years,
there are 406,000 miles of railways in the
world, of which 190,000 miles are in the
United States. Their cost is estimated at
$40,000,000,000, of which $10,000,000,000
belong to the United States.
The rapidity with which railways are
built in the United States and Canada con-
trasts strongly with what has been done
in other countries. Much has been writ-
ten of the energy of Russia in building
3,000 miles of Siberian railway in five
or six years. In the United States an
average of 6,147 miles was completed ev-
ery year during ten successive years, and
in 1887 there were built 12,982 miles.
They were built economically, and at first
in not as solid a manner as those of Eu-
rope. Steeper gradients, sharper curves,
and lighter rails were used. This ren-
dered necessary a different kind of roll-
ing-stock suitable to such construction.
The swivelling-truck and equalizing-beam
enabled our engines to run safely on tracks
where the rigid European engines would
soon have been in the ditch.
Our cars were made longer, and by the
use of longitudinal framing much stronger.
A great economy came from the use of
annealed cast-iron wheels. It was soon
seen that longer cars would carry a great-
er proportion of paying load, and the
more cars that one engine could draw in
a train, the less would be the cost. It
was not until the invention by Bessemer
in 1864 of a steel of quality and cost
that made it available for rails that much
heavier cars and locomotives could be
used. Then came a rapid increase. As
soon as Bessemer rails were made in this
country, the cost fell from $175 per ton to
$50, and now to $26.
Before that time a wooden car weighed
16 tons, and could carry a paying load of
15 tons. The 30-ton engines of those days
could not draw on a level over thirty cars
weighing 900 tons.
The pressed steel car of to-day weighs
no more than the wooden car, but carries
a paj'ing load of 50 tons. The heaviest
engines have now drawn on a level fifty
steel cars, weighing 3,750 tons. In the
one case the paying load of an engine was
450 tons; now it is 2,500 tons.
Steep grades soon developed a better
brake system, and these heavier trains
have led to the invention of the auto-
matic brake worked from the engine, and
also automatic couplers, saving time and
many lives. The capacity of our rail-
ways has been greatly increased by the
use of electric block-signals.
The perfecting of both the railway and
its rolling-stock has led to remarkable
results.
In 1899 Poor gives the total freight ton-
nage at 975,789,941 tons, and the fi-eight
receipts at $922,436,314, or an average
rate per ton of 95 cents. Had the rates
of 1867 prevailed, the additional yearly
cost to the public would have been $4,275,-
000,000, or sufficient to replace the
whole I'ailway system in two and a half
years. This much can surely be said:
the reduction in cost of operating our
railways, and the consequent fall in freight
rates, have been potent factors in enabling
the United States to send abroad last
237
ENGINEEBINa
year $1,456,000,000 worth of exports and
flood the world with our food and manu-
factured products.
Bridge Building. — In early days the
building of a bridge was a matter
of great ceremony, and it was conse-
crated to protect it from evil spirits. Its
construction was controlled by priests, as
the title of the Pope of Rome, " Pontifex
Maximus," indicates.
Railways changed all this. Instead of
the picturesque stone bridge, whose long
line of low arches harmonized with the
landscape, there came the straight girder
or high truss, ugly indeed, but quickly
built, and costing much less.
Bridge construction has made greater
progress in the United States than abroad.
The heavy trains that we have described
called for stronger bridges. The large
American rolling-stock is not used in Eng-
land, and but little on the continent of
Europe, as the width of trmnels and other
obstacles will not allow of it. It is said
that there is an average of one bridge for
every 3 miles of railway in the United
States, making 63,000 bridges, most of
which have been replaced by new and
stronger ones during the last twenty
years. This demand has brought into ex-
istence many bridge - building companies,
some of whom make the whole bridge,
from the ore to the finished product.
Before the advent of railways, highway
bridges in America were made of wood,
and called trusses. The coming of rail-
ways required a stronger type of bridge
to carry concentrated loads, and the Howe
truss, with vertical iron rods, was in-
vented, capable of 150-foot spans.
About 1868 iron bridges began to take
the place of wooden bridges. One of
the first long-span bridges was a single-
track railway bridge of 400 - foot span
over the Ohio at Cincinnati, which was
considered to be a great achievement in
1870.
The Kinzua viaduct, 310 feet high and
over half a mile long, belongs to this
era. It is the type of the numerous high
viaducts now so common.
About 1885 a new material was given
to engineers, having greater strength and
tenacity than iron, and commercially
available from its low cost. This is ba-
sic steel. This new chemical metal, for
such it is, is 50 per cent, stronger than
iron, and can be tied in a knot when
cold.
The efi'ect of improved devices and the
use of steel is shown by the weights of the
400-foot Ohio River iron bridge, built
in 1870, and a bridge at the same place,
built in 1886. The bridge of 1870 was of
iron, with a span of 400 feet. The bridge
of 1886 was of steel. Its span was 550
feet. The weights of the two were nearly
alike.
The cantilever design, which is a revi-
val of a very ancient type, came into
use. The great Forth Bridge, in Scot-
land, 1,600-foot span, is of this style, as
are the 500-foot spans at Poughkeepsie,
and now a new one is being designed to
cross the St. Lawrence near Quebec, of
1,800-foot span. This is probably near
the economic limit of cantilever con-
struction.
The suspension bridge can be extended
much farther, as it carries no dead weight
of compression members.
The Niagara Suspension Bridge, of 810-
foot span, built by Roebling, in 1852, and
the Brooklyn Bridge, of 1,600 feet, built
by Roebling and his son, twenty years af-
ter, marked a wonderful advance in bridge
design. The same lines of construction
will be followed in the 2,700-foot span,
designed to cross the North River some
time in the present century. The only
radical advance is the use of a better steel
than could be had in earlier days.
Steel-arched bridges are now scientifical-
ly designed. Such are the new Niagara
Bridge, of 840-foot span, and the Alex-
andra Bridge at Paris.
That which marks more clearly than
anything else the great advance in Amer-
ican bridge building, during the last
forty years, is the reconstruction of the
famous Victoria Bridge, over the St. Law-
rence, above Montreal. This bridge was
designed by Robert Stephenson, and the
stone piers are a monument to his engi-
neering skill. For forty winters they
have resisted the great fields of ice borne
by a rapid current. Their dimensions
were so liberal that the new bridge was
jmt upon them, although four times as
wide as the old one.
The superstructure was originally made
of plate-iron tubes, reinforced by tees and
238
ENGINEERING
angles, similar to Stephenson's Menai petition. Mistakes mean ruin, and the
Straits Bridge. There are twenty - two fittest only survives.
spans of 240 feet each, and a central one The American system gives the grea-t-
of 330 feet. est possible rapidity of erection of the
It was decided to build a new bridge of bridge on its i)iers. A span of 518 feet,
open-work construction and of open-hearth weighing 1,000 tons, was erected at Cairo
steel. This was done, and the comparison on the Mississippi in six days. The parts
is as follows: Old bridge, 16 feet wide, were not assembled until they were put
single track, live load of one ton per foot ; upon the false works. European engi-
new bridge, 07 feet wide, two railway neers have sometimes ordered a bridge to
tracks and two carriage-ways, live load be riveted together complete in the maker's
if 5 tons per foot. yard, and then taken apart.
The old iron tubes weighed 10,000 tons. The adoption of American work in such
cost $2,713,000, and took two seasons to bridges as the Atbara in South Africa,
erect. The new truss bridge weighs 22,000 the Gokteik viaduct in Burmah, 320 feet
tons, has cost $1,400,000, and the time of high, and others, was due to low cost,
construction was one year. quick delivery and erection, as well as ex-
The modern high office building is an cellence of material and construction,
interesting example of the evolution of a Foundations, etc. — Bridges must have
fiigh-viaduet pier. Such a pier of the re- foundations for their piers. Up to the
quired dimensions, strengthened by more middle of the nineteenth century engi-
cokmins strong enough to carry many neers knew no better way of making them
floors, is the skeleton frame. Enclose the than by laying bare the bed of the river
sides with brick, stone, or terra-cotta, add by a pumped-out cofferdam, or by driving
windows, and doors, and elevators, and it piles into the sand, as Julius Ctesar did.
is complete. About the middle of the century, M.
Fortunately for the stability of these Triger, a French engineer, conceived the
high buildings, the. effect of wind pressures first plan of a pneumatic foundation,
had been studied in this country in the which led to the present system of corn-
designs of the Kinzua, Pecos, and other pressing air by pumping it into an in-
high viaducts. verted box, called a caisson, with air locks
The modern elevated railway of cities on top to enable men and materials to go
is simply a very long railway viaduct, in and out. After the soft materials were
Some idea may be gained of the life of removed, and the caisson sunk by its own
a modern riveted-iron structure from the weight to the proper depth, it was filled
experience of the Manhattan Elevated with concrete. The limit of depth is that
Railway of New York. These roads were in which men can work in compressed air
built in 1878-79 to carry uniform loads without injury, and this is not much
of 1,000 lbs. per lineal foot, except Second over 100 feet.
Avenue, which was made to carry 2,000. The foundations of the Brooklyn and
The stresses were below 10,000 lbs. per St. Louis bridges were put down in this
square inch. manner.
These viaducts have carried in twenty- In the construction of the Psughkeep-
two years over 25,000,000 trains, weighing sie bridge over the Hudson in 1887-88.
over 3,000,000,000 tons, at a maximum it became necessary to go down 135 feet
speed of 25 miles an hour, and are still below tide-level before hard bottom was
in good order. reached. Another process was invented
We have now great bridge companies, to take the place of compressed air. Tini-
which are so completely equipped with ap- ber caissons were built, having double
pliances for both shop drawings and con- sides, and the spaces between them filled
struction that the old joke becomes almost with stone to give weight. Their tops
true that they can make bridges and sell were left open and the American single-
them by the mile. bucket dredge was used. This bucket was
All improvements of design are now pub- lowered and lifted by a very long wire
lie property. All that the bridge compa- rope worked by the engine, and with it
nies do is done in the fierce light of com- the soft mat-erial was removed. The in
239
ENGINEERING
ternal space was then filled with concrete
laid under water by the same bucket, and
levelled by divers when necessary.
While this work was going on, the gov-
ernment of New South Wales, in Austra-
lia, called for both designs and tenders for
a bridge over an estuary of the sea called
Hawkesbury. The conditions were the
same as that at Poughkeepsie, except that
the soft mud reached to a depth of 160
feet below tide-level.
The designs of the engineers of the
Poughkeepsie bridge were accepted, and
the same method of sinking open caissons
(in this case made of iron) was carried
out with perfect success.
The erection of this bridge involved an-
other difficult problem. The mud was too
soft and deep for piles and staging, and
the cantilever system in this site would
have increased the cost.
The solution of the problems presented
at Hawkesbury gave the second introduc-
tion of American engineers to bridge
building outside of America. The first
was in 1786, when an American carpenter
or shipwright built a bridge over Charles
River at Boston, 1,470 feet long by 46
feet wide. This bridge was of wood sup-
ported on piles. His work gained for
him such renown that he was called to
Ireland and built a similar bridge at
Belfast.
Tunnelling by compressed air is a hori-
zontal application of compressed-air foun-
dations. The earth is supported by an
iron tube, which is added to in rings,
which are pushed forward by hydraulic
jacks.
A tunnel is now being made under an
arm of the sea between Boston and East
Boston, some 1,400 feet long and 65 feet
below tide. The interior lining of iron
tubing is not used. The tunnel is built of
concrete, reinforced by steel rods. Success
in modern engineering means doing a
thing in the most economical way consist-
ent with safety. Had the North River
tunnel, at New York, been designed on
equally scientific principles it would prob-
ably have been finished, which now seems
problematical.
The construction of rapid - transit rail-
ways in cities is another branch of engi-
neering. Some of these railways are ele-
vated, and are merely railway viaducts.
but the favorite type now is that of sub-
ways. There are two kinds, those near
the surface, like the District railways of
London, the subways in Paris, Berlin, and
Boston, and that now building in New
\ork. The South London and Central
London, and other London projects, are
tubes sunk 50 to 80 feet below the sur-
face and requiring elevators for access.
The construction of the Boston subway
was difficult on account of the small
width of the streets, their great traffic,
and the necessity of underpinning the
foundations of buildings. All of this was
successfully done without disturbing the
traffic for a single day, and reflects great
credit on the engineer. Owing to the
great width of New York streets, the
problem is simpler in that respect. Al-
though many times as long as the Boston
subway, it will be built in nearly the
same time. The design, where in earth,
may be compared to that of a steel office
building 20 miles long, laid flat on one of
its sides.
The construction of power-houses for
developing energy from coal and from
falling water requires much engineering
ability. The Niagara power-house is in-
tended to develop 100,000 horse -power;
that at the Sault Ste. Marie as much ; that
on the St. Lawrence, at Massena, 70,000
horse-power. These are huge works, re-
quiring tunnels, rock-cut chambers, and
masonry and concrete in walls and dams.
They cover large extents of territory.
The contrast in size of the coal-using
power-houses is interesting. The new
power-house now building by the Manhat-
tan Elevated Railway, in New, York, de-
velops in the small space of 200 by 400
feet 100,000 horse-power, or as much pow-
er as that utilized at Niagara Falls.
One of the most useful materials which
modern engineers now make use of is con-
crete, which can be put into confined
spaces and laid under water. It costs less
than masonry, while as strong. This is
the revival of the use of a material used
by the Romans. The writer was once al-
lowed to climb a ladder and look at the
construction of the dome of the Pantheon,
at Rome. He found it a monolithic mass
of concrete, and hence without thrust. It
is a better piece of engineering construc-
tion than the dome of St. Peter's, built
240
ENGINEERING
1,500 years later. Tlie dome of Columbia to dig the sand with rude hoes, and carry
College Library, in New York, is built of it away in baskets on their heads. They
concrete. died by thousands for want of water and
Hydraulic Engineering. — This is one of proper food. At last the French engineers
the oldest branches of engineering, and ])ersuaded the Ivhedive to let them in-
was developed before the last century, troduce steam dredging machinery. A
The irrigation works of Asia, Africa, light railway was laid to supply pro-
Spain, Italy, the Roman aqueducts, and visions, and a small ditch dug to bring
the canals of Europe, are examples. Hy- pure water. The number of men em-
draulic works cannot be constructed in ployed fell to one-fourth. Machinery did
ignorance of the laws which govern the the rest. But for this the canal would
flow of water. The action of water is re- never have been finished,
lentless, as ruined canals, obstructed The Panama Canal now uses the best
rivers, and washed-out dams testify. modern machinery, and the Nicaragua
The removal of sewage, after having Canal, if built, will apply still better
been done by the Etruscans before the methods, developed on the Chicago drain-
foundation of Rome, became a lost art age canal, where material was handled at
during the dirty Dark Ages, when filth a less cost than has ever been done be-
and piety were deemed to be connected in fore.
some mysterious way. It was reserved for The Erie Canal was one of very small
good John Wesley to point out that cost, but its influence has been surpassed
" Cleanliness is next to godliness." Now by none. The " winning of the West " was
sewage works are as common as those hastened many years by the construction
for water supply. Some of them have of this work in the first quarter of the
been of great size and cost. Such are the century. Two horses were just able to
drainage works of London, Paris, Berlin, draw a ton of goods at the speed of 2
Boston, Chicago, and New Orleans. A miles an hour over the wretched roads
very diflicult work was the drainage of of those days. When the canal was made
the City of Mexico, which is in a valley these two horses could draw a boat carry-
surrounded by mountains, and elevated ing 150 tons 4 miles an hour.
only 4 or 5 feet above a lake having no The Erie Canal was made by engineers,
outlet. Attempts to drain the lake had but it had to make its own engineers first,
been made in vain for 600 years. It has as there were none available in this coun-
lately been accomplished by a tunnel 6 try at that time. These self-taught men,
miles long through the mountains, and a some of them land surveyors and others
canal of over .30 miles, the whole work lawyers, showed themselves the equals of
costing some $20,000,000. the Englishmen Brindley and Smeaton,
The drainage of Chicago by locks and when they located a water route through
<.'anal into the Illinois River has cost some the wilderness, having a uniform descent
^35,000,000, and is well worth its cost. from Lake Erie to the Hudson, and which
Scientific research has been applied to would have been so built if there had been
the designing of high masonry and con- enough money.
Crete dams, and we know now that no There should be a waterway from the
well-designed dam on a good foundation Hudson to Lake Erie large enough for ves-
should fail. The dams now building sels able to navigate the lakes and the
across the Nile by order of the British ocean. A draft of 21 feet can be had at
government will create the largest arti- a cost estimated at $200,000,000.
ficial lakes in the world. The deepening of the Chicago drainage
The Suez Canal is one of the largest hy- canal to the Mississippi River, and the
draulic works of the last century, and is deepening of the Mississippi itself to tht
a notable instance of the displacement of Gulf of Mexico, is a logical sequence of
hand labor by the use of machinery. Is- the first project. The Nicaragua Canal
mai'l began by impressing a large part of would then form one part of a great line
the peasant population of P]gypt, just as of navigation, by which the products of
Rameses had done over 3,000 years be- the interior of the continent could reach
fore. These unfortunate people were set either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
III. — Q 241
ENGINEERING
The cost would be small compared with
the resulting benefits, and some day this
navigation will be built by the government
of the United States.
The deepening of the Southwest Pass of
the Mississippi River from 6 to 30 feet
by James B. Eads was a great engineer-
ing achievement. It was the first ap-
plication of the jetty system on a large
scale. This is merely confining the flow
of a river, and thus increasing its velocity
so that it secures a deeper channel for
itself.
The improvement of harbors follows
closely the increased size of ocean and lake
vessels. The approach to New York Har-
bor is now being deepened to 40 feet,
a thing impossible to be done without the
largest application of steam machinery
in a suction dredge boat.
The Croton Aqueduct of New York was
thought by its designers to be on a scale
large enough to last for all time. It is
now less than sixty years old, and the
population of New York will soon be too
large to be supplied by it. It is able
to supply 250,000,000 to 300,000,000 gal-
lons daily, and its cost, when the Cornell
dam and Jerome Park reservoir are fin-
ished, will be a little over $92,000,000.
It is now suggested to store water in
the Adirondack Mountains, 203 miles
away, by dams built at the outlet of ten
or twelve lakes. This will equalize the
flow of the Hudson River so as to give
3,000,000,000 to 4,000,000,000 gallons
daily. It is then proposed to pump
1,000,000,000 gallons daily from the
Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, 60 miles
away, to a height sviffieient to supply
New York City by gravity through an
aqueduct.
If this scheme is carried out, the total
supply will be about 1,300,000,000 gallons
daily, or enough for a population of from
12,000,000 to 13,000,000 persons. By put-
ting in more puinps, filter-beds, and con-
duits, this supply can be increased 40
per cent., or to 1,800,000,000 gallons daily.
This is a fair example of the scale of the
engineering works of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries.
Mechanical Engineering. — This is em-
ployed in all dynamical engineering. It
covers the designs of prime motors of all
sorts, steam, gas, and gasoline reciprocat-
ing engines; also steam and water tur-
bines, wind-mills, and wave-motors.
It comprises all means of transmitting
power, as by shafting, ropes, pneumatic
pressure, and compressed air, all of which
seem likely to be superseded by electricity.
It covers the construction of machine
tools and machinery of all kinds. It en-
ters into all the processes of structural,
hydraulic, electrical, and industrial engi-
neering. The special improvements are:
The almost universal use of rotary motion,
and of the reduplication of parts.
The steam-engine is a machine of re-
ciprocating, converted into rotary, motion
by the crank. The progress of mechanical
engineering during the nineteenth century
is measured by the improvements of the
steam-engine, principally in the direction
of saving fuel, by the invention of internal
combustion or gas-engines, the application
of electrical transmission, and, latest, the
practical development of steam turbines
by Parsons, Westinghouse, Delaval, Cur-
tis, and others. In these a jet of steam
impinges upon buckets set upon the cir-
cumference of a wheel. Their advantages
are that their motion is rotary and not
reciprocal. They can develop speed of
from 5,000 to 30,000 revolutions per min-
ute, while the highest ever attained by a
reciprocating engine is not over 1,000.
Their thermodynamic losses are less, hence
they consume less steam and less fuel.
Duplication of parts has lowered the
cost of all products. Clothing is one of
these. The parts of ready-made garments
and shoes are now cut into shape in num-
bers at a time, by sharp-edged templates,
and then fastened together by sewing-
machines.
Mechanical engineering is a good exam-
ple of the survival of the fittest. Millions
of dollars are expended on machinery,
when suddenly a new discovery or in-
vention casts them all into the scrap heap,
to be replaced by those of greater earning
capacity.
Prime motors derive their energy either
from coal or other combinations of car-
bon, such as petroleum, or from gravity.
This may come from falling water, and
the old-fashioned water-wheels of the
eighteenth century were superseded in the
nineteenth by turbines, first invented in
France and since greatly perfected. These
242
ENGINEERING
are used in the electrical transmission of
water-power at Niagara of 5,000 horse-
power, and form a very important part of
the plant.
The other gravity motors are wind-
mills and wave-motors. Wind-mills are
an old invention, but have been greatly
Improved in the United States by the use
of the self-reefing wheel. The great plains
of the West are subject to sudden, violent
gales of wind, and unless the wheel was
automatically self-reefing it would often
be destroyed.
There have been vast numbers of patents
taken out for wave-motors. One was in-
vented in Chile, South America, which
furnished a constant power for four
months, and was utilized in sawing planks.
The action of waves is more constant on
the Pacific coast of America than else-
where, and some auxiliary power, such as
a gasoline engine, which can be quickly
started and stopped, must be provided for
. use during calm days. The prime cost
of such a machine need not exceed that
of a steam plant, and the cost of operat-
ing is much less than that of any fuel-
burning engine. The saving of coal is a
very important problem. In a wider sense,
we may say that the saving of all the great
stores which nature has laid up for us
during the past, and which have remained
almost untouched until the nineteenth cen-
tury, is the great problem of to-day.
Petroleum and natural gas may disap-
pear. The ores of gold, silver, and plat-
inum will not last forever. Trees will
grow, and iron ores seem to be practically
inexhaustible. Chemistry has added a
new metal in aluminum, which replaces
copper for many purposes. One of the
greatest problems of the twentieth cen-
tury is to discover some chemical process
for treating iron, by which oxidation will
not take place.
Coal, next to grain, is the most impor-
tant of nature's gifts; it can be exhaust-
ed, or the cost of mining it become so
great that it cannot be obtained in the
countries where it is most needed ; water,
wind, and wave power may take its place
to a limited extent, and greater use may
be made of the waste gases coming from
blast or smelter furnaces, but as nearly
all energy comes from coal, its use must
be economized, and the greatest economy
will come from pulverizing coal and using
it in the shape of a fine powder. Inven-
tions have been made trying to deliver
this powder into the fire-box as fast as
made, for it is as explosive as gunpowder,
j<nd as dangerous to store or handle. If
this can be done, there will be a saving of
coal due to perfect and smokeless combus-
tion, as the admission of air can be en-
tirely regulated, the same blast which'
throws in the powder furnishing oxygen.
Some investigators have estimated that
the saving of coal will be as great as
20 per cent. This means 100,000,000 tons
of coal annually.
Another problem of mechanical engi-
neering is to determine whether it will
be found more economical to transform
the energy of coal, at the mines, into
electric current and send it by wire to
cities and other places where it is wanted,
or to carry the coal by rail and water, as
we now do, to such places, and convert it
there by tlie steam or gas engine.
Metallurgy and Mining. — All the proc-
esses of metallurgy and mining employ
statical, hydraulic, mechanical, and elec-
trical engineering. Coal, without rail-
ways and canals, would be of little use,
imless electrical engineering came to its
aid.
It was estimated by the late Lord Arm-
strong that of the 4.50,000,000 to 500,000,-
000 tons of coal annually produced in the
world, one-third is used for steam produc-
tion, one-third in metallurgical processes,
and one-third for domestic consumption.
Next in importance comes the produc-
tion of iron and steel. Steel, on account
of its great cost and brittleness, was only
used for tools and special purposes until
past the middle of the nineteenth cen-
tury. This has been all changed by the
invention of his steel by Bessemer in 1864,
and open-hearth steel in the furnace of
Siemens, perfected some twenty years
since by Gilchrist & Thomas.
The United States have taken the lead
in steel manufacture. In 1873 Great
Britain made three times as much steel
as the United States. Now the United
States makes twice as much as Great
Britain, or 40 per cent, of all the steel
made in the world.
Mr, Carnegie has explained the reasor
why, in epigrammatic phrase: "Three
243
ENGINEERING
lbs. of steel billets can be sold for 2
cents."
This stimulates rail and water traffic
and other industries, as he tells us 1 lb.
of steel requires 2 lbs. of ore, !'/» lbs. of
coal, and Vs lb. of limestone.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the
States bordering on the lakes have created
a traffic of 25,000,000 tons yearly through
the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, while the Suez,
which supplies the wants of half the pop-
ulation of the world, has only 7,000,000,
or less than the tonnage of the little Har-
lem River at New York.
Industrial Engineering. — This leads us
to our last topic, for which too little
room has been left. Industrial engineering
covers statical, hydraulic, mechanical, and
electrical engineering, and adds a new
branch which we may call chemical engi-
neering. This is pre-eminently a child of
the nineteenth century, and is the conver-
sion of one thing into another by a knowl-
edge of their chemical constituents.
When Dalton first applied mathematics
to chemistry and made it quantitative, he
gave the key which led to the discoveries
of Cavendish, Gay-Lussac, Berzelius, Lie-
big, and others. This new knowledge was
not locked up, but at once given to the
world, and made use of. Its first appli-
cation on a large scale was made by Na-
poleon in encouraging the manufacture of
sugar from beets.
The new products were generally made
from what were called " waste material."
We now have the manufacture of soda,
bleaching powders, aniline dyes, and other
products of the distillation of coal, also
coal-oil from petroleum, acetylene gas, cel-
luloid, rubber goods in all their numer-
ous varieties, high explosives, cement, arti-
ficial manures, artificial ice, beet-sugar,
and even beir may now be included.
The value of our mechanical and chem-
ical products is great, but it is surpassed
by that of food products. If these did
not keep pace with the increase of pop-
ulation, the theories of Malthus would be
true — but he never saw a modern reaper.
The steam-plough was invented in Eng-
land some fifty years since, but the great
use of agricultural machinery dates from
our Civil War, when so many men were
taken from agriculture. It became neces-
sary to fill their places with machinery.
Without tracing the steps which have led
to it, we may say that the common type
is what is called " the binder," and is a
machine drawn chiefly by animals, and in
some cases by a field locomotive.
It cuts, rakes, and binds sheaves of
grain at one operation. Sometimes
threshing and winnowing machines are
combined with it, and the grain is deliv-
ered into bags ready for the market.
Different machines are used for cutting,
and binding corn, and for mowing and
raking hay, but the most important of all
is the grain-binder. The extent of their
use may be known from the fact that
75,000 tons of twine are used by these
machines annually.
It is estimated that there are in the
United States 1,500,000 of these machines,
but as the harvest is earlier in the South,
there are probably not over 1,000,000 in
use at one time. As each machine takes
the place of sixteen men, this means that
16,000,000 men are released from farming
for other pursuits.
It is fair to assume that a large part
of these 16,000,000 men have gone into
manufacturing, the operating of railways,
and other pursuits. The use of agricult-
ural machinery, therefore, is one explana-
tion of why the United States produces
eight - tenths of the world's cotton and
corn, one-quarter of its wheat, one-third
of its meat and iron, two-fifths of its
steel, and one-third of its coal, and a large
part of the world's manufactured goods.
Conclusion. — It is a very interesting
question, why was this great development
of material prosperity delayed so late?
Why did it wait until the nineteenth
century, and then all at once increase with
such rapid strides?
It was not until modern times that the
reign of law was greatly extended, and
men were insured the product of their
labors. Then came the union of scientists,
inventors, and engineers.
So long as these three classes worked
separately but little was done. There was
an antagonism between them. Ancient
writers went so far as to say that the in-
vention of the arch and of the potter's
wheel were beneath the dignity of a phi-
losopher.
One of the first great men to take a dif-
ferent view was Francis Bacon. Macau-
244
ENGINEERING
lay, in his famous essay, quotes him as
saying: " Philosophy is the relief of man's
estate, and the endowment of the human
race with new powers; increasing their
pleasures and mitigating their sufferings."
These noble words seem to anticipate the
famous definition of civil engineering, em-
bodied by Telford in the charter of the
British Institution of Civil Engineers:
'• Engineering is the art of controlling
the great powers of nature for the use and
convenience of man."
The seed sown by Bacon was long in
producing fruit. Until the laws of nature
were better known, there could be no prac-
tical application of them. Towards the
end of the eighteenth century a great in-
tellectual revival took place. In litera-
ture appeared Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant,
Hume, and Goethe. In pure science there
came Laplace, Cavendish, Lavoisier, Lin-
naeus, Berzelius, Priestley, Count Rum-
ford, James Watt, and Dr. Franklin. The
last three were tmong the earliest to bring
about a union of pure and applied science.
Franklin immediately applied his discov-
ery that frictional electricity and light-
ning were the same to the protection of
buildings by lightning-rods. Count Rum-
ford (whose experiments on the conver-
sion of power into heat led to the dis-
covery of the conservatism of energy)
spent a long life in contriving useful in-
ventions.
James Watt, one of the few men w-ho
have united in themselves knowledge of
abstract science, great inventive faculties,
and rare mechanical skill, changed the
steam-engine from a worthless rattletrap
into the most useful machine ever invent-
ed by man. To do this he first discovered
the science of thermodynamics, then in-
vented the necessary appliances, and final-
ly constructed them with his own hands.
fie was a very exceptional man. At the
beginning of the nineteenth century there
were few engineers who had received any
scientific education. Now there is in the
profession a great army of young men,
most of them graduates of technical
schools, good mathematicians, and well
versed in the art of experimenting.
One of the present causes of progress is
that all discoveries are published at once
in technical journals and in the daily
press. The publication of descriptive in-
dexes of all scientific and engineering
articles as fast as they appear is another
modern contrivance.
Formerly scientific discoveries were con-
cealed by cryptograms, printed in a dead
language, and hidden in the archives of
learned societies. Even so late as 1821
Oersted published his discovery of the uni-
formity of electricity and magnetism in
Latin.
Engineering works could have been de-
signed and useful inventions made, but
they could not have been carried out with-
out combination. Corporate organization
collects the small savings of many into
great sums through savings-banks, life
insurance companies, etc., and uses this
concentrated capital to construct the vast
works of our days. This could not con-
tinue unless fair dividends were paid.
Everything now has to be designed so as
to pay. Time, labor, and material must
be saved, and he ranks highest who can
best do this. Invention has been encour-
aged by liberal patent laws, which secure
to the inventor property in his ideas at
a moderate cost.
Combination, organization, and scien-
tific discovery, inventive ability, and engi-
neering skill are now united.
It may be said that we have gathered
together all the inventions of the nine-
teenth century and called them works of
engineering. This is not so. Engineering
covers much more than invention. It in-
cludes all works of suflScient size and in-
tricacy to require men trained in the
knowledge of the ])hysical conditions which
govern the mechanical application of the
laws of nature. First comes scientific dis-
covery, then invention, and lastly engi-
neering. Faraday and Henry discovered
the electrical laws which led to the in-
vention of the dynamo, which was per-
fected by many minds. Engineering built
such works as those at Niagara Falls to
make it useful.
An ignorant man may invent a safety-
pin, but he cannot build the Brooklyn
Bridge.
The engineer - in - chief commands an
army of experts, as without specialization
little can be done. His is the comprehen-
sive design, for which he alone is respon-
sible.
Such is the evolution of engineering
245
ENGINEERS— ENGLISH REVOLUTION
which began as a craft and has ended as a ticket with Gen. Winfield S. Hancock in
profession. 1880; published an historical and bio-
Thoughtful persons have asked, will this graphical work on the constitution of
new civilization last, or will it go the way the law-makers of Indiana ; and bequeath-
of its predecessors? Surely the answer ed to the Indiana Historical Society, of
is: all depends on good government, on the which he was president for many years,
stability of law, order, and justice, pro- the funds to complete and publish his
tecting the rights of all classes. It will History of Indiana. He died in Indian-
continue to grow with the growth of good apolis, Ind., Feb. 7, 1896.
government, prosper with its prosperity, English Language, a branch froin the
and perish with its decay. Low-German of the Teutonic or Germanic
Engineers, Societies of. American So- branch of the Indo-European family. It
eiety of Civil Engineers, organized 1852; is closely related to the dialects spoken
American Institute of Mining Engineers, on the north shores of the German Ocean,
organized 1871; American Society of Me- especially with the Frisian dialect,
chanical Engineers, organized 1880; English Revolution, The. When
American Institute of Electrical Engi- James II. attempted to establish despot-
necrs, organized 1884. ism in England by destroying the consti-
English, Earl, naval officer; born in tution in Church and State, he arrayed
Crosswicks, N. J., Feb. 18, 1824; entered against himself the united Church, the
the navy Feb. 25, 1840; was actively en- aristocracy, and the intelligent people of
gaged during the Mexican War on the the realm. He also resolved to make the
Pacific coast in Mexico and California; Roman Catholic the religious system of
also served throughout the Civil War. the kingdom, and sought to destroy all
In 1868, when the Tycoon of Japan was forms of Protestantism. He prorogued
defeated by the Mikado's party, he found Parliament, and ruled despotically as an
refuge on Commander English's ship Iro- autocrat without it. So universal were
quois. He was promoted rear-admiral in the alarm and indignation caused by his
1884; retired in 1886. He died in Wash- conduct that there was a general longing
ington, D. C, July 16, 1893. for relief; and the fires of revolution
English, Thomas Dunn, author; born burned intensely in the hearts of the
in Philadelphia, Pa., June 29, 1819; people before they burst into a flame. The
graduated at the University of Pennsyl- King's daughter Mary, who had married
vania in 1839; member of the New Jersey her cousin William, Prince of Orange, was
legislature in 1863-64; and of Congress in heir to the throne of England in the a;b-
1891-95; is the author of American Bal- sence of a male heir. When the people
lads; Book of Battle Lyrics; Ben Bolt, etc. were ripe for revolution it was announced
He died in Newark, N. J., April 1, 1902. that James's second wife had given birth
English, William Hayden, capitalist; to a son (June 10, 1688). The hopes of
born in Lexington, Ind., Aug. 27, 1822; the nation, which were centred on Mary,
received a collegiate education and studied were grievously disapjwinted. The opin-
law; was a Democratic Representative ion was general that the alleged heir
in Congress in 1852-61; and was con- just born was a supposititious one, and
spicuous there because of his opposition not the child of the Queen. The volcano
to the policy of his own party in the con- was instantly uncapped, and on June 30
troversy over the admission of Kansas (1688) leading men of the kingdom sent
into the Union. He reported what was an invitation to William of Orange to
known as the " English bill," which invade England and place his wife on
provided that the question of admission its throne. He went, landed at Torbay
under the Lecompton constitution be re- (Nov. 5) with 15,000 men, and penetrated
ferred back to the people of Kansas. His the country. The people flocked to his
report was adopted, and Kansas voted standard. King James fled to France, and
against admission under that constitu- all England was speedily in the hands of
tion. After his retirement from Congress the welcome invader.
he engaged in various financial concerns; On Feb. 13, the Convention Parliament
was candidate for Vice-President on the conferred the crown of England on Will-
246
ENTAIL OF ESTATE— ENTERPRISE
iam and iVluiy as joint sovereigns. Ban-
croft says of the political theory of the
revolution : " Tlic old idea of a Christian
monarchy resting on the law of God was
exploded, and political power sought its
origin in compact. Absolute monarchy
was denied to be a form of civil govern-
ment. Nothing, it was held, can bind
freemen to obey any government save their
own agreement. Political power is a
trust, and a breach of the trust dissolves
the obligation to allegiance. The supreme
power is the legislature, to whose guar-
dianship it has been sacredly and unalter-
ably delegated. By the fundamental law
cf property no taxes may be levied on the
people but by its own consent or that of
its authorized agents. These were the doc-
trines of the revolution, dangerous to
European institutions and dear to the
colonies; menacing the Old World with
convulsive struggles and reforms, and es-
tablishing for America the sanctity of its
own legislative bodies. Throughout the
English world the right to representation
could never again be separated from the
power of taxation. The theory gave to
vested rights in England a bulwark
against the monarch; it encouraged the
tates to certain classes of descendants in
which the legal course of succession of
some descendants is cut off. The earliest
English law of entail is found in the
statute of Westminster in 1285. In the
United States this law came over with
the general body of enactments known as
the " common law of England." South
Carolina abolished entail in 1773, Vir-
ginia in 1770, Georgia in 1777, Maryland
in 1782, North Carolina in 1784. In re-
cent years the purposes of entail are ac-
complished by other legal procedure. It
is believed that Gardiner's Island, N. Y.,
is the only property in the United States
now held entail by direct descendants of
the grantee. See Gardiner, Lion.
Enterprise, The. The Enterprise, four-
teen guns, was an American brig that ac-
quired the reputation of being " lucky."
She cruised for a long time olT the New
England coast, the terror of British
provincial privateers, under Capt. John-
ston Blakeley, until he was promoted to
the command of the new sloop-of-war
Wasp, when Lieut. William Burrows be-
came her commander. On the morning of
Sept. 1, 1813, she sailed from Portsmouth,
N. H., in quest of British cruisers. On
THE M'OALL MEDAL.
colonists to assert their privileges, as pos-
sessing a sanctity which tyranny only
could disregard, and which could perish
only by destroying allegiance itself."
Entail of Estate. A disposition of es-
the morning of the 5th she discovered a
British brig in a bay near Pemaquid Point,
which, observing the Enterprise, bore
down upon her in menacing attitude.
Burrows accepted the challenge, cleared
247
ENTERPRISE— ENVOYS TO FRANCE
of the Boxer
was delivered to
him, when he
grasped it and
said, " Now I
am satisfied; I
die contented."
The command of
the Enterprise
devolved upon
Lieut. E. R. Mc-
Call, of South
Carolina, who
conducted his
part of the en-
gagement to its
close with skill.
He took both
vessels into
Portland Har-
bor on the
morning of the
7th. The two
(iKAVKS OK BURKUWS, BLVTU, AND WATERS. yOUUg COm-
manders were
his ship for action, and, after getting a buried side by side in a cemetery at Port-
proper distance from land to have ample
sea-room for conflict, he edged towards
the stranger, which proved to be the Brit-
ish brig Boxer, fourteen guns, Capt.
Samuel Blyth. At twenty minutes past
three o'clock in the afternoon the brigs
closed within half pistol-shot of each
other and both vessels opened fire at the
same time. The wind was light, with
very little sea, and the cannonading was
destructive. Ten minutes later the Enter-
prise ranged ahead of the Boxer, and,
taking advantage of her position, she
steered across the bows of her antagonist.
land. Congress presented a gold medal
to the nearest masculine representative
of Lieutenant Burrows; and another was
presented to Lieutenant McCall.
Envoy. A diplomatic or political rank
inferior to that of Ambassador (q. v.).
In the diplomatic service in the United
States the official designation is envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipoten-
tiary. The representatives of the United
States in the countries with which it has
mutually raised its representative above
the rank of envoy extraordinary and
minister plenipotentiary are officially
known as ambassadors extraordinary
and delivered her fire with such precision
and destructive energy that, at four and plenipotentiary.
o'clock, the British officer in command Envoys to France. Monroe was re-
shouted through his trumpet that he had called from France in 1796, and Charles
surrendered ; but his flag being nailed to Cotesworth Pinckney {q. v.) , of South
the mast, it could not be lowered until Carolina, was appointed to fill his place,
the Americans should cease firing. It On his arrival in France, late in the year,
was found that Capt. Blyth had been cut v\^ith the letter of recall and his own cre-
nearly in two by an 18-pound cannon-ball, dentials, the Directory refused to receive
Almost at the same moment when Blyth him. Not only so, but, after treating
fell on the Boxer, Burrows, of the Enter- him with great discourtesy, the Directory
prise, was mortally wounded. So also peremptorily ordered him to leave France,
was Midshipman Kervin Waters. Blyth Pfe withdrew to Holland (February, 1797) ,
was killed instantly; Burrows lived eight and there awaited further orders from
hours. The latter refused to be carried home. When Mr. Adams took the chair
below until the sword of the commander of state, the United States had no diplo-
248
EPISCOPACY IN AMERICA
matic agent in France. The " French
party," or Republicans, having failed to
elect Jefferson I'resident, the Dikectoky
(q. V.) determined to punish a people
who dared to thwart their plans. In
May, 1797, they issued a decree which
was tantamount to a declaration of war
against the United States. At about the
same time President Adams, observing
the perilous relations between the United
States and France, called an extraordi-
nary session of Congress to consider the
matter. There had been a reaction among
the people, and many leading Democrats
favored war with France. A majority of
the cabinet advised further negotiations,
and John Marshall, a Federalist, and
Elbridge Gerry, a Democrat, were ap-
pointed envoys extraordinary to join
Pinckney and attempt to settle all mat-
ters in dispute. They reached France in
October (1797), and sought an audience
with the Directory. Their request was met
by a haughty refusal, unless the envoys
would first agree to pay into the ex-
luiusted French treasury a large sum of
money, in the form of a loan, by the pur-
chase of Dutch bonds wrung from that
nation by the French, and a bribe to the
amount of $240,000 for the private use of
the five members of the Directory. The
proposition came semi-officially from Tal-
leyrand, one of the most unscrupulous
politicians of the age. It was accompanied
by a covert threat that if the proposition
was not complied with the envoys might
be ordered to leave France in twenty-four
hours, and the coasts of the United States
be ravaged by French cruisers from San
Domino. They peremptorily refused,
and Pinckney uttered, in substance, the
noble words, " Millions for defence, but
not one cent for tribute!" The envoys
asked for their passports. They were given
to the two Federalists under circumstances
that amoimted to their virtual expulsion,
but Gerry, the Democrat, was induced to
remain. He, too, was soon treated with
contempt by Talleyrand and his associates,
and he returned home in disgust.
Episcopacy in America. The Church
and state in England worked in concert
in forging fetters for the English-Ameri-
can colonists. The Church of England was
er.rly made a state establishment in the
colony of Virginia, but elsewhere the free
spirit of the people kept episcopacy at bay,
for they remembered how much they had
sufl'ered at the hands of the Church of
England. On the accession of George III.
and the administration of the Earl of
Bute, among the reforms in the colonies
contemplated and proposed by the minis-
try was the curtailment or destruction of
the Puritan and Dissenting influence in
the provinces, which seemed inimical to
monarchy, and to make the ritual of the
Anglican Church the state mode of wor-
ship. As early as 1748 Dr. Seeker, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, had proposed the
establishment of episcopacy in America,
and overtures were made to several emi-
nent Puritan divines to accept the leader-
ship, but they all declined it. A royalist
churchman in Connecticut, in 17G0, in a
letter to Dr. Seeker, and to the Earl of
Halifax, then at the head of the board of
trade and plantations, urged the necessity
of providing two or three bishops for the
colonies, the support of the Church, and a
method for repressing the rampant repub-
licanism of the people. " The rights of
the clergy and the authority of the King,"
said the Bishop of London, " m'lst stand
or fall together."
The Anglican Church then had many ad-
herents in all the colonies, who naturally
desired its ascendency; but the great mass
of the people looked upon that Church
as an ally of the state in acts of oppres-
sion, and earnestly opposed it. They well
knew that if Parliament could create dio-
ceses and appoint bishops, they would es-
tablish tithes and crush out dissent as
heresy. For years controversy in the
colonies on this topic was warm, and some-
times acrimonious. Essays for and against
episcopacy appeared in abundance. The
Bishop of Llandaff, in a sermon preached
before the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in which he
advocated the necessity of establishing
episcopacy in America, heaped abuse with-
out stint upon the colonists. " Upon the
adventureis themselves," he said, " what
reproach could he cast heavier than they
deserve? who, with their native soil, aban-
doned their native manners and religion,
and ere long were found, in many parts,
living without remembrance or knowledge
of God, without any divine worship, in
dissolute wickedness and the moef^ brutal
249
EPISCOPACY IN AMERICA
piofligacy of manners." He charged them
with having become " infidels and barba-
rians " ; and the prelate concluded that the
only- remedy for the great evil was to be
found in a Church establishment. His
recommendations were urged with zeal by
cliurchmen in the colonies. The Dis-
senters were aroused. They observed in
the bishop's sermon the old persecuting
spirit of the Church, and visions of Laud
and the Star Chamber disturbed them.
Eminent writers in America entered
the lists in opposition to him. Among
others, William Livingston, whose fa-
mous letter to the bishop, issued in
pamphlet form, refuted the charges
of that dignitary so completely that
they were not repeated. The theo-
logical controversy ceased when the vital
question of resistance to the oppressive
jiower of both Church and state was
brought to a final issue. The first Eng-
lish bishop within the domains of the
American republic was Samuel Seabury
iq. v.), of Connecticut, who was conse-
crated by three bishops of the Scottish
Episcopal Church, Nov. 14, 1784.
Eft'orts were early made by the English
to supplant the Dutch Church as the pre-
vailing religious organization in New York.
The act of the Assembly procured by Gov-
ernor Fletcher, though broad in its scope,
was destined for that purpose. Under
that act Trinity Church was organized,
and Fletcher tried to obtain authority to
appoint all the ministers, but the Assem-
bly successfully resisted his designs. In
1695 Rev. John Miller, in a long letter to
the Bishop of London on the condition of
religion and morals, drew a gloomy pict-
ure of the state of society in the city of
New York, and earnestly recommended as
a remedy for all these social evils " to
send over a bishop to the province of New
York duly qualified as suflfragan " to the
Bishop of London, and five or six young
ministers, with Bibles and prayer-books;
to imite New York, New Jersey, Con-
necticut, and Rhode Island into one prov-
ince; and the bishop to be appointed gov-
ernor, at a salary of $7,200, his Majesty
to give him the King's Farm of 30
acres, in New York, as a seat for himself
and his successors. When Sir Edward
Hyde (afterwards Lord Cornbury) be-
came governor of the combined provinces
of New York and New Jersey, in 1702,
even violent efforts were used to make the
liturgy and ritual of the Church of Eng-
land the state system of worship. He
denied the right of preachers or school-
masters to exercise their functions in the
province without a bishop's license; and
when the corporation of New York re-
solved to establish a grammar-school, the
Bishop of London was requested to send
over a teacher. In violation of his posi-
tive instructions, the governor began a
systematic persecution of all religious de-
nominations dissenting from the practices
of the Church of England. This conduct
reacted disastrously to Trinity Church,
which, until the province was rid of Corn-
bury, had a very feeble growth.
Puritan austerity had extended to a
large class of intelligent free-thinkers
and doubters in New England, and they
felt inclined to turn towards the freer,
more orderly, and dignified Church of
England. The rich and polite preferred
a mode of worship which seemed to bring
them into sympathy with the English
aristocracy, and there were many who de-
lighted in the modest ceremonies of the
church. Nor were th€se influences con-
fined to laymen. There were studious and
aspiring men among the ministers to
whom the idea of apostolic succession
had charms; and they yearned for
freedom from the obstinate turbulence
of stiff - necked church - members, who,
in theory, were the spiritual equals of
the pastors, whom, to manage, it was nec-
essary to humor and to suit. These ideas
found expression in an unexpected quar-
ter. Timothy Cutler, a minister of learn-
ing and great ability, was rector of Yale
College in 1719. To the surprise and
alarm of the people of New England, Mr.
Cutler, with the tutor of the college and
two ministers in the neighborhood, took
occasion, on Commencement Day, 1722, to
avow their conversion to Episcopacy.
Cutler was at once " excused " from all
further service in the colege, and provi-
sion was made for all future rectors to give
satisfactory evidence of " soundness of
their faith in opposition to Arminian and
prelatical corruptions." Weaker ones en-
gaged in the revolt halted, but others per-
sisted. Cutler became rector of a new
Episcopal church in Boston, and the dis-
50
EPISCOPAL CHURCH— ERA OF GOOD FEELING
inissoQ ministers were iiiaintaincl as
laissionaries by the Society for tlic I'ropa-
f;ation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
This secession from the Church resting
on the Saybrook Platform ( q. v. ) , made
the ministers of Massachusetts keen-eyed
in the detection of signs of defection.
John Checkly (afterwards ordained an
Episcopal missionary) published Leslie's
tihort and Easy Method, ivith Deists, with
an appendix by himself, in which Episco-
pal ordination was in&isted upon as neces-
sary to constitute a Christian minister.
The authorities in Boston were offended.
Checkly was tried on a charge that the
publication tended "' to bring into con-
tempt and infamy the ministers of the
holy Gospel established by law within
his Majesty's province of Massachusetts."
I'or this offence Checlcly was found guilty
and fined £50. See Prote.stant Episco-
pal Church.
Episcopal Church, Reformed. See
Reformed Episcopal Church.
Epworth League, a religious society
composed of the young members and
friends of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, founded in May, 1889. Its aim
is to promote intelligent and loyal piety
among its members. Its constitution
provides for religious, intellectual, and
social development. In 1900 it numbered
'27,700 chapters, with a membership of
1.900,000. President, Bishop Isaac W.
Joyce, Minneapolis, Minn. ; vice-presi-
dents: Department of Spiritual Work,
W. W. Cooper, Chicago, 111. ; Department
of Mercy and Help, Rev. W. H. Jordan,
D.D., Sioux Falls, S. D. ; Department of
Literary Work, Rev. R. J. Cook, D.D.,
Chattanooga, Tenn. ; Department of Social
Work, F. W. Tunnell, Philadelphia, Pa.;
general secretary. Rev. Joseph F. Berry,
D.D., 57 Washington Street, Chicago, 111.,
general treasurer, R. S. Copeland, M.D.,
Ann Arbor, Mich. The central office is
located at 57 Washington Street, Chicago,
111. There is also an Epworth League
in the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South ; founded in Memphis, Tenn., in
1891. It has 5,838 chapters, with a total
membership of 306,580. The central
office is located at Nashville, Tenn. The
officers are: President, Bishop W. A.
Condler, Atlanta, Ga. : first vice-president.
Rev. J. W. Newman, D.D., Birmingham,
Ala.; second vice-president. Rev. W. T.
McClure, Marshall, Mo.; third vice-presi-
dent. Rev. J. M. Barous, Cleburne, Tex. ;
treasurer, Mr. O. W. Patton, Nashville,
Tenn.; secretary, Mr. G. W. Thomasson,
Nashville, Tenn.
Equal Rights Party. In the ciiy of
New York, in 1835, there arose in the
ranks of the Democratic party a combina-
tion of men opposed to all banking in-
stitutions and monopolies of every sort.
A " Workingman's party " had been
formed in 1829, but had become. defunct,
and the " Equal Rights party " was its
successor. They acted with much caution
and secrecy in their opposition to the
powerful Democratic party, but never
lose above the dignity of a faction. They
made their first decided demonstration at
Tammany Hall at the close of October,
1835, when an event occurred which
caused them afterwards to be known as
Loco-Focos {q. v.), a name applied by the
Whigs to the whole Democratic party.
The faction soon became formidable, and
the regulars endeavored to reconcile the
irregulars by nominating tlicir favorite
foi the Presidency, Richard M. Johnson,
for Vice-President with Martin Van
Buren.
Era of Good Feeling, in United States
history, the period of 1817-23. During
these years there was scarcely an'- antag-
onism manifested between the ^ 'itical
parties, owing largely to the decline of
the Federal party and to the abandonment
of past issues. The War of 1812 had
practically settled every question which
had disturbed the parties since 1800. The
inaugural speech of President James
Monroe {q. v.) in 1817 was of such a
nature as to quiet the Federal minority.
It treated the peculiar interests of that
party with magnanimity; congratulated
the country upon its universal " har-
mony," and predicted an increase of this
harmony for the future. This good will
was further augmented by a visit of
President Monroe to the New England
States, which had not seen a President
since the days of Washington. Party feel-
ing was forgotten, and all joined in pro-
claiming that an " era of good feeling "
had come. In 1824 this era was unhappi-
ly terminated by the election of John
QuiNCY Adams {q. t'.), during whose ad-
251
ERICSSON— ERIE CANAL
ministration questions arose which resur-
rected party antagonisms.
Ericsson, John, engineer ; born in
in mechanical science after he settled in
"N^ew Yoric. He constructed the Monitor,
which fought the Merrimac, using T. K.
Wermeland, Sweden, July 31, 1803. He Timby's (q. v.) revolving turret, thus
became an eminent engineer in his own revolutionizing the entire science of naval
country, and attained the rank of cap- warfare. At the time of his death he was
tain in the Swedish army. In 1826 he perfecting an engine to be run by solar
visited England with a view to the in- lays. He died in New York City, March
troduction of his invention of a flame 8, 1889, and his remains were sent to his
engine. He engaged actively in mechani-
cal pursuits, and made numerous inven-
tions, notably that of artificial draft,
native land in the United States cruiser
Baltimore.
Eric the Red, a Scandinavian navi-
which is still used in locomotive engines, gator, who emigrated to Ireland about
He won the prize offered by the Man- 982, after which he discovered Greenland.
Chester and Liverpool Railway for the where he planted a colony. He sent out
best locomotive, making one that attained an exploring party under his son Lief,
the then astonishing speed of 50 miles about 1000, who seems to have discovered
an hour. He invented the screw propeller the continent of America, and landed
for navigation, but the British admiralty somewhere on the shores of Massachu-
being unwilling to believe in its capacity setts or the southern portion of New Eng-
and success, Ericsson came to the United land. See Vinland.
States in 1839, and resided in the city Erie Canal, The, the greatest work of
of New York or its immediate vicinity till internal improvement constructed in the
his death. In 1841 he was engaged in the United States previous to the Pacific
construction of the United States ship-of- Railway. It connects the waters of the
war Princeton, to which he applied his Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean
propeller. She was the first steamship by way of the Hudson River. It was
contemplated by General Schuyler and
Elkanah Watson, but was first definitely
proposed by Gouverneur Morris, at about
the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Various writers put forth essays upon the
subject, among them De Witt Clinton,
who became its most notable champion.
The project took such shape that, in
181 0, canal commissioners were appointed,
with Gouverneur Morris at their head.
In 1812 Clinton, with others, was appoint-
ed to lay the project before the national
Congress, and solicit the aid of the
np.tional government. Fortunately the
latter declined to extend its patronage
to the great undertaking. The War of
1812-15 put the matter at rest for a
while. That war made the transporta-
tion of merchandise along our sea-coasts
perilous, and the commercial intercourse
ever built with the propelling machinery between seaboard cities was carried on in
under the water-line and out of reach of a larger degree by wheeled vehicles. For
shot. In 1840 he received the gold medal this purpose Conestoga wagons were used
of the Mechanics' Institute of New York between New York and Philadelphia, and
for the best model of a steam fire-engine, when one of these made the journey of
and constructed the first one seen in the 90 miles in three days, with passengers,
United States. King Oscar of Sweden it was called " the flying-machine." It
made him Knight of the Order of Vasa has been estimated that the amount of
in 1852. He accomplished many things increased expense by this method of trans-
252
JOHN ERICSSON.
ERIE CANAL, THE
portation of merchandise for the coast governinent would do nothing in the mat-
region alone would have paid the cost of ter, and the State of New York resolved
a system of internal navigation from to construct the canal alone. Clinton was
Maine to Georgia. made governor in 1816, and used all his
The want of such a system was made oi!icial and private influence in favor of
clear to the public mind, especially to the the enterprise. He saw it begun during
LOCKS ON THE ERIE CANAL.
population then gathering in the Western his first administration. The first exca-
States. Then Mr. Clinton, more vigor- vation was made July 4, 1817, and it was
Gusly than ever, pressed upon the public completed and formally opened by him,
attention the importance of constructing as chief magistrate of the State, in 182.").
the projected canal. He devoted his won- when a grand aquatic procession from Al-
derful energies to the subject, and in a bany proceeded to the sea, and the gov-
memorial of the citizens of New York, ernor poured a keg of the water of Lake
prepared by him, he produced such a pow- Erie into the Atlantic Ocean. The canal
erful argument in its favor that not only was constructed at a cost of $7,602,000.
the people of his native State, but of Untold wealth has been won for the State
other States, approved it. The national and the city of New York by its opera-
253
ERIE
tions, directly and indirectly. Up to 1904
tlie canal had cost for construction, en-
largement, and maintenance $52,540,800.
At the State election in 190.3 the people
sanctioned a legislative bill to expend
$101,000,000 for the improvement of the
I'^rie, Oswego, and Champlain canals.
Erie, Fort, a small and weak forti-
fication erected on a plain 12 or 15 feet
above the waters of Lake Erie, at its foot.
In the summer of 1812, Black Rock, 2 miles
below Buflalo, was selected as a place for
a dock-yard for fitting out naval vessels
for Lake Erie. Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott,
then only twenty - seven years of age,
while on duty there, was informed of the
arrival at Fort Erie, opposite, of two ves-
sels from Detroit, both well manned and
well armed and laden with valuable car-
goes of peltry. They were the Caledonia, a
vessel belonging to the Northwestern Fur
Company, and the John Adams, taken at
the surrender of Hull, with the name
changed to Detroit. They arrived on the
morning of Oct. 8 (1812), and. Elliott
af once conceived a plan for their capture.
Timely aid offered. The same day a de-
tachment of unarmed seamen arrived from
New York. Elliott turned to the military
for assistance. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott
was then at Black Rock, and entered
warmly into Elliott's plans. General
Smyth, the 'commanding officer, favored
■ them. Captain Towson, of the artillery,
was detailed, with fifty men, for the ser-
vice; and sailors under General Winder,
at Buffalo, were ordered out, well
armed. Several citizens joined the expe-
dition, and the whole number, rank
-and file, was about 124 men. Two large
boats were taken to the mouth of Buffalo
Creek, and in these the expedition em-
harked at midnight. At one o'clock in
the morning (Oct. 9) they left the creek,
while scores of people watched anxiously
on the shore for the result. The sharp
crack of a pistol, the roll of musketry,
followed by silence, and the moving of
two dark objects down the river pro-
claimed that the enterprise had been suc-
cessful. Joy was manifested on the
shores by shouts and the waving of lan-
terns. The vessels and their men had been
made captives in less than ten minutes.
The guns at Fort Erie were brought to
bear upon the vessels. A struggle for
their possession ensued. The Detroit was
finally burned, but the Caledonia was
saved, and afterwards did good service in
Perry's fleet on Lake Erie. In this brill-
iant aflfair the Americans lost one killed
and five wounded. The loss of the Brit-
ish is not known. A shot from Fort Erie
crossed the river and instantly killed Maj.
William Howe Cuyler, aide to General
Hull, of Watertown, N. Y. The Caledonia
was a rich prize; her cargo was valued at
$200,000.
On Aug. 4, 1814, the British, under
Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, began a
siege of Fort Erie, with about 5,000
men. Drummond perceived the impor-
tance of capturing the American batteries
at Black Rock and seizing or destroying
the armed schooners in the lake. A force
1,200 strong, that went over to Black
Rock, were repulsed by riflemen, militia,
and volunteers, under Major Morgan.
Meanwhile Drummond had opened fire on
Fort Erie with some 24-pounders. From
Aug. 7 to Aug. 14 (1814) the cannonade
and bombardment was almost incessant.
General Gaines had arrived on the 5th,
and taken the chief command as Brown's
lieutenant. On the morning of the 7th
the British hurled a fearful storm of
round-shot upon the American works
from five of their heavy cannon. Day by
day the siege went steadily on. On the
13th Drummond, having completed the
mounting of all his heavy ordnance, be-
gan a bombardment, which continued
through the day, and was renewed on the
morning of the 14th. When the attack
ceased that night, very little impression
had been made on the American works.
Satisfied that Drummond intended to
storm the works, Gaines made disposition
accordingly. At midnight an ominous
silence prevailed in both camps. It was
soon broken by a tremendous uproar. At
two o'clock in the morning (Aug. 15) the
British, 1,500 strong, under Lieutenant-
Colonel Fischer, made a furious attack
upon Towson's battery and the abatis, on
the extreme left, between that work and
the shore. They expected to find the
Americans slumbering, but were mistaken.
At a signal, Towson's artillerists sent
forth such a continuous stream of flame
from his tall battery that the British
called it the " Yankee Light - house."
254
EBIE, FORT
^
t*
Explanation' op the abovk Map.— A, old Fort Erie; a, a, demi-bastions; b, a ravelin, and c, c, block-houses.
These were all built by the British previous to its capture at the beginning of .luly. d, d, bastions built by the
Americans during the siege; e, e, a redoubt built for the security of the demi-bastions, a, a.
■ B, the American camp, secured on the right by the line g, the Douglass Battery, i, and Fort Erie; on the left,
and in front, by the lines/,/ / and batteries on the extreme right and left of them. That on the right, immedi-
ately under the letter l in the words i.kvkl plain, is Towson's; fi, A, etc.. camp traverses; n, main traverse; o,
magazine traverse, covering also the headquarters of General Gaines; p, hospital traverse; q. grand parade and
provost-guard traverse; r, General Itrown's headquarters; s, a drain; t, road from Chippewa up the lake.
C, the encami)ment of volunteers outside of the intrenchments, who joined the array a few days before the
sortie.
D, D, the British works. 1, 2, 3, their first, second, and third battery, v. the route of Porter, wiih the left
column, to attack the British right flank on the 17th; x, the ravine, and route of Miller's command.
Mr. Lossing was indebted to the late Chief .Engineer Gen. Joseph G. Totten for the manuscript map of which
this is a copy.
255
ERIE, FORT
While one assailing column, by the use of
ladders, was endeavoring to capture the
battery, the other, failing to penetrate
the abatis, because Miller and his brave
men were behind it, attempted to gain the
rear of the defenders. Both columns
failed. Five times they made a gallant
more furious attack, the bastion blew up
with tremendous force. A column of
flame, with fragments of timber, earth,
stones, and the bodies of men, rose to the
height of nearly 200 feet in the air, and
fell in a shower of ruins to a great dis-
tance around. This appalling explosion
KUINS OF FOKT ERIE, 1860.
attack, when, after fearful loss, they aban- was followed by a galling cannonade,
doned the enterprise. Meanwhile another when the British fled to their intrench-
British column made a desperate attack ments, leaving on the field 221 killed, 174
on the fort, when the exasperated Drum- wounded, and 186 prisoners. The loss of
mond ordered his men to " give the Yan- the Americans was seventy killed, fifty-
kees no quarter " if the fort should be six wounded, and eleven missing,
taken, and had actually stationed some After the terrible explosion and the re-
Indians near to assist in the execution pulse of the British, both parties pre-
of the savage order. He obtained partial pared for a renewed contest. Each was
possession of the weak fort, and ordered strengthened by reinforcements, but the
his men to attack the garrison with pike struggle was not again begun for a month,
and bayonet. Most of the officers and General Brown had recovered from his
many of the men received deadly wounds, wound, and was again in command of his
No quarter was given ; but very soon the army. The fort was closely invested by
officer who gave the order was killed by the British, but Drummond's force, ly-
the side of Lieutenant Macdonough, who ing upon low ground, was greatly weak-
had askod him for quarter, bu was shot ened by typhoid fever. Hearing of this,
dead by him. The battle raged furiously Bro\vn determined to make a sortie from
a while longer. The British held the the fort. The time appointed for its ex-
main bastion of the fort in spite of all ecution was Sept. 17. He resolved, he
efforts to dislodge them. Finally, just said, " to storm the batteries, destroy the
as the Americans were about to make a cannon, and roughly handle the brigade
256
ERIE, LAKE, BATTLE ON
on duty, before those in reserve at the
camp could be brought into action."
Fortunately for the sallying troops, a
thick fog obscured their movements as
they went out, towards noon, in three di-
visions — one under General Proctor, an-
other under James Miller (who had been
brevetted a brigadier-general), and a
third under General Ripley. Porter
reached a point within a few rods of the
British right wing, at near three o'clock,
before the movement was suspected by
his antagonist. An assault was immedi-
ately begun. The startled British on
that flank fell back, and left the Ameri-
cans masters of the ground. Two bat-
teries were then stormed, and were car-
ried after a close struggle for thirty
minutes. This triumph was followed by
the capture of the block-house in the rear
of the batteries. The garrison were made
prisoners, cannon and carriages were de-
stroyed, and the magazine blown up.
Meanwhile, General Miller had carried
two other batteries and block-houses in
the rear. Within forty minutes after
Porter and Miller began the attack, four
saved, with Buffalo, and stores on the
Niagara frontier, by this successful sortie.
In the space of an hour the hopes of
Drummond were blasted, the fruits of the
labor of fifty days were destroyed, and
his force reduced by at least 1,000 men.
Public honors were awarded to Brown,
Porter, and llipley. Congress presented
each with a gold medal. To the ehief
commander (Brown), of whom it was
said, " no enterprise which he undertook
ever failed," the corporation of New York
gave the freedom of the city in a gold box.
The governor of New York (D. D; Tomp-
kins) presented to him an elegant sword.
The States of New York, Massachusetts,
South Carolina, and Georgia each gave
Eipley tokens of their appreciation of his
services.
Erie, Lake, Battle on. Who should
be masters of Lake Erie was an important
question to be solved in 1813. The United
States government did not fulfil its prom-
ise to Hull to provide means for securing
the naval supremacy on Lake Erie. The
necessity for such an attainment was so
obvious before the close of 1812 that the
MOUTH OP CASCADE CREEK, WHERE PERRY'S FLEET WAS BUILT.
batteries, two block-houses, and the whole government took vigorous action in the
line of British intrenchments were in the matter. Isaac Chauncey was in command
bands of the Americans. Fort Erie was of a little squadron on Lake Ontario late
m.— » 257
SRIE, LAKE, BATTLE ON
PERRY'S BATTLE FLAG.
24th of the same month
two brigs were put afloat.
The whole fleet was finished
on July 10, and consisted
of the brig Laicrence, twenty
guns; brig Niagara, twenty
guns; brig Caledonia, three
guns; schooner Ariel, four
guns; schooner Scorpion,
two guns and two swivels;
sloop Trippe, one gun;
schooner Tigress, one gun;
and schooner Porcupine, one
gun. The command of the
fleet was given to Perry,
and the Lawrence, so named,
in honor of the slain com-
mander of the Chesapeake,
was his flag-ship. But men
and supplies were wanting.
A British squadron on the
lake seriously menaced the
fleet at Erie, and Perry
pleaded for materials to put
his vessels in proper order
in 1812, and Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry, to meet danger. " Think of my situa-
a zealous young naval officer, of Rhode Isl- tion," he wrote to Chauncey — " the enemy
and, who was in command of a flotilla of in sight, the vessels under my command
gunboats on the Newport station, offered more than sufficient and ready to make
his services on the Lakes. Chauncey de- sail, and yet obliged to bite my fingers
sired his services, and on Feb. 17 Perry re- with vexation for want of men."
ceived orders from the Secretary of the Perry, anxiously waiting for men to
Navy to report to Chauncey with all pos- man his little fleet at Erie, was partial-
sible despatch, and to take with him to ly gratified by the arrival there of 100
Sackett's Harbor all of the best men of men from Black Rock, under Captain El-
the fiotilla at Newport. He sent them for- liott, and early in August, 1813, he went
ward, in companies of fifty, under Sailing- out on the lake before he was fairly pre-
Masters Almy, Champlin, and Taylor. He pared for vigorous combat. On Aug. 17,
met Chauncey at Albany, and they jour- when off Sandusky Bay, he fired a signal-
neyed together in a sleigh through the gun for General Harrison, according to
then wilderness to Sackett's Harbor. In agreement. Harrison was encamped at
March Perry went to Presque Isle (now Seneca, and late in the evening of the
Erie, Pa.) to hasten the construction and 19th he and his suite arrived in boats
equipment of a little navy there designed and went on board the flag-ship Lawrence,
to co-operate with General Harrison in at- where arrangements were made for the fall
tempts to recover Michigan. Four vessels campaign in that quarter. Harrison had
were speedily built at Erie, and five others about 8,000 militia, regulars and Indians,
were taken to that well-sheltered harbor at Camp Seneca, a little more than 20
from Black Rock, near Buff'alo, where miles from the lake. While he was wait-
Henry Eckford {q. v.) had converted ing for Harrison to get his army ready
merchant-vessels into war-ships. The ves- to be transported to Fort Maiden, Perry
sels at Erie were constructed under the cruised about the lake. On a bright
immediate supervision of Sailing-Master morning, Sept. 10, the sentinel watching
Daniel Dobbins, at the mouth of Cascade in the main-top of the Lawrence cried.
Creek. Early in May (1813) the three "Sail, ho!" It announced the appear-
smaller vessels were launched, and on the ance of the British fleet, clearly seen in
258
EBIE, LAKE, BATTLE ON
the northwestern horizon. Very soon into shreds, her spars battered into splin-
Perry's nine vessels were ready for the ters, and her guns dismounted. One mast
enemy. At the mast-head of the Laivrcnce remained, and from it streamed the na-
was displayed a blue banner, with the tional flag. The deck was a scene of
words of Lawrence, the dying captain, in dreadful carnage, and most men would
large white letters " DoxN't give up the have struck their flag. But Perry was
PIT IN-BA\— SMOKE OF BAITLL bbEN IN TUB, UISTANCE.
Ship." The two squadrons slowly ap- hopeful in gloom. His other vessels
proached each other. The British squad- had fought gallantly, excepting the
ron was commanded by Com. Robert Niagara, Captain Elliott, the stanchest
H. Barclay, who fought with Nelson at ship in the fleet, which had kept out-
Trafalgar. His vessels were the ship De- side, and was unhurt. As she drew near
troit, nineteen guns, and one pivot and the Laiorence, Perry resolved to fly to her,
two howitzers; ship Queen Charlotte, and, renewing the fight, win the victory!
seventeen, and one howitzer; bri^ Lady Putting on the uniform of his rank, that
Prevost, thirteen, and one howitzer; brig he might properly receive Barclay as his
Hunter, ten; sloop Little Belt, three; prisoner, he took down his broad pen-
and schooner Chippewa,
one, and two swivels.
The battle began at noon,
at long range, the Seor-
pion, commanded by
young Sailing - Master
Stephen Champlin, then
less than twenty-four
years of age, firing the
first shot on the Ameri-
can side. As the fleets
drew nearer and nearer,
hotter and hotter waxed
the fight. For two hours the Lawrence nant and the banner with the stirring
bore the brunt of battle, until she lay woi'ds, entered his boat, and, with four
upon the waters almost a total wreck stout seamen at the oars, he started on
— her rigging all shot away, her sails cut his perilous voyage, anxiously watched by
259
^<lA^#i^^
M Jr T "W
i^^4
^4
POSITION OP THE TWO SQUADRONS JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE.
ERIE, LAKE, BATTLE ON
w^^> ti/cm/ mx^cCo /rc^^^eco ci^ ^tiic^rrO
PERRY'S DESPATCH.
those he had left on the Lawrence. Perry
stood upright in his boat, with the pen-
nant and banner partly wrapped about
him. Barclay, who had been badly
wounded, informed of Perry's daring, and
knowing the peril of the British fleet if
the young commodore should reach the
decks of the Niagara, ordered big and
the Niagara in safety. Hoisting his pen-
nant over her, he dashed through the
British line, and eight minutes afterwards
the colors of the enemy's flag-ship were
struck, all but two of the fleet surrender-
ing. These attempted to escape, but were
pursued and brought back, late in the
evening, by the Scorpion, whose gallant
THE PERRY MEDAL.
little guns to be brought to bear on the commander (Champlin) had fired the
little boat that held the hero. The voy- first and last gun in the battle of Lake
age lasted fifteen minutes. Bullets tra- Erie. Assured of victory, Perry sat down,
versed the boat, grape-shot falling in the and, resting his naval cap on his knee,
water near covered the seamen with spray, wrote to Harrison, with a pencil, on the
and oars were shivered by cannon-baHs, back of a letter, the famous despatch:
but not a man was hurt. Perry reached " We have met the e»«my, and they are
260
ERNST— ERSKINE
ours — two ships, two brigs, one schooner,
and one sloop." The name of Perry was
made immortal. His government thanl-ccd
him, and gave him and l^^liiott each a
gold medal. The legislature of Pennsyl-
vania voted him thanks and a gold medal;
and it gave thanks and a silver medal to
each man who was engaged in the battle.
The Americans lost twenty-seven killed
and ninety-six wounded. The British loss
was about 200 killed and GOO made prison-
ers. At about nine o'clock in the evening
of the day of the battle, the moon shin-
ing brightly^ the two squadrons weighed
anchor and sailed into Put-in-Bay, not
far from Sandusky, out of which the
American fleet had sailed that morning.
The last survivor of the battle of Lake
Erie was John Norris, who died at Peters-
burg, Va., in January, 1879.
Ernst, Oswald Herbert, military offi-
cer ; born in Cincinnati, 0., June 27,
1842; graduated at West Point in
1864, and entered the Engineer Corps;
superintendent of West Point in 1893-
08 ; appointed a brigadier-general of vol-
unteers in May, 1898, and served in
the Avar against Spain. He was sent to
Porto Rico, and had command of the
troops in the action of Coamo. He is
the author of Practical Military Engi-
necriufj.
Erskine, David Montague, Baron,
diplomatist; born in England in 1776;
soon after 1806 was sent to the United
States as British envoy. He was on duty
in Washington at the time of Madison's
accession to the Presidency. He found
the new President so exceedingly anxious
for peace and good feeling between the
two countries that he had written to Can-
ning, the British minister, such letters
on the subject that he was instructed to
propose to the Americans a reciprocal
repeal of all the prohibitory laws upon
certain conditions. Those conditions were
so partial towards Great Britain, requir-
ing the Americans to submit to the rule
of 1756, that they were rejected. Very
soon, however, arrangements were made
by which, upon the Orders in Council be-
ing repealed, the President should issue
a proclamation declaring a restoration of
commercial intercourse with Great Brit-
ain, but leaving all restrictive laws as
against France in full force. Mr. Erskine
also offered reparation for the insult and
injury in tlie case of the Chesapeake
(q. v.), and also assured the government
of the United States that Great Britain
would immediately send over an envoy
extraordinary, vested with power to con-
clude a treaty that should settle all
points cf dispute between the two gov-
ernments. This arrangement was com-
pleted April 18, 1809. The next day the
Secretary of State received a note from
Erskine, saying he was authorized to de-
clare that his Majesty's Orders in Council
of January and November, 1807, would
be withdrawn on June 10 next ensuing.
On the same day (April 19) the Presi-
dent issued a proclamation declaring that
trade with Great Britain might be re-
sinned after June 10. This proclamation
gave great joy in the United States.
Partisan strife was hushed, and the Presi-
dent was toasted and feasted by leading
Federalists, as a Washingtonian worthy
of all confidence. In the House of Repre-
sentatives, John Randolph, who lauded
England for her magnanimity, offered
(May 3, 1809) a resolution which declared
" that the promptitude and frankness with
v/hich the President of the United States
has met the overtures of the government
of Great Britain towards a restoration of
harmony and freer commercial intercourse
between the two nations meet the ap-
proval of this House." The joy was of
brief duration. Mr. Erskine was soon
afterwards compelled to communicate to
the President (July 31) that his govern-
ment had refused to sanction his arrange-
ment, ostensibly because the minister had
exceeded his instructions, and was not
authorized to make any such arrangement.
Mr. Erskine was recalled. The true rea-
son for the rejection by the British au-
thorities of the arrangement made by
Erskine probably was, that, counting upon
the fatal effects of sectional strife in
the Union, already so rampant in some
places, the British government was en-
couraged to believe that the bond of unio