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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hidden Treasures, by Harry A. Lewis
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Hidden Treasures
+       Why Some Succeed While Others Fail
+
+
+Author: Harry A. Lewis
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 20, 2006  [eBook #20151]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIDDEN TREASURES***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) from materials
+generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
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+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/5/20151/20151-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/whysucceed00lewirich
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      A large number of printer's typographical errors have been
+      corrected. In some cases, questionable spellings, tense and
+      words (e.g.: vindicative) have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+HIDDEN TREASURES
+
+Or,
+
+Why Some Succeed While Others Fail.
+
+by
+
+H. A. LEWIS.
+
+Finely Illustrated.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+"Not Failure, but low aim is crime."
+
+
+Sold by Subscription Only.
+Cleveland, Ohio:
+Moses, Lewis & Co.
+1888.
+Copyright, 1887.
+by Wright, Moses & Lewis.
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Some succeed while others fail. This is a recognized fact; yet history
+tells us that seven-tenths of our most successful men began life poor.
+As our title indicates, we shall endeavor to show "why some succeed
+while others fail." Knowing that everybody desires success, and
+recognizing the old adage, "Example is the best of teachers," we have
+selected representative characters from the multitude of successful men
+who have climbed the ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round.
+These we have followed from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on
+the traits of character that have made them so rich and successful,
+believing that a careful study will convince all that the proverbial
+"luck" had little to do with it. On the contrary, one is taught those
+lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance which are so essential to
+success in life's struggles. It is fearful to think how many of our
+young people are drifting without an aim in life, and do not comprehend
+that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar with the
+parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent--all may profit by
+his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present this
+volume.
+
+_Every young man is now a sower of seed on the field of life. The bright
+days of youth are the seed-time. Every thought of your intellect, every
+emotion of your heart, every word of your tongue, every principle you
+adopt, every act you perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will
+prove bliss or bane of your after life._--WISE.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+Dear reader, it is a grave undertaking to write a book, especially is it
+so in writing a treatise on success and failure, as we have attempted to
+do in the work we hereby present you. It is a solemn thing to give
+advice. Experience teaches that no one thing will please everybody; that
+men's censures are as various as their palates; that some are as deeply
+in love with vice as others are with virtue. Shall I then make myself
+the subject of every opinion, wise or weak? Yes, I would rather hazard
+the censure of some than hinder the good of others.
+
+There need neither reasons to be given nor apologies to be made where
+the benefit of our fellow-men is our aim. Henry Clay Trumbull says: "At
+no time in the world's history, probably, has there been so general an
+interest in biography as that which has been shown of late. Just here
+lies a weighty obligation upon these who write, and those who read, of
+the lives of men who have done something in the world. It is not enough
+for us to know WHAT they have done; it belongs to us to discover the WHY
+of their works and ways, and to gain some personal benefit from the
+analysis of their successes and failures. Why was this man great? What
+general intentions--what special traits led him to success? What ideal
+stood before him, and by what means did he seek to attain it? Or, on the
+other hand, what unworthy purpose, what lack of conscience and religious
+sense, what unsettled method and feeble endeavor stood in the way of the
+'man of genius' and his possible achievements?" In this volume one sees
+the barefoot boy rise to the eminent statesman, the great millionaire,
+the honored inventor. How was this accomplished? We believe that a
+careful study of the different characters, by the light of the author's
+opinion of the characteristics essential to success, as shown in
+Department Fifth, will show why they succeeded.
+
+Let the reader follow each character separately, from childhood to
+manhood, noting carefully the different changes in the career of each
+and the motives which actuated and brought them about. If this book
+shall serve to awaken dormant energies in ONE PERSON who might otherwise
+have failed, we shall feel abundantly repaid. Doubtless, there are
+others who are better qualified to write a treatise on such a subject;
+nevertheless, we have done our best, and this done, we have attained
+success.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ADAMS, JOHN,                      129
+ARTHUR, CHESTER A.,               352
+ASTOR, JOHN JACOB,                 85
+BARNUM, PHINEAS T.,                81
+BEECHER, HENRY WARD,              404
+BENNETT, JAMES GORDON,             77
+BENTON, THOMAS HART,              248
+BLAINE, JAMES G.,                 362
+BONNER, ROBERT,                    45
+CALHOUN, JOHN C.,                 209
+CASS, LEWIS,                      207
+CHILDS, GEORGE W.,                 72
+CLAFLIN, HORACE B.,                26
+CLAY, HENRY,                      256
+COOPER, PETER,                     95
+CORCORAN, WILLIAM W.,             119
+DISSTON, HENRY,                    93
+DODGE, WILLIAM E.,                 27
+DOUGLASS, STEPHEN A.,             267
+DREW, DANIEL,                      11
+EDISON, THOMAS A.,                476
+EVERETT, EDWARD,                  328
+FAIR, JAMES G.,                    54
+FARGO, WILLIAM G.,                 48
+FIELD, CYRUS W.,                  467
+FILLMORE, MILLARD,                281
+FLOOD, JAMES C.,
+FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN,               429
+FULTON, ROBERT,                   436
+GARFIELD, JAMES A.,               342
+GIRARD, STEPHEN,                  106
+GOODYEAR, CHARLES,                457
+GOULD, JAY,                        30
+GRANT, ULYSSES S.,                299
+GREELEY, HORACE,                   61
+HAMILTON, ALEXANDER,              179
+HANCOCK, WINFIELD S.,             293
+HARPER, JAMES,                     90
+HAYNE, ROBERT Y.,                 216
+HOE, RICHARD M.,                  454
+HOWE, JR., ELIAS,                 444
+JACKSON, ANDREW,                  237
+JACKSON, STONEWALL,               303
+JEFFERSON, THOMAS,                168
+JOHNSON, ANDREW,                  338
+LAW, GEORGE,                      101
+LAWRENCE, ABBOTT,                 271
+LAWRENCE, AMOS,                    21
+LEE, ROBERT E.,                   306
+LINCOLN, ABRAHAM,                 312
+LOGAN, JOHN A.,                   357
+LONGWORTH, NICHOLAS,               43
+MACKAY, JOHN W.,                   52
+MADISON, JAMES,                   184
+MARSHALL, JOHN,                   175
+MCCLELLAN, GEORGE B.,             297
+MILLS, DARIUS O.,                 103
+MONROE, JAMES,                    200
+MORSE, PROFESSOR S. F. B.,        462
+PALMER, POTTER,                    88
+PEABODY, GEORGE,                  116
+PULLMAN, GEORGE,                  473
+RALSTON, WILLIAM G.,              112
+ROTHSCHILD, NATHAN MAYER,         122
+SAGE, RUSSELL,                     14
+SEWARD, WILLIAM H.,               204
+SEYMOUR, HORATIO,                 289
+SINGER, ISAAC M.,                 451
+STANTON, EDWIN M.,                332
+STEPHENS, ALEXANDER H.,           272
+STEPHENSON, GEORGE,               421
+STEWART, ALEXANDER T.,             39
+TAYLOR, MOSES,                    110
+TILDEN, SAMUEL J.,                396
+VAN BUREN, MARTIN,                263
+VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS,             16
+VASSAR, MATHEW,                    84
+WANNAMAKER, JOHN,                  37
+WATT, JAMES,                      415
+WEBSTER, DANIEL,                  218
+WEED, THURLOW,                     69
+WILSON, HENRY,                    310
+WHITNEY, ELI,                     435
+
+WHY SOME SUCCEED WHILE OTHERS FAIL.
+
+SUCCESS AND FAILURE,              481
+CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT,          486
+SELF-RELIANCE,                    490
+ECONOMY OF TIME,                  495
+CAUSES OF FAILURE,                499
+
+
+
+
+QUOTATIONS.
+
+
+_A man, to succeed, must possess the necessary equanimity of temperament
+to conceive an idea, the capacity to form it into some tangible shape,
+the ingenuity to put it into practical operation, the ability to
+favorably impress others with its merits, and the_ POWER _of_ WILL _that
+is absolutely necessary to force it to success._
+
+--THOMAS A. SCOTT.
+
+
+_Labor rids us of three evils.--Tediousness, Vice and Poverty._
+
+--CARLYLE.
+
+
+"_Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable
+and ought to be done, and then let nothing stand long in the way of
+accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to
+have it; few deserve it who do not attain it._"
+
+"_There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits
+are good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly,
+and purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price_--WORK!"
+
+_In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his
+motto be_ VICTORY OR DEATH.
+
+--HENRY CLAY.
+
+
+"_Be liberal but cautious; enterprising but careful._"
+
+"_Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we
+fall._"
+
+              _Fail!--Fail?_
+    _In the lexicon of youth, which Fate reserves for a bright manhood,
+                  there is no such word_
+          _As--fail!_--"RICHELIEU."
+
+
+_Benjamin Franklin has truly said: The road to wealth is as plain as the
+road to mill._
+
+
+
+
+DANIEL DREW.
+
+
+Here is a great financier. A man of unusual ability; but who is no
+exception to the rule, born poor. His success came by hard work and a
+thorough mastery of his business. It is surprising how many Wall Street
+operators began life on the farm. In the case of Daniel Drew, at the age
+of only fifteen, matters were made worse by the death of his father.
+
+At eighteen, he concluded to go to New York; but, after a discouraging
+time of it, his money giving out, he was obliged to return to his home.
+However, his trip did not prove a total failure, as subsequent events
+show. While in the metropolis he heard that fat cattle could be sold
+there at a profit over what he knew they could be bought for, at his
+country home. He therefore resolved to go into the cattle business.
+True, he had no money, he was a poor country lad, but this made little
+difference with Drew's determination. As he had no money with which to
+buy a drove for himself, he did the next best thing; this was to induce
+the neighboring farmers to allow him to drive their cattle to market on
+a commission plan. By this one act the reader can understand the
+difference between Daniel Drew and the neighboring farm boys, many of
+whom were better situated, doubtless, than was he.
+
+Another characteristic he developed was economy; his money was saved and
+with these small savings he added cattle to his drove which were his
+own, hence, increased his profits; first one at a time, then two, when
+at last he abandoned the commission business, becoming a drover on his
+own account. Later, he took a partner and the firm of Drew & Co. became
+the cattle kings of America. This was the first firm that ever drove
+cattle from the West, and Drew, ever watchful for opportunities to add
+to his already increasing income, bought a tavern which became, as Drew
+knew it would under good management, the centre of the cattle business
+in the city on market days.
+
+As time passed, as a matter of course, following such a line of
+procedure, he became a very rich man, and his disposition being of an
+enterprising nature, he began to cast about him for new investments,
+seeking new fields to conquer. The explosion of a boat on the Hudson,
+discommoding for a time the existing line, offered to Drew the favorable
+opportunity for which he was looking, and as was characteristic he at
+once improved his chance. He immediately placed on the river the "Water
+Witch"; the old line resumed business; the fares were reduced until the
+profits of both companies were eaten up. The opposition tried to
+intimidate, they tried to buy out, and then tried to negotiate some
+other deals, but all in vain. On the contrary Drew put on the
+"Westchester," and instead of stopping at Peekskill, he extended to
+Albany. He next bought the "Bright Emerald," and started an evening
+line. This was a new feature in those days and as it enabled the
+business men to travel without loss of time, it became eminently
+popular.
+
+Drew was a man with a fertile mind; he made a study of whatever he
+undertook; he was a hard man to beat. He bought the "Rochester," and
+next bought out the old line. For a long time he had things pretty much
+his own way; then came a new opposition. This time, through
+negotiations, he won the opposition over and established the celebrated
+"People's Line," naming their first boat after his new partner, "St.
+John." Mr. Drew, in connection with others, formed the "Stonington Line"
+between New York and Boston, and still later he opened the "Champlain
+Transportation Company" from White Hall, New York, to Rouses Point,
+Vermont. He next placed his shoulder under Erie, endorsing its paper to
+the amount of ten millions. Later still he was elected President of this
+company, and as Erie and Central are natural enemies, Vanderbilt and
+Drew henceforth became hostile toward each other. Mr. Drew wanted to
+extend Erie west. To do this he must get a special act of the
+Legislature. Of course, he had Vanderbilt and Central, with all their
+patronage, with which to contend, and a bitter fight it proved to be;
+but in those days Daniel Drew seemed invincible in court, and the bill
+passed, Erie re-issuing stock and extending its lines.
+
+He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to him is that
+religious body indebted for that grand institution, "Drew Theological
+Seminary." Many men would have made a worse use of vast wealth than did
+Daniel Drew. He was a man who was quiet; he kept his "points," and was a
+pleasing conversationalist. In 1879 he died, leaving two children.
+
+
+
+
+RUSSELL SAGE.
+
+
+This wonderful man was born at Verona, Oneida County, New York, over
+sixty years ago. In early life, he determined to earn all that he could,
+and spend less than he earned. When he arrived at the age of fifteen, he
+removed to Troy, and entered the grocery store of one of his brothers.
+Until eighteen years of age he remained here as a clerk when he had
+saved money enough to buy an interest in another store of which another
+brother was proprietor. Here he remained several years in successful
+trade, when the partnership was dissolved. He next turned his attention
+to the wholesale trade, dealing in grain, flour, pork, beef, etc., the
+most of these ventures proving successful.
+
+His towns' people, recognizing his business ability elected him alderman
+for seven years, and later, treasurer of Rensselaer county. His fidelity
+in these trusts won for him a seat in Congress, and he was re-elected by
+an increased majority, serving both terms with great credit to himself
+and party.
+
+In 1860, he had succeeded so well that he could show $200,000 on the
+credit side of his bank account. Seeking new fields to conquer, he
+naturally gravitated to the money centre, New York. Since that time
+Russell Sage has been as favorably known in Wall street as any broker in
+the country. He occupies an office in the same building with Gould, and
+scores of the leading spirits, with whom he mingles daily. He attends
+strictly to business, and never even smokes. Mr. Sage deals in
+everything which he deems "an investment,"--banks, railroad stock, real
+estate, all receive his attention. He is a very cautious operator, and
+cannot, by any possible means, be induced into a "blind pool." He has,
+however, been very successful in the "street," and it is said has built
+over three thousand miles of railroad. Russell Sage might easily be
+mistaken for a church deacon, instead of the keen operator that he is.
+However, no one in the "street" will give away "points" to his friends
+sooner than he. The _Troy Times_ once mentioned several people who said
+that Mr. Sage had pointed out to them investments, of which they could
+never have known but for him, each investment having yielded them
+thousands of dollars. He often gives friends the benefit of his splendid
+opportunities, which makes him a general favorite among all brokers. Mr.
+Sage enjoys the confidence and friendship of some of the leading
+operators, among whom are Jay Gould.
+
+He is a man of marked ability, and honesty. He never fails to meet any
+of his obligations, nor will he allow others to neglect theirs. Of
+course, he is careful what he agrees to do, but always does just as he
+agrees, regardless of cost. For this reason he is known in Wall street
+as "Old Integrity." Russell Sage is a shrewd, close calculator, and is
+worth many millions, the result of improving his opportunities. He is a
+consistent member of the Evangelical Church, and is very charitable.
+Long may such men live, for we have many worse.
+
+
+
+
+CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.
+
+
+Vanderbilt, a synonym for wealth and luxury. Who indeed has not wished
+that he could have at least a small part of the vast wealth possessed by
+the Vanderbilts? Yet, when Cornelius Vanderbilt was a boy, he enjoyed
+far less privileges to make money than the majority who now look on and
+wish; but Cornelius Vanderbilt differed from other boys of his age. One
+difference was his strong determination.
+
+It was then, much as it is now, boys liked to spend their money and have
+a good time.
+
+It was a common saying in the neighborhood where he lived, 'that when
+Corneel. Vanderbilt concludes to do anything it will certainly be done.'
+A ship stranded off the shore; young Cornelius' father took the contract
+to transfer the cargo to New York city. This was a job requiring many
+teams and a force of men to carry the produce to a different part of the
+island where they were to be taken by water to New York. Although but
+twelve years old, young Vanderbilt was given control of this part of the
+work. His father, by accident, neglected to furnish him the money with
+which to pay his ferriage. Here he was, a lad twelve years old, with no
+money, in charge of a lot of horses which must be ferried over at a cost
+of over five dollars. He hesitated but a moment; walking boldly up to
+the hotel proprietor he said: "Sir, I am here without money, by
+accident; if you will kindly advance me the money to pay the ferriage, I
+will leave a horse as your security." The proprietor was a perfect
+stranger to Vanderbilt, but he was struck with such enterprise. The
+money was advanced, and the horse redeemed within forty-eight hours.
+
+[Illustration: ENTERPRISE. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures"]
+
+Vanderbilt wanted a small boat. On the tenth day of May, 1810, he went
+to his mother and asked for the money with which to buy it. There was a
+very rough piece of land on the parental farm which had never been
+plowed. His mother told him that if he would plow, drag and plant that
+field to corn within seventeen days, she would buy the boat for him. It
+was a hard job, doubtless, the mother considered it an impossible one.
+Vanderbilt, however, seemed never to recognize such a word, as can't. He
+set about the work at once, and hard as it seemed to be, the task was
+accomplished, the boat was bought, and Vanderbilt was a happy boy. He
+had earned it. Now, as Vanderbilt did not want this boat for pleasure,
+he at once began business carrying produce from Staten Island to New
+York city. When the wind was unfavorable he used oars or a pole to aid
+his sails, thus, his produce was always on time. People said, "Send your
+stuff by Vanderbilt and you can depend on its being in season." Now
+Vanderbilt had to give all of his earnings during the day time to his
+parents, so he worked nights, but his father also required one-half of
+what he earned nights, thus his opportunities were not as great as one
+might think. He worked very hard and at the end of three years, it was
+found that Corneel. Vanderbilt had saved for himself over, or about
+$3,000 and the best of all, had earned the reputation of being the best
+boatman on the river. While others were smoking and drinking, 'having
+fun while they were young, for when would they if not then?' Vanderbilt
+was either earning more money working over time, or at least saving
+what he had earned, home asleep recruiting for the next day's labor.
+
+He wished to marry a Miss Johnson, but could not unless his parents
+would release him from all parental restrictions. He was only nineteen,
+yet luckily for the young people the lady was a favorite of the father;
+the desired permission was obtained and henceforth Vanderbilt had the
+exclusive benefit of his labor. As he had begun, so he continued, and at
+the age of twenty-three he was worth about $9,000. In 1817 he became
+captain of the first steam boat that ever run between New York and New
+Brunswick, New Jersey, at a salary of $1,000 per year. His wife proved
+to be a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, she at this time
+keeping hotel at New Brunswick and making no small amount herself. Seven
+years passed and Vanderbilt was made superintendent of the company of
+which he had been an employe. If a man has ability and applies it, his
+talent will not remain hid 'under a bushel.' His ability and indomitable
+energy brought the "Gibbons Line" up to paying $40,000 a year. Seeing a
+chance, for which he was ever on the alert, he leased the ferry between
+New York and Elizabeth, New Jersey, for fourteen years, put on new boats
+and it became a very profitable venture. In 1829 he left the "Gibbons
+Line," and began to operate on the Hudson and between New York and
+Boston; also on the Delaware river. He would start an opposition line,
+and either drive off the old line or effect a compromise. In 1849 he
+obtained from the Nicaraguan Government a charter for a steamship
+company. He next went to England and raised the extra funds needed. He
+then went personally and inspected the whole route that was used, and by
+a system of cables fastened to trees, shortened the same about seven
+hundred miles over all existing lines. He placed steamers on each ocean
+and cut the fare from New York to San Francisco one-half. Soon he had
+destroyed all opposition and then made immense profits. Afterward he
+sold out for two millions.
+
+Mr. Vanderbilt, like all successful men, made finance a study; he
+foresaw that there were great profits to be realized in the near future
+in the undeveloped railway systems in the country. To see a chance was
+to at once set about planning to improve it. He at once began to
+withdraw his money from the water and invest in railroads, which were
+then coming rapidly to the front. The wisdom of Vanderbilt can be seen,
+for at the beginning of the war, which he had been long expecting, his
+money was all transferred from the water, and thus his interests were
+not jeopardised by the war made upon our commerce. He, however, had
+owned so many vessels, that he had long since been known as Commodore
+Vanderbilt, in fact few people to-day know him by any other name. He, at
+the beginning of hostilities, presented the government with a
+magnificent steamship, the "Vanderbilt," worth $800,000. When he entered
+the railroad business he was estimated at from thirty-five to forty
+millions. He had dealt somewhat in New York and New Haven, and now began
+to buy Harlem when it was in a most helpless and depressed condition. He
+advanced a large sum to the company when it was in need, and for this,
+among other things, he was made its President in 1863. By judicious
+management and influences common in 'The street,' he successfully ran
+Harlem from thirty to two hundred and eighty-five. Such a man was just
+what the New York Central railroad desired, and after this great
+'bulling' movement he became President of that road. All that was
+needed now was the Hudson River road and this he bought outright,
+becoming President of the New York Central and Hudson River Rail Road,
+extending from New York to Buffalo.
+
+At one time there was a bill to be voted on at Albany; the bill was in
+the interest of Harlem; Mr. Vanderbilt was sure it would pass, but
+Daniel Drew, his antagonist, who ever fought Harlem or Central as they
+were against Erie, caused a counter movement to be made which defeated
+the bill. Vanderbilt heard of it, and of course was disappointed but
+made no foolish protests with the treacherous 'friends' at the capitol.
+In the meantime these people were selling Harlem short for future
+delivery, expecting that the stock would "take a tumble" when it became
+known that the bill was defeated. As before said Vanderbilt said
+nothing, but quietly bought up every scrap of stock there was to be
+found loose. The fatal day came but Harlem stood firm. The derelict
+Assemblymen were thunderstruck when they had to buy at a greatly
+enhanced price, and many of the would-be victors were ruined. In 1873
+the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad was operated in connection
+with the Vanderbilt system, making a Palace Car route from New York city
+to Chicago. From New York to Buffalo a quadruple track, thence a double
+track.
+
+Among the charities of Mr. Vanderbilt is a gift of three-quarters of a
+million to the University in Nashville, Tennessee, which bears his name.
+He died in 1877 worth about eighty millions.
+
+
+
+
+AMOS LAWRENCE.
+
+
+Amos Lawrence was born April 22nd, 1786. He was a weak child,
+consequently could not attend school, but his mother did not neglect
+him. When only thirteen years old he became a clerk in a country store.
+In this store was kept everything in the hardware line, from a plow to a
+needle; in the textile line, from a horse-blanket to a pocket
+handkerchief; then you could buy the productions usually found in a
+vegetable garden,--everything was kept, even to Jamaica rum and drugs
+for the sick; a good place, indeed, for a bright, active boy to gain new
+ideas. Each country store, in those days, had its bar, and the clerks
+were as likely to be called on to mix drinks, as they were to be asked
+to measure off dry goods, and it was considered as honorable. Not only
+this, but it was customary for clerks to take a drink themselves, but
+young Lawrence determined to neither drink nor smoke. True, he liked the
+taste of liquor, and enjoyed a quiet smoke, but he argued that such
+pleasures, not only eat up profits already earned, but left the system
+in a poor condition to earn more. When we consider that he was a mere
+lad of thirteen, or at best fourteen, when he had decided upon this
+honorable course, and when we think that at least, for the time being,
+these luxuries would have cost nothing, we are constrained to say, no
+wonder he became a rich man.
+
+If our young men would only save the money they yearly smoke up and
+spend for other needless things, we would have clearer headed and much
+wealthier men. Our young men all desire to gain wealth and the highest
+enjoyments possible in this world, but are not willing to pay for them.
+If they would examine the lives of a great many of our most wealthy and
+influential men of to-day, they would be surprised to learn how few even
+smoke.
+
+If you see a man with a high hat, gaudily dressed, smoking and seemingly
+inviting your attention at some horse trot, where he is making a great
+display of wealth in the way of bets, you can set it down as pretty
+certain that that man is a clerk working for $10 or $15 per week, or at
+best, a mere curb-stone broker who will never rise to anything higher.
+Real wealth and distinction never invite your attention. One would
+hardly take that plain old gentleman, walking along the street yonder,
+for other than a country deacon, yet the check of Russell Sage will be
+recognized and honored to the amount of millions. Jay Gould never enjoys
+himself more than when at home.
+
+We spend as a nation now, every year, NINE HUNDRED MILLIONS FOR LIQUOR
+and THREE HUNDRED and FIFTY MILLIONS for TOBACCO. Total, ONE BILLION,
+TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY MILLIONS. One billion, two hundred and fifty
+millions thrown away. More than twice what we use for bread and meat.
+Then look at that vast waste of unearned wages. Man can't do two things
+well at one time. In our large cities we have, of late, seen drunken
+men, with pipes in their mouths, carrying about the streets a banner
+inscribed, "bread or blood." They propose to make those who have worked
+intelligently for money, now divide. Would it not look far more sensible
+if the banner bore the inscription, henceforth, I will boycott the
+tobacconist, and will vote for no man who is not pledged to suppress the
+saloon oligarchy?
+
+Amos Lawrence had not the benefit of the philanthropic teaching of our
+age, but he had a common sense, and a sense of taste and judgment far in
+advance of his time. These were the principles with which he laid the
+foundation to that great fortune and enviable reputation which he lived
+to enjoy, and which his name will ever recall. We have seen that good
+habits were the foundation of his success. He also improved his
+opportunities. He became perfectly familiar with the drug department of
+the store. He determined early in life to become a wealthy and
+influential man. To determine to do anything is half the battle. "Doubt
+indulged becomes doubt realized." "To think a thing impossible is to
+make it so." "Courage is victory, timidity is defeat." Men who
+understand these maxims are men who invariably succeed. I say
+invariably--a man may think he understands when he is groping in
+midnight darkness. A young man who really is destined to succeed, not
+only INTENDS to become a rich man, or whatever he aspires to be, but
+lays plans to that end, and is not discouraged if they are blasted. He
+only recognizes that he is foiled, for the time being, and never doubts
+his ability to succeed ultimately. There is a difference between a
+blustering braggadocio and a quiet, unassuming confidence in one's self.
+One leads to certain victory, the other, to as certain defeat.
+
+Young Lawrence had served his seven long years of apprenticeship, and
+had no better opportunity presented itself, he would have succeeded, for
+he had his plans carefully laid to remain in Groton, and if he had, he
+would have succeeded. But a merchant who had seen him at the store of
+his employer, no sooner learned of his release than he immediately
+hired him to come to Boston to enter his store there. "Seest thou a man
+diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not
+stand before mean men." Thither he went part of the way on foot; the
+rest of the way with an accommodating neighbor who was driving in that
+direction. He determined to make for himself here a record for honesty,
+and so well did he succeed, that the next year he started business for
+himself, his principal capital being his reputation and acknowledged
+ability. He developed a system in his business; he paid every bill on
+the spot; if he could not pay cash, instead of the regular custom of
+book accounts, he gave his note, thus no complications could arise to
+embarrass him. He knew when the money was expected on every bill, and
+made his calculation, and was never known to be taken by surprise. He
+was reasonably cautious--he never would promise to do what he might
+possibly be unable to accomplish. He prospered--of course he would. Such
+business principles, pushed by system as Lawrence pushed them, must
+bring success to any young man.
+
+Another thing, to any one who may now imagine he, perhaps, entered
+business on the tide of prosperity, we desire simply to say, on the
+contrary, from 1808 to 1815 was one of the dullest periods our
+mercantile history can recount. No, "luck" did not favor him, but
+"pluck" did. He pushed his mercantile business for years, amassing an
+immense fortune. Our country was then new, and he had to import most of
+his merchandise from England, but as he ever made a study of his
+business, concluded that he would start manufacturing industries here,
+which would prove not only profitable to himself, but of inestimable
+value to us as a nation. In accordance with these motives, he was
+largely instrumental in connection with the Lowells in building up the
+flourishing cities of Lowell and Lawrence.
+
+He never speculated in stocks. Young men, there is no money in stocks to
+the average man. Not even in legitimate stock dealing, to say nothing of
+the numerous watered concerns. We were looking over a paper recently
+when our attention was attracted to a paragraph which explained that in
+a transaction which involved 8,000 bushels of wheat, it was found that
+the odds against the buyer was over 22 per cent. While wheat is not
+stocks, still a good rule would be never to go into anything unless the
+chances are at least equal.
+
+Amos Lawrence once said: "Young man, base all your actions upon a sense
+of right, and in doing so, never reckon the cost." What a glorious
+principle for any young man--a principle he would find hard to follow in
+many stock speculations. "Even exchange is no robbery." It is not even
+exchange to bet and take a man's money; and it makes little difference
+whether you bet on a horse's gait or the grain he will eat next month.
+At another time he said: "Good principles, good temper, and good manners
+will carry a young man through the world much better than he can get
+along with the absence of either." His sayings are numerous, yet every
+one is worthy of attention; all of them have a golden thought for old
+and young.
+
+Mr. Lawrence did not give away in large amounts to institutions of
+learning, but he kept two rooms in his house wholly for the storage of
+articles designed to relieve poor people. One contained clothing of
+every description; the other, food and other necessaries of life. He
+gave away during his life, over $700,000, and when he died people
+mourned that he had gone, for there were none left that could take his
+place. Ah! this is success. He died December 31st, 1852.
+
+
+
+
+HORACE B. CLAFLIN.
+
+
+This great dry-goods prince was born at Milford, Massachusetts, in 1811,
+and his education was attained in the public schools of that place. When
+he became of age he bought out the store in which he was clerk, and in
+company with another young man began business for himself. But this
+place was too small for the already expanding vision of both Claflin &
+Daniels; they accordingly moved to Worcester. The latter place proving
+yet too small for Claflin, we soon see him located in Cedar street, New
+York, where he finds himself somewhat satisfied for a time. After a
+period of successful trade--extending over six years' time, the young
+men were compelled to find more commodious quarters, which they found at
+No. 57 Broadway, and two years later they moved once more, locating in
+the Trinity Building. 1860 came, their business was found to amount to
+about $12,000,000 annually, and the firm resolved to build a store, for
+themselves. The result was an immense dry-goods palace. The retail
+business was entirely abandoned, and Claflin at once sprung to the front
+as the leading wholesale dry-goods merchant of America.
+
+One day, about five o'clock, Mr. Claflin sat in his private office when
+a young man, pale and careworn, timidly knocked and was asked in. "Mr.
+Claflin," said he, "I am in need of help. I have been unable to meet
+certain payments because certain parties have not done by me as they
+agreed. I would like to have $10,000. I come to you because I knew that
+you were a friend of my father, and I thought possibly you might be a
+friend to me." "Come in and have a glass of wine," said Claflin. "No,"
+said the young man, "I never drink." "Have a cigar?" "No, I never
+smoke." "Well," replied Claflin, "I am sorry but I don't feel that I can
+let you have the money." "Very well," replied the young man, "I thought
+perhaps you might; hence I came. Good day, sir." "Hold on," said
+Claflin. "You don't drink?" "No." "Nor smoke?" "No sir." "Nor gamble?"
+"No sir; I am superintendent of a Sunday-school, in ---- street." "Well,"
+said Claflin, "you shall have it." This was characteristic of the man.
+This anecdote well illustrates his character. He was an everyday
+Christian.
+
+On November 14, 1885, he passed away, leaving one more gap in the
+commercial world, and in the membership of Plymouth Church, of which he
+had been a member many years. Probably no one man missed him more at the
+time of his death than did Henry Ward Beecher, of whom he had long been
+a devoted admirer.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM E. DODGE.
+
+
+When one finishes the perusal of the life of William E. Dodge, he feels
+a thrill of unbounded admiration. A man who would resign his membership
+in the Union League Club, because it sold wine to its members; who
+disposed of valuable investments in three different railroads, when a
+majority of the stockholders voted to run Sunday trains; who, while
+carrying on a large mercantile business, and managing an extensive stock
+and real estate business, yet found time to preside at the Chamber of
+Commerce and serve on numerous committees, and held a directorship in
+various banking institutions, is surely to be admired.
+
+His religious life was never weakened by his prosperity, and the more
+money God blessed him with, the more religious societies he became
+connected with.
+
+William E. Dodge was born in the year 1805, near Hartford, Connecticut.
+He began at the foot of the ladder, taking down shutters and sweeping
+out the store in which he was employed. When twenty-one, he went into
+business in a small way, doing a retail business, which prospered, and
+at the end of three years Mr. Dodge felt able to support a wife.
+
+In 1834 he was invited to become a partner in the firm with his
+father-in-law, Mr. Anson Phelps, and a brother-in-law, under the
+firm-style of Phelps, Dodge and Company. This connection proved a most
+profitable business venture, and at the end of twenty years Mr. Dodge
+was accounted a wealthy man. Looking about for investments, his keen
+perception espied a vast fortune in lumber, and then followed those vast
+accumulations of timber lands, by buying thousands of acres in West
+Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Canada.
+
+He also became greatly interested in coal lands, and as he must find a
+conveyance to bring his coal to market, he was naturally drawn into
+railroad schemes. His ability and enterprise soon placed him on the
+board of directors for such roads as the Delaware, Lackawanna and
+Western, and New Jersey Central, being at one time President of the
+Houston and Texas.
+
+He helped found several of the most noted Insurance Companies in the
+country, and was a director until his death, of the Greenwich Saving
+Bank, City Bank, The American Exchange National Bank, the United States
+Trust Company, the Bowery Fire Insurance Company, and the Mutual Life
+Insurance Company. He was President of the Chamber of Commerce, and
+owned a very large number of saw-mills, besides carrying on the regular
+business of the firm. What will those people, who would do this or that
+if they only had time, say to all this work done by one man who then
+found time to serve on the board of management of religious
+organizations innumerable?
+
+He was a great temperance advocate, giving thousands of dollars annually
+toward the support of various societies. There were others who had
+wealth, and gave possibly as much to the betterment of mankind as did
+Dodge, but we cannot now recall any man of great wealth who would deny
+himself as much personally, beside giving, as he did. In fact he seemed
+to be crowded to death with work, yet he never refused to aid all who
+were worthy applicants. For years he gave away annually over $200,000,
+yet it was found at his death, February, 1883, that his wealth amounted
+to something like $5,000,000, a large share of which was also given to
+charitable purposes.
+
+
+
+
+JAY GOULD.
+
+
+We have written the lives of journalists, of eminent statesmen, but we
+are now going to write the life of one of the most powerful men in
+America. A man who has far greater influence over his fellow-men than
+many a king or emperor, and a man who has played a most prominent part
+in the development of our Republic.
+
+Such a man is Jay Gould to-day who has risen to this dizzy height, from
+a penniless boy on his father's farm, which he left at the age of only
+fourteen to seek his fortune. He asked his father's permission first,
+which was readily given, he thinking it would cure the boy of his
+restlessness, and when young Gould left, his father fully expected to
+see him again within a few days, but even the father was mistaken in
+calculating the stick-to-it-iveness of the son. He at last found
+employment in a store where he remained two years when his health
+compelled outdoor work. He therefore obtained employment carrying chains
+for some surveyors at $10 a month. These men were making surveys from
+which an Albany publishing firm expected to issue maps for an atlas they
+were getting out. Not only did Gould carry the chains but he improved
+every opportunity for picking up points in surveying. We see one
+characteristic of the man plainly showing itself at this early age, for
+when the firm failed, Gould had the maps published himself, and then
+personally sold enough of them to clear $1,000. With this start he went
+to Pennsylvania, and was employed in a tannery. As one sees, nearly
+every successful man owes that success largely to the cultivation of
+pleasing manners, so it was with Gould. So apparent was his ability, and
+so well did he please his employer, that the man set Gould up in
+business at Gouldsborough, where he cleared $6,000 within the next two
+years. Gould was not satisfied with this moderate success, fine as it
+seemed to be; he only regarded these enterprises as stepping-stones to
+something higher. He next enters the metropolis where he buys and sells
+hides in a small office at No. 49 Gold street.
+
+About this time Gould met a young lady at the Everett House, where he
+lived, whose acquaintance was destined to have a marked influence over
+his subsequent career. This bright, handsome girl attracted his
+attention so unmistakably that Miss Miller noticed it. A little
+flirtation took place which ripened into a mutual affection, and they
+were married without waiting for the parents' approval, probably Gould
+knew better, as the young lady, at the time was far above his station in
+life as society would say, hence acted in this matter as he would in any
+business transaction he entered.
+
+Of course, this aroused Mr. Miller's righteous indignation, but he soon
+realized that Mr. Gould was a man of no ordinary calibre and wisely
+changed his course toward him. Mr. Miller owned a large interest in the
+Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad, and young Gould, after visiting the
+same, concluded that it could be made to pay. He accordingly bought the
+entire stock his father-in-law owned, notwithstanding the stock was
+considered all but worthless. He immediately disposed of all other
+business, and assumed the management of the road by buying up as much of
+the remaining stock as seemed necessary to give him supreme control. He
+at once became Manager, Superintendent and Treasurer. When the stock
+had multiplied upon itself many times, he sold out, receiving in all
+$750,000, for his interest. This first scheme illustrates his line of
+procedure in most of those seemingly mysterious movements which have
+marked his uniform success; namely, to find some road which was almost
+worthless and, if he thought good management would bring it up, secretly
+buy the controlling interest in the line, and when it reached a fair
+figure, sell. The Rutland & Washington was offering stock at ten cents
+on the dollar; he at once bought it up and managed it so well that he
+soon was enabled to sell at 120, making, as most people would think, a
+fortune.
+
+Cleveland & Pittsburg was for a long time in a precarious condition,
+perceiving which, Mr. Gould bought up all the stock he could find, and
+threw his whole ability and experience into the development of the same.
+The stock soon took an upward move, and when it reached 120 he sold his
+twenty-five thousand shares. We next see him buying Union Pacific at
+fifteen. This stock kept falling, but while others sold continually at a
+sacrifice, and seemed glad to unload at any figure, the lower it went
+the more Gould bought. After securing a controlling interest as desired,
+he began to develop the iron industries along the line, which of course
+soon gave the road business. This and other causes soon set Union
+Pacific "booming," and the stock began to rise. No sooner, however, did
+the disappointed capitalists see their mistake in selling than the cry
+was raised: "That is Gould's road and if you touch it you will surely be
+burnt." But despite all this the stock gradually rose, and in 1879 Mr.
+Gould sold the whole hundred thousand shares that he owned to a
+syndicate. It must not be supposed, however, that Mr. Gould sold to
+satisfy public clamor--Mr. Gould is not that kind of a man.
+
+How much he was worth when he went into Erie no one knows, but it was no
+inconsiderable amount. After Mr. Drew's suit with Vanderbilt, whereby
+the latter lost seven millions, Mr. Gould was made President of Erie,
+and the capital stock was increased to two hundred and thirty-five
+thousand shares, which stood about fifty-seven and one-half million.
+This brought the price down to 44. It was determined to sink Erie still
+lower, so Gould, Fisk and Drew locked up greenbacks to the amount of one
+million four hundred thousand. By a false movement on Drew's part, which
+his partners considered treacherous, they accordingly lost, and at once
+unlocked greenbacks, thereby stock advanced and Drew, instead of
+gaining, lost one million five hundred thousand, as he was seven
+thousand shares short. The price of the shares continued upward and
+Gould was obliged to get it down by some means in order to save himself.
+He therefore inaugurated a "bull" movement on gold. A. R. Corbin,
+brother-in-law of the President, Mr. Grant, was selected to sound the
+government, who reported that it was not intended to put any gold on the
+market for the present, at least. The clique at once bought millions
+more of gold than was to be had in the city outside of the Sub-Treasury.
+Up, up, went gold; 130 is reached, and next 133-1/2, then 134; still the
+order is buy; buy all that is for sale. The price reaches 144, but
+nothing daunted, the clique still buy in order to force the shorts to
+cover; yet on up it goes. Black Friday week is upon them, but Jay Gould
+is now selling while others are still buying right and left. Of course,
+he still pretends to buy, but is secretly selling at 165. At last the
+crash came, when the Secretary of the Treasury sold four millions on the
+street, and Gould is nearly the only one who is safe. This may look
+crooked--it certainly is not Puritan, but there are features of Jay
+Gould's success which are not praiseworthy; however, we claim there are
+many things that are worthy of imitation, hence it is here given in
+detail. He next bought Kansas & Texas at 8 and ran it to 48. He
+purchased Wabash at 5, and this, under his management, rose to 80
+preferred.
+
+Where Mr. Gould has shown the greatest skill in his line, is his
+connection with the transactions with the Western Union. Desiring to
+secure control of that company, he went into American Union, and within
+one year it was a formidable rival, which he substituted for the Western
+Union wires on his roads, and that company's stock fell from 116 to 88.
+If it is true, as stated, that Gould was short 30,000, he must have
+cleared on this one transaction $840,000. This method is so unlike his
+usual tactics that we are inclined to disbelieve it; however, his
+dealings all through, it is claimed, seem to prove it. He next caused a
+war of rates to be announced between his company and Western Union, and
+of course, the stock of the latter dropped still lower. The story was
+then circulated that he was to become a director of Western Union, and
+no war would take place; up that stock went to 104. But when the day
+came for the election, no Gould was to be seen, and back down it
+tumbled. It is reasonably supposable that Gould profited by each of
+these fluctuations. American Union became a fixed thing, and Western
+Union becoming alarmed at renewed rumors of war, at once caused Mr.
+Gould to be seen, and he to-day owns twenty millions of Western Union.
+His Missouri, Pacific and other lines, together with his elevated
+railroad schemes, are somewhat familiar topics with our readers.
+
+The career of such a man is a type and a proof of the progress of our
+land and the boundless opportunities that are open to energy and
+ability. Jay Gould has attained this dizzy height from poverty and
+obscurity. Unlike many rich men he is not a "fast" man. He is an
+excellent husband and father; he is never so happy, seemingly, as when
+at home sharing the family hearth, while others, who are more widely
+respected, are at their clubs. Jay Gould has been the subject of much
+abuse; indeed, what great men have not been? He is often described as a
+heartless oppressor of the poor and an enemy of his country. These
+accusations can often be traced to jealous rivals. While he has made
+millions in the new systems he has opened in the West, our territories
+and new States have been wonderfully developed and enriched billions of
+dollars. We honestly believe that the wonderful growth of the Western
+country would have been utterly impossible but for such men as Gould. If
+there had not been money in it their energy would have been lacking, and
+without that energy they must have lain dormant until other capitalists
+had opened the way to progress. That it takes a vast capital to develop
+the resources in a new country must be plain to every one. Show me a
+town which is blessed with men of capital and enterprise, and I will
+show you a town that is prosperous. Show me a town which has little of
+either, and I will show you a town in which you would hate to live.
+
+Mr. Gould appears to be a man whom nothing would excite; and one of his
+brokers says of him: "You never can tell from his expression when he
+reads a telegram whether he has made five millions or lost ten."
+Reticence is one secret of Mr. Gould's success. He absolutely cannot be
+induced to say anything which he desires kept. He is on the whole the
+most incomprehensible of New Yorkers. He is an embodiment of the
+money-making faculty. It would be a hard question to tell what Gould is
+worth. I know men who believe that he is to-day the richest citizen in
+New York. I know others who are confident that he is not worth over one
+million, and others who are certain that he is on the eve of bankruptcy,
+but this last is preposterous.
+
+His wealth is, of course, subject to fluctuation, and possibly Mr. Gould
+himself could not tell its exact magnitude; certainly no one knows,
+unless he does, what the precise amount is; but the writer would say at
+least seventy-five millions. Indeed, if the truth was known, we would
+not be surprised if it would amount to nearly one hundred millions.
+
+He is incessantly engaged in great operations, and these cannot be
+managed without vast sums. He is determined that no one shall be
+acquainted with his affairs. Despite this outward immobility, the strain
+of these colossal operations upon his brain and nerves cannot be
+otherwise than very wearing. It is said that he is troubled with
+sleeplessness, and that many of his gigantic schemes are worked out
+while he is lying in bed awake. Occasionally he gets up at night, lights
+the gas, walks the floor and tears paper into bits. It may be remembered
+that Fisk testified on his investigation by the Congressional Committee
+respecting the transactions of Black Friday, that he observed Jay Gould
+tearing up paper and throwing the pieces into the waste-basket, and thus
+he knew that his partner had some work on hand. He scarcely ever smiles
+and never lifts his voice above a conversational tone. He has no friends
+so far as known, but a host of enemies.
+
+His life is in great speculations. His greatest crime in the eyes of his
+fellow-speculators is, that he succeeds so well in doing to Wall Street,
+what Wall Street is perpetually, but vainly trying to do to him.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN WANNAMAKER.
+
+
+In the summer of 1838, John Wannamaker was born in Philadelphia. His
+father was a brick-maker, and while out of school mornings, nights and
+Saturdays, the boy John was engaged in turning bricks which were laid in
+the sun to dry. Thus early those habits of industry were instilled into
+the lad who, by his own diligence, was destined to one day become the
+merchant prince of Philadelphia.
+
+A few years later, school was abandoned for steady employment which was
+found in a store four miles from his home, where he boarded, for he had
+not the means to do otherwise, thereby walking eight miles per day,
+aside from his duties at the store, receiving $1.25 each Saturday
+evening. Think of it, working hard all the week, walking four miles
+night and morning--in all forty-eight miles per week, and receiving only
+$1.25 salary for the entire week's work. Afterward he was employed in a
+law office, and still later we find him in a clothing store at a salary
+of $1.50 per week. Here he seemed to find the calling which suited his
+taste, and he cultivated a pleasing disposition; people liked to trade
+with the young clerk. Of course this faculty, coupled with energy, would
+soon bring recognition, and it was not long before he was called to
+responsible positions. Another strong feature of the success of John
+Wannamaker was, he lived on less than he earned, and saved the balance.
+
+In 1861 he had saved several hundred dollars, and as he had earned a
+reputation for honesty and ability, he was enabled to start in business
+on his own account. This firm of Wannamaker & Brown was situated at the
+corner of Sixth and Market streets. Mr. Wannamaker kept the books--the
+firm hired no superfluous help--everything that they could do personally
+they hired no one to do. A firm which possesses ability, and follows
+such business rules, will succeed. Notwithstanding that the times were
+unusually "shaky," they prospered.
+
+As the business increased other stores were opened, and John Wannamaker,
+the poor clerk--after a period of twenty years of enterprise, pushed by
+energy, controlled a force of 6,000 employes. Not only does the firm
+handle clothing, but every conceivable article generally found in retail
+trade, the establishment being the largest in the great city of
+brotherly love.
+
+How pleasant it is to see men to whom God has bountifully supplied money
+using that means for the good of their fellow-creatures. Among the
+liberal, whole-souled millionaires of our country, John Wannamaker is to
+be found. Although carrying on an immense business he has found time to
+establish Sunday-Schools, solicit money for the Young Men's Christian
+Association, and has contributed to these personally, over $100,000.
+
+John Wannamaker is a philanthropist. One of his favorite schemes has
+been to go into the vilest neighborhoods, establish a Sunday-School,
+build nice houses, and thus bring the locality up to the plane of
+respectability. He was looked to for aid when the Centennial was
+projected, and it is needless to say that it was not found wanting. The
+secret of his great success is his indefatigable industry, and a
+thorough mastery of his business. He is one of the most enterprising
+merchants in history.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER T. STEWART.
+
+
+The dry-goods prince of the world. A marble palace for a store, which is
+entered daily by an average of twenty-five thousand people who buy
+$75,000 worth of merchandise--a business with daily import duties to the
+Government of $25,000 in gold. When we look at all this, and then
+remember that he was proprietor, not only of the palace store of
+America, but had branches in Philadelphia, Boston, Lyons, Paris,
+Belfast, Glasgow, Berlin, Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, and other
+cities throughout the world. When we behold this great success, and then
+think how he landed in this country a poor Irish lad of sixteen,
+friendless, homeless, and almost penniless, alone in a strange land, we
+involuntarily exclaim, "How was such a change in his position brought
+about?" Why did he succeed, while others all about him who were far
+better situated, failed? Let us follow him:
+
+He was born at Belfast, Ireland, October 21st, 1802, and in 1818 came to
+America. He was a mere lad of sixteen. The first work that he obtained
+was as assistant in a college; here he worked hard, saved his money, and
+at last he was able to open a small store in the city where he sold
+dry-goods. When he became twenty-one he was called to his native country
+to claim a small legacy left him by a relative who had died. He had made
+a study of his business, hence invested the entire sum in Irish
+products, and returning to America rented another store on Broadway, and
+thus began that great importing business. At this time he was his own
+buyer, salesman, book-keeper and errand boy. Ah! there is the secret of
+the success of nine-tenths of our great men. They began at the
+bottom--never hiring help for the mere appearance or convenience of
+their assistance. They never hired done what they themselves could do.
+And then there is another thing to remember--beginning thus at the
+bottom they, of necessity, became thoroughly familiar with the details
+of their business, hence were never obliged to leave anything to the
+'confidential clerk' who has ruined so many business men. Stewart soon
+felt the need of more room, and was compelled to seek more commodious
+quarters. After making another move to a larger store-room he made his
+first purchase of real estate, which was his "down-town" store. After
+this his "up-town" store was built.
+
+He was a splendid salesman, a perfect gentleman toward customers, and
+people preferred trading with him rather than any clerk in his employ.
+His tastes were very simple, and he was always plainly dressed. It has
+been stated that Mr. Stewart never posed for a photograph, which is a
+significant fact of itself. His motto was, "Never spend a dollar unless
+there is a prospect of legitimate gain." He arose early in the morning,
+went to his "up-town" store, and thoroughly inspected everything; then
+to his "down-town" store where he attended to his business at that end
+of the line.
+
+At the breaking out of the Civil War he aided the Union cause very much.
+Being in sympathy with the principles of the Republican party, and
+holding a powerful influence over the commercial world, the President,
+Mr. Grant, nominated him Secretary of the Treasury, and he was at once
+confirmed by the Senate; but as there is a law prohibiting any merchant
+in the importing business from holding this position, he was objected to
+by opposing politicians; and, although he offered to donate the entire
+profits of his business to the poor of the city of New York, they still
+objected, and he was obliged to resign. By this, the country was
+undoubtedly robbed of the services of a man capable of making one of the
+best officers for that position our country has ever known. However, it
+was right that it should be so; it would have been very unwise to have
+established such a precedent.
+
+In some respects, Mr. Stewart was a very liberal man, although it has
+been stated otherwise. In his will is his desire to do good especially
+manifested. Arrangements were made for the building of a church and
+parsonage, and a school for the benefit of poor boys who desired to fit
+themselves for a professional life.
+
+Some people may be fortunate in one instance in their life. We do not
+wholly disregard the idea of circumstances, but we do claim and try to
+prove that it is not the _one instance_ in the life after all. When we
+consider a whole life's history, we are convinced every time that
+generally where one is seemingly very fortunate, it is the result of
+careful calculation and down-right hard work. Bad luck is the natural
+result of carelessness in business matters. Had A. T. Stewart waited for
+a lucky chance to come to him, he might--probably never would have
+realized that splendid success that did attend his efforts. Here he came
+to this country at the age of sixteen. He did not wait for his
+grandfather to die and leave him that legacy but went right at some
+work. It may be possible that the grandfather gave him that money
+because he felt that young Stewart would make good use of it. Certain it
+is he did not wait but went right to work, saved his money, and was well
+prepared to use the legacy skillfully when he did receive it. However,
+if Stewart had never had that money given him, he would have succeeded.
+His whole life was a series of maturing plans, which had been carefully
+laid, and then pushed to completion. A man must have ability to plan
+well, and the courage and backbone to push those plans to success. A. T.
+Stewart possessed these qualities to a marked degree. He began as his
+moderate circumstances would warrant, and best of all he never allowed
+his energies to slacken. He never became a lazy business man. He never
+allowed himself to rest content with the laurels already his. He was a
+man of enterprise; while competitors followed the footsteps of their
+fathers, A. T. Stewart was progressing--he was original in nearly every
+undertaking.
+
+On the 10th day of April, 1876, this great magnate died. His business
+was carried on, for a time, by others, but the mainspring was gone, and
+in 1882 the great clock stopped. Here is an instance that should
+convince us of the result of courage, energy, and self-reliance. A. T.
+Stewart began without a dollar, and succeeded, while they who had the
+benefit of his experience, the use of his vast wealth, and a marble
+palace, could not succeed.
+
+The history of the stealing of Mr. Stewart's body is well-known, and as
+the papers have succeeded so well in keeping the subject before the
+people, we will not speak further of that here, our object being rather
+to instruct than to narrate sensational episodes.
+
+
+
+
+NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
+
+
+In the year 1782 there was born a child of parents who had once been
+somewhat wealthy, but who were then living in poverty at Newark, New
+Jersey. This child was Nicholas Longworth, the father of grape culture
+in the United States.
+
+He attempted to learn various trades, at one time being bound to a
+shoemaker, but finally settled upon the law and began its study, as his
+circumstances would allow, in his native city. Young Longworth saw that
+he would have far more chance to rise in the new country west of the
+Alleghanies than in the over-crowded East. Therefore, when he was of age
+he emigrated "out west," stopping at the outskirts of civilization,
+locating in a small place of 1000 inhabitants called Cincinnati. Here he
+entered the law office of Judge Burnett, and soon was capable of passing
+the necessary examination, and was admitted to the bar. His first case
+was in defense of a certain man who had been arrested for
+horse-stealing, a very grave offense in that wilderness. This man had
+no money and about all he possessed in the world that he could call his
+own was two copper stills. As much as young Longworth needed money he
+was obliged to accept these as his fee for clearing the man. He tried to
+turn the stills into money but finally traded them for thirty-three
+acres of land, which was a barren waste. He had kept his eyes open and
+felt sure that the possibilities for Cincinnati were very great. He
+therefore bought land at ten dollars per lot, as fast as his means would
+allow, and all through the early portion of his life bought real estate
+until he became recognized as the heaviest real estate owner in
+Cincinnati.
+
+Years afterward he saw the wisdom of his course,--living to see his ten
+dollar lots rise to ten thousand dollars each, and the land which he
+received as his first fee, that was thought to be all but worthless,
+rise to the value of two million dollars. After following the law for
+about twenty years he was forced to give up his practice in order to
+take care of his extensive land interest. He went into the grape growing
+business, and for some time his efforts were attended with only
+discouragement, but he had relied on the clippings from foreign vines.
+He firmly believed that the Ohio valley was naturally adapted to the
+growth of the grape, and in this enterprise he allowed himself to harbor
+no thoughts other than of success.
+
+This is a characteristic of any man calculated to succeed. After
+experimenting with many different varieties, he at last hit upon the
+Catawba. To encourage the industry he laid out a very large vineyard,
+gave away great numbers of cuttings, offered a prize for any improvement
+in the Catawba grape, and proclaimed that he would buy all the wine that
+could be brought to him from the valley, whether in large or small
+quantities. The result was that grape growing figured as no small factor
+in the development of Ohio. He had a wine cellar capable of holding
+300,000 bottles, and was worth at his death $15,000,000.
+
+Nicholas Longworth was exceedingly liberal in his own way--selling his
+lots on easy installments, thereby aiding many to a home. His motto was,
+"Help those who help themselves," however, he gave much to those whom no
+one else would aid. He was personally of inferior appearance; not only
+this, but nothing pleased him more than a shabby dress, being often
+mistaken for a beggar. As a benefactor and horticulturist he made his
+influence to be felt in succeeding generations.
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT BONNER.
+
+
+Of all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert Bonner
+is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and
+at the age of sixteen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle
+here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a paper, and drifted
+into the office of the _Hartford Courant_. Robert Bonner determined to
+own a paper; he, therefore, set about it, working faithfully every day,
+and overtime, saving his money. He mastered his business, becoming an
+expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment
+on the _Mirror_. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising
+department, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine taste in
+the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much
+to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a
+correspondent of the _Hartford Courant_, also newspapers in Boston,
+Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the _Merchants Ledger_, a
+paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he
+transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the _New York
+Ledger_. Fanny Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature.
+Bonner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the _Ledger_, enclosing
+his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days,
+of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full
+of advertisements--"Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the _Ledger_."
+"Read The _New York Ledger_"--Some people said, "Well, first-class
+journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe;
+they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to
+study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was _Harpers
+Weekly_--no one questioned its respectability. The Harpers never
+indulged in any flashy advertising, but soon the people were surprised
+to see in all the leading papers, 'Buy _Harpers Weekly_,' as no one
+imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the
+advertisements to the necessity Harpers felt through the rivalry of the
+_Ledger_. This sort of enterprise cost, but it convinced people that
+respectable journals advertised as did the _Ledger_. People said it was
+'cheap, trashy literature, etc.'
+
+Mr. Bonner at once hunted up Edward Everett who was recognized as the
+representative of New England refinement. This was a most opportune time
+for Mr. Bonner, as Mr. Everett was trying to raise a large sum with
+which to aid in beautifying the home and tomb of Washington. Mr. Bonner
+engaged Mr. Everett to write a series of articles on Mount Vernon,
+giving in return his check for $10,000 to be applied toward the Everett
+Fund for the aid of the Association. Probably Mr. Everett would have
+refused to write at any other time, but Bonner took advantage of
+circumstances--ALWAYS.
+
+He next secured George Bancroft, the eminent historian. Then followed
+Horace Greely, James Gordon Bennett, and Henry J. Raymond. When such
+lights of journalism would write for the _Ledger_, what could lesser
+country editors say? Next came a story by Henry Ward Beecher, who was
+followed by Dr. John Hall the great Presbyterian Divine, Bishop Clark,
+Dr. English, Longfellow, Tennyson, and others, including a series of
+articles from the presidents of the leading colleges throughout the
+country.
+
+Mr. Bonner is a Presbyterian, being a member of the church presided over
+by Dr. John Hall, on Fifth Avenue. He has given many thousands of
+dollars to various institutions and charities. He owns the finest stable
+of horses in the Union, among which are such as Maud S.--his first great
+trotter was Dexter. He never allows one of his horses to trot for money.
+
+Mr. Bonner is getting along in years but still attends to business. His
+paper has at times attained a circulation of 400,000 copies, each
+issue.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM G. FARGO.
+
+
+Who, indeed, has not heard of the American Express Company? Yet, how few
+there are who know to whom we are indebted for its existence.
+
+William G. Fargo was born May 20, 1818, at Pompey, New York, and at the
+age of twelve he was mail-carrier over a route that covered forty miles.
+The inference must be at once formed that William G. Fargo was no
+ordinary child. He must have been industrious and trustworthy, for the
+mail must be delivered on time. No holiday could be observed, nor could
+any circus be allowed to come between him and his work. Seeking a more
+remunerative calling he went to Waterville, where he clerked in a small
+store and tavern, improving his spare moments in learning to keep
+accounts. When seventeen he went to Syracuse and entered a grocery
+house. He continued in the grocery line in one capacity or another for
+five years, when he accepted the freight agency of the Auburn and
+Syracuse Railroad, in which capacity he had found his calling. Two years
+later he became associated with Pomeroy & Co., and was given the express
+agency for that company at Buffalo, and in 1844 he became a member of
+the firm of Wells & Co., who established an express line from Buffalo,
+west to Detroit, via Cleveland. This firm, in time, became Livingston &
+Fargo, and finally the several express companies: Wells & Co.,
+Butterfield, Wasson & Co. and Livingston & Co., became merged into the
+since famous American Express Co. In 1868 Mr. Fargo was elected
+President of this Company, and remained at its head until his death. He
+was also connected with various other enterprises, being Vice-President
+of the New York Central & Hudson River railroad, and was also largely
+interested in Northern Pacific and other railroad stock. In 1861 he was
+elected Mayor of Buffalo on the Democratic ticket, but so impartial was
+he in the administration of the city affairs, and so patent was his
+business ability, that he was re-elected, being supported by all
+parties.
+
+Such is the reward for earnestness. And will any one say that William G.
+Fargo was not deserving of this splendid success? If we will have
+success we must earn it. Let no man envy another in no matter what
+station of life he may be situated. Rest assured that we will fill the
+place that we are capable of filling; no more, no less.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES C. FLOOD.
+
+
+James C. Flood was born in New York city. He received only a plain
+common school education, but has succeeded, not from a lack of education
+but in spite of that lack. He passed through the usual routine of boys
+placed in moderate circumstances, until the year 1849, being past his
+majority, he sailed in the good ship "Elizabeth," around the "Horn,"
+arriving in a strange land without money or friends, but he had brains,
+and they were reinforced by a surprising allowance of will-power.
+
+He drifted from one thing to another, kept a restaurant, and finally in
+1854 loomed up as senior partner in the firm of Flood & O'Brien, who
+were soon deep in "Old Kentuck," seeking the treasures which they found
+in great quantities, and finally when they took hold of the "Hale &
+Norcross" mine, it made them the first bonanza kings America ever knew.
+
+He next projects the Nevada Bank and makes the call for over five
+millions of dollars which leads to the suspension of the Bank of
+California, as the indiscrete placing of its resources leaves that bank
+in a weak position to withstand so sudden a drain, and was therefore
+indirectly the cause, as most people think, of its beloved President's
+death. Mr. Flood desired to place this Nevada Bank upon so firm a
+foundation that neither the indiscretion of speculators or the ebb and
+flow of mercantile life could overthrow it. How well this has been
+accomplished can be seen from the fact, that it has a capital of nearly
+fifteen million dollars, and numbers among its directors, such bonanza
+kings as James C. Flood, John W. MacKay and James G. Fair, whose private
+fortunes combined represent over $100,000,000, to say nothing of other
+wealthy directors. This bank asserts that it has special facilities for
+handling bullion, and we should think quite likely it has. Something of
+the condition of the private finances of Mr. Flood can be ascertained.
+If one takes the trouble to look over the assessment roll he will find
+the following: "James C. Flood, 6,000 shares, Nevada Bank stock,
+$1,200,000; 12,000 shares, Pacific Mill & Mining Co., $4,000,000; 250
+shares, Pacific Wood, Lumber & Flume Co., $30,000; 1,000 shares, San
+Francisco Gaslight stock, $90,000; 937 shares of Golden City Chemical
+Works, $20,000; 3,000 shares of Virginia & Gold-Hill Water Co.,
+$300,000; 47-1/2 shares of Giant Powder Co., $60,000; 649-1/2 shares
+Atlantic Giant Powder Co., $30,000; 35,000 shares Ophir Mine stock,
+$1,000,000," and he is assessed for $250,000 in money. Then comes J. C.
+Flood & Co. "Controlling interest in stock of Yellow Jacket, Union
+Consolidated, Scorpion, Savage, Ophir, Occidental, Hale & Norcross,
+Gould & Curry, Consolidated Virginia, Best & Belcher and other mining
+companies, $10,000,000; money $500,000." In all it is quite a fortune
+for a poor boy to find, but it must be remembered that Mr. Flood had
+much with which to contend, and that nine men out of ten might have
+passed over the same ground and found nothing. Industry is what wins,
+and J. C. Flood is no exception to the rule. In a recent law suit Mr.
+Flood displayed a most peculiar memory, or rather a most remarkable lack
+of memory. We take the following facts from an editorial on the subject:
+
+"A certain man sued Mr. Flood to recover about $26,000,000, the alleged
+value of certain 'tailings' on some of the mines. Mr. Flood did not know
+what company milled the ore of the Consolidated Virginia; did not
+remember who was President of the company at the time; he might have
+been; could not say for certain however; did not know where the crude
+bullion from his own mines was sent to be melted into bars; could not
+tell how much was worked, nor anything about it. He did not remember who
+was treasurer of the mill company; he might have been, might now be, but
+could not tell for certain."
+
+Mr. Flood owns one of the finest mansions, for a private residence, in
+the whole world. It cost one million, and is a magnificent building in
+any sense.
+
+Few men surpass him in either getting or keeping money.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN W. MACKAY.
+
+
+John W. MacKay is not only the youngest and the richest of that bonanza
+trio--Flood, Fair and MacKay but immense wealth has not spoiled him. He
+is of Irish birth, but came to this country before he was of age. When
+the gold fever broke out he was one of the first to seek his fortune in
+that auriferous country bordering on the Pacific, in California.
+Contrary to the general supposition that his great wealth came through
+'good luck,' let me say, it was only by constant toil and slowly
+acquired experience that he learned how to tell a non-paying lead from a
+bonanza. Several times he seemed about to strike the long-looked for
+success only to find his brightest hopes dashed to the earth. But these
+failures tempered him for the greater hardships that followed.
+
+The famous "Comstock Lode" is situated among a vast accumulation of
+rocks and deep canyons--the result of terrible volcanic eruptions at
+some remote period. This mining district was discovered by two Germans
+in about 1852-3. Contrary to the opinion expressed by other prospectors,
+these Germans saw silver in the rejected ore. Both brothers suddenly
+dying, the claim fell to a storekeeper named Comstock who sold out for
+a few thousand. Mr. MacKay's investment in the one mine, the
+"Consolidated Virginia and California," has paid him unheard of
+dividends. This mine produced in a period covering six years, from 1873,
+gold and silver to the amount of over sixty-three millions of dollars.
+The combined profits of the two mines were over seventy-three and
+one-half millions of dollars. Mr. MacKay drifted to this lode, making
+his first 'hit' in 1863, and in this section the bulk of his vast
+fortune was accumulated.
+
+On the 25th of November, 1867, he concluded that he was able to support
+a wife, and accordingly married the widow of an old friend (Dr.
+Thompson) who had shared his varying fortune of former years when he
+little dreamed of the vast wealth that awaited him. This lady is one of
+the best hands to help a man spend a fabulous income, of which we are
+aware. She lives in Paris, where she gives the most expensive of
+entertainments. When General Grant was in France he was her guest. She
+supports a private railway carriage to use at her pleasure, and it would
+almost exceed belief to describe the cost of her table service; in fact,
+she lives in oriental splendor. On the other hand Mr. MacKay is
+decidedly pronounced, personally, in favor of little show. He is far
+more at home in Virginia City, where he may often be seen in a genuine
+mining costume, than at his palatial home in Paris.
+
+The ground had been known for years wherein his great wealth was found,
+but it was pronounced worthless. Everything seemingly had to be
+contested; confidence was lacking, and what confidence remained was
+daily agitated by parties who were jealous rivals. The stock became
+almost worthless, and great discontent was manifest when, to make
+matters worse, a fire broke out which burned the company's property and
+valuable machinery. Twelve hundred feet of ground had to be slowly gone
+over in search for the right vein, at a cost of $500,000. Amid great
+discouragement John W. MacKay led this apparently forlorn hope to at
+last be crowned with the success he so richly deserved. He now is
+estimated to be worth in the vicinity of $55,000,000, and although it
+may seem a somewhat extravagant reward, it cannot be denied that this
+vast sum could have been placed in far worse hands.
+
+Both Mr. and Mrs. MacKay are very liberal toward charitable purposes.
+They were especially complimented by Pope Leo XIII for their charitable
+deeds. As Mr. MacKay is but about fifty years of age, it is hard to
+conjecture his possible future. While many features in his career seem
+to justify the belief in "luck," still, to the close observer, it is
+manifest that had he not possessed great endurance, and known no such
+thing as fail, the world would never have known of John W. MacKay.
+Surely, great effort is the price of great success, ALWAYS.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES C. FAIR.
+
+
+The name of James C. Fair will be recognized at once as one of the
+bonanza kings, and like the others he enjoyed only a fair education,
+starting for California at about the same time as the rest; he taking
+the overland route while they went by water. His only capital consisting
+of a miner's outfit, and with those simple implements he began his hard
+fought battle for wealth. He made mining a scientific study and after
+about six years of variable success, he became known as an expert. Soon
+after this he accepted the superintendency of the Ophir mine, and later,
+the Hale & Norcross; since which time he has gone on, until now, he can
+count his worldly possessions by the million. He is a most thorough
+miner, and his long continued life at the bottom of the mines has had a
+telling effect on his health. That he has successfully managed such wild
+and wicked men, as many miners are, without becoming the victim of some
+"accident," indicates something of his ability. Finally his impaired
+health necessitated his withdrawal from active work, and he made an
+extended voyage, returning in a much improved condition.
+
+In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acquitted
+himself with credit. He charged nothing for his services, an event
+without parallel in our history, however, he received all for which he
+went to Washington--honor. He is assessed for over forty millions, and
+can well afford to donate his salary to the Government.
+
+Like the other bonanza kings he seems to have been specially favored by
+fortune, but the old saying, "Birds of a feather will flock together,"
+is true in this case, for these men are all practical miners and changed
+partners often until the firm of Flood, Fair & MacKay was formed, since
+which time they all seem perfectly satisfied each with the other. All
+had been sorely tried during their earlier life and were not found
+wanting either in ability or stick-to-it-iveness as they passed through
+the crucible of Dame Fortune.
+
+As we have just been reading the lives of the three bonanza kings, J. C.
+Flood, J. C. Fair and J. W. MacKay, possibly a description of one of
+their enterprises in the shape of a flume will be interesting as
+described by a New York _Tribune_ correspondent:
+
+A fifteen-mile ride in a flume down the Sierra Nevada Mountains in
+thirty minutes was not one of the things contemplated in my visit to
+Virginia City, and it is entirely within reason to say that even if I
+should make this my permanent place of residence--which fortune
+forbid--I shall never make the trip again. The flume cost, with its
+appurtenances, between $200,000 and $300,000--if it had cost a million
+it would be the same in my estimation. It was built by a company
+interested in the mines here, principally the owners of the Consolidated
+Virginia, California, Hale & Norcross, Gould & Curry, Best & Belcher and
+Utah mines. The largest stockholders in these mines are J. C. Flood,
+James C. Fair, John W. MacKay and W. S. O'Brien, who compose without
+doubt the wealthiest firm in the United States. Taking the stock of
+their companies at the price quoted in the board, the amount they own is
+more than $100,000,000, and each has a large private fortune in
+addition. The mines named use 1,000,000 feet of lumber per month under
+ground, and burn 40,000 cords of wood per year. Wood is here worth from
+$10 to $12 per cord, and at market prices Messrs. Flood & Co. would have
+to pay nearly $500,000 a year for wood alone. Going into the mine the
+other day, and seeing the immense amount of timber used, and knowing the
+incalculable amount of wood burned in the several mines and mills, I
+asked Mr. MacKay, who accompanied me, where all the wood and timber
+came from. "It comes," said he, "from our lands in the Sierras, forty or
+fifty miles from here. We own over twelve thousand acres in the vicinity
+of Washoe Lake, all of which is heavily timbered." "How do you get it
+here?" I asked. "It comes," said he, "in our flume down the mountains,
+fifteen miles, and from our dumping grounds is brought by the Virginia &
+Truckee Railroad to this city, about sixteen miles. You ought to see the
+flume before you go back; it is really a wonderful thing." The flume is
+a wonderful piece of engineering work. It is built wholly on
+trestle-work and stringers; there is not a cut in the whole distance,
+and the grade is so heavy that there is little danger of a jam. The
+trestle-work is very substantial, and undoubtedly strong enough to
+support a narrow-gauge railway. It runs over foot-hills, through
+valleys, around mountains, and across canyons. In one place it is
+seventy feet high. The highest point of the flume from the plain is
+3,700 feet, and on an air-line, from beginning to end the distance is
+eight miles, the course thus taking up seven miles in twists and turns.
+The trestle-work is thoroughly braced longitudinally and across, so that
+no break can extend further than a single box, which is 16 feet. All the
+main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills,
+and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart. These again
+rest upon substantial stringers. The grade of the flume is from 1,600 to
+2,000 feet from top to bottom--a distance, as previously stated, of
+fifteen miles. The sharpest fall is three feet in six. There are two
+reservoirs from which the flume is fed. One is 1,100 feet long and the
+other is 600 feet. A ditch, nearly two miles long, takes the water to
+the first reservoir, whence it is conveyed 3-1/4 miles to the flume
+through a feeder capable of carrying 450 inches of water. The whole
+flume was built in ten weeks. In that time all the trestle-work,
+stringers and boxes were put in place. About 200 men were employed on it
+at one time, being divided into four gangs. It required 2,000,000 feet
+of lumber, but the item which astonished me most was that there were 28
+tons, or 56,000 pounds of nails used in the construction of this flume.
+
+Mr. Flood and Mr. Fair had arranged for a ride in the flume, and I was
+challenged to go with them. Indeed the proposition was put in this
+way--they dared me to go. I thought that if men worth twenty-five or
+thirty million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could
+afford to risk mine, which isn't worth half as much. So I accepted the
+challenge, and two 'boats' were ordered. These were nothing more than
+pig troughs, with one end knocked out. The 'boat' is built like the
+flume, V shaped, and fits into the flume. The grade of the flume at the
+mill is very heavy, and the water rushes through it at railroad speed.
+The terrors of that ride can never be blotted from the memory of one of
+the party. I cannot give the reader a better idea of a flume ride than
+to compare it to sliding down an old-fashioned eve-trough at an angle of
+45 degrees, hanging in mid-air without support of roof or house, and
+extending a distance of fifteen miles. At the start we went at the rate
+of twenty miles an hour, which is a little less than the average speed
+of a railroad train. The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our boat on
+the bottom as best he could. Mr. Fair sat on a seat behind him, and I
+sat behind Mr. Fair in the stern and was of great service to him in
+keeping the water which broke over the end-board, from his back. There
+was also a great deal of water shipped in the bows of the hog-trough,
+and I know Mr. Fair's broad shoulders kept me from more than one ducking
+in that memorable trip. At the heaviest grades the water came in so
+furiously in front that it was impossible to see where we were going, or
+what was ahead of us; but when the grade was light, and we were going at
+a three or four minute pace, the view was very delightful, although it
+was terrible. When the water would enable me to look ahead, I could see
+the trestle here and there for miles; so small and so narrow and
+apparently so fragile that I could only compare it to a chalk-mark upon
+which, high in the air, I was running at a rate unknown to railroads.
+One circumstance during the trip did more to show me the terrible
+rapidity with which we dashed through the flume than anything else. We
+had been rushing down at a pretty lively rate of speed when the boat
+suddenly struck something in the bow, a nail, a lodged stick of wood or
+some secure substance which ought not to have been there. What was the
+effect? The red-faced carpenter was sent whirling into the flume ten
+feet ahead. Fair was precipitated on his face, and I found a soft
+lodgment on Fair's back. It seems to me that in a second's time--Fair
+himself a powerful man--had the carpenter by the scruff of the neck, and
+had pulled him into the boat. I did not know at this time that Fair had
+his fingers crushed between the flume and the boat. But we sped along;
+minutes seemed hours. It seemed an hour before we arrived at the worst
+place in the flume, and yet Hereford tells me that it was less than ten
+minutes. The flume at the point alluded to must have been very nearly
+forty-five degrees inclination. In looking out, before we reached it, I
+thought the only way to get to the bottom was to fall. How our boat kept
+in the track is more than I know.
+
+The wind, the steamboat, the railroad, never went so fast. In this
+particularly bad place I allude to, my desire was to form some judgment
+as to the speed we were making. If the truth must be spoken, I was
+really scared almost out of my reason, but if I were on my way to
+eternity I wanted to know exactly how fast I went, so I huddled close to
+Fair, and turned my eyes toward the hills. Every object I placed my eyes
+upon was gone before I could plainly see what it was. Mountains passed
+like visions and shadows. It was with difficulty that I could get my
+breath. I felt that I did not weigh a hundred pounds, although I knew in
+the sharpness of intellect that I tipped the scales at two hundred. Mr.
+Flood and Mr. Hereford, although they started several minutes later than
+we, were close upon us. They were not so heavily loaded, and they had
+the full sweep of the water, while we had it rather at second-hand.
+Their boat finally struck ours with a terrible crash. Mr. Flood was
+thrown upon his face, and the waters flowed over him. What became of
+Hereford I do not know, except that when we reached the terminus of the
+flume he was as wet as any of us. This only remains to be said: We made
+the entire distance in less time than a railway train would ordinarily
+make, and a portion of the distance we went faster than a railway train
+ever went. Fair said we went at least a mile a minute. Flood said that
+we went at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, and my deliberate belief
+is that we went at a rate that annihilated time and space. We were a wet
+lot when we reached the terminus of the flume.
+
+Flood said that he would not make the trip again for the whole
+Consolidated Virginia mine. Fair said that he should never again place
+himself upon an equality with timber and wood, and Hereford said he was
+sorry that he ever built the flume. As for myself, I told the
+millionaires that I had accepted my last challenge. When we left our
+boats we were more dead than alive. The next day neither Flood nor Fair
+were able to leave their beds. For myself, I have only the strength to
+say that I have had enough of flumes.
+
+
+
+
+HORACE GREELEY.
+
+
+In the history of journalism, Horace Greeley must, for all time, hold a
+position in the front rank. As it is well-known he is a self-made man,
+being born of poor parents at Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3rd day of
+February, 1811. His father was a farmer. The Greeley ancestors enjoyed a
+reputation for 'tenacity,' which was clearly shown in the pale-faced,
+flaxen-haired but precocious lad of fifteen, who presented himself and
+was employed at the office of the _Northern Spectator_, at Poultney,
+Vermont, in 1826; having walked from West Haven, his home, eleven miles
+distant. He was to remain an apprentice until twenty, and received in
+money the princely sum of forty dollars a year 'with which to buy
+clothes and what was left he might use for spending money.' Why he lived
+to found a great paper the reader can easily guess, when it is learned
+that Greeley used the greater part of said forty dollars each year for
+buying books.
+
+He joined a local debating club where he became the 'giant' member, a
+tribute paid to his intellect. Most of the members were older than
+Greeley, but knowledge proved a power in that society and he was
+invariably listened to with marked attention despite his shabby
+appearance. Especially was he fond of political data; he followed the
+exchanges in the _Spectator_ office with increasing interest. His
+parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he visited them during his
+apprenticeship as "printers' devil," and general assistant at Poultney,
+walking the most of the way, a distance of about 600 miles. The
+_Spectator_ having collapsed, young Greeley, with his entire wardrobe
+done up in a handkerchief, once more visits Pennsylvania, but not to
+remain idle; he soon obtained a place in a printing office near his
+home, at eleven dollars per month, and later still he obtains employment
+at Erie where he receives fifteen dollars per month. Soon after this,
+not yet content, he is enroute for New York, where he arrived August 17,
+1831.
+
+His appearance in the metropolis was ludicrous in the extreme. One can
+imagine from accounts given of him how prepossessing he must have
+looked; flaxen locks, blue eyes, his hat on the back of his head as if
+accustomed to star gazing, must have given him the appearance of one
+decidedly 'green,' to say the least. As is a noted fact he was, to his
+death, exceedingly indifferent as to his dress and what are known as the
+social demands of society. Indeed he could be seen on the street almost
+any day with his pockets stuffed full of papers, his hat pushed back on
+his head like a sailor about to ascend the rigging, his spectacles
+seemingly about to slip off his nose, his boot heels running over, and
+we doubt not that he was as likely to have one leg of his pantaloons
+tucked into his boot top while the other was condescendingly allowed to
+retain its proper place. In fact it is hardly probable that he would
+have impressed any one with the idea that he was indeed a great editor
+of that city. But we return to his first visit; office after office was
+visited without avail but that hereditary 'tenacity' did not forsake
+him, and at last he met an old friend, a Mr. Jones whom he had first met
+in Poultney. This friend, although not a 'boss,' printer fashion set him
+at work on his own case. When the proprietor came in he was dumbfounded
+at the specimen of a printer he beheld, and declared to the foreman that
+he could not keep him. Fortunately, however, for young Greeley, the job
+that he was on was setting small type,--a most undesirable one. The
+foreman shrewdly suggested that as Jones, who was a good workman, knew
+him it would be a good policy to wait and see the result. As it was a
+very difficult job no wonder that Greeley's proof looked as though it
+had the measles, but as he was retained he must have done as well if not
+better than was expected. When the job was finished he was thrown out of
+employment, and he shifted about for some time doing odd jobs; in fact
+it must have been very discouraging, but finally he obtained employment
+on the _Spirit of the Times_, and afterward formed a business
+partnership with Mr. Story who, with Mr. Greeley, invested about $240.
+They established a penny paper, and were moderately successful, but Mr.
+Story was drowned and his place was filled by another. His connection
+with the _New Yorker_ was his next business venture. While on this
+paper he was also editor of a paper in Albany, and a regular contributor
+to the _Daily Whig_. When we think that he gave himself only four hours
+sleep out of the twenty-four, we can realize how he could find time to
+edit two papers and write for the third, but despite this assiduousness
+his enterprise failed and he thereby lost $10,000.
+
+Greeley's opinion on economy was clearly defined when he said: "For my
+own part, and I speak from sad experience, I would rather be a convict
+in States Prison or a slave in a rice swamp, than to pass through life
+under the harrow of debt. If you have but fifty cents and can get no
+more for the week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it rather
+than owe any man a dollar." He next started the _Log Cabin_. It was
+started in the beginning of 1840, designed to be run six months and then
+discontinued. Into this undertaking Horace Greeley threw all his energy
+and ability, guided by his experience. In those days a journal with a
+circulation of ten thousand was a big concern. When an edition of nearly
+fifty thousand of its first issue was called for, the publishers were
+beside themselves, and later when the _Log Cabin_ ran up a circulation
+of eighty and even ninety thousand, the proprietors were frantic as to
+how they should get them printed. It is needless to say that the _Log
+Cabin_ outlived its original expectations.
+
+Ultimately the _Log Cabin_ and the _New Yorker_ were merged into the
+_New York Tribune_. As is a recognized fact, Greeley was stronger in a
+fight than in peace, and the attacks which this new enterprise received
+soon run its circulation from the hundreds into the thousands. Of course
+new presses had to be bought and Greeley, who by the way preferred to
+discuss the financial policy of a great nation than that of his own
+office, soon found himself obliged to get a business man as a partner.
+He was exceedingly fortunate in securing Mr. Thomas McElrath, who soon
+brought order from chaos, and the _Tribune_ became not only an ably
+conducted paper but a paying one as well.
+
+Mr. Greeley next became a lecturer, and in this field he was also fairly
+successful. He traveled in Europe and wrote such books as "Hints About
+Reform," "Glances at Europe," "History of the Slavery Extension,"
+"Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco," "The American
+Conflict," "Recollections of a Busy Life," "Essays on Political
+Economy," and just before his death, "What I Know About Farming."
+
+While Mr. Greeley must ever be regarded among journalists as one of
+their brightest stars; he was one of the most peculiar writers it has
+ever been our pleasure to read. In fact he must be regarded as a kind of
+literary gymnast. While conducting a political paper he at one time
+devoted page after page to the theory of reorganizing society after the
+plan of Fourier; that is to divide society up into small communities to
+live in common. After wearying the readers on this and numerous other
+'isms,' it was discontinued. He went into a political frenzy over Clay
+and protection; next his paper was full of the 'Irish Repeal,' 'Advocacy
+of the Water Cure,' 'Phrenology,' 'Mesmerism,' 'Opposition to Capital
+Punishment,' 'Trinitarianism' and the 'Drama.'
+
+He was finally elected to Congress to fill an unexpired term. While here
+he caused some amusement by his eccentricities. He refused to sit up at
+night sessions, abruptly leaving when his hour for retiring arrived.
+Possibly his letter addressed to the managers of his party in his State
+was one of the greatest surprises that he ever sprung upon the country.
+It was addressed to Mr. Seward personally, but upon mention being made
+of it by that gentlemen's friends, it was made public by Greeley's
+demand. It ran something as follows: "The election is over, and its
+results sufficiently ascertained. It seems to me a fitting time to
+announce to you the dissolution of the political firm of Seward, Weed
+and Greeley by the withdrawal of the junior partner, said withdrawal to
+take effect on the morning after the first Tuesday in February next. I
+was a poor young printer, and editor of a literary journal--a very
+active and bitter Whig in a small way, but not seeking to be known
+outside of my own ward committee. I was one day called to the City Hotel
+where two strangers introduced themselves as Thurlow Weed and Lewis
+Benedict, of Albany. They told me that a cheap campaign paper of
+peculiar stamp at Albany had been resolved on, and that I had been
+selected to edit it. I did the work required to the best of my ability.
+It was work that made no figure and created no sensation; but I loved it
+and I did it well."
+
+"When it was done you were Governor; dispensing offices worth three to
+twenty thousand to your friends and compatriots, and I returned to my
+garret and my crust and my desperate battle with pecuniary obligations
+heaped upon me by bad partners in business and the disastrous events of
+1837. I believe it did not occur to me then that some one of these
+abundant places might have been offered to me without injustice. I now
+think it should have occurred to you. In the Harrison campaign of 1840 I
+was again designated to edit a campaign paper. I published it as well
+and hence ought to have made something out of it despite its low price.
+My extreme poverty was the main reason why I did not."
+
+"Now came the great scramble of the swell mob of coon minstrels and cider
+suckers at Washington, I not being counted in. I asked nothing, expected
+nothing, but you Governor Seward ought to have asked that I be Post
+Master at New York."
+
+When the Republicans met at Chicago he 'paid' Mr. Seward off by
+checkmating his chances of the nomination, and placing Lincoln at the
+head of the ticket. Mr. Greeley had always been an uncompromising
+opponent of slavery, and once had all but asked for the impeachment of
+Buchanan, hence the South expected little sympathy from him; yet, this
+great editor dismays his friends while his enemies are dumbfounded when
+they read, "Let the South go," but no sooner do the 'erring sisters' act
+upon his suggestion than this political ranchman is out with his
+literary lasso vainly trying to keep them in. He next raises the
+war-whoop of "On to Richmond," and thereby aids in precipitating the
+terrible disaster of Bull Run. Time goes on--the Union cause looks
+gloomy enough--all seems lost; yet, when once more the nation needs his
+powerful support he rushes off to Canada unauthorized, to negotiate a
+treaty with Southern Envoys which, to say the least, would have been
+disgraceful to the Union Government. When the cause is won he flees to
+Washington to sign the bail-bond of the arch traitor, and is thus
+instrumental in his release from justice. Yet, for all this the
+_Tribune_ prospered.
+
+He was regarded by many of his readers as a kind of moral law-giver, and
+if, per chance, one person journeyed to New York and returned to state
+that their beau ideal had used undue profanity in his common
+conversation, the indiscrete individual was ostracised.
+
+If Mr. Greeley's previous career had surprised the country and
+disappointed some of his friends, it remained for the last political act
+of his life to completely paralyze the country at large, and plunge some
+of his most ardent supporters into the deepest gloom. This was when they
+beheld him the nominee of Republicans, 'who were anything to elect
+Greeley,' and endorsed by Free Traders and Democrats whom he had so
+bitterly denounced all his life. Had he been nominated by the straight
+Republican party it might have been considered as a somewhat extravagant
+reward for party service for this position could not have been regarded
+otherwise than consistent; but the position he now assumed was
+inconsistent, not to say ludicrous. The result was he carried only six
+States against the successful Grant.
+
+He was a Universalist in belief, but educated his daughters at a
+Catholic school. He refused to get his brother, who actually needed
+assistance, a position worth perhaps $1,000 a year; yet, he could lend
+Corneel. Vanderbilt about eight hundred thousand dollars without
+security. His early friend, Mr. Jones, once sent a friend to him bearing
+a note requesting Greeley's aid to a subordinate position in the
+custom-house. No sooner had Greeley glanced it over than he astonished
+the gentleman, who was aware of Mr. Greeley's early obligation to Mr.
+Jones, by the volley of oaths and vituperation which he heaped upon him
+because he did not go West instead of hanging around there seeking
+office. No wonder the gentleman, who was a reputable middle-aged man,
+fled from the presence of this famous expounder of 'Moral Ideas.'
+However, when all this has been said we cannot help but admit that a
+great and good man died on December 29th, 1872. Certain it is that
+Journalism lost one of its brightest and most successful stars.
+
+
+
+
+THURLOW WEED.
+
+
+Who indeed has not heard of Thurlow Weed, "The king maker," born at
+Cairo, Greene County, New York, November 15, 1797. His father was a
+teamster and farmer. The reader can get some insight into the seemingly
+mysterious power he held for so many years, when it was known that so
+great was his thirst for knowledge that he was glad to wrap bits of a
+rag carpet about his feet and thus shod walk through the snow two miles
+to borrow a history of the French Revolution, which he mastered at
+night, stretched before 'the sap bush fire.'
+
+The more one investigates the character and lives of those men whom we
+so often envy, the more we are forced to see that it was will-power
+rightly directed that overcame all obstacles. Certain it is to this that
+Thurlow Weed owes his everlasting fame as the 'American Warwick'; for
+knowledge is power. He first left the farm work as a cabin boy on a
+Hudson river steamboat bound for New York, but being born a journalist
+he soon drifted into a printing office where he became a good
+journeyman.
+
+When the second war with Great Britain broke out he enlisted, and served
+on the Northern frontier, where by faithfulness he became Quartermaster
+Sergeant. When the war was over he returned to the printing office,
+being at one time in the same establishment with the late James Harper.
+Finally he started a paper at Oxford, New York, in 1818. He afterward
+became connected with the _Onondaga Times_, which he finally changed to
+the _Republican_. For the next few years he is connected with several
+different papers until we find him in Rochester at the head of the
+_Anti-Masonic Enquirer_.
+
+About this time the body of a man who had drowned in Lake Ontario was
+found, and it was claimed that his name was Morgan; if so, he was a
+renegade mason. A question of identity was raised, but as his murder was
+boldly asserted to have been the work of Masonry, it caused a great
+excitement for the time being. This excitement divided the political
+parties into Mason and Anti-Mason factions. Anti-Masonry was the
+political fertilizer which produced the astonishing growth of the
+assiduous Weed, he being sent to the Assembly twice, mainly on that
+issue. While at Albany his ability as a party leader becoming so
+apparent he was decided upon as the proper person to assume the party
+leadership against the obnoxious 'Albany Regency,' the great Democratic
+power in New York State at the time. He accordingly moved to Albany and
+assumed the editorship of the _Albany Evening Journal_. Weed was one of
+the men who consolidated the Anti-Jackson, Anti-Mason and old Federal
+factions into the Whig party. The 'Regency' with which he had to deal
+consisted of such men as Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, Willian L.
+Marcy and others of equal ability. Such were the men with whom he was
+pitted, but they soon found him in every way worthy of their steel. No
+one, when speaking of this great political warrior ever thought or spoke
+of him as a millionaire. Seemingly no one cared how much he was worth;
+but what did worry them was,--what will be the outcome of this secret
+conclave which we now suspect to be in progress at the headquarters of
+the opposition of the 'Albany Regency.'
+
+He went to battle fearlessly, and his terse pen dealt stinging blows
+straight in the face of the opponent. Indeed, as an editor he has been
+rarely equaled. While Greeley would devote a column to an article, he
+would take the same subject and in a few words put the argument in such
+shape as to carry far more conviction. His two terms in the State
+Assembly wound up his career as a legislator, although he could have had
+any place within the gift of his party from 1830 to 1860. His ambition
+was not to hold office but to rule men, and it is well-known that his
+desires were accomplished. He was a great dictator, being largely
+instrumental as an independent advisor in the selection of Harrison,
+Taylor and Scott. His first trial of personal strength in this line was
+when he secured the nomination and election of his personal friend,
+William H. Seward, as the first Whig Governor of New York. Mr. Seward,
+who was an unobtrusive man, was one time riding with the driver on a
+stage when that dignitary asked the stranger his name and business, as
+was customary when people did not volunteer the information. The answer
+was, "Why, I'm William H. Seward, Governor of the State." This was too
+good for the driver, whose answer was a loud laugh, plainly implying
+that he considered that the gentleman had given a most cute but evasive
+answer. "Don't you believe me?" asked Seward. "Of course not," replied
+the driver. Mr. Seward, who was acquainted with the proprietor of the
+next hotel they came to, agreed to leave it to him. In time they arrived
+and the driver, calling out the landlord, immediately said, "This man
+says he is Governor of New York State and we have left the matter to
+you." "Yes," broke in Seward, "am I not Governor of this State?" The
+answer came quick and sharp; "No, but Thurlow Weed is." "There,"
+exclaimed the ignorant driver, who could not see the point at once; "I
+knew you weren't Governor of New York State."
+
+In 1864 Mr. Weed sold the _Journal_, but never entirely suspended
+literary work. He afterward assumed the editorship of the _New York
+Commercial Advertiser_, and often sent letters to the _Tribune_. In
+1882, shortly before his death, the country was set in a flutter by his
+publishing the whole details relating to the Morgan matter, which he had
+kept all this time claiming it would injure certain parties, but as the
+last had died, it was now made public. On November 23rd of the same year
+one more great journalist passed away. He left a large estate, but a
+larger host of friends.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE W. CHILDS.
+
+
+No one can read the life of George W. Childs without a feeling slowly
+coming over him that the possibilities of our country are indeed very
+great. Certain it is that when we see so many examples showing what has
+been done by poor boys from the farm, we are forced to exclaim that we
+live in a free country; despite what some say we reiterate, our country
+is free.
+
+George W. Childs, at the age of ten, became an errand boy in a
+book-store in Baltimore, and after a period of over a year in the Navy
+which he served later, he removed to Philadelphia and once more entered
+a book-store--his natural calling. After four years' apprenticeship,
+when less than twenty, with his savings he opened a small book-store on
+his own account.
+
+"Where there's a will there's a way," so believed young Childs. He
+determined to one day be proprietor of the _Philadelphia Public Ledger_.
+"Aim high that you may not strike low,"--how true that adage is. When
+you see a boy make up his mind to do something; if he makes his actions
+correspond with his words, you can rest assured that it will be done.
+Sickness may come; disappointments will follow, but all must be
+overcome.
+
+Jerome B. Rice determined to succeed in the seed business, but just as
+success seemed about to crown his efforts that terrible disease,
+rheumatism, came and deformed him. He lost the entire use of his lower
+limbs, but his brain was spared, and his determination was unshaken. An
+invalid chair was bought, a colored man wheels him every morning to his
+office door where loving hands gently lift him, chair and all, up the
+steps of the beautiful building now occupied and owned by Jerome B. Rice
+& Co. Nearly thirty years have passed and Jerome B. Rice has not taken a
+step, but during that time, despite all obstacles, the firm of Jerome B.
+Rice & Co. has become one of the leading seed-growing concerns of
+America. Young men with the same chance he had are apt to say, "It's no
+use." We answer, "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing
+impossible is to make it so."
+
+George W. Childs determined to own the _Public Ledger_. He determined to
+own the leading paper of the great city of Philadelphia, and he was a
+poor boy. Was this presumption? If it was he has proved its
+practicability. If he was building an air-castle he has since placed a
+firm foundation under it. He labored hard in this little store of his;
+he built his own fires; he did his own sweeping,--it was the same old
+story; he hired done nothing that he could himself do. He made some
+money--not very fast--but a good average profit, and he saved what he
+did earn. He mastered the publishing business, and he developed a marked
+business capacity in that line. A man usually fills the notch for which
+he is fitted: I was about to say--I will say that he fits himself to the
+notch which he does fill. Sometime we see men in subordinate positions
+who apparently are capable of the best, but a careful study reveals a
+screw loose somewhere; there is a weak point, and invariably that point
+is the one thing which stands between them and victory. "Neither do men
+light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, and it
+giveth light to all that are in the house." So said Christ eighteen
+hundred years ago; is it not so to-day? As young Childs had ability, and
+it was apparent, what matter it how old he was or where he came from?
+All the world asks is, "What can he do"?
+
+The publishing firm of R. E. Peterson & Co. sought his alliance, and the
+firm of Childs and Peterson became known far and near. Do our readers
+call this luck? He now became a successful publisher, and seemingly his
+cup was running over, so far as this world was concerned, but it will be
+remembered that years ago he determined to own the _Public Ledger_,
+provided he lived. He was alive and his purpose still remained. He was
+waiting and watching. The _Ledger_ was a penny paper--the war broke
+out--stock went up--the management was weakened by death and other
+complications, the _Public Ledger_ was losing nearly $500 every time it
+went to press. The paper, great as it was, was losing $3,000 a week--at
+the rate of $150,000 a year. Now was Mr. Child's chance. In vain did
+friends entreat; in vain did wise business men shake their heads; Mr.
+Childs felt that his time had come, and he bought the paper, paying for
+it nearly $150,000. The new proprietor changed things; the paper was
+made a two cent issue, and into the _Public Ledger_ he now threw his
+whole soul. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the
+flood leads on to fortune." It is even so; he had purchased the _Ledger_
+at the right time.
+
+Not one man in a hundred can successfully edit a newspaper; not one
+editor in twenty could edit the _Public Ledger_ with success. Yet, Mr.
+Childs is one man out of the hundreds--he is the _one_ editor out of
+that twenty. He determined to publish only the truth; all claim to do
+that, but Mr. Childs does it. The paper grew, and on the 20th of June,
+1867, the _Public Ledger_ took possession of its new building. This new
+building cost half a million of dollars, and is one of the finest in the
+city. At its formal opening many of the most distinguished men in the
+country were present.
+
+Mr. Childs has been largely instrumental in establishing a small city at
+Wayne Station. He owns a large tract of land which he has divided into
+building lots of about an acre each. Any one desiring a home can get one
+by paying one-third down, and he is also furnished plans from which to
+select his ideal of a home. The houses built from these plans cost from
+$2,000 to $8,000 each. Mr. Childs and his partner, Mr. Drexel, have
+expended about $2,000,000 exclusively for beautifying the city.
+
+Years ago Mr. Childs told a gentleman that he meant to prove that a man
+could be at once liberal and successful as a man of business, and the
+princely hospitality of this good man has demonstrated, beyond doubt or
+contradiction, its practicability. Dinners to newsboys and life
+insurance policies given to the wives of his employes; such acts make up
+the history of his life. The late Chief Justice of Pennsylvania once
+said in a speech: "Some men pursue military glory, and spend their time
+and energies in the subjugation of nations. Cæsar and Napoleon may be
+named as types of this character. But the tears and blood which follow
+violence and wrong maculate the pages of history on which their glory is
+recorded. Others erect splendid palaces for kingly residences, and
+costly temples and edifices for the promotion of education and religion
+in accordance with their particular views. But views of education and
+religion change, buildings waste away, and whole cities, like
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, are buried in the earth. Others again win
+public regard by the construction of means of communication for the
+furtherance of commerce. The canals, railroads, and telegraph are
+glorious specimens of their useful exertion for the public good. But the
+marts of commerce change. Tyre and Sidon, and Venice are no longer
+commercial centres. The shores of the Pacific are even now starting in a
+race against the great commercial emporium of our continent. But Mr.
+Childs has planted himself in the human heart, and he will have his
+habitation there while man shall dwell upon earth. He has laid the
+foundation of his monument upon universal benevolence. Its
+superstructure is composed of good and noble deeds. Its spire is the
+love of God which ascends to Heaven." Such a monument is, indeed,
+
+    "A Pyramid so wide and high
+    That Cheops stand in envy by."
+
+Is not that glorious success? But if the name of George W. Childs was
+not a synonym for charity and philanthropy, the fact that he has
+demonstrated beyond doubt the possibility of making a newspaper not only
+pure and clean, but also proving that people will buy wholesome news, as
+well as trash, and thus refuting the opinion that the people are wholly
+responsible for the vile matter that is circulated, ought alone to
+commend him to the world as a great benefactor. Worldly reasoners and
+great financiers, wiseacres and successful editors prophesied its
+failure, but what mattered this to George W. Childs? When a boy he
+determined to one day own the _Public Ledger_; he accomplished that.
+When a man he determined to elevate the tone of a newspaper, and thus
+prove the fallacy of the opinion that "A newspaper must print all the
+news, no matter what, or else fail";--he has here also fulfilled his
+desires. Surely, "Where there's a will there's a way."
+
+
+
+
+JAMES GORDON BENNETT.
+
+
+When Horace Greeley was starting the _Tribune_ the _Herald_ was five or
+six years old, and its success assured. Mr. Greeley started his as an
+uncompromising party paper; Mr. Bennett presented the _Herald_ to the
+people as an independent paper, the first ever published that was simply
+an indicator of public opinion bound and gagged by no party.
+
+To Scotland shall we as a nation ever be indebted for one of the
+greatest journalists of the nineteenth century. When about fifteen years
+old he entered a Catholic school at Aberdeen expecting to enter the
+clergy, but after an academic life of two or three years he abandoned
+the idea. This sudden change was in no small degree influenced by an
+edition of "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography" which was published in
+Edinburgh about this time. He was greatly taken with the spirit of this
+volume which found sympathy in his thrifty Scotch nature. From the
+moment he finished this life of Franklin he determined to come to
+America, and after a short stay in Halifax, and Boston, his stay in each
+place being attended with great privation, we find him in the year 1822
+in the city of New York, and still later he is employed on the
+_Charleston Courier_, of Charleston, South Carolina. There his knowledge
+of Spanish was a benefit, enabling him to translate the Cuban exchanges,
+and to decipher the advertisements which were sent in that language.
+
+After a few months he returned to New York where he attempted to open a
+Commercial School. This scheme came to naught, however, and he then
+tried lecturing on political economy with but moderate success to say
+the least. He soon saw that these undertakings were not in his sphere,
+and once more he returned to journalism. He first connected himself with
+the _New York Courier_ and when that journal became merged into the
+_Enquirer_ he was chosen associate editor. After this the senior
+editor, J. Watson Webb, turned square around and began to support the
+United States Bank which he had so bitterly opposed and fought so
+vehemently. Young Bennett now withdrew and started a small paper, _The
+Globe_, but it was short-lived. He next went to Philadelphia and assumed
+the principal editorship of the _Pennsylvanian_. At that time all papers
+allied themselves to one party or the other.
+
+Mr. Bennett conceived the idea of an independent paper; one which would
+be bound to no party or ring. He accordingly returned to New York for
+this purpose. He was very short of funds, and this fact alone would have
+discouraged most young men; not so with this man. He hired a cellar; two
+barrels with a board across served as desk on which was an ink-stand and
+goose quill. The proprietor of these apartments was not only editor and
+manager, but reporter, cashier, book-keeper, salesman, messenger and
+office boy. One hour he was writing biting editorials or spicy
+paragraphs; the next rushing out to report a fire or some other
+catastrophe, working sixteen to twenty hours per day. He persuaded a
+young firm to print his paper, and he was thus tided over that
+difficulty. Most young men would never have undertaken such a task, but
+what would they have done had they, after embarking in it, been twice
+burned out and once robbed within the first fifteen months? Such was the
+experience of Bennett, but as expressed by himself, he raked the
+_Herald_ from the fire by almost superhuman efforts, and a few months
+later, when the great fire occurred in Wall street, he went to the scene
+himself and picked up all kinds of information about the firms burnt
+out, the daring deeds of the firemen, and anything sensational he did
+not fail to print. He also went to the unheard of expense of printing a
+map of the burnt district and a picture of the Produce Exchange on fire.
+This enterprise cost, but it gave the _Herald_ a boom over all
+competitors, which it well maintains. It was the first paper that
+published a daily money article and stock list, and as soon as possible
+Bennett set up a Ship News establishment consisting of a row-boat manned
+by three men to intercept all incoming vessels and ascertain their list
+of passengers and the particulars of the voyage.
+
+Mr. Calhoun's speech on the Mexican war, the first ever sent to any
+paper by telegraph, was published in the _Herald_. At one time when his
+paper wished to precede all rivals in publishing a speech delivered at
+Washington, for the purpose of holding the wire, Mr. Bennett ordered the
+telegraph operator to begin and transmit the whole Bible if necessary,
+but not to take any other message until the speech came. Such enterprise
+cost, but it paid; and so it has ever been. Seemingly regardless of
+expense, bureaus of information for the _Herald_ were established in
+every clime. 'Always ahead' seemed to be the motto of James Gordon
+Bennett, and surely enterprise was no small factor in the phenomenal
+success of the _Herald_. The tone, it has been said, was not always so
+edifying as that of its contemporaries, the _Post_ and _Commercial_,
+still every article was piercing as a Damascus blade. To buy one paper
+meant to become afterwards one of its customers. It was indeed
+astonishing what a variety of reading was contained in one of those
+penny sheets; every thing was fresh and piquant, so different from the
+old party papers. As originally intended, the _Herald_ has always been
+independent in politics, although inclined to be Democratic. It
+supported Fremont and the Republican party, and was one of the staunch
+war papers.
+
+Mr. Bennett has been described as being stern and disagreeable in his
+manners. In this we do not fully concur, and in view of the large number
+of employes who have grown old in his service, we cannot but feel
+justified in this belief. Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett, the
+two leading New York journalists, but how different. Mr. Greeley had a
+larger personal following than the _Tribune_; the _Herald_ had a larger
+friendship than did Bennett who was the power behind the throne.
+Journalism lost no lesser light when the great _Herald_ editor passed
+away June 1st, 1872, than it did six months later when Horace Greeley
+passed from darkness into light. As Mr. Bennett was a life-long
+Catholic, he received the last sacrament from the hands of the renowned
+Cardinal McClosky.
+
+
+
+
+PHINEAS T. BARNUM.
+
+
+We would not pass by so remarkable a character as that presented to us
+in the life of P. T. Barnum, a man born of poor parents at Bethel,
+Connecticut. Like many boys, he picked up pennies driving oxen for his
+father, but unlike many other boys he would invest these earnings in
+nick-nacks which he would sell to joyful picknickers on every holiday,
+thus his pennies increased to dollars. At an early age he was deprived
+of his father, and began work for himself at six dollars per month. He
+here saved his money, and afterwards opened a store which proved a
+successful business venture, especially after he added a lottery scheme.
+It is interesting to read of the many of our successful men who have
+drifted from one thing to another until they settled upon some
+life-work, then there was a hard struggle for victory, which was sure to
+come, provided they persevered.
+
+In 1835 Barnum heard of a negress in Philadelphia who was reputed to
+have been the nurse of George Washington, and who it was claimed was 162
+years old. Barnum immediately set out for Philadelphia, and succeeded in
+buying her for $1,000. This was more money than he already had; he,
+therefore, risked more than he owned, but by judicious advertising he
+was enabled to draw large houses, bringing the show up to paying $1,500
+per week. The next year the negress died, and a post mortem examination
+proved her to be possibly eighty years old, but Barnum had secured a
+good start. From this time on, for fifteen years, he was connected with
+traveling shows, and his museum proved a most profitable enterprise.
+
+In 1842 Mr. Barnum first heard of Mr. Charles Stratton, whom he
+presented to the world as General Tom Thumb--exhibiting him in both
+America and Europe.
+
+In 1849, after much correspondence, he secured the sweet singer, Jenny
+Lind, for one hundred nights, at one thousand dollars per night. His
+profits on these concerts were simply immense, and he retired from
+business.
+
+In 1857 it was heralded all over the land that Barnum had failed. It was
+so; unfortunate speculations had swamped him, and he returned to New
+York a bankrupt. Without a dollar he bought the Museum again, and in
+less than a year he succeeded in paying for it. His life henceforth has
+been full of its ups and downs; twice was he burned out, but as often he
+came forth in some new role--or rather an improvement on the old.
+
+General Tom Thumb was again taken to Europe. This venture, and his
+lecture on 'Money Making,' in England, succeeded beyond his most
+sanguine expectations. Every note was taken up, and he is to-day once
+more a millionaire. He has been for years the central figure in 'The
+Greatest Show on Earth,' the expense of which is from four to five
+thousand dollars a day. But not alone is he great as a showman; his
+lectures must have made him noted, and he is connected with different
+other enterprises.
+
+He is a very shrewd man, and is also honest. Think of it! at fifty a
+ruined man, owing thousands more than he possessed, yet resolutely
+resuming business life once more--fairly wringing success from adverse
+fortune, and paying his notes at the same time.
+
+When solicited for money with which to carry on his campaign for
+Congress, he answered, "God grant that I be defeated, sooner than one
+grain of gold be so basely used." Such principles are glorious, and upon
+their perpetuation depends the rise or fall of a Republican form of
+government. Mr. Barnum's latest sensation, in order to draw crowds, is
+the consolidation of his great show with that mammoth show formerly
+belonging to Adam Forepaugh. This caps the climax, the two "Greatest
+Shows on Earth" united.
+
+
+
+
+MATHEW VASSAR.
+
+
+Vassar College, five hundred feet long and five stories high, is a
+monument of which any man might be proud. The founder, Mathew Vassar,
+was born in England in 1792, and four years later landed in America,
+settling in Poughkeepsie, on a farm with his parents.
+
+In those days the English people thought that they couldn't live without
+a yearly supply of home-brewed ale; such a thing being unknown in the
+quiet community to which they had come. As there was no barley to be
+had, seed was imported from the mother-country and the family once more
+enjoyed their favorite beverage. When neighbors called they were, of
+course, invited to partake, and the fame of Vassar's ale steadily
+increased, until finally the father concluded to manufacture the ale to
+sell. Mathew, for some reason, disliked to go into the brewery to work,
+and the irate father bound him out to a neighboring tanner. However,
+when the time came for young Vassar to go, lo, he was nowhere to be
+found.
+
+He fled to Newburg, where he remained four years, learning to keep
+books, and saving his money. He then returned to his home and, having
+demonstrated that he could both earn and keep money, was duly installed
+in his father's establishment as book-keeper. All went well for some
+time, till at last a fire came, destroying all the property, ruining his
+father, and worst of all causing his brother's death. The father now
+returned to a farm, but Mathew determined to retrieve the business. He
+began business in an old shed. The supply was of necessity small, but it
+was an A 1. article, and its fame increased, making the ale of Vassar
+known far and near. From such a beginning the business developed into an
+immense establishment, with a profitable business, which he carried on
+for over thirty years, when he retired.
+
+In company with his wife he made an European tour, and on his return
+resolved to do something with his money for the betterment of society.
+On the 28th of February, 1861, twenty-eight gentlemen received from
+Mathew Vassar, a box containing $408,000, in trust, for the
+establishment of a college for the education of young ladies. The result
+of their efforts was Vassar Female College, afterwards changed to Vassar
+College. His entire donations for the establishment and maintenance of
+this institution of learning amounted to about $800,000. It was the
+first Female College ever established. His influence will be felt by the
+numerous generations which will follow him.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN JACOB ASTOR.
+
+
+Not far from the lovely Heidelberg on the Rhine, is the picturesque
+village of Walldorf, which is the birth place of John Jacob Astor, who
+was born in 1763. His father was a peasant, thus it is seen that he had
+not the advantages of family influence or assistance. He saved what
+little money he could earn, and at sixteen set out on foot for the sea
+coast, where he took passage in a vessel for London. He had a brother in
+that city who was, in a small way, a manufacturer of musical
+instruments. Here he remained until 1783, when he embarked for America,
+taking some flutes with him. On the voyage he made the acquaintance of a
+furrier. This individual he plied with numerous questions, until he was
+quite familiar with the business, and when he reached America he at once
+exchanged his flutes for furs, and hastening back to England succeeded
+in selling them at a fair profit over all expenses.
+
+Having disposed of his business in London, he engaged passage in a ship
+which did not return for some weeks. In the meantime he purchased a lot
+of goods which he thought would prove salable in America. He also
+improved the time in visiting the Governor of the then great East India
+Company. The Governor was from his native town in Germany, and Astor,
+making the most of this fact, secured from him a permit to trade at any
+port subject to the East India Company. When he arrived in New York once
+more he at once closed a bargain with a West India trader, that
+gentleman furnishing a ship and cargo, Astor the permit, which was very
+valuable, as it gained them access to Canton, China, which was closed to
+all foreigners save the vessels of the East India Company. The terms of
+this bargain was that each should participate equally in the profits of
+the voyage, and Astor's share was several barrels of milled dollars, the
+total profit being about $110,000.
+
+He after this bought ships of his own, and shipped his own merchandise
+to the East, bringing back cargoes to be sold in the new world. The
+Government at Washington approved of Astor's proposition to get
+possession of the fur business of the Interior, controlled at that time
+by British companies. He succeeded in raising a corporation with
+$1,000,000 capital, and within a few years Mr. Astor controlled the fur
+interests of the country. This was back in Jefferson's time when the
+city of New York was a small village. Astor, with that keen foresight
+which marked his life's history, had been buying land on Staten Island,
+and the marvelous growth of the city brought the price of his
+possessions up to fabulous amounts, and the latter part of his life his
+whole attention was occupied in taking care of his great blocks of real
+estate.
+
+While other merchants went to their desks at nine, Astor could always be
+seen there at prompt seven. He early in life, before leaving his old
+home on the Rhine, resolved to be honest, to be industrious, and to
+avoid gambling. Upon this solid moral basis he built the superstructure
+of his fame and secured his great wealth.
+
+The one great act of John Jacob Astor's life, which must forever keep
+the name of Astor before the people, is the establishment of the Astor
+Library by donating for that purpose $400,000, to which have been added
+large contributions by his son William B., to whom the elder Astor left
+about $20,000,000. The library contains about two hundred thousand
+volumes, the catalogue alone contains two thousand five hundred pages
+alphabetically arranged. The Astors are the principal real estate owners
+of America.
+
+
+
+
+POTTER PALMER.
+
+
+A hotel that has averaged five hundred and fifty daily arrivals for a
+dozen years. This naturally awakens interest; where is it? Who built it?
+How does it look? In answer, we speak of the Palmer House, of Chicago,
+the 'Palace Hotel of America,' built by Potter Palmer. The building is
+as nearly fire-proof as any building can be made, and is swarming with
+servants.
+
+You are accommodated with a room which satisfies your desires
+financially; and upon entering the dining-room you can choose between
+the American and European plans. This hotel is, indeed, first-class in
+every respect. It certainly enjoys the widest reputation as such of any
+on the continent, and is undoubtedly the finest hotel in America, save
+possibly the Palace Hotel, in San-Francisco, which is a rival in
+magnificence.
+
+Mr. Palmer was born near Albany, New York, where he worked summers among
+the farmers as a day-laborer, and attended the district school winters.
+This kind of life was maintained until he was nearly nineteen years of
+age when he entered a store at Durham, New York, as a clerk. Here he
+allowed nothing to escape his attention and, by industry, coupled with
+frugality, he was enabled to enter a business on his own account when
+twenty-one. Mr. Palmer, like all other young men who have risen from
+poverty to affluence, was constantly alive to the problems of the day;
+especially did the subject of this narrative watch the indications of
+progress in his native country.
+
+Being filled with the idea that Chicago was to be the city of America,
+he in 1852 moved 'West' to that city. Here he opened a dry-goods
+business which grew to mammoth proportions for those days. After
+fourteen years of successful trade he retired, investing heavily in real
+estate. When the great fire came much of his vast gains were swept away,
+but with that indomitable will and courage which has always
+characterized his efforts, he succeeded in forming a company which
+successfully brought to completion the magnificent hotel before
+mentioned. Probably no man has been more closely identified with the
+project of improving the streets of Chicago.
+
+When Palmer first entered the city he found it situated in a slough. It
+was generally supposed that the ground upon which the city was built was
+a natural swamp, and when Palmer, among others, advocated the idea of
+raising the streets they were ridiculed. But subsequent tests proved
+that beneath the surface there was a solid rock bottom, therefore it was
+impossible for the water to leach through. When this was an established
+fact, and therefore the grumblers were deprived of this excuse, the cry
+was raised that the city could not afford it. Against all obstacles the
+measure was carried, however, and State Street was widened, making it
+one of the grandest and most 'stately' streets among any that can be
+found in any city on the entire globe. Indeed, it is difficult to
+estimate the possible benefit Chicago may have derived, directly or
+indirectly, through the influence of Potter Palmer.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES HARPER.
+
+
+In a treatise on the Harpers, their life and character, the history of
+James is the history of the firm. This firm consisted of James, John,
+Joseph, Wesley and Fletcher; James, as the eldest, laying the foundation
+of that powerful concern, Harper Brothers, which is the largest and
+wealthiest publishing house in America.
+
+James Harper was born April 11, 1795. Like many other poor boys who have
+become wealthy he was the son of a farmer. He early determined to become
+a printer and, in 1810, was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul & Thomas of the
+city of New York. He left home to assume this position, the prayers of
+his parents following him. The last words of his mother bade him
+remember that there was good blood in him. The printer boy in those days
+was made a sort of lackey to be ordered about by all hands. Among other
+duties he had to clean the rollers when they became clogged with ink.
+The ink would get on his hands and apron, and thence it would reach his
+face--thus the printer boy with his blackened face earned the sobriquet
+of 'printer's devil.' James Harper became the 'devil' in this office.
+There is little doubt but that he often felt discouraged and disposed to
+give up, but he regarded this position as only a stepping stone to
+something higher and pleasanter. It was soon observed that such was the
+case; that James Harper fully expected to one day rise to be himself
+proprietor; even the street Arabs recognizing that he aspired to higher
+things. One day as he was passing along the street an audacious newsboy
+came up to him and gave him a push, while another sneeringly asked him
+for his card. Seizing the latter by the shoulder he fairly kicked the
+astonished ruffian half across the square. "There," said he, "is my
+card, keep it and when you want work come to me, present that card, and
+I will give you work." This ended all further molestation from this
+source.
+
+His brother John came to New York in the course of a little more than a
+year and entered another office, arranging his apprenticeship so that it
+might end about the same time as did that of his brother James. In time
+James became one of the leading pressmen in the city, and John was one
+of the best compositors and proof readers in the country. All through
+their long apprenticeship they had worked evenings; the surplus thus
+acquired and not one cent of their day earnings ever went for drink, as
+was so common in those days. To be temperate in Harper's day required
+far more exertion than it would at present, as nearly everyone drank
+then. So while others spent their evenings in saloons drinking, playing
+pool and billiards, and 'having fun,' these young Harpers were either
+hard at work putting in extra time, or at home, thus if they did not
+earn more they saved what they had already earned.
+
+When their time was out they each had a few hundred dollars, and they
+began business for themselves under the firm-style of J. & J. Harper.
+They felt their way, at first publishing books only for others. They
+were industrious, no hand in their employ working harder than the
+proprietors. Not only were they workers, but they were enterprising.
+When it was found that the stereotyping consumed much of their profit,
+they resolved to learn that art and add it to their business. This was
+no small undertaking; those already in the business were not anxious to
+set up a rival, as they felt these young men sure to become, but after
+much trial and vexation the Harpers learned the art, and were therefore
+better able to carry on their rapidly increasing business. When they had
+fully become established they ventured out upon a publication of their
+own. They put out but five hundred for the first edition, taking orders
+in advance from the booksellers about town. The two other brothers were
+apprenticed to the firm of J. & J. Harper and, as soon as their time was
+out, were taken into the firm.
+
+In 1825 the firm-style was changed to Harper & Brothers. One of their
+business maxims was, "Mutual confidence, industry and application to
+business." This made the four one man. They ranked as equals in all
+things, and the history of James Harper is the history of Harper &
+Brothers. James being the eldest was once asked, "Which is Harper and
+which the brothers?" He answered, "Either is Harper, the others are the
+brothers." This was precisely the relation they bore toward each other.
+In 1853 a workman threw a lighted paper into a tank of benzine which he
+mistook for water, and property valued at $1,000,000 was destroyed; as
+their insurance amounted to only about $250,000 their loss was great.
+This was a terrible blow, but the next day they hired temporary
+quarters, and the debris was hardly cleared away ere they had bought the
+ground on which to erect the splendid building they have since occupied.
+It is a most imposing structure, and is probably the most commodious,
+and finest building in which to carry on a general book business, in all
+its branches, in the world; every operation required to produce and
+publish a book being carried on under one roof. The building is
+absolutely fire-proof, and is seven stories high. Underneath are long
+vaults in which their plates are stored.
+
+In 1844 James was elected Mayor of the great city of New York. Mr.
+Harper was a man of unusual ability, this was recognized by his friends
+and towns people, but he was at the head of the largest publishing
+business in the country, and was loth to leave it, therefore he refused
+to be a candidate for Governor. He was always full of mirth and running
+over with good humor, but he was business, morning, noon and night. He
+remained actively engaged in business until he was nearly seventy-five
+years of age, in fact he was still in business and enjoying good health
+when he met an untimely death, caused by his horses running away in
+Central Park, throwing him to the ground and injuring him so badly that
+he died within forty-eight hours.
+
+He was a devout Methodist, and a class-leader, but used some of the
+Episcopal forms. He was a worthy example for our youth to imitate in
+business or religious matters.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY DISSTON.
+
+
+In Tewksbury, England, May 24th, 1819, was born a little boy who was
+destined to become one of the leading manufacturers of the nineteenth
+century. At fourteen he came to America with his father, who died three
+days after their arrival here. A poor, homeless orphan, in a strange
+land--ah! it takes courage to rise from such a beginning. There is
+little 'luck' in the life of such boys who become wealthy. The poet
+says:
+
+    "The fading flowers of pleasures
+      Spring spontaneous from the soil,
+    But the real harvest's treasure
+      Yields alone to patient toil."
+
+Whether these lines ever caught the eye of Henry Disston or no, we are
+not able to say; certain it is, however, that he concurred in that
+belief, for so hard did he work, and so closely did he study the
+business, that he was made foreman when he was but eighteen.
+
+When his seven long years of apprenticeship was up he arranged with his
+employer to take his wages in tools. With scarcely any money, he wheeled
+a barrow load of coal to his cellar where he began to make saws. Saws of
+American manufacture, were at that time held in poor esteem, and he had
+a great public prejudice to overcome. But Henry Disston determined to
+show people that he could compete with foreign goods, and to do this he
+sometimes sold goods at an advance of only one per cent. He moved to a
+small room twenty feet square, at the corner of Front and Laurel
+streets; this was in 1846. In 1849 he was burned out, and before he
+rebuilt he obtained control of additional land adjoining that which he
+had occupied, and here built a new factory. Now he began to reap the
+reward of his early toil and study. He was enterprising, like all
+successful men, and his inventive genius soon enabled him to get up new
+designs for teeth to do different kinds of work. He never allowed a poor
+tool, or an imperfect one, to be shipped from his factory. Consequently
+a market once gained was easily kept. His enterprise induced him to add
+a file works to his already large business; in fact, the Keystone Saw
+Works made a splendid exhibit at the Centennial, showing all kinds of
+tools made from steel. His works cover hundreds of acres of land, and
+employ over fifteen hundred hands, while the business extends all over
+the world.
+
+In March, 1878, this great manufacturer died in Philadelphia. He was a
+very common man--great wealth did not spoil him, and he could perform
+with his own hands any part of the work in his immense establishment.
+This ability to work thorough mastery of the business, which had taken
+years of patient thought to develop, brought about his splendid success.
+
+
+
+
+PETER COOPER
+
+
+Who, indeed, is there who has not heard of Peter Cooper? He was born in
+the city of New York in 1791. His father was a man who possessed some
+ability, but was so inconstant that the poor boy received only about six
+months' schooling, and he received that before he was eight years old.
+
+Reader, think of it; can you make yourself believe that his great riches
+came through 'good luck'? we will see: His father, being a hatter,
+little Peter was early employed pulling the hair off the rabbit skins to
+obtain material with which to make the hats. In the course of time his
+father moved to Peekskill, and at seventeen Peter resolved to strike
+out into the world for himself. He returned to his native city and
+apprenticed himself to the firm of Burtis & Woodward. Here he remained
+four years where he acquired a thorough mastery of the coach-making
+trade. In addition to his board he received during his apprenticeship
+the sum of twenty-five dollars per year with which to clothe himself.
+Although he had spent four long years learning the trade of coach-making
+he, for some reason, determined not to make that his calling for life.
+Accordingly he went to Hempstead, Long Island, and there he met a party
+who was manufacturing a patent shears for shearing cloth. To this man he
+engaged himself at $1.50 per day, where he remained until the business
+became unremunerative, a period of three years. He next turned his
+attention to the business of making and selling cabinet furniture; at
+the end of a year he sold out this business, and with his family
+returned to New York city.
+
+He now entered the grocery business and the next year, seeing his
+opportunity, leased for a period of nineteen years a piece of land
+containing a few buildings. He now moved his grocery business into one
+of these buildings, subletting the others at a profit. His eyes were
+kept open, and he never let an opportunity slip by to turn an honest
+penny. There was a glue factory situated not far from his present
+location. True, it had never paid, and that seemed to be reason enough
+for all others, but Cooper made a study of the glue business. He
+satisfied himself that he could make it pay; he thought he could see
+where the trouble was with the present proprietor, and he bought it out,
+paying two thousand dollars, cash down, for it. By a progressive study
+of this new business he soon produced a better article than was made by
+others, and so materially reduced the price as to drive out foreign
+competition from the American markets. Of course, he made money, and
+when he saw that we paid Russia four dollars per pound for isinglass, he
+studied up on the manufacture of the same, and added that article to his
+business, and soon was enabled to sell it at less than ONE DOLLAR A
+POUND. It is needless to say that he succeeded in completely
+monopolizing the isinglass industry for a long time, and his profit on
+that one article would have made him a very rich man.
+
+Mr. Cooper was an observing man; he saw and realized that our country
+was rich in mineral resources; especially was his attention drawn toward
+the iron deposits in Pennsylvania and neighboring States. He felt that
+there was big money in that business for the man who early entered the
+field; he felt that there would be money in it for Peter Cooper. These
+feelings made him an easy victim to two sharpers who one morning entered
+his premises and succeeded in getting him to invest $150,000 in a large
+tract of land, in Maryland, of some three thousand acres. He was told
+that this land was on a 'boom,' as the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, it
+was rumored, would soon be completed. The steep grades, however, and
+sharp curves, made it impossible for engines then known to make the road
+in safety. Indeed, it seemed that his land speculation was destined to
+prove a 'White Elephant' on his hands, and, with nine out of ten men it
+would have so proved, as they would have given up right here. Mr. Cooper
+set about this problem resolved to solve it. He soon saw that the
+success of the Baltimore and Ohio was the success of his speculation.
+The only thing needed to bring this success was an engine that could
+ascend the grades and turn the curves in safety.
+
+He set to work patiently, and succeeded in inventing an engine that
+would do what was required of it, he, himself acting as engineer on its
+trial trip. This and other favorable influences which were brought about
+through the success of the railroad, 'boomed' his land in dead earnest
+this time. He next established an iron furnace on the site of his land
+and burned the wood for charcoal. The land went on up, and when it
+reached two hundred and thirty dollars per acre he sold out at an
+immense profit. He still continued in the iron business, and as he was
+always studying his business, he was the first man to roll out iron
+beams for fire-proof buildings. His iron industries spread all over
+Pennsylvania, and the business is to-day carried on by his successors.
+As is well-known, he was one of the warm supporters of Cyrus W. Field
+from first to last, extending his aid and sympathy. When the Bank of
+Newfoundland refused to honor the Cable Company's paper Peter Cooper
+advanced the much needed funds. While all this business was on his mind
+his glue and isinglass industry was not in the least neglected. He had
+removed the works to Long Island, where it assumed mammoth proportions.
+The profits of this giant combination of business poured the money into
+his pockets in large streams.
+
+One feature of the great success of Peter Cooper was he always paid
+cash. But the great life-work of Peter Cooper is embellished with one
+gem that is perpetually bright. We speak of Cooper Union. In 1854 the
+ground was cleared, the plans made and the work begun. This institution
+cost Cooper about eight hundred thousand dollars. It is deeded as a
+trust, with all its rents and profits, to the instruction and profit of
+the poor working people of New York city. Mr. Cooper himself thus
+describes his motives: "The great object that I desire to accomplish by
+the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific
+knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume
+of nature that the youth may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its
+blessings and learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good and
+perfect gift." Could any sentiment be more beautiful? Could any motive
+be more worthy of imitation than this?
+
+He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall, but toward the latter
+part of his life he became a leader of the Greenback party, being a
+candidate for President on that ticket. He had good habits and was
+always occupied with business. Two children are living, Edward, and a
+daughter who married Mr. A. S. Hewitt. The son and son-in-law have each
+been mayor of their city. There was great mourning in New York city on
+April 4th, 1883, when it was learned that Peter Cooper was dead. But man
+liveth not to himself, his memory and influence will be felt by the
+countless generations which will follow after his death. Certain it is
+those who are benefited by the aid of "Cooper Union" will not forget
+their benefactor.
+
+     _"There is a wide difference between men, but truly it lies less in
+     some special gift or opportunity vouchsafed to one and withheld
+     from another,--less in that than in the differing degree in which
+     these common elements of human power are owned and used. Not how
+     much talent have I, but how much will to use the talent that I
+     have, is the main question. Not how much do I know, but how much do
+     I do with what I know?"_
+
+[Illustration: SUCCESSFUL BANKERS AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS.]
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE LAW.
+
+
+On October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy;
+that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on
+his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a certain
+farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of
+struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go
+and do likewise. His education was meager, but he had mastered Daboll's
+Arithmetic.
+
+Having decided that he could not follow the occupation of his father, he
+set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to
+success. By exercising great frugality in his already simple mode of
+living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of eighteen he
+set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty-six miles distant. Putting up
+at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search
+of employment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next
+obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and 'picking up points,'
+soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day.
+
+But George Law did not mean to always be a day-laborer, he observed
+everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to
+a better understanding of his business. Seven long years of
+day-laboring, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His
+first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in various parts of
+Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell
+correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so
+carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he
+cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Croton
+Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High
+Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of competitors, and
+was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts
+alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest.
+
+He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested
+in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten
+Island Ferry, ran it five years, and sold out. He was also much
+interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profitable,
+and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,000,000. He was a
+giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably
+with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting
+and, of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he
+could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant
+his living on Fifth Avenue. He carried the hod until he found better
+work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no
+matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to
+return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his
+father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him.
+
+
+
+
+DARIUS O. MILLS.
+
+
+In Westchester county, New York, was born one bright September day, in
+1825, Darius O. Mills. True, it is, that his parents were somewhat
+well-to-do people, but Darius O. Mills would have become a wealthy man
+had he been born in poverty.
+
+If a man determines to succeed and has a perceptive mind to see
+opportunities, if he relies on no one but himself, and follows this up
+by hard, persistent work, he will succeed. If he does not he is lacking
+in some other vital point, but we have never yet read the life of any
+man who possessed these qualities but that he was a success. What one
+has done another can do under the same conditions and circumstances. For
+some time he was casting about to find his calling, and finally
+determined to become a banker. In this sphere he has proven himself a
+phenomenon. His talent for money-making was early apparent, and he was
+appointed cashier of a bank in Buffalo when only twenty-one. Now it must
+not be imagined that Darius O. Mills was picked up indiscriminately and
+placed in so responsible a position. Things do not come by chance. It is
+evident the case under consideration did not happen through 'good luck.'
+He was a young man of unusual ability, of which he has always made the
+most. The bank flourished and at twenty-three he resigned and, taking
+what money he had, he was soon on his way to California. He did not go
+there to dig gold. Darius O. Mills knew that gold was the object of
+nearly every one who went; he also knew that the people must live; he
+perceived the chance to make a fortune as a merchant. Like any man who
+will succeed, he acted at once. In 1849 he settled in San Francisco,
+opening trade with the miners.
+
+In the course of a few years he became immensely rich through very
+successful trade and, as he was about to retire from active business,
+the Bank of California was projected. This he materially aided into
+existence, and as he was recognized as one of the ablest financiers in
+the city, he was chosen its first President. So well did he manage its
+affairs that it soon became the leading banking institution in the
+country, wielding an immense power in the financial world. He remained
+at its head for nine years when his private fortune had assumed such
+mammoth proportions that it demanded his immediate attention, he
+therefore resigned in 1873.
+
+In 1875 his successor, William G. Ralston, was asked to resign and the
+bank suspended. Mr. Ralston was a splendid man, but had been somewhat
+unwise in placing the bank's money, and thus the failure was brought
+about. At a meeting of the directors it was decided to ask for the
+resignation of the President. Mr. Mills was the person selected to
+convey the intelligence of the result of the meeting to Mr. Ralston and
+this he did. Mr. Mills, much against his personal desire, once more
+assumed the presidency of the bank, and after three years he once more
+resigned to attend to his private affairs; leaving the bank in a
+flourishing condition. Possibly no man in America is better capable of
+handling large sums of money, to bring not only large returns, but to
+handle the money safely.
+
+In 1880 he turned his attention toward the East, moving his family to
+Fifth Avenue, New York city. His large business block, the Mills
+Building, ten stories high, fitted up for offices containing three
+hundred in all, is a magnificent structure. His wealth is very great,
+being estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. He has
+established on the Pacific slope, at a cost of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, a seminary for young ladies.
+
+He has also presented a beautiful piece of statuary to the State of
+California. It is a magnificent gift, representing Columbus at the court
+of Isabella. He has given numerous costly presents to institutions and
+relatives. Among the shrewd far-sighted men of the country few are more
+distinguished than is Darius Ogdon Mills.
+
+
+
+
+STEPHEN GIRARD.
+
+
+Stephen Girard was born in Bordeaux, France, May 24th, 1750. He lived in
+an age when avenues of business were utilized by the rich. A poor boy
+had little chance of being other than a poor man. Not only was the
+subject of this sketch born to poverty, but he also inherited a
+deformity which made him the butt of ridicule among his vulgar
+companions. His childhood was made up of neglect which developed a cold,
+distant nature. He is generally described as a loveless old man, but his
+biographers seem to forget the influences that surrounded his childhood.
+Such were the opportunities enjoyed by Girard; such the chance offered
+to him, but he held that a man's best capital was "industry," and this
+seemed to have been his main idea to the last; as he willed but little
+property to his relatives, and but little to any one individual.
+
+He sailed as cabin boy at the age of twelve, and by following a line of
+fidelity, industry and temperance, gained the esteem and confidence of
+the captain who gradually learned to call him "My Stephen," and at his
+death placed him in command of a small vessel. He became a resident of
+Philadelphia, and owned a farm a short distance out of the city. When he
+visited this farm he rode in an old gig drawn by a scrawny horse; when
+he arrived he fell to work like any common hand, and labored as though
+his very subsistence depended on it. This is an illustration showing the
+secret of his success in life. He was familiar with every detail, in
+every department of his business; no matter what part of his business he
+went to oversee he was no novice.
+
+With Stephen Girard nothing came by chance. He was a self-taught man,
+having but little education so far as books go; but in the great school
+of actual business he received a diploma, and to this was afterwards
+added several complimentary degrees earned after his graduation. He
+never ceased to be a progressive man. A large range of stores were for
+sale in the city of Philadelphia at a great sacrifice; these Girard
+would have been glad to buy but he lacked sufficient funds; seeing it
+beyond his means to buy safely, he leased them for a term of years and
+then sublet them at an immense profit.
+
+How few young men have the necessary enterprise to gain for themselves
+success. Girard had both enterprise and energy; it is not at all
+surprising that he succeeded. And this was not all; of whatever he
+undertook he had thoroughly mastered the details, hence was prepared for
+success and made money; that money he saved. Ah! that is three-fourths
+of the secret. Most young men earn enough but foolishly throw it away on
+unnecessaries.
+
+If Girard owed a man a cent he could rest assured that he would get it;
+if a man owed him there was much trouble in the way for that man if he
+attempted to evade the payment. He was just to all men and just to
+himself and family. There is another feature in the history of Girard
+that is worthy of imitation; that is he kept abreast, yea, ahead of the
+times,--he made a study of the various problems of his day.
+
+He saw that the United States Bank was daily growing less popular, and
+he saw that it must go down in the near future. He had prospered in his
+shipping business, and seeing here a grand opportunity he began to study
+up on banking preparatory to taking the bank. Reader, think of this kind
+of enterprise. His friends might think such a thing visionary; the best
+financier might pass the opportunity by, but this man knew that the
+United States Bank had a vast patronage, and he also knew that the man
+who stepped into its business would have every reason to expect success.
+He at once set about to buy a controlling interest in the stock. When
+the bank was discontinued it was found that he had not only secured a
+controlling interest in the stock, but had gained possession of the bank
+building itself. While his friends were predicting his ruin he had
+bought $1,200,000 worth of stock and, by so doing, had stepped into the
+largest banking business of the Republic.
+
+Does one of my readers for one moment allow himself to believe that
+Stephen Girard was a lucky man? Was it 'good luck' that placed Girard at
+one move at the head of American financiers? As is well known a great
+panic followed Jackson's administration, and, of a whole nation, Stephen
+Girard seems to have been the only prosperous man. His capital stock
+soon became $4,000,000. In this capacity he was enabled to aid his
+Government much, in fact to save it from ruin in the terrible crash of
+1837.
+
+Stephen Girard was bent upon getting rich and yet, while he is generally
+regarded as a cold money-getter, still he had a heart, a tender heart,
+locked up within that cold exterior. While the terrible plague, yellow
+fever, raged in Philadelphia with a violence never before known in
+American history, and while many others fled the city, Stephen Girard
+remained and nursed the dying,--performing with his own hands the most
+loathesome duties, and giving most liberally of his wealth toward the
+fund for the suppression of the disease.
+
+A young man, who was a protege of Girard, was one day called to the
+private office of that gentleman, when the following dialogue took
+place: "Well, you are now twenty-one, and should begin to think of a
+life-work." The young man who thought perhaps Girard was going to set
+him up in some business, said, "What would you do if in my place, Mr.
+Girard?" Imagine his astonishment when Mr. Girard replied, "I should
+learn some trade." The young man, who was built of the right material,
+said, "Very well, I will learn the cooper's trade." In the course of a
+few years he received a letter from Mr. Girard ordering the best barrel
+that he could make with his own hands. When done it was delivered. The
+young man was thunderstruck when, after a thorough inspection by Girard,
+he received a check for $20,000; the reader can draw the moral.
+
+Time fled, the 26th of December, 1831, came, and with it the death of
+this man. At his death he possessed about $9,000,000, not a large
+fortune compared with those of the rich men of our day, but a colossal
+sum for his day. For all practical purposes it is just as great and
+useful as one hundred millions.
+
+When his will was read it was found that he had left to the Pennsylvania
+institute for deaf and dumb, $20,000; to the Orphan Asylum of
+Philadelphia, $10,000; for fuel for the poor of Philadelphia, $10,000;
+to the Philadelphia Public Schools, $10,000; to the Society for the
+Relief of the Distressed Masters of Ships, $10,000; to the Masonic Loan,
+$20,000; to the city of Philadelphia, $500,000; and to the State of
+Pennsylvania, $300,000. There were other bequests, the largest of which
+was $2,000,000, with which to found a college for orphan boys who were
+to be taken between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. He left minute
+directions pertaining to the construction and other details, showing
+even at this time that carefulness, which characterized his life's
+history. The main building is said to be the finest specimen of Grecian
+architecture in the world,--it surely is the finest in America.
+"Contemplating the humility of his origin, and contrasting therewith the
+variety and extent of his works and wealth, the mind is filled with
+admiration of the man."
+
+
+
+
+MOSES TAYLOR.
+
+
+What a pleasure it is to read the lives of such men as Moses Taylor. He
+began life as a clerk and died worth $50,000,000; but it is not alone
+for his wealth that we take such an interest in Moses Taylor, but the
+good he did with it, and the example he set moneyed men.
+
+Born in New York, January 11th, 1808, he served a clerkship of ten long
+years, when he started business on his own account. The cholera raged
+that year in that city; consequently all business suffered, many fled
+from their homes but young Taylor stood by his new enterprise, and even
+the first year cleared some money. Three years later he was burned out,
+but while the smouldering brands lay at his feet he arranged to erect a
+new building to stand on the same spot, and the next day opened a store
+in his dwelling house. Of course such enterprise would win in the end;
+when he was called to the presidency of the city bank no one seemed
+surprised for when a man has ability it is not necessary for him to tell
+it--he becomes a marked personage. The success that attended his efforts
+in this new capacity is shown from the following:
+
+In the great panic of 1857 a meeting of the various bank presidents was
+called. When asked what percentage of specie had been drawn during the
+day some replied fifty per cent., some even as high as seventy five per
+cent. but Moses Taylor replied, "We had in the bank this morning,
+$400,000; this evening, $470,000." While other banks were badly 'run,'
+the confidence in the City Bank under his management was such that
+evidently people had drawn from other banks and deposited in the City
+Bank. He was Treasurer of the Transatlantic Cable, being one of its most
+ardent supporters from 1854 until long after it had became established.
+
+He was a most conspicuous 'War Democrat,' taking an early stand as to
+the duty of all bankers. Probably no one man, save possibly Jay Cook,
+did more to sustain the credit of the North in those trying times than
+did Moses Taylor. He became interested in the Delaware, Lackawanna &
+Western railway, and the mines in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In
+1873 he became President of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co. He also
+became largely interested in the Manhattan Gas Co., out of which alone
+he made a respectable fortune. When he died he left a very large sum of
+money for the purpose of building a hospital at Scranton. The need of
+this hospital was very urgent, as accidents were continually happening
+to the miners in their dangerous work. The building is not only a
+splendid edifice but it fills a long-felt want.
+
+Such a man was Moses Taylor who died May 23rd, 1882. Few such men have
+we, would that there were more. Moses Taylor was a practical man, he
+cared more for business than for any amusement. Art was of far less
+account with him than were the suffering miners who had no place to
+stretch their bleeding forms until he came to their aid.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM C. RALSTON.
+
+
+William C. Ralston, a synonym for goodness, was born at Wellsville,
+Ohio, January 15th, 1820. He drifted to California, being one of the
+first to pass through the Golden Gate. Here he remained for twenty-five
+years, becoming the most noted man in the State, having prospered
+wonderfully.
+
+It has been truly said of him that he did more than any other one man to
+secure a good municipal government for San Francisco. Aiding with his
+money weak industries, he did much to elevate the tone of a class of
+people consisting of almost every nationality--the miners. The
+struggling young man had nothing but sympathy extended him from this
+great philanthropist; indeed, his great desire seemed to be, what can I
+do for my less fortunate fellow-man. He was elected President of the
+Bank of California, to succeed Mr. Mills. This bank had a credit all
+over the globe. It was the greatest financial power in the Republic.
+Such was its standing in the financial world when Mr. Mills delivered
+the bank over to Mr. Ralston. Mr. Ralston was a great and good man, but
+his desire to benefit and aid others led him to place out the bank's
+money too freely; hence, when Mr. Flood made his sudden and unlooked for
+call for over $5,000,000, the amount of his deposit, it was useless for
+the bank to try to raise it at once, as it could not be done,
+notwithstanding the bank had ample resources, if they had only been
+available. Mr. Flood, it seemed to us, need not have pressed his claim
+when he knew that the bank could pay him soon. It is claimed by some
+that he chose this method to cripple the Bank of California to the
+advantage of his Nevada Bank. Be this as it may, Mr. Ralston unwisely
+allowed his tender heart to be touched too deeply, and thus placed the
+bank in a weak position to meet such a crisis. A meeting of the
+directors was immediately called, and it was decided to ask the
+President for his resignation which, together with his household
+effects, he promptly tendered. This was a terrible blow to him, and it
+may be the officials were somewhat hasty. On the 27th of August he went
+down to the beach, put on his bathing suit, drank something from a
+bottle (it is alleged), dived into the waves, was carried far out and
+was never again seen alive.
+
+As the people gazed on his lifeless body they began to realize what a
+loss they had sustained. Threats of vengeance were heard on every hand,
+which made it seem best for the founders of the rival Nevada Bank to
+abstain from being seen in their usual haunts. A public meeting was
+called, and long before the appointed time to begin the business of the
+meeting the public hall where it was held was packed, and thousands were
+unable to get in. One orator addressed those in the hall while the dense
+mass outside, who were unable to get in, were divided and addressed by
+two speakers. The several charges against him were in turn taken up, and
+either proven false or shown to be justified by the excited populace.
+The following resolution expressive of the irreparable loss the city had
+sustained, was presented.
+
+_Resolved_, "That in reviewing the life of the deceased. William C.
+Ralston, we recognize one of the first citizens of San Francisco, the
+master spirit of her industries, the most bounteous giver to her
+charities, the founder of her financial credit, and the warm supporter
+of every public and private effort to augment her prosperity and
+welfare. That to his sagacity, activity, and enterprise, San Francisco
+owes much of her present material prosperity, and in his death has
+sustained an irreparable loss. That in his business conceptions he was a
+giant, in social life an unswerving friend, and in all the attributes of
+his character he was a man worthy of love and trust." When "All those in
+favor of this say aye," was called, the answer came like the sound of
+heavy artillery, and not a solitary 'No' was heard in that vast crowd.
+
+Rev. T. K. Noble said, "The aim of his life was not to pull down but to
+build up. What enterprise can you mention looking to the betterment of
+material interests in which he did not have part? In the building of
+railroads, in the establishment of lines of steamships to Australia, to
+China, to Japan; in the manufacture of silk; in the Pacific Woolen
+Mills, the Bay Sugar Refinery, the West Coast Furniture Manufactory; and
+in those superb buildings, the Grand and Palace hotels; and in many
+other enterprises I have not time to mention. Into each and all of these
+he put his money and his brains." This was expressive of much, and it
+very clearly represented the general impression of the people throughout
+his State. He gave not only his money, but his sympathy.
+
+People of the East who know of him principally as a man of great wealth
+cannot conceive an idea of such a man,--indeed they have none such among
+them. He was the moral phenomenon of modern times. The people of his
+State all love him, and there are those to-day who are struggling in
+various enterprises who can look to no one now for help, who like to
+tell of the time 'when they could have gone to 'Frisco and seen Ralston
+about it.' What a tribute is this; when we think of a man who regarded
+money only as a means to do good, and who seemed a special Providence to
+all in need. We look upon this picture and we see him happy only in
+giving; but we turn and our hearts bleed in sympathy when we behold him
+torn from his position, the victim of avariciousness and envy, which to
+all appearance is the immediate cause of his untimely death. But there
+is another thought here; he should have been very cautious in placing
+money where it could not be brought into immediate use in such an
+emergency.
+
+Great was the feeling at his burial. Three regiments, cavalry,
+artillery, and the National Guard, escorted his remains to their last
+resting place. After several years Mrs. Ralston received back over
+$100,000, and is therefore comfortable. We shall forever mourn the death
+of such men, and ever regard and cherish their memory as among the
+dearest in American history.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE PEABODY.
+
+
+A long time ago a little boy who was poorly dressed, but had an honest
+face, was passing a country tavern in Vermont; night was fast
+approaching, and he looked tired and hungry; seeing which, the landlord,
+who had a kind heart, generously offered him supper and a nights'
+lodging free. This he refused to accept, but said, "If you please, I
+will cut wood enough to pay my way." This was accepted by the landlord,
+and thus the affair passed. Fifty years later he passed the same tavern
+as George Peabody, the great London banker.
+
+The above self-reliant nature was illustrative of the man. It is always
+interesting to learn how great fortunes were made. Nothing is so
+fascinating as success, and the momentous question relative to every
+great man is: "How did he begin?" George Peabody began life in Danvers,
+Massachusetts, February 18th, 1795. He was born of humble parents and
+the public schools of his native town furnished him his education. At
+the age of eleven he became a clerk in a grocery store where he remained
+four years, when he went to Newburyport to become a dry-goods salesman.
+By cultivating a loving disposition he gained friends wherever he went,
+and, of course, thus gained a confidence which he otherwise never would
+have known. For this reason he gained his first letter of credit which
+enabled him to buy his first consignment of goods without advancing the
+money for them.
+
+[Illustration: SELF-RELIANCE. Engraved Expressly for 'Hidden Treasures.']
+
+As we review the various great and influential men we cannot but notice
+how many, out of the total number, cultivated a pleasing manner. Certain
+it is, to pleasing manners and ability owed he his success; without
+either he could not have succeeded. Without the generous heart he
+possessed he could never have won the great honor that he enjoyed, for
+great wealth alone could not bring such honor. He was a notable moral
+phenomenon. Of all the great and rich men of whom we are aware, none
+gave as liberally as did he. Reader, think of it; a poor boy who became
+one of the greatest bankers of his time, and who, during his life, gave
+over eight millions of dollars to charity. Many of our rich men have
+willed much to charity, but he gave while living.
+
+He went to Georgetown, District of Columbia, and entered into a
+partnership with an uncle, the firm-style being Riggs & Peabody. They
+were wonderfully successful, and soon established branches in
+Philadelphia and New York. In 1829 Mr. Riggs retired from actual work,
+the firm-style becoming Peabody, Riggs & Co. Time passed on, the
+business grew, and in 1837 he went to London, soon after establishing
+the banking house of George Peabody & Co. He made banking his study and
+kept thoroughly posted on financial matters. At about this time the
+great panic occurred in America, and at a great risk of losing his
+fortune he bought Maryland securities. But George Peabody knew what he
+was about; he was thoroughly posted and was capable of managing a
+banking business. By his influence with the Bank of England, he soon
+became recognized as the man who had saved Maryland from bankruptcy.
+
+He now began to dispense the great fortune with which God had so
+bountifully blessed him. In 1851 he supplied a large sum, so much
+needed, to make a success of the great Worlds Fair in London. In 1851 he
+gave $10,000 toward the second Grennell expedition, and the same year
+the people of his native town, Danvers, invited his presence at an
+anniversary. He could not personally attend, but sent them $20,000 to be
+applied toward education. In 1857 he gave the city of Baltimore $300,000
+to found a college, and afterward added to this magnificent sum $200,000
+more. In 1866 he added still $500,000 more, and later yet $400,000 more,
+making $1,400,000 in all he gave to this one institution, which is
+called Peabody Institute. He gave nearly $3,500,000 toward the fund to
+educate the poor of the South. He gave Yale and Harvard college each
+$150,000; to Phillips Academy $25,000; to Peabody Academy $140,000; to
+the Memorial Church in Georgetown $100,000; to Peabody Academy $250,000;
+and numerous other contributions in America.
+
+In London he established a fund of $3,000,000 with which to build homes
+for the poor of that great city. The Queen acknowledged this in a
+private letter, and presented him with her portrait painted on ivory and
+set in jewels, valued at $255,000. She also offered to make him a Baron,
+but this he respectfully declined.
+
+He resembled the late A. T. Stewart in some respects. No gold chain ever
+hung from his watch, and when he wore studs or other ornaments they were
+never more costly than pearl. He detested show. Altogether during his
+life he gave away over _eight millions of dollars_, and at his death
+left a fortune of over four millions. Had he saved his money and
+manipulated it like many of our great millionaires have done, we doubt
+not he would have died worth perhaps twenty or thirty millions.
+
+He, however, had gained not only worldly success, but true success, for
+when he died in 1869, both of the great English speaking nations united
+to do him honor. He was at first laid in Westminister Abbey among the
+dead kings and queens. After this her Majesty's ship Monarch bore his
+remains to America to be buried in Danvers. The respect in which he is
+held by the people of that town is shown when we know that they have
+since changed the name of their town to Peabody. He left an imperishable
+crown containing pearls which cannot be stolen. They are set in homes
+for the poor, libraries for every one, schools for the young, and other
+securities which are safely stored in the hearts of a grateful people.
+Ah! we are thoughtful after reading the life of such a man.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM W. CORCORAN.
+
+
+The veteran philanthropist, William W. Corcoran, was born in 1798. He
+began his business career in Georgetown, but for many years he has been
+a resident of Washington. At twenty he went into business for himself,
+beginning as an auctioneer. After several years of successful business
+he was obliged to suspend, during the depressed times of 1838.
+
+After this he was married to the beautiful daughter of Commodore Morris,
+of the United States Navy, much to the disgust of that gentleman, who
+little dreamed what an illustrious son-in-law Mr. Corcoran was destined
+to become. Some years of hard struggle followed, but at last it was
+found that he had won for himself a somewhat extended reputation as a
+financier, which gained for him a partnership with the successful
+banker, Riggs. This firm began to deal in United States Government
+securities, which were then at a low ebb abroad. Being a boy friend of
+George Peabody, the great London banker, his firm was enabled to
+materially aid the Government in its financial straits during the
+Mexican war. As the firm prospered, Mr. Corcoran became wealthy, and
+this money he laid out in Washington real estate, the rapid rise of
+which made him a millionaire. As Mr. Corcoran prospered he began to
+think of those old debts. When he had failed he secured favorable terms
+with his creditors, and legally was not bound for one cent, but he
+recognized a higher obligation than law made by man: hunting up all
+those old customers, creditors of his, he paid them not only the
+principal, but the interest that had been accumulating all these years.
+By this one act we gain a glimpse of the inner heart and impulses of
+this great and good man.
+
+Thousands of dollars found their way into the hands of charity, but then
+his desire to aid and gratify humanity was not satisfied.
+
+On May 10th, 1869, the grounds and institution for the Corcoran Art
+Gallery was deeded to trustees, and later was incorporated by Congress,
+being exempted forever from taxation. The gallery is situated directly
+opposite the State, War, and Navy buildings. It has a frontage of one
+hundred and six feet; is built of fine, pressed brick; and is one of the
+most attractive buildings in the whole City of Washington. The whole
+building cost $250,000, and the donor placed therein his own private
+collection of paintings and statuary, valued at $100,000. Not satisfied
+with this he has added an endowment fund of $500,000. Many rare and
+beautiful works of art have been purchased abroad, as well as American
+works of rare value. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the gallery is
+free; on alternate days an admission of twenty-five cents is charged.
+When it is considered how many there are who would naturally take
+advantage of the free days, and then that the annual income is over
+$75,000, one can form some idea of the attractiveness of this
+institution. Mr. Corcoran's desire was to elevate the American taste in
+the finer arts, and the thousands of visitors which the institution
+attracts, indicates to what an extent he has succeeded. The lower floor
+is devoted to statues and to the exhibition of sculpture. The second
+floor is occupied by several hundred rare and costly paintings,
+representing the advance of art during the past centuries. The gallery
+is, probably, all things considered, the finest of the kind in the
+country.
+
+Another institution of wide celebrity is the Louisa Home, founded by Mr.
+Corcoran in 1871. It is a magnificent building, conspicuously situated
+in the most fashionable part of the city, the West End. This is a most
+worthy institution, designed for ladies who have been reduced from
+affluence to poverty, affording them a home where they can mingle with a
+class of people congenial to their refined natures. This building is a
+beautiful brick structure, four stories high, erected at a cost of
+$200,000. Visitors are welcome every afternoon.
+
+These are only two of the many gifts and enterprises which originated
+with the venerable banker. George Peabody and William Corcoran were boys
+together; how similar their lives have been. Would that there were more
+Corcorans, more Peabodys. Mr. Corcoran has given several millions to
+charity and art; how we envy him--not for his wealth, but his
+reputation, or better, would that we could do as much good in the world
+as did these two great men.
+
+
+
+
+NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD.
+
+
+Who indeed is there who has not heard of the Rothschilds? But how few
+there are who know much of them save that they are the richest bankers
+in the whole world. The subject of this sketch was the richest and most
+noted of five brothers. The father, Mayer Anselm Rothschild, sprung from
+a poor Jewish family, and was a clerk in Hanover before establishing
+himself at Frankfort. At Hanover it is claimed that his integrity and
+ability became so marked in every position to which he was called that
+the attention of the Government was called thereto.
+
+After the great French victory of Jena, Napoleon decreed that the
+Governor of Hesse-Cassel should have his lands and property confiscated.
+The order was no sooner given than a French army was on its way to carry
+the edict into effect. The Elector William, before his flight from
+Hesse-Cassel, deposited with the father of the subject of this sketch
+$5,000,000, without interest, for safe keeping. There was no luck about
+this; it was a most difficult undertaking at that time. Any one who had
+been found with this money would have lost his life. For Rothschild to
+invest it so that he could make money from its use was his object; to do
+so safely and secretly required a good business tact. The Elector, it is
+said, studied sometime before he decided to whom he could intrust this
+vast sum during his absence. Thus it is seen that as Rothschild came of
+poor parents, and was simply a clerk. It was not so much luck in his
+case as strict integrity and the determination he manifested to master
+everything he undertook. This Rothschild had five sons, and by the aid
+of these, through different bankers, he succeeded by good management to
+lay a foundation upon which has been built that colossal fortune which
+the sons have accumulated. This money, belonging to the Elector, they
+had the benefit of until 1828, when the whole was paid over to the heirs
+of the original owner with two per cent. interest for a portion of the
+time. Of the five brothers, Anselm was situated at Frankfort, Solomon at
+Vienna, Charles at Naples, James at Paris, and Nathan at London. The two
+ablest financiers were James and Nathan, and of these two Nathan was the
+superior. His son was the first Jew that ever sat in the English
+Parliament. It has been said that the fundamental rule of this great
+banking-house was "To sell when people desired to buy, and buy when
+people wished to sell." It is related of Nathan Mayer Rothschild that,
+all day long, at the battle of Waterloo, he hung about the skirts of the
+two armies, waiting to see how the battle turned. Toward night of that
+memorable day, the clouds of smoke lifting, revealed the French army in
+full and disastrous retreat. Rothschild took in the situation at once.
+True to his instincts, he saw in that awful carnage only the shimmer of
+his gold. Chance had overcome the most heroic valor, the most stubborn
+resistance, the best laid plans, and once more declared in the Hebrew's
+favor. He dashed into Brussels, whence a carriage in waiting whirled him
+into Ostend. At dawn he stood on the Belgian coast, against which the
+sea was madly breaking. He offered five, six, eight, ten hundred francs
+to be carried over to England. The mariners feared the storm; but a
+bolder fisherman, upon promise of twenty-five hundred francs, undertook
+the hazardous voyage. Before sunset Rothschild landed at Dover; and
+engaging the swiftest horses, rode with the wind to London. What a
+superb special correspondent he would have made! The merchants and
+bankers were dejected; the funds were depressed; a dense fog hung over
+the city; English spirits had sunk to their lowest ebb. On the morning
+of the 20th, the cunning and grasping Nathan appeared at the Stock
+Exchange, an embodiment of gloom. He mentioned, confidentially, of
+course, to his familiar that Blucher, at the head of his vast army of
+veterans, had been defeated by Napoleon, at Ligny, on the 16th and 17th,
+and there could be no hope for Wellington, with his comparatively small
+and undisciplined force. This was half true, and like all half-truths,
+was particularly calculated to deceive. Rothschild was a leader among
+trading reynards. His doleful whisper spread as the plague--poisoning
+faith everywhere. The funds tumbled like an aerolite. Public and private
+opinion wilted before the simoon of calamitous report. It was 'Black
+Friday' anticipated in Lombard Street. The crafty Israelite bought,
+through his secret agents, all the consols, bills, and notes, for which
+he could raise money.
+
+Not before the afternoon of the 21st--nearly forty eight hours after the
+battle--did the news of Wellington's victory reach London through the
+regular channels. Rothschild was at the Exchange half an hour before the
+glad tidings were made public, and imparted them to a crowd of greedy
+listeners. The Bourse was buoyant. Everything went up more rapidly than
+it had gone down. England was happy--as well she might be--for she had
+stumbled into the greatest triumph in her history. When bankers and
+merchants shook hands with the Hebrew speculator, they noticed--though
+they did not understand--an unusual warmth of pressure. It was not
+rejoicing with the nation; it was the imaginary clutch of six millions
+more of gold. Thus it is seen that the great wealth of the Rothschild
+was not always used to the best advantage of mankind as a Christian
+would argue; but a promise given by a Rothschild was as good as his
+note.
+
+Their immense wealth has greatly aided, at different times, all and
+singular, the various European countries. A favorite investment with
+them has been loans to the different Governments throughout the world.
+
+During twelve years of their business experience they loaned to
+different European Monarchies over $400,000,000. When it is considered
+that this was but one division of their business, something of an idea
+of its magnitude can be imagined. An amusing story is told of Nathan
+which will be of interest to some of our readers, and enable them to see
+how fertile was his mind in emergencies.
+
+Anselm, the brother at Frankfort, drew on Nathan, of London, for a large
+amount, and the bill was presented to the Bank of England to be
+discounted. The bank officials refused, saying, "We do not discount
+bills drawn on private persons; we recognize only our own paper."
+"Private persons!" exclaimed Nathan Rothschild when the interview was
+reported to him, "I will show them what kind of private persons we are."
+Three weeks afterwards, Nathan Rothschild,--who had employed the
+interval in collecting all the five-pound notes he could buy on the
+continent, or in England--presented himself at the bank on the opening
+of the office. He drew from his pocket-book a five-pound note, and they
+counted him out in exchange five gold sovereigns, at the same time
+looking quite astonished that the Baron Rothschild should have
+personally troubled himself for such a trifle. The Baron examined the
+pieces one by one, and having put them in a little canvas bag, proceeded
+to draw out another five-pound note, then another, and another and so
+on. He never put the pieces of gold into the bag without scrupulously
+examining them, in some instances weighing in his balance, as, he said,
+"the law gave him the right to do." The first pocket-book being emptied
+and the first bag full of coins, he passed them to his clerk, and
+received a second, and thus continued to the closing of the bank. The
+Baron had employed seven hours to exchange twenty-one thousand pounds.
+But as he also had nine employes of his house engaged in the same
+manner, it resulted that the house of Rothschild had drawn over
+$1,000,000 from the bank. He had drawn gold exclusively, and so occupied
+the bank employes that no one else could do any business.
+
+The bankers the first day were very much amused at "This display of
+eccentricity." They, however, laughed less the next day when they beheld
+Rothschild on hand early, flanked by his nine clerks.
+
+They laughed no longer when they heard the irate banker say, "These
+gentlemen refused to pay my bills; I have sworn not to keep theirs. They
+can pay at their leisure; only I hereby notify them that I have enough
+to employ them two months!" Two months! Fifty-five million dollars in
+gold drawn from the Bank of England which was more gold than they had to
+pay! The bank was now thoroughly alarmed. Something must be done, and
+the next morning notice appeared in all the papers that henceforth the
+Bank of England would pay Rothschild's bills as well as its own.
+
+From anecdotes one can often learn much of the inner life and thoughts
+of people, and much can be seen of the real character of the subject of
+this sketch from the above story. This Napoleon of Finance died in
+1836.
+
+    _"The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one,
+    May hope to achieve it before life be done;
+    But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes,
+    Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows
+        A harvest of barren regrets."_
+
+[Illustration: From Obscurity To Great Honor.]
+
+
+
+
+JOHN ADAMS.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative was a great-grandson of Henry Adams, who
+emigrated from England about 1640, with a family of eight sons, being
+one of the earliest settlers in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts,
+where he had a grant of a small tract of forty acres of land. The father
+of John Adams, a deacon of the church, was a farmer by occupation, to
+which was added the business of shoemaking. He was a man of limited
+means, however, was enabled by hard pinching to give his son a fairly
+good education.
+
+The old French and Indian war was then at its height; and in a
+remarkable letter to a friend, which contains some curious
+prognostications as to the relative population and commerce of England
+and her colonies a hundred years hence, young Adams describes himself
+as having turned politician. He succeeded in gaining charge of the
+grammar school in Worcester, Massachusetts, but, instead of finding this
+duty agreeable, he found it 'a school of affliction,' and turned his
+attention to the study of law. Determined to become a first-class
+lawyer, he placed himself under the especial tuition of the only lawyer
+of whom Worcester, though the county seat, could boast.
+
+He had thought seriously of the clerical profession, but, according to
+his own expressions, "The frightful engines of ecclesiastical councils,
+of diabolical malice, and Calvinistic good nature," the operation of
+which he had witnessed in some church controversies in his native town,
+terrified him out of it. Adams was a very ambitious man; already he had
+longings for distinction. Could he have obtained a troop of horse, or a
+company of infantry, he would undoubtedly have entered the army. Nothing
+but want of patronage prevented his becoming a soldier.
+
+After a two years' course of study, he returned to his native town,
+Braintree, and in 1758 commenced practice in Suffolk county, of which
+Boston was the shire town. By hard study and hard work he gradually
+introduced himself into practice, and in 1764 married a young lady far
+above his station in life. In our perusal and study of eminent men who
+have risen by their own exertions to a higher sphere in life, we are not
+at all surprised to find that they have invariably married noble
+women--ladies, who have always maintained a restraining influence when
+the desire for honor and public attention would appeal to their baser
+self, and whose guiding influence tended to strengthen their efforts
+when their energies seemed to slacken. So it was with John Adams; his
+wife was a lady of rare abilities and good sense, admirably adapted to
+make him happy. Boys, be careful whom you marry!
+
+Shortly after his entrance into the practice of the law, the attempt at
+parliamentary taxation diverted his attention from his profession to
+politics. He was a most active oppositionist. He promoted the call of
+the town of Braintree to instruct the representatives of the town on the
+subject of the Stamp Act. The resolutions which he presented at this
+meeting were not only voted by the town, but attracted great attention
+throughout the province, and were adopted verbatim by more than forty
+different towns. Thus it is seen that Adams had not studied hard all
+these years for nothing; the price of success is honest, faithful WORK.
+
+Of course his towns-people would reward him. Men who have ability,
+unless some bolt is loose, will invariably gain success. Soon after this
+Mr. Adams was appointed on the part of the town of Boston to be one of
+their counsel, along with the King's attorney, and head of the bar, and
+James Otis, the celebrated orator, to support a memorial addressed to
+the Governor and Council, that the courts might proceed with business
+though no stamps were to be had. Although junior counsel, it fell to
+Adams to open the case for the petitioners, as his seniors could not
+join; the one owing to his position as King's attorney, the other could
+not as he had recently published a book entitled the 'Rights of the
+Colonies.' This was a grand opportunity for Adams and he made the most
+of it,--boldly taking the ground that the stamp act was null and void,
+Parliament having no right to tax the colonies. Nothing, however, came
+of this application; the Governor and Council declining to act, on the
+ground that it belonged to the Judges, not to them, to decide.
+
+But Adams had put himself on record, and this record established his
+reputation. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the
+flood, leads on to fortune." The time came to Adams to distinguish
+himself, and he was not found wanting. It was at this same period that
+Mr. Adams first appeared as a writer in the _Boston Gazette_. He never
+allowed his opportunities to pass unheeded; in fact, he made his
+opportunities. Among other papers which appeared at this time from his
+pen, was a series of four articles which were republished in a London
+newspaper, and subsequently published in a collection of documents
+relating to the taxation controversy, printed in a large volume. At
+first the papers had no title in the printed volume, being known as
+"Essays on the Canon and Feudal Law." Well they might have been called
+so, but, it seems to us, that it would have been much more consistent to
+have entitled them "Essays on the Government and Rights of New England."
+His style was formed from the first, as is evident from the articles.
+
+His law business continued to increase and in 1768 he removed to Boston
+where he would have a larger field in which to develop his intellect. He
+served on various committees during the next two years, and in 1770 was
+chosen a Representative to the general Court, notwithstanding he had
+just before accepted a retainer to defend Captain Preston and his
+soldiers for their share in what had passed into history as the Boston
+massacre. His ability as a practitioner at the bar can be judged from
+the successful result of their case, as managed by him, against great
+public prejudice. Adams' duties as a Representative interfered much
+with his business as a lawyer, on which he depended for support, and
+which had grown to be larger than that of any other practitioner at the
+provincial bar.
+
+He entered upon the duties of his new office with his customary energy,
+becoming the chief legal advisor of the Patriot party, and now for the
+first time an active and conspicuous leader of the same. Mr. Adams' keen
+foresight enabled him to wisely judge that it would be a good policy not
+to push too vigorously to the front as a politician until his private
+wealth would justify his necessarily great loss of time. Hence, he moved
+back to Braintree, resigning his seat in the Legislature, but still
+retaining his law office in Boston. A comparative lull in politics made
+his presence in that body less needed, but still he was consulted as to
+all the more difficult points in the controversy with Governor
+Hutchinson, and freely gave his aid. Indeed, it was not long before he
+moved back to Boston, but thoroughly resolved to avoid politics, and to
+devote his undivided attention to his professional work. Soon after his
+return to Boston he wrote a series of letters on the then mooted
+question of the independence of the judiciary, and the payment by the
+Crown of the salaries of the Judges. Soon after this he was elected by
+the general Court to the Provincial Council, but was rejected by
+Governor Hutchinson.
+
+The destruction of tea, and the Boston port bill that followed, soon
+brought matters to a crisis. These events produced the congress of 1774.
+Mr. Adams was one of the five delegates sent from Massachusetts, and his
+visit to Philadelphia at this time was the first occasion of his going
+beyond the limits of New England. In the discussions in the committee on
+the declaration of colonial rights, he took an active part in resting
+those rights on the law of nature as well as the law of England; and
+when the substance of those resolutions had been agreed upon he was
+chosen to put the matter in shape. In his diary the most trustworthy and
+graphic descriptions are to be found of the members and doings of that
+famous but little known body. The session concluded, Mr. Adams left the
+city of brotherly love with little expectation, at that time, of ever
+again seeing it.
+
+Immediately after his return home he was chosen by his native town a
+member of the provincial congress then in session. That congress had
+already appointed a committee of safety vested with general executive
+powers; had seized the provincial revenues; had appointed general
+officers, collected military stores, and had taken steps toward
+organizing a volunteer army of minute-men. The governor--Gage--had
+issued a proclamation denouncing these proceedings, but no attention was
+ever paid to it. Gage had no support except in the five or six regiments
+that guarded Boston, a few trembling officials and a small following
+from the people.
+
+Shortly after the adjournment of this congress Adams occupied himself in
+answering through the press a champion of the mother-country's claim.
+This party, under the head of 'Massachusettensis,' had commenced a
+series of able and effective arguments in behalf of the mother-country,
+which were being published in a Boston journal. To these Adams replied
+over the signature of 'Novanglus.' These were papers displaying unusual
+ability on either part. They were afterwards published as "A History of
+the Dispute with America," and later yet in pamphlet form. Their value
+consists in the strong, contemporaneous views which they present of the
+origin of the struggle between the colonies and the mother-country, and
+the policy of Bernard and Hutchinson as governors of Massachusetts,
+which did so much to bring on the struggle. Like all the writings of Mr.
+Adams, they are distinguished by a bold tone of investigation, a resort
+to first principles, and a pointed style; but, like all his other
+writings, being produced by piecemeal, and on the spur of the moment,
+they lack order, system, polish and precision.
+
+In the midst of the excitement produced by the battle of
+Lexington--which at once brought up the spirit of even the most
+hesitating patriots to the fighting pitch, and which was speedily
+followed by the seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by other
+similar seizures in other colonies throughout the fast uniting
+provinces--John Adams once more set out for Philadelphia to attend the
+Continental Congress of 1775, of which he had been appointed a member.
+This congress, though made up for the most part of the same men who
+constituted that of the previous year, was a wholly different body from
+its predecessor. The congress of 1774 was merely a suggestive
+convention. The present congress speedily assumed, or rather had thrust
+upon it by unanimous consent of the patriots, the exercise of a
+comprehensive authority in which supreme executive, legislative and, in
+some cases, judicial functions, were united. In this busy scene the
+active and untiring Adams, one of whose distinguishing characteristics
+was his CAPACITY AND FONDNESS FOR BUSINESS, found ample employment;
+while his bold and pugnacious spirit was not a little excited by the
+hazards and dignity of the great game in which he had come to hold so
+deep a stake. Unlike many of that body, Adams had made up his mind that
+any attempt tending toward reconciliation was hopeless.
+
+Under the lead of Dickinson, though against the strenuous opposition of
+Adams and others, that body voted still another and final petition to
+the king. However, Adams succeeded in joining with this vote one to put
+the colonies into a state of defence, though with protestations that the
+war on their part was for defence only, and without revolutionary
+intent. Not long after this congress was brought up to the point of
+assuming the responsibility and control of the military operations which
+New England had commenced by laying siege to Boston, in which town
+General Gage and his troops were caged, and before which lay an
+impromptu New England army of 15,000 men which the battle of Lexington
+had immediately brought together. Urged by the New England delegates,
+congress agreed to assume the expense of maintaining this army. John
+Adams was the first to propose the name of George Washington for the
+chief commander; his desire being to secure the good-will and
+co-operation of the southern colonies. The southern colonies also urged
+General Lee for the second place, but Adams insisted on giving that to
+Artemas Ward, he, however, supported Lee for the third place. Having
+assumed the direction of this army, provided for its reorganization, and
+issued letters of credit for its maintenance, this congress took a
+recess. Adams returned home, but was not allowed any rest.
+
+People who really have ability are never allowed to remain idle; the
+fault is not in others, but in us. No sooner had Mr. Adams arrived home
+than his Massachusetts friends sent him as a member to the State
+council. This council had, under a clause of the provincial charter
+intended to meet such cases, assumed the executive authority, declaring
+the gubernatorial chair vacant. On returning to Philadelphia in
+September, Adams found himself in hot water. Two confidential letters of
+his, written during the previous session, had been intercepted by the
+British in crossing the Hudson river, and had been published in the
+Boston papers. Not only did those letters evince a zeal for decisive
+measure which made the writer an object of suspicion to the more
+conservative of his fellow-members of Congress, but his reference in one
+of them to 'the whims, the caprice, the vanity, the superstition, and
+the irritability of some of his colleagues,' and particularly to John
+Dickinson as 'a certain great fortune but trifling genius,' made him
+personal enemies by whom he was never forgiven.
+
+But, though for a moment an object of distrust to some of his
+colleagues, this did not save him from hard work. About this time he
+wrote: "I am engaged in constant work; from seven to ten in the morning
+in committee, from ten to four in Congress, and from six to ten again in
+committee. Our assembly is scarcely numerous enough for the business;
+everybody is engaged all day in Congress, and all the morning and
+evening in committee." The committee, which chiefly engaged Mr. Adams'
+attention at this time, was one on the fitting out of cruisers, and on
+naval affairs generally. This committee laid the foundation of our first
+navy; the basis of our naval code being drawn up by Adams.
+
+Governor Wentworth having fled from New Hampshire, the people of that
+province applied to congress for advice as to how to manage their
+administrative affairs. Adams, always ahead of his brother legislators,
+seized the opportunity to urge the necessity of advising all of the
+provinces to proceed at once to institute governments of their own. The
+news, soon arriving of the haughty treatment of their petition by the
+king, added strength to his pleading, and the matter being referred to a
+committee on which Adams was placed, a report in partial conformity to
+his ideas was made and adopted. Adams was a worker; this was a
+recognized fact; and his State having offered him the post of Chief
+Justice of Massachusetts, Adams, toward the end of the year, returned
+home to consult on that and other important matters. He took his seat in
+the council, of which he had been chosen a member, immediately on his
+arrival. He was consulted by Washington, both as to sending General Lee
+to New York, and as to the expedition against Canada. It was finally
+arranged that while Adams should accept the appointment of Chief
+Justice, he should still remain a delegate in Congress, and till more
+quiet times should be excused as acting in the capacity of judge. Under
+this arrangement he returned to Philadelphia. However, he never took his
+seat as Chief Justice, resigning that office the next year.
+
+Advice similar to that to New Hampshire on the subject of assuming
+government, as it was called, had shortly afterwards been given upon
+similar applications to Congress, to South Carolina and Virginia. Adams
+was much consulted by members of the southern delegation concerning the
+form of government which they should adopt. He was recognized as being
+better versed in the subject of Republicanism, both by study and
+experience, coming as he did from the most thoroughly Republican section
+of the country. Of several letters which he wrote on this subject, one
+more elaborate than the others, was printed under the title of "Thoughts
+on Government applicable to the present state of the American
+Colonies."
+
+This paper being largely circulated in Virginia as a preliminary to the
+adoption of a form of government by that State, was to a certain extent
+a rejoinder to that part of Paine's famous pamphlet of 'Common Sense,'
+which advocated government by a single assembly. It was also designed to
+controvert the aristocratic views, somewhat prevalent in Virginia, of
+those who advocated a governor and senate to be elected for life. Adams'
+system of policy embraced the adoption of self-government by each of the
+colonies, a confederation, and treaties with foreign powers. The
+adoption of this system he continued to urge with zeal and increasing
+success, until finally, on May 13th, he carried a resolution through
+Congress by which so much of his plan was endorsed by that body as
+related to the assumption of self-government by the several colonies. A
+resolution that the United States 'Are and ought to be free and
+independent,' introduced by R. H. Lee under instructions from the
+Virginia convention, was very warmly supported by Adams and carried,
+seven States to six. Three committees, one on a Declaration of
+Independence; another on Confederation; and third on Foreign Relations,
+were shortly formed. Of the first and third of these committees, Adams
+was a member.
+
+The Declaration of Independence was drawn up by Jefferson, but on Adams
+devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days'
+debate, during which it underwent some curtailment. The plan of a treaty
+reported by the third committee, and adopted by Congress, was drawn up
+by Adams. His views did not extend beyond merely commercial treaties. He
+was opposed to seeking any political connection with France, or any
+military or even naval assistance from her or any foreign power. On
+June 12th Congress had established a board of war and ordinance, to
+consist of five members, with a secretary, clerk, etc.,--in fact, a war
+department. As originally constituted, the members of this board were
+taken from Congress, and the subject of this narrative was chosen its
+president or chairman. This position was one of great labor and
+responsibility, as the chief burden of the duties fell upon him, he
+continued to hold for the next eighteen months, with the exception of a
+necessary absence at the close of the year 1776, to recruit his health.
+
+The business of preparing articles of war for the government of the army
+was deputed to a committee composed of Adams and Jefferson; but
+Jefferson, according to Adams' account, threw upon him the whole burden,
+not only of drawing up the articles, which he borrowed mostly from Great
+Britain, but of arguing them through Congress, which was no small task.
+Adams strongly opposed Lord Howe's invitation to a conference, sent to
+Congress, through his prisoner, General Sullivan, after the battle of
+Long Island. He was, however, appointed one of the committee for that
+purpose, together with Franklin and Rutledge, and his autobiography
+contains some curious anecdotes concerning the visit. Besides his
+presidency of the board of war, Adams was also chairman of the committee
+upon which devolved the decision of appeals in admiralty cases from the
+State courts. Having thus occupied for nearly two years a position which
+gained for him the reputation, among at least a few of his colleagues,
+of having "the clearest head and firmest heart of any man in Congress."
+
+He was appointed near the end of 1777 a commissioner to France, to
+supercede Deane, whom Congress had concluded to recall. He embarked at
+Boston, in the Frigate Boston, on February 12th, 1878, reaching Bordeaux
+after a stormy passage, and arrived on April 8th at Paris. As the
+alliance with France had been completed before his arrival, his stay was
+short. He found that a great antagonism of views and feelings had arisen
+between the three commissioners,--Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee, of
+whom the embassy to France had been originally composed. As the recall
+of Deane had not reconciled the other two, Adams devised, as the only
+means of giving unity and energy to the mission, that it should be
+intrusted to a single person. This suggestion was adopted, and in
+consequence of it, Franklin having been appointed sole embassador in
+France, Adams returned home.
+
+He arrived at Boston just as a convention was about to meet to form a
+State constitution for Massachusetts, and, being at once chosen a member
+from Braintree, he was enabled to take a leading part in the formation
+of that important document. Before this convention had finished its
+business he was appointed by congress as minister to treat with Great
+Britain for peace, and commerce, under which appointment he again sailed
+for France in 1779, in the same French frigate in which he previously
+returned to the United States.
+
+Contrary to his own inclinations, Mr. Adams was prevented by Vergennes,
+the French minister of foreign affairs, from making any communication of
+his powers to Great Britain. In fact, Vergennes and Adams already were,
+and continued to be, objects of distrust to one another, in both cases
+quite unfounded. Vergennes feared least advances toward treating with
+England might lead to some sort of reconciliation with her, short of the
+independence of the colonies, which was contrary to his ideas of the
+interest of France. The communications made to Vergennes by Gerard, the
+first French minister in America, and Adams' connection with the Lee's
+whom Vergennes suspected, though unjustly, of a secret communication
+through Arthur Lee with the British ministry, led him to regard Mr.
+Adams as the representative of a party in congress desirous of such a
+reconciliation; nor did he rest until he had obtained from congress,
+some two years after, the recall of Mr. Adams' powers to negotiate a
+treaty of commerce; and, in conjunction with him, of several colleagues
+to treat for peace, of whom Franklin, who enjoyed his entire confidence,
+was one.
+
+Adams, on the other hand, not entirely free from hereditary English
+prejudices against the French, vehemently suspected Vergennes of a
+design to sacrifice the interests of America, especially the fisheries
+and the western lands, to the advancement of the Spanish house of
+Bourbon. While lingering at Paris, with nothing to do except to nurse
+these suspicions, Adams busied himself in furnishing communications on
+American affairs to a semi-official gazette conducted by M. Genet, chief
+secretary in the foreign bureau, and father of the French minister in
+America, who subsequently rendered that name so notorious.
+
+Finding his position at Paris uncomfortable, he proceeded to Holland in
+July, 1780, his object being to form an opinion as to the probability of
+borrowing money there. Just about the same time he was appointed by
+Congress to negotiate a French loan, the party who had been selected for
+that purpose previously, Laurens, not yet being ready to leave home. By
+way of enlightening the Dutch in regard to American affairs, Adams
+published in the _Gazette_, of Leyden, a number of papers and extracts,
+including several which, through a friend, he first had published in a
+London journal to give to them an English character. To these he added
+direct publication of his own, afterward many times reprinted, and now
+to be found in volume VII of his collected works under the title of
+'Twenty-six Letters upon Interesting Subjects Respecting the Revolution
+in America.' He had commenced negotiations for a loan when his labors in
+that direction were interrupted by the sudden breach between England and
+Holland, consequent upon the capture of Laurens and the discovery of the
+secret negotiation carried on between him and Van Berkel, of Amsterdam,
+which, though it had been entered into without authority of the Dutch
+States, was made an excuse by the British for a speedy declaration of
+war.
+
+Adams was soon after appointed minister to Holland in place of the
+captured Laurens, and at the same time was commissioned to sign the
+articles of armed neutrality which had just made their appearance on the
+political scene. Adams presented memorials to the Dutch government
+setting forth his powers in both respects; but before he could procure
+any recognition he was recalled in July, 1781, to Paris, by a notice
+that he was needed there, in his character of minister, to treat for
+peace.
+
+Adams' suspicion of Vergennes had, meanwhile, been not a little
+increased by the neglect of France to second his applications to
+Holland. With Vergennes the great object was peace. The finances of
+France were sadly embarrassed, and Vergennes wished no further
+complications to the war. Provided the English colonies should be
+definitely separated from the mother-country, which he considered
+indispensable to the interest of France, he was not disposed to insist
+on anything else. It was for this reason that he had urged upon, and
+just about this time had succeeded in obtaining from Congress, through
+the French Minister at Philadelphia--though the information had not yet
+reached Paris--not only the withdrawal of Adams' commission to treat of
+commerce, and the enlargement to five of the number of commissioners to
+treat for peace, but an absolute discretion intrusted to the negotiators
+as to everything except independence and the additional direction that
+in the last resort they were to be governed by the advice of Vergennes.
+The cause for sending for Adams, who still occupied, so far as was known
+at Paris, the position of sole negotiator for peace; the offer of
+mediation on the part of Russia and the German empire; but this offer
+led to nothing.
+
+Great Britain haughtily rejected it on the ground that she would not
+allow France to stand between her and her colonies. Returning to Holland
+Mr. Adams, though still unsupported by Vergennes, pushed with great
+energy his reception as embassador by the States general, which at
+length, April 19th, 1782, he succeeded in accomplishing. Following up
+this success with his CUSTOMARY PERSEVERENCE, he succeeded before the
+end of the year in negotiating a Dutch loan of nearly two millions of
+dollars, the first of a series which proved a chief financial resource
+of the continental congress. He also succeeded in negotiating a treaty
+of amity and commerce. His success in these negotiations, considering
+the obstacles with which he had to contend, and the want of support from
+Vergennes, he was accustomed to regard as the greatest triumph of his
+life.
+
+Before this business was completed, Mr. Adams received urgent calls to
+come to Paris where Jay and Franklin, two of the new commissioners, were
+already treating for peace, and where he arrived October 26th. Though
+Mr. Jay had been put into the diplomatic service by the procurement of
+the party in congress in the French interest, his diplomatic experience
+in Spain had led him also to entertain doubts as to the sincere
+good-will of Vergennes. A confidential dispatch from the French
+Secretary of Legation in America, intercepted by the British, and which
+Oswald, the British negotiator at Paris communicated to Franklin and
+Jay, with a view of making bad feeling between them and the French
+minister, had, along with other circumstances, induced Franklin and Jay
+to disregard their instructions, and to proceed to treat with Oswald
+without communicating that fact to Vergennes, or taking his advice as to
+terms of the treaty, a procedure in which Adams, after his arrival,
+fully concurred.
+
+It was chiefly through his energy and persistence that the participation
+of America in the fisheries was secured by the treaty, not as a favor or
+a privilege, but as a right--a matter of much more importance then than
+now, the fisheries then being a much more important branch than now of
+American maritime industry.
+
+Immediately upon the signature of the preliminary articles of peace,
+Adams asked leave to resign all his commissions and to return home, to
+which Congress responded by appointing him a commissioner jointly with
+Franklin and Jay, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
+His first visit to England was, however, in a private character, to
+recruit his health, after a violent fever with which he had been
+attacked, shortly after signing the treaty of peace. He spent some
+time, first at London, and afterward at Bath; but while still an invalid
+he was recalled, in the dead of winter, to Holland, which he reached
+after a stormy and most uncomfortable voyage; there to negotiate a new
+loan as the means of meeting government bills drawn in America, which
+were in danger of protest from want of funds--a BUSINESS IN WHICH HE
+SUCCEEDED.
+
+Adams was included along with Franklin and Jefferson, the latter sent
+out to take the place of Jay, in a new commission to form treaties with
+foreign powers; and his being joined by Mrs. Adams and their only
+daughter and youngest son, his other two sons being already with him,
+reconciled him to the idea of remaining abroad.
+
+With his family about him he fixed his residence at Auteuil, near Paris,
+where he had an interval of comparative leisure.
+
+The chief business of the new commission was the negotiation of a treaty
+with Prussia, advances toward which had first been made to Adams while
+at the Hague negotiating the Dutch loan, but before that treaty was
+ready for signature Adams was appointed by congress as Minister to the
+court of St. James, where he arrived in May, 1785. The English
+government, the feelings of which were well represented by those of the
+king, had neither the magnanimity nor policy to treat the new American
+States with respect, generosity, or justice. Adams was received with
+civility, but no commercial arrangements could be made. His chief
+employment was in complaining of the non-execution of the treaty of
+peace, especially in relation to the non-surrender of the western posts,
+and in attempting to meet similar complaints urged, not without strong
+grounds, by the British; more particularly with regard to the obstacles
+thrown in the way of the collection of British debts, which were made an
+excuse for the detention of the western posts. Made sensible in many
+ways of the aggravation of British feelings toward the new republic,
+whose condition immediately after the peace was somewhat embarrassing,
+and not so flattering as it might have been to the advocates and
+promoters of the revolution, the situation of Adams was rather
+mortifying than agreeable.
+
+Meanwhile he was obliged to pay another visit to Holland to negotiate a
+new loan as a means of paying the interest on the Dutch debt. He was
+also engaged in a correspondence with his fellow-commissioner, Mr.
+Jefferson, then at Paris, on the subject of the Barbary powers and the
+return of the Americans held captive by them. But his most engrossing
+occupation at this time was the preparation of his "Defence of the
+American Constitution," the object of which was the justification of
+balanced governments and a division of powers, especially the
+legislative, against the idea of a single assembly and a pure democracy,
+which had begun to find many advocates, especially on the continent. The
+greater part, however, of this book--the most voluminous of his
+publications--consists of summaries of the histories of the Italian
+republics, which, by the way, was not essential to the argument.
+
+Although it afterward subjugated the author to charges of monarchical
+and anti-republican tendencies, this book was not without its influence
+on the adoption of the federal constitution; during the discussion of
+which the first volume appeared. Great Britain not having reciprocated
+the compliment by sending a minister to the United States, and there
+being no prospects of his accomplishing any of the objects of his
+mission, Adams had requested a recall, which was sent to him in
+February, 1788, accompanied by a resolution of Congress conveying the
+thanks of that body for 'The patriotism, perseverance, integrity and
+diligence' which he had displayed in his ten years' experience abroad.
+
+Immediately upon his arrival at home, Mr. Adams was RE-APPOINTED by
+Massachusetts as a delegate to the continental congress; but he never
+resumed his seat in that body, which was now just about to expire. When
+the new government came to be organized under the newly adopted
+constitution, as all were agreed to make Washington president, attention
+was turned to New England for a vice-president. This office was then
+held with much more regard than now. In fact, as the constitution
+originally stood, the candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency
+were voted for without any distinct specification as to rank, the second
+office falling to the person having the second highest vote. Out of
+sixty-nine electors, John Adams received the votes of thirty-four; and
+this being the second highest number, he was declared vice-president.
+The thirty-five votes were scattered upon some ten different other
+candidates.
+
+By virtue of his new office he became president of the senate, a
+position not very agreeable to his active and leading temperament, being
+better fitted for debate; but one in which the close division in the
+senate, often resulting in a tie between the supporters and opponents of
+the new system, many times gave him a controlling voice. In the first
+congress, he gave no fewer than twenty deciding votes, always upon
+important organic laws, and always in support of Washington's policy.
+
+Down to this time Adams had sympathized with Jefferson politically,
+with whom he had served both in congress and abroad. On the subject of
+the French revolution, which now burst upon the world, a difference of
+opinion arose between them. From the very beginning Adams, then almost
+alone, had argued that no good could come from that movement,--as the
+revolution went on and began to break out in excesses, others began to
+be of this opinion.
+
+Adams then gave public expression to some of his ideas by the
+publication of his 'Discourses on Davila,' furnished to a Philadelphia
+paper, and afterward collected and published in one volume,--taking the
+history of nations, particularly Davila's account of the French civil
+wars, and the general aspects of human society as his texts.
+
+Adams pointed out as the great springs of human activity,--at least in
+all that related to politics,--the love of superiority, the desire of
+distinction, admiration and applause; nor, in his opinion could any
+government be permanent or secure which did not provide as well for the
+reasonable gratification, as for the due restraint of this powerful
+passion. Repudiating that democracy, pure and simple, then coming into
+vogue, and of which Jefferson was the advocate; he insisted that a
+certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was necessary to that
+balance of interests and sentiments without which, as he believed, free
+governments should not exist. This work, which reproduced more at length
+and in a more obnoxious form the fundamental ideas of his 'Defence of
+the American Constitution,' made Adams a great bugbear to the
+ultra-democratic supporters of the principles and policy of the French
+revolutionists; and at the second presidential election in 1792, they
+set up as a candidate against him George Clinton, of New York, but Mr.
+Adams was re-elected by a decided vote.
+
+The wise policy of neutrality adopted by Washington received the hearty
+concurrence of Adams. While Jefferson left the cabinet to become in
+nominal retirement the leader of the opposition. Adams continued, as
+vice-president, to give Washington's administration the benefit of his
+deciding vote. It was only by this means that a neutrality act was
+carried through the senate, and that the progress was stopped of certain
+resolutions which had previously passed in the House of Representatives,
+embodying restrictive measures against Great Britain, intended, or at
+least calculated, to counterwork the mission to England on which Mr. Jay
+had already been sent.
+
+Washington being firmly resolved to retire at the close of his second
+presidential term, the question of the successorship now presented
+itself. Jefferson was the leader of the opposition, who called
+themselves republicans, the name democrat being yet in bad odor, and
+though often imposed as a term of reproach, not yet assumed except by a
+few of the more ultra-partisans. Hamilton was the leader of the federal
+party, as the supporters of Washington's administration had styled
+themselves.
+
+Though Hamilton's zeal and energy had made him, even while like
+Jefferson in nominal retirement, the leader of his party, he could
+hardly be said to hold the place with the Federalists that Jefferson did
+with the Republicans. Either Adams or Jay, from their age and long
+diplomatic service, were more justly entitled to public honor and were
+more conspicuously before the people. Hamilton, though he had always
+spoken of Adams as a man of unconquerable intrepidity and incorruptible
+integrity, and as such had already twice supported him for
+vice-president, would yet have much preferred Jay.
+
+The position of Adams was, however, such as to render his election far
+more probable than that of Jay, and to determine on his selection as
+candidate of the Federalist party. Jay, by his negotiation of the famous
+treaty which bears his name, had for the moment called down upon himself
+the hostility of its numerous opponents. Adams stood, moreover, as
+vice-president, in the line of promotion, and was more sure of the New
+England vote, which was absolutely indispensible to the success of
+either.
+
+As one of the candidates was taken from the North, it seemed best to
+select the other from the South, and the selection of Thomas Pickney, of
+South Carolina, was the result of this decision. Indeed, there were
+some, Hamilton among the number, who secretly wished that Pickney might
+receive the larger vote of the two, and so be chosen president over
+Adams' head. This result was almost sure to happen,--from the likelihood
+of Pickney's receiving more votes at the South than Adams, as he really
+did,--could the northern federal electors be persuaded to vote equally
+for Adams and Pickney, which Hamilton labored to effect.
+
+The fear, however, that Pickney might be chosen over Adams led to the
+withholding from Pickney of eighteen New England votes, so that the
+result was not only to make Jefferson Vice-President, as having more
+votes than Pickney, but also to excite prejudices and suspicions in the
+mind of Adams against Hamilton, which, being reciprocated by him, led to
+the disruption and final overthrow of the Federal party.
+
+It had almost happened, such was the equal division of parties, that
+Jefferson had this time been elected President. The election of Adams,
+who had 71 votes to Jefferson's 68, only being secured by two stray
+votes cast for him, one in Virginia, and the other in North Carolina,
+tributes of revolutionary reminiscences and personal esteem. Chosen by
+this slender majority, Mr. Adams succeeded to office at a very dangerous
+and exciting crisis in affairs. The progress of the French revolution
+had superinduced upon previous party divisions a new and vehement
+crisis.
+
+Jefferson's supporters, who sympathized very warmly with the French
+Republic, gave their moral, if not their positive support, to the claim
+set up by its rulers, but which Washington had refused to admit, that
+under the provisions of the French treaty of alliance, the United States
+were bound to support France against Great Britain, at least in defense
+of her West India possessions. The other party, the supporters of Adams,
+upheld the policy of neutrality adopted by Washington.
+
+At the same time that Washington had sent Jay to England, to arrange, if
+possible, the pending difficulties with that country; he had recalled
+Morris who, as Minister to France, had made himself obnoxious to the now
+predominent party there, and had appointed Monroe in his place. This
+gentleman, instead of conforming to his instructions, and attempting to
+reconcile France to Jay's mission, had given them assurance on the
+subject quite in contradiction of the treaty as made, both the formation
+and ratification of which he had done his best to defeat. He, in
+consequence, had been recalled by Washington shortly before the close of
+his term of office, and C. C. Pickney, a brother of Thomas Pickney, had
+been appointed in his place. The French authorities, offended at this
+change, and the ratification of Jay's treaty in spite of their
+remonstrances, while they dismissed Monroe with great ovations, refused
+to receive the new embassador sent in his place, at the same time
+issuing decrees and orders highly injurious to American interests.
+
+Almost the first act of Mr. Adams, as President, was to call an extra
+session of Congress. Not only was a war with France greatly to be
+dreaded and deprecated on account of her great military and naval power,
+but still more on account of the very formidable party which, among the
+ultra-Republicans, she could muster within the States themselves. Under
+these circumstances, the measure resolved upon by Adams and his cabinet
+was the appointment of a new and more solemn commission to France,
+composed of Pickney and two colleagues, for which purpose the President
+appointed John Marshall of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of
+Massachusetts.
+
+Instead of receiving and openly treating with those commissioners,
+Talleyrand, lately an exile in America, but now Secretary of Foreign
+Affairs to the French Government, entered into intrigue with them,
+through several unaccredited and unofficial agents, of which the object
+was to induce them to promise a round bribe to the directors and a large
+sum of money to fill the exhausted French treasury, by way of purchasing
+forbearance. As Pickney and Marshall appeared less pliable than Gerry,
+Talleyrand finally obliged them to leave, after which he attempted,
+though still without success, to extract money, or at least the promise
+of it, from Gerry.
+
+The publication of the dispatches in which these discreditible intrigues
+were disclosed, an event on which Talleyrand had not calculated,
+produced a great excitement in both America and Europe. Talleyrand
+attempted to escape by disavowing his agents, and pretending that the
+American ministers had been imposed upon by adventurers. Gerry left
+France, and the violation of American commercial and maritime rights was
+pushed to new extremes. In America the effect of all of this was to
+greatly strengthen the Federal party for the time being.
+
+The grand jury of the federal circuit court for Pennsylvania set the
+example of an address to the president, applauding his manly stand for
+the rights and dignity of the nation. Philadelphia, which under the lead
+of Mifflin and McKean, had gone over to the Republicans, was once more
+suddenly converted as during Washington's first term to the support of
+the federal government. That city was then the seat of the national
+newspaper press. All the newspapers, hitherto neutral, published there,
+as well as several others which had leaned decidedly toward the
+opposition, now came out in behalf of Adams.
+
+Besides an address from five thousand citizens, the young men got up an
+address of their own. This example was speedily imitated all over the
+country, and the spirited replies of the president, who was now in his
+element, served in their turn to blow up and keep ablaze the patriotic
+enthusiasm of his countrymen. These addresses, circulated everywhere in
+the newspapers, were collected at the time in a volume, and they
+appeared in Adams' works, of which they form a characteristic portion. A
+navy was set on foot, the old continental navy having become extinct. An
+army was voted and partly levied, of which Washington accepted the chief
+command, and merchant ships were authorized to protect themselves.
+
+The treaty with France was declared at an end, and a quasi war with
+France ensued. It was not, however, the policy of France to drive the
+United States into the arms of Great Britain. Even before Gerry's
+departure, Talleyrand had made advances tending toward reconciliation,
+which were afterward renewed by communications opened with Van Murray,
+the American minister to Holland. The effect of the French outrages, and
+the progress of the French revolution had been to create in a part of
+the federal party, at least, a desire for an absolute breach with
+France--a desire felt by Hamilton, and by at least three out of the four
+cabinet officers whom Adams had chosen and kept in office.
+
+In his message to congress, announcing the expulsion of Pickney and
+Marshall, Adams had declared that he would never send another minister
+to France without assurance that he would be received. This was on the
+21st of July, 1798. Therefore, when on the 18th of February following,
+without consulting his cabinet or giving them any intimation of his
+intentions, he sent into the senate the nomination of Van Murray as
+minister to France, the act took the country by surprise, and thus
+hastened the defeat of the federal party, his actions being so contrary
+to his avowed intentions. Some previous acts of Adams, such as the
+appointment of Gerry, which his cabinet officers had striven to prevent,
+and his disinclination to make Hamilton second in command, until
+vehemently urged into it by Washington, had strengthened the distrust
+entertained of Adams by Hamilton.
+
+Adams, in his attempt to reopen diplomatic intercourse with France, was
+accused of seeking to reconcile his political opponents of the
+Republican party, and thus secure by unworthy and impolitic concessions,
+his own re-election as president. The opposition to Van Murray's
+nomination prevailed so far that he received two colleagues, Ellsworth
+of Connecticut and Davies of North Carolina; but the president would not
+authorize the departure of Ellsworth or Davies until he had received
+explicit assurances from Talleyrand that they would be duly received as
+ministers. On arriving in France they found the Directory superseded by
+Napoleon Bonaparte who was first counsel, with whom they managed to
+arrange the difficulty.
+
+But, however beneficial to the country, this mission proved very
+disastrous to Adams personally, and to the political party to which he
+belonged. He justified its appointment on the ground of assurances
+conveyed to him through a variety of channels that France desired peace,
+and he excused himself for his not having consulted his cabinet by the
+fact that he knew their mind without asking it--to be decidedly hostile,
+that is, to any such attempt as he had decided to make.
+
+The masses of the federalists, fully confident of Adams' patriotism,
+were well enough disposed to acquiesce in his judgment; but many of the
+leaders were implacable. The quarrel was further aggravated by Adams'
+dismissal of his cabinet officers and the construction of a new cabinet.
+
+The pardon of Fries, who had been convicted of treason for armed
+resistance to the levy of certain direct taxes in Pennsylvania, was
+regarded by many at that time as a piece of misplaced lenity on the part
+of Adams, dictated, it was said, by a mean desire of popularity in a
+case where the severest example was needed. But Adams can hardly suffer
+with posterity from his unwillingness to be the first president to sign
+a death warrant for treason, especially as there was room for grave
+doubts whether the doings of this person amounted to treason as defined
+by the constitution of the United States.
+
+In this divided condition of the Federal party the presidential election
+came on. Adams was still too popular with the mass of the party to think
+of dropping him altogether, and the malcontents reduced to the old
+expedient of attempting, by secret understanding and arrangements, to
+reduce his vote in the electoral college below that of C. C. Pickney,
+the other candidate on the federal ticket.
+
+The Republicans, on the other hand, under the prospect of an arrangement
+with France, rapidly recovered from the blow inflicted upon them by the
+violence and mercenary rapacity lately charged upon their French
+friends, but which they now insisted, was a charge without foundation.
+Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction at the heavy taxes necessarily
+imposed to meet the expenses of warlike preparations, and especially of
+the unpopularity of the alien and sedition laws--two acts of congress to
+which the prospect of war had led--they pushed the canvass with great
+energy; while in Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr they had two leaders
+unsurpassed for skill in party tactics, and in Burr at least, one little
+scrupulous as to the means to be used.
+
+Not only was the whole blame of the alien and sedition acts, to which he
+had merely assented without even recommending, laid on Adams' shoulders,
+but he was the object of vehement and most bitter attacks for having
+surrendered, under one of the provisions of Jay's treaty, one Thomas
+Nash, an English sailor, charged with mutiny and murder. Nor was it
+against his public acts alone, nor even to his political opponents, that
+these assaults on Mr. Adams were confined. With strong feeling and busy
+imagination, loving both to talk and write, Adams had been betrayed into
+many confidences and into free expressions of feeling, opinions, and
+even conjectures and suspicions--a weakness very unsuited to the
+character of a statesman, and one which Adams had during his life many
+times the occasion to rue.
+
+During Washington's first term of office, Adams had thus been led into a
+confidential correspondence with Tench Coxe, who at that time held the
+position of assistant secretary of the treasury and had afterward been
+appointed supervisor of the internal revenue. Since Adam's accession he
+had been dismissed from his place on the charge of being a spy upon the
+treasury department in the service of the _Aurora_, the principal
+newspaper organ of the opposition,--with which party Coxe sympathized,
+and, since his recent dismissal from office, acted.
+
+In this state of mind Coxe betrayed a confidential letter to him from
+Adams; which, after being handed around in manuscript for some time, to
+the great damage of Adams with his own party, was finally printed in the
+_Aurora_, of which Coxe had become one of the principal contributors.
+
+The purport of this letter, written as long ago as May, 1792, was to
+give countenance to the charge of the opposition that Washington's
+cabinet, and of course Adams' which followed the same policy, was under
+British influence; and that the Pickney brothers, candidates with Adams
+on the presidential ticket, were especially liable to this suspicion.
+The publication of this letter was followed by a still more deadly blow
+in the shape of a pamphlet, written, printed and signed by
+Hamilton,--probably intended by him for private distribution among his
+friends, but which was made public by Aaron Burr, who had succeed in
+obtaining some of the proof sheets.
+
+This pamphlet had its origin in the same charge against Hamilton of
+being under the influence of British gold, thrown out by Adams in
+private conversation. To this he had refused to give any explanation
+when written to by Hamilton, though when a similar request was made by
+C. C. Pickney in consequence of the publication of the letter to Coxe,
+Adams fully exonerated, in a published letter, both Pickney and his
+brother from any suspicion which his letter to Coxe might seem
+calculated to convey.
+
+Hamilton declared in the conclusion of his pamphlet that, as things then
+stood, he did not recommend the withholding of a single vote from Adams.
+Yet, it was the leading object of his pamphlet to show, without denying
+Adams' patriotism or integrity, or even his talents, that he had great
+defects of character which disqualified him for the position of chief
+magistrate, and the effect which he desired it to have must have been to
+give C. C. Pickney the presidency, by causing a certain number of votes
+to be withheld from Adams.
+
+The result of the election, however, was to throw out both the federal
+candidates, while Adams receiving forty-five votes and Pickney
+fifty-four; Jefferson and Burr each received seventy-three. In the
+ensuing struggle between Jefferson and Burr, Adams took no part
+whatever. Immediately on the expiration of his term of office he left
+Washington, where shortly before the seat of government had been moved,
+without even stopping to be present at the inauguration of Jefferson,
+against whom he felt a sense of personal wrong, probably thinking he
+had been deluded by false professions as to Jefferson's views on the
+presidential chair.
+
+Though both were much given to letter-writing, and had to within a short
+time before been on terms of friendly intercourse, this state of
+feelings, on the part of Adams, led to strict non-intercourse for the
+next thirteen years. The only acknowledgment which Adams carried with
+him, in this unwelcome and mortifying retirement for his twenty-five
+years' services was the privilege, which had been granted to Washington
+on his withdrawal from the presidency, and after his death to his widow,
+and bestowed likewise upon all subsequent ex-presidents and their
+widows, of receiving his letters free of postage for the remainder of
+his life.
+
+Fortunately for Adams, his thrifty habits and love of independence,
+sustained during his absence from home by the economical and managing
+talents of his wife, had enabled him to add to what he had saved from
+his profession before entering public life, savings from his salaries,
+enough to make up a sufficient property to support him for the remainder
+of his life, in conformity with his ideas of a decent style of propriety
+and solid comfort. Almost all his savings he had invested in the farming
+lands about him. In his vocabulary, property meant land. With all the
+rapid wealth then being made through trade and navigation, he had no
+confidence in the permanency of any property but land, views in which he
+was confirmed by the commercial revulsions of which he lived to be a
+witness.
+
+Adams was the possessor, partly by inheritance and partly by purchase,
+of his father's farm, including the house in which he himself was born.
+He had, however, transferred his own residence to a larger and
+handsomer dwelling near by, which had been forfeited by one of the
+refugee tories of the revolution and purchased by him, where he spent
+the next quarter of a century.
+
+In this comfortable home, acquired by himself, he sought consolation for
+his troubled spirit in the cultivation of his lands, in books and in the
+bosom of his family. Mrs. Adams, to her capacities as a house-keeper,
+steward and farm manager, added a brightness and activity of mind and a
+range of reading, such as fully qualified her to sympathize with her
+husband in his public as well as his private career. She shared his
+tastes for books, and as his letters to her are unsurpassed by any
+American letters ever yet published, so hers to him, as well as to
+others, from which a selection has also been published, show her, though
+exhibiting less of nature and more of formality than he, yet worthy of
+admiration and respect as well as of the tenderness with which he always
+regarded her.
+
+To affections strong enough to respond to his, a sympathy equal to his
+highest aspirations, a proud feeling and an enjoyment of it equal to his
+own, she added what is not always found in such company, a flexibility
+sufficient to yield to his stronger will without disturbance to her
+serenity or his, and without the least compromise of her own dignity or
+her husband's respect and deference for her. While she was not ignorant
+of the foibles of his character, and knew how to avail herself of them
+when a good purpose was to be served by it, yet her admiration of his
+abilities, her reliance upon his judgment, her confidence in his
+goodness, and her pride in his achievements, made her always ready to
+yield and to conform. His happiness and honor were always her leading
+object. This union was blessed with children well calculated to add to
+this happiness.
+
+Just at the moment of his retirement from office private grief was added
+to political disappointment by the death of his second son Charles, who
+had grown to manhood, had been married and had settled in New York with
+flattering prospects, but had died under painful circumstances, which
+his father speaks of in a contemporary letter as the deepest affliction
+of his life, leaving a wife and two infant children dependent on him.
+Colonel Smith, an officer of the revolution, who had been Adams'
+secretary of legation at London and who had married his only daughter,
+did not prove in all respects such a son-in-law as he would have wished.
+Smith's pecuniary affairs becoming embarrassed, his father-in-law had
+provided for him by several public appointments, the last of which was
+that of the surveyor of New York, which position he was allowed to hold
+until 1807, when he was removed from it in consequence of his
+implication in Miranda's expedition. Nor did Thomas, the third son,
+though a person of accomplishments and talents, fully answer the hopes
+of his parents.
+
+But all these disappointments were more than made good by the eldest
+son, John Quincy, who subsequently to his recall from the diplomatic
+service abroad, into which Washington had introduced him and in which
+his father, urged by Washington, had promoted him, was chosen one of the
+senators in congress from Massachusetts.
+
+All consolations, domestic or otherwise, at Mr. Adam's command, were
+fully needed. Never did a statesman sink more suddenly,--at a time too
+when his powers of action and inclinations for it seemed
+unimpaired--from a leading position to more absolute political
+insignificance. His grandson tells us that while the letters addressed
+to him in the year prior to March 1st, 1801, may be counted by the
+thousands, those of the next year scarcely numbered a hundred, while he
+wrote even less than he received. Nor was mere neglect the worst of it.
+He sank, loaded with the jibes, the sneers, the execrations even, of
+both political parties into which the nation was divided. In his
+correspondence, which appears to have gradually increased and extended
+itself, Mr. Adams loved to re-explain his theoretical ideas of
+government, on some points of which he pushed Jefferson hard, and which
+the result of the French revolution so far as then developed seemed to
+confirm.
+
+Another subject in which he continued to feel a great interest was
+theology. He had begun as an Arminian, and the more he had read and
+thought, and the older he grew to be, the freer views he took. Though
+clinging with tenacity to the religious institutions of New England, it
+would seem from his correspondence that he finally curtailed his
+theology to the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount. Of his
+views on this point, he gave evidence in his last public act, to which
+we now approach.
+
+Mrs. Adams had died in 1818, but even that shock, severe as it was, did
+not loosen the firm grasp of the husband on life, its enjoyments and its
+duties. When, in consequence of the erection of the district of Maine
+into a State, a convention was to meet in 1820 to revise the
+constitution of Massachusetts, in the framing of which Mr. Adams had
+taken so leading a part, though in his eighty-sixth year, he was chosen
+a delegate by his townsmen. Upon his first appearance, with a form yet
+erect, though tremulous with age, in this Convention, which was
+composed of the very cream of the great minds with which the State
+abounded, Mr. Adams was received by members standing, and with every
+demonstration of affection and esteem; and a series of resolutions were
+forthwith passed, containing an enumeration and warm acknowledgement of
+some of his principal public services, and calling on him to preside.
+But this, while duly acknowledging the compliment, he declined, on the
+score of his age and infirmities. The same cause also prevented his
+taking any active part in the proceedings. Yet he labored to secure a
+modification of the third article of the bill of rights, on the subject
+of public worship and its support, an article which, when originally
+drafting the rest of that instrument, he had passed over to other hands.
+
+But the time had not yet come for such changes as he wished. The old
+puritan feeling was still too great to acknowledge the equal rights,
+political and religious, of other than Christians. Yet, however it might
+be with his colleagues and fellow-citizens, Mr. Adams, in this movement,
+expressed his own ideas. One of his latest letters, written in 1825, and
+addressed to Jefferson, is a remarkable protest against the blasphemy
+laws, so-called, of Massachusetts, and the rest of the Union, as being
+utterly inconsistent with the right of free inquiry and private
+judgment. It is in the letters of Mr. Adams, of which but few have ever
+been published, that his genius as a writer and a thinker, and no less
+distinctly his character as a man, is displayed. Down even to the last
+year of his protracted life, his letters exhibit a wonderful degree of
+vitality, energy, playfulness, and command of language.
+
+As a writer of English--and we may add as a speculative
+philosopher--little as he ever troubled himself with revision and
+correction, he must be placed first among Americans of all the several
+generations to which he belonged, excepting only Franklin; and if
+Franklin excelled him in humor and geniality, he far surpassed Franklin
+in compass and vivacity. Indeed, it is only by the recent publication of
+his letters that his gifts in these respects are becoming well known.
+The first installment of his private letters published during his
+lifetime, though not deficient in these characteristics, yet having been
+written under feelings of great aggravation, and in a spirit of extreme
+bitterness against his political opponents, was rather damaging to him
+than otherwise. In the interval from 1804 to 1812, Mr. Cunningham, a
+maternal relative, had drawn him into a private correspondence in which,
+still smarting under a sense of injury, he had expressed himself with
+perfect unreserve and entire freedom as to the chief events of his
+presidential administration and the character and motives of the parties
+concerned in them.
+
+By a gross breach of confidence, of which Mr. Adams, like other
+impulsive and confiding persons, often had been the victim, those
+letters were sold by Cunningham's heir in 1824, while the writer and
+many of the parties referred to were still alive. They were published as
+a part of the electioneering machinery against John Quincy Adams. They
+called out a violent retort from Colonel Pickering, who had been
+secretary of State to Washington and Adams, till dismissed from office
+by the latter; but though Mr. Jefferson was also severely handled in
+them, they occasioned no interruption to the friendly relation which had
+been re-established between him and Mr. Adams.
+
+Those two leading actors in American politics, at first so co-operative
+and afterward so hostile, again reunited in friendly intercourse, having
+outlived almost all of their fellow-actors, continued to descend hand in
+hand to the grave. Adams lived to see his son president, and to receive
+Jefferson's congratulations on the same. By a remarkable coincidence,
+they both expired on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence, in which they both had taken so active a part, Adams,
+however, being the survivor by a few hours.
+
+Of Adams' personal appearance and domestic character in his old age, his
+grandson gives the following account: "In figure, John Adams was not
+tall, scarcely exceeding middle height, but of a stout, well-knit frame,
+denoting vigor and long life, yet as he grew old inclining more and more
+to corpulence. His head was large and round, with a wide forehead and
+expanded brows. His eye was mild and benignant, perhaps even humorous
+when he was free from emotion, but when excited it fully expressed the
+vehemence of the spirit that stirred within."
+
+"His presence was grave and imposing on serious occasions, but not
+unbending. He delighted in social conversation, in which he was
+sometimes tempted to what he called rodomontade. But he seldom fatigued
+those who heard him; for he mixed so much of natural vigor of fancy and
+illustration with the store of his acquired knowledge, as to keep alive
+their interest for a long time."
+
+"His affections were warm, though not habitually demonstrated toward his
+relatives. His anger, when thoroughly aroused, was for a time extremely
+violent, but when it subsided it left no trace of malevolence behind.
+Nobody could see him intimately without admiring the simplicity and
+truth which shone in his actions, and standing in some awe of the power
+and energy of his will. It was in these moments that he impressed those
+around him with a sense of his greatness. Even the men employed on his
+farm were in the habit of citing instances, some of which have been
+remembered down to the present day."
+
+"At times his vehemence became so great as to make him overbearing and
+unjust. This was apt to happen in cases of pretension and any kind of
+wrong-doing. Mr. Adams was very impatient of cant, or of opposition to
+any of his deeply established convictions. Neither was his indignation
+at all graduated to the character of the individuals who might happen to
+excite it. He had little respect of persons, and would hold an
+illiterate man or raw boy to as heavy a responsibility for uttering a
+crude heresy, as the strongest thinker or the most profound scholar."
+
+The same writer makes the following remarks on his general character:
+"His nature was too susceptible to emotions of sympathy and kindness,
+for it tempted him to trust more than was prudent in the professions of
+some who proved unworthy of his confidence. Ambitious in one sense he
+certainly was, but it was not the mere aspiration for place or power. It
+was a desire to excel in the minds of men by the development of high
+qualities, the love, in short, of an honorable fame, that stirred him to
+exult in the rewards of popular favor. Yet this passion never tempted
+him to change a course of action or to suppress a serious conviction, to
+bend to a prevailing error or to disavow one odious truth."
+
+In these last assertions we do not fully concur. They involve some
+controverted points of history; however, they may be made with far more
+plausibility of Mr. Adams than of the greater portion of political men.
+
+There is much in the life of John Adams worthy of careful consideration.
+He rose from poverty to distinction; he was a capable man, capable of
+filling the highest place in the estimation of his posterity, yet his
+serious faults led to his political ruin. The careful perusal of his
+life will enable one to understand the principles of the two great
+parties of to-day, modified though they be, the fundamental principles
+remaining the same.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS JEFFERSON.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative was born in Virginia, in the year 1743, on
+the 2nd day of April. As young Jefferson was born to affluence and was
+bountifully blessed with all the educational advantages which wealth
+will bring, many of our young readers may say--well, I could succeed,
+perhaps, had I those advantages. We will grant that you could provided
+you took means similar to those used by Jefferson, for while we must
+admit that all cannot be Jeffersons, nor Lincolns, nor Garfields, still
+we are constantly repeating in our mind the words of the poet:--
+
+    "Lives of great men all remind us
+    We can make our lives sublime,
+    And, departing, leave behind us
+    Footprints on the sands of time,"
+
+it has been said that where twenty enter the dry-goods trade nineteen
+will fail and from their despair behold the odd one succeed--utilizing
+the very weapons within their own grasp to bring about his success. This
+is true, not only of the dry-goods trade but of all trades, of all
+professions, and to resume our subject--Jefferson had much with which to
+contend.
+
+He finally attended school at William and Mary College for two years.
+Here he strove to cultivate friendly feelings with all whom he met, with
+excellent success, becoming very popular with both companions and
+teachers. It was while a student that he heard the famous speech of
+Patrick Henry; and those immortal words, "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME
+DEATH," seemed to kindle within him a patriotic spirit which grew until
+it burst forth in that noble statue to his memory,--the Declaration of
+Independence, which was the work of his pen. He studied law for a time,
+after a two years' college course, when, in 1767 he began its practice.
+
+As Mr. Jefferson is described as tall and spare with gray eyes and red
+hair, surely his success is not due to his personal appearance. At the
+beginning of his practice he was not considered what might be termed
+brilliant, but the fact that he was employed on over two hundred cases
+within the first two years of his practice proves the secret of his
+success to have been his undefatigable energy. It is also stated that he
+rarely spoke in public which shows his good sense in discovering where
+his strength lay,--then pushing on that line to success.
+
+He was elected by his countrymen to the house of Burgesses where he at
+once took a decided stand against parliamentary encroachment. It was in
+this first of his legislative efforts that he brought forward a bill
+tending to the freedom of slaves, provided their masters felt so
+disposed, but this measure was defeated. The house of Burgesses
+appointed him a member of the committee of correspondence. The duty of
+this committee was to disseminate intelligence upon the issues of the
+day, notably the system of taxation which the mother-country was trying
+to impose upon the colonies.
+
+His article entitled: "A Summary View of the Rights of British America,"
+was a masterly production, clearly defining the right of the colonies to
+resist taxation, and it was the principles here set forth that were
+afterwards adopted as the Declaration of Independence. This, paper was
+printed, not only in America, but in England, where its author was
+placed on the roll of treason and brought before parliament. This
+document also placed Jefferson in America among the foremost writers of
+that age; it also showed him to be a bold and uncompromising opponent of
+oppression, and an eloquent advocate of constitutional freedom.
+
+He was sent to the Continental Congress. On the floor he was silent but
+he had the 'reputation of a masterly pen,' says John Adams, and in
+committee was a most influential member. He drafted the Declaration of
+Independence, and on June 28th it was laid before Congress and finally
+adopted, with but a few verbal changes. This document probably has the
+greatest celebrity of any paper of like nature in existence.
+
+He now resigned his seat in Congress to push needed reform in his State
+preparatory to the new order of affairs. The first thing needed was a
+State constitution. Jefferson aided much in the framing of this. He was
+placed on the committee to reorganize the State laws, and to Jefferson
+is due the abolition of Primogenitureship--the exclusive right of the
+first-born to all property of the family. The measure establishing
+religious freedom, whereby people were not to be taxed for the support
+of a religion not theirs, was also the work of his hand. These measures
+were very democratic indeed and owing to the aristocratic views of the
+people at that time, excited great opposition, but they were finally
+passed and since have been law.
+
+Thus it will be seen that Jefferson was the author of many of our
+dearest ideas of equality. In 1778 he procured the passage of a bill
+forbidding future importation of slaves and the next year he was elected
+governor of Virginia, to succeed Patrick Henry. He assumed the duties of
+this office in a most gloomy time. The enemy were preparing to carry the
+war into the South, and Jefferson knew they would find Virginia almost
+defenseless. Her resources were drained to the dregs to sustain
+hostilities in South Carolina and Georgia, and her sea coast was almost
+wholly unprotected. The State was invaded by the enemy several times and
+once the Governor was almost captured by Tarleton.
+
+Jefferson declined a re-election as he perceived that a military leader
+was needed, and he was succeeded by General Nelson. Jefferson was
+appointed one of the Ministers of the Colonies to Europe to assist Adams
+and Franklin in negotiating treaties of commerce. He was the means which
+brought about our system of coins, doing away with the old English
+pounds, shillings and pence, substituting the dollar and fractions of a
+dollar, even down to a cent. He became our Minister to France in 1785 in
+place of Franklin who had resigned. Here he did good service for his
+country by securing the admission into France of tobacco, flour, rice
+and various other American products.
+
+Being offered the head of Washington's cabinet, he accepted it.
+Immediately upon his entrance into the cabinet, in 1790, began the
+struggle between the Federalist and Republican parties, their leaders,
+Hamilton and now Jefferson, both being members of the cabinet. Jefferson
+was probably the real originator of the State sovereignity idea, and the
+constitution did not wholly meet his approval. He thought better of it,
+however, when he became President and felt more forcibly the need of
+authority in such a trying position.
+
+He had just returned from an extended trip through Europe, and he
+contended that the world was governed too much. He was intensely
+Democratic in his belief and as the head of the then rising Republican
+party--now the Democratic--opposed all measures which tended toward
+centralizing in one government, characterizing all such measures as
+leading to monarchy.
+
+Washington was a Federalist, and in all the leading measures gave his
+support to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jefferson's opponent. As it was out of the
+question for Jefferson to remain in the cabinet of an executive wholly
+at variance with him politically, he accordingly resigned in 1793 and
+retired to his farm at 'Monticello' to attend to his private affairs as
+he was embarrassed financially at this time, and his attention was very
+much needed.
+
+In 1796, Washington designing to retire from public service, the two
+great parties decided upon Adams and Jefferson as their
+standard-bearers; the electoral votes being counted, it was found that
+Adams stood first and Jefferson next. Adams was therefore declared
+president and Jefferson, according to existing law, vice-president.
+Then followed the alien and sedition laws and the war demonstrations
+against France by the federal party, which was objected to by the
+Republicans. The bearing of France became so unendurable that Washington
+offered to take his place at the head of the army. Finding all else of
+no avail, the Republicans resorted to the State Arenas; the result was
+the 'Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of '98,' the former of which was
+the work of Jefferson, the latter that of Madison. As is well known
+these were the foundation, years after, of Calhoun's Nullification
+Views. It was a principle of Jefferson, which was never effectually
+settled, until civil war had rent the nation almost in twain.
+
+Happily peace triumphed, and in the campaign that followed, the
+Republicans were successful, Mr. Jefferson becoming president--Aaron
+Burr vice-president. Jefferson's ascension to the presidency caused a
+complete revolution in the politics of the country. The central idea
+around which the party revolved was the diffusion of power among the
+people. To this idea they would bend every question indiscriminately,
+whether it related to a national bank, tariff, slavery, or taxes. It
+held that in the States themselves rested the original authority, that
+in the government lay the power only for acts of a general character.
+Jefferson, their first president, now came to Washington.
+
+President Washington came to the capitol with servants in livery, in a
+magnificent carriage drawn by four cream-colored horses, Jefferson came
+on horseback, hitching his horse to a post while he delivered a fifteen
+minute address. He abolished the presidential levees, and concealed his
+birthday to prevent its being celebrated. He even detested the word
+minister prefixed to one's name, and eschewed breeches, wearing
+pantaloons. It was during his administration that Louisiana was
+purchased, although, according to his own theory, he had no
+constitutional right to do so, but the great benefit derived from this
+purchase soon silenced all opposition.
+
+It was during his administration that the piratical Barbary States were
+cured of their insolence, and in his second term that Burr's trial
+occurred. At the close of this second term he retired to private life to
+become the 'Sage of Monticello.' He now turned his attention to the
+establishing of the University of Virginia. He was a believer in the
+free development of the human powers so far as was consistent with good
+government. He subjected the constitution of the United States to a
+careful scrutiny governed by this theory, and became convinced that the
+doctrine of State sovereignty was right and he fought for it
+persistently when called to the head of the government.
+
+His inaugural address breathed that idea, but when Aaron Burr bearded
+the authority of his government he began to realize the rottenness of
+such a foundation, and when it came to the purchase of Louisiana, his
+doctrine had to be stretched, and he finally became convinced, as he
+expressed it, that the Government must show its teeth.
+
+On July 4th, 1826, at a little past noon, he died, a few hours before
+his political opponent, but fast friend, John Adams. How strange to
+think that about that hour fifty years before they had each signed the
+declaration of the freedom of the country which they had so ably served.
+The granite for his monument lies unquarried nor is its erection needed.
+The Declaration of Independence is a far greater monument than could be
+fashioned from brass or stone.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN MARSHALL.
+
+
+America has been bountifully blessed with great and good men. Washington
+'The father'--I was about to say--'founder of his country'; Jefferson
+who taught us the beauty of plain dress but rich manners; Hamilton who
+placed a tottering treasury upon a strong foundation,--Great indeed were
+all of these, but there was born in Fouquier county, Virginia, on the
+24th day of September, 1755, a child who was to be known to all
+posterity as the great Chief Justice of the United States. This was John
+Marshall.
+
+He was the eldest of a family of fifteen children. In early boyhood he
+took an interest in poetry and was perfectly familiar with Dryden, Pope,
+Milton and Shakespeare. He was for many years full of dreamy romance and
+poetical enthusiasm, and his solitary meditations were usually amid the
+wildest scenery.
+
+After a short college course at West Moreland, where he had as a
+fellow-student James Monroe, and a further classical education under a
+resident clergyman; he, at eighteen, began the study of law, but
+enlisted to fight the British before he obtained a license to practice.
+He soon took a part with his regiment, of which his father was major, in
+the battle of Great Bridge leading, as lieutenant, in a flanking party
+which advanced in the face of a murderous fire and put an end to the
+engagement.
+
+He belonged to the Culpepper Minute-men, who wore green hunting shirts
+with "Liberty or Death" on the bosom in white letters, and who carried
+a banner which displayed a coiled rattlesnake with the motto, "Don't
+tread on me." He took a part in the battle of Brandywine, Germantown and
+Monmouth; he shared the hardships of Valley Forge; in fact saw almost
+continuous service from the time he enlisted at the beginning until the
+glorious end, for which he had so sanguinely waited, came.
+
+Meanwhile he had studied some, and had attended a course of lectures
+delivered by the renowned Mr Wythe at William and Mary College, and had
+secured a license to practice. At the close of hostilities he commenced
+business as an attorney; with marked success from the first.
+
+That extraordinary comprehension and grasp of mind by which difficulties
+were seized and overcome without parade, commended the attention of the
+courts of justice; and his sweet temper and loving ways gained for him a
+host of friends. Such a man, who possessed not only ability but a
+perfect control of himself, MUST SUCCEED. He soon rose to distinction,
+being elected to a seat in the council of the State. He was married in
+1783 to the daughter of the State treasurer and moved to Richmond.
+
+In spite of this removal his old neighbors re-elected him to represent
+their county, and in 1787 he became a member from his adopted county,
+Henrico. As is well-known, the Federal constitution was considered by
+many an approach to monarchy. It was held by Jefferson and many of his
+followers as tending toward that state of things of which they had so
+much to fear. At the Virginia Convention, assembled to discuss the
+constitution drawn up at Philadelphia, where great opposition was
+developed, Mr. Marshall's speech had a crushing effect on its
+assailants. He next became a member from Richmond, that city now being
+entitled to a representative, where he remained for three years.
+
+Virginia was the headquarters of the State rights party, headed by
+Jefferson. Mr. Marshall supported the administration of Washington,
+defining the Federal view so clearly that it carried conviction, yet so
+calmly and with such moderation of tone, that when he retired from that
+body in 1792 he left not an enemy behind. He now devoted himself to his
+profession with unbounded success. While attending to a large legal
+practice, he also frequently appeared at public meetings in support of
+the administration of Washington.
+
+In 1795 he was again a member of the House. In the violent debate over
+Jay's treaty he became its champion, and by a most eloquent speech,
+before a body that had condemned it, he secured an amendment to their
+resolution, reversing their former decision, and the passage of one
+favorable to the policy. Washington offered him a place in his Cabinet,
+but he refused, as it would interfere with his profession; later he was
+offered the mission to France, which he also declined. In 1797 President
+Adams sent another delegation to France, which he accepted, and with
+Pickney and Gerry proceeded to Paris.
+
+Upon his return he immediately resumed his practice, but was urged to
+defend his party. Washington finally prevailed upon him to run for
+Congress, to which he was elected in 1799. Even during the canvass Adams
+offered him a seat on the Supreme Bench, which he declined. Within a few
+weeks from the time of his entrance upon his duties as Congressman, he
+was called upon to announce in that body the death of Washington. His
+words were few, but were ever remembered as producing a profound
+impression.
+
+Washington, the great Federal leader was dead. Virginia had passed the
+resolution of 1798, recording her solemn protest, and the Republicans
+were flushed with the daily increasing revulsion against the Federal
+Government. At this crisis John Marshall appeared in Congress and
+stepped to the front as the leader of his party. In 1800 he was
+appointed Secretary of War. Before he entered upon his duties he is
+placed at the head of the Cabinet as Secretary of State, and a few
+months later his name is sent by the President to Congress, and is
+unanimously confirmed for the position of Chief Justice of the United
+States.
+
+John Marshall has been heretofore recognized as a man of great ability,
+and now he takes a position which he holds for life, and where his
+influence is paramount. On one occasion a young house-keeper was
+swearing lustily because he could find no one to carry his turkey home
+for him. A plain man standing by offered to perform the service, and
+when they arrived at the door the young man asked, 'What shall I pay
+you, sir'? 'O nothing,' replied the old man; 'It was on my way, and no
+trouble.' 'Who is that polite old gentleman,' asked the young man of a
+bystander. The reply was, 'That is the Chief Justice of the United
+States.' The young man drank the bitter cup without further comment.
+
+An eminent writer once said of him: Here is John Marshall, whose mind
+seems to be an inexhaustible quarry from which he draws the materials
+and builds his fabrics rude and Gothic, but of such strength that
+neither time nor force can beat them down; a fellow who would not turn
+off a single step from the right line of his argument, though a paradise
+should rise to tempt him.
+
+What more could be said of him,--only that he died at Philadelphia on
+the 6th of July, 1835; more would be superfluous.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
+
+
+Upon the accession of the Republicans to the control of the government,
+Jefferson ordered the books of Hamilton searched to ascertain what
+charges could be made against him, and to discover the alleged blunders
+and frauds perpetrated by the Federal official while in office. Albert
+Gallatin, himself one of the greatest financiers of his age, undertook
+the task with a hearty relish as he at that time entertained no great
+esteem for the great Federalist. Struck by the almost absolute
+perfection of the system, Gallatin reported to the President that any
+change would certainly injure it and that no blunders or frauds had been
+committed.
+
+This great man was born on one of the West India Islands, January 11th,
+1757. His father failed when he was young and his mother died leaving
+the poor child in actual want. He was taken by friends at Santa Cruz. He
+had no great educational advantages there, but being able to read both
+English and French he devoured all such books as fell in his way. He was
+placed in a counting-house in Santa Cruz and, although he detested the
+business, applied himself diligently to his task and the knowledge here
+gained was no small factor of his future great success as a financier.
+
+He applied every spare moment to study and early began to use his pen.
+In 1772 a hurricane passed through St. Christophers, and an account
+which young Hamilton then wrote for the papers attracted so much
+attention that his friends decided to give him a better chance. They
+accordingly raised the money with which to send him to New York to
+school, and after a few months spent at a grammar school in
+Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he entered Columbia College, New York--then
+called Kings College. Here he began study preparatory to a medical
+course.
+
+About this time his attention became drawn toward the struggle which was
+about to commence between Great Britain and America, and at a public
+meeting he made a short speech which attracted general attention. He was
+now but seventeen years of age, yet his pen was keenly felt in the
+interest of America, through the columns of _Holts Journal_, to which he
+had become a regular contributor. He entered the army as captain of an
+artillery company which he was the chief means of raising, and did good
+service at White Plains, Trenton and Princeton.
+
+He secured this position through the influence of General Schuyler and,
+although but nineteen years of age, he was well qualified for the
+position, having made a study of artillery tactics. His ability had not
+escaped the attention of the army, and he was placed upon Washington's
+staff with rank of lieutenant-colonel. Washington needed some one to
+take charge of his great correspondence,--some one who could think for
+himself. Young as Hamilton was he assumed the entire responsibility of
+chief secretary, besides rendering much valuable assistance as aid. He
+married one of General Schuyler's daughters, and this alliance with one
+of the wealthiest families in the State proved a most fortunate epoch in
+his life. A difference arising between Washington and himself he
+resigned and, although Washington sent an apology, he refused to recall
+his resignation however their mutual esteem was continued. He
+subsequently commanded a brigade at the battle of Yorktown.
+
+He now took up his residence at Albany and began the study of law with
+his wife's father. He was soon licensed to practice, and was chosen one
+of the delegates to the Continental Congress. He realized the necessity
+of vesting more power in congress and secured the adoption, by the State
+of New York, of a resolution urging the amendment of the constitution
+with that object in view. He now moved to New York where he soon
+acquired an immense practice. His efforts in behalf of the constitution
+were untiring and useful.
+
+When Washington became president he selected Hamilton as his Secretary
+of Treasury. It was a wise choice as financial difficulties were the
+most formidable of any in the way of the administration, and no man was
+more capable of bringing order out of chaos than Alexander Hamilton. All
+parties agreed that the debts incurred abroad must be met according to
+contract, but as a large amount of the domestic debt was in the hands of
+men who had bought it for a rise it had been suggested that these
+obligations be settled upon the basis of the amount paid for them by
+their present holders. This measure Hamilton opposed. While
+acknowledging that speculation was an evil, still he saw that such a
+measure would tend to weaken our financial credit. He also brought
+about the assumption by the government of the entire State debt incurred
+during the war. This measure was strongly opposed by Jefferson, and its
+passage had a marked effect on our system tending to centralize
+authority.
+
+It will thus be seen that to Alexander Hamilton belongs no small share
+of founding and shaping the destiny of this powerful country of to-day.
+Like many other great and good men, he was obliged to suffer the slander
+of the press, which charged him with a misappropriation of the public
+money, but as has already been shown in this narrative, it proved
+nothing but a foul story concocted through jealousy and partisan hate,
+and is no longer countenanced. His salary being insufficient for his
+support, he resigned his position and resumed the practice of his
+profession in New York. In the warlike demonstration of 1798 he became,
+upon the death of General Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of all the
+armies of America, but happily the war with France was averted and peace
+restored.
+
+Now we come to the saddest page of American history. We have followed
+this poor homeless boy from childhood; we have seen him rise from
+obscurity to a leading position at the bar, become a gallant soldier and
+the greatest financier in America. And yet, when his country most needs
+his council and help, we see him, at the age of fifty-seven, stricken
+down by an assassin.
+
+Aaron Burr was an ambitious politician. His alleged intrigues with the
+Federalists, whereby he sought to effect the election of himself to the
+presidency instead of Jefferson, the people's choice, cost him the
+confidence of his own party. Knowing New York to be the pivotal State,
+he sought the gubernatorial chair through an independent vote, hoping
+to secure Federal support, as it was conceded that they could not elect
+a candidate of their own. Hamilton, himself as pure as the bright
+sunshine, felt his party to be imposed upon by this intruder who, while
+professing to be a Republican, was seeking to thrust himself upon the
+other party.
+
+At a caucus Hamilton warmly opposed the endorsement of a man whom he
+characterized as dangerous and who had not ought to be trusted with the
+reins of government. Hamilton took no active part in the campaign, but
+his opinion was frequently quoted by those who did, and the result was
+Burr's defeat by Morgan Lewis. Attributing his defeat to Hamilton, and
+feeling him to be his greatest political rival, he early sought a duel
+with him. Hamilton detested this practice, and sought by all honorable
+means, as he wrote to his wife, to avoid it. But finally he accepted,
+not in the spirit of a professed duelist, but in the character of a
+public man. They met on the morning of July 11th, 1804, on the fatal
+field of Weehawken, New Jersey.
+
+At the first fire Hamilton sprang on his tip-toes, and, after a
+convulsive movement, fell forward on his face. At the same time his
+weapon was accidentally discharged, his missile flying wide of its mark.
+Indeed, Hamilton did not fire; in reality, he had resolved not to return
+his antagonist's fire, and never knew that his weapon was discharged, as
+he was insensible when he fell. He died within thirty hours, and his
+funeral was the most imposing ever witnessed in that day. Around the
+name of Hamilton there glows a halo which has brightened in the ages.
+Thus was America robbed of her brave soldier and pure statesman.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES MADISON.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative, James Madison, was born at King George,
+Virginia, March 16th, 1751. His father was a planter, descended from
+John Madison, an Englishman who settled in Virginia about the year 1656.
+The maiden name of his mother was Eleanor Conway. He was the eldest of
+seven children. He received a fairly good education but better still, he
+applied himself very closely at college, so much so as to make him noted
+in this respect; the result was seen in after years.
+
+In 1772 he returned to Virginia and commenced a course of legal study.
+He particularly studied up on public affairs, and in the spring of 1776
+he was elected a member of the Virginia convention from the county of
+Orange, and procured the passage of the substance of an amendment to the
+declaration of rights, by George Mason, which struck out the old term
+'toleration' and inserted a broader exposition of religious rights. In
+the same year he was a member of the general assembly, but lost his
+election in 1777, from his refusal to treat the voters, and the general
+want of confidence in his powers of oratory. Thus, it is seen, that as
+James Madison's natural abilities could not have been very marked, his
+success was the natural result of GREAT EXERTION.
+
+The legislature, however, on meeting in November of the same year,
+elected him a member of the council of the State; and in the winter of
+1779 he was chosen by the assembly a delegate to congress. He took his
+seat in March, 1780, and remained in that body for three years. He
+strongly opposed the issue of paper money by the States, and was in
+favor of a formal recommendation on the part of congress against the
+continuance of the system. As chairman of the committee to prepare
+instructions to the ministers at Versailles and Madrid, in support of
+the claims of the confederacy to western territory and the free
+navigation of the Mississippi, he drew an elaborate and able paper which
+was unanimously adopted by congress. He zealously advocated in 1783 the
+measure proposed to establish a system of general revenue to pay the
+expenses of the war, and as chairman of the committee to which the
+matter was referred, prepared an able address to the State in support of
+the plan, which was adopted by congress and received the warm approval
+of Washington.
+
+The people of Virginia now began to realize the value of his services; a
+striking proof of which is exhibited by the fact that the law rendering
+him inelligible after three years' service in Congress was repealed, in
+order that he might sit during the fourth. On his return to Virginia he
+was elected to the Legislature, and took his seat during 1784. In this
+body he inaugurated the measures relating to a thorough revision of the
+old statutes, and supported the bills introduced by the revisors,
+Jefferson, Wyth, and Pendleton, on the subject of entails, primogeniture
+(exclusive heirship belonging to the first born) and religious freedom.
+
+He aided in the separation of Kentucky from Virginia, and the formation
+of the new State, opposed the further issue of paper money, and favored
+the payment of debts due British creditors. His greatest service at this
+time was his preparation, after the close of the assembly, of a
+"Memorial and Remonstrance" against the project of a general assessment
+for the support of religion, which caused the utter defeat of the
+measure, against which it was directed. In January, 1786, he obtained
+the passage of a bill by the General Assembly inviting the other States
+to appoint commissioners to meet at Annapolis and devise a new system of
+commercial regulations. He was chosen one of the commissioners, and
+attended at Annapolis in September of the same year. Five States only
+were represented, and the commissioners recommended a convention of
+delegates from all the States to meet at Philadelphia, in May, 1787. The
+recommendation was generally adopted and, of course, Madison was chosen
+one of the delegates from Virginia.
+
+The convention assembled and the result was the abrogation of the old
+articles and the formation of the Constitution of the United States.
+Madison was prominent in advocating the Constitution and took a leading
+part in the debates, of which he kept private notes, since published by
+order of congress. His views of a federal government are set forth at
+length in a paper still extant in the hand-writing of Washington, which
+contains the substance of a letter written to Washington by Madison
+before the meeting of the convention, proposing a scheme of thorough
+centralization. The writer declares that he is equally opposed to 'the
+individual independence of the States,' and to 'the consolidation of the
+whole into one simple republic.'
+
+He is nevertheless in favor to invest in congress the power to exercise
+'a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the States,
+as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative.' He says further
+'that the right of coercion should be expressly declared; but the
+difficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective will
+of a State, render it particularly desirable that the necessity of it
+should be precluded.' From these extreme views Madison conscientiously
+departed, but in the convention he supported them with zeal and vigor.
+
+The scheme known as the 'Virginia Plan' was adopted instead, and the
+convention adjourned. The subsequent adoption of the Constitution was in
+a large measure due to a series of essays, now familiar in their
+collected form as "The Federalist." They were commenced in a New York
+newspaper soon after the adjournment of the Convention, and continued to
+appear until June, 1788. The public journals everywhere republished
+them, and it was soon known that they were the work of Hamilton,
+Madison, and Jay. The volume remains the forcible exposition upon the
+side which it espoused. The whole ground is surveyed, generally and in
+detail; the various points at issue are discussed with the utmost
+acuteness, and the advantages of the adoption of the instrument urged
+with logical force and eloquence which place "The Federalist" beside the
+most famous political writings of the old English worthies.
+
+The Virginia convention, of which Madison was a member, assembled in
+June. He had completely overcome his natural diffidence and, although
+deficient as an orator, exerted a powerful influence over his
+associates, contributing as much to the final triumph of the
+constitution as any one in the body. The instrument was adopted by a
+vote of eighty-nine to seventy-nine and the convention closed. The part
+which he had taken in its deliberations very greatly increased Madison's
+reputation; and he was brought forward as a candidate for United States
+Senator but was defeated. He was, however, chosen a member of congress
+and took his seat in that body in 1789.
+
+Alexander Hamilton was at the head of the treasury department and
+Madison was obliged either to support the great series of financial
+measures initiated by the secretary, or distinctly abandon his former
+associate and range himself on the side of the republican opposition. He
+adopted the latter course. Although he had warmly espoused the adoption
+of the constitution, he was now convinced of the necessity of a strict
+construction of the powers which it conferred upon the general
+government. He accordingly opposed the funding bill, the national bank,
+and Hamilton's system of finance generally.
+
+His affection for Washington, and long friendship for Hamilton, rendered
+such a step peculiarly disagreeable to a man of Madison's amiable and
+kindly disposition, but the tone of his opposition did not alienate his
+friends. Occupying, as he did, the middle ground between the violent
+partisans on both sides he labored to reconcile the antagonism of the
+two parties, and always retained the same cordial regard for Washington.
+
+On Jefferson's return from France, Madison was solicited to accept the
+mission and it was kept open for twelve months awaiting his decision. He
+declined the place, as he afterwards did the position of Secretary of
+State on the retirement of Jefferson, from a firm conviction that the
+radical antagonism of views between himself and a majority of the
+members of the cabinet would render his acceptance of either office
+fruitful in misunderstandings and collisions.
+
+He remained in congress, becoming thoroughly identified with the
+Republicans, and soon became the avowed leader in congress. In 1794 he
+gave his full support to its foreign policy by moving a series of
+resolutions, based upon the report of Jefferson, advocating a
+retaliatory policy toward Great Britain, and commercial discriminations
+in favor of France. These resolutions he supported in a speech of great
+ability. In March, 1797, his term expired, and he returned to Virginia.
+
+The insulting treatment of the American envoys to France and the war
+message of President Adams were about to be followed by the passage of
+the alien and sedition laws. The Republicans vainly tried to stem the
+popular current in favor of the measures of the administration. The
+passing of the alien and sedition laws in July, 1798, gave them the
+first opportunity to make a stand. Opposition to even these violent
+measures was however ineffectual in the Federal legislature; and the
+Republican leaders determined to resort to the State arenas for the
+decisive struggle.
+
+It commenced in Kentucky, and resulted there in the adoption of a series
+of resolutions, which were followed, in December, 1798, by similar
+resolves of the Virginia Assembly. The latter, now known as "the
+resolutions of 1798-'9," were drawn up by James Madison, not then a
+member. They declared the determination of the Assembly to defend the
+Constitution of the United States, but to resist all attempts to enlarge
+the authority of the federal compact by forced constructions of general
+clauses, as tending to consolidation, the destruction of the liberties
+of the States, and finally to a monarchy.
+
+In case of a "deliberate, palpable, and dangerous" exercise of powers
+not clearly granted to the General Government, the States had a right to
+interpose; and as the passing of the alien and sedition laws was such an
+infraction of right, the assembly protested against those laws. The
+seventh resolution called upon the other States to join with the State
+of Virginia 'in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts
+aforesaid are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper
+measures will be taken by each for co-operating with this State in
+maintaining unimpaired the authorities, rights and liberties reserved to
+the States respectively, or to the people.'
+
+The resolutions passed the House by a vote of 100 to 63, and were duly
+communicated to the several States of the Union. They met with little
+favor, especially in the Northern States. Massachusetts and New England
+generally remonstrated against them, and declared the obnoxious laws
+both constitutional and expedient. This drew forth, in the winter of
+1799-1800, Madison's "Report" in defence of his resolutions. This
+elaborate paper subjected the resolves to an exhaustive analysis and
+defended them with masterly vigor. It is the most famous of his
+political writings and will rank with the greatest state papers written
+in America.
+
+Although the resolutions met with an unfavorable reception throughout
+the States, they exerted a powerful influence on public opinion.
+Virginia had shown how deeply in earnest she was by directing the
+establishment of two arsenals, and an armory sufficiently large to store
+10,000 muskets and other arms; but a wholesome change in the sentiment
+of the country happily restored good feeling and softened down all
+bitterness.
+
+The alien and sedition laws found few supporters ultimately, and
+Madison's views were fully vindicated. The revulsion against the Federal
+party and in favor of the Republicans, terminated in the election of
+Jefferson, who entered upon the presidency in 1801. Madison was
+Secretary of State during Jefferson's entire administration, and his
+opinions on public affairs closely agreed with those of the President.
+
+He became still more popular with, and acceptable to, his party and
+toward the close of Jefferson's second term was generally spoken of as
+his successor. A caucus of the majority of the Republican members of
+Congress was finally held, and Madison was nominated. This met with
+bitter opposition from a wing of the party, headed by John Randolph, who
+were friendly to the nomination of Monroe. They published a caustic
+'Protest' against the action of the caucus and denounced Madison for his
+'want of energy,' his connection with the 'Federalist,' and his report
+upon the Yazoo claims.
+
+His friends defended him against all charges and retorted so strongly
+upon the authors of the "Protest" that they were silenced. The action of
+the caucus was generally approved by the party, and Madison was elected
+by a vote of 123 out of 175, and took his seat as president, March 4,
+1809.
+
+President Madison entered upon his duties at a crisis in public affairs
+which required the utmost foresight, resolution and prudence. Great
+Britain and the United States were on the verge of war. In 1807 the long
+series of wrongs inflicted by England upon the commerce of America, and
+the rights of her seaman, had been consummated by the affair of the
+Leopard and Chesapeake. This wanton insult had thrown the country into
+violent commotion, and occasioned the embargo act, which had been
+succeeded by the non-intercourse act, prohibiting all commerce with
+France and England, until the decrees of the French emperor and the
+British orders in council in relation to the seizure of neutrals and
+the impressment of seamen were repealed.
+
+The first of the British cabinet did not encourage peace. Mr. Erskine,
+the English minister, in promising reparation for the affair of the
+Chesapeake, and a repeal of the obnoxious orders in council, on
+condition of a renewal of intercourse on the part of the United States,
+was declared to have exceeded his authority, and was recalled. He was
+succeeded by Mr. Jackson who was authorized to enter into a commercial
+treaty, but speedily became embroiled with the Secretary of State. The
+president directed the secretary to have no further communication with
+him, and soon afterward requested his recall. This was complied with,
+but no censure was visited upon the envoy, and no other was sent in his
+place.
+
+In May, 1810, congress approved the course of the executive, declared
+the official communications of Mr. Jackson highly indecorous and
+insolent, and passed a new act of non-intercourse. This provided that if
+either France or England repealed her hostile decree, and the other did
+not within three months do likewise, then intercourse should be resumed
+with the one, while with the other non-intercourse should be persisted
+in.
+
+In August the French minister for Foreign Affairs gave notice to the
+American minister that the Berlin and Milan decrees had been revoked by
+the Emperor; and in November Madison issued a proclamation declaring the
+fact, and announcing that the act of non-intercourse would be revived as
+to Great Britain unless her orders in council should be revoked within
+three months from the date of the proclamation.
+
+The British government resisted this demand, on the ground that there
+was no official evidence of the repeal of the French decrees, and the
+act of non-intercourse was accordingly declared in full force against
+Great Britain. In March, 1811, the Emperor Napoleon disavowed the
+statement of the Duke of Cadore, and declared that "the decrees of
+Berlin and Milan were the fundamental laws of the empire." American
+vessels had been seized and held by France even after the president's
+proclamation, and every overture on the part of the American minister at
+Paris toward the re-establishment of friendly relations between the two
+countries was viewed with indifference and utterly failed. The country
+was slowly but surely drifting toward a war, which no exertions on the
+part of the administration seemed adequate to prevent.
+
+Madison pushed his pacific views to an extent that proved displeasing to
+many of the most prominent men of the Republican party. Bills were
+passed for augmenting the army, repairing and equipping ships of war,
+organizing and arming the militia, and placing the country in an
+attitude to resist an enemy; for all which congress appropriated
+$1,000,000.
+
+Madison acquiesced in this policy with extreme reluctance, but on June 1,
+1812, transmitted a special message to congress in which he reviewed
+the whole controversy, and spoke in strong terms of the aggressions of
+Great Britain upon commercial rights. The act declaring war between
+Great Britain and America speedily followed. The president gave it his
+approval on June 18, and promptly issued his proclamation calling upon
+the people to prepare for the struggle, and to support the government.
+
+A short delay would probably have defeated the policy of the war party,
+and re-opened the old negotiations. A decree of the French emperor had
+been exhibited to the United States minister to France, dated April 28,
+1811, which declared the definite revocation of the Berlin and Milan
+decrees, from and after November 1, 1810. In consequence of this, Great
+Britain, on June 23, within five days after the declaration of war,
+repealed the obnoxious orders in council in relation to the rights of
+neutrals, and thus removed one of the main grounds of complaint on the
+part of the American government.
+
+On June 26, before the course of the British Cabinet was known in
+America, Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, wrote to Mr. Russell proposing
+the terms of armistice. These were a repeal of the orders in council,
+with no illegal blockades substituted, and a discontinuance of the
+impressment of seamen. In the latter part of August, Mr. Russell, our
+representative at London, received from the English Government a
+definite refusal to accede to these propositions, as 'on various grounds
+absolutely inadmissible,' he therefore returned to the United States.
+
+In September Admiral Warren arrived at Halifax. In addition to his naval
+command, he was invested with powers to negotiate a provisional
+accommodation with the United States. A correspondence on the subject
+ensued between himself and Mr. Monroe, as the representatives of the two
+countries. The admiral proposed an immediate cessation of hostilities,
+with a view to the peaceful arrangement of the points at issue.
+
+Monroe replied that his government was willing to accede to this
+proposition, provided Warren was authorized and disposed to negotiate
+terms for suspending in the future the impressment of American seamen.
+The British Government refused to relinquish the claim to this right and
+nothing remained but war.
+
+On March 4, 1813, Madison entered upon his second term of service. He
+had received 128 electoral votes; his opponent DeWitt Clinton, 89 votes.
+The congressional elections had resulted in a large majority in favor of
+the administration, and the war policy seemed to be acceptable to a
+large majority of the people, though a strong party was opposed to it,
+and endeavored to obstruct the measures necessary to the vigorous
+prosecution of hostilities. The war commenced in earnest with the
+appearance, in 1813, of a British fleet in Chesapeake Bay, and in March
+the whole coast of the United States, with the exception of Rhode
+Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, was declared in a state of
+blockade. The long series of engagements on land and water during the
+war which followed, find their proper place in the general history of
+our country.
+
+In March, 1813, soon after the commencement of hostilities, the Russian
+minister to the United States communicated to the American government a
+proposal from the Emperor Alexander to mediate between the belligerents.
+The proposition was accepted, and the president appointed commissioners
+to go to St. Petersburg to negotiate under the mediation of the emperor.
+Great Britain declined the Russian mediation in September; but in
+November the American government was informed that that power was
+prepared to negotiate the terms of a treaty of peace.
+
+Steps were at once taken to meet this proposal. Mr. Clay and Mr. Russell
+were added to the commission previously appointed, and in January, 1814,
+joined their associates in Europe. In August of the same year the
+country was deeply aroused by the attack on the capitol. A British force
+of 5,000 men ascended the Chesapeake, landed on the shores of the
+Patuxent, and marched on Washington. The few troops hastily collected
+were wholly unable to offer any effective resistance and retired before
+the enemy, who proceeded to the city, burned the capitol, the
+president's house, and other public buildings, and returned without loss
+to their ships. The president and several members of his cabinet were in
+the American camp, but were compelled to abandon the city in order to
+avoid capture.
+
+The enemy gained little by their movement, and the wanton outrage only
+increased the bitterness of the people. Among the public occurrences of
+the year 1814, the meeting of the Hartford convention, in opposition to
+the continuance of the war, occupies a prominent place. The victory at
+New Orleans, however, and the intelligence of the conclusion of the
+treaty of peace, terminated the popular indignation. A treaty of peace
+had been signed by the United States commissioners at Ghent, on December
+4, 1814, and being communicated by the president to the senate, was
+ratified by that body in February, 1815.
+
+It was silent on the paramount question of impressment, and left the
+commercial regulations between the two countries for subsequent
+negotiation. But the country was tired of the war, and the treaty was
+hailed with acclamation. In this general joy no one person joined more
+heartily than did Madison. He had acquiesced reluctantly to the
+commencement of hostilities, and had longed for peace since the
+beginning. The country came out of a war, which cost her 30,000 lives
+and $1,000,000, stronger and more honored than before; thoroughly
+convinced of her own power and resources, and regarded with increased
+respect by all the nations of the world.
+
+In 1815 a commercial treaty was concluded with Great Britain based upon
+a policy of perfect reciprocity. The subjects of impressment and
+blockades were not embraced in it. The return of peace disbanded the
+organized opposition to the administration, and the remainder of
+Madison's term was undisturbed by exciting events.
+
+In April, 1816, congress incorporated a national bank with a capital of
+$35,000,000, to continue for twenty years. The president had vetoed a
+similar bill in January of the preceding year, but now approved of it,
+from a conviction that the derangement of the currency made it
+necessary. It encountered strong opposition, but was supported by Henry
+Clay and other friends of the president, and passed both houses.
+
+In December, 1816, Madison sent in his last annual message to congress.
+Its recommendations were considered judicious and liberal, and secured
+the general approbation of the country.
+
+On March 4, 1817, his long official relations with the country
+terminated, and he retired to his farm at Montpelier, Virginia. In this
+pleasant retreat he passed the remainder of his days in agricultural
+pursuits. Like most of our famous men, his matrimonial connection was a
+source of great advantage to him. During his later years, in spite of
+his ill-health, Madison still busied himself in service to his
+neighbors.
+
+While at school, for MONTHS TOGETHER, he had slept but three hours out
+of the twenty-four. He was not an orator naturally; many others of his
+schoolmates, it is stated, were far superior to him in natural
+abilities. Why, then, did he succeed, while so many others failed? The
+strong feature whereby he won success was, like that of many others, his
+capacity for HARD WORK.
+
+As to Madison's principles, it will be remembered that he was defeated
+in 1777, because he refused to treat the people to liquor. In 1829 he
+sat in the Virginia Convention to reform the old constitution. When he
+rose to utter a few words the members left their seats and crowded
+around the venerable figure dressed in black, with his thin gray hair
+powdered as in former times, to catch the low whisper of his voice. This
+was his last appearance in public.
+
+If not endowed with the very first order of ability, Madison had trained
+his mind until it was symmetrical and vigorous. An unfailing accuracy
+and precision marked the operation of his faculties. He was naturally
+deficient in powers of oratory, and yet made himself one of the most
+effective speakers of his time, although the epoch was illustrated by
+such men in his own State as Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George
+Mason and Edmund Pendleton, to say nothing of Jefferson and Monroe.
+
+Jefferson's testimony on this point is strong: He says: "Mr. Madison
+came into the house in 1776, a new member, and young; which
+circumstances, concurring with his extreme modesty, prevented his
+venturing himself in debate before his removal to the council of state
+in November, 1777. Thence he went to Congress, then consisting of but
+few members. Trained in these successive schools, he acquired a habit of
+self-possession which placed at ready command the rich resources of his
+luminous mind, and of his extensive information, acquired by INTENSE
+application, which rendered him eventually the first of every assembly
+of which he afterward became a member."
+
+"Never wandering from his subject into vain declamation, but pursuing it
+closely, in language pure, classical, and copious, always soothing the
+feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softness of expression. He
+steadily rose to the high station which he held in the great national
+convention of 1787. In that of Virginia which followed, he sustained the
+new constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm against the
+logic of George Mason, and the burning eloquence of Mr. Henry. With
+these consummate powers was united a pure and spotless virtue which no
+calumny has ever attempted to sully."
+
+From his earliest years he was an intense scholar. His memory was
+singularly tenacious, and what he clearly understood was ever afterward
+retained. He thus laid up that great store of learning which, in the
+conventions of 1787-8 especially proved so effective, and later made him
+president. After Washington, no public man of his time was more widely
+known or more highly loved and respected.
+
+The public confidence in, and respect for his honesty and singleness of
+aim toward the good of the country ripened into an affectionate
+attachment. His bearing and address were characterized by simplicity and
+modesty. He resembled a quiet student, rather than the head of a great
+nation. He was a perfect gentleman.
+
+At another time Jefferson said of him: "From three and thirty years'
+trial I can say conscientiously that I do not know IN THE WHOLE WORLD a
+man of purer integrity, more dispassionate, disinterested, and devoted
+to true republicanism; nor could I in the whole scope of America and
+Europe point out an abler head." What more could be said? O that we
+could have such a monument left to mark our memory.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES MONROE.
+
+
+The fifth president of the United States was a native of the grand Old
+Dominion, being born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758.
+Like his predecessor, Madison, he was the son of a planter. Another
+strange incident:--Within sight of Blue Ridge in Virginia, lived three
+presidents of the United States, whose public career commenced in the
+revolutionary times and whose political faith was the same throughout a
+long series of years. These were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and
+James Monroe.
+
+In early youthhood Monroe received a good education, but left school to
+join the army and soon after was commissioned a lieutenant. He took an
+active part in the campaign on the Hudson, and in the attack on Trenton,
+at the head of a small detachment, he captured one of the British
+batteries. On this occasion he received a ball in the shoulder, and was
+promoted to a captaincy. As aide-de-camp to Lord Sterling, with the rank
+of major, he served in the campaign of 1777 and 1778, and distinguished
+himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.
+
+Leaving the army, he returned to Virginia and commenced the study of law
+under Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of the State. When the British
+appeared soon afterward in the State, Monroe exerted himself to the
+utmost in organizing the militia of the lower counties; and when the
+enemy proceeded southward, Jefferson sent him as military commissioner
+to the army in South Carolina.
+
+In 1782, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia from the county of
+King George, and was appointed by that body, although but twenty-three
+years of age, a member of the executive council. In 1783 he was chosen a
+delegate to congress for a period of three years, and took his seat on
+December 13th. Convinced that it was impossible to govern the people
+under the old articles of confederation, he advocated an extension of
+the powers of congress, and in 1785 moved to invest in that body power
+to regulate the trade between the States.
+
+The resolution was referred to a committee of which he was chairman, and
+a report was made in favor of the measure. This led to the convention of
+Annapolis, and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution.
+Monroe also exerted himself in devising a system for the settlement of
+the public lands, and was appointed a member of the committee to decide
+the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. He strongly opposed the
+relinquishment of the right to navigate the Mississippi river as
+demanded by Spain.
+
+Once more we see the value of a proper and elevating marriage, as a
+feature in the success of our great men. In 1785 he married a daughter
+of Peter Kortright, a lady of refinement and culture. He, being
+inelligible for the next three years according to the laws, settled in
+Fredericksburg.
+
+In 1787 he was re-elected to the general assembly, and in 1788 was
+chosen a delegate to the Virginia convention to decide upon the adoption
+of the Federal Constitution. He was one of the minority who opposed the
+instrument as submitted, being apprehensive that without amendment it
+would confer too much authority upon the general government. The course
+of the minority in Congress was approved by the great mass of the
+population of the Old Dominion, and Monroe was chosen United States
+Senator in 1790. In the Senate he became a strong representative of the
+anti-Federal party, and acted with it until his term expired in 1794.
+
+In May of that year he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France,
+and was received in Paris with enthusiastic demonstrations of respect.
+His marked exhibition of sympathy with the French Republic displeased
+the administration. John Jay had been sent to negotiate a treaty with
+England, and the course pursued by Monroe was considered injudicious, as
+tending to throw serious obstacles in the way of the proposed
+negotiations. On the conclusion of the treaty his alleged failure to
+present it in its true character to the French government excited anew
+the displeasure of the cabinet; and in August, 1796, he was recalled
+under an informal censure.
+
+On his return to America he published a 'View of the conduct of the
+Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States,' which widened
+the breach between him and the administration, but socially Monroe
+remained upon good terms with both Washington and Jay.
+
+He was Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802 and at the close of his
+term was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the French government to
+negotiate, in conjunction with the resident minister, Mr. Livingston,
+for the purchase of Louisiana, or a right of depot for the United
+States on the Mississippi. Within a fortnight after his arrival in Paris
+the ministers secured, for $15,000,000, the entire territory of Orleans
+and district of Louisiana.
+
+In the same year he was commissioned Minister Plenipotentiary to
+England, and endeavored to conclude a convention for the protection of
+neutral rights, and against the impressment of seamen. In the midst of
+these negotiations he was directed to proceed to Madrid as Minister
+Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to adjust the difficulties between the
+United States and Spain, in relation to the boundaries of the new
+purchase of Louisiana. In this he failed, and in 1806 he was recalled to
+England to act with Mr. Pickney in further negotiation for the
+protection of neutral rights. On the last day of that year a treaty was
+concluded, but because of the omission of any provision against the
+impressment of seamen, and its doubtfulness in relation to other leading
+points the president sent it back for revisal. All efforts to attain
+this failed and Monroe returned to America.
+
+The time was approaching for the election of a president, and a
+considerable body of the Republican party had brought Monroe forward as
+their candidate, but the preference of Jefferson for Madison was well
+known and of course had its influence. Monroe believed that the
+rejection of the treaty and the predilection expressed for his rival
+indicated hostility on the part of the retiring President, and a
+correspondence on the subject ensued.
+
+Jefferson candidly explained his course and assured him that his
+preference was based solely upon solicitude for the success of the
+party, the great majority of which had declared in the favor of Madison.
+The misunderstanding ceased and Monroe withdrew from the canvass. In
+1810 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in
+1811 once more Governor of the State.
+
+In the same year he was appointed Secretary of State by President
+Madison, and after the capture of the capitol in 1814, he was appointed
+to take charge of the war department, being both Secretary of State and
+Secretary of War at once. He found the treasury exhausted and the
+national credit at the lowest ebb, but he set about the task of infusing
+order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed
+an increase of 40,000 men in the army by levying recruits throughout the
+whole country.
+
+His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans, and
+finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private
+means as subsidary to the credit of the Government, and enabled the city
+to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential
+adviser of President Madison in the measures for the re-establishment of
+the public credit of the country and the regulation of the foreign
+relations of the United States, and continued to serve as Secretary of
+State until the close of Madison's term in 1817.
+
+In that year he succeeded to the Presidency himself, by an electoral
+vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party now generally
+known as Democratic.
+
+His Cabinet was composed of some of the ablest men in the country in
+either party. Soon after his inauguration President Monroe made a tour
+through the Eastern and Middle States, during which he thoroughly
+inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications and garrisons; reviewed
+military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the
+capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities.
+
+On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In
+every point of view this journey was a success. Party lines seemed about
+to disappear and the country to return to its long past state of union.
+The President was not backward in his assurances of a strong desire on
+his part that such should be the case. The course of the administration
+was in conformity to these assurances, and secured the support of an
+overwhelming majority of the people.
+
+The great majority of the recommendations in the President's message
+were approved by large majorities. The tone of debate was far more
+moderate; few of the bitter speeches which had been the fashion in the
+past were uttered, and this period has passed into history as the "Era
+of good feeling." Among the important events of the first term of
+President Monroe was the consummation in 1818 of a treaty between the
+United States and Great Britain in relation to the Newfoundland
+fisheries--the interpretation of the terms of which we have of late
+heard so much; the restoration of slaves and other subjects; also the
+admission into the Union of the States of Mississippi, Illinois and
+Maine; in 1819 Spain ceded to the United States her possessions in East
+and West Florida with the adjacent islands.
+
+In 1820 Monroe was re-elected almost unanimously, receiving 231 out of
+the 232 electoral votes. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri became one of
+the United States, after prolonged and exciting debates, resulting in
+the celebrated "Missouri Compromise," by which slavery was permitted in
+Missouri but prohibited FOREVER elsewhere north of parallel thirty-six
+degrees and thirty minutes. Other events of public importance during the
+second term of President Monroe were the recognition in 1822 of the
+independence of Mexico, and the provinces in South America, formerly
+under the dominion of Spain; and the promulgation in his message of
+December 2, 1823, of the policy of 'neither entangling ourselves in the
+broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers of the old world to interfere
+with the affairs of the new,' which has become so famous as the "Monroe
+Doctrine." On this occasion the president declared that any attempt on
+the part of foreign powers to extend their system to any part of this
+hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as dangerous to our
+peace and prosperity, and would certainly be opposed.
+
+On March 4, 1825, Monroe retired from office and returned to his
+residence at Oak Hill in Virginia.
+
+He was chosen a justice of the peace, and as such sat in the county
+court. In 1829 he became a member of the Virginia convention to revise
+the constitution, and was chosen to preside over the deliberations of
+that body but he was obliged, on account of ill-health, to resign his
+position in that body and return to his home.
+
+Although Monroe had received $350,000 for his public services alone, he
+was greatly harrassed with creditors toward the latter part of his life.
+Toward the last he made his home with his son-in-law, Samuel L.
+Gouverneur of New York city, where he was originally buried, but in 1830
+he was removed to Richmond with great pomp and re-interred in Holleywood
+Cemetery.
+
+The subject of this sketch held the reins of government at an important
+time and administered it with prudence, discretion, and a single eye to
+the general welfare. He went further than any of his predecessors in
+developing the resources of the country. He encouraged the army,
+increased the navy, augmented the national defences, protected
+commerce, approved of the United States Bank, and infused vigor into
+every department of the public service.
+
+His honesty, good faith, and simplicity were generally acknowledged, and
+disarmed the political rancor of the strongest opponents. Madison
+thought the country had never fully appreciated the robust understanding
+of Monroe. In person, Monroe was tall and well-formed, with light
+complexion and blue eyes. The expression of his countenance was an
+accurate index of his simplicity, benevolence, and integrity. The
+country never fully appreciated Monroe, partly on account of his never
+having gained distinction as an orator.
+
+
+
+
+LEWIS CASS.
+
+
+A man worthy of no small attention was Lewis Cass. Born at Exeter, New
+Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. He served in the war of 1812, rising to
+the rank of major in the army. He was a school-fellow with Daniel
+Webster, became a school teacher at Wilmington, Delaware, and walking
+from that place to Ohio, where his parents moved, began the practice of
+law in Zanesville in 1802.
+
+In 1806 he married and soon after was elected to the legislature of
+Ohio. He performed a most conspicuous part in the Burr trial, favoring
+the law which caused the arrest of the supposed conspirator. He became a
+colonel in the war of 1812, being included in the surrender of General
+Hull, of Detroit, and was instrumental in bringing about that General's
+arrest on the charge of cowardice and treason. He was afterward
+exchanged and served as aid to General Harrison in the battle of the
+Thames. He was appointed military governor of Michigan in the autumn of
+1813, having risen to the position of Brigadier General.
+
+In 1815 he purchased for $12,000 the whole plat of Detroit, and the
+subsequent rise made him immensely rich. He became Secretary of War
+under Jackson in 1831. He next became minister to France in 1842. Three
+years after this he was elected United States senator from Michigan, and
+resigned in 1848 to become a candidate for the presidency, but a
+division in his party caused the election of Taylor. He was then
+re-elected to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation, and again
+re-elected in 1854 for a full term of six years. He supported measures
+favorable to the promotion of slavery notwithstanding the Michigan
+legislature had instructed him to vote otherwise. He favored Douglass'
+Kansas-Nebraska bill.
+
+He warmly favored Buchanan's nomination and became his Secretary of
+State, but promptly resigned when the president refused to reinforce
+Fort Sumter; thus closing a career of over fifty years of almost
+continuous public service. He, however, gave his support from this time
+to the Union and lived to see that triumphant suppression of treason. He
+died on the 18th day of June, 1866. He was a man of pure integrity,
+great ability, a fine scholar and an effective public speaker. He was
+exceedingly generous in all worthy petitions which his great wealth
+enabled him to gratify unsparingly. He was also an author of some note.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN C. CALHOUN.
+
+
+The father of John C. Calhoun was born in Ireland; his mother was the
+daughter of an Irish Presbyterian, a lady of great worth. Most of our
+illustrious men owe their success to a noble mother, and so it was with
+Calhoun. He was early taught to read the Bible, and his parents sought
+to impress upon him their Calvinistic doctrines.
+
+As a child he was grave and thoughtful, and at the age of thirteen he
+studied history so perseveringly as to impair his health. His father
+died about this time, and a glimpse of his loving disposition can be
+obtained from the fact that notwithstanding that he greatly desired an
+education, still he would not leave the farm until assured of the means
+of prosecuting his studies without impairing his mother's comfort.
+Consequently he had few of the advantages to which systematic schooling
+is conducive until late in youth. He, however, made a satisfactory
+arrangement with his family, who agreed to furnish him money for a
+course of seven years.
+
+He had decided to study law, but declared that he preferred being a
+common planter to a half-educated lawyer. He soon entered Yale College,
+where he graduated with distinction. President Dwight is said to have
+remarked 'That young man has ability enough to be President of the
+United States and will become one yet.' Before returning home he spent
+eighteen months in the law-school at Litchfield, Connecticut. He also
+cultivated extempore speaking, and finally returned South to finish his
+studies.
+
+Being admitted to the bar he began practice; in 1808 was elected to the
+Legislature, and in 1811 to Congress. The war party had gained complete
+control of the House, and a speaker was chosen by the Democratic party.
+Calhoun was placed on the Committee of Foreign Relations, and he framed
+the report that the time had come to choose between tame submission and
+bold resistance. Calhoun was chosen chairman of this committee, and was
+a staunch supporter of the administration throughout. The increasing
+financial distress led to the National Bank debates, in which he was a
+leading figure. The necessity of this institution being admitted, to
+Calhoun was intrusted entire management of the bill, and to him is due
+the passage of the charter of the bank.
+
+He was a most efficient agent of internal improvements, carrying a bill
+through the House by a vote of 86 to 84, authorizing a million and a
+half to be paid by the United States bank and the income on seven
+millions more to be devoted to internal improvements. This bill passed
+the Senate twenty to fifteen, but was vetoed by the president, denying
+the authority of congress to appropriate money for any such purpose. He
+next became Secretary of War, under Monroe. He found the war department
+in a demoralized condition--bills to the amount of $50,000 outstanding.
+These Calhoun promptly settled and secured the passage of a bill
+reorganizing the staff of the army. President Monroe bringing before the
+cabinet the question of whether he should sign the Missouri Compromise,
+Calhoun gave it as his opinion that it was constitutional, supporting
+the view that it was the duty of the president to sign the bill.
+
+He was very seriously thought of as Monroe's successor, the great State
+of Pennsylvania supporting him at first, but General Jackson's great
+military fame won for him the nomination, and Calhoun was almost
+unanimously selected for vice-president.
+
+The tariff question was an all-absorbing issue, and on this question the
+Democrats divided--the northern wing being for protection, under the
+lead of Martin Van Buren; while the South was unanimous for free trade,
+led by Calhoun. A rupture between the president and Mr. Calhoun now
+arose; this and other causes led to Mr. Calhoun's distrust of the
+president, and the belief that he could not be depended upon to settle
+the tariff question; therefore he brought out his nullification
+doctrine.
+
+This doctrine was founded on the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of
+1798-9 which declared the constitution to be a compact, each State
+forming an integral part. It also declared that the government created
+by the compact was not made the final judge, each party having a right
+to ratify or annul that judgment as an individual State, that is, such
+laws as were deemed unconstitutional. This doctrine he prepared, and the
+paper was presented to the legislature where it became known as the
+South Carolina Exposition. The next we see of it is in the Senate of the
+United States, where the doctrine is brought forward by Mr. Hayne, which
+led to his world-famed debate with Mr. Webster.
+
+Then followed the passage of the tariff bill and the nullification act,
+whereby South Carolina signified her determination to resist the laws;
+and the final compromise measure of Henry Clay which happily settled the
+difficulty at this time. Calhoun was now a senator and soon formed one
+of the powerful trio in opposition to president Jackson. He
+characterized Jackson's distribution of the surplus left by the United
+States bank as an attempt to seize onto the power of Congress and unite,
+in his own hands, the sword and purse.
+
+He declared that he had placed himself with the minority to serve his
+gallant State, nor would he turn on his heel if thereby he could be
+placed at the head of the government. He thought that corruption had
+taken such a hold of it that any man who attempted reform would not be
+sustained. The American Anti-slavery Society having sent tracts
+denunciatory to slavery throughout the South, and as it was believed
+that such measures had a tendency to incite the slaves to insurrection,
+Calhoun brought in a bill subjecting to severe punishment any postmaster
+who should knowingly receive any such matter for distribution in any
+State which should pass a law prohibiting the circulation of such. The
+bill failed on a final vote, twenty-five to nineteen.
+
+He maintained that Congress had no jurisdiction over the subject of
+slavery; that it was a recognized institution; that the inequality of
+the negro was manifest; that in slavery they held their true position
+and to change their condition was to place them wholly dependent upon
+the State for support. Calhoun, believed that the relations between the
+races was right, morally and politically, and demanded that the
+institution of slavery be protected.
+
+The bill recommended by Jackson, to restrict the sale of public lands to
+actual settlers and that in limited quantities, drew from him a most
+fiery speech. He claimed that the measure was really in the interest of
+speculators who had loaded themselves with land, and whose interest now
+was to restrict the sale and thus enhance the price of their ill-gotten
+domain. He also claimed that people high in office had speculated
+largely, even some in near relation to the president.
+
+This brought from Jackson a letter that he should either retract his
+words or bring the matter before Congress as an act of impeachment. The
+sole power of impeachment lies within the House of Representatives, and,
+while the senate had previously passed an act denouncing Jackson's
+methods, yet the House of Representatives was overwhelmingly in his
+favor, and he must have known that no impeachment could pass this body.
+
+Jackson realized that such charges needed his attention. Calhoun read
+his letter before the senate pronouncing it a cowardly attempt to
+intimidate, and repeated his charges; stating that not only persons high
+in authority were implied in the charge, but the president's nephew,
+calling his name, was a large speculator.
+
+During the administration of Van Buren came the great financial crash of
+our history; the aggregate of the failures in New York and New Orleans
+alone amounting to $150,000,00. All this trouble had been foretold by
+Calhoun.
+
+Mr. Van Buren's plan of an independent treasury, which created a place
+for all the surplus to accumulate, met with Calhoun's approval, and he
+accordingly separated from Webster and Clay to act in support of what
+was right, notwithstanding his personal feelings toward Van Buren. This
+illustrates the principle of Mr. Calhoun. Notwithstanding his known idea
+of right and wrong, this aroused the indignation of his late allies,
+who could ill spare his vote and powerful influence. The fact that this
+measure, which he had determined to support, is still in existence,
+proves conclusively the wisdom of Calhoun as against both Webster and
+Clay.
+
+Yet, in reply to Calhoun's speech on the Independent Treasury bill, Clay
+used the strongest language, charging him with desertion, and making his
+whole life the subject of one of those powerful invectives so
+characteristic with him. Calhoun answered; Clay replied on the spot, and
+Calhoun answered back.
+
+This was a wonderful example of the different styles of oratory of which
+each was master; Clay, of declamation, invective, wit, humor and bitter
+sarcasm; Calhoun of clear statement and close reasoning. This contest,
+aside from its oratorical power, deserves a place in history. In answer
+to Clay's attack on his life he replied: "I rest my public character
+upon it, and desire it to be read by all who will do me justice."
+
+As a debater, where close reasoning was essential, he was an
+acknowledged leader. The tariff laws of Jackson's time which brought
+this nullification doctrine prominently before the country were
+acknowledged to be drawn in favor of the North, as against the South.
+The least that can be said is that he was honest; and that he was able
+to defend his doctrine no one disputes. Happily manufacturing interests
+are now investing in the South, and the tariff question will right
+itself.
+
+Mr. Calhoun was brilliant and his great aim in life was the defense of
+slavery. He regarded that institution as essential to the very existence
+of the Southern States; therefore thought that the abolition of slavery
+would tend to the overthrow of the South. He declared that the
+Constitution should be revised.
+
+Although never publicly proclaiming such a method, yet it seemed that
+his idea was to elect two Presidents, one from the slave and one from
+the free States, and that no bill of Congress could be ratified without
+their approval. But if Mr. Calhoun was honest in this, as he no doubt
+was, yet his measure would tend to take the power from the many and
+place it within the few, which is contrary to democratic ideas of good
+government.
+
+It was on March 13th, 1850, that he fell exhausted at the close of his
+speech in answer to General Cass, and died soon after. Mr. Webster's
+funeral oration delivered in the Senate upon the announcement of his
+death is a most eloquent yet unexaggerated account of the virtues of
+John C. Calhoun.
+
+"Calhoun was a part of his own intellectual character, which grew out of
+the qualities of his mind. It was plain, strong, wise, condensed,
+concise, still always severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking
+illustration; his power consisted in the plainness of his propositions,
+the clearness of his logic, and the earnestness and energy of his
+manner. No man was more respectful to others; no man carried himself
+with greater decorum; no man with superior dignity. I have not, in
+public or private life, known a man more assiduous in the discharge of
+his duties. Out of the Chambers of Congress he was either devoting
+himself to the acquisition of knowledge pertaining to the immediate
+subject of the duty before him, or else he was indulging in those social
+interviews in which he so much delighted.
+
+"There was a charm in his conversation not often found. He had the
+basis, the indispensible basis of all high character; unspotted
+integrity and honor unimpeached. If he had aspirations they were high,
+honorable and noble; nothing low or meanly come near his head or heart.
+He arose early and was a successful planter; so much so that to have
+been an overseer at 'Fort Hill' was a high recommendation. He dealt
+almost exclusively in solid reasoning when speaking, which was so plain
+that illustration was rarely needed. Certain it is that he was a great
+and good man."
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
+
+
+The renowned debate on the doctrine of nullification in which he was one
+of the principals,--if it were the only act of his life, must make the
+name of Robert Y. Hayne forever illustrious. He was born in 1791, and
+admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one, having been educated in
+Charleston, South Carolina, his native State.
+
+He volunteered early in the war of 1812 and rapidly rose to the position
+of Major-General, being considered one of the best disciplinarians in
+the South. As his old friend, Mr. Ehres, had been chosen to a seat in
+Congress, he succeeded to his large practice, and before he was
+twenty-two he had the most lucrative practice of any lawyer in his
+State.
+
+He was elected to the South Carolina legislature as a member of the
+assembly of 1814, and as speaker of that body four years after taking
+his seat and soon was chosen Attorney General of the State. In every
+position young Haynes was placed he not only acquitted himself with
+credit but won for himself great esteem, and as soon as he was old
+enough to be elligible for United States Senator he was sent by his
+State to defend their interests at the national capitol.
+
+Here he became a most aggressive opponent, culminating in "The battle of
+the giants," the great debate on the interpretation of the constitution.
+Mr. Hayne's speech on this occasion was heralded far and near, and it
+was classed by his supporters with the mightiest efforts of Burke or
+Pitt. Mr. Webster's reply has been generally acknowledged the superior
+effort of the two; but certain it is that whatever may have been the
+tendency of the views espoused by him, Robert Y. Hayne was an honest and
+sincere defender of the doctrine of the State Rights, and was held in
+high esteem by his political opponents.
+
+The obnoxious tariff laws passing, General Hayne was elected Governor of
+his State; the people feeling that they could place the helm of their
+ship in no safer hands during the trying ordeal they felt they were to
+pass through. In replying to President Jackson's celebrated proclamation
+Hayne issued a counter-manifesto full of defiance. Happily the
+compromise of Mr. Clay postponed for thirty years the threatened civil
+war.
+
+The evening of the close of that great debate at a presidential levee,
+Mr. Webster challenged Mr. Hayne to drink a glass of wine with him,
+saying, "General Hayne, I drink to your health, and hope that you may
+live a thousand years." Hayne's disposition is shown by his reply: "I
+shall not live a hundred if you make another such a speech." If he felt
+there was merit in an individual he was quickest to admit it even when
+it might be to his own detriment, and when it is remembered that he was
+one of the first to compliment Webster on his great parliamentary
+success, his noble qualities are shown in their true colors.
+
+After serving in the gubernatorial chair with great distinction he
+retired to become Mayor of Charleston. He now turned his attention
+especially to internal improvements, and soon became president of the
+Charleston, Louisville & Cincinnati Railway. This office he held at his
+death, which occurred in his fiftieth year, September 24th, 1841. There
+are many things in the character of General Hayne worthy of study.
+
+
+
+
+DANIEL WEBSTER.
+
+
+On January 8th, 1782, was born at Franklin, New Hampshire, a son to a
+comparatively poor farmer. No royal blood flowed through the veins of
+this child whereby to bring him honor, yet one day he was to rise to the
+foremost rank among the rulers of his country. At that early period the
+town of Salisbury, now Franklin, was the extreme northern settlement in
+New Hampshire, and the schools were of necessity in a primitive state.
+
+Daniel Webster labored on his father's farm during the summer, and a few
+months of each winter attended the district school some two miles from
+his home. Considering the cold, and the heavy snows which are
+characteristic of his native State, one can scarcely realize the amount
+of energy he must have utilized to enable him to enter Exeter Academy at
+the early age of fourteen, and one year later, Dartmouth College. He is
+represented as promising nothing of his future greatness at this time,
+but it is stated that he pursued every study with EXTRAORDINARY
+TENACITY.
+
+He read widely, especially in history and general English literature,
+and thereby laid a good foundation for the splendid education which his
+personal energy at last brought him. As a matter of course, such a line
+of action must bring out what qualities might be in any man. The college
+societies soon sought him as a member.
+
+While at Exeter he could hardly muster courage to speak before his
+class, but before he had finished his college course he had delivered
+addresses before the societies, which found their way into print. His
+diligence soon placed him at the head of his class, a position he
+maintained until the close of his college studies, graduating in 1801
+with high honors.
+
+Choosing law as his profession, he entered the law office of a friend
+and neighbor, Thomas Thompson, who afterwards became a congressman and
+eventually a senator. Mr. Webster remained here for some time when he
+left the office to become a teacher in Maine at a salary of $350 per
+year, which he enlarged somewhat by copying deeds. He afterwards
+returned to the office of Mr. Thompson where he remained until 1804,
+when he went to Boston and entered the office of Christopher Gove, who
+also distinguished himself afterwards as governor of Massachusetts.
+
+He had previously helped his brother Ezekiel to prepare for college, and
+Daniel now in turn was helped to continue his law studies as Ezekiel was
+teaching. His opportunity to enter the office of Mr. Gove proved most
+fortunate, as he was thus enabled to study men, books and daily hear
+intelligent discussions on the topics of national interest.
+
+In 1805 he was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Boscawen.
+He had been offered the clerkship of the Hillsboro County Court at a
+salary of $1,500 a year, which was then a large income, and he was urged
+to accept it by his father and other friends, but was dissuaded from so
+doing by Mr. Gove, who foresaw great honor in store for him at the bar.
+He practiced at Boscawen one year, when he was admitted to practice in
+the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and he established himself at
+Portsmouth, at that time the capital of the State. Here he rose to
+distinction among the most eminent counsellors. During his nine years
+residence in Portsmouth he gave his especial attention to constitutional
+law, becoming one of the soundest practitioners in the State.
+
+He had inherited from his father the principles of the Federalist party,
+and, therefore, advocated them in speeches on public occasions, but did
+not for some years enter into politics. Mr. Webster came forward in a
+time when party spirit ran high, and the declaration of war in 1812,
+long deprecated by his party, created a demand for the best talent the
+country afforded. Mr. Webster now held a commanding reputation, and in
+1812 he was sent to Congress. This was a most favorable time for Webster
+to enter Congress, as measures of the greatest importance were now to be
+discussed.
+
+Henry Clay was speaker of the house, and placed this new member on a
+most important committee. June 10, 1813, he delivered his maiden speech
+on the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. These decrees were a
+scheme of Napoleon's, avowedly directed against the commercial
+interests of Great Britain.
+
+They closed all ports of France, and her allied countries against all
+vessels coming from England or any English colony. All commerce and
+correspondence was prohibited. All English merchandise was seized, and
+English subjects found in any country governed by France were held
+prisoners of war.
+
+Great Britain retaliated by prohibiting neutral vessels from entering
+the ports of France under pain of confiscation; and a later order placed
+France and her allies, together with all countries with whom England was
+at war, under the same restriction.
+
+Napoleon then issued his decree from Milan and the Tuileries declaring
+that any vessel that had ever been searched by English authority, or had
+ever paid duty to England, should be treated as a lawful prize of war.
+
+Mr. Webster's first speech, as before stated, was upon a resolution on
+the repeal of these decrees, and so ably did he define our duty as a
+country, in the matter, and so clearly did he show wherein both England
+and France had transgressed; that, being a new member, unknown outside
+of his own section of the Union, his lucid and eloquent appeal took the
+house and nation by surprise.
+
+His subsequent speeches on the increase of the navy and the repeal of
+the embargo act won for him a first place among the great debaters of
+his day. He cultivated a friendly relation with political opponents as
+well as partisan friends, which soon gained for him the respect of all
+and he became the acknowledged leader of the Federal party. He was
+re-elected to Congress in 1814 by a large majority, and in the debates
+upon the United States bank which followed, he displayed a most
+remarkable mastery of the financial questions of his time. Afterward a
+bill which was introduced by him passed, requiring all payments to the
+treasury to be made in specie or its equivalent, restored the
+depreciated currency of the country.
+
+His home and library was burned and after some hesitation as to whether
+to locate in Boston or Albany, he decided on the former whither he
+moved, and where he lived the remainder of his life. This change of
+location gave greater scope for the extension of his legal business, and
+his resignation from Congress increased still further his time and
+opportunities. During the next seven years he devoted his exclusive
+attention to his profession, taking a position as counsellor, above
+which no one has ever risen in this country, and the best class of
+business passed into his hands.
+
+In 1816 the legislature of New Hampshire reorganized the corporation of
+Dartmouth College, changing its name to Dartmouth University, and
+selecting new trustees. The newly-created body took possession of the
+institution, and the old board brought action against the new
+management. The case involved the powers of the legislature over the old
+corporation without their consent. It was decided twice in the
+affirmative by the courts of the State, when it was appealed to
+Washington, the highest court.
+
+Mr. Webster opened the case, delivering a most eloquent and exhaustive
+argument for the college. His argument was that it was a private
+institution supported through charity, over which the State had no
+control, and that the legislature could not annul except for acts in
+violation of its charter, which had not been shown. Chief Justice
+Marshal decided that the act of the legisature was unconstitutional and
+reversed the previous decisions. This established Mr. Webster's
+reputation in the Supreme Court, and he was retained in every
+considerable case thereafter, being considered one of the greatest
+expounders of constitutional law in the Union.
+
+He was already acknowledged to be among the greatest criminal lawyers,
+and at the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrim fathers he
+delivered the first of a series of orations which, aside from his legal
+and legislative achievements must have made him renowned. He was elected
+in 1822 to congress, being chosen from Boston, and during 1823 made his
+world-famous speech on the Greek revolution; a most powerful
+remonstrance against what has passed into history as "The holy
+alliance," and he also opposed an extravagant increase of the tariff. He
+also reported and carried through the house a complete revision of the
+criminal law of the United States, being chairman of the judiciary
+committee. In 1827 he was selected by the legislature of Massachusetts
+to fill a vacancy in the United States senate. In that body he won a
+foremost position.
+
+Probably the most eloquent exhibition of oratory, based on logic and
+true statesmanship, ever exhibited in the Senate of the United States
+was the contest between Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Hayne,
+the silver-tongued orator of South Carolina; the debate transpiring in
+1830. The subject of discussion before the senate by these two
+intellectual gladiators grew out of a resolution brought forward by
+Senator Foot, of Connecticut, just at the close of the previous year
+with a view of some arrangement concerning the sales of the public
+lands. But this immediate question was soon lost sight of in the
+discussion of a great vital principle of constitutional law, namely:
+The relative powers of the States and the national government.
+
+Upon this Mr. Benton and Mr. Hayne addressed the Senate, condemning the
+policy of the Eastern States as illiberal toward the West. Mr. Webster
+replied in vindication of New England, and of the policy of the
+Government. It was then that Mr. Hayne made his attack--sudden,
+unexpected, and certainly unexampled--upon Mr. Webster personally, upon
+Massachusetts and other Northern States politically, and upon the
+constitution itself. In respect to the latter, Mr. Hayne taking the
+position that it is constitutional to interrupt the administration of
+the Constitution itself, in the hands of those who are chosen and sworn
+to administer it; by the direct interference in form of law, of the
+States, in virtue of their sovereign capacity.
+
+All of these points were handled by Mr. Hayne with that rhetorical
+brilliancy, and the power which characterized him as the oratorical
+champion of the South on the floor of the Senate, and it is not saying
+too much that the speech produced a profound impression. Mr. Hayne's
+great effort appeared to be the result of premeditation, concert, and
+arrangement.
+
+He selected his own time, and that, too, peculiarly inconvenient to Mr.
+Webster, for at that moment the Supreme Court was proceeding in the
+hearing of a case of great importance in which he was a leading counsel.
+For this reason he requested, through a friend, the postponement of the
+debate. Mr. Hayne objected, however, and the request was refused. The
+time, the matter, and the manner, indicated that the attack was made
+with the design to crush so formidable a political opponent as Mr.
+Webster had become. To this end, personal history, the annals of New
+England, and the federal party were ransacked for materials.
+
+It was attempted with the usual partisan unfairness of political
+harangues to make him responsible not only for what was his own, but for
+the conduct and opinions of others. All the errors and delinquencies,
+real or supposed, of Massachusetts and the Eastern States, and of the
+Federal party during the war of 1812, and indeed prior and subsequent to
+that period were accumulated and heaped upon him.
+
+Thus it was that Mr. Hayne heralded his speech with a bold declaration
+of war, with taunts and threats, vaunting anticipated triumph--saying
+'that he would carry the war into Africa until he had obtained indemnity
+for the past and security for the future.' It was supposed that as a
+distinguished representative man, Mr. Webster would be driven to defend
+what was indefensible, to uphold what could not be sustained and, as a
+Federalist, to oppose the popular resolutions of '98.
+
+The severe nature of Mr. Hayne's charges, the ability with which he
+brought them to bear upon his opponents, his great reputation as a
+brilliant and powerful declaimer, filled the minds of his friends with
+anticipations of complete triumph. For two days Mr. Hayne had control of
+the floor. The vehemence of his language and the earnestness of his
+manner, we might properly say the power of his oratory, added force to
+the excitement of the occasion. So fluent and melodious was his
+elocution that his cause naturally begat sympathy. No one had time to
+deliberate on his rapid words or canvass his sweeping and accumulated
+statements. The dashing nature of the onset, the assurance, almost
+insolence of his tone; the serious character of the accusations,
+confounded almost every hearer.
+
+The immediate impression of the speech was most surely disheartening to
+the cause Mr. Webster upheld. Congratulations from almost every quarter
+were showered upon Mr. Hayne. Mr. Benton said in full senate that as
+much as Mr. Hayne had done before to establish his reputation as an
+orator, a statesman, a patriot and a gallant son of the South; the
+efforts of that day would eclipse and surpass the whole. Indeed the
+speech was extolled as the greatest effort of the time or of other
+times--neither Chatham or Burke nor Fox had surpassed it in their
+palmiest days.
+
+Mr. Webster's own feelings with reference to the speech were freely
+expressed to his friend, Mr. Everett, the evening succeeding Mr. Hayne's
+closing speech. He regarded the speech as an entirely unprovoked attack
+on the North, and what was of far more importance, as an exposition of
+politics in which Mr. Webster's opinion went far to change the form of
+government from that which was established by the constitution into that
+which existed under the confederation--if the latter could be called a
+government at all. He stated it to be his intention therefore to put
+that theory to rest forever, as far as it could be done by an argument
+in the senate chamber. How grandly he did this is thus vividly portrayed
+by Mr. March, an eye-witness, and whose account has been adopted by most
+historians.
+
+It was on Tuesday, January 26th, 1830--a day to be hereafter memorable
+in senatorial annals--that the senate resumed the consideration of
+Foot's resolution. There was never before in the city an occasion of so
+much excitement. To witness this great intellectual contest multitudes
+of strangers had, for two or more days previous, been rushing into the
+city, and the hotels overflowed. As early as nine o'clock in the morning
+crowds poured into the capitol in hot haste; at twelve o'clock, the hour
+of meeting, the senate chamber, even its galleries, floor, and lobbies
+was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stairways were dark with men
+who hung on to one another like bees in a swarm.
+
+The House of Representatives was early deserted. An adjournment would
+hardly have made it emptier. The speaker, it is true, retained his
+chair, but no business of moment was or could be attended to. Members
+all rushed in to hear Mr. Webster, and no call of the House or other
+parliamentary proceedings could call them back. The floor of the Senate
+was so densely crowded that persons once in could not get out.
+
+Seldom, if ever, has a speaker in this or any other country had more
+powerful incentives to exertion; a subject, the determination of which
+involved the most important interests and even duration of the
+Republic--competitors unequaled in reputation, ability, or position; a
+name to make still more renowned or lose forever; and an audience
+comprising, not only American citizens most eminent in intellectual
+greatness, but representatives of other nations where the art of oratory
+had flourished for ages.
+
+Mr. Webster perceived and felt equal to the destinies of the moment. The
+very greatness of the hazard exhilarated him. His spirits arose with the
+occasion. He awaited the time of onset with a stern and impatient joy.
+He felt like the war-horse of the Scriptures, who 'paweth in the valley
+and rejoiceth in his strength: who goeth on to meet the armed men who
+sayeth among the trumpets, ha! ha! and who smelleth the battle afar
+off, the thunder of the Captains and the shouting.'
+
+A confidence in his resources, springing from no vain estimate of his
+power but the legitimate off-spring of previous SEVERE MENTAL
+DISCIPLINE, sustained and excited him. He had gauged his opponents, his
+_subject_ and HIMSELF.
+
+He was, too, at this period in the very prime of manhood. He had reached
+middle-age--an era in the life of man when the faculties, physical or
+intellectual, may be supposed to attain their fullest organization and
+most perfect development. Whatever there was in him of intellectual
+energy and vitality the occasion, his full life and high ambition might
+well bring forth. He never arose on an ordinary occasion to address an
+ordinary audience more self-possessed. There was no tremulousness in his
+voice or manner; nothing hurried, nothing simulated. The calmness of
+superior strength was visible everywhere; in countenance, voice and
+bearing. A deep-seated conviction of the extraordinary character of the
+emergency and of his ability to control it seemed to possess him wholly.
+If an observer more than ordinarily keen-sighted detected at times
+something like exultation in his eye, he presumed it sprang from the
+excitement of the moment and the anticipation of victory. The anxiety to
+hear the speech was so intense, irrepressible and universal that no
+sooner had the vice-president assumed the chair that a motion was made
+and unanimously carried to postpone the ordinary preliminaries of
+senatorial action and take up immediately the consideration of the
+resolution.
+
+Mr. Webster arose and addressed the Senate. His exordium is known by
+heart everywhere. "Mr. President when the mariner has been tossed about
+for many days in thick weather and on an unknown sea he naturally avails
+himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun
+to take his latitude and ascertain how far the elements have driven him
+from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence and before we float
+further on the waves of this debate refer to the point from which we
+departed that we may at least be able to form some conjecture where we
+now are. I ask for the reading of the resolutions."
+
+Calm, resolute, impressive was this opening speech. There wanted no more
+to enchain the attention. There was a spontaneous though silent
+expression of eager attention as the orator concluded these opening
+remarks. And while the clerk read the resolution many attempted the
+impossibility of getting nearer the speaker. Every head was inclined
+closer toward him, every ear turned in the direction of his voice--and
+that deep, sudden, mysterious silence followed which always attends
+fullness of emotion. From the sea of upturned faces before him the
+orator beheld his thought, reflected as from a mirror. The varying
+countenance, the suffused eye, the earnest smile and ever attentive look
+assured him of the intense interest excited. If among his hearers there
+were some who affected indifference at first to his glowing thoughts and
+fervant periods, the difficult mask was soon laid aside and profound,
+undisguised, devout attention followed.
+
+In truth, all sooner or later, voluntarily, or in spite of themselves
+were wholly carried away by the spell of such unexampled eloquence.
+Those who had doubted Mr. Webster's power to cope with and overcome his
+opponent were fully satisfied of their error before he had proceeded
+far in this debate. Their fears soon took another direction. When they
+heard his sentences of powerful thought towering in accumulated grandeur
+one above the other as if the orator strove Titan-like to reach the very
+heavens themselves, they were giddy with an apprehension that he would
+break down in his flight. They dared not believe that genius,
+learning--any intellectual endowment however uncommon, that was simply
+mortal--could sustain itself long in a career seemingly so perilous.
+They feared an Icarian fall. No one surely who was present, could ever
+forget the awful burst of eloquence with which the orator apostrophized
+the old Bay State which Mr. Hayne had so derided, or the tones of deep
+pathos in which her defense was pronounced:--
+
+"Mr. President: I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts. There
+she is--behold her and judge for yourselves. There is her history, the
+world knows it by heart. The past at least is secure. There is Boston,
+and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and there they will remain
+forever. The bones of her sons falling in the great struggle for
+independence now lie mingled with the soil of every State from New
+England to Georgia, and there they will remain forever. And sir, where
+American liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was
+nurtured and sustained, there it still lives in the strength of its
+manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall
+wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it,
+if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary
+restraint, shall succeed to separate it from that Union by which alone
+its existence is made sure it will stand in the end by the side of that
+cradle in which its infancy was rocked, it will stretch forth its arm
+with whatever vigor it may still retain over the friends who gather
+around it and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest
+monuments of its own glory and on the very spot of its origin."
+
+No New England heart but throbbed with vehement emotion as Mr. Webster
+dwelt upon New England sufferings, New England struggles, and New
+England triumphs during the war of the Revolution. There was scarcely a
+dry eye in the Senate; all hearts were overcome; grave judges and men
+grown old in dignified life turned aside their heads to conceal the
+evidence of their emotion.
+
+We presume that none but those present can understand the excitement of
+the scene. No one who was present can, it seems, give an adequate
+description of it. No word-painting can convey the deep, intense
+enthusiasm, the reverential attention of that vast assembly, nor limner
+transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, awe-struck countenances. Though
+language were as subtle and flexible as thought it would still be
+impossible to represent the full idea of the occasion. Much of the
+instantaneous effect of the speech arose of course from the orator's
+delivery--the tones of his voice, his countenance and manner. These die
+mostly with the occasion, they can only be described in general terms.
+
+"Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts," says Mr.
+Everett, himself almost without a peer as an orator, "it would be in
+vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has
+been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest
+living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never
+heard anything which so completely realized my conception of what
+Demosthenes was when he delivered the oration for the Crown."
+
+Could there be higher praise than this? Keen nor Kemble nor any other
+masterly delineator of the human passions ever produced a more powerful
+impression upon an audience or swayed so completely their hearts. No one
+ever looked the orator as he did; in form and feature how like a god!
+His countenance spake no less audibly than his words. His manner gave
+new force to his language. As he stood swaying his right arm like a huge
+tilt-hammer, up and down, his swarthy countenance lighted up with
+excitement, he appeared amid the smoke, the fire, the thunder of his
+eloquence like Vulcan in his armory forging thoughts for the gods!
+
+Time had not thinned nor bleached his hair; it was as dark as the
+raven's plumage, surmounting his massive brow in ample folds. His eye
+always dark and deep-set enkindled by some glowing thought shown from
+beneath his somber overhanging brow like lights in the blackness of
+night from a sepulcher. No one understood better than Mr. Webster the
+philosophy of dress; what a powerful auxiliary it is to speech and
+manner when harmonizing with them. On this occasion he appeared in a
+blue coat, a buff vest, black pants and white cravat; a costume
+strikingly in keeping with his face and expression. The human face never
+wore an expression of more withering, relentless scorn than when the
+orator replied to Hayne's allusion to the "Murdered Coalition"--a piece
+of stale political trumpery well understood at that day.
+
+"It is," said Mr. Webster, "the very cast off slough of a polluted and
+shameless press. Incapable of further mischief it lies in the sewer,
+lifeless and despised. It is not now, sir, in the power of the honorable
+member to give it dignity or decency by attempting to elevate it and
+introduce it into the Senate. He cannot change it from what it is--an
+object of general disgust and scorn. On the contrary, the contact, if he
+choose to touch it, is more likely to drag him down, down, down to the
+place where it lies itself." He looked as he spoke these words as if the
+thing he alluded to was too mean for scorn itself, and the sharp
+stinging enunciation made the words still more scathing. The audience
+seemed relieved, so crushing was the expression of his face which they
+held onto as 'twere spell-bound--when he turned to other topics. But the
+good-natured yet provoking irony with which he described the imaginary,
+though life-like scene of direct collision between the marshaled army of
+South Carolina under General Hayne on the one side, and the officers of
+the United States on the other, nettled his opponent even more than his
+severe satire, it seemed so ridiculously true.
+
+With his true Southern blood Hayne inquired with some degree of emotion
+if the gentleman from Massachusetts intended any _personal_ imputation
+by such remarks? To which Mr. Webster replied with perfect good humor,
+"Assuredly not, just the reverse!" The variety of incident during the
+speech, and the rapid fluctuation of passions, kept the audience in
+continual expectation and ceaseless agitation. The speech was a complete
+drama of serious comic and pathetic scenes, and though a large portion
+of it was argumentative--an exposition of constitutional law--yet grave
+as such portion necessarily must be, severely logical and abounding in
+no fancy or episode, it engrossed throughout undivided attention. The
+swell of his voice and its solemn roll struck upon the ears of the
+enraptured hearers in deep and thrilling cadence as waves upon the
+shore of the far-resounding sea.
+
+The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his great
+thoughts and raised his hearers up to his theme, and his voice exerted
+to its utmost power penetrated every recess or corner of the
+Senate--penetrated even the ante-rooms and stairways, as in closing he
+pronounced in deepest tones of pathos these words of solemn
+significance: "When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time
+the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and
+dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered,
+discordant, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched,
+it may be, in fraternal blood.
+
+"Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous
+ensign of the Republic now known and honored throughout the earth; still
+full, high, advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original
+lustre, not a stripe erased nor polluted, not a single star obscured,
+bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is all
+this worth?' nor those other words of folly and delusion: 'Liberty first
+and Union afterwards,' but everywhere spread all over it characters of
+living light blazing on all of its ample folds as they float over the
+sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens that
+other sentiment dear to every American heart: 'LIBERTY AND UNION NOW AND
+FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE!'"
+
+The speech was over but the tones of the orator still lingered on the
+ear, and the audience, unconscious of the close, retained their
+positions. Everywhere around seemed forgetfulness of all but the
+orator's presence and words. There never was a deeper silence; the
+feeling was too overpowering to allow expression by voice or hand. But
+the descending hammer of the chair awoke them with a start, and with one
+universal, long drawn, deep breath, with which the over-charged heart
+seeks relief, the crowded assembly broke up and departed.
+
+In the evening President Jackson held a levee at the White House. It was
+known in advance that Mr. Webster would attend it, and hardly had the
+hospitable doors of the mansion been thrown open, when the crowd that
+had filled the Senate-Chamber in the morning rushed in and occupied the
+room, leaving a vast and increasing crowd at the entrance. On all
+previous occasions the general himself had been the observed of all
+observers. His receptions were always gladly attended by large numbers,
+and to these he himself was always the chief object of attraction on
+account of his great military and personal reputation, official
+position, gallant bearing, and courteous manners. But on this occasion
+the room in which he received his company was deserted as soon as
+courtesy to the president permitted.
+
+Mr. Webster was in the East room and thither the whole mass hurried. He
+stood almost in the center of the room pressed upon by surging crowds
+eager to pay him deference. Hayne, too, was there, and with others went
+up and complimented Mr. Webster on his brilliant effort. In a subsequent
+meeting between the two rival debators Webster challenged Hayne to drink
+a glass of wine with him, saying as he did so, "General Hayne I drink to
+your health, and I hope that you may live a thousand years." "I shall
+not live more than one hundred if you make another such a speech," Hayne
+replied.
+
+To this day Webster's speech is regarded as the master-piece of modern
+eloquence--unsurpassed by even the mightiest efforts of either Pitt, Fox
+or Burke--a matchless intellectual achievement and complete forensic
+triumph. It was to this great, triumphant effort that Mr. Webster's
+subsequent fame as a statesman was due.
+
+Upon the election of General Harrison to the presidency Mr. Webster was
+offered his choice of the places in the cabinet, a recognition of
+ability probably never accorded to any other man before or since. He
+finally accepted the office of Secretary of State. Our relation with
+England demanded prompt attention. The differences existing between the
+two nations relative to the Northern boundary could not be disregarded,
+and Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton brought about a treaty which was
+equally honorable and advantageous to the countries. He was also able
+later to contribute much toward the settlement of the Oregon boundary
+question through private channels of influence, though holding no
+official position at the time.
+
+In 1847 he started on a tour of the Southern States, being well received
+throughout; especially in Charleston, Columbia, Augusta and Savannah was
+as well received, but his health failing him in the latter city, he was
+obliged to abandon his project of making a tour of the whole South. He
+became Secretary of State under Mr. Fillmore. This position he held at
+his death which occurred at Marshfield, on the 24th day of October,
+1852. Funeral orations were delivered throughout the country in great
+numbers.
+
+He was a man of commanding figure, large but well proportioned. His head
+was of unusual size, his eyes deep-seated and lustrious, and had a voice
+powerful yet pleasing; his action, while not remarkably graceful, was
+easy and impressive. His social tastes were very strong and he possessed
+marked conversational power. He lived in an age of great legislators and
+it is needless to add that he was excelled in statesmanship by none.
+
+Professor Ticknor, speaking in one of his letters of the intense
+excitement with which he listened to Webster's Plymouth address, says:
+"Three or four times I thought my temples would burst with the gush of
+blood, for after all you must know I am aware it is no connected and
+compact whole, but a collection of broken fragments, of burning
+eloquence to which his manner gave ten fold force. When I came out I was
+almost afraid to come near him. It seemed to me that he was like the
+mount that might not be touched, and that burned with fire."
+
+
+
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+Of all the Presidents of the United States Andrew Jackson was, perhaps,
+the most peculiar. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his parents coming to
+this country in 1765 from Ireland and settling in the northern part of
+South Carolina on the Waxhaw Creek. They had been very poor in the old
+country, his father tilling a small farm while the mother was a weaver
+of linen. His father never owned land in America, and died soon after he
+arrived in this country, little Andrew being born about the time of his
+death. One would hardly be justified in supposing young Jackson would
+one day be ruler of a great nation, rising as he did from such a
+beginning, yet such are the possibilities in our glorious republic.
+
+His mother wished to make a preacher of him, but his boyhood is
+represented as mischievous; to say the least, his belligerent nature
+breaking out in childhood, and his mother's fond hope was signally
+defeated. He was passionately fond of athletic sports, and was excelled
+by none of his years. The determination he evinced in every undertaking
+guided by his maxim of "Ask nothing but what is right--submit to nothing
+wrong," seemed to be the key-note of his success, for he was not
+addicted to books, and his education was limited.
+
+Being an eye-witness of the horrible massacre perpetrated by the bloody
+Tarlton at the Waxsaw settlement his patriotic zeal was terribly
+awakened, and at the tender age of thirteen we find him among the
+American forces, and his military career begins at Hanging Rock, where
+he witnesses the defeat of Sumter, and he is soon a prisoner of the
+enemy. The English officer ordered him to black his boots; at this all
+the lion in young Jackson is aroused, and he indignantly refuses,
+whereupon the officer strikes him twice with his sword, inflicting two
+ugly wounds, one on his arm, the other on his head. He had the small-pox
+while a prisoner, but his mother effected his exchange, and after a long
+illness he recovered, but his brother died of the same disease.
+
+Soon after his mother was taken from him--his other brother was killed
+at Stono; thus left alone in the world he began a reckless course, which
+must have been his ruin but for a sudden change for the better, when he
+began the study of law at Salisbury, North Carolina, and before he was
+twenty was licensed to practice.
+
+Being appointed solicitor for the western district of North
+Carolina--now Tennessee--he removed to Nashville, 1788. His practice
+soon became large which, in those days, meant a great deal of travel on
+horseback. He made twenty-two trips between Nashville and Jonesborough
+during his first seven years, and dangerous trips they were, too, for
+the Indians were numerous and hostile. When he came to Nashville he
+entered, as a boarder, the family of Mrs. Donelson, a widow.
+
+A Mr. and Mrs. Robards were boarders at the same home. Mr. Robards
+becoming foolishly jealous of young Jackson applied to the legislature
+of Virginia for an act preliminary to a divorce. Jackson and Mrs.
+Robards, thinking the act of the legislature was a divorce of itself,
+were married before the action of the court. Judge Overton, a friend,
+was himself surprised to learn that the act of the legislature was not a
+divorce, and through his advice they were again married in the early
+part of 1794. The fact that Captain Robards' own family sustained Mrs.
+Robards in the controversy with her husband must strongly point to the
+groundlessness of the charges; while it is further conceded that Andrew
+Jackson was not the first victim of the suspicious nature of Captain
+Robards. However, this can never be regarded otherwise than a most
+unfortunate period in the life of Andrew Jackson, it being the immediate
+cause of more than one of the many obstacles with which he was obliged
+to contend in after years.
+
+He was appointed district attorney of Tennessee when that country became
+a federal territory, and in 1796 when Tennessee became a State, he was a
+man of no small wealth. On January 11th, 1796, a convention met at
+Knoxville to draft a constitution for the new State, and Jackson was
+chosen one of five delegates from Davidson county to meet the other
+members from over the State. He was appointed on the committee to draft
+that important document. Having been elected to represent his State in
+the popular branch of Congress he accordingly took his seat in that
+legislative body in December, 1796. As Jackson entered the house on the
+eve of the retirement from public life of Washington, he voted on the
+measure approving Washington's administration; and, as he could not
+conscientiously vote otherwise, not approving some of Washington's
+measures, he is recorded among the twelve who voted in the negative.
+
+He at this time belonged to the so-called Republican party, now
+Democratic, which was then forming under Jefferson, the incoming
+vice-president, under the Federal Adams. His record in Congress is made
+exemplary by his action on three important bills, namely: Against buying
+peace of the Algerians, against a needlessly large appropriation for
+repairing the house of the president, and against the removal of the
+restriction confining the expenditure of public money to the specific
+objects for which said money was appropriated.
+
+As would be natural, such a course was highly approved by his
+constituents, and he was made a senator in 1797, but his senatorial
+career was not so fruitful, as it is believed that he never made a
+speech nor ever voted once and resigned his seat in less than a year. He
+was elected a justice of the supreme court of Tennessee, but he did
+nothing remarkable here either as none of his decisions remain. Nothing
+of note occurred for some time except his becoming involved in a quarrel
+with Governor Sevier, which came to a crisis in 1801, when Jackson was
+made Major-General of militia over Sevier. Jackson suspected Sevier of
+being involved in certain land frauds, and a duel was averted only by
+the influence of friends.
+
+About this time Jackson became financially embarrassed. Thinking himself
+secure, he sold a large amount of land to a gentleman in Philadelphia,
+and, taking his notes, bought goods for the Tennessee market, depending
+on these notes for payment. The failure of these threw him into great
+difficulties; but his firm will came to his aid once more and saved him.
+He immediately resigned the position of judge, and sold land enough to
+clear himself from debt. He is said to have now removed to what
+subsequently became known as the "Hermitage," taking all his slaves, and
+dwelling in a log house.
+
+He extended his business, being now at the head of the firm of Jackson,
+Coffee and Hatchings. This was a trading firm, raising wheat, corn,
+cotton, mules, cows and horses, it being a concern whose business
+extended to New Orleans, but it lost money, and finally came to an end,
+although through no fault of Jackson, as he generally carried to success
+whatever he personally managed, and this embarrassment grew out of
+reckless proceedings during his absence. We now come upon another dark
+page of Jackson's life.
+
+During the year 1806 a quarrel was started, which led to the death of
+Charles Dickinson. This is one of his quarrels resulting indirectly from
+the manner in which he become married to Mrs. Robards. This Dickinson
+had spoken offensively of Mrs. Jackson, he once retracted his words and
+renewed them. In the meantime Jackson became involved in a quarrel with
+a man by the name of Swann over the terms of a horse race, and Jackson
+used some strong language relative to Dickinson, whose name had been
+meaningly introduced. Jackson's words were carried to Dickinson, as it
+appears he had intended. Afterward the quarrel with Swann resulted in a
+bar-room fight, it is said, begun by Jackson.
+
+About this time Dickinson wrote a very severe attack on Jackson and
+published it. Jackson challenged him and the parties met a long day's
+journey from Nashville, on the banks of the Red River, in Logan county,
+Kentucky. Dickinson was a very popular man in Nashville, and he was
+attended by a number of associates. Dickinson's second was a Dr. Catlet;
+Jackson's, General Overton.
+
+Dickinson fired first and his ball took effect, breaking a rib and
+raking the breastbone, but Jackson never stirred nor gave evidence of
+being hit. His object was to hide from his adversary the pleasure of
+knowing that he had even grazed his mark, for Dickinson considered
+himself a great shot and was certain of killing him at the first fire.
+Seeing he had missed he exclaimed, My God! Have I missed him? Jackson
+then fired and Dickinson fell mortally wounded, dying that night without
+knowing his aim had taken any effect. This duel was another most
+unfortunate thing for Jackson, and caused him great unpopularity in
+Tennessee until his military victories turned popular attention from it.
+
+Jackson lived a comparatively quiet life for the few years following,
+nothing of importance happening except his mistaken connection with
+Aaron Burr, and quarrel with a Mr. Dinsmore, an agent of the Choctaw
+Indians. In 1812 the second war with Great Britain broke out and Jackson
+at once tendered his services to the government; they were gladly
+accepted and the rest of the year was devoted by him in raising more
+troops and organizing them for active service. During the early part of
+1813 he started across the country, but for some reason the Secretary of
+War ordered him to disband his forces, but he marched them back to
+Tennessee. It was on this march that he received the name of "Hickory,"
+which afterwards became "Old Hickory."
+
+Arriving at Nashville he tendered his troops to the Government for an
+invasion of Canada but the Secretary of War never even answered his
+proposal, and finally he disbanded the forces on May 22nd. The
+government failed to sustain him and his transportation drafts were
+allowed to go to protest. This must have ruined Jackson had it not been
+for his friend Colonel Benton, who made an appeal which the government
+felt bound to comply with, as it was made plain that it would lose the
+service of Tennessee if such a preposterous act was persisted in.
+
+Thus he was saved from what might have been an irretrievable financial
+misfortune. Through deceitfulness in others he was led to a disgraceful
+quarrel with his intimate friend, Colonel Benton, who had helped him so
+much at Washington. The difficulty with the Creek Indians arising;
+Jackson with his characteristic energy helped to subjugate them. His
+victory over the Indians of Horse Shoe Bend is so familiar to every
+American school-boy that it is needless to relate the details. He now
+gained a national reputation, and was made a major-general in the United
+States army, and soon became the acknowledged military leader of the
+southwest.
+
+From now General Jackson's star grew steadily brighter, and he began to
+develop the sterling qualities which he unmistakably possessed. During
+the progress of the war the Spanish authorities who then controlled
+Florida, had neither the power nor disposition to demand of the British
+due regard to the rights of neutral territory. They seemed to sympathize
+with England, as Jackson could gain no satisfaction through his
+correspondence with them, and as neither the Spanish or British could be
+induced to change their purpose, Jackson, as was his custom both in
+politics and war ever afterward, determined to act without orders.
+
+He immediately moved upon Pensacola, razed the town and drove the
+English forces out of Florida. Returning to Mobile he learned of the
+plan of the British to conquer Louisiana. He immediately marched to New
+Orleans, but the city was miserably defended, and his own forces were a
+motley crew, consisting of about two thousand. But Jackson made the most
+of his opportunities. He learned the plan of the British from the chief
+of a band of smugglers. After a few preliminary battles in which as a
+whole the Americans were victorious, the British army, now twelve
+thousand strong, was joined by General Packenham, who was a
+brother-in-law of the great Duke of Wellington, who changed the plans of
+the British army. Jackson, at this time, was joined by about two
+thousand more troops, but they were poorly armed.
+
+The British captured a whole fleet of gun-boats. This left the way
+clear, and it is thought that had the British pushed in then, as Jackson
+would have done, nothing could have saved the day for America. Jackson
+fell back and threw up earth-works, cotton-bales and sand-bags for
+protection, and waited for the enemy. On the memorable day, the eighth
+of January, the army advanced; Ridpath says, "They went to a terrible
+fate."
+
+Packenham hurled column after column at the American breast-works only
+to return bleeding and torn. The Americans were well protected while
+the veterans of England were exposed to the fire of the Tennessee and
+Kentucky riflemen and the result was awful, the enemy losing not only
+General Packenham, their commander, but also General Gibbs, leaving only
+General Lambert to lead the forces from the field, General Keen being
+wounded. The loss of the enemy was about two thousand killed, wounded,
+and prisoners. The Americans' loss was eight killed and thirteen
+wounded.
+
+This battle was a most fortunate thing for Jackson for the reputation
+this gained for him added to that already gained in deciding forever the
+white man's supremacy in America, undoubtedly made him President of the
+United States. He became Governor of Florida when that Territory was
+ceded to the United States by Spain in 1821, but he held the position
+only a few months. In 1828 the Tennessee Legislature made him a Senator,
+and later he was nominated for the Presidency. This at first was not
+regarded seriously, as many had misgivings as to his capability as a
+legislator, although all admitted his military power. The election
+proved that he had great political strength as well, receiving the
+largest number of electoral votes, 99, to 84 for Adams, 41 for Crawford,
+and 37 for Clay. As no one had a majority the case was decided by
+Congress, who gave the place to Adams.
+
+The opposition to the administration united under Jackson, and in the
+next election he was triumphantly elected, receiving 178 electoral votes
+to 83 for Adams. In this campaign Jackson's private life was bitterly
+assailed, especially was the manner in which he came to be married
+misrepresented. His wife died only a short time after his election, it
+is said, from the influence of the vile stories which were circulated
+regarding her.
+
+He entered upon his duties as President, with his characteristic
+firmness. A rupture soon arose between him and the Vice-President, Mr.
+Calhoun, and this was intensified when Calhoun's nullification views
+became known. The Democratic party outside of South Carolina supported
+the administration. The cabinet was soon changed. During his
+administration over seventeen hundred removals from office were made,
+more than had occurred in all previous administrations. His appointments
+gave much offence to some, and with a degree of reason, it must be
+admitted, as they were selected wholly from his political friends,
+notwithstanding his previously avowed principles, which were implied in
+his advice to Mr. Monroe in the selection of his Cabinet. However, some
+allowance should be made as Jackson had a seeming rebellion on hand, and
+one hardly could blame him for desiring men on whom he knew he could
+depend in the promised hours of peril.
+
+The tariff laws were especially obnoxious to South Carolina, of the
+Southern States. Now Jackson was opposed to the tariff laws himself, but
+as long as the laws remained he proposed that they should be enforced
+and when South Carolina met at Columbia and passed resolutions to resist
+the existing laws and declaring in favor of State rights, he promptly
+sent forces to quell the promised rebellion. Seeing what kind of a man
+they had to deal with the nullifiers were glad to seize the excuse for
+not proceeding, which Clay's Compromise Bill afforded. This bill reduced
+the duties gradually until at the end of ten years they would reach the
+standard desired by the South. His re-election was even more conclusive
+than the former, inasmuch as it was found that he had carried every
+State save seven. His principal opponent was Henry Clay, who represented
+the party in favor of renewing the charter of the United States bank.
+Jackson was bitterly opposed to this institution, vetoed the bill to
+re-charter the bank, and an effort to pass the bill over his head
+failing to receive a two-thirds vote, the bank ceased to exist.
+
+He conceived the idea of distributing the surplus left by the bank,
+about ten millions, among certain banks named for that purpose. He had
+no acknowledged authority for this but he believed himself right and
+acted independently, as was characteristic in such cases. A panic
+ensued, and the Whigs claimed that this measure of Jackson's was the
+cause, while the Democrats were equally confident that the financial
+troubles were brought about by the bank itself, which was described as
+an institution too powerful and despotic to exist in a free country.
+
+A powerful opposition was formed in the Senate against him, headed by
+such men as Calhoun, Clay and Webster, and finally a resolution
+condemning his course was adopted by a vote of 26 to 20, but was
+afterward expunged through the influence of his intimate friend, Colonel
+Benton. The House sustained the President throughout, or he must have
+been overthrown. The foreign relations of our Government at the close of
+Jackson's administration was very satisfactory indeed. The national debt
+was extinguished, and new States were admitted into the Union.
+
+He issued a farewell address to his country, and retired to private life
+at the Hermitage, where he lived until his death in 1845. There is much
+in the life of Andrew Jackson that can be profitably copied by the
+American youth of to-day; notably his fixedness of purpose, indomitable
+will, and great love of truth. There are other things that would be well
+to pass by and give little promise, such as his sporting propensities.
+Lossing says: 'The memory of that great and good man is revered by his
+countrymen next to that of Washington.' His imposing statue occupies a
+conspicuous place in President's Square, Washington, where it was
+unveiled in 1852, being the first equestrian statue in bronze ever
+erected in America. It is certain that he exercised a marked influence
+in shaping the affairs of the generations that were to follow his
+administration.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS H. BENTON.
+
+
+Thomas Hart Benton was born at Hillsboro, North Carolina, March 14th,
+1782. During his youth he enjoyed few educational advantages, his father
+dying while he was a child.
+
+He, however, persevered and completed his studies at Chapel Hill
+University--supporting himself throughout his school course. Removing to
+Tennessee he began the study of law and commenced practice at Nashville,
+where he arose to eminence at the bar. When elected to the legislature
+of the State, an event which occurred soon after his beginning law
+practice in Nashville, he procured the passage of a bill securing to
+slaves the right of trial by jury. In the war of 1812 he was made a
+lieutenant-colonel, serving on the staff of General Jackson.
+
+In 1814-15 Colonel Benton took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri,
+and established the _Missouri Enquirer_. It is stated that this
+enterprise involved him in several duels, one of which resulted fatally
+to his opponent, Mr. Lucas. Mr. Benton took a leading part in the
+admission of his adopted State into the Union, and in 1820 he was
+elected one of her first senators, and remained a member of the national
+government for thirty consecutive years; a leader of his party in
+debate.
+
+He warmly supported Jackson in his administration of the affairs of the
+government, and as is well-known rendered him valuable and efficient
+service by his speech on the expunging resolution which he successfully
+carried through the senate. In 1829 he made a speech on the salt tax,
+which was a masterly production, and through its influence is due
+largely the repeal of the same.
+
+He was among the foremost who advocated a railroad to the Pacific coast,
+and it was Thomas Benton who first introduced the idea of congress
+granting pre-emption rights to actual settlers. He favored trade with
+New Mexico, and establishing commerce on the great lakes. He was an
+eminent specie advocate; so vehement was he that he became known as "OLD
+BULLION," and it was through his influence that the forty-ninth parallel
+was decided upon as the northern boundary of Oregon. He opposed the
+fugitive slave law, and openly denounced nullification views wherever
+expressed. Nothing but his known opposition to the extension of slavery
+caused his final defeat in the legislature when that body chose another
+to succeed him in the United States senate.
+
+Thus in defence of human liberty ended his splendid career of thirty
+years in the upper house, struck down by the frown of demagogism. Two
+years later he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he did
+noble work in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska act, denouncing it as a
+violation of the Missouri Compromise, and was defeated as a candidate
+for congress in the next campaign. After two years devotion to
+literature he was a candidate for governor of his State, but was
+defeated by a third ticket being placed in the field. He was the popular
+candidate, however, of the three, against great odds being defeated by
+only a few votes.
+
+During this year he supported Mr. Buchanan for the presidency against
+his son-in-law, Mr. Fremont. He now retired permanently from public
+life, devoting his exclusive attention to literature, and his "Thirty
+Years View; or a History of the Working of the United States Government
+for Thirty Years from 1820 to 1850," was a masterly piece of literature,
+and reached a mammoth sale; more than sixty thousand copies being sold
+when first issued. When this was finished he immediately began another,
+"An Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1850." Although
+at the advanced age of seventy-six, he labored at this task daily, the
+latter part of which was dictated while on his death-bed, and while he
+could speak only in whispers. Surely he deserved the success which had
+attended his efforts. He died in Washington on the 10th day of April,
+1858.
+
+He had a large and grandly proportioned head, and was a most aggressive
+debater. It was in the Expunging Resolution and the exciting debates in
+which he bore so prominent a part that he gained his greatest
+reputation. This bill and the manner in which he managed its course
+through the senate, securing its adoption against the combined effort
+of such men as Clay, Webster and Calhoun illustrates the characteristics
+of the man more clearly than anything that could be said of him. When
+reading the life of Andrew Jackson the reader will remember that the
+senate passed a resolution condemning the action of the president, Mr.
+Jackson, in regard to the distribution of the public funds in the
+following language: _Resolved_, That the president in the late executive
+proceedings in relation to the public revenue has assumed upon himself
+authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in
+derogation of both.
+
+The motion of Mr. Benton was to strike from the journals of the senate
+this resolution of censure. In support of the president's course and of
+Mr. Benton's proposed method of vindication various public proceedings
+were had in various sections of the country, and some of the State
+legislatures not only voted in favor of the removal of the record of
+censure but instructed their congressional delegations to use their
+influence and votes in a similar direction.
+
+Mr. Benton's resolutions rehearsed the principal points involved in the
+past history and present aspects of the controversy quite at length, the
+closing resolution being as follows: "That the said resolve be expunged
+from the journal, and for that purpose that the secretary of the Senate
+at such time as the Senate may appoint, shall bring the manuscript
+journal of the session 1883-4 into the Senate, draw black lines round
+the said resolve, and write across the face thereof in strong letters
+the following words: 'Expunged by order of the Senate this--day of--, in
+the year of our Lord--.'"
+
+For three years successively did Mr. Benton bring forward on different
+occasions his celebrated motion, and again and again he suffered defeat
+after the most scathing debates that ever took place in any
+parliamentary body, the Senate at this time containing an unusual amount
+of oratorical talent and forensic power. But the last scene, and with it
+victory to the great Missourian and his presidential master, was now
+near at hand, and this scene, as described by Mr. Benton himself, was as
+follows:
+
+Saturday the fourteenth of January the Democratic Senators agreed to
+have a meeting, and to take their final measures for passing an
+expunging resolution. They knew they had the numbers, but they also knew
+they had adversaries to grapple with to whom might be applied the motto
+of Louis Fourteenth: 'Not an unequal match for numbers.' They also knew
+that members of the party were in process of separating from it and
+would require reconciliating. They met in the night at the then famous
+restaurant of Boulanger giving to the assemblage the air of convivial
+entertainment. It continued till midnight and required all the
+moderation, tact and skill of the prime movers to obtain and maintain
+the Union in details on the success of which depended the fate of the
+measure. The men of concilliation were to be the efficient men of that
+night, and all the winning resources of Wright, Allen and Linn were put
+in requisition. There were serious differences upon the method of
+expurgation, while agreed upon the thing; and finally obliteration, the
+favorite mover, was given up and the mode of expurgation adopted which
+had been proposed in the resolution of the general assembly of Virginia,
+namely, to inclose the obnoxious sentence in a square of black lines--an
+oblong square, a compromise of opinions to which the mover agreed upon
+condition of being allowed to compose the epitaph, "Expunged by the
+order of the senate."
+
+The agreement which was to lead to victory was then adopted, each one
+severally pledging himself to it that there should be no adjournment of
+the senate after the resolution was called until it was passed, and that
+it should be called immediately after the morning business on the Monday
+ensuing. Expecting a protracted session extending through the day and
+night, and knowing the difficulty of keeping men steady to their work
+and in good humor when tired and hungry, the mover of the proceeding
+took care to provide as far as possible against such a state of things,
+and gave orders that night to have an ample supply of cold hams,
+turkeys, rounds of beef, pickles, wines and cups of hot coffee ready in
+a certain committee-room near the senate chamber by four o'clock on the
+afternoon of Monday.
+
+The motion to take up the subject was made at the appointed time, and
+immediately a debate of long speeches, chiefly on the other side, opened
+itself upon the question. As the darkness of approaching night came on
+and the great chandelier was lit up, splendidly illuminating the chamber
+then crowded with the members of the house, and the lobbies and
+galleries filled to their utmost capacity with visitors and spectators,
+the scene became grand and impressive. A few spoke on the side of the
+resolution, chiefly Rivers, Buchanan and Niles, and with an air of ease
+and satisfaction that bespoke a quiet determination and consciousness of
+victory.
+
+The committee-room was resorted to in parties of four and six at a time,
+always leaving enough on watch, and not resorted to by one side alone.
+The opposition were invited to a full participation, an invitation of
+which those who were able to maintain their temper availed themselves
+of, but the greater part were not in a humor to eat anything--especially
+at such a feast. The night was wearing away, the expungers were in full
+force, masters of the chamber happy and visibly determined to remain. It
+became evident to the great opposition leaders that the inevitable hour
+had come that the 'damnable deed was to be done that night,' and that
+the dignity of silence was no longer to them a tenable position.
+
+The battle was going against them, and they must go into it without
+being able to re-establish it. In the beginning they had not considered
+the expunging movement a serious proceeding, as it advanced they still
+expected it to miscarry on some point, now the reality of the thing
+stood before them confronting their presence and refusing to "down" at
+any command.
+
+Mr. Calhoun opposed the measure in a speech of great severity. The day,
+said he, is gone, night approaches and night is suitable to the dark
+deed we meditate; there is a sort of destiny in this thing, the act must
+be performed, and it is an act which will tell upon the political
+history of this country forever. Mr. Clay indulged in unmeasured
+denunciation of the whole thing. The last speech in opposition to the
+measure was made by Mr. Webster, who employed the strongest language he
+could command condemnatory of an act which he declared was so
+unconstitutional, so derogatory to the character of the senate, and
+marked with so broad an impression of compliance with power. But though
+thus pronounced an irregular and unconstitutional proceeding by Mr.
+Webster and the other senators with whom he sided and voted, Mr. John
+Quincy Adams, who was at the time a member of the house, and in direct
+antagonism, politically, with Mr. Benton, and to the Jackson
+administration held a different opinion.
+
+Midnight was now approaching. The dense masses which filled every inch
+of the room in the lobbies and in the galleries remained immovable. No
+one went out, no one could get in. The floor of the Senate was crammed
+with privileged persons, and it seemed that all Congress was there.
+Expectation and determination to see the conclusion were depicted on
+every countenance. It was evident there was to be no adjournment until
+the vote should be taken--until the deed was done, and this aspect of
+invincible determination had its effect upon the ranks of the
+opposition. They began to falter under a useless resistance; they alone
+now did the talking, and while Mr. Webster was yet reciting his protest
+two Senators from the opposition side who had been best able to maintain
+their equanimity, came around to the mover of the resolution and said:
+'This question has degenerated into a trial of nerves and muscles. It
+has become a question of physical endurance, and we see no use in
+wearing ourselves out to keep off for a few hours longer what has to
+come before we separate. We see that you are able and determined to
+carry your measure--so call the vote as soon as you please. We shall say
+no more.'
+
+Webster concluded. No one arose. There was a pause, a dead silence, and
+an intense feeling. Presently the silence was invaded by the single word
+'question'--the parliamentary call for a vote--rising from the seats of
+different Senators. One blank in the resolve remained to be filled--the
+date of its adoption. It was done. The acting President of the Senate,
+Mr. King, of Alabama, then directed the roll to be called. The yeas and
+nays had been previously ordered, and proceeded to be called by the
+Secretary of the Senate, the result showing a majority of five on the
+side of the expungers.
+
+The passage of the resolution was announced by the chair. Mr. Benton
+arose, and said that nothing now remained but to execute the order of
+the Senate, which he moved to be done forthwith. It was ordered
+accordingly. The secretary thereupon produced the original manuscript
+journal of the Senate, and opening at the page which contained the
+condemnatory sentence of March 28, 1834, proceeded in open Senate to
+draw a square of broad black lines around the sentence, and to write
+across its face in strong letters: EXPUNGED BY ORDER OF THE SENATE THIS
+16TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1837.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY CLAY.
+
+
+A few miles from old Hanover court-house in Virginia, where the
+splendors of Patrick Henry's genius first beamed forth, is a humble
+dwelling by the road-side, in the midst of a miserably poor region known
+as the slashes. There, on the 12th of April, 1777, Henry Clay, the great
+American statesman, was born, and from the district-schools of his
+neighborhood he derived his education. He was the son of a Baptist
+clergyman of very limited means, hence his early advantages were of
+necessity meager. He was very bashful and diffident, scarcely dare
+recite before his class at school, but he DETERMINED to BECOME AN
+ORATOR, he accordingly began the plan of committing speeches and then
+reciting them in the corn-fields; at other times they were delivered in
+the barn, before the cows and horse.
+
+[Illustration: DETERMINATION. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."]
+
+Henry became a copyist in the office of the clerk of the Court of
+Chancery, at Richmond. Here he was enabled to begin the study of law, an
+opportunity which he at once embraced. While other boys were improving
+their time 'having fun,' he was studying, and so closely did he occupy
+his odd time that he was enabled to pass the necessary examination and
+be admitted to the bar at the early age of twenty. Two years later he
+moved "West," (he was enterprising), settling at Lexington, Kentucky,
+where he entered upon the practice of law.
+
+Here he became an active politician as well as a popular lawyer. He was
+an intelligent young man, and early cultivated a genial disposition
+which was a leading feature of his splendid success in life. In 1799
+Kentucky called a convention for the purpose of revising the
+constitution of the State. During this campaign young Clay labored
+earnestly to elect delegates to that convention favorable to the
+extinction of slavery. Thus early he manifested an interest in a
+question many years in advance of his countrymen. This is the man who,
+when afterward told that his action on a certain measure would certainly
+injure his political prospect replied, "I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT THAN BE
+PRESIDENT."
+
+It was even so in this case, his action in behalf of the freedom of
+slaves offended many but his opposition to the obnoxious alien and
+sedition laws later restored him to popular favor. After serving in the
+State legislature with some distinction he was elected to fill the
+unexpired term of General Adair in the United States Senate. Here he
+made excellent use of his time, advocating bills on internal
+improvements, accomplishing much toward that end, although his time
+expired at the end of the year. He left an impression on that body which
+foretold his future greatness. He was now returned to his State
+legislature where he was elected speaker, a position which he held for
+the next two terms.
+
+Another vacancy occurred and Mr. Clay was again elected to fill the
+unexpired time in the United States Senate. This time he remained a
+member of that body two years, and it was during this term that he
+placed himself on record as one of the first and most powerful of early
+protectionists; he also favored the admission of Louisiana as a State.
+His term expired, he returned to his constituents, who promptly elected
+him to a seat in the House of Representatives, and immediately upon his
+appearance in that body he was chosen SPEAKER of the House!
+
+This is an honor without parallel in the whole history of our
+legislative affairs. It was at this session that John C. Calhoun and
+William H. Crawford first made their appearance in the National
+Congress. The duties of this high office he discharged with marked
+ability and great satisfaction through that and the succeeding Congress
+until 1814, when he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate
+at Ghent, a treaty of peace with Great Britain. Abroad Mr. Clay proved
+to be a diplomate of no mean ability, and during his absence he was
+re-elected to the National Congress, and upon his re-appearance in that
+august assembly was immediately chosen speaker.
+
+Mr. Clay was one of the unsuccessful candidates for the presidency in
+1824, receiving thirty-seven electoral votes, but became Secretary of
+State under John Quincy Adams, who was chosen president by Congress. In
+1831, after a temporary retirement, he was elected to the National
+Senate, this time for a full term of six years. His services during this
+period were very important. His compromise measure was probably, under
+the circumstances, one of the most important bills that ever passed the
+senate. As is well-known, it secured the gradual reduction of the tariff
+for ten years, thus satisfying the South, but allowing the manufacturers
+time to accommodate themselves to the change. Mr. Clay was a strong
+protectionist but this was a compromise on both sides which Clay was
+willing to make, even though it might be to satisfy a political
+opponent--Calhoun--to whom he was bitterly opposed.
+
+Certain it is when he saw his country in danger Henry Clay was not the
+one to allow partisan hate to stand in opposition to any bill which
+might tend to peace, and while this measure had little merit in it of
+itself, still it averted a civil war at that time. In 1834 President
+Jackson proposed to Congress that they should give him authority to
+secure indemnity from France through reprisals. Mr. Clay, as chairman of
+the Committee on Foreign Affairs, reported that Congress would not be
+justified in so doing, as the neglect on the part of France was clearly
+unintentional, thus war was once more averted through the influence of
+the 'great pacifier.'
+
+At the presidential election of 1839 Mr. Clay, General Harrison, and
+General Scott were submitted to the Whig Convention as candidates. Mr.
+Clay was clearly the choice of the convention, but by one of those
+strange movements which so often occur at such times General Harrison
+was nominated. Many of Clay's friends were disposed to bolt, but Mr.
+Clay promptly acknowledged the ticket, and it was elected. Then followed
+the death of the President in office, the obnoxious vetoes of the newly
+installed President--Tyler--the division of the Whig party, the
+nomination of Mr. Clay at this late inopportune time and the election of
+Mr. Polk.
+
+At the next convention Mr. Clay was a very prominent candidate for the
+nomination, but Mr. Taylor's military career seemed to carry everything
+with it and he was nominated and elected. Had Mr. Clay been nominated at
+either this convention or in 1839 he would have been elected, but like
+Webster, the presidential honors were not essential to perpetuate his
+name. During the year 1849, as the people of Kentucky were about to
+remodel their constitution, Mr. Clay urged them to embody the principles
+of gradual emancipation, but they refused to do so.
+
+He was again returned to the senate, and during this term brought out
+the compromise act of 1850. This measure, while recognizing no legal
+authority for the existence of slavery in the newly acquired territory
+of New Mexico, yet declared that in the establishment of territorial
+governments in such territory no restriction should be made relative to
+slavery. It also provided for the admission of California without
+restrictions on the subject of slavery, and opposed the abolition of
+slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill carried with slight
+changes. Mr. Clay being very feeble was in his seat but few days of the
+session.
+
+In 1852 he gradually sank until on June 29th, 1852, he died. In him
+intellect, reason, eloquence, and courage united to form a character fit
+to command. It was the remark of a distinguished senator that Mr.
+Clay's eloquence was absolutely intangible to delineation; that the most
+labored description could not embrace it, and that to be understood it
+must be seen and felt. He was an orator by nature, and by his
+indomitable assiduity he at once rose to prominence. His eagle eye
+burned with patriotic ardor or flashed indignation and defiance upon his
+foes or was suffused with commiseration or of pity; and it was because
+HE felt that made OTHERS feel.
+
+A gentleman, after hearing one of his magnificent efforts in the Senate,
+thus described him: "Every muscle of the orator's face was at work. His
+whole body seemed agitated, as if each part was instinct with a separate
+life; and his small white hand with its blue veins apparently distended
+almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but with all the energy of rapid
+and vehement gesture. The appearance of the speaker seemed that of a
+pure intellect wrought up to its mightiest energies and brightly shining
+through the thin and transparent will of flesh that invested it."
+
+The particulars of the duel between Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph maybe
+interesting to our readers. The eccentric descendant of Pocahontas
+appeared on the ground in a huge morning gown. This garment had such a
+vast circumference that the precise whereabouts of the lean senator was
+a matter of very vague conjecture. The parties exchanged shots and the
+ball of Mr. Clay hit the centre of the visible object, but the body of
+Mr. Randolph was untouched. Immediately after the exchange of shots Mr.
+Clay instantly approached Mr. Randolph, and with a gush of the deepest
+emotion said, "I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched; after
+what has occurred I would not have harmed you for a thousand worlds."
+The incident referred to above as 'occurring' was the fact of Mr.
+Randolph's firing in the air, thus publicly proclaiming his intention
+not to harm Mr. Clay at all events.
+
+In person, Clay was tall and commanding, being six feet and one inch in
+stature, and was noted for the erect appearance he presented, while
+standing, walking, or talking. The most striking features of his
+countenance were a high forehead, a prominent nose, an uncommonly large
+mouth, and blue eyes which, though not particularly expressive when in
+repose, had an electrical appearance when kindled. His voice was one of
+extraordinary compass, melody and power. From the 'deep and dreadful
+sub-bass of the organ' to the most ærial warblings of its highest key,
+hardly a pipe or stop was wanting. Like all the magical voices, it had
+the faculty of imparting to the most familiar and commonplace
+expressions an inexpressible fascination. Probably no orator ever lived
+who, when speaking on a great occasion, was more completely absorbed
+with his theme. "I do not know how it is with others," he once said,
+"but, on such occasions, I seem to be unconscious of the external world.
+Wholly engrossed by the subject before me, I lose all sense of personal
+identity, of time, or of surrounding objects."
+
+
+
+
+MARTIN VAN BUREN.
+
+
+In the quiet little village of Kinderhook, New York, there was at the
+close of the Revolution, an indifferent tavern kept by a Dutchman named
+Van Buren. There his distinguished son Martin was born on the 5th day of
+December, 1782.
+
+After attending the academy in his native village he, at the age of
+fourteen, began the study of law. His success was phenomenal from the
+beginning, and he has passed into history as an indefatigable student
+all through life. In 1808 he was made surrogate of his native county. In
+1812 he was elected to the senate of his native State and in that body
+voted for electors pledged to support DeWitt Clinton for the presidency.
+He was attorney-general of the State from 1815 until 1819. Mr. Van Buren
+was a very able politician and it was through his influence that the
+celebrated 'Albany Regency,' whose influence ruled the State
+uninterruptedly for over twenty years, was set on foot.
+
+In 1821 Mr. Van Buren was chosen to the United States Senate and was
+made a member of the convention to revise the State constitution. In the
+latter body he advocated the extension of the elective franchise, but
+opposed universal sufferage, as also the plan of appointing justices of
+the peace by popular election. He voted against depriving the colored
+citizens of the franchise but supported the proposal to require of them
+a freehold qualification of $250. In 1828 he was elected governor of
+the great State of New York and resigned his seat in the National
+Congress to assume this new position. As governor he opposed the safety
+fund system which was adopted by the legislature in 1829. In the month
+of March of the next year after assuming the gubernatorial chair he
+accepted the leading position in the cabinet of President Jackson but
+resigned two years later.
+
+On May 22nd, 1832, he was nominated for the office of vice-president on
+the ticket with General Jackson, and was elected. The Democratic
+National Convention, which met at Baltimore May 20th, 1835, unanimously
+nominated him for the presidency, and in the ensuing election he
+received 170 electoral votes out of a total of 283,--73 being cast for
+his principal antagonist, General Harrison. The country was now plunged
+into the deepest pecuniary embarrassments, the result of previous
+hot-house schemes and speculations, rather than the result of the
+administrative measures of Van Buren. He had succeeded to the presidency
+at a most unfortunate time. Commerce was prostrate; hundreds of
+mercantile houses in every quarter were bankrupt; imposing public
+meetings attributed these disasters to the policy of the government.
+
+On May 15th, he summoned an extraordinary session of congress to meet
+the following September. The president in his message advised that a
+bankrupt law for banking and other incorporations be enacted; and that
+the approaching deficit in the treasury be made good by withholding from
+the States the fourth and last installment of a previous large surplus
+ordered to be deposited with them by act of June 23rd, 1836, and by the
+temporary issue of $6,000,000 of treasury notes. He also recommended the
+adoption of what was called the independent treasury system, which was
+passed in the senate, but was laid on the table in the other branch of
+congress. The payment of the fourth installment to the States was
+postponed, and the emission of $10,000,000 of treasury notes was
+authorized.
+
+Again the President in his next annual message recommended the passage
+of the independent treasury bill, but the measure was again rejected.
+Another presidential measure, however, was more fortunate, a so-called
+pre-emption law being enacted, giving settlers on public lands the right
+to buy them in preference to others. Van Buren's third annual message
+was largely occupied with financial discussions and especially with
+argument in favor of the divorcement of the national government from the
+banks throughout the country, and for the exclusive receipt and payment
+of gold and silver in all public transactions; that is to say, for the
+independent treasury. Through his urgent arguments in its favor it
+became a law June 30, 1840, and it is the distinguishing feature in his
+administration. The canvass of 1840 was early begun by the opposition,
+and became a bitterly contested one. The Whigs placed Harrison at the
+head of their ticket and as Van Buren had no competitor, he became the
+candidate of the Democracy. Never in the political history of the United
+States had there been such universal excitement as was displayed in the
+ensuing campaign. The great financial trials through which the
+government had passed were made the basis of all argument by the press
+and orators for the opposition.
+
+Charges of corruption, extravagance and indifference to the welfare of
+the laboring classes were collected and dumped upon poor Van Buren. Thus
+was Van Buren represented, while the enthusiasm for Harrison was
+greatly augmented by log cabins, emblematical of his humble origin. This
+time Van Buren received only 60 electoral votes, while General Harrison
+received 234. His last annual message set forth with renewed energy the
+benefits of the independent treasury; announced with satisfaction that
+the government was without a public debt; and earnestly advised the
+enactment of more stringent laws for the suppression of the African
+slave trade.
+
+In 1844 Mr. Van Buren's friends once more urged his nomination for the
+presidency by the Democratic national convention at Baltimore. But he
+was rejected there on account of his opposition to the annexation of
+Texas to the Union, avowed in a public letter to a citizen of
+Mississippi who had asked for his position on that question. Though a
+majority of the delegates in the convention were pledged to his support,
+a rule being passed making a two-thirds vote necessary to a choice,
+proved fatal to his interest. For several ballots he led all competitors
+when he withdrew his name and Mr. Polk was nominated on the ninth
+ballot.
+
+In 1848, when the Democrats had nominated General Cass, and avowed their
+readiness to tolerate slavery in the new territories lately acquired
+from Mexico, Mr. Van Buren and his adherents adopting the name of the
+free democracy at once began to discuss in public that new aspect of the
+slavery question.
+
+They held a convention at Utica on June 22nd which nominated Mr. Van
+Buren for president, and Henry Dodge of Wisconsin for vice-president.
+Mr. Dodge declined, and at a great convention in Buffalo on August 9th,
+Charles Francis Adams was substituted. The convention declared:
+"Congress has no more right to make a slave than to make a king; it is
+the duty of the federal government to relieve itself from all
+responsibility for the existence and continuance of slavery wherever the
+government possesses constitutional authority to legislate on that
+subject and is thus responsible for its existence."
+
+In accepting the nomination of this new party Mr. Van Buren declared his
+full assent to its anti-slavery principles. The result was that in New
+York he received the votes of more than half of those who had hitherto
+been attached to the Democratic party, and that General Taylor the
+candidate of the Whig party was elected. At the outbreak of the civil
+war he at once declared himself in favor of maintaining the Republic as
+a Union. Unhappily he died before the close of the war and was thus
+deprived the satisfaction of seeing perpetuated the Union he so dearly
+loved. On the 24th of July, 1872, at his home in Kinderhook, he passed
+from death into life.
+
+
+
+
+STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLASS.
+
+
+One of the most noted statesman of the day was the subject of this
+narrative. Short, thickset, and muscular in person, and strong in
+intellect Stephen A. Douglass came to be known as 'The Little Giant.'
+
+For many years he held a very conspicuous place in the political history
+of the republic. He was a native of the 'Green Mountain State,' being
+born at Brandon, April 23d, 1813. When he was about two months old his
+father, who was a physician, died, and his mother removed to a small
+farm, where Stephen remained until he was about fifteen years old.
+Having received a common school education he was very anxious to take a
+college course, but this being impossible, he determined thereafter to
+earn his own living. He accordingly apprenticed himself to a
+cabinet-maker, but his health would not allow the pursuit of this
+business, and he was compelled to abandon the undertaking.
+
+When he was possibly able he removed to Illinois. Upon his arrival in
+Jacksonville his entire wealth consisted of the sum of thirty-seven
+cents. He determined to start a school at a place called Winchester,
+some fifteen miles from Jacksonville, and as he had little money, walked
+the entire distance. Arriving in Winchester the first sight that met his
+eyes was a crowd assembled at an auction, and he secured employment for
+the time being as clerk for the auctioneer. For this service, which
+lasted three days, he received $6, and with this sum he started a
+school, which occupied his attention during the day.
+
+For two years previous he had studied law during his SPARE MOMENTS; much
+of his time nights was now devoted to the completion of his legal
+studies. Being admitted to the bar during the following year, 1834, he
+opened an office and began practicing in the higher courts where he was
+eminently successful, acquiring a lucrative practice, and HE WAS ELECTED
+ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE STATE BEFORE HE WAS TWENTY-TWO.
+
+He soon became a member of the legislature, taking his seat as the
+youngest member in that body. He was the Democratic nominee for
+Congress before he had acquired the required age, however, his
+twenty-fifth birthday occurred before election, thus this obstacle was
+removed. In his district a most spirited canvass took place, and out of
+over thirty-five thousand votes cast, his opponent was declared elected
+by only five. He was appointed register of the land office at
+Springfield, but resigned this position in 1889. He became Secretary of
+State the following year, and in 1841 was elected a judge of the Supreme
+Court at the age of twenty-eight. This position he also resigned two
+years after to represent his district in congress where he was returned
+by successive elections until 1848.
+
+He was recognized as one of the able members while in the national
+legislature, and his speeches on the Oregon question are models. He next
+became a Senator from his State, and supported President Polk in the
+Mexican war. As is well-known he was the father of the Kansas-Nebraska
+act, popularly known as 'Squatter Sovereignty,' carrying the measure
+through in spite of great opposition.
+
+He was a strong candidate for the Democratic nomination for the
+presidency in 1852, and his strength was still more developed four years
+later when he was the favorite candidate save one, James Buchanan, who
+finally received the honor. At the end of the next four years he was
+nominated by the convention meeting at Charleston, and was the unanimous
+choice of the northern wing of the Democracy, but bitterly opposed by
+the Southern faction, who nominated Mr. Breckinridge at a separate
+convention. This caused a split in the Democratic vote, and Mr. Lincoln
+was elected on a minority of the total vote cast.
+
+Stephen A. Douglass however, like Webster and Clay, needed not the
+honor of occupying the presidential chair to make his name illustrious.
+He was remarkably successful in the promotion of his State's interest in
+Congress. To him is due the credit of securing the splendid grant of
+land which brought about the successful operation of the Illinois
+Central railroad which contributed so much toward the weakened resources
+of the State. As previously stated, Mr. Douglass was defeated by Mr.
+Lincoln, yet at the outbreak of the civil war his voice was heard in
+earnest pleas for the Union, declaring that if this system of resistance
+by the sword, when defeated at the ballot-box was persisted in, then
+"The history of the United States is already written in the history of
+Mexico."
+
+He most strongly denounced secession as a crime and characterized it as
+madness. His dying words were in defence of the Union. To say that Mr.
+Douglass was a wonderful man is the least that can be said, while more
+could be added in his praise with propriety. As an orator he was
+graceful, and possessed natural qualities which carried an audience by
+storm. He died June 3rd, 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war. Had he
+lived no one would have rendered more valuable assistance in the
+suppression of that gigantic rebellion than would Stephen A. Douglass.
+
+But it was in the great political debate between himself and Abraham
+Lincoln that Mr. Douglass gained his greatest notoriety as well as
+Lincoln himself. The details of this debate will be seen in our sketch
+of Mr. Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+ABBOTT LAWRENCE.
+
+
+Solomon said: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand
+before kings,--he shall not stand before mean men." How true are those
+words; how often have we seen them demonstrated.
+
+Abbott Lawrence, brother of Amos Lawrence, was born December 16, 1792,
+and what education he had he received at the academy in Groton. When
+about sixteen years of age he took the stage for Boston, with the
+princely sum of three dollars in his pocket. He entered the store of his
+brother Amos as clerk. After five years of faithful service he was taken
+in as partner, and the firm-style became A. & A. Lawrence.
+
+The war of 1812 came on, and Abbott, who possessed less money than his
+brother, failed, but he was not disheartened. He applied to the
+government for a position in the army, but before his application could
+be acted upon peace was declared.
+
+After the war his brother Amos helped him, and once more they entered
+into partnership, Abbott going to England to buy goods for the firm.
+About 1820 the Lawrence brothers, with that enterprise which
+characterizes all great business men, commenced manufacturing goods in
+America, instead of importing them from the old world, and to the
+Lawrences is due no small credit, as the cities of Lowell and Lawrence
+will testify. He was a member of the celebrated convention at
+Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose recommendations to Congress resulted in
+the tariff act of 1828, which was so obnoxious to Calhoun and the Cotton
+States. In 1834 Mr. Lawrence was elected to Congress, where he did
+valuable service on the Committee of Ways and Means. He declined
+re-election, but afterward was persuaded to become a candidate and was
+again elected. By the advice of Daniel Webster he was sent to England on
+the boundary question.
+
+President Taylor offered him a seat in his Cabinet, but he
+declined--later he was sent to England, where he became a distinguished
+diplomat, and was recalled only at his own request. At one time he
+lacked but six votes of being nominated for Vice-President.
+
+On the 18th of August, 1855, Abbott Lawrence died. Nearly every business
+place in Boston was closed--in fact, Boston was in mourning; the
+military companies were out on solemn parade, flags were placed at
+half-mast, and minute-guns were fired. Thus passed away one of the
+merchant princes of New England.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
+
+
+This great statesman was born in Georgia on February 11, 1812, and was
+left an orphan at an early age. He studied law and was admitted to the
+bar in 1834, having the advantage of a college education. He entered
+upon the practice of law at Crawfordsville in his native State, and his
+natural ability and splendid education soon won for him a most lucrative
+practice.
+
+Mr. Stephens early became a convert to the Calhoun school of politics,
+and he remained firmly fixed until death in the belief that slavery was
+the proper sphere in which all colored people should move. He believed
+it was better for the races both white and black.
+
+Though physically weak he was wonderfully developed in personal courage.
+In 1836 Mr. Stephens was elected to the State legislature, to which he
+succeeded five successive terms. In 1842 he was elected to the State
+senate, there to remain only one year when he was sent as a Whig to the
+national congress, there to remain until 1859 when, July 2nd, in a
+speech at Augusta he announced his intention of retiring to private
+life. When the old Whig party was superceded by the present Republican
+party Mr. Stephens joined the Democrats. During the presidential canvass
+of 1860 Mr. Stephens supported the northern wing under Douglass, and in
+a speech at the capitol of his State bitterly denounced secession. As
+the speech so well illustrates his powers of oratory, so far as words
+can portray that power, we give the speech as follows:--
+
+This step, secession, once taken can never be recalled, and all the
+baleful and withering consequences that must follow, as you will see,
+will rest on this convention for all coming time. When we and our
+posterity shall see our lovely South desolated by the demon of war which
+this act of yours will inevitably provoke, when our green fields and
+waving harvests shall be trodden down by a murderous soldiery, and the
+fiery car of war sweeps over our land, our temples of justice laid in
+ashes and every horror and desolation upon us; who, but him who shall
+have given his vote for this unwise and ill-timed measure shall be held
+to a strict account for this suicidal act by the present generation, and
+be cursed and execrated by all posterity, in all coming time, for the
+wide and desolating ruin that will inevitably follow this act you now
+propose to perpetrate?
+
+Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can
+give that will satisfy yourselves in calmer moments? What reasons can
+you give to your fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring
+upon us? What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to
+justify it? They will be calm and deliberate judges of this case, and to
+what cause, or one overt-act can you point on which to rest the plea of
+justification? What right has the North assailed? Of what interest has
+the South been invaded? What justice has been denied? And what claim
+founded in justice and right has been unsatisfied? Can any of you name
+to-day one governmental act of wrong deliberately and purposely done by
+the government at Washington, of which the South has a right to
+complain? I challenge an answer.
+
+On the other hand, let me show the facts (and believe me, gentlemen, I
+am not here the advocate of the North, but I am here the friend, the
+firm friend and lover of the South and her institutions, and for this
+reason I speak thus plainly and faithfully for yours, mine, and every
+other man's interest, the words of truth and soberness), of which I wish
+you to judge, and I will only state facts which are clear and
+undeniable, and which now stand in the authentic records of the history
+of our country. When we of the South demanded the slave trade, or the
+importation of Africans for the cultivation of our lands, did they not
+yield the right for twenty years? When we asked a three-fifths
+representation in Congress for our section was it not granted? When we
+demanded the return of any fugitive from justice, or the recovery of
+those persons owing labor or allegiance, was it not incorporated in the
+Constitution, and again ratified and strengthened in the fugitive slave
+law of 1850? Do you reply that in many instances they have violated this
+law and have not been faithful to their engagements? As individuals and
+local committees they may have done so, but not by the sanction of
+government, for that has always been true to the Southern interests.
+
+Again, look at another fact. When we asked that more territory should be
+added that we might spread the institution of slavery did they not yield
+to our demands by giving us Louisiana, Florida and Texas out of which
+four States have been carved, and ample territory left for four more to
+be added in due time, if you do not by this unwise and impolitic act
+destroy this hope, and perhaps by it lose all and have your last slave
+wrenched from you by stern military rule, or by the vindictative decrees
+of a universal emancipation which may reasonably be expected to follow.
+
+But again gentlemen, what have we to gain by this proposed change of our
+relation to the general government? We have always had the control of it
+and can yet have if we remain in it and are as united as we have been.
+We have had a majority of the presidents chosen from the South as well
+as the control and management of most of those chosen from the North. We
+have had sixty years of Southern presidents to their twenty-four, thus
+controlling the executive department. So of the judges of the supreme
+court, we have had eighteen from the South and but eleven from the
+North. Although nearly four-fifths of the judicial business has arisen
+in the free States, yet a majority of the court has been from the South.
+This we have required so as to guard against any interpretation of the
+constitution unfavorable to us. In like manner we have been equally
+watchful in the legislative branch of the government. In choosing the
+presiding officer, _pro tem_, of the Senate we have had twenty-four and
+they only eleven; speakers of the house we have had twenty-three and
+they twelve. While the majority of the representatives, from their
+greater population, have always been from the North, yet we have
+generally secured the speaker because he to a great extent shapes and
+controls the legislation of the country, nor have we had less control in
+every other department of the general government.
+
+Attorney-Generals we have had 14, while the North have had but five.
+Foreign ministers we have had 86, and they but 54. While three-fourths
+of the business which demands diplomatic agents abroad is clearly from
+the free States because of their greater commercial interests, we have,
+nevertheless, had the principal embassies so as to secure the world's
+markets for our cotton, tobacco and sugar, on the best possible terms.
+We have had a vast majority of the higher officers of both army and
+navy, while a larger proportion of the soldiers and sailors were drawn
+from the Northern States. Equally so of clerks, auditors, and
+comptrollers, filling the executive department; the records show for the
+last 50 years that of the 3,000 thus employed we have had more than
+two-thirds, while we have only one-third of the white population of the
+Republic.
+
+Again, look at another fact, and one, be assured, in which we have a
+great and vital interest; it is that of revenue or means of supporting
+government. From official documents we learn that more than
+three-fourths of the revenue collected has been raised from the North.
+Pause now while you have the opportunity to contemplate carefully and
+candidly these important things. Look at another necessary branch of
+government, and learn from stern statistical facts how matters stand in
+that department, I mean the mail and post-office privileges that we now
+enjoy under the General Government, as it has been for years past. The
+expense for the transportation of the mail in the free States was by the
+report of the postmaster-general for 1860, a little over $13,000,000
+while the income was $19,000,000. But in the Slave States the
+transportation of the mail was $14,716,000, and the revenue from the
+mail only $8,000,265, leaving a deficit of $6,715,735 to be supplied by
+the North for our accommodation, and without which we must have been cut
+off from this most essential branch of the government.
+
+Leaving out of view for the present the countless millions of dollars
+you must expend in a war with the North, with tens of thousands of your
+brothers slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices on the altar of
+your ambition--for what, I ask again? Is it for the overthrow of the
+American Government, established by our common ancestry, cemented and
+built up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad principles
+of right, justice and humanity? I must declare to you here, as I have
+often done before, and it has also been declared by the greatest and
+wisest statesmen and patriots of this and other lands, that the American
+Government is the best and freest of all governments, the most equal in
+its rights, the most just in its decisions, the most lenient in its
+measures, and the most inspiring in its principles to elevate the race
+of men that the sun of heaven ever shone upon.
+
+Now for you to attempt to overthrow such a government as this under
+which we have lived for more than three-quarters of a century, in which
+we have gained our wealth, our standing as a nation, our domestic safety
+while the elements of peril are around us with peace and tranquility
+accompanied with unbounded prosperity and rights unassailed is the
+height of madness, folly and wickedness to which I will neither lend my
+sanction nor my vote.
+
+This is one of the most eloquent appeals recorded on the pages of
+history, and had Mr. Stephens carried out his first intention as
+expressed, "I will neither lend my sanction nor my vote," in his
+subsequent career during that war he had so eloquently and prophetically
+depicted, he would to-day not only be recognized as one of the ablest
+and most brilliant of orators as he is known, but would have stamped his
+life as a consistent and constant legislator which is so laudable in any
+man. But only a month later, after delivering the great speech at
+Milledgeville in defense of the Union he accepted one of the chief
+offices in the Confederacy, and began to perpetrate the very wrongs he
+had so vehemently deplored, seeking by speeches innumerable to overthrow
+that government he had so eloquently eulogized.
+
+At Savannah he spoke something as follows: "The new constitution has put
+to rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar
+institutions--African slavery as it exists among us--the proper status
+of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause
+of the late rupture and the present revolution. Jefferson in his
+forecast had anticipated this as the rock upon which the old Union would
+split. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading
+statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were
+that the enslavement of the African was in violation to the laws of
+nature; that it was wrong in principle socially, morally and
+politically."
+
+"Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite ideas. Its
+foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that
+the negro is not equal to the white man. That in slavery, subordination
+to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new
+government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this
+great physical, philosophical and moral truth. It is the first
+government ever instituted upon principles in strict conformity to
+nature and the ordination of Providence in furnishing the materials of
+human society. Many governments have been founded upon the principle of
+enslaving certain classes, but the classes thus enslaved were of the
+same race and enslaved in violation to the laws of nature."
+
+"Our system commits no such violation of the laws of nature. The negro,
+by nature or by the curse against Canaan is fitted for that condition
+which he occupies in our system. The architect in the construction of
+buildings lays the foundation with the proper material, the granite;
+then comes the brick or marble. The substratum of our society is made of
+the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it
+is best not only for the superior, but the inferior race that it should
+be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the Creator. It is not for us
+to inquire into the wisdom of his ordinances, or to question them. For
+his own purposes he has made one race to differ from another, as he has
+made one star to differ from another in glory. The great objects of
+humanity are best attained when conformed to his laws and decrees in the
+formation of governments as well as in all things else. Our confederacy
+is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This
+stone which was rejected by the first builders 'is become the chief
+stone of the corner' in our new edifice."
+
+By both of these speeches he was of great service to the national
+government. The first was used to justify the suppression of secession,
+and the second to excite the animosity of the world against secession.
+After the war Mr. Stephens was once more a member of the National
+Congress and Governor of his native State. On the 3rd day of March,
+1883, he died at his home in Crawfordville. We have thus spoken of Mr.
+Stephens as a legislator; personally, he was a very pleasant man to
+meet, loved in society, was kind-hearted, and we believe sincere. His
+eloquence was at times wonderful, and was augmented rather than
+diminished by his physical infirmity. Those who have heard him will
+never forget the squeaking voice and haggard look.
+
+According to Webster, the three cardinal points essential to true
+oratory are clearness, force and sincerity. In all of these Stephens was
+proficient. His descriptive powers were remarkable, and he could blend
+pathos with argument in a manner unusual. He was a warm friend of Mr.
+Lincoln, and one of the most characteristic stories ever told of Mr.
+Lincoln is in connection with Governor Stephens' diminutive appearance
+and great care for his shattered health. On one occasion before the war
+he took off three overcoats, one after the other, in the presence of Mr.
+Lincoln, who rose, and walking around him, said, "I was afraid of
+Stephens, for I thought he might keep on taking off clothes until he
+would be nothing but a ghost left," and speaking to a friend standing
+by, remarked further, "Stephens and his overcoats remind me of the
+biggest shuck off the smallest ear of corn that I have ever seen in my
+life." One by one the eminent men of State pass away. Their deaths make
+vacancies which the ambitious and active hasten to occupy whether they
+are able to fill them or not.
+
+
+
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+Great, indeed, are the possibilities of our country. The subject of this
+narrative, thirteenth president of the United States, was born in Summer
+Hill, Cayuga county, New York, January 7th, 1800. The nearest house to
+that of Fillmore was four miles distant. Cayuga county was then a
+wilderness with few settlers, consequently young Fillmore's education
+was limited to instruction in reading, writing, spelling and the
+simplest branches of arithmetic. At fourteen he was bound out to learn
+the fuller's trade.
+
+Think of it boys, what splendid opportunities most of you have; yes, all
+of you have, compared to that of Fillmore, for he had not the advantage
+of our glorious and complete school system, and at that was bound out
+when a mere lad. Yet at the age of nineteen he presumed to aspire to
+become a lawyer! He had two more years to serve in his apprenticeship,
+but "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing impossible
+is to make it so," and he accordingly set to work contriving to gain for
+himself an education.
+
+Contracting with his employer to pay him $30 for his release, that
+obstacle was overcome. He next made an arrangement with a retired
+lawyer, by which he received his board for services, and studied nights.
+This continued for two years, when he set out on foot for Buffalo where
+he arrived with just $4 in his pocket. Ah! methinks people who saw that
+boy must have felt that he was destined to be somebody in the world.
+"Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a
+candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."
+
+How often are we so deeply impressed by reading the biographies of great
+men that it really does in a great measure rest with ourselves whether
+we amount to something, or worse than nothing, in the world. We have
+followed this man from childhood and have seen him overcome all
+obstacles thus far; will we then be surprised when we read that no
+sooner did he arrive in Buffalo than he succeeded in making arrangements
+with a resident lawyer, obtaining permission to study in his office and
+supported himself by severe drudgery, teaching and assisting the post
+master.
+
+By the spring of 1823 he had so far gained the confidence of the bar
+that by the intercession of several of its leading members he was
+admitted as an attorney by the Court of Common Pleas of Erie county,
+although he had not completed the period of study usually required, and
+commenced practice at Aurora where his father resided.
+
+In the course of a few years he acquired not only a large practice but a
+thorough mastery of the principles of the common law, and he rose to a
+place among the first lawyers of his State. In 1827 he was admitted as
+counselor of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1830 he moved to Buffalo
+where he continued in the practice of law until 1847, when he was
+elected Comptroller of the great Empire State.
+
+He had previously been in the State legislature and in the national
+congress. In congress he rose gradually to the first rank for integrity,
+industry and practical ability. As a State legislator he particularly
+distinguished himself by his advocacy of the act to abolish imprisonment
+for debt, which was drafted by him, and which passed in 1831. In
+congress he supported John Quincy Adams in his assertion of the right of
+petition on the subject of slavery. He opposed the annexation of Texas,
+because it extended slave domain and advocated the immediate abolition
+of the inter-state slave trade.
+
+At the death of President Taylor, Mr. Fillmore, according to the
+provisions of the Constitution in such cases, became President of the
+United States, and the poor boy who had entered Buffalo on foot now
+entered the National Capitol as the ruler of a mighty nation. During his
+administration a treaty with Japan, securing for the United States
+valuable commercial privileges, was consummated. His administration, as
+a whole, was a successful one, and had he not signed the fugitive slave
+law, he would, undoubtedly, have been the nominee of his party at the
+convention in 1852.
+
+In 1854 he made an extensive tour in the Southern and Western States,
+and in the Spring of 1855, after an excursion through New England, he
+sailed for Europe. While in Rome he received information that he had
+been nominated by the Native American party in his native country for
+the office of President. He accepted, but Maryland alone gave him her
+electoral vote; however, he received a large popular vote. In 1874,
+March the 8th, he died in Buffalo, where he had resided many years in
+private life.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
+
+
+A truly eminent American statesman, William H. Seward, was born in
+Florida, Orange county, New York, May 16th, 1801.
+
+He graduated with much distinction when only nineteen at Union College,
+Schenectady, New York, then taught school in Georgia six months when he
+entered a New York law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1822;
+commenced the practice of law at Auburn in connection with Judge Miller,
+whose daughter he afterward married.
+
+In 1824 he entered upon his political career by preparing an address for
+a Republican convention in opposition to the Democratic clique known as
+the 'Albany Regency,' thus commenced a contention which only ended when
+the association was broken up in 1838. He presided over a young men's
+convention in New York in favor of John Quincy Adams' re-election to the
+presidency. In August, 1828, on his return home he was offered a
+nomination as member of Congress but declined. He was elected to the
+State senate in 1830, when he originated an opposition to corporate
+monopolies which has since ripened into a system of general laws. After
+a rapid tour through Europe in 1833 he returned home to become the Whig
+candidate for governor of New York, being defeated by W. L. Marcy. But
+in 1838 he was elected over Marcy, his former opponent, by a majority of
+10,000 votes.
+
+Placed now in a position where he could exercise that mighty mind which
+he unmistakably possessed, he achieved National distinction in the
+measures he prosecuted. Prominent among these measures was the effort to
+secure the diffusion of common school education, advocating an equal
+distribution of the public funds among all schools for that purpose.
+Imprisonment for debt was abolished, the banking system was improved,
+the first lunatic asylum was established, and every vestige of slavery
+was cleared from the statute books.
+
+He also became famous through his controversy with the Governor of
+Virginia. The latter issued a demand on Mr. Seward, as the Governor of
+New York, for the delivery of two men charged with abducting slaves.
+Seward maintained that no State could force a requisition upon another
+State, founded on an act which was only criminal by its own legislation,
+and which compared with general standards was not only innocent, but
+humane and praiseworthy. This correspondence between the two executives
+known as "The Virginia Controversy" was widely published, and was
+largely instrumental in bringing about his triumphant re-election in
+1840.
+
+At the close of his second term he once more resumed the practice of
+law, becoming a practitioner in the United States Courts. He was also a
+great criminal lawyer, and especially aided, not only by gratuitous
+service, but money also, in aiding people whom he thought unjustly
+accused. Becoming a United States Senator, he announced his purpose to
+make no further concessions to the slave power. In his speech on the
+admission of California, March 11th, 1850, the judgment of the man, his
+ability to forecast events, and his oratorical powers are displayed.
+Among other things he said:
+
+"It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true, it is
+acquired by the valor, and with the wealth of the whole nation. But we
+hold, nevertheless, no arbitrary power over it. We hold no arbitrary
+authority over anything, whether acquired lawfully, or seized by
+usurpation. The Constitution regulates our stewardship; the Constitution
+devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to
+liberty."
+
+"But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our
+authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.
+The territory is a part, no considerable part, of the common heritage of
+mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his
+stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure in the highest
+attainable degree their happiness." In another speech, delivered at
+Rochester in 1858, in alluding to the constant collision between the
+system, of free and slave labor in the United States, he said:
+
+"It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing forces, and it means
+that the United States must and will, sooner or later, become either
+entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free labor nation."
+Thus, while others dodged this issue, William H. Seward came squarely
+out in language which could not be misinterpreted. When the Whig party
+had proved its incompetency to deal with the slavery question, Mr.
+Seward, in conformity with his past public career, withdrew and figured
+most conspicuously in the founding of the new Republican party.
+
+In the last session of the 36th Congress, when the war clouds were
+threatening, and desertion of the Union cause became an epidemic, high
+above the breathings of secession was heard the voice of William H.
+Seward, exclaiming: "I avow my adherence to the Union with my friends,
+with my party, with my State; or without either, as they may determine,
+in every event of peace or war, with every consequence of honor or
+dishonor, of life or death." In conclusion he declared: "I certainly
+shall never directly or indirectly give my vote to establish or sanction
+slavery in the common territories of the United States, or anywhere else
+in the world."
+
+His second term closed with the thirty-sixth congress, March 4th, 1861.
+In the National Republican convention he was the most conspicuous
+candidate for the presidency for 1856-60. He made quite an extended tour
+through Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land in 1859. Upon the accession of
+Mr. Lincoln to the presidency Mr. Seward was called to fill the seat of
+honor in his cabinet.
+
+At the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Seward had already shown himself a
+very able man, but his management of the foreign affairs of our
+government during those trying hours indelibly stamped him as the most
+able of able Secretaries of State. He was one of the few men who have
+been conceded to be a great success in the office of Secretary of State.
+His management of the complicated Trent affair, the manner of his
+declination of the French proposal to unite with Great Britain and
+Russia in mediating between the Federal and Confederate governments, and
+his thorough reorganization of the diplomatic service abroad, thus
+insuring a correct interpretation by foreign powers of the issues before
+the government; in fact his management of the high office did him great
+credit, and more than once averted a foreign war.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln had drafted his famous proclamation he submitted it to
+Seward for approval. Many people at the North were dissatisfied with
+some measures of the administration, and the rebellion had been
+characterized as a "Nigger war," even at the North, besides all this the
+Union arms had met with terrible loss, and Mr. Seward wisely saw the
+evil results which might follow such a proclamation at this time.
+Therefore, through his advice the paper was held until after the victory
+at Antietam, when the country was further educated and better able to
+understand and receive the real issue of the war.
+
+Early in the spring of 1865 he was thrown from his carriage, and his jaw
+and one arm were broken. While confined to his bed by these injuries he
+was attacked by a would-be assassin, and very severely wounded, being
+cut several times with a knife--his son Frederick W. came to his rescue
+and was also injured. It was on the same night that President Lincoln
+was shot, April 14. The assassin escaped from the house, but was soon
+arrested and hanged with the other conspirators, July 7.
+
+Mr. Seward's recovery was very slow and painful, and it is thought the
+shock given by the accident, and this murderous attack impaired his
+intellectual force, for when he again resumed his duties under
+President Johnson, he supported the President's reconstruction policy,
+becoming at dissonance with the party he had so satisfactorily served,
+until now. At the close of his official term in March, 1867, he retired
+from public life, and soon made an extended tour through California,
+Oregon and Alaska; the latter having been acquired during his
+secretaryship, and mainly through his efforts.
+
+Accompanied by his family he made a tour around the world, returning to
+Auburn in October, 1871. He was everywhere received with honor and great
+distinction. The observations made during this extensive voyage are
+embodied in "Wm. H. Seward's Travels around the World," prepared by his
+adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward. He died at Auburn, New York,
+October 10th, 1872, lamented by a nation.
+
+
+
+
+HORATIO SEYMOUR.
+
+
+One whose name and deeds are familiar to the people of the whole Union
+was Horatio Seymour, the most eminent and notable of the later Governors
+of New York. Born May 31st, 1810, at Pompey, Onondaga county, New York;
+a hamlet in what was then almost a wilderness.
+
+When he was nine years of age his parents moved to Utica. His school
+education was obtained at the academies of Oxford and Geneva, New York,
+and Partridge's military school, Middletown, Connecticut. He studied the
+science of law, and fitted himself for the profession, being admitted to
+the bar in 1832, but the death of his father devolved upon him the
+settlement of a large estate. This withdrew him from his intended
+calling, but enabled him to give ample time and attention to reading,
+for he had an intense thirst for knowledge.
+
+His public life began with his appointment as military secretary to
+Governor Marcy. Martin Van Buren is said to have seen with his keen eye
+the valuable qualities in the young man, and the appointment was made at
+his instance. Seymour held this place through Marcy's three terms,
+1833-39, and being very young, he became enamored with public life. In
+1841 he was elected to the State Assembly as a Democrat, was re-elected
+three times, and in 1845 was chosen speaker, which office he filled with
+dignity and courtesy toward all. In 1842, while in the assembly, he was
+elected Mayor of Utica for one year, and was especially interested in
+all public matters pertaining to the welfare of that city.
+
+In 1850 Mr. Seymour was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of his
+native State, being defeated by his personal friend, Washington Hurt, by
+a plurality of only 262 votes. Considering the hopeless condition of the
+Democratic party at that time, and his majority of 20,000 over the same
+competitor two years later, we can imagine something of his popularity
+at this early period. His first term as the executive of New York was
+marked by his veto of the prohibitory law which had been passed by the
+legislature, but his action in regard to the speedy completion of all
+public works then in progress and the interest he manifested in the
+diffusion of public education was very exemplary. However, in the
+ensuing election he was defeated by a plurality, this time, of only 309
+votes. In 1862 Mr. Seymour was again elected governor over Wadsworth by
+nearly 11,000 majority.
+
+The breaking out of the civil war found Mr. Seymour allied to that
+element of the Democratic party which made its views formally known at
+what has passed into history as the "Tweedle Hall" meeting. He was one
+of the principal speakers at this memorable peace convention and
+employed his eloquence in behalf of concession and conciliation, and
+pointedly inquired: "Shall we compromise after war or without war?" His
+position was analogous with many of the great men in both parties at
+this time. When hostilities had really begun his tone changed, and in
+his inaugural address, January 1st, 1863, his position was clearly
+defined as follows: "Under no circumstances can the division of the
+Union be conceded. We will put forth every exertion of power; we will
+use every policy of conciliation; we will guarantee them every right,
+every consideration demanded by the constitution and by that fraternal
+regard which must prevail in a common country; but we can never
+voluntarily consent to the breaking up of the union of these States or
+the destruction of the constitution."
+
+President Lincoln telegraphed Mr. Seymour asking if he could raise and
+forward forthwith 20,000 troops to assist in repelling the threatened
+invasion by Lee, of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Within three days 12,000
+soldiers were on their way to Gettysburg. The draft riots next occupied
+his attention. The National government passed a conscription act, March
+3rd, enrolling all able-bodied citizens, between twenty and forty-five
+years of age, and in May the President ordered a draft of three hundred
+thousand men. The project was exceedingly unpopular, and was bitterly
+denounced on every hand, says Barnes. The anti-slavery measure of the
+administration had already occupied widespread hostility to the war.
+
+While Pickett's noble southern troops were assaulting Cemetery Ridge at
+Gettysburg, inflammatory handbills were being circulated in New York
+city, which brought on a riot July 13th. The mob rose in arms, sacked
+houses, demolished the offices of the provost-marshal, burned the
+colored orphan asylum, attacked the police, and chased negroes; even
+women and children, wherever found, were chased, and if caught hung to
+the nearest lamp-post. Two millions of dollars' worth of property was
+destroyed. The Governor immediately went to New York, and on the 14th he
+issued two proclamations; one calling on the rioters to disperse; the
+other declaring the city in a state of insurrection. He divided the city
+into districts, which were placed under the control of military men, who
+were directed to organize the citizens; and 3,000 stands of arms were
+issued to these and other organizations. Boats were chartered to convey
+policemen and soldiers to any point on the shores of the island where
+disturbances were threatened. The Governor visited all the riotous
+districts in person, and by persuasion, as well as by the use of the
+force at his command, aided in quelling the disturbance.
+
+During his term Governor Seymour commissioned more than 13,000 officers
+in the volunteer service of the United States. In August 1864 he
+presided over the Democratic National Convention at Chicago which
+nominated General McClellan for the presidency. Four years later, much
+against his will, he was nominated for the presidency himself and was
+defeated by General Grant, as any nominee of the Democratic party at
+that time would have been. He then retired to private life, dwelling in
+elegant repose at his pleasant home near Utica, New York, until his
+death which occurred February 12th, 1886.
+
+His occasional addresses were charming to the hearer, and no man could
+deliver a more edifying speech at any celebration. He was an ardent
+lover of American history, particularly the history of his native State,
+and on all State topics he discoursed with learning and a charm
+peculiarly original. Notwithstanding the high position held by Mr.
+Seymour among the great men of his time his funeral was very simple.
+Rev. Dr. A. B. Goodrich offered a prayer at the residence of ex-Senator
+Roscoe Conkling, his brother-in-law, after which the regular services
+were conducted at the old Trinity Church. After the services the body
+was borne to Forest Hill Cemetery and placed in the Chapel of Roses.
+
+
+
+
+WINFIELD S. HANCOCK.
+
+
+A large man, finely proportioned with a most graceful carriage, and
+self-poise, and withal handsome, thus had nature endowed Winfield Scott
+Hancock, who was born in the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania,
+February 14, 1824.
+
+In 1844 he graduated from West Point with honor, and served with
+distinction in the war with Mexico, where he was commissioned
+lieutenant. Until the breaking out of the civil war he was stationed
+with his division in various parts of the country. Being recalled to
+Washington, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers, and
+served with great valor during the Peninsula campaign. For this and
+other meritorious conduct he was made a major-general, and commanded a
+division at the great battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
+
+But in the great and decisive battle of Gettysburg Hancock won his
+greatest laurels. General Meade, his commander, sent him to the field of
+Gettysburg to decide if battle should be given there, or if the army
+should fall back to another position. Hancock reported that Gettysburg
+was the proper place, and thus the little hamlet became famous in
+history; two days of terrific fighting passed; the afternoon of the
+third day arrives and the final charge is made upon the division
+commanded by Hancock.
+
+About one o'clock one hundred and fifty-five guns suddenly opened on
+that one division. For two hours the air was fairly alive with shells.
+Every size and form of shell known to British or American gunnery
+shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled and wrathfully fluttered over the
+ground, says Wilkinson. "As many as six in a second, constantly two in a
+second came screaming around the headquarters. They burst in the yard;
+burst next to the fence where the horses belonging to the aids and
+orderlies were hitched. The fastened animals reared and plunged with
+terror. One horse fell, then another; sixteen lay dead before the
+cannonade ceased. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and
+exploding shells an ambulance driven at full speed by its frenzied
+conductor presented the marvelous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on
+three legs, a hind one had been shot off at the hock. A shell tore up
+the little step at the headquarters cottage and ripped bags of oats as
+with a knife. Another shell soon carried off one of its two pillars.
+Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open door, another tore through
+the low garret, the remaining pillar went almost immediately to the howl
+of a fixed shot that Whitworth must have made. Soldiers in Federal blue
+were torn to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yell that
+blends the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair."
+
+"The Union guns," says Barnes, "replied for a time, and were then
+withdrawn to cool." Probably the experience of the veteran troops knew
+that they would soon be needed for closer work. The men lay crouching
+behind rocks and hiding in hollows, from the iron tempest which drove
+over the hill, anxiously awaiting the charge, which experience taught
+them, must follow. Finally the cannonade lulled, the supreme minute had
+come, and out of the woods swept the Confederate double battle-line,
+over a mile long, preceded by a cloud of skirmishers, and with wings on
+either side to prevent its being flanked. This was Lee's first charge,
+and upon it depended, as subsequently seen, the rise or fall of the
+Confederate cause.
+
+A quarter of a mile away, and a hundred guns tore great gaps in the
+line, but the men closed up and sternly moved on. A thrill of admiration
+ran along the Union ranks as silently and with disciplined steadiness,
+that magnificent column of eighteen thousand men moved up the slope,
+with its red battle-flags flying, and the sun playing on its burnished
+bayonets. On they came on the run. Infantry volleys struck their ranks.
+Their ranks were broken, and their supports were scattered to the winds.
+Pickett's veterans and A. P. Hill's best troops went down. Out of that
+magnificent column of men, only one-fourth returned to tell the story.
+Three generals, fourteen field officers, and fourteen thousand men were
+either slain or captured. This was the supreme moment of the war; from
+that hour the Confederate cause waned and slowly died.
+
+All honor to Hancock, the hero of Gettysburg, who was borne bleeding
+from the field, not to resume active service until March, 1864, when he
+took a leading part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
+Court-House, North Anna, the second battle of Cold Harbor, and in the
+operations around Petersburg. After the war was over he was placed in
+command of the Middle Department, the Department of Missouri, of
+Louisiana and Texas, of Dakota, and on the death of General Meade,
+promoted to command the Department of the East, which position he held
+at his death.
+
+In 1868 he was a very prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination,
+receiving 114-1/2 votes, but after an exciting contest, Horatio Seymour
+was nominated on the 22nd ballot. The next year he was tendered the
+Democratic nomination for Governor of his native State, but respectfully
+declined.
+
+In 1880 he accepted the nomination from the same party for the highest
+honor within the gift of the party, but in the subsequent election was
+defeated by James A. Garfield, the Republican nominee. His last
+conspicuous appearance in public was at the funeral services of General
+Grant, where he acted as marshal of ceremonies. Scarcely six months were
+passed when we were startled with the news: Hancock is dead, and on
+February 13th, 1886, with military honors, but no elaborate display, he
+was laid at rest beside his father and beloved daughter. No long line of
+troops, no sound of dirges, no trappings of woe, marked the funeral of
+General Hancock. The man who had received the nomination of a great
+party for the highest honor in the nation's gift, who had turned the
+fortunes of many a battle, and whose calm courage in the midst of death
+had so often inspired the faltering regiments, was laid at rest quietly,
+without pomp or vain show, at Norristown, Pennsylvania.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.
+
+
+On the 3rd of December, 1826, was born in Philadelphia, a child who
+would one day become celebrated in the annals of history.
+
+He enjoyed the privilege of a good education, graduating at the
+University of Pennsylvania, and when twenty years old he also graduated
+at West Point, ranking second in his class.
+
+George B. McClellan was a brilliant scholar, and during the Mexican war
+won high esteem as an engineer. After the war he was engaged in various
+engineering projects, and rendered valuable service to the country by
+introducing bayonet exercises into the military tactics at West Point,
+and translating a French Manual of Bayonet Exercises, which was adapted
+to the United States service, and became an authority. In 1855-'6 he was
+a member of the Military Commission sent by the government to visit the
+seat of the Crimean war.
+
+He resigned his commission in the regular army in 1857; became chief
+engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, and in 1868 he also became
+Vice-President of the road; two years later, President of St. Louis and
+Cincinnati Railway. It is difficult to surmise what he might have become
+as a railway magnate but for the civil war.
+
+At the outbreak of hostilities he became the major-general of Ohio
+volunteers, and by skillful generalship and bravery, succeeded in
+driving the rebels out of West Virginia, which made him
+commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. General McClellan was
+over-cautious, and lingered about Washington with about 200,000 men,
+drilling and preparing for the battle. Succumbing to popular clamor he
+moved out toward Richmond.
+
+Then followed the Peninsula campaign, wherein McClellan was forced to
+change his base, accomplishing one of the most masterly retreats in the
+annals of history. Being relieved of the command by Pope, who also
+failed, he was re-instated and fought the bloody battle of Antietam. In
+this battle he foiled the Confederate project of invasion, but popular
+clamor demanded his removal, as it was thought he followed up his
+victory too leisurely. This virtually ended his military services, and
+on November 8th, 1864, he resigned his commission. After his
+unsuccessful canvass for the presidency he, with his family, sailed for
+Europe, where he remained until 1868, when he returned to the United
+States and took up his residence at Orange, New Jersey. Henceforth he
+followed his profession as an engineer.
+
+In 1877 he was elected Governor of New Jersey. On October 29th, 1885, he
+died at his residence in New York city from the effects of heart
+disease.
+
+We do not propose to pose as a champion of McClellan's wrongs, real or
+supposed, but in reviewing his life the following facts are worthy of
+thought: He was in command at a time when the whole North were laboring
+under a delusion as to the requirements of the war, and it is doubtful
+if any general would have succeeded at this time. The fact that such an
+able general as Hooker was relieved after one reverse, leads one to
+wonder what might have been the fate of even Grant had he commanded at
+this time. However, it is not for us to say, but certain it is, that no
+greater military tactician was to be found among the generals of our
+late war, and as such he deserves credit.
+
+
+
+
+ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT.
+
+
+When a man is energetic and determines to be somebody in the
+world--which is praiseworthy so long as that energy is guided by
+propriety and a just conception of right--there are always scores,
+hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who endeavor to depreciate that
+man's reward.
+
+No other excuse can be assigned for the slander and vituperation which
+has from time to time been heaped upon the fair reputation of General U.
+S. Grant.
+
+Born in obscurity at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27th, 1822, his life is
+a fitting type of the possibilities of our glorious institutions.
+Through the influence of Hon. Thomas L. Hamer he was admitted at West
+Point in 1839. Personally, at this early age, he detested war and was
+opposed to accepting the opportunity, but his father persuaded him to
+go, and his name was blunderingly registered as U. S., instead of H. U.,
+hence he was ever after known as U. S. Grant.
+
+In 1843 he graduated, ranking twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine. It
+will be remembered that Lee and McClellan each ranked second when they
+graduated. At this time Grant was not taken with war, and probably
+evinced little interest in army tactics. The Mexican war came on and
+Grant here distinguished himself, rising to the rank of captain. After
+the war he was stationed at Detroit, and Sacketts Harbor, but this kind
+of inactivity was ill-suited to the restless nature of Grant; he
+therefore resigned.
+
+Having married a Miss Dent, of St. Louis, he accordingly moved onto a
+farm near that city. The next few years he was engaged on the farm, in a
+real estate office in St. Louis, and at the outbreak of the civil war
+was in business with his father, dealing in leather. When the news of
+the fall of Fort Sumter reached Galena he immediately raised a company
+and marched to Springfield where they tendered their services to the
+governor. Grant acted as mustering officer until, being commissioned
+colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, he took the field. His
+first great victory was the capture of Fort Donelson with 15,000
+prisoners. When asked by the Confederate general what terms of surrender
+was expected his answer was, "No terms other than an unconditional and
+immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move upon your works
+at once." The fall of Fort Donelson and the capture of its garrison
+being the first substantial victory that had crowned the Union cause,
+together with the above described answer to General Buckner, brought the
+name of General Grant prominently before the country.
+
+Pittsburgh Landing followed and then Grant determined to take Vicksburg.
+All his generals declared the plan he proposed unmilitary and
+impossible, but after several unsuccessful attempts the Gibraltar of the
+Mississippi was captured, and this time 27,000 prisoners taken. Now came
+the battle of Chattanooga. General Halleck in speaking of this battle
+said:
+
+"Considering the strength of the rebel position, and the difficulty of
+storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered
+the most remarkable in history. Indeed it is so. After Grant had turned
+the Confederate right flank, Sherman was intercepted between Longstreet
+and Bragg, thus cutting Longstreet entirely out, and preventing another
+junction being possible. Resolutions of thanks were passed in Ohio and
+New York, and Congress created Grant a Lieutenant-General, a commission
+which had been held by no one since General Scott resigned. Indeed, if
+ever a General deserved honor, Grant had won it; he had opened the
+Mississippi to navigation, and had captured nearly 100,000 prisoners and
+arms."
+
+He was now commander of all the Federal forces. He at once inaugurated
+two campaigns to be carried on at once. One under Sherman, against
+Atlanta commanded by the skillful rebel General Johnson; the other under
+Meade, directed against Lee and the Confederate capitol. Sherman
+advanced upon Atlanta, and the success of his famous march to the sea is
+well-known.
+
+The capture of Lee was a far more difficult undertaking. After various
+flanking movements and costly assaults, the problem of taking Lee
+narrowed itself down to a siege of Petersburg. Grant perceived that his
+only hope lie in literally starving the Confederate army out by cutting
+off all resources as far as practicable. Lee attempted to draw off
+attention toward Washington, but General Sheridan drove Early out of the
+Shenandoah Valley, devastating the country to such an extent that it was
+impossible to forage an army there should Lee attempt such a maneuver
+again. Time wore away, and on the 9th of April, 1865, Grant captured the
+Confederate army under Lee, thus virtually ending the war.
+
+On July 25, 1866, he was made general of the United States army; the
+rank having been created for him, he was the first to hold it. At the
+next Republican Convention, Grant was nominated for President on the
+first ballot, and was elected over Seymour, and was re-elected a second
+term by an increased majority.
+
+When his public services were finished he started in company with his
+wife, son Jesse, and a few friends. They set sail from Philadelphia on
+the 17th of May, 1877. They visited nearly all the countries of Europe,
+and part of those of Africa and Asia. On this trip the Grant party were
+the guests of nearly all the crowned heads of those foreign countries,
+everywhere receiving the most exalted honors it has ever been the
+pleasure of an American to enjoy, and on his return to the United
+States they were the recipients of an ovation in many of the principal
+cities of this country.
+
+His success seems to have been the outgrowth of hard study and ability
+to perform the most exhaustive labor without fatigue. The scenes of his
+later days were clouded with the intrigues of a stock gambler, but the
+stain that the Grant-Ward failure seemed likely to throw on the spotless
+reputation of General Grant was wiped away when the facts were brought
+to light, and a new lustre was added to his fame by the self-sacrifice
+shown in the final settlement.
+
+General Grant proved to be a writer of no low order, and his
+autobiography is a very readable book. On July 23rd, 1885, the General
+surrendered to a loathsome cancer, and the testimonials of devotion
+shown the honored dead; and the bereaved family throughout the civilized
+world, indicated the stronghold upon the hearts of the people held by
+the dead General.
+
+
+
+
+STONEWALL JACKSON.
+
+
+The true name of this most remarkable man was Thomas Jonathan Jackson;
+few people, however, would recognize by that name to whom was referred.
+At the battle of Bull Run, when the Confederates seemed about to fly,
+General Bee suddenly appearing in view of his men, pointing to Jackson's
+column exclaimed: "There stands Jackson like a stone-wall." From that
+hour the name he received by ordinance of water was supplanted by that
+received in a baptism of fire.
+
+Stonewall Jackson was born at Clarksburg, Virginia, January 21st, 1824.
+He graduated at West Point in time to serve in the Mexican war, where he
+became distinguished for gallant service and was brevetted as captain,
+and finally major. After serving a number of years in the regular army
+he resigned to become professor and instructor in military tactics in
+the Virginia Military Academy, situated at Lexington, Kentucky. He was
+considered at this time a most peculiar man, being very eccentric in his
+habits. At the breaking out of the civil war he naturally sided with his
+State, and it is believed that he was sincere. It is said that Jackson
+never fought a battle without praying earnestly for the success of his
+people. As has been intimated, he saved the day for the Confederacy at
+Bull Run.
+
+McClellan was promised the assistance of General McDowell and forty
+thousand men who had been left at headquarters for the protection of the
+capital. It was well-known that a combined attack on Richmond was
+designed immediately upon the junction of the two great armies. To
+prevent the execution of this plan Jackson was ordered to drive the
+Federal forces out of the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington. He
+accomplished this by one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war. He
+crossed the mountains and drove the army of Fremont back, and returning
+to the Valley with all speed defeated Banks at every turn; indeed, it
+was only by the most rapid marching that the Federals escaped across the
+Potomac.
+
+McDowell was suspended from joining McClellan and ordered to co-operate
+in crushing Jackson. Jackson, with a force of scarcely twenty thousand
+men, had opposed to him, bent upon his destruction, fully seventy
+thousand men, and four major-generals; his defeat seemed certain, yet by
+a most rapid and skillful march he eluded pursuit until his army had
+reached a point from which his line of retreat was safe, when he turned
+upon his enemy and defeated Fremont at Cross Keys June 8th, and Shields
+at Port Republic the next day. Having thus accomplished the purpose of
+the campaign, he hastened to join Lee in his attack on McClellan. As
+before stated, this was a most brilliant campaign. Not only was McDowell
+prevented from joining McClellan, but McClellan became alarmed as to his
+own safety, and resolved to change his base from the York to the James.
+This forced upon him the Peninsula campaign, which resulted in the Union
+army being driven back to Washington. For this and other important
+services he was made a major-general. Being placed in immediate control
+of nearly half of Lee's entire army, he made one of his characteristic
+movements; gaining Pope's rear, fell upon the Union forces with a
+terrible ferocity which carried all before it. By a rapid movement in
+the Antietam campaign Jackson captured Harper's Ferry and eleven
+thousand men, and then, by a forced march, rejoined Lee in time to take
+an important part in the battle of Antietam two days afterward.
+
+At Fredericksburg he was made a lieutenant-general. He soon controlled
+two-thirds of the Confederate forces, and at Chancellorsville he made a
+secret march of over fifteen miles mostly by forest roads, and gaining
+Hooker's right fell upon it by surprise, and drove it in rout upon the
+main body. The engagement being apparently over he rode into the woods
+to reconnoiter, having with him a small escort. Upon his return they
+were mistaken for Union scouts and fired upon by his own men. Several of
+the escort were killed, and Jackson received three balls, one through
+each hand and one which shattered his shoulder. He was at length carried
+to the rear where his arm was amputated. Pneumonia set in, however,
+which was the immediate cause of his death. His last words were, "Let us
+cross over and rest under the shade of the trees."
+
+Stonewall Jackson was considered by the Confederates to have been their
+most brilliant commander, and his death had much to do with the
+overthrow of their Government.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE.
+
+
+Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia, at the town of Stafford, June 19th,
+1807. He was son of Colonel Henry Lee, of revolutionary fame. He had a
+commanding military bearing, was a most graceful horseman; he came from
+good "fighting stock," and as there never was a braver man drew sword,
+he was well calculated to become the beau-ideal of the Southern
+Confederacy.
+
+When eighteen years of age he entered the military academy at West
+Point, where, after a four years' course, he graduated. One thing,
+General Lee, as a cadet, was an example well worthy of imitation, as
+he, during his whole four years' course, never received a reprimand, and
+graduated second only to one in his class. From 1829 until 1834, he
+served as assistant engineer in the building of forts in the South, and
+later was assistant astronomer; aiding in determining the boundary of
+Ohio. When the Mexican war broke out he was appointed chief engineer for
+the army under General Scott.
+
+During this war he served with great distinction, being successively
+breveted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and was wounded once;
+certain it is that Robert E. Lee gave ample proof of his ability in the
+Mexican war. In the interim between the Mexican and Civil wars he served
+his country in various ways, being for some three years superintendent
+of the West Point Military Academy.
+
+In 1855 two new regiments were formed. Of the second regiment Albert
+Sidney Johnson was made colonel; Lee, lieutenant-colonel; Hardee and
+Thomas, majors; Van Dorn and Kirby Smith, captains; among the
+lieutenants were Stoneman and Hood. One can see that the officers of
+that regiment were composed of men of no small calibre. When Lincoln was
+elected Lee was in Texas, but he obtained a leave of absence and hurried
+to his home in Virginia. General Lee was held in very high esteem by
+General Scott, who was then at the head of all the Union armies. General
+Scott was getting very old, too old for active service, and it is stated
+that he felt strongly inclined to name Lee as his successor, but Lee had
+other views on the question and he joined his fortune with that of the
+South.
+
+Perhaps a letter written to his sister will more clearly portray Lee's
+convictions and motives at the breaking out of hostilities than
+anything that can be found elsewhere in history:--"The whole South is in
+a state of revolution into which Virginia has been drawn after a long
+struggle; and though I recognize no necessity for this state of things
+and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for redress of
+grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I had to meet the
+question whether I should take part against my native State. With all my
+devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American
+citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand
+against my relatives, my children, my home."
+
+These were the words of General Lee to his sister. The idea of certain
+power reserved from the "central power," as they termed it, had been
+inculcated since Jefferson and Madison drew up the Kentucky and Virginia
+resolution in 1798. Upon these did Calhoun claim authority to rest
+justified when he fostered the idea of State Rights. Had it not been for
+a sudden wave of popular politics which swept Jefferson into power it
+might have been Thomas Jefferson or James Madison who would have been
+known in history as the author of the Nullification Acts which did not
+come until Calhoun's day.
+
+This doctrine had been taught in the South for several generations, and
+had enlarged with rolling. The profitable use of slaves helped to
+sustain it, and it is no wonder, to a careful observer, that these
+people were carried away by rebellion, when he takes into consideration
+these things, the characteristics of the people, etc. As it was with
+Lee, so it was with the South, and despite assertions to the contrary,
+we believe that Robert E. Lee was sincere, and not looking after glory
+any more than other officers of recognized ability, who cast their
+fortunes with the North.
+
+Then, too, Lee gained his position at the head of the Southern army only
+after one general had been killed, another wounded, and another stricken
+with a paralytic stroke; he coming fourth in order.
+
+On June 3d, 1862, Lee received his commission, and immediately launched
+out upon a series of battles known as the seven-days battle, in which he
+succeeded in driving McClellan from before Richmond. Pope was now placed
+in command of the Union forces, and Lee signally defeated him in the
+second battle of Bull Run. Now he attempted his first invasion of the
+North, and was forced back in the battle of Antietam. Retreating into
+Virginia, he massed his forces at Fredericksburg. The North being
+dissatisfied with the slow manner in which McClellan was following Lee,
+placed Burnside in command, who attacked Lee in his position, but was
+signally repulsed by the Confederates. He next met Hooker at
+Chancellorsville, and again success attended the standard of Lee.
+
+Flushed with the great victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
+Lee once more started on an invasion of the North. Meade was now put at
+the head of the Union forces, who at once started in pursuit. They met
+at Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania. Three long days of terrible fighting
+resulted in the repulse of Lee, and he retreated south in good order.
+When he reached the Potomac he found it impassable. If Meade had
+followed Lee up now he might have gained a glorious victory, but he
+allowed Lee to escape into Virginia.
+
+General Grant was now placed at the head of the Union forces and Lee
+found he had other metal with which to deal. Grant was not only made of
+different material but he could profit by the experience of his
+predecessors. Then, too, Grant had the great resources of the North
+behind him and the confidence of President Lincoln. Lee could never
+replace the 30,000 veterans lost at Gettysburg, but Grant could lose
+later 80,000 and the government was amply able to replace three times
+that number. Grant now commenced to starve Lee out, to wear the
+Confederacy threadbare. The history of the war from now until the close
+of the war is a series of flanking movements carried on by two most
+skillful generals. At last Lee was obliged to surrender on the 9th of
+April, 1865.
+
+After the war he became president of Washington and Lee University, his
+great popularity and good management gaining for it a large patronage.
+He died on the 12th of October, 1870.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WILSON.
+
+
+Great honor is due any man who rises from the shoe-maker's bench to be
+Vice-President of the United States. Such a man was Henry Wilson, who
+was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, February 16th, 1812. When yet a
+mere child he was apprenticed to a farmer, whom he was to serve until of
+age. Eleven long years did he serve this man, receiving only about one
+year's schooling during that time, but he borrowed books and read
+nearly one thousand volumes during the "wee sma' hours" of his
+apprenticeship. Upon obtaining his majority he started on foot for
+Natick, Massachusetts, and entered the town with all his worldly
+possessions in a bundle. Obtaining employment as a shoemaker he was thus
+occupied for the next two years. His course of reading, so faithfully
+followed, had made him proficient in history, but thirsting for
+additional knowledge he decided to attend school with the money he had
+saved. About this time he went to Washington, when the sight of slaves
+bought and sold excited his sympathy, and he decided to forever oppose
+with all his might the institution of bondage, which he always did, no
+matter how found. Upon his return he found his earnings swept away by
+the failure of the man to whom he had intrusted them. Accordingly he
+resumed the shoe business, but his light was beginning to be seen. He
+was invited to partake in the anti-slavery meetings, then so frequent in
+Massachusetts, and actively engaged in the campaign in which Harrison
+was elected President, making over sixty speeches.
+
+In 1843 he was elected to the State Senate. Also manufactured shoes on
+an extended scale for the southern market. The old Whig party, with whom
+he had been so earnestly allied, proving itself unable to cope with the
+slave power, by rejecting the anti-slavery resolutions at the convention
+of 1843, he withdrew from it. Later, he was a conspicuous figure in the
+organization of the new Free Soil party, being the Chairman of the
+committee in his State, and editor of the _Boston Republican_. In
+1850-52 he was president of the State Senate, and in '52 presided at the
+Free Soil contention at Pittsburgh. The next year he was the Free Soil
+candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, but was defeated. In 1855 he
+was chosen United States Senator, where he distinguished himself. When
+his colleague, Mr. Sumner, was attacked by Preston S. Brooks, Mr. Wilson
+fearlessly denounced it as a cowardly, not to say dastardly assault. He
+was immediately challenged by Mr. Brooks, but declined on the ground
+that dueling is a barbarous custom which the law of the country has
+branded as a crime. He was one of the leaders in the new Republican
+party movement.
+
+During the civil war his labors were indefatigable for the Union, and in
+1872 he was elected on that ticket with Grant by an overwhelming
+majority.
+
+He died in office, November 22nd, 1875, and the boy shoemaker was
+mourned by a great nation. Truly, the price of success is patient toil.
+
+
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+If one reads the life of Abraham Lincoln they are thoroughly convinced
+that the possibilities of our country are indeed very great. He was born
+in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 14th day of February, 1809, of very
+poor parents, who lived in a log cabin.
+
+Scarcely a boy in the country will read these lines but has tenfold the
+opportunity to succeed in the world as had Abraham Lincoln. When he was
+still a little boy his parents moved to Indiana, which was then a
+wilderness. Here, in a log cabin, he learned to read under the tuition
+of his mother and afterward received nearly a year's schooling at
+another log cabin a mile away,--nearly a year's schooling and all the
+schooling he ever received from a tutor!
+
+But he loved books, he craved knowledge and eagerly did he study the few
+books which fell in his way. He kept a scrap-book into which he copied
+the striking passages and this practice enabled him to gain an
+education. Here he grew up, becoming famous for his great strength and
+agility; he was six foot four inches in his stockings and was noted as
+the most skillful wrestler in the country. When he was about twenty
+years old the Lincoln family moved to Illinois, settling ten miles from
+Decatur, where they cleared about fifteen acres and built a log cabin.
+Here is where Lincoln gained his great reputation as a rail-splitter. He
+had kept up his original system of reading and sketching, and from this
+period in his life he became a marked man--he was noted for his
+information. It makes little difference whether knowledge is gained in
+college or by the side of a pile of rails, as Lincoln was wont to study
+after his day's work was done.
+
+In 1830 he took a trip on a flat-boat to New Orleans. It was on this
+trip that he first saw slaves chained together and whipped. Ever after,
+he detested the institution of slavery. Upon his return he received a
+challenge from a famous wrestler; he accepted and threw his antagonist.
+About this time he became a clerk in a country store, where his honesty
+and square dealing made him a universal favorite, and earned for him the
+sobriquet of 'Honest Abe.' He next entered the Black Hawk war, and was
+chosen captain of his company. Jefferson Davis also served as an
+officer in this war. In the fall of 1832 he was a candidate for the
+legislature, but was defeated. He then opened a store with a partner
+named Berry. Lincoln was made postmaster, but Berry proved a drunkard
+and spendthrift, bringing the concern to bankruptcy, and soon after
+died, to fill a drunkard's grave, leaving Lincoln to pay all the debts.
+But during all this time Lincoln had been improving his spare moments
+learning surveying, and for the next few years he earned good wages
+surveying.
+
+He now decided to become a lawyer, and devoted his attention, so far as
+possible, to the accumulation of a thorough knowledge. At one period
+during his studies he walked, every Saturday, to Springfield, some eight
+miles away, to borrow and return books pertaining to his studies. These
+books he studied nights, and early in the morning, out of working hours.
+In 1834 he was once more a candidate for the legislature, and was
+triumphantly elected, being re-elected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. In 1837,
+when he had arrived at the age of twenty-eight, he was admitted to the
+bar, where he soon became noted as a very successful pleader before a
+jury. He was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, a splendid lawyer, and a
+ready speaker at public gatherings.
+
+In 1836 he first met Stephen A. Douglas who was destined to be his
+adversary in the political arena for the next twenty years. Stephen A.
+Douglas was, or soon became the leader of the Democracy in Illinois and
+Lincoln spoke for the Whigs as against Douglas. In 1847 Lincoln was sent
+to Congress, being chosen over the renowned Peter Cartwright, who was
+the Democratic candidate. In Congress he vigorously opposed President
+Polk and the Mexican war, and proposed a bill to abolish slavery in the
+District of Columbia, provided the inhabitants would vote for it. In
+1855 he withdrew from the contest for the United States Senatorship in
+favor of Mr. Trumbull, whom he knew would draw away many Democratic
+votes and to Lincoln was due Trumbull's election. During the canvass he
+met Stephen A. Douglas in debate at Springfield, where he exploded the
+theory of 'Squatter Sovereignty' in one sentence, namely: "I admit that
+the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to govern himself, but
+I deny his right to govern any other person without that person's
+consent."
+
+In 1858 he had his great contest for the United States Senatorship with
+Douglas. At that time Judge Douglas was renowned throughout the nation
+as one of the ablest, if not the ablest of American speakers. Horace
+Greeley well said, "The man who stumps a State with Stephen A. Douglas
+and meets him day after day before the people has got to be no fool."
+The tremendous political excitement growing out of the 'Kansas-Nebraska
+Act,' and the agitation of the slavery question, in its relation to the
+vast territory of Kansas and Nebraska, convulsed the nation. The
+interest was greatly heightened from the fact that these two great
+gladiators, Stephen A. Douglas, the great mouth-piece of the Democratic
+party and champion of 'Squatter Sovereignty,' and Abraham Lincoln, a
+prominent lawyer, but otherwise comparatively unknown, the opponent of
+that popular measure and the coming champion of the anti-slavery party.
+
+The question at issue was immense--permanent, not transient--universal,
+not local, and the debate attracted profound attention on the part of
+the people, whether Democratic or Free Soil, from the Kennebec to the
+Rio Grande. Mr. Douglas held that the vote of the majority of the
+people of a territory should decide this as well as all other questions
+concerning their domestic or internal affairs. Mr. Lincoln, on the
+contrary, urged the necessity of an organic enactment, excluding slavery
+in any form--this last to be the condition of its admission into the
+Union as a State. The public mind was divided and the utterances and
+movements of every public man were closely scanned. Finally, after the
+true western style, a joint discussion, face to face, between Lincoln
+and Douglas, as the two representative leaders, was proposed and agreed
+upon. It was arranged that they should have seven great debates, one
+each at Ottawa, Freeport, Charleston, Jonesboro, Galesburg, Quincy, and
+Alton.
+
+Processions and cavalcades, bands of music and cannon-firing made every
+day a day of excitement. But the excitement was greatly intensified from
+the fact that the oratorical contests were between two such skilled
+debaters, before mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over
+every keen thrust at the adversary, and again to be cast down by each
+failure to 'give back as good,' or to parry the thrust so aimed.
+
+In personal appearance, voice, gesture and general platform style,
+nothing could exceed the dissimilarity of these two speakers. Mr.
+Douglas possessed a frame or build particularly attractive; a natural
+presence which would have gained for him access to the highest circles,
+however courtly, in any land; a thickset, finely built, courageous man,
+with an air as natural to him as breath, of self-confidence that did not
+a little to inspire his supporters with hope. That he was every inch a
+man no friend or foe ever questioned. Ready, forceful, animated, keen,
+playful, by turns, and thoroughly artificial; he was one of the most
+admirable platform speakers that ever appeared before an American
+audience, his personal geniality, too, being so abounding that,
+excepting in a political sense, no antagonism existed between him and
+his opponent.
+
+Look at Lincoln. In personal appearance, what a contrast to his renowned
+opponent. Six feet and four inches high, long, lean and wiry in motion;
+he had a good deal of the elasticity and awkwardness which indicated the
+rough training of his early life; his face genial looking, with good
+humor lurking in every corner of its innumerable angles. Judge Douglas
+once said, "I regard Lincoln as a kind, amiable and intelligent
+gentleman, a good citizen and an honorable opponent." As a speaker he
+was ready, precise, fluent and his manner before a popular assembly was
+just as he pleased to make it; being either superlatively ludicrous or
+very impressive. He employed but little gesticulation but when he
+desired to make a point produced a shrug of the shoulders, an elevation
+of the eyebrows, a depression of his mouth and a general malformation of
+countenance so comically awkward that it scarcely ever failed to 'bring
+down the house.' His enunciation was slow and distinct, and his voice
+though sharp and piercing at times had a tendency to dwindle into a
+shrill and unpleasant tone. In this matter of voice and commanding
+attitude, the odds were decidedly in favor of Judge Douglas.
+
+Arrangements having been consummated, the first debate took place at
+Ottawa, in Lasalle county, and a strong Republican district. The crowd
+in attendance was a large one, and about equally divided--the enthusiasm
+of the Democracy having brought more than a due proportion of their
+numbers to hear and see their favorite leader. The thrilling tones of
+Douglas, his manly defiance against the principles he believed to be
+wrong assured his friends, if any assurance were wanting, that he was
+the same unconquered and unconquerable Democrat that he had proved to be
+for the previous twenty-five years.
+
+Douglas opened the discussion and spoke one hour; Lincoln followed, the
+time assigned him being an hour and a half, though he yielded a portion
+of it. It was not until the second meeting, however, that the speakers
+grappled with those profound public questions that had thus brought them
+together, and in which the nation was intensely interested. The debates
+were a wonderful exhibition of power and eloquence.
+
+In the first debate Mr. Douglas arraigned his opponent for the
+expression in a former speech of a "House divided against itself,"
+etc.,--referring to the slavery and anti-slavery sections of the
+country; and Mr. Lincoln defended those ideas as set forth in the speech
+referred to. As Mr. Lincoln's position in relation to one or two points
+growing out of the former speech referred to, had attracted great
+attention throughout the country, he availed himself of the opportunity
+of this preliminary meeting to reply to what he regarded as common
+misconceptions. "Anything," he said, "that argues me into the idea of
+perfect social and political equality with the negro is but a specious
+and fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a
+horse-chestnut to be a chestnut horse. I will say here, while upon this
+subject, that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere
+with the institution of slavery in the States where it now exists. I
+believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do
+so. I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between
+the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the
+two which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living
+together upon a footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes
+a matter of necessity that there must be a difference I, as well as
+Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the
+superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I
+hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why
+the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the
+Declaration of Independence--the right to life, liberty, and the
+pursuits of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as
+the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many
+respects--certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral and intellectual
+endowment. But in the right to eat the bread without the leave of any
+one else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of
+Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man."
+
+Touching the question of respect or weight of opinion due to deliverance
+of the United States Supreme Court--an element which entered largely
+into this national contest, Mr. Lincoln said: "This man--Douglas--sticks
+to a decision which forbids the people of a territory from excluding
+slavery, and he does so, not because he says it is right in itself--he
+does not give any opinion on that, but because it has been decided by
+the Court, and being decided by the Court, he is, and you are bound to
+take it in your political action as law; not that he judges at all of
+its merits, but because a decision of the Court is to him a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' He places it on that ground alone, and you will bear in mind
+that thus committing himself unreservedly to this decision, commits him
+to the next one just as firmly as to this. He did not commit himself on
+account of the merit or demerit of the decision, but is a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' The next decision, as much as this, will be a 'Thus saith the
+Lord.' There is nothing that can divert or turn him away from this
+decision. It is nothing that I point out to him that his great
+prototype, General Jackson, did not believe in the binding force of
+decisions--it is nothing to him that Jefferson did not so believe. I
+have said that I have often heard him approve of Jackson's course in
+disregarding the decision of the Supreme Court, pronouncing a national
+bank unconstitutional. He says: I did not hear him say so; he denies the
+accuracy of my recollection. I say he ought to know better than I, but I
+will make no question about this thing, though it still seems to me I
+heard him say it twenty times. I will tell him, though, that he now
+claims to stand on the Cincinnati platform which affirms that Congress
+_cannot_ charter a national bank, in the teeth of that old standing
+decision that Congress _can_ charter a bank. And I remind him of another
+piece of history on the question of respect for judicial decisions, and
+it is a piece of Illinois history belonging to a time when the large
+party to which Judge Douglas belonged were displeased with a decision of
+the Supreme Court of Illinois, because they had decided that a Governor
+could not remove a Secretary of State. I know that Judge Douglas will
+not deny that he was then in favor of oversloughing that decision by the
+mode of adding five new judges, so as to vote down the four old ones.
+Not only so, but it ended in the judge's sitting down on that very
+bench, as one of the five new judges so as to break down the four old
+ones." In this strain Mr. Lincoln occupied most of his time. But the
+debate was a very equal thing, and the contest did not prove a 'walk
+over' either way.
+
+At the meeting in Ottawa Mr. Lincoln propounded certain questions to
+which Judge Douglas promptly answered. Judge Douglas spoke in something
+of the following strain: "He desires to know if the people of Kansas
+shall form a constitution by means entirely proper and unobjectionable,
+and ask admission into the Union as a State before they have the
+requisite population for a member of Congress, whether I will vote for
+that admission? Well, now, I regret exceedingly that he did not answer
+that interrogatory himself before he put it to me, in order that we
+might understand and not be left to infer on which side he is. Mr.
+Trumbull during the last session of Congress voted from the beginning to
+the end against the admission of Oregon, although a free State, because
+she had not the requisite population. As Mr. Trumbull is in the field
+fighting for Mr. Lincoln, I would like to have Mr. Lincoln answer his
+own question and tell me whether he is fighting Trumbull on that issue
+or not. But I will answer his question. In reference to Kansas it is my
+opinion that as she has population enough to constitute a slave State,
+she has people enough for a free State. I will not make Kansas an
+exceptional case to the other States of the Union. I made that
+proposition in the Senate in 1856, and I renewed it during the last
+session in a bill providing that no territory of the United States
+should form a constitution and apply for admission until it had the
+requisite population. On another occasion I proposed that neither Kansas
+nor any other territory should be admitted until it had the requisite
+population. Congress did not adopt any of my propositions containing
+this general rule, but did make an exception of Kansas. I will stand by
+that exception. Either Kansas must come in as a free State, with
+whatever population she may have, or the rule must be applied to all the
+other territories alike."
+
+Mr. Douglas next proceeded to answer another question proposed by Mr.
+Lincoln, namely: Whether the people of a territory can, in any lawful
+way, against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Said Judge Douglas: "I answer emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln
+has heard me answer a hundred times from every stump in Illinois, that
+in my opinion the people of a territory can, by lawful means, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had answered that question over
+and over again. He heard me argue the Nebraska Bill on that principle
+all over the State in 1854, in 1855 and in 1856, and he has no excuse
+for pretending to be in doubt as to my position. It matters not what way
+the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question,
+whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under the
+constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or
+exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a
+day or an hour unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those
+police regulations can only be established by the local legislature, and
+if the people are opposed to slavery they will elect representatives to
+that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent the
+introduction of it into their midst. If, on the contrary, they are for
+it their legislation will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the
+decision of the Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still
+the right of the people to make a slave territory or free territory is
+perfect and complete under the Nebraska Bill."
+
+It was with great vigor and adroitness that the two great combatants
+went over the ground at the remaining five places of debate, all of
+which were attended and listened to by immense concourses. On both sides
+the speeches were able, eloquent, exhaustive. It was admitted by
+Lincoln's friends that on several occasions he was partly foiled, or at
+least badly bothered, while on the other hand the admirers of Douglas
+allowed that in more than one instance he was flatly and fairly floored
+by Lincoln. It was altogether about an equal match in respect to
+ability, logic, and eloquence. Both of them were self-made men; both of
+them were able lawyers and politicians; both sprang from obscurity to
+distinction; both belonged to the common people; and both were strong
+and popular with the masses.
+
+Though defeated by an unfair apportionment of the legislative districts
+for the senatorship, yet Lincoln so ably fought the great Douglas with
+such wonderful power as to surprise the nation. Heretofore but little
+known out of his native State; this debate made him one of the two most
+conspicuous men in the nation, and the excitement was intensified from
+the fact that both from that hour were the chosen opponents for the
+coming presidential contest.
+
+At the ensuing presidential contest Lincoln was elected to the
+presidency, and the gory front of secession was raised. Forgetting past
+differences, Douglas magnanimously stood shoulder to shoulder with
+Lincoln in behalf of the Union. It was the olive branch of genuine
+patriotism. But while proudly holding aloft the banner of his nation in
+the nation councils, and while yet the blood of his countrymen had not
+blended together and drenched the land, the great senator was suddenly
+snatched from among the living in the hour of the country's greatest
+need; while the brave Lincoln was allowed to see the end--the cause
+triumphant, when he was also called from death unto life.
+
+Lincoln elected, though he was, and admitted to have received his
+election fairly and triumphantly, was yet of necessity compelled to
+enter Washington, like a thief in the night, to assume his place at the
+head of the nation. Lincoln met the crisis calmly but firmly. He had
+watched the coming storm and he asked, as he bade adieu to his friends
+and fellow-citizens, their earnest prayers to Almighty God that he might
+have wisdom and help to see the right path and pursue it. Those prayers
+were answered. He guided the ship of State safely through the most angry
+storm that ever demanded a brave and good pilot. We can only gaze in awe
+on the memory of this man. He seemingly knew in a moment, when placed in
+a trying position that would have baffled an inferior mind, just what to
+do for the best interest of the nation.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had unsurpassed fitness for the task he had to execute.
+Without anything like brilliancy of genius, without breadth of learning
+or literary accomplishments, he had that perfect balance of thoroughly
+sound faculties which gave him the reputation of an almost infallible
+judgment. This, combined with great calmness of temper, inflexible
+firmness of will, supreme moral purpose, and intense patriotism made up
+just that character which fitted him, as the same qualities fitted
+Washington, for the salvation of his country in a period of stupendous
+responsibility and eminent peril.
+
+Although far advanced on the question of slavery, personally, he was
+exceedingly careful about pushing measures upon a country he knew was
+hardly prepared as yet to receive such sweeping legislation. An
+acquaintance once said: 'It is hard to believe that very nearly one-half
+of the Republican party were opposed to the issue of the proclamation of
+emancipation.' Thus Lincoln avoided all extremes, and this quality alone
+made him eminently fit to govern. Yet, when necessary, he was stern and
+unrelenting. When the British minister desired to submit instructions
+from his government, stating that that government intended to sustain a
+neutral relation, he refused to receive it officially. When France
+demanded recognition by the United States of the government of
+Maximilian, in Mexico, he steadily refused. He was firm as a rock; he
+would ride post haste twenty miles to pardon a deserter, but under no
+consideration could he be induced to suspend hostilities against a
+people who were trying to destroy the Union. All sorts of political
+machinery was invented to manufacture public opinion and sentiment
+against him, but he was triumphantly re-elected in 1864.
+
+The morning of Lincoln's second inauguration was very stormy, but the
+sky cleared just before noon, and the sun shone brightly as he appeared
+before an immense audience in front of the capitol, and took the oath
+and delivered an address, alike striking for its forcible expressions
+and conciliatory spirit. He spoke something as follows:
+
+"On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts
+were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. * * * Both parties
+deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the
+nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it
+perish; and the war came. * * * Both read the same Bible, and pray to
+the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem
+strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
+wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us
+judge not that we be not judged. The prayer of both could not be
+answered. That of neither has been fully. * * * With malice toward none,
+with charity for all, with the firmness in the right, as God gives us
+light to see the right, let us finish the work we are in to bind up the
+nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
+for his widow and his orphans, to all which may achieve and cherish a
+just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
+
+He hated slavery from the beginning, but was not an abolitionist until
+it was constitutional to be so. At the head of the nation, when
+precedents were useless, he was governed by justice only. He was
+singularly fortunate in the selection of his cabinet officers, and the
+reason was he never allowed prejudice to prevent his placing a rival in
+high office.
+
+Yes, Mr. Lincoln is probably the most remarkable example on the pages of
+history, showing the possibilities of our country. From the poverty in
+which he was born, through the rowdyism of a frontier town, the rudeness
+of frontier society, the discouragement of early bankruptcy, and the
+fluctuations of popular politics, he rose to the championship of Union
+and freedom when the two seemed utterly an impossibility; never lost
+his faith when both seemed hopeless, and was suddenly snatched from
+earth when both were secured. He was the least pretentious of men, and
+when, with the speed of electricity, it flashed over the Union that the
+great Lincoln--shot by an assassin--was no more, the excitement was
+tremendous. The very heart of the republic throbbed with pain and
+lamentation. Then the immortal President was borne to his last
+resting-place in Springfield, Illinois. All along the journey to the
+grave, over one thousand miles, a continual wail went up from friends
+innumerable, and they would not be comforted. Never was there a grander,
+yet more solemn funeral accorded to any, ancient or modern. He was a
+statesman without a statesman's craftiness, politician without a
+politician's meanness, a great man without a great man's vices, a
+philanthropist without a philanthropist's dreams, a christian without
+pretensions, a ruler without the pride of place or power, an ambitious
+man without selfishness, and a successful man without vanity. Humble man
+of the backwoods, boatman, axman, hired laborer, clerk, surveyor,
+captain, legislator, lawyer, debater, orator, politician, statesman.
+President, savior of the republic, emancipator of a race, true
+christian, true man.
+
+Gaze on such a character; does it not thrill your very soul and cause
+your very heart to bleed that such a man should be shot by a dastardly
+assassin? Yet on the 14th of April, 1865, J. Wilkes Booth entered the
+private box of the President, and creeping stealthily from behind, as
+become the dark deed which he contemplated, deliberately shot Abraham
+Lincoln through the head, and the country lost the pilot in the hours
+when she needed him so much.
+
+
+
+
+EDWARD EVERETT.
+
+
+Among the more eminent of eminent men stands Edward Everett in the
+annals of American history. We do not give his history to show how he
+struggled through privations, overcoming all obstacles, until victory at
+last crowned his efforts, as so many of our great men have been obliged
+to do, but we do delineate his achievements to illustrate what hard work
+will do, provided a man has ability to develop. Yes, to show what hard
+work will do. But some will say, 'Well, that does sound well, but I
+guess if Edward Everett had been an ordinary man no amount of hard work
+would have made him the Edward Everett of history'; another may say,
+'That's so, it is foolish to argue as you do, and hold up such men as
+examples, intimating that their success is the result of hard work'; and
+still another may say, 'Say what you will, you cannot gain-say the
+factor of opportunities, of 'luck,' if you choose to so designate it.'
+
+We do not gain-say anything; we simply point to history; read for
+yourself. Take eminent men, read their lives, and see if seven-tenths,
+at least, of our great men did not acquire success through their own
+effort. Read carefully and see if they did not largely MAKE their own
+opportunities. True, all cannot be Everetts or Clays, but by
+extraordinary effort and careful thought, any one will better his or her
+condition. Sickness may come, they will be the better prepared. Losses
+will be more easily met and discharged. No man ever succeeded by
+waiting for something to turn up. The object of this work is not to make
+people delude themselves by any conceited ideas, but to encourage, to
+inspire, to enkindle anew the fires of energy laying dormant. The point
+is, it is not a 'slumbering genius' within people that it is our desire
+to stimulate, but a 'slumbering energy.' We are content that others
+should take care of the 'genius'; we are satisfied that any influence,
+no matter from what source it comes, that will awaken dormant energies
+will do the world more good than ten times the same amount of influence
+trying to prove that we are fore ordained to be somebody or nobody.
+
+Mr. Everett was a man who fully comprehended and appreciated this fact.
+All great men understand that it is the making the most of one's talents
+that makes the most of our chances which absolutely tells. Rufus Choate
+believed in hard work. When some one said to him that a certain fine
+achievement was the result of accident, he exclaimed: "Nonsense. You
+might as well drop the Greek alphabet on the ground and expect to pick
+up the Illiad." Mr. Beecher has well said that every idle man has to be
+supported by some industrious man. Hard labor prevents hard luck.
+Fathers should teach their children that if any one will not work
+neither shall he attain success. Let us magnify our calling and be
+happy, but strive to progress. As before said, Mr. Everett fully
+understood all this and great men innumerable could be quoted in support
+of this doctrine.
+
+The year 1794 must ever be memorable, as the year in which Mr. Everett
+was ushered into the world, in which he was to figure as so prominent a
+factor. We have written a long preamble, but it is hoped that the
+reader has taken enough interest thus far to fully take in the points
+which we have endeavored to make, and it is further hoped that such
+being the case, the reader will, by the light of those ideas, read and
+digest the wonderful character before us.
+
+Undoubtedly Everett possessed one of the greatest minds America has ever
+produced, but if he had rivaled Solomon in natural ability, he could not
+have entered Harvard College as a student at the age of thirteen had he
+not been an indefatigable worker, and will any man delude himself into
+the belief that he could have graduated from such a school at the age of
+only seventeen, and at the head of his class, had he not exercised
+tremendous energy. Still further do any of the readers who chance to
+read this volume think that he was picked up bodily and placed in the
+ministerial chair vacated by the gifted Buckminister when he was only
+nineteen because he was lucky? A city preacher at nineteen! Occupying
+one of the first pulpits in the land at nineteen! "Why, he was gifted."
+Of course he was, and he was a tremendous worker. Thus was his success
+enhanced.
+
+At twenty he was appointed to a Greek professorship in Harvard College,
+and qualified himself by travel in Europe for four years. During that
+time he acquired that solid information concerning the history and
+principles of law, and of the political systems of Europe, which formed
+the foundation of that broad statesmanship for which he was afterward
+distinguished. During his residence in Europe his range of study
+embraced the ancient classics, the modern languages, the history and
+principles of the civil and public law, and a comprehensive examination
+of the existing political systems of Europe. He returned home, and from
+that time until his death he was recognized as one of the greatest
+orators of his time. In 1825 to 1835 he was a distinguished member of
+the national congress. He then served three successive terms as governor
+of Massachusetts. In 1814 he was appointed minister to the English
+court. It was an important mission, for the relations of his government
+with that of England, then wore a grave aspect. His official career in
+London was a marked success. His personal accomplishments made him a
+friend and favorite with the leading men and families of England. After
+this he was sent as a commissioner to China, and after his return from
+abroad, he was at once chosen President of Harvard College.
+
+He entered upon the duties of this new office with his characteristic
+energy and enthusiasm, but ill-health compelled his resignation at the
+end of three years. Upon the death of his bosom friend, Daniel Webster,
+he was appointed to succeed to Webster's position at the head of
+President Fillmore's cabinet. Before the close of his duties as
+Secretary of State, he was chosen by the Massachusetts State Legislature
+to a seat in the National Senate. Once more overwork compelled his
+withdrawal from active responsibility, and in May, 1854, under the
+advice of his physician, he resigned his seat. But he was content to
+remain idle only a few months when he entered with great zeal upon a new
+enterprise.
+
+The project of purchasing Mount Vernon and beautifying it as a memento
+of esteem to the 'Nation's father' attracted his attention, and his
+efforts in behalf of the association to raise money for the above-named
+object netted over $100,000, besides his valuable time, and paying his
+own expenses. He afterwards raised many more thousands of dollars for
+the benefit of numerous charitable societies and objects. Emerging from
+private life at the opening of the civil war he gave himself incessantly
+to the defense of the Union. He died on the 14th of January, 1865, and
+was mourned throughout the whole North. Eulogies innumerable were called
+forth by the death of this intellectual phenomenon of the nineteenth
+century.
+
+
+
+
+EDWIN M. STANTON.
+
+
+Edwin M. Stanton, whom President Lincoln selected for his Secretary of
+War, notwithstanding the fact that he had served in the cabinet of
+Buchanan, was born at Steubenville, Ohio, December 19th, 1814, and died
+in Washington, D. C., December 24th, 1869.
+
+When fifteen years old he became a clerk in a book-store in his native
+town, and with money thus accumulated, was enabled to attend Kenyon
+College, but at the end of two years was obliged to re-enter the
+book-store as a clerk.
+
+Thus through poverty he was deterred from graduating, but knowledge is
+just as beneficial, whether acquired in school or out. Thurlow Weed
+never had the advantages of a college, but stretched prone before the
+sap-house fire, he laid the foundation upon which he built that splendid
+reputation as an able editor; Elihu Buritt never saw the inside of a
+college school-room as a student, but while at the anvil, at work as a
+blacksmith, with book laying on a desk near, he framed the basis of that
+classical learning which made him, as master of forty different
+languages, the esteemed friend of John Bright and others of the most
+noted people the world has ever known.
+
+As it was with them, so it was with Stanton. He had but little
+advantages, but he would not 'down.' It is said that if Henry Ward
+Beecher had gone to sea, as he desired to do, he would not have long
+remained, for in him was even then a 'slumbering genius,' But he himself
+once said that had it not been for his great love of work he never could
+have half succeeded. Ah, that's it; if ability to accomplish hard
+'digging' is not genius, it is the best possible substitute for it. A
+man may have in him a 'slumbering genius,' but unless he put forth the
+energy, his efforts will be spasmodic, ill-timed and scattered.
+
+    "Full many a gem, of purest ray serene
+    The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
+    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
+    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
+
+Young men, there is truth hidden in these words, despite what some
+writers would make you think. They would argue that if you are to be a
+Milton, a Cromwell, a Webster, or a Clay, that you cannot help it, do
+what you will. Possibly, this may be so; it may not be thought proper
+for me to dispute their lordship, but it does seem to me that such
+arguments can give but little hope; if they have influence at all it
+cannot be an inspiring one. No, never mind the reputation; never pine to
+be a Lincoln, or a Garfield, but if you feel that your chances in youth
+are equal to theirs, take courage--WORK.
+
+If you are a farmer strive to excel all the surrounding farmers. If a
+boot-black, make up your mind to monopolize the business on your block.
+Faculty to do this is the 'best possible substitute for a slumbering
+genius,' if perchance you should lack that 'most essential faculty to
+success.' At any rate, never wait for the 'slumbering genius' to show
+itself,--if you do, it will never awake but slumber on through endless
+time, and leave you groping on in midnight darkness.
+
+But to return to Stanton. Whether he possessed a 'slumbering genius'
+does not appear, but certain it is that by down-right HARD WORK he
+gained a knowledge of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1836, when
+in his twenty-first year. While yet a young lawyer he was made
+prosecuting attorney of Harrison county. In 1842 he was chosen reporter
+of the Ohio Supreme Court, and published three volumes of reports.
+
+In 1847 he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but for nine years
+afterward retained his office in Steubenville, as well as that in
+Pittsburgh. In 1857 his business had so expanded that he found it
+necessary to move to Washington, D. C., the seat of the United States
+Supreme Court. His first appearance before the United States Supreme
+Court was in defence of the State of Pennsylvania against the Wheeling
+and Belmont Bridge Company, and thereafter his practice rapidly
+increased.
+
+In 1858 he was employed by the national government as against the
+government of Mexico on land titles, deeds, etc. This great legal
+success, together with several others, won for him a national
+reputation. It has been stated by one of the leading jurists in the
+United States that the cause of nine out of ten of the failures in the
+legal profession is laziness, so common in lawyers, after being admitted
+to the bar. Once in, they seem to think that they have but to 'sit and
+wait' for business. Possibly their eye has, at one time or another,
+caught those sentiments so dear to some writers in regard to 'the
+slumbering genius.' Be that as it may, it is very evident that Stanton
+had never been idle, and was seldom obliged to 'refer to his library'
+before answering questions in relation to the law.
+
+He was called to the high position of attorney-general in President
+Buchanan's cabinet, and on January 11th, 1862, nine months after the
+inauguration of Lincoln, he was placed in the most responsible position
+in his cabinet at that time,--Secretary of War. His labors in this
+department were indefatigable, and many of the most important and
+successful movements of the war originated with him. Never, perhaps, was
+there a more illustrious example of the right man in the right place. It
+seemed almost as if it were a special Provincial interposition to
+incline the President to go out of his own party and select this man for
+this most responsible of all trusts, save his own.
+
+With an unflinching force, an imperial will, a courage never once
+admitting the possibility of failure, and having no patience with
+cowards, compromisers or self-seekers; with the most jealous patriotism
+he displaced the incompetent and exacted brave, mighty, endeavor of all,
+yet only like what he EXACTED OF HIMSELF. He reorganized the war with
+HERCULEAN TOIL. Through all those long years of war he thought of, saw,
+labored for one end--VICTORY. The amount of work he does in some of
+these critical months was _absolutely amazing_ by its comprehension of
+details, the solution of vexed questions, the mastery of formidable
+difficulties, wonder was it his word sometimes cut like a sharp, quick
+blow, or that the stroke of his pen was sometimes like a thunderbolt. It
+was not the time for hesitation, or doubt, or even argument. He meant
+his imperiled country should be saved, and whatever by half-loyalty or
+self-seeking seemed to stand in the way only attracted the lightning of
+his power.
+
+The nation owes as much to him as to any one who in council or in field
+contributed to its salvation. And his real greatness was never more
+conspicuous than at the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. His
+presence of mind, his prompt decision, his unfailing faith and courage
+strengthened, those about him, and prevented the issue of a frightful
+panic and disorder following that unexpected assault upon the life of
+the republic. To have equipped, fed, clothed and organized a million and
+a-half of soldiery, and when their work was done in two days, to have
+remanded them back to the peaceful industries from which they had been
+called; to have had the nation's wealth at his disposal, and yet so
+incorruptible that hundreds of millions could pass through his hands and
+leave him a poor man at the end of his commission, shattered in health,
+yet from necessity obliged to resume his legal practice, must for all
+time rank him among the world's phenomena. Such a man, so true, so
+intent upon great objects must many a time have thwarted the greed of
+the corrupt, been impatient with the hesitation of the imbecile, and
+fiercely indignant against half-heartedness and disloyalty. Whatever
+faults, therefore, his enemies may allege, these will all fade away in
+the splendor with which coming ages will ennoble the greatest of war
+ministers in the nineteenth century. He will be remembered as "one who
+never thought of self, and who held the helm in sunshine and in storm
+with the same untiring grip."
+
+Nor were his services less valuable to his country when, after the
+surrender of the Confederate armies, the rebellion was transferred to
+the White House, and he stood the fearless, unflinching patriot against
+the schemes and usurpations of its accidental occupant. Mr. Stanton
+entered on his great trust in the fullest prime of manhood, equal,
+seemingly, to any possible toil and strain. He left his department
+incurably shorn of health. He entered upon it in affluence, with a large
+and remunerative practice. He left it without a stain on his hands, but
+with his fortune lessened and insufficient. Yet, when it was
+contemplated by some of his friends, after his retirement, to tender him
+a handsome gift of money, he resolutely and unhesitatingly forbade it,
+and the project had to be abandoned. He was as truly a sacrifice to his
+country as was the brave soldier who laid down his life in the
+prison-pen or sanctified the field with his blood. For an unswerving and
+passionate patriotism, for a magnificent courage, for rare
+unselfishness, for transcendent abilities, for immeasurable services to
+his country; the figure of the greatest war minister in modern times
+will tower with a noble grandeur, as undimmed and enviable a splendor as
+that of any in the history of the Republic; which, like his friend and
+co-worker, the great Lincoln, he gave his life to save.
+
+
+
+
+ANDREW JOHNSON.
+
+
+The life-career of the seventeenth president of the United States well
+illustrates the spirit and genius of our free institutions. Four of the
+incumbents of the national executive chair were born in North Carolina.
+Of these, the subject of this sketch was one, being born in the
+above-named State, December 29th, 1808.
+
+His father, who died in 1812, was sexton of a church and porter in the
+State bank. Extreme poverty prevented Andrew from receiving any
+schooling, and at the age of ten he was apprenticed to a tailor. A
+gentleman was in the habit of visiting the shop and reading to the
+workmen, generally from the 'American Speaker.' Andrew became intensely
+interested, especially in the extracts from the speeches of Pitt and
+Fox. He determined to learn to read, and having done this he devoted all
+his leisure hours to the perusal of such books as he could obtain. In
+the summer of 1824, a few months before his apprenticeship expired, he
+got into trouble by throwing stones at an old woman's house, and ran
+away to escape the consequences. He went to Lauren's Court House, South
+Carolina, and obtained work as a journeyman tailor.
+
+In May, 1826, he returned to Raleigh. Mr. Selby, his former employer,
+had moved into the country, and Johnson walked twenty miles to see him,
+apologized for his misdemeanor and promised to pay him for his
+unfulfilled time. Selby required security, which Johnson could not
+furnish, and he went away disappointed. In September he went to
+Tennessee, taking with him his mother, who was dependent upon him for
+support. He worked a year at Greenville when he married, and finally
+settled, deciding to make that town his home.
+
+Thus far his education had been confined to reading; but now, under the
+tuition of his wife, he learned to 'write and cipher.' During this time
+he became prominent in a local debating society, formed of resident
+young men and students of Greenville College. One student says; "On
+approaching the village there stood on the hill by the highway a
+solitary little house, perhaps ten feet square,--we invariably entered
+when passing. It contained a bed, two or three stools, and a tailor's
+platform. We delighted to stop because one lived here whom we knew well
+outside of school and made us welcome; one who would amuse us by his
+social good nature, taking more than ordinary interest in us, and
+catering to our pleasure."
+
+Mr. Johnson, taking an interest in local politics, organized a
+workingman's party in 1828, to oppose the 'aristocrat element,' which
+had always ruled the town. Considerable excitement ensued, and Johnson
+was elected an alderman by a large majority. He rose to be mayor, member
+of the State legislature, and a representative in Congress, holding the
+last office for ten years.
+
+In 1853 he was elected governor, and re-elected in 1855. The contest was
+exciting, and violence and threats of murder were frequent. At one
+meeting Johnson appeared with pistol in his hand, laid it on the desk,
+and said: "Fellow-citizens, I have been informed that part of the
+business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination
+of the individual who now has the honor of addressing you. I beg
+respectfully to propose that this be the first business in order:
+therefore if any man has come here to-night for the purpose indicated, I
+do not say to him let him speak, but let him shoot." After pausing for a
+moment, with his hand on his pistol, he said, "Gentlemen, it appears
+that I have been misinformed. I will now proceed to address you upon the
+subject that has brought us together."
+
+Mr. Johnson's next office was as a member of the national Senate, where
+he ably urged the passage of a bill granting to every settler 160 acres
+of public land. When Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession he
+remained steadfast for the Union. Although a Democrat, he had opposed
+many of their measures in the interest of slavery, and now gravitated
+toward the Republican party. In nearly every city of his native State he
+was burned in effigy; at one time a mob entered a railroad train on
+which he was known to be and attempted to take him, but he met them with
+a pistol in each hand, and drove them steadily before him off the train.
+His loyal sentiments, his efforts to aid Union refugees, and the
+persecution he received at home commended him to the North. In 1862 he
+was appointed military governor of Tennessee, in which position he
+upheld the Federal cause with great ability and zeal. In the winter of
+1861-2 large numbers of Unionists were driven from their homes in East
+Tennessee, who sought refuge in Kentucky. Mr. Johnson met them there,
+relieved the immediate wants of many from his own purse and used his
+influence with the national government for the establishment of a camp
+where these refugees found shelter, food and clothing, and were to a
+large extent organized into companies and mustered into the national
+service. His own wife and child were turned out of their home and his
+property confiscated. All through his duties as military governor of
+Tennessee Johnson displayed great ability and discharged the duties of
+his office fearlessly, amid eminent personal peril.
+
+On June 7th, 1864, the Republican convention held at Baltimore, having
+re-nominated Mr. Lincoln, chose Mr. Johnson for the second place on
+their ticket. They were inaugurated March 4th, and April 14th the
+President was assassinated, and within three hours after Lincoln expired
+Andrew Johnson was president of the United States.
+
+Soon after his inauguration as President of the United States, in the
+course of a speech on the condition of the country he declared, "the
+people must understand that treason is the blackest of crimes, and will
+surely be punished." Now follows the strangest scenes imaginable, coming
+from such a man as he had always, until now, proved himself to be. As
+this part of ex-President Johnson's life has been given great
+prominence, we forbear to speak further in relation to it. We are
+constrained, however, to say that it was sad to see a man, thus late in
+life, destroying in a few months a good character, as a citizen, and
+reputation as an able statesman, which he had been so many years
+building, and in which he had so eminently succeeded. In 1866 the
+University of North Carolina conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.
+
+On the 31st of July, 1875, this wonderful man, who had risen from the
+tailor's bench, to the highest place within the gift of a great nation,
+then to be disgraced and vanquished at his own bidding, died a
+disappointed man.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES A. GARFIELD.
+
+
+Our country probably never produced a character more perfectly rounded,
+physically, intellectually and morally than that which is presented to
+us in the person of James A. Garfield, who was born in a log cabin in
+Cuyahoga county, Ohio, November 19th, 1831.
+
+His childhood was passed in almost complete isolation from social
+influences, save those which proceeded from his mother. His father had
+died when James was only eighteen months old, and when old enough to be
+of any use he was put to work on the farm. The family was very poor, and
+his services were needed to help 'make both ends meet.' At school, as a
+little boy, he allowed no one to impose upon him. He is said to have
+never picked a quarrel, but was sure to resent any indignity with
+effect, no matter how large a boy the offender happened to be. He
+attended school during the cold months when it was impossible to be of
+value on the farm; summers he generally 'worked out,' at one time being
+a driver-boy on the canal.
+
+He attended school at the Geauga Seminary, where he got through his
+first term on the absurdly small sum of seventeen dollars. When he
+returned to school the next term he had but a six pence in his pocket,
+and this he dropped into the contribution box the next day at church. He
+made an arrangement with a carpenter in the village to board with him,
+and have his washing, fuel and light furnished for one dollar and six
+cents per week. The carpenter was building a house, and Garfield
+engaged to help him nights and Saturdays. The first Saturday he planed
+fifty-one boards, and thereby made one dollar and two cents. So the term
+went, and he returned home, having earned his expenses and AND THREE
+DOLLARS OVER.
+
+The following winter he taught school at $12 a month and 'boarded
+around.' In the spring he had $48, and when he returned to school he
+boarded himself at an expense of thirty-one cents a week. Heretofore, he
+had supposed a college course beyond him, but meeting a college graduate
+who explained that it was barely possible for a poor boy to graduate, if
+he worked and attended alternate years, he determined to try it. After
+careful calculation Garfield concluded he could get through school
+within TWELVE YEARS. He accordingly began to lay his plans to graduate.
+Think of such determination, dear reader, and then see if you can
+reasonably envy the position attained by Garfield. He appeared as a
+scholar at Hiram, a new school of his own denomination, in 1851. Here he
+studied all the harder, as he now had an object in life. Returning home
+he taught a school, then returned to college, and attended the spring
+term. During the summer he helped build a house in the village, he
+himself planning all the lumber for the siding, and shingling the roof.
+Garfield was now quite a scholar, especially in the languages, and upon
+his return to Hiram he was made a tutor, and thenceforward he worked
+both as a pupil and teacher, doing a tremendous amount of work to fit
+himself for college. When he came to Hiram he started on the preparatory
+course, to enter college, expecting it would take four years. Deciding
+now to enter some eastern institution, he wrote a letter to the
+president of each of the leading colleges in the east, telling them how
+far he had progressed. They all replied that he could enter the junior
+year, and thus graduate in two years from his entrance. He had
+accomplished the preparatory course, generally requiring four solid
+years, and had advanced two years on his college course. He had crowded
+six years into three, beside supporting himself. If ever a man was
+worthy of success Garfield was. He decided to enter Williams College,
+where he graduated in 1856, thus came that institution to grasp the
+honor of giving to the United States of America one of our most popular
+presidents. The grasp of the mind of Garfield, even at this early
+period, can be seen by glancing at the title of his essay, "The Seen and
+the Unseen." He next became a professor; later, principal of the college
+at Hiram.
+
+In the old parties Garfield had little interest, but when the Republican
+party was formed he became deeply interested, and became somewhat noted
+as a stump orator for Fremont and Dayton. In 1860 he was sent to the
+State senate, and while there began preparation for the legal
+profession, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. The war broke out about
+this time, which prevented his opening an office, and he was
+commissioned a colonel, finally a major-general. His career in the army
+was brief, but very brilliant, and he returned home to go to Congress.
+In Washington his legislative career was very successful. He proved to
+be an orator of no mean degree of ability, his splendid education made
+him an acknowledged scholar, and he soon became known as one of the
+ablest debaters in Congress, serving on some of the leading committees.
+
+When Ohio sent her delegation to the Republican National Convention, of
+1880, pledged for Sherman, Garfield was selected as spokesman. His
+speech, when he presented the name of John Sherman, coming, as it did,
+when all was feverish excitement, must be acknowledged as a master-piece
+of the scholarly oratory of which he was master. Conkling had just
+delivered one in favor of Grant, the effect of which was wonderful. The
+Grant delegates 'pooled' the flags, which marked their seats, marched
+around the aisles and cheered and yelled as if they were dwellers in
+Bedlam, just home after a long absence. Fully twenty minutes this went
+on, and Mr. Hoar, the president of the convention after vainly trying to
+restore order gave up in despair, sat down, and calmly allowed disorder
+to tire itself out.
+
+At last it ceases, Ohio is called, a form arises near the center of the
+middle aisle, and moves toward the stage amid the clapping of thousands
+of hands, which increases as General Garfield mounts the same platform
+upon which Senator Conkling has so lately stood. In speaking he is not
+so restless as was Conkling, but speaking deliberately he appeals to the
+judgment of the masses, as follows:
+
+"Mr. President: I have witnessed the extraordinary scenes of this
+convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more
+quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and noble character. But,
+as I sat on these seats and witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to
+me you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into
+a fury and tossed into a spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the
+dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm
+level of the sea from which all heights and depths are measured. When
+the storm had passed and the hour of calm settles on the ocean, when
+sunlight bathes its smooth surface, then the astronomer and surveyor
+takes the level from which he measures all terrestrial heights and
+depths. Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not mark
+the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when
+the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of
+public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty
+people are to be measured, and by which their final action will be
+determined. Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
+men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic to be
+decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred
+and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the urn and
+determine the choice of their party; but by four million Republican
+firesides, where the thoughtful fathers, with wives and children about
+them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of
+country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the
+knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in
+days gone by--there God prepares the verdict that shall determine the
+wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in
+the sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the silence of
+deliberate judgment will this great question be settled. Let us aid them
+to-night.
+
+"But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want? Bear with me a
+moment. Hear me for this cause, and, for a moment, be silent that you
+may hear. Twenty-five years ago this Republic was wearing a triple chain
+of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of men
+had paralyzed the consciences of a majority of our people. The baleful
+doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and
+most beneficent powers of the national government, and the grasping
+power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories of the West and
+dragging them into the den of eternal bondage. At that crisis the
+Republican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that fire
+of liberty which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the
+powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish. The
+Republican party came to deliver and save the Republic. It entered the
+arena when the beleaguered and assailed territories were struggling for
+freedom, and drew around them the sacred circle of liberty which the
+demon of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free forever.
+Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young party, under the
+leadership of that great man who, on this spot, twenty years ago, was
+made its leader, entered the national capitol and assumed the high
+duties of the government. The light which shone from its banner
+dispelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capitol, and
+melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed, in the fire of
+liberty, every slave-pen within the shadow of the capitol. Our national
+industries, by an impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and
+the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the treasury
+itself was well-nigh empty. The money of the people was the wretched
+notes of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible State banking
+corporations, which were filling the country with a circulation that
+poisoned rather than sustained the life of business. The Republican
+party changed all this. It abolished the babel of confusion, and gave
+the country a currency as national as its flag, based upon the sacred
+faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our great
+industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled with the
+spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It
+confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it,
+and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was
+won. Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the sweet, calm words
+of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered
+foe that lay prostrate at its feet: 'This is our only refuge, that you
+join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine
+like stars for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and
+justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal
+before the law.'
+
+"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the
+public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party
+has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has
+sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and victory. How
+shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing
+our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say one word to cast a
+shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes. This coming fight is our
+Thermopylæ. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts
+are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of
+Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year,
+for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census
+taken this year will bring re-enforcements and continued power. But in
+order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of
+every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of
+every Blaine man and every anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower
+of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I
+say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together,
+and inquire what we shall do. We want a man whose life and opinions
+embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who,
+standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past
+history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds,
+and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to
+come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness toward those
+we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of
+the South the olive branch of peace, and wishes them to return to
+brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it shall be admitted
+forever and forevermore, that, in the war for the Union, we were right
+and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet them as brethren,
+and on no other. We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors
+of this great republic.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a name for your
+consideration--the name of a man who was the comrade and associate and
+friend of nearly all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from
+these walls to-night, a man who began his career of public service
+twenty-five years ago, whose first duty was courageously done in the
+days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that
+bloody shower began to fall, which finally swelled into the deluge of
+war. He bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty
+in the National Legislature, through all subsequent time his pathway has
+been marked by labors performed in every department of legislation. You
+ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years of national
+statutes. Not one great beneficent statute has been placed in our
+statute books without his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these
+men to formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried us
+through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship of those statutes
+that restored and brought back the unity and married calm of the States.
+His hand was in all that great legislation that created the war
+currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the promises of the
+Government, and made the currency equal to gold. And when at last called
+from the halls of legislation into a high executive office, he displayed
+that experience, intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has
+carried us through a stormy period of three years. With one-half the
+public press crying 'crucify him,' and a hostile Congress seeking to
+prevent success, in all this he remained unmoved until victory crowned
+him. The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great business
+interests of the country he has guarded and preserved while executing
+the law of resumption and effecting its object without a jar and against
+the false prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of
+this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with calmness the
+great emergencies of the Government for twenty-five years. He has
+trodden the perilous heights of public duty, and against all the shafts
+of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of
+'that fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its fiercest ray
+has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield. I do not present
+him as a better Republican or as better man than thousands of others we
+honor, but I present him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate
+John Sherman, of Ohio."
+
+The speech was over, its effect was like oil upon troubled waters. When
+the balloting began a single delegate only voted for Garfield. The fight
+was between Grant, Blaine, Sherman and Edmunds; Windom and others were
+waiting the possibility of a compromise. Garfield managed Sherman's
+forces. He meant to keep his favorite in the field, in vain trying to
+win over Blaine's followers. On the thirty-fourth ballot the Wisconsin
+delegation determined to make a break, and hence put forth an effort in
+an entirely new direction, casting their entire seventeen votes for
+Garfield. The General arose and declined to receive the vote, but the
+chairman ruled otherwise, and on the next ballot the Indiana delegation
+swung over. On the thirty-sixth ballot he was nominated. Then followed
+his canvass and election.
+
+Time flew, and he was about to join his old friends at Willams' College,
+when an assassin stealthily crept up and shot him from behind, as
+dastardly assassins and cowardly knaves generally do. The whole country
+was thrown into a feverish heat of excitement between this cowardly act
+and the president's death, which occurred two months later. Thus, after
+a struggle for recognition, which had won the admiration of the world,
+he was snatched from the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of his toil,
+and from the people who needed his service. Like Lincoln, he had come
+from the people, he belonged to the people, and by his own right hand
+had won the first place among fifty millions of people. Like Lincoln, he
+was stricken down when his country expected the most of him, stricken in
+the very prime of life. Like Lincoln, when that enjoyment for which he
+had labored was about to crown his efforts; and like Lincoln, it could
+not be said of him he lived in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
+
+
+Chester Allan Arthur's career, like that of thousands of other
+Americans, illustrates the truth that wealth, high social position and
+all the advantages with which fortune and affection can surround the
+young are not essential to their success and prosperity in professional,
+business or public life. In fact, too often they tend to enervate both
+mind and body, and thus prove in reality obstacles to attaining true and
+worthy manhood.
+
+Mr. Arthur, like Lincoln, Grant, Garfield and others who preceded him in
+the presidential office, hewed his own way upward and onward from a
+discouraging beginning.
+
+He was born in Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, October 5th, 1830.
+He was the eldest son of the Rev. William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman,
+having a large family and a modest income. The Rev. Mr. Arthur was born
+in Ireland, and came to this country when eighteen years of age. He is
+remembered as a man of great force of character, sturdy piety and a
+faithful and earnest Christian minister. He had few worldly benefits to
+bestow upon his children, but he implanted deep into their minds
+principles governing their actions which were never effaced.
+
+As a lad, Mr. Arthur was trained in the public schools accessible to
+him, and by his father's aid, fitted himself for college, entering Union
+when fifteen years old, and graduating with high honors in 1848. The
+Hon. Frederick W. Seward, who was in the class next below young Arthur,
+says of his school days: "Chet, as we all called him, was the most
+popular boy in his class. He was always genial and cheerful, a good
+scholar, and apt in debate." To aid in defraying his expenses, Chester
+taught country schools during parts of two winters, but kept pace with
+his class while absent, showing his independence of spirit, and his zeal
+to acquire an education.
+
+Mr. Arthur's preference turned toward the law, and after a course in
+Fowler's law school at Ballston, he went to New York city; became a law
+student in the office of Erastus D. Culver, and was admitted to the bar
+in 1852. Mr. Culver showed his confidence in his promising student by
+taking him into partnership. Mr. Culver was soon elected civil judge of
+Brooklyn, and the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Arthur then formed a
+partnership with Henry D. Gardiner, with a view to practicing in some
+growing Western city. The young lawyers went West and spent three months
+in prospecting for a locality to suit their taste, but not finding it,
+they returned to New York, hired an office, and before long had a good
+business. The most noted cases in which Mr. Arthur appeared in his early
+career as a lawyer, were the Lemmon slave case, and the suit of Lizzie
+Jennings, a fugitive slave, whose liberty he secured, and a colored
+lady, a superintendent of a Sunday-School for colored children, who was
+ejected from a Fourth Avenue horse-car, after her fare had been accepted
+by the conductor, because a white passenger objected to her presence.
+
+In the first case he was largely instrumental in establishing a
+precedent, setting forth the theory that slaves brought into free
+territory, were at liberty. In the second case, he obtained a verdict of
+$500.00 damages in favor of the colored woman as against the company.
+The establishment of this precedent caused the street railroad companies
+of the city to issue an order that colored persons should be allowed to
+travel in their cars. Thus did Chester A. Arthur obtain equal civil
+rights for negroes in public vehicles.
+
+In 1859 he married Miss Ellen Lewis Herndon, of Fredericksburg,
+Virginia; daughter of Captain William Lewis Herndon, United States Navy,
+who went bravely to his death in 1857, sinking with his ship, the
+Central America, refusing to leave his post of duty, though he helped
+secure the safety of others. Mrs. Arthur was a devoted wife, and a woman
+of many accomplishments. She died in January, 1880, and lies buried in
+the Albany Rural Cemetery.
+
+Mr. Arthur took a lively interest in politics, and was first a Henry
+Clay Whig, but later helped to form the Republican party. He held
+several offices in the militia prior to 1860, and when Edwin D. Morgan
+became governor of the State in 1860, he made Mr. Arthur a member of his
+staff, promoting him from one position to another until he became
+quarter-master general. The duties of this post were most arduous and
+exacting. To promptly equip, supply and forward the thousands of troops
+sent to the front to defend the Union was a task demanding the highest
+executive ability and rare organizing skill, besides the greatest
+precision in receiving, disbursing and accounting for the public funds.
+Millions of dollars passed through his hands; he had the letting of
+enormous contracts, and opportunities, without number, by which he
+might have enriched himself. But he was true to himself and to his
+trust. So implicit was the confidence reposed in him that his accounts
+were audited at Washington without question or deduction, though the
+claims of many States were disallowed, to the extent of millions. He
+left the office poorer than when he entered it, but with the proud
+satisfaction of knowing that all the world esteemed him as an honest
+man.
+
+From 1863 to 1871 General Arthur successfully engaged in the practice of
+law in New York. November 20th, 1871, he was appointed collector of the
+port of New York, and re-appointed in 1875. The second appointment was
+confirmed by the Senate without reference to a committee, the usual
+course, the fact being highly complimentary, and testifying to the high
+opinion held by the Senate regarding his official record. He was
+suspended by President Hayes, though no reflection upon his official
+conduct was made. He again returned to the practice of law, though
+taking an energetic part in politics, serving several years as chairman
+of the Republican State Committee. General Arthur, in the campaign of
+1880, was an ardent supporter of Grant before the National Convention,
+being one of the famous "306" who voted for Grant to the last.
+
+His nomination for Vice President was as much a surprise as that of
+Garfield for the first place on the ticket. He had not been mentioned as
+a candidate, and his own delegation had not thought of presenting his
+name until the roll was called in the Convention. When New York was
+reached in the call the delegation asked to be excused from voting for a
+time. Then General Stewart L. Woodford cast the vote for Arthur. The
+tide quickly turned. The Ohio men were disposed to be conciliatory, and
+swung over to Arthur, who was nominated on the first ballot. The
+incidents that followed the inauguration of Garfield and himself as
+President and Vice-President; the unhappy differences that led to the
+resignation of Senators Conkling and Platt; the strife over the election
+of their successors; the assassination and death of President Garfield,
+and the accession to the presidency of General Arthur. These form a
+chapter in our political history, with the details of which we are all
+familiar, and are not likely to soon be forgotten.
+
+It was under the most unfavorable circumstances that Chester A. Arthur
+assumed the office of President; the people's passion over the death of
+the second President of the United States, to fall by an assassin's
+hand, was intense; factional feeling in his own party was bitter and
+apparently irreconcilable; when the popular mind was filled with
+dreadful forebodings as to the future; but he exhibited a gravity, a
+reticence, an affability, and a firmness which commanded the respect of
+conservative men of all parties. Not only was he the most
+successful--perhaps the only successful--Vice-President elevated to the
+Presidency by the death of the President, but he is worthy to be counted
+among the most serviceable of the Presidents.
+
+Peace and prosperity were promoted by his administration. Ex-President
+Chester A. Arthur died at his residence in New York city, November 18th,
+1886. He leaves as surviving members of his family two children, Chester
+Allan, a young man of twenty-two years, and Miss Nellie, just budding
+into womanhood. At the age of fifty-six, without elaborate display, he
+was quietly laid beside his wife in Rural Cemetery.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN A. LOGAN.
+
+
+"I entered the field to die, if need be, for this government and never
+expect to return to peaceful pursuits until the object of this war of
+preservation has become a fact established." Thus spoke John A. Logan in
+1862, when asked to return home from the field and become a candidate
+for Congress.
+
+General Logan was born February 9th, 1826, in Murphysboro, Illinois, and
+was the eldest of eleven children. He received his education in the
+common schools and in Shiloh Academy.
+
+The Mexican war broke out when young Logan was but twenty years of age,
+and he at once enlisted and was made a lieutenant in one of the Illinois
+regiments. He returned home in 1848 with an excellent military record,
+and commenced the study of law in the office of his uncle, Alexander M.
+Jenkins, who had formerly been lieutenant-governor of the State.
+
+In 1844, before he had completed his law course, he was elected clerk of
+Jackson county, and at the expiration of his term of office went to
+Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended law lectures, and was admitted
+to the bar in the spring of 1851. In the fall of the same year he was
+elected to represent Jackson and Franklin counties in the legislature,
+and from that time has been almost uninterruptedly in the public
+service, either civil or military.
+
+He was twice elected to the legislature, and in 1854 was a Democratic
+presidential elector, and cast his vote for James Buchanan.
+
+The year of 1860--the year of the great Lincoln campaign--saw Logan
+serving his second term in Congress as the representative of the Ninth
+Illinois Congressional District. Mr. Logan was then a Democrat and an
+ardent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, Mr. Lincoln's opponent. On the
+floor of Congress he several times in 1860 and 1861 attacked the course
+of the Southern members.
+
+The war came at last, and Logan was one of the first to enter the Union
+army. He resigned his seat in Congress in July, 1861, for that purpose,
+and took a brave part in the first battle of Bull Run. He personally
+raised the Thirty-first Illinois Regiment of Infantry, and was elected
+its colonel. The regiment was mustered into service on September 13th,
+1861, was attached to General M'Clernand's brigade, and seven weeks
+later was under a hot fire at Belmont. During this fight Logan had a
+horse shot from under him, and was conspicuous in his gallantry in a
+fierce bayonet charge which he personally led. The Thirty-first, under
+Logan, quickly became known as a fighting regiment, and distinguished
+itself at the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. In this last
+engagement Logan was severely wounded, and for many weeks unfitted for
+duty. During his confinement in the hospital his brave wife, with great
+tact and energy, got through the lines to his bedside, and nursed him
+until he was able to take the field once more.
+
+"Logan was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers soon
+after reporting for duty. This was in March, 1862, and he was soon after
+hotly engaged in Grant's Mississippi campaign. In the following year he
+was asked to return home and go to congress again, but declined with an
+emphatic statement that he was in the war to stay until he was either
+disabled or peace was established. Eight months after his promotion to
+the rank of Brigadier-General he was made a Major-General for
+exceptional bravery and skill, and was put in command of the Third
+Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, under General M'Pherson. After
+passing through the hot fights of Raymond and Port Gibson, he led the
+center of General M'Pherson's command at the siege of Vicksburg, and his
+column was the first to enter the city after the surrender. He was made
+the Military Governor of the captured city, and his popularity with the
+Seventeenth Corps was so great that a gold medal was given to him as a
+testimonial of the attachment felt for him by the men he led.
+
+"In the following year he led the Army of the Tennessee on the right of
+Sherman's great march to the sea. He was in the battles of Resaca and
+the Little Kenesaw Mountain, and in the desperate engagement of Peach
+Tree Creek where General M'Pherson fell. The death of M'Pherson threw
+the command upon Logan, and the close of the bitter engagement which
+ensued saw 8,000 dead Confederates on the field, while the havoc in the
+Union lines had been correspondingly great.
+
+"After the fall of Atlanta, which occurred on the 2nd of September,
+General Logan returned to the North, and took a vigorous part in the
+Western States in the campaign which resulted in the election of Abraham
+Lincoln for the second time to the presidency. He rejoined his command
+at Savannah, and was with it until the surrender of Johnson, after which
+he went with the army to Washington.
+
+"His military career ended with his nomination in 1866 by the
+Republicans of Illinois to represent the State as Congressman at-large
+in the Fortieth Congress. He was elected by 60,000 majority. He was one
+of the managers on the part of the House of Representatives in the
+impeachment proceedings which were instituted against Johnson. In 1868
+and 1870 he was re-elected to the House, but before he had finished his
+term under the last election he was elected to the United States Senate
+to succeed Senator Yates. The last term for which he was elected expires
+in 1891.
+
+"He took an active part in the last presidential campaign, when he and
+Mr. Blaine were the candidates on the presidential ticket, and had a
+strong influence in holding the soldier vote fast in the Republican
+ranks."
+
+Mr. Logan's views in regard to the immortality of the soul was clearly
+expressed in a speech delivered at the tomb of General Grant on Memorial
+Day, 1886:
+
+"Was any American soldier immolated upon a blind law of his country? Not
+one! Every soldier in the Union ranks, whether in the regular army or
+not, was in the fullest sense a member of the great, the imperishable,
+the immortal army of American volunteers. These gallant spirits now lie
+in untimely sepulcher. No more will they respond to the fierce blast of
+the bugle or the call to arms. But let us believe that they are not
+dead, but sleeping! Look at the patient caterpillar as he crawls on the
+ground, liable to be crushed by every careless foot that passes. He
+heeds no menace, and turns from no dangers. Regardless of circumstances,
+he treads his daily round, avoided by the little child sporting upon the
+sward. He has work, earnest work, to perform, from which he will not be
+turned, even at the forfeit of his life. Reaching his appointed place,
+he ceases even to eat, and begins to spin those delicate fibres which,
+woven into fabrics of beauty and utility, contribute to the comfort and
+adornment of a superior race. His work done, he lies down to the sleep
+from which he never wakes in the old form. But that silent, motionless
+body is not dead; an astonishing metamorphosis is taking place. The
+gross digestive apparatus dwindles away; the three pairs of legs, which
+served the creature to crawl upon the ground, are exchanged for six
+pairs suited to a different purpose; the skin is cast; the form is
+changed; a pair of wings, painted like the morning flowers, spring out,
+and presently the ugly worm that trailed its slow length through the
+dust is transformed into the beautiful butterfly, basking in the bright
+sunshine, the envy of the child and the admiration of the man. Is there
+no appeal in this wonderful and enchanting fact to man's highest reason?
+Does it contain no suggestion that man, representing the highest
+pinnacle of created life upon the globe, must undergo a final
+metamorphosis, as supremely more marvelous and more spiritual, as man is
+greater in physical conformation, and far removed in mental construction
+from the humble worm that at the call of nature straightway leaves the
+ground, and soars upon the gleeful air? Is the fact not a thousand-fold
+more convincing than the assurance of the poet:
+
+    "It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest well;
+    Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
+    This longing after immortality?
+    Or whence this dread secret and inward horror
+    Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul
+    Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
+    'Tis the divinity that stirs within us;
+    'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
+    And intimates eternity to man,
+    Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought."
+
+"On December 26th, 1886, the strong man succumbed to rheumatism. His
+death was a great shock to his numerous friends throughout the Union,
+and he was mourned by a great and mighty nation. From the lowly ranks to
+whom he belonged by birth, to the most exalted circles, the sympathy for
+the bereaved was genuine."
+
+
+
+
+JAMES G. BLAINE.
+
+
+Few men are more prominently placed before the vision of a mighty nation
+to-day than James G. Blaine. Born in obscurity, he possesses traits of
+character which are peculiar to himself; they differ widely from that of
+any statesman who ever spoke in the legislative halls at Washington.
+
+Colleges, of themselves, make no man great. An 'educated idiot' will
+never make a statesman, notwithstanding the too prevalent notion that
+the possession of a diploma should entitle any one to a place in our
+social aristocracy. The great, active, relentless, human world gives a
+man a place of real influence, and crowns him as truly great for what he
+really is; and will not care a fig for any college certificate. If the
+young man is determined to succeed in the world then a college is a
+help. The trouble is not in the college, but in the man. He should
+regard the college as a means to attain a result, not the result of
+itself. The question the great busy world asks the claimant is: What can
+he do? If the claimant enter school determined to succeed, even if he
+sleeps but four to six hours out of the twenty-four, he will be
+benefited. However, study like that of Webster, by New Hampshire pine
+knots; and like Garfield's, by a wood-pile; generally proves valuable.
+Blaine's life is thus beautifully described by his biographer:--
+
+"James Gillespie Blaine, the subject of this biography, was born January
+31st, 1830. His father, Ephraim L. Blaine, and his mother, Maria
+Gillespie, still lived in their two-story house on the banks of the
+Monongahela. No portentious events, either in nature or public affairs,
+marked his advent. A few neighbors with generous interest and sympathy
+extended their aid and congratulations. The tops of the hills and the
+distant Alleghanies were white with snow, but the valley was bare and
+brown, and the swollen river swept the busy ferry-boat from shore to
+shore with marked emphasis, as old acquaintances repeated the news of
+the day, 'Blaine has another son.'"
+
+Another soul clothed in humanity; another cry; increased care in one
+little home. That was all. It seems so sad in this, the day of his fame
+and power, that the mother who, with such pain and misgiving, prayer and
+noble resolutions, saw his face for the first time should now be
+sleeping in the church-yard. In the path that now leads by her grave,
+she had often paused before entering the shadowy gates of the
+weather-beaten Catholic church, and calmed her anxious fears that she
+might devoutly worship God and secure the answer to her prayer for her
+child.
+
+It seems strange now, in the light of other experiences, that no
+tradition or record of a mother's prophecy concerning the future
+greatness of her son comes down to us from that birthday, or from his
+earliest years. But the old European customs and prejudices of her Irish
+and Scottish ancestry seem to have lingered with sufficient force to
+still give the place of social honor and to found the parent's hopes on
+the first-born. To all concerned it was a birth of no special
+significance. Outside of the family it was a matter of no moment. Births
+were frequent. The Brownsville people heard of it, and passed on to
+forget, as a ripple in the Monongahela flashes on the careless sight for
+a moment, then the river rolls on as before. Ephraim Blaine was proud of
+another son; the little brother and the smaller sister hailed a new
+brother. The mother, with a deep joy which escaped not in words, looked
+onward and tried to read the future when the flood of years should have
+carried her new treasure from her arms. That flood has swept over her
+now, and all her highest hopes and ambition is filled, but she seems not
+to hear the church bells that ring nor the cannon that bellow at the
+sound of his name.
+
+"All his early childhood years were spent about his home playing in the
+well-kept yard gazing at the numerous boats that so frequently went
+puffing by. For a short time the family moved to the old Gillespie House
+further up the river, and some of the inhabitants say that at one time,
+while some repairs were going on, they resided at the old homestead of
+Neal Gillespie, back from the river, on Indian Hill."
+
+At seventeen he graduated from school and, his father, losing what
+little property he did have, young Blaine was thrown upon his own
+resources. But it is often the best thing possible for a young man to be
+thus tossed over-board, and be compelled to sink or swim. It develops a
+self-reliant nature. He secured employment as a teacher, and into this
+calling he threw his whole soul. Thus he became a success as an educator
+at Blue Lick Springs. He next went to Philadelphia, and for two years
+was the principal teacher of the boys in the Philadelphia Institution
+for instruction of the blind. When he left that institution he left
+behind him a universal regret at a serious loss incurred, but an
+impression of his personal force upon the work of that institution which
+it is stated, on good authority, is felt to this day. Mr. Chapin, the
+principal, one day said, as he took from a desk in the corner of the
+school-room a thick quarto manuscript book, bound in dark leather and
+marked 'Journal:' "Now, I will show you something that illustrates how
+thoroughly Mr. Blaine mastered anything he took hold of. This book Mr.
+Blaine compiled with great labor from the minute-books of the Board of
+Managers. It is a historical view of the institution from the time of
+its foundation, up to the time of Mr. Blaine's departure. He did all the
+work in his own room, telling no one of it till he left. Then he
+presented it, through me, to the Board of Managers who were both
+surprised and gratified. I believe they made him a present of $100 as a
+thank-offering for an invaluable work." The book illustrates one great
+feature in the success of Mr. Blaine. It is clear, and indicates his
+mastery of facts in whatever he undertook, and his orderly presentation
+of facts in detail. The fact that no one knew of it until the proper
+time, when its effect would be greatest, shows that he naturally
+possesses a quality that is almost indispensable to the highest
+attainment of success.
+
+He left Philadelphia for Augusta, Maine, where he became editor of the
+_Kennebec Journal_. While editor and member of his State legislature,
+he laid the foundation which prepared him to step at once to the front,
+when in 1862 he was sent to the National Congress, when the country was
+greatly agitated over the Five-twenty bonds, and how they should be
+redeemed. Mr. Blaine spoke as follows:
+
+"But, now, Mr. Speaker, suppose for the sake of argument, we admit that
+the Government may fairly and legally pay the Five-twenty bonds in paper
+currency, what then? I ask the gentleman from Massachusetts to tell us,
+what then? It is easy, I know, to issue as many greenbacks as will pay
+the maturing bonds, regardless of the effect upon the inflation of
+prices, and the general derangement of business. Five hundred millions
+of Five-twenties are now payable, and according to the easy mode
+suggested, all we have to do is set the printing-presses in motion, and
+'so long as rags and lampblack hold out' we need have no embarrassment
+about paying our National Debt. But the ugly question recurs, what are
+you going to do with the greenbacks thus put afloat? Five hundred
+millions this year, and eleven hundred millions more on this theory of
+payment by the year 1872; so that within the period of four or five
+years we would have added to our paper money the thrilling inflation of
+sixteen hundred millions of dollars. We should all have splendid times
+doubtless! Wheat, under the new dispensation, ought to bring twenty
+dollars a bushel, and boots would not be worth more than two hundred
+dollars a pair, and the farmers of our country would be as well off as
+Santa Anna's rabble of Mexican soldiers, who were allowed ten dollars a
+day for their services and charged eleven for their rations and
+clothing. The sixteen hundred millions of greenbacks added to the
+amount already issued would give us some twenty-three hundred millions
+of paper money, and I suppose the theory of the new doctrine would leave
+this mass permanently in circulation, for it would hardly be consistent
+to advocate the redemption of the greenbacks in gold after having
+repudiated and foresworn our obligation on the bonds.
+
+"But if it be intended to redeem the legal tenders in gold, what will
+have been the net gain to the Government in the whole transaction? If
+any gentleman will tell me, I shall be glad to learn how it will be
+easier to pay sixteen hundred millions in gold in the redemption of
+greenbacks, than to pay the same amount in the redemption of Five-twenty
+bonds? The policy advocated, it seems to me, has only two
+alternatives--the one to ruinously inflate the currency and leave it so,
+reckless of results; the other to ruinously inflate the currency at the
+outset, only to render redemption in gold far more burdensome in the
+end.
+
+"I know it may be claimed, that the means necessary to redeem the
+Five-twenties in greenbacks may be realized by a new issue of currency
+bonds to be placed on the market. Of results in the future every
+gentleman has the right to his own opinion, and all may alike indulge in
+speculation. But it does seem to me that the Government would be placed
+in awkward attitude when it should enter the market to negotiate the
+loan, the avails of which were to be devoted to breaking faith with
+those who already held its most sacred obligations! What possible
+security would the new class of creditors have, that when their debts
+were matured some new form of evasion would be resorted to by which they
+in turn would be deprived of their just and honest dues?
+
+"_Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus_ would supply the ready form of
+protest against trusting a Government with a new loan when it had just
+ignored its plain obligation on an old one.
+
+"Payment of the Five-twenty bonds in paper currency involves therefore a
+limitless issue of greenbacks, with attendant evils of gigantic
+magnitude and far-reaching consequence. And the worse evil of the whole
+is the delusion which calls this a payment at all. It is no payment in
+any proper sense, for it neither gives the creditor what he is entitled
+to, nor does it release the debtor from subsequent responsibility. You
+may get rid of the Five-twenty by issuing the greenback, but how will
+you get rid of the greenback except by paying gold? The only escape from
+ultimate payment of gold is to declare that as a nation we permanently
+and finally renounce all idea of ever attaining a specie standard--that
+we launch ourselves on an ocean of paper money without shore or
+sounding, with no rudder to guide us and no compass to steer by. And
+this is precisely what is involved if we adopt this mischievous
+suggestion of 'a new way to pay old debts.' Our fate in attempting such
+a course may be easily read in the history of similar follies both in
+Europe and in our own country. Prostration of credit, financial
+disaster, widespread distress among all classes of the community, would
+form the closing scenes in our career of gratuitous folly and national
+dishonor. And from such an abyss of sorrow and humiliation, it would be
+a painful and toilsome effort to regain as sound a position in our
+finances as we are asked voluntarily to abandon to-day.
+
+"The remedy for our financial troubles, Mr. Speaker, will not be found
+in a superabundance of depreciated paper currency. It lies in the
+opposite direction--and the sooner the nation finds itself on a specie
+basis, the sooner will the public treasury be freed from embarrassment,
+and private business relieved from discouragement. Instead, therefore,
+of entering upon a reckless and boundless issue of legal tenders, with
+their consequent depression if not destruction of value, let us set
+resolutely to work and make those already in circulation equal to so
+many gold dollars. When that result shall be accomplished, we can
+proceed to pay our Five-twenties either in coin or paper, for the one
+would be equivalent to the other. But to proceed deliberately on a
+scheme of depreciating our legal tenders and then forcing the holders of
+Government bonds to accept them in payment, would resemble in point of
+honor, the policy of a merchant who, with abundant resources and
+prosperous business, should devise a plan for throwing discredit on his
+own notes with the view of having them bought up at a discount, ruinous
+to the holders and immensely profitable to his own knavish pocket. This
+comparison may faintly illustrate the wrongfulness of the policy, but
+not its consummate folly--for in the case of the Government, unlike the
+merchant, the stern necessity would recur of making good in the end, by
+the payment of hard coin, all the discount that might be gained by the
+temporary substitution of paper.
+
+"Discarding all such schemes as at once unworthy and unprofitable, let
+us direct our policy steadily, but not rashly, toward the resumption of
+specie payment. And when we have attained that end--easily attainable at
+no distant day if the proper policy be pursued--we can all unite on some
+honorable plan for the redemption of the Five-twenty bonds, and the
+issuing instead thereof, a new series of bonds which can be more
+favorably placed at a low rate of interest. When we shall have reached
+the specie basis, the value of United States securities will be so high
+in the money market of the world, that we can command our own terms. We
+can then call in our Five-twenties according to the very letter and
+spirit of the bond, and adjust a new loan that will be eagerly sought
+for by capitalists, and will be free from those elements of discontent
+that in some measure surround the existing Funded debt of the country.
+
+"As to the particular measures of legislation requisite to hasten the
+resumption of specie payment, gentlemen equally entitled to respect may
+widely differ; but there is one line of policy conducive thereto on
+which we all ought to agree; and that is on a serious reduction of the
+government expenses and a consequent lightening of the burdens of
+taxation. The interest-bearing debt of the United States, when
+permanently funded, will not exceed twenty-one hundred millions of
+dollars, imposing an annual interest of about one hundred and
+twenty-five millions. Our other expenses, including War, Navy, the
+Pension list, and the Civil list, ought not to exceed one hundred
+millions; so that if we raise two hundred and fifty millions from
+Customs and Internal Revenue combined, we should have twenty-five
+millions annual surplus to apply to the reduction of the Public debt.
+But to attain this end we must mend our ways, and practice an economy
+far more consistent and severe than any we have attempted in the past.
+Our Military peace establishment must be reduced one-half at least, and
+our Naval appropriations correspondingly curtailed; and innumerable
+leaks and gaps and loose ends, that have so long attended our government
+expenditure, must be taken up and stopped. If such a policy be pursued
+by Congress, neither the principal of the debt, nor the interest of the
+debt, nor the annual expenses of government, will be burdensome to the
+people. We can raise two hundred and fifty millions of revenue on the
+gold basis, and at the same time have a vast reduction in our taxes. And
+we can do this without repudiation in any form, either open or covert,
+avowed or indirect, but with every obligation of the government
+fulfilled and discharged in its exact letter and in its generous spirit.
+
+"And this, Mr. Speaker, we shall do. Our national honor demands it; our
+national interest equally demands it. We have vindicated our claim to
+the highest heroism on a hundred bloody battle-fields, and have stopped
+at no sacrifice of life needful to the maintenance of our national
+integrity. I am sure that in the peace which our arms have conquered, we
+shall not dishonor ourselves by withholding from any public creditor a
+dollar that we promised to pay him, nor seek, by cunning construction
+and clever afterthought, to evade or escape the full responsibility of
+our national indebtedness. It will doubtless cost us a vast sum to pay
+that indebtedness--but it would cost us incalculably more not to pay
+it."
+
+This speech, here referred to, occurring, as it did when the ablest
+speakers were interested, was pronounced as a marvel. The great rows of
+figures which he gave, but which space will not allow us to give,
+illustrates the man, and his thorough mastery of all great public
+questions. He never enters a debate unless fully prepared; if not
+already prepared, he prepares himself. His reserve power is wonderful.
+What a feature of success is reserve power.
+
+In 1876 occurred one of the most remarkable contests ever known in
+Congress. The debate began upon the proposition to grant a general
+amnesty to all those who had engaged in the Southern war on the side of
+the Confederacy; of course this would include Mr. Davis. Hon. Benjamin
+H. Hill, of Georgia, one of the ablest Congressmen in the South, met Mr.
+Blaine on the question. As space will not permit us to go into detail at
+all as we would like to, we give simply an extract from one of Mr.
+Blaine's replies:
+
+"I am very frank to say that in regard to all these gentlemen, save one,
+I do not know of any reason why amnesty should not be granted to them as
+it has been to many others of the same class. I am not here to argue
+against it. The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Kasson) suggests 'on their
+application.' I am coming to that. But as I have said, seeing in this
+list, as I have examined it with some care, no gentleman to whom I think
+there would be any objection, since amnesty has already become so
+general--and I am not going back of that question to argue it--I am in
+favor of granting it to them. But in the absence of this respectful form
+of application which, since May 22d, 1872, has become a sort of common
+law as preliminary to amnesty, I simply wish to put in that they shall
+go before a United States Court, and in open court, with uplifted hand,
+swear that they mean to conduct themselves as good citizens of the
+United States. That is all.
+
+"Now, gentlemen may say that this is a foolish exaction. Possibly it is.
+But somehow or other I have a prejudice in favor of it. And there are
+some petty points in it that appeal as well to prejudice as to
+conviction. For one, I do not want to impose citizenship on any
+gentlemen. If I am correctly informed, and I state it only on rumor,
+there are some gentlemen in this list who have spoken contemptuously of
+the idea of their taking citizenship, and have spoken still more
+contemptuously of the idea of their applying for citizenship. I may
+state it wrongly, and if I do, I am willing to be corrected, but I
+understand that Mr. Robert Toombs has, on several occasions, at
+watering-places, both in this country and in Europe, stated that he
+would not ask the United States for citizenship.
+
+"Very well; we can stand it about as well as Mr. Robert Toombs can. And
+if Mr. Robert Toombs is not prepared to go into a court of the United
+States and swear that he means to be a good citizen, let him stay out. I
+do not think that the two Houses of Congress should convert themselves
+into a joint convention for the purpose of embracing Mr. Robert Toombs,
+and gushingly request him to favor us by coming back to accept of all
+the honors of citizenship. That is the whole. All I ask is that each of
+these gentlemen shall show his good faith by coming forward and taking
+the oath which you on that side of the House, and we on this side of the
+House, and all of us take, and gladly take. It is a very small exaction
+to make as a preliminary to full restoration to all the rights of
+citizenship.
+
+"In my amendment, Mr. Speaker, I have excepted Jefferson Davis from its
+operation. Now, I do not place it on the ground that Mr. Davis was, as
+he has been commonly called, the head and front of the rebellion,
+because, on that ground, I do not think the exception would be tenable.
+Mr. Davis was just as guilty, no more so, no less so, than thousands of
+others who have already received the benefit and grace of amnesty.
+Probably he was far less efficient as an enemy of the United States:
+probably he was far more useful as a disturber of the councils of the
+Confederacy than many who have already received amnesty. It is not
+because of any particular and special damage that he, above others, did
+to the Union, or because he was personally or especially of consequence,
+that I except him. But I except him on this ground; that he was the
+author, knowingly, deliberately, guiltily, and willfully, of the
+gigantic murders and crimes at Andersonville. * * * *
+
+"Mr. Speaker, this is not a proposition to punish Jefferson Davis. There
+is nobody attempting that. I will very frankly say that I myself thought
+the indictment of Mr. Davis at Richmond, under the administration of Mr.
+Johnson, was a weak attempt, for he was indicted only for that of which
+he was guilty in common with all others who went into the Confederate
+movement. Therefore, there was no particular reason for it. But I will
+undertake to say this, and as it may be considered an extreme speech, I
+want to say it with great deliberation, that there is not a government,
+a civilized government, on the face of the globe--I am very sure there
+is not a European government--that would not have arrested Mr. Davis,
+and when they had him in their power would not have tried him for
+maltreatment of the prisoners of war and shot him within thirty days.
+France, Russia, England, Germany, Austria, any one of them would have
+done it. The poor victim Wirz deserved his death for brutal treatment,
+and murder of many victims, but I always thought it was a weak movement
+on the part of our government to allow Jefferson Davis to go at large,
+and hang Wirz. I confess I do. Wirz was nothing in the world but a mere
+subordinate, a tool, and there was no special reason for singling him
+out for death. I do not say he did not deserve it--he did, richly,
+amply, fully. He deserved no mercy, but at the same time, as I have
+often said, it seemed like skipping over the president, superintendent,
+and board of directors in the case of a great railroad accident, and
+hanging the brakeman of the rear car.
+
+"There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson Davis. Nobody is
+seeking to do it. That time has gone by. The statute of limitation,
+common feelings of humanity, will supervene for his benefit. But what
+you ask us to do is to declare by a vote of two-thirds of both branches
+of Congress, that we consider Mr. Davis worthy to fill the highest
+offices in the United States if he can get a constituency to indorse
+him. He is a voter; he can buy and he can sell; he can go and he can
+come. He is as free as any man in the United States. There is a large
+list of subordinate offices to which he is eligible. This bill proposes,
+in view of that record, that Mr. Davis, by a two-thirds vote of the
+Senate and a two-thirds vote of the House, be declared eligible and
+worthy to fill any office up to the Presidency of the United States. For
+one, upon full deliberation, I will not do it."
+
+These two speeches illustrates the scope of Blaine in debate. These
+speeches also clearly show why he is so dearly beloved, or so bitterly
+hated. But that Mr. Blaine is an orator of the first order cannot be
+gainsaid. The preceding speeches represent the highest attainment of one
+ideal of an orator, and in a role in which Mr. Blaine is almost without
+parallel. In his Memorial address on Garfield, delivered in the hall of
+the House of Representatives, he presents the lofty style which is the
+beau ideal of oratory. He spoke something as follows:
+
+"Mr. President: For the second time in this generation the great
+departments of the government of the United States are assembled in the
+Hall of Representatives to do honor to the memory of a murdered
+president. Lincoln fell at the close of a mighty struggle in which the
+passions of men had been deeply stirred. The tragical termination of his
+great life added but another to the lengthened succession of horrors
+which had marked so many lintels with the blood of the first-born.
+Garfield was slain in a day of peace, when brother had been reconciled
+to brother, and when anger and hate had been banished from the land.
+'Whoever shall hereafter draw the portrait of murder, if he will show it
+as it has been exhibited where such example was last to have been looked
+for, let him not give it the grim visage of Moloch, the brow knitted by
+revenge, the face black with settled hate. Let him draw, rather, a
+decorous, smooth-faced, bloodless demon; not so much an example of human
+nature in its depravity and in its paroxisms of crime, as an infernal
+being, a fiend in the ordinary display and development of his
+character." * * * *
+
+"His father dying before he was two years old, Garfield's early life was
+one of privation, but its poverty has been made indelicately and
+unjustly prominent. Thousands of readers have imagined him as the
+ragged, starving child, whose reality too often greets the eye in the
+squalid sections of our large cities. General Garfield's infancy and
+youth had none of this destitution, none of these pitiful features
+appealing to the tender heart, and to the open hand of charity. He was a
+poor boy in the same sense in which Henry Clay was a poor boy; in which
+Andrew Jackson was a poor boy; in which Daniel Webster was a poor boy;
+in the sense in which a large majority of the eminent men of America in
+all generations have been poor boys. Before a great multitude, in a
+public speech, Mr. Webster bore this testimony:
+
+"'It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder
+brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin raised amid the
+snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke
+rose first from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills there
+was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the
+settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to
+it an annual visit. I carry my children to it to teach them the
+hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love
+to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early
+affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with
+all I know of this primitive family abode.'
+
+"With the requisite change of scene the same words would aptly portray
+the early days of Garfield. The poverty of the frontier, where all are
+engaged in a common struggle, and where a common sympathy and hearty
+co-operation lighten the burdens of each, is a very different poverty,
+different in kind, different in influence and effect, from that
+conscious and humiliating indigence which is every day forced to
+contrast itself with neighboring wealth on which it feels a sense of
+grinding dependence. The poverty of the frontier is indeed no poverty.
+It is but the beginning of wealth, and has the boundless possibilities
+of the future always opening before it. No man ever grew up in the
+agricultural regions of the West, where a house-raising, or even a
+corn-husking, is matter of common interest and helpfulness, with any
+other feeling than that of broad-minded, generous independence. This
+honorable independence marked the youth of Garfield, as it marks the
+youth of millions of the best blood and brain now training for the
+future citizenship and future government of the Republic. Garfield was
+born heir to land, to the title of free-holder, which has been the
+patent and passport of self-respect with the Anglo-Saxon race ever since
+Hengist and Horsa landed on the shores of England. His adventure on the
+canal--an alternative between that and the deck of a Lake Erie
+schooner--was a farmer boy's device for earning money, just as the New
+England lad begins a possibly great career by sailing before the mast on
+a coasting vessel, or on a merchantman bound to the farther India or to
+the China seas.
+
+"No manly man feels anything of shame in looking back to early struggles
+with adverse circumstances, and no man feels a worthier pride than when
+he has conquered the obstacles to his progress. But no one of noble
+mould desires to be looked upon as having occupied a menial position, as
+having been repressed by a feeling of inferiority, or as having suffered
+the evils of poverty until relief was found at the hand of charity.
+General Garfield's youth presented no hardships which family love and
+family energy did not overcome, subjected him to no privations which he
+did not cheerfully accept, and left no memories save those which were
+recalled with delight, and transmitted with profit and with pride.
+
+"Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were extremely
+limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an intense desire to
+learn. He could read at three years of age, and each winter he had the
+advantage of the district school. He read all the books to be found
+within the circle of his acquaintance; some of them he got by heart.
+While yet in childhood he was a constant student of the Bible, and
+became familiar with its literature. The dignity and earnestness of his
+speech in his maturer life gave evidence of this early training. At
+eighteen years of age he was able to teach school, and thenceforward his
+ambition was to obtain a college education. To this end he bent all
+efforts, working in the harvest field, at the carpenter's bench, and in
+the winter season, teaching the common schools of the neighborhood.
+While thus laboriously occupied he found time to prosecute his studies,
+and was so successful that at twenty-two years of age he was able to
+enter the junior class at Williams College, then under the presidency of
+the venerable and honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the fullness of his
+powers, survives the eminent pupil to whom he was of inestimable
+service.
+
+"The history of Garfield's life to this period presents no novel
+features. He had undoubtedly shown perseverance, self-reliance,
+self-sacrifice, and ambition--qualities which, be it said for the honor
+of our country, are everywhere to be found among the young men of
+America. But from his graduation at Williams, onward to the hour of his
+tragical death, Garfield's career was eminent and exceptional. Slowly
+working through his educational period, receiving his diploma when
+twenty-four years of age, he seemed at one bound to spring into
+conspicuous and brilliant success. Within six years he was successively
+President of a College, State Senator of Ohio, Major-General of the Army
+of the United States and Representative-elect to the National Congress.
+A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within a period so brief
+and to a man so young, is without precedent or parallel in the history
+of the country.
+
+"Garfield's army life was begun with no other military knowledge than
+such as he had hastily gained from books in the few months preceding his
+march to the field. Stepping from civil life to the head of a regiment,
+the first order he received when ready to cross the Ohio was to assume
+command of a brigade, and to operate as an independent force in eastern
+Kentucky. His immediate duty was to check the advance of Humphrey
+Marshall, who was marching down the Big Sandy with the intention of
+occupying, in connection with other Confederate forces, the entire
+territory of Kentucky, and of precipitating the State into secession.
+This was at the close of the year 1861. Seldom, if ever, has a young
+college professor been thrown into a more embarrassing and discouraging
+position. He knew just enough of military science, as he expressed it
+himself, to measure the extent of his ignorance, and with a handful of
+men he was marching, in rough winter weather, into a strange country,
+among a hostile population, to confront a largely superior force under
+the command of a distinguished graduate of West Point, who had seen
+active and important service in two preceding wars.
+
+"The result of the campaign is matter of history. The skill, the
+endurance, the extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, the courage he
+imparted to his men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he adopted
+to increase his force, and to create in the enemy's mind exaggerated
+estimates of his numbers, bore perfect fruit in the routing of Marshall,
+the capture of his camp, the dispersion of his force, and the
+emancipation of an important territory from the control of the
+rebellion. Coming at the close of a long series of disasters to the
+Union arms, Garfield's victory had an unusual and extraneous
+importance, and in the popular judgment elevated the young commander to
+the rank of a military hero. With less than two thousand men in his
+entire command, with a mobilized force of only eleven hundred, without
+cannon, he had met an army of five thousand and defeated them, driving
+Marshall's forces successively from two strongholds of their own
+selection, fortified with abundant artillery. Major-General Buell,
+commanding the Department of the Ohio, an experienced and able soldier
+of the Regular Army, published an order of thanks and congratulation on
+the brilliant result of the Big Sandy Campaign, which would have turned
+the head of a less cool and sensible man than Garfield. Buell declared
+that his services had called into action the highest qualities of a
+soldier, and President Lincoln supplemented these words of praise by the
+more substantial reward of a Brigadier-General's Commission, to bear
+date from the day of his decisive victory over Marshall.
+
+"The subsequent military career of Garfield fully sustained its
+brilliant beginning. With his new commission he was assigned to the
+command of a brigade in the Army of the Ohio, and took part in the
+second and decisive day's fight on the bloody field of Shiloh. The
+remainder of the year 1862 was not especially eventful to Garfield, as
+it was not to the armies with which he was serving. His practical sense
+was called into exercise in completing the task, assigned him by General
+Buell, of reconstructing bridges and re-establishing lines of railway
+communication for the army. His occupation in this useful but not
+brilliant field was varied by service on courts-martial of importance,
+in which department of duty he won a valuable reputation, attracting the
+notice and securing the approval of the able and eminent Judge Advocate
+General of the army. This of itself was warrant to honorable fame; for
+among the great men who in those trying days gave themselves, with
+entire devotion, to the service of their country, one who brought to
+that service the ripest learning, the most fervid eloquence, the most
+varied attainments, who labored with modesty and shunned applause, who,
+in the day of triumph, sat reserved and silent and grateful--as Francis
+Deak in the hour of Hungary's deliverance--was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky,
+who, in his honorable retirement, enjoys the respect and veneration of
+all who love the Union of the States.
+
+"Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important and
+responsible post of Chief of Staff to General Rosecrans, then at the
+head of the Army of the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great military campaign
+no subordinate officer requires sounder judgment and quicker knowledge
+of men than the Chief of Staff to the Commanding General. An indiscrete
+man in such a position can sow more discord, breed more jealousy, and
+disseminate more strife than any other officer in the entire
+organization. When General Garfield assumed his new duties he found
+various troubles already well developed and seriously affecting the
+value and efficiency of the Army of the Cumberland. The energy, the
+impartiality, and the tact with which he sought to allay these
+dissensions, and to discharge the duties, of his new and trying
+position, will always remain one of the most striking proofs of his
+great versatility. His military duties closed on the memorable field of
+Chickamauga, a field which, however disastrous to the Union arms, gave
+to him the occasion of winning imperishable laurels. The very rare
+distinction was accorded him of a great promotion for bravery on a
+field that was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a Major-General in
+the Army of the United States, for gallant and meritorious conduct in
+the battle of Chickamauga.
+
+"The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized under the command of General
+Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He was
+extremely desirous to accept the position, but was embarrassed by the
+fact that he had, a year before, been elected to Congress, and the time
+when he must take his seat was drawing near. He preferred to remain in
+the military service, and had within his own breast the largest
+confidence of success in the wider field which his new rank opened to
+him. Balancing the arguments on the one side and the other, anxious to
+determine what was for the best, desirous above all things to do his
+patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced by the advice of President
+Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, both of whom assured him that he could,
+at that time, be of especial value in the House of Representatives. He
+resigned his commission of major-general on the 5th day of December,
+1863, and took his seat in the House of Representatives on the 7th. He
+had served two years and four months in the army, and had just completed
+his thirty-second year.
+
+"The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in history to the
+designation of the War Congress. It was elected while the war was
+flagrant, and every member was chosen upon the issues involved in the
+continuance of the struggle. The Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed,
+legislated to a large extent on war measures, but it was chosen before
+any one believed that secession of the States would be actually
+attempted. The magnitude of the work which fell upon its successor was
+unprecedented, both in respect to the vast sums of money raised for the
+support of the army and navy, and of the new and extraordinary powers of
+legislation which it was forced to exercise. Only twenty-four States
+were represented, and one hundred and eighty-two members were upon its
+roll. Among these were many distinguished party leaders on both sides,
+veterans in the public service, with established reputations for
+ability, and with that skill which comes only from parliamentary
+experience. Into this assemblage of men Garfield entered without special
+preparation, and, it might almost be said, unexpectedly. The question of
+taking command of a division of troops under General Thomas, or taking
+his seat in Congress, was kept open till the last moment, so late,
+indeed, that the resignation of his military commission and his
+appearance in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uniform
+of a major-general of the United States Army on Saturday, and on Monday,
+in civilian's dress, he answered to roll-call as a Representative in
+Congress from the State of Ohio.
+
+"He was especially fortunate in the constituency which elected him.
+Descended almost entirely from New England stock, the men of the
+Ashtabula district were intensely radical on all questions relating to
+human rights. Well educated, thrifty, thoroughly intelligent in affairs,
+acutely discerning of character, not quick to bestow confidence, and
+slow to withdraw it, they were at once the most helpful and most
+exacting of supporters. Their tenacious trust in men in whom they have
+once confided is illustrated by the unparalleled fact that Elisha
+Whittlesey, Joshua R. Giddings, and James A. Garfield represented the
+district for fifty-four years.
+
+"There is no test of a man's ability in any department of public life
+more severe than service in the House of Representatives; there is no
+place where so little deference is paid to reputation previously
+acquired, or to eminence won outside; no place where so little
+consideration is shown for the feelings or the failures of beginners.
+What a man gains in the House he gains by sheer force of his own
+character, and if he loses and falls back he must expect no mercy, and
+will receive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival of the
+strongest is the recognized rule, and where no pretense can deceive and
+no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, his worth is
+impartially weighed, his rank is irreversibly decreed.
+
+"With possibly a single exception, Garfield was the youngest member in
+the House when he entered, and was but seven years from his college
+graduation. But he had not been in his seat sixty days before his
+ability was recognized and his place conceded. He stepped to the front
+with the confidence of one who belonged there. The House was crowded
+with strong men of both parties; nineteen of them have since been
+transferred to the Senate, and many of them have served with distinction
+in the gubernatorial chairs of their respective States, and on foreign
+missions of great consequence; but among them all none grew so rapidly,
+none so firmly, as Garfield. As is said by Trevelyan, of his
+parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded 'because all the world in concert
+could not have kept him in the back-ground, and because when once in the
+front he played his part with a prompt intrepidity and a commanding ease
+that were but the outward symptoms of the immense reserves of energy on
+which it was in his power to draw.' Indeed, the apparently reserved
+force which Garfield possessed was one of his great characteristics. He
+never did so well but that it seemed he could easily have done better.
+He never expended so much strength but that he appeared to be holding
+additional power at call. This is one of the happiest and rarest
+distinctions of an effective debater, and often counts for as much, in
+persuading an assembly, as the eloquent and elaborate argument.
+
+"The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled by his service in the
+House of Representatives. His military life, illustrated by honorable
+performance, and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, prematurely
+terminated, and necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to what he might
+have done in a field where the great prizes are so few, cannot be
+profitable. It is sufficient to say that as a soldier he did his duty
+bravely; he did it intelligently; he won an enviable fame, and he
+retired from the service without blot or breath against him. As a
+lawyer, though admirably equipped for the profession, he can scarcely be
+said to have entered on its practice. The few efforts he made at the bar
+were distinguished by the same high order of talent which he exhibited
+on every field where he was put to the test; and, if a man may be
+accepted as a competent judge of his own capacities and adaptations, the
+law was the profession to which Garfield should have devoted himself.
+But fate ordained otherwise, and his reputation in history will rest
+largely upon his service in the House of Representatives. That service
+was exceptionally long. He was nine times consecutively chosen to the
+House, an honor enjoyed probably by not twenty other Representatives of
+the more than five thousand who have been elected, from the organization
+of the government, to this hour.
+
+"As a parliamentary orator, as a debater on an issue squarely joined,
+where the position had been chosen and the ground laid out, Garfield
+must be assigned a very high rank. More, perhaps, than any man with whom
+he was associated in public life, he gave careful and systematic study
+to public questions, and he came to every discussion in which he took
+part with elaborate and complete preparation. He was a steady and
+indefatigable worker. Those who imagine that talent or genius can supply
+the place or achieve the results of labor will find no encouragement in
+Garfield's life. In preliminary work he was apt, rapid and skillful. He
+possessed in a high degree the power of readily absorbing ideas and
+facts, and, like Dr. Johnson, had the art of getting from a book all
+that was of value in it by a reading apparently so quick and cursory
+that it seemed like a mere glance at the table of contents. He was a
+pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no petty advantage,
+stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided personal allusions, rarely
+appealed to prejudice, did not seek to inflame passion. He had a quicker
+eye for the strong point of his adversary than for his weak point, and
+on his own side he so marshalled his weighty arguments as to make his
+hearers forget any possible lack in the complete strength of his
+position. He had a habit of stating his opponent's side with such
+amplitude of fairness and such liberality of concession that his
+followers often complained that he was giving his case away. But never
+in his prolonged participation in the proceedings of the House did he
+give his case away, or fail in the judgment of competent and impartial
+listeners to gain the mastery.
+
+"These characteristics, which marked Garfield as a great debater, did
+not, however, make him a great parliamentary leader. A parliamentary
+leader, as that term is understood wherever free representative
+government exists, is necessarily and very strictly the organ of his
+party. An ardent American defined the instinctive warmth of patriotism
+when he offered the toast, 'Our country, always right; but right or
+wrong, our country.' The parliamentary leader who has a body of
+followers that will do and dare and die for the cause, is one who
+believes his party always right, but right or wrong, is for his party.
+No more important or exacting duty devolves upon him than the selection
+of the field and the time for contest. He must know not merely how to
+strike, but where to strike and when to strike. He often skillfully
+avoids the strength of his opponent's position, and scatters confusion
+in his ranks by attacking an exposed point when really the righteousness
+of the cause and the strength of logical intrenchment are against him.
+He conquers often both against the right and the heavy battalions; as
+when young Charles Fox, in the days of his Toryism, carried the House of
+Commons against justice, against its immemorial rights, against his own
+convictions, if, indeed, at that period Fox had convictions, and, in the
+interest of a corrupt administration, in obedience to a tyrannical
+sovereign, drove Wilkes from the seat to which the electors of Middlesex
+had chosen him, and installed Luttrell, in defiance not merely of law
+but of public decency. For an achievement of that kind Garfield was
+disqualified--disqualified by the texture of his mind, by the honesty of
+his heart, by his conscience, and by every instinct and aspiration of
+his nature.
+
+"The three most distinguished parliamentary leaders hitherto developed
+in this country are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens.
+They were all men of consummate ability, of great earnestness, of
+intense personality, differing widely each from the others, and yet with
+a signal trait in common--the power to command. In the give-and-take of
+daily discussion, in the art of controlling and consolidating reluctant
+and refractory followers, in the skill to overcome all forms of
+opposition, and to meet with competency and courage the varying phases
+of unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defection, it would be difficult
+to rank with these a fourth name in all our Congressional history. But
+of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It would, perhaps, be impossible to
+find in the parliamental annals of the world a parallel to Mr. Clay, in
+1841, when at sixty-four years of age he took the control of the Whig
+party from the President who had received their suffrages, against the
+power of Webster in the Cabinet, against the eloquence of Choate in the
+Senate, against the herculean efforts of Caleb Cushing and Henry A. Wise
+in the House. In unshared leadership, in the pride and plentitude of
+power, he hurled against John Tyler, with deepest scorn the mass of that
+conquering column which had swept over the land in 1840, and drove his
+administration to seek shelter behind the lines of its political foes.
+Mr. Douglas achieved a victory scarcely less wonderful, when in 1854,
+against the secret desires of a strong administration, against the wise
+counsel of the older chiefs, against the conservative instincts, and
+even the moral sense of the country, he forced a reluctant Congress into
+a repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Mr. Stevens, in his contests from
+1865 to 1868, actually advanced his parliamentary leadership until
+Congress tied the hands of the President and governed the country by its
+own will, leaving only perfunctory duties to be discharged by the
+Executive. With two hundred millions of patronage in his hands at the
+opening of the contest, aided by the active force of Seward in the
+Cabinet, and the moral power of Chase on the bench, Andrew Johnson could
+not command the support of one-third in either House against the
+parliamentary uprising of which Thaddeus Stevens was the animating
+spirit and the unquestioned leader.
+
+"From these three great men Garfield differed radically, differed in the
+quality of his mind, in temperament, in the form and phase of ambition.
+He could not do what they did, but he could do what they could not, and
+in the breadth of his Congressional work he left that which will longer
+exert a potential influence among men, and which, measured by the severe
+test of posthumous criticism, will secure a more enduring and more
+enviable fame.
+
+"Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and ignorant of the details
+of his work may, in some degree, measure them by the annals of Congress.
+No one of the generation of public men to which he belonged has
+contributed so much that will prove valuable for future reference. His
+speeches are numerous, many of them brilliant, all of them well studied,
+carefully phrazed, and exhaustive of the subject under consideration.
+Collected from the scattered pages of ninety royal octavo volumes of
+Congressional record, they would present an invaluable compendium of the
+political events of the most important era through which the National
+government has ever passed. When the history of this period shall be
+impartially written, when war legislation, measures of reconstruction,
+protection of human rights, amendments to the Constitution, maintenance
+of public credit, steps toward specie resumption, true theories of
+revenue, may be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and disconnected
+from partisanism, the speeches of Garfield will be estimated at their
+true value, and will be found to comprise a vast magazine of fact and
+argument, of clear analysis and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no other
+authority were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representatives
+from December, 1863, to June, 1880, would give a well-connected history
+and complete defense of the important legislation of the seventeen
+eventful years that constitute his parliamentary life. Far beyond that,
+his speeches would be found to forecast many great measures yet to be
+completed--measures which he knew were beyond the public opinion of the
+hour, but which he confidently believed would secure popular approval
+within the period of his own lifetime, and by the aid of his own
+efforts.
+
+"Differing as Garfield does, from the brilliant parliamentary leaders,
+it is not easy to find his counterpart anywhere in the record of
+American public life. He, perhaps, more nearly resembles Mr. Seward in
+his supreme faith in the all-conquering power of a principle. He had the
+love of learning, and the patient industry of investigation, to which
+John Quincy Adams owes his prominence and his presidency. He had some of
+those ponderous elements of mind which distinguished Mr. Webster, and
+which, indeed, in all our public life have left the great Massachusetts
+Senator without an intellectual peer.
+
+"In English parliamentary history, as in our own, the leaders in the
+House of Commons present points of essential difference from Garfield.
+But some of his methods recall the best features in the strong,
+independent course of Sir Robert Peel, to whom he had striking
+resemblances in the type of his mind and in the habit of his speech. He
+had all of Burke's love for the sublime and the beautiful with,
+possibly, something of his superabundance. In his faith and his
+magnanimity, in his power of statement, in his subtle analysis, in his
+faultless logic, in his love of literature, in his wealth and world of
+illustration, one is reminded of that great English statesman of to-day,
+who, confronted with obstacles that would daunt any but the dauntless,
+reviled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those whose
+supposed rights he is forced to invade, still labors with serene courage
+for the amelioration of Ireland and for the honor of the English name.
+
+"Garfield's nomination to the presidency, while not predicted or
+anticipated, was not a surprise to the country. His prominence in
+Congress, his solid qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened by his
+then recent election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in the public eye as
+a man occupying the very highest rank among those entitled to be called
+statesmen. It was not mere chance that brought him this high honor. 'We
+must,' says Mr. Emerson, 'reckon success a constitutional trait. If Eric
+is in robust health and has slept well and is at the top of his
+condition, and thirty years old at his departure from Greenland, he will
+steer west and his ships will reach Newfoundland. But take Eric out and
+put in a stronger and bolder man, and the ships will sail six hundred,
+one thousand, fifteen hundred miles farther and reach Labrador and New
+England. There is no chance in results.'
+
+"As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met
+with a storm of detraction at the very hour of his nomination, and it
+continued with increasing volume and momentum until the close of his
+victorious campaign:
+
+    No might nor greatness in mortality
+    Can censure 'scape; backwounding calumny
+    The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong
+    Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Surely, if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of this
+world, on that quiet July morning, James A. Garfield may well have been
+a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted him; no slightest premonition
+of danger clouded his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant.
+One moment he stood erect, strong, confident in the years stretching
+peacefully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
+doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and the grave.
+
+"Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the
+very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he
+was thrust from the full tide of this world's interests, from its hopes,
+its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of death--and
+he did not quail. Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned
+and dazed, he could give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment,
+but through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony, that was not
+less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he
+looked into his open grave. What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes,
+whose lips may tell--what brilliant, broken plans, what baffled, high
+ambitions, what sundering of strong, warm, manhood's friendships, what
+bitter rending of sweet household ties! Behind him a proud expectant
+nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a cherished and happy
+mother, wearing the full, rich honors of her early toil and tears; the
+wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his; the little boys not yet
+emerged from childhood's day of frolic; the fair young daughter; the
+sturdy sons just springing into closest companionship, claiming every
+day, and every day rewarding a father's love and care; and in his heart
+the eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand. Before him, desolation
+and great darkness! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were
+thrilled with instant, profound and universal sympathy. Masterful in his
+mortal weakness, he became the center of a nation's love, enshrined in
+the prayers of a world. But all the love and all the sympathy could not
+share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With
+unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took
+leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard
+the voice of God. With simple resignation he bowed to the Divine decree.
+
+"As the end drew near, his early cravings for the sea returned. The
+stately mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain,
+and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive,
+stifling air, from its homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently,
+silently, the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the
+longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will,
+within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its manifold
+voices. With wan, fevered face, tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze,
+he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders; on its fair
+sails, whitening in the morning light; on its restless waves, rolling
+shoreward, to break and die beneath the noonday sun; on the red clouds
+of evening, arching low to the horizon; on the serene and shining
+pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic
+meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe
+that in the silence of the receding world be heard the great waves
+breaking on a farther shore, and felt already upon his wasted brow the
+breath of the eternal morning."
+
+We regret that we cannot give our readers the full speech here also, but
+it is sufficient to say that it was a masterly production. We give these
+three extracts from speeches to show, and enable the thinker to read and
+study the characteristics which make Mr. Blaine the great and renowned
+man that he really is to-day; an honor he has earned for himself.
+
+We do not desire to be regarded as a personal admirer of Mr. Blaine. We
+are not, but his ability we are in duty bound to delineate truthfully.
+Our readers will observe the description Mr. Blaine gives in his address
+on Garfield, of the qualifications necessary in a parliamentary leader.
+We will say nothing as to our opinion of some enterprises in which Mr.
+Blaine has engaged; and we will not ask him to explain, what he has
+never satisfactorily explained, in relation to some transactions, nor
+will we try to explain, in our short space, his skillfullness in
+parliamentary practice. As before said, our readers have read his
+description of a parliamentary leader, and we will further simply say
+that Mr. Blaine is one of the most skillful parliamentary leaders in the
+country. He is generally recognized as such by all parties. His canvass
+for the presidency is well-known to the people. Had he been elected he
+would, undoubtedly, have made a very satisfactory president, probably
+one of whom we would long have been proud.
+
+
+
+
+SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
+
+
+In 1814 there was born at New Lebanon, New York, an infant son to Elam
+Tilden, a prosperous farmer. His father, being a personal and political
+friend of Mr. Van Buren and other members of the celebrated 'Albany
+Regency'; his home was made a kind of headquarters for various members
+of that council to whose conversation the precocious child enjoyed to
+listen.
+
+Mr. Tilden declared of himself that he had no youth. As a boy he was
+diffident, and was studying and investigating when others were playing
+and enjoying the pleasures of society. From the beginning he was a
+calculator. Martin Van Buren, to whom he was greatly attached, often
+spoke of him as 'The sagacious Sammy.'
+
+Thrown into contact with such men at his parent's home, he early evinced
+a fondness for politics which first revealed itself in an essay on 'The
+Political Aspect,' displaying ability far beyond one of his years, which
+was printed in the _Albany Argus_, and which was attributed to Mr. Van
+Buren, at that time the leader of the Albany Regency.
+
+At twenty he entered Yale College, but ill-health compelled his return
+home. He, however, afterward resumed his studies at the University of
+New York; graduating from that institution he began the practice of law.
+At the bar he became known as a sound, but not especially brilliant
+pleader. In 1866 he was chosen Chairman of the State Committee of his
+party. In 1870-1, he was largely instrumental in unearthing frauds
+perpetrated in the city of New York, and in 1874 was elected the
+'reform governor' of the great Empire State. Although in political
+discord with Mr. Tilden, it is in no disparaging sense that we speak of
+him. It is in the sense of a historian bound and obligated to truth that
+we view him. We regard him as the MYSTERIOUS STATESMAN OF AMERICAN
+HISTORY.
+
+His personal character was, to a great extent, shrouded from the public
+in a veil of mystery, which had both its voluntary and involuntary
+elements. If Mr. Tilden had desired to be otherwise than mysterious it
+would have required much more self-control and ingenuity than would have
+been necessary to thicken the veil to impenetrability.
+
+His habit was to weigh both sides of every question, and therein he
+resembled, though in other particulars entirely different, the late
+Henry J. Raymond, the founder of the _New York Times_; and the effect
+was to some extent similar, for each of these men saw both sides of
+every question so fully as to be under the power of both sides, which
+sometimes produced an equilibrium, causing hesitation when the crisis
+required action.
+
+Mr. Tilden had intellectual qualities of the very highest order. He
+could sit down before a mass of incoherent statements, and figures that
+would drive most men insane, and elucidate them by the most painstaking
+investigation, and feel a pleasure in the work. Indeed, an intimate
+friend of his assures us that his eye would gleam with delight when a
+task was set before him from which most men would pay large sums to be
+relieved: Hence, his abilities were of a kind that made him a most
+dangerous opponent.
+
+Some persons supposed that Mr. Tilden was a poor speaker because, when
+he was brought before the people as a candidate for President of the
+United States, he was physically unable to speak with much force. But
+twenty years ago, for clearness of statement, and for an easy and
+straightforward method of speech he had few superiors. His language was
+excellent, his manner that of a man who had something to say and was
+intent upon saying it. He was at no time a tricky orator, nor did he aim
+at rousing the feelings, but in the clearest possible manner he would
+make his points and no amount of prejudice was sufficient to resist his
+conclusions. He was a great reader, and reflected on all that he read.
+
+No more extraordinary episode ever occurred than his break with William
+M. Tweed, and his devoting himself to the overthrow of that gigantic
+ring. It is not our purpose to treat the whole subject; yet, the manner
+of the break was so tragic that it should be detailed. William M. Tweed
+had gone on buying men and legislatures, and enriching himself until he
+had reached the state of mind in which he said to the public, "What are
+you going to do about it?" He had gone further. He had applied it to the
+leading men of the Democratic party. The time came when he sat in his
+gorgeously furnished apartment in Albany, as Chairman of a certain
+committee of the Senate. Samuel J. Tilden appeared before the committee
+to represent a certain interest. On that occasion Mr. Tweed, who was
+either intoxicated with liquor, or intoxicated with pride and vanity,
+grossly insulted Mr. Tilden, spoke to him in the most disrespectful
+manner, and closed by saying: "YOU ARE AN OLD HUMBUG; YOU ALWAYS WERE A
+HUMBUG, AND WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING FROM YOU!"
+
+Mr. Tilden turned pale, and then red, and finally livid. A spectator, a
+man second to none in New York State for position, informed the writer
+that as he gazed upon Mr. Tilden he was terrified. Not a word did he
+utter; he folded up his books and papers and departed. As he went the
+spectator said to himself, "This man means murder; there will never be
+any accommodation of this difficulty." Back to the City of New York went
+Mr. Tilden. He sat down with the patience and with the keen scent of a
+sleuth-hound, and unravelled all the mystery of the iniquity which had
+cursed the City of New York, and of which William M. Tweed was the
+master-spirit.
+
+Judge Noah Davis said to an acquaintance that 'Mr. Tilden's preparation
+of the cases against Tweed and his confederates was one of the most
+remarkable things of which he had ever seen or heard. He said that
+Tilden would take the mutilated stubbs of check-books, and construct a
+story from them. He had restored the case of the city against the
+purloiners as an anatomist, by the means of two or three bones, would
+draw you a picture of the animal which had inhabited them in the
+palæontological age.' It will be remembered that Judge Noah Davis tried
+the cases and sentenced Tweed.
+
+It is not necessary for us to conjecture whether Mr. Tilden would have
+appeared as the reformer if he had not been grossly insulted by Tweed.
+That he had not so appeared until the occasion referred to, and that
+immediately afterward he began the investigation and movements which
+ended in the total overthrow of the ring and its leader, are beyond
+question. There came a time when Tweed, trembling in his very soul, sent
+a communication to Mr. Tilden offering anything if he would relax, but
+no bronze statue was ever more silent and immovable than Samuel J.
+Tilden at that time. It is remarkable that a man so silent and
+mysterious, not to say repellent, in his intercourse with his fellow-men
+could exert such a mighty influence as he unquestionably did. He did it
+by controlling master-minds, and by an apprehension rarely or never
+surpassed of the details to be wrought out by other men.
+
+Mr. Tilden was capable of covering his face with a mask, which none
+could penetrate. The following scene occurred upon a train on the Hudson
+River road. Mr. Tilden was engaged in a most animated conversation with
+a leading member of the Republican party with whom he entertained
+personal confidential relations. The conversation was one that brought
+all Mr. Tilden's learning and logical forces into play. It was
+semi-literary, and not more political than was sufficient to give
+piquancy to the interview. A committee of the lower class of ward
+politicians approaching, Mr. Tilden turned to receive him, and in the
+most expressionless manner held out his hand. His eye lost every
+particle of lustre and seemed to sink back and down. The chairman of the
+committee stated the point he had in view. Mr. Tilden asked him to
+restate it once or twice; made curious and inconsequential remarks,
+appeared like a man just going to sleep, and finally said: "I will see
+you on the subject on a future occasion." The committee withdrew. In one
+moment he resumed the conversation with the brilliancy and vivacity of a
+boy. Subsequently the chairman of the committee said to the leading
+Republican, whom he also knew: "Did you ever see the old man so nearly
+gone as he was to-day? Does he often get so? Had he been taking a drop
+too much?"
+
+He was at no time in his career embarrassed in his intellectual
+operations by his emotional nature; he was a man of immense brain-power,
+and his intellect was trained up to the last possibility; every faculty
+was under his control; until his health failed he knew no such other
+source of joy as WORK.
+
+Craft had a very important place in his composition, but it was not the
+craft of the fox; it was a species of craft which at its worst was above
+mere pettifogging, and at its best was unquestionably a high type of
+diplomacy. Those mistake who considered him only as a cunning man. A
+person opposed to him in politics, but who made a study of his career,
+observed that in power of intellect he had no superior at the bar of New
+York, nor among the statesmen of the whole country. The supreme crisis
+of his life was when he believed himself elected President of the United
+States. The political aspect we will not revive, except to say that Mr.
+Tilden consented to the peculiar method of determining the case. The
+departure of David Davis from the supreme bench in all human probability
+determined the result.
+
+It is known that Abram S. Hewitt, David Dudley Field, and eminent
+Democratic leaders, Hewitt being chairman of the National Democratic
+committee at the time, did all in their power to induce Mr. Tilden to
+issue a letter to the American people saying that he believed himself to
+be the President elect, and that on the fourth day of March 1877, he
+would come to Washington to be inaugurated. Had that been done God alone
+can tell what would have been the result. In all probability a _coup
+d'etat_ on one side or the other, followed by civil war or practical
+change in the character of the relations of the people to the Federal
+Government. At that moment Mr. Tilden's habit of balancing caused him
+to pursue the course that he did. It is reported that Mr. Tilden's
+letter explaining to Mr. Hewitt the reason why he would not do so is
+still in existence. Of this we know nothing; but that he had reasons and
+assigned them is certain. Why he consented to the method of arbitration
+is one of the mysteries of his career. Taking all the possibilities into
+account, the fact that the issue passed without civil war is an occasion
+of devout thankfulness to Almighty God. But the method of determining
+the question is one which the good sense of the American people will
+never repeat.
+
+Mr. Tilden must have had considerable humor in his composition. Some
+years ago a Methodist preacher came to the city of New York to raise
+money for a certain church in Pennsylvania which had been grievously
+embarrassed. He stayed at the house of one of the ministers in Brooklyn.
+One evening he said to his host: "I am going to call on Samuel J. Tilden
+and see if I can't get something out of him for our church. He has a
+'barrel,' and I understand it is pretty full." The next morning he went,
+and on returning said to his host: "Well, I called on Mr. Tilden, and I
+said: 'Mr. Tilden, I am from----, such a place, in Pennsylvania. My
+name is----. I am pastor of a church there. We have met with great
+misfortunes, and are likely to lose our church. There are more than
+sixty members of my church that voted for you for President, and they
+are ready to vote for you again, and they wanted me to call on you and
+tell you of their misfortune, and ask you to give them a little help.'"
+
+"Well, what did Mr. Tilden say?" "He looked up and said he was busy, but
+told me to come the next morning at nine o'clock." He went, and on his
+return reported, when the question: "What did Mr. Tilden say"? was
+asked. "He said to me, 'Your name is----? You are from----, in
+Pennsylvania? You said that you had more than sixty members who voted
+for me for President, and who are ready to do it again"? "Yes." "And
+they wanted you to tell me of their misfortune"? "Yes." Then pulling out
+of his pocket-book he counted what money he had, which amounted to $15,
+and handed me $14, and said: "You tell them that Samuel J. Tilden gave
+you ALL THE MONEY HE HAD EXCEPT ONE DOLLAR, WHICH HE KEPT FOR HIMSELF."
+In all probability he was satirizing an appeal under those
+circumstances.
+
+For his service in breaking up the Tweed ring, and for his career as
+Governor of the State of New York, apart from purely party aspects, he
+is entitled to the thanks of the people. His own party will say to the
+end of time that he was elected president of the United States, and
+defrauded out of the office. But neither they nor anyone else can say,
+after the plan was agreed upon and adopted for determining the result,
+that the person who did occupy the chair did not have a legal right
+there, and was not president after the acceptance by the House of
+Representatives of the conclusion.
+
+Mr. Tilden will never be considered inferior in intellect and learning
+to the many great men of whom New York can proudly boast. He will ever
+be ranked with Daniel Tompkins, George Clinton, William L. Marcy, Silas
+Wright, William H. Seward, John A. Dix and many others, and it is not
+strange that it was with a feeling of deep and genuine regret that on
+the 4th of August, 1886, the people were told of his sudden death at
+'Greystone.'
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WARD BEECHER.
+
+
+A sturdy tree, standing alone in a vast field, suggesting strength,
+growth and independence, and regarded both as a landmark and a shelter;
+withstanding alike the heats of summer and wrestling with and throwing
+off the blasts of winter; drawing from Nature her myriad stores of
+nutrition and giving back to Nature a wealth of power and grace in
+return; seemed Henry Ward Beecher, in his youth of old age, to the
+observation of men. Original orator, advocate, poet, humorist, agitator,
+rhetorician, preacher, moralist and statesman. The greatest preacher of
+modern times, possibly of all times, the man was one of the wonders of
+America; one of the marvels of the world.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher's career has been phenomenal for the activity and
+variety of its achievements. Coming from a long line of mentally alert
+and physically vigorous ancestors, he was richly endowed with the
+qualities going to make up the highest type of human nature. He was
+handicapped only in being the son of a man whose fame was world-wide; a
+preacher of such intensity of spirit and eloquence of expression that he
+stood at the head of, if not above, all of his contemporaries. Yet,
+while Dr. Lyman Beecher will always hold an honored place in American
+history and biography, who can deny that his fame has been far outshone
+by that of his brilliant son? It may be truly said, therefore, that
+Henry Ward Beecher won a double triumph. He emerged from the comparative
+obscurity in which he dwelt, behind the shadow of his father's
+greatness, and he lived to see his own name emblazoned more brightly and
+engraved more indelibly upon the records of time than that of his noble
+father.
+
+He was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24th, 1813. His father was
+a busy minister, and the mother divided her time among several children,
+so that no especial attention was paid to Henry Ward, nor was he
+considered more promising than some of the others. He was not, by any
+means, fond of books in early life. He gives the following sketch of
+himself in one of his personal writings: 'A hazy image of myself comes
+back to me--a lazy, dreamy boy, with his head on the desk, half-lulled
+asleep by the buzzing of a great blue-bottle fly, and the lowing of the
+cows, and the tinkling of their bells, brought into the open door,
+across the fields and meadows.' Through the advice of his father, he
+attended Mount Pleasant Academy. Afterwards he attended Amherst College
+where he graduated in 1834. During his last two years of school, Beecher
+followed the example of many another young man who has since attained
+eminence in his chosen profession, and taught in district schools. With
+the money thus obtained he laid the foundation upon which he built that
+splendid superstructure which is recalled at the sound of his name.
+
+Dr. Lyman Beecher meanwhile had accepted a professorship at Lane
+Seminary, Cincinnati, and having decided to follow the ministry, the son
+went West this same year and began the study of theology under his
+father. He finished his course three years later, married, and accepted
+the first charge offered him; a small Presbyterian Church in
+Lawrenceburg, a little town on the Ohio river, near Cincinnati. Of this
+dismal beginning of his illustrious career he said:
+
+"How poor we were! There were only about twenty persons in the flock. I
+was janitor as well as pastor of the little white-washed church. I
+bought some lamps and I filled them and lighted them. I swept the church
+and dusted the benches, and kindled the fire, and I didn't ring the
+bell, because there wasn't any; did everything in fact but come to hear
+myself preach, that they had to do. It doesn't occur to me now that
+Lawrenceburg was remarkable for anything but a superabundance of
+distilleries. I used to marvel how so many large distilleries could be
+put in so small a town. But they were flourishing right in the face of
+the Gospel, that my little flock and I were preaching in the shadows of
+the chimneys. My thoughts often travel back to my quaint little church
+and the big distilleries at Lawrenceburg. Well, my next move was to
+Indianapolis. There I had a more considerable congregation, though I was
+still far from rich in the world's goods. I believe I was very happy
+during my eight years out there. I liked the people. There was a hearty
+frankness, a simplicity in their mode of life, an unselfish intimacy in
+their social relations that attracted me. They were new
+people--unharrowed and uncultured like the land they lived on--but they
+were earnest and honest and strong. But the ague shook us out of the
+State. My wife's health gave out and we were forced to come East."
+
+From this it would seem that chills and fever were the means used by
+Providence for bringing Henry Ward Beecher and Plymouth Church together.
+The church came into existence on the 8th of May, 1847, when six
+gentlemen met in Brooklyn at the house of one of their number, Mr.
+Henry C. Bowen, the present proprietor of the _Independent_, and formed
+themselves into a company of trustees of a new Congregational Church,
+the services of which they decided to begin holding at once in an
+edifice on Cranberry street, purchased from the Presbyterians. The
+following week Mr. Beecher happened to speak in New York, at the
+anniversary of the Home Missionary Society. He had already attracted
+some attention by his anti-slavery utterances, and the fearless manner
+in which he had preached against certain popular vices.
+
+The founders of the new congregation invited him to deliver the opening
+sermon on the 16th. A great audience was present, and shortly afterwards
+the young preacher was asked to become the first pastor of the
+organization. He accepted, and on the 10th of the following October he
+entered upon the term of service which lasted until the day of his
+death. And what a pastorate that was! The congregation readily grew in
+numbers and influence until Plymouth Church and Henry Ward Beecher
+became household words all over the land, and a trip to Brooklyn to hear
+the great preacher grew to be an almost indispensable part of a
+stranger's visit to New York.
+
+At the opening of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Beecher undertook the
+editorship of the _Independent_ which, like the church under his
+administration, speedily became a power in the country. In addition to
+all this work he was continually delivering speeches; for from the
+firing of the first gun on Fort Sumpter on April 12th, Plymouth's
+pastor was all alive to the needs of the nation. With voice and pen he
+pointed out the path of duty in that dark and trying hour, and his own
+church promptly responded to the call by organizing and equipping
+the First Long Island regiment. But the strain of this threefold
+service--preaching, speaking and editing, was too much for his strength,
+powerful and well-grounded, as he was, physically. His voice gave out at
+last, and doctors imperatively demanded rest. This brought about the
+trip to Europe which was destined to be remembered as the most
+remarkable epoch in the remarkable career of this man.
+
+Decidedly the most memorable oratorical success ever achieved by an
+American citizen abroad, in behalf of the name and honor of his country,
+was that by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, which he achieved during this
+trip. Undertaking the journey for recreation and recuperation he was
+bitterly opposed by his friends in his decision, but he saw there was
+work to be done, and felt that he must do it. Beginning at Manchester,
+October 9th, Mr. Beecher delivered five great speeches in the great
+cities of the kingdom, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and
+London, each speech being devoted to some special train of thought and
+argument bearing upon the issues involved in the momentous contest; and
+the whole series taken together did more for the Union cause in Great
+Britain than all that had before been said or written. Possessing the
+faculty beyond any other American orator of combining close, rapid,
+powerful, practical reasoning with intense passion--his mind always
+aglow with his subject--the effect of Mr. Beecher's speaking was to
+kindle sympathy, even if it did not flash conviction. It is this
+quality, according to the opinion of those best acquainted with Mr.
+Beecher's oratory, which combined with his marvelous power of
+illustration, marvelous alike for its intense vividness and unerring
+pertinency, and his great flexibility whereby he seemed to adapt himself
+completely to the exigency of the instant gave him rare command over a
+popular assemblage.
+
+Mayor Carrington, of Richmond, tells the following: "He went to Richmond
+in 1881, his first appearance there after the war, and he was somewhat
+doubtful as to the reception he would get. He walked onto the stage
+where he was to lecture, before a crowded house, and was not greeted
+with the slightest welcoming applause. Immediately in front of the stage
+facing Mr. Beecher were several leading ex-generals of the Confederate
+army, among them General Fitz-Hugh Lee. Mr. Beecher surveyed the cold
+and critical audience for a moment, and then stepping directly in front
+of General Lee, he said, 'I have seen pictures of General Fitz-Hugh Lee,
+and judge you are the man; am I right?' General Lee was taken aback by
+this direct address, and nodded stiffly, while the audience bent forward
+breathless with curiosity as to what was going to follow. 'Then,' said
+Beecher, his face lighting up, 'I want to offer you this right hand
+which, in its own way, fought against you and yours twenty-five years
+ago, but which I would now willingly sacrifice to make the Sunny South
+prosperous and happy. Will you take it, General?' There was a moment's
+hesitation, a moment of death-like stillness in the hall, and then
+General Lee was on his feet, his hand was extended across the
+footlights, and was quickly met by the preacher's warm grasp. At first
+there was a murmur, half surprise, half-doubtfulness, by the audience.
+Then there was a hesitating clapping of hands, and before Mr. Beecher
+had loosed the hand of Robert E. Lee's nephew,--now Governor of
+Virginia--there were cheers such as were never before heard in that
+hall, though it had been the scene of many a war and political meeting.
+When the noise subsided, Mr. Beecher continued: 'When I go back home I
+shall proudly tell that I have grasped the hand of the nephew of the
+great Southern Chieftain; I shall tell my people that I went to the
+Confederate capitol with a heart full of love for the people whom my
+principles once obliged me to oppose, and that I was met half way by the
+brave Southerners who can forgive, as well as they can fight.' That
+night Beecher entered his carriage and drove to his hotel amid shouts,
+such as had never greeted a Northern man since the war."
+
+The famous Beecher-Tilton trial began in a series of whispers. With such
+an immense congregation, with everybody in Brooklyn familiar with his
+affairs, and with the whole community seemingly resolved into an immense
+gossiping committee, it was no wonder that rumors and report went flying
+about until at last, in the summer of 1874, Plymouth Church appointed a
+committee to investigate the charges preferred by Theodore Tilton
+against Mr. Beecher.
+
+Mr. Tilton read a sworn statement detailing his charges and specifying
+the actions of Mrs. Tilton and Mr. Beecher during the previous two
+years. This was on July 28th, and on the next day Mr. Beecher made his
+speech declaring the innocence of Mrs. Tilton; and she, too, testified
+in her own defense. Mr. Beecher made an elaborate statement before his
+congregation, August 14th, denying all immorality. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton
+were subjected to a most thorough examination and cross-examination, and
+then Mr. Francis D. Moulton, the famous mutual friend, came into the
+matter with his story of a most remarkable series of confessions and
+letters. The committee reported its findings at the weekly
+prayer-meeting, August 28th. Mr. Beecher was acquitted, and Mr. Moulton
+was most vigorously denounced, and when he left the meeting it was under
+police protection, because of the fury of the friends of the pastor.
+Before this Mr. Tilton had concluded to go to the courts, and on August
+19th opened a suit for $100,000 against Mr. Beecher. It was not until
+October 17th that Judge Neilson granted an order for a bill of
+particulars against the plaintiff, and William M. Evarts, for Mr.
+Beecher, and Roger A. Pryor for Mr. Tilton, carried the case up to the
+Court of Appeals, where the decision of the general term was reversed,
+and on December 7th, the new motion for a bill was granted.
+
+It was on January 4th, 1875, that the case was taken up in the City
+Court of Brooklyn. For Mr. Tilton appeared General Pryor, ex-Judge
+Fullerton, William A. Beach and S. D. Morris; while on the other side
+were William M. Evarts, General Benjamin F. Tracy and Thomas G.
+Shearman. The first witness was Editor Maverick, who testified on the
+13th of January to the Tilton marriage. Mr. Tilton took the stand on
+January 29th, and Mr. Evarts objected to his being sworn, and took
+several days to state his objections. From February 2nd to February
+17th, Mr. Tilton was on the stand, and the case for the defense opened
+on February 25th, and the first witness took the stand March 2nd. Mr.
+Beecher took the stand April 1st, and affirmed his testimony. He kept
+the stand until April 21st, and on May 13th the testimony on both sides
+closed after the examination of one hundred and eleven witnesses, and
+the consumption of four and one-half months of time. Mr. Evarts took
+eight days for his summing up, and other counsel for the defense six
+more. Mr. Beach talked for nine days, and Judge Neilson, on June 24th,
+charged the jury, which, after a consultation of eight days, reported on
+July 2nd, that they were unable to agree. All through the trial Mrs.
+Beecher sat beside her husband in court. The court was packed day after
+day, and in the daily papers thousands of columns were consumed in
+reporting every word uttered. It was never tried again.
+
+The enormous expense of the defense was met by a generous subscription.
+Mr. Beecher's letters were remarkable productions for any man other than
+Beecher to pen, and the explanation of them so that the jury-men, and
+men generally, could comprehend them was the task of his counsel. Mr.
+Tilton is now in Europe, and Mrs. Tilton is in this country. Mr. Beecher
+passed through the ordeal of his life in safety, and since the trial he
+has been watched as no man ever has been before or since.
+
+He was unquestionably one of the most able, if not the ablest, preacher
+the world ever knew, and it is not strange that the country should be
+startled at the announcement of his sudden death on march 7th, 1887, at
+his home in Brooklyn.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher is already as historical a character as Patrick
+Henry; with this exception, that whereas there are multitudes living who
+have seen and heard Mr. Beecher, and many who knew him personally; there
+are few, if any, who can remember Patrick Henry. Mr. Beecher was the
+most versatile and ready orator this country has ever produced,--a kind
+of Gladstone in the pulpit. He was a master of every style; could be as
+deliberate and imposing as Webster; as chaste and self-contained as
+Phillips; as witty and irregular as Thomas Corwin; as grandiloquent as
+Charles Sumner; as dramatic as father Taylor, and as melo-dramatic as
+Gough.
+
+To attempt to analyze the sources of his power is like exhibiting the
+human features separately, in the hope of giving the effect of a
+composite whole; for whether he moved his finger, elevated his brow,
+smiled, frowned, whispered or vociferated, each act or expression
+derived its power from the fact that it was the act and expression of
+Henry Ward Beecher. His oratory was marked by the entire absence of
+trammels, of rhetoric gesture or even grammar. Not that his style was
+not ordinarily grammatical and rhetorical, but that he would never allow
+any rules to impede the expression of his thought and especially of his
+feelings, nor was he restrained by theological forms, and always
+appeared independent and courageous. He believed in the absolute
+necessity of conversion and a thorough change of heart; he taught the
+beauty of living a religious life, for the nobleness of the deeds rather
+than for the purpose of escaping a future punishment, and his sayings in
+this connection were often misconstrued.
+
+He stimulated the intellect by wit; he united the heart and mind by
+humor; he melted the heart by un-mixed pathos. He was characterized by
+the strange power of creating an expectation with every sentence he
+uttered, and though he might on some occasions, when not at his best,
+close without meeting the expectations aroused, no dissatisfaction was
+expressed or apparently felt by his hearers. In personal appearance he
+was remarkable, chiefly for the great transformation of his countenance
+under the play of emotion.
+
+On the platform of Plymouth Church he was as a king upon his throne, or
+the commander of a war-ship in victorious action. His manners in private
+life were most ingratiating. His writings can impart to coming
+generations no adequate conception of his power as an orator. His career
+in England during those five great speeches were worth 50,000 soldiers
+to the National government, and probably had much to do with the
+prevention of the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by European
+nations. It was a triumph of oratory; he literally compelled a vast
+multitude, who were thoroughly in opposition to him, to take a new view
+of the subject.
+
+A Metropolitan in the pulpit, a magician on the platform, a center of
+life and good cheer in the home, a prince in society possessed of
+exhaustive vitality, warmth and energy, he suggested to any one who
+gazed upon him the apostrophe of _Hamlet_ to the ideal man: "What a
+piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In
+form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel!
+In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of
+animals!" Such a piece of work was Henry Ward Beecher. He had no
+predecessor, and can have no successor till a similar ancestry and life;
+the one coeval with birth, and the other running parallel with the lusty
+youth of such a nation, and a similar life and death struggle, both in a
+conflict of moral principles fought out under a Democratic form of
+Government, shall combine to evolve a similar career. The course of
+human history does not furnish a probability of another coincidence of
+elements so extraordinary.
+
+[Illustration: PERCEPTION. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."]
+
+[Illustration: GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES WATT.
+
+
+In this advanced age we know the power of steam, and what a great factor
+it is as a help in carrying on the daily work of life. Yet, it is only
+during the last century that men have discovered to how many purposes it
+can be applied.
+
+James Watt, the great utilizer of steam, was born in Greenock, Scotland,
+January 19th, 1736. His father was a carpenter and general merchant in
+Greenock, and seems to have been highly respected, for he was long a
+member of the council, and for a time, magistrate. James was a sickly
+child, unable to attend school with regularity, hence was left to follow
+his own inclinations; becoming his own instructor, to a great extent.
+The boy was early furnished with tools by his father, and with them
+found amusement and instruction. He early manifested a taste for
+mathematics and mechanics, studied botany, chemistry, mineralogy,
+natural philosophy, and at fourteen constructed an electrical machine.
+
+At the age of eighteen he was sent to Glasgow to learn to make
+mathematical instruments, but for some reason he went to London the same
+year, engaging with one Morgan, working at the same trade. Ill-health,
+however, compelled his return home about a year later. He had made great
+use of his time while in London, and after his health had improved
+somewhat he again visited Glasgow with the desire of establishing
+himself there, but met with opposition from some who considered him an
+intruder upon their privileges. The Principal of the college,
+appreciating his fine tact and ingenuity, offered him protection and
+gave him an apartment for carrying on his business within their
+precinct, with the title of "Mathematical Instrument Maker to the
+University." But this location was unfavorable for his business. He was
+scarcely able to make a living, however, the five or six years he passed
+in those quarters were well employed in investigations, and during the
+time he unmistakably manifested rare ability.
+
+As soon as possible he secured a better situation in town, and after
+this change did much better, still it is said: "He had to eke out his
+living by repairing fiddles, which he was able to do, though he had no
+ear for music," also, in doing any mechanical piece of work that came in
+his way; no work requiring ingenuity or the application of scientific
+knowledge seems to have baffled him. But he kept studying, devoting his
+evenings and spare moments to the mastery of German, Italian, mastered
+some of the sciences, learned to sketch, was a superior model-maker;
+and, if his profession had been defined at the time he first turned his
+attention to steam, having constructed an improved organ, he would have
+been spoken of as a musical-instrument maker.
+
+In 1858 he began his experiments with steam as a propelling power for
+land carriages, which he temporarily abandoned, and did not patent a
+road engine until 1784. In 1767 he assumed a new occupation, for in that
+year he was employed to make the surveys and prepare the estimates for a
+projected canal to connect the Forth and Clyde. This project fell
+through for the time being, as it failed to gain the sanction of
+Parliament, but Watt had now made a beginning as civil engineer, and
+henceforth he obtained a good deal of employment in this capacity. He
+superintended the surveys and engineering works on the Monkland
+Collieries Canal to Glasgow, deepening the Clyde, improving the harbors
+of Ayr, Port, Glasgow, and Greenock; building bridges and other public
+works his final survey being for the Caledonia Canal.
+
+During this period he had invented an improved micrometer, and also
+continued his experiments with steam as a motive power. Perhaps it would
+be interesting to some of our readers to know how Watt tested the power
+of steam. The implements with which he performed his experiments were of
+the cheapest kind. Apothecaries' vials, a glass tube or two, and a
+tea-kettle enabled him to arrive at some very important conclusions. By
+attaching a glass tube to the nose of the tea-kettle he conducted the
+steam into a glass of water, and by the time the water came to the
+boiling point, he found its volume had increased nearly a sixth part;
+that is, one measure of water in the form of steam can raise about six
+measures of water to its own heat. It would be impossible in our
+allotted space to tell fully of the many experiments James Watt made. It
+is needless to say that his success came by slow and discouraging
+channels, so slow, indeed, that most men would have given up long
+before.
+
+His reputation was assailed by jealous rivals, his originality denied,
+and his rights to various patents vehemently contested. He was many
+times disappointed in the workings of his own machines, and was obliged
+to throw away pieces of machinery from which he had expected much, while
+with others he had perfect success. His experiments finally resulted in
+his invention of the condensing engine. Now, he struggled for years,
+through poverty and every imaginable difficulty, to make a practical
+application of his improvements, doing work as a surveyor in order to
+support himself.
+
+In 1769 he became a partner of Mathew Boulton, a large hardware dealer
+and manufacturer, of Birmingham, England. Previously Mr. Boulton had
+built engines after the plans of Savery, hence, he undoubtedly discerned
+the great improvement over all engines then in use, that this new
+discovery was sure to prove. He was a man of wealth, and, in all
+probability, his personal knowledge of such matters greatly aided his
+faith. No other can be given, for he was obliged to advance over
+$229,000 before Watt had so completely perfected his engine that its
+operations yielded profit. But his confidence was not misplaced. The
+immense Birmingham manufactory, which employed over one thousand hands,
+was ultimately driven to its utmost capacity to supply the constantly
+increasing demand for steam engines. It was first applied to coinage in
+1783, from thirty to forty thousand milled coins being struck off in an
+hour as a test. Boulton & Watt sent two complete mints to St.
+Petersburg, and for many years executed the entire copper coinage of
+England.
+
+Watt was the first to conceive the idea of warming buildings by steam.
+He was the first to make a copying-press; he also contrived a flexible
+iron pipe with ball and socket joints, to adapt it to the irregular
+riverbed, for carrying water across the Clyde. At the time of his death
+he was fellow of the Royal Societies of London, and Edinburgh
+correspondent of the French Institute, and foreign associate of the
+Academy of Sciences. He was buried beside Boulton, in Handsworth Church;
+his statue, by Chantery, is in Westminister Abbey. The pedestal bears
+the following inscription:--
+
+"Not to perpetuate a name
+Which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish,
+But to show
+That mankind have learned to honor those
+Who best deserve their gratitude,
+The King,
+His Ministers, and many of the Nobles
+And Commoners of the Realm,
+Raised this Monument to
+James Watt,
+Who, directing the force of an original Genius,
+Early exercised in philosophic research,
+To the improvement of
+The Steam Engine,
+Enlarged the resources of his Country,
+Increased the power of man, and rose to an eminent place
+Among the most illustrious followers of Science
+And the real benefactors of the World.
+Born at Greenock, MDCCXXXVI,
+Died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, MDCCCXIX."
+
+The properties of steam had been known to a certain extent for
+centuries. In the seventeenth century attention was frequently directed
+by ingenious workers to the uses of steam in performing simple but
+laborious occupations, such as pumping water out of the mines. To other
+purposes steam was imperfectly applied, but it remained for Watt to make
+more practical and efficient use of it.
+
+This, indeed, is the history of almost every useful art. A discovery,
+which, after it is known, seems so simple that every one wonders why it
+remained hidden for so many years, yet proves simple enough to
+immortalize the name of the fortunate inventor. It is said there was
+hardly a physical science or one art with which Watt was not intimately
+acquainted. His philosophical judgment kept pace with his ingenuity. He
+studied modern languages, and was acquainted with literature. His memory
+was extremely tenacious, and whatever he once learned he always had at
+his command; and yet this brave earnest worker and gifted man was a
+sufferer from ill-health all his life. With constitutional debility,
+increased by anxiety and perplexity during the long process of his
+inventions, and the subsequent care of defending them in court; yet,
+through constant temperance and watchfulness over his peculiar
+difficulties, his life was preserved to the great age of eighty-three
+years. He had in his character the utmost abhorrece for all parade and
+presumption, and, indeed, never failed to put all such imposters out of
+countenance by the manly plainness and honest intrepidity of his
+language and manner. In his temper and disposition he was not only kind
+and affectionate, but generous and considerate of the feelings of all
+around him, and gave the most liberal assistance and encouragement to
+all young persons who proved any indication of talent, or applied to him
+for patronage or advice. He was twice married, and left his two sons,
+long associated with him in his business, to carry out some of his plans
+and discoveries of the great utility and power of steam. All men of
+learning and science were his cordial friends, and such was the
+influence of his mild character and perfect firmness and liberality,
+even to pretenders of his own accomplishments, that he lived to disarm
+even envy itself, and died the peaceful death of a Christian without, it
+is thought, a single enemy.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE STEPHENSON.
+
+
+A small collection of houses in a mining district, called Wylam, about
+nine miles west of Newcastle-on-Tyne, we find to be the birth-place of
+George Stephenson, born June 9th, 1781.
+
+His father was a very humble workman, who filled the position of fireman
+of the pumping-engine in use at the colliery, at three dollars a week.
+With a wife and six children to support, there was not much left after
+satisfying the cravings of hunger. The children, soon as opportunity
+afforded, were set at work to help support the family. We find young
+George beginning life pulling turnips at two pence a day. At eight years
+old he tended Widow Ainslie's cows at five cents a day. Later, he
+received fifty cents a week when caring for horses.
+
+Of course, it is the rule to find something in the boy indicative of the
+man, and in Stephenson's case, legend or history furnishes the material.
+It seems that while acting as herder, in company with other boys, it was
+his favorite amusement to model engines out of clay. After a time he
+received a dollar a week as assistant to his father, and at the age of
+sixteen he was appointed to work as attendant upon the pumping-engine,
+at men's wages,--three dollars per week. He was delighted, and it is
+doubtful if he was ever happier over subsequent triumphs as a locomotive
+builder, than when he was elevated to this position. He was employed at
+various collieries, as fireman, and afterwards as plugman, and gradually
+acquired so complete a knowledge of the engine as to be able to take it
+apart and make ordinary repairs. His ingenuity in repairing an obstinate
+defect in a steam engine gained him the charge of the engine.
+
+After this his fondness for his work increased until, with study, he had
+thoroughly mastered all its details. At the age of eighteen he could not
+even read, and he began to long for some education, so that he might fit
+himself for a higher place in his business. He accordingly commenced his
+studies by taking lessons in reading, of a neighboring school-master,
+three nights in a week, at a small tuition. At the end of a year he
+could read and spell some, and could write his own name. He now had a
+great thirst for mathematics, which he studied faithfully the second
+year; at the close of which, by his attentiveness, he could cipher with
+tolerable facility.
+
+During odd moments he gave some attention to mending shoes, by which he
+was able to earn a few extra pence. Among some shoes that were sent him
+to repair was a pair belonging to a young lady, whom he afterward
+married. In 1805 he removed to Killingworth colliery, and about this
+time he was desirous of emigrating to the United States, but was unable
+to raise money for his outfit and passage. He continued to work at his
+home evenings and leisure hours, cutting out clothes for the miners,
+mending clocks and shoes, and all this time studying mechanics and
+engineering with a view to perpetual motion, which a great many others
+of his time were studying.
+
+His first opportunity to show his superiority was when an expensive pump
+had been put in the colliery, and utterly failed to do the work required
+of it. Various experts gave it their best efforts, but it still refused
+to do what was required of it. Stephenson was heard to say, by some of
+the workmen, that he could repair it. After all others had failed, the
+overseer, in despair, with but little expectation that anything could be
+accomplished by a raw colliery hand, employed him to attempt a remedy.
+He took the engine to pieces and at the end of a few days repaired it
+ready for work, and in two days it cleared the pit of water.
+
+For this, and other improvements made upon old machinery, he was
+appointed chief engineer in 1813, at Killingworth, at a salary of £100
+per year. Besides erecting a winding engine for drawing up coal, and a
+pumping-engine, he projected and laid down a self-acting incline along
+the declivity of the Willington ballast quay, so arranged that full
+wagons descending to the vessels drew up the empty ones. But the
+construction of an efficient and economical locomotive steam engine
+mainly occupied his mind. He was among those who saw the Blenkinsop
+engine first put on the track, and watched its mechanism for some time,
+when he concluded he could make a better machine. He found a friend in
+his employer, Lord Ravensworth, who furnished the money, and in the
+work-shops at West Moor, Killingworth, with the aid of the colliery
+blacksmith, he constructed a locomotive which was completed in July,
+1814. The affair, though clumsy, worked successfully on the Killingworth
+railway, drawing eight loaded carriages, of thirty tons each, at the
+rate of four miles an hour. It was the first locomotive made with smooth
+wheels, for he rejected the contrivance which Trevithick, Blenkinsop and
+others had thought necessary to secure sufficient adhesion between the
+wheels and the rails.
+
+While engaged on plans for an improved engine his attention was
+attracted to the increase in the draught of the furnace obtained by
+turning the waste steam up the chimney, at first practiced solely in the
+desire to lessen the noise caused by the escape of the steam. Hence
+originated the steam-blast, the most important improvement in the
+locomotive up to that time. The steam-blast, the joint action of the
+wheels by connecting them with horizontal bars on the outside, and a
+simplifying connection between the cylinder and the wheels, were
+embodied in the second engine, completed in 1815. For some years
+Stephenson had been experimenting with the fire-damp in the mines, and
+in the above year completed a miner's safety lamp, which he finally
+perfected under the name of the "Gregory Lamp," which is still in use in
+the Killingworth collieries. The invention of a safety lamp by Sir
+Humphry Davy was nearly simultaneous, and to him the mining proprietors
+presented a service of plate worth £2,000, at the same time awarding
+£100 to Stephenson. This led to a protracted discussion as to the
+priority of the invention, and in 1817 Stephenson's friends presented
+him with a purse of $5,000 and a silver tankard.
+
+Having now brought the locomotive to a considerable degree of
+perfection, Stephenson next turned his attention to the improvement of
+railways, his opinion being that both were parts of one mechanism, and
+that the employment of steam carriages on common roads was
+impracticable. For the purpose of making railways solid and level, and
+preventing jerks at the junction of the rails, he took out a patent for
+an improved rail and chair, and recommended the employment of heavier
+rails, and the substitution of wrought for cast-iron. In connection with
+these improvements he added considerably to the lightness and strength
+of the locomotive, simplified the construction of the working parts, and
+substituted steel springs for the small cylinder, on which the boiler
+had at first rested.
+
+His next important undertaking was the construction of a railway eight
+miles in length, for the owners of the Helton Colliery, which was
+successfully opened November 18th, 1822. The level parts were traversed
+by five of Stephenson's locomotives, while stationary engines were
+employed to overcome the heavy grades.
+
+In 1820 an act of Parliament was obtained for a railway between Stockton
+and Darlington, which was opened September 27th, 1825. Stephenson, who
+made the preliminary surveys and specifications, was appointed engineer.
+The line was intended to be worked by stationary engines for the steep
+gradients, with horse-power on the level portions; but at Stephenson's
+urgent request, the act was amended so as to permit the use of
+locomotives on all parts of the road. In the meantime he had opened, in
+connection with Edward Pease, an establishment for the manufacture of
+locomotives, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
+
+In 1825 he was appointed principal engineer of the Liverpool &
+Manchester railroad, which employed him during the next four years.
+Canals connected the two towns, Liverpool and Manchester, but it was
+believed that the carrying trade would support this new railway if it
+could be made to work. The people were told by the newspapers that
+locomotives would prevent cows from grazing and hens from laying. The
+poisoned air from the locomotives would kill birds as they passed over
+them, and render the preservation of pheasants and foxes no longer
+possible. Householders adjoining the line were told that their houses
+would be burned up by fire thrown from the engine chimneys, while the
+air around would be polluted by the clouds of smoke. There would be no
+longer any use for horses, and if the railways extended the species
+would become extinct, and therefore oats and hay would become unsalable.
+Traveling by road would be rendered exceedingly dangerous, and country
+inns would be ruined. Boilers would burst and blow the passengers to
+pieces.
+
+Of course, the inculcation of such theories rendered it extremely
+difficult for Stephenson and his party to survey for the proposed line.
+The land-owners along the line made all sorts of trouble for them. Their
+instruments were smashed and they were mobbed, yet, on they went,--at
+meal times they worked, before the residents awoke in the morning, and
+nights, in some instances were employed. At last the survey was
+accomplished, the plans drawn, and the estimates furnished the company,
+were approved.
+
+In Parliament even more opposition was experienced. Public sentiment
+can be inferred from an article which appeared in the Quarterly Review
+for March, 1825. Among other things it said: "What can be more palpably
+absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives
+travelling twice as fast as horses. We should as soon expect the people
+of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's
+richochet rockets as to trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine,
+going at such a rate. We trust that Parliament will, in all the railways
+it may grant, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we
+entirely agree with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on."
+
+But despite all such seemingly insurmountabilities, Stephenson succeeded
+in getting the railway bill passed. But the troubles of George
+Stephenson were not at an end. The company, not fully satisfied with his
+opinion alone, conferred with two of the leading engineers of England,
+who reported averse to the locomotive, recommending stationary engines
+at a distance of one and a-half miles apart. But at last Stephenson
+prevailed upon the company to offer a prize of about $2,500 for the best
+locomotive produced at a trial to take place on the 6th of October,
+1829. At last the eventful day came, and with it thousands of
+spectators. Four engines appeared to compete for the prizes. "The
+Novelty," the "Rocket," the "Perseverance" and the "Sanspareil." The
+"Perseverance" could only make six miles an hour, and as the rules
+called for at least ten, it was ruled out. The "Sanspareil" made an
+average of fourteen miles an hour, but as it burst a water-pipe, it lost
+its chance. The "Novelty" did splendidly, but unluckily also burst a
+pipe, and was crowded out, leaving the field to the "Rocket," which
+carried off the honors. The average speed made by this engine, which
+belonged to Stephenson, was fifteen miles, and even attained twenty-nine
+miles an hour.
+
+The distinguishing features of the Rocket, the first high-speed
+locomotive of the standard modern type, were the multitubular boiler,
+which was not Stephenson's invention, but was first applied by him to
+locomotives; the blast pipe; and the direct connection of the steam
+cylinders to one axle, and one pair of wheels. At the opening of the
+road, September 15th, 1830, eight locomotives, constructed at the
+Stephenson works, were employed, and Mr. Huskinson, having been
+accidentally struck down and fatally injured by the Rocket, was conveyed
+in the Northumbrian, driven by George Stephenson, from Parkside to
+Eccles, fifteen miles, at the unprecedented rate of thirty-six miles an
+hour.
+
+Stephenson was almost incessantly employed for the next fifteen years on
+new roads, and was called three times to Belgium, and once to Spain as a
+consulting engineer. With his increasing wealth he also engaged
+extensively and profitably in coal mining and lime works, particularly
+in the neighborhood of Tapton Park, an elegant seat in Derbyshire, where
+he passed his latter years. He declined the honor of Knighthood.
+
+To Watt is due the honor of giving the world a practical stationary
+engine; George Stephenson picked that engine up bodily and placed it on
+wheels, and against the most direful predictions of the foremost
+engineers of his age, proved the practicability of harnessing steam to
+coaches for rapid transportation.
+
+On August 12th, 1848, Stephenson died, leaving an immense fortune, which
+was the honest reward he deserved.
+
+
+
+
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
+
+
+Possibly there never has lived a man who has excited more comment than
+has the subject of this narrative, who was born in Boston, January 17th,
+1706. His father was a soap boiler and tallow chandler, and he was the
+fifteenth in a family of seventeen children.
+
+Young Benjamin was expected by his parents to become a minister of the
+Gospel, and for this purpose was placed in school at the age of eight,
+but the reduced circumstances of his father compelled his return home
+two years later, and he began the work of cutting wicks in his father's
+establishment. Afterwards he was bound to his brother James, who was a
+printer, where he worked hard all day, and often spent half the night in
+reading.
+
+The secret of his great success can be readily perceived, when we know
+that his favorite books were Mather's "Essays to Do Good," and DeFoe's
+"Essays of Projects," and many others of a like nature: instead of the
+modern "Three Fingered Jack," "Calamity Jane," "The Queen of the
+Plains," or the more 'refined' of to-day's juvenile reading.
+
+When he was about sixteen he wrote, in a disguised hand, an article for
+his brother's paper. This article was published anonymously, and excited
+great curiosity. Other articles followed, at length the identity of the
+author was discovered, and for some unknown reason the elder brother was
+offended. From that hour Benjamin resolved to leave Boston, as his
+brother's influence was used to his disadvantage in that city.
+
+Embarking, he worked his passage to New York, where he arrived at the
+age of seventeen, almost penniless, and without recommendations. Failing
+to obtain work here he continued on to Philadelphia, where he arrived,
+disappointed but not discouraged. He now had but one dollar, and a few
+copper coins, in the world. Being hungry, he bought some bread, and with
+one roll under either arm, and eating the third, he passed up the street
+on which his destined wife lived, and she beheld him as he presented
+this ridiculous appearance. Obtaining employment, he secured board and
+lodging with Mr. Reed, afterward his father-in-law.
+
+Being induced to think of going into business for himself, through
+promises of financial help from influential parties, he sailed to London
+for the purpose of buying the necessary requisites for a printing
+office. Not until his arrival in that great city, London, did he learn
+of the groundlessness of his hope for aid from the expected quarter. In
+a strange land, friendless and alone, without money to pay his return
+passage, such was his predicament; yet he lost not his courage, but
+obtained employment as a printer, writing his betrothed that he should
+likely never return to America. His stay in London lasted, however, but
+about eighteen months, during which time he succeeded in reforming some
+of his beer-drinking companions.
+
+In 1826 he returned to America as a dry-goods clerk, but the death of
+his employer fortunately turned his attention once more to his especial
+calling, and he soon after formed a partnership with a Mr. Meredith.
+This was in 1728. Miss Reed, during his stay abroad, had been induced to
+marry another man who proved to be a scoundrel; leaving her to escape
+punishment for debt, and, it is alleged, with an indictment for bigamy
+hanging over his head. Franklin attributed much of this misfortune to
+himself, and resolved to repair the injury so far as lay within his
+power. Accordingly he married her in 1830. This proved a most happy
+union. His business connection with Mr. Meridith being dissolved, he
+purchased the miserably conducted sheet of Mr. Keimer, his former
+employer, and under Franklin's management it became a somewhat
+influential journal of opinion.
+
+It was through this channel that those homely sayings, with such rich
+meanings, first appeared in print. His great intelligence, industry and
+ingenuity in devising reforms, and the establishment of the first
+circulating library, soon won for him the esteem of the entire country.
+1732 is memorable as the year in which appeared his almanac in which was
+published the sayings of the world-famous 'Poor Richard.' This almanac
+abounded with aphorisms and quaint sayings, the influence of which
+tended mightily to economy, and it was translated into foreign
+languages, in fact was the most popular almanac ever printed.
+
+After ten years' absence he returned to his native city, Boston, and his
+noble instincts were shown, as he consolingly promised his dying brother
+that he would care for his nephew, his brother's son. Returning to
+Philadelphia he became postmaster of that city, established a fire
+department, becomes a member of the Assembly, to which office he is
+elected ten consecutive years.
+
+Although he was not an orator, no man wielded more influence over the
+legislative department than did Franklin. As is well-known, he invented
+the celebrated Franklin Stove, which proved so economical, and for
+which he refused a patent. For years he entertained the theory that
+galvanic electricity, and that which produced lightning and thunder were
+identical; but it was not until 1752 that he demonstrated the truth by
+an original but ingenious contrivance attached to a kite, and to
+Franklin we owe the honor of inventing the lightning rod, but not its
+abuse which has caused such widespread animosity to that valuable
+instrument of self-preservation.
+
+These discoveries made the name of Franklin respected throughout the
+scientific world. Forever after this period, during his life, he was
+connected with national affairs. At one time he was offered a commission
+as General in the Provincial Army, but distrusting his military
+qualifications he unequivocally declined. Sir Humphrey Davy said:
+"Franklin seeks rather to make philosophy a useful inmate and servant in
+the common habitations of man, than to preserve her merely as an object
+for admiration in temples and palaces." While it is said of him by some
+that he always had a keen eye to his own interests all are forced to add
+he ever had a benevolent concern for the public welfare.
+
+The burdens bearing so heavily upon the colonies: Pennsylvania,
+Maryland, Georgia, and Massachusetts, appointed Franklin as their agent
+to the mother-country. Arriving in London in 1757, despite his mission,
+honors awaited him at every turn. There he associated with the greatest
+men of his time, and the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford honored
+him with the title of L.L.D. and the poor journeyman printer of a few
+years before, associated with princes and kings. At the end of five
+years he returned to America, and in 1762 received the official thanks
+of the Assembly. Two years later he was again sent to England, and he
+opposed the obnoxious stamp act, and where he carried himself with
+decorum and great ability before the entire nobility. Upon his return to
+America he was made a member of the Assembly the day he landed, where he
+exerted his whole influence for a Declaration of Independence, and soon
+after had the pleasure of signing such a document.
+
+In 1776 Congress sent him to France, where he became one of the greatest
+diplomats this country has ever known. During his voyage over he made
+observations relative to the Gulf Stream, and the chart he drew of it
+nearly one hundred years ago, still forms the basis of maps on the
+subject. As is well known, to Franklin more than all others, are we
+indebted for the kindly interference by France in our behalf, whose
+efforts, though ineffective in the field, helped the revolutionary cause
+wonderfully in gaining prestige. At the close of the war Franklin was
+one of the commissioners in framing that treaty which recognized
+American independence. His simple winning ways won for him admiration in
+any court of embroidery and lace, while his world-wide reputation as a
+philosopher and statesman won for him a circle of acquaintances of the
+most varied character. On the 17th of April, 1790, this great statesman
+died, and fully 20,000 people followed him to the tomb. The inscription
+he had designed read:
+
+"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer;
+  Like the cover of an old book--
+Its contents torn out, and script of its lettering and gilding:
+  Lies here food for worms."
+
+Yet the work itself shall not be lost. For it will, as he believed,
+appear once more, in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and
+amended by the Author. Truly, America has been rich in great men, of
+which Franklin was not the least. Dr. Franklin, in his will, left his
+native town of Boston, the sum of one thousand pounds, to be lent to the
+young married artificers upon good security and under odd conditions. If
+the plan should be carried out as successfully as he expected, he
+reckoned that this sum would amount in one hundred years to one hundred
+and thirty-one thousand pounds. It was his wish, and so expressed in his
+will that one hundred thousand pounds should be spent upon public works,
+"which may then be judged of most general utility to the inhabitants;
+such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public buildings, baths,
+pavements, or whatever makes living in the town more convenient to its
+people, and renders it more agreeable to strangers resorting thither for
+health or temporary residence." It was also his wish that the remaining
+thirty-one thousand pounds should again be put upon interest for another
+hundred years, at the end of which time the whole amount was to be
+divided between the city and the State. The bequest at the end of the
+first one hundred years may not attain the exact figure he calculated,
+but it is sure to be a large sum. At the present time it is more than
+one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and it has many years yet
+to run.
+
+
+
+
+ELI WHITNEY.
+
+
+The year of 1765 was made famous by the birth of a man who was destined
+to enrich his country millions of dollars.
+
+Eli Whitney was born at Westborough, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765,
+and received a good education, graduating at Yale College. Going South
+as a tutor in a private family, his attention was arrested by the slow
+process by which the seed was extracted from cotton. At that time a
+pound of greenseed cotton was all that a negro woman could clean in a
+day.
+
+At the instance of Mrs. Greene, widow of General Greene, he set about
+constructing a machine to do the work. He had no facilities for pushing
+the work, even having to manufacture his tools, but he persevered and
+accomplished his purpose. Rumors of the machine spreading over the
+State, a mob at night broke open the building wherein the machine was
+stored, carried his precious model away, and before he could make
+another, various machines were in use. However, he went North to
+Connecticut and established a manufactory to make the machines. South
+Carolina granted him $50,000 after long and vexatious litigation, and
+North Carolina allowed him a percentage, which was paid in good faith.
+
+But, although Eli Whitney had invented a machine which would do in one
+day as much as an ordinary hand would in months, which has been worth
+hundred of millions of dollars to the South; yet, through the influence
+of Southern members, Congress would not renew his patent, and so much
+opposition was raised that he actually never received from his invention
+the money he had spent to perfect it. All efforts to obtain a financial
+recognition in this invention failing, he abandoned the manufacture of
+the cotton-gin. He was not discouraged, not at all, but turned his
+attention to fire-arms. These he greatly improved, being the first to
+make them adjustable, that is, any single piece to fit the same place in
+any of the thousands of guns that might be in process of manufacture in
+his works. He manufactured arms for the government, and reaped a fortune
+which he had so honestly earned.
+
+On January 8th, 1825, the country lost this wonderful genius, but his
+fame is growing year by year, as one of the world's benefactors.
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT FULTON.
+
+
+The genius of Fulton was of no ordinary mold. It began to unfold in less
+than ten years after his birth, which occurred at Little Britain,
+Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His parents were farmers, and of Irish
+birth, but Protestants in religious belief.
+
+At seventeen he went to Philadelphia and begun the study of printing.
+Four years later he evinced such decided talents in miniature painting
+that his friends united in sending him to London, where he remained for
+some years under the teaching of the world-renowned West. Being a friend
+of West, he was thus drawn into association with such men as the Duke
+of Bridgewater and the Earl of Stanhope. Through the influence of the
+former he adopted the profession of a civil engineer. He also became
+acquainted with Watt, who had just brought out his great improvement on
+the steam engine, the details of which Fulton mastered.
+
+While in London, at this time, he also contrived a new device for sawing
+marble which proved to be a valuable improvement. To this period in his
+life also belongs his invention of a machine for spinning flax. In 1797
+he removed to Paris where he remained seven years, assiduously studying
+the sciences. It was during his sojourn there that he brought out his
+celebrated torpedo-boat, since known as the Nautilus, a name derived
+from its resemblance in action to that wonderful little animal. This
+boat was a plunging machine designed for sub-marine service in placing
+torpedoes and other work, for which a sub-marine vessel could be used.
+According to Colden this boat was brought to a wonderful state of
+perfection, his account of which may be interesting.
+
+On the 3rd of July, 1801, he embarked with three companions on board his
+plunging boat, in the harbor of Brest, and descended in it to the depth
+of five, ten, fifteen, and so on, to twenty-five feet; but he did not
+attempt to go deeper because he found that his imperfect machine would
+not bear the pressure of a greater depth. He remained below the surface
+one hour. During the time, they were in utter darkness. Afterwards he
+descended with candles; but finding a great disadvantage from their
+consumption of vital air he caused, previous to his next experiment, a
+small window of thick glass to be made near the bow of his boat, and he
+again descended with her on the 24th of July, 1801. He found that he
+received from his window, or rather aperture covered with glass, for it
+was no more than an inch and a half in diameter, sufficient light for
+him to count the minutes on his watch.
+
+Having satisfied himself that he could have sufficient light when under
+water; that he could do without a supply of fresh air for a considerable
+time; that he could descend to any depth and rise to the surface with
+equal facility; his next object was to try her movements as well on the
+surface as beneath it. On the 26th of July he weighed his anchor and
+hoisted his sails; his boat had one mast, a main-sail and a jib. There
+was only a light breeze, and therefore she did not move on the surface
+at more than the rate of two miles an hour; but it was found that she
+would tack and steer, and sail on a wind or before it as well as any
+common sail-boat. He then struck her masts and sails; to do which, and
+to perfectly prepare the boat for plunging, required about two minutes.
+Having plunged to a certain depth he placed two men at the engine which
+was intended to give her progressive motion, and one at the helm, while
+he, with a barometer before him, governed the machine which kept her
+balanced between the upper and lower waters. He found that with the
+exertion of only one hand he could keep her at any depth he desired. The
+propelling engine was then put in motion, and he found that on coming to
+the surface he had, in about seven minutes, made a progress of four
+hundred metres, or five hundred yards. He then again plunged, turned her
+around, while under the water, and returned to near the place he began
+to move from.
+
+He repeated his experiments several days successively until he became
+familiar with the operation of the machinery, and the movements of the
+boat. He found that she was as obedient to her helm under water, as any
+boat could be on the surface, and that the magnetic needle traversed as
+well in the one as in the other.
+
+On the 27th of August Mr. Fulton again descended with a store of
+atmospheric air compressed into a copper globe, of a cubic foot
+capacity, into which two hundred atmospheres were forced. Thus prepared
+he descended with three companions to the depth of five feet. At the
+expiration of an hour and forty minutes, he began to take small supplies
+of pure air from his reservoir, and did so, as he found occasion, for
+four hours and twenty minutes. At the expiration of the time he came to
+the surface without having experienced any inconvenience from having
+been so long under the water.
+
+Fulton, about this time, hearing of Fitche's experiments in the United
+States with steam, became more than ever interested in the subject of
+"navigating boats by means of fire and water." Our Minister to Great
+Britain, Robert R. Livingstone, becoming greatly interested in steam
+navigation, and especially in Fulton's ideas in the matter, agreed to
+furnish the necessary funds to bring to success the enterprise.
+Accordingly, they ordered an engine of Watt & Boulton, "which would
+propel a large boat," and the engine arrived in America during the year
+1806. Fulton at once set to work to build a boat to fit the machinery,
+and in 1807 the "Clermont" was ready for trial.
+
+The reader will not be surprised at the statement of an eye-witness:
+"When it was announced in the New York papers that the boat would start
+from Cortlandt street at 6:30 a. m., on the 4th of August, and take
+passengers to Albany, there was a broad smile on every face as the
+inquiry was made if any one would be fool enough to go?" One friend was
+heard to accost another in the street with: "John, will thee risk thy
+life in such a concern? I tell thee she is the most fearful wild fowl
+living, and thy father should restrain thee." When the eventful morning
+came, Friday August 4th, 1807, the wharves, piers, housetops, and every
+available elevation was crowded with spectators. All the machinery was
+uncovered and exposed to view. The periphery of the balance wheels of
+cast iron, some four or more inches square, ran just clear of the water.
+There were no outside guards, the balance wheels being supported by
+their respective shafts, which projected over the sides of the boat. The
+forward part was covered by a deck which afforded shelter for her hands.
+The after-part was fitted up in a rough manner for passengers. The
+entrance into the cabin was from the stern in front of the steersman,
+who worked a tiller as in an ordinary sloop.
+
+Black smoke issued from the chimney; steam issued from every ill-fitted
+valve and crevice of the engine. Fulton himself was there. His
+remarkably clear and sharp voice was heard high above the hum of the
+multitude and the noise of the engine, his step was confident and
+decided; he heeded not the fearfulness, doubts or sarcasm of those by
+whom he was surrounded. The whole scene combined had in it an
+individuality, as well as an interest, which comes but once, and is
+remembered a lifetime. Everything being ready the engine was set in
+motion, and the boat moved steadily but slowly from the wharf. As she
+turned up the river and was fairly under way, there arose such a huzza
+as ten thousand throats never gave before. The passengers returned the
+cheer, but Fulton stood upon the deck, his eyes flashing with an unusual
+brilliancy as he surveyed the crowd. He felt that the magic wand of
+success was waving over him and he was silent. The entire trip was an
+ovation, and is thus described by Colden:
+
+"From other vessels which were navigating the river she had the most
+terrific appearance when she was making her passage. The first
+steam-boats used dry pine for fuel, which sends forth a column of
+ignited vapor many feet above the flue and whenever the fire is stirred
+a galaxy of sparks fly off, and in the night have a very beautiful and
+brilliant appearance. This uncommon light first attracted the attention
+of the crews of other vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and the tide
+were adverse to its approach they saw with astonishment that it was
+coming rapidly towards them; and when it came so near that the noise of
+the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews (if what was said at the
+time in the newspapers be true) in some instances shrunk beneath the
+decks from the terrific sight, and left the vessels to go ashore, while
+others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them
+from the approach of the horrible monster, which was marching on the
+tides and lighting its path by the fires it vomited."
+
+Of peculiar interest and instruction is the following narrative
+connected with this historic voyage from the graphic pen of one who was
+personally an actor in the scene described: "I chanced to be at Albany
+on business when Fulton arrived there in his unheard of craft, which
+everybody felt so much anxiety to see. Being ready to leave, and hearing
+that his craft was going to return to New York, I repaired on board and
+inquired for Mr. Fulton. I was referred to the cabin, and there found a
+plain, gentlemanly man, wholly alone and engaged in writing. 'Mr.
+Fulton, I presume?' 'Yes sir.' 'Do you return to New York with this
+boat?' 'We shall try to get back, sir.' 'Can I have a passage down?'
+'You can take your chance with us, sir.' I inquired the amount to be
+paid, and after a moment's hesitation, a sum, I think six dollars, was
+named. The amount in coin, I laid in his open hand, and with his eye
+fixed upon it, he remained so long motionless that I supposed it might
+be a miscount, and said to him, 'Is that right sir?' This question
+roused him as from a kind of reverie, and, as he looked up, the tears
+were brimming in his eyes and his voice faltered as he said: 'Excuse me
+sir; but my memory was busy, as I contemplated this, the first pecuniary
+reward I have ever received for all my exertions in adapting steam to
+navigation. I should gladly commemorate the occasion over a bottle of
+wine with you but really I am too poor for that just now; yet, I trust
+we may meet again when this will not be the case.'
+
+"Some four years after this," continues the writer of this reminiscence,
+"when the Clermont had been greatly improved, and her name changed to
+North River, and when two other boats, the Car of Neptune and the
+Paragon had been built, making Mr. Fulton's fleet consist of three boats
+regularly plying between New York and Albany, I took passage upon one of
+these for the latter city. The cabin in that day was below, and as I
+walked its deck, to and fro, I saw that I was very closely observed by
+one, I supposed a stranger. Soon, however, I recalled the features of
+Mr. Fulton; but without disclosing this, I continued my walk. At length,
+in passing his seat, our eyes met, when he sprang to his feet and
+eagerly seizing my hand, exclaimed, 'I knew it must be you, for your
+features have never escaped me; and, although I am still far from rich,
+yet I may venture that BOTTLE NOW!' It was ordered, and during its
+discussion Mr. Fulton ran rapidly, but vividly, over his experience of
+the world's coldness and sneers, and the hopes, fears, disappointments
+and difficulties that were scattered through his whole career of
+discovery up to the very point of his final crowning triumph, at which
+he so fully felt he had at last arrived."
+
+And in reviewing all these matters, he said: "I have again and again
+recalled the occasion, and the incident of our first interview at
+Albany; and never have I done so without renewing in my mind the vivid
+emotion it originally caused. That seemed, and does still seem to me,
+the turning point in my destiny, the dividing line between light and
+darkness, in my career upon earth, for it was the first actual
+recognition of my usefulness to my fellow-men." Why was it that Fulton
+won renown. True it was that he possessed unusual genius. We know that
+every one cannot be a Fulton, yet how few there are who would have
+exercised the stick-to-it-ive-ness that he was obliged to do before
+success came. How few would have passed through the trials and withstood
+the sneers that Robert Fulton passed through. On the 24th of February,
+1815, he died, when the honor of first crossing the ocean by steam power
+was being contemplated by him, but his fame was established, and need
+naught to enhance it.
+
+
+
+
+ELIAS HOWE, JR.
+
+
+Difference of opinion there may be as to the abstract question, who
+first conceived the principle involved in sewing by machinery, or in
+respect to who first constructed a machine that would fulfill that idea;
+but so far as great results are concerned the world must be considered
+as indebted to Elias Howe, Jr., a New England mechanic, born and reared
+in obscurity, and at an early age thrown upon his own resources. He was
+born at Spencer, Massachusetts, July 9th, 1819. His father was a farmer
+and miller, but at sixteen he left home, engaging in a cotton mill.
+Space will not permit us to follow him through all the details of his
+varied experience during his early years. It will be sufficient to say
+that he lived in Boston in his twentieth year, where he was working in a
+machine-shop. He was a good workman, having learned his trade at Harvard
+by the side of his cousin, Nathaniel Banks, who has since greatly
+distinguished himself as a general in the United States army and speaker
+of the House of Representatives.
+
+He was married soon after, and when twenty-two or three, his health
+failing, he found himself surrounded by a family, and poverty staring
+him in the face. The idea suggested itself to Howe in the following
+manner, as described by Parton in the _Atlantic Monthly_: "In the year
+1839 two men in Boston, one a mechanic, the other a capitalist, were
+striving to produce a knitting-machine, which proved to be a task beyond
+their strength. When the inventor was at his wit's end, his capitalist
+brought the machine to the shop of Ari Davis, to see if that eccentric
+genius could suggest the solution of the difficulty, and make the
+machine work. The shop, resolving itself into a committee of the whole,
+gathered about the knitting-machine and its proprietor, and were
+listening to an explanation of its principles, when Davis, in his wild,
+extravagant way, broke in with the question: 'What are you bothering
+yourself with a knitting-machine for? Why don't you make a
+sewing-machine?' 'I wish I could,' said the capitalist, 'but it can't be
+done,' 'Oh, yes, it can,' said Davis. 'I can make a sewing-machine
+myself.' 'Well,' said the other; 'you do it, Davis, and I'll insure you
+an independent fortune.' There the conversation dropped, and was never
+resumed. The boastful remark of the master of the shop was considered
+one of his sallies of affected extravagance, as it really was, and the
+response of the capitalist to it was uttered without a thought of
+producing an effect. Nor did it produce any effect upon the person to
+whom it was addressed, as Davis never attempted to construct a
+sewing-machine.
+
+"Among the workmen who stood by and listened to this conversation was a
+young man from the country, a new hand named Elias Howe, then twenty
+years old. The person whom we have named capitalist, a well-dressed and
+fine looking man, somewhat consequential in his manners, was an imposing
+figure in the eyes of this youth, new to city ways, and he was much
+impressed with the emphatic assurance that a fortune was in store for
+the man who would invent a sewing-machine. He was the more struck with
+it because he had already amused himself with inventing some slight
+improvements, and recently he had caught from Davis the habit of
+meditating new devices. The spirit of invention, as all mechanics know,
+is exceedingly contagious. One man in a shop who invents something that
+proves successful will give the mania to half his companions, and the
+very apprentices will be tinkering over a device after their day's work
+is done."
+
+Thus it was that the idea of a sewing-machine first entered Howe's mind.
+The following is the touching story of Howe's early struggle and final
+triumph as told by himself: "I commenced the invention of my
+sewing-machine as early as 1841, when I was twenty-two years of age.
+Being then dependent on my daily labor for the support of myself and my
+family I could not devote my attention to the subject during the working
+hours of the day, but I thought on it when I could, day and night. It
+grew on until 1844; I felt impelled to yield my whole time to it. During
+this period I worked on my invention mentally as much as I could, having
+only the aid of needles and such other small devices as I could carry in
+my pockets, and use at irregular intervals of daily labor at my trade. I
+was poor, but with promises of aid from a friend, I thereafter devoted
+myself exclusively to the construction and practical completion of my
+machine. I worked alone in an upper room in my friend's house, and
+finished my first machine by the middle of May, 1845.
+
+"This was a period of intense and persistent application, of all the
+powers I possessed, to the practical embodiment of my mechanical ideas
+into a successful sewing-machine. I soon tested the practical success of
+my first machine by sewing with it all the principal seams in two suits
+of clothes, one for myself, and one for my friend. Our clothes were as
+well made as any made by hand-sewing. I still have my first machine;
+and it will now sew as good a seam as any sewing-machine known to me. My
+first machine was described in the specification of my patent, and I
+then made a second machine, to be deposited in the patent office as a
+model."
+
+"I then conveyed one-half of my invention and patent to my friend, for
+five hundred dollars; in fact, though a much larger sum (ten thousand
+dollars) was named in the deed at his suggestion. My patent was issued
+on the 10th of September, 1846. I made a third machine, which I tried to
+get into use on terms satisfactory to myself and friend. For this
+purpose I endeavored to attract notice to it by working with it in
+tailor shops, and exhibited it to all who desired to become acquainted
+with it. After my patent was obtained, my friend declined to aid me
+further. I then owed him about two thousand dollars, and I was also in
+debt to my father, to whom I conveyed the remaining half of my patent
+for two thousand dollars. Having parted with my whole title, and having
+no means for manufacturing machines, I was much embarrassed, and did not
+know what to do."
+
+"My brother, Amasa B. Howe, suggested that my invention might succeed in
+England, when, if patented, it would be wholly under my control; and on
+my behalf, with means borrowed of my father, my brother took my third
+machine to England, to do the best he could with it. He succeeded in
+selling my machine and invention for two hundred pounds in cash, and a
+verbal agreement that the purchaser should patent my invention in Great
+Britain, in his own name; and if it should prove successful, to pay me
+three pounds royalty on each machine he made or sold under the patent.
+He also agreed to employ me in adapting my machine to his own kind of
+work at three pounds a week wages."
+
+"The purchaser obtained a patent for my machine in England, and I went
+to London to enter his employment. I then made several machines with
+various modifications and improvements, to suit his peculiar kind of
+work, and they were put to immediate use; but afterwards we ceased to be
+friendly, and I was discharged from his employment. In the meantime my
+wife and three children had joined me in London. I had also, at the
+suggestion of another person, endorsed a hundred pound note, on which I
+was afterwards sued and arrested; but I was finally released on taking
+the 'poor debtor's oath.' By small loans from fellow mechanics, and by
+pawning a few articles, I managed to live with my family in London,
+until, from friendly representations from some American acquaintances,
+the captain of an American packet was induced to take my wife and
+children home to the United States on credit. I was then alone, and
+extremely poor, in a foreign land."
+
+"My invention was patented, and in successful use in England, but without
+any profit to me, and wholly out of my control. In the spring of 1849 I
+was indebted to a Scottish mechanic for a steerage passage, and I
+returned to the United States, poorer, if possible, than when I left. On
+my return I found my wife and children very destitute; all other
+personal effects, save what they had on, being still detained to secure
+payment for their passage home. My wife was sick, and died within ten
+days after my arrival. During my absence in England a considerable
+number of sewing-machines had been made, and put in operation in
+different parts of the United States; some of these by the procurement
+of the friend to whom I had sold half of my American patent but most of
+them infringements on my patent."
+
+"Having obtained from my father, in the summer of 1849, an agreement to
+re-convey to me his half of my patent; I tried to induce the friend who
+held the other half to join me in prosecuting our rights against
+infringers, but he declined to do so. After failing to make any
+satisfactory settlement with the infringers, who well knew my poverty
+and embarrassments, I filed a bill in equity against one of such
+persons, and made my friend a party defendant also, in order to bring
+him into court as co-owner of my machine. After this he joined me in a
+suit at law against another infringer. In this case the validity of my
+patent was fully established by a verdict and judgment at law. After
+several transfers of the half share sold my friend, I purchased it back,
+about five years ago, and I am now sole owner of the American patent."
+
+Thus did Howe modestly tell the story of his terrible trials and
+suffering. After long litigation Mr. Howe's claim to have been the
+original inventor was legally and irreversibly established, the judge
+deciding, "that there was no evidence which left a shadow of doubt that
+for all the benefit conferred upon the public by the introduction of the
+sewing-machine the public are indebted to Mr. Howe." Therefore to him
+all inventors or improvers had to pay a royalty on each machine they
+made. From being a poor man, living in a garret, Howe became one of the
+most noted millionaires in America.
+
+Doubtless many of our readers would be interested in the principles
+involved in Mr. Howe's machine; which seem to be essential in all
+two-threaded machines. We find that two threads are employed, one of
+which is carried through the cloth by means of a curved pointed needle;
+the needle used has the eye that is to receive the thread, about an
+eighth of an inch from the pointed end. When the thread is carried
+through the cloth, which may be done to the distance of about
+three-fourths of an inch the thread will be stretched above the curved
+needle, something like a bowstring, leaving a small open space between
+the two. A small shuttle, carrying a bobbin, filled with thread, is then
+made to pass entirely through this open space, between the needle and
+the thread which it carries; and when the shuttle is returned the thread
+which was carried in by the needle is surrounded by that received from
+the shuttle; as the needle is drawn out, it forces that which was
+received from the shuttle into the body of the cloth giving the seam
+formed the same appearance on each side of the cloth.
+
+Thus, according to this arrangement, a stitch is made at every back and
+forth movement of the shuttle. The two thicknesses of cloth that are to
+be sewed, are held upon pointed wires which project out from a metallic
+plate, like the teeth of a comb, but at a considerable distance from
+each other, these pointed wires sustaining the cloth, and answering the
+purpose of ordinary basting. The metallic plate, from which these wires
+project, has numerous holes through it, which answer the purpose of rack
+teeth in enabling the plate to move forward, by means of a pinion, as
+the stitches are taken. The distance to which the plate is moved, and,
+consequently, the length of the stitches may be regulated at pleasure.
+
+He opened a manufactory for his machines where he could carry on the
+business in a small way. From this small beginning his business grew
+until, with the royalties he received, his income reached $200,000
+annually. Notwithstanding his wealth, he enlisted in the war as a
+private, and his principles and sympathy were displayed at one time
+when, seeing the men needy, the government having been unable to pay
+promptly, he himself advanced enough money to pay the entire regiment.
+In the month of October, 1867, at the early age of forty-eight he died.
+
+But he had lived long enough to see his machine adopted and appreciated
+as one of the greatest labor-saving devices in the world. It is
+estimated that to-day the sewing-machine saves annually the enormous sum
+of $500,000,000. It has been truly said that had it not been for the
+sewing-machine it would have been impossible to have clothed and kept
+clothed the vast armies employed on both sides during the late war.
+Great, indeed, is a world's benefactor; such is Elias Howe.
+
+
+
+
+ISAAC M. SINGER.
+
+
+The greatest competitor of Mr. Howe was I. M. Singer. In 1850 there
+appeared in a shop in Boston, a man who exhibited a carving machine as
+his invention.
+
+Mr. Parton, in the _Atlantic Monthly_, said: "Singer was a poor, baffled
+adventurer. He had been an actor and a manager of a theatre, and had
+tried his hand at various enterprises, none of which had been
+successful." The proprietor of the shop, who had some sewing-machines
+there on exhibition, speaking of them, said: "These machines are an
+excellent invention, but have some serious defects. Now if you could
+make the desired improvement, there would be more money in it than in
+making these carving machines." This seemed to gently impress Singer,
+and the friend advancing $40, he at once began work. According to
+Singer's testimony in the Howe _vs._ Singer suits, the story of this
+wonderful man runs something like this:
+
+"I worked day and night, sleeping but three or four hours out of the
+twenty-four, and eating generally but once a day, as I knew I must get a
+machine made for forty dollars or not get it at all. The machine was
+completed the night of the eleventh day from the day it was commenced.
+About nine o'clock that evening we got the parts of the machine
+together, and commenced trying it. The first attempt to sew was
+unsuccessful, and the workmen, who were tired out with almost
+unremitting work, left me, one by one, intimating that it was a failure.
+I continued trying the machine, with Zieber, who furnished the forty
+dollars, to hold the lamp for me; but in the nervous condition to which
+I had been reduced, by incessant work and anxiety, was unsuccessful in
+getting the machine to sew light stitches.
+
+"About midnight I started with Zieber to the hotel, where I boarded.
+Upon the way we sat down on a pile of boards, and Zieber asked me if I
+had not noticed that the loose loops of thread on the upper side of the
+cloth came from the needle? It then flashed upon me that I had forgotten
+to adjust the tension upon the needle thread. Zieber and I went back to
+the shop. I adjusted the tension, tried the machine, and sewed five
+stitches perfectly, when the thread broke. The perfection of those
+stitches satisfied me that the machine was a success, and I stopped
+work, went to the hotel, and had a sound sleep. By three o'clock the
+next day I had the machine finished, and started with it to New York,
+where I employed Mr. Charles M. Keller to get out a patent for it."
+
+The trial resulted in favor of Howe, but of the two men Singer was in
+every way the superior in business capacity. In fact; there never has
+been a sewing-machine manufacturer that could compare with I. M. Singer.
+"Great and manifold were the difficulties which arose in his path, but
+one by one he overcame them all. He advertised, he traveled, he sent out
+agents, he procured the insertion of articles in newspapers, he
+exhibited the machines at fairs in town or country. Several times he was
+on the point of failure, but in the nick of time something always
+happened to save him, and year after year he advanced toward an assured
+success.
+
+"We well remember his early efforts, when he only had the back part of a
+small store on Broadway, and a little shop over a railroad depot; and we
+remember also the general incredulity with regard to the value of the
+machine with which his name was identified. Even after hearing him
+explain it at great length, we were very far from expecting to see him
+one day riding to the Central Park in a French diligence, drawn by five
+horses paid for by the sewing-machine. Still less did we anticipate that
+within twelve years the Singer company would be selling a thousand
+sewing-machines a week, at a profit of a thousand dollars a day. He was
+the true pioneer of the mere business of selling machines, and made it
+easier for all his subsequent competitors."
+
+The peculiarity of the Singer machine is the chain stitch or single
+thread device, but with the employment of an eye-pointed needle, and
+other appliances, so as to make it admirably adopted for the general
+purposes of sewing. At Mr. Singer's death it was found that his estate
+amounted to about $19,000,000.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD M. HOE.
+
+
+The recent death of Richard March Hoe, in Florence, Italy, closes the
+career of one whose name is known wherever the newspaper is used to
+spread intelligence.
+
+He was the senior member of the firm of printing-press makers, and one
+of the leading inventors and developers of that great lever of public
+opinion. Mr. Hoe's father was the founder of the firm. He came to this
+country from England in 1803, and worked at his trade of carpentry.
+Through his skill as a workman he was sought out by a man named Smith, a
+maker of printer's material. He married Smith's sister, and went into
+partnership with Smith and brother. The printing-presses of those days
+were made chiefly of wood, and Hoe's skill as a wood-worker was valuable
+to the firm.
+
+In 1822 Peter Smith invented a hand-press. This press was finally
+supplanted by the Washington press, invented by Samuel Rust in 1829. Mr.
+Smith died a year after securing his patent, and the firm-name was
+changed to R. Hoe & Co., but from the manufacture of the Smith press the
+company made a fortune. The demand for hand presses increased so rapidly
+that ten years later it was suggested that steam power might be utilized
+in some way to do the pulling and tugging necessary in getting an
+impression. At this time Richard M., one of the sons of the founder of
+the house, was an attentive listener to the discussions.
+
+Young Richard M. Hoe was born in 1812. He had the advantage of an
+excellent education, but his father's business possessed such a
+fascination for him that it was with difficulty he was kept in school.
+He was a young man of twenty before his father allowed him to work
+regularly in his shop; but he had already become an expert in handling
+tools, and soon became one of the best workmen. He joined with his
+father in the belief that steam would yet be applied to the
+printing-press, and the numerous models and experiments they made to
+that end would, in the light of the present day, appear extremely
+ridiculous.
+
+In 1825-30 Napier had constructed a steam printing-press, and in 1830
+Isaac Adams, of Boston, secured a patent for a power press. These
+inventions were kept very secret; the factories in which they were made
+being guarded jealously. In 1830 a Napier press was imported into this
+country for use on the _National Intelligencer_. Mordecai Noah, editor
+of Noah's _Sunday Times and Messenger_, was collector of the port of New
+York at that time, and being desirous of seeing how the Napier press
+would work, sent for Mr. Hoe to put it up. He and Richard succeeded in
+setting up the press, and worked it successfully.
+
+The success of Napier's press set the Hoes to thinking. They made models
+of its peculiar parts and studied them carefully. Then, in pursuance of
+a plan suggested by Richard, his father sent his partner, Mr. Newton, to
+England, for the purpose of examining new machinery there, and to secure
+models for future use. On his return with ideas, Mr. Newton and the
+Hoes projected and turned out for sale a novel two-cylinder press, which
+became universally popular and soon superseded all others, the Napier
+included.
+
+Thus was steam at last harnessed to the press, but the demand of the
+daily papers for their increasing editions spurred the press makers to
+devise machines that could be worked at higher speed than was found
+possible with the presses, in which the type was secured to a flat bed,
+which was moved backward and forward under a revolving cylinder. It was
+seen, then, that if type could be secured to the surface of a cylinder,
+great speed could be attained. In Sir Rowland Hill's device the type was
+cast wedge-shape; that is, narrower at the bottom. A broad "nick" was
+cut into its side, into which a "lead" fitted. The ends of the "lead" in
+turn fitted into a slot in the column rules, and these latter were
+bolted into the cylinder. The inventor, Sir Rowland Hill, the father of
+penny postage in England, sunk, it is said, £80,000 in the endeavor to
+introduce this method.
+
+In the meantime Richard M. had succeeded to his father's business, and
+was giving his attention largely to solving this problem of holding type
+on a revolving cylinder. It was not until 1846 that he hit on the method
+of doing it. After a dozen years of thought the idea came upon him
+unexpectedly, and was startling in its simplicity. It was to make the
+column rules wedge-shape instead of the type. It was this simple device,
+by the introduction of the "lightning press," that revolutionized the
+newspaper business of the world, and made the press the power it is. It
+brought Hoe fame and put him at the head of press makers. His business
+grew to such dimensions that he has in his employ in his New York
+factory from 800 to 1,500 hands, varying with the state of trade. His
+London factory employes from 150 to 250 hands.
+
+Yet the great daily cravings demanded still faster presses. The result
+was the development of the Web press, in which the paper is drawn into
+the press from a continuous roll, at a speed of twelve miles an hour.
+The very latest is a machine called the supplement press, capable of
+printing complete a paper of from eight to twelve pages, depending on
+the demand of the day, so that the papers slide out of the machine with
+the supplements gummed in and the paper folded ready for delivery. Of
+late years many other remarkably ingenious presses of other makers have
+come into the market, but still the genius of R. M. Hoe has left an
+indelible mark in the development of the printing-press. He died June
+6th, 1886.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES GOODYEAR.
+
+
+About the year 1800 was born in New Haven, Connecticut, Charles
+Goodyear. He received only a public school education, and when
+twenty-one years of age joined his father in the hardware trade in the
+city of Philadelphia; but in the financial troubles of 1830, the firm
+went under, and the next three years was spent in looking for a
+life-work.
+
+Passing a store in the city of New York, his eye was attracted by the
+words "INDIA RUBBER FOR SALE." Having heard much of this new article of
+late, he purchased a life-preserver which he carried home and so
+materially improved, in conception, that he was induced to return to the
+store for the purpose of explaining his ideas. At the store he was now
+told of the great discouragements with which the rubber trade was
+contending, the merchants giving this as a reason for not taking to his
+improvement. The rubber, as then made, would become as hard as flint
+during cold weather, and if exposed to heat would melt and decay.
+
+Returning to Philadelphia, Goodyear commenced experiments, trying to
+discover the secret of how to remedy this trouble. He was very poor, and
+to support his family he 'cobbled' for his neighbors. He tried every
+experiment within his grasp of intellect, but met only with failure. His
+friends, who had helped him, left him one by one; his failures
+continued, but he would not give up. The last piece of furniture was
+sold, and his family moved into the country, taking up cheap lodgings.
+Finally he found a druggist who agreed to furnish him what he needed
+from his store to use in his investigations and purchasing small
+quantities of rubber at a time he continued his experiments. At length,
+after three years he discovered that the adhesiveness of the rubber
+could be obviated by dipping it in a preparation of nitric acid. But
+this only affected the exterior, and he was once more plunged into the
+worst of poverty. It was generally agreed that the man who would
+proceed further, in a cause of this sort, was fairly deserving of all
+the distress brought on himself, and justly debarred the sympathy of
+others. His suffering during the years that followed is simply
+incredible. The prejudice against him was intense. Everybody
+characterized him as a fool, and no one would help him. A witness
+afterwards testified in a trial: "They had sickness in the family; I was
+often in and found them very poor and destitute, for both food and fuel.
+They had none, nor had they anything to buy any with. This was before
+they boarded with us, and while they were keeping house. They told me
+they had no money with which to buy bread from one day to another. They
+did not know how they should get it. The children said they did not know
+what they should do for food. They dug their potatoes before they were
+half-grown, for the sake of having something to eat. Their son Charles,
+eight years old, used to say that they ought to be thankful for the
+potatoes, for they did not know what they should do without them. We
+used to furnish them with milk, and they wished us to take furniture and
+bed-clothes in payment, rather than not pay for it. At one time they had
+nothing to eat, and a barrel of flour was unexpectedly sent them."
+
+It is a record of destitution, imprisonment for debt, and suffering from
+this time until 1841, when he began to see day-light. By accident he one
+day allowed a piece of rubber to drop on the stove, when, lo! he had
+found the secret, heat was the thing needed. Six years had he struggled
+on through untold hardships, and now he seemed crowned with success. He
+had found the desired solution of the problem, but he made a fatal
+mistake here. Instead of settling down and manufacturing his discovery,
+which would have brought him a fortune, he sold rights and kept on
+experimenting. By certain legal informalities he secured no benefit
+whatever from his patent in France and he was cheated entirely out of it
+in England. Although he lived to see large factories for its
+manufacture spring up in both America and Europe, employing 60,000
+operatives, still he died in 1860 at the age of seventy-one, leaving his
+family unprovided for. The cause was not lack of perseverance nor
+energy, but the sole cause was lack of judgment in business matters.
+
+The vulcanized rubber trade is one of the greatest industries of the
+world to-day, amounting to millions of dollars annually. The usefulness
+of India rubber is thus described in the _North American Review_: "Some
+of our readers have been out on the picket-line during the war. They
+know what it is to stand motionless in a wet and miry rifle-pit in the
+chilly rain of a southern winter's night. Protected by India rubber
+boots, blanket and cap, the picket-man is in comparative comfort; a duty
+which, without that protection, would make him a cowering and shivering
+wretch, and plant in his bones a latent rheumatism, to be the torment of
+his old age. Goodyear's India rubber enables him to come in from his pit
+as dry as when he went into it, and he comes in to lie down with an
+India rubber blanket between him and the damp earth. If he is wounded it
+is an India-rubber stretcher or an ambulance, provided with India-rubber
+springs, that gives him least pain on his way to the hospital, where, if
+his wound is serious, a water-bed of India rubber gives ease to his
+mangled frame, and enables him to endure the wearing tedium of an
+unchanged posture. Bandages and supporters of India rubber avail him
+much when first he begins to hobble about his ward. A piece of India
+rubber at the end of his crutch lessens the jar and the noise of his
+motions, and a cushion of India rubber is comfortable to his arm-pit.
+The springs which close the hospital door, the bands which excludes the
+drafts from doors and windows, his pocket-comb and cup and thimble are
+of the same material. From jars hermetically closed with India rubber he
+receives the fresh fruit that is so exquisitely delicious to a fevered
+mouth. The instrument case of his surgeon, and the store-room of his
+matron contains many articles whose utility is increased by the use of
+it, and some that could be made of nothing else. In a small rubber case
+the physician carries with him and preserves his lunar caustic, which
+would corrode any metallic surface. His shirts and sheets pass through
+an India rubber clothes-wringer, which saves the strength of the
+washer-woman and the fibre of the fabric. When the government presents
+him with an artificial leg, a thick heel and elastic sole of India
+rubber give him comfort every time he puts it on the ground. In the
+field this material is not less strikingly useful. During the late war
+armies have marched through ten days of rain and slept through as many
+nights, and come out dry into the returning sunshine with their
+artillery untarnished and their ammunition not injured, because men and
+munitions were all under India rubber."
+
+Ought we soon to forget him to whom we are indebted, in a large measure,
+for all this? The American people will long remember Charles Goodyear
+when others have faded from memory.
+
+
+
+
+PROF. S. F. B. MORSE.
+
+
+"Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee: Here we
+are!" Said the Lord from the whirlwind to afflicted Job, who remained
+dumb for he could not answer. The question has been answered in the
+affirmative in our day by the perfector of the electro-magnetic
+telegraph, the late Professor Morse, by whose invention the promise has
+been fulfilled: "I'll put a girdle around the globe in forty minutes."
+
+Samuel Finly Breese Morse was born in Charleston, Massachusetts, April
+27th, 1791. His father was the first person to publish geographies in
+America. His father was also a celebrated Congregational minister,
+spending much of his time in religious controversy, in maintaining the
+orthodox faith throughout the New England churches and against
+Unitarianism. He was prominent among those who founded Andover
+Theological Seminary, and published many religious periodicals.
+
+S. F. B. Morse was a graduate from Yale at the age of nineteen, and soon
+went to England for the purpose of studying painting. At the end of two
+years he received the gold medal of the Adelphia Society of Arts for an
+original model of a "Dying Hercules," his first attempt at sculpture.
+The following year he exhibited "The Judgment of Jupiter," a painting
+praised by his teacher, Mr. West. Becoming quite proficient in painting
+and sculpture, he returned home in 1815, following his profession in
+Boston, Charleston, South Carolina, and later in New York city. At the
+latter place, in connection with other artists, he organized a drawing
+association, which resulted in the establishment of the National Academy
+of Design. Prof. Morse was chosen its first President, and was continued
+in that office for the following sixteen years. He painted a great many
+portraits, among which was a full length portrait of Lafayette, which
+was highly prized and commended by the Association. In 1829 he visited
+Europe a second time to complete his studies in art reading for more
+than three years in the principal cities of the continent. During his
+absence abroad he was elected Professor of the literature of the Arts of
+Design in the University of New York; and in 1835 he delivered a course
+of lectures before that school on the affinity of those arts.
+
+While in college Mr. Morse had paid special attention to chemistry and
+natural philosophy; but his love of art seemed to be the stronger;
+later, however, these sciences became a dominant pursuit with him. As
+far back as 1826-'7, he and Prof. J. Freeman Dana had been colleague
+lecturers at the Athenæum in the City of New York, the former lecturing
+on the fine arts, and the latter upon electro-magnetism. They were
+intimate friends, and in their conversation the subject of
+electro-magnetism was made familiar to the mind of Morse. The
+electro-magnet on Sturgeon's principle--the first ever shown in the
+United States--was exhibited and explained in Dana's lectures, and at a
+later date, by gift of Prof. Torrey, came into Morse's possession. Dana
+even then suggested, by his spiral volute coil, the electro-magnet of
+the present day; this was the magnet in use when Morse returned from
+Europe, and it is now used in every Morse telegraph throughout both
+hemispheres.
+
+On his second return to the United States he embarked from Havre on the
+packet ship Sully, in the autumn of 1832 and in a casual conversation
+with some of the passengers on the then recent discovery in France of
+the means of obtaining the electric spark from the magnet, showing the
+identity or relation of electricity and magnetism, Morse's mind
+conceived, not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an
+electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph; substantially and
+essentially as it now exists. The testimony to the paternity of the idea
+in Morse's mind, and to his acts and drawings on board the ship is
+ample. His own testimony was corroborated by all the passengers with a
+single exception, Thomas Jackson, who claimed to have originated the
+idea and imparted the same to Morse. However, there is little
+controversy in regard to this matter at the present day as the courts
+decided irrevocably in favor of Morse. The year 1832 is fixed as the
+date of Morse's conception and realization, also, so far as drawings
+could embody the conception of the telegraph system; which now bears his
+name. A part of the apparatus was constructed in New York before the
+close of the first year, but circumstances prevented its completion
+before 1835, when he put up a-half mile of wire in coil around a room
+and exhibited the telegraph in operation. Two years later he exhibited
+the operation of his system before the University of New York.
+
+From the greater publicity of this exhibition the date of Morse's
+invention has erroneously been fixed in the autumn of 1837, whereas he
+operated successfully with the first single instrument in November,
+1835. In 1837 he filed his caveat in the Patent Office in Washington,
+and asked Congress for aid to build an experimental line from that city
+to Baltimore. The House Committee on Commerce gave a favorable report,
+but the session closed without action, and Morse went to Europe in the
+hope of interesting foreign governments in his invention. The result was
+a refusal to grant him letters patent in England, and the obtaining of a
+useless _brevet d'invention_ in France, and no exclusive privileges in
+any other country. He returned home to struggle again with scanty means
+for four years, during which he continued his appeals at Washington. His
+hope had expired on the last evening of the session of 1842-3; but in
+the morning, March 4th, he was startled with the announcement that the
+desired aid of Congress had been obtained in the midnight hour of the
+expiring session, and $30,000 placed at his disposal for his
+experimental essay between Washington and Baltimore. In 1844 the work
+was completed, and demonstrated to the world the practicability and the
+utility of the Morse system of electro-magnetic telegraphing. Violations
+of his patents and assumption of his rights by rival companies involved
+him in a long series of law suits; but these were eventually decided in
+his favor, and he reaped the benefits to which his invention entitled
+him.
+
+It is doubtful if any American ever before received so many marks of
+distinction. In 1846 Yale College conferred on him the degree of LL.D.;
+in 1848 he received the decoration of the _Nishan Iftikur_ in diamonds
+from the Sultan of Turkey; gold medals of scientific merit were awarded
+him by the king of Prussia; the king of Wurtemberg, and the Emperor of
+Austria. In 1856 he received from the Emperor of the French the cross of
+Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; in 1857 from the King of Denmark the
+cross of Knight Commander of the First Class of the Danebrog; in 1858
+from the Queen of Spain the cross of Knight Commander of the Order of
+Isabella the Catholic; from the king of Italy the cross of the Order of
+SS. Maurice and Lazarus, and from the king of Portugal the cross of the
+Order of the Tower and Sword. In 1856 the telegraph companies of Great
+Britain gave him a banquet in London; and in Paris, in 1858, another
+banquet was given him by Americans numbering more than 100, and
+representing almost every State in the Union. In the latter year, at the
+instance of Napoleon III, representatives of France, Russia, Sweden,
+Belgium, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, the Holy See, and Turkey
+met in Paris to decide upon a collective testimonial to him, and the
+result was a vote of 400,000 francs as a personal reward for his labors.
+On December 29th, 1868, the citizens of New York gave him a public
+dinner. In June, 1871, a bronze statue of him, erected by the voluntary
+contributions of telegraph employes, was formally unveiled in Central
+Park, New York, by William Cullen Bryant, and in the evening a reception
+was held in the Academy of Music, at which Prof. Morse telegraphed, by
+means of one of the instruments used on the original line between New
+York and Washington, a message of greeting to all the cities of the
+continent.
+
+The last public service which he performed was the unveiling of the
+statue of Franklin in Printing House Square, New York, on January 17th,
+1872. Submarine telegraphy also originated with Prof. Morse, who laid
+the first sub-marine lines, in New York harbor in 1842, and received at
+the time from the American Institute a gold medal. He died in the city
+of New York April 2nd, 1872. While in Paris in 1839 he made the
+acquaintance of Daguerre, and from drawings furnished him by the
+latter, he constructed, on his return, the first daguerreotype
+apparatus, and took the first sun pictures ever taken in America. He was
+also an author and poet of some standing.
+
+
+
+
+CYRUS W. FIELD.
+
+
+There are few people living who have not heard of Cyrus W. Field. Few
+people, however, have taken the trouble to learn more of him other than
+the fact that to him are we indebted for the Atlantic Cable, and THIS
+information has been forced upon them.
+
+One often hears the old saying, "blood tells," and when we review the
+Field family we are constrained to admit its truth. David Dudly Field,
+Sr., the father, was a noted Divine. He had a family of seven sons, the
+oldest of which, David Dudly, Jr., is a most conspicuous lawyer. Stephen
+Johnson, has held some of the most exalted positions as a jurist within
+the gift of the nation and his adopted State, California. Henry Martyn,
+is a renowned editor and Doctor of Divinity. Matthew D. is an expert
+engineer, and in this capacity did much to aid the success of the cable
+which has made famous for all time the subject of this narrative.
+Matthew is also a somewhat noted and successful politician. Another
+brother, Timothy, entered the navy, and we doubt not would have become
+equally distinguished but for his untimely death. Cyrus West, was born
+at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, November 30th, 1819. Unlike the
+Appletons, Harpers and numerous other noted families, the Fields seemed
+to discard the idea "in union is there strength," each selecting his own
+calling, to become individually singled out and honored.
+
+As heretofore shown, almost the entire Field family have made history,
+but upon Cyrus does the world bestow the greatest distinction. He was
+the only brother choosing a mercantile life, and at the age of fifteen,
+nearly sixteen, he was apprenticed to the great A. T. Stewart. After his
+apprenticeship he returned to Massachusetts and started a small
+paper-mill, and still later came to New York again, this time to open a
+paper warehouse, but for some reason failed. One feature of the great
+success which has attended Mr. Field was his stick-to-it-iveness which
+enabled him to 'fight it out on that line if it took all summer.' He
+accordingly compromised the matter with his creditors, re-established
+the business, profited by his past mistakes, and in the course of eleven
+or twelve years had amassed an ample fortune. Accordingly, about 1853,
+he decided to retire, and spent six months traveling in South America,
+not, however, until he had enclosed a check to each of his old
+creditors, thereby discharging a moral obligation, although not legally
+bound.
+
+In the meantime, a Mr. Gibson had enlisted the sympathy of his brother
+Matthew, the engineer, in a transatlantic telegraph company, which was
+to be carried on by a co-operation of the telegraph, and a system of
+fast ocean steamers. Although adverse to all thought of resuming _any_
+business this brother obtained for Mr. Gibson an audience, and he
+presented to Mr. Field his scheme which involved a telegraphic
+communication between New York and St. John; hence, by fast ocean
+steamers, Mr. Gibson left without gaining his object, but upon
+reflection Mr. Field suddenly exclaimed: "Why not run a wire through the
+ocean itself, instead of ending it at St. John?" Although it is claimed
+that Field had never heard of such an idea, yet it did not originate
+with him. In fact, a cable was then in operation between Dover and
+Calais, connecting England and France. Having become imbued with this
+plan he at once consulted his brother David as to what legal obstacles
+might possibly arise, and being satisfied on that score, he set about
+the accomplishment of his purpose.
+
+He saw Peter Cooper and several other moneyed men and solicited their
+aid, forming a company, with Peter Cooper as president. Matthew was now
+interested as chief engineer, and David as counsel. These will be
+remembered as two of the famous brothers. The burden of the work,
+however, fell upon our hero. He seemed to be everywhere. First in
+Newfoundland, where he bought the rights of a rival company then before
+the Provincial Government, where his influence secured the consent of
+the legislature of Newfoundland. Then he is over in England, where he is
+successful in not only securing the necessary rights and privileges to
+occupy British territory, but the special favor of the Queen and the
+capital stock of about $1,680,000, which it was hoped could be placed in
+England, was taken in a few weeks, and not only this but the British
+government agreed to pay an annual subsidy of about $68,000, for the use
+of the cable by that government and ships, not only for surveying but to
+help lay the cable.
+
+Mr. Field now ordered the cable made, and again set sail for America,
+and is soon at the national capitol trying to enlist the sympathy and
+aid of our country. The lobby and other influences seemed to be against
+him, and he met with the cold shoulder at every turn, but nothing
+dismayed this man. At last the bill passed the Senate by the majority of
+but one vote, and in the Lower House by an absolutely small majority,
+but after a hard fight it became a fixed thing, and received the
+signature of President Buchanan.
+
+Reader, look back upon the trials of Cyrus Field as you have followed
+them thus far; imagine if you can the trouble, vexation and
+disappointments which have thus far attended him, and when you think
+that he had all this trouble to get PERMISSION to lay the cable, and
+that while he had already passed through much; yet his disappointments
+were destined to be tenfold greater ere success attended him; will you
+say he is undeserving of that success? The rights are secure; the stock
+taken; the cable is done and all seems fair sailing.
+
+The Agamemnon of the Royal Mary and the Niagara, furnished by the United
+States government, started with their precious burden. The paying out
+machine kept up its steady revolutions. Slowly, but surely, the cable
+slips over the side and into the briny deep. Many eminent men were
+eagerly watching with Mr. Field on the Niagara; a gradual solemnity took
+possession of the entire ship's company. Who would not be interested?
+Who would not feel the powerful pressure of responsibility, and when at
+last the too sudden application of a break parted the cable, and it
+wholly disappeared from view, the shock was too much for the stoutest
+nerves. All appeared to feel that a dear friend had just slipped the
+cable of life, and had gone to make his grave beneath the deep waters.
+
+But of all that sad company, Mr. Field is the least dismayed. He
+recognized that a most expensive and disastrous accident had happened;
+but the belief was firmly fixed in his mind that the plan was
+practicable. He was now offered the position of General Manager, at a
+salary of $5,000 per year. The position he accepted, but declined the
+salary.
+
+In 1858 the second attempt was begun, but when about two hundred miles
+had been laid, the cable parted, and the result of months of labor and
+large capital was remorsefully swallowed up by the mighty deep. But
+while all seemed ready to give up, Cyrus Field seemed to be everywhere.
+His activity seemed to exceed the bounds of human endurance. Many were
+the successive twenty-four hours in which he had no sleep, and his
+friends were alarmed lest he and the new enterprise should break
+together.
+
+By his assiduousness the work was recommenced this same year, and on the
+5th of August, 1858, was completed. Messages were exchanged between
+Queen Victoria and President Buchanan, and for about a month the cable
+worked perfectly, amid great rejoicing, when all at once it stopped; the
+cable refused to respond. Few thought the project would be prosecuted
+further, but they miscalculated the power of endurance, the possession
+of which has brought the success of that man whom they now envy,
+"because fortune has smiled upon him more especially than them."
+
+How often do we find ourselves wishing we were as rich as some person,
+or as influential as another; when we have but to follow their example,
+do as they have done, endure what they have endured to acquire the
+coveted success.
+
+If we would stop to consider that seventy-three per cent. of our great
+men were poor boys, we would readily see that those we now envy are only
+enjoying the fruit of their own toil.
+
+The civil war broke out and all work was suspended, but in 1863 a new
+cable was ordered of Gloss, Elliot & Company in London, and a capital of
+$3,000,000 was raised by the indomitable energy of Mr. Field. The Great
+Eastern was employed to lay it, and on the 23rd day of July, 1865, that
+leviathan of the deep, started on her momentous journey, successfully
+traversing about three-fourths of the entire distance, when the cable
+once more parted, carrying with it to the bottom of the ocean every fond
+hope cherished by so many. But once more arose Cyrus West Field, and an
+entirely new company is formed, and $3,000,000 more is raised. On
+Friday, July 13th, 1866, the Great Eastern once more starts, and on
+Friday, the 27th of July, the following cablegram is received.
+
+     "HEARTS CONTENT, July 27th.
+
+     "We arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All well, thank God.
+     The Cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.
+
+     "Signed,
+     CYRUS W. FIELD."
+
+To make the victory more complete, the Great Eastern again put to sea,
+raised the cable which was lost the preceding year, spliced it, and the
+two have since been in constant use.
+
+Who dares deny that Cyrus W. Field is not deserving of enduring fame?
+For thirteen years he had borne the brunt of all the ridicule and sneers
+directed at this greatest enterprise of modern history. He has been
+bitterly denounced by many as a capitalist, a monopolist, and the like;
+but if the world has been benefited so many millions by the Ocean
+Telegraph, it seems to us that the BEST is inadequate as a reward to its
+proprietor.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE M. PULLMAN.
+
+
+The subject of this sketch we consider one of the greatest of
+philanthropists. He is a modest man, and for this reason disclaimed all
+desire to be known as a benefactor. But we cannot now think of any one
+who is more clearly identified with the great effort which is going on
+for the benefit of mankind.
+
+He is a native of the grand old empire State, being born in the western
+part of New York, March 3rd, 1831. His father was a mechanic of some
+note, but died before George was of age, leaving him to help support his
+mother and younger brothers.
+
+He worked for a time in a furniture establishment, but this kind of
+employment did not satisfy his active nature, and he went to Chicago,
+where his enterprise could have sea room. He at first became identified
+with the work of raising and placing new foundations under several large
+buildings of that city. He helped raise a whole block several feet high,
+an enterprise which was accomplished without hardly a break,
+discontinuing none of the business firms who occupied the building,
+their business being carried on uninterrupted.
+
+George M. Pullman had a perceptive mind--so have all truly successful
+men. He perceived that while the railway coaches were far superior to
+the old stages, yet they were far inferior to what he imagined they
+ought to be. He at once applied to the Chicago and Alton railway
+management and laid his plan before them. They furnished him with two
+old coaches, with which to experiment. These he fitted up with bunks,
+and while they were not to be compared with the elegant palaces which he
+has since constructed, still one could lie down and sleep all night,
+which was so far in advance of anything the people had seen, that they
+were very highly appreciated.
+
+He now went to Colorado, and engaged in various mining schemes, but here
+he was out of his sphere, and after a three years' sojourn, returned to
+Chicago. His active imagination had thought out many improvements on the
+cars he had previously constructed; and he had also secured capital with
+which to carry out his ideas. Fitting up a shop on the Chicago and Alton
+road, he constructed two coaches, at the then fabulous cost of $18,000
+each. The management of the various western roads looked upon such
+enterprise as visionary. George M. Pullman, however, cared but little
+about their opinion.
+
+The Union and Pacific was then exciting much attention. He knew that on
+the completion of such a road, travelers would appreciate a car in which
+they could enjoy the comforts of home for the entire tedious trip. To
+say that his hopes were fully realized, would be inadequate. So popular
+did they become, that his shops at Chicago could not begin to fill the
+demands made upon it for his parlor, dining, and sleeping cars. Branches
+were started at Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and various places in
+Europe.
+
+These establishments, of necessity, could not come under his immediate
+supervision he, therefore, conceived the idea of concentrating his
+business into one vast establishment, and gathered about him a force of
+skilled workmen. He looked upon Chicago and its locality as the coming
+center of population in the United States; but a site in that city would
+be far too expensive, if indeed one could have been found sufficient for
+his purpose. About twelve to fifteen miles from Chicago was a swamp: it
+was considered worthless, but it was as easy for this natural mechanic
+to conceive the idea of draining this tract of land, as it was to
+conceive methods to raise buildings. A very large force of men were put
+to work draining; gas-pipes were laid; streets were laid out and graded,
+and an architect employed to draw the plans for the building of a whole
+city at once. Gigantic work-shops were built, and a water supply brought
+from Lake Michigan, miles away. Besides all this, over fourteen hundred
+beautiful homes were built before any man was asked to come to Pullman
+to enter the shops. A bank was opened, a library, containing thousands
+of volumes, was provided; all these things were brought about by Mr.
+Pullman. He has expended several million of dollars in beautifying and
+providing for the comfort and pleasure of his employes. The buildings
+are not mushroom affairs, but substantial brick edifices which give this
+place an appearance which will compare favorably with any city. He built
+a fine hotel, and erected a beautiful church, placing a rich toned organ
+in it, which alone cost $3,500. Every honest tradesman can come to
+Pullman. None but liquor dealers or men who desire to keep low
+groggeries are excluded. No property is sold, but if a party desires to
+live there he applies to the Superintendent, and a lease is given, which
+can be cancelled by either party at ten days' notice. Nothing but liquor
+is forbidden. A man can squander his time, can gamble, possibly, but he
+cannot obtain drink; the result is, there are no policemen. No visible
+form of government, save Mr. Pullman, and yet this is a city of nearly
+eight thousand people. The people are not muddled with drink; they are
+promptly paid; their 'personal' rights are not interfered with, save in
+respect to the selling of liquor; they are contented and happy. Mr.
+Pullman has been largely identified with the Metropolitan Railway and
+the Eagleton Wire Works in New York city. But the name of Pullman is
+destined to long remain a synonym of philanthropy. He has practically
+demonstrated the benefit of legislation against the sale of intoxicating
+liquors as a beverage. He claims to have done this as a business policy,
+and disclaims all honor as a philanthropist. We answer, would that we
+had more men who would follow this kind of a business policy.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS A. EDISON.
+
+
+On February 11th, 1845, was born at Milan, Ohio, Thomas A. Edison, now a
+little over 42 years of age, and to-day enjoying a reputation as an
+inventor that is without a parallel in history.
+
+At eight or nine years of age he began to earn his own living, selling
+papers. When twelve years old his enterprise, pushed by ambition,
+secured him a position as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Here his
+inventive genius manifested itself. Arranging with station agents along
+the line, he caused the headings of news to be telegraphed ahead, the
+agents posting the same in some conspicuous place. By this means the
+profits of his business were greatly augmented. He next fitted up a
+small printing press in one corner of a car, and when not busy in his
+regular work as newsboy, successfully published a small paper. The
+subject-matter was contributed by employes on the road, and young Edison
+was the proprietor, editor, publisher and selling agent. He also carried
+on electrical experiments in one corner of the car.
+
+Finally, he entered one of the offices on the road, and here he learned
+the art of telegraphy. The next few years he was engaged as an operator
+in several of the largest cities throughout the Union, such as
+Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Boston, New York, Memphis, and
+Port Huron. He not only became one of the most expert operators in the
+country, but his office was a labratory for electrical experiment. All
+day long he attended to the duties of his office, and at night one would
+find him busy at experiments tending toward the development of the use
+of the telegraph.
+
+Hard work and frequent wanderings at last found him developing his ideas
+in Boston. He brought out duplex telegraphy and suggested a printing
+telegraph for the use of gold and stock quotations. His ability becoming
+so apparent he was retained by wealthy men in New York at a high salary.
+In 1876 he removed to Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he fitted up an
+extensive labratory for the prosecution and development of his
+enterprise.
+
+Here he has won his world-wide fame, keeping two continents in a fevered
+state of expectancy. Indeed, some of his inventions have been so
+wonderful that he might be accredited with supernatural powers. By
+improvement he brought the telephone of Gray, Bell, etc., from a mere
+toy to an instrument of great commercial worth. Ten years ago hardly a
+telephone was in use; now the business of our country would hardly know
+how to do without it. Of all modern inventions connected with the
+transmission of electrical sound the telephone has excited, perhaps, the
+most interest. An instrument which not only transmits intelligible
+signals great distances, but also the tones of the voice, so that the
+voice shall be as certainly recognized when heard hundreds of miles away
+as if the owner was speaking in the same room. No great skill is
+required of the operator, and if a business man desires to speak with
+another person he has but to step to an instrument in his own office,
+ring a bell, and thus, through a central office, connect himself with
+the instrument of the desired party, when a conversation can take place.
+
+In its mechanism the telephone consists of a steel cylindrical magnet,
+perhaps five inches long and one-half of an inch thick, encircled at one
+end by a short bobbin of ebonite, on which is wound a quantity of fine
+insulated copper wire. The two ends of the coil are soldered to thicker
+pieces of copper wire which traverse the wooden envelop from end to end,
+and terminate in the screws of its extremity. Immediately in front is a
+thin circular plate of iron; this is kept in place by being jammed
+between the main portion of the wooden case and the cap, which carries
+the mouth or ear trumpet, which are screwed together. Such is the
+instrument invented by Bell and Edison.
+
+The means to produce light by electricity next occupied his attention,
+and the Edison-Electric Light was the result. The electric current for
+this light is generated by means of large magneto-electric machines,
+which are driven by some motive power. It is the only light known to
+science which can be compared to the rays of the sun. Especially is this
+light useful in lighthouses, on board ships and for lighting streets in
+cities. It is, however, used in factories, work-shops, large halls,
+etc., and in the very near future will doubtless become a light in
+private dwellings.
+
+But, possibly, the most wonderful invention which has been the result of
+the inventive conception of Mr. Edison is the phonograph, a simple
+apparatus consisting in its original mechanism of a simple cylinder of
+hollow brass, mounted upon a shaft, at one end of which is a crank for
+turning it, and at the other a balance-wheel, the whole being supported
+by two iron uprights. There is a mouth-piece, as in the telephone, which
+has a vibrating membrane similar to the drum of a person's ear. To the
+other side of this membrane there is a light metal point or stylus,
+which touches the tin-foil which is placed around the cylinder. The
+operator turns the crank, at the same time talking into the mouth-piece;
+the membrane vibrates under the impulses of the voice, and the stylus
+marks the tin-foil in a manner to correspond with the vibrations of the
+membrane. When the speaking is finished the machine is set back to where
+it started on the tin-foil, and by once more turning the crank precisely
+the same vibrations are repeated by the machines. These vibrations
+effect the air, and this again the ear, and the listener hears the same
+words come forth that were talked into the instrument. The tin-foil can
+be removed, and, if uninjured, the sounds can be reproduced at any
+future date.
+
+Different languages can be reproduced at once, and the instrument can be
+made to talk and sing at once without confusion. Indeed, so wonderful is
+this piece of mechanism, that one must see it to be convinced. Even the
+tone of voice is retained; and it will sneeze, whistle, echo, cough,
+sing, etc., etc.
+
+Improvements are in progress, notably among which is an apparatus to
+impel it by clock work instead of a crank. The phonograph as yet has
+never come into extended use, but its utility is obvious when its
+mechanism is complete; business men can use it for dictating purposes,
+as it is possible to put forty thousand words on a tin-foil sheet ten
+inches square.
+
+The invention of any one of the foregoing must have made for Mr. Edison
+a world-wide fame, but when it is remembered that he has already taken
+out over two hundred patents, one realizes something of the fertility of
+his imagination. Many other inventions are worthy of note, which have
+originated at the Menlo Park labratory, but space forbids, although it
+is safe to predict that more startling inventions may yet be in store
+for an expectant world.
+
+[Illustration: ANXIOUS THOUGHTS.]
+
+[Illustration: WHY SOME SUCCEED While Others Fail.]
+
+
+
+
+WHY SOME SUCCEED While Others Fail.
+
+
+
+
+SUCCESS AND FAILURE.
+
+
+Young man, two ways are open before you in life. One points to
+degradation and want, the other, to usefulness and wealth. In the old
+Grecian races one only, by any possible means, could gain the prize, but
+in the momentous race of human life there is no limiting of the prize to
+one. No one is debarred from competing; all may succeed, provided the
+right methods are followed. Life is not a lottery. Its prizes are not
+distributed by chance.
+
+There can hardly be a greater folly, not to say presumption, than that
+of so many young men and women who, on setting out in life, conclude
+that it is no use to mark out for themselves a course, and then set
+themselves with strenuous effort to attain some worthy end; who
+conclude, therefore, to commit themselves blindly to the current of
+circumstances. Is it anything surprising that those who aim at nothing,
+accomplish nothing in life? No better result could reasonably be
+expected. Twenty clerks in a store; twenty apprentices in a ship-yard;
+twenty young men in a city or village--all want to get on in the world;
+most of them expect to succeed. One of the clerks will become a partner,
+and make a fortune; one of the young men will find his calling and
+succeed. But what of the other nineteen? They will fail; and miserably
+fail, some of them. They expect to succeed, but they aim at nothing;
+content to live for the day only, consequently, little effort is put
+forth, and they reap a reward accordingly.
+
+Luck! There is no luck about it. The thing is almost as certain as the
+"rule of three." The young man who will distance his competitors is he
+who will master his business; who lives within his income, saving his
+spare money; who preserves his reputation; who devotes his leisure hours
+to the acquisition of knowledge; and who cultivates a pleasing manner,
+thus gaining friends. We hear a great deal about luck. If a man succeeds
+finely in business, he is said to have "good luck." He may have labored
+for years with this one object in view, bending every energy to attain
+it. He may have denied himself many things, and his seemingly sudden
+success may be the result of years of hard work, but the world looks in
+and says: "He is lucky." Another man plunges into some hot-house scheme
+and loses: "He is unlucky." Another man's nose is perpetually on the
+grind-stone; he also has "bad luck." No matter if he follows inclination
+rather than judgment, if he fails, as he might know he would did he but
+exercise one-half the judgment he does possess, yet he is never willing
+to ascribe the failure to himself--he invariably ascribes it to bad
+luck, or blames some one else.
+
+Luck! There is no such factor in the race for success. Rufus Choate once
+said, "There is little in the theory of luck which will bring man
+success; but work, guided by thought, will remove mountains or tunnel
+them." Carlyle said, "Man know thy work, then do it." How often do we
+see the sign: "Gentlemen WILL not; OTHERS MUST NOT loaf in this room."
+True, gentlemen never loaf, but labor. Fire-flies shine only in motion.
+It is only the active who will be singled out to hold responsible
+positions. The fact that their ability is manifest is no sign that they
+are lucky.
+
+Thiers, of France, was once complimented thus: "It is marvelous, Mr.
+President, how you deliver long improvised speeches about which you have
+not had time to reflect." His reply was: "You are not paying me a
+compliment; it is criminal in a statesman to improvise speeches on
+public affairs. Those speeches I have been fifty years preparing."
+Daniel Webster's notable reply to Hayne was the result of years of study
+on the problem of State Rights. Professor Mowry once told the following
+story: "A few years ago a young man went into a cotton factory and spent
+a year in the card room. He then devoted another year to learning how to
+spin; still another how to weave. He boarded with a weaver, and was
+often asking questions. Of course he picked up all kinds of knowledge.
+He was educating himself in a good school, and was destined to graduate
+high in his class. He became superintendent of a small mill at $1,500 a
+year. One of the large mills in Fall River was running behind hand.
+Instead of making money the corporation was losing. They needed a
+first-class man to manage the mill, and applied to a gentleman in Boston
+well acquainted with the leading men engaged in the manufacture of
+cotton. He told them he knew of a young man who would suit them, but
+they would have to pay him a large salary.
+
+"What salary will he require?" "I cannot tell, but I think you will have
+to pay him $6,000 a year." "That is a large sum; we have never paid so
+much." "No, probably not, and you have never had a competent man. The
+condition of your mill and the story you have told me to-day show the
+result. I do not think he would go for less, but I will advise him to
+accept if you offer him that salary." The salary was offered, the man
+accepted, and he saved nearly forty per cent. of the cost of making the
+goods the first year. Soon he had a call from one of the largest
+corporations in New England, at a salary of $10,000 per year. He had
+been with this company but one year when he was offered another place at
+$15,000 per year. Now some will say: "Well, he was lucky, this gentleman
+was a friend who helped him to a fat place."
+
+My dear reader, with such we have little patience. It is evident that
+this young man was determined to succeed from the first. He mastered his
+business, taking time and going thorough. When once the business was
+mastered his light began to shine. Possibly the gentleman helped him to
+a higher salary than he might have accepted, but it is also evident that
+his ability was manifest. The gentleman knew whereof he spoke. The old
+proverb that "Circumstances make men" is simply a wolf in wool. Whether
+a man is conditioned high or low; in the city or on the farm: "If he
+will; he will." "They can who think they can." "Wishes fail but wills
+prevail." "Labor is luck." It is better to make our descendants proud of
+us than to be proud of our ancestry. There is hardly a conceivable
+obstacle to success that some of our successful men have not overcome:
+"What man has done, man can do." "Strong men have wills; weak ones,
+wishes."
+
+In the contest, wills prevail. Some writers would make men sticks
+carried whither the tide takes them. We have seen that biography vetoes
+this theory. Will makes circumstances instead of being ruled by them.
+Alexander Stephens, with a dwarf's body, did a giant's work. With a
+broken scythe in the race he over-matched those with fine
+mowing-machines. Will-power, directed by a mind that was often
+replenished, accomplished the desired result.
+
+Any one can drift. It takes pluck to stem an unfavorable current. A man
+fails and lays it to circumstances. The fact too frequently is that he
+swallowed luxuries beyond his means. A gentleman asked a child who made
+him. The answer was: "God made me so long--measuring the length of a
+baby--and I growed the rest." The mistake of the little deist in leaving
+out the God of his growth illustrates a conviction: We are what we make
+ourselves.
+
+Garfield once said: "If the power to do hard work is not talent it is
+the best possible substitute for it." Things don't turn up in this world
+until some one turns them up. A POUND of pluck is worth a TON of luck.
+Luck is a false light; you may follow it to ruin, but never to success.
+If a man has ability which is reinforced by energy, the fact is
+manifest, and he will not lack opportunities. The fortunes of mankind
+depend so much upon themselves, that it is entirely legitimate to
+enquire by what means each may make or mar his own happiness; may
+achieve success or bring upon himself the sufferings of failure.
+
+
+
+
+CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT.
+
+
+The man who has no occupation, is in a sad plight: The man who lacks
+concentration of effort is worse off. In a recent test of the power of
+steel plates, designed for ship armor, one thousand cannon were fired at
+once against it, but without avail. A large cannon was then brought out.
+This cannon used but one-tenth as much powder as did the combined force
+of the others, yet, it was found, when the smoke had cleared away, that
+the ball had pierced the plate. Ten times the powder needed availed
+naught, because, the law of concentration was disregarded.
+
+One of the essential requisites to success is concentration. Every young
+man, therefore, should early ascertain his strong faculties, and
+discern, if possible, his especial fitness for any calling which he may
+choose. A man may have the most dazzling talents, but if his energies
+are scattered he will accomplish nothing. Emerson says: "A man is like a
+bit of Labrador spar, which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand,
+until you come to a particular angle; then it shows deep and beautiful
+colors." There is no adaptation or universal applicability in man.
+Dryden has said:
+
+                  "What the child admired,
+    The youth endeavored, and the man acquired."
+
+Is it not so? Do we not find Michael Angelo neglecting school to copy
+drawings? Henry Clay learning pieces to recite in the barn or corn
+field? Yet, as Goethe says: "We should guard against a talent which we
+cannot hope to practice in perfection. Improve it as we may, we shall
+always, in the end, when the merit of the master has become apparent to
+us, painfully lament the loss of time and strength devoted to such
+botching."
+
+The man who would know one thing well, must have the courage to be
+ignorant of a thousand other things, no matter how attractive they may
+be, or how desirable it may seem to try them. P. T. Barnum, the veteran
+showman, who has lost several fortunes but risen above all, paid every
+dollar of his indebtedness, and is to-day a millionaire, says in his
+lecture on 'The Art of Money Getting':
+
+"Be a whole man in whatever you undertake. This wholeness is just what
+distinguishes the shabby, blundering mechanic from the splendid workman.
+In earlier times, when our country was new, there might have been a
+chance for the man who gave only one corner of his brain to his chosen
+calling, but in these days of keen competition it demands the most
+thorough knowledge of the business, and the most earnest application to
+bring success. Stick to your business, and you may be sure that your
+business will stick to you. It is this directing your whole mind and
+energies at one point, that brings success."
+
+"The first thing a young man should do after selecting his vocation is to
+become thoroughly satisfied with his choice. He must be thoroughly
+satisfied or he is defeated at the start. In arriving at this decision
+he must bear in mind that if he would find a calling in which all will
+be sunshine, where the clouds never darken the pathway, he must look in
+some other world for that calling. On earth there are no such callings
+to be found."
+
+"When we see Spurgeon, the great London preacher, swaying the
+multitudes, we possibly do not remember the time when, as a poor boy of
+but eighteen, he begins preaching on the street corners to a shabby
+crowd. We would possibly be willing to partake of the fame that he may
+now enjoy, but might object to the pastoral visiting he is obliged to do
+each week. We would not object to the fame of Webster, of Calhoun or of
+Clay, but we might think it tedious to work night after night to obtain
+the knowledge which brought this fame. Ah! how many of us would 'peter'
+out in a short time? When one is satisfied with his calling he must work
+at it, if need be, day and night, early and late, in season and out of
+season, never deferring for a single hour that which can NOW be done.
+The old proverb, 'What is worth doing at all is worth doing well,' was
+never truer than it is to-day."
+
+A certain class are clamoring for a division of the national wealth.
+They are like the worthless vagabond who said to the rich man, "I have
+discovered that there is money enough in the world for all of us if it
+was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy
+together." "But," replied the rich man, "if everybody was like you it
+would be spent in two months, and what would we then do?" "Oh! divide
+again; keep dividing, of course!" And yet a very considerable number of
+people think this is the solution of the labor problem. The point is, we
+must distinguish the dividing line between the rights of property and
+the wrongs of oppression. Either extreme is fatal. Education is surely
+the solution of the labor question.
+
+Listen: Our country is the freest, the grandest, the best governed of
+any nation on earth; yet we spend yearly nine hundred million dollars
+for drink, and only eighty-five million for education. Thus, while one
+dollar tends to education and wealth, over ten dollars is used to bring
+ignorance, degradation, and want. Over ten times the influence for evil
+that there is for good. Where is the remedy? Let Congress, which is
+supposed to control our interests, legislate against ignorance and for
+education. Suppose that nine hundred millions were yearly used to
+educate deserving young men and women in colleges; inaugurated into a
+"fresh-air fund" for the children in our large cities who have never
+been under its ennobling influence, but who, on the contrary, have never
+seen aught but vice and degradation. Nine hundred millions in one year.
+Nine thousand millions in ten years. How many thousands of young men
+could go through college if aided each, $100 per year. If it were wholly
+devoted to this purpose nine million young people could be helped
+through college in four years--in ten years there would be eighteen or
+twenty million college graduates from this source alone, what would be
+the result.
+
+Suppose again that the money was devoted to building tenement houses
+that would be fit for human beings to live in, look at the wonderful
+good that could be done. I am not desirous of giving here a dry
+temperance lecture; but the object of this work is to aid others to
+success, and if vice and drink were removed there would be but little
+need for further advice. Ah! there lies the root of the evil. Strike the
+root, pull it up and trample it under foot until it is dead. Never allow
+it to take root again, and you can reasonably expect to be at least
+fairly successful.
+
+This chapter is on "Concentration of Effort". Possibly some will imagine
+that we have wandered; not at all, as we see it. The abolition of these
+vices tends toward concentration; bad habits, of no matter what nature
+lead to failure and tend to draw the attention from one's calling. Then
+let the young man who would succeed join his heart, his sympathies, his
+desires, with the right; let him live a consistent life; let him lead a
+strictly temperate life; let him give his whole influence to temperance,
+resting assured that if he puts his purposes into action that he will
+succeed in more ways than one.
+
+
+
+
+SELF-RELIANCE.
+
+
+Of all the elements of success, none is more essential than
+self-reliance,--determination to be one's own helper, and not to look to
+others for support. God never intended that strong independent beings
+should be reared by clinging to others, like the ivy to the oak, for
+support.
+
+"God helps those who help themselves," and how true we find this quaint
+old saying to be. Every youth should feel that his future happiness in
+life must necessarily depend upon himself; the exercise of his own
+energies, rather than the patronage of others. A man is in a great
+degree the arbiter of his own fortune. We are born with powers and
+faculties capable of almost anything, but it is the exercise of these
+powers and faculties that gives us ability and skill in anything. The
+greatest curse that can befall a young man is to lean, while his
+character is forming, upon others for support.
+
+James A. Garfield, himself one of the greatest examples of the
+possibilities in our glorious Republic, once said:--
+
+"The man who dares not follow his own independent judgment, but runs
+perpetually to others for advice, becomes at last a moral weakling, and
+an intellectual dwarf. Such a man has not self within him, but goes as a
+supplicant to others, and entreats, one after another, to lend them
+theirs. He is, in fact, a mere element of a human being, and is carried
+about the world an insignificant cipher, unless he by chance fastens
+himself to some other floating elements, with which he may form a
+species of corporation resembling a man." The best capital with which a
+young man can start in life, nine times out of ten, is robust health,
+good morals, fair ability and an iron will, strengthened by a
+disposition to work at some honest vocation.
+
+We have seen in the preceding pages that a vast majority of our great
+men started life with these qualifications and none other. The greatest
+heroes in battle, the greatest orators, ancient or modern, were sons of
+obscure parents. The greatest fortunes ever accumulated on earth were
+the fruit of great exertion. From Croesus down to Astor the story is the
+same. The oak that stands alone to contend with the tempest's blast only
+takes deeper root and stands the firmer for ensuing conflicts; while the
+forest tree, when the woodman's axe has spoiled its surroundings, sways
+and bends and trembles, and perchance is uprooted: so is it with man.
+Those who are trained to self-reliance are ready to go out and contend
+in the sternest battles of life; while those who have always leaned for
+support upon those around them are never prepared to breast the storms
+of life that arise.
+
+How many young men falter and faint for what they imagine is necessary
+capital for a start. A few thousands or even hundreds, in his purse, he
+fancies to be about the only thing needful to secure his fortune. How
+absurd is this; let the young man know now, that he is unworthy of
+success so long as he harbors such ideas. No man can gain true success,
+no matter how situated, unless he depends upon no one but himself;
+remember that. Does not history bear us out in this? We remember the
+adage, "Few boys who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth ever
+achieve greatness." By this we would not argue that wealth is
+necessarily derogatory to the success of youth; to the contrary, we
+believe it can be a great help in certain cases and conditions; but we
+have long since discarded the idea that early wealth is a pre-eminent
+factor in success; if we should give our unbiased opinion, we should say
+that, to a vast majority of cases, it is a pre-eminent factor of
+failure. Give a youth wealth, and you only too often destroy all
+self-reliance which he may possess.
+
+Let that young man rejoice, rather, whom God hath given health and a
+faculty to exercise his faculties. The best kind of success is not that
+which comes by accident, for as it came by chance it will go by chance.
+The wisest charity, in a vast majority of cases, is helping people to
+help themselves. Necessity is very often the motive power which sets in
+motion the sluggish energies. We thus readily see that poverty can be an
+absolute blessing to youth. A man's true position in the world is that
+which he himself attains.
+
+How detestable to us is the Briton's reverence of pedigree. Americans
+reverence achievement, and yet we are tending towards the opposite.
+Witness society, as it bows with smile and honor to the eight-dollar
+clerk, while frowning on the eighteen dollar laborer. This is wrong;
+work is work, and all work is honorable. It is not only wrong, but
+disgraceful. It is better to make our ancestry proud of us than to be
+proud of our ancestors. He is a man for what he does, not for what his
+father or his friends have done. If they have given him a position, the
+greater is his shame for sinking beneath that position. The person who
+is above labor or despises the laborer, is himself one of the most
+despicable creatures on God's earth. He not only displays a dull
+intelligence of those nobler inspirations with which God has endowed us,
+but he even shows a lack of plain common sense.
+
+The noblest thing in this world is work. Wise labor brings order out of
+chaos; it builds cities; it distinguishes barbarism from civilization;
+it brings success. No man has a right to a fortune; he has no right to
+expect success, unless he is willing to work for it. A brother of the
+great orator, Edmund Burke, after listening to one of those eloquent
+appeals in Parliament, being noticed as employed in deep thought, was
+asked of whom he was musing. He replied: "I have been wondering how Ned
+contrived to monopolize all the talent in the family; but I remember
+that all through childhood, while we were at play, he was at study."
+
+Ah! that's it. The education, moral or intellectual, must be chiefly his
+own work. Education is education, no matter how obtained. We do not wish
+to be understood as depreciating the usefulness of colleges; not at all.
+But a mere college diploma will avail a young man but little. As before
+stated, education, no matter how obtained, is equally valuable. Study
+like that of Webster and Greeley, by New Hampshire pine knots, and that
+of Thurlow Weed before the sap-house fire, is just as valuable, when
+once obtained, as if it had the sanction of some college president.
+
+The world will only ask, "What can he do?" and will not care a fig for
+any college certificate. The point is; if a young man be not endowed by
+self-reliance and a firm determination, colleges will avail him nothing;
+but if he have these, colleges will push him wonderfully. Nevertheless,
+colleges are not essential to success--an educated idiot will never make
+a statesman. It is said that when John C. Calhoun was attending Yale
+College he was ridiculed for his intense application to his studies. He
+replied, "Why, sir, I am forced to make the most of my time, that I may
+acquit myself creditably when in Congress." A laugh followed which
+roused his Southern blood, and he exclaimed: "Do you doubt it? I assure
+you that if I was not convinced of my ability to reach the National
+Capitol as a representative within three years from my graduation, I
+would leave college this very day." While there are some things in this
+speech that were possibly unbecoming; yet the principle of
+self-reliance, this faith in himself, this high aim in life, was
+undoubtedly the marked characteristic which brought to Calhoun his
+splendid success.
+
+No young man will ever succeed who will not cultivate a thinking mind.
+If he is not original in aims and purposes he will not succeed. Witness
+the attempt of others to continue the business of Stewart. They had not
+only his experience, but the benefit of his great wealth; he succeeded
+without either--they failed with both; he was obliged to establish a
+business--they had the benefit of his great patronage.
+
+It has been said that a lawyer cannot be a merchant. Why? While a lawyer
+he thinks for himself: When a merchant he allows others to think for
+him. A certain great manufacturer made "kid" gloves his specialty, and
+so well did he succeed that to-day his trade mark imports to
+manufactured ratskins a value incommunicable by any other talisman. It
+is a poor kind of enterprise which thus depends upon the judgment of
+others. What can be more absurd than for a man to hope to rank as a
+thundering Jupiter when he borrows all his thunder. Remember that the
+world only crowns him as truly great who has won for himself that
+greatness.
+
+
+
+
+ECONOMY OF TIME.
+
+    "Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,
+    The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
+    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
+    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
+
+
+How many young men for whom nature has done so much, "blush unseen," and
+waste their ability. Franklin said, "Dost thou love life? Then do not
+squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." We have seen how
+Franklin used his time. Born the son of a soap-boiler, lived to become
+one of our most noted philosophers, died worth thousands. Advice from
+such men carries conviction, for we cannot but feel that our chances
+are fully equal to what theirs were.
+
+Gladstone, England's most noted Premier, once said, "Believe me when I
+tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after-life with usury,
+but the waste of it will make you dwindle away until you fairly sink out
+of existence, unknown, unmourned." Thurlow Weed was so poor in boyhood
+that he was of necessity glad to use pieces of carpet to cover his all
+but freezing feet; thus shod he walked two miles to borrow a history of
+the French revolution, which he mastered stretched prone before the
+sap-fire, while watching the kettles of sap transformed to maple sugar.
+Thus was it that he laid the foundation of his education, which in after
+years enabled him to sway such mighty power at Albany; known as the
+"king maker."
+
+Elihu Burritt, a child of poverty, the son of a poor farmer, the
+youngest of ten children. He was apprenticed at eighteen to a
+blacksmith. He wanted to become a scholar and bought some Greek and
+Latin works, carrying them in his pocket and studying as he worked at
+the anvil. From these he went to Spanish, Italian and French. He always
+had his book near him and improved every spare moment. He studied seven
+languages in one single year. Then he taught school one year, but his
+health failing, he went into the grocery business. Soon what money he
+had was swept away by losses.
+
+Here we see him at twenty-seven, life seemingly a failure. Alas! how
+many would have given up. He left New Britain, his native town, walked
+to Boston, and from there to Worcester, where he once more engaged
+himself at his trade. His failure in business turns his attention once
+more to study. He now is convinced as to the proper course to pursue,
+his aim is fixed, and he now sets himself strenuously about the
+accomplishment of his purpose. At thirty years of age he is master of
+every language of Europe, and is turning his attention to those of Asia,
+such as Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic. He is offered by a wealthy gentleman a
+course in Harvard University, but prefers to work with his hands while
+he studies.
+
+He now begins to lecture, and everybody is eager to hear the learned
+blacksmith. After a very successful tour he returns to the anvil. After
+this he visits Europe, becomes the warm friend of John Bright and other
+eminent men; writes books, lectures, edits newspapers, builds a church
+and holds meetings himself. He said: "It is not genius that wins, but
+hard work and a pure life." He chose the best associates only, believing
+that a boy's companions have much to do with his success in life. At
+sixty-eight he died, honored by two hemispheres.
+
+If our readers want further proof as to the result of improving spare
+moments, let them study the lives of such men as Douglass, Lincoln,
+Grant, Garfield, Blaine, Cleveland, and others too numerous to mention,
+and they will find that they were reared in the lower walks of life, but
+by using every available minute they have been enabled to rise to
+influence and usefulness. By this means they have worked the very odds
+and ends of time, into results of the greatest value. An hour every day,
+for ten years, will transform any one of ordinary ability from ignorance
+to learning.
+
+Think of it. One hour could be easily improved each evening, counting
+three hundred week days to a year; in ten years you have spent three
+thousand golden hours. If directed toward some specific end, think what
+it would accomplish. Then there are the Sundays devoted to religious
+knowledge. One of the first things to be learned by him who would
+succeed, is ECONOMY OF TIME. Lost wealth can be replaced by industry;
+lost health by hygiene; but lost time is gone forever.
+
+The most frequent excuse one hears is: "I have no time." They cheat
+themselves with the delusion that they would like to do this or that,
+but cannot as they have no leisure. Dear reader, did you ever think that
+the more a person has to do, the more they feel they can do? Look at the
+men in our own community who have done the most for mankind; are they
+the wealthy, whose only duty seems to be to kill time? No. Almost
+universally they are the over-worked class who seem already burdened
+with cares. These are the men who find time to preside at public
+meetings, and to serve on committees.
+
+It is easier for an over-worked man to do a little more than for a lazy
+one to get up steam. A light stroke will keep a hoop in motion, but it
+takes a smart blow to start it. The busy man succeeds: While others are
+yawning and stretching, getting their eyes open, he will see the
+opportunity and improve it. Complain not that you have no leisure.
+Rather be thankful that you are not cursed with it. Yes, curse it is
+nine times out of ten. Think of the young man going to some vile place
+of amusement to kill time, then think of that young man utilizing that
+hour every night in the acquisition of knowledge which will fit him for
+life's journey. Think also of the money he will save. Leisure is too
+often like a two-edged sword; it cuts both ways.
+
+
+
+
+CAUSES OF FAILURE.
+
+
+Horace Greeley has truly said: "If any man fancies that there is some
+easier way of gaining a dollar than by squarely earning it he has lost
+the clew to his way through this mortal labyrinth, and must henceforth
+wander as chance may dictate." Look about you; how many there are who
+are determined to share all the good things of this world without
+exchanging an equivalent. They go into business, but are not content to
+wait patiently, adding one dollar to another, and thus rendering to
+mankind an equivalent for this wealth for which they are asking. This
+excessive haste to become rich is one of the most frequent causes of
+failure. When a young man has decided to work with a will, and to
+accumulate every dollar he legitimately can he has made a long stride
+toward success. We do not deprecate a desire to be some one in the
+world, but we do most emphatically frown upon the desire to get wealth
+by speculation or illicit means. We most earnestly advise all young men
+to choose a calling, become thoroughly master of that calling, then
+pursue that vocation to success, avoiding all outside operations.
+Another man who has dealt in stocks all his life may be able to succeed,
+but your business is to stick to your vocation until, if necessary, you
+fairly wring success from it.
+
+Moses Taylor was a successful merchant, he had long deposited with the
+City Bank, and was finally made its president. The late Commodore
+Vanderbilt often tried to induce him to enter into his grand
+speculations, but of no avail. At last the crash of '57 came. The
+bankers called a meeting to discuss the situation. One bank after
+another reported drafts of from sixty to even ninety per cent. of their
+specie. When Mr. Taylor was called he replied: "The City Bank contained
+this morning $400,000; to-night we had $480,000." This was the kind of a
+bank president such principles made him.
+
+Hardly anything is more fatal to success than a desire to become
+suddenly rich. A business man now counts his wealth by the thousands,
+but he sees a grand chance to speculate. This is a little risky, of
+course, but then the old adage: "Never venture, never have." I admit I
+may lose, but then all men are subject to loss in any business, but I am
+reasonably sure of gaining an immense amount. Why! what would folks
+think? I would be a millionaire. I would do so and so. Thus he indulges
+in this sort of reasoning, goes into a business of which he knows
+nothing and loses all. Why wouldn't he? Men who have made a study of
+that business for years, and who have amassed a fortune in it, are daily
+becoming bankrupt. What an idiot a man makes of himself when he leaves a
+calling in which he has been eminently successful to embark in a calling
+which is, at best, uncertain, and of which he knows nothing. Once for
+all, let me admonish you: If you would succeed never enter outside
+operations, especially if they be of a speculative nature. Select a
+calling, and if you stick to your calling, your calling will stick to
+you.
+
+Frequent changes of business is another cause of failure, but we have
+treated this subject quite thoroughly elsewhere in this work. Therefore
+it seems to us that to add more here would be superfluous. True it is
+that some men have succeeded who have seemingly drifted about. Dr. Adam
+Clark has said: "The old adage about too many irons in the fire conveys
+an abominable lie. Keep them all agoing--poker, tongs and all." But Dr.
+Clark seems to forget that the most of the people who try to follow his
+advice, either burn their fingers or find their irons cooling faster
+than they can use them. We cannot all be Clarks if we try, and to follow
+this method the most of us will fail; but we can, by following one line
+of procedure, at last bring success.
+
+Extravagance of living is another prolific cause of bankruptcy. A man
+imagines that by hiring a horse and driving in the park he will show
+people that he is as good as the neighbor who drives his own horse. He
+deludes himself with the idea that this sort of extravagance will, in
+the eyes of his fellow-men, place him on an equal footing with
+millionaires.
+
+Dr. Franklin has truly said: "It is not our own eyes, but other
+people's, that ruin us." It has been said that the merchant who could
+live on five hundred a year, fifty years ago, now requires five
+thousand. In living, avoid a "penny wise and pound foolish" custom. A
+man may think he knows all about economy and yet be ignorant of its
+first principles. For instance, a business man may save every imaginable
+piece of writing paper, using all the dirty envelopes that come in his
+way. This he does instead of using a neat letter head and clean paper,
+at a slight additional cost, and vast gain in the influence which such a
+letter carries over the other. Some years ago a man stopped at a farm
+house over night. After tea he much desired to read, but found it
+impossible from the insufficient light of one candle. Seeing his
+dilemma, the hostess said: "It is rather difficult to read here
+evenings; the proverb says, 'You must have a ship at sea in order to be
+able to burn two candles at once.'" She would as soon have thought of
+throwing a five dollar bill into the fire as of setting the example of
+burning two candles at once. This woman saved, perhaps, five or six
+dollars a year, but the information she thus denied her children would,
+of course, out-weigh a ton of candles. But this is not the worst of it.
+
+The business man, by such costly stinginess, consoles himself that he is
+saving. As he has saved a few dollars in letter paper, he feels
+justified in expending ten times that amount for some extravagance. The
+man thinks he is a saving man. The woman is a saving woman, she knows
+she is a saving woman. She has saved five or six dollars this year in
+candles, and so feels justified in buying some needless finery, which
+could gratify nothing but the eye. She is sure she understands economy,
+yet she starves the mind to clothe the body in finery. She is something
+like the man who could not afford to buy more than a penny herring for
+his dinner, yet hired a coach and four to take it home. Saving by retail
+and wasting by wholesale. Nowadays we use kerosene and thus our light is
+both good and cheap, but the principle remains.
+
+Wear the old clothes until you can pay for more; never wear clothes for
+which you owe anyone. Live on plainer food if need be. Greeley said: "If
+I had but fifty cents a week to live on, I'd buy a peck of corn and
+parch it before I'd owe any man a dollar." The young man who follows
+this principle will never be obliged to live on parched corn. How few
+people keep an itemized account of their expenses. Spendthrifts never
+like to keep accounts. Buy a book; post in it every night your daily
+expenditures in the columns; one headed "Necessaries," the other
+"Luxuries," and you will find that the latter column will be at least
+double the former. Indeed, in some cases it will exceed it ten times
+over.
+
+It is not the purchase of the necessaries of life that ruin people, but
+the most foolish expenditures which we imagine necessary to our comfort.
+Necessary to our comfort; Ah! what a mistake is that, as many a man will
+testify who is perpetually dunned by uneasy creditors. It is the
+sheerest kind of nonsense, this living on credit. It is wicked. Yet a
+gentleman recently told the writer that he personally knew a clergyman
+who had been preaching for years on a salary exceeding seven hundred
+dollars per year, and of late on twelve hundred per year; yet, this man
+of the gospel to-day owes his college debts. A man loaned him money to
+go through school, and he has never been "able" to repay that money,
+although he has practiced the most "rigid economy."
+
+Stuff! this man knows nothing of the first principles of economy. In my
+opinion, there are many clergymen who will have to answer for the sin of
+extravigance: There are many more who will have to answer for the sin of
+slothfulness. The Bible says: "Six days shalt thou labor and do _all_
+thy work." Ah! there is a part of the commandments too often skipped
+flippantly over. Many a clergyman would be horrified if asked to do any
+labor on the seventh day; but would be equally horrified if accused of
+sinning by attending to a foreign business, thereby neglecting to do
+_all_ his labor during the six other days.
+
+God gives us ample time to do our work, and it is a sin to leave any of
+it undone. God expects a man to choose some calling, and He also expects
+that man to master that calling, and He expects him to do his utmost to
+excel in that calling. No clergyman can spend four days out of a week in
+some foreign work, and in the two remaining days thoroughly prepare
+himself for the Sabbath work. For two reasons: One is, he disregards the
+law of concentration, divides his mind and thoughts; hence, loses force
+and influence. The other, that God does not approve of other than our
+best effort.
+
+This preacher will occupy one hour in preaching a twenty-five minute
+discourse, and then complain because people are not interested in his
+sermons. We do not justify Sabbath-breaking, nor a lack of religious
+interest, but the preacher who is unwilling to take any responsibility
+upon himself for such a state of things is lacking somewhere. We speak
+of the clergyman simply as illustrative of our idea in this matter. The
+same rule applies to the lawyer, physician, or merchant--the mechanic,
+artist or laborer. If I was a day laborer building a stone wall I'd
+study my work and push it so vigorously that I would soon be, if not the
+best, at least one of the best workmen anywhere to be found. Strive to
+be an authority. Wasted opportunity; there is the root of thousands of
+failures.
+
+A recent paper states that nine-tenths of our young lawyers fail from
+lack of study. Here is a thought for the clergyman who thinks he should
+have a better place. Of course there are circumstances to be considered,
+but the man of determination bends circumstances to his will. A man
+imagines himself capable of filling a higher place than he does. He
+imagines himself a Webster, a Lincoln, a Garfield, a Spurgeon--'but
+vainly waits for circumstances to favor his deserved promotion. Look at
+Spurgeon; was he picked up bodily and placed in the pulpit he now
+stands upon? No, but he was full of the Holy Ghost, and without thought
+of what he deserved began preaching in the street. Was Talmage placed in
+the Tabernacle because he was of real inferiority to other preachers.
+No; but he was original, he borrowed from no one, he did his best, he
+fits the notch in which he is placed. Did people get down on their knees
+to Beecher, begging him to occupy Plymouth church? They recognized the
+necessity of concentration; and, although you see them in other fields,
+at times, still it was not until they had mastered their first
+undertaking. Elihu Burritt mastered over forty different languages by
+taking one at a time.
+
+The writer, in early youth, learned a lesson which has ever been of
+inestimable benefit to him. The next lessons would begin Fractions,
+something we never had taken. We began to glance through that part of
+the book, and soon became thoroughly convinced that we should never be
+able to master their intricacies, at once becoming despondent. Coming
+home at night, he spoke of his discouragement, when his father set to
+work explaining the first principles. Thus, step by step, the stubborn
+principles were mastered, and to-day, if there is any part of Arithmetic
+in which he excels it is in Fractions.
+
+"Never cross bridges until you come to them." A man should plan ahead,
+but he should be hopeful--not confident--should never borrow trouble,
+and must avoid all extremes. Another cause of failure is: The habit of
+endorsing without security. No one should ever endorse any man's paper
+without security or an equivalent. I hold that no man has a right to ask
+you to endorse his paper unless he can either endorse for you or give
+good security. Of course there are cases where a brother, who is young
+and cannot give security, can be helped into business; but his habits
+must be his security, and his duty is to have made his previous life a
+guarantee of his ability to safely conduct the business. But even in
+such cases a man's first duty is to his family, and he should never
+endorse, even a brother's paper, to a greater amount than he feels that
+he could reasonably lose.
+
+A man may be doing a thriving manufacturing business--another man comes
+to him and says: "You are aware that I am worth $20,000, and don't owe a
+dollar; my money is all locked up at present in my business, which you
+are also aware is to-day in a flourishing condition. Now, if I had
+$5,000 to-day I could purchase a lot of goods and double my money in a
+few months. Will you endorse my note for that amount?" You reflect that
+he is worth $20,000, and, therefore, you incur no risk by endorsing his
+note. Of course, he is a neighbor; you want to accommodate him, and you
+give him your name without taking the precaution of being secured.
+Shortly after he shows you the note, cancelled, and tells you, probably
+truly, that he made the profit expected by the operation. You reflect
+that you have done him a favor, and the thought makes you feel good.
+
+You do not reflect, possibly, that he might have failed for every dollar
+that he was worth, and you would have lost $5,000. You possibly forget
+that you have risked $5,000 without even the prospect of one cent in
+return. This is the worst kind of hazard. But let us see--by and by the
+same favor is again asked, and you again comply; you have fixed the
+impression in your mind that it is perfectly safe to endorse his notes
+without security. This man is getting money too easily. All he has to
+do is take the note to the bank, and as either you or he are considered
+good for it, he gets his cash. He gets the money, for the time being,
+without an effort. Now mark the result: He sees a chance for speculation
+outside of his business--a temporary investment of only $10,000 is
+required. It is sure to come back even before the note is due. He places
+the amount before you and you sign in a mechanical way.
+
+Being firmly convinced that your friend is perfectly responsible, you
+endorse his notes as a matter of course. But the speculation does not
+develop as soon as was expected. However, "it is all right; all that is
+needed is another $10,000 note to take up the former one at the bank."
+Before this comes due the speculation turns out a dead loss. This friend
+does not tell you that he has lost one-half his fortune--he does not
+even tell you that he has speculated at all. But he is now thoroughly
+excited, he sees men all around making money--we seldom hear of the
+losers--"he looks for his money where he lost it." He gets you to
+endorse other notes at different times upon different pretenses until
+suddenly you are aware that your friend has lost all his fortune and all
+of yours. But you do not reflect that you have ruined him as well as he
+has ruined you.
+
+All this could have been avoided by your GENTLEMANLY but BUSINESS-LIKE
+BEARING on the start. If you had said: "You are my neighbor, and of
+course, if my name will be of use to you at the bank, you can have it.
+All I ask is security. I do not at all distrust you, or your plan, but I
+always give security when I ask such a favor and I presume that you do."
+If you had simply asked security he could not have gone beyond his
+tether, and, possibly, very likely would not have speculated at all.
+What the world demands is thinking men. Let justice rule in all business
+transactions. How many men would not waste another man's property, but
+would waste that which belongs to his family! Ah! we want more men who
+will recognize family demands for justice, as well as other people's
+demands--men who have the brains to comprehend that it is possible to
+cheat their own family as well as their neighbor.
+
+Another frequent cause of failure is a neglect of one's business. There
+are many causes for this. One thing is certain, a man will attend to his
+business in proportion to the amount of interest he has in that
+business. This applies to all vocations, either in the professions,
+business, or manual labor. If we see a man playing checkers day after
+day in some corner-store, although the game itself may be no harm, still
+it is wrong for that man to waste valuable time.
+
+Then there are pool and billiards. How many young men have been ruined
+for life, and possibly eternally damned, just by beginning a downward
+course at the billiard room. There is a peculiar fascination in the game
+of pool or billiards which cannot be described. Of course it is only a
+game for the cigars--yes, that's it; one habit leads to another. The
+young man who smokes goes in and in one evening's fun, "wins" fifteen or
+twenty cigars. He argues that he has got smoking material for two or
+three days or a week for nothing, but listen: He plays pool for ten
+cents a game. If he beats, his opponent pays; if his opponent beats, he
+pays. Each game is distinct by itself, and has no bearing on any
+previous game. Now, if you play and win two out of three games right
+straight along, you are steadily losing.
+
+Every game you lose is ten cents gone that you can not possibly win
+back. If you play twenty-five games, (and it won't take long for good
+players to do that in an evening), and you win two out of three, you
+will then be out at least eighty cents. If you win twenty-four out of
+the twenty-five, you would be out ten cents. Don't you see that the
+percentage is against the player. You never heard of a man making
+anything playing pool or billiards unless he was in the business. You
+have personally seen many young men working by the day who admit that
+they have spent from $100 to $1,000 during the three to five years they
+had played. Now, why is it some succeed while others fail?
+
+There is one thing that nothing living ever naturally liked except a
+vile worm, and that is tobacco; yet, how many people there are who
+cultivate this unnatural habit. They are well aware that its use does
+harm. It is a harder job to learn it than to learn to like castor oil,
+yet they will persist in it until they learn to long for it. Young lads
+regret that they are not men; they would like to go to bed boys and wake
+up men. Little Charlie and Harry see their fathers or uncles smoke, if
+not, then they see somebody's father or uncle puffing along the street,
+"taking comfort," and they think that is one of the essentials of being
+a man. So they get a pipe and fill it with tobacco, and as the parents,
+instead of persisting until they gain their affections, slowly teaching
+them to detest wrong, fly to pieces and say, "I will whip you if I see
+you doing that again." So little Charlie and Harry get out behind the
+barn and light up. By and by Charlie says, "Do you like it, Harry"? And
+that lad dolefully replies, "Not very much; it tastes bitter." Presently
+he turns pale and soon offers up a sacrifice on the altar of fashion.
+But the boys stick to it, and at last conquer even their appetites,
+learning to prefer their quid to the most delicious peach.
+
+I speak from personal knowledge, for I have seen the time that I never
+felt prouder than when behind a five or ten cent cigar or meerschaum.
+But that time is passed with me, and I never see a poor clerk going
+along the street puffing a cigar which he must know he can ill-afford to
+buy, but I think of what a man once said in speaking of a cigar: "It is
+a roll of tobacco with fire on one end and a fool on the other." One
+cigar excites the desire for another, hence the habit grows on a person.
+These remarks apply with ten fold force to the use of intoxicants. No
+matter how bountifully a man is blessed with intelligence, if the brain
+is muddled, and his judgment warped by intoxicating drinks, it will
+simply be impossible for him to succeed, to his utmost bounds, at least.
+
+Orators for years have told you of the degradation and want that the
+"social glass" brings us to. Stories innumerable have been told of
+husbands leaving all they loved in this world to satisfy these unnatural
+desires. One habit indulged leads to another. We have seen how even the
+"innocent" habit of smoking may have an influence in deciding a young
+man to take the next step. Once in the billiard room it is not hard to
+see how the young can be led on to drink, first one thing, then another.
+We will say nothing of cards. Card-playing, gambling, is only the
+natural result of these other evils, that is, they tend that way, they
+go with it and it goes with them. Where one is found you will often find
+the other.
+
+The coroner can tell you more about the results of bad habits than I
+can. To those who to-day may be so unfortunate as to be under the
+fascination of any habit, let me say that you can overcome that habit,
+and learn to detest it, too. Young man, you desire to be rich and
+succeed, but you disregard the fundamental principles of success--hence
+fail. Why wouldn't you? You might as well expect to build a fine house
+without a foundation. You desire to gain wealth, yet you spend twenty
+cents every day on one extravagance or another, which, with interest,
+would amount to over $19,000 at the end of fifty years. There is food
+for thought for you. When you again wish to yourself that you were rich,
+and then take ten cents out of your pocket in the shape of a cigar, and
+proceed to burn it up, just let the thought pass through your mind,
+"What a fool I make of myself every day."
+
+A man recently told the writer that he spent one dollar every day in
+treating and smoking. He is an ice dealer in New York City, and has done
+a good business for thirty years. I cannot say how long he has been
+spending this dollar a day, but I do know that one dollar earned each
+day, with interest, will make a man worth over $475,000 within fifty
+years. There is enough wasted by the average person within twenty-five
+years to make any family well off. The pennies are wasted in the desire
+to get the dollars. The dollars are not half so essential to success as
+the pennies. The old saying: "Honesty is the best policy," is surely
+true in more ways than one. There is more ways than one to succeed in
+this world.
+
+A man may succeed in National honor, and yet have little of this world's
+goods. Many a Congressman, who has but little money, who sometimes feel
+the need of money, would not exchange places with a Rothschild. But it
+is not necessary to be either a Rothschild or a Webster, in order to
+succeed. It is a question in my mind, whether that man, who has lived
+wholly for self, is happy, even though he be rich as Croesus or as
+honored as Demosthenes.
+
+Therefore let us not entirely lose sight of the fundamental law of
+success.--"Do unto others as you would have them do to you." "Put
+yourself in his place." What is success? It is doing our level best. It
+is the making the most of our abilities. If we do not do this we both
+sin, and lose the goal of earthly happiness.
+
+                        "And is it too late?
+    No! for Time is a fiction, and limits not fate.
+    Thought alone is eternal. Time thralls it in vain.
+    For the thought that springs upward and yearns to regain
+    The pure source of spirit, there is no TOO LATE."
+
+
+
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+<head> <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> 
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hidden Treasures, by Harry A. Lewis
+</title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+    p {  margin-top: .25em;
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+</head>
+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hidden Treasures, by Harry A. Lewis</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Hidden Treasures</p>
+<p>       Why Some Succeed While Others Fail</p>
+<p>Author: Harry A. Lewis</p>
+<p>Release Date: December 20, 2006  [eBook #20151]</p>
+<p>[Last updated March 11, 2013]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIDDEN TREASURES***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="center">
+<h4>E-text prepared by Chuck Greif<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net/c/</a>)<br />
+    from materials generously made available by<br />
+    Internet Archive/American Libraries<br />
+    (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ccccff;" summary="">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top">
+      Note:
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/whysucceed00lewirich">
+      http://www.archive.org/details/whysucceed00lewirich</a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table summary="note" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ffffff;">
+  <tr>
+    <td valign="top" style="border: solid 1px black;">
+      Transcriber's note:<br />
+      <br/>
+      A large number of printer's typographical errors have been
+      corrected. In some cases, questionable spellings, tense and
+      words (<i>e.g.</i>: vindicative) have been retained.
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Page 1]</a></span><br /></p>
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/cover.jpg"
+height="179"
+width="600" alt="Hidden Treasures" /></p>
+
+<p class="center">&mdash;OR,&mdash;</p>
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">Why Some Succeed While Others Fail</span>.</h2>
+
+<h2>BY H. A. LEWIS.</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><i>FINELY ILLUSTRATED.</i></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center">"Not Failure, but low aim is crime."</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY.<br /><br />
+
+CLEVELAND, OHIO: MOSES, LEWIS &amp; CO.<br />
+1888.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1887.<br />
+BY WRIGHT, MOSES &amp; LEWIS.<br />
+<i>All rights reserved.</i><br />
+</p>
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="toc" id="toc"></a>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<p class="nind"><a href="#PREFACE"><span class="smcap"><b>Preface.</b></span></a><br />
+&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+<a href="#INTRODUCTION"><span class="smcap"><b>Introduction.</b></span></a><br />
+&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+<a href="#QUOTATIONS"><span class="smcap"><b>Quotations.</b></span></a><br />
+&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;<br />
+<a href="#Daniel_Drew"><span class="smcap"><b>Daniel Drew.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Russell_Sage"><span class="smcap"><b>Russell Sage.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Cornelius_Vanderbilt"><span class="smcap"><b>Cornelius Vanderbilt.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Amos_Lawrence"><span class="smcap"><b>Amos Lawrence.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Horace_B_Claflin"><span class="smcap"><b>Horace B. Claflin.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#William_E_Dodge"><span class="smcap"><b>William E. Dodge.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Jay_Gould"><span class="smcap"><b>Jay Gould.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_Wannamaker"><span class="smcap"><b>John Wannamaker.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Alexander_T_Stewart"><span class="smcap"><b>Alexander T. Stewart.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Nicholas_Longworth"><span class="smcap"><b>Nicholas Longworth.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Robert_Bonner"><span class="smcap"><b>Robert Bonner.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#William_G_Fargo"><span class="smcap"><b>William G. Fargo.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_C_Flood"><span class="smcap"><b>James C. Flood.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_W_MacKay"><span class="smcap"><b>John W. MacKay.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_C_Fair"><span class="smcap"><b>James C. Fair.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Horace_Greeley"><span class="smcap"><b>Horace Greeley.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Thurlow_Weed"><span class="smcap"><b>Thurlow Weed.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_W_Childs"><span class="smcap"><b>George W. Childs.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_Gordon_Bennett"><span class="smcap"><b>James Gordon Bennett.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Phineas_T_Barnum"><span class="smcap"><b>Phineas T. Barnum.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Mathew_Vassar"><span class="smcap"><b>Mathew Vassar.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_Jacob_Astor"><span class="smcap"><b>John Jacob Astor.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Potter_Palmer"><span class="smcap"><b>Potter Palmer.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_Harper"><span class="smcap"><b>James Harper.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Henry_Disston"><span class="smcap"><b>Henry Disston.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Peter_Cooper"><span class="smcap"><b>Peter Cooper</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_Law"><span class="smcap"><b>George Law.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Darius_O_Mills"><span class="smcap"><b>Darius O. Mills.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Stephen_Girard"><span class="smcap"><b>Stephen Girard.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Moses_Taylor"><span class="smcap"><b>Moses Taylor.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#William_C_Ralston"><span class="smcap"><b>William C. Ralston.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_Peabody"><span class="smcap"><b>George Peabody.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#William_W_Corcoran"><span class="smcap"><b>William W. Corcoran.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Nathan_Mayer_Rothschild"><span class="smcap"><b>Nathan Mayer Rothschild.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_Adams"><span class="smcap"><b>John Adams.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Thomas_Jefferson"><span class="smcap"><b>Thomas Jefferson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_Marshall"><span class="smcap"><b>John Marshall.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Alexander_Hamilton"><span class="smcap"><b>Alexander Hamilton.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_Madison"><span class="smcap"><b>James Madison.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_Monroe"><span class="smcap"><b>James Monroe.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Lewis_Cass"><span class="smcap"><b>Lewis Cass.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_C_Calhoun"><span class="smcap"><b>John C. Calhoun.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Robert_Y_Hayne"><span class="smcap"><b>Robert Y. Hayne.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Daniel_Webster"><span class="smcap"><b>Daniel Webster.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Andrew_Jackson"><span class="smcap"><b>Andrew Jackson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Thomas_H_Benton"><span class="smcap"><b>Thomas H. Benton.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Henry_Clay"><span class="smcap"><b>Henry Clay.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Martin_Van_Buren"><span class="smcap"><b>Martin Van Buren.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Stephen_Arnold_Douglass"><span class="smcap"><b>Stephen Arnold Douglass.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Abbott_Lawrence"><span class="smcap"><b>Abbott Lawrence.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Alexander_H_Stephens"><span class="smcap"><b>Alexander H. Stephens.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Millard_Fillmore"><span class="smcap"><b>Millard Fillmore.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#William_H_Seward"><span class="smcap"><b>William H. Seward.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Horatio_Seymour"><span class="smcap"><b>Horatio Seymour.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Winfield_S_Hancock"><span class="smcap"><b>Winfield S. Hancock.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_B_McClellan"><span class="smcap"><b>George B. McClellan.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Ulysses_Simpson_Grant"><span class="smcap"><b>Ulysses Simpson Grant.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Stonewall_Jackson"><span class="smcap"><b>Stonewall Jackson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#General_Robert_E_Lee"><span class="smcap"><b>General Robert E. Lee.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Henry_Wilson"><span class="smcap"><b>Henry Wilson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Abraham_Lincoln"><span class="smcap"><b>Abraham Lincoln.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Edward_Everett"><span class="smcap"><b>Edward Everett.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Edwin_M_Stanton"><span class="smcap"><b>Edwin M. Stanton.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Andrew_Johnson"><span class="smcap"><b>Andrew Johnson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_A_Garfield"><span class="smcap"><b>James A. Garfield.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Chester_A_Arthur"><span class="smcap"><b>Chester A. Arthur.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#John_A_Logan"><span class="smcap"><b>John A. Logan.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_G_Blaine"><span class="smcap"><b>James G. Blaine.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Samuel_J_Tilden"><span class="smcap"><b>Samuel J. Tilden.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Henry_Ward_Beecher"><span class="smcap"><b>Henry Ward Beecher.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#James_Watt"><span class="smcap"><b>James Watt.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_Stephenson"><span class="smcap"><b>George Stephenson.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Benjamin_Franklin"><span class="smcap"><b>Benjamin Franklin.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Eli_Whitney"><span class="smcap"><b>Eli Whitney.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Robert_Fulton"><span class="smcap"><b>Robert Fulton.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Elias_Howe_Jr"><span class="smcap"><b>Elias Howe, Jr.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Isaac_M_Singer"><span class="smcap"><b>Isaac M. Singer.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Richard_M_Hoe"><span class="smcap"><b>Richard M. Hoe.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Charles_Goodyear"><span class="smcap"><b>Charles Goodyear.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Prof_S_F_B_Morse"><span class="smcap"><b>Prof. S. F. B. Morse.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Cyrus_W_Field"><span class="smcap"><b>Cyrus W. Field.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#George_M_Pullman"><span class="smcap"><b>George M. Pullman.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Thomas_A_Edison"><span class="smcap"><b>Thomas A. Edison.</b></span></a><br /><br />
+
+<span class="smcap"><b>Why Some Succeed And While Others Fail.</b></span><br /><br />
+
+<a href="#SUCCESS_AND_FAILURE"><span class="smcap"><b>Success And Failure.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Concentration_of_Effort"><span class="smcap"><b>Concentration of Effort.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Self-reliance"><span class="smcap"><b>Self-reliance.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Economy_of_Time"><span class="smcap"><b>Economy of Time.</b></span></a><br />
+<a href="#Causes_of_Failure"><span class="smcap"><b>Causes of Failure.</b></span></a><br />
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a><a href="#toc">PREFACE.</a></h2>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+Some succeed while others fail. This is a recognized fact; yet history
+tells us that seven-tenths of our most successful men began life poor.
+As our title indicates, we shall endeavor to show "why some succeed
+while others fail." Knowing that everybody desires success, and
+recognizing the old adage, "Example is the best of teachers," we have
+selected representative characters from the multitude of successful men
+who have climbed the ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round.
+These we have followed from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on
+the traits of character that have made them so rich and successful,
+believing that a careful study will convince all that the proverbial
+"luck" had little to do with it. On the contrary, one is taught those
+lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance which are so essential to
+success in life's struggles. It is fearful to think how many of our
+young people are drifting without an aim in life, and do not comprehend
+that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar with the
+parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent&mdash;all may profit by
+his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present this
+volume.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr />
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p><i>Every young man is now a sower of seed on the field of life. The bright
+days of youth are the seed-time. Every thought of your intellect, every
+emotion of your heart, every word of your tongue, every principle you
+adopt, every act you perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will
+prove bliss or bane of your after life.</i>&mdash;<span class="smcap">Wise</span>.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a><a href="#toc">INTRODUCTION.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Dear reader, it is a grave undertaking to write a book, especially is it
+so in writing a treatise on success and failure, as we have attempted to
+do in the work we hereby present you. It is a solemn thing to give
+advice. Experience teaches that no one thing will please everybody; that
+men's censures are as various as their palates; that some are as deeply
+in love with vice as others are with virtue. Shall I then make myself
+the subject of every opinion, wise or weak? Yes, I would rather hazard
+the censure of some than hinder the good of others.</p>
+
+<p>There need neither reasons to be given nor apologies to be made where
+the benefit of our fellow-men is our aim. Henry Clay Trumbull says: "At
+no time in the world's history, probably, has there been so general an
+interest in biography as that which has been shown of late. Just here
+lies a weighty obligation upon these who write, and those who read, of
+the lives of men who have done something in the world. It is not enough
+for us to know <span class="smcap">what</span> they have done; it belongs to us to discover the <span class="smcap">why</span>
+of their works and ways, and to gain some personal benefit from the
+analysis of their successes and failures. Why was this man great? What
+general intentions&mdash;what special traits led him to success? What ideal
+stood before him, and by what means did he seek to attain it? Or, on the
+other hand, what unworthy purpose, what lack of conscience and religious
+sense, what unsettled method and feeble endeavor stood in the way of the
+'man of genius' and his possible achievements?" In this volume one sees
+the barefoot boy rise to the eminent statesman, the great millionaire,
+the honored inventor. How was this accomplished? We believe that a
+careful study of the different characters, by the light of the author's
+opinion of the characteristics essential to success, as shown in
+Department Fifth, will show why they succeeded.</p>
+
+<p>Let the reader follow each character separately, from childhood to
+manhood, noting carefully the different changes in the career of each
+and the motives which actuated and brought them about. If this book
+shall serve to awaken dormant energies in <span class="smcap">one person</span> who might otherwise
+have failed, we shall feel abundantly repaid. Doubtless, there are
+others who are better qualified to write a treatise on such a subject;
+nevertheless, we have done our best, and this done, we have attained
+success.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="QUOTATIONS" id="QUOTATIONS"></a><a href="#toc">QUOTATIONS.</a></h2>
+
+<p><i>A man, to succeed, must possess the necessary equanimity of temperament
+to conceive an idea, the capacity to form it into some tangible shape,
+the ingenuity to put it into practical operation, the ability to
+favorably impress others with its merits, and the</i> <span class="smcap">power</span> <i>of</i> <span class="smcap">will</span> <i>that
+is absolutely necessary to force it to success.</i></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+<p class="sig">&mdash;<span class="smcap">Thomas A. Scott</span>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p><i>Labor rids us of three evils.&mdash;Tediousness, Vice and Poverty.</i></p>
+
+<p class="sig">&mdash;<span class="smcap">Carlyle</span>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>"<i>Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable
+and ought to be done, and then let nothing stand long in the way of
+accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to
+have it; few deserve it who do not attain it.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits
+are good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly,
+and purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price</i>&mdash;<span class="smcap">work</span>!"</p>
+
+<p><i>In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his
+motto be</i> <span class="smcap">victory or death</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="sig">&mdash;<span class="smcap">Henry Clay</span>.<br />
+</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Be liberal but cautious; enterprising but careful.</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we
+fall.</i>"<br /><br /></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i10"><i>Fail!&mdash;Fail?</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>In the lexicon of youth, which Fate reserves for a bright manhood, there is no such word</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i6"><i>As&mdash;fail!</i></span>
+</div></div>
+<p class="sig">&mdash;"<span class="smcap">Richelieu</span>."</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><i>Benjamin Franklin has truly said: The road to wealth is as plain as the
+road to mill.</i></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Daniel_Drew" id="Daniel_Drew"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Daniel Drew</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Here is a great financier. A man of unusual ability; but who is no
+exception to the rule, born poor. His success came by hard work and a
+thorough mastery of his business. It is surprising how many Wall Street
+operators began life on the farm. In the case of Daniel Drew, at the age
+of only fifteen, matters were made worse by the death of his father.</p>
+
+<p>At eighteen, he concluded to go to New York; but, after a discouraging
+time of it, his money giving out, he was obliged to return to his home.
+However, his trip did not prove a total failure, as subsequent events
+show. While in the metropolis he heard that fat cattle could be sold
+there at a profit over what he knew they could be bought for, at his
+country home. He therefore resolved to go into the cattle business.
+True, he had no money, he was a poor country lad, but this made little
+difference with Drew's determination. As he had no money with which to
+buy a drove for himself, he did the next best thing; this was to induce
+the neighboring farmers to allow him to drive their cattle to market on
+a commission plan. By this one act the reader can understand the
+difference between Daniel Drew and the neighboring farm boys, many of
+whom were better situated, doubtless, than was he.</p>
+
+<p>Another characteristic he developed was economy; his money was saved and
+with these small savings he added cattle to his drove which were his
+own, hence, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>creased his profits; first one at a time, then two, when
+at last he abandoned the commission business, becoming a drover on his
+own account. Later, he took a partner and the firm of Drew &amp; Co. became
+the cattle kings of America. This was the first firm that ever drove
+cattle from the West, and Drew, ever watchful for opportunities to add
+to his already increasing income, bought a tavern which became, as Drew
+knew it would under good management, the centre of the cattle business
+in the city on market days.</p>
+
+<p>As time passed, as a matter of course, following such a line of
+procedure, he became a very rich man, and his disposition being of an
+enterprising nature, he began to cast about him for new investments,
+seeking new fields to conquer. The explosion of a boat on the Hudson,
+discommoding for a time the existing line, offered to Drew the favorable
+opportunity for which he was looking, and as was characteristic he at
+once improved his chance. He immediately placed on the river the "Water
+Witch"; the old line resumed business; the fares were reduced until the
+profits of both companies were eaten up. The opposition tried to
+intimidate, they tried to buy out, and then tried to negotiate some
+other deals, but all in vain. On the contrary Drew put on the
+"Westchester," and instead of stopping at Peekskill, he extended to
+Albany. He next bought the "Bright Emerald," and started an evening
+line. This was a new feature in those days and as it enabled the
+business men to travel without loss of time, it became eminently
+popular.</p>
+
+<p>Drew was a man with a fertile mind; he made a study of whatever he
+undertook; he was a hard man to beat. He bought the "Rochester," and
+next bought out the old line. For a long time he had things pretty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> much
+his own way; then came a new opposition. This time, through
+negotiations, he won the opposition over and established the celebrated
+"People's Line," naming their first boat after his new partner, "St.
+John." Mr. Drew, in connection with others, formed the "Stonington Line"
+between New York and Boston, and still later he opened the "Champlain
+Transportation Company" from White Hall, New York, to Rouses Point,
+Vermont. He next placed his shoulder under Erie, endorsing its paper to
+the amount of ten millions. Later still he was elected President of this
+company, and as Erie and Central are natural enemies, Vanderbilt and
+Drew henceforth became hostile toward each other. Mr. Drew wanted to
+extend Erie west. To do this he must get a special act of the
+Legislature. Of course, he had Vanderbilt and Central, with all their
+patronage, with which to contend, and a bitter fight it proved to be;
+but in those days Daniel Drew seemed invincible in court, and the bill
+passed, Erie re-issuing stock and extending its lines.</p>
+
+<p>He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to him is that
+religious body indebted for that grand institution, "Drew Theological
+Seminary." Many men would have made a worse use of vast wealth than did
+Daniel Drew. He was a man who was quiet; he kept his "points," and was a
+pleasing conversationalist. In 1879 he died, leaving two children.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Russell_Sage" id="Russell_Sage"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Russell Sage</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>This wonderful man was born at Verona, Oneida County, New York, over
+sixty years ago. In early life, he determined to earn all that he could,
+and spend less than he earned. When he arrived at the age of fifteen, he
+removed to Troy, and entered the grocery store of one of his brothers.
+Until eighteen years of age he remained here as a clerk when he had
+saved money enough to buy an interest in another store of which another
+brother was proprietor. Here he remained several years in successful
+trade, when the partnership was dissolved. He next turned his attention
+to the wholesale trade, dealing in grain, flour, pork, beef, etc., the
+most of these ventures proving successful.</p>
+
+<p>His towns' people, recognizing his business ability elected him alderman
+for seven years, and later, treasurer of Rensselaer county. His fidelity
+in these trusts won for him a seat in Congress, and he was re-elected by
+an increased majority, serving both terms with great credit to himself
+and party.</p>
+
+<p>In 1860, he had succeeded so well that he could show $200,000 on the
+credit side of his bank account. Seeking new fields to conquer, he
+naturally gravitated to the money centre, New York. Since that time
+Russell Sage has been as favorably known in Wall street as any broker in
+the country. He occupies an office in the same building with Gould, and
+scores of the leading spirits, with whom he mingles daily. He attends
+strictly to business, and never even smokes. Mr. Sage deals in
+everything<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> which he deems "an investment,"&mdash;banks, railroad stock, real
+estate, all receive his attention. He is a very cautious operator, and
+cannot, by any possible means, be induced into a "blind pool." He has,
+however, been very successful in the "street," and it is said has built
+over three thousand miles of railroad. Russell Sage might easily be
+mistaken for a church deacon, instead of the keen operator that he is.
+However, no one in the "street" will give away "points" to his friends
+sooner than he. The <i>Troy Times</i> once mentioned several people who said
+that Mr. Sage had pointed out to them investments, of which they could
+never have known but for him, each investment having yielded them
+thousands of dollars. He often gives friends the benefit of his splendid
+opportunities, which makes him a general favorite among all brokers. Mr.
+Sage enjoys the confidence and friendship of some of the leading
+operators, among whom are Jay Gould.</p>
+
+<p>He is a man of marked ability, and honesty. He never fails to meet any
+of his obligations, nor will he allow others to neglect theirs. Of
+course, he is careful what he agrees to do, but always does just as he
+agrees, regardless of cost. For this reason he is known in Wall street
+as "Old Integrity." Russell Sage is a shrewd, close calculator, and is
+worth many millions, the result of improving his opportunities. He is a
+consistent member of the Evangelical Church, and is very charitable.
+Long may such men live, for we have many worse.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Cornelius_Vanderbilt" id="Cornelius_Vanderbilt"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Cornelius Vanderbilt</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Vanderbilt, a synonym for wealth and luxury. Who indeed has not wished
+that he could have at least a small part of the vast wealth possessed by
+the Vanderbilts? Yet, when Cornelius Vanderbilt was a boy, he enjoyed
+far less privileges to make money than the majority who now look on and
+wish; but Cornelius Vanderbilt differed from other boys of his age. One
+difference was his strong determination.</p>
+
+<p>It was then, much as it is now, boys liked to spend their money and have
+a good time.</p>
+
+<p>It was a common saying in the neighborhood where he lived, 'that when
+Corneel. Vanderbilt concludes to do anything it will certainly be done.'
+A ship stranded off the shore; young Cornelius' father took the contract
+to transfer the cargo to New York city. This was a job requiring many
+teams and a force of men to carry the produce to a different part of the
+island where they were to be taken by water to New York. Although but
+twelve years old, young Vanderbilt was given control of this part of the
+work. His father, by accident, neglected to furnish him the money with
+which to pay his ferriage. Here he was, a lad twelve years old, with no
+money, in charge of a lot of horses which must be ferried over at a cost
+of over five dollars. He hesitated but a moment; walking boldly up to
+the hotel proprietor he said: "Sir, I am here without money, by
+accident; if you will kindly advance me the money to pay the ferriage, I
+will leave a horse as your security." The proprietor was a perfect
+stranger to Vanderbilt, but he was struck with such enterprise. The
+money was advanced, and the horse redeemed within forty-eight hours.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center">
+<a href="images/019.jpg">
+<img src="images/019th.jpg"
+width="398"
+height="230" alt="ENTERPRISE. Engraved Expressly for &quot;Hidden Treasures&quot;" /></a><br />
+ENTERPRISE.<br /> Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures"
+<br /><span style="font-size: 70%;">(click on image to see enlarged view.)</span></p>
+
+<p>Vanderbilt wanted a small boat. On the tenth day of May, 1810, he went
+to his mother and asked for the money with which to buy it. There was a
+very rough piece of land on the parental farm which had never been
+plowed. His mother told him that if he would plow, drag and plant that
+field to corn within seventeen days, she would buy the boat for him. It
+was a hard job, doubtless, the mother considered it an impossible one.
+Vanderbilt, however, seemed never to recognize such a word, as can't. He
+set about the work at once, and hard as it seemed to be, the task was
+accomplished, the boat was bought, and Vanderbilt was a happy boy. He
+had earned it. Now, as Vanderbilt did not want this boat for pleasure,
+he at once began business carrying produce from Staten Island to New
+York city. When the wind was unfavorable he used oars or a pole to aid
+his sails, thus, his produce was always on time. People said, "Send your
+stuff by Vanderbilt and you can depend on its being in season." Now
+Vanderbilt had to give all of his earnings during the day time to his
+parents, so he worked nights, but his father also required one-half of
+what he earned nights, thus his opportunities were not as great as one
+might think. He worked very hard and at the end of three years, it was
+found that Corneel. Vanderbilt had saved for himself over, or about
+$3,000 and the best of all, had earned the reputation of being the best
+boatman on the river. While others were smoking and drinking, 'having
+fun while they were young, for when would they if not then?' Vanderbilt
+was either earning more money working over time, or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> at least saving
+what he had earned, home asleep recruiting for the next day's labor.</p>
+
+<p>He wished to marry a Miss Johnson, but could not unless his parents
+would release him from all parental restrictions. He was only nineteen,
+yet luckily for the young people the lady was a favorite of the father;
+the desired permission was obtained and henceforth Vanderbilt had the
+exclusive benefit of his labor. As he had begun, so he continued, and at
+the age of twenty-three he was worth about $9,000. In 1817 he became
+captain of the first steam boat that ever run between New York and New
+Brunswick, New Jersey, at a salary of $1,000 per year. His wife proved
+to be a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, she at this time
+keeping hotel at New Brunswick and making no small amount herself. Seven
+years passed and Vanderbilt was made superintendent of the company of
+which he had been an employe. If a man has ability and applies it, his
+talent will not remain hid 'under a bushel.' His ability and indomitable
+energy brought the "Gibbons Line" up to paying $40,000 a year. Seeing a
+chance, for which he was ever on the alert, he leased the ferry between
+New York and Elizabeth, New Jersey, for fourteen years, put on new boats
+and it became a very profitable venture. In 1829 he left the "Gibbons
+Line," and began to operate on the Hudson and between New York and
+Boston; also on the Delaware river. He would start an opposition line,
+and either drive off the old line or effect a compromise. In 1849 he
+obtained from the Nicaraguan Government a charter for a steamship
+company. He next went to England and raised the extra funds needed. He
+then went personally and inspected the whole route that was used, and by
+a system of cables fastened to trees, shortened the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> about seven
+hundred miles over all existing lines. He placed steamers on each ocean
+and cut the fare from New York to San Francisco one-half. Soon he had
+destroyed all opposition and then made immense profits. Afterward he
+sold out for two millions.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Vanderbilt, like all successful men, made finance a study; he
+foresaw that there were great profits to be realized in the near future
+in the undeveloped railway systems in the country. To see a chance was
+to at once set about planning to improve it. He at once began to
+withdraw his money from the water and invest in railroads, which were
+then coming rapidly to the front. The wisdom of Vanderbilt can be seen,
+for at the beginning of the war, which he had been long expecting, his
+money was all transferred from the water, and thus his interests were
+not jeopardised by the war made upon our commerce. He, however, had
+owned so many vessels, that he had long since been known as Commodore
+Vanderbilt, in fact few people to-day know him by any other name. He, at
+the beginning of hostilities, presented the government with a
+magnificent steamship, the "Vanderbilt," worth $800,000. When he entered
+the railroad business he was estimated at from thirty-five to forty
+millions. He had dealt somewhat in New York and New Haven, and now began
+to buy Harlem when it was in a most helpless and depressed condition. He
+advanced a large sum to the company when it was in need, and for this,
+among other things, he was made its President in 1863. By judicious
+management and influences common in 'The street,' he successfully ran
+Harlem from thirty to two hundred and eighty-five. Such a man was just
+what the New York Central railroad desired, and after this great
+'bulling' movement he became President of that road. All that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> was
+needed now was the Hudson River road and this he bought outright,
+becoming President of the New York Central and Hudson River Rail Road,
+extending from New York to Buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>At one time there was a bill to be voted on at Albany; the bill was in
+the interest of Harlem; Mr. Vanderbilt was sure it would pass, but
+Daniel Drew, his antagonist, who ever fought Harlem or Central as they
+were against Erie, caused a counter movement to be made which defeated
+the bill. Vanderbilt heard of it, and of course was disappointed but
+made no foolish protests with the treacherous 'friends' at the capitol.
+In the meantime these people were selling Harlem short for future
+delivery, expecting that the stock would "take a tumble" when it became
+known that the bill was defeated. As before said Vanderbilt said
+nothing, but quietly bought up every scrap of stock there was to be
+found loose. The fatal day came but Harlem stood firm. The derelict
+Assemblymen were thunderstruck when they had to buy at a greatly
+enhanced price, and many of the would-be victors were ruined. In 1873
+the Lake Shore &amp; Michigan Southern railroad was operated in connection
+with the Vanderbilt system, making a Palace Car route from New York city
+to Chicago. From New York to Buffalo a quadruple track, thence a double
+track.</p>
+
+<p>Among the charities of Mr. Vanderbilt is a gift of three-quarters of a
+million to the University in Nashville, Tennessee, which bears his name.
+He died in 1877 worth about eighty millions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Amos_Lawrence" id="Amos_Lawrence"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Amos Lawrence</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Amos Lawrence was born April 22nd, 1786. He was a weak child,
+consequently could not attend school, but his mother did not neglect
+him. When only thirteen years old he became a clerk in a country store.
+In this store was kept everything in the hardware line, from a plow to a
+needle; in the textile line, from a horse-blanket to a pocket
+handkerchief; then you could buy the productions usually found in a
+vegetable garden,&mdash;everything was kept, even to Jamaica rum and drugs
+for the sick; a good place, indeed, for a bright, active boy to gain new
+ideas. Each country store, in those days, had its bar, and the clerks
+were as likely to be called on to mix drinks, as they were to be asked
+to measure off dry goods, and it was considered as honorable. Not only
+this, but it was customary for clerks to take a drink themselves, but
+young Lawrence determined to neither drink nor smoke. True, he liked the
+taste of liquor, and enjoyed a quiet smoke, but he argued that such
+pleasures, not only eat up profits already earned, but left the system
+in a poor condition to earn more. When we consider that he was a mere
+lad of thirteen, or at best fourteen, when he had decided upon this
+honorable course, and when we think that at least, for the time being,
+these luxuries would have cost nothing, we are constrained to say, no
+wonder he became a rich man.</p>
+
+<p>If our young men would only save the money they yearly smoke up and
+spend for other needless things, we would have clearer headed and much
+wealthier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> men. Our young men all desire to gain wealth and the highest
+enjoyments possible in this world, but are not willing to pay for them.
+If they would examine the lives of a great many of our most wealthy and
+influential men of to-day, they would be surprised to learn how few even
+smoke.</p>
+
+<p>If you see a man with a high hat, gaudily dressed, smoking and seemingly
+inviting your attention at some horse trot, where he is making a great
+display of wealth in the way of bets, you can set it down as pretty
+certain that that man is a clerk working for $10 or $15 per week, or at
+best, a mere curb-stone broker who will never rise to anything higher.
+Real wealth and distinction never invite your attention. One would
+hardly take that plain old gentleman, walking along the street yonder,
+for other than a country deacon, yet the check of Russell Sage will be
+recognized and honored to the amount of millions. Jay Gould never enjoys
+himself more than when at home.</p>
+
+<p>We spend as a nation now, every year, <span class="smcap">nine hundred millions for liquor</span>
+and <span class="smcap">three hundred</span> and <span class="smcap">fifty millions</span> for <span class="smcap">tobacco</span>. Total, <span class="smcap">one billion</span>,
+<span class="smcap">two hundred</span> and <span class="smcap">fifty millions</span>. One billion, two hundred and fifty
+millions thrown away. More than twice what we use for bread and meat.
+Then look at that vast waste of unearned wages. Man can't do two things
+well at one time. In our large cities we have, of late, seen drunken
+men, with pipes in their mouths, carrying about the streets a banner
+inscribed, "bread or blood." They propose to make those who have worked
+intelligently for money, now divide. Would it not look far more sensible
+if the banner bore the inscription, henceforth, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> will boycott the
+tobacconist, and will vote for no man who is not pledged to suppress the
+saloon oligarchy?</p>
+
+<p>Amos Lawrence had not the benefit of the philanthropic teaching of our
+age, but he had a common sense, and a sense of taste and judgment far in
+advance of his time. These were the principles with which he laid the
+foundation to that great fortune and enviable reputation which he lived
+to enjoy, and which his name will ever recall. We have seen that good
+habits were the foundation of his success. He also improved his
+opportunities. He became perfectly familiar with the drug department of
+the store. He determined early in life to become a wealthy and
+influential man. To determine to do anything is half the battle. "Doubt
+indulged becomes doubt realized." "To think a thing impossible is to
+make it so." "Courage is victory, timidity is defeat." Men who
+understand these maxims are men who invariably succeed. I say
+invariably&mdash;a man may think he understands when he is groping in
+midnight darkness. A young man who really is destined to succeed, not
+only <span class="smcap">intends</span> to become a rich man, or whatever he aspires to be, but
+lays plans to that end, and is not discouraged if they are blasted. He
+only recognizes that he is foiled, for the time being, and never doubts
+his ability to succeed ultimately. There is a difference between a
+blustering braggadocio and a quiet, unassuming confidence in one's self.
+One leads to certain victory, the other, to as certain defeat.</p>
+
+<p>Young Lawrence had served his seven long years of apprenticeship, and
+had no better opportunity presented itself, he would have succeeded, for
+he had his plans carefully laid to remain in Groton, and if he had, he
+would have succeeded. But a merchant who had seen him at the store of
+his employer, no sooner learned of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> his release than he immediately
+hired him to come to Boston to enter his store there. "Seest thou a man
+diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not
+stand before mean men." Thither he went part of the way on foot; the
+rest of the way with an accommodating neighbor who was driving in that
+direction. He determined to make for himself here a record for honesty,
+and so well did he succeed, that the next year he started business for
+himself, his principal capital being his reputation and acknowledged
+ability. He developed a system in his business; he paid every bill on
+the spot; if he could not pay cash, instead of the regular custom of
+book accounts, he gave his note, thus no complications could arise to
+embarrass him. He knew when the money was expected on every bill, and
+made his calculation, and was never known to be taken by surprise. He
+was reasonably cautious&mdash;he never would promise to do what he might
+possibly be unable to accomplish. He prospered&mdash;of course he would. Such
+business principles, pushed by system as Lawrence pushed them, must
+bring success to any young man.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing, to any one who may now imagine he, perhaps, entered
+business on the tide of prosperity, we desire simply to say, on the
+contrary, from 1808 to 1815 was one of the dullest periods our
+mercantile history can recount. No, "luck" did not favor him, but
+"pluck" did. He pushed his mercantile business for years, amassing an
+immense fortune. Our country was then new, and he had to import most of
+his merchandise from England, but as he ever made a study of his
+business, concluded that he would start manufacturing industries here,
+which would prove not only profitable to himself, but of inestimable
+value to us as a nation. In accordance with these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> motives, he was
+largely instrumental in connection with the Lowells in building up the
+flourishing cities of Lowell and Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p>He never speculated in stocks. Young men, there is no money in stocks to
+the average man. Not even in legitimate stock dealing, to say nothing of
+the numerous watered concerns. We were looking over a paper recently
+when our attention was attracted to a paragraph which explained that in
+a transaction which involved 8,000 bushels of wheat, it was found that
+the odds against the buyer was over 22 per cent. While wheat is not
+stocks, still a good rule would be never to go into anything unless the
+chances are at least equal.</p>
+
+<p>Amos Lawrence once said: "Young man, base all your actions upon a sense
+of right, and in doing so, never reckon the cost." What a glorious
+principle for any young man&mdash;a principle he would find hard to follow in
+many stock speculations. "Even exchange is no robbery." It is not even
+exchange to bet and take a man's money; and it makes little difference
+whether you bet on a horse's gait or the grain he will eat next month.
+At another time he said: "Good principles, good temper, and good manners
+will carry a young man through the world much better than he can get
+along with the absence of either." His sayings are numerous, yet every
+one is worthy of attention; all of them have a golden thought for old
+and young.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lawrence did not give away in large amounts to institutions of
+learning, but he kept two rooms in his house wholly for the storage of
+articles designed to relieve poor people. One contained clothing of
+every description; the other, food and other necessaries of life. He
+gave away during his life, over $700,000, and when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> he died people
+mourned that he had gone, for there were none left that could take his
+place. Ah! this is success. He died December 31st, 1852.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Horace_B_Claflin" id="Horace_B_Claflin"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Horace B. Claflin</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>This great dry-goods prince was born at Milford, Massachusetts, in 1811,
+and his education was attained in the public schools of that place. When
+he became of age he bought out the store in which he was clerk, and in
+company with another young man began business for himself. But this
+place was too small for the already expanding vision of both Claflin &amp;
+Daniels; they accordingly moved to Worcester. The latter place proving
+yet too small for Claflin, we soon see him located in Cedar street, New
+York, where he finds himself somewhat satisfied for a time. After a
+period of successful trade&mdash;extending over six years' time, the young
+men were compelled to find more commodious quarters, which they found at
+No. 57 Broadway, and two years later they moved once more, locating in
+the Trinity Building. 1860 came, their business was found to amount to
+about $12,000,000 annually, and the firm resolved to build a store, for
+themselves. The result was an immense dry-goods palace. The retail
+business was entirely abandoned, and Claflin at once sprung to the front
+as the leading wholesale dry-goods merchant of America.</p>
+
+<p>One day, about five o'clock, Mr. Claflin sat in his private office when
+a young man, pale and careworn,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> timidly knocked and was asked in. "Mr.
+Claflin," said he, "I am in need of help. I have been unable to meet
+certain payments because certain parties have not done by me as they
+agreed. I would like to have $10,000. I come to you because I knew that
+you were a friend of my father, and I thought possibly you might be a
+friend to me." "Come in and have a glass of wine," said Claflin. "No,"
+said the young man, "I never drink." "Have a cigar?" "No, I never
+smoke." "Well," replied Claflin, "I am sorry but I don't feel that I can
+let you have the money." "Very well," replied the young man, "I thought
+perhaps you might; hence I came. Good day, sir." "Hold on," said
+Claflin. "You don't drink?" "No." "Nor smoke?" "No sir." "Nor gamble?"
+"No sir; I am superintendent of a Sunday-school, in &mdash;&mdash; street." "Well,"
+said Claflin, "you shall have it." This was characteristic of the man.
+This anecdote well illustrates his character. He was an everyday
+Christian.</p>
+
+<p>On November 14, 1885, he passed away, leaving one more gap in the
+commercial world, and in the membership of Plymouth Church, of which he
+had been a member many years. Probably no one man missed him more at the
+time of his death than did Henry Ward Beecher, of whom he had long been
+a devoted admirer.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="William_E_Dodge" id="William_E_Dodge"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">William E. Dodge</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>When one finishes the perusal of the life of William E. Dodge, he feels
+a thrill of unbounded admiration. A man who would resign his membership
+in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> Union League Club, because it sold wine to its members; who
+disposed of valuable investments in three different railroads, when a
+majority of the stockholders voted to run Sunday trains; who, while
+carrying on a large mercantile business, and managing an extensive stock
+and real estate business, yet found time to preside at the Chamber of
+Commerce and serve on numerous committees, and held a directorship in
+various banking institutions, is surely to be admired.</p>
+
+<p>His religious life was never weakened by his prosperity, and the more
+money God blessed him with, the more religious societies he became
+connected with.</p>
+
+<p>William E. Dodge was born in the year 1805, near Hartford, Connecticut.
+He began at the foot of the ladder, taking down shutters and sweeping
+out the store in which he was employed. When twenty-one, he went into
+business in a small way, doing a retail business, which prospered, and
+at the end of three years Mr. Dodge felt able to support a wife.</p>
+
+<p>In 1834 he was invited to become a partner in the firm with his
+father-in-law, Mr. Anson Phelps, and a brother-in-law, under the
+firm-style of Phelps, Dodge and Company. This connection proved a most
+profitable business venture, and at the end of twenty years Mr. Dodge
+was accounted a wealthy man. Looking about for investments, his keen
+perception espied a vast fortune in lumber, and then followed those vast
+accumulations of timber lands, by buying thousands of acres in West
+Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Canada.</p>
+
+<p>He also became greatly interested in coal lands, and as he must find a
+conveyance to bring his coal to market, he was naturally drawn into
+railroad schemes. His ability and enterprise soon placed him on the
+board of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> directors for such roads as the Delaware, Lackawanna and
+Western, and New Jersey Central, being at one time President of the
+Houston and Texas.</p>
+
+<p>He helped found several of the most noted Insurance Companies in the
+country, and was a director until his death, of the Greenwich Saving
+Bank, City Bank, The American Exchange National Bank, the United States
+Trust Company, the Bowery Fire Insurance Company, and the Mutual Life
+Insurance Company. He was President of the Chamber of Commerce, and
+owned a very large number of saw-mills, besides carrying on the regular
+business of the firm. What will those people, who would do this or that
+if they only had time, say to all this work done by one man who then
+found time to serve on the board of management of religious
+organizations innumerable?</p>
+
+<p>He was a great temperance advocate, giving thousands of dollars annually
+toward the support of various societies. There were others who had
+wealth, and gave possibly as much to the betterment of mankind as did
+Dodge, but we cannot now recall any man of great wealth who would deny
+himself as much personally, beside giving, as he did. In fact he seemed
+to be crowded to death with work, yet he never refused to aid all who
+were worthy applicants. For years he gave away annually over $200,000,
+yet it was found at his death, February, 1883, that his wealth amounted
+to something like $5,000,000, a large share of which was also given to
+charitable purposes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Jay_Gould" id="Jay_Gould"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Jay Gould</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>We have written the lives of journalists, of eminent statesmen, but we
+are now going to write the life of one of the most powerful men in
+America. A man who has far greater influence over his fellow-men than
+many a king or emperor, and a man who has played a most prominent part
+in the development of our Republic.</p>
+
+<p>Such a man is Jay Gould to-day who has risen to this dizzy height, from
+a penniless boy on his father's farm, which he left at the age of only
+fourteen to seek his fortune. He asked his father's permission first,
+which was readily given, he thinking it would cure the boy of his
+restlessness, and when young Gould left, his father fully expected to
+see him again within a few days, but even the father was mistaken in
+calculating the stick-to-it-iveness of the son. He at last found
+employment in a store where he remained two years when his health
+compelled outdoor work. He therefore obtained employment carrying chains
+for some surveyors at $10 a month. These men were making surveys from
+which an Albany publishing firm expected to issue maps for an atlas they
+were getting out. Not only did Gould carry the chains but he improved
+every opportunity for picking up points in surveying. We see one
+characteristic of the man plainly showing itself at this early age, for
+when the firm failed, Gould had the maps published himself, and then
+personally sold enough of them to clear $1,000. With this start he went
+to Pennsylvania, and was employed in a tannery. As one sees, nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+every successful man owes that success largely to the cultivation of
+pleasing manners, so it was with Gould. So apparent was his ability, and
+so well did he please his employer, that the man set Gould up in
+business at Gouldsborough, where he cleared $6,000 within the next two
+years. Gould was not satisfied with this moderate success, fine as it
+seemed to be; he only regarded these enterprises as stepping-stones to
+something higher. He next enters the metropolis where he buys and sells
+hides in a small office at No. 49 Gold street.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Gould met a young lady at the Everett House, where he
+lived, whose acquaintance was destined to have a marked influence over
+his subsequent career. This bright, handsome girl attracted his
+attention so unmistakably that Miss Miller noticed it. A little
+flirtation took place which ripened into a mutual affection, and they
+were married without waiting for the parents' approval, probably Gould
+knew better, as the young lady, at the time was far above his station in
+life as society would say, hence acted in this matter as he would in any
+business transaction he entered.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, this aroused Mr. Miller's righteous indignation, but he soon
+realized that Mr. Gould was a man of no ordinary calibre and wisely
+changed his course toward him. Mr. Miller owned a large interest in the
+Rensselaer &amp; Saratoga Railroad, and young Gould, after visiting the
+same, concluded that it could be made to pay. He accordingly bought the
+entire stock his father-in-law owned, notwithstanding the stock was
+considered all but worthless. He immediately disposed of all other
+business, and assumed the management of the road by buying up as much of
+the remaining stock as seemed necessary to give him supreme control. He
+at once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> became Manager, Superintendent and Treasurer. When the stock
+had multiplied upon itself many times, he sold out, receiving in all
+$750,000, for his interest. This first scheme illustrates his line of
+procedure in most of those seemingly mysterious movements which have
+marked his uniform success; namely, to find some road which was almost
+worthless and, if he thought good management would bring it up, secretly
+buy the controlling interest in the line, and when it reached a fair
+figure, sell. The Rutland &amp; Washington was offering stock at ten cents
+on the dollar; he at once bought it up and managed it so well that he
+soon was enabled to sell at 120, making, as most people would think, a
+fortune.</p>
+
+<p>Cleveland &amp; Pittsburg was for a long time in a precarious condition,
+perceiving which, Mr. Gould bought up all the stock he could find, and
+threw his whole ability and experience into the development of the same.
+The stock soon took an upward move, and when it reached 120 he sold his
+twenty-five thousand shares. We next see him buying Union Pacific at
+fifteen. This stock kept falling, but while others sold continually at a
+sacrifice, and seemed glad to unload at any figure, the lower it went
+the more Gould bought. After securing a controlling interest as desired,
+he began to develop the iron industries along the line, which of course
+soon gave the road business. This and other causes soon set Union
+Pacific "booming," and the stock began to rise. No sooner, however, did
+the disappointed capitalists see their mistake in selling than the cry
+was raised: "That is Gould's road and if you touch it you will surely be
+burnt." But despite all this the stock gradually rose, and in 1879 Mr.
+Gould sold the whole hundred thousand shares that he owned to a
+syndicate. It must not be sup<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>posed, however, that Mr. Gould sold to
+satisfy public clamor&mdash;Mr. Gould is not that kind of a man.</p>
+
+<p>How much he was worth when he went into Erie no one knows, but it was no
+inconsiderable amount. After Mr. Drew's suit with Vanderbilt, whereby
+the latter lost seven millions, Mr. Gould was made President of Erie,
+and the capital stock was increased to two hundred and thirty-five
+thousand shares, which stood about fifty-seven and one-half million.
+This brought the price down to 44. It was determined to sink Erie still
+lower, so Gould, Fisk and Drew locked up greenbacks to the amount of one
+million four hundred thousand. By a false movement on Drew's part, which
+his partners considered treacherous, they accordingly lost, and at once
+unlocked greenbacks, thereby stock advanced and Drew, instead of
+gaining, lost one million five hundred thousand, as he was seven
+thousand shares short. The price of the shares continued upward and
+Gould was obliged to get it down by some means in order to save himself.
+He therefore inaugurated a "bull" movement on gold. A. R. Corbin,
+brother-in-law of the President, Mr. Grant, was selected to sound the
+government, who reported that it was not intended to put any gold on the
+market for the present, at least. The clique at once bought millions
+more of gold than was to be had in the city outside of the Sub-Treasury.
+Up, up, went gold; 130 is reached, and next 133&frac12;, then 134; still the
+order is buy; buy all that is for sale. The price reaches 144, but
+nothing daunted, the clique still buy in order to force the shorts to
+cover; yet on up it goes. Black Friday week is upon them, but Jay Gould
+is now selling while others are still buying right and left. Of course,
+he still pretends to buy, but is secretly selling at 165. At last<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> the
+crash came, when the Secretary of the Treasury sold four millions on the
+street, and Gould is nearly the only one who is safe. This may look
+crooked&mdash;it certainly is not Puritan, but there are features of Jay
+Gould's success which are not praiseworthy; however, we claim there are
+many things that are worthy of imitation, hence it is here given in
+detail. He next bought Kansas &amp; Texas at 8 and ran it to 48. He
+purchased Wabash at 5, and this, under his management, rose to 80
+preferred.</p>
+
+<p>Where Mr. Gould has shown the greatest skill in his line, is his
+connection with the transactions with the Western Union. Desiring to
+secure control of that company, he went into American Union, and within
+one year it was a formidable rival, which he substituted for the Western
+Union wires on his roads, and that company's stock fell from 116 to 88.
+If it is true, as stated, that Gould was short 30,000, he must have
+cleared on this one transaction $840,000. This method is so unlike his
+usual tactics that we are inclined to disbelieve it; however, his
+dealings all through, it is claimed, seem to prove it. He next caused a
+war of rates to be announced between his company and Western Union, and
+of course, the stock of the latter dropped still lower. The story was
+then circulated that he was to become a director of Western Union, and
+no war would take place; up that stock went to 104. But when the day
+came for the election, no Gould was to be seen, and back down it
+tumbled. It is reasonably supposable that Gould profited by each of
+these fluctuations. American Union became a fixed thing, and Western
+Union becoming alarmed at renewed rumors of war, at once caused Mr.
+Gould to be seen, and he to-day owns twenty millions of Western Union.
+His Missouri, Pacific and other lines, together<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> with his elevated
+railroad schemes, are somewhat familiar topics with our readers.</p>
+
+<p>The career of such a man is a type and a proof of the progress of our
+land and the boundless opportunities that are open to energy and
+ability. Jay Gould has attained this dizzy height from poverty and
+obscurity. Unlike many rich men he is not a "fast" man. He is an
+excellent husband and father; he is never so happy, seemingly, as when
+at home sharing the family hearth, while others, who are more widely
+respected, are at their clubs. Jay Gould has been the subject of much
+abuse; indeed, what great men have not been? He is often described as a
+heartless oppressor of the poor and an enemy of his country. These
+accusations can often be traced to jealous rivals. While he has made
+millions in the new systems he has opened in the West, our territories
+and new States have been wonderfully developed and enriched billions of
+dollars. We honestly believe that the wonderful growth of the Western
+country would have been utterly impossible but for such men as Gould. If
+there had not been money in it their energy would have been lacking, and
+without that energy they must have lain dormant until other capitalists
+had opened the way to progress. That it takes a vast capital to develop
+the resources in a new country must be plain to every one. Show me a
+town which is blessed with men of capital and enterprise, and I will
+show you a town that is prosperous. Show me a town which has little of
+either, and I will show you a town in which you would hate to live.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Gould appears to be a man whom nothing would excite; and one of his
+brokers says of him: "You never can tell from his expression when he
+reads a telegram<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> whether he has made five millions or lost ten."
+Reticence is one secret of Mr. Gould's success. He absolutely cannot be
+induced to say anything which he desires kept. He is on the whole the
+most incomprehensible of New Yorkers. He is an embodiment of the
+money-making faculty. It would be a hard question to tell what Gould is
+worth. I know men who believe that he is to-day the richest citizen in
+New York. I know others who are confident that he is not worth over one
+million, and others who are certain that he is on the eve of bankruptcy,
+but this last is preposterous.</p>
+
+<p>His wealth is, of course, subject to fluctuation, and possibly Mr. Gould
+himself could not tell its exact magnitude; certainly no one knows,
+unless he does, what the precise amount is; but the writer would say at
+least seventy-five millions. Indeed, if the truth was known, we would
+not be surprised if it would amount to nearly one hundred millions.</p>
+
+<p>He is incessantly engaged in great operations, and these cannot be
+managed without vast sums. He is determined that no one shall be
+acquainted with his affairs. Despite this outward immobility, the strain
+of these colossal operations upon his brain and nerves cannot be
+otherwise than very wearing. It is said that he is troubled with
+sleeplessness, and that many of his gigantic schemes are worked out
+while he is lying in bed awake. Occasionally he gets up at night, lights
+the gas, walks the floor and tears paper into bits. It may be remembered
+that Fisk testified on his investigation by the Congressional Committee
+respecting the transactions of Black Friday, that he observed Jay Gould
+tearing up paper and throwing the pieces into the waste-basket, and thus
+he knew that his partner had some work on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> hand. He scarcely ever smiles
+and never lifts his voice above a conversational tone. He has no friends
+so far as known, but a host of enemies.</p>
+
+<p>His life is in great speculations. His greatest crime in the eyes of his
+fellow-speculators is, that he succeeds so well in doing to Wall Street,
+what Wall Street is perpetually, but vainly trying to do to him.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_Wannamaker" id="John_Wannamaker"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John Wannamaker</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1838, John Wannamaker was born in Philadelphia. His
+father was a brick-maker, and while out of school mornings, nights and
+Saturdays, the boy John was engaged in turning bricks which were laid in
+the sun to dry. Thus early those habits of industry were instilled into
+the lad who, by his own diligence, was destined to one day become the
+merchant prince of Philadelphia.</p>
+
+<p>A few years later, school was abandoned for steady employment which was
+found in a store four miles from his home, where he boarded, for he had
+not the means to do otherwise, thereby walking eight miles per day,
+aside from his duties at the store, receiving $1.25 each Saturday
+evening. Think of it, working hard all the week, walking four miles
+night and morning&mdash;in all forty-eight miles per week, and receiving only
+$1.25 salary for the entire week's work. Afterward he was employed in a
+law office, and still later we find him in a clothing store at a salary
+of $1.50 per week. Here he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> seemed to find the calling which suited his
+taste, and he cultivated a pleasing disposition; people liked to trade
+with the young clerk. Of course this faculty, coupled with energy, would
+soon bring recognition, and it was not long before he was called to
+responsible positions. Another strong feature of the success of John
+Wannamaker was, he lived on less than he earned, and saved the balance.</p>
+
+<p>In 1861 he had saved several hundred dollars, and as he had earned a
+reputation for honesty and ability, he was enabled to start in business
+on his own account. This firm of Wannamaker &amp; Brown was situated at the
+corner of Sixth and Market streets. Mr. Wannamaker kept the books&mdash;the
+firm hired no superfluous help&mdash;everything that they could do personally
+they hired no one to do. A firm which possesses ability, and follows
+such business rules, will succeed. Notwithstanding that the times were
+unusually "shaky," they prospered.</p>
+
+<p>As the business increased other stores were opened, and John Wannamaker,
+the poor clerk&mdash;after a period of twenty years of enterprise, pushed by
+energy, controlled a force of 6,000 employes. Not only does the firm
+handle clothing, but every conceivable article generally found in retail
+trade, the establishment being the largest in the great city of
+brotherly love.</p>
+
+<p>How pleasant it is to see men to whom God has bountifully supplied money
+using that means for the good of their fellow-creatures. Among the
+liberal, whole-souled millionaires of our country, John Wannamaker is to
+be found. Although carrying on an immense business he has found time to
+establish Sunday-Schools, solicit money for the Young Men's Christian
+Association, and has contributed to these personally, over $100,000.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>John Wannamaker is a philanthropist. One of his favorite schemes has
+been to go into the vilest neighborhoods, establish a Sunday-School,
+build nice houses, and thus bring the locality up to the plane of
+respectability. He was looked to for aid when the Centennial was
+projected, and it is needless to say that it was not found wanting. The
+secret of his great success is his indefatigable industry, and a
+thorough mastery of his business. He is one of the most enterprising
+merchants in history.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Alexander_T_Stewart" id="Alexander_T_Stewart"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Alexander T. Stewart</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The dry-goods prince of the world. A marble palace for a store, which is
+entered daily by an average of twenty-five thousand people who buy
+$75,000 worth of merchandise&mdash;a business with daily import duties to the
+Government of $25,000 in gold. When we look at all this, and then
+remember that he was proprietor, not only of the palace store of
+America, but had branches in Philadelphia, Boston, Lyons, Paris,
+Belfast, Glasgow, Berlin, Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, and other
+cities throughout the world. When we behold this great success, and then
+think how he landed in this country a poor Irish lad of sixteen,
+friendless, homeless, and almost penniless, alone in a strange land, we
+involuntarily exclaim, "How was such a change in his position brought
+about?" Why did he succeed, while others all about him who were far
+better situated, failed? Let us follow him:</p>
+
+<p>He was born at Belfast, Ireland, October 21st, 1802, and in 1818 came to
+America. He was a mere lad of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> sixteen. The first work that he obtained
+was as assistant in a college; here he worked hard, saved his money, and
+at last he was able to open a small store in the city where he sold
+dry-goods. When he became twenty-one he was called to his native country
+to claim a small legacy left him by a relative who had died. He had made
+a study of his business, hence invested the entire sum in Irish
+products, and returning to America rented another store on Broadway, and
+thus began that great importing business. At this time he was his own
+buyer, salesman, book-keeper and errand boy. Ah! there is the secret of
+the success of nine-tenths of our great men. They began at the
+bottom&mdash;never hiring help for the mere appearance or convenience of
+their assistance. They never hired done what they themselves could do.
+And then there is another thing to remember&mdash;beginning thus at the
+bottom they, of necessity, became thoroughly familiar with the details
+of their business, hence were never obliged to leave anything to the
+'confidential clerk' who has ruined so many business men. Stewart soon
+felt the need of more room, and was compelled to seek more commodious
+quarters. After making another move to a larger store-room he made his
+first purchase of real estate, which was his "down-town" store. After
+this his "up-town" store was built.</p>
+
+<p>He was a splendid salesman, a perfect gentleman toward customers, and
+people preferred trading with him rather than any clerk in his employ.
+His tastes were very simple, and he was always plainly dressed. It has
+been stated that Mr. Stewart never posed for a photograph, which is a
+significant fact of itself. His motto was, "Never spend a dollar unless
+there is a prospect of legitimate gain." He arose early in the morning,
+went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> to his "up-town" store, and thoroughly inspected everything; then
+to his "down-town" store where he attended to his business at that end
+of the line.</p>
+
+<p>At the breaking out of the Civil War he aided the Union cause very much.
+Being in sympathy with the principles of the Republican party, and
+holding a powerful influence over the commercial world, the President,
+Mr. Grant, nominated him Secretary of the Treasury, and he was at once
+confirmed by the Senate; but as there is a law prohibiting any merchant
+in the importing business from holding this position, he was objected to
+by opposing politicians; and, although he offered to donate the entire
+profits of his business to the poor of the city of New York, they still
+objected, and he was obliged to resign. By this, the country was
+undoubtedly robbed of the services of a man capable of making one of the
+best officers for that position our country has ever known. However, it
+was right that it should be so; it would have been very unwise to have
+established such a precedent.</p>
+
+<p>In some respects, Mr. Stewart was a very liberal man, although it has
+been stated otherwise. In his will is his desire to do good especially
+manifested. Arrangements were made for the building of a church and
+parsonage, and a school for the benefit of poor boys who desired to fit
+themselves for a professional life.</p>
+
+<p>Some people may be fortunate in one instance in their life. We do not
+wholly disregard the idea of circumstances, but we do claim and try to
+prove that it is not the <i>one instance</i> in the life after all. When we
+consider a whole life's history, we are convinced every time that
+generally where one is seemingly very fortunate, it is the result of
+careful calculation and down-right hard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> work. Bad luck is the natural
+result of carelessness in business matters. Had A. T. Stewart waited for
+a lucky chance to come to him, he might&mdash;probably never would have
+realized that splendid success that did attend his efforts. Here he came
+to this country at the age of sixteen. He did not wait for his
+grandfather to die and leave him that legacy but went right at some
+work. It may be possible that the grandfather gave him that money
+because he felt that young Stewart would make good use of it. Certain it
+is he did not wait but went right to work, saved his money, and was well
+prepared to use the legacy skillfully when he did receive it. However,
+if Stewart had never had that money given him, he would have succeeded.
+His whole life was a series of maturing plans, which had been carefully
+laid, and then pushed to completion. A man must have ability to plan
+well, and the courage and backbone to push those plans to success. A. T.
+Stewart possessed these qualities to a marked degree. He began as his
+moderate circumstances would warrant, and best of all he never allowed
+his energies to slacken. He never became a lazy business man. He never
+allowed himself to rest content with the laurels already his. He was a
+man of enterprise; while competitors followed the footsteps of their
+fathers, A. T. Stewart was progressing&mdash;he was original in nearly every
+undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>On the 10th day of April, 1876, this great magnate died. His business
+was carried on, for a time, by others, but the mainspring was gone, and
+in 1882 the great clock stopped. Here is an instance that should
+convince us of the result of courage, energy, and self-reliance. A. T.
+Stewart began without a dollar, and succeeded, while they who had the
+benefit of his experience, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> use of his vast wealth, and a marble
+palace, could not succeed.</p>
+
+<p>The history of the stealing of Mr. Stewart's body is well-known, and as
+the papers have succeeded so well in keeping the subject before the
+people, we will not speak further of that here, our object being rather
+to instruct than to narrate sensational episodes.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Nicholas_Longworth" id="Nicholas_Longworth"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Nicholas Longworth</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In the year 1782 there was born a child of parents who had once been
+somewhat wealthy, but who were then living in poverty at Newark, New
+Jersey. This child was Nicholas Longworth, the father of grape culture
+in the United States.</p>
+
+<p>He attempted to learn various trades, at one time being bound to a
+shoemaker, but finally settled upon the law and began its study, as his
+circumstances would allow, in his native city. Young Longworth saw that
+he would have far more chance to rise in the new country west of the
+Alleghanies than in the over-crowded East. Therefore, when he was of age
+he emigrated "out west," stopping at the outskirts of civilization,
+locating in a small place of 1000 inhabitants called Cincinnati. Here he
+entered the law office of Judge Burnett, and soon was capable of passing
+the necessary examination, and was admitted to the bar. His first case
+was in defense of a certain man who had been arrested for
+horse-stealing, a very grave offense in that wilderness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> This man had
+no money and about all he possessed in the world that he could call his
+own was two copper stills. As much as young Longworth needed money he
+was obliged to accept these as his fee for clearing the man. He tried to
+turn the stills into money but finally traded them for thirty-three
+acres of land, which was a barren waste. He had kept his eyes open and
+felt sure that the possibilities for Cincinnati were very great. He
+therefore bought land at ten dollars per lot, as fast as his means would
+allow, and all through the early portion of his life bought real estate
+until he became recognized as the heaviest real estate owner in
+Cincinnati.</p>
+
+<p>Years afterward he saw the wisdom of his course,&mdash;living to see his ten
+dollar lots rise to ten thousand dollars each, and the land which he
+received as his first fee, that was thought to be all but worthless,
+rise to the value of two million dollars. After following the law for
+about twenty years he was forced to give up his practice in order to
+take care of his extensive land interest. He went into the grape growing
+business, and for some time his efforts were attended with only
+discouragement, but he had relied on the clippings from foreign vines.
+He firmly believed that the Ohio valley was naturally adapted to the
+growth of the grape, and in this enterprise he allowed himself to harbor
+no thoughts other than of success.</p>
+
+<p>This is a characteristic of any man calculated to succeed. After
+experimenting with many different varieties, he at last hit upon the
+Catawba. To encourage the industry he laid out a very large vineyard,
+gave away great numbers of cuttings, offered a prize for any improvement
+in the Catawba grape, and proclaimed that he would buy all the wine that
+could be brought to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> him from the valley, whether in large or small
+quantities. The result was that grape growing figured as no small factor
+in the development of Ohio. He had a wine cellar capable of holding
+300,000 bottles, and was worth at his death $15,000,000.</p>
+
+<p>Nicholas Longworth was exceedingly liberal in his own way&mdash;selling his
+lots on easy installments, thereby aiding many to a home. His motto was,
+"Help those who help themselves," however, he gave much to those whom no
+one else would aid. He was personally of inferior appearance; not only
+this, but nothing pleased him more than a shabby dress, being often
+mistaken for a beggar. As a benefactor and horticulturist he made his
+influence to be felt in succeeding generations.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Robert_Bonner" id="Robert_Bonner"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Robert Bonner</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Of all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert Bonner
+is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and
+at the age of sixteen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle
+here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a paper, and drifted
+into the office of the <i>Hartford Courant</i>. Robert Bonner determined to
+own a paper; he, therefore, set about it, working faithfully every day,
+and overtime, saving his money. He mastered his business, becoming an
+expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment
+on the <i>Mirror</i>. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising
+department, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> taste in
+the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much
+to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a
+correspondent of the <i>Hartford Courant</i>, also newspapers in Boston,
+Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the <i>Merchants Ledger</i>, a
+paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he
+transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the <i>New York
+Ledger</i>. Fanny Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature.
+Bonner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the <i>Ledger</i>, enclosing
+his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days,
+of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full
+of advertisements&mdash;"Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the <i>Ledger</i>."
+"Read The <i>New York Ledger</i>"&mdash;Some people said, "Well, first-class
+journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe;
+they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to
+study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was <i>Harpers
+Weekly</i>&mdash;no one questioned its respectability. The Harpers never
+indulged in any flashy advertising, but soon the people were surprised
+to see in all the leading papers, 'Buy <i>Harpers Weekly</i>,' as no one
+imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the
+advertisements to the necessity Harpers felt through the rivalry of the
+<i>Ledger</i>. This sort of enterprise cost, but it convinced people that
+respectable journals advertised as did the <i>Ledger</i>. People said it was
+'cheap, trashy literature, etc.'</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bonner at once hunted up Edward Everett who was recognized as the
+representative of New England refinement. This was a most opportune time
+for Mr. Bonner, as Mr. Everett was trying to raise a large sum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> with
+which to aid in beautifying the home and tomb of Washington. Mr. Bonner
+engaged Mr. Everett to write a series of articles on Mount Vernon,
+giving in return his check for $10,000 to be applied toward the Everett
+Fund for the aid of the Association. Probably Mr. Everett would have
+refused to write at any other time, but Bonner took advantage of
+circumstances&mdash;<span class="smcap">always</span>.</p>
+
+<p>He next secured George Bancroft, the eminent historian. Then followed
+Horace Greely, James Gordon Bennett, and Henry J. Raymond. When such
+lights of journalism would write for the <i>Ledger</i>, what could lesser
+country editors say? Next came a story by Henry Ward Beecher, who was
+followed by Dr. John Hall the great Presbyterian Divine, Bishop Clark,
+Dr. English, Longfellow, Tennyson, and others, including a series of
+articles from the presidents of the leading colleges throughout the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bonner is a Presbyterian, being a member of the church presided over
+by Dr. John Hall, on Fifth Avenue. He has given many thousands of
+dollars to various institutions and charities. He owns the finest stable
+of horses in the Union, among which are such as Maud S.&mdash;his first great
+trotter was Dexter. He never allows one of his horses to trot for money.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bonner is getting along in years but still attends to business. His
+paper has at times attained a circulation of 400,000 copies, each
+issue.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="William_G_Fargo" id="William_G_Fargo"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">William G. Fargo</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Who, indeed, has not heard of the American Express Company? Yet, how few
+there are who know to whom we are indebted for its existence.</p>
+
+<p>William G. Fargo was born May 20, 1818, at Pompey, New York, and at the
+age of twelve he was mail-carrier over a route that covered forty miles.
+The inference must be at once formed that William G. Fargo was no
+ordinary child. He must have been industrious and trustworthy, for the
+mail must be delivered on time. No holiday could be observed, nor could
+any circus be allowed to come between him and his work. Seeking a more
+remunerative calling he went to Waterville, where he clerked in a small
+store and tavern, improving his spare moments in learning to keep
+accounts. When seventeen he went to Syracuse and entered a grocery
+house. He continued in the grocery line in one capacity or another for
+five years, when he accepted the freight agency of the Auburn and
+Syracuse Railroad, in which capacity he had found his calling. Two years
+later he became associated with Pomeroy &amp; Co., and was given the express
+agency for that company at Buffalo, and in 1844 he became a member of
+the firm of Wells &amp; Co., who established an express line from Buffalo,
+west to Detroit, via Cleveland. This firm, in time, became Livingston &amp;
+Fargo, and finally the several express companies: Wells &amp; Co.,
+Butterfield, Wasson &amp; Co. and Livingston &amp; Co., became merged into the
+since famous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> American Express Co. In 1868 Mr. Fargo was elected
+President of this Company, and remained at its head until his death. He
+was also connected with various other enterprises, being Vice-President
+of the New York Central &amp; Hudson River railroad, and was also largely
+interested in Northern Pacific and other railroad stock. In 1861 he was
+elected Mayor of Buffalo on the Democratic ticket, but so impartial was
+he in the administration of the city affairs, and so patent was his
+business ability, that he was re-elected, being supported by all
+parties.</p>
+
+<p>Such is the reward for earnestness. And will any one say that William G.
+Fargo was not deserving of this splendid success? If we will have
+success we must earn it. Let no man envy another in no matter what
+station of life he may be situated. Rest assured that we will fill the
+place that we are capable of filling; no more, no less.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_C_Flood" id="James_C_Flood"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James C. Flood</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>James C. Flood was born in New York city. He received only a plain
+common school education, but has succeeded, not from a lack of education
+but in spite of that lack. He passed through the usual routine of boys
+placed in moderate circumstances, until the year 1849, being past his
+majority, he sailed in the good ship "Elizabeth," around the "Horn,"
+arriving in a strange land without money or friends, but he had brains,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> they were reinforced by a surprising allowance of will-power.</p>
+
+<p>He drifted from one thing to another, kept a restaurant, and finally in
+1854 loomed up as senior partner in the firm of Flood &amp; O'Brien, who
+were soon deep in "Old Kentuck," seeking the treasures which they found
+in great quantities, and finally when they took hold of the "Hale &amp;
+Norcross" mine, it made them the first bonanza kings America ever knew.</p>
+
+<p>He next projects the Nevada Bank and makes the call for over five
+millions of dollars which leads to the suspension of the Bank of
+California, as the indiscrete placing of its resources leaves that bank
+in a weak position to withstand so sudden a drain, and was therefore
+indirectly the cause, as most people think, of its beloved President's
+death. Mr. Flood desired to place this Nevada Bank upon so firm a
+foundation that neither the indiscretion of speculators or the ebb and
+flow of mercantile life could overthrow it. How well this has been
+accomplished can be seen from the fact, that it has a capital of nearly
+fifteen million dollars, and numbers among its directors, such bonanza
+kings as James C. Flood, John W. MacKay and James G. Fair, whose private
+fortunes combined represent over $100,000,000, to say nothing of other
+wealthy directors. This bank asserts that it has special facilities for
+handling bullion, and we should think quite likely it has. Something of
+the condition of the private finances of Mr. Flood can be ascertained.
+If one takes the trouble to look over the assessment roll he will find
+the following: "James C. Flood, 6,000 shares, Nevada Bank stock,
+$1,200,000; 12,000 shares, Pacific Mill &amp; Mining Co., $4,000,000; 250
+shares, Pacific Wood, Lumber &amp; Flume Co., $30,000;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> 1,000 shares, San
+Francisco Gaslight stock, $90,000; 937 shares of Golden City Chemical
+Works, $20,000; 3,000 shares of Virginia &amp; Gold-Hill Water Co.,
+$300,000; 47&frac12; shares of Giant Powder Co., $60,000; 649&frac12; shares
+Atlantic Giant Powder Co., $30,000; 35,000 shares Ophir Mine stock,
+$1,000,000," and he is assessed for $250,000 in money. Then comes J. C.
+Flood &amp; Co. "Controlling interest in stock of Yellow Jacket, Union
+Consolidated, Scorpion, Savage, Ophir, Occidental, Hale &amp; Norcross,
+Gould &amp; Curry, Consolidated Virginia, Best &amp; Belcher and other mining
+companies, $10,000,000; money $500,000." In all it is quite a fortune
+for a poor boy to find, but it must be remembered that Mr. Flood had
+much with which to contend, and that nine men out of ten might have
+passed over the same ground and found nothing. Industry is what wins,
+and J. C. Flood is no exception to the rule. In a recent law suit Mr.
+Flood displayed a most peculiar memory, or rather a most remarkable lack
+of memory. We take the following facts from an editorial on the subject:</p>
+
+<p>"A certain man sued Mr. Flood to recover about $26,000,000, the alleged
+value of certain 'tailings' on some of the mines. Mr. Flood did not know
+what company milled the ore of the Consolidated Virginia; did not
+remember who was President of the company at the time; he might have
+been; could not say for certain however; did not know where the crude
+bullion from his own mines was sent to be melted into bars; could not
+tell how much was worked, nor anything about it. He did not remember who
+was treasurer of the mill company; he might have been, might now be, but
+could not tell for certain."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Flood owns one of the finest mansions, for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> private residence, in
+the whole world. It cost one million, and is a magnificent building in
+any sense.</p>
+
+<p>Few men surpass him in either getting or keeping money.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_W_MacKay" id="John_W_MacKay"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John W. MacKay</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>John W. MacKay is not only the youngest and the richest of that bonanza
+trio&mdash;Flood, Fair and MacKay but immense wealth has not spoiled him. He
+is of Irish birth, but came to this country before he was of age. When
+the gold fever broke out he was one of the first to seek his fortune in
+that auriferous country bordering on the Pacific, in California.
+Contrary to the general supposition that his great wealth came through
+'good luck,' let me say, it was only by constant toil and slowly
+acquired experience that he learned how to tell a non-paying lead from a
+bonanza. Several times he seemed about to strike the long-looked for
+success only to find his brightest hopes dashed to the earth. But these
+failures tempered him for the greater hardships that followed.</p>
+
+<p>The famous "Comstock Lode" is situated among a vast accumulation of
+rocks and deep canyons&mdash;the result of terrible volcanic eruptions at
+some remote period. This mining district was discovered by two Germans
+in about 1852-3. Contrary to the opinion expressed by other prospectors,
+these Germans saw silver in the rejected ore. Both brothers suddenly
+dying, the claim fell to a store<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>keeper named Comstock who sold out for
+a few thousand. Mr. MacKay's investment in the one mine, the
+"Consolidated Virginia and California," has paid him unheard of
+dividends. This mine produced in a period covering six years, from 1873,
+gold and silver to the amount of over sixty-three millions of dollars.
+The combined profits of the two mines were over seventy-three and
+one-half millions of dollars. Mr. MacKay drifted to this lode, making
+his first 'hit' in 1863, and in this section the bulk of his vast
+fortune was accumulated.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of November, 1867, he concluded that he was able to support
+a wife, and accordingly married the widow of an old friend (Dr.
+Thompson) who had shared his varying fortune of former years when he
+little dreamed of the vast wealth that awaited him. This lady is one of
+the best hands to help a man spend a fabulous income, of which we are
+aware. She lives in Paris, where she gives the most expensive of
+entertainments. When General Grant was in France he was her guest. She
+supports a private railway carriage to use at her pleasure, and it would
+almost exceed belief to describe the cost of her table service; in fact,
+she lives in oriental splendor. On the other hand Mr. MacKay is
+decidedly pronounced, personally, in favor of little show. He is far
+more at home in Virginia City, where he may often be seen in a genuine
+mining costume, than at his palatial home in Paris.</p>
+
+<p>The ground had been known for years wherein his great wealth was found,
+but it was pronounced worthless. Everything seemingly had to be
+contested; confidence was lacking, and what confidence remained was
+daily agitated by parties who were jealous rivals. The stock became
+almost worthless, and great discontent was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> manifest when, to make
+matters worse, a fire broke out which burned the company's property and
+valuable machinery. Twelve hundred feet of ground had to be slowly gone
+over in search for the right vein, at a cost of $500,000. Amid great
+discouragement John W. MacKay led this apparently forlorn hope to at
+last be crowned with the success he so richly deserved. He now is
+estimated to be worth in the vicinity of $55,000,000, and although it
+may seem a somewhat extravagant reward, it cannot be denied that this
+vast sum could have been placed in far worse hands.</p>
+
+<p>Both Mr. and Mrs. MacKay are very liberal toward charitable purposes.
+They were especially complimented by Pope Leo XIII for their charitable
+deeds. As Mr. MacKay is but about fifty years of age, it is hard to
+conjecture his possible future. While many features in his career seem
+to justify the belief in "luck," still, to the close observer, it is
+manifest that had he not possessed great endurance, and known no such
+thing as fail, the world would never have known of John W. MacKay.
+Surely, great effort is the price of great success, <span class="smcap">always</span>.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_C_Fair" id="James_C_Fair"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James C. Fair</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The name of James C. Fair will be recognized at once as one of the
+bonanza kings, and like the others he enjoyed only a fair education,
+starting for California at about the same time as the rest; he taking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+the overland route while they went by water. His only capital consisting
+of a miner's outfit, and with those simple implements he began his hard
+fought battle for wealth. He made mining a scientific study and after
+about six years of variable success, he became known as an expert. Soon
+after this he accepted the superintendency of the Ophir mine, and later,
+the Hale &amp; Norcross; since which time he has gone on, until now, he can
+count his worldly possessions by the million. He is a most thorough
+miner, and his long continued life at the bottom of the mines has had a
+telling effect on his health. That he has successfully managed such wild
+and wicked men, as many miners are, without becoming the victim of some
+"accident," indicates something of his ability. Finally his impaired
+health necessitated his withdrawal from active work, and he made an
+extended voyage, returning in a much improved condition.</p>
+
+<p>In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acquitted
+himself with credit. He charged nothing for his services, an event
+without parallel in our history, however, he received all for which he
+went to Washington&mdash;honor. He is assessed for over forty millions, and
+can well afford to donate his salary to the Government.</p>
+
+<p>Like the other bonanza kings he seems to have been specially favored by
+fortune, but the old saying, "Birds of a feather will flock together,"
+is true in this case, for these men are all practical miners and changed
+partners often until the firm of Flood, Fair &amp; MacKay was formed, since
+which time they all seem perfectly satisfied each with the other. All
+had been sorely tried during their earlier life and were not found
+wanting either in ability<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> or stick-to-it-iveness as they passed through
+the crucible of Dame Fortune.</p>
+
+<p>As we have just been reading the lives of the three bonanza kings, J. C.
+Flood, J. C. Fair and J. W. MacKay, possibly a description of one of
+their enterprises in the shape of a flume will be interesting as
+described by a New York <i>Tribune</i> correspondent:</p>
+
+<p>A fifteen-mile ride in a flume down the Sierra Nevada Mountains in
+thirty minutes was not one of the things contemplated in my visit to
+Virginia City, and it is entirely within reason to say that even if I
+should make this my permanent place of residence&mdash;which fortune
+forbid&mdash;I shall never make the trip again. The flume cost, with its
+appurtenances, between $200,000 and $300,000&mdash;if it had cost a million
+it would be the same in my estimation. It was built by a company
+interested in the mines here, principally the owners of the Consolidated
+Virginia, California, Hale &amp; Norcross, Gould &amp; Curry, Best &amp; Belcher and
+Utah mines. The largest stockholders in these mines are J. C. Flood,
+James C. Fair, John W. MacKay and W. S. O'Brien, who compose without
+doubt the wealthiest firm in the United States. Taking the stock of
+their companies at the price quoted in the board, the amount they own is
+more than $100,000,000, and each has a large private fortune in
+addition. The mines named use 1,000,000 feet of lumber per month under
+ground, and burn 40,000 cords of wood per year. Wood is here worth from
+$10 to $12 per cord, and at market prices Messrs. Flood &amp; Co. would have
+to pay nearly $500,000 a year for wood alone. Going into the mine the
+other day, and seeing the immense amount of timber used, and knowing the
+incalculable amount of wood burned in the several mines and mills, I
+asked Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> MacKay, who accompanied me, where all the wood and timber
+came from. "It comes," said he, "from our lands in the Sierras, forty or
+fifty miles from here. We own over twelve thousand acres in the vicinity
+of Washoe Lake, all of which is heavily timbered." "How do you get it
+here?" I asked. "It comes," said he, "in our flume down the mountains,
+fifteen miles, and from our dumping grounds is brought by the Virginia &amp;
+Truckee Railroad to this city, about sixteen miles. You ought to see the
+flume before you go back; it is really a wonderful thing." The flume is
+a wonderful piece of engineering work. It is built wholly on
+trestle-work and stringers; there is not a cut in the whole distance,
+and the grade is so heavy that there is little danger of a jam. The
+trestle-work is very substantial, and undoubtedly strong enough to
+support a narrow-gauge railway. It runs over foot-hills, through
+valleys, around mountains, and across canyons. In one place it is
+seventy feet high. The highest point of the flume from the plain is
+3,700 feet, and on an air-line, from beginning to end the distance is
+eight miles, the course thus taking up seven miles in twists and turns.
+The trestle-work is thoroughly braced longitudinally and across, so that
+no break can extend further than a single box, which is 16 feet. All the
+main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills,
+and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart. These again
+rest upon substantial stringers. The grade of the flume is from 1,600 to
+2,000 feet from top to bottom&mdash;a distance, as previously stated, of
+fifteen miles. The sharpest fall is three feet in six. There are two
+reservoirs from which the flume is fed. One is 1,100 feet long and the
+other is 600 feet. A ditch, nearly two miles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> long, takes the water to
+the first reservoir, whence it is conveyed 3&frac14; miles to the flume
+through a feeder capable of carrying 450 inches of water. The whole
+flume was built in ten weeks. In that time all the trestle-work,
+stringers and boxes were put in place. About 200 men were employed on it
+at one time, being divided into four gangs. It required 2,000,000 feet
+of lumber, but the item which astonished me most was that there were 28
+tons, or 56,000 pounds of nails used in the construction of this flume.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Flood and Mr. Fair had arranged for a ride in the flume, and I was
+challenged to go with them. Indeed the proposition was put in this
+way&mdash;they dared me to go. I thought that if men worth twenty-five or
+thirty million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could
+afford to risk mine, which isn't worth half as much. So I accepted the
+challenge, and two 'boats' were ordered. These were nothing more than
+pig troughs, with one end knocked out. The 'boat' is built like the
+flume, V shaped, and fits into the flume. The grade of the flume at the
+mill is very heavy, and the water rushes through it at railroad speed.
+The terrors of that ride can never be blotted from the memory of one of
+the party. I cannot give the reader a better idea of a flume ride than
+to compare it to sliding down an old-fashioned eve-trough at an angle of
+45 degrees, hanging in mid-air without support of roof or house, and
+extending a distance of fifteen miles. At the start we went at the rate
+of twenty miles an hour, which is a little less than the average speed
+of a railroad train. The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our boat on
+the bottom as best he could. Mr. Fair sat on a seat behind him, and I
+sat behind Mr. Fair in the stern and was of great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> service to him in
+keeping the water which broke over the end-board, from his back. There
+was also a great deal of water shipped in the bows of the hog-trough,
+and I know Mr. Fair's broad shoulders kept me from more than one ducking
+in that memorable trip. At the heaviest grades the water came in so
+furiously in front that it was impossible to see where we were going, or
+what was ahead of us; but when the grade was light, and we were going at
+a three or four minute pace, the view was very delightful, although it
+was terrible. When the water would enable me to look ahead, I could see
+the trestle here and there for miles; so small and so narrow and
+apparently so fragile that I could only compare it to a chalk-mark upon
+which, high in the air, I was running at a rate unknown to railroads.
+One circumstance during the trip did more to show me the terrible
+rapidity with which we dashed through the flume than anything else. We
+had been rushing down at a pretty lively rate of speed when the boat
+suddenly struck something in the bow, a nail, a lodged stick of wood or
+some secure substance which ought not to have been there. What was the
+effect? The red-faced carpenter was sent whirling into the flume ten
+feet ahead. Fair was precipitated on his face, and I found a soft
+lodgment on Fair's back. It seems to me that in a second's time&mdash;Fair
+himself a powerful man&mdash;had the carpenter by the scruff of the neck, and
+had pulled him into the boat. I did not know at this time that Fair had
+his fingers crushed between the flume and the boat. But we sped along;
+minutes seemed hours. It seemed an hour before we arrived at the worst
+place in the flume, and yet Hereford tells me that it was less than ten
+minutes. The flume at the point alluded to must have been very nearly
+forty-five degrees inclination. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> looking out, before we reached it, I
+thought the only way to get to the bottom was to fall. How our boat kept
+in the track is more than I know.</p>
+
+<p>The wind, the steamboat, the railroad, never went so fast. In this
+particularly bad place I allude to, my desire was to form some judgment
+as to the speed we were making. If the truth must be spoken, I was
+really scared almost out of my reason, but if I were on my way to
+eternity I wanted to know exactly how fast I went, so I huddled close to
+Fair, and turned my eyes toward the hills. Every object I placed my eyes
+upon was gone before I could plainly see what it was. Mountains passed
+like visions and shadows. It was with difficulty that I could get my
+breath. I felt that I did not weigh a hundred pounds, although I knew in
+the sharpness of intellect that I tipped the scales at two hundred. Mr.
+Flood and Mr. Hereford, although they started several minutes later than
+we, were close upon us. They were not so heavily loaded, and they had
+the full sweep of the water, while we had it rather at second-hand.
+Their boat finally struck ours with a terrible crash. Mr. Flood was
+thrown upon his face, and the waters flowed over him. What became of
+Hereford I do not know, except that when we reached the terminus of the
+flume he was as wet as any of us. This only remains to be said: We made
+the entire distance in less time than a railway train would ordinarily
+make, and a portion of the distance we went faster than a railway train
+ever went. Fair said we went at least a mile a minute. Flood said that
+we went at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, and my deliberate belief
+is that we went at a rate that annihilated time and space. We were a wet
+lot when we reached the terminus of the flume.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Flood said that he would not make the trip again for the whole
+Consolidated Virginia mine. Fair said that he should never again place
+himself upon an equality with timber and wood, and Hereford said he was
+sorry that he ever built the flume. As for myself, I told the
+millionaires that I had accepted my last challenge. When we left our
+boats we were more dead than alive. The next day neither Flood nor Fair
+were able to leave their beds. For myself, I have only the strength to
+say that I have had enough of flumes.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Horace_Greeley" id="Horace_Greeley"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Horace Greeley</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In the history of journalism, Horace Greeley must, for all time, hold a
+position in the front rank. As it is well-known he is a self-made man,
+being born of poor parents at Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3rd day of
+February, 1811. His father was a farmer. The Greeley ancestors enjoyed a
+reputation for 'tenacity,' which was clearly shown in the pale-faced,
+flaxen-haired but precocious lad of fifteen, who presented himself and
+was employed at the office of the <i>Northern Spectator</i>, at Poultney,
+Vermont, in 1826; having walked from West Haven, his home, eleven miles
+distant. He was to remain an apprentice until twenty, and received in
+money the princely sum of forty dollars a year 'with which to buy
+clothes and what was left he might use for spending money.' Why he lived
+to found a great paper the reader can easily guess, when it is learned
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> Greeley used the greater part of said forty dollars each year for
+buying books.</p>
+
+<p>He joined a local debating club where he became the 'giant' member, a
+tribute paid to his intellect. Most of the members were older than
+Greeley, but knowledge proved a power in that society and he was
+invariably listened to with marked attention despite his shabby
+appearance. Especially was he fond of political data; he followed the
+exchanges in the <i>Spectator</i> office with increasing interest. His
+parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he visited them during his
+apprenticeship as "printers' devil," and general assistant at Poultney,
+walking the most of the way, a distance of about 600 miles. The
+<i>Spectator</i> having collapsed, young Greeley, with his entire wardrobe
+done up in a handkerchief, once more visits Pennsylvania, but not to
+remain idle; he soon obtained a place in a printing office near his
+home, at eleven dollars per month, and later still he obtains employment
+at Erie where he receives fifteen dollars per month. Soon after this,
+not yet content, he is enroute for New York, where he arrived August 17,
+1831.</p>
+
+<p>His appearance in the metropolis was ludicrous in the extreme. One can
+imagine from accounts given of him how prepossessing he must have
+looked; flaxen locks, blue eyes, his hat on the back of his head as if
+accustomed to star gazing, must have given him the appearance of one
+decidedly 'green,' to say the least. As is a noted fact he was, to his
+death, exceedingly indifferent as to his dress and what are known as the
+social demands of society. Indeed he could be seen on the street almost
+any day with his pockets stuffed full of papers, his hat pushed back on
+his head like a sailor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> about to ascend the rigging, his spectacles
+seemingly about to slip off his nose, his boot heels running over, and
+we doubt not that he was as likely to have one leg of his pantaloons
+tucked into his boot top while the other was condescendingly allowed to
+retain its proper place. In fact it is hardly probable that he would
+have impressed any one with the idea that he was indeed a great editor
+of that city. But we return to his first visit; office after office was
+visited without avail but that hereditary 'tenacity' did not forsake
+him, and at last he met an old friend, a Mr. Jones whom he had first met
+in Poultney. This friend, although not a 'boss,' printer fashion set him
+at work on his own case. When the proprietor came in he was dumbfounded
+at the specimen of a printer he beheld, and declared to the foreman that
+he could not keep him. Fortunately, however, for young Greeley, the job
+that he was on was setting small type,&mdash;a most undesirable one. The
+foreman shrewdly suggested that as Jones, who was a good workman, knew
+him it would be a good policy to wait and see the result. As it was a
+very difficult job no wonder that Greeley's proof looked as though it
+had the measles, but as he was retained he must have done as well if not
+better than was expected. When the job was finished he was thrown out of
+employment, and he shifted about for some time doing odd jobs; in fact
+it must have been very discouraging, but finally he obtained employment
+on the <i>Spirit of the Times</i>, and afterward formed a business
+partnership with Mr. Story who, with Mr. Greeley, invested about $240.
+They established a penny paper, and were moderately successful, but Mr.
+Story was drowned and his place was filled by another. His connection
+with the <i>New Yorker</i> was his next busi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>ness venture. While on this
+paper he was also editor of a paper in Albany, and a regular contributor
+to the <i>Daily Whig</i>. When we think that he gave himself only four hours
+sleep out of the twenty-four, we can realize how he could find time to
+edit two papers and write for the third, but despite this assiduousness
+his enterprise failed and he thereby lost $10,000.</p>
+
+<p>Greeley's opinion on economy was clearly defined when he said: "For my
+own part, and I speak from sad experience, I would rather be a convict
+in States Prison or a slave in a rice swamp, than to pass through life
+under the harrow of debt. If you have but fifty cents and can get no
+more for the week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it rather
+than owe any man a dollar." He next started the <i>Log Cabin</i>. It was
+started in the beginning of 1840, designed to be run six months and then
+discontinued. Into this undertaking Horace Greeley threw all his energy
+and ability, guided by his experience. In those days a journal with a
+circulation of ten thousand was a big concern. When an edition of nearly
+fifty thousand of its first issue was called for, the publishers were
+beside themselves, and later when the <i>Log Cabin</i> ran up a circulation
+of eighty and even ninety thousand, the proprietors were frantic as to
+how they should get them printed. It is needless to say that the <i>Log
+Cabin</i> outlived its original expectations.</p>
+
+<p>Ultimately the <i>Log Cabin</i> and the <i>New Yorker</i> were merged into the
+<i>New York Tribune</i>. As is a recognized fact, Greeley was stronger in a
+fight than in peace, and the attacks which this new enterprise received
+soon run its circulation from the hundreds into the thousands. Of course
+new presses had to be bought and Greeley, who by the way preferred to
+discuss the financial policy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> of a great nation than that of his own
+office, soon found himself obliged to get a business man as a partner.
+He was exceedingly fortunate in securing Mr. Thomas McElrath, who soon
+brought order from chaos, and the <i>Tribune</i> became not only an ably
+conducted paper but a paying one as well.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Greeley next became a lecturer, and in this field he was also fairly
+successful. He traveled in Europe and wrote such books as "Hints About
+Reform," "Glances at Europe," "History of the Slavery Extension,"
+"Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco," "The American
+Conflict," "Recollections of a Busy Life," "Essays on Political
+Economy," and just before his death, "What I Know About Farming."</p>
+
+<p>While Mr. Greeley must ever be regarded among journalists as one of
+their brightest stars; he was one of the most peculiar writers it has
+ever been our pleasure to read. In fact he must be regarded as a kind of
+literary gymnast. While conducting a political paper he at one time
+devoted page after page to the theory of reorganizing society after the
+plan of Fourier; that is to divide society up into small communities to
+live in common. After wearying the readers on this and numerous other
+'isms,' it was discontinued. He went into a political frenzy over Clay
+and protection; next his paper was full of the 'Irish Repeal,' 'Advocacy
+of the Water Cure,' 'Phrenology,' 'Mesmerism,' 'Opposition to Capital
+Punishment,' 'Trinitarianism' and the 'Drama.'</p>
+
+<p>He was finally elected to Congress to fill an unexpired term. While here
+he caused some amusement by his eccentricities. He refused to sit up at
+night sessions, abruptly leaving when his hour for retiring arrived.
+Possibly his letter addressed to the managers of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> party in his State
+was one of the greatest surprises that he ever sprung upon the country.
+It was addressed to Mr. Seward personally, but upon mention being made
+of it by that gentlemen's friends, it was made public by Greeley's
+demand. It ran something as follows: "The election is over, and its
+results sufficiently ascertained. It seems to me a fitting time to
+announce to you the dissolution of the political firm of Seward, Weed
+and Greeley by the withdrawal of the junior partner, said withdrawal to
+take effect on the morning after the first Tuesday in February next. I
+was a poor young printer, and editor of a literary journal&mdash;a very
+active and bitter Whig in a small way, but not seeking to be known
+outside of my own ward committee. I was one day called to the City Hotel
+where two strangers introduced themselves as Thurlow Weed and Lewis
+Benedict, of Albany. They told me that a cheap campaign paper of
+peculiar stamp at Albany had been resolved on, and that I had been
+selected to edit it. I did the work required to the best of my ability.
+It was work that made no figure and created no sensation; but I loved it
+and I did it well."</p>
+
+<p>"When it was done you were Governor; dispensing offices worth three to
+twenty thousand to your friends and compatriots, and I returned to my
+garret and my crust and my desperate battle with pecuniary obligations
+heaped upon me by bad partners in business and the disastrous events of
+1837. I believe it did not occur to me then that some one of these
+abundant places might have been offered to me without injustice. I now
+think it should have occurred to you. In the Harrison campaign of 1840 I
+was again designated to edit a campaign paper. I published it as well
+and hence ought to have made something out of it despite its low price.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>
+My extreme poverty was the main reason why I did not."</p>
+
+<p>"Now came the great scramble of the swell mob of coon minstrels and cider
+suckers at Washington, I not being counted in. I asked nothing, expected
+nothing, but you Governor Seward ought to have asked that I be Post
+Master at New York."</p>
+
+<p>When the Republicans met at Chicago he 'paid' Mr. Seward off by
+checkmating his chances of the nomination, and placing Lincoln at the
+head of the ticket. Mr. Greeley had always been an uncompromising
+opponent of slavery, and once had all but asked for the impeachment of
+Buchanan, hence the South expected little sympathy from him; yet, this
+great editor dismays his friends while his enemies are dumbfounded when
+they read, "Let the South go," but no sooner do the 'erring sisters' act
+upon his suggestion than this political ranchman is out with his
+literary lasso vainly trying to keep them in. He next raises the
+war-whoop of "On to Richmond," and thereby aids in precipitating the
+terrible disaster of Bull Run. Time goes on&mdash;the Union cause looks
+gloomy enough&mdash;all seems lost; yet, when once more the nation needs his
+powerful support he rushes off to Canada unauthorized, to negotiate a
+treaty with Southern Envoys which, to say the least, would have been
+disgraceful to the Union Government. When the cause is won he flees to
+Washington to sign the bail-bond of the arch traitor, and is thus
+instrumental in his release from justice. Yet, for all this the
+<i>Tribune</i> prospered.</p>
+
+<p>He was regarded by many of his readers as a kind of moral law-giver, and
+if, per chance, one person journeyed to New York and returned to state
+that their beau ideal had used undue profanity in his common
+conversation, the indiscrete individual was ostracised.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>If Mr. Greeley's previous career had surprised the country and
+disappointed some of his friends, it remained for the last political act
+of his life to completely paralyze the country at large, and plunge some
+of his most ardent supporters into the deepest gloom. This was when they
+beheld him the nominee of Republicans, 'who were anything to elect
+Greeley,' and endorsed by Free Traders and Democrats whom he had so
+bitterly denounced all his life. Had he been nominated by the straight
+Republican party it might have been considered as a somewhat extravagant
+reward for party service for this position could not have been regarded
+otherwise than consistent; but the position he now assumed was
+inconsistent, not to say ludicrous. The result was he carried only six
+States against the successful Grant.</p>
+
+<p>He was a Universalist in belief, but educated his daughters at a
+Catholic school. He refused to get his brother, who actually needed
+assistance, a position worth perhaps $1,000 a year; yet, he could lend
+Corneel. Vanderbilt about eight hundred thousand dollars without
+security. His early friend, Mr. Jones, once sent a friend to him bearing
+a note requesting Greeley's aid to a subordinate position in the
+custom-house. No sooner had Greeley glanced it over than he astonished
+the gentleman, who was aware of Mr. Greeley's early obligation to Mr.
+Jones, by the volley of oaths and vituperation which he heaped upon him
+because he did not go West instead of hanging around there seeking
+office. No wonder the gentleman, who was a reputable middle-aged man,
+fled from the presence of this famous expounder of 'Moral Ideas.'
+However, when all this has been said we cannot help but admit that a
+great and good man died on December 29th, 1872. Certain it is that
+Journalism lost one of its brightest and most successful stars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Thurlow_Weed" id="Thurlow_Weed"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Thurlow Weed</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Who indeed has not heard of Thurlow Weed, "The king maker," born at
+Cairo, Greene County, New York, November 15, 1797. His father was a
+teamster and farmer. The reader can get some insight into the seemingly
+mysterious power he held for so many years, when it was known that so
+great was his thirst for knowledge that he was glad to wrap bits of a
+rag carpet about his feet and thus shod walk through the snow two miles
+to borrow a history of the French Revolution, which he mastered at
+night, stretched before 'the sap bush fire.'</p>
+
+<p>The more one investigates the character and lives of those men whom we
+so often envy, the more we are forced to see that it was will-power
+rightly directed that overcame all obstacles. Certain it is to this that
+Thurlow Weed owes his everlasting fame as the 'American Warwick'; for
+knowledge is power. He first left the farm work as a cabin boy on a
+Hudson river steamboat bound for New York, but being born a journalist
+he soon drifted into a printing office where he became a good
+journeyman.</p>
+
+<p>When the second war with Great Britain broke out he enlisted, and served
+on the Northern frontier, where by faithfulness he became Quartermaster
+Sergeant. When the war was over he returned to the printing office,
+being at one time in the same establishment with the late James Harper.
+Finally he started a paper at Oxford, New York, in 1818. He afterward
+became con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>nected with the <i>Onondaga Times</i>, which he finally changed to
+the <i>Republican</i>. For the next few years he is connected with several
+different papers until we find him in Rochester at the head of the
+<i>Anti-Masonic Enquirer</i>.</p>
+
+<p>About this time the body of a man who had drowned in Lake Ontario was
+found, and it was claimed that his name was Morgan; if so, he was a
+renegade mason. A question of identity was raised, but as his murder was
+boldly asserted to have been the work of Masonry, it caused a great
+excitement for the time being. This excitement divided the political
+parties into Mason and Anti-Mason factions. Anti-Masonry was the
+political fertilizer which produced the astonishing growth of the
+assiduous Weed, he being sent to the Assembly twice, mainly on that
+issue. While at Albany his ability as a party leader becoming so
+apparent he was decided upon as the proper person to assume the party
+leadership against the obnoxious 'Albany Regency,' the great Democratic
+power in New York State at the time. He accordingly moved to Albany and
+assumed the editorship of the <i>Albany Evening Journal</i>. Weed was one of
+the men who consolidated the Anti-Jackson, Anti-Mason and old Federal
+factions into the Whig party. The 'Regency' with which he had to deal
+consisted of such men as Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, Willian L.
+Marcy and others of equal ability. Such were the men with whom he was
+pitted, but they soon found him in every way worthy of their steel. No
+one, when speaking of this great political warrior ever thought or spoke
+of him as a millionaire. Seemingly no one cared how much he was worth;
+but what did worry them was,&mdash;what will be the outcome of this secret
+conclave which we now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> suspect to be in progress at the headquarters of
+the opposition of the 'Albany Regency.'</p>
+
+<p>He went to battle fearlessly, and his terse pen dealt stinging blows
+straight in the face of the opponent. Indeed, as an editor he has been
+rarely equaled. While Greeley would devote a column to an article, he
+would take the same subject and in a few words put the argument in such
+shape as to carry far more conviction. His two terms in the State
+Assembly wound up his career as a legislator, although he could have had
+any place within the gift of his party from 1830 to 1860. His ambition
+was not to hold office but to rule men, and it is well-known that his
+desires were accomplished. He was a great dictator, being largely
+instrumental as an independent advisor in the selection of Harrison,
+Taylor and Scott. His first trial of personal strength in this line was
+when he secured the nomination and election of his personal friend,
+William H. Seward, as the first Whig Governor of New York. Mr. Seward,
+who was an unobtrusive man, was one time riding with the driver on a
+stage when that dignitary asked the stranger his name and business, as
+was customary when people did not volunteer the information. The answer
+was, "Why, I'm William H. Seward, Governor of the State." This was too
+good for the driver, whose answer was a loud laugh, plainly implying
+that he considered that the gentleman had given a most cute but evasive
+answer. "Don't you believe me?" asked Seward. "Of course not," replied
+the driver. Mr. Seward, who was acquainted with the proprietor of the
+next hotel they came to, agreed to leave it to him. In time they arrived
+and the driver, calling out the landlord, immediately said, "This man
+says he is Governor of New York State<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> and we have left the matter to
+you." "Yes," broke in Seward, "am I not Governor of this State?" The
+answer came quick and sharp; "No, but Thurlow Weed is." "There,"
+exclaimed the ignorant driver, who could not see the point at once; "I
+knew you weren't Governor of New York State."</p>
+
+<p>In 1864 Mr. Weed sold the <i>Journal</i>, but never entirely suspended
+literary work. He afterward assumed the editorship of the <i>New York
+Commercial Advertiser</i>, and often sent letters to the <i>Tribune</i>. In
+1882, shortly before his death, the country was set in a flutter by his
+publishing the whole details relating to the Morgan matter, which he had
+kept all this time claiming it would injure certain parties, but as the
+last had died, it was now made public. On November 23rd of the same year
+one more great journalist passed away. He left a large estate, but a
+larger host of friends.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="George_W_Childs" id="George_W_Childs"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">George W. Childs</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>No one can read the life of George W. Childs without a feeling slowly
+coming over him that the possibilities of our country are indeed very
+great. Certain it is that when we see so many examples showing what has
+been done by poor boys from the farm, we are forced to exclaim that we
+live in a free country; despite what some say we reiterate, our country
+is free.</p>
+
+<p>George W. Childs, at the age of ten, became an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> errand boy in a
+book-store in Baltimore, and after a period of over a year in the Navy
+which he served later, he removed to Philadelphia and once more entered
+a book-store&mdash;his natural calling. After four years' apprenticeship,
+when less than twenty, with his savings he opened a small book-store on
+his own account.</p>
+
+<p>"Where there's a will there's a way," so believed young Childs. He
+determined to one day be proprietor of the <i>Philadelphia Public Ledger</i>.
+"Aim high that you may not strike low,"&mdash;how true that adage is. When
+you see a boy make up his mind to do something; if he makes his actions
+correspond with his words, you can rest assured that it will be done.
+Sickness may come; disappointments will follow, but all must be
+overcome.</p>
+
+<p>Jerome B. Rice determined to succeed in the seed business, but just as
+success seemed about to crown his efforts that terrible disease,
+rheumatism, came and deformed him. He lost the entire use of his lower
+limbs, but his brain was spared, and his determination was unshaken. An
+invalid chair was bought, a colored man wheels him every morning to his
+office door where loving hands gently lift him, chair and all, up the
+steps of the beautiful building now occupied and owned by Jerome B. Rice
+&amp; Co. Nearly thirty years have passed and Jerome B. Rice has not taken a
+step, but during that time, despite all obstacles, the firm of Jerome B.
+Rice &amp; Co. has become one of the leading seed-growing concerns of
+America. Young men with the same chance he had are apt to say, "It's no
+use." We answer, "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing
+impossible is to make it so."</p>
+
+<p>George W. Childs determined to own the <i>Public Ledger</i>. He determined to
+own the leading paper of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> great city of Philadelphia, and he was a
+poor boy. Was this presumption? If it was he has proved its
+practicability. If he was building an air-castle he has since placed a
+firm foundation under it. He labored hard in this little store of his;
+he built his own fires; he did his own sweeping,&mdash;it was the same old
+story; he hired done nothing that he could himself do. He made some
+money&mdash;not very fast&mdash;but a good average profit, and he saved what he
+did earn. He mastered the publishing business, and he developed a marked
+business capacity in that line. A man usually fills the notch for which
+he is fitted: I was about to say&mdash;I will say that he fits himself to the
+notch which he does fill. Sometime we see men in subordinate positions
+who apparently are capable of the best, but a careful study reveals a
+screw loose somewhere; there is a weak point, and invariably that point
+is the one thing which stands between them and victory. "Neither do men
+light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, and it
+giveth light to all that are in the house." So said Christ eighteen
+hundred years ago; is it not so to-day? As young Childs had ability, and
+it was apparent, what matter it how old he was or where he came from?
+All the world asks is, "What can he do"?</p>
+
+<p>The publishing firm of R. E. Peterson &amp; Co. sought his alliance, and the
+firm of Childs and Peterson became known far and near. Do our readers
+call this luck? He now became a successful publisher, and seemingly his
+cup was running over, so far as this world was concerned, but it will be
+remembered that years ago he determined to own the <i>Public Ledger</i>,
+provided he lived. He was alive and his purpose still remained. He was
+waiting and watching. The <i>Ledger</i> was a penny paper&mdash;the war<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> broke
+out&mdash;stock went up&mdash;the management was weakened by death and other
+complications, the <i>Public Ledger</i> was losing nearly $500 every time it
+went to press. The paper, great as it was, was losing $3,000 a week&mdash;at
+the rate of $150,000 a year. Now was Mr. Child's chance. In vain did
+friends entreat; in vain did wise business men shake their heads; Mr.
+Childs felt that his time had come, and he bought the paper, paying for
+it nearly $150,000. The new proprietor changed things; the paper was
+made a two cent issue, and into the <i>Public Ledger</i> he now threw his
+whole soul. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the
+flood leads on to fortune." It is even so; he had purchased the <i>Ledger</i>
+at the right time.</p>
+
+<p>Not one man in a hundred can successfully edit a newspaper; not one
+editor in twenty could edit the <i>Public Ledger</i> with success. Yet, Mr.
+Childs is one man out of the hundreds&mdash;he is the <i>one</i> editor out of
+that twenty. He determined to publish only the truth; all claim to do
+that, but Mr. Childs does it. The paper grew, and on the 20th of June,
+1867, the <i>Public Ledger</i> took possession of its new building. This new
+building cost half a million of dollars, and is one of the finest in the
+city. At its formal opening many of the most distinguished men in the
+country were present.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Childs has been largely instrumental in establishing a small city at
+Wayne Station. He owns a large tract of land which he has divided into
+building lots of about an acre each. Any one desiring a home can get one
+by paying one-third down, and he is also furnished plans from which to
+select his ideal of a home. The houses built from these plans cost from
+$2,000 to $8,000 each. Mr. Childs and his partner, Mr. Drexel, have
+ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>pended about $2,000,000 exclusively for beautifying the city.</p>
+
+<p>Years ago Mr. Childs told a gentleman that he meant to prove that a man
+could be at once liberal and successful as a man of business, and the
+princely hospitality of this good man has demonstrated, beyond doubt or
+contradiction, its practicability. Dinners to newsboys and life
+insurance policies given to the wives of his employes; such acts make up
+the history of his life. The late Chief Justice of Pennsylvania once
+said in a speech: "Some men pursue military glory, and spend their time
+and energies in the subjugation of nations. C&aelig;sar and Napoleon may be
+named as types of this character. But the tears and blood which follow
+violence and wrong maculate the pages of history on which their glory is
+recorded. Others erect splendid palaces for kingly residences, and
+costly temples and edifices for the promotion of education and religion
+in accordance with their particular views. But views of education and
+religion change, buildings waste away, and whole cities, like
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, are buried in the earth. Others again win
+public regard by the construction of means of communication for the
+furtherance of commerce. The canals, railroads, and telegraph are
+glorious specimens of their useful exertion for the public good. But the
+marts of commerce change. Tyre and Sidon, and Venice are no longer
+commercial centres. The shores of the Pacific are even now starting in a
+race against the great commercial emporium of our continent. But Mr.
+Childs has planted himself in the human heart, and he will have his
+habitation there while man shall dwell upon earth. He has laid the
+foundation of his monument upon universal benevolence. Its
+superstructure is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> composed of good and noble deeds. Its spire is the
+love of God which ascends to Heaven." Such a monument is, indeed,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"A Pyramid so wide and high<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That Cheops stand in envy by."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Is not that glorious success? But if the name of George W. Childs was
+not a synonym for charity and philanthropy, the fact that he has
+demonstrated beyond doubt the possibility of making a newspaper not only
+pure and clean, but also proving that people will buy wholesome news, as
+well as trash, and thus refuting the opinion that the people are wholly
+responsible for the vile matter that is circulated, ought alone to
+commend him to the world as a great benefactor. Worldly reasoners and
+great financiers, wiseacres and successful editors prophesied its
+failure, but what mattered this to George W. Childs? When a boy he
+determined to one day own the <i>Public Ledger</i>; he accomplished that.
+When a man he determined to elevate the tone of a newspaper, and thus
+prove the fallacy of the opinion that "A newspaper must print all the
+news, no matter what, or else fail";&mdash;he has here also fulfilled his
+desires. Surely, "Where there's a will there's a way."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_Gordon_Bennett" id="James_Gordon_Bennett"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James Gordon Bennett</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>When Horace Greeley was starting the <i>Tribune</i> the <i>Herald</i> was five or
+six years old, and its success assured. Mr. Greeley started his as an
+uncompromising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> party paper; Mr. Bennett presented the <i>Herald</i> to the
+people as an independent paper, the first ever published that was simply
+an indicator of public opinion bound and gagged by no party.</p>
+
+<p>To Scotland shall we as a nation ever be indebted for one of the
+greatest journalists of the nineteenth century. When about fifteen years
+old he entered a Catholic school at Aberdeen expecting to enter the
+clergy, but after an academic life of two or three years he abandoned
+the idea. This sudden change was in no small degree influenced by an
+edition of "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography" which was published in
+Edinburgh about this time. He was greatly taken with the spirit of this
+volume which found sympathy in his thrifty Scotch nature. From the
+moment he finished this life of Franklin he determined to come to
+America, and after a short stay in Halifax, and Boston, his stay in each
+place being attended with great privation, we find him in the year 1822
+in the city of New York, and still later he is employed on the
+<i>Charleston Courier</i>, of Charleston, South Carolina. There his knowledge
+of Spanish was a benefit, enabling him to translate the Cuban exchanges,
+and to decipher the advertisements which were sent in that language.</p>
+
+<p>After a few months he returned to New York where he attempted to open a
+Commercial School. This scheme came to naught, however, and he then
+tried lecturing on political economy with but moderate success to say
+the least. He soon saw that these undertakings were not in his sphere,
+and once more he returned to journalism. He first connected himself with
+the <i>New York Courier</i> and when that journal became merged into the
+<i>Enquirer</i> he was chosen associate editor. After this the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> senior
+editor, J. Watson Webb, turned square around and began to support the
+United States Bank which he had so bitterly opposed and fought so
+vehemently. Young Bennett now withdrew and started a small paper, <i>The
+Globe</i>, but it was short-lived. He next went to Philadelphia and assumed
+the principal editorship of the <i>Pennsylvanian</i>. At that time all papers
+allied themselves to one party or the other.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bennett conceived the idea of an independent paper; one which would
+be bound to no party or ring. He accordingly returned to New York for
+this purpose. He was very short of funds, and this fact alone would have
+discouraged most young men; not so with this man. He hired a cellar; two
+barrels with a board across served as desk on which was an ink-stand and
+goose quill. The proprietor of these apartments was not only editor and
+manager, but reporter, cashier, book-keeper, salesman, messenger and
+office boy. One hour he was writing biting editorials or spicy
+paragraphs; the next rushing out to report a fire or some other
+catastrophe, working sixteen to twenty hours per day. He persuaded a
+young firm to print his paper, and he was thus tided over that
+difficulty. Most young men would never have undertaken such a task, but
+what would they have done had they, after embarking in it, been twice
+burned out and once robbed within the first fifteen months? Such was the
+experience of Bennett, but as expressed by himself, he raked the
+<i>Herald</i> from the fire by almost superhuman efforts, and a few months
+later, when the great fire occurred in Wall street, he went to the scene
+himself and picked up all kinds of information about the firms burnt
+out, the daring deeds of the firemen, and anything sensational he did
+not fail to print. He also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> went to the unheard of expense of printing a
+map of the burnt district and a picture of the Produce Exchange on fire.
+This enterprise cost, but it gave the <i>Herald</i> a boom over all
+competitors, which it well maintains. It was the first paper that
+published a daily money article and stock list, and as soon as possible
+Bennett set up a Ship News establishment consisting of a row-boat manned
+by three men to intercept all incoming vessels and ascertain their list
+of passengers and the particulars of the voyage.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Calhoun's speech on the Mexican war, the first ever sent to any
+paper by telegraph, was published in the <i>Herald</i>. At one time when his
+paper wished to precede all rivals in publishing a speech delivered at
+Washington, for the purpose of holding the wire, Mr. Bennett ordered the
+telegraph operator to begin and transmit the whole Bible if necessary,
+but not to take any other message until the speech came. Such enterprise
+cost, but it paid; and so it has ever been. Seemingly regardless of
+expense, bureaus of information for the <i>Herald</i> were established in
+every clime. 'Always ahead' seemed to be the motto of James Gordon
+Bennett, and surely enterprise was no small factor in the phenomenal
+success of the <i>Herald</i>. The tone, it has been said, was not always so
+edifying as that of its contemporaries, the <i>Post</i> and <i>Commercial</i>,
+still every article was piercing as a Damascus blade. To buy one paper
+meant to become afterwards one of its customers. It was indeed
+astonishing what a variety of reading was contained in one of those
+penny sheets; every thing was fresh and piquant, so different from the
+old party papers. As originally intended, the <i>Herald</i> has always been
+independent in politics, although inclined to be Democratic. It
+sup<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>ported Fremont and the Republican party, and was one of the staunch
+war papers.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bennett has been described as being stern and disagreeable in his
+manners. In this we do not fully concur, and in view of the large number
+of employes who have grown old in his service, we cannot but feel
+justified in this belief. Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett, the
+two leading New York journalists, but how different. Mr. Greeley had a
+larger personal following than the <i>Tribune</i>; the <i>Herald</i> had a larger
+friendship than did Bennett who was the power behind the throne.
+Journalism lost no lesser light when the great <i>Herald</i> editor passed
+away June 1st, 1872, than it did six months later when Horace Greeley
+passed from darkness into light. As Mr. Bennett was a life-long
+Catholic, he received the last sacrament from the hands of the renowned
+Cardinal McClosky.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Phineas_T_Barnum" id="Phineas_T_Barnum"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Phineas T. Barnum</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>We would not pass by so remarkable a character as that presented to us
+in the life of P. T. Barnum, a man born of poor parents at Bethel,
+Connecticut. Like many boys, he picked up pennies driving oxen for his
+father, but unlike many other boys he would invest these earnings in
+nick-nacks which he would sell to joyful picknickers on every holiday,
+thus his pennies increased to dollars. At an early age he was deprived
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> his father, and began work for himself at six dollars per month. He
+here saved his money, and afterwards opened a store which proved a
+successful business venture, especially after he added a lottery scheme.
+It is interesting to read of the many of our successful men who have
+drifted from one thing to another until they settled upon some
+life-work, then there was a hard struggle for victory, which was sure to
+come, provided they persevered.</p>
+
+<p>In 1835 Barnum heard of a negress in Philadelphia who was reputed to
+have been the nurse of George Washington, and who it was claimed was 162
+years old. Barnum immediately set out for Philadelphia, and succeeded in
+buying her for $1,000. This was more money than he already had; he,
+therefore, risked more than he owned, but by judicious advertising he
+was enabled to draw large houses, bringing the show up to paying $1,500
+per week. The next year the negress died, and a post mortem examination
+proved her to be possibly eighty years old, but Barnum had secured a
+good start. From this time on, for fifteen years, he was connected with
+traveling shows, and his museum proved a most profitable enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>In 1842 Mr. Barnum first heard of Mr. Charles Stratton, whom he
+presented to the world as General Tom Thumb&mdash;exhibiting him in both
+America and Europe.</p>
+
+<p>In 1849, after much correspondence, he secured the sweet singer, Jenny
+Lind, for one hundred nights, at one thousand dollars per night. His
+profits on these concerts were simply immense, and he retired from
+business.</p>
+
+<p>In 1857 it was heralded all over the land that Barnum had failed. It was
+so; unfortunate speculations had swamped him, and he returned to New
+York a bankrupt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> Without a dollar he bought the Museum again, and in
+less than a year he succeeded in paying for it. His life henceforth has
+been full of its ups and downs; twice was he burned out, but as often he
+came forth in some new role&mdash;or rather an improvement on the old.</p>
+
+<p>General Tom Thumb was again taken to Europe. This venture, and his
+lecture on 'Money Making,' in England, succeeded beyond his most
+sanguine expectations. Every note was taken up, and he is to-day once
+more a millionaire. He has been for years the central figure in 'The
+Greatest Show on Earth,' the expense of which is from four to five
+thousand dollars a day. But not alone is he great as a showman; his
+lectures must have made him noted, and he is connected with different
+other enterprises.</p>
+
+<p>He is a very shrewd man, and is also honest. Think of it! at fifty a
+ruined man, owing thousands more than he possessed, yet resolutely
+resuming business life once more&mdash;fairly wringing success from adverse
+fortune, and paying his notes at the same time.</p>
+
+<p>When solicited for money with which to carry on his campaign for
+Congress, he answered, "God grant that I be defeated, sooner than one
+grain of gold be so basely used." Such principles are glorious, and upon
+their perpetuation depends the rise or fall of a Republican form of
+government. Mr. Barnum's latest sensation, in order to draw crowds, is
+the consolidation of his great show with that mammoth show formerly
+belonging to Adam Forepaugh. This caps the climax, the two "Greatest
+Shows on Earth" united.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Mathew_Vassar" id="Mathew_Vassar"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Mathew Vassar</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Vassar College, five hundred feet long and five stories high, is a
+monument of which any man might be proud. The founder, Mathew Vassar,
+was born in England in 1792, and four years later landed in America,
+settling in Poughkeepsie, on a farm with his parents.</p>
+
+<p>In those days the English people thought that they couldn't live without
+a yearly supply of home-brewed ale; such a thing being unknown in the
+quiet community to which they had come. As there was no barley to be
+had, seed was imported from the mother-country and the family once more
+enjoyed their favorite beverage. When neighbors called they were, of
+course, invited to partake, and the fame of Vassar's ale steadily
+increased, until finally the father concluded to manufacture the ale to
+sell. Mathew, for some reason, disliked to go into the brewery to work,
+and the irate father bound him out to a neighboring tanner. However,
+when the time came for young Vassar to go, lo, he was nowhere to be
+found.</p>
+
+<p>He fled to Newburg, where he remained four years, learning to keep
+books, and saving his money. He then returned to his home and, having
+demonstrated that he could both earn and keep money, was duly installed
+in his father's establishment as book-keeper. All went well for some
+time, till at last a fire came, destroying all the property, ruining his
+father, and worst of all causing his brother's death. The father now
+returned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> to a farm, but Mathew determined to retrieve the business. He
+began business in an old shed. The supply was of necessity small, but it
+was an A 1. article, and its fame increased, making the ale of Vassar
+known far and near. From such a beginning the business developed into an
+immense establishment, with a profitable business, which he carried on
+for over thirty years, when he retired.</p>
+
+<p>In company with his wife he made an European tour, and on his return
+resolved to do something with his money for the betterment of society.
+On the 28th of February, 1861, twenty-eight gentlemen received from
+Mathew Vassar, a box containing $408,000, in trust, for the
+establishment of a college for the education of young ladies. The result
+of their efforts was Vassar Female College, afterwards changed to Vassar
+College. His entire donations for the establishment and maintenance of
+this institution of learning amounted to about $800,000. It was the
+first Female College ever established. His influence will be felt by the
+numerous generations which will follow him.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_Jacob_Astor" id="John_Jacob_Astor"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John Jacob Astor</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Not far from the lovely Heidelberg on the Rhine, is the picturesque
+village of Walldorf, which is the birth place of John Jacob Astor, who
+was born in 1763. His father was a peasant, thus it is seen that he had
+not the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> advantages of family influence or assistance. He saved what
+little money he could earn, and at sixteen set out on foot for the sea
+coast, where he took passage in a vessel for London. He had a brother in
+that city who was, in a small way, a manufacturer of musical
+instruments. Here he remained until 1783, when he embarked for America,
+taking some flutes with him. On the voyage he made the acquaintance of a
+furrier. This individual he plied with numerous questions, until he was
+quite familiar with the business, and when he reached America he at once
+exchanged his flutes for furs, and hastening back to England succeeded
+in selling them at a fair profit over all expenses.</p>
+
+<p>Having disposed of his business in London, he engaged passage in a ship
+which did not return for some weeks. In the meantime he purchased a lot
+of goods which he thought would prove salable in America. He also
+improved the time in visiting the Governor of the then great East India
+Company. The Governor was from his native town in Germany, and Astor,
+making the most of this fact, secured from him a permit to trade at any
+port subject to the East India Company. When he arrived in New York once
+more he at once closed a bargain with a West India trader, that
+gentleman furnishing a ship and cargo, Astor the permit, which was very
+valuable, as it gained them access to Canton, China, which was closed to
+all foreigners save the vessels of the East India Company. The terms of
+this bargain was that each should participate equally in the profits of
+the voyage, and Astor's share was several barrels of milled dollars, the
+total profit being about $110,000.</p>
+
+<p>He after this bought ships of his own, and shipped his own merchandise
+to the East, bringing back cargoes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> to be sold in the new world. The
+Government at Washington approved of Astor's proposition to get
+possession of the fur business of the Interior, controlled at that time
+by British companies. He succeeded in raising a corporation with
+$1,000,000 capital, and within a few years Mr. Astor controlled the fur
+interests of the country. This was back in Jefferson's time when the
+city of New York was a small village. Astor, with that keen foresight
+which marked his life's history, had been buying land on Staten Island,
+and the marvelous growth of the city brought the price of his
+possessions up to fabulous amounts, and the latter part of his life his
+whole attention was occupied in taking care of his great blocks of real
+estate.</p>
+
+<p>While other merchants went to their desks at nine, Astor could always be
+seen there at prompt seven. He early in life, before leaving his old
+home on the Rhine, resolved to be honest, to be industrious, and to
+avoid gambling. Upon this solid moral basis he built the superstructure
+of his fame and secured his great wealth.</p>
+
+<p>The one great act of John Jacob Astor's life, which must forever keep
+the name of Astor before the people, is the establishment of the Astor
+Library by donating for that purpose $400,000, to which have been added
+large contributions by his son William B., to whom the elder Astor left
+about $20,000,000. The library contains about two hundred thousand
+volumes, the catalogue alone contains two thousand five hundred pages
+alphabetically arranged. The Astors are the principal real estate owners
+of America.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Potter_Palmer" id="Potter_Palmer"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Potter Palmer</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A hotel that has averaged five hundred and fifty daily arrivals for a
+dozen years. This naturally awakens interest; where is it? Who built it?
+How does it look? In answer, we speak of the Palmer House, of Chicago,
+the 'Palace Hotel of America,' built by Potter Palmer. The building is
+as nearly fire-proof as any building can be made, and is swarming with
+servants.</p>
+
+<p>You are accommodated with a room which satisfies your desires
+financially; and upon entering the dining-room you can choose between
+the American and European plans. This hotel is, indeed, first-class in
+every respect. It certainly enjoys the widest reputation as such of any
+on the continent, and is undoubtedly the finest hotel in America, save
+possibly the Palace Hotel, in San-Francisco, which is a rival in
+magnificence.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Palmer was born near Albany, New York, where he worked summers among
+the farmers as a day-laborer, and attended the district school winters.
+This kind of life was maintained until he was nearly nineteen years of
+age when he entered a store at Durham, New York, as a clerk. Here he
+allowed nothing to escape his attention and, by industry, coupled with
+frugality, he was enabled to enter a business on his own account when
+twenty-one. Mr. Palmer, like all other young men who have risen from
+poverty to affluence, was constantly alive to the problems of the day;
+especially did the subject of this narrative watch the indications of
+progress in his native country.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Being filled with the idea that Chicago was to be the city of America,
+he in 1852 moved 'West' to that city. Here he opened a dry-goods
+business which grew to mammoth proportions for those days. After
+fourteen years of successful trade he retired, investing heavily in real
+estate. When the great fire came much of his vast gains were swept away,
+but with that indomitable will and courage which has always
+characterized his efforts, he succeeded in forming a company which
+successfully brought to completion the magnificent hotel before
+mentioned. Probably no man has been more closely identified with the
+project of improving the streets of Chicago.</p>
+
+<p>When Palmer first entered the city he found it situated in a slough. It
+was generally supposed that the ground upon which the city was built was
+a natural swamp, and when Palmer, among others, advocated the idea of
+raising the streets they were ridiculed. But subsequent tests proved
+that beneath the surface there was a solid rock bottom, therefore it was
+impossible for the water to leach through. When this was an established
+fact, and therefore the grumblers were deprived of this excuse, the cry
+was raised that the city could not afford it. Against all obstacles the
+measure was carried, however, and State Street was widened, making it
+one of the grandest and most 'stately' streets among any that can be
+found in any city on the entire globe. Indeed, it is difficult to
+estimate the possible benefit Chicago may have derived, directly or
+indirectly, through the influence of Potter Palmer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_Harper" id="James_Harper"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James Harper</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In a treatise on the Harpers, their life and character, the history of
+James is the history of the firm. This firm consisted of James, John,
+Joseph, Wesley and Fletcher; James, as the eldest, laying the foundation
+of that powerful concern, Harper Brothers, which is the largest and
+wealthiest publishing house in America.</p>
+
+<p>James Harper was born April 11, 1795. Like many other poor boys who have
+become wealthy he was the son of a farmer. He early determined to become
+a printer and, in 1810, was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul &amp; Thomas of the
+city of New York. He left home to assume this position, the prayers of
+his parents following him. The last words of his mother bade him
+remember that there was good blood in him. The printer boy in those days
+was made a sort of lackey to be ordered about by all hands. Among other
+duties he had to clean the rollers when they became clogged with ink.
+The ink would get on his hands and apron, and thence it would reach his
+face&mdash;thus the printer boy with his blackened face earned the sobriquet
+of 'printer's devil.' James Harper became the 'devil' in this office.
+There is little doubt but that he often felt discouraged and disposed to
+give up, but he regarded this position as only a stepping stone to
+something higher and pleasanter. It was soon observed that such was the
+case; that James Harper fully expected to one day rise to be himself
+proprietor; even the street Arabs recognizing that he aspired to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> higher
+things. One day as he was passing along the street an audacious newsboy
+came up to him and gave him a push, while another sneeringly asked him
+for his card. Seizing the latter by the shoulder he fairly kicked the
+astonished ruffian half across the square. "There," said he, "is my
+card, keep it and when you want work come to me, present that card, and
+I will give you work." This ended all further molestation from this
+source.</p>
+
+<p>His brother John came to New York in the course of a little more than a
+year and entered another office, arranging his apprenticeship so that it
+might end about the same time as did that of his brother James. In time
+James became one of the leading pressmen in the city, and John was one
+of the best compositors and proof readers in the country. All through
+their long apprenticeship they had worked evenings; the surplus thus
+acquired and not one cent of their day earnings ever went for drink, as
+was so common in those days. To be temperate in Harper's day required
+far more exertion than it would at present, as nearly everyone drank
+then. So while others spent their evenings in saloons drinking, playing
+pool and billiards, and 'having fun,' these young Harpers were either
+hard at work putting in extra time, or at home, thus if they did not
+earn more they saved what they had already earned.</p>
+
+<p>When their time was out they each had a few hundred dollars, and they
+began business for themselves under the firm-style of J. &amp; J. Harper.
+They felt their way, at first publishing books only for others. They
+were industrious, no hand in their employ working harder than the
+proprietors. Not only were they workers, but they were enterprising.
+When it was found that the stereotyping consumed much of their profit,
+they resolved to learn that art and add it to their busi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>ness. This was
+no small undertaking; those already in the business were not anxious to
+set up a rival, as they felt these young men sure to become, but after
+much trial and vexation the Harpers learned the art, and were therefore
+better able to carry on their rapidly increasing business. When they had
+fully become established they ventured out upon a publication of their
+own. They put out but five hundred for the first edition, taking orders
+in advance from the booksellers about town. The two other brothers were
+apprenticed to the firm of J. &amp; J. Harper and, as soon as their time was
+out, were taken into the firm.</p>
+
+<p>In 1825 the firm-style was changed to Harper &amp; Brothers. One of their
+business maxims was, "Mutual confidence, industry and application to
+business." This made the four one man. They ranked as equals in all
+things, and the history of James Harper is the history of Harper &amp;
+Brothers. James being the eldest was once asked, "Which is Harper and
+which the brothers?" He answered, "Either is Harper, the others are the
+brothers." This was precisely the relation they bore toward each other.
+In 1853 a workman threw a lighted paper into a tank of benzine which he
+mistook for water, and property valued at $1,000,000 was destroyed; as
+their insurance amounted to only about $250,000 their loss was great.
+This was a terrible blow, but the next day they hired temporary
+quarters, and the debris was hardly cleared away ere they had bought the
+ground on which to erect the splendid building they have since occupied.
+It is a most imposing structure, and is probably the most commodious,
+and finest building in which to carry on a general book business, in all
+its branches, in the world; every operation required to produce and
+publish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> a book being carried on under one roof. The building is
+absolutely fire-proof, and is seven stories high. Underneath are long
+vaults in which their plates are stored.</p>
+
+<p>In 1844 James was elected Mayor of the great city of New York. Mr.
+Harper was a man of unusual ability, this was recognized by his friends
+and towns people, but he was at the head of the largest publishing
+business in the country, and was loth to leave it, therefore he refused
+to be a candidate for Governor. He was always full of mirth and running
+over with good humor, but he was business, morning, noon and night. He
+remained actively engaged in business until he was nearly seventy-five
+years of age, in fact he was still in business and enjoying good health
+when he met an untimely death, caused by his horses running away in
+Central Park, throwing him to the ground and injuring him so badly that
+he died within forty-eight hours.</p>
+
+<p>He was a devout Methodist, and a class-leader, but used some of the
+Episcopal forms. He was a worthy example for our youth to imitate in
+business or religious matters.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Henry_Disston" id="Henry_Disston"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Henry Disston</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In Tewksbury, England, May 24th, 1819, was born a little boy who was
+destined to become one of the leading manufacturers of the nineteenth
+century. At fourteen he came to America with his father, who died three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+days after their arrival here. A poor, homeless orphan, in a strange
+land&mdash;ah! it takes courage to rise from such a beginning. There is
+little 'luck' in the life of such boys who become wealthy. The poet
+says:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The fading flowers of pleasures<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Spring spontaneous from the soil,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But the real harvest's treasure<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Yields alone to patient toil."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Whether these lines ever caught the eye of Henry Disston or no, we are
+not able to say; certain it is, however, that he concurred in that
+belief, for so hard did he work, and so closely did he study the
+business, that he was made foreman when he was but eighteen.</p>
+
+<p>When his seven long years of apprenticeship was up he arranged with his
+employer to take his wages in tools. With scarcely any money, he wheeled
+a barrow load of coal to his cellar where he began to make saws. Saws of
+American manufacture, were at that time held in poor esteem, and he had
+a great public prejudice to overcome. But Henry Disston determined to
+show people that he could compete with foreign goods, and to do this he
+sometimes sold goods at an advance of only one per cent. He moved to a
+small room twenty feet square, at the corner of Front and Laurel
+streets; this was in 1846. In 1849 he was burned out, and before he
+rebuilt he obtained control of additional land adjoining that which he
+had occupied, and here built a new factory. Now he began to reap the
+reward of his early toil and study. He was enterprising, like all
+successful men, and his inventive genius soon enabled him to get up new
+designs for teeth to do different kinds of work. He never allowed a poor
+tool, or an imperfect one, to be shipped from his factory. Consequently
+a market once gained was easily kept. His enterprise induced him to add
+a file works to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> his already large business; in fact, the Keystone Saw
+Works made a splendid exhibit at the Centennial, showing all kinds of
+tools made from steel. His works cover hundreds of acres of land, and
+employ over fifteen hundred hands, while the business extends all over
+the world.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1878, this great manufacturer died in Philadelphia. He was a
+very common man&mdash;great wealth did not spoil him, and he could perform
+with his own hands any part of the work in his immense establishment.
+This ability to work thorough mastery of the business, which had taken
+years of patient thought to develop, brought about his splendid success.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Peter_Cooper" id="Peter_Cooper"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Peter Cooper</span></a></h2>
+
+<p>Who, indeed, is there who has not heard of Peter Cooper? He was born in
+the city of New York in 1791. His father was a man who possessed some
+ability, but was so inconstant that the poor boy received only about six
+months' schooling, and he received that before he was eight years old.</p>
+
+<p>Reader, think of it; can you make yourself believe that his great riches
+came through 'good luck'? we will see: His father, being a hatter,
+little Peter was early employed pulling the hair off the rabbit skins to
+obtain material with which to make the hats. In the course of time his
+father moved to Peekskill, and at seventeen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> Peter resolved to strike
+out into the world for himself. He returned to his native city and
+apprenticed himself to the firm of Burtis &amp; Woodward. Here he remained
+four years where he acquired a thorough mastery of the coach-making
+trade. In addition to his board he received during his apprenticeship
+the sum of twenty-five dollars per year with which to clothe himself.
+Although he had spent four long years learning the trade of coach-making
+he, for some reason, determined not to make that his calling for life.
+Accordingly he went to Hempstead, Long Island, and there he met a party
+who was manufacturing a patent shears for shearing cloth. To this man he
+engaged himself at $1.50 per day, where he remained until the business
+became unremunerative, a period of three years. He next turned his
+attention to the business of making and selling cabinet furniture; at
+the end of a year he sold out this business, and with his family
+returned to New York city.</p>
+
+<p>He now entered the grocery business and the next year, seeing his
+opportunity, leased for a period of nineteen years a piece of land
+containing a few buildings. He now moved his grocery business into one
+of these buildings, subletting the others at a profit. His eyes were
+kept open, and he never let an opportunity slip by to turn an honest
+penny. There was a glue factory situated not far from his present
+location. True, it had never paid, and that seemed to be reason enough
+for all others, but Cooper made a study of the glue business. He
+satisfied himself that he could make it pay; he thought he could see
+where the trouble was with the present proprietor, and he bought it out,
+paying two thousand dollars, cash down, for it. By a progressive study
+of this new business he soon produced a better<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> article than was made by
+others, and so materially reduced the price as to drive out foreign
+competition from the American markets. Of course, he made money, and
+when he saw that we paid Russia four dollars per pound for isinglass, he
+studied up on the manufacture of the same, and added that article to his
+business, and soon was enabled to sell it at less than ONE DOLLAR A
+POUND. It is needless to say that he succeeded in completely
+monopolizing the isinglass industry for a long time, and his profit on
+that one article would have made him a very rich man.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Cooper was an observing man; he saw and realized that our country
+was rich in mineral resources; especially was his attention drawn toward
+the iron deposits in Pennsylvania and neighboring States. He felt that
+there was big money in that business for the man who early entered the
+field; he felt that there would be money in it for Peter Cooper. These
+feelings made him an easy victim to two sharpers who one morning entered
+his premises and succeeded in getting him to invest $150,000 in a large
+tract of land, in Maryland, of some three thousand acres. He was told
+that this land was on a 'boom,' as the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, it
+was rumored, would soon be completed. The steep grades, however, and
+sharp curves, made it impossible for engines then known to make the road
+in safety. Indeed, it seemed that his land speculation was destined to
+prove a 'White Elephant' on his hands, and, with nine out of ten men it
+would have so proved, as they would have given up right here. Mr. Cooper
+set about this problem resolved to solve it. He soon saw that the
+success of the Baltimore and Ohio was the success of his speculation.
+The only thing needed to bring this success was an en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>gine that could
+ascend the grades and turn the curves in safety.</p>
+
+<p>He set to work patiently, and succeeded in inventing an engine that
+would do what was required of it, he, himself acting as engineer on its
+trial trip. This and other favorable influences which were brought about
+through the success of the railroad, 'boomed' his land in dead earnest
+this time. He next established an iron furnace on the site of his land
+and burned the wood for charcoal. The land went on up, and when it
+reached two hundred and thirty dollars per acre he sold out at an
+immense profit. He still continued in the iron business, and as he was
+always studying his business, he was the first man to roll out iron
+beams for fire-proof buildings. His iron industries spread all over
+Pennsylvania, and the business is to-day carried on by his successors.
+As is well-known, he was one of the warm supporters of Cyrus W. Field
+from first to last, extending his aid and sympathy. When the Bank of
+Newfoundland refused to honor the Cable Company's paper Peter Cooper
+advanced the much needed funds. While all this business was on his mind
+his glue and isinglass industry was not in the least neglected. He had
+removed the works to Long Island, where it assumed mammoth proportions.
+The profits of this giant combination of business poured the money into
+his pockets in large streams.</p>
+
+<p>One feature of the great success of Peter Cooper was he always paid
+cash. But the great life-work of Peter Cooper is embellished with one
+gem that is perpetually bright. We speak of Cooper Union. In 1854 the
+ground was cleared, the plans made and the work begun. This institution
+cost Cooper about eight hundred thousand dollars. It is deeded as a
+trust, with all its rents and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> profits, to the instruction and profit of
+the poor working people of New York city. Mr. Cooper himself thus
+describes his motives: "The great object that I desire to accomplish by
+the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific
+knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume
+of nature that the youth may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its
+blessings and learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good and
+perfect gift." Could any sentiment be more beautiful? Could any motive
+be more worthy of imitation than this?</p>
+
+<p>He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall, but toward the latter
+part of his life he became a leader of the Greenback party, being a
+candidate for President on that ticket. He had good habits and was
+always occupied with business. Two children are living, Edward, and a
+daughter who married Mr. A. S. Hewitt. The son and son-in-law have each
+been mayor of their city. There was great mourning in New York city on
+April 4th, 1883, when it was learned that Peter Cooper was dead. But man
+liveth not to himself, his memory and influence will be felt by the
+countless generations which will follow after his death. Certain it is
+those who are benefited by the aid of "Cooper Union" will not forget
+their benefactor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><i>"There is a wide difference between men, but truly it lies less in
+some special gift or opportunity vouchsafed to one and withheld
+from another,&mdash;less in that than in the differing degree in which
+these common elements of human power are owned and used. Not how
+much talent have I, but how much will to use the talent that I
+have, is the main question. Not how much do I know, but how much do
+I do with what I know?"</i></p></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/104.jpg"
+height="293"
+width="500" alt="SUCCESSFUL BANKERS AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS." /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><a name="George_Law" id="George_Law"></a><a href="#toc"><img src="images/104a.png"
+height="63"
+width="500" alt="George Law." /></a></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>On October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy;
+that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on
+his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a certain
+farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of
+struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go
+and do likewise. His education was meager, but he had mastered Daboll's
+Arithmetic.</p>
+
+<p>Having decided that he could not follow the occupation of his father, he
+set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to
+success. By exercising great frugality in his already simple mode of
+living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> eighteen he
+set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty-six miles distant. Putting up
+at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search
+of employment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next
+obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and 'picking up points,'
+soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day.</p>
+
+<p>But George Law did not mean to always be a day-laborer, he observed
+everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to
+a better understanding of his business. Seven long years of
+day-laboring, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His
+first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in various parts of
+Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell
+correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so
+carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he
+cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Croton
+Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High
+Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of competitors, and
+was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts
+alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest.</p>
+
+<p>He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested
+in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten
+Island Ferry, ran it five years, and sold out. He was also much
+interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profitable,
+and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,000,000. He was a
+giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably
+with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting
+and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he
+could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant
+his living on Fifth Avenue. He carried the hod until he found better
+work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no
+matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to
+return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his
+father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Darius_O_Mills" id="Darius_O_Mills"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Darius O. Mills</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In Westchester county, New York, was born one bright September day, in
+1825, Darius O. Mills. True, it is, that his parents were somewhat
+well-to-do people, but Darius O. Mills would have become a wealthy man
+had he been born in poverty.</p>
+
+<p>If a man determines to succeed and has a perceptive mind to see
+opportunities, if he relies on no one but himself, and follows this up
+by hard, persistent work, he will succeed. If he does not he is lacking
+in some other vital point, but we have never yet read the life of any
+man who possessed these qualities but that he was a success. What one
+has done another can do under the same conditions and circumstances. For
+some time he was casting about to find his calling, and finally
+determined to become a banker. In this sphere he has proven himself a
+phenomenon. His talent for money-making<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> was early apparent, and he was
+appointed cashier of a bank in Buffalo when only twenty-one. Now it must
+not be imagined that Darius O. Mills was picked up indiscriminately and
+placed in so responsible a position. Things do not come by chance. It is
+evident the case under consideration did not happen through 'good luck.'
+He was a young man of unusual ability, of which he has always made the
+most. The bank flourished and at twenty-three he resigned and, taking
+what money he had, he was soon on his way to California. He did not go
+there to dig gold. Darius O. Mills knew that gold was the object of
+nearly every one who went; he also knew that the people must live; he
+perceived the chance to make a fortune as a merchant. Like any man who
+will succeed, he acted at once. In 1849 he settled in San Francisco,
+opening trade with the miners.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of a few years he became immensely rich through very
+successful trade and, as he was about to retire from active business,
+the Bank of California was projected. This he materially aided into
+existence, and as he was recognized as one of the ablest financiers in
+the city, he was chosen its first President. So well did he manage its
+affairs that it soon became the leading banking institution in the
+country, wielding an immense power in the financial world. He remained
+at its head for nine years when his private fortune had assumed such
+mammoth proportions that it demanded his immediate attention, he
+therefore resigned in 1873.</p>
+
+<p>In 1875 his successor, William G. Ralston, was asked to resign and the
+bank suspended. Mr. Ralston was a splendid man, but had been somewhat
+unwise in placing the bank's money, and thus the failure was brought
+about. At a meeting of the directors it was decided to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> ask for the
+resignation of the President. Mr. Mills was the person selected to
+convey the intelligence of the result of the meeting to Mr. Ralston and
+this he did. Mr. Mills, much against his personal desire, once more
+assumed the presidency of the bank, and after three years he once more
+resigned to attend to his private affairs; leaving the bank in a
+flourishing condition. Possibly no man in America is better capable of
+handling large sums of money, to bring not only large returns, but to
+handle the money safely.</p>
+
+<p>In 1880 he turned his attention toward the East, moving his family to
+Fifth Avenue, New York city. His large business block, the Mills
+Building, ten stories high, fitted up for offices containing three
+hundred in all, is a magnificent structure. His wealth is very great,
+being estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. He has
+established on the Pacific slope, at a cost of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, a seminary for young ladies.</p>
+
+<p>He has also presented a beautiful piece of statuary to the State of
+California. It is a magnificent gift, representing Columbus at the court
+of Isabella. He has given numerous costly presents to institutions and
+relatives. Among the shrewd far-sighted men of the country few are more
+distinguished than is Darius Ogdon Mills.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Stephen_Girard" id="Stephen_Girard"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Stephen Girard</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Stephen Girard was born in Bordeaux, France, May 24th, 1750. He lived in
+an age when avenues of business were utilized by the rich. A poor boy
+had little chance of being other than a poor man. Not only was the
+subject of this sketch born to poverty, but he also inherited a
+deformity which made him the butt of ridicule among his vulgar
+companions. His childhood was made up of neglect which developed a cold,
+distant nature. He is generally described as a loveless old man, but his
+biographers seem to forget the influences that surrounded his childhood.
+Such were the opportunities enjoyed by Girard; such the chance offered
+to him, but he held that a man's best capital was "industry," and this
+seemed to have been his main idea to the last; as he willed but little
+property to his relatives, and but little to any one individual.</p>
+
+<p>He sailed as cabin boy at the age of twelve, and by following a line of
+fidelity, industry and temperance, gained the esteem and confidence of
+the captain who gradually learned to call him "My Stephen," and at his
+death placed him in command of a small vessel. He became a resident of
+Philadelphia, and owned a farm a short distance out of the city. When he
+visited this farm he rode in an old gig drawn by a scrawny horse; when
+he arrived he fell to work like any common hand, and labored as though
+his very subsistence depended on it. This is an illustration showing the
+secret of his suc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>cess in life. He was familiar with every detail, in
+every department of his business; no matter what part of his business he
+went to oversee he was no novice.</p>
+
+<p>With Stephen Girard nothing came by chance. He was a self-taught man,
+having but little education so far as books go; but in the great school
+of actual business he received a diploma, and to this was afterwards
+added several complimentary degrees earned after his graduation. He
+never ceased to be a progressive man. A large range of stores were for
+sale in the city of Philadelphia at a great sacrifice; these Girard
+would have been glad to buy but he lacked sufficient funds; seeing it
+beyond his means to buy safely, he leased them for a term of years and
+then sublet them at an immense profit.</p>
+
+<p>How few young men have the necessary enterprise to gain for themselves
+success. Girard had both enterprise and energy; it is not at all
+surprising that he succeeded. And this was not all; of whatever he
+undertook he had thoroughly mastered the details, hence was prepared for
+success and made money; that money he saved. Ah! that is three-fourths
+of the secret. Most young men earn enough but foolishly throw it away on
+unnecessaries.</p>
+
+<p>If Girard owed a man a cent he could rest assured that he would get it;
+if a man owed him there was much trouble in the way for that man if he
+attempted to evade the payment. He was just to all men and just to
+himself and family. There is another feature in the history of Girard
+that is worthy of imitation; that is he kept abreast, yea, ahead of the
+times,&mdash;he made a study of the various problems of his day.</p>
+
+<p>He saw that the United States Bank was daily growing less popular, and
+he saw that it must go down in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> near future. He had prospered in his
+shipping business, and seeing here a grand opportunity he began to study
+up on banking preparatory to taking the bank. Reader, think of this kind
+of enterprise. His friends might think such a thing visionary; the best
+financier might pass the opportunity by, but this man knew that the
+United States Bank had a vast patronage, and he also knew that the man
+who stepped into its business would have every reason to expect success.
+He at once set about to buy a controlling interest in the stock. When
+the bank was discontinued it was found that he had not only secured a
+controlling interest in the stock, but had gained possession of the bank
+building itself. While his friends were predicting his ruin he had
+bought $1,200,000 worth of stock and, by so doing, had stepped into the
+largest banking business of the Republic.</p>
+
+<p>Does one of my readers for one moment allow himself to believe that
+Stephen Girard was a lucky man? Was it 'good luck' that placed Girard at
+one move at the head of American financiers? As is well known a great
+panic followed Jackson's administration, and, of a whole nation, Stephen
+Girard seems to have been the only prosperous man. His capital stock
+soon became $4,000,000. In this capacity he was enabled to aid his
+Government much, in fact to save it from ruin in the terrible crash of
+1837.</p>
+
+<p>Stephen Girard was bent upon getting rich and yet, while he is generally
+regarded as a cold money-getter, still he had a heart, a tender heart,
+locked up within that cold exterior. While the terrible plague, yellow
+fever, raged in Philadelphia with a violence never before known in
+American history, and while many others fled the city, Stephen Girard
+remained and nursed the dying,&mdash;performing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> with his own hands the most
+loathesome duties, and giving most liberally of his wealth toward the
+fund for the suppression of the disease.</p>
+
+<p>A young man, who was a protege of Girard, was one day called to the
+private office of that gentleman, when the following dialogue took
+place: "Well, you are now twenty-one, and should begin to think of a
+life-work." The young man who thought perhaps Girard was going to set
+him up in some business, said, "What would you do if in my place, Mr.
+Girard?" Imagine his astonishment when Mr. Girard replied, "I should
+learn some trade." The young man, who was built of the right material,
+said, "Very well, I will learn the cooper's trade." In the course of a
+few years he received a letter from Mr. Girard ordering the best barrel
+that he could make with his own hands. When done it was delivered. The
+young man was thunderstruck when, after a thorough inspection by Girard,
+he received a check for $20,000; the reader can draw the moral.</p>
+
+<p>Time fled, the 26th of December, 1831, came, and with it the death of
+this man. At his death he possessed about $9,000,000, not a large
+fortune compared with those of the rich men of our day, but a colossal
+sum for his day. For all practical purposes it is just as great and
+useful as one hundred millions.</p>
+
+<p>When his will was read it was found that he had left to the Pennsylvania
+institute for deaf and dumb, $20,000; to the Orphan Asylum of
+Philadelphia, $10,000; for fuel for the poor of Philadelphia, $10,000;
+to the Philadelphia Public Schools, $10,000; to the Society for the
+Relief of the Distressed Masters of Ships, $10,000; to the Masonic Loan,
+$20,000; to the city of Philadelphia, $500,000; and to the State of
+Pennsylvania, $300,000.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> There were other bequests, the largest of which
+was $2,000,000, with which to found a college for orphan boys who were
+to be taken between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. He left minute
+directions pertaining to the construction and other details, showing
+even at this time that carefulness, which characterized his life's
+history. The main building is said to be the finest specimen of Grecian
+architecture in the world,&mdash;it surely is the finest in America.
+"Contemplating the humility of his origin, and contrasting therewith the
+variety and extent of his works and wealth, the mind is filled with
+admiration of the man."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Moses_Taylor" id="Moses_Taylor"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Moses Taylor</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>What a pleasure it is to read the lives of such men as Moses Taylor. He
+began life as a clerk and died worth $50,000,000; but it is not alone
+for his wealth that we take such an interest in Moses Taylor, but the
+good he did with it, and the example he set moneyed men.</p>
+
+<p>Born in New York, January 11th, 1808, he served a clerkship of ten long
+years, when he started business on his own account. The cholera raged
+that year in that city; consequently all business suffered, many fled
+from their homes but young Taylor stood by his new enterprise, and even
+the first year cleared some money. Three years later he was burned out,
+but while the smoulder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>ing brands lay at his feet he arranged to erect a
+new building to stand on the same spot, and the next day opened a store
+in his dwelling house. Of course such enterprise would win in the end;
+when he was called to the presidency of the city bank no one seemed
+surprised for when a man has ability it is not necessary for him to tell
+it&mdash;he becomes a marked personage. The success that attended his efforts
+in this new capacity is shown from the following:</p>
+
+<p>In the great panic of 1857 a meeting of the various bank presidents was
+called. When asked what percentage of specie had been drawn during the
+day some replied fifty per cent., some even as high as seventy five per
+cent. but Moses Taylor replied, "We had in the bank this morning,
+$400,000; this evening, $470,000." While other banks were badly 'run,'
+the confidence in the City Bank under his management was such that
+evidently people had drawn from other banks and deposited in the City
+Bank. He was Treasurer of the Transatlantic Cable, being one of its most
+ardent supporters from 1854 until long after it had became established.</p>
+
+<p>He was a most conspicuous 'War Democrat,' taking an early stand as to
+the duty of all bankers. Probably no one man, save possibly Jay Cook,
+did more to sustain the credit of the North in those trying times than
+did Moses Taylor. He became interested in the Delaware, Lackawanna &amp;
+Western railway, and the mines in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In
+1873 he became President of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co. He also
+became largely interested in the Manhattan Gas Co., out of which alone
+he made a respectable fortune. When he died he left a very large sum of
+money for the purpose of building a hospital at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> Scranton. The need of
+this hospital was very urgent, as accidents were continually happening
+to the miners in their dangerous work. The building is not only a
+splendid edifice but it fills a long-felt want.</p>
+
+<p>Such a man was Moses Taylor who died May 23rd, 1882. Few such men have
+we, would that there were more. Moses Taylor was a practical man, he
+cared more for business than for any amusement. Art was of far less
+account with him than were the suffering miners who had no place to
+stretch their bleeding forms until he came to their aid.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="William_C_Ralston" id="William_C_Ralston"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">William C. Ralston</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>William C. Ralston, a synonym for goodness, was born at Wellsville,
+Ohio, January 15th, 1820. He drifted to California, being one of the
+first to pass through the Golden Gate. Here he remained for twenty-five
+years, becoming the most noted man in the State, having prospered
+wonderfully.</p>
+
+<p>It has been truly said of him that he did more than any other one man to
+secure a good municipal government for San Francisco. Aiding with his
+money weak industries, he did much to elevate the tone of a class of
+people consisting of almost every nationality&mdash;the miners. The
+struggling young man had nothing but sympathy extended him from this
+great philanthropist; indeed, his great desire seemed to be, what can I
+do for my less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> fortunate fellow-man. He was elected President of the
+Bank of California, to succeed Mr. Mills. This bank had a credit all
+over the globe. It was the greatest financial power in the Republic.
+Such was its standing in the financial world when Mr. Mills delivered
+the bank over to Mr. Ralston. Mr. Ralston was a great and good man, but
+his desire to benefit and aid others led him to place out the bank's
+money too freely; hence, when Mr. Flood made his sudden and unlooked for
+call for over $5,000,000, the amount of his deposit, it was useless for
+the bank to try to raise it at once, as it could not be done,
+notwithstanding the bank had ample resources, if they had only been
+available. Mr. Flood, it seemed to us, need not have pressed his claim
+when he knew that the bank could pay him soon. It is claimed by some
+that he chose this method to cripple the Bank of California to the
+advantage of his Nevada Bank. Be this as it may, Mr. Ralston unwisely
+allowed his tender heart to be touched too deeply, and thus placed the
+bank in a weak position to meet such a crisis. A meeting of the
+directors was immediately called, and it was decided to ask the
+President for his resignation which, together with his household
+effects, he promptly tendered. This was a terrible blow to him, and it
+may be the officials were somewhat hasty. On the 27th of August he went
+down to the beach, put on his bathing suit, drank something from a
+bottle (it is alleged), dived into the waves, was carried far out and
+was never again seen alive.</p>
+
+<p>As the people gazed on his lifeless body they began to realize what a
+loss they had sustained. Threats of vengeance were heard on every hand,
+which made it seem best for the founders of the rival Nevada Bank to
+abstain from being seen in their usual haunts. A pub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>lic meeting was
+called, and long before the appointed time to begin the business of the
+meeting the public hall where it was held was packed, and thousands were
+unable to get in. One orator addressed those in the hall while the dense
+mass outside, who were unable to get in, were divided and addressed by
+two speakers. The several charges against him were in turn taken up, and
+either proven false or shown to be justified by the excited populace.
+The following resolution expressive of the irreparable loss the city had
+sustained, was presented.</p>
+
+<p><i>Resolved</i>, "That in reviewing the life of the deceased. William C.
+Ralston, we recognize one of the first citizens of San Francisco, the
+master spirit of her industries, the most bounteous giver to her
+charities, the founder of her financial credit, and the warm supporter
+of every public and private effort to augment her prosperity and
+welfare. That to his sagacity, activity, and enterprise, San Francisco
+owes much of her present material prosperity, and in his death has
+sustained an irreparable loss. That in his business conceptions he was a
+giant, in social life an unswerving friend, and in all the attributes of
+his character he was a man worthy of love and trust." When "All those in
+favor of this say aye," was called, the answer came like the sound of
+heavy artillery, and not a solitary 'No' was heard in that vast crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Rev. T. K. Noble said, "The aim of his life was not to pull down but to
+build up. What enterprise can you mention looking to the betterment of
+material interests in which he did not have part? In the building of
+railroads, in the establishment of lines of steamships to Australia, to
+China, to Japan; in the manufacture of silk; in the Pacific Woolen
+Mills, the Bay Sugar Refinery, the West Coast Furniture Manufactory; and
+in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> those superb buildings, the Grand and Palace hotels; and in many
+other enterprises I have not time to mention. Into each and all of these
+he put his money and his brains." This was expressive of much, and it
+very clearly represented the general impression of the people throughout
+his State. He gave not only his money, but his sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>People of the East who know of him principally as a man of great wealth
+cannot conceive an idea of such a man,&mdash;indeed they have none such among
+them. He was the moral phenomenon of modern times. The people of his
+State all love him, and there are those to-day who are struggling in
+various enterprises who can look to no one now for help, who like to
+tell of the time 'when they could have gone to 'Frisco and seen Ralston
+about it.' What a tribute is this; when we think of a man who regarded
+money only as a means to do good, and who seemed a special Providence to
+all in need. We look upon this picture and we see him happy only in
+giving; but we turn and our hearts bleed in sympathy when we behold him
+torn from his position, the victim of avariciousness and envy, which to
+all appearance is the immediate cause of his untimely death. But there
+is another thought here; he should have been very cautious in placing
+money where it could not be brought into immediate use in such an
+emergency.</p>
+
+<p>Great was the feeling at his burial. Three regiments, cavalry,
+artillery, and the National Guard, escorted his remains to their last
+resting place. After several years Mrs. Ralston received back over
+$100,000, and is therefore comfortable. We shall forever mourn the death
+of such men, and ever regard and cherish their memory as among the
+dearest in American history.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="George_Peabody" id="George_Peabody"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">George Peabody</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A long time ago a little boy who was poorly dressed, but had an honest
+face, was passing a country tavern in Vermont; night was fast
+approaching, and he looked tired and hungry; seeing which, the landlord,
+who had a kind heart, generously offered him supper and a nights'
+lodging free. This he refused to accept, but said, "If you please, I
+will cut wood enough to pay my way." This was accepted by the landlord,
+and thus the affair passed. Fifty years later he passed the same tavern
+as George Peabody, the great London banker.</p>
+
+<p>The above self-reliant nature was illustrative of the man. It is always
+interesting to learn how great fortunes were made. Nothing is so
+fascinating as success, and the momentous question relative to every
+great man is: "How did he begin?" George Peabody began life in Danvers,
+Massachusetts, February 18th, 1795. He was born of humble parents and
+the public schools of his native town furnished him his education. At
+the age of eleven he became a clerk in a grocery store where he remained
+four years, when he went to Newburyport to become a dry-goods salesman.
+By cultivating a loving disposition he gained friends wherever he went,
+and, of course, thus gained a confidence which he otherwise never would
+have known. For this reason he gained his first letter of credit which
+enabled him to buy his first consignment of goods without advancing the
+money for them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="images/120.jpg">
+<img src="images/120th.jpg"
+width="394"
+height="239" alt="SELF-RELIANCE. Engraved Expressly for 'Hidden Treasures.'" /></a><br />
+SELF-RELIANCE.<br /> Engraved Expressly for 'Hidden Treasures.'
+<br /><span style="font-size: 70%;">(click on image to see enlarged view.)</span></p>
+
+<p>As we review the various great and influential men we cannot but notice
+how many, out of the total number, cultivated a pleasing manner. Certain
+it is, to pleasing manners and ability owed he his success; without
+either he could not have succeeded. Without the generous heart he
+possessed he could never have won the great honor that he enjoyed, for
+great wealth alone could not bring such honor. He was a notable moral
+phenomenon. Of all the great and rich men of whom we are aware, none
+gave as liberally as did he. Reader, think of it; a poor boy who became
+one of the greatest bankers of his time, and who, during his life, gave
+over eight millions of dollars to charity. Many of our rich men have
+willed much to charity, but he gave while living.</p>
+
+<p>He went to Georgetown, District of Columbia, and entered into a
+partnership with an uncle, the firm-style being Riggs &amp; Peabody. They
+were wonderfully successful, and soon established branches in
+Philadelphia and New York. In 1829 Mr. Riggs retired from actual work,
+the firm-style becoming Peabody, Riggs &amp; Co. Time passed on, the
+business grew, and in 1837 he went to London, soon after establishing
+the banking house of George Peabody &amp; Co. He made banking his study and
+kept thoroughly posted on financial matters. At about this time the
+great panic occurred in America, and at a great risk of losing his
+fortune he bought Maryland securities. But George Peabody knew what he
+was about; he was thoroughly posted and was capable of managing a
+banking business. By his influence with the Bank of England, he soon
+became recognized as the man who had saved Maryland from bankruptcy.</p>
+
+<p>He now began to dispense the great fortune with which God had so
+bountifully blessed him. In 1851 he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> supplied a large sum, so much
+needed, to make a success of the great Worlds Fair in London. In 1851 he
+gave $10,000 toward the second Grennell expedition, and the same year
+the people of his native town, Danvers, invited his presence at an
+anniversary. He could not personally attend, but sent them $20,000 to be
+applied toward education. In 1857 he gave the city of Baltimore $300,000
+to found a college, and afterward added to this magnificent sum $200,000
+more. In 1866 he added still $500,000 more, and later yet $400,000 more,
+making $1,400,000 in all he gave to this one institution, which is
+called Peabody Institute. He gave nearly $3,500,000 toward the fund to
+educate the poor of the South. He gave Yale and Harvard college each
+$150,000; to Phillips Academy $25,000; to Peabody Academy $140,000; to
+the Memorial Church in Georgetown $100,000; to Peabody Academy $250,000;
+and numerous other contributions in America.</p>
+
+<p>In London he established a fund of $3,000,000 with which to build homes
+for the poor of that great city. The Queen acknowledged this in a
+private letter, and presented him with her portrait painted on ivory and
+set in jewels, valued at $255,000. She also offered to make him a Baron,
+but this he respectfully declined.</p>
+
+<p>He resembled the late A. T. Stewart in some respects. No gold chain ever
+hung from his watch, and when he wore studs or other ornaments they were
+never more costly than pearl. He detested show. Altogether during his
+life he gave away over <i>eight millions of dollars</i>, and at his death
+left a fortune of over four millions. Had he saved his money and
+manipulated it like many of our great millionaires have done, we doubt
+not he would have died worth perhaps twenty or thirty millions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He, however, had gained not only worldly success, but true success, for
+when he died in 1869, both of the great English speaking nations united
+to do him honor. He was at first laid in Westminister Abbey among the
+dead kings and queens. After this her Majesty's ship Monarch bore his
+remains to America to be buried in Danvers. The respect in which he is
+held by the people of that town is shown when we know that they have
+since changed the name of their town to Peabody. He left an imperishable
+crown containing pearls which cannot be stolen. They are set in homes
+for the poor, libraries for every one, schools for the young, and other
+securities which are safely stored in the hearts of a grateful people.
+Ah! we are thoughtful after reading the life of such a man.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="William_W_Corcoran" id="William_W_Corcoran"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">William W. Corcoran</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The veteran philanthropist, William W. Corcoran, was born in 1798. He
+began his business career in Georgetown, but for many years he has been
+a resident of Washington. At twenty he went into business for himself,
+beginning as an auctioneer. After several years of successful business
+he was obliged to suspend, during the depressed times of 1838.</p>
+
+<p>After this he was married to the beautiful daughter of Commodore Morris,
+of the United States Navy, much to the disgust of that gentleman, who
+little dreamed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> what an illustrious son-in-law Mr. Corcoran was destined
+to become. Some years of hard struggle followed, but at last it was
+found that he had won for himself a somewhat extended reputation as a
+financier, which gained for him a partnership with the successful
+banker, Riggs. This firm began to deal in United States Government
+securities, which were then at a low ebb abroad. Being a boy friend of
+George Peabody, the great London banker, his firm was enabled to
+materially aid the Government in its financial straits during the
+Mexican war. As the firm prospered, Mr. Corcoran became wealthy, and
+this money he laid out in Washington real estate, the rapid rise of
+which made him a millionaire. As Mr. Corcoran prospered he began to
+think of those old debts. When he had failed he secured favorable terms
+with his creditors, and legally was not bound for one cent, but he
+recognized a higher obligation than law made by man: hunting up all
+those old customers, creditors of his, he paid them not only the
+principal, but the interest that had been accumulating all these years.
+By this one act we gain a glimpse of the inner heart and impulses of
+this great and good man.</p>
+
+<p>Thousands of dollars found their way into the hands of charity, but then
+his desire to aid and gratify humanity was not satisfied.</p>
+
+<p>On May 10th, 1869, the grounds and institution for the Corcoran Art
+Gallery was deeded to trustees, and later was incorporated by Congress,
+being exempted forever from taxation. The gallery is situated directly
+opposite the State, War, and Navy buildings. It has a frontage of one
+hundred and six feet; is built of fine, pressed brick; and is one of the
+most attractive buildings in the whole City of Washington. The whole
+building<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> cost $250,000, and the donor placed therein his own private
+collection of paintings and statuary, valued at $100,000. Not satisfied
+with this he has added an endowment fund of $500,000. Many rare and
+beautiful works of art have been purchased abroad, as well as American
+works of rare value. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the gallery is
+free; on alternate days an admission of twenty-five cents is charged.
+When it is considered how many there are who would naturally take
+advantage of the free days, and then that the annual income is over
+$75,000, one can form some idea of the attractiveness of this
+institution. Mr. Corcoran's desire was to elevate the American taste in
+the finer arts, and the thousands of visitors which the institution
+attracts, indicates to what an extent he has succeeded. The lower floor
+is devoted to statues and to the exhibition of sculpture. The second
+floor is occupied by several hundred rare and costly paintings,
+representing the advance of art during the past centuries. The gallery
+is, probably, all things considered, the finest of the kind in the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Another institution of wide celebrity is the Louisa Home, founded by Mr.
+Corcoran in 1871. It is a magnificent building, conspicuously situated
+in the most fashionable part of the city, the West End. This is a most
+worthy institution, designed for ladies who have been reduced from
+affluence to poverty, affording them a home where they can mingle with a
+class of people congenial to their refined natures. This building is a
+beautiful brick structure, four stories high, erected at a cost of
+$200,000. Visitors are welcome every afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>These are only two of the many gifts and enterprises which originated
+with the venerable banker. George Peabody and William Corcoran were boys
+together; how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> similar their lives have been. Would that there were more
+Corcorans, more Peabodys. Mr. Corcoran has given several millions to
+charity and art; how we envy him&mdash;not for his wealth, but his
+reputation, or better, would that we could do as much good in the world
+as did these two great men.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Nathan_Mayer_Rothschild" id="Nathan_Mayer_Rothschild"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Nathan Mayer Rothschild</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Who indeed is there who has not heard of the Rothschilds? But how few
+there are who know much of them save that they are the richest bankers
+in the whole world. The subject of this sketch was the richest and most
+noted of five brothers. The father, Mayer Anselm Rothschild, sprung from
+a poor Jewish family, and was a clerk in Hanover before establishing
+himself at Frankfort. At Hanover it is claimed that his integrity and
+ability became so marked in every position to which he was called that
+the attention of the Government was called thereto.</p>
+
+<p>After the great French victory of Jena, Napoleon decreed that the
+Governor of Hesse-Cassel should have his lands and property confiscated.
+The order was no sooner given than a French army was on its way to carry
+the edict into effect. The Elector William, before his flight from
+Hesse-Cassel, deposited with the father of the subject of this sketch
+$5,000,000, without interest, for safe keeping. There was no luck about
+this; it was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> most difficult undertaking at that time. Any one who had
+been found with this money would have lost his life. For Rothschild to
+invest it so that he could make money from its use was his object; to do
+so safely and secretly required a good business tact. The Elector, it is
+said, studied sometime before he decided to whom he could intrust this
+vast sum during his absence. Thus it is seen that as Rothschild came of
+poor parents, and was simply a clerk. It was not so much luck in his
+case as strict integrity and the determination he manifested to master
+everything he undertook. This Rothschild had five sons, and by the aid
+of these, through different bankers, he succeeded by good management to
+lay a foundation upon which has been built that colossal fortune which
+the sons have accumulated. This money, belonging to the Elector, they
+had the benefit of until 1828, when the whole was paid over to the heirs
+of the original owner with two per cent. interest for a portion of the
+time. Of the five brothers, Anselm was situated at Frankfort, Solomon at
+Vienna, Charles at Naples, James at Paris, and Nathan at London. The two
+ablest financiers were James and Nathan, and of these two Nathan was the
+superior. His son was the first Jew that ever sat in the English
+Parliament. It has been said that the fundamental rule of this great
+banking-house was "To sell when people desired to buy, and buy when
+people wished to sell." It is related of Nathan Mayer Rothschild that,
+all day long, at the battle of Waterloo, he hung about the skirts of the
+two armies, waiting to see how the battle turned. Toward night of that
+memorable day, the clouds of smoke lifting, revealed the French army in
+full and disastrous retreat. Rothschild took in the situation at once.
+True to his instincts, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> saw in that awful carnage only the shimmer of
+his gold. Chance had overcome the most heroic valor, the most stubborn
+resistance, the best laid plans, and once more declared in the Hebrew's
+favor. He dashed into Brussels, whence a carriage in waiting whirled him
+into Ostend. At dawn he stood on the Belgian coast, against which the
+sea was madly breaking. He offered five, six, eight, ten hundred francs
+to be carried over to England. The mariners feared the storm; but a
+bolder fisherman, upon promise of twenty-five hundred francs, undertook
+the hazardous voyage. Before sunset Rothschild landed at Dover; and
+engaging the swiftest horses, rode with the wind to London. What a
+superb special correspondent he would have made! The merchants and
+bankers were dejected; the funds were depressed; a dense fog hung over
+the city; English spirits had sunk to their lowest ebb. On the morning
+of the 20th, the cunning and grasping Nathan appeared at the Stock
+Exchange, an embodiment of gloom. He mentioned, confidentially, of
+course, to his familiar that Blucher, at the head of his vast army of
+veterans, had been defeated by Napoleon, at Ligny, on the 16th and 17th,
+and there could be no hope for Wellington, with his comparatively small
+and undisciplined force. This was half true, and like all half-truths,
+was particularly calculated to deceive. Rothschild was a leader among
+trading reynards. His doleful whisper spread as the plague&mdash;poisoning
+faith everywhere. The funds tumbled like an aerolite. Public and private
+opinion wilted before the simoon of calamitous report. It was 'Black
+Friday' anticipated in Lombard Street. The crafty Israelite bought,
+through his secret agents, all the consols, bills, and notes, for which
+he could raise money.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Not before the afternoon of the 21st&mdash;nearly forty eight hours after the
+battle&mdash;did the news of Wellington's victory reach London through the
+regular channels. Rothschild was at the Exchange half an hour before the
+glad tidings were made public, and imparted them to a crowd of greedy
+listeners. The Bourse was buoyant. Everything went up more rapidly than
+it had gone down. England was happy&mdash;as well she might be&mdash;for she had
+stumbled into the greatest triumph in her history. When bankers and
+merchants shook hands with the Hebrew speculator, they noticed&mdash;though
+they did not understand&mdash;an unusual warmth of pressure. It was not
+rejoicing with the nation; it was the imaginary clutch of six millions
+more of gold. Thus it is seen that the great wealth of the Rothschild
+was not always used to the best advantage of mankind as a Christian
+would argue; but a promise given by a Rothschild was as good as his
+note.</p>
+
+<p>Their immense wealth has greatly aided, at different times, all and
+singular, the various European countries. A favorite investment with
+them has been loans to the different Governments throughout the world.</p>
+
+<p>During twelve years of their business experience they loaned to
+different European Monarchies over $400,000,000. When it is considered
+that this was but one division of their business, something of an idea
+of its magnitude can be imagined. An amusing story is told of Nathan
+which will be of interest to some of our readers, and enable them to see
+how fertile was his mind in emergencies.</p>
+
+<p>Anselm, the brother at Frankfort, drew on Nathan, of London, for a large
+amount, and the bill was presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> to the Bank of England to be
+discounted. The bank officials refused, saying, "We do not discount
+bills drawn on private persons; we recognize only our own paper."
+"Private persons!" exclaimed Nathan Rothschild when the interview was
+reported to him, "I will show them what kind of private persons we are."
+Three weeks afterwards, Nathan Rothschild,&mdash;who had employed the
+interval in collecting all the five-pound notes he could buy on the
+continent, or in England&mdash;presented himself at the bank on the opening
+of the office. He drew from his pocket-book a five-pound note, and they
+counted him out in exchange five gold sovereigns, at the same time
+looking quite astonished that the Baron Rothschild should have
+personally troubled himself for such a trifle. The Baron examined the
+pieces one by one, and having put them in a little canvas bag, proceeded
+to draw out another five-pound note, then another, and another and so
+on. He never put the pieces of gold into the bag without scrupulously
+examining them, in some instances weighing in his balance, as, he said,
+"the law gave him the right to do." The first pocket-book being emptied
+and the first bag full of coins, he passed them to his clerk, and
+received a second, and thus continued to the closing of the bank. The
+Baron had employed seven hours to exchange twenty-one thousand pounds.
+But as he also had nine employes of his house engaged in the same
+manner, it resulted that the house of Rothschild had drawn over
+$1,000,000 from the bank. He had drawn gold exclusively, and so occupied
+the bank employes that no one else could do any business.</p>
+
+<p>The bankers the first day were very much amused at "This display of
+eccentricity." They, however, laughed less the next day when they beheld
+Rothschild on hand early, flanked by his nine clerks.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>They laughed no longer when they heard the irate banker say, "These
+gentlemen refused to pay my bills; I have sworn not to keep theirs. They
+can pay at their leisure; only I hereby notify them that I have enough
+to employ them two months!" Two months! Fifty-five million dollars in
+gold drawn from the Bank of England which was more gold than they had to
+pay! The bank was now thoroughly alarmed. Something must be done, and
+the next morning notice appeared in all the papers that henceforth the
+Bank of England would pay Rothschild's bills as well as its own.</p>
+
+<p>From anecdotes one can often learn much of the inner life and thoughts
+of people, and much can be seen of the real character of the subject of
+this sketch from the above story. This Napoleon of Finance died in
+1836.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>"The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>May hope to achieve it before life be done;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes,</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i4"><i>A harvest of barren regrets."</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/134.jpg"
+height="282"
+width="501" alt="From Obscurity To Great Honor." /></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a name="John_Adams" id="John_Adams"></a><a href="#toc"><img src="images/134a.png"
+height="71"
+width="550" alt="John Adams." /></a></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>The subject of this narrative was a great-grandson of Henry Adams, who
+emigrated from England about 1640, with a family of eight sons, being
+one of the earliest settlers in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts,
+where he had a grant of a small tract of forty acres of land. The father
+of John Adams, a deacon of the church, was a farmer by occupation, to
+which was added the business of shoemaking. He was a man of limited
+means, however, was enabled by hard pinching to give his son a fairly
+good education.</p>
+
+<p>The old French and Indian war was then at its height; and in a
+remarkable letter to a friend, which contains some curious
+prognostications as to the relative population and commerce of England
+and her colonies a hundred years hence, young Adams describes himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+as having turned politician. He succeeded in gaining charge of the
+grammar school in Worcester, Massachusetts, but, instead of finding this
+duty agreeable, he found it 'a school of affliction,' and turned his
+attention to the study of law. Determined to become a first-class
+lawyer, he placed himself under the especial tuition of the only lawyer
+of whom Worcester, though the county seat, could boast.</p>
+
+<p>He had thought seriously of the clerical profession, but, according to
+his own expressions, "The frightful engines of ecclesiastical councils,
+of diabolical malice, and Calvinistic good nature," the operation of
+which he had witnessed in some church controversies in his native town,
+terrified him out of it. Adams was a very ambitious man; already he had
+longings for distinction. Could he have obtained a troop of horse, or a
+company of infantry, he would undoubtedly have entered the army. Nothing
+but want of patronage prevented his becoming a soldier.</p>
+
+<p>After a two years' course of study, he returned to his native town,
+Braintree, and in 1758 commenced practice in Suffolk county, of which
+Boston was the shire town. By hard study and hard work he gradually
+introduced himself into practice, and in 1764 married a young lady far
+above his station in life. In our perusal and study of eminent men who
+have risen by their own exertions to a higher sphere in life, we are not
+at all surprised to find that they have invariably married noble
+women&mdash;ladies, who have always maintained a restraining influence when
+the desire for honor and public attention would appeal to their baser
+self, and whose guiding influence tended to strengthen their efforts
+when their energies seemed to slacken. So it was with John Adams; his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>
+wife was a lady of rare abilities and good sense, admirably adapted to
+make him happy. Boys, be careful whom you marry!</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after his entrance into the practice of the law, the attempt at
+parliamentary taxation diverted his attention from his profession to
+politics. He was a most active oppositionist. He promoted the call of
+the town of Braintree to instruct the representatives of the town on the
+subject of the Stamp Act. The resolutions which he presented at this
+meeting were not only voted by the town, but attracted great attention
+throughout the province, and were adopted verbatim by more than forty
+different towns. Thus it is seen that Adams had not studied hard all
+these years for nothing; the price of success is honest, faithful WORK.</p>
+
+<p>Of course his towns-people would reward him. Men who have ability,
+unless some bolt is loose, will invariably gain success. Soon after this
+Mr. Adams was appointed on the part of the town of Boston to be one of
+their counsel, along with the King's attorney, and head of the bar, and
+James Otis, the celebrated orator, to support a memorial addressed to
+the Governor and Council, that the courts might proceed with business
+though no stamps were to be had. Although junior counsel, it fell to
+Adams to open the case for the petitioners, as his seniors could not
+join; the one owing to his position as King's attorney, the other could
+not as he had recently published a book entitled the 'Rights of the
+Colonies.' This was a grand opportunity for Adams and he made the most
+of it,&mdash;boldly taking the ground that the stamp act was null and void,
+Parliament having no right to tax the colonies. Nothing, however, came
+of this application; the Governor and Council declining to act, on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>
+ground that it belonged to the Judges, not to them, to decide.</p>
+
+<p>But Adams had put himself on record, and this record established his
+reputation. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the
+flood, leads on to fortune." The time came to Adams to distinguish
+himself, and he was not found wanting. It was at this same period that
+Mr. Adams first appeared as a writer in the <i>Boston Gazette</i>. He never
+allowed his opportunities to pass unheeded; in fact, he made his
+opportunities. Among other papers which appeared at this time from his
+pen, was a series of four articles which were republished in a London
+newspaper, and subsequently published in a collection of documents
+relating to the taxation controversy, printed in a large volume. At
+first the papers had no title in the printed volume, being known as
+"Essays on the Canon and Feudal Law." Well they might have been called
+so, but, it seems to us, that it would have been much more consistent to
+have entitled them "Essays on the Government and Rights of New England."
+His style was formed from the first, as is evident from the articles.</p>
+
+<p>His law business continued to increase and in 1768 he removed to Boston
+where he would have a larger field in which to develop his intellect. He
+served on various committees during the next two years, and in 1770 was
+chosen a Representative to the general Court, notwithstanding he had
+just before accepted a retainer to defend Captain Preston and his
+soldiers for their share in what had passed into history as the Boston
+massacre. His ability as a practitioner at the bar can be judged from
+the successful result of their case, as managed by him, against great
+public prejudice. Adams' duties as a Rep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>resentative interfered much
+with his business as a lawyer, on which he depended for support, and
+which had grown to be larger than that of any other practitioner at the
+provincial bar.</p>
+
+<p>He entered upon the duties of his new office with his customary energy,
+becoming the chief legal advisor of the Patriot party, and now for the
+first time an active and conspicuous leader of the same. Mr. Adams' keen
+foresight enabled him to wisely judge that it would be a good policy not
+to push too vigorously to the front as a politician until his private
+wealth would justify his necessarily great loss of time. Hence, he moved
+back to Braintree, resigning his seat in the Legislature, but still
+retaining his law office in Boston. A comparative lull in politics made
+his presence in that body less needed, but still he was consulted as to
+all the more difficult points in the controversy with Governor
+Hutchinson, and freely gave his aid. Indeed, it was not long before he
+moved back to Boston, but thoroughly resolved to avoid politics, and to
+devote his undivided attention to his professional work. Soon after his
+return to Boston he wrote a series of letters on the then mooted
+question of the independence of the judiciary, and the payment by the
+Crown of the salaries of the Judges. Soon after this he was elected by
+the general Court to the Provincial Council, but was rejected by
+Governor Hutchinson.</p>
+
+<p>The destruction of tea, and the Boston port bill that followed, soon
+brought matters to a crisis. These events produced the congress of 1774.
+Mr. Adams was one of the five delegates sent from Massachusetts, and his
+visit to Philadelphia at this time was the first occasion of his going
+beyond the limits of New England. In the discussions in the committee on
+the declaration of colonial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> rights, he took an active part in resting
+those rights on the law of nature as well as the law of England; and
+when the substance of those resolutions had been agreed upon he was
+chosen to put the matter in shape. In his diary the most trustworthy and
+graphic descriptions are to be found of the members and doings of that
+famous but little known body. The session concluded, Mr. Adams left the
+city of brotherly love with little expectation, at that time, of ever
+again seeing it.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after his return home he was chosen by his native town a
+member of the provincial congress then in session. That congress had
+already appointed a committee of safety vested with general executive
+powers; had seized the provincial revenues; had appointed general
+officers, collected military stores, and had taken steps toward
+organizing a volunteer army of minute-men. The governor&mdash;Gage&mdash;had
+issued a proclamation denouncing these proceedings, but no attention was
+ever paid to it. Gage had no support except in the five or six regiments
+that guarded Boston, a few trembling officials and a small following
+from the people.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the adjournment of this congress Adams occupied himself in
+answering through the press a champion of the mother-country's claim.
+This party, under the head of 'Massachusettensis,' had commenced a
+series of able and effective arguments in behalf of the mother-country,
+which were being published in a Boston journal. To these Adams replied
+over the signature of 'Novanglus.' These were papers displaying unusual
+ability on either part. They were afterwards published as "A History of
+the Dispute with America," and later yet in pamphlet form. Their value
+consists in the strong, contemporaneous views which they present of the
+origin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> of the struggle between the colonies and the mother-country, and
+the policy of Bernard and Hutchinson as governors of Massachusetts,
+which did so much to bring on the struggle. Like all the writings of Mr.
+Adams, they are distinguished by a bold tone of investigation, a resort
+to first principles, and a pointed style; but, like all his other
+writings, being produced by piecemeal, and on the spur of the moment,
+they lack order, system, polish and precision.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of the excitement produced by the battle of
+Lexington&mdash;which at once brought up the spirit of even the most
+hesitating patriots to the fighting pitch, and which was speedily
+followed by the seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by other
+similar seizures in other colonies throughout the fast uniting
+provinces&mdash;John Adams once more set out for Philadelphia to attend the
+Continental Congress of 1775, of which he had been appointed a member.
+This congress, though made up for the most part of the same men who
+constituted that of the previous year, was a wholly different body from
+its predecessor. The congress of 1774 was merely a suggestive
+convention. The present congress speedily assumed, or rather had thrust
+upon it by unanimous consent of the patriots, the exercise of a
+comprehensive authority in which supreme executive, legislative and, in
+some cases, judicial functions, were united. In this busy scene the
+active and untiring Adams, one of whose distinguishing characteristics
+was his <span class="smcap">capacity and fondness for business</span>, found ample employment;
+while his bold and pugnacious spirit was not a little excited by the
+hazards and dignity of the great game in which he had come to hold so
+deep a stake. Unlike many of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> body, Adams had made up his mind that
+any attempt tending toward reconciliation was hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>Under the lead of Dickinson, though against the strenuous opposition of
+Adams and others, that body voted still another and final petition to
+the king. However, Adams succeeded in joining with this vote one to put
+the colonies into a state of defence, though with protestations that the
+war on their part was for defence only, and without revolutionary
+intent. Not long after this congress was brought up to the point of
+assuming the responsibility and control of the military operations which
+New England had commenced by laying siege to Boston, in which town
+General Gage and his troops were caged, and before which lay an
+impromptu New England army of 15,000 men which the battle of Lexington
+had immediately brought together. Urged by the New England delegates,
+congress agreed to assume the expense of maintaining this army. John
+Adams was the first to propose the name of George Washington for the
+chief commander; his desire being to secure the good-will and
+co-operation of the southern colonies. The southern colonies also urged
+General Lee for the second place, but Adams insisted on giving that to
+Artemas Ward, he, however, supported Lee for the third place. Having
+assumed the direction of this army, provided for its reorganization, and
+issued letters of credit for its maintenance, this congress took a
+recess. Adams returned home, but was not allowed any rest.</p>
+
+<p>People who really have ability are never allowed to remain idle; the
+fault is not in others, but in us. No sooner had Mr. Adams arrived home
+than his Massachusetts friends sent him as a member to the State
+council. This council had, under a clause of the provincial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> charter
+intended to meet such cases, assumed the executive authority, declaring
+the gubernatorial chair vacant. On returning to Philadelphia in
+September, Adams found himself in hot water. Two confidential letters of
+his, written during the previous session, had been intercepted by the
+British in crossing the Hudson river, and had been published in the
+Boston papers. Not only did those letters evince a zeal for decisive
+measure which made the writer an object of suspicion to the more
+conservative of his fellow-members of Congress, but his reference in one
+of them to 'the whims, the caprice, the vanity, the superstition, and
+the irritability of some of his colleagues,' and particularly to John
+Dickinson as 'a certain great fortune but trifling genius,' made him
+personal enemies by whom he was never forgiven.</p>
+
+<p>But, though for a moment an object of distrust to some of his
+colleagues, this did not save him from hard work. About this time he
+wrote: "I am engaged in constant work; from seven to ten in the morning
+in committee, from ten to four in Congress, and from six to ten again in
+committee. Our assembly is scarcely numerous enough for the business;
+everybody is engaged all day in Congress, and all the morning and
+evening in committee." The committee, which chiefly engaged Mr. Adams'
+attention at this time, was one on the fitting out of cruisers, and on
+naval affairs generally. This committee laid the foundation of our first
+navy; the basis of our naval code being drawn up by Adams.</p>
+
+<p>Governor Wentworth having fled from New Hampshire, the people of that
+province applied to congress for advice as to how to manage their
+administrative affairs. Adams, always ahead of his brother legislators,
+seized the opportunity to urge the necessity of advising all of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> the
+provinces to proceed at once to institute governments of their own. The
+news, soon arriving of the haughty treatment of their petition by the
+king, added strength to his pleading, and the matter being referred to a
+committee on which Adams was placed, a report in partial conformity to
+his ideas was made and adopted. Adams was a worker; this was a
+recognized fact; and his State having offered him the post of Chief
+Justice of Massachusetts, Adams, toward the end of the year, returned
+home to consult on that and other important matters. He took his seat in
+the council, of which he had been chosen a member, immediately on his
+arrival. He was consulted by Washington, both as to sending General Lee
+to New York, and as to the expedition against Canada. It was finally
+arranged that while Adams should accept the appointment of Chief
+Justice, he should still remain a delegate in Congress, and till more
+quiet times should be excused as acting in the capacity of judge. Under
+this arrangement he returned to Philadelphia. However, he never took his
+seat as Chief Justice, resigning that office the next year.</p>
+
+<p>Advice similar to that to New Hampshire on the subject of assuming
+government, as it was called, had shortly afterwards been given upon
+similar applications to Congress, to South Carolina and Virginia. Adams
+was much consulted by members of the southern delegation concerning the
+form of government which they should adopt. He was recognized as being
+better versed in the subject of Republicanism, both by study and
+experience, coming as he did from the most thoroughly Republican section
+of the country. Of several letters which he wrote on this subject, one
+more elaborate than the others, was printed under the title of "Thoughts
+on Government<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> applicable to the present state of the American
+Colonies."</p>
+
+<p>This paper being largely circulated in Virginia as a preliminary to the
+adoption of a form of government by that State, was to a certain extent
+a rejoinder to that part of Paine's famous pamphlet of 'Common Sense,'
+which advocated government by a single assembly. It was also designed to
+controvert the aristocratic views, somewhat prevalent in Virginia, of
+those who advocated a governor and senate to be elected for life. Adams'
+system of policy embraced the adoption of self-government by each of the
+colonies, a confederation, and treaties with foreign powers. The
+adoption of this system he continued to urge with zeal and increasing
+success, until finally, on May 13th, he carried a resolution through
+Congress by which so much of his plan was endorsed by that body as
+related to the assumption of self-government by the several colonies. A
+resolution that the United States 'Are and ought to be free and
+independent,' introduced by R. H. Lee under instructions from the
+Virginia convention, was very warmly supported by Adams and carried,
+seven States to six. Three committees, one on a Declaration of
+Independence; another on Confederation; and third on Foreign Relations,
+were shortly formed. Of the first and third of these committees, Adams
+was a member.</p>
+
+<p>The Declaration of Independence was drawn up by Jefferson, but on Adams
+devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days'
+debate, during which it underwent some curtailment. The plan of a treaty
+reported by the third committee, and adopted by Congress, was drawn up
+by Adams. His views did not extend beyond merely commercial treaties. He
+was opposed to seeking any political connection with France, or any
+mil<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>itary or even naval assistance from her or any foreign power. On
+June 12th Congress had established a board of war and ordinance, to
+consist of five members, with a secretary, clerk, etc.,&mdash;in fact, a war
+department. As originally constituted, the members of this board were
+taken from Congress, and the subject of this narrative was chosen its
+president or chairman. This position was one of great labor and
+responsibility, as the chief burden of the duties fell upon him, he
+continued to hold for the next eighteen months, with the exception of a
+necessary absence at the close of the year 1776, to recruit his health.</p>
+
+<p>The business of preparing articles of war for the government of the army
+was deputed to a committee composed of Adams and Jefferson; but
+Jefferson, according to Adams' account, threw upon him the whole burden,
+not only of drawing up the articles, which he borrowed mostly from Great
+Britain, but of arguing them through Congress, which was no small task.
+Adams strongly opposed Lord Howe's invitation to a conference, sent to
+Congress, through his prisoner, General Sullivan, after the battle of
+Long Island. He was, however, appointed one of the committee for that
+purpose, together with Franklin and Rutledge, and his autobiography
+contains some curious anecdotes concerning the visit. Besides his
+presidency of the board of war, Adams was also chairman of the committee
+upon which devolved the decision of appeals in admiralty cases from the
+State courts. Having thus occupied for nearly two years a position which
+gained for him the reputation, among at least a few of his colleagues,
+of having "the clearest head and firmest heart of any man in Congress."</p>
+
+<p>He was appointed near the end of 1777 a commissioner to France, to
+supercede Deane, whom Congress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> had concluded to recall. He embarked at
+Boston, in the Frigate Boston, on February 12th, 1878, reaching Bordeaux
+after a stormy passage, and arrived on April 8th at Paris. As the
+alliance with France had been completed before his arrival, his stay was
+short. He found that a great antagonism of views and feelings had arisen
+between the three commissioners,&mdash;Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee, of
+whom the embassy to France had been originally composed. As the recall
+of Deane had not reconciled the other two, Adams devised, as the only
+means of giving unity and energy to the mission, that it should be
+intrusted to a single person. This suggestion was adopted, and in
+consequence of it, Franklin having been appointed sole embassador in
+France, Adams returned home.</p>
+
+<p>He arrived at Boston just as a convention was about to meet to form a
+State constitution for Massachusetts, and, being at once chosen a member
+from Braintree, he was enabled to take a leading part in the formation
+of that important document. Before this convention had finished its
+business he was appointed by congress as minister to treat with Great
+Britain for peace, and commerce, under which appointment he again sailed
+for France in 1779, in the same French frigate in which he previously
+returned to the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Contrary to his own inclinations, Mr. Adams was prevented by Vergennes,
+the French minister of foreign affairs, from making any communication of
+his powers to Great Britain. In fact, Vergennes and Adams already were,
+and continued to be, objects of distrust to one another, in both cases
+quite unfounded. Vergennes feared least advances toward treating with
+England might lead to some sort of reconciliation with her, short of the
+in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>dependence of the colonies, which was contrary to his ideas of the
+interest of France. The communications made to Vergennes by Gerard, the
+first French minister in America, and Adams' connection with the Lee's
+whom Vergennes suspected, though unjustly, of a secret communication
+through Arthur Lee with the British ministry, led him to regard Mr.
+Adams as the representative of a party in congress desirous of such a
+reconciliation; nor did he rest until he had obtained from congress,
+some two years after, the recall of Mr. Adams' powers to negotiate a
+treaty of commerce; and, in conjunction with him, of several colleagues
+to treat for peace, of whom Franklin, who enjoyed his entire confidence,
+was one.</p>
+
+<p>Adams, on the other hand, not entirely free from hereditary English
+prejudices against the French, vehemently suspected Vergennes of a
+design to sacrifice the interests of America, especially the fisheries
+and the western lands, to the advancement of the Spanish house of
+Bourbon. While lingering at Paris, with nothing to do except to nurse
+these suspicions, Adams busied himself in furnishing communications on
+American affairs to a semi-official gazette conducted by M. Genet, chief
+secretary in the foreign bureau, and father of the French minister in
+America, who subsequently rendered that name so notorious.</p>
+
+<p>Finding his position at Paris uncomfortable, he proceeded to Holland in
+July, 1780, his object being to form an opinion as to the probability of
+borrowing money there. Just about the same time he was appointed by
+Congress to negotiate a French loan, the party who had been selected for
+that purpose previously, Laurens, not yet being ready to leave home. By
+way of enlightening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> the Dutch in regard to American affairs, Adams
+published in the <i>Gazette</i>, of Leyden, a number of papers and extracts,
+including several which, through a friend, he first had published in a
+London journal to give to them an English character. To these he added
+direct publication of his own, afterward many times reprinted, and now
+to be found in volume VII of his collected works under the title of
+'Twenty-six Letters upon Interesting Subjects Respecting the Revolution
+in America.' He had commenced negotiations for a loan when his labors in
+that direction were interrupted by the sudden breach between England and
+Holland, consequent upon the capture of Laurens and the discovery of the
+secret negotiation carried on between him and Van Berkel, of Amsterdam,
+which, though it had been entered into without authority of the Dutch
+States, was made an excuse by the British for a speedy declaration of
+war.</p>
+
+<p>Adams was soon after appointed minister to Holland in place of the
+captured Laurens, and at the same time was commissioned to sign the
+articles of armed neutrality which had just made their appearance on the
+political scene. Adams presented memorials to the Dutch government
+setting forth his powers in both respects; but before he could procure
+any recognition he was recalled in July, 1781, to Paris, by a notice
+that he was needed there, in his character of minister, to treat for
+peace.</p>
+
+<p>Adams' suspicion of Vergennes had, meanwhile, been not a little
+increased by the neglect of France to second his applications to
+Holland. With Vergennes the great object was peace. The finances of
+France were sadly embarrassed, and Vergennes wished no further
+complications to the war. Provided the English colonies should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> be
+definitely separated from the mother-country, which he considered
+indispensable to the interest of France, he was not disposed to insist
+on anything else. It was for this reason that he had urged upon, and
+just about this time had succeeded in obtaining from Congress, through
+the French Minister at Philadelphia&mdash;though the information had not yet
+reached Paris&mdash;not only the withdrawal of Adams' commission to treat of
+commerce, and the enlargement to five of the number of commissioners to
+treat for peace, but an absolute discretion intrusted to the negotiators
+as to everything except independence and the additional direction that
+in the last resort they were to be governed by the advice of Vergennes.
+The cause for sending for Adams, who still occupied, so far as was known
+at Paris, the position of sole negotiator for peace; the offer of
+mediation on the part of Russia and the German empire; but this offer
+led to nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Great Britain haughtily rejected it on the ground that she would not
+allow France to stand between her and her colonies. Returning to Holland
+Mr. Adams, though still unsupported by Vergennes, pushed with great
+energy his reception as embassador by the States general, which at
+length, April 19th, 1782, he succeeded in accomplishing. Following up
+this success with his <span class="smcap">customary perseverence</span>, he succeeded before the
+end of the year in negotiating a Dutch loan of nearly two millions of
+dollars, the first of a series which proved a chief financial resource
+of the continental congress. He also succeeded in negotiating a treaty
+of amity and commerce. His success in these negotiations, considering
+the obstacles with which he had to contend, and the want of support from
+Vergennes, he was accustomed to regard as the greatest triumph of his
+life.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Before this business was completed, Mr. Adams received urgent calls to
+come to Paris where Jay and Franklin, two of the new commissioners, were
+already treating for peace, and where he arrived October 26th. Though
+Mr. Jay had been put into the diplomatic service by the procurement of
+the party in congress in the French interest, his diplomatic experience
+in Spain had led him also to entertain doubts as to the sincere
+good-will of Vergennes. A confidential dispatch from the French
+Secretary of Legation in America, intercepted by the British, and which
+Oswald, the British negotiator at Paris communicated to Franklin and
+Jay, with a view of making bad feeling between them and the French
+minister, had, along with other circumstances, induced Franklin and Jay
+to disregard their instructions, and to proceed to treat with Oswald
+without communicating that fact to Vergennes, or taking his advice as to
+terms of the treaty, a procedure in which Adams, after his arrival,
+fully concurred.</p>
+
+<p>It was chiefly through his energy and persistence that the participation
+of America in the fisheries was secured by the treaty, not as a favor or
+a privilege, but as a right&mdash;a matter of much more importance then than
+now, the fisheries then being a much more important branch than now of
+American maritime industry.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately upon the signature of the preliminary articles of peace,
+Adams asked leave to resign all his commissions and to return home, to
+which Congress responded by appointing him a commissioner jointly with
+Franklin and Jay, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
+His first visit to England was, however, in a private character, to
+recruit his health, after a violent fever with which he had been
+attacked, shortly after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> signing the treaty of peace. He spent some
+time, first at London, and afterward at Bath; but while still an invalid
+he was recalled, in the dead of winter, to Holland, which he reached
+after a stormy and most uncomfortable voyage; there to negotiate a new
+loan as the means of meeting government bills drawn in America, which
+were in danger of protest from want of funds&mdash;a <span class="smcap">business in which he
+succeeded</span>.</p>
+
+<p>Adams was included along with Franklin and Jefferson, the latter sent
+out to take the place of Jay, in a new commission to form treaties with
+foreign powers; and his being joined by Mrs. Adams and their only
+daughter and youngest son, his other two sons being already with him,
+reconciled him to the idea of remaining abroad.</p>
+
+<p>With his family about him he fixed his residence at Auteuil, near Paris,
+where he had an interval of comparative leisure.</p>
+
+<p>The chief business of the new commission was the negotiation of a treaty
+with Prussia, advances toward which had first been made to Adams while
+at the Hague negotiating the Dutch loan, but before that treaty was
+ready for signature Adams was appointed by congress as Minister to the
+court of St. James, where he arrived in May, 1785. The English
+government, the feelings of which were well represented by those of the
+king, had neither the magnanimity nor policy to treat the new American
+States with respect, generosity, or justice. Adams was received with
+civility, but no commercial arrangements could be made. His chief
+employment was in complaining of the non-execution of the treaty of
+peace, especially in relation to the non-surrender of the western posts,
+and in attempting to meet similar complaints urged, not without strong
+grounds, by the British;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> more particularly with regard to the obstacles
+thrown in the way of the collection of British debts, which were made an
+excuse for the detention of the western posts. Made sensible in many
+ways of the aggravation of British feelings toward the new republic,
+whose condition immediately after the peace was somewhat embarrassing,
+and not so flattering as it might have been to the advocates and
+promoters of the revolution, the situation of Adams was rather
+mortifying than agreeable.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he was obliged to pay another visit to Holland to negotiate a
+new loan as a means of paying the interest on the Dutch debt. He was
+also engaged in a correspondence with his fellow-commissioner, Mr.
+Jefferson, then at Paris, on the subject of the Barbary powers and the
+return of the Americans held captive by them. But his most engrossing
+occupation at this time was the preparation of his "Defence of the
+American Constitution," the object of which was the justification of
+balanced governments and a division of powers, especially the
+legislative, against the idea of a single assembly and a pure democracy,
+which had begun to find many advocates, especially on the continent. The
+greater part, however, of this book&mdash;the most voluminous of his
+publications&mdash;consists of summaries of the histories of the Italian
+republics, which, by the way, was not essential to the argument.</p>
+
+<p>Although it afterward subjugated the author to charges of monarchical
+and anti-republican tendencies, this book was not without its influence
+on the adoption of the federal constitution; during the discussion of
+which the first volume appeared. Great Britain not having reciprocated
+the compliment by sending a minister to the United States, and there
+being no prospects of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> accomplishing any of the objects of his
+mission, Adams had requested a recall, which was sent to him in
+February, 1788, accompanied by a resolution of Congress conveying the
+thanks of that body for 'The patriotism, perseverance, integrity and
+diligence' which he had displayed in his ten years' experience abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately upon his arrival at home, Mr. Adams was <span class="smcap">re-appointed</span> by
+Massachusetts as a delegate to the continental congress; but he never
+resumed his seat in that body, which was now just about to expire. When
+the new government came to be organized under the newly adopted
+constitution, as all were agreed to make Washington president, attention
+was turned to New England for a vice-president. This office was then
+held with much more regard than now. In fact, as the constitution
+originally stood, the candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency
+were voted for without any distinct specification as to rank, the second
+office falling to the person having the second highest vote. Out of
+sixty-nine electors, John Adams received the votes of thirty-four; and
+this being the second highest number, he was declared vice-president.
+The thirty-five votes were scattered upon some ten different other
+candidates.</p>
+
+<p>By virtue of his new office he became president of the senate, a
+position not very agreeable to his active and leading temperament, being
+better fitted for debate; but one in which the close division in the
+senate, often resulting in a tie between the supporters and opponents of
+the new system, many times gave him a controlling voice. In the first
+congress, he gave no fewer than twenty deciding votes, always upon
+important organic laws, and always in support of Washington's policy.</p>
+
+<p>Down to this time Adams had sympathized with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> Jefferson politically,
+with whom he had served both in congress and abroad. On the subject of
+the French revolution, which now burst upon the world, a difference of
+opinion arose between them. From the very beginning Adams, then almost
+alone, had argued that no good could come from that movement,&mdash;as the
+revolution went on and began to break out in excesses, others began to
+be of this opinion.</p>
+
+<p>Adams then gave public expression to some of his ideas by the
+publication of his 'Discourses on Davila,' furnished to a Philadelphia
+paper, and afterward collected and published in one volume,&mdash;taking the
+history of nations, particularly Davila's account of the French civil
+wars, and the general aspects of human society as his texts.</p>
+
+<p>Adams pointed out as the great springs of human activity,&mdash;at least in
+all that related to politics,&mdash;the love of superiority, the desire of
+distinction, admiration and applause; nor, in his opinion could any
+government be permanent or secure which did not provide as well for the
+reasonable gratification, as for the due restraint of this powerful
+passion. Repudiating that democracy, pure and simple, then coming into
+vogue, and of which Jefferson was the advocate; he insisted that a
+certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was necessary to that
+balance of interests and sentiments without which, as he believed, free
+governments should not exist. This work, which reproduced more at length
+and in a more obnoxious form the fundamental ideas of his 'Defence of
+the American Constitution,' made Adams a great bugbear to the
+ultra-democratic supporters of the principles and policy of the French
+revolutionists; and at the second presidential election in 1792, they
+set up as a can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>didate against him George Clinton, of New York, but Mr.
+Adams was re-elected by a decided vote.</p>
+
+<p>The wise policy of neutrality adopted by Washington received the hearty
+concurrence of Adams. While Jefferson left the cabinet to become in
+nominal retirement the leader of the opposition. Adams continued, as
+vice-president, to give Washington's administration the benefit of his
+deciding vote. It was only by this means that a neutrality act was
+carried through the senate, and that the progress was stopped of certain
+resolutions which had previously passed in the House of Representatives,
+embodying restrictive measures against Great Britain, intended, or at
+least calculated, to counterwork the mission to England on which Mr. Jay
+had already been sent.</p>
+
+<p>Washington being firmly resolved to retire at the close of his second
+presidential term, the question of the successorship now presented
+itself. Jefferson was the leader of the opposition, who called
+themselves republicans, the name democrat being yet in bad odor, and
+though often imposed as a term of reproach, not yet assumed except by a
+few of the more ultra-partisans. Hamilton was the leader of the federal
+party, as the supporters of Washington's administration had styled
+themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Though Hamilton's zeal and energy had made him, even while like
+Jefferson in nominal retirement, the leader of his party, he could
+hardly be said to hold the place with the Federalists that Jefferson did
+with the Republicans. Either Adams or Jay, from their age and long
+diplomatic service, were more justly entitled to public honor and were
+more conspicuously before the people. Hamilton, though he had always
+spoken of Adams as a man of unconquerable intrepidity and incorruptible
+in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>tegrity, and as such had already twice supported him for
+vice-president, would yet have much preferred Jay.</p>
+
+<p>The position of Adams was, however, such as to render his election far
+more probable than that of Jay, and to determine on his selection as
+candidate of the Federalist party. Jay, by his negotiation of the famous
+treaty which bears his name, had for the moment called down upon himself
+the hostility of its numerous opponents. Adams stood, moreover, as
+vice-president, in the line of promotion, and was more sure of the New
+England vote, which was absolutely indispensible to the success of
+either.</p>
+
+<p>As one of the candidates was taken from the North, it seemed best to
+select the other from the South, and the selection of Thomas Pickney, of
+South Carolina, was the result of this decision. Indeed, there were
+some, Hamilton among the number, who secretly wished that Pickney might
+receive the larger vote of the two, and so be chosen president over
+Adams' head. This result was almost sure to happen,&mdash;from the likelihood
+of Pickney's receiving more votes at the South than Adams, as he really
+did,&mdash;could the northern federal electors be persuaded to vote equally
+for Adams and Pickney, which Hamilton labored to effect.</p>
+
+<p>The fear, however, that Pickney might be chosen over Adams led to the
+withholding from Pickney of eighteen New England votes, so that the
+result was not only to make Jefferson Vice-President, as having more
+votes than Pickney, but also to excite prejudices and suspicions in the
+mind of Adams against Hamilton, which, being reciprocated by him, led to
+the disruption and final overthrow of the Federal party.</p>
+
+<p>It had almost happened, such was the equal division<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> of parties, that
+Jefferson had this time been elected President. The election of Adams,
+who had 71 votes to Jefferson's 68, only being secured by two stray
+votes cast for him, one in Virginia, and the other in North Carolina,
+tributes of revolutionary reminiscences and personal esteem. Chosen by
+this slender majority, Mr. Adams succeeded to office at a very dangerous
+and exciting crisis in affairs. The progress of the French revolution
+had superinduced upon previous party divisions a new and vehement
+crisis.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's supporters, who sympathized very warmly with the French
+Republic, gave their moral, if not their positive support, to the claim
+set up by its rulers, but which Washington had refused to admit, that
+under the provisions of the French treaty of alliance, the United States
+were bound to support France against Great Britain, at least in defense
+of her West India possessions. The other party, the supporters of Adams,
+upheld the policy of neutrality adopted by Washington.</p>
+
+<p>At the same time that Washington had sent Jay to England, to arrange, if
+possible, the pending difficulties with that country; he had recalled
+Morris who, as Minister to France, had made himself obnoxious to the now
+predominent party there, and had appointed Monroe in his place. This
+gentleman, instead of conforming to his instructions, and attempting to
+reconcile France to Jay's mission, had given them assurance on the
+subject quite in contradiction of the treaty as made, both the formation
+and ratification of which he had done his best to defeat. He, in
+consequence, had been recalled by Washington shortly before the close of
+his term of office, and C. C. Pickney, a brother of Thomas Pickney, had
+been appointed in his place. The French<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> authorities, offended at this
+change, and the ratification of Jay's treaty in spite of their
+remonstrances, while they dismissed Monroe with great ovations, refused
+to receive the new embassador sent in his place, at the same time
+issuing decrees and orders highly injurious to American interests.</p>
+
+<p>Almost the first act of Mr. Adams, as President, was to call an extra
+session of Congress. Not only was a war with France greatly to be
+dreaded and deprecated on account of her great military and naval power,
+but still more on account of the very formidable party which, among the
+ultra-Republicans, she could muster within the States themselves. Under
+these circumstances, the measure resolved upon by Adams and his cabinet
+was the appointment of a new and more solemn commission to France,
+composed of Pickney and two colleagues, for which purpose the President
+appointed John Marshall of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of
+Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of receiving and openly treating with those commissioners,
+Talleyrand, lately an exile in America, but now Secretary of Foreign
+Affairs to the French Government, entered into intrigue with them,
+through several unaccredited and unofficial agents, of which the object
+was to induce them to promise a round bribe to the directors and a large
+sum of money to fill the exhausted French treasury, by way of purchasing
+forbearance. As Pickney and Marshall appeared less pliable than Gerry,
+Talleyrand finally obliged them to leave, after which he attempted,
+though still without success, to extract money, or at least the promise
+of it, from Gerry.</p>
+
+<p>The publication of the dispatches in which these discreditible intrigues
+were disclosed, an event on which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> Talleyrand had not calculated,
+produced a great excitement in both America and Europe. Talleyrand
+attempted to escape by disavowing his agents, and pretending that the
+American ministers had been imposed upon by adventurers. Gerry left
+France, and the violation of American commercial and maritime rights was
+pushed to new extremes. In America the effect of all of this was to
+greatly strengthen the Federal party for the time being.</p>
+
+<p>The grand jury of the federal circuit court for Pennsylvania set the
+example of an address to the president, applauding his manly stand for
+the rights and dignity of the nation. Philadelphia, which under the lead
+of Mifflin and McKean, had gone over to the Republicans, was once more
+suddenly converted as during Washington's first term to the support of
+the federal government. That city was then the seat of the national
+newspaper press. All the newspapers, hitherto neutral, published there,
+as well as several others which had leaned decidedly toward the
+opposition, now came out in behalf of Adams.</p>
+
+<p>Besides an address from five thousand citizens, the young men got up an
+address of their own. This example was speedily imitated all over the
+country, and the spirited replies of the president, who was now in his
+element, served in their turn to blow up and keep ablaze the patriotic
+enthusiasm of his countrymen. These addresses, circulated everywhere in
+the newspapers, were collected at the time in a volume, and they
+appeared in Adams' works, of which they form a characteristic portion. A
+navy was set on foot, the old continental navy having become extinct. An
+army was voted and partly levied, of which Washington accepted the chief
+com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>mand, and merchant ships were authorized to protect themselves.</p>
+
+<p>The treaty with France was declared at an end, and a quasi war with
+France ensued. It was not, however, the policy of France to drive the
+United States into the arms of Great Britain. Even before Gerry's
+departure, Talleyrand had made advances tending toward reconciliation,
+which were afterward renewed by communications opened with Van Murray,
+the American minister to Holland. The effect of the French outrages, and
+the progress of the French revolution had been to create in a part of
+the federal party, at least, a desire for an absolute breach with
+France&mdash;a desire felt by Hamilton, and by at least three out of the four
+cabinet officers whom Adams had chosen and kept in office.</p>
+
+<p>In his message to congress, announcing the expulsion of Pickney and
+Marshall, Adams had declared that he would never send another minister
+to France without assurance that he would be received. This was on the
+21st of July, 1798. Therefore, when on the 18th of February following,
+without consulting his cabinet or giving them any intimation of his
+intentions, he sent into the senate the nomination of Van Murray as
+minister to France, the act took the country by surprise, and thus
+hastened the defeat of the federal party, his actions being so contrary
+to his avowed intentions. Some previous acts of Adams, such as the
+appointment of Gerry, which his cabinet officers had striven to prevent,
+and his disinclination to make Hamilton second in command, until
+vehemently urged into it by Washington, had strengthened the distrust
+entertained of Adams by Hamilton.</p>
+
+<p>Adams, in his attempt to reopen diplomatic intercourse with France, was
+accused of seeking to reconcile<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> his political opponents of the
+Republican party, and thus secure by unworthy and impolitic concessions,
+his own re-election as president. The opposition to Van Murray's
+nomination prevailed so far that he received two colleagues, Ellsworth
+of Connecticut and Davies of North Carolina; but the president would not
+authorize the departure of Ellsworth or Davies until he had received
+explicit assurances from Talleyrand that they would be duly received as
+ministers. On arriving in France they found the Directory superseded by
+Napoleon Bonaparte who was first counsel, with whom they managed to
+arrange the difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>But, however beneficial to the country, this mission proved very
+disastrous to Adams personally, and to the political party to which he
+belonged. He justified its appointment on the ground of assurances
+conveyed to him through a variety of channels that France desired peace,
+and he excused himself for his not having consulted his cabinet by the
+fact that he knew their mind without asking it&mdash;to be decidedly hostile,
+that is, to any such attempt as he had decided to make.</p>
+
+<p>The masses of the federalists, fully confident of Adams' patriotism,
+were well enough disposed to acquiesce in his judgment; but many of the
+leaders were implacable. The quarrel was further aggravated by Adams'
+dismissal of his cabinet officers and the construction of a new cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>The pardon of Fries, who had been convicted of treason for armed
+resistance to the levy of certain direct taxes in Pennsylvania, was
+regarded by many at that time as a piece of misplaced lenity on the part
+of Adams, dictated, it was said, by a mean desire of popularity in a
+case where the severest example was needed. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> Adams can hardly suffer
+with posterity from his unwillingness to be the first president to sign
+a death warrant for treason, especially as there was room for grave
+doubts whether the doings of this person amounted to treason as defined
+by the constitution of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>In this divided condition of the Federal party the presidential election
+came on. Adams was still too popular with the mass of the party to think
+of dropping him altogether, and the malcontents reduced to the old
+expedient of attempting, by secret understanding and arrangements, to
+reduce his vote in the electoral college below that of C. C. Pickney,
+the other candidate on the federal ticket.</p>
+
+<p>The Republicans, on the other hand, under the prospect of an arrangement
+with France, rapidly recovered from the blow inflicted upon them by the
+violence and mercenary rapacity lately charged upon their French
+friends, but which they now insisted, was a charge without foundation.
+Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction at the heavy taxes necessarily
+imposed to meet the expenses of warlike preparations, and especially of
+the unpopularity of the alien and sedition laws&mdash;two acts of congress to
+which the prospect of war had led&mdash;they pushed the canvass with great
+energy; while in Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr they had two leaders
+unsurpassed for skill in party tactics, and in Burr at least, one little
+scrupulous as to the means to be used.</p>
+
+<p>Not only was the whole blame of the alien and sedition acts, to which he
+had merely assented without even recommending, laid on Adams' shoulders,
+but he was the object of vehement and most bitter attacks for having
+surrendered, under one of the provisions of Jay's treaty, one Thomas
+Nash, an English sailor, charged with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> mutiny and murder. Nor was it
+against his public acts alone, nor even to his political opponents, that
+these assaults on Mr. Adams were confined. With strong feeling and busy
+imagination, loving both to talk and write, Adams had been betrayed into
+many confidences and into free expressions of feeling, opinions, and
+even conjectures and suspicions&mdash;a weakness very unsuited to the
+character of a statesman, and one which Adams had during his life many
+times the occasion to rue.</p>
+
+<p>During Washington's first term of office, Adams had thus been led into a
+confidential correspondence with Tench Coxe, who at that time held the
+position of assistant secretary of the treasury and had afterward been
+appointed supervisor of the internal revenue. Since Adam's accession he
+had been dismissed from his place on the charge of being a spy upon the
+treasury department in the service of the <i>Aurora</i>, the principal
+newspaper organ of the opposition,&mdash;with which party Coxe sympathized,
+and, since his recent dismissal from office, acted.</p>
+
+<p>In this state of mind Coxe betrayed a confidential letter to him from
+Adams; which, after being handed around in manuscript for some time, to
+the great damage of Adams with his own party, was finally printed in the
+<i>Aurora</i>, of which Coxe had become one of the principal contributors.</p>
+
+<p>The purport of this letter, written as long ago as May, 1792, was to
+give countenance to the charge of the opposition that Washington's
+cabinet, and of course Adams' which followed the same policy, was under
+British influence; and that the Pickney brothers, candidates with Adams
+on the presidential ticket, were especially liable to this suspicion.
+The publication of this letter was followed by a still more deadly blow
+in the shape of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> a pamphlet, written, printed and signed by
+Hamilton,&mdash;probably intended by him for private distribution among his
+friends, but which was made public by Aaron Burr, who had succeed in
+obtaining some of the proof sheets.</p>
+
+<p>This pamphlet had its origin in the same charge against Hamilton of
+being under the influence of British gold, thrown out by Adams in
+private conversation. To this he had refused to give any explanation
+when written to by Hamilton, though when a similar request was made by
+C. C. Pickney in consequence of the publication of the letter to Coxe,
+Adams fully exonerated, in a published letter, both Pickney and his
+brother from any suspicion which his letter to Coxe might seem
+calculated to convey.</p>
+
+<p>Hamilton declared in the conclusion of his pamphlet that, as things then
+stood, he did not recommend the withholding of a single vote from Adams.
+Yet, it was the leading object of his pamphlet to show, without denying
+Adams' patriotism or integrity, or even his talents, that he had great
+defects of character which disqualified him for the position of chief
+magistrate, and the effect which he desired it to have must have been to
+give C. C. Pickney the presidency, by causing a certain number of votes
+to be withheld from Adams.</p>
+
+<p>The result of the election, however, was to throw out both the federal
+candidates, while Adams receiving forty-five votes and Pickney
+fifty-four; Jefferson and Burr each received seventy-three. In the
+ensuing struggle between Jefferson and Burr, Adams took no part
+whatever. Immediately on the expiration of his term of office he left
+Washington, where shortly before the seat of government had been moved,
+without even stopping to be present at the inauguration of Jefferson,
+against whom he felt a sense of personal wrong, probably think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>ing he
+had been deluded by false professions as to Jefferson's views on the
+presidential chair.</p>
+
+<p>Though both were much given to letter-writing, and had to within a short
+time before been on terms of friendly intercourse, this state of
+feelings, on the part of Adams, led to strict non-intercourse for the
+next thirteen years. The only acknowledgment which Adams carried with
+him, in this unwelcome and mortifying retirement for his twenty-five
+years' services was the privilege, which had been granted to Washington
+on his withdrawal from the presidency, and after his death to his widow,
+and bestowed likewise upon all subsequent ex-presidents and their
+widows, of receiving his letters free of postage for the remainder of
+his life.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately for Adams, his thrifty habits and love of independence,
+sustained during his absence from home by the economical and managing
+talents of his wife, had enabled him to add to what he had saved from
+his profession before entering public life, savings from his salaries,
+enough to make up a sufficient property to support him for the remainder
+of his life, in conformity with his ideas of a decent style of propriety
+and solid comfort. Almost all his savings he had invested in the farming
+lands about him. In his vocabulary, property meant land. With all the
+rapid wealth then being made through trade and navigation, he had no
+confidence in the permanency of any property but land, views in which he
+was confirmed by the commercial revulsions of which he lived to be a
+witness.</p>
+
+<p>Adams was the possessor, partly by inheritance and partly by purchase,
+of his father's farm, including the house in which he himself was born.
+He had, however, transferred his own residence to a larger and
+handsomer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> dwelling near by, which had been forfeited by one of the
+refugee tories of the revolution and purchased by him, where he spent
+the next quarter of a century.</p>
+
+<p>In this comfortable home, acquired by himself, he sought consolation for
+his troubled spirit in the cultivation of his lands, in books and in the
+bosom of his family. Mrs. Adams, to her capacities as a house-keeper,
+steward and farm manager, added a brightness and activity of mind and a
+range of reading, such as fully qualified her to sympathize with her
+husband in his public as well as his private career. She shared his
+tastes for books, and as his letters to her are unsurpassed by any
+American letters ever yet published, so hers to him, as well as to
+others, from which a selection has also been published, show her, though
+exhibiting less of nature and more of formality than he, yet worthy of
+admiration and respect as well as of the tenderness with which he always
+regarded her.</p>
+
+<p>To affections strong enough to respond to his, a sympathy equal to his
+highest aspirations, a proud feeling and an enjoyment of it equal to his
+own, she added what is not always found in such company, a flexibility
+sufficient to yield to his stronger will without disturbance to her
+serenity or his, and without the least compromise of her own dignity or
+her husband's respect and deference for her. While she was not ignorant
+of the foibles of his character, and knew how to avail herself of them
+when a good purpose was to be served by it, yet her admiration of his
+abilities, her reliance upon his judgment, her confidence in his
+goodness, and her pride in his achievements, made her always ready to
+yield and to conform. His happiness and honor were always her leading
+object.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> This union was blessed with children well calculated to add to
+this happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Just at the moment of his retirement from office private grief was added
+to political disappointment by the death of his second son Charles, who
+had grown to manhood, had been married and had settled in New York with
+flattering prospects, but had died under painful circumstances, which
+his father speaks of in a contemporary letter as the deepest affliction
+of his life, leaving a wife and two infant children dependent on him.
+Colonel Smith, an officer of the revolution, who had been Adams'
+secretary of legation at London and who had married his only daughter,
+did not prove in all respects such a son-in-law as he would have wished.
+Smith's pecuniary affairs becoming embarrassed, his father-in-law had
+provided for him by several public appointments, the last of which was
+that of the surveyor of New York, which position he was allowed to hold
+until 1807, when he was removed from it in consequence of his
+implication in Miranda's expedition. Nor did Thomas, the third son,
+though a person of accomplishments and talents, fully answer the hopes
+of his parents.</p>
+
+<p>But all these disappointments were more than made good by the eldest
+son, John Quincy, who subsequently to his recall from the diplomatic
+service abroad, into which Washington had introduced him and in which
+his father, urged by Washington, had promoted him, was chosen one of the
+senators in congress from Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>All consolations, domestic or otherwise, at Mr. Adam's command, were
+fully needed. Never did a statesman sink more suddenly,&mdash;at a time too
+when his powers of action and inclinations for it seemed
+unimpaired&mdash;from a leading position to more absolute political
+insignificance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> His grandson tells us that while the letters addressed
+to him in the year prior to March 1st, 1801, may be counted by the
+thousands, those of the next year scarcely numbered a hundred, while he
+wrote even less than he received. Nor was mere neglect the worst of it.
+He sank, loaded with the jibes, the sneers, the execrations even, of
+both political parties into which the nation was divided. In his
+correspondence, which appears to have gradually increased and extended
+itself, Mr. Adams loved to re-explain his theoretical ideas of
+government, on some points of which he pushed Jefferson hard, and which
+the result of the French revolution so far as then developed seemed to
+confirm.</p>
+
+<p>Another subject in which he continued to feel a great interest was
+theology. He had begun as an Arminian, and the more he had read and
+thought, and the older he grew to be, the freer views he took. Though
+clinging with tenacity to the religious institutions of New England, it
+would seem from his correspondence that he finally curtailed his
+theology to the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount. Of his
+views on this point, he gave evidence in his last public act, to which
+we now approach.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Adams had died in 1818, but even that shock, severe as it was, did
+not loosen the firm grasp of the husband on life, its enjoyments and its
+duties. When, in consequence of the erection of the district of Maine
+into a State, a convention was to meet in 1820 to revise the
+constitution of Massachusetts, in the framing of which Mr. Adams had
+taken so leading a part, though in his eighty-sixth year, he was chosen
+a delegate by his townsmen. Upon his first appearance, with a form yet
+erect, though tremulous with age, in this Convention,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> which was
+composed of the very cream of the great minds with which the State
+abounded, Mr. Adams was received by members standing, and with every
+demonstration of affection and esteem; and a series of resolutions were
+forthwith passed, containing an enumeration and warm acknowledgement of
+some of his principal public services, and calling on him to preside.
+But this, while duly acknowledging the compliment, he declined, on the
+score of his age and infirmities. The same cause also prevented his
+taking any active part in the proceedings. Yet he labored to secure a
+modification of the third article of the bill of rights, on the subject
+of public worship and its support, an article which, when originally
+drafting the rest of that instrument, he had passed over to other hands.</p>
+
+<p>But the time had not yet come for such changes as he wished. The old
+puritan feeling was still too great to acknowledge the equal rights,
+political and religious, of other than Christians. Yet, however it might
+be with his colleagues and fellow-citizens, Mr. Adams, in this movement,
+expressed his own ideas. One of his latest letters, written in 1825, and
+addressed to Jefferson, is a remarkable protest against the blasphemy
+laws, so-called, of Massachusetts, and the rest of the Union, as being
+utterly inconsistent with the right of free inquiry and private
+judgment. It is in the letters of Mr. Adams, of which but few have ever
+been published, that his genius as a writer and a thinker, and no less
+distinctly his character as a man, is displayed. Down even to the last
+year of his protracted life, his letters exhibit a wonderful degree of
+vitality, energy, playfulness, and command of language.</p>
+
+<p>As a writer of English&mdash;and we may add as a specu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>lative
+philosopher&mdash;little as he ever troubled himself with revision and
+correction, he must be placed first among Americans of all the several
+generations to which he belonged, excepting only Franklin; and if
+Franklin excelled him in humor and geniality, he far surpassed Franklin
+in compass and vivacity. Indeed, it is only by the recent publication of
+his letters that his gifts in these respects are becoming well known.
+The first installment of his private letters published during his
+lifetime, though not deficient in these characteristics, yet having been
+written under feelings of great aggravation, and in a spirit of extreme
+bitterness against his political opponents, was rather damaging to him
+than otherwise. In the interval from 1804 to 1812, Mr. Cunningham, a
+maternal relative, had drawn him into a private correspondence in which,
+still smarting under a sense of injury, he had expressed himself with
+perfect unreserve and entire freedom as to the chief events of his
+presidential administration and the character and motives of the parties
+concerned in them.</p>
+
+<p>By a gross breach of confidence, of which Mr. Adams, like other
+impulsive and confiding persons, often had been the victim, those
+letters were sold by Cunningham's heir in 1824, while the writer and
+many of the parties referred to were still alive. They were published as
+a part of the electioneering machinery against John Quincy Adams. They
+called out a violent retort from Colonel Pickering, who had been
+secretary of State to Washington and Adams, till dismissed from office
+by the latter; but though Mr. Jefferson was also severely handled in
+them, they occasioned no interruption to the friendly relation which had
+been re-established between him and Mr. Adams.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Those two leading actors in American politics, at first so co-operative
+and afterward so hostile, again reunited in friendly intercourse, having
+outlived almost all of their fellow-actors, continued to descend hand in
+hand to the grave. Adams lived to see his son president, and to receive
+Jefferson's congratulations on the same. By a remarkable coincidence,
+they both expired on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence, in which they both had taken so active a part, Adams,
+however, being the survivor by a few hours.</p>
+
+<p>Of Adams' personal appearance and domestic character in his old age, his
+grandson gives the following account: "In figure, John Adams was not
+tall, scarcely exceeding middle height, but of a stout, well-knit frame,
+denoting vigor and long life, yet as he grew old inclining more and more
+to corpulence. His head was large and round, with a wide forehead and
+expanded brows. His eye was mild and benignant, perhaps even humorous
+when he was free from emotion, but when excited it fully expressed the
+vehemence of the spirit that stirred within."</p>
+
+<p>"His presence was grave and imposing on serious occasions, but not
+unbending. He delighted in social conversation, in which he was
+sometimes tempted to what he called rodomontade. But he seldom fatigued
+those who heard him; for he mixed so much of natural vigor of fancy and
+illustration with the store of his acquired knowledge, as to keep alive
+their interest for a long time."</p>
+
+<p>"His affections were warm, though not habitually demonstrated toward his
+relatives. His anger, when thoroughly aroused, was for a time extremely
+violent, but when it subsided it left no trace of malevolence behind.
+Nobody could see him intimately without admiring the simplicity and
+truth which shone in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> actions, and standing in some awe of the power
+and energy of his will. It was in these moments that he impressed those
+around him with a sense of his greatness. Even the men employed on his
+farm were in the habit of citing instances, some of which have been
+remembered down to the present day."</p>
+
+<p>"At times his vehemence became so great as to make him overbearing and
+unjust. This was apt to happen in cases of pretension and any kind of
+wrong-doing. Mr. Adams was very impatient of cant, or of opposition to
+any of his deeply established convictions. Neither was his indignation
+at all graduated to the character of the individuals who might happen to
+excite it. He had little respect of persons, and would hold an
+illiterate man or raw boy to as heavy a responsibility for uttering a
+crude heresy, as the strongest thinker or the most profound scholar."</p>
+
+<p>The same writer makes the following remarks on his general character:
+"His nature was too susceptible to emotions of sympathy and kindness,
+for it tempted him to trust more than was prudent in the professions of
+some who proved unworthy of his confidence. Ambitious in one sense he
+certainly was, but it was not the mere aspiration for place or power. It
+was a desire to excel in the minds of men by the development of high
+qualities, the love, in short, of an honorable fame, that stirred him to
+exult in the rewards of popular favor. Yet this passion never tempted
+him to change a course of action or to suppress a serious conviction, to
+bend to a prevailing error or to disavow one odious truth."</p>
+
+<p>In these last assertions we do not fully concur. They involve some
+controverted points of history; however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> they may be made with far more
+plausibility of Mr. Adams than of the greater portion of political men.</p>
+
+<p>There is much in the life of John Adams worthy of careful consideration.
+He rose from poverty to distinction; he was a capable man, capable of
+filling the highest place in the estimation of his posterity, yet his
+serious faults led to his political ruin. The careful perusal of his
+life will enable one to understand the principles of the two great
+parties of to-day, modified though they be, the fundamental principles
+remaining the same.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Thomas_Jefferson" id="Thomas_Jefferson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Thomas Jefferson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The subject of this narrative was born in Virginia, in the year 1743, on
+the 2nd day of April. As young Jefferson was born to affluence and was
+bountifully blessed with all the educational advantages which wealth
+will bring, many of our young readers may say&mdash;well, I could succeed,
+perhaps, had I those advantages. We will grant that you could provided
+you took means similar to those used by Jefferson, for while we must
+admit that all cannot be Jeffersons, nor Lincolns, nor Garfields, still
+we are constantly repeating in our mind the words of the poet:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Lives of great men all remind us<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We can make our lives sublime,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And, departing, leave behind us<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Footprints on the sands of time,"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>it has been said that where twenty enter the dry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>-goods trade nineteen
+will fail and from their despair behold the odd one succeed&mdash;utilizing
+the very weapons within their own grasp to bring about his success. This
+is true, not only of the dry-goods trade but of all trades, of all
+professions, and to resume our subject&mdash;Jefferson had much with which to
+contend.</p>
+
+<p>He finally attended school at William and Mary College for two years.
+Here he strove to cultivate friendly feelings with all whom he met, with
+excellent success, becoming very popular with both companions and
+teachers. It was while a student that he heard the famous speech of
+Patrick Henry; and those immortal words, "<span class="smcap">give me liberty or give me
+death</span>," seemed to kindle within him a patriotic spirit which grew until
+it burst forth in that noble statue to his memory,&mdash;the Declaration of
+Independence, which was the work of his pen. He studied law for a time,
+after a two years' college course, when, in 1767 he began its practice.</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Jefferson is described as tall and spare with gray eyes and red
+hair, surely his success is not due to his personal appearance. At the
+beginning of his practice he was not considered what might be termed
+brilliant, but the fact that he was employed on over two hundred cases
+within the first two years of his practice proves the secret of his
+success to have been his undefatigable energy. It is also stated that he
+rarely spoke in public which shows his good sense in discovering where
+his strength lay,&mdash;then pushing on that line to success.</p>
+
+<p>He was elected by his countrymen to the house of Burgesses where he at
+once took a decided stand against parliamentary encroachment. It was in
+this first of his legislative efforts that he brought forward a bill
+tending<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> to the freedom of slaves, provided their masters felt so
+disposed, but this measure was defeated. The house of Burgesses
+appointed him a member of the committee of correspondence. The duty of
+this committee was to disseminate intelligence upon the issues of the
+day, notably the system of taxation which the mother-country was trying
+to impose upon the colonies.</p>
+
+<p>His article entitled: "A Summary View of the Rights of British America,"
+was a masterly production, clearly defining the right of the colonies to
+resist taxation, and it was the principles here set forth that were
+afterwards adopted as the Declaration of Independence. This, paper was
+printed, not only in America, but in England, where its author was
+placed on the roll of treason and brought before parliament. This
+document also placed Jefferson in America among the foremost writers of
+that age; it also showed him to be a bold and uncompromising opponent of
+oppression, and an eloquent advocate of constitutional freedom.</p>
+
+<p>He was sent to the Continental Congress. On the floor he was silent but
+he had the 'reputation of a masterly pen,' says John Adams, and in
+committee was a most influential member. He drafted the Declaration of
+Independence, and on June 28th it was laid before Congress and finally
+adopted, with but a few verbal changes. This document probably has the
+greatest celebrity of any paper of like nature in existence.</p>
+
+<p>He now resigned his seat in Congress to push needed reform in his State
+preparatory to the new order of affairs. The first thing needed was a
+State constitution. Jefferson aided much in the framing of this. He was
+placed on the committee to reorganize the State laws, and to Jefferson
+is due the abolition of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> Primogenitureship&mdash;the exclusive right of the
+first-born to all property of the family. The measure establishing
+religious freedom, whereby people were not to be taxed for the support
+of a religion not theirs, was also the work of his hand. These measures
+were very democratic indeed and owing to the aristocratic views of the
+people at that time, excited great opposition, but they were finally
+passed and since have been law.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it will be seen that Jefferson was the author of many of our
+dearest ideas of equality. In 1778 he procured the passage of a bill
+forbidding future importation of slaves and the next year he was elected
+governor of Virginia, to succeed Patrick Henry. He assumed the duties of
+this office in a most gloomy time. The enemy were preparing to carry the
+war into the South, and Jefferson knew they would find Virginia almost
+defenseless. Her resources were drained to the dregs to sustain
+hostilities in South Carolina and Georgia, and her sea coast was almost
+wholly unprotected. The State was invaded by the enemy several times and
+once the Governor was almost captured by Tarleton.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson declined a re-election as he perceived that a military leader
+was needed, and he was succeeded by General Nelson. Jefferson was
+appointed one of the Ministers of the Colonies to Europe to assist Adams
+and Franklin in negotiating treaties of commerce. He was the means which
+brought about our system of coins, doing away with the old English
+pounds, shillings and pence, substituting the dollar and fractions of a
+dollar, even down to a cent. He became our Minister to France in 1785 in
+place of Franklin who had resigned. Here he did good service for his
+country by securing the admission <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>into France of tobacco, flour, rice
+and various other American products.</p>
+
+<p>Being offered the head of Washington's cabinet, he accepted it.
+Immediately upon his entrance into the cabinet, in 1790, began the
+struggle between the Federalist and Republican parties, their leaders,
+Hamilton and now Jefferson, both being members of the cabinet. Jefferson
+was probably the real originator of the State sovereignity idea, and the
+constitution did not wholly meet his approval. He thought better of it,
+however, when he became President and felt more forcibly the need of
+authority in such a trying position.</p>
+
+<p>He had just returned from an extended trip through Europe, and he
+contended that the world was governed too much. He was intensely
+Democratic in his belief and as the head of the then rising Republican
+party&mdash;now the Democratic&mdash;opposed all measures which tended toward
+centralizing in one government, characterizing all such measures as
+leading to monarchy.</p>
+
+<p>Washington was a Federalist, and in all the leading measures gave his
+support to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jefferson's opponent. As it was out of the
+question for Jefferson to remain in the cabinet of an executive wholly
+at variance with him politically, he accordingly resigned in 1793 and
+retired to his farm at 'Monticello' to attend to his private affairs as
+he was embarrassed financially at this time, and his attention was very
+much needed.</p>
+
+<p>In 1796, Washington designing to retire from public service, the two
+great parties decided upon Adams and Jefferson as their
+standard-bearers; the electoral votes being counted, it was found that
+Adams stood first and Jefferson next. Adams was therefore declared
+president and Jefferson, according to existing law, vice-president.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+Then followed the alien and sedition laws and the war demonstrations
+against France by the federal party, which was objected to by the
+Republicans. The bearing of France became so unendurable that Washington
+offered to take his place at the head of the army. Finding all else of
+no avail, the Republicans resorted to the State Arenas; the result was
+the 'Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of '98,' the former of which was
+the work of Jefferson, the latter that of Madison. As is well known
+these were the foundation, years after, of Calhoun's Nullification
+Views. It was a principle of Jefferson, which was never effectually
+settled, until civil war had rent the nation almost in twain.</p>
+
+<p>Happily peace triumphed, and in the campaign that followed, the
+Republicans were successful, Mr. Jefferson becoming president&mdash;Aaron
+Burr vice-president. Jefferson's ascension to the presidency caused a
+complete revolution in the politics of the country. The central idea
+around which the party revolved was the diffusion of power among the
+people. To this idea they would bend every question indiscriminately,
+whether it related to a national bank, tariff, slavery, or taxes. It
+held that in the States themselves rested the original authority, that
+in the government lay the power only for acts of a general character.
+Jefferson, their first president, now came to Washington.</p>
+
+<p>President Washington came to the capitol with servants in livery, in a
+magnificent carriage drawn by four cream-colored horses, Jefferson came
+on horseback, hitching his horse to a post while he delivered a fifteen
+minute address. He abolished the presidential levees, and concealed his
+birthday to prevent its being celebrated. He even detested the word
+minister prefixed to one's name, and eschewed breeches, wearing
+pantaloons.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> It was during his administration that Louisiana was
+purchased, although, according to his own theory, he had no
+constitutional right to do so, but the great benefit derived from this
+purchase soon silenced all opposition.</p>
+
+<p>It was during his administration that the piratical Barbary States were
+cured of their insolence, and in his second term that Burr's trial
+occurred. At the close of this second term he retired to private life to
+become the 'Sage of Monticello.' He now turned his attention to the
+establishing of the University of Virginia. He was a believer in the
+free development of the human powers so far as was consistent with good
+government. He subjected the constitution of the United States to a
+careful scrutiny governed by this theory, and became convinced that the
+doctrine of State sovereignty was right and he fought for it
+persistently when called to the head of the government.</p>
+
+<p>His inaugural address breathed that idea, but when Aaron Burr bearded
+the authority of his government he began to realize the rottenness of
+such a foundation, and when it came to the purchase of Louisiana, his
+doctrine had to be stretched, and he finally became convinced, as he
+expressed it, that the Government must show its teeth.</p>
+
+<p>On July 4th, 1826, at a little past noon, he died, a few hours before
+his political opponent, but fast friend, John Adams. How strange to
+think that about that hour fifty years before they had each signed the
+declaration of the freedom of the country which they had so ably served.
+The granite for his monument lies unquarried nor is its erection needed.
+The Declaration of Independence is a far greater monument than could be
+fashioned from brass or stone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_Marshall" id="John_Marshall"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John Marshall</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>America has been bountifully blessed with great and good men. Washington
+'The father'&mdash;I was about to say&mdash;'founder of his country'; Jefferson
+who taught us the beauty of plain dress but rich manners; Hamilton who
+placed a tottering treasury upon a strong foundation,&mdash;Great indeed were
+all of these, but there was born in Fouquier county, Virginia, on the
+24th day of September, 1755, a child who was to be known to all
+posterity as the great Chief Justice of the United States. This was John
+Marshall.</p>
+
+<p>He was the eldest of a family of fifteen children. In early boyhood he
+took an interest in poetry and was perfectly familiar with Dryden, Pope,
+Milton and Shakespeare. He was for many years full of dreamy romance and
+poetical enthusiasm, and his solitary meditations were usually amid the
+wildest scenery.</p>
+
+<p>After a short college course at West Moreland, where he had as a
+fellow-student James Monroe, and a further classical education under a
+resident clergyman; he, at eighteen, began the study of law, but
+enlisted to fight the British before he obtained a license to practice.
+He soon took a part with his regiment, of which his father was major, in
+the battle of Great Bridge leading, as lieutenant, in a flanking party
+which advanced in the face of a murderous fire and put an end to the
+engagement.</p>
+
+<p>He belonged to the Culpepper Minute-men, who wore green hunting shirts
+with "Liberty or Death" on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> bosom in white letters, and who carried
+a banner which displayed a coiled rattlesnake with the motto, "Don't
+tread on me." He took a part in the battle of Brandywine, Germantown and
+Monmouth; he shared the hardships of Valley Forge; in fact saw almost
+continuous service from the time he enlisted at the beginning until the
+glorious end, for which he had so sanguinely waited, came.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he had studied some, and had attended a course of lectures
+delivered by the renowned Mr Wythe at William and Mary College, and had
+secured a license to practice. At the close of hostilities he commenced
+business as an attorney; with marked success from the first.</p>
+
+<p>That extraordinary comprehension and grasp of mind by which difficulties
+were seized and overcome without parade, commended the attention of the
+courts of justice; and his sweet temper and loving ways gained for him a
+host of friends. Such a man, who possessed not only ability but a
+perfect control of himself, <span class="smcap">must succeed</span>. He soon rose to distinction,
+being elected to a seat in the council of the State. He was married in
+1783 to the daughter of the State treasurer and moved to Richmond.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this removal his old neighbors re-elected him to represent
+their county, and in 1787 he became a member from his adopted county,
+Henrico. As is well-known, the Federal constitution was considered by
+many an approach to monarchy. It was held by Jefferson and many of his
+followers as tending toward that state of things of which they had so
+much to fear. At the Virginia Convention, assembled to discuss the
+constitution drawn up at Philadelphia, where great opposition was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+developed, Mr. Marshall's speech had a crushing effect on its
+assailants. He next became a member from Richmond, that city now being
+entitled to a representative, where he remained for three years.</p>
+
+<p>Virginia was the headquarters of the State rights party, headed by
+Jefferson. Mr. Marshall supported the administration of Washington,
+defining the Federal view so clearly that it carried conviction, yet so
+calmly and with such moderation of tone, that when he retired from that
+body in 1792 he left not an enemy behind. He now devoted himself to his
+profession with unbounded success. While attending to a large legal
+practice, he also frequently appeared at public meetings in support of
+the administration of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>In 1795 he was again a member of the House. In the violent debate over
+Jay's treaty he became its champion, and by a most eloquent speech,
+before a body that had condemned it, he secured an amendment to their
+resolution, reversing their former decision, and the passage of one
+favorable to the policy. Washington offered him a place in his Cabinet,
+but he refused, as it would interfere with his profession; later he was
+offered the mission to France, which he also declined. In 1797 President
+Adams sent another delegation to France, which he accepted, and with
+Pickney and Gerry proceeded to Paris.</p>
+
+<p>Upon his return he immediately resumed his practice, but was urged to
+defend his party. Washington finally prevailed upon him to run for
+Congress, to which he was elected in 1799. Even during the canvass Adams
+offered him a seat on the Supreme Bench, which he declined. Within a few
+weeks from the time of his entrance upon his duties as Congressman, he
+was called upon to announce in that body the death of Washington. His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>
+words were few, but were ever remembered as producing a profound
+impression.</p>
+
+<p>Washington, the great Federal leader was dead. Virginia had passed the
+resolution of 1798, recording her solemn protest, and the Republicans
+were flushed with the daily increasing revulsion against the Federal
+Government. At this crisis John Marshall appeared in Congress and
+stepped to the front as the leader of his party. In 1800 he was
+appointed Secretary of War. Before he entered upon his duties he is
+placed at the head of the Cabinet as Secretary of State, and a few
+months later his name is sent by the President to Congress, and is
+unanimously confirmed for the position of Chief Justice of the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>John Marshall has been heretofore recognized as a man of great ability,
+and now he takes a position which he holds for life, and where his
+influence is paramount. On one occasion a young house-keeper was
+swearing lustily because he could find no one to carry his turkey home
+for him. A plain man standing by offered to perform the service, and
+when they arrived at the door the young man asked, 'What shall I pay
+you, sir'? 'O nothing,' replied the old man; 'It was on my way, and no
+trouble.' 'Who is that polite old gentleman,' asked the young man of a
+bystander. The reply was, 'That is the Chief Justice of the United
+States.' The young man drank the bitter cup without further comment.</p>
+
+<p>An eminent writer once said of him: Here is John Marshall, whose mind
+seems to be an inexhaustible quarry from which he draws the materials
+and builds his fabrics rude and Gothic, but of such strength that
+neither time nor force can beat them down; a fellow who would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> not turn
+off a single step from the right line of his argument, though a paradise
+should rise to tempt him.</p>
+
+<p>What more could be said of him,&mdash;only that he died at Philadelphia on
+the 6th of July, 1835; more would be superfluous.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Alexander_Hamilton" id="Alexander_Hamilton"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Alexander Hamilton</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Upon the accession of the Republicans to the control of the government,
+Jefferson ordered the books of Hamilton searched to ascertain what
+charges could be made against him, and to discover the alleged blunders
+and frauds perpetrated by the Federal official while in office. Albert
+Gallatin, himself one of the greatest financiers of his age, undertook
+the task with a hearty relish as he at that time entertained no great
+esteem for the great Federalist. Struck by the almost absolute
+perfection of the system, Gallatin reported to the President that any
+change would certainly injure it and that no blunders or frauds had been
+committed.</p>
+
+<p>This great man was born on one of the West India Islands, January 11th,
+1757. His father failed when he was young and his mother died leaving
+the poor child in actual want. He was taken by friends at Santa Cruz. He
+had no great educational advantages there, but being able to read both
+English and French he devoured all such books as fell in his way. He was
+placed in a counting-house in Santa Cruz and, although he detested the
+business, applied himself diligently to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> his task and the knowledge here
+gained was no small factor of his future great success as a financier.</p>
+
+<p>He applied every spare moment to study and early began to use his pen.
+In 1772 a hurricane passed through St. Christophers, and an account
+which young Hamilton then wrote for the papers attracted so much
+attention that his friends decided to give him a better chance. They
+accordingly raised the money with which to send him to New York to
+school, and after a few months spent at a grammar school in
+Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he entered Columbia College, New York&mdash;then
+called Kings College. Here he began study preparatory to a medical
+course.</p>
+
+<p>About this time his attention became drawn toward the struggle which was
+about to commence between Great Britain and America, and at a public
+meeting he made a short speech which attracted general attention. He was
+now but seventeen years of age, yet his pen was keenly felt in the
+interest of America, through the columns of <i>Holts Journal</i>, to which he
+had become a regular contributor. He entered the army as captain of an
+artillery company which he was the chief means of raising, and did good
+service at White Plains, Trenton and Princeton.</p>
+
+<p>He secured this position through the influence of General Schuyler and,
+although but nineteen years of age, he was well qualified for the
+position, having made a study of artillery tactics. His ability had not
+escaped the attention of the army, and he was placed upon Washington's
+staff with rank of lieutenant-colonel. Washington needed some one to
+take charge of his great correspondence,&mdash;some one who could think for
+himself. Young as Hamilton was he assumed the entire<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> responsibility of
+chief secretary, besides rendering much valuable assistance as aid. He
+married one of General Schuyler's daughters, and this alliance with one
+of the wealthiest families in the State proved a most fortunate epoch in
+his life. A difference arising between Washington and himself he
+resigned and, although Washington sent an apology, he refused to recall
+his resignation however their mutual esteem was continued. He
+subsequently commanded a brigade at the battle of Yorktown.</p>
+
+<p>He now took up his residence at Albany and began the study of law with
+his wife's father. He was soon licensed to practice, and was chosen one
+of the delegates to the Continental Congress. He realized the necessity
+of vesting more power in congress and secured the adoption, by the State
+of New York, of a resolution urging the amendment of the constitution
+with that object in view. He now moved to New York where he soon
+acquired an immense practice. His efforts in behalf of the constitution
+were untiring and useful.</p>
+
+<p>When Washington became president he selected Hamilton as his Secretary
+of Treasury. It was a wise choice as financial difficulties were the
+most formidable of any in the way of the administration, and no man was
+more capable of bringing order out of chaos than Alexander Hamilton. All
+parties agreed that the debts incurred abroad must be met according to
+contract, but as a large amount of the domestic debt was in the hands of
+men who had bought it for a rise it had been suggested that these
+obligations be settled upon the basis of the amount paid for them by
+their present holders. This measure Hamilton opposed. While
+acknowledging that speculation was an evil, still he saw that such a
+measure would tend to weaken our financial credit. He also brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+about the assumption by the government of the entire State debt incurred
+during the war. This measure was strongly opposed by Jefferson, and its
+passage had a marked effect on our system tending to centralize
+authority.</p>
+
+<p>It will thus be seen that to Alexander Hamilton belongs no small share
+of founding and shaping the destiny of this powerful country of to-day.
+Like many other great and good men, he was obliged to suffer the slander
+of the press, which charged him with a misappropriation of the public
+money, but as has already been shown in this narrative, it proved
+nothing but a foul story concocted through jealousy and partisan hate,
+and is no longer countenanced. His salary being insufficient for his
+support, he resigned his position and resumed the practice of his
+profession in New York. In the warlike demonstration of 1798 he became,
+upon the death of General Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of all the
+armies of America, but happily the war with France was averted and peace
+restored.</p>
+
+<p>Now we come to the saddest page of American history. We have followed
+this poor homeless boy from childhood; we have seen him rise from
+obscurity to a leading position at the bar, become a gallant soldier and
+the greatest financier in America. And yet, when his country most needs
+his council and help, we see him, at the age of fifty-seven, stricken
+down by an assassin.</p>
+
+<p>Aaron Burr was an ambitious politician. His alleged intrigues with the
+Federalists, whereby he sought to effect the election of himself to the
+presidency instead of Jefferson, the people's choice, cost him the
+confidence of his own party. Knowing New York to be the pivotal State,
+he sought the gubernatorial chair through an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> independent vote, hoping
+to secure Federal support, as it was conceded that they could not elect
+a candidate of their own. Hamilton, himself as pure as the bright
+sunshine, felt his party to be imposed upon by this intruder who, while
+professing to be a Republican, was seeking to thrust himself upon the
+other party.</p>
+
+<p>At a caucus Hamilton warmly opposed the endorsement of a man whom he
+characterized as dangerous and who had not ought to be trusted with the
+reins of government. Hamilton took no active part in the campaign, but
+his opinion was frequently quoted by those who did, and the result was
+Burr's defeat by Morgan Lewis. Attributing his defeat to Hamilton, and
+feeling him to be his greatest political rival, he early sought a duel
+with him. Hamilton detested this practice, and sought by all honorable
+means, as he wrote to his wife, to avoid it. But finally he accepted,
+not in the spirit of a professed duelist, but in the character of a
+public man. They met on the morning of July 11th, 1804, on the fatal
+field of Weehawken, New Jersey.</p>
+
+<p>At the first fire Hamilton sprang on his tip-toes, and, after a
+convulsive movement, fell forward on his face. At the same time his
+weapon was accidentally discharged, his missile flying wide of its mark.
+Indeed, Hamilton did not fire; in reality, he had resolved not to return
+his antagonist's fire, and never knew that his weapon was discharged, as
+he was insensible when he fell. He died within thirty hours, and his
+funeral was the most imposing ever witnessed in that day. Around the
+name of Hamilton there glows a halo which has brightened in the ages.
+Thus was America robbed of her brave soldier and pure statesman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_Madison" id="James_Madison"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James Madison</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The subject of this narrative, James Madison, was born at King George,
+Virginia, March 16th, 1751. His father was a planter, descended from
+John Madison, an Englishman who settled in Virginia about the year 1656.
+The maiden name of his mother was Eleanor Conway. He was the eldest of
+seven children. He received a fairly good education but better still, he
+applied himself very closely at college, so much so as to make him noted
+in this respect; the result was seen in after years.</p>
+
+<p>In 1772 he returned to Virginia and commenced a course of legal study.
+He particularly studied up on public affairs, and in the spring of 1776
+he was elected a member of the Virginia convention from the county of
+Orange, and procured the passage of the substance of an amendment to the
+declaration of rights, by George Mason, which struck out the old term
+'toleration' and inserted a broader exposition of religious rights. In
+the same year he was a member of the general assembly, but lost his
+election in 1777, from his refusal to treat the voters, and the general
+want of confidence in his powers of oratory. Thus, it is seen, that as
+James Madison's natural abilities could not have been very marked, his
+success was the natural result of <span class="smcap">great exertion</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The legislature, however, on meeting in November of the same year,
+elected him a member of the council of the State; and in the winter of
+1779 he was chosen by the assembly a delegate to congress. He took his
+seat in March, 1780, and remained in that body for three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> years. He
+strongly opposed the issue of paper money by the States, and was in
+favor of a formal recommendation on the part of congress against the
+continuance of the system. As chairman of the committee to prepare
+instructions to the ministers at Versailles and Madrid, in support of
+the claims of the confederacy to western territory and the free
+navigation of the Mississippi, he drew an elaborate and able paper which
+was unanimously adopted by congress. He zealously advocated in 1783 the
+measure proposed to establish a system of general revenue to pay the
+expenses of the war, and as chairman of the committee to which the
+matter was referred, prepared an able address to the State in support of
+the plan, which was adopted by congress and received the warm approval
+of Washington.</p>
+
+<p>The people of Virginia now began to realize the value of his services; a
+striking proof of which is exhibited by the fact that the law rendering
+him inelligible after three years' service in Congress was repealed, in
+order that he might sit during the fourth. On his return to Virginia he
+was elected to the Legislature, and took his seat during 1784. In this
+body he inaugurated the measures relating to a thorough revision of the
+old statutes, and supported the bills introduced by the revisors,
+Jefferson, Wyth, and Pendleton, on the subject of entails, primogeniture
+(exclusive heirship belonging to the first born) and religious freedom.</p>
+
+<p>He aided in the separation of Kentucky from Virginia, and the formation
+of the new State, opposed the further issue of paper money, and favored
+the payment of debts due British creditors. His greatest service at this
+time was his preparation, after the close of the assembly, of a
+"Memorial and Remonstrance" against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> the project of a general assessment
+for the support of religion, which caused the utter defeat of the
+measure, against which it was directed. In January, 1786, he obtained
+the passage of a bill by the General Assembly inviting the other States
+to appoint commissioners to meet at Annapolis and devise a new system of
+commercial regulations. He was chosen one of the commissioners, and
+attended at Annapolis in September of the same year. Five States only
+were represented, and the commissioners recommended a convention of
+delegates from all the States to meet at Philadelphia, in May, 1787. The
+recommendation was generally adopted and, of course, Madison was chosen
+one of the delegates from Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>The convention assembled and the result was the abrogation of the old
+articles and the formation of the Constitution of the United States.
+Madison was prominent in advocating the Constitution and took a leading
+part in the debates, of which he kept private notes, since published by
+order of congress. His views of a federal government are set forth at
+length in a paper still extant in the hand-writing of Washington, which
+contains the substance of a letter written to Washington by Madison
+before the meeting of the convention, proposing a scheme of thorough
+centralization. The writer declares that he is equally opposed to 'the
+individual independence of the States,' and to 'the consolidation of the
+whole into one simple republic.'</p>
+
+<p>He is nevertheless in favor to invest in congress the power to exercise
+'a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the States,
+as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative.' He says further
+'that the right of coercion should be expressly declared; but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>
+difficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective will
+of a State, render it particularly desirable that the necessity of it
+should be precluded.' From these extreme views Madison conscientiously
+departed, but in the convention he supported them with zeal and vigor.</p>
+
+<p>The scheme known as the 'Virginia Plan' was adopted instead, and the
+convention adjourned. The subsequent adoption of the Constitution was in
+a large measure due to a series of essays, now familiar in their
+collected form as "The Federalist." They were commenced in a New York
+newspaper soon after the adjournment of the Convention, and continued to
+appear until June, 1788. The public journals everywhere republished
+them, and it was soon known that they were the work of Hamilton,
+Madison, and Jay. The volume remains the forcible exposition upon the
+side which it espoused. The whole ground is surveyed, generally and in
+detail; the various points at issue are discussed with the utmost
+acuteness, and the advantages of the adoption of the instrument urged
+with logical force and eloquence which place "The Federalist" beside the
+most famous political writings of the old English worthies.</p>
+
+<p>The Virginia convention, of which Madison was a member, assembled in
+June. He had completely overcome his natural diffidence and, although
+deficient as an orator, exerted a powerful influence over his
+associates, contributing as much to the final triumph of the
+constitution as any one in the body. The instrument was adopted by a
+vote of eighty-nine to seventy-nine and the convention closed. The part
+which he had taken in its deliberations very greatly increased Madison's
+reputation; and he was brought forward as a candidate for United States
+Senator but was defeated. He was, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> chosen a member of congress
+and took his seat in that body in 1789.</p>
+
+<p>Alexander Hamilton was at the head of the treasury department and
+Madison was obliged either to support the great series of financial
+measures initiated by the secretary, or distinctly abandon his former
+associate and range himself on the side of the republican opposition. He
+adopted the latter course. Although he had warmly espoused the adoption
+of the constitution, he was now convinced of the necessity of a strict
+construction of the powers which it conferred upon the general
+government. He accordingly opposed the funding bill, the national bank,
+and Hamilton's system of finance generally.</p>
+
+<p>His affection for Washington, and long friendship for Hamilton, rendered
+such a step peculiarly disagreeable to a man of Madison's amiable and
+kindly disposition, but the tone of his opposition did not alienate his
+friends. Occupying, as he did, the middle ground between the violent
+partisans on both sides he labored to reconcile the antagonism of the
+two parties, and always retained the same cordial regard for Washington.</p>
+
+<p>On Jefferson's return from France, Madison was solicited to accept the
+mission and it was kept open for twelve months awaiting his decision. He
+declined the place, as he afterwards did the position of Secretary of
+State on the retirement of Jefferson, from a firm conviction that the
+radical antagonism of views between himself and a majority of the
+members of the cabinet would render his acceptance of either office
+fruitful in misunderstandings and collisions.</p>
+
+<p>He remained in congress, becoming thoroughly identified with the
+Republicans, and soon became the avowed leader in congress. In 1794 he
+gave his full support to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> its foreign policy by moving a series of
+resolutions, based upon the report of Jefferson, advocating a
+retaliatory policy toward Great Britain, and commercial discriminations
+in favor of France. These resolutions he supported in a speech of great
+ability. In March, 1797, his term expired, and he returned to Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>The insulting treatment of the American envoys to France and the war
+message of President Adams were about to be followed by the passage of
+the alien and sedition laws. The Republicans vainly tried to stem the
+popular current in favor of the measures of the administration. The
+passing of the alien and sedition laws in July, 1798, gave them the
+first opportunity to make a stand. Opposition to even these violent
+measures was however ineffectual in the Federal legislature; and the
+Republican leaders determined to resort to the State arenas for the
+decisive struggle.</p>
+
+<p>It commenced in Kentucky, and resulted there in the adoption of a series
+of resolutions, which were followed, in December, 1798, by similar
+resolves of the Virginia Assembly. The latter, now known as "the
+resolutions of 1798-'9," were drawn up by James Madison, not then a
+member. They declared the determination of the Assembly to defend the
+Constitution of the United States, but to resist all attempts to enlarge
+the authority of the federal compact by forced constructions of general
+clauses, as tending to consolidation, the destruction of the liberties
+of the States, and finally to a monarchy.</p>
+
+<p>In case of a "deliberate, palpable, and dangerous" exercise of powers
+not clearly granted to the General Government, the States had a right to
+interpose; and as the passing of the alien and sedition laws was such an
+infraction of right, the assembly protested against those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> laws. The
+seventh resolution called upon the other States to join with the State
+of Virginia 'in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts
+aforesaid are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper
+measures will be taken by each for co-operating with this State in
+maintaining unimpaired the authorities, rights and liberties reserved to
+the States respectively, or to the people.'</p>
+
+<p>The resolutions passed the House by a vote of 100 to 63, and were duly
+communicated to the several States of the Union. They met with little
+favor, especially in the Northern States. Massachusetts and New England
+generally remonstrated against them, and declared the obnoxious laws
+both constitutional and expedient. This drew forth, in the winter of
+1799-1800, Madison's "Report" in defence of his resolutions. This
+elaborate paper subjected the resolves to an exhaustive analysis and
+defended them with masterly vigor. It is the most famous of his
+political writings and will rank with the greatest state papers written
+in America.</p>
+
+<p>Although the resolutions met with an unfavorable reception throughout
+the States, they exerted a powerful influence on public opinion.
+Virginia had shown how deeply in earnest she was by directing the
+establishment of two arsenals, and an armory sufficiently large to store
+10,000 muskets and other arms; but a wholesome change in the sentiment
+of the country happily restored good feeling and softened down all
+bitterness.</p>
+
+<p>The alien and sedition laws found few supporters ultimately, and
+Madison's views were fully vindicated. The revulsion against the Federal
+party and in favor of the Republicans, terminated in the election of
+Jefferson, who entered upon the presidency in 1801. Madison was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+Secretary of State during Jefferson's entire administration, and his
+opinions on public affairs closely agreed with those of the President.</p>
+
+<p>He became still more popular with, and acceptable to, his party and
+toward the close of Jefferson's second term was generally spoken of as
+his successor. A caucus of the majority of the Republican members of
+Congress was finally held, and Madison was nominated. This met with
+bitter opposition from a wing of the party, headed by John Randolph, who
+were friendly to the nomination of Monroe. They published a caustic
+'Protest' against the action of the caucus and denounced Madison for his
+'want of energy,' his connection with the 'Federalist,' and his report
+upon the Yazoo claims.</p>
+
+<p>His friends defended him against all charges and retorted so strongly
+upon the authors of the "Protest" that they were silenced. The action of
+the caucus was generally approved by the party, and Madison was elected
+by a vote of 123 out of 175, and took his seat as president, March 4,
+1809.</p>
+
+<p>President Madison entered upon his duties at a crisis in public affairs
+which required the utmost foresight, resolution and prudence. Great
+Britain and the United States were on the verge of war. In 1807 the long
+series of wrongs inflicted by England upon the commerce of America, and
+the rights of her seaman, had been consummated by the affair of the
+Leopard and Chesapeake. This wanton insult had thrown the country into
+violent commotion, and occasioned the embargo act, which had been
+succeeded by the non-intercourse act, prohibiting all commerce with
+France and England, until the decrees of the French emperor and the
+British orders in council<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> in relation to the seizure of neutrals and
+the impressment of seamen were repealed.</p>
+
+<p>The first of the British cabinet did not encourage peace. Mr. Erskine,
+the English minister, in promising reparation for the affair of the
+Chesapeake, and a repeal of the obnoxious orders in council, on
+condition of a renewal of intercourse on the part of the United States,
+was declared to have exceeded his authority, and was recalled. He was
+succeeded by Mr. Jackson who was authorized to enter into a commercial
+treaty, but speedily became embroiled with the Secretary of State. The
+president directed the secretary to have no further communication with
+him, and soon afterward requested his recall. This was complied with,
+but no censure was visited upon the envoy, and no other was sent in his
+place.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1810, congress approved the course of the executive, declared
+the official communications of Mr. Jackson highly indecorous and
+insolent, and passed a new act of non-intercourse. This provided that if
+either France or England repealed her hostile decree, and the other did
+not within three months do likewise, then intercourse should be resumed
+with the one, while with the other non-intercourse should be persisted
+in.</p>
+
+<p>In August the French minister for Foreign Affairs gave notice to the
+American minister that the Berlin and Milan decrees had been revoked by
+the Emperor; and in November Madison issued a proclamation declaring the
+fact, and announcing that the act of non-intercourse would be revived as
+to Great Britain unless her orders in council should be revoked within
+three months from the date of the proclamation.</p>
+
+<p>The British government resisted this demand, on the ground that there
+was no official evidence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> the repeal of the French decrees, and the
+act of non-intercourse was accordingly declared in full force against
+Great Britain. In March, 1811, the Emperor Napoleon disavowed the
+statement of the Duke of Cadore, and declared that "the decrees of
+Berlin and Milan were the fundamental laws of the empire." American
+vessels had been seized and held by France even after the president's
+proclamation, and every overture on the part of the American minister at
+Paris toward the re-establishment of friendly relations between the two
+countries was viewed with indifference and utterly failed. The country
+was slowly but surely drifting toward a war, which no exertions on the
+part of the administration seemed adequate to prevent.</p>
+
+<p>Madison pushed his pacific views to an extent that proved displeasing to
+many of the most prominent men of the Republican party. Bills were
+passed for augmenting the army, repairing and equipping ships of war,
+organizing and arming the militia, and placing the country in an
+attitude to resist an enemy; for all which congress appropriated
+$1,000,000.</p>
+
+<p>Madison acquiesced in this policy with extreme reluctance, but on June 1,
+1812, transmitted a special message to congress in which he reviewed
+the whole controversy, and spoke in strong terms of the aggressions of
+Great Britain upon commercial rights. The act declaring war between
+Great Britain and America speedily followed. The president gave it his
+approval on June 18, and promptly issued his proclamation calling upon
+the people to prepare for the struggle, and to support the government.</p>
+
+<p>A short delay would probably have defeated the policy of the war party,
+and re-opened the old negotiations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> A decree of the French emperor had
+been exhibited to the United States minister to France, dated April 28,
+1811, which declared the definite revocation of the Berlin and Milan
+decrees, from and after November 1, 1810. In consequence of this, Great
+Britain, on June 23, within five days after the declaration of war,
+repealed the obnoxious orders in council in relation to the rights of
+neutrals, and thus removed one of the main grounds of complaint on the
+part of the American government.</p>
+
+<p>On June 26, before the course of the British Cabinet was known in
+America, Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, wrote to Mr. Russell proposing
+the terms of armistice. These were a repeal of the orders in council,
+with no illegal blockades substituted, and a discontinuance of the
+impressment of seamen. In the latter part of August, Mr. Russell, our
+representative at London, received from the English Government a
+definite refusal to accede to these propositions, as 'on various grounds
+absolutely inadmissible,' he therefore returned to the United States.</p>
+
+<p>In September Admiral Warren arrived at Halifax. In addition to his naval
+command, he was invested with powers to negotiate a provisional
+accommodation with the United States. A correspondence on the subject
+ensued between himself and Mr. Monroe, as the representatives of the two
+countries. The admiral proposed an immediate cessation of hostilities,
+with a view to the peaceful arrangement of the points at issue.</p>
+
+<p>Monroe replied that his government was willing to accede to this
+proposition, provided Warren was authorized and disposed to negotiate
+terms for suspending in the future the impressment of American seamen.
+The British Government refused to relinquish the claim to this right and
+nothing remained but war.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On March 4, 1813, Madison entered upon his second term of service. He
+had received 128 electoral votes; his opponent DeWitt Clinton, 89 votes.
+The congressional elections had resulted in a large majority in favor of
+the administration, and the war policy seemed to be acceptable to a
+large majority of the people, though a strong party was opposed to it,
+and endeavored to obstruct the measures necessary to the vigorous
+prosecution of hostilities. The war commenced in earnest with the
+appearance, in 1813, of a British fleet in Chesapeake Bay, and in March
+the whole coast of the United States, with the exception of Rhode
+Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, was declared in a state of
+blockade. The long series of engagements on land and water during the
+war which followed, find their proper place in the general history of
+our country.</p>
+
+<p>In March, 1813, soon after the commencement of hostilities, the Russian
+minister to the United States communicated to the American government a
+proposal from the Emperor Alexander to mediate between the belligerents.
+The proposition was accepted, and the president appointed commissioners
+to go to St. Petersburg to negotiate under the mediation of the emperor.
+Great Britain declined the Russian mediation in September; but in
+November the American government was informed that that power was
+prepared to negotiate the terms of a treaty of peace.</p>
+
+<p>Steps were at once taken to meet this proposal. Mr. Clay and Mr. Russell
+were added to the commission previously appointed, and in January, 1814,
+joined their associates in Europe. In August of the same year the
+country was deeply aroused by the attack on the capitol. A British force
+of 5,000 men ascended the Chesapeake,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span> landed on the shores of the
+Patuxent, and marched on Washington. The few troops hastily collected
+were wholly unable to offer any effective resistance and retired before
+the enemy, who proceeded to the city, burned the capitol, the
+president's house, and other public buildings, and returned without loss
+to their ships. The president and several members of his cabinet were in
+the American camp, but were compelled to abandon the city in order to
+avoid capture.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy gained little by their movement, and the wanton outrage only
+increased the bitterness of the people. Among the public occurrences of
+the year 1814, the meeting of the Hartford convention, in opposition to
+the continuance of the war, occupies a prominent place. The victory at
+New Orleans, however, and the intelligence of the conclusion of the
+treaty of peace, terminated the popular indignation. A treaty of peace
+had been signed by the United States commissioners at Ghent, on December
+4, 1814, and being communicated by the president to the senate, was
+ratified by that body in February, 1815.</p>
+
+<p>It was silent on the paramount question of impressment, and left the
+commercial regulations between the two countries for subsequent
+negotiation. But the country was tired of the war, and the treaty was
+hailed with acclamation. In this general joy no one person joined more
+heartily than did Madison. He had acquiesced reluctantly to the
+commencement of hostilities, and had longed for peace since the
+beginning. The country came out of a war, which cost her 30,000 lives
+and $1,000,000, stronger and more honored than before; thoroughly
+convinced of her own power and resources,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> and regarded with increased
+respect by all the nations of the world.</p>
+
+<p>In 1815 a commercial treaty was concluded with Great Britain based upon
+a policy of perfect reciprocity. The subjects of impressment and
+blockades were not embraced in it. The return of peace disbanded the
+organized opposition to the administration, and the remainder of
+Madison's term was undisturbed by exciting events.</p>
+
+<p>In April, 1816, congress incorporated a national bank with a capital of
+$35,000,000, to continue for twenty years. The president had vetoed a
+similar bill in January of the preceding year, but now approved of it,
+from a conviction that the derangement of the currency made it
+necessary. It encountered strong opposition, but was supported by Henry
+Clay and other friends of the president, and passed both houses.</p>
+
+<p>In December, 1816, Madison sent in his last annual message to congress.
+Its recommendations were considered judicious and liberal, and secured
+the general approbation of the country.</p>
+
+<p>On March 4, 1817, his long official relations with the country
+terminated, and he retired to his farm at Montpelier, Virginia. In this
+pleasant retreat he passed the remainder of his days in agricultural
+pursuits. Like most of our famous men, his matrimonial connection was a
+source of great advantage to him. During his later years, in spite of
+his ill-health, Madison still busied himself in service to his
+neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>While at school, for <span class="smcap">months together</span>, he had slept but three hours out
+of the twenty-four. He was not an orator naturally; many others of his
+schoolmates, it is stated, were far superior to him in natural
+abilities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> Why, then, did he succeed, while so many others failed? The
+strong feature whereby he won success was, like that of many others, his
+capacity for <span class="smcap">hard work</span>.</p>
+
+<p>As to Madison's principles, it will be remembered that he was defeated
+in 1777, because he refused to treat the people to liquor. In 1829 he
+sat in the Virginia Convention to reform the old constitution. When he
+rose to utter a few words the members left their seats and crowded
+around the venerable figure dressed in black, with his thin gray hair
+powdered as in former times, to catch the low whisper of his voice. This
+was his last appearance in public.</p>
+
+<p>If not endowed with the very first order of ability, Madison had trained
+his mind until it was symmetrical and vigorous. An unfailing accuracy
+and precision marked the operation of his faculties. He was naturally
+deficient in powers of oratory, and yet made himself one of the most
+effective speakers of his time, although the epoch was illustrated by
+such men in his own State as Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George
+Mason and Edmund Pendleton, to say nothing of Jefferson and Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson's testimony on this point is strong: He says: "Mr. Madison
+came into the house in 1776, a new member, and young; which
+circumstances, concurring with his extreme modesty, prevented his
+venturing himself in debate before his removal to the council of state
+in November, 1777. Thence he went to Congress, then consisting of but
+few members. Trained in these successive schools, he acquired a habit of
+self-possession which placed at ready command the rich resources of his
+luminous mind, and of his extensive information, acquired by <span class="smcap">intense</span>
+application, which rendered him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> eventually the first of every assembly
+of which he afterward became a member."</p>
+
+<p>"Never wandering from his subject into vain declamation, but pursuing it
+closely, in language pure, classical, and copious, always soothing the
+feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softness of expression. He
+steadily rose to the high station which he held in the great national
+convention of 1787. In that of Virginia which followed, he sustained the
+new constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm against the
+logic of George Mason, and the burning eloquence of Mr. Henry. With
+these consummate powers was united a pure and spotless virtue which no
+calumny has ever attempted to sully."</p>
+
+<p>From his earliest years he was an intense scholar. His memory was
+singularly tenacious, and what he clearly understood was ever afterward
+retained. He thus laid up that great store of learning which, in the
+conventions of 1787-8 especially proved so effective, and later made him
+president. After Washington, no public man of his time was more widely
+known or more highly loved and respected.</p>
+
+<p>The public confidence in, and respect for his honesty and singleness of
+aim toward the good of the country ripened into an affectionate
+attachment. His bearing and address were characterized by simplicity and
+modesty. He resembled a quiet student, rather than the head of a great
+nation. He was a perfect gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>At another time Jefferson said of him: "From three and thirty years'
+trial I can say conscientiously that I do not know <span class="smcap">in the whole world</span> a
+man of purer integrity, more dispassionate, disinterested, and devoted
+to true republicanism; nor could I in the whole scope of America and
+Europe point out an abler head." What more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> could be said? O that we
+could have such a monument left to mark our memory.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_Monroe" id="James_Monroe"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James Monroe</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The fifth president of the United States was a native of the grand Old
+Dominion, being born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758.
+Like his predecessor, Madison, he was the son of a planter. Another
+strange incident:&mdash;Within sight of Blue Ridge in Virginia, lived three
+presidents of the United States, whose public career commenced in the
+revolutionary times and whose political faith was the same throughout a
+long series of years. These were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and
+James Monroe.</p>
+
+<p>In early youthhood Monroe received a good education, but left school to
+join the army and soon after was commissioned a lieutenant. He took an
+active part in the campaign on the Hudson, and in the attack on Trenton,
+at the head of a small detachment, he captured one of the British
+batteries. On this occasion he received a ball in the shoulder, and was
+promoted to a captaincy. As aide-de-camp to Lord Sterling, with the rank
+of major, he served in the campaign of 1777 and 1778, and distinguished
+himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving the army, he returned to Virginia and commenced the study of law
+under Thomas Jefferson, then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> Governor of the State. When the British
+appeared soon afterward in the State, Monroe exerted himself to the
+utmost in organizing the militia of the lower counties; and when the
+enemy proceeded southward, Jefferson sent him as military commissioner
+to the army in South Carolina.</p>
+
+<p>In 1782, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia from the county of
+King George, and was appointed by that body, although but twenty-three
+years of age, a member of the executive council. In 1783 he was chosen a
+delegate to congress for a period of three years, and took his seat on
+December 13th. Convinced that it was impossible to govern the people
+under the old articles of confederation, he advocated an extension of
+the powers of congress, and in 1785 moved to invest in that body power
+to regulate the trade between the States.</p>
+
+<p>The resolution was referred to a committee of which he was chairman, and
+a report was made in favor of the measure. This led to the convention of
+Annapolis, and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution.
+Monroe also exerted himself in devising a system for the settlement of
+the public lands, and was appointed a member of the committee to decide
+the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. He strongly opposed the
+relinquishment of the right to navigate the Mississippi river as
+demanded by Spain.</p>
+
+<p>Once more we see the value of a proper and elevating marriage, as a
+feature in the success of our great men. In 1785 he married a daughter
+of Peter Kortright, a lady of refinement and culture. He, being
+inelligible for the next three years according to the laws, settled in
+Fredericksburg.</p>
+
+<p>In 1787 he was re-elected to the general assembly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> and in 1788 was
+chosen a delegate to the Virginia convention to decide upon the adoption
+of the Federal Constitution. He was one of the minority who opposed the
+instrument as submitted, being apprehensive that without amendment it
+would confer too much authority upon the general government. The course
+of the minority in Congress was approved by the great mass of the
+population of the Old Dominion, and Monroe was chosen United States
+Senator in 1790. In the Senate he became a strong representative of the
+anti-Federal party, and acted with it until his term expired in 1794.</p>
+
+<p>In May of that year he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France,
+and was received in Paris with enthusiastic demonstrations of respect.
+His marked exhibition of sympathy with the French Republic displeased
+the administration. John Jay had been sent to negotiate a treaty with
+England, and the course pursued by Monroe was considered injudicious, as
+tending to throw serious obstacles in the way of the proposed
+negotiations. On the conclusion of the treaty his alleged failure to
+present it in its true character to the French government excited anew
+the displeasure of the cabinet; and in August, 1796, he was recalled
+under an informal censure.</p>
+
+<p>On his return to America he published a 'View of the conduct of the
+Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States,' which widened
+the breach between him and the administration, but socially Monroe
+remained upon good terms with both Washington and Jay.</p>
+
+<p>He was Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802 and at the close of his
+term was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the French government to
+negotiate, in conjunction with the resident minister, Mr. Livingston,
+for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> purchase of Louisiana, or a right of depot for the United
+States on the Mississippi. Within a fortnight after his arrival in Paris
+the ministers secured, for $15,000,000, the entire territory of Orleans
+and district of Louisiana.</p>
+
+<p>In the same year he was commissioned Minister Plenipotentiary to
+England, and endeavored to conclude a convention for the protection of
+neutral rights, and against the impressment of seamen. In the midst of
+these negotiations he was directed to proceed to Madrid as Minister
+Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to adjust the difficulties between the
+United States and Spain, in relation to the boundaries of the new
+purchase of Louisiana. In this he failed, and in 1806 he was recalled to
+England to act with Mr. Pickney in further negotiation for the
+protection of neutral rights. On the last day of that year a treaty was
+concluded, but because of the omission of any provision against the
+impressment of seamen, and its doubtfulness in relation to other leading
+points the president sent it back for revisal. All efforts to attain
+this failed and Monroe returned to America.</p>
+
+<p>The time was approaching for the election of a president, and a
+considerable body of the Republican party had brought Monroe forward as
+their candidate, but the preference of Jefferson for Madison was well
+known and of course had its influence. Monroe believed that the
+rejection of the treaty and the predilection expressed for his rival
+indicated hostility on the part of the retiring President, and a
+correspondence on the subject ensued.</p>
+
+<p>Jefferson candidly explained his course and assured him that his
+preference was based solely upon solicitude for the success of the
+party, the great majority of which had declared in the favor of Madison.
+The misunderstanding ceased and Monroe withdrew from the canvass.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> In
+1810 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in
+1811 once more Governor of the State.</p>
+
+<p>In the same year he was appointed Secretary of State by President
+Madison, and after the capture of the capitol in 1814, he was appointed
+to take charge of the war department, being both Secretary of State and
+Secretary of War at once. He found the treasury exhausted and the
+national credit at the lowest ebb, but he set about the task of infusing
+order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed
+an increase of 40,000 men in the army by levying recruits throughout the
+whole country.</p>
+
+<p>His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans, and
+finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private
+means as subsidary to the credit of the Government, and enabled the city
+to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential
+adviser of President Madison in the measures for the re-establishment of
+the public credit of the country and the regulation of the foreign
+relations of the United States, and continued to serve as Secretary of
+State until the close of Madison's term in 1817.</p>
+
+<p>In that year he succeeded to the Presidency himself, by an electoral
+vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party now generally
+known as Democratic.</p>
+
+<p>His Cabinet was composed of some of the ablest men in the country in
+either party. Soon after his inauguration President Monroe made a tour
+through the Eastern and Middle States, during which he thoroughly
+inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications and garrisons; reviewed
+military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the
+capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In
+every point of view this journey was a success. Party lines seemed about
+to disappear and the country to return to its long past state of union.
+The President was not backward in his assurances of a strong desire on
+his part that such should be the case. The course of the administration
+was in conformity to these assurances, and secured the support of an
+overwhelming majority of the people.</p>
+
+<p>The great majority of the recommendations in the President's message
+were approved by large majorities. The tone of debate was far more
+moderate; few of the bitter speeches which had been the fashion in the
+past were uttered, and this period has passed into history as the "Era
+of good feeling." Among the important events of the first term of
+President Monroe was the consummation in 1818 of a treaty between the
+United States and Great Britain in relation to the Newfoundland
+fisheries&mdash;the interpretation of the terms of which we have of late
+heard so much; the restoration of slaves and other subjects; also the
+admission into the Union of the States of Mississippi, Illinois and
+Maine; in 1819 Spain ceded to the United States her possessions in East
+and West Florida with the adjacent islands.</p>
+
+<p>In 1820 Monroe was re-elected almost unanimously, receiving 231 out of
+the 232 electoral votes. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri became one of
+the United States, after prolonged and exciting debates, resulting in
+the celebrated "Missouri Compromise," by which slavery was permitted in
+Missouri but prohibited <span class="smcap">forever</span> elsewhere north of parallel thirty-six
+degrees and thirty minutes. Other events of public importance during the
+second term of President Monroe were the recognition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> in 1822 of the
+independence of Mexico, and the provinces in South America, formerly
+under the dominion of Spain; and the promulgation in his message of
+December 2, 1823, of the policy of 'neither entangling ourselves in the
+broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers of the old world to interfere
+with the affairs of the new,' which has become so famous as the "Monroe
+Doctrine." On this occasion the president declared that any attempt on
+the part of foreign powers to extend their system to any part of this
+hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as dangerous to our
+peace and prosperity, and would certainly be opposed.</p>
+
+<p>On March 4, 1825, Monroe retired from office and returned to his
+residence at Oak Hill in Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>He was chosen a justice of the peace, and as such sat in the county
+court. In 1829 he became a member of the Virginia convention to revise
+the constitution, and was chosen to preside over the deliberations of
+that body but he was obliged, on account of ill-health, to resign his
+position in that body and return to his home.</p>
+
+<p>Although Monroe had received $350,000 for his public services alone, he
+was greatly harrassed with creditors toward the latter part of his life.
+Toward the last he made his home with his son-in-law, Samuel L.
+Gouverneur of New York city, where he was originally buried, but in 1830
+he was removed to Richmond with great pomp and re-interred in Holleywood
+Cemetery.</p>
+
+<p>The subject of this sketch held the reins of government at an important
+time and administered it with prudence, discretion, and a single eye to
+the general welfare. He went further than any of his predecessors in
+developing the resources of the country. He encouraged the army,
+increased the navy, augmented the national <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>defences, protected
+commerce, approved of the United States Bank, and infused vigor into
+every department of the public service.</p>
+
+<p>His honesty, good faith, and simplicity were generally acknowledged, and
+disarmed the political rancor of the strongest opponents. Madison
+thought the country had never fully appreciated the robust understanding
+of Monroe. In person, Monroe was tall and well-formed, with light
+complexion and blue eyes. The expression of his countenance was an
+accurate index of his simplicity, benevolence, and integrity. The
+country never fully appreciated Monroe, partly on account of his never
+having gained distinction as an orator.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Lewis_Cass" id="Lewis_Cass"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Lewis Cass</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A man worthy of no small attention was Lewis Cass. Born at Exeter, New
+Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. He served in the war of 1812, rising to
+the rank of major in the army. He was a school-fellow with Daniel
+Webster, became a school teacher at Wilmington, Delaware, and walking
+from that place to Ohio, where his parents moved, began the practice of
+law in Zanesville in 1802.</p>
+
+<p>In 1806 he married and soon after was elected to the legislature of
+Ohio. He performed a most conspicuous part in the Burr trial, favoring
+the law which caused the arrest of the supposed conspirator. He became a
+colonel in the war of 1812, being included in the surrender of General
+Hull, of Detroit, and was instrumental in bringing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> about that General's
+arrest on the charge of cowardice and treason. He was afterward
+exchanged and served as aid to General Harrison in the battle of the
+Thames. He was appointed military governor of Michigan in the autumn of
+1813, having risen to the position of Brigadier General.</p>
+
+<p>In 1815 he purchased for $12,000 the whole plat of Detroit, and the
+subsequent rise made him immensely rich. He became Secretary of War
+under Jackson in 1831. He next became minister to France in 1842. Three
+years after this he was elected United States senator from Michigan, and
+resigned in 1848 to become a candidate for the presidency, but a
+division in his party caused the election of Taylor. He was then
+re-elected to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation, and again
+re-elected in 1854 for a full term of six years. He supported measures
+favorable to the promotion of slavery notwithstanding the Michigan
+legislature had instructed him to vote otherwise. He favored Douglass'
+Kansas-Nebraska bill.</p>
+
+<p>He warmly favored Buchanan's nomination and became his Secretary of
+State, but promptly resigned when the president refused to reinforce
+Fort Sumter; thus closing a career of over fifty years of almost
+continuous public service. He, however, gave his support from this time
+to the Union and lived to see that triumphant suppression of treason. He
+died on the 18th day of June, 1866. He was a man of pure integrity,
+great ability, a fine scholar and an effective public speaker. He was
+exceedingly generous in all worthy petitions which his great wealth
+enabled him to gratify unsparingly. He was also an author of some note.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_C_Calhoun" id="John_C_Calhoun"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John C. Calhoun</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The father of John C. Calhoun was born in Ireland; his mother was the
+daughter of an Irish Presbyterian, a lady of great worth. Most of our
+illustrious men owe their success to a noble mother, and so it was with
+Calhoun. He was early taught to read the Bible, and his parents sought
+to impress upon him their Calvinistic doctrines.</p>
+
+<p>As a child he was grave and thoughtful, and at the age of thirteen he
+studied history so perseveringly as to impair his health. His father
+died about this time, and a glimpse of his loving disposition can be
+obtained from the fact that notwithstanding that he greatly desired an
+education, still he would not leave the farm until assured of the means
+of prosecuting his studies without impairing his mother's comfort.
+Consequently he had few of the advantages to which systematic schooling
+is conducive until late in youth. He, however, made a satisfactory
+arrangement with his family, who agreed to furnish him money for a
+course of seven years.</p>
+
+<p>He had decided to study law, but declared that he preferred being a
+common planter to a half-educated lawyer. He soon entered Yale College,
+where he graduated with distinction. President Dwight is said to have
+remarked 'That young man has ability enough to be President of the
+United States and will become one yet.' Before returning home he spent
+eighteen months in the law-school at Litchfield, Connecticut. He also
+cultivated extempore speaking, and finally returned South to finish his
+studies.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span></p>
+<p>Being admitted to the bar he began practice; in 1808 was elected to the
+Legislature, and in 1811 to Congress. The war party had gained complete
+control of the House, and a speaker was chosen by the Democratic party.
+Calhoun was placed on the Committee of Foreign Relations, and he framed
+the report that the time had come to choose between tame submission and
+bold resistance. Calhoun was chosen chairman of this committee, and was
+a staunch supporter of the administration throughout. The increasing
+financial distress led to the National Bank debates, in which he was a
+leading figure. The necessity of this institution being admitted, to
+Calhoun was intrusted entire management of the bill, and to him is due
+the passage of the charter of the bank.</p>
+
+<p>He was a most efficient agent of internal improvements, carrying a bill
+through the House by a vote of 86 to 84, authorizing a million and a
+half to be paid by the United States bank and the income on seven
+millions more to be devoted to internal improvements. This bill passed
+the Senate twenty to fifteen, but was vetoed by the president, denying
+the authority of congress to appropriate money for any such purpose. He
+next became Secretary of War, under Monroe. He found the war department
+in a demoralized condition&mdash;bills to the amount of $50,000 outstanding.
+These Calhoun promptly settled and secured the passage of a bill
+reorganizing the staff of the army. President Monroe bringing before the
+cabinet the question of whether he should sign the Missouri Compromise,
+Calhoun gave it as his opinion that it was constitutional, supporting
+the view that it was the duty of the president to sign the bill.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He was very seriously thought of as Monroe's successor, the great State
+of Pennsylvania supporting him at first, but General Jackson's great
+military fame won for him the nomination, and Calhoun was almost
+unanimously selected for vice-president.</p>
+
+<p>The tariff question was an all-absorbing issue, and on this question the
+Democrats divided&mdash;the northern wing being for protection, under the
+lead of Martin Van Buren; while the South was unanimous for free trade,
+led by Calhoun. A rupture between the president and Mr. Calhoun now
+arose; this and other causes led to Mr. Calhoun's distrust of the
+president, and the belief that he could not be depended upon to settle
+the tariff question; therefore he brought out his nullification
+doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>This doctrine was founded on the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of
+1798-9 which declared the constitution to be a compact, each State
+forming an integral part. It also declared that the government created
+by the compact was not made the final judge, each party having a right
+to ratify or annul that judgment as an individual State, that is, such
+laws as were deemed unconstitutional. This doctrine he prepared, and the
+paper was presented to the legislature where it became known as the
+South Carolina Exposition. The next we see of it is in the Senate of the
+United States, where the doctrine is brought forward by Mr. Hayne, which
+led to his world-famed debate with Mr. Webster.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the passage of the tariff bill and the nullification act,
+whereby South Carolina signified her determination to resist the laws;
+and the final compromise measure of Henry Clay which happily settled the
+difficulty at this time. Calhoun was now a senator and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> soon formed one
+of the powerful trio in opposition to president Jackson. He
+characterized Jackson's distribution of the surplus left by the United
+States bank as an attempt to seize onto the power of Congress and unite,
+in his own hands, the sword and purse.</p>
+
+<p>He declared that he had placed himself with the minority to serve his
+gallant State, nor would he turn on his heel if thereby he could be
+placed at the head of the government. He thought that corruption had
+taken such a hold of it that any man who attempted reform would not be
+sustained. The American Anti-slavery Society having sent tracts
+denunciatory to slavery throughout the South, and as it was believed
+that such measures had a tendency to incite the slaves to insurrection,
+Calhoun brought in a bill subjecting to severe punishment any postmaster
+who should knowingly receive any such matter for distribution in any
+State which should pass a law prohibiting the circulation of such. The
+bill failed on a final vote, twenty-five to nineteen.</p>
+
+<p>He maintained that Congress had no jurisdiction over the subject of
+slavery; that it was a recognized institution; that the inequality of
+the negro was manifest; that in slavery they held their true position
+and to change their condition was to place them wholly dependent upon
+the State for support. Calhoun, believed that the relations between the
+races was right, morally and politically, and demanded that the
+institution of slavery be protected.</p>
+
+<p>The bill recommended by Jackson, to restrict the sale of public lands to
+actual settlers and that in limited quantities, drew from him a most
+fiery speech. He claimed that the measure was really in the interest of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>
+speculators who had loaded themselves with land, and whose interest now
+was to restrict the sale and thus enhance the price of their ill-gotten
+domain. He also claimed that people high in office had speculated
+largely, even some in near relation to the president.</p>
+
+<p>This brought from Jackson a letter that he should either retract his
+words or bring the matter before Congress as an act of impeachment. The
+sole power of impeachment lies within the House of Representatives, and,
+while the senate had previously passed an act denouncing Jackson's
+methods, yet the House of Representatives was overwhelmingly in his
+favor, and he must have known that no impeachment could pass this body.</p>
+
+<p>Jackson realized that such charges needed his attention. Calhoun read
+his letter before the senate pronouncing it a cowardly attempt to
+intimidate, and repeated his charges; stating that not only persons high
+in authority were implied in the charge, but the president's nephew,
+calling his name, was a large speculator.</p>
+
+<p>During the administration of Van Buren came the great financial crash of
+our history; the aggregate of the failures in New York and New Orleans
+alone amounting to $150,000,00. All this trouble had been foretold by
+Calhoun.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Van Buren's plan of an independent treasury, which created a place
+for all the surplus to accumulate, met with Calhoun's approval, and he
+accordingly separated from Webster and Clay to act in support of what
+was right, notwithstanding his personal feelings toward Van Buren. This
+illustrates the principle of Mr. Calhoun. Notwithstanding his known idea
+of right and wrong, this aroused the indignation of his late allies,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>
+who could ill spare his vote and powerful influence. The fact that this
+measure, which he had determined to support, is still in existence,
+proves conclusively the wisdom of Calhoun as against both Webster and
+Clay.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, in reply to Calhoun's speech on the Independent Treasury bill, Clay
+used the strongest language, charging him with desertion, and making his
+whole life the subject of one of those powerful invectives so
+characteristic with him. Calhoun answered; Clay replied on the spot, and
+Calhoun answered back.</p>
+
+<p>This was a wonderful example of the different styles of oratory of which
+each was master; Clay, of declamation, invective, wit, humor and bitter
+sarcasm; Calhoun of clear statement and close reasoning. This contest,
+aside from its oratorical power, deserves a place in history. In answer
+to Clay's attack on his life he replied: "I rest my public character
+upon it, and desire it to be read by all who will do me justice."</p>
+
+<p>As a debater, where close reasoning was essential, he was an
+acknowledged leader. The tariff laws of Jackson's time which brought
+this nullification doctrine prominently before the country were
+acknowledged to be drawn in favor of the North, as against the South.
+The least that can be said is that he was honest; and that he was able
+to defend his doctrine no one disputes. Happily manufacturing interests
+are now investing in the South, and the tariff question will right
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Calhoun was brilliant and his great aim in life was the defense of
+slavery. He regarded that institution as essential to the very existence
+of the Southern States; therefore thought that the abolition of slavery
+would tend to the overthrow of the South. He declared that the
+Constitution should be revised.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Although never publicly proclaiming such a method, yet it seemed that
+his idea was to elect two Presidents, one from the slave and one from
+the free States, and that no bill of Congress could be ratified without
+their approval. But if Mr. Calhoun was honest in this, as he no doubt
+was, yet his measure would tend to take the power from the many and
+place it within the few, which is contrary to democratic ideas of good
+government.</p>
+
+<p>It was on March 13th, 1850, that he fell exhausted at the close of his
+speech in answer to General Cass, and died soon after. Mr. Webster's
+funeral oration delivered in the Senate upon the announcement of his
+death is a most eloquent yet unexaggerated account of the virtues of
+John C. Calhoun.</p>
+
+<p>"Calhoun was a part of his own intellectual character, which grew out of
+the qualities of his mind. It was plain, strong, wise, condensed,
+concise, still always severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking
+illustration; his power consisted in the plainness of his propositions,
+the clearness of his logic, and the earnestness and energy of his
+manner. No man was more respectful to others; no man carried himself
+with greater decorum; no man with superior dignity. I have not, in
+public or private life, known a man more assiduous in the discharge of
+his duties. Out of the Chambers of Congress he was either devoting
+himself to the acquisition of knowledge pertaining to the immediate
+subject of the duty before him, or else he was indulging in those social
+interviews in which he so much delighted.</p>
+
+<p>"There was a charm in his conversation not often found. He had the
+basis, the indispensible basis of all high character; unspotted
+integrity and honor unimpeached. If he had aspirations they were high,
+honorable and noble;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> nothing low or meanly come near his head or heart.
+He arose early and was a successful planter; so much so that to have
+been an overseer at 'Fort Hill' was a high recommendation. He dealt
+almost exclusively in solid reasoning when speaking, which was so plain
+that illustration was rarely needed. Certain it is that he was a great
+and good man."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Robert_Y_Hayne" id="Robert_Y_Hayne"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Robert Y. Hayne</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The renowned debate on the doctrine of nullification in which he was one
+of the principals,&mdash;if it were the only act of his life, must make the
+name of Robert Y. Hayne forever illustrious. He was born in 1791, and
+admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one, having been educated in
+Charleston, South Carolina, his native State.</p>
+
+<p>He volunteered early in the war of 1812 and rapidly rose to the position
+of Major-General, being considered one of the best disciplinarians in
+the South. As his old friend, Mr. Ehres, had been chosen to a seat in
+Congress, he succeeded to his large practice, and before he was
+twenty-two he had the most lucrative practice of any lawyer in his
+State.</p>
+
+<p>He was elected to the South Carolina legislature as a member of the
+assembly of 1814, and as speaker of that body four years after taking
+his seat and soon was chosen Attorney General of the State. In every
+position young Haynes was placed he not only acquitted himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> with
+credit but won for himself great esteem, and as soon as he was old
+enough to be elligible for United States Senator he was sent by his
+State to defend their interests at the national capitol.</p>
+
+<p>Here he became a most aggressive opponent, culminating in "The battle of
+the giants," the great debate on the interpretation of the constitution.
+Mr. Hayne's speech on this occasion was heralded far and near, and it
+was classed by his supporters with the mightiest efforts of Burke or
+Pitt. Mr. Webster's reply has been generally acknowledged the superior
+effort of the two; but certain it is that whatever may have been the
+tendency of the views espoused by him, Robert Y. Hayne was an honest and
+sincere defender of the doctrine of the State Rights, and was held in
+high esteem by his political opponents.</p>
+
+<p>The obnoxious tariff laws passing, General Hayne was elected Governor of
+his State; the people feeling that they could place the helm of their
+ship in no safer hands during the trying ordeal they felt they were to
+pass through. In replying to President Jackson's celebrated proclamation
+Hayne issued a counter-manifesto full of defiance. Happily the
+compromise of Mr. Clay postponed for thirty years the threatened civil
+war.</p>
+
+<p>The evening of the close of that great debate at a presidential levee,
+Mr. Webster challenged Mr. Hayne to drink a glass of wine with him,
+saying, "General Hayne, I drink to your health, and hope that you may
+live a thousand years." Hayne's disposition is shown by his reply: "I
+shall not live a hundred if you make another such a speech." If he felt
+there was merit in an individual he was quickest to admit it even when
+it might be to his own detriment, and when it is remembered that he was
+one of the first to compliment Webster on his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> great parliamentary
+success, his noble qualities are shown in their true colors.</p>
+
+<p>After serving in the gubernatorial chair with great distinction he
+retired to become Mayor of Charleston. He now turned his attention
+especially to internal improvements, and soon became president of the
+Charleston, Louisville &amp; Cincinnati Railway. This office he held at his
+death, which occurred in his fiftieth year, September 24th, 1841. There
+are many things in the character of General Hayne worthy of study.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Daniel_Webster" id="Daniel_Webster"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Daniel Webster</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>On January 8th, 1782, was born at Franklin, New Hampshire, a son to a
+comparatively poor farmer. No royal blood flowed through the veins of
+this child whereby to bring him honor, yet one day he was to rise to the
+foremost rank among the rulers of his country. At that early period the
+town of Salisbury, now Franklin, was the extreme northern settlement in
+New Hampshire, and the schools were of necessity in a primitive state.</p>
+
+<p>Daniel Webster labored on his father's farm during the summer, and a few
+months of each winter attended the district school some two miles from
+his home. Considering the cold, and the heavy snows which are
+characteristic of his native State, one can scarcely realize the amount
+of energy he must have utilized to enable him to enter Exeter Academy at
+the early age of fourteen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> and one year later, Dartmouth College. He is
+represented as promising nothing of his future greatness at this time,
+but it is stated that he pursued every study with <span class="smcap">extraordinary
+tenacity</span>.</p>
+
+<p>He read widely, especially in history and general English literature,
+and thereby laid a good foundation for the splendid education which his
+personal energy at last brought him. As a matter of course, such a line
+of action must bring out what qualities might be in any man. The college
+societies soon sought him as a member.</p>
+
+<p>While at Exeter he could hardly muster courage to speak before his
+class, but before he had finished his college course he had delivered
+addresses before the societies, which found their way into print. His
+diligence soon placed him at the head of his class, a position he
+maintained until the close of his college studies, graduating in 1801
+with high honors.</p>
+
+<p>Choosing law as his profession, he entered the law office of a friend
+and neighbor, Thomas Thompson, who afterwards became a congressman and
+eventually a senator. Mr. Webster remained here for some time when he
+left the office to become a teacher in Maine at a salary of $350 per
+year, which he enlarged somewhat by copying deeds. He afterwards
+returned to the office of Mr. Thompson where he remained until 1804,
+when he went to Boston and entered the office of Christopher Gove, who
+also distinguished himself afterwards as governor of Massachusetts.</p>
+
+<p>He had previously helped his brother Ezekiel to prepare for college, and
+Daniel now in turn was helped to continue his law studies as Ezekiel was
+teaching. His opportunity to enter the office of Mr. Gove proved most
+fortunate, as he was thus enabled to study men, books<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> and daily hear
+intelligent discussions on the topics of national interest.</p>
+
+<p>In 1805 he was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Boscawen.
+He had been offered the clerkship of the Hillsboro County Court at a
+salary of $1,500 a year, which was then a large income, and he was urged
+to accept it by his father and other friends, but was dissuaded from so
+doing by Mr. Gove, who foresaw great honor in store for him at the bar.
+He practiced at Boscawen one year, when he was admitted to practice in
+the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and he established himself at
+Portsmouth, at that time the capital of the State. Here he rose to
+distinction among the most eminent counsellors. During his nine years
+residence in Portsmouth he gave his especial attention to constitutional
+law, becoming one of the soundest practitioners in the State.</p>
+
+<p>He had inherited from his father the principles of the Federalist party,
+and, therefore, advocated them in speeches on public occasions, but did
+not for some years enter into politics. Mr. Webster came forward in a
+time when party spirit ran high, and the declaration of war in 1812,
+long deprecated by his party, created a demand for the best talent the
+country afforded. Mr. Webster now held a commanding reputation, and in
+1812 he was sent to Congress. This was a most favorable time for Webster
+to enter Congress, as measures of the greatest importance were now to be
+discussed.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Clay was speaker of the house, and placed this new member on a
+most important committee. June 10, 1813, he delivered his maiden speech
+on the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. These decrees were a
+scheme<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> of Napoleon's, avowedly directed against the commercial
+interests of Great Britain.</p>
+
+<p>They closed all ports of France, and her allied countries against all
+vessels coming from England or any English colony. All commerce and
+correspondence was prohibited. All English merchandise was seized, and
+English subjects found in any country governed by France were held
+prisoners of war.</p>
+
+<p>Great Britain retaliated by prohibiting neutral vessels from entering
+the ports of France under pain of confiscation; and a later order placed
+France and her allies, together with all countries with whom England was
+at war, under the same restriction.</p>
+
+<p>Napoleon then issued his decree from Milan and the Tuileries declaring
+that any vessel that had ever been searched by English authority, or had
+ever paid duty to England, should be treated as a lawful prize of war.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster's first speech, as before stated, was upon a resolution on
+the repeal of these decrees, and so ably did he define our duty as a
+country, in the matter, and so clearly did he show wherein both England
+and France had transgressed; that, being a new member, unknown outside
+of his own section of the Union, his lucid and eloquent appeal took the
+house and nation by surprise.</p>
+
+<p>His subsequent speeches on the increase of the navy and the repeal of
+the embargo act won for him a first place among the great debaters of
+his day. He cultivated a friendly relation with political opponents as
+well as partisan friends, which soon gained for him the respect of all
+and he became the acknowledged leader of the Federal party. He was
+re-elected to Congress in 1814 by a large majority, and in the debates
+upon the United States bank which followed, he displayed a most
+remarkable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> mastery of the financial questions of his time. Afterward a
+bill which was introduced by him passed, requiring all payments to the
+treasury to be made in specie or its equivalent, restored the
+depreciated currency of the country.</p>
+
+<p>His home and library was burned and after some hesitation as to whether
+to locate in Boston or Albany, he decided on the former whither he
+moved, and where he lived the remainder of his life. This change of
+location gave greater scope for the extension of his legal business, and
+his resignation from Congress increased still further his time and
+opportunities. During the next seven years he devoted his exclusive
+attention to his profession, taking a position as counsellor, above
+which no one has ever risen in this country, and the best class of
+business passed into his hands.</p>
+
+<p>In 1816 the legislature of New Hampshire reorganized the corporation of
+Dartmouth College, changing its name to Dartmouth University, and
+selecting new trustees. The newly-created body took possession of the
+institution, and the old board brought action against the new
+management. The case involved the powers of the legislature over the old
+corporation without their consent. It was decided twice in the
+affirmative by the courts of the State, when it was appealed to
+Washington, the highest court.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster opened the case, delivering a most eloquent and exhaustive
+argument for the college. His argument was that it was a private
+institution supported through charity, over which the State had no
+control, and that the legislature could not annul except for acts in
+violation of its charter, which had not been shown. Chief Justice
+Marshal decided that the act of the legisature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> was unconstitutional and
+reversed the previous decisions. This established Mr. Webster's
+reputation in the Supreme Court, and he was retained in every
+considerable case thereafter, being considered one of the greatest
+expounders of constitutional law in the Union.</p>
+
+<p>He was already acknowledged to be among the greatest criminal lawyers,
+and at the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrim fathers he
+delivered the first of a series of orations which, aside from his legal
+and legislative achievements must have made him renowned. He was elected
+in 1822 to congress, being chosen from Boston, and during 1823 made his
+world-famous speech on the Greek revolution; a most powerful
+remonstrance against what has passed into history as "The holy
+alliance," and he also opposed an extravagant increase of the tariff. He
+also reported and carried through the house a complete revision of the
+criminal law of the United States, being chairman of the judiciary
+committee. In 1827 he was selected by the legislature of Massachusetts
+to fill a vacancy in the United States senate. In that body he won a
+foremost position.</p>
+
+<p>Probably the most eloquent exhibition of oratory, based on logic and
+true statesmanship, ever exhibited in the Senate of the United States
+was the contest between Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Hayne,
+the silver-tongued orator of South Carolina; the debate transpiring in
+1830. The subject of discussion before the senate by these two
+intellectual gladiators grew out of a resolution brought forward by
+Senator Foot, of Connecticut, just at the close of the previous year
+with a view of some arrangement concerning the sales of the public
+lands. But this immediate question was soon lost sight of in the
+discussion of a great vital principle of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> constitutional law, namely:
+The relative powers of the States and the national government.</p>
+
+<p>Upon this Mr. Benton and Mr. Hayne addressed the Senate, condemning the
+policy of the Eastern States as illiberal toward the West. Mr. Webster
+replied in vindication of New England, and of the policy of the
+Government. It was then that Mr. Hayne made his attack&mdash;sudden,
+unexpected, and certainly unexampled&mdash;upon Mr. Webster personally, upon
+Massachusetts and other Northern States politically, and upon the
+constitution itself. In respect to the latter, Mr. Hayne taking the
+position that it is constitutional to interrupt the administration of
+the Constitution itself, in the hands of those who are chosen and sworn
+to administer it; by the direct interference in form of law, of the
+States, in virtue of their sovereign capacity.</p>
+
+<p>All of these points were handled by Mr. Hayne with that rhetorical
+brilliancy, and the power which characterized him as the oratorical
+champion of the South on the floor of the Senate, and it is not saying
+too much that the speech produced a profound impression. Mr. Hayne's
+great effort appeared to be the result of premeditation, concert, and
+arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>He selected his own time, and that, too, peculiarly inconvenient to Mr.
+Webster, for at that moment the Supreme Court was proceeding in the
+hearing of a case of great importance in which he was a leading counsel.
+For this reason he requested, through a friend, the postponement of the
+debate. Mr. Hayne objected, however, and the request was refused. The
+time, the matter, and the manner, indicated that the attack was made
+with the design to crush so formidable a political opponent as Mr.
+Webster had become. To this end, personal history,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> the annals of New
+England, and the federal party were ransacked for materials.</p>
+
+<p>It was attempted with the usual partisan unfairness of political
+harangues to make him responsible not only for what was his own, but for
+the conduct and opinions of others. All the errors and delinquencies,
+real or supposed, of Massachusetts and the Eastern States, and of the
+Federal party during the war of 1812, and indeed prior and subsequent to
+that period were accumulated and heaped upon him.</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that Mr. Hayne heralded his speech with a bold declaration
+of war, with taunts and threats, vaunting anticipated triumph&mdash;saying
+'that he would carry the war into Africa until he had obtained indemnity
+for the past and security for the future.' It was supposed that as a
+distinguished representative man, Mr. Webster would be driven to defend
+what was indefensible, to uphold what could not be sustained and, as a
+Federalist, to oppose the popular resolutions of '98.</p>
+
+<p>The severe nature of Mr. Hayne's charges, the ability with which he
+brought them to bear upon his opponents, his great reputation as a
+brilliant and powerful declaimer, filled the minds of his friends with
+anticipations of complete triumph. For two days Mr. Hayne had control of
+the floor. The vehemence of his language and the earnestness of his
+manner, we might properly say the power of his oratory, added force to
+the excitement of the occasion. So fluent and melodious was his
+elocution that his cause naturally begat sympathy. No one had time to
+deliberate on his rapid words or canvass his sweeping and accumulated
+statements. The dashing nature of the onset, the assurance, almost
+insolence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> his tone; the serious character of the accusations,
+confounded almost every hearer.</p>
+
+<p>The immediate impression of the speech was most surely disheartening to
+the cause Mr. Webster upheld. Congratulations from almost every quarter
+were showered upon Mr. Hayne. Mr. Benton said in full senate that as
+much as Mr. Hayne had done before to establish his reputation as an
+orator, a statesman, a patriot and a gallant son of the South; the
+efforts of that day would eclipse and surpass the whole. Indeed the
+speech was extolled as the greatest effort of the time or of other
+times&mdash;neither Chatham or Burke nor Fox had surpassed it in their
+palmiest days.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster's own feelings with reference to the speech were freely
+expressed to his friend, Mr. Everett, the evening succeeding Mr. Hayne's
+closing speech. He regarded the speech as an entirely unprovoked attack
+on the North, and what was of far more importance, as an exposition of
+politics in which Mr. Webster's opinion went far to change the form of
+government from that which was established by the constitution into that
+which existed under the confederation&mdash;if the latter could be called a
+government at all. He stated it to be his intention therefore to put
+that theory to rest forever, as far as it could be done by an argument
+in the senate chamber. How grandly he did this is thus vividly portrayed
+by Mr. March, an eye-witness, and whose account has been adopted by most
+historians.</p>
+
+<p>It was on Tuesday, January 26th, 1830&mdash;a day to be hereafter memorable
+in senatorial annals&mdash;that the senate resumed the consideration of
+Foot's resolution. There was never before in the city an occasion of so
+much excitement. To witness this great intellectual contest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> multitudes
+of strangers had, for two or more days previous, been rushing into the
+city, and the hotels overflowed. As early as nine o'clock in the morning
+crowds poured into the capitol in hot haste; at twelve o'clock, the hour
+of meeting, the senate chamber, even its galleries, floor, and lobbies
+was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stairways were dark with men
+who hung on to one another like bees in a swarm.</p>
+
+<p>The House of Representatives was early deserted. An adjournment would
+hardly have made it emptier. The speaker, it is true, retained his
+chair, but no business of moment was or could be attended to. Members
+all rushed in to hear Mr. Webster, and no call of the House or other
+parliamentary proceedings could call them back. The floor of the Senate
+was so densely crowded that persons once in could not get out.</p>
+
+<p>Seldom, if ever, has a speaker in this or any other country had more
+powerful incentives to exertion; a subject, the determination of which
+involved the most important interests and even duration of the
+Republic&mdash;competitors unequaled in reputation, ability, or position; a
+name to make still more renowned or lose forever; and an audience
+comprising, not only American citizens most eminent in intellectual
+greatness, but representatives of other nations where the art of oratory
+had flourished for ages.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster perceived and felt equal to the destinies of the moment. The
+very greatness of the hazard exhilarated him. His spirits arose with the
+occasion. He awaited the time of onset with a stern and impatient joy.
+He felt like the war-horse of the Scriptures, who 'paweth in the valley
+and rejoiceth in his strength: who goeth on to meet the armed men who
+sayeth among the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> trumpets, ha! ha! and who smelleth the battle afar
+off, the thunder of the Captains and the shouting.'</p>
+
+<p>A confidence in his resources, springing from no vain estimate of his
+power but the legitimate off-spring of previous <span class="smcap">severe mental
+discipline</span>, sustained and excited him. He had gauged his opponents, his
+<i>subject</i> and <span class="smcap">himself</span>.</p>
+
+<p>He was, too, at this period in the very prime of manhood. He had reached
+middle-age&mdash;an era in the life of man when the faculties, physical or
+intellectual, may be supposed to attain their fullest organization and
+most perfect development. Whatever there was in him of intellectual
+energy and vitality the occasion, his full life and high ambition might
+well bring forth. He never arose on an ordinary occasion to address an
+ordinary audience more self-possessed. There was no tremulousness in his
+voice or manner; nothing hurried, nothing simulated. The calmness of
+superior strength was visible everywhere; in countenance, voice and
+bearing. A deep-seated conviction of the extraordinary character of the
+emergency and of his ability to control it seemed to possess him wholly.
+If an observer more than ordinarily keen-sighted detected at times
+something like exultation in his eye, he presumed it sprang from the
+excitement of the moment and the anticipation of victory. The anxiety to
+hear the speech was so intense, irrepressible and universal that no
+sooner had the vice-president assumed the chair that a motion was made
+and unanimously carried to postpone the ordinary preliminaries of
+senatorial action and take up immediately the consideration of the
+resolution.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster arose and addressed the Senate. His exordium is known by
+heart everywhere. "Mr. President<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> when the mariner has been tossed about
+for many days in thick weather and on an unknown sea he naturally avails
+himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun
+to take his latitude and ascertain how far the elements have driven him
+from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence and before we float
+further on the waves of this debate refer to the point from which we
+departed that we may at least be able to form some conjecture where we
+now are. I ask for the reading of the resolutions."</p>
+
+<p>Calm, resolute, impressive was this opening speech. There wanted no more
+to enchain the attention. There was a spontaneous though silent
+expression of eager attention as the orator concluded these opening
+remarks. And while the clerk read the resolution many attempted the
+impossibility of getting nearer the speaker. Every head was inclined
+closer toward him, every ear turned in the direction of his voice&mdash;and
+that deep, sudden, mysterious silence followed which always attends
+fullness of emotion. From the sea of upturned faces before him the
+orator beheld his thought, reflected as from a mirror. The varying
+countenance, the suffused eye, the earnest smile and ever attentive look
+assured him of the intense interest excited. If among his hearers there
+were some who affected indifference at first to his glowing thoughts and
+fervant periods, the difficult mask was soon laid aside and profound,
+undisguised, devout attention followed.</p>
+
+<p>In truth, all sooner or later, voluntarily, or in spite of themselves
+were wholly carried away by the spell of such unexampled eloquence.
+Those who had doubted Mr. Webster's power to cope with and overcome his
+opponent were fully satisfied of their error before he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> proceeded
+far in this debate. Their fears soon took another direction. When they
+heard his sentences of powerful thought towering in accumulated grandeur
+one above the other as if the orator strove Titan-like to reach the very
+heavens themselves, they were giddy with an apprehension that he would
+break down in his flight. They dared not believe that genius,
+learning&mdash;any intellectual endowment however uncommon, that was simply
+mortal&mdash;could sustain itself long in a career seemingly so perilous.
+They feared an Icarian fall. No one surely who was present, could ever
+forget the awful burst of eloquence with which the orator apostrophized
+the old Bay State which Mr. Hayne had so derided, or the tones of deep
+pathos in which her defense was pronounced:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. President: I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts. There
+she is&mdash;behold her and judge for yourselves. There is her history, the
+world knows it by heart. The past at least is secure. There is Boston,
+and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and there they will remain
+forever. The bones of her sons falling in the great struggle for
+independence now lie mingled with the soil of every State from New
+England to Georgia, and there they will remain forever. And sir, where
+American liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was
+nurtured and sustained, there it still lives in the strength of its
+manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall
+wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it,
+if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary
+restraint, shall succeed to separate it from that Union by which alone
+its existence is made sure it will stand in the end by the side of that
+cradle in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> its infancy was rocked, it will stretch forth its arm
+with whatever vigor it may still retain over the friends who gather
+around it and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest
+monuments of its own glory and on the very spot of its origin."</p>
+
+<p>No New England heart but throbbed with vehement emotion as Mr. Webster
+dwelt upon New England sufferings, New England struggles, and New
+England triumphs during the war of the Revolution. There was scarcely a
+dry eye in the Senate; all hearts were overcome; grave judges and men
+grown old in dignified life turned aside their heads to conceal the
+evidence of their emotion.</p>
+
+<p>We presume that none but those present can understand the excitement of
+the scene. No one who was present can, it seems, give an adequate
+description of it. No word-painting can convey the deep, intense
+enthusiasm, the reverential attention of that vast assembly, nor limner
+transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, awe-struck countenances. Though
+language were as subtle and flexible as thought it would still be
+impossible to represent the full idea of the occasion. Much of the
+instantaneous effect of the speech arose of course from the orator's
+delivery&mdash;the tones of his voice, his countenance and manner. These die
+mostly with the occasion, they can only be described in general terms.</p>
+
+<p>"Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts," says Mr.
+Everett, himself almost without a peer as an orator, "it would be in
+vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has
+been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest
+living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never
+heard anything which so completely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> realized my conception of what
+Demosthenes was when he delivered the oration for the Crown."</p>
+
+<p>Could there be higher praise than this? Keen nor Kemble nor any other
+masterly delineator of the human passions ever produced a more powerful
+impression upon an audience or swayed so completely their hearts. No one
+ever looked the orator as he did; in form and feature how like a god!
+His countenance spake no less audibly than his words. His manner gave
+new force to his language. As he stood swaying his right arm like a huge
+tilt-hammer, up and down, his swarthy countenance lighted up with
+excitement, he appeared amid the smoke, the fire, the thunder of his
+eloquence like Vulcan in his armory forging thoughts for the gods!</p>
+
+<p>Time had not thinned nor bleached his hair; it was as dark as the
+raven's plumage, surmounting his massive brow in ample folds. His eye
+always dark and deep-set enkindled by some glowing thought shown from
+beneath his somber overhanging brow like lights in the blackness of
+night from a sepulcher. No one understood better than Mr. Webster the
+philosophy of dress; what a powerful auxiliary it is to speech and
+manner when harmonizing with them. On this occasion he appeared in a
+blue coat, a buff vest, black pants and white cravat; a costume
+strikingly in keeping with his face and expression. The human face never
+wore an expression of more withering, relentless scorn than when the
+orator replied to Hayne's allusion to the "Murdered Coalition"&mdash;a piece
+of stale political trumpery well understood at that day.</p>
+
+<p>"It is," said Mr. Webster, "the very cast off slough of a polluted and
+shameless press. Incapable of further mischief it lies in the sewer,
+lifeless and despised. It is not now, sir, in the power of the honorable
+member to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> give it dignity or decency by attempting to elevate it and
+introduce it into the Senate. He cannot change it from what it is&mdash;an
+object of general disgust and scorn. On the contrary, the contact, if he
+choose to touch it, is more likely to drag him down, down, down to the
+place where it lies itself." He looked as he spoke these words as if the
+thing he alluded to was too mean for scorn itself, and the sharp
+stinging enunciation made the words still more scathing. The audience
+seemed relieved, so crushing was the expression of his face which they
+held onto as 'twere spell-bound&mdash;when he turned to other topics. But the
+good-natured yet provoking irony with which he described the imaginary,
+though life-like scene of direct collision between the marshaled army of
+South Carolina under General Hayne on the one side, and the officers of
+the United States on the other, nettled his opponent even more than his
+severe satire, it seemed so ridiculously true.</p>
+
+<p>With his true Southern blood Hayne inquired with some degree of emotion
+if the gentleman from Massachusetts intended any <i>personal</i> imputation
+by such remarks? To which Mr. Webster replied with perfect good humor,
+"Assuredly not, just the reverse!" The variety of incident during the
+speech, and the rapid fluctuation of passions, kept the audience in
+continual expectation and ceaseless agitation. The speech was a complete
+drama of serious comic and pathetic scenes, and though a large portion
+of it was argumentative&mdash;an exposition of constitutional law&mdash;yet grave
+as such portion necessarily must be, severely logical and abounding in
+no fancy or episode, it engrossed throughout undivided attention. The
+swell of his voice and its solemn roll struck upon the ears of the
+enraptured hearers in deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> and thrilling cadence as waves upon the
+shore of the far-resounding sea.</p>
+
+<p>The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his great
+thoughts and raised his hearers up to his theme, and his voice exerted
+to its utmost power penetrated every recess or corner of the
+Senate&mdash;penetrated even the ante-rooms and stairways, as in closing he
+pronounced in deepest tones of pathos these words of solemn
+significance: "When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time
+the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and
+dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered,
+discordant, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched,
+it may be, in fraternal blood.</p>
+
+<p>"Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous
+ensign of the Republic now known and honored throughout the earth; still
+full, high, advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original
+lustre, not a stripe erased nor polluted, not a single star obscured,
+bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is all
+this worth?' nor those other words of folly and delusion: 'Liberty first
+and Union afterwards,' but everywhere spread all over it characters of
+living light blazing on all of its ample folds as they float over the
+sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens that
+other sentiment dear to every American heart: '<span class="smcap">Liberty and union now and
+forever, one and inseparable</span>!'"</p>
+
+<p>The speech was over but the tones of the orator still lingered on the
+ear, and the audience, unconscious of the close, retained their
+positions. Everywhere around seemed forgetfulness of all but the
+orator's presence and words. There never was a deeper silence; the
+feeling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> was too overpowering to allow expression by voice or hand. But
+the descending hammer of the chair awoke them with a start, and with one
+universal, long drawn, deep breath, with which the over-charged heart
+seeks relief, the crowded assembly broke up and departed.</p>
+
+<p>In the evening President Jackson held a levee at the White House. It was
+known in advance that Mr. Webster would attend it, and hardly had the
+hospitable doors of the mansion been thrown open, when the crowd that
+had filled the Senate-Chamber in the morning rushed in and occupied the
+room, leaving a vast and increasing crowd at the entrance. On all
+previous occasions the general himself had been the observed of all
+observers. His receptions were always gladly attended by large numbers,
+and to these he himself was always the chief object of attraction on
+account of his great military and personal reputation, official
+position, gallant bearing, and courteous manners. But on this occasion
+the room in which he received his company was deserted as soon as
+courtesy to the president permitted.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Webster was in the East room and thither the whole mass hurried. He
+stood almost in the center of the room pressed upon by surging crowds
+eager to pay him deference. Hayne, too, was there, and with others went
+up and complimented Mr. Webster on his brilliant effort. In a subsequent
+meeting between the two rival debators Webster challenged Hayne to drink
+a glass of wine with him, saying as he did so, "General Hayne I drink to
+your health, and I hope that you may live a thousand years." "I shall
+not live more than one hundred if you make another such a speech," Hayne
+replied.</p>
+
+<p>To this day Webster's speech is regarded as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> master-piece of modern
+eloquence&mdash;unsurpassed by even the mightiest efforts of either Pitt, Fox
+or Burke&mdash;a matchless intellectual achievement and complete forensic
+triumph. It was to this great, triumphant effort that Mr. Webster's
+subsequent fame as a statesman was due.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the election of General Harrison to the presidency Mr. Webster was
+offered his choice of the places in the cabinet, a recognition of
+ability probably never accorded to any other man before or since. He
+finally accepted the office of Secretary of State. Our relation with
+England demanded prompt attention. The differences existing between the
+two nations relative to the Northern boundary could not be disregarded,
+and Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton brought about a treaty which was
+equally honorable and advantageous to the countries. He was also able
+later to contribute much toward the settlement of the Oregon boundary
+question through private channels of influence, though holding no
+official position at the time.</p>
+
+<p>In 1847 he started on a tour of the Southern States, being well received
+throughout; especially in Charleston, Columbia, Augusta and Savannah was
+as well received, but his health failing him in the latter city, he was
+obliged to abandon his project of making a tour of the whole South. He
+became Secretary of State under Mr. Fillmore. This position he held at
+his death which occurred at Marshfield, on the 24th day of October,
+1852. Funeral orations were delivered throughout the country in great
+numbers.</p>
+
+<p>He was a man of commanding figure, large but well proportioned. His head
+was of unusual size, his eyes deep-seated and lustrious, and had a voice
+powerful yet pleasing; his action, while not remarkably graceful, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>
+easy and impressive. His social tastes were very strong and he possessed
+marked conversational power. He lived in an age of great legislators and
+it is needless to add that he was excelled in statesmanship by none.</p>
+
+<p>Professor Ticknor, speaking in one of his letters of the intense
+excitement with which he listened to Webster's Plymouth address, says:
+"Three or four times I thought my temples would burst with the gush of
+blood, for after all you must know I am aware it is no connected and
+compact whole, but a collection of broken fragments, of burning
+eloquence to which his manner gave ten fold force. When I came out I was
+almost afraid to come near him. It seemed to me that he was like the
+mount that might not be touched, and that burned with fire."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Andrew_Jackson" id="Andrew_Jackson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Andrew Jackson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Of all the Presidents of the United States Andrew Jackson was, perhaps,
+the most peculiar. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his parents coming to
+this country in 1765 from Ireland and settling in the northern part of
+South Carolina on the Waxhaw Creek. They had been very poor in the old
+country, his father tilling a small farm while the mother was a weaver
+of linen. His father never owned land in America, and died soon after he
+arrived in this country, little Andrew being born about the time of his
+death. One would hardly be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> justified in supposing young Jackson would
+one day be ruler of a great nation, rising as he did from such a
+beginning, yet such are the possibilities in our glorious republic.</p>
+
+<p>His mother wished to make a preacher of him, but his boyhood is
+represented as mischievous; to say the least, his belligerent nature
+breaking out in childhood, and his mother's fond hope was signally
+defeated. He was passionately fond of athletic sports, and was excelled
+by none of his years. The determination he evinced in every undertaking
+guided by his maxim of "Ask nothing but what is right&mdash;submit to nothing
+wrong," seemed to be the key-note of his success, for he was not
+addicted to books, and his education was limited.</p>
+
+<p>Being an eye-witness of the horrible massacre perpetrated by the bloody
+Tarlton at the Waxsaw settlement his patriotic zeal was terribly
+awakened, and at the tender age of thirteen we find him among the
+American forces, and his military career begins at Hanging Rock, where
+he witnesses the defeat of Sumter, and he is soon a prisoner of the
+enemy. The English officer ordered him to black his boots; at this all
+the lion in young Jackson is aroused, and he indignantly refuses,
+whereupon the officer strikes him twice with his sword, inflicting two
+ugly wounds, one on his arm, the other on his head. He had the small-pox
+while a prisoner, but his mother effected his exchange, and after a long
+illness he recovered, but his brother died of the same disease.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after his mother was taken from him&mdash;his other brother was killed
+at Stono; thus left alone in the world he began a reckless course, which
+must have been his ruin but for a sudden change for the better, when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>
+began the study of law at Salisbury, North Carolina, and before he was
+twenty was licensed to practice.</p>
+
+<p>Being appointed solicitor for the western district of North
+Carolina&mdash;now Tennessee&mdash;he removed to Nashville, 1788. His practice
+soon became large which, in those days, meant a great deal of travel on
+horseback. He made twenty-two trips between Nashville and Jonesborough
+during his first seven years, and dangerous trips they were, too, for
+the Indians were numerous and hostile. When he came to Nashville he
+entered, as a boarder, the family of Mrs. Donelson, a widow.</p>
+
+<p>A Mr. and Mrs. Robards were boarders at the same home. Mr. Robards
+becoming foolishly jealous of young Jackson applied to the legislature
+of Virginia for an act preliminary to a divorce. Jackson and Mrs.
+Robards, thinking the act of the legislature was a divorce of itself,
+were married before the action of the court. Judge Overton, a friend,
+was himself surprised to learn that the act of the legislature was not a
+divorce, and through his advice they were again married in the early
+part of 1794. The fact that Captain Robards' own family sustained Mrs.
+Robards in the controversy with her husband must strongly point to the
+groundlessness of the charges; while it is further conceded that Andrew
+Jackson was not the first victim of the suspicious nature of Captain
+Robards. However, this can never be regarded otherwise than a most
+unfortunate period in the life of Andrew Jackson, it being the immediate
+cause of more than one of the many obstacles with which he was obliged
+to contend in after years.</p>
+
+<p>He was appointed district attorney of Tennessee when that country became
+a federal territory, and in 1796 when Tennessee became a State, he was a
+man of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> no small wealth. On January 11th, 1796, a convention met at
+Knoxville to draft a constitution for the new State, and Jackson was
+chosen one of five delegates from Davidson county to meet the other
+members from over the State. He was appointed on the committee to draft
+that important document. Having been elected to represent his State in
+the popular branch of Congress he accordingly took his seat in that
+legislative body in December, 1796. As Jackson entered the house on the
+eve of the retirement from public life of Washington, he voted on the
+measure approving Washington's administration; and, as he could not
+conscientiously vote otherwise, not approving some of Washington's
+measures, he is recorded among the twelve who voted in the negative.</p>
+
+<p>He at this time belonged to the so-called Republican party, now
+Democratic, which was then forming under Jefferson, the incoming
+vice-president, under the Federal Adams. His record in Congress is made
+exemplary by his action on three important bills, namely: Against buying
+peace of the Algerians, against a needlessly large appropriation for
+repairing the house of the president, and against the removal of the
+restriction confining the expenditure of public money to the specific
+objects for which said money was appropriated.</p>
+
+<p>As would be natural, such a course was highly approved by his
+constituents, and he was made a senator in 1797, but his senatorial
+career was not so fruitful, as it is believed that he never made a
+speech nor ever voted once and resigned his seat in less than a year. He
+was elected a justice of the supreme court of Tennessee, but he did
+nothing remarkable here either as none of his decisions remain. Nothing
+of note occurred for some time except his becoming involved in a quarrel
+with Governor Sevier, which came to a crisis in 1801, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> Jackson was
+made Major-General of militia over Sevier. Jackson suspected Sevier of
+being involved in certain land frauds, and a duel was averted only by
+the influence of friends.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Jackson became financially embarrassed. Thinking himself
+secure, he sold a large amount of land to a gentleman in Philadelphia,
+and, taking his notes, bought goods for the Tennessee market, depending
+on these notes for payment. The failure of these threw him into great
+difficulties; but his firm will came to his aid once more and saved him.
+He immediately resigned the position of judge, and sold land enough to
+clear himself from debt. He is said to have now removed to what
+subsequently became known as the "Hermitage," taking all his slaves, and
+dwelling in a log house.</p>
+
+<p>He extended his business, being now at the head of the firm of Jackson,
+Coffee and Hatchings. This was a trading firm, raising wheat, corn,
+cotton, mules, cows and horses, it being a concern whose business
+extended to New Orleans, but it lost money, and finally came to an end,
+although through no fault of Jackson, as he generally carried to success
+whatever he personally managed, and this embarrassment grew out of
+reckless proceedings during his absence. We now come upon another dark
+page of Jackson's life.</p>
+
+<p>During the year 1806 a quarrel was started, which led to the death of
+Charles Dickinson. This is one of his quarrels resulting indirectly from
+the manner in which he become married to Mrs. Robards. This Dickinson
+had spoken offensively of Mrs. Jackson, he once retracted his words and
+renewed them. In the meantime Jackson became involved in a quarrel with
+a man by the name of Swann over the terms of a horse race, and Jackson
+used<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> some strong language relative to Dickinson, whose name had been
+meaningly introduced. Jackson's words were carried to Dickinson, as it
+appears he had intended. Afterward the quarrel with Swann resulted in a
+bar-room fight, it is said, begun by Jackson.</p>
+
+<p>About this time Dickinson wrote a very severe attack on Jackson and
+published it. Jackson challenged him and the parties met a long day's
+journey from Nashville, on the banks of the Red River, in Logan county,
+Kentucky. Dickinson was a very popular man in Nashville, and he was
+attended by a number of associates. Dickinson's second was a Dr. Catlet;
+Jackson's, General Overton.</p>
+
+<p>Dickinson fired first and his ball took effect, breaking a rib and
+raking the breastbone, but Jackson never stirred nor gave evidence of
+being hit. His object was to hide from his adversary the pleasure of
+knowing that he had even grazed his mark, for Dickinson considered
+himself a great shot and was certain of killing him at the first fire.
+Seeing he had missed he exclaimed, My God! Have I missed him? Jackson
+then fired and Dickinson fell mortally wounded, dying that night without
+knowing his aim had taken any effect. This duel was another most
+unfortunate thing for Jackson, and caused him great unpopularity in
+Tennessee until his military victories turned popular attention from it.</p>
+
+<p>Jackson lived a comparatively quiet life for the few years following,
+nothing of importance happening except his mistaken connection with
+Aaron Burr, and quarrel with a Mr. Dinsmore, an agent of the Choctaw
+Indians. In 1812 the second war with Great Britain broke out and Jackson
+at once tendered his services to the government; they were gladly
+accepted and the rest of the year was devoted by him in raising more
+troops and organizing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> them for active service. During the early part of
+1813 he started across the country, but for some reason the Secretary of
+War ordered him to disband his forces, but he marched them back to
+Tennessee. It was on this march that he received the name of "Hickory,"
+which afterwards became "Old Hickory."</p>
+
+<p>Arriving at Nashville he tendered his troops to the Government for an
+invasion of Canada but the Secretary of War never even answered his
+proposal, and finally he disbanded the forces on May 22nd. The
+government failed to sustain him and his transportation drafts were
+allowed to go to protest. This must have ruined Jackson had it not been
+for his friend Colonel Benton, who made an appeal which the government
+felt bound to comply with, as it was made plain that it would lose the
+service of Tennessee if such a preposterous act was persisted in.</p>
+
+<p>Thus he was saved from what might have been an irretrievable financial
+misfortune. Through deceitfulness in others he was led to a disgraceful
+quarrel with his intimate friend, Colonel Benton, who had helped him so
+much at Washington. The difficulty with the Creek Indians arising;
+Jackson with his characteristic energy helped to subjugate them. His
+victory over the Indians of Horse Shoe Bend is so familiar to every
+American school-boy that it is needless to relate the details. He now
+gained a national reputation, and was made a major-general in the United
+States army, and soon became the acknowledged military leader of the
+southwest.</p>
+
+<p>From now General Jackson's star grew steadily brighter, and he began to
+develop the sterling qualities which he unmistakably possessed. During
+the progress of the war the Spanish authorities who then controlled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>
+Florida, had neither the power nor disposition to demand of the British
+due regard to the rights of neutral territory. They seemed to sympathize
+with England, as Jackson could gain no satisfaction through his
+correspondence with them, and as neither the Spanish or British could be
+induced to change their purpose, Jackson, as was his custom both in
+politics and war ever afterward, determined to act without orders.</p>
+
+<p>He immediately moved upon Pensacola, razed the town and drove the
+English forces out of Florida. Returning to Mobile he learned of the
+plan of the British to conquer Louisiana. He immediately marched to New
+Orleans, but the city was miserably defended, and his own forces were a
+motley crew, consisting of about two thousand. But Jackson made the most
+of his opportunities. He learned the plan of the British from the chief
+of a band of smugglers. After a few preliminary battles in which as a
+whole the Americans were victorious, the British army, now twelve
+thousand strong, was joined by General Packenham, who was a
+brother-in-law of the great Duke of Wellington, who changed the plans of
+the British army. Jackson, at this time, was joined by about two
+thousand more troops, but they were poorly armed.</p>
+
+<p>The British captured a whole fleet of gun-boats. This left the way
+clear, and it is thought that had the British pushed in then, as Jackson
+would have done, nothing could have saved the day for America. Jackson
+fell back and threw up earth-works, cotton-bales and sand-bags for
+protection, and waited for the enemy. On the memorable day, the eighth
+of January, the army advanced; Ridpath says, "They went to a terrible
+fate."</p>
+
+<p>Packenham hurled column after column at the American breast-works only
+to return bleeding and torn. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> Americans were well protected while
+the veterans of England were exposed to the fire of the Tennessee and
+Kentucky riflemen and the result was awful, the enemy losing not only
+General Packenham, their commander, but also General Gibbs, leaving only
+General Lambert to lead the forces from the field, General Keen being
+wounded. The loss of the enemy was about two thousand killed, wounded,
+and prisoners. The Americans' loss was eight killed and thirteen
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>This battle was a most fortunate thing for Jackson for the reputation
+this gained for him added to that already gained in deciding forever the
+white man's supremacy in America, undoubtedly made him President of the
+United States. He became Governor of Florida when that Territory was
+ceded to the United States by Spain in 1821, but he held the position
+only a few months. In 1828 the Tennessee Legislature made him a Senator,
+and later he was nominated for the Presidency. This at first was not
+regarded seriously, as many had misgivings as to his capability as a
+legislator, although all admitted his military power. The election
+proved that he had great political strength as well, receiving the
+largest number of electoral votes, 99, to 84 for Adams, 41 for Crawford,
+and 37 for Clay. As no one had a majority the case was decided by
+Congress, who gave the place to Adams.</p>
+
+<p>The opposition to the administration united under Jackson, and in the
+next election he was triumphantly elected, receiving 178 electoral votes
+to 83 for Adams. In this campaign Jackson's private life was bitterly
+assailed, especially was the manner in which he came to be married
+misrepresented. His wife died only a short<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> time after his election, it
+is said, from the influence of the vile stories which were circulated
+regarding her.</p>
+
+<p>He entered upon his duties as President, with his characteristic
+firmness. A rupture soon arose between him and the Vice-President, Mr.
+Calhoun, and this was intensified when Calhoun's nullification views
+became known. The Democratic party outside of South Carolina supported
+the administration. The cabinet was soon changed. During his
+administration over seventeen hundred removals from office were made,
+more than had occurred in all previous administrations. His appointments
+gave much offence to some, and with a degree of reason, it must be
+admitted, as they were selected wholly from his political friends,
+notwithstanding his previously avowed principles, which were implied in
+his advice to Mr. Monroe in the selection of his Cabinet. However, some
+allowance should be made as Jackson had a seeming rebellion on hand, and
+one hardly could blame him for desiring men on whom he knew he could
+depend in the promised hours of peril.</p>
+
+<p>The tariff laws were especially obnoxious to South Carolina, of the
+Southern States. Now Jackson was opposed to the tariff laws himself, but
+as long as the laws remained he proposed that they should be enforced
+and when South Carolina met at Columbia and passed resolutions to resist
+the existing laws and declaring in favor of State rights, he promptly
+sent forces to quell the promised rebellion. Seeing what kind of a man
+they had to deal with the nullifiers were glad to seize the excuse for
+not proceeding, which Clay's Compromise Bill afforded. This bill reduced
+the duties gradually until at the end of ten years they would reach the
+standard desired by the South. His re-election was even more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>conclusive
+than the former, inasmuch as it was found that he had carried every
+State save seven. His principal opponent was Henry Clay, who represented
+the party in favor of renewing the charter of the United States bank.
+Jackson was bitterly opposed to this institution, vetoed the bill to
+re-charter the bank, and an effort to pass the bill over his head
+failing to receive a two-thirds vote, the bank ceased to exist.</p>
+
+<p>He conceived the idea of distributing the surplus left by the bank,
+about ten millions, among certain banks named for that purpose. He had
+no acknowledged authority for this but he believed himself right and
+acted independently, as was characteristic in such cases. A panic
+ensued, and the Whigs claimed that this measure of Jackson's was the
+cause, while the Democrats were equally confident that the financial
+troubles were brought about by the bank itself, which was described as
+an institution too powerful and despotic to exist in a free country.</p>
+
+<p>A powerful opposition was formed in the Senate against him, headed by
+such men as Calhoun, Clay and Webster, and finally a resolution
+condemning his course was adopted by a vote of 26 to 20, but was
+afterward expunged through the influence of his intimate friend, Colonel
+Benton. The House sustained the President throughout, or he must have
+been overthrown. The foreign relations of our Government at the close of
+Jackson's administration was very satisfactory indeed. The national debt
+was extinguished, and new States were admitted into the Union.</p>
+
+<p>He issued a farewell address to his country, and retired to private life
+at the Hermitage, where he lived until his death in 1845. There is much
+in the life of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> Andrew Jackson that can be profitably copied by the
+American youth of to-day; notably his fixedness of purpose, indomitable
+will, and great love of truth. There are other things that would be well
+to pass by and give little promise, such as his sporting propensities.
+Lossing says: 'The memory of that great and good man is revered by his
+countrymen next to that of Washington.' His imposing statue occupies a
+conspicuous place in President's Square, Washington, where it was
+unveiled in 1852, being the first equestrian statue in bronze ever
+erected in America. It is certain that he exercised a marked influence
+in shaping the affairs of the generations that were to follow his
+administration.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Thomas_H_Benton" id="Thomas_H_Benton"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Thomas H. Benton</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Thomas Hart Benton was born at Hillsboro, North Carolina, March 14th,
+1782. During his youth he enjoyed few educational advantages, his father
+dying while he was a child.</p>
+
+<p>He, however, persevered and completed his studies at Chapel Hill
+University&mdash;supporting himself throughout his school course. Removing to
+Tennessee he began the study of law and commenced practice at Nashville,
+where he arose to eminence at the bar. When elected to the legislature
+of the State, an event which occurred soon after his beginning law
+practice in Nashville, he procured the passage of a bill securing to
+slaves the right of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> trial by jury. In the war of 1812 he was made a
+lieutenant-colonel, serving on the staff of General Jackson.</p>
+
+<p>In 1814-15 Colonel Benton took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri,
+and established the <i>Missouri Enquirer</i>. It is stated that this
+enterprise involved him in several duels, one of which resulted fatally
+to his opponent, Mr. Lucas. Mr. Benton took a leading part in the
+admission of his adopted State into the Union, and in 1820 he was
+elected one of her first senators, and remained a member of the national
+government for thirty consecutive years; a leader of his party in
+debate.</p>
+
+<p>He warmly supported Jackson in his administration of the affairs of the
+government, and as is well-known rendered him valuable and efficient
+service by his speech on the expunging resolution which he successfully
+carried through the senate. In 1829 he made a speech on the salt tax,
+which was a masterly production, and through its influence is due
+largely the repeal of the same.</p>
+
+<p>He was among the foremost who advocated a railroad to the Pacific coast,
+and it was Thomas Benton who first introduced the idea of congress
+granting pre-emption rights to actual settlers. He favored trade with
+New Mexico, and establishing commerce on the great lakes. He was an
+eminent specie advocate; so vehement was he that he became known as "<span class="smcap">old
+bullion</span>," and it was through his influence that the forty-ninth parallel
+was decided upon as the northern boundary of Oregon. He opposed the
+fugitive slave law, and openly denounced nullification views wherever
+expressed. Nothing but his known opposition to the extension of slavery
+caused his final defeat in the legislature when that body chose another
+to succeed him in the United States senate.</p>
+
+<p>Thus in defence of human liberty ended his splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> career of thirty
+years in the upper house, struck down by the frown of demagogism. Two
+years later he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he did
+noble work in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska act, denouncing it as a
+violation of the Missouri Compromise, and was defeated as a candidate
+for congress in the next campaign. After two years devotion to
+literature he was a candidate for governor of his State, but was
+defeated by a third ticket being placed in the field. He was the popular
+candidate, however, of the three, against great odds being defeated by
+only a few votes.</p>
+
+<p>During this year he supported Mr. Buchanan for the presidency against
+his son-in-law, Mr. Fremont. He now retired permanently from public
+life, devoting his exclusive attention to literature, and his "Thirty
+Years View; or a History of the Working of the United States Government
+for Thirty Years from 1820 to 1850," was a masterly piece of literature,
+and reached a mammoth sale; more than sixty thousand copies being sold
+when first issued. When this was finished he immediately began another,
+"An Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1850." Although
+at the advanced age of seventy-six, he labored at this task daily, the
+latter part of which was dictated while on his death-bed, and while he
+could speak only in whispers. Surely he deserved the success which had
+attended his efforts. He died in Washington on the 10th day of April,
+1858.</p>
+
+<p>He had a large and grandly proportioned head, and was a most aggressive
+debater. It was in the Expunging Resolution and the exciting debates in
+which he bore so prominent a part that he gained his greatest
+reputation. This bill and the manner in which he managed its course
+through the senate, securing its adoption against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> the combined effort
+of such men as Clay, Webster and Calhoun illustrates the characteristics
+of the man more clearly than anything that could be said of him. When
+reading the life of Andrew Jackson the reader will remember that the
+senate passed a resolution condemning the action of the president, Mr.
+Jackson, in regard to the distribution of the public funds in the
+following language: <i>Resolved</i>, That the president in the late executive
+proceedings in relation to the public revenue has assumed upon himself
+authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in
+derogation of both.</p>
+
+<p>The motion of Mr. Benton was to strike from the journals of the senate
+this resolution of censure. In support of the president's course and of
+Mr. Benton's proposed method of vindication various public proceedings
+were had in various sections of the country, and some of the State
+legislatures not only voted in favor of the removal of the record of
+censure but instructed their congressional delegations to use their
+influence and votes in a similar direction.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Benton's resolutions rehearsed the principal points involved in the
+past history and present aspects of the controversy quite at length, the
+closing resolution being as follows: "That the said resolve be expunged
+from the journal, and for that purpose that the secretary of the Senate
+at such time as the Senate may appoint, shall bring the manuscript
+journal of the session 1883-4 into the Senate, draw black lines round
+the said resolve, and write across the face thereof in strong letters
+the following words: 'Expunged by order of the Senate this&mdash;day of&mdash;, in
+the year of our Lord&mdash;.'"</p>
+
+<p>For three years successively did Mr. Benton bring forward on different
+occasions his celebrated motion, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> again and again he suffered defeat
+after the most scathing debates that ever took place in any
+parliamentary body, the Senate at this time containing an unusual amount
+of oratorical talent and forensic power. But the last scene, and with it
+victory to the great Missourian and his presidential master, was now
+near at hand, and this scene, as described by Mr. Benton himself, was as
+follows:</p>
+
+<p>Saturday the fourteenth of January the Democratic Senators agreed to
+have a meeting, and to take their final measures for passing an
+expunging resolution. They knew they had the numbers, but they also knew
+they had adversaries to grapple with to whom might be applied the motto
+of Louis Fourteenth: 'Not an unequal match for numbers.' They also knew
+that members of the party were in process of separating from it and
+would require reconciliating. They met in the night at the then famous
+restaurant of Boulanger giving to the assemblage the air of convivial
+entertainment. It continued till midnight and required all the
+moderation, tact and skill of the prime movers to obtain and maintain
+the Union in details on the success of which depended the fate of the
+measure. The men of concilliation were to be the efficient men of that
+night, and all the winning resources of Wright, Allen and Linn were put
+in requisition. There were serious differences upon the method of
+expurgation, while agreed upon the thing; and finally obliteration, the
+favorite mover, was given up and the mode of expurgation adopted which
+had been proposed in the resolution of the general assembly of Virginia,
+namely, to inclose the obnoxious sentence in a square of black lines&mdash;an
+oblong square, a compromise of opinions to which the mover agreed upon
+condition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> of being allowed to compose the epitaph, "Expunged by the
+order of the senate."</p>
+
+<p>The agreement which was to lead to victory was then adopted, each one
+severally pledging himself to it that there should be no adjournment of
+the senate after the resolution was called until it was passed, and that
+it should be called immediately after the morning business on the Monday
+ensuing. Expecting a protracted session extending through the day and
+night, and knowing the difficulty of keeping men steady to their work
+and in good humor when tired and hungry, the mover of the proceeding
+took care to provide as far as possible against such a state of things,
+and gave orders that night to have an ample supply of cold hams,
+turkeys, rounds of beef, pickles, wines and cups of hot coffee ready in
+a certain committee-room near the senate chamber by four o'clock on the
+afternoon of Monday.</p>
+
+<p>The motion to take up the subject was made at the appointed time, and
+immediately a debate of long speeches, chiefly on the other side, opened
+itself upon the question. As the darkness of approaching night came on
+and the great chandelier was lit up, splendidly illuminating the chamber
+then crowded with the members of the house, and the lobbies and
+galleries filled to their utmost capacity with visitors and spectators,
+the scene became grand and impressive. A few spoke on the side of the
+resolution, chiefly Rivers, Buchanan and Niles, and with an air of ease
+and satisfaction that bespoke a quiet determination and consciousness of
+victory.</p>
+
+<p>The committee-room was resorted to in parties of four and six at a time,
+always leaving enough on watch, and not resorted to by one side alone.
+The opposition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> were invited to a full participation, an invitation of
+which those who were able to maintain their temper availed themselves
+of, but the greater part were not in a humor to eat anything&mdash;especially
+at such a feast. The night was wearing away, the expungers were in full
+force, masters of the chamber happy and visibly determined to remain. It
+became evident to the great opposition leaders that the inevitable hour
+had come that the 'damnable deed was to be done that night,' and that
+the dignity of silence was no longer to them a tenable position.</p>
+
+<p>The battle was going against them, and they must go into it without
+being able to re-establish it. In the beginning they had not considered
+the expunging movement a serious proceeding, as it advanced they still
+expected it to miscarry on some point, now the reality of the thing
+stood before them confronting their presence and refusing to "down" at
+any command.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Calhoun opposed the measure in a speech of great severity. The day,
+said he, is gone, night approaches and night is suitable to the dark
+deed we meditate; there is a sort of destiny in this thing, the act must
+be performed, and it is an act which will tell upon the political
+history of this country forever. Mr. Clay indulged in unmeasured
+denunciation of the whole thing. The last speech in opposition to the
+measure was made by Mr. Webster, who employed the strongest language he
+could command condemnatory of an act which he declared was so
+unconstitutional, so derogatory to the character of the senate, and
+marked with so broad an impression of compliance with power. But though
+thus pronounced an irregular and unconstitutional proceeding by Mr.
+Webster and the other senators with whom he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> sided and voted, Mr. John
+Quincy Adams, who was at the time a member of the house, and in direct
+antagonism, politically, with Mr. Benton, and to the Jackson
+administration held a different opinion.</p>
+
+<p>Midnight was now approaching. The dense masses which filled every inch
+of the room in the lobbies and in the galleries remained immovable. No
+one went out, no one could get in. The floor of the Senate was crammed
+with privileged persons, and it seemed that all Congress was there.
+Expectation and determination to see the conclusion were depicted on
+every countenance. It was evident there was to be no adjournment until
+the vote should be taken&mdash;until the deed was done, and this aspect of
+invincible determination had its effect upon the ranks of the
+opposition. They began to falter under a useless resistance; they alone
+now did the talking, and while Mr. Webster was yet reciting his protest
+two Senators from the opposition side who had been best able to maintain
+their equanimity, came around to the mover of the resolution and said:
+'This question has degenerated into a trial of nerves and muscles. It
+has become a question of physical endurance, and we see no use in
+wearing ourselves out to keep off for a few hours longer what has to
+come before we separate. We see that you are able and determined to
+carry your measure&mdash;so call the vote as soon as you please. We shall say
+no more.'</p>
+
+<p>Webster concluded. No one arose. There was a pause, a dead silence, and
+an intense feeling. Presently the silence was invaded by the single word
+'question'&mdash;the parliamentary call for a vote&mdash;rising from the seats of
+different Senators. One blank in the resolve remained to be filled&mdash;the
+date of its adoption. It was done. The acting President of the Senate,
+Mr. King, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> Alabama, then directed the roll to be called. The yeas and
+nays had been previously ordered, and proceeded to be called by the
+Secretary of the Senate, the result showing a majority of five on the
+side of the expungers.</p>
+
+<p>The passage of the resolution was announced by the chair. Mr. Benton
+arose, and said that nothing now remained but to execute the order of
+the Senate, which he moved to be done forthwith. It was ordered
+accordingly. The secretary thereupon produced the original manuscript
+journal of the Senate, and opening at the page which contained the
+condemnatory sentence of March 28, 1834, proceeded in open Senate to
+draw a square of broad black lines around the sentence, and to write
+across its face in strong letters: <span class="smcap">Expunged by order of the Senate this
+16th day of January, 1837</span>.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Henry_Clay" id="Henry_Clay"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Henry Clay</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A few miles from old Hanover court-house in Virginia, where the
+splendors of Patrick Henry's genius first beamed forth, is a humble
+dwelling by the road-side, in the midst of a miserably poor region known
+as the slashes. There, on the 12th of April, 1777, Henry Clay, the great
+American statesman, was born, and from the district-schools of his
+neighborhood he derived his education. He was the son of a Baptist
+clergyman of very limited means, hence his early advantages were of
+necessity meager. He was very bashful and diffident, scarcely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> dare
+recite before his class at school, but he <span class="smcap">determined</span> to <span class="smcap">become an
+orator</span>, he accordingly began the plan of committing speeches and then
+reciting them in the corn-fields; at other times they were delivered in
+the barn, before the cows and horse.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="images/262.jpg">
+<img src="images/262th.jpg"
+width="393"
+height="239" alt="DETERMINATION. Engraved Expressly for &quot;Hidden Treasures.&quot;" /></a><br />
+DETERMINATION.<br /> Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."
+<br /><span style="font-size: 70%;">(click on image to see enlarged view.)</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>Henry became a copyist in the office of the clerk of the Court of
+Chancery, at Richmond. Here he was enabled to begin the study of law, an
+opportunity which he at once embraced. While other boys were improving
+their time 'having fun,' he was studying, and so closely did he occupy
+his odd time that he was enabled to pass the necessary examination and
+be admitted to the bar at the early age of twenty. Two years later he
+moved "West," (he was enterprising), settling at Lexington, Kentucky,
+where he entered upon the practice of law.</p>
+
+<p>Here he became an active politician as well as a popular lawyer. He was
+an intelligent young man, and early cultivated a genial disposition
+which was a leading feature of his splendid success in life. In 1799
+Kentucky called a convention for the purpose of revising the
+constitution of the State. During this campaign young Clay labored
+earnestly to elect delegates to that convention favorable to the
+extinction of slavery. Thus early he manifested an interest in a
+question many years in advance of his countrymen. This is the man who,
+when afterward told that his action on a certain measure would certainly
+injure his political prospect replied, "<span class="smcap">I would rather be right than be
+president</span>."</p>
+
+<p>It was even so in this case, his action in behalf of the freedom of
+slaves offended many but his opposition to the obnoxious alien and
+sedition laws later restored him to popular favor. After serving in the
+State legislature with some distinction he was elected to fill the
+unexpired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> term of General Adair in the United States Senate. Here he
+made excellent use of his time, advocating bills on internal
+improvements, accomplishing much toward that end, although his time
+expired at the end of the year. He left an impression on that body which
+foretold his future greatness. He was now returned to his State
+legislature where he was elected speaker, a position which he held for
+the next two terms.</p>
+
+<p>Another vacancy occurred and Mr. Clay was again elected to fill the
+unexpired time in the United States Senate. This time he remained a
+member of that body two years, and it was during this term that he
+placed himself on record as one of the first and most powerful of early
+protectionists; he also favored the admission of Louisiana as a State.
+His term expired, he returned to his constituents, who promptly elected
+him to a seat in the House of Representatives, and immediately upon his
+appearance in that body he was chosen <span class="smcap">speaker</span> of the House!</p>
+
+<p>This is an honor without parallel in the whole history of our
+legislative affairs. It was at this session that John C. Calhoun and
+William H. Crawford first made their appearance in the National
+Congress. The duties of this high office he discharged with marked
+ability and great satisfaction through that and the succeeding Congress
+until 1814, when he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate
+at Ghent, a treaty of peace with Great Britain. Abroad Mr. Clay proved
+to be a diplomate of no mean ability, and during his absence he was
+re-elected to the National Congress, and upon his re-appearance in that
+august assembly was immediately chosen speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Clay was one of the unsuccessful candidates for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> the presidency in
+1824, receiving thirty-seven electoral votes, but became Secretary of
+State under John Quincy Adams, who was chosen president by Congress. In
+1831, after a temporary retirement, he was elected to the National
+Senate, this time for a full term of six years. His services during this
+period were very important. His compromise measure was probably, under
+the circumstances, one of the most important bills that ever passed the
+senate. As is well-known, it secured the gradual reduction of the tariff
+for ten years, thus satisfying the South, but allowing the manufacturers
+time to accommodate themselves to the change. Mr. Clay was a strong
+protectionist but this was a compromise on both sides which Clay was
+willing to make, even though it might be to satisfy a political
+opponent&mdash;Calhoun&mdash;to whom he was bitterly opposed.</p>
+
+<p>Certain it is when he saw his country in danger Henry Clay was not the
+one to allow partisan hate to stand in opposition to any bill which
+might tend to peace, and while this measure had little merit in it of
+itself, still it averted a civil war at that time. In 1834 President
+Jackson proposed to Congress that they should give him authority to
+secure indemnity from France through reprisals. Mr. Clay, as chairman of
+the Committee on Foreign Affairs, reported that Congress would not be
+justified in so doing, as the neglect on the part of France was clearly
+unintentional, thus war was once more averted through the influence of
+the 'great pacifier.'</p>
+
+<p>At the presidential election of 1839 Mr. Clay, General Harrison, and
+General Scott were submitted to the Whig Convention as candidates. Mr.
+Clay was clearly the choice of the convention, but by one of those
+strange movements which so often occur at such times General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> Harrison
+was nominated. Many of Clay's friends were disposed to bolt, but Mr.
+Clay promptly acknowledged the ticket, and it was elected. Then followed
+the death of the President in office, the obnoxious vetoes of the newly
+installed President&mdash;Tyler&mdash;the division of the Whig party, the
+nomination of Mr. Clay at this late inopportune time and the election of
+Mr. Polk.</p>
+
+<p>At the next convention Mr. Clay was a very prominent candidate for the
+nomination, but Mr. Taylor's military career seemed to carry everything
+with it and he was nominated and elected. Had Mr. Clay been nominated at
+either this convention or in 1839 he would have been elected, but like
+Webster, the presidential honors were not essential to perpetuate his
+name. During the year 1849, as the people of Kentucky were about to
+remodel their constitution, Mr. Clay urged them to embody the principles
+of gradual emancipation, but they refused to do so.</p>
+
+<p>He was again returned to the senate, and during this term brought out
+the compromise act of 1850. This measure, while recognizing no legal
+authority for the existence of slavery in the newly acquired territory
+of New Mexico, yet declared that in the establishment of territorial
+governments in such territory no restriction should be made relative to
+slavery. It also provided for the admission of California without
+restrictions on the subject of slavery, and opposed the abolition of
+slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill carried with slight
+changes. Mr. Clay being very feeble was in his seat but few days of the
+session.</p>
+
+<p>In 1852 he gradually sank until on June 29th, 1852, he died. In him
+intellect, reason, eloquence, and courage united to form a character fit
+to command. It was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> remark of a distinguished senator that Mr.
+Clay's eloquence was absolutely intangible to delineation; that the most
+labored description could not embrace it, and that to be understood it
+must be seen and felt. He was an orator by nature, and by his
+indomitable assiduity he at once rose to prominence. His eagle eye
+burned with patriotic ardor or flashed indignation and defiance upon his
+foes or was suffused with commiseration or of pity; and it was because
+<span class="smcap">he</span> felt that made <span class="smcap">others</span> feel.</p>
+
+<p>A gentleman, after hearing one of his magnificent efforts in the Senate,
+thus described him: "Every muscle of the orator's face was at work. His
+whole body seemed agitated, as if each part was instinct with a separate
+life; and his small white hand with its blue veins apparently distended
+almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but with all the energy of rapid
+and vehement gesture. The appearance of the speaker seemed that of a
+pure intellect wrought up to its mightiest energies and brightly shining
+through the thin and transparent will of flesh that invested it."</p>
+
+<p>The particulars of the duel between Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph maybe
+interesting to our readers. The eccentric descendant of Pocahontas
+appeared on the ground in a huge morning gown. This garment had such a
+vast circumference that the precise whereabouts of the lean senator was
+a matter of very vague conjecture. The parties exchanged shots and the
+ball of Mr. Clay hit the centre of the visible object, but the body of
+Mr. Randolph was untouched. Immediately after the exchange of shots Mr.
+Clay instantly approached Mr. Randolph, and with a gush of the deepest
+emotion said, "I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched; after
+what has occurred I would not have harmed you for a thousand worlds."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>
+The incident referred to above as 'occurring' was the fact of Mr.
+Randolph's firing in the air, thus publicly proclaiming his intention
+not to harm Mr. Clay at all events.</p>
+
+<p>In person, Clay was tall and commanding, being six feet and one inch in
+stature, and was noted for the erect appearance he presented, while
+standing, walking, or talking. The most striking features of his
+countenance were a high forehead, a prominent nose, an uncommonly large
+mouth, and blue eyes which, though not particularly expressive when in
+repose, had an electrical appearance when kindled. His voice was one of
+extraordinary compass, melody and power. From the 'deep and dreadful
+sub-bass of the organ' to the most &aelig;rial warblings of its highest key,
+hardly a pipe or stop was wanting. Like all the magical voices, it had
+the faculty of imparting to the most familiar and commonplace
+expressions an inexpressible fascination. Probably no orator ever lived
+who, when speaking on a great occasion, was more completely absorbed
+with his theme. "I do not know how it is with others," he once said,
+"but, on such occasions, I seem to be unconscious of the external world.
+Wholly engrossed by the subject before me, I lose all sense of personal
+identity, of time, or of surrounding objects."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Martin_Van_Buren" id="Martin_Van_Buren"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Martin Van Buren</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In the quiet little village of Kinderhook, New York, there was at the
+close of the Revolution, an indifferent tavern kept by a Dutchman named
+Van Buren. There his distinguished son Martin was born on the 5th day of
+December, 1782.</p>
+
+<p>After attending the academy in his native village he, at the age of
+fourteen, began the study of law. His success was phenomenal from the
+beginning, and he has passed into history as an indefatigable student
+all through life. In 1808 he was made surrogate of his native county. In
+1812 he was elected to the senate of his native State and in that body
+voted for electors pledged to support DeWitt Clinton for the presidency.
+He was attorney-general of the State from 1815 until 1819. Mr. Van Buren
+was a very able politician and it was through his influence that the
+celebrated 'Albany Regency,' whose influence ruled the State
+uninterruptedly for over twenty years, was set on foot.</p>
+
+<p>In 1821 Mr. Van Buren was chosen to the United States Senate and was
+made a member of the convention to revise the State constitution. In the
+latter body he advocated the extension of the elective franchise, but
+opposed universal sufferage, as also the plan of appointing justices of
+the peace by popular election. He voted against depriving the colored
+citizens of the franchise but supported the proposal to require of them
+a freehold qualification of $250. In 1828 he was elected governor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> of
+the great State of New York and resigned his seat in the National
+Congress to assume this new position. As governor he opposed the safety
+fund system which was adopted by the legislature in 1829. In the month
+of March of the next year after assuming the gubernatorial chair he
+accepted the leading position in the cabinet of President Jackson but
+resigned two years later.</p>
+
+<p>On May 22nd, 1832, he was nominated for the office of vice-president on
+the ticket with General Jackson, and was elected. The Democratic
+National Convention, which met at Baltimore May 20th, 1835, unanimously
+nominated him for the presidency, and in the ensuing election he
+received 170 electoral votes out of a total of 283,&mdash;73 being cast for
+his principal antagonist, General Harrison. The country was now plunged
+into the deepest pecuniary embarrassments, the result of previous
+hot-house schemes and speculations, rather than the result of the
+administrative measures of Van Buren. He had succeeded to the presidency
+at a most unfortunate time. Commerce was prostrate; hundreds of
+mercantile houses in every quarter were bankrupt; imposing public
+meetings attributed these disasters to the policy of the government.</p>
+
+<p>On May 15th, he summoned an extraordinary session of congress to meet
+the following September. The president in his message advised that a
+bankrupt law for banking and other incorporations be enacted; and that
+the approaching deficit in the treasury be made good by withholding from
+the States the fourth and last installment of a previous large surplus
+ordered to be deposited with them by act of June 23rd, 1836, and by the
+temporary issue of $6,000,000 of treasury notes. He also recommended the
+adoption of what was called the independent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> treasury system, which was
+passed in the senate, but was laid on the table in the other branch of
+congress. The payment of the fourth installment to the States was
+postponed, and the emission of $10,000,000 of treasury notes was
+authorized.</p>
+
+<p>Again the President in his next annual message recommended the passage
+of the independent treasury bill, but the measure was again rejected.
+Another presidential measure, however, was more fortunate, a so-called
+pre-emption law being enacted, giving settlers on public lands the right
+to buy them in preference to others. Van Buren's third annual message
+was largely occupied with financial discussions and especially with
+argument in favor of the divorcement of the national government from the
+banks throughout the country, and for the exclusive receipt and payment
+of gold and silver in all public transactions; that is to say, for the
+independent treasury. Through his urgent arguments in its favor it
+became a law June 30, 1840, and it is the distinguishing feature in his
+administration. The canvass of 1840 was early begun by the opposition,
+and became a bitterly contested one. The Whigs placed Harrison at the
+head of their ticket and as Van Buren had no competitor, he became the
+candidate of the Democracy. Never in the political history of the United
+States had there been such universal excitement as was displayed in the
+ensuing campaign. The great financial trials through which the
+government had passed were made the basis of all argument by the press
+and orators for the opposition.</p>
+
+<p>Charges of corruption, extravagance and indifference to the welfare of
+the laboring classes were collected and dumped upon poor Van Buren. Thus
+was Van Buren<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> represented, while the enthusiasm for Harrison was
+greatly augmented by log cabins, emblematical of his humble origin. This
+time Van Buren received only 60 electoral votes, while General Harrison
+received 234. His last annual message set forth with renewed energy the
+benefits of the independent treasury; announced with satisfaction that
+the government was without a public debt; and earnestly advised the
+enactment of more stringent laws for the suppression of the African
+slave trade.</p>
+
+<p>In 1844 Mr. Van Buren's friends once more urged his nomination for the
+presidency by the Democratic national convention at Baltimore. But he
+was rejected there on account of his opposition to the annexation of
+Texas to the Union, avowed in a public letter to a citizen of
+Mississippi who had asked for his position on that question. Though a
+majority of the delegates in the convention were pledged to his support,
+a rule being passed making a two-thirds vote necessary to a choice,
+proved fatal to his interest. For several ballots he led all competitors
+when he withdrew his name and Mr. Polk was nominated on the ninth
+ballot.</p>
+
+<p>In 1848, when the Democrats had nominated General Cass, and avowed their
+readiness to tolerate slavery in the new territories lately acquired
+from Mexico, Mr. Van Buren and his adherents adopting the name of the
+free democracy at once began to discuss in public that new aspect of the
+slavery question.</p>
+
+<p>They held a convention at Utica on June 22nd which nominated Mr. Van
+Buren for president, and Henry Dodge of Wisconsin for vice-president.
+Mr. Dodge declined, and at a great convention in Buffalo on August 9th,
+Charles Francis Adams was substituted. The convention declared:
+"Congress has no more right to make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> a slave than to make a king; it is
+the duty of the federal government to relieve itself from all
+responsibility for the existence and continuance of slavery wherever the
+government possesses constitutional authority to legislate on that
+subject and is thus responsible for its existence."</p>
+
+<p>In accepting the nomination of this new party Mr. Van Buren declared his
+full assent to its anti-slavery principles. The result was that in New
+York he received the votes of more than half of those who had hitherto
+been attached to the Democratic party, and that General Taylor the
+candidate of the Whig party was elected. At the outbreak of the civil
+war he at once declared himself in favor of maintaining the Republic as
+a Union. Unhappily he died before the close of the war and was thus
+deprived the satisfaction of seeing perpetuated the Union he so dearly
+loved. On the 24th of July, 1872, at his home in Kinderhook, he passed
+from death into life.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Stephen_Arnold_Douglass" id="Stephen_Arnold_Douglass"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Stephen Arnold Douglass</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>One of the most noted statesman of the day was the subject of this
+narrative. Short, thickset, and muscular in person, and strong in
+intellect Stephen A. Douglass came to be known as 'The Little Giant.'</p>
+
+<p>For many years he held a very conspicuous place in the political history
+of the republic. He was a native<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> of the 'Green Mountain State,' being
+born at Brandon, April 23d, 1813. When he was about two months old his
+father, who was a physician, died, and his mother removed to a small
+farm, where Stephen remained until he was about fifteen years old.
+Having received a common school education he was very anxious to take a
+college course, but this being impossible, he determined thereafter to
+earn his own living. He accordingly apprenticed himself to a
+cabinet-maker, but his health would not allow the pursuit of this
+business, and he was compelled to abandon the undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>When he was possibly able he removed to Illinois. Upon his arrival in
+Jacksonville his entire wealth consisted of the sum of thirty-seven
+cents. He determined to start a school at a place called Winchester,
+some fifteen miles from Jacksonville, and as he had little money, walked
+the entire distance. Arriving in Winchester the first sight that met his
+eyes was a crowd assembled at an auction, and he secured employment for
+the time being as clerk for the auctioneer. For this service, which
+lasted three days, he received $6, and with this sum he started a
+school, which occupied his attention during the day.</p>
+
+<p>For two years previous he had studied law during his SPARE MOMENTS; much
+of his time nights was now devoted to the completion of his legal
+studies. Being admitted to the bar during the following year, 1834, he
+opened an office and began practicing in the higher courts where he was
+eminently successful, acquiring a lucrative practice, and <span class="smcap">he was elected
+attorney-general of the state before he was twenty-two</span>.</p>
+
+<p>He soon became a member of the legislature, taking his seat as the
+youngest member in that body.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> He was the Democratic nominee for
+Congress before he had acquired the required age, however, his
+twenty-fifth birthday occurred before election, thus this obstacle was
+removed. In his district a most spirited canvass took place, and out of
+over thirty-five thousand votes cast, his opponent was declared elected
+by only five. He was appointed register of the land office at
+Springfield, but resigned this position in 1889. He became Secretary of
+State the following year, and in 1841 was elected a judge of the Supreme
+Court at the age of twenty-eight. This position he also resigned two
+years after to represent his district in congress where he was returned
+by successive elections until 1848.</p>
+
+<p>He was recognized as one of the able members while in the national
+legislature, and his speeches on the Oregon question are models. He next
+became a Senator from his State, and supported President Polk in the
+Mexican war. As is well-known he was the father of the Kansas-Nebraska
+act, popularly known as 'Squatter Sovereignty,' carrying the measure
+through in spite of great opposition.</p>
+
+<p>He was a strong candidate for the Democratic nomination for the
+presidency in 1852, and his strength was still more developed four years
+later when he was the favorite candidate save one, James Buchanan, who
+finally received the honor. At the end of the next four years he was
+nominated by the convention meeting at Charleston, and was the unanimous
+choice of the northern wing of the Democracy, but bitterly opposed by
+the Southern faction, who nominated Mr. Breckinridge at a separate
+convention. This caused a split in the Democratic vote, and Mr. Lincoln
+was elected on a minority of the total vote cast.</p>
+
+<p>Stephen A. Douglass however, like Webster and Clay,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> needed not the
+honor of occupying the presidential chair to make his name illustrious.
+He was remarkably successful in the promotion of his State's interest in
+Congress. To him is due the credit of securing the splendid grant of
+land which brought about the successful operation of the Illinois
+Central railroad which contributed so much toward the weakened resources
+of the State. As previously stated, Mr. Douglass was defeated by Mr.
+Lincoln, yet at the outbreak of the civil war his voice was heard in
+earnest pleas for the Union, declaring that if this system of resistance
+by the sword, when defeated at the ballot-box was persisted in, then
+"The history of the United States is already written in the history of
+Mexico."</p>
+
+<p>He most strongly denounced secession as a crime and characterized it as
+madness. His dying words were in defence of the Union. To say that Mr.
+Douglass was a wonderful man is the least that can be said, while more
+could be added in his praise with propriety. As an orator he was
+graceful, and possessed natural qualities which carried an audience by
+storm. He died June 3rd, 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war. Had he
+lived no one would have rendered more valuable assistance in the
+suppression of that gigantic rebellion than would Stephen A. Douglass.</p>
+
+<p>But it was in the great political debate between himself and Abraham
+Lincoln that Mr. Douglass gained his greatest notoriety as well as
+Lincoln himself. The details of this debate will be seen in our sketch
+of Mr. Lincoln.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Abbott_Lawrence" id="Abbott_Lawrence"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Abbott Lawrence</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Solomon said: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand
+before kings,&mdash;he shall not stand before mean men." How true are those
+words; how often have we seen them demonstrated.</p>
+
+<p>Abbott Lawrence, brother of Amos Lawrence, was born December 16, 1792,
+and what education he had he received at the academy in Groton. When
+about sixteen years of age he took the stage for Boston, with the
+princely sum of three dollars in his pocket. He entered the store of his
+brother Amos as clerk. After five years of faithful service he was taken
+in as partner, and the firm-style became A. &amp; A. Lawrence.</p>
+
+<p>The war of 1812 came on, and Abbott, who possessed less money than his
+brother, failed, but he was not disheartened. He applied to the
+government for a position in the army, but before his application could
+be acted upon peace was declared.</p>
+
+<p>After the war his brother Amos helped him, and once more they entered
+into partnership, Abbott going to England to buy goods for the firm.
+About 1820 the Lawrence brothers, with that enterprise which
+characterizes all great business men, commenced manufacturing goods in
+America, instead of importing them from the old world, and to the
+Lawrences is due no small credit, as the cities of Lowell and Lawrence
+will testify. He was a member of the celebrated convention at
+Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose recommendations to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> Congress resulted in
+the tariff act of 1828, which was so obnoxious to Calhoun and the Cotton
+States. In 1834 Mr. Lawrence was elected to Congress, where he did
+valuable service on the Committee of Ways and Means. He declined
+re-election, but afterward was persuaded to become a candidate and was
+again elected. By the advice of Daniel Webster he was sent to England on
+the boundary question.</p>
+
+<p>President Taylor offered him a seat in his Cabinet, but he
+declined&mdash;later he was sent to England, where he became a distinguished
+diplomat, and was recalled only at his own request. At one time he
+lacked but six votes of being nominated for Vice-President.</p>
+
+<p>On the 18th of August, 1855, Abbott Lawrence died. Nearly every business
+place in Boston was closed&mdash;in fact, Boston was in mourning; the
+military companies were out on solemn parade, flags were placed at
+half-mast, and minute-guns were fired. Thus passed away one of the
+merchant princes of New England.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Alexander_H_Stephens" id="Alexander_H_Stephens"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Alexander H. Stephens</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>This great statesman was born in Georgia on February 11, 1812, and was
+left an orphan at an early age. He studied law and was admitted to the
+bar in 1834, having the advantage of a college education. He entered
+upon the practice of law at Crawfordsville in his native<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> State, and his
+natural ability and splendid education soon won for him a most lucrative
+practice.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Stephens early became a convert to the Calhoun school of politics,
+and he remained firmly fixed until death in the belief that slavery was
+the proper sphere in which all colored people should move. He believed
+it was better for the races both white and black.</p>
+
+<p>Though physically weak he was wonderfully developed in personal courage.
+In 1836 Mr. Stephens was elected to the State legislature, to which he
+succeeded five successive terms. In 1842 he was elected to the State
+senate, there to remain only one year when he was sent as a Whig to the
+national congress, there to remain until 1859 when, July 2nd, in a
+speech at Augusta he announced his intention of retiring to private
+life. When the old Whig party was superceded by the present Republican
+party Mr. Stephens joined the Democrats. During the presidential canvass
+of 1860 Mr. Stephens supported the northern wing under Douglass, and in
+a speech at the capitol of his State bitterly denounced secession. As
+the speech so well illustrates his powers of oratory, so far as words
+can portray that power, we give the speech as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>This step, secession, once taken can never be recalled, and all the
+baleful and withering consequences that must follow, as you will see,
+will rest on this convention for all coming time. When we and our
+posterity shall see our lovely South desolated by the demon of war which
+this act of yours will inevitably provoke, when our green fields and
+waving harvests shall be trodden down by a murderous soldiery, and the
+fiery car of war sweeps over our land, our temples of justice laid in
+ashes and every horror and desolation upon us; who, but him who shall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>
+have given his vote for this unwise and ill-timed measure shall be held
+to a strict account for this suicidal act by the present generation, and
+be cursed and execrated by all posterity, in all coming time, for the
+wide and desolating ruin that will inevitably follow this act you now
+propose to perpetrate?</p>
+
+<p>Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can
+give that will satisfy yourselves in calmer moments? What reasons can
+you give to your fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring
+upon us? What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to
+justify it? They will be calm and deliberate judges of this case, and to
+what cause, or one overt-act can you point on which to rest the plea of
+justification? What right has the North assailed? Of what interest has
+the South been invaded? What justice has been denied? And what claim
+founded in justice and right has been unsatisfied? Can any of you name
+to-day one governmental act of wrong deliberately and purposely done by
+the government at Washington, of which the South has a right to
+complain? I challenge an answer.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, let me show the facts (and believe me, gentlemen, I
+am not here the advocate of the North, but I am here the friend, the
+firm friend and lover of the South and her institutions, and for this
+reason I speak thus plainly and faithfully for yours, mine, and every
+other man's interest, the words of truth and soberness), of which I wish
+you to judge, and I will only state facts which are clear and
+undeniable, and which now stand in the authentic records of the history
+of our country. When we of the South demanded the slave trade, or the
+importation of Africans for the cultivation of our lands, did they not
+yield the right for twenty years? When we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> asked a three-fifths
+representation in Congress for our section was it not granted? When we
+demanded the return of any fugitive from justice, or the recovery of
+those persons owing labor or allegiance, was it not incorporated in the
+Constitution, and again ratified and strengthened in the fugitive slave
+law of 1850? Do you reply that in many instances they have violated this
+law and have not been faithful to their engagements? As individuals and
+local committees they may have done so, but not by the sanction of
+government, for that has always been true to the Southern interests.</p>
+
+<p>Again, look at another fact. When we asked that more territory should be
+added that we might spread the institution of slavery did they not yield
+to our demands by giving us Louisiana, Florida and Texas out of which
+four States have been carved, and ample territory left for four more to
+be added in due time, if you do not by this unwise and impolitic act
+destroy this hope, and perhaps by it lose all and have your last slave
+wrenched from you by stern military rule, or by the vindictative decrees
+of a universal emancipation which may reasonably be expected to follow.</p>
+
+<p>But again gentlemen, what have we to gain by this proposed change of our
+relation to the general government? We have always had the control of it
+and can yet have if we remain in it and are as united as we have been.
+We have had a majority of the presidents chosen from the South as well
+as the control and management of most of those chosen from the North. We
+have had sixty years of Southern presidents to their twenty-four, thus
+controlling the executive department. So of the judges of the supreme
+court, we have had eighteen from the South and but eleven from the
+North. Although<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> nearly four-fifths of the judicial business has arisen
+in the free States, yet a majority of the court has been from the South.
+This we have required so as to guard against any interpretation of the
+constitution unfavorable to us. In like manner we have been equally
+watchful in the legislative branch of the government. In choosing the
+presiding officer, <i>pro tem</i>, of the Senate we have had twenty-four and
+they only eleven; speakers of the house we have had twenty-three and
+they twelve. While the majority of the representatives, from their
+greater population, have always been from the North, yet we have
+generally secured the speaker because he to a great extent shapes and
+controls the legislation of the country, nor have we had less control in
+every other department of the general government.</p>
+
+<p>Attorney-Generals we have had 14, while the North have had but five.
+Foreign ministers we have had 86, and they but 54. While three-fourths
+of the business which demands diplomatic agents abroad is clearly from
+the free States because of their greater commercial interests, we have,
+nevertheless, had the principal embassies so as to secure the world's
+markets for our cotton, tobacco and sugar, on the best possible terms.
+We have had a vast majority of the higher officers of both army and
+navy, while a larger proportion of the soldiers and sailors were drawn
+from the Northern States. Equally so of clerks, auditors, and
+comptrollers, filling the executive department; the records show for the
+last 50 years that of the 3,000 thus employed we have had more than
+two-thirds, while we have only one-third of the white population of the
+Republic.</p>
+
+<p>Again, look at another fact, and one, be assured, in which we have a
+great and vital interest; it is that of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> revenue or means of supporting
+government. From official documents we learn that more than
+three-fourths of the revenue collected has been raised from the North.
+Pause now while you have the opportunity to contemplate carefully and
+candidly these important things. Look at another necessary branch of
+government, and learn from stern statistical facts how matters stand in
+that department, I mean the mail and post-office privileges that we now
+enjoy under the General Government, as it has been for years past. The
+expense for the transportation of the mail in the free States was by the
+report of the postmaster-general for 1860, a little over $13,000,000
+while the income was $19,000,000. But in the Slave States the
+transportation of the mail was $14,716,000, and the revenue from the
+mail only $8,000,265, leaving a deficit of $6,715,735 to be supplied by
+the North for our accommodation, and without which we must have been cut
+off from this most essential branch of the government.</p>
+
+<p>Leaving out of view for the present the countless millions of dollars
+you must expend in a war with the North, with tens of thousands of your
+brothers slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices on the altar of
+your ambition&mdash;for what, I ask again? Is it for the overthrow of the
+American Government, established by our common ancestry, cemented and
+built up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad principles
+of right, justice and humanity? I must declare to you here, as I have
+often done before, and it has also been declared by the greatest and
+wisest statesmen and patriots of this and other lands, that the American
+Government is the best and freest of all governments, the most equal in
+its rights, the most just in its decisions, the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> lenient in its
+measures, and the most inspiring in its principles to elevate the race
+of men that the sun of heaven ever shone upon.</p>
+
+<p>Now for you to attempt to overthrow such a government as this under
+which we have lived for more than three-quarters of a century, in which
+we have gained our wealth, our standing as a nation, our domestic safety
+while the elements of peril are around us with peace and tranquility
+accompanied with unbounded prosperity and rights unassailed is the
+height of madness, folly and wickedness to which I will neither lend my
+sanction nor my vote.</p>
+
+<p>This is one of the most eloquent appeals recorded on the pages of
+history, and had Mr. Stephens carried out his first intention as
+expressed, "I will neither lend my sanction nor my vote," in his
+subsequent career during that war he had so eloquently and prophetically
+depicted, he would to-day not only be recognized as one of the ablest
+and most brilliant of orators as he is known, but would have stamped his
+life as a consistent and constant legislator which is so laudable in any
+man. But only a month later, after delivering the great speech at
+Milledgeville in defense of the Union he accepted one of the chief
+offices in the Confederacy, and began to perpetrate the very wrongs he
+had so vehemently deplored, seeking by speeches innumerable to overthrow
+that government he had so eloquently eulogized.</p>
+
+<p>At Savannah he spoke something as follows: "The new constitution has put
+to rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar
+institutions&mdash;African slavery as it exists among us&mdash;the proper status
+of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause
+of the late rupture and the present revolution.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> Jefferson in his
+forecast had anticipated this as the rock upon which the old Union would
+split. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading
+statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were
+that the enslavement of the African was in violation to the laws of
+nature; that it was wrong in principle socially, morally and
+politically."</p>
+
+<p>"Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite ideas. Its
+foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that
+the negro is not equal to the white man. That in slavery, subordination
+to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new
+government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this
+great physical, philosophical and moral truth. It is the first
+government ever instituted upon principles in strict conformity to
+nature and the ordination of Providence in furnishing the materials of
+human society. Many governments have been founded upon the principle of
+enslaving certain classes, but the classes thus enslaved were of the
+same race and enslaved in violation to the laws of nature."</p>
+
+<p>"Our system commits no such violation of the laws of nature. The negro,
+by nature or by the curse against Canaan is fitted for that condition
+which he occupies in our system. The architect in the construction of
+buildings lays the foundation with the proper material, the granite;
+then comes the brick or marble. The substratum of our society is made of
+the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it
+is best not only for the superior, but the inferior race that it should
+be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the Creator. It is not for us
+to inquire into the wisdom of his ordinances, or to question them. For
+his own purposes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> he has made one race to differ from another, as he has
+made one star to differ from another in glory. The great objects of
+humanity are best attained when conformed to his laws and decrees in the
+formation of governments as well as in all things else. Our confederacy
+is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This
+stone which was rejected by the first builders 'is become the chief
+stone of the corner' in our new edifice."</p>
+
+<p>By both of these speeches he was of great service to the national
+government. The first was used to justify the suppression of secession,
+and the second to excite the animosity of the world against secession.
+After the war Mr. Stephens was once more a member of the National
+Congress and Governor of his native State. On the 3rd day of March,
+1883, he died at his home in Crawfordville. We have thus spoken of Mr.
+Stephens as a legislator; personally, he was a very pleasant man to
+meet, loved in society, was kind-hearted, and we believe sincere. His
+eloquence was at times wonderful, and was augmented rather than
+diminished by his physical infirmity. Those who have heard him will
+never forget the squeaking voice and haggard look.</p>
+
+<p>According to Webster, the three cardinal points essential to true
+oratory are clearness, force and sincerity. In all of these Stephens was
+proficient. His descriptive powers were remarkable, and he could blend
+pathos with argument in a manner unusual. He was a warm friend of Mr.
+Lincoln, and one of the most characteristic stories ever told of Mr.
+Lincoln is in connection with Governor Stephens' diminutive appearance
+and great care for his shattered health. On one occasion before the war
+he took off three overcoats, one after the other, in the presence of Mr.
+Lincoln, who rose, and walking around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> him, said, "I was afraid of
+Stephens, for I thought he might keep on taking off clothes until he
+would be nothing but a ghost left," and speaking to a friend standing
+by, remarked further, "Stephens and his overcoats remind me of the
+biggest shuck off the smallest ear of corn that I have ever seen in my
+life." One by one the eminent men of State pass away. Their deaths make
+vacancies which the ambitious and active hasten to occupy whether they
+are able to fill them or not.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Millard_Fillmore" id="Millard_Fillmore"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Millard Fillmore</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Great, indeed, are the possibilities of our country. The subject of this
+narrative, thirteenth president of the United States, was born in Summer
+Hill, Cayuga county, New York, January 7th, 1800. The nearest house to
+that of Fillmore was four miles distant. Cayuga county was then a
+wilderness with few settlers, consequently young Fillmore's education
+was limited to instruction in reading, writing, spelling and the
+simplest branches of arithmetic. At fourteen he was bound out to learn
+the fuller's trade.</p>
+
+<p>Think of it boys, what splendid opportunities most of you have; yes, all
+of you have, compared to that of Fillmore, for he had not the advantage
+of our glorious and complete school system, and at that was bound out
+when a mere lad. Yet at the age of nineteen he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>presumed to aspire to
+become a lawyer! He had two more years to serve in his apprenticeship,
+but "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing impossible
+is to make it so," and he accordingly set to work contriving to gain for
+himself an education.</p>
+
+<p>Contracting with his employer to pay him $30 for his release, that
+obstacle was overcome. He next made an arrangement with a retired
+lawyer, by which he received his board for services, and studied nights.
+This continued for two years, when he set out on foot for Buffalo where
+he arrived with just $4 in his pocket. Ah! methinks people who saw that
+boy must have felt that he was destined to be somebody in the world.
+"Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a
+candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."</p>
+
+<p>How often are we so deeply impressed by reading the biographies of great
+men that it really does in a great measure rest with ourselves whether
+we amount to something, or worse than nothing, in the world. We have
+followed this man from childhood and have seen him overcome all
+obstacles thus far; will we then be surprised when we read that no
+sooner did he arrive in Buffalo than he succeeded in making arrangements
+with a resident lawyer, obtaining permission to study in his office and
+supported himself by severe drudgery, teaching and assisting the post
+master.</p>
+
+<p>By the spring of 1823 he had so far gained the confidence of the bar
+that by the intercession of several of its leading members he was
+admitted as an attorney by the Court of Common Pleas of Erie county,
+although he had not completed the period of study usually required, and
+commenced practice at Aurora where his father resided.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the course of a few years he acquired not only a large practice but a
+thorough mastery of the principles of the common law, and he rose to a
+place among the first lawyers of his State. In 1827 he was admitted as
+counselor of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1830 he moved to Buffalo
+where he continued in the practice of law until 1847, when he was
+elected Comptroller of the great Empire State.</p>
+
+<p>He had previously been in the State legislature and in the national
+congress. In congress he rose gradually to the first rank for integrity,
+industry and practical ability. As a State legislator he particularly
+distinguished himself by his advocacy of the act to abolish imprisonment
+for debt, which was drafted by him, and which passed in 1831. In
+congress he supported John Quincy Adams in his assertion of the right of
+petition on the subject of slavery. He opposed the annexation of Texas,
+because it extended slave domain and advocated the immediate abolition
+of the inter-state slave trade.</p>
+
+<p>At the death of President Taylor, Mr. Fillmore, according to the
+provisions of the Constitution in such cases, became President of the
+United States, and the poor boy who had entered Buffalo on foot now
+entered the National Capitol as the ruler of a mighty nation. During his
+administration a treaty with Japan, securing for the United States
+valuable commercial privileges, was consummated. His administration, as
+a whole, was a successful one, and had he not signed the fugitive slave
+law, he would, undoubtedly, have been the nominee of his party at the
+convention in 1852.</p>
+
+<p>In 1854 he made an extensive tour in the Southern and Western States,
+and in the Spring of 1855, after an excursion through New England, he
+sailed for Europe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> While in Rome he received information that he had
+been nominated by the Native American party in his native country for
+the office of President. He accepted, but Maryland alone gave him her
+electoral vote; however, he received a large popular vote. In 1874,
+March the 8th, he died in Buffalo, where he had resided many years in
+private life.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="William_H_Seward" id="William_H_Seward"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">William H. Seward</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A truly eminent American statesman, William H. Seward, was born in
+Florida, Orange county, New York, May 16th, 1801.</p>
+
+<p>He graduated with much distinction when only nineteen at Union College,
+Schenectady, New York, then taught school in Georgia six months when he
+entered a New York law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1822;
+commenced the practice of law at Auburn in connection with Judge Miller,
+whose daughter he afterward married.</p>
+
+<p>In 1824 he entered upon his political career by preparing an address for
+a Republican convention in opposition to the Democratic clique known as
+the 'Albany Regency,' thus commenced a contention which only ended when
+the association was broken up in 1838. He presided over a young men's
+convention in New York in favor of John Quincy Adams' re-election to the
+presidency.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> In August, 1828, on his return home he was offered a
+nomination as member of Congress but declined. He was elected to the
+State senate in 1830, when he originated an opposition to corporate
+monopolies which has since ripened into a system of general laws. After
+a rapid tour through Europe in 1833 he returned home to become the Whig
+candidate for governor of New York, being defeated by W. L. Marcy. But
+in 1838 he was elected over Marcy, his former opponent, by a majority of
+10,000 votes.</p>
+
+<p>Placed now in a position where he could exercise that mighty mind which
+he unmistakably possessed, he achieved National distinction in the
+measures he prosecuted. Prominent among these measures was the effort to
+secure the diffusion of common school education, advocating an equal
+distribution of the public funds among all schools for that purpose.
+Imprisonment for debt was abolished, the banking system was improved,
+the first lunatic asylum was established, and every vestige of slavery
+was cleared from the statute books.</p>
+
+<p>He also became famous through his controversy with the Governor of
+Virginia. The latter issued a demand on Mr. Seward, as the Governor of
+New York, for the delivery of two men charged with abducting slaves.
+Seward maintained that no State could force a requisition upon another
+State, founded on an act which was only criminal by its own legislation,
+and which compared with general standards was not only innocent, but
+humane and praiseworthy. This correspondence between the two executives
+known as "The Virginia Controversy" was widely published, and was
+largely instrumental in bringing about his triumphant re-election in
+1840.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At the close of his second term he once more resumed the practice of
+law, becoming a practitioner in the United States Courts. He was also a
+great criminal lawyer, and especially aided, not only by gratuitous
+service, but money also, in aiding people whom he thought unjustly
+accused. Becoming a United States Senator, he announced his purpose to
+make no further concessions to the slave power. In his speech on the
+admission of California, March 11th, 1850, the judgment of the man, his
+ability to forecast events, and his oratorical powers are displayed.
+Among other things he said:</p>
+
+<p>"It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true, it is
+acquired by the valor, and with the wealth of the whole nation. But we
+hold, nevertheless, no arbitrary power over it. We hold no arbitrary
+authority over anything, whether acquired lawfully, or seized by
+usurpation. The Constitution regulates our stewardship; the Constitution
+devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to
+liberty."</p>
+
+<p>"But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our
+authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.
+The territory is a part, no considerable part, of the common heritage of
+mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his
+stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure in the highest
+attainable degree their happiness." In another speech, delivered at
+Rochester in 1858, in alluding to the constant collision between the
+system, of free and slave labor in the United States, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing forces, and it means
+that the United States must and will, sooner or later, become either
+entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free labor nation."
+Thus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> while others dodged this issue, William H. Seward came squarely
+out in language which could not be misinterpreted. When the Whig party
+had proved its incompetency to deal with the slavery question, Mr.
+Seward, in conformity with his past public career, withdrew and figured
+most conspicuously in the founding of the new Republican party.</p>
+
+<p>In the last session of the 36th Congress, when the war clouds were
+threatening, and desertion of the Union cause became an epidemic, high
+above the breathings of secession was heard the voice of William H.
+Seward, exclaiming: "I avow my adherence to the Union with my friends,
+with my party, with my State; or without either, as they may determine,
+in every event of peace or war, with every consequence of honor or
+dishonor, of life or death." In conclusion he declared: "I certainly
+shall never directly or indirectly give my vote to establish or sanction
+slavery in the common territories of the United States, or anywhere else
+in the world."</p>
+
+<p>His second term closed with the thirty-sixth congress, March 4th, 1861.
+In the National Republican convention he was the most conspicuous
+candidate for the presidency for 1856-60. He made quite an extended tour
+through Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land in 1859. Upon the accession of
+Mr. Lincoln to the presidency Mr. Seward was called to fill the seat of
+honor in his cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>At the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Seward had already shown himself a
+very able man, but his management of the foreign affairs of our
+government during those trying hours indelibly stamped him as the most
+able of able Secretaries of State. He was one of the few men who have
+been conceded to be a great success in the office of Secretary of State.
+His management of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> the complicated Trent affair, the manner of his
+declination of the French proposal to unite with Great Britain and
+Russia in mediating between the Federal and Confederate governments, and
+his thorough reorganization of the diplomatic service abroad, thus
+insuring a correct interpretation by foreign powers of the issues before
+the government; in fact his management of the high office did him great
+credit, and more than once averted a foreign war.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Lincoln had drafted his famous proclamation he submitted it to
+Seward for approval. Many people at the North were dissatisfied with
+some measures of the administration, and the rebellion had been
+characterized as a "Nigger war," even at the North, besides all this the
+Union arms had met with terrible loss, and Mr. Seward wisely saw the
+evil results which might follow such a proclamation at this time.
+Therefore, through his advice the paper was held until after the victory
+at Antietam, when the country was further educated and better able to
+understand and receive the real issue of the war.</p>
+
+<p>Early in the spring of 1865 he was thrown from his carriage, and his jaw
+and one arm were broken. While confined to his bed by these injuries he
+was attacked by a would-be assassin, and very severely wounded, being
+cut several times with a knife&mdash;his son Frederick W. came to his rescue
+and was also injured. It was on the same night that President Lincoln
+was shot, April 14. The assassin escaped from the house, but was soon
+arrested and hanged with the other conspirators, July 7.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Seward's recovery was very slow and painful, and it is thought the
+shock given by the accident, and this murderous attack impaired his
+intellectual force, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> when he again resumed his duties under
+President Johnson, he supported the President's reconstruction policy,
+becoming at dissonance with the party he had so satisfactorily served,
+until now. At the close of his official term in March, 1867, he retired
+from public life, and soon made an extended tour through California,
+Oregon and Alaska; the latter having been acquired during his
+secretaryship, and mainly through his efforts.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by his family he made a tour around the world, returning to
+Auburn in October, 1871. He was everywhere received with honor and great
+distinction. The observations made during this extensive voyage are
+embodied in "Wm. H. Seward's Travels around the World," prepared by his
+adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward. He died at Auburn, New York,
+October 10th, 1872, lamented by a nation.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Horatio_Seymour" id="Horatio_Seymour"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Horatio Seymour</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>One whose name and deeds are familiar to the people of the whole Union
+was Horatio Seymour, the most eminent and notable of the later Governors
+of New York. Born May 31st, 1810, at Pompey, Onondaga county, New York;
+a hamlet in what was then almost a wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>When he was nine years of age his parents moved to Utica. His school
+education was obtained at the academies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> of Oxford and Geneva, New York,
+and Partridge's military school, Middletown, Connecticut. He studied the
+science of law, and fitted himself for the profession, being admitted to
+the bar in 1832, but the death of his father devolved upon him the
+settlement of a large estate. This withdrew him from his intended
+calling, but enabled him to give ample time and attention to reading,
+for he had an intense thirst for knowledge.</p>
+
+<p>His public life began with his appointment as military secretary to
+Governor Marcy. Martin Van Buren is said to have seen with his keen eye
+the valuable qualities in the young man, and the appointment was made at
+his instance. Seymour held this place through Marcy's three terms,
+1833-39, and being very young, he became enamored with public life. In
+1841 he was elected to the State Assembly as a Democrat, was re-elected
+three times, and in 1845 was chosen speaker, which office he filled with
+dignity and courtesy toward all. In 1842, while in the assembly, he was
+elected Mayor of Utica for one year, and was especially interested in
+all public matters pertaining to the welfare of that city.</p>
+
+<p>In 1850 Mr. Seymour was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of his
+native State, being defeated by his personal friend, Washington Hurt, by
+a plurality of only 262 votes. Considering the hopeless condition of the
+Democratic party at that time, and his majority of 20,000 over the same
+competitor two years later, we can imagine something of his popularity
+at this early period. His first term as the executive of New York was
+marked by his veto of the prohibitory law which had been passed by the
+legislature, but his action in regard to the speedy completion of all
+public works then in progress and the interest he manifested<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> in the
+diffusion of public education was very exemplary. However, in the
+ensuing election he was defeated by a plurality, this time, of only 309
+votes. In 1862 Mr. Seymour was again elected governor over Wadsworth by
+nearly 11,000 majority.</p>
+
+<p>The breaking out of the civil war found Mr. Seymour allied to that
+element of the Democratic party which made its views formally known at
+what has passed into history as the "Tweedle Hall" meeting. He was one
+of the principal speakers at this memorable peace convention and
+employed his eloquence in behalf of concession and conciliation, and
+pointedly inquired: "Shall we compromise after war or without war?" His
+position was analogous with many of the great men in both parties at
+this time. When hostilities had really begun his tone changed, and in
+his inaugural address, January 1st, 1863, his position was clearly
+defined as follows: "Under no circumstances can the division of the
+Union be conceded. We will put forth every exertion of power; we will
+use every policy of conciliation; we will guarantee them every right,
+every consideration demanded by the constitution and by that fraternal
+regard which must prevail in a common country; but we can never
+voluntarily consent to the breaking up of the union of these States or
+the destruction of the constitution."</p>
+
+<p>President Lincoln telegraphed Mr. Seymour asking if he could raise and
+forward forthwith 20,000 troops to assist in repelling the threatened
+invasion by Lee, of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Within three days 12,000
+soldiers were on their way to Gettysburg. The draft riots next occupied
+his attention. The National government passed a conscription act, March
+3rd, enrolling all able-bodied citizens, between twenty and forty-five
+years of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> age, and in May the President ordered a draft of three hundred
+thousand men. The project was exceedingly unpopular, and was bitterly
+denounced on every hand, says Barnes. The anti-slavery measure of the
+administration had already occupied widespread hostility to the war.</p>
+
+<p>While Pickett's noble southern troops were assaulting Cemetery Ridge at
+Gettysburg, inflammatory handbills were being circulated in New York
+city, which brought on a riot July 13th. The mob rose in arms, sacked
+houses, demolished the offices of the provost-marshal, burned the
+colored orphan asylum, attacked the police, and chased negroes; even
+women and children, wherever found, were chased, and if caught hung to
+the nearest lamp-post. Two millions of dollars' worth of property was
+destroyed. The Governor immediately went to New York, and on the 14th he
+issued two proclamations; one calling on the rioters to disperse; the
+other declaring the city in a state of insurrection. He divided the city
+into districts, which were placed under the control of military men, who
+were directed to organize the citizens; and 3,000 stands of arms were
+issued to these and other organizations. Boats were chartered to convey
+policemen and soldiers to any point on the shores of the island where
+disturbances were threatened. The Governor visited all the riotous
+districts in person, and by persuasion, as well as by the use of the
+force at his command, aided in quelling the disturbance.</p>
+
+<p>During his term Governor Seymour commissioned more than 13,000 officers
+in the volunteer service of the United States. In August 1864 he
+presided over the Democratic National Convention at Chicago which
+nominated General McClellan for the presidency. Four years later,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> much
+against his will, he was nominated for the presidency himself and was
+defeated by General Grant, as any nominee of the Democratic party at
+that time would have been. He then retired to private life, dwelling in
+elegant repose at his pleasant home near Utica, New York, until his
+death which occurred February 12th, 1886.</p>
+
+<p>His occasional addresses were charming to the hearer, and no man could
+deliver a more edifying speech at any celebration. He was an ardent
+lover of American history, particularly the history of his native State,
+and on all State topics he discoursed with learning and a charm
+peculiarly original. Notwithstanding the high position held by Mr.
+Seymour among the great men of his time his funeral was very simple.
+Rev. Dr. A. B. Goodrich offered a prayer at the residence of ex-Senator
+Roscoe Conkling, his brother-in-law, after which the regular services
+were conducted at the old Trinity Church. After the services the body
+was borne to Forest Hill Cemetery and placed in the Chapel of Roses.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Winfield_S_Hancock" id="Winfield_S_Hancock"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Winfield S. Hancock</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A large man, finely proportioned with a most graceful carriage, and
+self-poise, and withal handsome, thus had nature endowed Winfield Scott
+Hancock, who was born in the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania,
+February 14, 1824.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In 1844 he graduated from West Point with honor, and served with
+distinction in the war with Mexico, where he was commissioned
+lieutenant. Until the breaking out of the civil war he was stationed
+with his division in various parts of the country. Being recalled to
+Washington, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers, and
+served with great valor during the Peninsula campaign. For this and
+other meritorious conduct he was made a major-general, and commanded a
+division at the great battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.</p>
+
+<p>But in the great and decisive battle of Gettysburg Hancock won his
+greatest laurels. General Meade, his commander, sent him to the field of
+Gettysburg to decide if battle should be given there, or if the army
+should fall back to another position. Hancock reported that Gettysburg
+was the proper place, and thus the little hamlet became famous in
+history; two days of terrific fighting passed; the afternoon of the
+third day arrives and the final charge is made upon the division
+commanded by Hancock.</p>
+
+<p>About one o'clock one hundred and fifty-five guns suddenly opened on
+that one division. For two hours the air was fairly alive with shells.
+Every size and form of shell known to British or American gunnery
+shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled and wrathfully fluttered over the
+ground, says Wilkinson. "As many as six in a second, constantly two in a
+second came screaming around the headquarters. They burst in the yard;
+burst next to the fence where the horses belonging to the aids and
+orderlies were hitched. The fastened animals reared and plunged with
+terror. One horse fell, then another; sixteen lay dead before the
+cannonade<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> ceased. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and
+exploding shells an ambulance driven at full speed by its frenzied
+conductor presented the marvelous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on
+three legs, a hind one had been shot off at the hock. A shell tore up
+the little step at the headquarters cottage and ripped bags of oats as
+with a knife. Another shell soon carried off one of its two pillars.
+Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open door, another tore through
+the low garret, the remaining pillar went almost immediately to the howl
+of a fixed shot that Whitworth must have made. Soldiers in Federal blue
+were torn to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yell that
+blends the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair."</p>
+
+<p>"The Union guns," says Barnes, "replied for a time, and were then
+withdrawn to cool." Probably the experience of the veteran troops knew
+that they would soon be needed for closer work. The men lay crouching
+behind rocks and hiding in hollows, from the iron tempest which drove
+over the hill, anxiously awaiting the charge, which experience taught
+them, must follow. Finally the cannonade lulled, the supreme minute had
+come, and out of the woods swept the Confederate double battle-line,
+over a mile long, preceded by a cloud of skirmishers, and with wings on
+either side to prevent its being flanked. This was Lee's first charge,
+and upon it depended, as subsequently seen, the rise or fall of the
+Confederate cause.</p>
+
+<p>A quarter of a mile away, and a hundred guns tore great gaps in the
+line, but the men closed up and sternly moved on. A thrill of admiration
+ran along the Union ranks as silently and with disciplined steadiness,
+that magnificent column of eighteen thousand men moved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> up the slope,
+with its red battle-flags flying, and the sun playing on its burnished
+bayonets. On they came on the run. Infantry volleys struck their ranks.
+Their ranks were broken, and their supports were scattered to the winds.
+Pickett's veterans and A. P. Hill's best troops went down. Out of that
+magnificent column of men, only one-fourth returned to tell the story.
+Three generals, fourteen field officers, and fourteen thousand men were
+either slain or captured. This was the supreme moment of the war; from
+that hour the Confederate cause waned and slowly died.</p>
+
+<p>All honor to Hancock, the hero of Gettysburg, who was borne bleeding
+from the field, not to resume active service until March, 1864, when he
+took a leading part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
+Court-House, North Anna, the second battle of Cold Harbor, and in the
+operations around Petersburg. After the war was over he was placed in
+command of the Middle Department, the Department of Missouri, of
+Louisiana and Texas, of Dakota, and on the death of General Meade,
+promoted to command the Department of the East, which position he held
+at his death.</p>
+
+<p>In 1868 he was a very prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination,
+receiving 114&frac12; votes, but after an exciting contest, Horatio Seymour
+was nominated on the 22nd ballot. The next year he was tendered the
+Democratic nomination for Governor of his native State, but respectfully
+declined.</p>
+
+<p>In 1880 he accepted the nomination from the same party for the highest
+honor within the gift of the party, but in the subsequent election was
+defeated by James A. Garfield, the Republican nominee. His last
+conspicuous appearance in public was at the funeral services of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> General
+Grant, where he acted as marshal of ceremonies. Scarcely six months were
+passed when we were startled with the news: Hancock is dead, and on
+February 13th, 1886, with military honors, but no elaborate display, he
+was laid at rest beside his father and beloved daughter. No long line of
+troops, no sound of dirges, no trappings of woe, marked the funeral of
+General Hancock. The man who had received the nomination of a great
+party for the highest honor in the nation's gift, who had turned the
+fortunes of many a battle, and whose calm courage in the midst of death
+had so often inspired the faltering regiments, was laid at rest quietly,
+without pomp or vain show, at Norristown, Pennsylvania.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="George_B_McClellan" id="George_B_McClellan"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">George B. McClellan</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>On the 3rd of December, 1826, was born in Philadelphia, a child who
+would one day become celebrated in the annals of history.</p>
+
+<p>He enjoyed the privilege of a good education, graduating at the
+University of Pennsylvania, and when twenty years old he also graduated
+at West Point, ranking second in his class.</p>
+
+<p>George B. McClellan was a brilliant scholar, and during the Mexican war
+won high esteem as an engineer. After the war he was engaged in various
+engineering projects, and rendered valuable service to the country by
+introducing bayonet exercises into the military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> tactics at West Point,
+and translating a French Manual of Bayonet Exercises, which was adapted
+to the United States service, and became an authority. In 1855-'6 he was
+a member of the Military Commission sent by the government to visit the
+seat of the Crimean war.</p>
+
+<p>He resigned his commission in the regular army in 1857; became chief
+engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, and in 1868 he also became
+Vice-President of the road; two years later, President of St. Louis and
+Cincinnati Railway. It is difficult to surmise what he might have become
+as a railway magnate but for the civil war.</p>
+
+<p>At the outbreak of hostilities he became the major-general of Ohio
+volunteers, and by skillful generalship and bravery, succeeded in
+driving the rebels out of West Virginia, which made him
+commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. General McClellan was
+over-cautious, and lingered about Washington with about 200,000 men,
+drilling and preparing for the battle. Succumbing to popular clamor he
+moved out toward Richmond.</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the Peninsula campaign, wherein McClellan was forced to
+change his base, accomplishing one of the most masterly retreats in the
+annals of history. Being relieved of the command by Pope, who also
+failed, he was re-instated and fought the bloody battle of Antietam. In
+this battle he foiled the Confederate project of invasion, but popular
+clamor demanded his removal, as it was thought he followed up his
+victory too leisurely. This virtually ended his military services, and
+on November 8th, 1864, he resigned his commission. After his
+unsuccessful canvass for the presidency he, with his family, sailed for
+Europe, where he remained until 1868, when he returned to the United
+States and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> took up his residence at Orange, New Jersey. Henceforth he
+followed his profession as an engineer.</p>
+
+<p>In 1877 he was elected Governor of New Jersey. On October 29th, 1885, he
+died at his residence in New York city from the effects of heart
+disease.</p>
+
+<p>We do not propose to pose as a champion of McClellan's wrongs, real or
+supposed, but in reviewing his life the following facts are worthy of
+thought: He was in command at a time when the whole North were laboring
+under a delusion as to the requirements of the war, and it is doubtful
+if any general would have succeeded at this time. The fact that such an
+able general as Hooker was relieved after one reverse, leads one to
+wonder what might have been the fate of even Grant had he commanded at
+this time. However, it is not for us to say, but certain it is, that no
+greater military tactician was to be found among the generals of our
+late war, and as such he deserves credit.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Ulysses_Simpson_Grant" id="Ulysses_Simpson_Grant"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Ulysses Simpson Grant</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>When a man is energetic and determines to be somebody in the
+world&mdash;which is praiseworthy so long as that energy is guided by
+propriety and a just conception of right&mdash;there are always scores,
+hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who endeavor to depreciate that
+man's reward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>No other excuse can be assigned for the slander and vituperation which
+has from time to time been heaped upon the fair reputation of General U.
+S. Grant.</p>
+
+<p>Born in obscurity at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27th, 1822, his life is
+a fitting type of the possibilities of our glorious institutions.
+Through the influence of Hon. Thomas L. Hamer he was admitted at West
+Point in 1839. Personally, at this early age, he detested war and was
+opposed to accepting the opportunity, but his father persuaded him to
+go, and his name was blunderingly registered as U. S., instead of H. U.,
+hence he was ever after known as U. S. Grant.</p>
+
+<p>In 1843 he graduated, ranking twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine. It
+will be remembered that Lee and McClellan each ranked second when they
+graduated. At this time Grant was not taken with war, and probably
+evinced little interest in army tactics. The Mexican war came on and
+Grant here distinguished himself, rising to the rank of captain. After
+the war he was stationed at Detroit, and Sacketts Harbor, but this kind
+of inactivity was ill-suited to the restless nature of Grant; he
+therefore resigned.</p>
+
+<p>Having married a Miss Dent, of St. Louis, he accordingly moved onto a
+farm near that city. The next few years he was engaged on the farm, in a
+real estate office in St. Louis, and at the outbreak of the civil war
+was in business with his father, dealing in leather. When the news of
+the fall of Fort Sumter reached Galena he immediately raised a company
+and marched to Springfield where they tendered their services to the
+governor. Grant acted as mustering officer until, being commissioned
+colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, he took the field. His
+first great victory was the capture<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> of Fort Donelson with 15,000
+prisoners. When asked by the Confederate general what terms of surrender
+was expected his answer was, "No terms other than an unconditional and
+immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move upon your works
+at once." The fall of Fort Donelson and the capture of its garrison
+being the first substantial victory that had crowned the Union cause,
+together with the above described answer to General Buckner, brought the
+name of General Grant prominently before the country.</p>
+
+<p>Pittsburgh Landing followed and then Grant determined to take Vicksburg.
+All his generals declared the plan he proposed unmilitary and
+impossible, but after several unsuccessful attempts the Gibraltar of the
+Mississippi was captured, and this time 27,000 prisoners taken. Now came
+the battle of Chattanooga. General Halleck in speaking of this battle
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"Considering the strength of the rebel position, and the difficulty of
+storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered
+the most remarkable in history. Indeed it is so. After Grant had turned
+the Confederate right flank, Sherman was intercepted between Longstreet
+and Bragg, thus cutting Longstreet entirely out, and preventing another
+junction being possible. Resolutions of thanks were passed in Ohio and
+New York, and Congress created Grant a Lieutenant-General, a commission
+which had been held by no one since General Scott resigned. Indeed, if
+ever a General deserved honor, Grant had won it; he had opened the
+Mississippi to navigation, and had captured nearly 100,000 prisoners and
+arms."</p>
+
+<p>He was now commander of all the Federal forces. He at once inaugurated
+two campaigns to be carried on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span> at once. One under Sherman, against
+Atlanta commanded by the skillful rebel General Johnson; the other under
+Meade, directed against Lee and the Confederate capitol. Sherman
+advanced upon Atlanta, and the success of his famous march to the sea is
+well-known.</p>
+
+<p>The capture of Lee was a far more difficult undertaking. After various
+flanking movements and costly assaults, the problem of taking Lee
+narrowed itself down to a siege of Petersburg. Grant perceived that his
+only hope lie in literally starving the Confederate army out by cutting
+off all resources as far as practicable. Lee attempted to draw off
+attention toward Washington, but General Sheridan drove Early out of the
+Shenandoah Valley, devastating the country to such an extent that it was
+impossible to forage an army there should Lee attempt such a maneuver
+again. Time wore away, and on the 9th of April, 1865, Grant captured the
+Confederate army under Lee, thus virtually ending the war.</p>
+
+<p>On July 25, 1866, he was made general of the United States army; the
+rank having been created for him, he was the first to hold it. At the
+next Republican Convention, Grant was nominated for President on the
+first ballot, and was elected over Seymour, and was re-elected a second
+term by an increased majority.</p>
+
+<p>When his public services were finished he started in company with his
+wife, son Jesse, and a few friends. They set sail from Philadelphia on
+the 17th of May, 1877. They visited nearly all the countries of Europe,
+and part of those of Africa and Asia. On this trip the Grant party were
+the guests of nearly all the crowned heads of those foreign countries,
+everywhere receiving the most exalted honors it has ever been the
+pleasure of an American to enjoy, and on his return to the United<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>
+States they were the recipients of an ovation in many of the principal
+cities of this country.</p>
+
+<p>His success seems to have been the outgrowth of hard study and ability
+to perform the most exhaustive labor without fatigue. The scenes of his
+later days were clouded with the intrigues of a stock gambler, but the
+stain that the Grant-Ward failure seemed likely to throw on the spotless
+reputation of General Grant was wiped away when the facts were brought
+to light, and a new lustre was added to his fame by the self-sacrifice
+shown in the final settlement.</p>
+
+<p>General Grant proved to be a writer of no low order, and his
+autobiography is a very readable book. On July 23rd, 1885, the General
+surrendered to a loathsome cancer, and the testimonials of devotion
+shown the honored dead; and the bereaved family throughout the civilized
+world, indicated the stronghold upon the hearts of the people held by
+the dead General.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Stonewall_Jackson" id="Stonewall_Jackson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Stonewall Jackson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The true name of this most remarkable man was Thomas Jonathan Jackson;
+few people, however, would recognize by that name to whom was referred.
+At the battle of Bull Run, when the Confederates seemed about to fly,
+General Bee suddenly appearing in view of his men, pointing to Jackson's
+column exclaimed: "There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> stands Jackson like a stone-wall." From that
+hour the name he received by ordinance of water was supplanted by that
+received in a baptism of fire.</p>
+
+<p>Stonewall Jackson was born at Clarksburg, Virginia, January 21st, 1824.
+He graduated at West Point in time to serve in the Mexican war, where he
+became distinguished for gallant service and was brevetted as captain,
+and finally major. After serving a number of years in the regular army
+he resigned to become professor and instructor in military tactics in
+the Virginia Military Academy, situated at Lexington, Kentucky. He was
+considered at this time a most peculiar man, being very eccentric in his
+habits. At the breaking out of the civil war he naturally sided with his
+State, and it is believed that he was sincere. It is said that Jackson
+never fought a battle without praying earnestly for the success of his
+people. As has been intimated, he saved the day for the Confederacy at
+Bull Run.</p>
+
+<p>McClellan was promised the assistance of General McDowell and forty
+thousand men who had been left at headquarters for the protection of the
+capital. It was well-known that a combined attack on Richmond was
+designed immediately upon the junction of the two great armies. To
+prevent the execution of this plan Jackson was ordered to drive the
+Federal forces out of the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington. He
+accomplished this by one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war. He
+crossed the mountains and drove the army of Fremont back, and returning
+to the Valley with all speed defeated Banks at every turn; indeed, it
+was only by the most rapid marching that the Federals escaped across the
+Potomac.</p>
+
+<p>McDowell was suspended from joining McClellan and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> ordered to co-operate
+in crushing Jackson. Jackson, with a force of scarcely twenty thousand
+men, had opposed to him, bent upon his destruction, fully seventy
+thousand men, and four major-generals; his defeat seemed certain, yet by
+a most rapid and skillful march he eluded pursuit until his army had
+reached a point from which his line of retreat was safe, when he turned
+upon his enemy and defeated Fremont at Cross Keys June 8th, and Shields
+at Port Republic the next day. Having thus accomplished the purpose of
+the campaign, he hastened to join Lee in his attack on McClellan. As
+before stated, this was a most brilliant campaign. Not only was McDowell
+prevented from joining McClellan, but McClellan became alarmed as to his
+own safety, and resolved to change his base from the York to the James.
+This forced upon him the Peninsula campaign, which resulted in the Union
+army being driven back to Washington. For this and other important
+services he was made a major-general. Being placed in immediate control
+of nearly half of Lee's entire army, he made one of his characteristic
+movements; gaining Pope's rear, fell upon the Union forces with a
+terrible ferocity which carried all before it. By a rapid movement in
+the Antietam campaign Jackson captured Harper's Ferry and eleven
+thousand men, and then, by a forced march, rejoined Lee in time to take
+an important part in the battle of Antietam two days afterward.</p>
+
+<p>At Fredericksburg he was made a lieutenant-general. He soon controlled
+two-thirds of the Confederate forces, and at Chancellorsville he made a
+secret march of over fifteen miles mostly by forest roads, and gaining
+Hooker's right fell upon it by surprise, and drove it in rout upon the
+main body. The engagement being <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>apparently over he rode into the woods
+to reconnoiter, having with him a small escort. Upon his return they
+were mistaken for Union scouts and fired upon by his own men. Several of
+the escort were killed, and Jackson received three balls, one through
+each hand and one which shattered his shoulder. He was at length carried
+to the rear where his arm was amputated. Pneumonia set in, however,
+which was the immediate cause of his death. His last words were, "Let us
+cross over and rest under the shade of the trees."</p>
+
+<p>Stonewall Jackson was considered by the Confederates to have been their
+most brilliant commander, and his death had much to do with the
+overthrow of their Government.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="General_Robert_E_Lee" id="General_Robert_E_Lee"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">General Robert E. Lee</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia, at the town of Stafford, June 19th,
+1807. He was son of Colonel Henry Lee, of revolutionary fame. He had a
+commanding military bearing, was a most graceful horseman; he came from
+good "fighting stock," and as there never was a braver man drew sword,
+he was well calculated to become the beau-ideal of the Southern
+Confederacy.</p>
+
+<p>When eighteen years of age he entered the military academy at West
+Point, where, after a four years' course, he graduated. One thing,
+General Lee, as a cadet, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> an example well worthy of imitation, as
+he, during his whole four years' course, never received a reprimand, and
+graduated second only to one in his class. From 1829 until 1834, he
+served as assistant engineer in the building of forts in the South, and
+later was assistant astronomer; aiding in determining the boundary of
+Ohio. When the Mexican war broke out he was appointed chief engineer for
+the army under General Scott.</p>
+
+<p>During this war he served with great distinction, being successively
+breveted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and was wounded once;
+certain it is that Robert E. Lee gave ample proof of his ability in the
+Mexican war. In the interim between the Mexican and Civil wars he served
+his country in various ways, being for some three years superintendent
+of the West Point Military Academy.</p>
+
+<p>In 1855 two new regiments were formed. Of the second regiment Albert
+Sidney Johnson was made colonel; Lee, lieutenant-colonel; Hardee and
+Thomas, majors; Van Dorn and Kirby Smith, captains; among the
+lieutenants were Stoneman and Hood. One can see that the officers of
+that regiment were composed of men of no small calibre. When Lincoln was
+elected Lee was in Texas, but he obtained a leave of absence and hurried
+to his home in Virginia. General Lee was held in very high esteem by
+General Scott, who was then at the head of all the Union armies. General
+Scott was getting very old, too old for active service, and it is stated
+that he felt strongly inclined to name Lee as his successor, but Lee had
+other views on the question and he joined his fortune with that of the
+South.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps a letter written to his sister will more clearly portray Lee's
+convictions and motives at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> breaking out of hostilities than
+anything that can be found elsewhere in history:&mdash;"The whole South is in
+a state of revolution into which Virginia has been drawn after a long
+struggle; and though I recognize no necessity for this state of things
+and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for redress of
+grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I had to meet the
+question whether I should take part against my native State. With all my
+devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American
+citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand
+against my relatives, my children, my home."</p>
+
+<p>These were the words of General Lee to his sister. The idea of certain
+power reserved from the "central power," as they termed it, had been
+inculcated since Jefferson and Madison drew up the Kentucky and Virginia
+resolution in 1798. Upon these did Calhoun claim authority to rest
+justified when he fostered the idea of State Rights. Had it not been for
+a sudden wave of popular politics which swept Jefferson into power it
+might have been Thomas Jefferson or James Madison who would have been
+known in history as the author of the Nullification Acts which did not
+come until Calhoun's day.</p>
+
+<p>This doctrine had been taught in the South for several generations, and
+had enlarged with rolling. The profitable use of slaves helped to
+sustain it, and it is no wonder, to a careful observer, that these
+people were carried away by rebellion, when he takes into consideration
+these things, the characteristics of the people, etc. As it was with
+Lee, so it was with the South, and despite assertions to the contrary,
+we believe that Robert E. Lee was sincere, and not looking after glory
+any more than other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> officers of recognized ability, who cast their
+fortunes with the North.</p>
+
+<p>Then, too, Lee gained his position at the head of the Southern army only
+after one general had been killed, another wounded, and another stricken
+with a paralytic stroke; he coming fourth in order.</p>
+
+<p>On June 3d, 1862, Lee received his commission, and immediately launched
+out upon a series of battles known as the seven-days battle, in which he
+succeeded in driving McClellan from before Richmond. Pope was now placed
+in command of the Union forces, and Lee signally defeated him in the
+second battle of Bull Run. Now he attempted his first invasion of the
+North, and was forced back in the battle of Antietam. Retreating into
+Virginia, he massed his forces at Fredericksburg. The North being
+dissatisfied with the slow manner in which McClellan was following Lee,
+placed Burnside in command, who attacked Lee in his position, but was
+signally repulsed by the Confederates. He next met Hooker at
+Chancellorsville, and again success attended the standard of Lee.</p>
+
+<p>Flushed with the great victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
+Lee once more started on an invasion of the North. Meade was now put at
+the head of the Union forces, who at once started in pursuit. They met
+at Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania. Three long days of terrible fighting
+resulted in the repulse of Lee, and he retreated south in good order.
+When he reached the Potomac he found it impassable. If Meade had
+followed Lee up now he might have gained a glorious victory, but he
+allowed Lee to escape into Virginia.</p>
+
+<p>General Grant was now placed at the head of the Union forces and Lee
+found he had other metal with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span> which to deal. Grant was not only made of
+different material but he could profit by the experience of his
+predecessors. Then, too, Grant had the great resources of the North
+behind him and the confidence of President Lincoln. Lee could never
+replace the 30,000 veterans lost at Gettysburg, but Grant could lose
+later 80,000 and the government was amply able to replace three times
+that number. Grant now commenced to starve Lee out, to wear the
+Confederacy threadbare. The history of the war from now until the close
+of the war is a series of flanking movements carried on by two most
+skillful generals. At last Lee was obliged to surrender on the 9th of
+April, 1865.</p>
+
+<p>After the war he became president of Washington and Lee University, his
+great popularity and good management gaining for it a large patronage.
+He died on the 12th of October, 1870.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Henry_Wilson" id="Henry_Wilson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Henry Wilson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Great honor is due any man who rises from the shoe-maker's bench to be
+Vice-President of the United States. Such a man was Henry Wilson, who
+was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, February 16th, 1812. When yet a
+mere child he was apprenticed to a farmer, whom he was to serve until of
+age. Eleven long years did he serve this man, receiving only about one
+year's schooling during that time, but he borrowed books and read<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>
+nearly one thousand volumes during the "wee sma' hours" of his
+apprenticeship. Upon obtaining his majority he started on foot for
+Natick, Massachusetts, and entered the town with all his worldly
+possessions in a bundle. Obtaining employment as a shoemaker he was thus
+occupied for the next two years. His course of reading, so faithfully
+followed, had made him proficient in history, but thirsting for
+additional knowledge he decided to attend school with the money he had
+saved. About this time he went to Washington, when the sight of slaves
+bought and sold excited his sympathy, and he decided to forever oppose
+with all his might the institution of bondage, which he always did, no
+matter how found. Upon his return he found his earnings swept away by
+the failure of the man to whom he had intrusted them. Accordingly he
+resumed the shoe business, but his light was beginning to be seen. He
+was invited to partake in the anti-slavery meetings, then so frequent in
+Massachusetts, and actively engaged in the campaign in which Harrison
+was elected President, making over sixty speeches.</p>
+
+<p>In 1843 he was elected to the State Senate. Also manufactured shoes on
+an extended scale for the southern market. The old Whig party, with whom
+he had been so earnestly allied, proving itself unable to cope with the
+slave power, by rejecting the anti-slavery resolutions at the convention
+of 1843, he withdrew from it. Later, he was a conspicuous figure in the
+organization of the new Free Soil party, being the Chairman of the
+committee in his State, and editor of the <i>Boston Republican</i>. In
+1850-52 he was president of the State Senate, and in '52 presided at the
+Free Soil contention at Pittsburgh. The next year he was the Free Soil
+candidate for Governor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span> of Massachusetts, but was defeated. In 1855 he
+was chosen United States Senator, where he distinguished himself. When
+his colleague, Mr. Sumner, was attacked by Preston S. Brooks, Mr. Wilson
+fearlessly denounced it as a cowardly, not to say dastardly assault. He
+was immediately challenged by Mr. Brooks, but declined on the ground
+that dueling is a barbarous custom which the law of the country has
+branded as a crime. He was one of the leaders in the new Republican
+party movement.</p>
+
+<p>During the civil war his labors were indefatigable for the Union, and in
+1872 he was elected on that ticket with Grant by an overwhelming
+majority.</p>
+
+<p>He died in office, November 22nd, 1875, and the boy shoemaker was
+mourned by a great nation. Truly, the price of success is patient toil.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Abraham_Lincoln" id="Abraham_Lincoln"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Abraham Lincoln</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>If one reads the life of Abraham Lincoln they are thoroughly convinced
+that the possibilities of our country are indeed very great. He was born
+in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 14th day of February, 1809, of very
+poor parents, who lived in a log cabin.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely a boy in the country will read these lines but has tenfold the
+opportunity to succeed in the world as had Abraham Lincoln. When he was
+still a little boy his parents moved to Indiana, which was then a
+wilderness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> Here, in a log cabin, he learned to read under the tuition
+of his mother and afterward received nearly a year's schooling at
+another log cabin a mile away,&mdash;nearly a year's schooling and all the
+schooling he ever received from a tutor!</p>
+
+<p>But he loved books, he craved knowledge and eagerly did he study the few
+books which fell in his way. He kept a scrap-book into which he copied
+the striking passages and this practice enabled him to gain an
+education. Here he grew up, becoming famous for his great strength and
+agility; he was six foot four inches in his stockings and was noted as
+the most skillful wrestler in the country. When he was about twenty
+years old the Lincoln family moved to Illinois, settling ten miles from
+Decatur, where they cleared about fifteen acres and built a log cabin.
+Here is where Lincoln gained his great reputation as a rail-splitter. He
+had kept up his original system of reading and sketching, and from this
+period in his life he became a marked man&mdash;he was noted for his
+information. It makes little difference whether knowledge is gained in
+college or by the side of a pile of rails, as Lincoln was wont to study
+after his day's work was done.</p>
+
+<p>In 1830 he took a trip on a flat-boat to New Orleans. It was on this
+trip that he first saw slaves chained together and whipped. Ever after,
+he detested the institution of slavery. Upon his return he received a
+challenge from a famous wrestler; he accepted and threw his antagonist.
+About this time he became a clerk in a country store, where his honesty
+and square dealing made him a universal favorite, and earned for him the
+sobriquet of 'Honest Abe.' He next entered the Black Hawk war, and was
+chosen captain of his company.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> Jefferson Davis also served as an
+officer in this war. In the fall of 1832 he was a candidate for the
+legislature, but was defeated. He then opened a store with a partner
+named Berry. Lincoln was made postmaster, but Berry proved a drunkard
+and spendthrift, bringing the concern to bankruptcy, and soon after
+died, to fill a drunkard's grave, leaving Lincoln to pay all the debts.
+But during all this time Lincoln had been improving his spare moments
+learning surveying, and for the next few years he earned good wages
+surveying.</p>
+
+<p>He now decided to become a lawyer, and devoted his attention, so far as
+possible, to the accumulation of a thorough knowledge. At one period
+during his studies he walked, every Saturday, to Springfield, some eight
+miles away, to borrow and return books pertaining to his studies. These
+books he studied nights, and early in the morning, out of working hours.
+In 1834 he was once more a candidate for the legislature, and was
+triumphantly elected, being re-elected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. In 1837,
+when he had arrived at the age of twenty-eight, he was admitted to the
+bar, where he soon became noted as a very successful pleader before a
+jury. He was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, a splendid lawyer, and a
+ready speaker at public gatherings.</p>
+
+<p>In 1836 he first met Stephen A. Douglas who was destined to be his
+adversary in the political arena for the next twenty years. Stephen A.
+Douglas was, or soon became the leader of the Democracy in Illinois and
+Lincoln spoke for the Whigs as against Douglas. In 1847 Lincoln was sent
+to Congress, being chosen over the renowned Peter Cartwright, who was
+the Democratic candidate. In Congress he vigorously opposed President
+Polk and the Mexican war, and proposed a bill to abolish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span> slavery in the
+District of Columbia, provided the inhabitants would vote for it. In
+1855 he withdrew from the contest for the United States Senatorship in
+favor of Mr. Trumbull, whom he knew would draw away many Democratic
+votes and to Lincoln was due Trumbull's election. During the canvass he
+met Stephen A. Douglas in debate at Springfield, where he exploded the
+theory of 'Squatter Sovereignty' in one sentence, namely: "I admit that
+the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to govern himself, but
+I deny his right to govern any other person without that person's
+consent."</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 he had his great contest for the United States Senatorship with
+Douglas. At that time Judge Douglas was renowned throughout the nation
+as one of the ablest, if not the ablest of American speakers. Horace
+Greeley well said, "The man who stumps a State with Stephen A. Douglas
+and meets him day after day before the people has got to be no fool."
+The tremendous political excitement growing out of the 'Kansas-Nebraska
+Act,' and the agitation of the slavery question, in its relation to the
+vast territory of Kansas and Nebraska, convulsed the nation. The
+interest was greatly heightened from the fact that these two great
+gladiators, Stephen A. Douglas, the great mouth-piece of the Democratic
+party and champion of 'Squatter Sovereignty,' and Abraham Lincoln, a
+prominent lawyer, but otherwise comparatively unknown, the opponent of
+that popular measure and the coming champion of the anti-slavery party.</p>
+
+<p>The question at issue was immense&mdash;permanent, not transient&mdash;universal,
+not local, and the debate attracted profound attention on the part of
+the people, whether Democratic or Free Soil, from the Kennebec to the
+Rio Grande. Mr. Douglas held that the vote of the majority<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> of the
+people of a territory should decide this as well as all other questions
+concerning their domestic or internal affairs. Mr. Lincoln, on the
+contrary, urged the necessity of an organic enactment, excluding slavery
+in any form&mdash;this last to be the condition of its admission into the
+Union as a State. The public mind was divided and the utterances and
+movements of every public man were closely scanned. Finally, after the
+true western style, a joint discussion, face to face, between Lincoln
+and Douglas, as the two representative leaders, was proposed and agreed
+upon. It was arranged that they should have seven great debates, one
+each at Ottawa, Freeport, Charleston, Jonesboro, Galesburg, Quincy, and
+Alton.</p>
+
+<p>Processions and cavalcades, bands of music and cannon-firing made every
+day a day of excitement. But the excitement was greatly intensified from
+the fact that the oratorical contests were between two such skilled
+debaters, before mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over
+every keen thrust at the adversary, and again to be cast down by each
+failure to 'give back as good,' or to parry the thrust so aimed.</p>
+
+<p>In personal appearance, voice, gesture and general platform style,
+nothing could exceed the dissimilarity of these two speakers. Mr.
+Douglas possessed a frame or build particularly attractive; a natural
+presence which would have gained for him access to the highest circles,
+however courtly, in any land; a thickset, finely built, courageous man,
+with an air as natural to him as breath, of self-confidence that did not
+a little to inspire his supporters with hope. That he was every inch a
+man no friend or foe ever questioned. Ready, forceful, animated, keen,
+playful, by turns, and thoroughly artificial; he was one of the most
+admirable platform speakers that ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> appeared before an American
+audience, his personal geniality, too, being so abounding that,
+excepting in a political sense, no antagonism existed between him and
+his opponent.</p>
+
+<p>Look at Lincoln. In personal appearance, what a contrast to his renowned
+opponent. Six feet and four inches high, long, lean and wiry in motion;
+he had a good deal of the elasticity and awkwardness which indicated the
+rough training of his early life; his face genial looking, with good
+humor lurking in every corner of its innumerable angles. Judge Douglas
+once said, "I regard Lincoln as a kind, amiable and intelligent
+gentleman, a good citizen and an honorable opponent." As a speaker he
+was ready, precise, fluent and his manner before a popular assembly was
+just as he pleased to make it; being either superlatively ludicrous or
+very impressive. He employed but little gesticulation but when he
+desired to make a point produced a shrug of the shoulders, an elevation
+of the eyebrows, a depression of his mouth and a general malformation of
+countenance so comically awkward that it scarcely ever failed to 'bring
+down the house.' His enunciation was slow and distinct, and his voice
+though sharp and piercing at times had a tendency to dwindle into a
+shrill and unpleasant tone. In this matter of voice and commanding
+attitude, the odds were decidedly in favor of Judge Douglas.</p>
+
+<p>Arrangements having been consummated, the first debate took place at
+Ottawa, in Lasalle county, and a strong Republican district. The crowd
+in attendance was a large one, and about equally divided&mdash;the enthusiasm
+of the Democracy having brought more than a due proportion of their
+numbers to hear and see their favorite leader. The thrilling tones of
+Douglas, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> manly defiance against the principles he believed to be
+wrong assured his friends, if any assurance were wanting, that he was
+the same unconquered and unconquerable Democrat that he had proved to be
+for the previous twenty-five years.</p>
+
+<p>Douglas opened the discussion and spoke one hour; Lincoln followed, the
+time assigned him being an hour and a half, though he yielded a portion
+of it. It was not until the second meeting, however, that the speakers
+grappled with those profound public questions that had thus brought them
+together, and in which the nation was intensely interested. The debates
+were a wonderful exhibition of power and eloquence.</p>
+
+<p>In the first debate Mr. Douglas arraigned his opponent for the
+expression in a former speech of a "House divided against itself,"
+etc.,&mdash;referring to the slavery and anti-slavery sections of the
+country; and Mr. Lincoln defended those ideas as set forth in the speech
+referred to. As Mr. Lincoln's position in relation to one or two points
+growing out of the former speech referred to, had attracted great
+attention throughout the country, he availed himself of the opportunity
+of this preliminary meeting to reply to what he regarded as common
+misconceptions. "Anything," he said, "that argues me into the idea of
+perfect social and political equality with the negro is but a specious
+and fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a
+horse-chestnut to be a chestnut horse. I will say here, while upon this
+subject, that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere
+with the institution of slavery in the States where it now exists. I
+believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do
+so. I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between
+the white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> and black races. There is a physical difference between the
+two which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living
+together upon a footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes
+a matter of necessity that there must be a difference I, as well as
+Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the
+superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I
+hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why
+the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the
+Declaration of Independence&mdash;the right to life, liberty, and the
+pursuits of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as
+the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many
+respects&mdash;certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral and intellectual
+endowment. But in the right to eat the bread without the leave of any
+one else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of
+Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man."</p>
+
+<p>Touching the question of respect or weight of opinion due to deliverance
+of the United States Supreme Court&mdash;an element which entered largely
+into this national contest, Mr. Lincoln said: "This man&mdash;Douglas&mdash;sticks
+to a decision which forbids the people of a territory from excluding
+slavery, and he does so, not because he says it is right in itself&mdash;he
+does not give any opinion on that, but because it has been decided by
+the Court, and being decided by the Court, he is, and you are bound to
+take it in your political action as law; not that he judges at all of
+its merits, but because a decision of the Court is to him a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' He places it on that ground alone, and you will bear in mind
+that thus committing himself unreservedly to this decision,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> commits him
+to the next one just as firmly as to this. He did not commit himself on
+account of the merit or demerit of the decision, but is a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' The next decision, as much as this, will be a 'Thus saith the
+Lord.' There is nothing that can divert or turn him away from this
+decision. It is nothing that I point out to him that his great
+prototype, General Jackson, did not believe in the binding force of
+decisions&mdash;it is nothing to him that Jefferson did not so believe. I
+have said that I have often heard him approve of Jackson's course in
+disregarding the decision of the Supreme Court, pronouncing a national
+bank unconstitutional. He says: I did not hear him say so; he denies the
+accuracy of my recollection. I say he ought to know better than I, but I
+will make no question about this thing, though it still seems to me I
+heard him say it twenty times. I will tell him, though, that he now
+claims to stand on the Cincinnati platform which affirms that Congress
+<i>cannot</i> charter a national bank, in the teeth of that old standing
+decision that Congress <i>can</i> charter a bank. And I remind him of another
+piece of history on the question of respect for judicial decisions, and
+it is a piece of Illinois history belonging to a time when the large
+party to which Judge Douglas belonged were displeased with a decision of
+the Supreme Court of Illinois, because they had decided that a Governor
+could not remove a Secretary of State. I know that Judge Douglas will
+not deny that he was then in favor of oversloughing that decision by the
+mode of adding five new judges, so as to vote down the four old ones.
+Not only so, but it ended in the judge's sitting down on that very
+bench, as one of the five new judges so as to break down the four old
+ones." In this strain Mr. Lincoln occupied most of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> time. But the
+debate was a very equal thing, and the contest did not prove a 'walk
+over' either way.</p>
+
+<p>At the meeting in Ottawa Mr. Lincoln propounded certain questions to
+which Judge Douglas promptly answered. Judge Douglas spoke in something
+of the following strain: "He desires to know if the people of Kansas
+shall form a constitution by means entirely proper and unobjectionable,
+and ask admission into the Union as a State before they have the
+requisite population for a member of Congress, whether I will vote for
+that admission? Well, now, I regret exceedingly that he did not answer
+that interrogatory himself before he put it to me, in order that we
+might understand and not be left to infer on which side he is. Mr.
+Trumbull during the last session of Congress voted from the beginning to
+the end against the admission of Oregon, although a free State, because
+she had not the requisite population. As Mr. Trumbull is in the field
+fighting for Mr. Lincoln, I would like to have Mr. Lincoln answer his
+own question and tell me whether he is fighting Trumbull on that issue
+or not. But I will answer his question. In reference to Kansas it is my
+opinion that as she has population enough to constitute a slave State,
+she has people enough for a free State. I will not make Kansas an
+exceptional case to the other States of the Union. I made that
+proposition in the Senate in 1856, and I renewed it during the last
+session in a bill providing that no territory of the United States
+should form a constitution and apply for admission until it had the
+requisite population. On another occasion I proposed that neither Kansas
+nor any other territory should be admitted until it had the requisite
+population. Congress did not adopt any of my propositions containing
+this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>general rule, but did make an exception of Kansas. I will stand by
+that exception. Either Kansas must come in as a free State, with
+whatever population she may have, or the rule must be applied to all the
+other territories alike."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Douglas next proceeded to answer another question proposed by Mr.
+Lincoln, namely: Whether the people of a territory can, in any lawful
+way, against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Said Judge Douglas: "I answer emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln
+has heard me answer a hundred times from every stump in Illinois, that
+in my opinion the people of a territory can, by lawful means, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had answered that question over
+and over again. He heard me argue the Nebraska Bill on that principle
+all over the State in 1854, in 1855 and in 1856, and he has no excuse
+for pretending to be in doubt as to my position. It matters not what way
+the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question,
+whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under the
+constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or
+exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a
+day or an hour unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those
+police regulations can only be established by the local legislature, and
+if the people are opposed to slavery they will elect representatives to
+that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent the
+introduction of it into their midst. If, on the contrary, they are for
+it their legislation will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the
+decision of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> the Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still
+the right of the people to make a slave territory or free territory is
+perfect and complete under the Nebraska Bill."</p>
+
+<p>It was with great vigor and adroitness that the two great combatants
+went over the ground at the remaining five places of debate, all of
+which were attended and listened to by immense concourses. On both sides
+the speeches were able, eloquent, exhaustive. It was admitted by
+Lincoln's friends that on several occasions he was partly foiled, or at
+least badly bothered, while on the other hand the admirers of Douglas
+allowed that in more than one instance he was flatly and fairly floored
+by Lincoln. It was altogether about an equal match in respect to
+ability, logic, and eloquence. Both of them were self-made men; both of
+them were able lawyers and politicians; both sprang from obscurity to
+distinction; both belonged to the common people; and both were strong
+and popular with the masses.</p>
+
+<p>Though defeated by an unfair apportionment of the legislative districts
+for the senatorship, yet Lincoln so ably fought the great Douglas with
+such wonderful power as to surprise the nation. Heretofore but little
+known out of his native State; this debate made him one of the two most
+conspicuous men in the nation, and the excitement was intensified from
+the fact that both from that hour were the chosen opponents for the
+coming presidential contest.</p>
+
+<p>At the ensuing presidential contest Lincoln was elected to the
+presidency, and the gory front of secession was raised. Forgetting past
+differences, Douglas magnanimously stood shoulder to shoulder with
+Lincoln in behalf of the Union. It was the olive branch of genuine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>
+patriotism. But while proudly holding aloft the banner of his nation in
+the nation councils, and while yet the blood of his countrymen had not
+blended together and drenched the land, the great senator was suddenly
+snatched from among the living in the hour of the country's greatest
+need; while the brave Lincoln was allowed to see the end&mdash;the cause
+triumphant, when he was also called from death unto life.</p>
+
+<p>Lincoln elected, though he was, and admitted to have received his
+election fairly and triumphantly, was yet of necessity compelled to
+enter Washington, like a thief in the night, to assume his place at the
+head of the nation. Lincoln met the crisis calmly but firmly. He had
+watched the coming storm and he asked, as he bade adieu to his friends
+and fellow-citizens, their earnest prayers to Almighty God that he might
+have wisdom and help to see the right path and pursue it. Those prayers
+were answered. He guided the ship of State safely through the most angry
+storm that ever demanded a brave and good pilot. We can only gaze in awe
+on the memory of this man. He seemingly knew in a moment, when placed in
+a trying position that would have baffled an inferior mind, just what to
+do for the best interest of the nation.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Lincoln had unsurpassed fitness for the task he had to execute.
+Without anything like brilliancy of genius, without breadth of learning
+or literary accomplishments, he had that perfect balance of thoroughly
+sound faculties which gave him the reputation of an almost infallible
+judgment. This, combined with great calmness of temper, inflexible
+firmness of will, supreme moral purpose, and intense patriotism made up
+just that character which fitted him, as the same qualities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> fitted
+Washington, for the salvation of his country in a period of stupendous
+responsibility and eminent peril.</p>
+
+<p>Although far advanced on the question of slavery, personally, he was
+exceedingly careful about pushing measures upon a country he knew was
+hardly prepared as yet to receive such sweeping legislation. An
+acquaintance once said: 'It is hard to believe that very nearly one-half
+of the Republican party were opposed to the issue of the proclamation of
+emancipation.' Thus Lincoln avoided all extremes, and this quality alone
+made him eminently fit to govern. Yet, when necessary, he was stern and
+unrelenting. When the British minister desired to submit instructions
+from his government, stating that that government intended to sustain a
+neutral relation, he refused to receive it officially. When France
+demanded recognition by the United States of the government of
+Maximilian, in Mexico, he steadily refused. He was firm as a rock; he
+would ride post haste twenty miles to pardon a deserter, but under no
+consideration could he be induced to suspend hostilities against a
+people who were trying to destroy the Union. All sorts of political
+machinery was invented to manufacture public opinion and sentiment
+against him, but he was triumphantly re-elected in 1864.</p>
+
+<p>The morning of Lincoln's second inauguration was very stormy, but the
+sky cleared just before noon, and the sun shone brightly as he appeared
+before an immense audience in front of the capitol, and took the oath
+and delivered an address, alike striking for its forcible expressions
+and conciliatory spirit. He spoke something as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"On the occasion corresponding to this, four years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> ago, all thoughts
+were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. * * * Both parties
+deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the
+nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it
+perish; and the war came. * * * Both read the same Bible, and pray to
+the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem
+strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
+wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us
+judge not that we be not judged. The prayer of both could not be
+answered. That of neither has been fully. * * * With malice toward none,
+with charity for all, with the firmness in the right, as God gives us
+light to see the right, let us finish the work we are in to bind up the
+nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
+for his widow and his orphans, to all which may achieve and cherish a
+just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."</p>
+
+<p>He hated slavery from the beginning, but was not an abolitionist until
+it was constitutional to be so. At the head of the nation, when
+precedents were useless, he was governed by justice only. He was
+singularly fortunate in the selection of his cabinet officers, and the
+reason was he never allowed prejudice to prevent his placing a rival in
+high office.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, Mr. Lincoln is probably the most remarkable example on the pages of
+history, showing the possibilities of our country. From the poverty in
+which he was born, through the rowdyism of a frontier town, the rudeness
+of frontier society, the discouragement of early bankruptcy, and the
+fluctuations of popular politics, he rose to the championship of Union
+and freedom when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> the two seemed utterly an impossibility; never lost
+his faith when both seemed hopeless, and was suddenly snatched from
+earth when both were secured. He was the least pretentious of men, and
+when, with the speed of electricity, it flashed over the Union that the
+great Lincoln&mdash;shot by an assassin&mdash;was no more, the excitement was
+tremendous. The very heart of the republic throbbed with pain and
+lamentation. Then the immortal President was borne to his last
+resting-place in Springfield, Illinois. All along the journey to the
+grave, over one thousand miles, a continual wail went up from friends
+innumerable, and they would not be comforted. Never was there a grander,
+yet more solemn funeral accorded to any, ancient or modern. He was a
+statesman without a statesman's craftiness, politician without a
+politician's meanness, a great man without a great man's vices, a
+philanthropist without a philanthropist's dreams, a christian without
+pretensions, a ruler without the pride of place or power, an ambitious
+man without selfishness, and a successful man without vanity. Humble man
+of the backwoods, boatman, axman, hired laborer, clerk, surveyor,
+captain, legislator, lawyer, debater, orator, politician, statesman.
+President, savior of the republic, emancipator of a race, true
+christian, true man.</p>
+
+<p>Gaze on such a character; does it not thrill your very soul and cause
+your very heart to bleed that such a man should be shot by a dastardly
+assassin? Yet on the 14th of April, 1865, J. Wilkes Booth entered the
+private box of the President, and creeping stealthily from behind, as
+become the dark deed which he contemplated, deliberately shot Abraham
+Lincoln through the head, and the country lost the pilot in the hours
+when she needed him so much.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Edward_Everett" id="Edward_Everett"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Edward Everett</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Among the more eminent of eminent men stands Edward Everett in the
+annals of American history. We do not give his history to show how he
+struggled through privations, overcoming all obstacles, until victory at
+last crowned his efforts, as so many of our great men have been obliged
+to do, but we do delineate his achievements to illustrate what hard work
+will do, provided a man has ability to develop. Yes, to show what hard
+work will do. But some will say, 'Well, that does sound well, but I
+guess if Edward Everett had been an ordinary man no amount of hard work
+would have made him the Edward Everett of history'; another may say,
+'That's so, it is foolish to argue as you do, and hold up such men as
+examples, intimating that their success is the result of hard work'; and
+still another may say, 'Say what you will, you cannot gain-say the
+factor of opportunities, of 'luck,' if you choose to so designate it.'</p>
+
+<p>We do not gain-say anything; we simply point to history; read for
+yourself. Take eminent men, read their lives, and see if seven-tenths,
+at least, of our great men did not acquire success through their own
+effort. Read carefully and see if they did not largely MAKE their own
+opportunities. True, all cannot be Everetts or Clays, but by
+extraordinary effort and careful thought, any one will better his or her
+condition. Sickness may come, they will be the better prepared. Losses
+will be more easily met and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> discharged. No man ever succeeded by
+waiting for something to turn up. The object of this work is not to make
+people delude themselves by any conceited ideas, but to encourage, to
+inspire, to enkindle anew the fires of energy laying dormant. The point
+is, it is not a 'slumbering genius' within people that it is our desire
+to stimulate, but a 'slumbering energy.' We are content that others
+should take care of the 'genius'; we are satisfied that any influence,
+no matter from what source it comes, that will awaken dormant energies
+will do the world more good than ten times the same amount of influence
+trying to prove that we are fore ordained to be somebody or nobody.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Everett was a man who fully comprehended and appreciated this fact.
+All great men understand that it is the making the most of one's talents
+that makes the most of our chances which absolutely tells. Rufus Choate
+believed in hard work. When some one said to him that a certain fine
+achievement was the result of accident, he exclaimed: "Nonsense. You
+might as well drop the Greek alphabet on the ground and expect to pick
+up the Illiad." Mr. Beecher has well said that every idle man has to be
+supported by some industrious man. Hard labor prevents hard luck.
+Fathers should teach their children that if any one will not work
+neither shall he attain success. Let us magnify our calling and be
+happy, but strive to progress. As before said, Mr. Everett fully
+understood all this and great men innumerable could be quoted in support
+of this doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1794 must ever be memorable, as the year in which Mr. Everett
+was ushered into the world, in which he was to figure as so prominent a
+factor. We have written a long preamble, but it is hoped that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>
+reader has taken enough interest thus far to fully take in the points
+which we have endeavored to make, and it is further hoped that such
+being the case, the reader will, by the light of those ideas, read and
+digest the wonderful character before us.</p>
+
+<p>Undoubtedly Everett possessed one of the greatest minds America has ever
+produced, but if he had rivaled Solomon in natural ability, he could not
+have entered Harvard College as a student at the age of thirteen had he
+not been an indefatigable worker, and will any man delude himself into
+the belief that he could have graduated from such a school at the age of
+only seventeen, and at the head of his class, had he not exercised
+tremendous energy. Still further do any of the readers who chance to
+read this volume think that he was picked up bodily and placed in the
+ministerial chair vacated by the gifted Buckminister when he was only
+nineteen because he was lucky? A city preacher at nineteen! Occupying
+one of the first pulpits in the land at nineteen! "Why, he was gifted."
+Of course he was, and he was a tremendous worker. Thus was his success
+enhanced.</p>
+
+<p>At twenty he was appointed to a Greek professorship in Harvard College,
+and qualified himself by travel in Europe for four years. During that
+time he acquired that solid information concerning the history and
+principles of law, and of the political systems of Europe, which formed
+the foundation of that broad statesmanship for which he was afterward
+distinguished. During his residence in Europe his range of study
+embraced the ancient classics, the modern languages, the history and
+principles of the civil and public law, and a comprehensive examination
+of the existing political systems of Europe. He returned home, and from
+that time until<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> his death he was recognized as one of the greatest
+orators of his time. In 1825 to 1835 he was a distinguished member of
+the national congress. He then served three successive terms as governor
+of Massachusetts. In 1814 he was appointed minister to the English
+court. It was an important mission, for the relations of his government
+with that of England, then wore a grave aspect. His official career in
+London was a marked success. His personal accomplishments made him a
+friend and favorite with the leading men and families of England. After
+this he was sent as a commissioner to China, and after his return from
+abroad, he was at once chosen President of Harvard College.</p>
+
+<p>He entered upon the duties of this new office with his characteristic
+energy and enthusiasm, but ill-health compelled his resignation at the
+end of three years. Upon the death of his bosom friend, Daniel Webster,
+he was appointed to succeed to Webster's position at the head of
+President Fillmore's cabinet. Before the close of his duties as
+Secretary of State, he was chosen by the Massachusetts State Legislature
+to a seat in the National Senate. Once more overwork compelled his
+withdrawal from active responsibility, and in May, 1854, under the
+advice of his physician, he resigned his seat. But he was content to
+remain idle only a few months when he entered with great zeal upon a new
+enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>The project of purchasing Mount Vernon and beautifying it as a memento
+of esteem to the 'Nation's father' attracted his attention, and his
+efforts in behalf of the association to raise money for the above-named
+object netted over $100,000, besides his valuable time, and paying his
+own expenses. He afterwards raised many more thousands of dollars for
+the benefit of numerous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span>charitable societies and objects. Emerging from
+private life at the opening of the civil war he gave himself incessantly
+to the defense of the Union. He died on the 14th of January, 1865, and
+was mourned throughout the whole North. Eulogies innumerable were called
+forth by the death of this intellectual phenomenon of the nineteenth
+century.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Edwin_M_Stanton" id="Edwin_M_Stanton"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Edwin M. Stanton</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Edwin M. Stanton, whom President Lincoln selected for his Secretary of
+War, notwithstanding the fact that he had served in the cabinet of
+Buchanan, was born at Steubenville, Ohio, December 19th, 1814, and died
+in Washington, D. C., December 24th, 1869.</p>
+
+<p>When fifteen years old he became a clerk in a book-store in his native
+town, and with money thus accumulated, was enabled to attend Kenyon
+College, but at the end of two years was obliged to re-enter the
+book-store as a clerk.</p>
+
+<p>Thus through poverty he was deterred from graduating, but knowledge is
+just as beneficial, whether acquired in school or out. Thurlow Weed
+never had the advantages of a college, but stretched prone before the
+sap-house fire, he laid the foundation upon which he built that splendid
+reputation as an able editor; Elihu Buritt never saw the inside of a
+college school-room as a student, but while at the anvil, at work as a
+blacksmith, with book laying on a desk near, he framed the basis of that
+classical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span> learning which made him, as master of forty different
+languages, the esteemed friend of John Bright and others of the most
+noted people the world has ever known.</p>
+
+<p>As it was with them, so it was with Stanton. He had but little
+advantages, but he would not 'down.' It is said that if Henry Ward
+Beecher had gone to sea, as he desired to do, he would not have long
+remained, for in him was even then a 'slumbering genius,' But he himself
+once said that had it not been for his great love of work he never could
+have half succeeded. Ah, that's it; if ability to accomplish hard
+'digging' is not genius, it is the best possible substitute for it. A
+man may have in him a 'slumbering genius,' but unless he put forth the
+energy, his efforts will be spasmodic, ill-timed and scattered.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Full many a gem, of purest ray serene<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And waste its sweetness on the desert air."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Young men, there is truth hidden in these words, despite what some
+writers would make you think. They would argue that if you are to be a
+Milton, a Cromwell, a Webster, or a Clay, that you cannot help it, do
+what you will. Possibly, this may be so; it may not be thought proper
+for me to dispute their lordship, but it does seem to me that such
+arguments can give but little hope; if they have influence at all it
+cannot be an inspiring one. No, never mind the reputation; never pine to
+be a Lincoln, or a Garfield, but if you feel that your chances in youth
+are equal to theirs, take courage&mdash;WORK.</p>
+
+<p>If you are a farmer strive to excel all the surrounding farmers. If a
+boot-black, make up your mind to monopolize the business on your block.
+Faculty to do this is the 'best possible substitute for a slumbering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>
+genius,' if perchance you should lack that 'most essential faculty to
+success.' At any rate, never wait for the 'slumbering genius' to show
+itself,&mdash;if you do, it will never awake but slumber on through endless
+time, and leave you groping on in midnight darkness.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to Stanton. Whether he possessed a 'slumbering genius'
+does not appear, but certain it is that by down-right <span class="smcap">hard work</span> he
+gained a knowledge of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1836, when
+in his twenty-first year. While yet a young lawyer he was made
+prosecuting attorney of Harrison county. In 1842 he was chosen reporter
+of the Ohio Supreme Court, and published three volumes of reports.</p>
+
+<p>In 1847 he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but for nine years
+afterward retained his office in Steubenville, as well as that in
+Pittsburgh. In 1857 his business had so expanded that he found it
+necessary to move to Washington, D. C., the seat of the United States
+Supreme Court. His first appearance before the United States Supreme
+Court was in defence of the State of Pennsylvania against the Wheeling
+and Belmont Bridge Company, and thereafter his practice rapidly
+increased.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 he was employed by the national government as against the
+government of Mexico on land titles, deeds, etc. This great legal
+success, together with several others, won for him a national
+reputation. It has been stated by one of the leading jurists in the
+United States that the cause of nine out of ten of the failures in the
+legal profession is laziness, so common in lawyers, after being admitted
+to the bar. Once in, they seem to think that they have but to 'sit and
+wait' for business. Possibly their eye has, at one time or another,
+caught those sentiments so dear to some writers in regard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> to 'the
+slumbering genius.' Be that as it may, it is very evident that Stanton
+had never been idle, and was seldom obliged to 'refer to his library'
+before answering questions in relation to the law.</p>
+
+<p>He was called to the high position of attorney-general in President
+Buchanan's cabinet, and on January 11th, 1862, nine months after the
+inauguration of Lincoln, he was placed in the most responsible position
+in his cabinet at that time,&mdash;Secretary of War. His labors in this
+department were indefatigable, and many of the most important and
+successful movements of the war originated with him. Never, perhaps, was
+there a more illustrious example of the right man in the right place. It
+seemed almost as if it were a special Provincial interposition to
+incline the President to go out of his own party and select this man for
+this most responsible of all trusts, save his own.</p>
+
+<p>With an unflinching force, an imperial will, a courage never once
+admitting the possibility of failure, and having no patience with
+cowards, compromisers or self-seekers; with the most jealous patriotism
+he displaced the incompetent and exacted brave, mighty, endeavor of all,
+yet only like what he <span class="smcap">exacted of himself</span>. He reorganized the war with
+<span class="smcap">Herculean toil</span>. Through all those long years of war he thought of, saw,
+labored for one end&mdash;<span class="smcap">victory</span>. The amount of work he does in some of
+these critical months was <i>absolutely amazing</i> by its comprehension of
+details, the solution of vexed questions, the mastery of formidable
+difficulties, wonder was it his word sometimes cut like a sharp, quick
+blow, or that the stroke of his pen was sometimes like a thunderbolt. It
+was not the time for hesitation, or doubt, or even argument. He meant
+his imperiled country should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> be saved, and whatever by half-loyalty or
+self-seeking seemed to stand in the way only attracted the lightning of
+his power.</p>
+
+<p>The nation owes as much to him as to any one who in council or in field
+contributed to its salvation. And his real greatness was never more
+conspicuous than at the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. His
+presence of mind, his prompt decision, his unfailing faith and courage
+strengthened, those about him, and prevented the issue of a frightful
+panic and disorder following that unexpected assault upon the life of
+the republic. To have equipped, fed, clothed and organized a million and
+a-half of soldiery, and when their work was done in two days, to have
+remanded them back to the peaceful industries from which they had been
+called; to have had the nation's wealth at his disposal, and yet so
+incorruptible that hundreds of millions could pass through his hands and
+leave him a poor man at the end of his commission, shattered in health,
+yet from necessity obliged to resume his legal practice, must for all
+time rank him among the world's phenomena. Such a man, so true, so
+intent upon great objects must many a time have thwarted the greed of
+the corrupt, been impatient with the hesitation of the imbecile, and
+fiercely indignant against half-heartedness and disloyalty. Whatever
+faults, therefore, his enemies may allege, these will all fade away in
+the splendor with which coming ages will ennoble the greatest of war
+ministers in the nineteenth century. He will be remembered as "one who
+never thought of self, and who held the helm in sunshine and in storm
+with the same untiring grip."</p>
+
+<p>Nor were his services less valuable to his country when, after the
+surrender of the Confederate armies, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> rebellion was transferred to
+the White House, and he stood the fearless, unflinching patriot against
+the schemes and usurpations of its accidental occupant. Mr. Stanton
+entered on his great trust in the fullest prime of manhood, equal,
+seemingly, to any possible toil and strain. He left his department
+incurably shorn of health. He entered upon it in affluence, with a large
+and remunerative practice. He left it without a stain on his hands, but
+with his fortune lessened and insufficient. Yet, when it was
+contemplated by some of his friends, after his retirement, to tender him
+a handsome gift of money, he resolutely and unhesitatingly forbade it,
+and the project had to be abandoned. He was as truly a sacrifice to his
+country as was the brave soldier who laid down his life in the
+prison-pen or sanctified the field with his blood. For an unswerving and
+passionate patriotism, for a magnificent courage, for rare
+unselfishness, for transcendent abilities, for immeasurable services to
+his country; the figure of the greatest war minister in modern times
+will tower with a noble grandeur, as undimmed and enviable a splendor as
+that of any in the history of the Republic; which, like his friend and
+co-worker, the great Lincoln, he gave his life to save.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Andrew_Johnson" id="Andrew_Johnson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Andrew Johnson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The life-career of the seventeenth president of the United States well
+illustrates the spirit and genius of our free institutions. Four of the
+incumbents of the national executive chair were born in North Carolina.
+Of these, the subject of this sketch was one, being born in the
+above-named State, December 29th, 1808.</p>
+
+<p>His father, who died in 1812, was sexton of a church and porter in the
+State bank. Extreme poverty prevented Andrew from receiving any
+schooling, and at the age of ten he was apprenticed to a tailor. A
+gentleman was in the habit of visiting the shop and reading to the
+workmen, generally from the 'American Speaker.' Andrew became intensely
+interested, especially in the extracts from the speeches of Pitt and
+Fox. He determined to learn to read, and having done this he devoted all
+his leisure hours to the perusal of such books as he could obtain. In
+the summer of 1824, a few months before his apprenticeship expired, he
+got into trouble by throwing stones at an old woman's house, and ran
+away to escape the consequences. He went to Lauren's Court House, South
+Carolina, and obtained work as a journeyman tailor.</p>
+
+<p>In May, 1826, he returned to Raleigh. Mr. Selby, his former employer,
+had moved into the country, and Johnson walked twenty miles to see him,
+apologized for his misdemeanor and promised to pay him for his
+unfulfilled time. Selby required security, which Johnson could not
+furnish, and he went away disappointed. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> September he went to
+Tennessee, taking with him his mother, who was dependent upon him for
+support. He worked a year at Greenville when he married, and finally
+settled, deciding to make that town his home.</p>
+
+<p>Thus far his education had been confined to reading; but now, under the
+tuition of his wife, he learned to 'write and cipher.' During this time
+he became prominent in a local debating society, formed of resident
+young men and students of Greenville College. One student says; "On
+approaching the village there stood on the hill by the highway a
+solitary little house, perhaps ten feet square,&mdash;we invariably entered
+when passing. It contained a bed, two or three stools, and a tailor's
+platform. We delighted to stop because one lived here whom we knew well
+outside of school and made us welcome; one who would amuse us by his
+social good nature, taking more than ordinary interest in us, and
+catering to our pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Johnson, taking an interest in local politics, organized a
+workingman's party in 1828, to oppose the 'aristocrat element,' which
+had always ruled the town. Considerable excitement ensued, and Johnson
+was elected an alderman by a large majority. He rose to be mayor, member
+of the State legislature, and a representative in Congress, holding the
+last office for ten years.</p>
+
+<p>In 1853 he was elected governor, and re-elected in 1855. The contest was
+exciting, and violence and threats of murder were frequent. At one
+meeting Johnson appeared with pistol in his hand, laid it on the desk,
+and said: "Fellow-citizens, I have been informed that part of the
+business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination
+of the individual who now has the honor of addressing you. I beg
+respectfully to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> propose that this be the first business in order:
+therefore if any man has come here to-night for the purpose indicated, I
+do not say to him let him speak, but let him shoot." After pausing for a
+moment, with his hand on his pistol, he said, "Gentlemen, it appears
+that I have been misinformed. I will now proceed to address you upon the
+subject that has brought us together."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Johnson's next office was as a member of the national Senate, where
+he ably urged the passage of a bill granting to every settler 160 acres
+of public land. When Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession he
+remained steadfast for the Union. Although a Democrat, he had opposed
+many of their measures in the interest of slavery, and now gravitated
+toward the Republican party. In nearly every city of his native State he
+was burned in effigy; at one time a mob entered a railroad train on
+which he was known to be and attempted to take him, but he met them with
+a pistol in each hand, and drove them steadily before him off the train.
+His loyal sentiments, his efforts to aid Union refugees, and the
+persecution he received at home commended him to the North. In 1862 he
+was appointed military governor of Tennessee, in which position he
+upheld the Federal cause with great ability and zeal. In the winter of
+1861-2 large numbers of Unionists were driven from their homes in East
+Tennessee, who sought refuge in Kentucky. Mr. Johnson met them there,
+relieved the immediate wants of many from his own purse and used his
+influence with the national government for the establishment of a camp
+where these refugees found shelter, food and clothing, and were to a
+large extent organized into companies and mustered into the national
+service. His own wife and child were turned out of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> home and his
+property confiscated. All through his duties as military governor of
+Tennessee Johnson displayed great ability and discharged the duties of
+his office fearlessly, amid eminent personal peril.</p>
+
+<p>On June 7th, 1864, the Republican convention held at Baltimore, having
+re-nominated Mr. Lincoln, chose Mr. Johnson for the second place on
+their ticket. They were inaugurated March 4th, and April 14th the
+President was assassinated, and within three hours after Lincoln expired
+Andrew Johnson was president of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after his inauguration as President of the United States, in the
+course of a speech on the condition of the country he declared, "the
+people must understand that treason is the blackest of crimes, and will
+surely be punished." Now follows the strangest scenes imaginable, coming
+from such a man as he had always, until now, proved himself to be. As
+this part of ex-President Johnson's life has been given great
+prominence, we forbear to speak further in relation to it. We are
+constrained, however, to say that it was sad to see a man, thus late in
+life, destroying in a few months a good character, as a citizen, and
+reputation as an able statesman, which he had been so many years
+building, and in which he had so eminently succeeded. In 1866 the
+University of North Carolina conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st of July, 1875, this wonderful man, who had risen from the
+tailor's bench, to the highest place within the gift of a great nation,
+then to be disgraced and vanquished at his own bidding, died a
+disappointed man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_A_Garfield" id="James_A_Garfield"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James A. Garfield</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Our country probably never produced a character more perfectly rounded,
+physically, intellectually and morally than that which is presented to
+us in the person of James A. Garfield, who was born in a log cabin in
+Cuyahoga county, Ohio, November 19th, 1831.</p>
+
+<p>His childhood was passed in almost complete isolation from social
+influences, save those which proceeded from his mother. His father had
+died when James was only eighteen months old, and when old enough to be
+of any use he was put to work on the farm. The family was very poor, and
+his services were needed to help 'make both ends meet.' At school, as a
+little boy, he allowed no one to impose upon him. He is said to have
+never picked a quarrel, but was sure to resent any indignity with
+effect, no matter how large a boy the offender happened to be. He
+attended school during the cold months when it was impossible to be of
+value on the farm; summers he generally 'worked out,' at one time being
+a driver-boy on the canal.</p>
+
+<p>He attended school at the Geauga Seminary, where he got through his
+first term on the absurdly small sum of seventeen dollars. When he
+returned to school the next term he had but a six pence in his pocket,
+and this he dropped into the contribution box the next day at church. He
+made an arrangement with a carpenter in the village to board with him,
+and have his washing, fuel and light furnished for one dollar and six
+cents per week.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> The carpenter was building a house, and Garfield
+engaged to help him nights and Saturdays. The first Saturday he planed
+fifty-one boards, and thereby made one dollar and two cents. So the term
+went, and he returned home, having earned his expenses and <span class="smcap">and three
+dollars over</span>.</p>
+
+<p>The following winter he taught school at $12 a month and 'boarded
+around.' In the spring he had $48, and when he returned to school he
+boarded himself at an expense of thirty-one cents a week. Heretofore, he
+had supposed a college course beyond him, but meeting a college graduate
+who explained that it was barely possible for a poor boy to graduate, if
+he worked and attended alternate years, he determined to try it. After
+careful calculation Garfield concluded he could get through school
+within <span class="smcap">twelve years</span>. He accordingly began to lay his plans to graduate.
+Think of such determination, dear reader, and then see if you can
+reasonably envy the position attained by Garfield. He appeared as a
+scholar at Hiram, a new school of his own denomination, in 1851. Here he
+studied all the harder, as he now had an object in life. Returning home
+he taught a school, then returned to college, and attended the spring
+term. During the summer he helped build a house in the village, he
+himself planning all the lumber for the siding, and shingling the roof.
+Garfield was now quite a scholar, especially in the languages, and upon
+his return to Hiram he was made a tutor, and thenceforward he worked
+both as a pupil and teacher, doing a tremendous amount of work to fit
+himself for college. When he came to Hiram he started on the preparatory
+course, to enter college, expecting it would take four years. Deciding
+now to enter some eastern institution, he wrote a letter to the
+president<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> of each of the leading colleges in the east, telling them how
+far he had progressed. They all replied that he could enter the junior
+year, and thus graduate in two years from his entrance. He had
+accomplished the preparatory course, generally requiring four solid
+years, and had advanced two years on his college course. He had crowded
+six years into three, beside supporting himself. If ever a man was
+worthy of success Garfield was. He decided to enter Williams College,
+where he graduated in 1856, thus came that institution to grasp the
+honor of giving to the United States of America one of our most popular
+presidents. The grasp of the mind of Garfield, even at this early
+period, can be seen by glancing at the title of his essay, "The Seen and
+the Unseen." He next became a professor; later, principal of the college
+at Hiram.</p>
+
+<p>In the old parties Garfield had little interest, but when the Republican
+party was formed he became deeply interested, and became somewhat noted
+as a stump orator for Fremont and Dayton. In 1860 he was sent to the
+State senate, and while there began preparation for the legal
+profession, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. The war broke out about
+this time, which prevented his opening an office, and he was
+commissioned a colonel, finally a major-general. His career in the army
+was brief, but very brilliant, and he returned home to go to Congress.
+In Washington his legislative career was very successful. He proved to
+be an orator of no mean degree of ability, his splendid education made
+him an acknowledged scholar, and he soon became known as one of the
+ablest debaters in Congress, serving on some of the leading committees.</p>
+
+<p>When Ohio sent her delegation to the Republican<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> National Convention, of
+1880, pledged for Sherman, Garfield was selected as spokesman. His
+speech, when he presented the name of John Sherman, coming, as it did,
+when all was feverish excitement, must be acknowledged as a master-piece
+of the scholarly oratory of which he was master. Conkling had just
+delivered one in favor of Grant, the effect of which was wonderful. The
+Grant delegates 'pooled' the flags, which marked their seats, marched
+around the aisles and cheered and yelled as if they were dwellers in
+Bedlam, just home after a long absence. Fully twenty minutes this went
+on, and Mr. Hoar, the president of the convention after vainly trying to
+restore order gave up in despair, sat down, and calmly allowed disorder
+to tire itself out.</p>
+
+<p>At last it ceases, Ohio is called, a form arises near the center of the
+middle aisle, and moves toward the stage amid the clapping of thousands
+of hands, which increases as General Garfield mounts the same platform
+upon which Senator Conkling has so lately stood. In speaking he is not
+so restless as was Conkling, but speaking deliberately he appeals to the
+judgment of the masses, as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. President: I have witnessed the extraordinary scenes of this
+convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more
+quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and noble character. But,
+as I sat on these seats and witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to
+me you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into
+a fury and tossed into a spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the
+dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm
+level of the sea from which all heights and depths are measured. When
+the storm had passed and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span> hour of calm settles on the ocean, when
+sunlight bathes its smooth surface, then the astronomer and surveyor
+takes the level from which he measures all terrestrial heights and
+depths. Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not mark
+the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when
+the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of
+public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty
+people are to be measured, and by which their final action will be
+determined. Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
+men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic to be
+decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred
+and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the urn and
+determine the choice of their party; but by four million Republican
+firesides, where the thoughtful fathers, with wives and children about
+them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of
+country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the
+knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in
+days gone by&mdash;there God prepares the verdict that shall determine the
+wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in
+the sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the silence of
+deliberate judgment will this great question be settled. Let us aid them
+to-night.</p>
+
+<p>"But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want? Bear with me a
+moment. Hear me for this cause, and, for a moment, be silent that you
+may hear. Twenty-five years ago this Republic was wearing a triple chain
+of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of men
+had paralyzed the consciences<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> of a majority of our people. The baleful
+doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and
+most beneficent powers of the national government, and the grasping
+power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories of the West and
+dragging them into the den of eternal bondage. At that crisis the
+Republican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that fire
+of liberty which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the
+powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish. The
+Republican party came to deliver and save the Republic. It entered the
+arena when the beleaguered and assailed territories were struggling for
+freedom, and drew around them the sacred circle of liberty which the
+demon of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free forever.
+Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young party, under the
+leadership of that great man who, on this spot, twenty years ago, was
+made its leader, entered the national capitol and assumed the high
+duties of the government. The light which shone from its banner
+dispelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capitol, and
+melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed, in the fire of
+liberty, every slave-pen within the shadow of the capitol. Our national
+industries, by an impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and
+the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the treasury
+itself was well-nigh empty. The money of the people was the wretched
+notes of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible State banking
+corporations, which were filling the country with a circulation that
+poisoned rather than sustained the life of business. The Republican
+party changed all this. It abolished the babel of confusion, and gave
+the country a currency as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> national as its flag, based upon the sacred
+faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our great
+industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled with the
+spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It
+confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it,
+and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was
+won. Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the sweet, calm words
+of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered
+foe that lay prostrate at its feet: 'This is our only refuge, that you
+join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine
+like stars for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and
+justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal
+before the law.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the
+public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party
+has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has
+sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and victory. How
+shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing
+our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say one word to cast a
+shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes. This coming fight is our
+Thermopyl&aelig;. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts
+are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of
+Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year,
+for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census
+taken this year will bring re-enforcements and continued power. But in
+order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of
+every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> America, of
+every Blaine man and every anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower
+of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I
+say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together,
+and inquire what we shall do. We want a man whose life and opinions
+embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who,
+standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past
+history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds,
+and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to
+come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness toward those
+we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of
+the South the olive branch of peace, and wishes them to return to
+brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it shall be admitted
+forever and forevermore, that, in the war for the Union, we were right
+and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet them as brethren,
+and on no other. We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors
+of this great republic.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a name for your
+consideration&mdash;the name of a man who was the comrade and associate and
+friend of nearly all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from
+these walls to-night, a man who began his career of public service
+twenty-five years ago, whose first duty was courageously done in the
+days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that
+bloody shower began to fall, which finally swelled into the deluge of
+war. He bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty
+in the National Legislature, through all subsequent time his pathway has
+been marked by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> labors performed in every department of legislation. You
+ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years of national
+statutes. Not one great beneficent statute has been placed in our
+statute books without his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these
+men to formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried us
+through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship of those statutes
+that restored and brought back the unity and married calm of the States.
+His hand was in all that great legislation that created the war
+currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the promises of the
+Government, and made the currency equal to gold. And when at last called
+from the halls of legislation into a high executive office, he displayed
+that experience, intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has
+carried us through a stormy period of three years. With one-half the
+public press crying 'crucify him,' and a hostile Congress seeking to
+prevent success, in all this he remained unmoved until victory crowned
+him. The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great business
+interests of the country he has guarded and preserved while executing
+the law of resumption and effecting its object without a jar and against
+the false prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of
+this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with calmness the
+great emergencies of the Government for twenty-five years. He has
+trodden the perilous heights of public duty, and against all the shafts
+of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of
+'that fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its fiercest ray
+has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield. I do not present
+him as a better Republican or as better man than thousands of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> others we
+honor, but I present him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate
+John Sherman, of Ohio."</p>
+
+<p>The speech was over, its effect was like oil upon troubled waters. When
+the balloting began a single delegate only voted for Garfield. The fight
+was between Grant, Blaine, Sherman and Edmunds; Windom and others were
+waiting the possibility of a compromise. Garfield managed Sherman's
+forces. He meant to keep his favorite in the field, in vain trying to
+win over Blaine's followers. On the thirty-fourth ballot the Wisconsin
+delegation determined to make a break, and hence put forth an effort in
+an entirely new direction, casting their entire seventeen votes for
+Garfield. The General arose and declined to receive the vote, but the
+chairman ruled otherwise, and on the next ballot the Indiana delegation
+swung over. On the thirty-sixth ballot he was nominated. Then followed
+his canvass and election.</p>
+
+<p>Time flew, and he was about to join his old friends at Willams' College,
+when an assassin stealthily crept up and shot him from behind, as
+dastardly assassins and cowardly knaves generally do. The whole country
+was thrown into a feverish heat of excitement between this cowardly act
+and the president's death, which occurred two months later. Thus, after
+a struggle for recognition, which had won the admiration of the world,
+he was snatched from the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of his toil,
+and from the people who needed his service. Like Lincoln, he had come
+from the people, he belonged to the people, and by his own right hand
+had won the first place among fifty millions of people. Like Lincoln, he
+was stricken down when his country expected the most of him, stricken in
+the very prime of life. Like Lincoln, when that enjoyment for which he
+had labored was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> about to crown his efforts; and like Lincoln, it could
+not be said of him he lived in vain.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Chester_A_Arthur" id="Chester_A_Arthur"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Chester A. Arthur</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Chester Allan Arthur's career, like that of thousands of other
+Americans, illustrates the truth that wealth, high social position and
+all the advantages with which fortune and affection can surround the
+young are not essential to their success and prosperity in professional,
+business or public life. In fact, too often they tend to enervate both
+mind and body, and thus prove in reality obstacles to attaining true and
+worthy manhood.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Arthur, like Lincoln, Grant, Garfield and others who preceded him in
+the presidential office, hewed his own way upward and onward from a
+discouraging beginning.</p>
+
+<p>He was born in Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, October 5th, 1830.
+He was the eldest son of the Rev. William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman,
+having a large family and a modest income. The Rev. Mr. Arthur was born
+in Ireland, and came to this country when eighteen years of age. He is
+remembered as a man of great force of character, sturdy piety and a
+faithful and earnest Christian minister. He had few worldly benefits to
+bestow upon his children, but he implanted deep into their minds
+principles governing their actions which were never effaced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>As a lad, Mr. Arthur was trained in the public schools accessible to
+him, and by his father's aid, fitted himself for college, entering Union
+when fifteen years old, and graduating with high honors in 1848. The
+Hon. Frederick W. Seward, who was in the class next below young Arthur,
+says of his school days: "Chet, as we all called him, was the most
+popular boy in his class. He was always genial and cheerful, a good
+scholar, and apt in debate." To aid in defraying his expenses, Chester
+taught country schools during parts of two winters, but kept pace with
+his class while absent, showing his independence of spirit, and his zeal
+to acquire an education.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Arthur's preference turned toward the law, and after a course in
+Fowler's law school at Ballston, he went to New York city; became a law
+student in the office of Erastus D. Culver, and was admitted to the bar
+in 1852. Mr. Culver showed his confidence in his promising student by
+taking him into partnership. Mr. Culver was soon elected civil judge of
+Brooklyn, and the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Arthur then formed a
+partnership with Henry D. Gardiner, with a view to practicing in some
+growing Western city. The young lawyers went West and spent three months
+in prospecting for a locality to suit their taste, but not finding it,
+they returned to New York, hired an office, and before long had a good
+business. The most noted cases in which Mr. Arthur appeared in his early
+career as a lawyer, were the Lemmon slave case, and the suit of Lizzie
+Jennings, a fugitive slave, whose liberty he secured, and a colored
+lady, a superintendent of a Sunday-School for colored children, who was
+ejected from a Fourth Avenue horse-car, after her fare had been accepted
+by the conductor, because a white passenger objected to her presence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the first case he was largely instrumental in establishing a
+precedent, setting forth the theory that slaves brought into free
+territory, were at liberty. In the second case, he obtained a verdict of
+$500.00 damages in favor of the colored woman as against the company.
+The establishment of this precedent caused the street railroad companies
+of the city to issue an order that colored persons should be allowed to
+travel in their cars. Thus did Chester A. Arthur obtain equal civil
+rights for negroes in public vehicles.</p>
+
+<p>In 1859 he married Miss Ellen Lewis Herndon, of Fredericksburg,
+Virginia; daughter of Captain William Lewis Herndon, United States Navy,
+who went bravely to his death in 1857, sinking with his ship, the
+Central America, refusing to leave his post of duty, though he helped
+secure the safety of others. Mrs. Arthur was a devoted wife, and a woman
+of many accomplishments. She died in January, 1880, and lies buried in
+the Albany Rural Cemetery.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Arthur took a lively interest in politics, and was first a Henry
+Clay Whig, but later helped to form the Republican party. He held
+several offices in the militia prior to 1860, and when Edwin D. Morgan
+became governor of the State in 1860, he made Mr. Arthur a member of his
+staff, promoting him from one position to another until he became
+quarter-master general. The duties of this post were most arduous and
+exacting. To promptly equip, supply and forward the thousands of troops
+sent to the front to defend the Union was a task demanding the highest
+executive ability and rare organizing skill, besides the greatest
+precision in receiving, disbursing and accounting for the public funds.
+Millions of dollars passed through his hands; he had the letting of
+enormous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> contracts, and opportunities, without number, by which he
+might have enriched himself. But he was true to himself and to his
+trust. So implicit was the confidence reposed in him that his accounts
+were audited at Washington without question or deduction, though the
+claims of many States were disallowed, to the extent of millions. He
+left the office poorer than when he entered it, but with the proud
+satisfaction of knowing that all the world esteemed him as an honest
+man.</p>
+
+<p>From 1863 to 1871 General Arthur successfully engaged in the practice of
+law in New York. November 20th, 1871, he was appointed collector of the
+port of New York, and re-appointed in 1875. The second appointment was
+confirmed by the Senate without reference to a committee, the usual
+course, the fact being highly complimentary, and testifying to the high
+opinion held by the Senate regarding his official record. He was
+suspended by President Hayes, though no reflection upon his official
+conduct was made. He again returned to the practice of law, though
+taking an energetic part in politics, serving several years as chairman
+of the Republican State Committee. General Arthur, in the campaign of
+1880, was an ardent supporter of Grant before the National Convention,
+being one of the famous "306" who voted for Grant to the last.</p>
+
+<p>His nomination for Vice President was as much a surprise as that of
+Garfield for the first place on the ticket. He had not been mentioned as
+a candidate, and his own delegation had not thought of presenting his
+name until the roll was called in the Convention. When New York was
+reached in the call the delegation asked to be excused from voting for a
+time. Then General Stewart L. Woodford cast the vote for Arthur. The
+tide<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> quickly turned. The Ohio men were disposed to be conciliatory, and
+swung over to Arthur, who was nominated on the first ballot. The
+incidents that followed the inauguration of Garfield and himself as
+President and Vice-President; the unhappy differences that led to the
+resignation of Senators Conkling and Platt; the strife over the election
+of their successors; the assassination and death of President Garfield,
+and the accession to the presidency of General Arthur. These form a
+chapter in our political history, with the details of which we are all
+familiar, and are not likely to soon be forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>It was under the most unfavorable circumstances that Chester A. Arthur
+assumed the office of President; the people's passion over the death of
+the second President of the United States, to fall by an assassin's
+hand, was intense; factional feeling in his own party was bitter and
+apparently irreconcilable; when the popular mind was filled with
+dreadful forebodings as to the future; but he exhibited a gravity, a
+reticence, an affability, and a firmness which commanded the respect of
+conservative men of all parties. Not only was he the most
+successful&mdash;perhaps the only successful&mdash;Vice-President elevated to the
+Presidency by the death of the President, but he is worthy to be counted
+among the most serviceable of the Presidents.</p>
+
+<p>Peace and prosperity were promoted by his administration. Ex-President
+Chester A. Arthur died at his residence in New York city, November 18th,
+1886. He leaves as surviving members of his family two children, Chester
+Allan, a young man of twenty-two years, and Miss Nellie, just budding
+into womanhood. At the age of fifty-six, without elaborate display, he
+was quietly laid beside his wife in Rural Cemetery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="John_A_Logan" id="John_A_Logan"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">John A. Logan</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>"I entered the field to die, if need be, for this government and never
+expect to return to peaceful pursuits until the object of this war of
+preservation has become a fact established." Thus spoke John A. Logan in
+1862, when asked to return home from the field and become a candidate
+for Congress.</p>
+
+<p>General Logan was born February 9th, 1826, in Murphysboro, Illinois, and
+was the eldest of eleven children. He received his education in the
+common schools and in Shiloh Academy.</p>
+
+<p>The Mexican war broke out when young Logan was but twenty years of age,
+and he at once enlisted and was made a lieutenant in one of the Illinois
+regiments. He returned home in 1848 with an excellent military record,
+and commenced the study of law in the office of his uncle, Alexander M.
+Jenkins, who had formerly been lieutenant-governor of the State.</p>
+
+<p>In 1844, before he had completed his law course, he was elected clerk of
+Jackson county, and at the expiration of his term of office went to
+Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended law lectures, and was admitted
+to the bar in the spring of 1851. In the fall of the same year he was
+elected to represent Jackson and Franklin counties in the legislature,
+and from that time has been almost uninterruptedly in the public
+service, either civil or military.</p>
+
+<p>He was twice elected to the legislature, and in 1854<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> was a Democratic
+presidential elector, and cast his vote for James Buchanan.</p>
+
+<p>The year of 1860&mdash;the year of the great Lincoln campaign&mdash;saw Logan
+serving his second term in Congress as the representative of the Ninth
+Illinois Congressional District. Mr. Logan was then a Democrat and an
+ardent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, Mr. Lincoln's opponent. On the
+floor of Congress he several times in 1860 and 1861 attacked the course
+of the Southern members.</p>
+
+<p>The war came at last, and Logan was one of the first to enter the Union
+army. He resigned his seat in Congress in July, 1861, for that purpose,
+and took a brave part in the first battle of Bull Run. He personally
+raised the Thirty-first Illinois Regiment of Infantry, and was elected
+its colonel. The regiment was mustered into service on September 13th,
+1861, was attached to General M'Clernand's brigade, and seven weeks
+later was under a hot fire at Belmont. During this fight Logan had a
+horse shot from under him, and was conspicuous in his gallantry in a
+fierce bayonet charge which he personally led. The Thirty-first, under
+Logan, quickly became known as a fighting regiment, and distinguished
+itself at the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. In this last
+engagement Logan was severely wounded, and for many weeks unfitted for
+duty. During his confinement in the hospital his brave wife, with great
+tact and energy, got through the lines to his bedside, and nursed him
+until he was able to take the field once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Logan was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers soon
+after reporting for duty. This was in March, 1862, and he was soon after
+hotly engaged in Grant's Mississippi campaign. In the following year he
+was asked to return home and go to congress again, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> declined with an
+emphatic statement that he was in the war to stay until he was either
+disabled or peace was established. Eight months after his promotion to
+the rank of Brigadier-General he was made a Major-General for
+exceptional bravery and skill, and was put in command of the Third
+Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, under General M'Pherson. After
+passing through the hot fights of Raymond and Port Gibson, he led the
+center of General M'Pherson's command at the siege of Vicksburg, and his
+column was the first to enter the city after the surrender. He was made
+the Military Governor of the captured city, and his popularity with the
+Seventeenth Corps was so great that a gold medal was given to him as a
+testimonial of the attachment felt for him by the men he led.</p>
+
+<p>"In the following year he led the Army of the Tennessee on the right of
+Sherman's great march to the sea. He was in the battles of Resaca and
+the Little Kenesaw Mountain, and in the desperate engagement of Peach
+Tree Creek where General M'Pherson fell. The death of M'Pherson threw
+the command upon Logan, and the close of the bitter engagement which
+ensued saw 8,000 dead Confederates on the field, while the havoc in the
+Union lines had been correspondingly great.</p>
+
+<p>"After the fall of Atlanta, which occurred on the 2nd of September,
+General Logan returned to the North, and took a vigorous part in the
+Western States in the campaign which resulted in the election of Abraham
+Lincoln for the second time to the presidency. He rejoined his command
+at Savannah, and was with it until the surrender of Johnson, after which
+he went with the army to Washington.</p>
+
+<p>"His military career ended with his nomination in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span> 1866 by the
+Republicans of Illinois to represent the State as Congressman at-large
+in the Fortieth Congress. He was elected by 60,000 majority. He was one
+of the managers on the part of the House of Representatives in the
+impeachment proceedings which were instituted against Johnson. In 1868
+and 1870 he was re-elected to the House, but before he had finished his
+term under the last election he was elected to the United States Senate
+to succeed Senator Yates. The last term for which he was elected expires
+in 1891.</p>
+
+<p>"He took an active part in the last presidential campaign, when he and
+Mr. Blaine were the candidates on the presidential ticket, and had a
+strong influence in holding the soldier vote fast in the Republican
+ranks."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Logan's views in regard to the immortality of the soul was clearly
+expressed in a speech delivered at the tomb of General Grant on Memorial
+Day, 1886:</p>
+
+<p>"Was any American soldier immolated upon a blind law of his country? Not
+one! Every soldier in the Union ranks, whether in the regular army or
+not, was in the fullest sense a member of the great, the imperishable,
+the immortal army of American volunteers. These gallant spirits now lie
+in untimely sepulcher. No more will they respond to the fierce blast of
+the bugle or the call to arms. But let us believe that they are not
+dead, but sleeping! Look at the patient caterpillar as he crawls on the
+ground, liable to be crushed by every careless foot that passes. He
+heeds no menace, and turns from no dangers. Regardless of circumstances,
+he treads his daily round, avoided by the little child sporting upon the
+sward. He has work, earnest work, to perform, from which he will not be
+turned, even at the forfeit of his life. Reaching his appointed place,
+he ceases even to eat,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span> and begins to spin those delicate fibres which,
+woven into fabrics of beauty and utility, contribute to the comfort and
+adornment of a superior race. His work done, he lies down to the sleep
+from which he never wakes in the old form. But that silent, motionless
+body is not dead; an astonishing metamorphosis is taking place. The
+gross digestive apparatus dwindles away; the three pairs of legs, which
+served the creature to crawl upon the ground, are exchanged for six
+pairs suited to a different purpose; the skin is cast; the form is
+changed; a pair of wings, painted like the morning flowers, spring out,
+and presently the ugly worm that trailed its slow length through the
+dust is transformed into the beautiful butterfly, basking in the bright
+sunshine, the envy of the child and the admiration of the man. Is there
+no appeal in this wonderful and enchanting fact to man's highest reason?
+Does it contain no suggestion that man, representing the highest
+pinnacle of created life upon the globe, must undergo a final
+metamorphosis, as supremely more marvelous and more spiritual, as man is
+greater in physical conformation, and far removed in mental construction
+from the humble worm that at the call of nature straightway leaves the
+ground, and soars upon the gleeful air? Is the fact not a thousand-fold
+more convincing than the assurance of the poet:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest well;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">This longing after immortality?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Or whence this dread secret and inward horror<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Back on herself, and startles at destruction?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis the divinity that stirs within us;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And intimates eternity to man,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>"On December 26th, 1886, the strong man succumbed to rheumatism. His
+death was a great shock to his numerous friends throughout the Union,
+and he was mourned by a great and mighty nation. From the lowly ranks to
+whom he belonged by birth, to the most exalted circles, the sympathy for
+the bereaved was genuine."</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="James_G_Blaine" id="James_G_Blaine"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">James G. Blaine</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Few men are more prominently placed before the vision of a mighty nation
+to-day than James G. Blaine. Born in obscurity, he possesses traits of
+character which are peculiar to himself; they differ widely from that of
+any statesman who ever spoke in the legislative halls at Washington.</p>
+
+<p>Colleges, of themselves, make no man great. An 'educated idiot' will
+never make a statesman, notwithstanding the too prevalent notion that
+the possession of a diploma should entitle any one to a place in our
+social aristocracy. The great, active, relentless, human world gives a
+man a place of real influence, and crowns him as truly great for what he
+really is; and will not care a fig for any college certificate. If the
+young man is determined to succeed in the world then a college is a
+help. The trouble is not in the college, but in the man. He should
+regard the college as a means to attain a result, not the result of
+itself. The question the great busy world asks the claimant is: What can
+he do? If the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> claimant enter school determined to succeed, even if he
+sleeps but four to six hours out of the twenty-four, he will be
+benefited. However, study like that of Webster, by New Hampshire pine
+knots; and like Garfield's, by a wood-pile; generally proves valuable.
+Blaine's life is thus beautifully described by his biographer:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"James Gillespie Blaine, the subject of this biography, was born January
+31st, 1830. His father, Ephraim L. Blaine, and his mother, Maria
+Gillespie, still lived in their two-story house on the banks of the
+Monongahela. No portentious events, either in nature or public affairs,
+marked his advent. A few neighbors with generous interest and sympathy
+extended their aid and congratulations. The tops of the hills and the
+distant Alleghanies were white with snow, but the valley was bare and
+brown, and the swollen river swept the busy ferry-boat from shore to
+shore with marked emphasis, as old acquaintances repeated the news of
+the day, 'Blaine has another son.'"</p>
+
+<p>Another soul clothed in humanity; another cry; increased care in one
+little home. That was all. It seems so sad in this, the day of his fame
+and power, that the mother who, with such pain and misgiving, prayer and
+noble resolutions, saw his face for the first time should now be
+sleeping in the church-yard. In the path that now leads by her grave,
+she had often paused before entering the shadowy gates of the
+weather-beaten Catholic church, and calmed her anxious fears that she
+might devoutly worship God and secure the answer to her prayer for her
+child.</p>
+
+<p>It seems strange now, in the light of other experiences, that no
+tradition or record of a mother's prophecy concerning the future
+greatness of her son comes down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> to us from that birthday, or from his
+earliest years. But the old European customs and prejudices of her Irish
+and Scottish ancestry seem to have lingered with sufficient force to
+still give the place of social honor and to found the parent's hopes on
+the first-born. To all concerned it was a birth of no special
+significance. Outside of the family it was a matter of no moment. Births
+were frequent. The Brownsville people heard of it, and passed on to
+forget, as a ripple in the Monongahela flashes on the careless sight for
+a moment, then the river rolls on as before. Ephraim Blaine was proud of
+another son; the little brother and the smaller sister hailed a new
+brother. The mother, with a deep joy which escaped not in words, looked
+onward and tried to read the future when the flood of years should have
+carried her new treasure from her arms. That flood has swept over her
+now, and all her highest hopes and ambition is filled, but she seems not
+to hear the church bells that ring nor the cannon that bellow at the
+sound of his name.</p>
+
+<p>"All his early childhood years were spent about his home playing in the
+well-kept yard gazing at the numerous boats that so frequently went
+puffing by. For a short time the family moved to the old Gillespie House
+further up the river, and some of the inhabitants say that at one time,
+while some repairs were going on, they resided at the old homestead of
+Neal Gillespie, back from the river, on Indian Hill."</p>
+
+<p>At seventeen he graduated from school and, his father, losing what
+little property he did have, young Blaine was thrown upon his own
+resources. But it is often the best thing possible for a young man to be
+thus tossed over-board, and be compelled to sink or swim. It develops a
+self-reliant nature. He secured employment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> as a teacher, and into this
+calling he threw his whole soul. Thus he became a success as an educator
+at Blue Lick Springs. He next went to Philadelphia, and for two years
+was the principal teacher of the boys in the Philadelphia Institution
+for instruction of the blind. When he left that institution he left
+behind him a universal regret at a serious loss incurred, but an
+impression of his personal force upon the work of that institution which
+it is stated, on good authority, is felt to this day. Mr. Chapin, the
+principal, one day said, as he took from a desk in the corner of the
+school-room a thick quarto manuscript book, bound in dark leather and
+marked 'Journal:' "Now, I will show you something that illustrates how
+thoroughly Mr. Blaine mastered anything he took hold of. This book Mr.
+Blaine compiled with great labor from the minute-books of the Board of
+Managers. It is a historical view of the institution from the time of
+its foundation, up to the time of Mr. Blaine's departure. He did all the
+work in his own room, telling no one of it till he left. Then he
+presented it, through me, to the Board of Managers who were both
+surprised and gratified. I believe they made him a present of $100 as a
+thank-offering for an invaluable work." The book illustrates one great
+feature in the success of Mr. Blaine. It is clear, and indicates his
+mastery of facts in whatever he undertook, and his orderly presentation
+of facts in detail. The fact that no one knew of it until the proper
+time, when its effect would be greatest, shows that he naturally
+possesses a quality that is almost indispensable to the highest
+attainment of success.</p>
+
+<p>He left Philadelphia for Augusta, Maine, where he became editor of the
+<i>Kennebec Journal</i>. While editor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> and member of his State legislature,
+he laid the foundation which prepared him to step at once to the front,
+when in 1862 he was sent to the National Congress, when the country was
+greatly agitated over the Five-twenty bonds, and how they should be
+redeemed. Mr. Blaine spoke as follows:</p>
+
+<p>"But, now, Mr. Speaker, suppose for the sake of argument, we admit that
+the Government may fairly and legally pay the Five-twenty bonds in paper
+currency, what then? I ask the gentleman from Massachusetts to tell us,
+what then? It is easy, I know, to issue as many greenbacks as will pay
+the maturing bonds, regardless of the effect upon the inflation of
+prices, and the general derangement of business. Five hundred millions
+of Five-twenties are now payable, and according to the easy mode
+suggested, all we have to do is set the printing-presses in motion, and
+'so long as rags and lampblack hold out' we need have no embarrassment
+about paying our National Debt. But the ugly question recurs, what are
+you going to do with the greenbacks thus put afloat? Five hundred
+millions this year, and eleven hundred millions more on this theory of
+payment by the year 1872; so that within the period of four or five
+years we would have added to our paper money the thrilling inflation of
+sixteen hundred millions of dollars. We should all have splendid times
+doubtless! Wheat, under the new dispensation, ought to bring twenty
+dollars a bushel, and boots would not be worth more than two hundred
+dollars a pair, and the farmers of our country would be as well off as
+Santa Anna's rabble of Mexican soldiers, who were allowed ten dollars a
+day for their services and charged eleven for their rations and
+clothing. The sixteen hundred millions of greenbacks added to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>
+amount already issued would give us some twenty-three hundred millions
+of paper money, and I suppose the theory of the new doctrine would leave
+this mass permanently in circulation, for it would hardly be consistent
+to advocate the redemption of the greenbacks in gold after having
+repudiated and foresworn our obligation on the bonds.</p>
+
+<p>"But if it be intended to redeem the legal tenders in gold, what will
+have been the net gain to the Government in the whole transaction? If
+any gentleman will tell me, I shall be glad to learn how it will be
+easier to pay sixteen hundred millions in gold in the redemption of
+greenbacks, than to pay the same amount in the redemption of Five-twenty
+bonds? The policy advocated, it seems to me, has only two
+alternatives&mdash;the one to ruinously inflate the currency and leave it so,
+reckless of results; the other to ruinously inflate the currency at the
+outset, only to render redemption in gold far more burdensome in the
+end.</p>
+
+<p>"I know it may be claimed, that the means necessary to redeem the
+Five-twenties in greenbacks may be realized by a new issue of currency
+bonds to be placed on the market. Of results in the future every
+gentleman has the right to his own opinion, and all may alike indulge in
+speculation. But it does seem to me that the Government would be placed
+in awkward attitude when it should enter the market to negotiate the
+loan, the avails of which were to be devoted to breaking faith with
+those who already held its most sacred obligations! What possible
+security would the new class of creditors have, that when their debts
+were matured some new form of evasion would be resorted to by which they
+in turn would be deprived of their just and honest dues?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"<i>Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus</i> would supply the ready form of
+protest against trusting a Government with a new loan when it had just
+ignored its plain obligation on an old one.</p>
+
+<p>"Payment of the Five-twenty bonds in paper currency involves therefore a
+limitless issue of greenbacks, with attendant evils of gigantic
+magnitude and far-reaching consequence. And the worse evil of the whole
+is the delusion which calls this a payment at all. It is no payment in
+any proper sense, for it neither gives the creditor what he is entitled
+to, nor does it release the debtor from subsequent responsibility. You
+may get rid of the Five-twenty by issuing the greenback, but how will
+you get rid of the greenback except by paying gold? The only escape from
+ultimate payment of gold is to declare that as a nation we permanently
+and finally renounce all idea of ever attaining a specie standard&mdash;that
+we launch ourselves on an ocean of paper money without shore or
+sounding, with no rudder to guide us and no compass to steer by. And
+this is precisely what is involved if we adopt this mischievous
+suggestion of 'a new way to pay old debts.' Our fate in attempting such
+a course may be easily read in the history of similar follies both in
+Europe and in our own country. Prostration of credit, financial
+disaster, widespread distress among all classes of the community, would
+form the closing scenes in our career of gratuitous folly and national
+dishonor. And from such an abyss of sorrow and humiliation, it would be
+a painful and toilsome effort to regain as sound a position in our
+finances as we are asked voluntarily to abandon to-day.</p>
+
+<p>"The remedy for our financial troubles, Mr. Speaker, will not be found
+in a superabundance of depreciated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> paper currency. It lies in the
+opposite direction&mdash;and the sooner the nation finds itself on a specie
+basis, the sooner will the public treasury be freed from embarrassment,
+and private business relieved from discouragement. Instead, therefore,
+of entering upon a reckless and boundless issue of legal tenders, with
+their consequent depression if not destruction of value, let us set
+resolutely to work and make those already in circulation equal to so
+many gold dollars. When that result shall be accomplished, we can
+proceed to pay our Five-twenties either in coin or paper, for the one
+would be equivalent to the other. But to proceed deliberately on a
+scheme of depreciating our legal tenders and then forcing the holders of
+Government bonds to accept them in payment, would resemble in point of
+honor, the policy of a merchant who, with abundant resources and
+prosperous business, should devise a plan for throwing discredit on his
+own notes with the view of having them bought up at a discount, ruinous
+to the holders and immensely profitable to his own knavish pocket. This
+comparison may faintly illustrate the wrongfulness of the policy, but
+not its consummate folly&mdash;for in the case of the Government, unlike the
+merchant, the stern necessity would recur of making good in the end, by
+the payment of hard coin, all the discount that might be gained by the
+temporary substitution of paper.</p>
+
+<p>"Discarding all such schemes as at once unworthy and unprofitable, let
+us direct our policy steadily, but not rashly, toward the resumption of
+specie payment. And when we have attained that end&mdash;easily attainable at
+no distant day if the proper policy be pursued&mdash;we can all unite on some
+honorable plan for the redemption of the Five-twenty bonds, and the
+issuing instead thereof, a new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> series of bonds which can be more
+favorably placed at a low rate of interest. When we shall have reached
+the specie basis, the value of United States securities will be so high
+in the money market of the world, that we can command our own terms. We
+can then call in our Five-twenties according to the very letter and
+spirit of the bond, and adjust a new loan that will be eagerly sought
+for by capitalists, and will be free from those elements of discontent
+that in some measure surround the existing Funded debt of the country.</p>
+
+<p>"As to the particular measures of legislation requisite to hasten the
+resumption of specie payment, gentlemen equally entitled to respect may
+widely differ; but there is one line of policy conducive thereto on
+which we all ought to agree; and that is on a serious reduction of the
+government expenses and a consequent lightening of the burdens of
+taxation. The interest-bearing debt of the United States, when
+permanently funded, will not exceed twenty-one hundred millions of
+dollars, imposing an annual interest of about one hundred and
+twenty-five millions. Our other expenses, including War, Navy, the
+Pension list, and the Civil list, ought not to exceed one hundred
+millions; so that if we raise two hundred and fifty millions from
+Customs and Internal Revenue combined, we should have twenty-five
+millions annual surplus to apply to the reduction of the Public debt.
+But to attain this end we must mend our ways, and practice an economy
+far more consistent and severe than any we have attempted in the past.
+Our Military peace establishment must be reduced one-half at least, and
+our Naval appropriations correspondingly curtailed; and innumerable
+leaks and gaps and loose ends, that have so long attended our government
+expenditure, must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> be taken up and stopped. If such a policy be pursued
+by Congress, neither the principal of the debt, nor the interest of the
+debt, nor the annual expenses of government, will be burdensome to the
+people. We can raise two hundred and fifty millions of revenue on the
+gold basis, and at the same time have a vast reduction in our taxes. And
+we can do this without repudiation in any form, either open or covert,
+avowed or indirect, but with every obligation of the government
+fulfilled and discharged in its exact letter and in its generous spirit.</p>
+
+<p>"And this, Mr. Speaker, we shall do. Our national honor demands it; our
+national interest equally demands it. We have vindicated our claim to
+the highest heroism on a hundred bloody battle-fields, and have stopped
+at no sacrifice of life needful to the maintenance of our national
+integrity. I am sure that in the peace which our arms have conquered, we
+shall not dishonor ourselves by withholding from any public creditor a
+dollar that we promised to pay him, nor seek, by cunning construction
+and clever afterthought, to evade or escape the full responsibility of
+our national indebtedness. It will doubtless cost us a vast sum to pay
+that indebtedness&mdash;but it would cost us incalculably more not to pay
+it."</p>
+
+<p>This speech, here referred to, occurring, as it did when the ablest
+speakers were interested, was pronounced as a marvel. The great rows of
+figures which he gave, but which space will not allow us to give,
+illustrates the man, and his thorough mastery of all great public
+questions. He never enters a debate unless fully prepared; if not
+already prepared, he prepares himself. His reserve power is wonderful.
+What a feature of success is reserve power.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In 1876 occurred one of the most remarkable contests ever known in
+Congress. The debate began upon the proposition to grant a general
+amnesty to all those who had engaged in the Southern war on the side of
+the Confederacy; of course this would include Mr. Davis. Hon. Benjamin
+H. Hill, of Georgia, one of the ablest Congressmen in the South, met Mr.
+Blaine on the question. As space will not permit us to go into detail at
+all as we would like to, we give simply an extract from one of Mr.
+Blaine's replies:</p>
+
+<p>"I am very frank to say that in regard to all these gentlemen, save one,
+I do not know of any reason why amnesty should not be granted to them as
+it has been to many others of the same class. I am not here to argue
+against it. The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Kasson) suggests 'on their
+application.' I am coming to that. But as I have said, seeing in this
+list, as I have examined it with some care, no gentleman to whom I think
+there would be any objection, since amnesty has already become so
+general&mdash;and I am not going back of that question to argue it&mdash;I am in
+favor of granting it to them. But in the absence of this respectful form
+of application which, since May 22d, 1872, has become a sort of common
+law as preliminary to amnesty, I simply wish to put in that they shall
+go before a United States Court, and in open court, with uplifted hand,
+swear that they mean to conduct themselves as good citizens of the
+United States. That is all.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, gentlemen may say that this is a foolish exaction. Possibly it is.
+But somehow or other I have a prejudice in favor of it. And there are
+some petty points in it that appeal as well to prejudice as to
+conviction. For one, I do not want to impose citizenship on any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>
+gentlemen. If I am correctly informed, and I state it only on rumor,
+there are some gentlemen in this list who have spoken contemptuously of
+the idea of their taking citizenship, and have spoken still more
+contemptuously of the idea of their applying for citizenship. I may
+state it wrongly, and if I do, I am willing to be corrected, but I
+understand that Mr. Robert Toombs has, on several occasions, at
+watering-places, both in this country and in Europe, stated that he
+would not ask the United States for citizenship.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; we can stand it about as well as Mr. Robert Toombs can. And
+if Mr. Robert Toombs is not prepared to go into a court of the United
+States and swear that he means to be a good citizen, let him stay out. I
+do not think that the two Houses of Congress should convert themselves
+into a joint convention for the purpose of embracing Mr. Robert Toombs,
+and gushingly request him to favor us by coming back to accept of all
+the honors of citizenship. That is the whole. All I ask is that each of
+these gentlemen shall show his good faith by coming forward and taking
+the oath which you on that side of the House, and we on this side of the
+House, and all of us take, and gladly take. It is a very small exaction
+to make as a preliminary to full restoration to all the rights of
+citizenship.</p>
+
+<p>"In my amendment, Mr. Speaker, I have excepted Jefferson Davis from its
+operation. Now, I do not place it on the ground that Mr. Davis was, as
+he has been commonly called, the head and front of the rebellion,
+because, on that ground, I do not think the exception would be tenable.
+Mr. Davis was just as guilty, no more so, no less so, than thousands of
+others who have already received the benefit and grace of amnesty.
+Probably he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> was far less efficient as an enemy of the United States:
+probably he was far more useful as a disturber of the councils of the
+Confederacy than many who have already received amnesty. It is not
+because of any particular and special damage that he, above others, did
+to the Union, or because he was personally or especially of consequence,
+that I except him. But I except him on this ground; that he was the
+author, knowingly, deliberately, guiltily, and willfully, of the
+gigantic murders and crimes at Andersonville. * * * *</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Speaker, this is not a proposition to punish Jefferson Davis. There
+is nobody attempting that. I will very frankly say that I myself thought
+the indictment of Mr. Davis at Richmond, under the administration of Mr.
+Johnson, was a weak attempt, for he was indicted only for that of which
+he was guilty in common with all others who went into the Confederate
+movement. Therefore, there was no particular reason for it. But I will
+undertake to say this, and as it may be considered an extreme speech, I
+want to say it with great deliberation, that there is not a government,
+a civilized government, on the face of the globe&mdash;I am very sure there
+is not a European government&mdash;that would not have arrested Mr. Davis,
+and when they had him in their power would not have tried him for
+maltreatment of the prisoners of war and shot him within thirty days.
+France, Russia, England, Germany, Austria, any one of them would have
+done it. The poor victim Wirz deserved his death for brutal treatment,
+and murder of many victims, but I always thought it was a weak movement
+on the part of our government to allow Jefferson Davis to go at large,
+and hang Wirz. I confess I do. Wirz was nothing in the world but a mere
+subordinate, a tool, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> there was no special reason for singling him
+out for death. I do not say he did not deserve it&mdash;he did, richly,
+amply, fully. He deserved no mercy, but at the same time, as I have
+often said, it seemed like skipping over the president, superintendent,
+and board of directors in the case of a great railroad accident, and
+hanging the brakeman of the rear car.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson Davis. Nobody is
+seeking to do it. That time has gone by. The statute of limitation,
+common feelings of humanity, will supervene for his benefit. But what
+you ask us to do is to declare by a vote of two-thirds of both branches
+of Congress, that we consider Mr. Davis worthy to fill the highest
+offices in the United States if he can get a constituency to indorse
+him. He is a voter; he can buy and he can sell; he can go and he can
+come. He is as free as any man in the United States. There is a large
+list of subordinate offices to which he is eligible. This bill proposes,
+in view of that record, that Mr. Davis, by a two-thirds vote of the
+Senate and a two-thirds vote of the House, be declared eligible and
+worthy to fill any office up to the Presidency of the United States. For
+one, upon full deliberation, I will not do it."</p>
+
+<p>These two speeches illustrates the scope of Blaine in debate. These
+speeches also clearly show why he is so dearly beloved, or so bitterly
+hated. But that Mr. Blaine is an orator of the first order cannot be
+gainsaid. The preceding speeches represent the highest attainment of one
+ideal of an orator, and in a role in which Mr. Blaine is almost without
+parallel. In his Memorial address on Garfield, delivered in the hall of
+the House of Representatives, he presents the lofty style which is the
+beau ideal of oratory. He spoke something as follows:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Mr. President: For the second time in this generation the great
+departments of the government of the United States are assembled in the
+Hall of Representatives to do honor to the memory of a murdered
+president. Lincoln fell at the close of a mighty struggle in which the
+passions of men had been deeply stirred. The tragical termination of his
+great life added but another to the lengthened succession of horrors
+which had marked so many lintels with the blood of the first-born.
+Garfield was slain in a day of peace, when brother had been reconciled
+to brother, and when anger and hate had been banished from the land.
+'Whoever shall hereafter draw the portrait of murder, if he will show it
+as it has been exhibited where such example was last to have been looked
+for, let him not give it the grim visage of Moloch, the brow knitted by
+revenge, the face black with settled hate. Let him draw, rather, a
+decorous, smooth-faced, bloodless demon; not so much an example of human
+nature in its depravity and in its paroxisms of crime, as an infernal
+being, a fiend in the ordinary display and development of his
+character." * * * *</p>
+
+<p>"His father dying before he was two years old, Garfield's early life was
+one of privation, but its poverty has been made indelicately and
+unjustly prominent. Thousands of readers have imagined him as the
+ragged, starving child, whose reality too often greets the eye in the
+squalid sections of our large cities. General Garfield's infancy and
+youth had none of this destitution, none of these pitiful features
+appealing to the tender heart, and to the open hand of charity. He was a
+poor boy in the same sense in which Henry Clay was a poor boy; in which
+Andrew Jackson was a poor boy; in which Daniel Webster was a poor boy;
+in the sense in which a large majority<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> of the eminent men of America in
+all generations have been poor boys. Before a great multitude, in a
+public speech, Mr. Webster bore this testimony:</p>
+
+<p>"'It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder
+brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin raised amid the
+snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke
+rose first from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills there
+was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the
+settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to
+it an annual visit. I carry my children to it to teach them the
+hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love
+to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early
+affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with
+all I know of this primitive family abode.'</p>
+
+<p>"With the requisite change of scene the same words would aptly portray
+the early days of Garfield. The poverty of the frontier, where all are
+engaged in a common struggle, and where a common sympathy and hearty
+co-operation lighten the burdens of each, is a very different poverty,
+different in kind, different in influence and effect, from that
+conscious and humiliating indigence which is every day forced to
+contrast itself with neighboring wealth on which it feels a sense of
+grinding dependence. The poverty of the frontier is indeed no poverty.
+It is but the beginning of wealth, and has the boundless possibilities
+of the future always opening before it. No man ever grew up in the
+agricultural regions of the West, where a house-raising, or even a
+corn-husking, is matter of common interest and helpfulness, with any
+other feeling than that of broad-minded,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span> generous independence. This
+honorable independence marked the youth of Garfield, as it marks the
+youth of millions of the best blood and brain now training for the
+future citizenship and future government of the Republic. Garfield was
+born heir to land, to the title of free-holder, which has been the
+patent and passport of self-respect with the Anglo-Saxon race ever since
+Hengist and Horsa landed on the shores of England. His adventure on the
+canal&mdash;an alternative between that and the deck of a Lake Erie
+schooner&mdash;was a farmer boy's device for earning money, just as the New
+England lad begins a possibly great career by sailing before the mast on
+a coasting vessel, or on a merchantman bound to the farther India or to
+the China seas.</p>
+
+<p>"No manly man feels anything of shame in looking back to early struggles
+with adverse circumstances, and no man feels a worthier pride than when
+he has conquered the obstacles to his progress. But no one of noble
+mould desires to be looked upon as having occupied a menial position, as
+having been repressed by a feeling of inferiority, or as having suffered
+the evils of poverty until relief was found at the hand of charity.
+General Garfield's youth presented no hardships which family love and
+family energy did not overcome, subjected him to no privations which he
+did not cheerfully accept, and left no memories save those which were
+recalled with delight, and transmitted with profit and with pride.</p>
+
+<p>"Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were extremely
+limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an intense desire to
+learn. He could read at three years of age, and each winter he had the
+advantage of the district school. He read all the books to be found
+within the circle of his acquaintance; some of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> them he got by heart.
+While yet in childhood he was a constant student of the Bible, and
+became familiar with its literature. The dignity and earnestness of his
+speech in his maturer life gave evidence of this early training. At
+eighteen years of age he was able to teach school, and thenceforward his
+ambition was to obtain a college education. To this end he bent all
+efforts, working in the harvest field, at the carpenter's bench, and in
+the winter season, teaching the common schools of the neighborhood.
+While thus laboriously occupied he found time to prosecute his studies,
+and was so successful that at twenty-two years of age he was able to
+enter the junior class at Williams College, then under the presidency of
+the venerable and honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the fullness of his
+powers, survives the eminent pupil to whom he was of inestimable
+service.</p>
+
+<p>"The history of Garfield's life to this period presents no novel
+features. He had undoubtedly shown perseverance, self-reliance,
+self-sacrifice, and ambition&mdash;qualities which, be it said for the honor
+of our country, are everywhere to be found among the young men of
+America. But from his graduation at Williams, onward to the hour of his
+tragical death, Garfield's career was eminent and exceptional. Slowly
+working through his educational period, receiving his diploma when
+twenty-four years of age, he seemed at one bound to spring into
+conspicuous and brilliant success. Within six years he was successively
+President of a College, State Senator of Ohio, Major-General of the Army
+of the United States and Representative-elect to the National Congress.
+A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within a period so brief
+and to a man so young, is without precedent or parallel in the history
+of the country.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Garfield's army life was begun with no other military knowledge than
+such as he had hastily gained from books in the few months preceding his
+march to the field. Stepping from civil life to the head of a regiment,
+the first order he received when ready to cross the Ohio was to assume
+command of a brigade, and to operate as an independent force in eastern
+Kentucky. His immediate duty was to check the advance of Humphrey
+Marshall, who was marching down the Big Sandy with the intention of
+occupying, in connection with other Confederate forces, the entire
+territory of Kentucky, and of precipitating the State into secession.
+This was at the close of the year 1861. Seldom, if ever, has a young
+college professor been thrown into a more embarrassing and discouraging
+position. He knew just enough of military science, as he expressed it
+himself, to measure the extent of his ignorance, and with a handful of
+men he was marching, in rough winter weather, into a strange country,
+among a hostile population, to confront a largely superior force under
+the command of a distinguished graduate of West Point, who had seen
+active and important service in two preceding wars.</p>
+
+<p>"The result of the campaign is matter of history. The skill, the
+endurance, the extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, the courage he
+imparted to his men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he adopted
+to increase his force, and to create in the enemy's mind exaggerated
+estimates of his numbers, bore perfect fruit in the routing of Marshall,
+the capture of his camp, the dispersion of his force, and the
+emancipation of an important territory from the control of the
+rebellion. Coming at the close of a long series of disasters to the
+Union arms, Garfield's victory had an unusual and extraneous
+importance,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> and in the popular judgment elevated the young commander to
+the rank of a military hero. With less than two thousand men in his
+entire command, with a mobilized force of only eleven hundred, without
+cannon, he had met an army of five thousand and defeated them, driving
+Marshall's forces successively from two strongholds of their own
+selection, fortified with abundant artillery. Major-General Buell,
+commanding the Department of the Ohio, an experienced and able soldier
+of the Regular Army, published an order of thanks and congratulation on
+the brilliant result of the Big Sandy Campaign, which would have turned
+the head of a less cool and sensible man than Garfield. Buell declared
+that his services had called into action the highest qualities of a
+soldier, and President Lincoln supplemented these words of praise by the
+more substantial reward of a Brigadier-General's Commission, to bear
+date from the day of his decisive victory over Marshall.</p>
+
+<p>"The subsequent military career of Garfield fully sustained its
+brilliant beginning. With his new commission he was assigned to the
+command of a brigade in the Army of the Ohio, and took part in the
+second and decisive day's fight on the bloody field of Shiloh. The
+remainder of the year 1862 was not especially eventful to Garfield, as
+it was not to the armies with which he was serving. His practical sense
+was called into exercise in completing the task, assigned him by General
+Buell, of reconstructing bridges and re-establishing lines of railway
+communication for the army. His occupation in this useful but not
+brilliant field was varied by service on courts-martial of importance,
+in which department of duty he won a valuable reputation, attracting the
+notice and securing the approval of the able and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> eminent Judge Advocate
+General of the army. This of itself was warrant to honorable fame; for
+among the great men who in those trying days gave themselves, with
+entire devotion, to the service of their country, one who brought to
+that service the ripest learning, the most fervid eloquence, the most
+varied attainments, who labored with modesty and shunned applause, who,
+in the day of triumph, sat reserved and silent and grateful&mdash;as Francis
+Deak in the hour of Hungary's deliverance&mdash;was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky,
+who, in his honorable retirement, enjoys the respect and veneration of
+all who love the Union of the States.</p>
+
+<p>"Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important and
+responsible post of Chief of Staff to General Rosecrans, then at the
+head of the Army of the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great military campaign
+no subordinate officer requires sounder judgment and quicker knowledge
+of men than the Chief of Staff to the Commanding General. An indiscrete
+man in such a position can sow more discord, breed more jealousy, and
+disseminate more strife than any other officer in the entire
+organization. When General Garfield assumed his new duties he found
+various troubles already well developed and seriously affecting the
+value and efficiency of the Army of the Cumberland. The energy, the
+impartiality, and the tact with which he sought to allay these
+dissensions, and to discharge the duties, of his new and trying
+position, will always remain one of the most striking proofs of his
+great versatility. His military duties closed on the memorable field of
+Chickamauga, a field which, however disastrous to the Union arms, gave
+to him the occasion of winning imperishable laurels. The very rare
+distinction was accorded him of a great promotion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> for bravery on a
+field that was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a Major-General in
+the Army of the United States, for gallant and meritorious conduct in
+the battle of Chickamauga.</p>
+
+<p>"The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized under the command of General
+Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He was
+extremely desirous to accept the position, but was embarrassed by the
+fact that he had, a year before, been elected to Congress, and the time
+when he must take his seat was drawing near. He preferred to remain in
+the military service, and had within his own breast the largest
+confidence of success in the wider field which his new rank opened to
+him. Balancing the arguments on the one side and the other, anxious to
+determine what was for the best, desirous above all things to do his
+patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced by the advice of President
+Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, both of whom assured him that he could,
+at that time, be of especial value in the House of Representatives. He
+resigned his commission of major-general on the 5th day of December,
+1863, and took his seat in the House of Representatives on the 7th. He
+had served two years and four months in the army, and had just completed
+his thirty-second year.</p>
+
+<p>"The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in history to the
+designation of the War Congress. It was elected while the war was
+flagrant, and every member was chosen upon the issues involved in the
+continuance of the struggle. The Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed,
+legislated to a large extent on war measures, but it was chosen before
+any one believed that secession of the States would be actually
+attempted. The magnitude of the work which fell upon its successor was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>
+unprecedented, both in respect to the vast sums of money raised for the
+support of the army and navy, and of the new and extraordinary powers of
+legislation which it was forced to exercise. Only twenty-four States
+were represented, and one hundred and eighty-two members were upon its
+roll. Among these were many distinguished party leaders on both sides,
+veterans in the public service, with established reputations for
+ability, and with that skill which comes only from parliamentary
+experience. Into this assemblage of men Garfield entered without special
+preparation, and, it might almost be said, unexpectedly. The question of
+taking command of a division of troops under General Thomas, or taking
+his seat in Congress, was kept open till the last moment, so late,
+indeed, that the resignation of his military commission and his
+appearance in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uniform
+of a major-general of the United States Army on Saturday, and on Monday,
+in civilian's dress, he answered to roll-call as a Representative in
+Congress from the State of Ohio.</p>
+
+<p>"He was especially fortunate in the constituency which elected him.
+Descended almost entirely from New England stock, the men of the
+Ashtabula district were intensely radical on all questions relating to
+human rights. Well educated, thrifty, thoroughly intelligent in affairs,
+acutely discerning of character, not quick to bestow confidence, and
+slow to withdraw it, they were at once the most helpful and most
+exacting of supporters. Their tenacious trust in men in whom they have
+once confided is illustrated by the unparalleled fact that Elisha
+Whittlesey, Joshua R. Giddings, and James A. Garfield represented the
+district for fifty-four years.</p>
+
+<p>"There is no test of a man's ability in any department<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> of public life
+more severe than service in the House of Representatives; there is no
+place where so little deference is paid to reputation previously
+acquired, or to eminence won outside; no place where so little
+consideration is shown for the feelings or the failures of beginners.
+What a man gains in the House he gains by sheer force of his own
+character, and if he loses and falls back he must expect no mercy, and
+will receive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival of the
+strongest is the recognized rule, and where no pretense can deceive and
+no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, his worth is
+impartially weighed, his rank is irreversibly decreed.</p>
+
+<p>"With possibly a single exception, Garfield was the youngest member in
+the House when he entered, and was but seven years from his college
+graduation. But he had not been in his seat sixty days before his
+ability was recognized and his place conceded. He stepped to the front
+with the confidence of one who belonged there. The House was crowded
+with strong men of both parties; nineteen of them have since been
+transferred to the Senate, and many of them have served with distinction
+in the gubernatorial chairs of their respective States, and on foreign
+missions of great consequence; but among them all none grew so rapidly,
+none so firmly, as Garfield. As is said by Trevelyan, of his
+parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded 'because all the world in concert
+could not have kept him in the back-ground, and because when once in the
+front he played his part with a prompt intrepidity and a commanding ease
+that were but the outward symptoms of the immense reserves of energy on
+which it was in his power to draw.' Indeed, the apparently reserved
+force which Garfield possessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> was one of his great characteristics. He
+never did so well but that it seemed he could easily have done better.
+He never expended so much strength but that he appeared to be holding
+additional power at call. This is one of the happiest and rarest
+distinctions of an effective debater, and often counts for as much, in
+persuading an assembly, as the eloquent and elaborate argument.</p>
+
+<p>"The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled by his service in the
+House of Representatives. His military life, illustrated by honorable
+performance, and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, prematurely
+terminated, and necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to what he might
+have done in a field where the great prizes are so few, cannot be
+profitable. It is sufficient to say that as a soldier he did his duty
+bravely; he did it intelligently; he won an enviable fame, and he
+retired from the service without blot or breath against him. As a
+lawyer, though admirably equipped for the profession, he can scarcely be
+said to have entered on its practice. The few efforts he made at the bar
+were distinguished by the same high order of talent which he exhibited
+on every field where he was put to the test; and, if a man may be
+accepted as a competent judge of his own capacities and adaptations, the
+law was the profession to which Garfield should have devoted himself.
+But fate ordained otherwise, and his reputation in history will rest
+largely upon his service in the House of Representatives. That service
+was exceptionally long. He was nine times consecutively chosen to the
+House, an honor enjoyed probably by not twenty other Representatives of
+the more than five thousand who have been elected, from the organization
+of the government, to this hour.</p>
+
+<p>"As a parliamentary orator, as a debater on an issue<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span> squarely joined,
+where the position had been chosen and the ground laid out, Garfield
+must be assigned a very high rank. More, perhaps, than any man with whom
+he was associated in public life, he gave careful and systematic study
+to public questions, and he came to every discussion in which he took
+part with elaborate and complete preparation. He was a steady and
+indefatigable worker. Those who imagine that talent or genius can supply
+the place or achieve the results of labor will find no encouragement in
+Garfield's life. In preliminary work he was apt, rapid and skillful. He
+possessed in a high degree the power of readily absorbing ideas and
+facts, and, like Dr. Johnson, had the art of getting from a book all
+that was of value in it by a reading apparently so quick and cursory
+that it seemed like a mere glance at the table of contents. He was a
+pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no petty advantage,
+stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided personal allusions, rarely
+appealed to prejudice, did not seek to inflame passion. He had a quicker
+eye for the strong point of his adversary than for his weak point, and
+on his own side he so marshalled his weighty arguments as to make his
+hearers forget any possible lack in the complete strength of his
+position. He had a habit of stating his opponent's side with such
+amplitude of fairness and such liberality of concession that his
+followers often complained that he was giving his case away. But never
+in his prolonged participation in the proceedings of the House did he
+give his case away, or fail in the judgment of competent and impartial
+listeners to gain the mastery.</p>
+
+<p>"These characteristics, which marked Garfield as a great debater, did
+not, however, make him a great parliamentary leader. A parliamentary
+leader, as that term<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> is understood wherever free representative
+government exists, is necessarily and very strictly the organ of his
+party. An ardent American defined the instinctive warmth of patriotism
+when he offered the toast, 'Our country, always right; but right or
+wrong, our country.' The parliamentary leader who has a body of
+followers that will do and dare and die for the cause, is one who
+believes his party always right, but right or wrong, is for his party.
+No more important or exacting duty devolves upon him than the selection
+of the field and the time for contest. He must know not merely how to
+strike, but where to strike and when to strike. He often skillfully
+avoids the strength of his opponent's position, and scatters confusion
+in his ranks by attacking an exposed point when really the righteousness
+of the cause and the strength of logical intrenchment are against him.
+He conquers often both against the right and the heavy battalions; as
+when young Charles Fox, in the days of his Toryism, carried the House of
+Commons against justice, against its immemorial rights, against his own
+convictions, if, indeed, at that period Fox had convictions, and, in the
+interest of a corrupt administration, in obedience to a tyrannical
+sovereign, drove Wilkes from the seat to which the electors of Middlesex
+had chosen him, and installed Luttrell, in defiance not merely of law
+but of public decency. For an achievement of that kind Garfield was
+disqualified&mdash;disqualified by the texture of his mind, by the honesty of
+his heart, by his conscience, and by every instinct and aspiration of
+his nature.</p>
+
+<p>"The three most distinguished parliamentary leaders hitherto developed
+in this country are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens.
+They were all men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span> of consummate ability, of great earnestness, of
+intense personality, differing widely each from the others, and yet with
+a signal trait in common&mdash;the power to command. In the give-and-take of
+daily discussion, in the art of controlling and consolidating reluctant
+and refractory followers, in the skill to overcome all forms of
+opposition, and to meet with competency and courage the varying phases
+of unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defection, it would be difficult
+to rank with these a fourth name in all our Congressional history. But
+of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It would, perhaps, be impossible to
+find in the parliamental annals of the world a parallel to Mr. Clay, in
+1841, when at sixty-four years of age he took the control of the Whig
+party from the President who had received their suffrages, against the
+power of Webster in the Cabinet, against the eloquence of Choate in the
+Senate, against the herculean efforts of Caleb Cushing and Henry A. Wise
+in the House. In unshared leadership, in the pride and plentitude of
+power, he hurled against John Tyler, with deepest scorn the mass of that
+conquering column which had swept over the land in 1840, and drove his
+administration to seek shelter behind the lines of its political foes.
+Mr. Douglas achieved a victory scarcely less wonderful, when in 1854,
+against the secret desires of a strong administration, against the wise
+counsel of the older chiefs, against the conservative instincts, and
+even the moral sense of the country, he forced a reluctant Congress into
+a repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Mr. Stevens, in his contests from
+1865 to 1868, actually advanced his parliamentary leadership until
+Congress tied the hands of the President and governed the country by its
+own will, leaving only perfunctory duties to be discharged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> by the
+Executive. With two hundred millions of patronage in his hands at the
+opening of the contest, aided by the active force of Seward in the
+Cabinet, and the moral power of Chase on the bench, Andrew Johnson could
+not command the support of one-third in either House against the
+parliamentary uprising of which Thaddeus Stevens was the animating
+spirit and the unquestioned leader.</p>
+
+<p>"From these three great men Garfield differed radically, differed in the
+quality of his mind, in temperament, in the form and phase of ambition.
+He could not do what they did, but he could do what they could not, and
+in the breadth of his Congressional work he left that which will longer
+exert a potential influence among men, and which, measured by the severe
+test of posthumous criticism, will secure a more enduring and more
+enviable fame.</p>
+
+<p>"Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and ignorant of the details
+of his work may, in some degree, measure them by the annals of Congress.
+No one of the generation of public men to which he belonged has
+contributed so much that will prove valuable for future reference. His
+speeches are numerous, many of them brilliant, all of them well studied,
+carefully phrazed, and exhaustive of the subject under consideration.
+Collected from the scattered pages of ninety royal octavo volumes of
+Congressional record, they would present an invaluable compendium of the
+political events of the most important era through which the National
+government has ever passed. When the history of this period shall be
+impartially written, when war legislation, measures of reconstruction,
+protection of human rights, amendments to the Constitution, maintenance
+of public credit, steps toward specie resumption, true theories of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>
+revenue, may be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and disconnected
+from partisanism, the speeches of Garfield will be estimated at their
+true value, and will be found to comprise a vast magazine of fact and
+argument, of clear analysis and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no other
+authority were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representatives
+from December, 1863, to June, 1880, would give a well-connected history
+and complete defense of the important legislation of the seventeen
+eventful years that constitute his parliamentary life. Far beyond that,
+his speeches would be found to forecast many great measures yet to be
+completed&mdash;measures which he knew were beyond the public opinion of the
+hour, but which he confidently believed would secure popular approval
+within the period of his own lifetime, and by the aid of his own
+efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"Differing as Garfield does, from the brilliant parliamentary leaders,
+it is not easy to find his counterpart anywhere in the record of
+American public life. He, perhaps, more nearly resembles Mr. Seward in
+his supreme faith in the all-conquering power of a principle. He had the
+love of learning, and the patient industry of investigation, to which
+John Quincy Adams owes his prominence and his presidency. He had some of
+those ponderous elements of mind which distinguished Mr. Webster, and
+which, indeed, in all our public life have left the great Massachusetts
+Senator without an intellectual peer.</p>
+
+<p>"In English parliamentary history, as in our own, the leaders in the
+House of Commons present points of essential difference from Garfield.
+But some of his methods recall the best features in the strong,
+independent course of Sir Robert Peel, to whom he had striking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>
+resemblances in the type of his mind and in the habit of his speech. He
+had all of Burke's love for the sublime and the beautiful with,
+possibly, something of his superabundance. In his faith and his
+magnanimity, in his power of statement, in his subtle analysis, in his
+faultless logic, in his love of literature, in his wealth and world of
+illustration, one is reminded of that great English statesman of to-day,
+who, confronted with obstacles that would daunt any but the dauntless,
+reviled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those whose
+supposed rights he is forced to invade, still labors with serene courage
+for the amelioration of Ireland and for the honor of the English name.</p>
+
+<p>"Garfield's nomination to the presidency, while not predicted or
+anticipated, was not a surprise to the country. His prominence in
+Congress, his solid qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened by his
+then recent election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in the public eye as
+a man occupying the very highest rank among those entitled to be called
+statesmen. It was not mere chance that brought him this high honor. 'We
+must,' says Mr. Emerson, 'reckon success a constitutional trait. If Eric
+is in robust health and has slept well and is at the top of his
+condition, and thirty years old at his departure from Greenland, he will
+steer west and his ships will reach Newfoundland. But take Eric out and
+put in a stronger and bolder man, and the ships will sail six hundred,
+one thousand, fifteen hundred miles farther and reach Labrador and New
+England. There is no chance in results.'</p>
+
+<p>"As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met
+with a storm of detraction at the very hour of his nomination, and it
+continued with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>increasing volume and momentum until the close of his
+victorious campaign:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">No might nor greatness in mortality<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can censure 'scape; backwounding calumny<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Surely, if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of this
+world, on that quiet July morning, James A. Garfield may well have been
+a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted him; no slightest premonition
+of danger clouded his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant.
+One moment he stood erect, strong, confident in the years stretching
+peacefully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
+doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and the grave.</p>
+
+<p>"Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the
+very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he
+was thrust from the full tide of this world's interests, from its hopes,
+its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of death&mdash;and
+he did not quail. Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned
+and dazed, he could give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment,
+but through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony, that was not
+less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he
+looked into his open grave. What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes,
+whose lips may tell&mdash;what brilliant, broken plans, what baffled, high
+ambitions, what sundering of strong, warm, manhood's friendships, what
+bitter rending of sweet household ties! Behind him a proud expectant
+nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a cherished and happy
+mother, wearing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> the full, rich honors of her early toil and tears; the
+wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his; the little boys not yet
+emerged from childhood's day of frolic; the fair young daughter; the
+sturdy sons just springing into closest companionship, claiming every
+day, and every day rewarding a father's love and care; and in his heart
+the eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand. Before him, desolation
+and great darkness! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were
+thrilled with instant, profound and universal sympathy. Masterful in his
+mortal weakness, he became the center of a nation's love, enshrined in
+the prayers of a world. But all the love and all the sympathy could not
+share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With
+unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took
+leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard
+the voice of God. With simple resignation he bowed to the Divine decree.</p>
+
+<p>"As the end drew near, his early cravings for the sea returned. The
+stately mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain,
+and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive,
+stifling air, from its homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently,
+silently, the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the
+longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will,
+within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its manifold
+voices. With wan, fevered face, tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze,
+he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders; on its fair
+sails, whitening in the morning light; on its restless waves, rolling
+shoreward, to break and die beneath the noonday sun; on the red clouds
+of evening, arching low to the horizon; on the serene and shining<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>
+pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic
+meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe
+that in the silence of the receding world be heard the great waves
+breaking on a farther shore, and felt already upon his wasted brow the
+breath of the eternal morning."</p>
+
+<p>We regret that we cannot give our readers the full speech here also, but
+it is sufficient to say that it was a masterly production. We give these
+three extracts from speeches to show, and enable the thinker to read and
+study the characteristics which make Mr. Blaine the great and renowned
+man that he really is to-day; an honor he has earned for himself.</p>
+
+<p>We do not desire to be regarded as a personal admirer of Mr. Blaine. We
+are not, but his ability we are in duty bound to delineate truthfully.
+Our readers will observe the description Mr. Blaine gives in his address
+on Garfield, of the qualifications necessary in a parliamentary leader.
+We will say nothing as to our opinion of some enterprises in which Mr.
+Blaine has engaged; and we will not ask him to explain, what he has
+never satisfactorily explained, in relation to some transactions, nor
+will we try to explain, in our short space, his skillfullness in
+parliamentary practice. As before said, our readers have read his
+description of a parliamentary leader, and we will further simply say
+that Mr. Blaine is one of the most skillful parliamentary leaders in the
+country. He is generally recognized as such by all parties. His canvass
+for the presidency is well-known to the people. Had he been elected he
+would, undoubtedly, have made a very satisfactory president, probably
+one of whom we would long have been proud.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Samuel_J_Tilden" id="Samuel_J_Tilden"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Samuel J. Tilden</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>In 1814 there was born at New Lebanon, New York, an infant son to Elam
+Tilden, a prosperous farmer. His father, being a personal and political
+friend of Mr. Van Buren and other members of the celebrated 'Albany
+Regency'; his home was made a kind of headquarters for various members
+of that council to whose conversation the precocious child enjoyed to
+listen.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden declared of himself that he had no youth. As a boy he was
+diffident, and was studying and investigating when others were playing
+and enjoying the pleasures of society. From the beginning he was a
+calculator. Martin Van Buren, to whom he was greatly attached, often
+spoke of him as 'The sagacious Sammy.'</p>
+
+<p>Thrown into contact with such men at his parent's home, he early evinced
+a fondness for politics which first revealed itself in an essay on 'The
+Political Aspect,' displaying ability far beyond one of his years, which
+was printed in the <i>Albany Argus</i>, and which was attributed to Mr. Van
+Buren, at that time the leader of the Albany Regency.</p>
+
+<p>At twenty he entered Yale College, but ill-health compelled his return
+home. He, however, afterward resumed his studies at the University of
+New York; graduating from that institution he began the practice of law.
+At the bar he became known as a sound, but not especially brilliant
+pleader. In 1866 he was chosen Chairman of the State Committee of his
+party. In 1870-1, he was largely instrumental in unearthing frauds
+perpetrated in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> the city of New York, and in 1874 was elected the
+'reform governor' of the great Empire State. Although in political
+discord with Mr. Tilden, it is in no disparaging sense that we speak of
+him. It is in the sense of a historian bound and obligated to truth that
+we view him. We regard him as the <span class="smcap">mysterious statesman of american
+history</span>.</p>
+
+<p>His personal character was, to a great extent, shrouded from the public
+in a veil of mystery, which had both its voluntary and involuntary
+elements. If Mr. Tilden had desired to be otherwise than mysterious it
+would have required much more self-control and ingenuity than would have
+been necessary to thicken the veil to impenetrability.</p>
+
+<p>His habit was to weigh both sides of every question, and therein he
+resembled, though in other particulars entirely different, the late
+Henry J. Raymond, the founder of the <i>New York Times</i>; and the effect
+was to some extent similar, for each of these men saw both sides of
+every question so fully as to be under the power of both sides, which
+sometimes produced an equilibrium, causing hesitation when the crisis
+required action.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden had intellectual qualities of the very highest order. He
+could sit down before a mass of incoherent statements, and figures that
+would drive most men insane, and elucidate them by the most painstaking
+investigation, and feel a pleasure in the work. Indeed, an intimate
+friend of his assures us that his eye would gleam with delight when a
+task was set before him from which most men would pay large sums to be
+relieved: Hence, his abilities were of a kind that made him a most
+dangerous opponent.</p>
+
+<p>Some persons supposed that Mr. Tilden was a poor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> speaker because, when
+he was brought before the people as a candidate for President of the
+United States, he was physically unable to speak with much force. But
+twenty years ago, for clearness of statement, and for an easy and
+straightforward method of speech he had few superiors. His language was
+excellent, his manner that of a man who had something to say and was
+intent upon saying it. He was at no time a tricky orator, nor did he aim
+at rousing the feelings, but in the clearest possible manner he would
+make his points and no amount of prejudice was sufficient to resist his
+conclusions. He was a great reader, and reflected on all that he read.</p>
+
+<p>No more extraordinary episode ever occurred than his break with William
+M. Tweed, and his devoting himself to the overthrow of that gigantic
+ring. It is not our purpose to treat the whole subject; yet, the manner
+of the break was so tragic that it should be detailed. William M. Tweed
+had gone on buying men and legislatures, and enriching himself until he
+had reached the state of mind in which he said to the public, "What are
+you going to do about it?" He had gone further. He had applied it to the
+leading men of the Democratic party. The time came when he sat in his
+gorgeously furnished apartment in Albany, as Chairman of a certain
+committee of the Senate. Samuel J. Tilden appeared before the committee
+to represent a certain interest. On that occasion Mr. Tweed, who was
+either intoxicated with liquor, or intoxicated with pride and vanity,
+grossly insulted Mr. Tilden, spoke to him in the most disrespectful
+manner, and closed by saying: <span class="smcap">"You are an old humbug; you always were a
+humbug, and we don't want to hear anything from you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span></span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden turned pale, and then red, and finally livid. A spectator, a
+man second to none in New York State for position, informed the writer
+that as he gazed upon Mr. Tilden he was terrified. Not a word did he
+utter; he folded up his books and papers and departed. As he went the
+spectator said to himself, "This man means murder; there will never be
+any accommodation of this difficulty." Back to the City of New York went
+Mr. Tilden. He sat down with the patience and with the keen scent of a
+sleuth-hound, and unravelled all the mystery of the iniquity which had
+cursed the City of New York, and of which William M. Tweed was the
+master-spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Noah Davis said to an acquaintance that 'Mr. Tilden's preparation
+of the cases against Tweed and his confederates was one of the most
+remarkable things of which he had ever seen or heard. He said that
+Tilden would take the mutilated stubbs of check-books, and construct a
+story from them. He had restored the case of the city against the
+purloiners as an anatomist, by the means of two or three bones, would
+draw you a picture of the animal which had inhabited them in the
+pal&aelig;ontological age.' It will be remembered that Judge Noah Davis tried
+the cases and sentenced Tweed.</p>
+
+<p>It is not necessary for us to conjecture whether Mr. Tilden would have
+appeared as the reformer if he had not been grossly insulted by Tweed.
+That he had not so appeared until the occasion referred to, and that
+immediately afterward he began the investigation and movements which
+ended in the total overthrow of the ring and its leader, are beyond
+question. There came a time when Tweed, trembling in his very soul, sent
+a communication to Mr. Tilden offering anything if he would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> relax, but
+no bronze statue was ever more silent and immovable than Samuel J.
+Tilden at that time. It is remarkable that a man so silent and
+mysterious, not to say repellent, in his intercourse with his fellow-men
+could exert such a mighty influence as he unquestionably did. He did it
+by controlling master-minds, and by an apprehension rarely or never
+surpassed of the details to be wrought out by other men.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden was capable of covering his face with a mask, which none
+could penetrate. The following scene occurred upon a train on the Hudson
+River road. Mr. Tilden was engaged in a most animated conversation with
+a leading member of the Republican party with whom he entertained
+personal confidential relations. The conversation was one that brought
+all Mr. Tilden's learning and logical forces into play. It was
+semi-literary, and not more political than was sufficient to give
+piquancy to the interview. A committee of the lower class of ward
+politicians approaching, Mr. Tilden turned to receive him, and in the
+most expressionless manner held out his hand. His eye lost every
+particle of lustre and seemed to sink back and down. The chairman of the
+committee stated the point he had in view. Mr. Tilden asked him to
+restate it once or twice; made curious and inconsequential remarks,
+appeared like a man just going to sleep, and finally said: "I will see
+you on the subject on a future occasion." The committee withdrew. In one
+moment he resumed the conversation with the brilliancy and vivacity of a
+boy. Subsequently the chairman of the committee said to the leading
+Republican, whom he also knew: "Did you ever see the old man so nearly
+gone as he was to-day? Does he often get so? Had he been taking a drop
+too much?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He was at no time in his career embarrassed in his intellectual
+operations by his emotional nature; he was a man of immense brain-power,
+and his intellect was trained up to the last possibility; every faculty
+was under his control; until his health failed he knew no such other
+source of joy as WORK.</p>
+
+<p>Craft had a very important place in his composition, but it was not the
+craft of the fox; it was a species of craft which at its worst was above
+mere pettifogging, and at its best was unquestionably a high type of
+diplomacy. Those mistake who considered him only as a cunning man. A
+person opposed to him in politics, but who made a study of his career,
+observed that in power of intellect he had no superior at the bar of New
+York, nor among the statesmen of the whole country. The supreme crisis
+of his life was when he believed himself elected President of the United
+States. The political aspect we will not revive, except to say that Mr.
+Tilden consented to the peculiar method of determining the case. The
+departure of David Davis from the supreme bench in all human probability
+determined the result.</p>
+
+<p>It is known that Abram S. Hewitt, David Dudley Field, and eminent
+Democratic leaders, Hewitt being chairman of the National Democratic
+committee at the time, did all in their power to induce Mr. Tilden to
+issue a letter to the American people saying that he believed himself to
+be the President elect, and that on the fourth day of March 1877, he
+would come to Washington to be inaugurated. Had that been done God alone
+can tell what would have been the result. In all probability a <i>coup
+d'etat</i> on one side or the other, followed by civil war or practical
+change in the character of the relations of the people to the Federal
+Government. At that moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span> Mr. Tilden's habit of balancing caused him
+to pursue the course that he did. It is reported that Mr. Tilden's
+letter explaining to Mr. Hewitt the reason why he would not do so is
+still in existence. Of this we know nothing; but that he had reasons and
+assigned them is certain. Why he consented to the method of arbitration
+is one of the mysteries of his career. Taking all the possibilities into
+account, the fact that the issue passed without civil war is an occasion
+of devout thankfulness to Almighty God. But the method of determining
+the question is one which the good sense of the American people will
+never repeat.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden must have had considerable humor in his composition. Some
+years ago a Methodist preacher came to the city of New York to raise
+money for a certain church in Pennsylvania which had been grievously
+embarrassed. He stayed at the house of one of the ministers in Brooklyn.
+One evening he said to his host: "I am going to call on Samuel J. Tilden
+and see if I can't get something out of him for our church. He has a
+'barrel,' and I understand it is pretty full." The next morning he went,
+and on returning said to his host: "Well, I called on Mr. Tilden, and I
+said: 'Mr. Tilden, I am from&mdash;&mdash;, such a place, in Pennsylvania. My
+name is&mdash;&mdash;. I am pastor of a church there. We have met with great
+misfortunes, and are likely to lose our church. There are more than
+sixty members of my church that voted for you for President, and they
+are ready to vote for you again, and they wanted me to call on you and
+tell you of their misfortune, and ask you to give them a little help.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what did Mr. Tilden say?" "He looked up and said he was busy, but
+told me to come the next morning at nine o'clock." He went, and on his
+return<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span> reported, when the question: "What did Mr. Tilden say"? was
+asked. "He said to me, 'Your name is&mdash;&mdash;? You are from&mdash;&mdash;, in
+Pennsylvania? You said that you had more than sixty members who voted
+for me for President, and who are ready to do it again"? "Yes." "And
+they wanted you to tell me of their misfortune"? "Yes." Then pulling out
+of his pocket-book he counted what money he had, which amounted to $15,
+and handed me $14, and said: "You tell them that Samuel J. Tilden gave
+you <span class="smcap">all the money he had except one dollar, which he kept for himself</span>."
+In all probability he was satirizing an appeal under those
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>For his service in breaking up the Tweed ring, and for his career as
+Governor of the State of New York, apart from purely party aspects, he
+is entitled to the thanks of the people. His own party will say to the
+end of time that he was elected president of the United States, and
+defrauded out of the office. But neither they nor anyone else can say,
+after the plan was agreed upon and adopted for determining the result,
+that the person who did occupy the chair did not have a legal right
+there, and was not president after the acceptance by the House of
+Representatives of the conclusion.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilden will never be considered inferior in intellect and learning
+to the many great men of whom New York can proudly boast. He will ever
+be ranked with Daniel Tompkins, George Clinton, William L. Marcy, Silas
+Wright, William H. Seward, John A. Dix and many others, and it is not
+strange that it was with a feeling of deep and genuine regret that on
+the 4th of August, 1886, the people were told of his sudden death at
+'Greystone.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Henry_Ward_Beecher" id="Henry_Ward_Beecher"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Henry Ward Beecher</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A sturdy tree, standing alone in a vast field, suggesting strength,
+growth and independence, and regarded both as a landmark and a shelter;
+withstanding alike the heats of summer and wrestling with and throwing
+off the blasts of winter; drawing from Nature her myriad stores of
+nutrition and giving back to Nature a wealth of power and grace in
+return; seemed Henry Ward Beecher, in his youth of old age, to the
+observation of men. Original orator, advocate, poet, humorist, agitator,
+rhetorician, preacher, moralist and statesman. The greatest preacher of
+modern times, possibly of all times, the man was one of the wonders of
+America; one of the marvels of the world.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Ward Beecher's career has been phenomenal for the activity and
+variety of its achievements. Coming from a long line of mentally alert
+and physically vigorous ancestors, he was richly endowed with the
+qualities going to make up the highest type of human nature. He was
+handicapped only in being the son of a man whose fame was world-wide; a
+preacher of such intensity of spirit and eloquence of expression that he
+stood at the head of, if not above, all of his contemporaries. Yet,
+while Dr. Lyman Beecher will always hold an honored place in American
+history and biography, who can deny that his fame has been far outshone
+by that of his brilliant son? It may be truly said, therefore, that
+Henry Ward Beecher won a double triumph. He emerged from the comparative
+obscurity in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> he dwelt, behind the shadow of his father's
+greatness, and he lived to see his own name emblazoned more brightly and
+engraved more indelibly upon the records of time than that of his noble
+father.</p>
+
+<p>He was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24th, 1813. His father was
+a busy minister, and the mother divided her time among several children,
+so that no especial attention was paid to Henry Ward, nor was he
+considered more promising than some of the others. He was not, by any
+means, fond of books in early life. He gives the following sketch of
+himself in one of his personal writings: 'A hazy image of myself comes
+back to me&mdash;a lazy, dreamy boy, with his head on the desk, half-lulled
+asleep by the buzzing of a great blue-bottle fly, and the lowing of the
+cows, and the tinkling of their bells, brought into the open door,
+across the fields and meadows.' Through the advice of his father, he
+attended Mount Pleasant Academy. Afterwards he attended Amherst College
+where he graduated in 1834. During his last two years of school, Beecher
+followed the example of many another young man who has since attained
+eminence in his chosen profession, and taught in district schools. With
+the money thus obtained he laid the foundation upon which he built that
+splendid superstructure which is recalled at the sound of his name.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Lyman Beecher meanwhile had accepted a professorship at Lane
+Seminary, Cincinnati, and having decided to follow the ministry, the son
+went West this same year and began the study of theology under his
+father. He finished his course three years later, married, and accepted
+the first charge offered him; a small Presbyterian Church in
+Lawrenceburg, a little town on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span> Ohio river, near Cincinnati. Of this
+dismal beginning of his illustrious career he said:</p>
+
+<p>"How poor we were! There were only about twenty persons in the flock. I
+was janitor as well as pastor of the little white-washed church. I
+bought some lamps and I filled them and lighted them. I swept the church
+and dusted the benches, and kindled the fire, and I didn't ring the
+bell, because there wasn't any; did everything in fact but come to hear
+myself preach, that they had to do. It doesn't occur to me now that
+Lawrenceburg was remarkable for anything but a superabundance of
+distilleries. I used to marvel how so many large distilleries could be
+put in so small a town. But they were flourishing right in the face of
+the Gospel, that my little flock and I were preaching in the shadows of
+the chimneys. My thoughts often travel back to my quaint little church
+and the big distilleries at Lawrenceburg. Well, my next move was to
+Indianapolis. There I had a more considerable congregation, though I was
+still far from rich in the world's goods. I believe I was very happy
+during my eight years out there. I liked the people. There was a hearty
+frankness, a simplicity in their mode of life, an unselfish intimacy in
+their social relations that attracted me. They were new
+people&mdash;unharrowed and uncultured like the land they lived on&mdash;but they
+were earnest and honest and strong. But the ague shook us out of the
+State. My wife's health gave out and we were forced to come East."</p>
+
+<p>From this it would seem that chills and fever were the means used by
+Providence for bringing Henry Ward Beecher and Plymouth Church together.
+The church came into existence on the 8th of May, 1847, when six
+gentlemen met in Brooklyn at the house of one of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span> number, Mr.
+Henry C. Bowen, the present proprietor of the <i>Independent</i>, and formed
+themselves into a company of trustees of a new Congregational Church,
+the services of which they decided to begin holding at once in an
+edifice on Cranberry street, purchased from the Presbyterians. The
+following week Mr. Beecher happened to speak in New York, at the
+anniversary of the Home Missionary Society. He had already attracted
+some attention by his anti-slavery utterances, and the fearless manner
+in which he had preached against certain popular vices.</p>
+
+<p>The founders of the new congregation invited him to deliver the opening
+sermon on the 16th. A great audience was present, and shortly afterwards
+the young preacher was asked to become the first pastor of the
+organization. He accepted, and on the 10th of the following October he
+entered upon the term of service which lasted until the day of his
+death. And what a pastorate that was! The congregation readily grew in
+numbers and influence until Plymouth Church and Henry Ward Beecher
+became household words all over the land, and a trip to Brooklyn to hear
+the great preacher grew to be an almost indispensable part of a
+stranger's visit to New York.</p>
+
+<p>At the opening of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Beecher undertook the
+editorship of the <i>Independent</i> which, like the church under his
+administration, speedily became a power in the country. In addition to
+all this work he was continually delivering speeches; for from the
+firing of the first gun on Fort Sumpter on April 12th, Plymouth's pastor
+was all alive to the needs of the nation. With voice and pen he pointed
+out the path of duty in that dark and trying hour, and his own church
+promptly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span>responded to the call by organizing and equipping the First
+Long Island regiment. But the strain of this threefold
+service&mdash;preaching, speaking and editing, was too much for his strength,
+powerful and well-grounded, as he was, physically. His voice gave out at
+last, and doctors imperatively demanded rest. This brought about the
+trip to Europe which was destined to be remembered as the most
+remarkable epoch in the remarkable career of this man.</p>
+
+<p>Decidedly the most memorable oratorical success ever achieved by an
+American citizen abroad, in behalf of the name and honor of his country,
+was that by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, which he achieved during this
+trip. Undertaking the journey for recreation and recuperation he was
+bitterly opposed by his friends in his decision, but he saw there was
+work to be done, and felt that he must do it. Beginning at Manchester,
+October 9th, Mr. Beecher delivered five great speeches in the great
+cities of the kingdom, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and
+London, each speech being devoted to some special train of thought and
+argument bearing upon the issues involved in the momentous contest; and
+the whole series taken together did more for the Union cause in Great
+Britain than all that had before been said or written. Possessing the
+faculty beyond any other American orator of combining close, rapid,
+powerful, practical reasoning with intense passion&mdash;his mind always
+aglow with his subject&mdash;the effect of Mr. Beecher's speaking was to
+kindle sympathy, even if it did not flash conviction. It is this
+quality, according to the opinion of those best acquainted with Mr.
+Beecher's oratory, which combined with his marvelous power of
+illustration, marvelous alike for its intense vividness and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>unerring
+pertinency, and his great flexibility whereby he seemed to adapt himself
+completely to the exigency of the instant gave him rare command over a
+popular assemblage.</p>
+
+<p>Mayor Carrington, of Richmond, tells the following: "He went to Richmond
+in 1881, his first appearance there after the war, and he was somewhat
+doubtful as to the reception he would get. He walked onto the stage
+where he was to lecture, before a crowded house, and was not greeted
+with the slightest welcoming applause. Immediately in front of the stage
+facing Mr. Beecher were several leading ex-generals of the Confederate
+army, among them General Fitz-Hugh Lee. Mr. Beecher surveyed the cold
+and critical audience for a moment, and then stepping directly in front
+of General Lee, he said, 'I have seen pictures of General Fitz-Hugh Lee,
+and judge you are the man; am I right?' General Lee was taken aback by
+this direct address, and nodded stiffly, while the audience bent forward
+breathless with curiosity as to what was going to follow. 'Then,' said
+Beecher, his face lighting up, 'I want to offer you this right hand
+which, in its own way, fought against you and yours twenty-five years
+ago, but which I would now willingly sacrifice to make the Sunny South
+prosperous and happy. Will you take it, General?' There was a moment's
+hesitation, a moment of death-like stillness in the hall, and then
+General Lee was on his feet, his hand was extended across the
+footlights, and was quickly met by the preacher's warm grasp. At first
+there was a murmur, half surprise, half-doubtfulness, by the audience.
+Then there was a hesitating clapping of hands, and before Mr. Beecher
+had loosed the hand of Robert E. Lee's nephew,&mdash;now Governor of
+Virginia&mdash;there were cheers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span> such as were never before heard in that
+hall, though it had been the scene of many a war and political meeting.
+When the noise subsided, Mr. Beecher continued: 'When I go back home I
+shall proudly tell that I have grasped the hand of the nephew of the
+great Southern Chieftain; I shall tell my people that I went to the
+Confederate capitol with a heart full of love for the people whom my
+principles once obliged me to oppose, and that I was met half way by the
+brave Southerners who can forgive, as well as they can fight.' That
+night Beecher entered his carriage and drove to his hotel amid shouts,
+such as had never greeted a Northern man since the war."</p>
+
+<p>The famous Beecher-Tilton trial began in a series of whispers. With such
+an immense congregation, with everybody in Brooklyn familiar with his
+affairs, and with the whole community seemingly resolved into an immense
+gossiping committee, it was no wonder that rumors and report went flying
+about until at last, in the summer of 1874, Plymouth Church appointed a
+committee to investigate the charges preferred by Theodore Tilton
+against Mr. Beecher.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Tilton read a sworn statement detailing his charges and specifying
+the actions of Mrs. Tilton and Mr. Beecher during the previous two
+years. This was on July 28th, and on the next day Mr. Beecher made his
+speech declaring the innocence of Mrs. Tilton; and she, too, testified
+in her own defense. Mr. Beecher made an elaborate statement before his
+congregation, August 14th, denying all immorality. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton
+were subjected to a most thorough examination and cross-examination, and
+then Mr. Francis D. Moulton, the famous mutual friend, came into the
+matter with his story of a most remarkable series of confessions and
+letters. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span> committee reported its findings at the weekly
+prayer-meeting, August 28th. Mr. Beecher was acquitted, and Mr. Moulton
+was most vigorously denounced, and when he left the meeting it was under
+police protection, because of the fury of the friends of the pastor.
+Before this Mr. Tilton had concluded to go to the courts, and on August
+19th opened a suit for $100,000 against Mr. Beecher. It was not until
+October 17th that Judge Neilson granted an order for a bill of
+particulars against the plaintiff, and William M. Evarts, for Mr.
+Beecher, and Roger A. Pryor for Mr. Tilton, carried the case up to the
+Court of Appeals, where the decision of the general term was reversed,
+and on December 7th, the new motion for a bill was granted.</p>
+
+<p>It was on January 4th, 1875, that the case was taken up in the City
+Court of Brooklyn. For Mr. Tilton appeared General Pryor, ex-Judge
+Fullerton, William A. Beach and S. D. Morris; while on the other side
+were William M. Evarts, General Benjamin F. Tracy and Thomas G.
+Shearman. The first witness was Editor Maverick, who testified on the
+13th of January to the Tilton marriage. Mr. Tilton took the stand on
+January 29th, and Mr. Evarts objected to his being sworn, and took
+several days to state his objections. From February 2nd to February
+17th, Mr. Tilton was on the stand, and the case for the defense opened
+on February 25th, and the first witness took the stand March 2nd. Mr.
+Beecher took the stand April 1st, and affirmed his testimony. He kept
+the stand until April 21st, and on May 13th the testimony on both sides
+closed after the examination of one hundred and eleven witnesses, and
+the consumption of four and one-half months of time. Mr. Evarts took
+eight days for his summing up, and other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span> counsel for the defense six
+more. Mr. Beach talked for nine days, and Judge Neilson, on June 24th,
+charged the jury, which, after a consultation of eight days, reported on
+July 2nd, that they were unable to agree. All through the trial Mrs.
+Beecher sat beside her husband in court. The court was packed day after
+day, and in the daily papers thousands of columns were consumed in
+reporting every word uttered. It was never tried again.</p>
+
+<p>The enormous expense of the defense was met by a generous subscription.
+Mr. Beecher's letters were remarkable productions for any man other than
+Beecher to pen, and the explanation of them so that the jury-men, and
+men generally, could comprehend them was the task of his counsel. Mr.
+Tilton is now in Europe, and Mrs. Tilton is in this country. Mr. Beecher
+passed through the ordeal of his life in safety, and since the trial he
+has been watched as no man ever has been before or since.</p>
+
+<p>He was unquestionably one of the most able, if not the ablest, preacher
+the world ever knew, and it is not strange that the country should be
+startled at the announcement of his sudden death on march 7th, 1887, at
+his home in Brooklyn.</p>
+
+<p>Henry Ward Beecher is already as historical a character as Patrick
+Henry; with this exception, that whereas there are multitudes living who
+have seen and heard Mr. Beecher, and many who knew him personally; there
+are few, if any, who can remember Patrick Henry. Mr. Beecher was the
+most versatile and ready orator this country has ever produced,&mdash;a kind
+of Gladstone in the pulpit. He was a master of every style; could be as
+deliberate and imposing as Webster; as chaste and self-contained as
+Phillips; as witty and irregular as Thomas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span> Corwin; as grandiloquent as
+Charles Sumner; as dramatic as father Taylor, and as melo-dramatic as
+Gough.</p>
+
+<p>To attempt to analyze the sources of his power is like exhibiting the
+human features separately, in the hope of giving the effect of a
+composite whole; for whether he moved his finger, elevated his brow,
+smiled, frowned, whispered or vociferated, each act or expression
+derived its power from the fact that it was the act and expression of
+Henry Ward Beecher. His oratory was marked by the entire absence of
+trammels, of rhetoric gesture or even grammar. Not that his style was
+not ordinarily grammatical and rhetorical, but that he would never allow
+any rules to impede the expression of his thought and especially of his
+feelings, nor was he restrained by theological forms, and always
+appeared independent and courageous. He believed in the absolute
+necessity of conversion and a thorough change of heart; he taught the
+beauty of living a religious life, for the nobleness of the deeds rather
+than for the purpose of escaping a future punishment, and his sayings in
+this connection were often misconstrued.</p>
+
+<p>He stimulated the intellect by wit; he united the heart and mind by
+humor; he melted the heart by un-mixed pathos. He was characterized by
+the strange power of creating an expectation with every sentence he
+uttered, and though he might on some occasions, when not at his best,
+close without meeting the expectations aroused, no dissatisfaction was
+expressed or apparently felt by his hearers. In personal appearance he
+was remarkable, chiefly for the great transformation of his countenance
+under the play of emotion.</p>
+
+<p>On the platform of Plymouth Church he was as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span> king upon his throne, or
+the commander of a war-ship in victorious action. His manners in private
+life were most ingratiating. His writings can impart to coming
+generations no adequate conception of his power as an orator. His career
+in England during those five great speeches were worth 50,000 soldiers
+to the National government, and probably had much to do with the
+prevention of the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by European
+nations. It was a triumph of oratory; he literally compelled a vast
+multitude, who were thoroughly in opposition to him, to take a new view
+of the subject.</p>
+
+<p>A Metropolitan in the pulpit, a magician on the platform, a center of
+life and good cheer in the home, a prince in society possessed of
+exhaustive vitality, warmth and energy, he suggested to any one who
+gazed upon him the apostrophe of <i>Hamlet</i> to the ideal man: "What a
+piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In
+form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel!
+In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of
+animals!" Such a piece of work was Henry Ward Beecher. He had no
+predecessor, and can have no successor till a similar ancestry and life;
+the one coeval with birth, and the other running parallel with the lusty
+youth of such a nation, and a similar life and death struggle, both in a
+conflict of moral principles fought out under a Democratic form of
+Government, shall combine to evolve a similar career. The course of
+human history does not furnish a probability of another coincidence of
+elements so extraordinary.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="images/423.jpg">
+<img src="images/423th.jpg"
+width="260"
+height="365" alt="PERCEPTION. Engraved Expressly for &quot;Hidden Treasures.&quot;" /></a><br />
+PERCEPTION.<br /> Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."
+<br /><span style="font-size: 70%;">(click on image to see enlarged view.)</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="center">
+<img src="images/424.png"
+height="269"
+width="505" alt="GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS." /></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><a name="James_Watt" id="James_Watt"></a><a href="#toc">
+<img src="images/424a.png"
+height="61"
+width="500" alt="James Watt." /></a></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p>In this advanced age we know the power of steam, and what a great factor
+it is as a help in carrying on the daily work of life. Yet, it is only
+during the last century that men have discovered to how many purposes it
+can be applied.</p>
+
+<p>James Watt, the great utilizer of steam, was born in Greenock, Scotland,
+January 19th, 1736. His father was a carpenter and general merchant in
+Greenock, and seems to have been highly respected, for he was long a
+member of the council, and for a time, magistrate. James was a sickly
+child, unable to attend school with regularity, hence was left to follow
+his own inclinations; becoming his own instructor, to a great extent.
+The boy was early furnished with tools by his father, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span> with them
+found amusement and instruction. He early manifested a taste for
+mathematics and mechanics, studied botany, chemistry, mineralogy,
+natural philosophy, and at fourteen constructed an electrical machine.</p>
+
+<p>At the age of eighteen he was sent to Glasgow to learn to make
+mathematical instruments, but for some reason he went to London the same
+year, engaging with one Morgan, working at the same trade. Ill-health,
+however, compelled his return home about a year later. He had made great
+use of his time while in London, and after his health had improved
+somewhat he again visited Glasgow with the desire of establishing
+himself there, but met with opposition from some who considered him an
+intruder upon their privileges. The Principal of the college,
+appreciating his fine tact and ingenuity, offered him protection and
+gave him an apartment for carrying on his business within their
+precinct, with the title of "Mathematical Instrument Maker to the
+University." But this location was unfavorable for his business. He was
+scarcely able to make a living, however, the five or six years he passed
+in those quarters were well employed in investigations, and during the
+time he unmistakably manifested rare ability.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as possible he secured a better situation in town, and after
+this change did much better, still it is said: "He had to eke out his
+living by repairing fiddles, which he was able to do, though he had no
+ear for music," also, in doing any mechanical piece of work that came in
+his way; no work requiring ingenuity or the application of scientific
+knowledge seems to have baffled him. But he kept studying, devoting his
+evenings and spare moments to the mastery of German, Italian, mastered
+some of the sciences, learned to sketch, was a superior<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span> model-maker;
+and, if his profession had been defined at the time he first turned his
+attention to steam, having constructed an improved organ, he would have
+been spoken of as a musical-instrument maker.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 he began his experiments with steam as a propelling power for
+land carriages, which he temporarily abandoned, and did not patent a
+road engine until 1784. In 1767 he assumed a new occupation, for in that
+year he was employed to make the surveys and prepare the estimates for a
+projected canal to connect the Forth and Clyde. This project fell
+through for the time being, as it failed to gain the sanction of
+Parliament, but Watt had now made a beginning as civil engineer, and
+henceforth he obtained a good deal of employment in this capacity. He
+superintended the surveys and engineering works on the Monkland
+Collieries Canal to Glasgow, deepening the Clyde, improving the harbors
+of Ayr, Port, Glasgow, and Greenock; building bridges and other public
+works his final survey being for the Caledonia Canal.</p>
+
+<p>During this period he had invented an improved micrometer, and also
+continued his experiments with steam as a motive power. Perhaps it would
+be interesting to some of our readers to know how Watt tested the power
+of steam. The implements with which he performed his experiments were of
+the cheapest kind. Apothecaries' vials, a glass tube or two, and a
+tea-kettle enabled him to arrive at some very important conclusions. By
+attaching a glass tube to the nose of the tea-kettle he conducted the
+steam into a glass of water, and by the time the water came to the
+boiling point, he found its volume had increased nearly a sixth part;
+that is, one measure of water in the form of steam can raise about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span> six
+measures of water to its own heat. It would be impossible in our
+allotted space to tell fully of the many experiments James Watt made. It
+is needless to say that his success came by slow and discouraging
+channels, so slow, indeed, that most men would have given up long
+before.</p>
+
+<p>His reputation was assailed by jealous rivals, his originality denied,
+and his rights to various patents vehemently contested. He was many
+times disappointed in the workings of his own machines, and was obliged
+to throw away pieces of machinery from which he had expected much, while
+with others he had perfect success. His experiments finally resulted in
+his invention of the condensing engine. Now, he struggled for years,
+through poverty and every imaginable difficulty, to make a practical
+application of his improvements, doing work as a surveyor in order to
+support himself.</p>
+
+<p>In 1769 he became a partner of Mathew Boulton, a large hardware dealer
+and manufacturer, of Birmingham, England. Previously Mr. Boulton had
+built engines after the plans of Savery, hence, he undoubtedly discerned
+the great improvement over all engines then in use, that this new
+discovery was sure to prove. He was a man of wealth, and, in all
+probability, his personal knowledge of such matters greatly aided his
+faith. No other can be given, for he was obliged to advance over
+$229,000 before Watt had so completely perfected his engine that its
+operations yielded profit. But his confidence was not misplaced. The
+immense Birmingham manufactory, which employed over one thousand hands,
+was ultimately driven to its utmost capacity to supply the constantly
+increasing demand for steam engines. It was first applied to coinage in
+1783, from thirty to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span> forty thousand milled coins being struck off in an
+hour as a test. Boulton &amp; Watt sent two complete mints to St.
+Petersburg, and for many years executed the entire copper coinage of
+England.</p>
+
+<p>Watt was the first to conceive the idea of warming buildings by steam.
+He was the first to make a copying-press; he also contrived a flexible
+iron pipe with ball and socket joints, to adapt it to the irregular
+riverbed, for carrying water across the Clyde. At the time of his death
+he was fellow of the Royal Societies of London, and Edinburgh
+correspondent of the French Institute, and foreign associate of the
+Academy of Sciences. He was buried beside Boulton, in Handsworth Church;
+his statue, by Chantery, is in Westminister Abbey. The pedestal bears
+the following inscription:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="center">"Not to perpetuate a name
+Which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish,
+But to show
+That mankind have learned to honor those
+Who best deserve their gratitude,
+The King,
+His Ministers, and many of the Nobles
+And Commoners of the Realm,
+Raised this Monument to
+James Watt,
+Who, directing the force of an original Genius,
+Early exercised in philosophic research,
+To the improvement of
+The Steam Engine,
+Enlarged the resources of his Country,
+Increased the power of man, and rose to an eminent place
+Among the most illustrious followers of Science
+And the real benefactors of the World.
+Born at Greenock, MDCCXXXVI,
+Died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, MDCCCXIX."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>
+The properties of steam had been known to a certain extent for
+centuries. In the seventeenth century attention was frequently directed
+by ingenious workers to the uses of steam in performing simple but
+laborious occupations, such as pumping water out of the mines. To other
+purposes steam was imperfectly applied, but it remained for Watt to make
+more practical and efficient use of it.</p>
+
+<p>This, indeed, is the history of almost every useful art. A discovery,
+which, after it is known, seems so simple that every one wonders why it
+remained hidden for so many years, yet proves simple enough to
+immortalize the name of the fortunate inventor. It is said there was
+hardly a physical science or one art with which Watt was not intimately
+acquainted. His philosophical judgment kept pace with his ingenuity. He
+studied modern languages, and was acquainted with literature. His memory
+was extremely tenacious, and whatever he once learned he always had at
+his command; and yet this brave earnest worker and gifted man was a
+sufferer from ill-health all his life. With constitutional debility,
+increased by anxiety and perplexity during the long process of his
+inventions, and the subsequent care of defending them in court; yet,
+through constant temperance and watchfulness over his peculiar
+difficulties, his life was preserved to the great age of eighty-three
+years. He had in his character the utmost abhorrece for all parade and
+presumption, and, indeed, never failed to put all such imposters out of
+countenance by the manly plainness and honest intrepidity of his
+language and manner. In his temper and disposition he was not only kind
+and affectionate, but generous and considerate of the feelings of all
+around him, and gave the most liberal assistance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span> and encouragement to
+all young persons who proved any indication of talent, or applied to him
+for patronage or advice. He was twice married, and left his two sons,
+long associated with him in his business, to carry out some of his plans
+and discoveries of the great utility and power of steam. All men of
+learning and science were his cordial friends, and such was the
+influence of his mild character and perfect firmness and liberality,
+even to pretenders of his own accomplishments, that he lived to disarm
+even envy itself, and died the peaceful death of a Christian without, it
+is thought, a single enemy.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="George_Stephenson" id="George_Stephenson"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">George Stephenson</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>A small collection of houses in a mining district, called Wylam, about
+nine miles west of Newcastle-on-Tyne, we find to be the birth-place of
+George Stephenson, born June 9th, 1781.</p>
+
+<p>His father was a very humble workman, who filled the position of fireman
+of the pumping-engine in use at the colliery, at three dollars a week.
+With a wife and six children to support, there was not much left after
+satisfying the cravings of hunger. The children, soon as opportunity
+afforded, were set at work to help support the family. We find young
+George beginning life pulling turnips at two pence a day. At eight years
+old he tended Widow Ainslie's cows at five cents a day. Later, he
+received fifty cents a week when caring for horses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Of course, it is the rule to find something in the boy indicative of the
+man, and in Stephenson's case, legend or history furnishes the material.
+It seems that while acting as herder, in company with other boys, it was
+his favorite amusement to model engines out of clay. After a time he
+received a dollar a week as assistant to his father, and at the age of
+sixteen he was appointed to work as attendant upon the pumping-engine,
+at men's wages,&mdash;three dollars per week. He was delighted, and it is
+doubtful if he was ever happier over subsequent triumphs as a locomotive
+builder, than when he was elevated to this position. He was employed at
+various collieries, as fireman, and afterwards as plugman, and gradually
+acquired so complete a knowledge of the engine as to be able to take it
+apart and make ordinary repairs. His ingenuity in repairing an obstinate
+defect in a steam engine gained him the charge of the engine.</p>
+
+<p>After this his fondness for his work increased until, with study, he had
+thoroughly mastered all its details. At the age of eighteen he could not
+even read, and he began to long for some education, so that he might fit
+himself for a higher place in his business. He accordingly commenced his
+studies by taking lessons in reading, of a neighboring school-master,
+three nights in a week, at a small tuition. At the end of a year he
+could read and spell some, and could write his own name. He now had a
+great thirst for mathematics, which he studied faithfully the second
+year; at the close of which, by his attentiveness, he could cipher with
+tolerable facility.</p>
+
+<p>During odd moments he gave some attention to mending shoes, by which he
+was able to earn a few extra pence. Among some shoes that were sent him
+to repair was a pair belonging to a young lady, whom he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span>afterward
+married. In 1805 he removed to Killingworth colliery, and about this
+time he was desirous of emigrating to the United States, but was unable
+to raise money for his outfit and passage. He continued to work at his
+home evenings and leisure hours, cutting out clothes for the miners,
+mending clocks and shoes, and all this time studying mechanics and
+engineering with a view to perpetual motion, which a great many others
+of his time were studying.</p>
+
+<p>His first opportunity to show his superiority was when an expensive pump
+had been put in the colliery, and utterly failed to do the work required
+of it. Various experts gave it their best efforts, but it still refused
+to do what was required of it. Stephenson was heard to say, by some of
+the workmen, that he could repair it. After all others had failed, the
+overseer, in despair, with but little expectation that anything could be
+accomplished by a raw colliery hand, employed him to attempt a remedy.
+He took the engine to pieces and at the end of a few days repaired it
+ready for work, and in two days it cleared the pit of water.</p>
+
+<p>For this, and other improvements made upon old machinery, he was
+appointed chief engineer in 1813, at Killingworth, at a salary of &pound;100
+per year. Besides erecting a winding engine for drawing up coal, and a
+pumping-engine, he projected and laid down a self-acting incline along
+the declivity of the Willington ballast quay, so arranged that full
+wagons descending to the vessels drew up the empty ones. But the
+construction of an efficient and economical locomotive steam engine
+mainly occupied his mind. He was among those who saw the Blenkinsop
+engine first put on the track, and watched its mechanism for some time,
+when he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span>concluded he could make a better machine. He found a friend in
+his employer, Lord Ravensworth, who furnished the money, and in the
+work-shops at West Moor, Killingworth, with the aid of the colliery
+blacksmith, he constructed a locomotive which was completed in July,
+1814. The affair, though clumsy, worked successfully on the Killingworth
+railway, drawing eight loaded carriages, of thirty tons each, at the
+rate of four miles an hour. It was the first locomotive made with smooth
+wheels, for he rejected the contrivance which Trevithick, Blenkinsop and
+others had thought necessary to secure sufficient adhesion between the
+wheels and the rails.</p>
+
+<p>While engaged on plans for an improved engine his attention was
+attracted to the increase in the draught of the furnace obtained by
+turning the waste steam up the chimney, at first practiced solely in the
+desire to lessen the noise caused by the escape of the steam. Hence
+originated the steam-blast, the most important improvement in the
+locomotive up to that time. The steam-blast, the joint action of the
+wheels by connecting them with horizontal bars on the outside, and a
+simplifying connection between the cylinder and the wheels, were
+embodied in the second engine, completed in 1815. For some years
+Stephenson had been experimenting with the fire-damp in the mines, and
+in the above year completed a miner's safety lamp, which he finally
+perfected under the name of the "Gregory Lamp," which is still in use in
+the Killingworth collieries. The invention of a safety lamp by Sir
+Humphry Davy was nearly simultaneous, and to him the mining proprietors
+presented a service of plate worth &pound;2,000, at the same time awarding
+&pound;100 to Stephenson. This led to a protracted discussion as to the
+priority of the invention, and in 1817 Stephenson's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span> friends presented
+him with a purse of $5,000 and a silver tankard.</p>
+
+<p>Having now brought the locomotive to a considerable degree of
+perfection, Stephenson next turned his attention to the improvement of
+railways, his opinion being that both were parts of one mechanism, and
+that the employment of steam carriages on common roads was
+impracticable. For the purpose of making railways solid and level, and
+preventing jerks at the junction of the rails, he took out a patent for
+an improved rail and chair, and recommended the employment of heavier
+rails, and the substitution of wrought for cast-iron. In connection with
+these improvements he added considerably to the lightness and strength
+of the locomotive, simplified the construction of the working parts, and
+substituted steel springs for the small cylinder, on which the boiler
+had at first rested.</p>
+
+<p>His next important undertaking was the construction of a railway eight
+miles in length, for the owners of the Helton Colliery, which was
+successfully opened November 18th, 1822. The level parts were traversed
+by five of Stephenson's locomotives, while stationary engines were
+employed to overcome the heavy grades.</p>
+
+<p>In 1820 an act of Parliament was obtained for a railway between Stockton
+and Darlington, which was opened September 27th, 1825. Stephenson, who
+made the preliminary surveys and specifications, was appointed engineer.
+The line was intended to be worked by stationary engines for the steep
+gradients, with horse-power on the level portions; but at Stephenson's
+urgent request, the act was amended so as to permit the use of
+locomotives on all parts of the road. In the meantime he had opened, in
+connection with Edward Pease, an establishment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span> for the manufacture of
+locomotives, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.</p>
+
+<p>In 1825 he was appointed principal engineer of the Liverpool &amp;
+Manchester railroad, which employed him during the next four years.
+Canals connected the two towns, Liverpool and Manchester, but it was
+believed that the carrying trade would support this new railway if it
+could be made to work. The people were told by the newspapers that
+locomotives would prevent cows from grazing and hens from laying. The
+poisoned air from the locomotives would kill birds as they passed over
+them, and render the preservation of pheasants and foxes no longer
+possible. Householders adjoining the line were told that their houses
+would be burned up by fire thrown from the engine chimneys, while the
+air around would be polluted by the clouds of smoke. There would be no
+longer any use for horses, and if the railways extended the species
+would become extinct, and therefore oats and hay would become unsalable.
+Traveling by road would be rendered exceedingly dangerous, and country
+inns would be ruined. Boilers would burst and blow the passengers to
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, the inculcation of such theories rendered it extremely
+difficult for Stephenson and his party to survey for the proposed line.
+The land-owners along the line made all sorts of trouble for them. Their
+instruments were smashed and they were mobbed, yet, on they went,&mdash;at
+meal times they worked, before the residents awoke in the morning, and
+nights, in some instances were employed. At last the survey was
+accomplished, the plans drawn, and the estimates furnished the company,
+were approved.</p>
+
+<p>In Parliament even more opposition was experienced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span> Public sentiment
+can be inferred from an article which appeared in the Quarterly Review
+for March, 1825. Among other things it said: "What can be more palpably
+absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives
+travelling twice as fast as horses. We should as soon expect the people
+of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's
+richochet rockets as to trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine,
+going at such a rate. We trust that Parliament will, in all the railways
+it may grant, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we
+entirely agree with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on."</p>
+
+<p>But despite all such seemingly insurmountabilities, Stephenson succeeded
+in getting the railway bill passed. But the troubles of George
+Stephenson were not at an end. The company, not fully satisfied with his
+opinion alone, conferred with two of the leading engineers of England,
+who reported averse to the locomotive, recommending stationary engines
+at a distance of one and a-half miles apart. But at last Stephenson
+prevailed upon the company to offer a prize of about $2,500 for the best
+locomotive produced at a trial to take place on the 6th of October,
+1829. At last the eventful day came, and with it thousands of
+spectators. Four engines appeared to compete for the prizes. "The
+Novelty," the "Rocket," the "Perseverance" and the "Sanspareil." The
+"Perseverance" could only make six miles an hour, and as the rules
+called for at least ten, it was ruled out. The "Sanspareil" made an
+average of fourteen miles an hour, but as it burst a water-pipe, it lost
+its chance. The "Novelty" did splendidly, but unluckily also burst a
+pipe, and was crowded out, leaving the field to the "Rocket," which
+carried off the honors. The average<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span> speed made by this engine, which
+belonged to Stephenson, was fifteen miles, and even attained twenty-nine
+miles an hour.</p>
+
+<p>The distinguishing features of the Rocket, the first high-speed
+locomotive of the standard modern type, were the multitubular boiler,
+which was not Stephenson's invention, but was first applied by him to
+locomotives; the blast pipe; and the direct connection of the steam
+cylinders to one axle, and one pair of wheels. At the opening of the
+road, September 15th, 1830, eight locomotives, constructed at the
+Stephenson works, were employed, and Mr. Huskinson, having been
+accidentally struck down and fatally injured by the Rocket, was conveyed
+in the Northumbrian, driven by George Stephenson, from Parkside to
+Eccles, fifteen miles, at the unprecedented rate of thirty-six miles an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>Stephenson was almost incessantly employed for the next fifteen years on
+new roads, and was called three times to Belgium, and once to Spain as a
+consulting engineer. With his increasing wealth he also engaged
+extensively and profitably in coal mining and lime works, particularly
+in the neighborhood of Tapton Park, an elegant seat in Derbyshire, where
+he passed his latter years. He declined the honor of Knighthood.</p>
+
+<p>To Watt is due the honor of giving the world a practical stationary
+engine; George Stephenson picked that engine up bodily and placed it on
+wheels, and against the most direful predictions of the foremost
+engineers of his age, proved the practicability of harnessing steam to
+coaches for rapid transportation.</p>
+
+<p>On August 12th, 1848, Stephenson died, leaving an immense fortune, which
+was the honest reward he deserved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Benjamin_Franklin" id="Benjamin_Franklin"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Benjamin Franklin</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Possibly there never has lived a man who has excited more comment than
+has the subject of this narrative, who was born in Boston, January 17th,
+1706. His father was a soap boiler and tallow chandler, and he was the
+fifteenth in a family of seventeen children.</p>
+
+<p>Young Benjamin was expected by his parents to become a minister of the
+Gospel, and for this purpose was placed in school at the age of eight,
+but the reduced circumstances of his father compelled his return home
+two years later, and he began the work of cutting wicks in his father's
+establishment. Afterwards he was bound to his brother James, who was a
+printer, where he worked hard all day, and often spent half the night in
+reading.</p>
+
+<p>The secret of his great success can be readily perceived, when we know
+that his favorite books were Mather's "Essays to Do Good," and DeFoe's
+"Essays of Projects," and many others of a like nature: instead of the
+modern "Three Fingered Jack," "Calamity Jane," "The Queen of the
+Plains," or the more 'refined' of to-day's juvenile reading.</p>
+
+<p>When he was about sixteen he wrote, in a disguised hand, an article for
+his brother's paper. This article was published anonymously, and excited
+great curiosity. Other articles followed, at length the identity of the
+author was discovered, and for some unknown reason the elder brother was
+offended. From that hour Benjamin resolved to leave Boston, as his
+brother's influence was used to his disadvantage in that city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Embarking, he worked his passage to New York, where he arrived at the
+age of seventeen, almost penniless, and without recommendations. Failing
+to obtain work here he continued on to Philadelphia, where he arrived,
+disappointed but not discouraged. He now had but one dollar, and a few
+copper coins, in the world. Being hungry, he bought some bread, and with
+one roll under either arm, and eating the third, he passed up the street
+on which his destined wife lived, and she beheld him as he presented
+this ridiculous appearance. Obtaining employment, he secured board and
+lodging with Mr. Reed, afterward his father-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>Being induced to think of going into business for himself, through
+promises of financial help from influential parties, he sailed to London
+for the purpose of buying the necessary requisites for a printing
+office. Not until his arrival in that great city, London, did he learn
+of the groundlessness of his hope for aid from the expected quarter. In
+a strange land, friendless and alone, without money to pay his return
+passage, such was his predicament; yet he lost not his courage, but
+obtained employment as a printer, writing his betrothed that he should
+likely never return to America. His stay in London lasted, however, but
+about eighteen months, during which time he succeeded in reforming some
+of his beer-drinking companions.</p>
+
+<p>In 1826 he returned to America as a dry-goods clerk, but the death of
+his employer fortunately turned his attention once more to his especial
+calling, and he soon after formed a partnership with a Mr. Meredith.
+This was in 1728. Miss Reed, during his stay abroad, had been induced to
+marry another man who proved to be a scoundrel; leaving her to escape
+punishment for debt,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span> and, it is alleged, with an indictment for bigamy
+hanging over his head. Franklin attributed much of this misfortune to
+himself, and resolved to repair the injury so far as lay within his
+power. Accordingly he married her in 1830. This proved a most happy
+union. His business connection with Mr. Meridith being dissolved, he
+purchased the miserably conducted sheet of Mr. Keimer, his former
+employer, and under Franklin's management it became a somewhat
+influential journal of opinion.</p>
+
+<p>It was through this channel that those homely sayings, with such rich
+meanings, first appeared in print. His great intelligence, industry and
+ingenuity in devising reforms, and the establishment of the first
+circulating library, soon won for him the esteem of the entire country.
+1732 is memorable as the year in which appeared his almanac in which was
+published the sayings of the world-famous 'Poor Richard.' This almanac
+abounded with aphorisms and quaint sayings, the influence of which
+tended mightily to economy, and it was translated into foreign
+languages, in fact was the most popular almanac ever printed.</p>
+
+<p>After ten years' absence he returned to his native city, Boston, and his
+noble instincts were shown, as he consolingly promised his dying brother
+that he would care for his nephew, his brother's son. Returning to
+Philadelphia he became postmaster of that city, established a fire
+department, becomes a member of the Assembly, to which office he is
+elected ten consecutive years.</p>
+
+<p>Although he was not an orator, no man wielded more influence over the
+legislative department than did Franklin. As is well-known, he invented
+the celebrated Franklin Stove, which proved so economical, and for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span>
+which he refused a patent. For years he entertained the theory that
+galvanic electricity, and that which produced lightning and thunder were
+identical; but it was not until 1752 that he demonstrated the truth by
+an original but ingenious contrivance attached to a kite, and to
+Franklin we owe the honor of inventing the lightning rod, but not its
+abuse which has caused such widespread animosity to that valuable
+instrument of self-preservation.</p>
+
+<p>These discoveries made the name of Franklin respected throughout the
+scientific world. Forever after this period, during his life, he was
+connected with national affairs. At one time he was offered a commission
+as General in the Provincial Army, but distrusting his military
+qualifications he unequivocally declined. Sir Humphrey Davy said:
+"Franklin seeks rather to make philosophy a useful inmate and servant in
+the common habitations of man, than to preserve her merely as an object
+for admiration in temples and palaces." While it is said of him by some
+that he always had a keen eye to his own interests all are forced to add
+he ever had a benevolent concern for the public welfare.</p>
+
+<p>The burdens bearing so heavily upon the colonies: Pennsylvania,
+Maryland, Georgia, and Massachusetts, appointed Franklin as their agent
+to the mother-country. Arriving in London in 1757, despite his mission,
+honors awaited him at every turn. There he associated with the greatest
+men of his time, and the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford honored
+him with the title of L.L.D. and the poor journeyman printer of a few
+years before, associated with princes and kings. At the end of five
+years he returned to America, and in 1762 received the official thanks
+of the Assembly. Two years later he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span> again sent to England, and he
+opposed the obnoxious stamp act, and where he carried himself with
+decorum and great ability before the entire nobility. Upon his return to
+America he was made a member of the Assembly the day he landed, where he
+exerted his whole influence for a Declaration of Independence, and soon
+after had the pleasure of signing such a document.</p>
+
+<p>In 1776 Congress sent him to France, where he became one of the greatest
+diplomats this country has ever known. During his voyage over he made
+observations relative to the Gulf Stream, and the chart he drew of it
+nearly one hundred years ago, still forms the basis of maps on the
+subject. As is well known, to Franklin more than all others, are we
+indebted for the kindly interference by France in our behalf, whose
+efforts, though ineffective in the field, helped the revolutionary cause
+wonderfully in gaining prestige. At the close of the war Franklin was
+one of the commissioners in framing that treaty which recognized
+American independence. His simple winning ways won for him admiration in
+any court of embroidery and lace, while his world-wide reputation as a
+philosopher and statesman won for him a circle of acquaintances of the
+most varied character. On the 17th of April, 1790, this great statesman
+died, and fully 20,000 people followed him to the tomb. The inscription
+he had designed read:</p>
+
+<p class="center">"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer;
+  Like the cover of an old book&mdash;
+Its contents torn out, and script of its lettering and gilding:
+  Lies here food for worms."</p>
+
+<p>Yet the work itself shall not be lost. For it will, as he believed,
+appear once more, in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and
+amended by the Author.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span> Truly, America has been rich in great men, of
+which Franklin was not the least. Dr. Franklin, in his will, left his
+native town of Boston, the sum of one thousand pounds, to be lent to the
+young married artificers upon good security and under odd conditions. If
+the plan should be carried out as successfully as he expected, he
+reckoned that this sum would amount in one hundred years to one hundred
+and thirty-one thousand pounds. It was his wish, and so expressed in his
+will that one hundred thousand pounds should be spent upon public works,
+"which may then be judged of most general utility to the inhabitants;
+such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public buildings, baths,
+pavements, or whatever makes living in the town more convenient to its
+people, and renders it more agreeable to strangers resorting thither for
+health or temporary residence." It was also his wish that the remaining
+thirty-one thousand pounds should again be put upon interest for another
+hundred years, at the end of which time the whole amount was to be
+divided between the city and the State. The bequest at the end of the
+first one hundred years may not attain the exact figure he calculated,
+but it is sure to be a large sum. At the present time it is more than
+one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and it has many years yet
+to run.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Eli_Whitney" id="Eli_Whitney"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Eli Whitney</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The year of 1765 was made famous by the birth of a man who was destined
+to enrich his country millions of dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Eli Whitney was born at Westborough, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765,
+and received a good education, graduating at Yale College. Going South
+as a tutor in a private family, his attention was arrested by the slow
+process by which the seed was extracted from cotton. At that time a
+pound of greenseed cotton was all that a negro woman could clean in a
+day.</p>
+
+<p>At the instance of Mrs. Greene, widow of General Greene, he set about
+constructing a machine to do the work. He had no facilities for pushing
+the work, even having to manufacture his tools, but he persevered and
+accomplished his purpose. Rumors of the machine spreading over the
+State, a mob at night broke open the building wherein the machine was
+stored, carried his precious model away, and before he could make
+another, various machines were in use. However, he went North to
+Connecticut and established a manufactory to make the machines. South
+Carolina granted him $50,000 after long and vexatious litigation, and
+North Carolina allowed him a percentage, which was paid in good faith.</p>
+
+<p>But, although Eli Whitney had invented a machine which would do in one
+day as much as an ordinary hand would in months, which has been worth
+hundred of millions of dollars to the South; yet, through the influence
+of Southern members, Congress would not renew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span> his patent, and so much
+opposition was raised that he actually never received from his invention
+the money he had spent to perfect it. All efforts to obtain a financial
+recognition in this invention failing, he abandoned the manufacture of
+the cotton-gin. He was not discouraged, not at all, but turned his
+attention to fire-arms. These he greatly improved, being the first to
+make them adjustable, that is, any single piece to fit the same place in
+any of the thousands of guns that might be in process of manufacture in
+his works. He manufactured arms for the government, and reaped a fortune
+which he had so honestly earned.</p>
+
+<p>On January 8th, 1825, the country lost this wonderful genius, but his
+fame is growing year by year, as one of the world's benefactors.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Robert_Fulton" id="Robert_Fulton"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Robert Fulton</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The genius of Fulton was of no ordinary mold. It began to unfold in less
+than ten years after his birth, which occurred at Little Britain,
+Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His parents were farmers, and of Irish
+birth, but Protestants in religious belief.</p>
+
+<p>At seventeen he went to Philadelphia and begun the study of printing.
+Four years later he evinced such decided talents in miniature painting
+that his friends united in sending him to London, where he remained for
+some years under the teaching of the world-renowned West. Being a friend
+of West, he was thus drawn into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> association with such men as the Duke
+of Bridgewater and the Earl of Stanhope. Through the influence of the
+former he adopted the profession of a civil engineer. He also became
+acquainted with Watt, who had just brought out his great improvement on
+the steam engine, the details of which Fulton mastered.</p>
+
+<p>While in London, at this time, he also contrived a new device for sawing
+marble which proved to be a valuable improvement. To this period in his
+life also belongs his invention of a machine for spinning flax. In 1797
+he removed to Paris where he remained seven years, assiduously studying
+the sciences. It was during his sojourn there that he brought out his
+celebrated torpedo-boat, since known as the Nautilus, a name derived
+from its resemblance in action to that wonderful little animal. This
+boat was a plunging machine designed for sub-marine service in placing
+torpedoes and other work, for which a sub-marine vessel could be used.
+According to Colden this boat was brought to a wonderful state of
+perfection, his account of which may be interesting.</p>
+
+<p>On the 3rd of July, 1801, he embarked with three companions on board his
+plunging boat, in the harbor of Brest, and descended in it to the depth
+of five, ten, fifteen, and so on, to twenty-five feet; but he did not
+attempt to go deeper because he found that his imperfect machine would
+not bear the pressure of a greater depth. He remained below the surface
+one hour. During the time, they were in utter darkness. Afterwards he
+descended with candles; but finding a great disadvantage from their
+consumption of vital air he caused, previous to his next experiment, a
+small window of thick glass to be made near the bow of his boat, and he
+again <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span>descended with her on the 24th of July, 1801. He found that he
+received from his window, or rather aperture covered with glass, for it
+was no more than an inch and a half in diameter, sufficient light for
+him to count the minutes on his watch.</p>
+
+<p>Having satisfied himself that he could have sufficient light when under
+water; that he could do without a supply of fresh air for a considerable
+time; that he could descend to any depth and rise to the surface with
+equal facility; his next object was to try her movements as well on the
+surface as beneath it. On the 26th of July he weighed his anchor and
+hoisted his sails; his boat had one mast, a main-sail and a jib. There
+was only a light breeze, and therefore she did not move on the surface
+at more than the rate of two miles an hour; but it was found that she
+would tack and steer, and sail on a wind or before it as well as any
+common sail-boat. He then struck her masts and sails; to do which, and
+to perfectly prepare the boat for plunging, required about two minutes.
+Having plunged to a certain depth he placed two men at the engine which
+was intended to give her progressive motion, and one at the helm, while
+he, with a barometer before him, governed the machine which kept her
+balanced between the upper and lower waters. He found that with the
+exertion of only one hand he could keep her at any depth he desired. The
+propelling engine was then put in motion, and he found that on coming to
+the surface he had, in about seven minutes, made a progress of four
+hundred metres, or five hundred yards. He then again plunged, turned her
+around, while under the water, and returned to near the place he began
+to move from.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>He repeated his experiments several days successively until he became
+familiar with the operation of the machinery, and the movements of the
+boat. He found that she was as obedient to her helm under water, as any
+boat could be on the surface, and that the magnetic needle traversed as
+well in the one as in the other.</p>
+
+<p>On the 27th of August Mr. Fulton again descended with a store of
+atmospheric air compressed into a copper globe, of a cubic foot
+capacity, into which two hundred atmospheres were forced. Thus prepared
+he descended with three companions to the depth of five feet. At the
+expiration of an hour and forty minutes, he began to take small supplies
+of pure air from his reservoir, and did so, as he found occasion, for
+four hours and twenty minutes. At the expiration of the time he came to
+the surface without having experienced any inconvenience from having
+been so long under the water.</p>
+
+<p>Fulton, about this time, hearing of Fitche's experiments in the United
+States with steam, became more than ever interested in the subject of
+"navigating boats by means of fire and water." Our Minister to Great
+Britain, Robert R. Livingstone, becoming greatly interested in steam
+navigation, and especially in Fulton's ideas in the matter, agreed to
+furnish the necessary funds to bring to success the enterprise.
+Accordingly, they ordered an engine of Watt &amp; Boulton, "which would
+propel a large boat," and the engine arrived in America during the year
+1806. Fulton at once set to work to build a boat to fit the machinery,
+and in 1807 the "Clermont" was ready for trial.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will not be surprised at the statement of an eye-witness:
+"When it was announced in the New York papers that the boat would start
+from Cortlandt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span> street at 6:30 a. m., on the 4th of August, and take
+passengers to Albany, there was a broad smile on every face as the
+inquiry was made if any one would be fool enough to go?" One friend was
+heard to accost another in the street with: "John, will thee risk thy
+life in such a concern? I tell thee she is the most fearful wild fowl
+living, and thy father should restrain thee." When the eventful morning
+came, Friday August 4th, 1807, the wharves, piers, housetops, and every
+available elevation was crowded with spectators. All the machinery was
+uncovered and exposed to view. The periphery of the balance wheels of
+cast iron, some four or more inches square, ran just clear of the water.
+There were no outside guards, the balance wheels being supported by
+their respective shafts, which projected over the sides of the boat. The
+forward part was covered by a deck which afforded shelter for her hands.
+The after-part was fitted up in a rough manner for passengers. The
+entrance into the cabin was from the stern in front of the steersman,
+who worked a tiller as in an ordinary sloop.</p>
+
+<p>Black smoke issued from the chimney; steam issued from every ill-fitted
+valve and crevice of the engine. Fulton himself was there. His
+remarkably clear and sharp voice was heard high above the hum of the
+multitude and the noise of the engine, his step was confident and
+decided; he heeded not the fearfulness, doubts or sarcasm of those by
+whom he was surrounded. The whole scene combined had in it an
+individuality, as well as an interest, which comes but once, and is
+remembered a lifetime. Everything being ready the engine was set in
+motion, and the boat moved steadily but slowly from the wharf. As she
+turned up the river and was fairly under way, there arose such a huzza
+as ten thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span> throats never gave before. The passengers returned the
+cheer, but Fulton stood upon the deck, his eyes flashing with an unusual
+brilliancy as he surveyed the crowd. He felt that the magic wand of
+success was waving over him and he was silent. The entire trip was an
+ovation, and is thus described by Colden:</p>
+
+<p>"From other vessels which were navigating the river she had the most
+terrific appearance when she was making her passage. The first
+steam-boats used dry pine for fuel, which sends forth a column of
+ignited vapor many feet above the flue and whenever the fire is stirred
+a galaxy of sparks fly off, and in the night have a very beautiful and
+brilliant appearance. This uncommon light first attracted the attention
+of the crews of other vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and the tide
+were adverse to its approach they saw with astonishment that it was
+coming rapidly towards them; and when it came so near that the noise of
+the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews (if what was said at the
+time in the newspapers be true) in some instances shrunk beneath the
+decks from the terrific sight, and left the vessels to go ashore, while
+others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them
+from the approach of the horrible monster, which was marching on the
+tides and lighting its path by the fires it vomited."</p>
+
+<p>Of peculiar interest and instruction is the following narrative
+connected with this historic voyage from the graphic pen of one who was
+personally an actor in the scene described: "I chanced to be at Albany
+on business when Fulton arrived there in his unheard of craft, which
+everybody felt so much anxiety to see. Being ready to leave, and hearing
+that his craft was going to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span> return to New York, I repaired on board and
+inquired for Mr. Fulton. I was referred to the cabin, and there found a
+plain, gentlemanly man, wholly alone and engaged in writing. 'Mr.
+Fulton, I presume?' 'Yes sir.' 'Do you return to New York with this
+boat?' 'We shall try to get back, sir.' 'Can I have a passage down?'
+'You can take your chance with us, sir.' I inquired the amount to be
+paid, and after a moment's hesitation, a sum, I think six dollars, was
+named. The amount in coin, I laid in his open hand, and with his eye
+fixed upon it, he remained so long motionless that I supposed it might
+be a miscount, and said to him, 'Is that right sir?' This question
+roused him as from a kind of reverie, and, as he looked up, the tears
+were brimming in his eyes and his voice faltered as he said: 'Excuse me
+sir; but my memory was busy, as I contemplated this, the first pecuniary
+reward I have ever received for all my exertions in adapting steam to
+navigation. I should gladly commemorate the occasion over a bottle of
+wine with you but really I am too poor for that just now; yet, I trust
+we may meet again when this will not be the case.'</p>
+
+<p>"Some four years after this," continues the writer of this reminiscence,
+"when the Clermont had been greatly improved, and her name changed to
+North River, and when two other boats, the Car of Neptune and the
+Paragon had been built, making Mr. Fulton's fleet consist of three boats
+regularly plying between New York and Albany, I took passage upon one of
+these for the latter city. The cabin in that day was below, and as I
+walked its deck, to and fro, I saw that I was very closely observed by
+one, I supposed a stranger. Soon, however, I recalled the features of
+Mr. Fulton; but without disclosing this, I continued my walk. At length,
+in passing his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> seat, our eyes met, when he sprang to his feet and
+eagerly seizing my hand, exclaimed, 'I knew it must be you, for your
+features have never escaped me; and, although I am still far from rich,
+yet I may venture that <span class="smcap">bottle now</span>!' It was ordered, and during its
+discussion Mr. Fulton ran rapidly, but vividly, over his experience of
+the world's coldness and sneers, and the hopes, fears, disappointments
+and difficulties that were scattered through his whole career of
+discovery up to the very point of his final crowning triumph, at which
+he so fully felt he had at last arrived."</p>
+
+<p>And in reviewing all these matters, he said: "I have again and again
+recalled the occasion, and the incident of our first interview at
+Albany; and never have I done so without renewing in my mind the vivid
+emotion it originally caused. That seemed, and does still seem to me,
+the turning point in my destiny, the dividing line between light and
+darkness, in my career upon earth, for it was the first actual
+recognition of my usefulness to my fellow-men." Why was it that Fulton
+won renown. True it was that he possessed unusual genius. We know that
+every one cannot be a Fulton, yet how few there are who would have
+exercised the stick-to-it-ive-ness that he was obliged to do before
+success came. How few would have passed through the trials and withstood
+the sneers that Robert Fulton passed through. On the 24th of February,
+1815, he died, when the honor of first crossing the ocean by steam power
+was being contemplated by him, but his fame was established, and need
+naught to enhance it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Elias_Howe_Jr" id="Elias_Howe_Jr"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Elias Howe, Jr</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Difference of opinion there may be as to the abstract question, who
+first conceived the principle involved in sewing by machinery, or in
+respect to who first constructed a machine that would fulfill that idea;
+but so far as great results are concerned the world must be considered
+as indebted to Elias Howe, Jr., a New England mechanic, born and reared
+in obscurity, and at an early age thrown upon his own resources. He was
+born at Spencer, Massachusetts, July 9th, 1819. His father was a farmer
+and miller, but at sixteen he left home, engaging in a cotton mill.
+Space will not permit us to follow him through all the details of his
+varied experience during his early years. It will be sufficient to say
+that he lived in Boston in his twentieth year, where he was working in a
+machine-shop. He was a good workman, having learned his trade at Harvard
+by the side of his cousin, Nathaniel Banks, who has since greatly
+distinguished himself as a general in the United States army and speaker
+of the House of Representatives.</p>
+
+<p>He was married soon after, and when twenty-two or three, his health
+failing, he found himself surrounded by a family, and poverty staring
+him in the face. The idea suggested itself to Howe in the following
+manner, as described by Parton in the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>: "In the year
+1839 two men in Boston, one a mechanic, the other a capitalist, were
+striving to produce a knitting-machine, which proved to be a task beyond
+their strength. When the inventor was at his wit's end, his capitalist
+brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span> the machine to the shop of Ari Davis, to see if that eccentric
+genius could suggest the solution of the difficulty, and make the
+machine work. The shop, resolving itself into a committee of the whole,
+gathered about the knitting-machine and its proprietor, and were
+listening to an explanation of its principles, when Davis, in his wild,
+extravagant way, broke in with the question: 'What are you bothering
+yourself with a knitting-machine for? Why don't you make a
+sewing-machine?' 'I wish I could,' said the capitalist, 'but it can't be
+done,' 'Oh, yes, it can,' said Davis. 'I can make a sewing-machine
+myself.' 'Well,' said the other; 'you do it, Davis, and I'll insure you
+an independent fortune.' There the conversation dropped, and was never
+resumed. The boastful remark of the master of the shop was considered
+one of his sallies of affected extravagance, as it really was, and the
+response of the capitalist to it was uttered without a thought of
+producing an effect. Nor did it produce any effect upon the person to
+whom it was addressed, as Davis never attempted to construct a
+sewing-machine.</p>
+
+<p>"Among the workmen who stood by and listened to this conversation was a
+young man from the country, a new hand named Elias Howe, then twenty
+years old. The person whom we have named capitalist, a well-dressed and
+fine looking man, somewhat consequential in his manners, was an imposing
+figure in the eyes of this youth, new to city ways, and he was much
+impressed with the emphatic assurance that a fortune was in store for
+the man who would invent a sewing-machine. He was the more struck with
+it because he had already amused himself with inventing some slight
+improvements, and recently he had caught from Davis the habit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span> of
+meditating new devices. The spirit of invention, as all mechanics know,
+is exceedingly contagious. One man in a shop who invents something that
+proves successful will give the mania to half his companions, and the
+very apprentices will be tinkering over a device after their day's work
+is done."</p>
+
+<p>Thus it was that the idea of a sewing-machine first entered Howe's mind.
+The following is the touching story of Howe's early struggle and final
+triumph as told by himself: "I commenced the invention of my
+sewing-machine as early as 1841, when I was twenty-two years of age.
+Being then dependent on my daily labor for the support of myself and my
+family I could not devote my attention to the subject during the working
+hours of the day, but I thought on it when I could, day and night. It
+grew on until 1844; I felt impelled to yield my whole time to it. During
+this period I worked on my invention mentally as much as I could, having
+only the aid of needles and such other small devices as I could carry in
+my pockets, and use at irregular intervals of daily labor at my trade. I
+was poor, but with promises of aid from a friend, I thereafter devoted
+myself exclusively to the construction and practical completion of my
+machine. I worked alone in an upper room in my friend's house, and
+finished my first machine by the middle of May, 1845.</p>
+
+<p>"This was a period of intense and persistent application, of all the
+powers I possessed, to the practical embodiment of my mechanical ideas
+into a successful sewing-machine. I soon tested the practical success of
+my first machine by sewing with it all the principal seams in two suits
+of clothes, one for myself, and one for my friend. Our clothes were as
+well made as any made by hand-sewing. I still have my first machine;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span>
+and it will now sew as good a seam as any sewing-machine known to me. My
+first machine was described in the specification of my patent, and I
+then made a second machine, to be deposited in the patent office as a
+model."</p>
+
+<p>"I then conveyed one-half of my invention and patent to my friend, for
+five hundred dollars; in fact, though a much larger sum (ten thousand
+dollars) was named in the deed at his suggestion. My patent was issued
+on the 10th of September, 1846. I made a third machine, which I tried to
+get into use on terms satisfactory to myself and friend. For this
+purpose I endeavored to attract notice to it by working with it in
+tailor shops, and exhibited it to all who desired to become acquainted
+with it. After my patent was obtained, my friend declined to aid me
+further. I then owed him about two thousand dollars, and I was also in
+debt to my father, to whom I conveyed the remaining half of my patent
+for two thousand dollars. Having parted with my whole title, and having
+no means for manufacturing machines, I was much embarrassed, and did not
+know what to do."</p>
+
+<p>"My brother, Amasa B. Howe, suggested that my invention might succeed in
+England, when, if patented, it would be wholly under my control; and on
+my behalf, with means borrowed of my father, my brother took my third
+machine to England, to do the best he could with it. He succeeded in
+selling my machine and invention for two hundred pounds in cash, and a
+verbal agreement that the purchaser should patent my invention in Great
+Britain, in his own name; and if it should prove successful, to pay me
+three pounds royalty on each machine he made or sold under the patent.
+He also agreed to employ me in adapting my machine to his own kind of
+work at three pounds a week wages.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span>"</p>
+
+<p>"The purchaser obtained a patent for my machine in England, and I went
+to London to enter his employment. I then made several machines with
+various modifications and improvements, to suit his peculiar kind of
+work, and they were put to immediate use; but afterwards we ceased to be
+friendly, and I was discharged from his employment. In the meantime my
+wife and three children had joined me in London. I had also, at the
+suggestion of another person, endorsed a hundred pound note, on which I
+was afterwards sued and arrested; but I was finally released on taking
+the 'poor debtor's oath.' By small loans from fellow mechanics, and by
+pawning a few articles, I managed to live with my family in London,
+until, from friendly representations from some American acquaintances,
+the captain of an American packet was induced to take my wife and
+children home to the United States on credit. I was then alone, and
+extremely poor, in a foreign land."</p>
+
+<p>"My invention was patented, and in successful use in England, but without
+any profit to me, and wholly out of my control. In the spring of 1849 I
+was indebted to a Scottish mechanic for a steerage passage, and I
+returned to the United States, poorer, if possible, than when I left. On
+my return I found my wife and children very destitute; all other
+personal effects, save what they had on, being still detained to secure
+payment for their passage home. My wife was sick, and died within ten
+days after my arrival. During my absence in England a considerable
+number of sewing-machines had been made, and put in operation in
+different parts of the United States; some of these by the procurement
+of the friend to whom I had sold half of my American patent but most of
+them infringements on my patent."</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Having obtained from my father, in the summer of 1849, an agreement to
+re-convey to me his half of my patent; I tried to induce the friend who
+held the other half to join me in prosecuting our rights against
+infringers, but he declined to do so. After failing to make any
+satisfactory settlement with the infringers, who well knew my poverty
+and embarrassments, I filed a bill in equity against one of such
+persons, and made my friend a party defendant also, in order to bring
+him into court as co-owner of my machine. After this he joined me in a
+suit at law against another infringer. In this case the validity of my
+patent was fully established by a verdict and judgment at law. After
+several transfers of the half share sold my friend, I purchased it back,
+about five years ago, and I am now sole owner of the American patent."</p>
+
+<p>Thus did Howe modestly tell the story of his terrible trials and
+suffering. After long litigation Mr. Howe's claim to have been the
+original inventor was legally and irreversibly established, the judge
+deciding, "that there was no evidence which left a shadow of doubt that
+for all the benefit conferred upon the public by the introduction of the
+sewing-machine the public are indebted to Mr. Howe." Therefore to him
+all inventors or improvers had to pay a royalty on each machine they
+made. From being a poor man, living in a garret, Howe became one of the
+most noted millionaires in America.</p>
+
+<p>Doubtless many of our readers would be interested in the principles
+involved in Mr. Howe's machine; which seem to be essential in all
+two-threaded machines. We find that two threads are employed, one of
+which is carried through the cloth by means of a curved pointed needle;
+the needle used has the eye that is to receive the thread,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span> about an
+eighth of an inch from the pointed end. When the thread is carried
+through the cloth, which may be done to the distance of about
+three-fourths of an inch the thread will be stretched above the curved
+needle, something like a bowstring, leaving a small open space between
+the two. A small shuttle, carrying a bobbin, filled with thread, is then
+made to pass entirely through this open space, between the needle and
+the thread which it carries; and when the shuttle is returned the thread
+which was carried in by the needle is surrounded by that received from
+the shuttle; as the needle is drawn out, it forces that which was
+received from the shuttle into the body of the cloth giving the seam
+formed the same appearance on each side of the cloth.</p>
+
+<p>Thus, according to this arrangement, a stitch is made at every back and
+forth movement of the shuttle. The two thicknesses of cloth that are to
+be sewed, are held upon pointed wires which project out from a metallic
+plate, like the teeth of a comb, but at a considerable distance from
+each other, these pointed wires sustaining the cloth, and answering the
+purpose of ordinary basting. The metallic plate, from which these wires
+project, has numerous holes through it, which answer the purpose of rack
+teeth in enabling the plate to move forward, by means of a pinion, as
+the stitches are taken. The distance to which the plate is moved, and,
+consequently, the length of the stitches may be regulated at pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>He opened a manufactory for his machines where he could carry on the
+business in a small way. From this small beginning his business grew
+until, with the royalties he received, his income reached $200,000
+annually. Notwithstanding his wealth, he enlisted in the war as a
+private, and his principles and sympathy were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span> displayed at one time
+when, seeing the men needy, the government having been unable to pay
+promptly, he himself advanced enough money to pay the entire regiment.
+In the month of October, 1867, at the early age of forty-eight he died.</p>
+
+<p>But he had lived long enough to see his machine adopted and appreciated
+as one of the greatest labor-saving devices in the world. It is
+estimated that to-day the sewing-machine saves annually the enormous sum
+of $500,000,000. It has been truly said that had it not been for the
+sewing-machine it would have been impossible to have clothed and kept
+clothed the vast armies employed on both sides during the late war.
+Great, indeed, is a world's benefactor; such is Elias Howe.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Isaac_M_Singer" id="Isaac_M_Singer"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Isaac M. Singer</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The greatest competitor of Mr. Howe was I. M. Singer. In 1850 there
+appeared in a shop in Boston, a man who exhibited a carving machine as
+his invention.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Parton, in the <i>Atlantic Monthly</i>, said: "Singer was a poor, baffled
+adventurer. He had been an actor and a manager of a theatre, and had
+tried his hand at various enterprises, none of which had been
+successful." The proprietor of the shop, who had some sewing-machines
+there on exhibition, speaking of them, said: "These machines are an
+excellent invention, but have some serious defects. Now if you could
+make the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span>desired improvement, there would be more money in it than in
+making these carving machines." This seemed to gently impress Singer,
+and the friend advancing $40, he at once began work. According to
+Singer's testimony in the Howe <i>vs.</i> Singer suits, the story of this
+wonderful man runs something like this:</p>
+
+<p>"I worked day and night, sleeping but three or four hours out of the
+twenty-four, and eating generally but once a day, as I knew I must get a
+machine made for forty dollars or not get it at all. The machine was
+completed the night of the eleventh day from the day it was commenced.
+About nine o'clock that evening we got the parts of the machine
+together, and commenced trying it. The first attempt to sew was
+unsuccessful, and the workmen, who were tired out with almost
+unremitting work, left me, one by one, intimating that it was a failure.
+I continued trying the machine, with Zieber, who furnished the forty
+dollars, to hold the lamp for me; but in the nervous condition to which
+I had been reduced, by incessant work and anxiety, was unsuccessful in
+getting the machine to sew light stitches.</p>
+
+<p>"About midnight I started with Zieber to the hotel, where I boarded.
+Upon the way we sat down on a pile of boards, and Zieber asked me if I
+had not noticed that the loose loops of thread on the upper side of the
+cloth came from the needle? It then flashed upon me that I had forgotten
+to adjust the tension upon the needle thread. Zieber and I went back to
+the shop. I adjusted the tension, tried the machine, and sewed five
+stitches perfectly, when the thread broke. The perfection of those
+stitches satisfied me that the machine was a success, and I stopped
+work, went to the hotel, and had a sound sleep. By three o'clock the
+next day I had the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span> machine finished, and started with it to New York,
+where I employed Mr. Charles M. Keller to get out a patent for it."</p>
+
+<p>The trial resulted in favor of Howe, but of the two men Singer was in
+every way the superior in business capacity. In fact; there never has
+been a sewing-machine manufacturer that could compare with I. M. Singer.
+"Great and manifold were the difficulties which arose in his path, but
+one by one he overcame them all. He advertised, he traveled, he sent out
+agents, he procured the insertion of articles in newspapers, he
+exhibited the machines at fairs in town or country. Several times he was
+on the point of failure, but in the nick of time something always
+happened to save him, and year after year he advanced toward an assured
+success.</p>
+
+<p>"We well remember his early efforts, when he only had the back part of a
+small store on Broadway, and a little shop over a railroad depot; and we
+remember also the general incredulity with regard to the value of the
+machine with which his name was identified. Even after hearing him
+explain it at great length, we were very far from expecting to see him
+one day riding to the Central Park in a French diligence, drawn by five
+horses paid for by the sewing-machine. Still less did we anticipate that
+within twelve years the Singer company would be selling a thousand
+sewing-machines a week, at a profit of a thousand dollars a day. He was
+the true pioneer of the mere business of selling machines, and made it
+easier for all his subsequent competitors."</p>
+
+<p>The peculiarity of the Singer machine is the chain stitch or single
+thread device, but with the employment of an eye-pointed needle, and
+other appliances, so as to make it admirably adopted for the general
+purposes of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[452]</a></span> sewing. At Mr. Singer's death it was found that his estate
+amounted to about $19,000,000.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Richard_M_Hoe" id="Richard_M_Hoe"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Richard M. Hoe</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The recent death of Richard March Hoe, in Florence, Italy, closes the
+career of one whose name is known wherever the newspaper is used to
+spread intelligence.</p>
+
+<p>He was the senior member of the firm of printing-press makers, and one
+of the leading inventors and developers of that great lever of public
+opinion. Mr. Hoe's father was the founder of the firm. He came to this
+country from England in 1803, and worked at his trade of carpentry.
+Through his skill as a workman he was sought out by a man named Smith, a
+maker of printer's material. He married Smith's sister, and went into
+partnership with Smith and brother. The printing-presses of those days
+were made chiefly of wood, and Hoe's skill as a wood-worker was valuable
+to the firm.</p>
+
+<p>In 1822 Peter Smith invented a hand-press. This press was finally
+supplanted by the Washington press, invented by Samuel Rust in 1829. Mr.
+Smith died a year after securing his patent, and the firm-name was
+changed to R. Hoe &amp; Co., but from the manufacture of the Smith press the
+company made a fortune. The demand for hand presses increased so rapidly
+that ten years later it was suggested that steam power might be utilized
+in some way to do the pulling and tugging necessary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[453]</a></span> in getting an
+impression. At this time Richard M., one of the sons of the founder of
+the house, was an attentive listener to the discussions.</p>
+
+<p>Young Richard M. Hoe was born in 1812. He had the advantage of an
+excellent education, but his father's business possessed such a
+fascination for him that it was with difficulty he was kept in school.
+He was a young man of twenty before his father allowed him to work
+regularly in his shop; but he had already become an expert in handling
+tools, and soon became one of the best workmen. He joined with his
+father in the belief that steam would yet be applied to the
+printing-press, and the numerous models and experiments they made to
+that end would, in the light of the present day, appear extremely
+ridiculous.</p>
+
+<p>In 1825-30 Napier had constructed a steam printing-press, and in 1830
+Isaac Adams, of Boston, secured a patent for a power press. These
+inventions were kept very secret; the factories in which they were made
+being guarded jealously. In 1830 a Napier press was imported into this
+country for use on the <i>National Intelligencer</i>. Mordecai Noah, editor
+of Noah's <i>Sunday Times and Messenger</i>, was collector of the port of New
+York at that time, and being desirous of seeing how the Napier press
+would work, sent for Mr. Hoe to put it up. He and Richard succeeded in
+setting up the press, and worked it successfully.</p>
+
+<p>The success of Napier's press set the Hoes to thinking. They made models
+of its peculiar parts and studied them carefully. Then, in pursuance of
+a plan suggested by Richard, his father sent his partner, Mr. Newton, to
+England, for the purpose of examining new machinery there, and to secure
+models for future use. On his return<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[454]</a></span> with ideas, Mr. Newton and the
+Hoes projected and turned out for sale a novel two-cylinder press, which
+became universally popular and soon superseded all others, the Napier
+included.</p>
+
+<p>Thus was steam at last harnessed to the press, but the demand of the
+daily papers for their increasing editions spurred the press makers to
+devise machines that could be worked at higher speed than was found
+possible with the presses, in which the type was secured to a flat bed,
+which was moved backward and forward under a revolving cylinder. It was
+seen, then, that if type could be secured to the surface of a cylinder,
+great speed could be attained. In Sir Rowland Hill's device the type was
+cast wedge-shape; that is, narrower at the bottom. A broad "nick" was
+cut into its side, into which a "lead" fitted. The ends of the "lead" in
+turn fitted into a slot in the column rules, and these latter were
+bolted into the cylinder. The inventor, Sir Rowland Hill, the father of
+penny postage in England, sunk, it is said, &pound;80,000 in the endeavor to
+introduce this method.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Richard M. had succeeded to his father's business, and
+was giving his attention largely to solving this problem of holding type
+on a revolving cylinder. It was not until 1846 that he hit on the method
+of doing it. After a dozen years of thought the idea came upon him
+unexpectedly, and was startling in its simplicity. It was to make the
+column rules wedge-shape instead of the type. It was this simple device,
+by the introduction of the "lightning press," that revolutionized the
+newspaper business of the world, and made the press the power it is. It
+brought Hoe fame and put him at the head of press makers. His business
+grew to such dimensions that he has in his employ in his New York<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[455]</a></span>
+factory from 800 to 1,500 hands, varying with the state of trade. His
+London factory employes from 150 to 250 hands.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the great daily cravings demanded still faster presses. The result
+was the development of the Web press, in which the paper is drawn into
+the press from a continuous roll, at a speed of twelve miles an hour.
+The very latest is a machine called the supplement press, capable of
+printing complete a paper of from eight to twelve pages, depending on
+the demand of the day, so that the papers slide out of the machine with
+the supplements gummed in and the paper folded ready for delivery. Of
+late years many other remarkably ingenious presses of other makers have
+come into the market, but still the genius of R. M. Hoe has left an
+indelible mark in the development of the printing-press. He died June
+6th, 1886.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Charles_Goodyear" id="Charles_Goodyear"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Charles Goodyear</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>About the year 1800 was born in New Haven, Connecticut, Charles
+Goodyear. He received only a public school education, and when
+twenty-one years of age joined his father in the hardware trade in the
+city of Philadelphia; but in the financial troubles of 1830, the firm
+went under, and the next three years was spent in looking for a
+life-work.</p>
+
+<p>Passing a store in the city of New York, his eye was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[456]</a></span> attracted by the
+words "<span class="smcap">India Rubber for Sale</span>." Having heard much of this new article of
+late, he purchased a life-preserver which he carried home and so
+materially improved, in conception, that he was induced to return to the
+store for the purpose of explaining his ideas. At the store he was now
+told of the great discouragements with which the rubber trade was
+contending, the merchants giving this as a reason for not taking to his
+improvement. The rubber, as then made, would become as hard as flint
+during cold weather, and if exposed to heat would melt and decay.</p>
+
+<p>Returning to Philadelphia, Goodyear commenced experiments, trying to
+discover the secret of how to remedy this trouble. He was very poor, and
+to support his family he 'cobbled' for his neighbors. He tried every
+experiment within his grasp of intellect, but met only with failure. His
+friends, who had helped him, left him one by one; his failures
+continued, but he would not give up. The last piece of furniture was
+sold, and his family moved into the country, taking up cheap lodgings.
+Finally he found a druggist who agreed to furnish him what he needed
+from his store to use in his investigations and purchasing small
+quantities of rubber at a time he continued his experiments. At length,
+after three years he discovered that the adhesiveness of the rubber
+could be obviated by dipping it in a preparation of nitric acid. But
+this only affected the exterior, and he was once more plunged into the
+worst of poverty. It was generally agreed that the man who would
+proceed further, in a cause of this sort, was fairly deserving of all
+the distress brought on himself, and justly debarred the sympathy of
+others. His suffering during the years that followed is simply
+incredible. The prejudice against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[457]</a></span> him was intense. Everybody
+characterized him as a fool, and no one would help him. A witness
+afterwards testified in a trial: "They had sickness in the family; I was
+often in and found them very poor and destitute, for both food and fuel.
+They had none, nor had they anything to buy any with. This was before
+they boarded with us, and while they were keeping house. They told me
+they had no money with which to buy bread from one day to another. They
+did not know how they should get it. The children said they did not know
+what they should do for food. They dug their potatoes before they were
+half-grown, for the sake of having something to eat. Their son Charles,
+eight years old, used to say that they ought to be thankful for the
+potatoes, for they did not know what they should do without them. We
+used to furnish them with milk, and they wished us to take furniture and
+bed-clothes in payment, rather than not pay for it. At one time they had
+nothing to eat, and a barrel of flour was unexpectedly sent them."</p>
+
+<p>It is a record of destitution, imprisonment for debt, and suffering from
+this time until 1841, when he began to see day-light. By accident he one
+day allowed a piece of rubber to drop on the stove, when, lo! he had
+found the secret, heat was the thing needed. Six years had he struggled
+on through untold hardships, and now he seemed crowned with success. He
+had found the desired solution of the problem, but he made a fatal
+mistake here. Instead of settling down and manufacturing his discovery,
+which would have brought him a fortune, he sold rights and kept on
+experimenting. By certain legal informalities he secured no benefit
+whatever from his patent in France and he was cheated entirely out of it
+in England. Although he lived to see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[458]</a></span> large factories for its
+manufacture spring up in both America and Europe, employing 60,000
+operatives, still he died in 1860 at the age of seventy-one, leaving his
+family unprovided for. The cause was not lack of perseverance nor
+energy, but the sole cause was lack of judgment in business matters.</p>
+
+<p>The vulcanized rubber trade is one of the greatest industries of the
+world to-day, amounting to millions of dollars annually. The usefulness
+of India rubber is thus described in the <i>North American Review</i>: "Some
+of our readers have been out on the picket-line during the war. They
+know what it is to stand motionless in a wet and miry rifle-pit in the
+chilly rain of a southern winter's night. Protected by India rubber
+boots, blanket and cap, the picket-man is in comparative comfort; a duty
+which, without that protection, would make him a cowering and shivering
+wretch, and plant in his bones a latent rheumatism, to be the torment of
+his old age. Goodyear's India rubber enables him to come in from his pit
+as dry as when he went into it, and he comes in to lie down with an
+India rubber blanket between him and the damp earth. If he is wounded it
+is an India-rubber stretcher or an ambulance, provided with India-rubber
+springs, that gives him least pain on his way to the hospital, where, if
+his wound is serious, a water-bed of India rubber gives ease to his
+mangled frame, and enables him to endure the wearing tedium of an
+unchanged posture. Bandages and supporters of India rubber avail him
+much when first he begins to hobble about his ward. A piece of India
+rubber at the end of his crutch lessens the jar and the noise of his
+motions, and a cushion of India rubber is comfortable to his arm-pit.
+The springs which close the hospital door, the bands which excludes the
+drafts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[459]</a></span> from doors and windows, his pocket-comb and cup and thimble are
+of the same material. From jars hermetically closed with India rubber he
+receives the fresh fruit that is so exquisitely delicious to a fevered
+mouth. The instrument case of his surgeon, and the store-room of his
+matron contains many articles whose utility is increased by the use of
+it, and some that could be made of nothing else. In a small rubber case
+the physician carries with him and preserves his lunar caustic, which
+would corrode any metallic surface. His shirts and sheets pass through
+an India rubber clothes-wringer, which saves the strength of the
+washer-woman and the fibre of the fabric. When the government presents
+him with an artificial leg, a thick heel and elastic sole of India
+rubber give him comfort every time he puts it on the ground. In the
+field this material is not less strikingly useful. During the late war
+armies have marched through ten days of rain and slept through as many
+nights, and come out dry into the returning sunshine with their
+artillery untarnished and their ammunition not injured, because men and
+munitions were all under India rubber."</p>
+
+<p>Ought we soon to forget him to whom we are indebted, in a large measure,
+for all this? The American people will long remember Charles Goodyear
+when others have faded from memory.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_460" id="Page_460">[460]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Prof_S_F_B_Morse" id="Prof_S_F_B_Morse"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Prof. S. F. B. Morse</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>"Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee: Here we
+are!" Said the Lord from the whirlwind to afflicted Job, who remained
+dumb for he could not answer. The question has been answered in the
+affirmative in our day by the perfector of the electro-magnetic
+telegraph, the late Professor Morse, by whose invention the promise has
+been fulfilled: "I'll put a girdle around the globe in forty minutes."</p>
+
+<p>Samuel Finly Breese Morse was born in Charleston, Massachusetts, April
+27th, 1791. His father was the first person to publish geographies in
+America. His father was also a celebrated Congregational minister,
+spending much of his time in religious controversy, in maintaining the
+orthodox faith throughout the New England churches and against
+Unitarianism. He was prominent among those who founded Andover
+Theological Seminary, and published many religious periodicals.</p>
+
+<p>S. F. B. Morse was a graduate from Yale at the age of nineteen, and soon
+went to England for the purpose of studying painting. At the end of two
+years he received the gold medal of the Adelphia Society of Arts for an
+original model of a "Dying Hercules," his first attempt at sculpture.
+The following year he exhibited "The Judgment of Jupiter," a painting
+praised by his teacher, Mr. West. Becoming quite proficient in painting
+and sculpture, he returned home in 1815, following his profession in
+Boston, Charleston, South Carolina, and later in New York city. At the
+latter place, in connection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_461" id="Page_461">[461]</a></span> with other artists, he organized a drawing
+association, which resulted in the establishment of the National Academy
+of Design. Prof. Morse was chosen its first President, and was continued
+in that office for the following sixteen years. He painted a great many
+portraits, among which was a full length portrait of Lafayette, which
+was highly prized and commended by the Association. In 1829 he visited
+Europe a second time to complete his studies in art reading for more
+than three years in the principal cities of the continent. During his
+absence abroad he was elected Professor of the literature of the Arts of
+Design in the University of New York; and in 1835 he delivered a course
+of lectures before that school on the affinity of those arts.</p>
+
+<p>While in college Mr. Morse had paid special attention to chemistry and
+natural philosophy; but his love of art seemed to be the stronger;
+later, however, these sciences became a dominant pursuit with him. As
+far back as 1826-'7, he and Prof. J. Freeman Dana had been colleague
+lecturers at the Athen&aelig;um in the City of New York, the former lecturing
+on the fine arts, and the latter upon electro-magnetism. They were
+intimate friends, and in their conversation the subject of
+electro-magnetism was made familiar to the mind of Morse. The
+electro-magnet on Sturgeon's principle&mdash;the first ever shown in the
+United States&mdash;was exhibited and explained in Dana's lectures, and at a
+later date, by gift of Prof. Torrey, came into Morse's possession. Dana
+even then suggested, by his spiral volute coil, the electro-magnet of
+the present day; this was the magnet in use when Morse returned from
+Europe, and it is now used in every Morse telegraph throughout both
+hemispheres.</p>
+
+<p>On his second return to the United States he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_462" id="Page_462">[462]</a></span>embarked from Havre on the
+packet ship Sully, in the autumn of 1832 and in a casual conversation
+with some of the passengers on the then recent discovery in France of
+the means of obtaining the electric spark from the magnet, showing the
+identity or relation of electricity and magnetism, Morse's mind
+conceived, not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an
+electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph; substantially and
+essentially as it now exists. The testimony to the paternity of the idea
+in Morse's mind, and to his acts and drawings on board the ship is
+ample. His own testimony was corroborated by all the passengers with a
+single exception, Thomas Jackson, who claimed to have originated the
+idea and imparted the same to Morse. However, there is little
+controversy in regard to this matter at the present day as the courts
+decided irrevocably in favor of Morse. The year 1832 is fixed as the
+date of Morse's conception and realization, also, so far as drawings
+could embody the conception of the telegraph system; which now bears his
+name. A part of the apparatus was constructed in New York before the
+close of the first year, but circumstances prevented its completion
+before 1835, when he put up a-half mile of wire in coil around a room
+and exhibited the telegraph in operation. Two years later he exhibited
+the operation of his system before the University of New York.</p>
+
+<p>From the greater publicity of this exhibition the date of Morse's
+invention has erroneously been fixed in the autumn of 1837, whereas he
+operated successfully with the first single instrument in November,
+1835. In 1837 he filed his caveat in the Patent Office in Washington,
+and asked Congress for aid to build an experimental line from that city
+to Baltimore. The House Committee on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_463" id="Page_463">[463]</a></span> Commerce gave a favorable report,
+but the session closed without action, and Morse went to Europe in the
+hope of interesting foreign governments in his invention. The result was
+a refusal to grant him letters patent in England, and the obtaining of a
+useless <i>brevet d'invention</i> in France, and no exclusive privileges in
+any other country. He returned home to struggle again with scanty means
+for four years, during which he continued his appeals at Washington. His
+hope had expired on the last evening of the session of 1842-3; but in
+the morning, March 4th, he was startled with the announcement that the
+desired aid of Congress had been obtained in the midnight hour of the
+expiring session, and $30,000 placed at his disposal for his
+experimental essay between Washington and Baltimore. In 1844 the work
+was completed, and demonstrated to the world the practicability and the
+utility of the Morse system of electro-magnetic telegraphing. Violations
+of his patents and assumption of his rights by rival companies involved
+him in a long series of law suits; but these were eventually decided in
+his favor, and he reaped the benefits to which his invention entitled
+him.</p>
+
+<p>It is doubtful if any American ever before received so many marks of
+distinction. In 1846 Yale College conferred on him the degree of LL.D.;
+in 1848 he received the decoration of the <i>Nishan Iftikur</i> in diamonds
+from the Sultan of Turkey; gold medals of scientific merit were awarded
+him by the king of Prussia; the king of Wurtemberg, and the Emperor of
+Austria. In 1856 he received from the Emperor of the French the cross of
+Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; in 1857 from the King of Denmark the
+cross of Knight Commander of the First Class of the Danebrog; in 1858
+from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_464" id="Page_464">[464]</a></span> Queen of Spain the cross of Knight Commander of the Order of
+Isabella the Catholic; from the king of Italy the cross of the Order of
+SS. Maurice and Lazarus, and from the king of Portugal the cross of the
+Order of the Tower and Sword. In 1856 the telegraph companies of Great
+Britain gave him a banquet in London; and in Paris, in 1858, another
+banquet was given him by Americans numbering more than 100, and
+representing almost every State in the Union. In the latter year, at the
+instance of Napoleon III, representatives of France, Russia, Sweden,
+Belgium, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, the Holy See, and Turkey
+met in Paris to decide upon a collective testimonial to him, and the
+result was a vote of 400,000 francs as a personal reward for his labors.
+On December 29th, 1868, the citizens of New York gave him a public
+dinner. In June, 1871, a bronze statue of him, erected by the voluntary
+contributions of telegraph employes, was formally unveiled in Central
+Park, New York, by William Cullen Bryant, and in the evening a reception
+was held in the Academy of Music, at which Prof. Morse telegraphed, by
+means of one of the instruments used on the original line between New
+York and Washington, a message of greeting to all the cities of the
+continent.</p>
+
+<p>The last public service which he performed was the unveiling of the
+statue of Franklin in Printing House Square, New York, on January 17th,
+1872. Submarine telegraphy also originated with Prof. Morse, who laid
+the first sub-marine lines, in New York harbor in 1842, and received at
+the time from the American Institute a gold medal. He died in the city
+of New York April 2nd, 1872. While in Paris in 1839 he made the
+acquaintance of Daguerre, and from drawings furnished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_465" id="Page_465">[465]</a></span> him by the
+latter, he constructed, on his return, the first daguerreotype
+apparatus, and took the first sun pictures ever taken in America. He was
+also an author and poet of some standing.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Cyrus_W_Field" id="Cyrus_W_Field"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Cyrus W. Field</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>There are few people living who have not heard of Cyrus W. Field. Few
+people, however, have taken the trouble to learn more of him other than
+the fact that to him are we indebted for the Atlantic Cable, and <span class="smcap">this</span>
+information has been forced upon them.</p>
+
+<p>One often hears the old saying, "blood tells," and when we review the
+Field family we are constrained to admit its truth. David Dudly Field,
+Sr., the father, was a noted Divine. He had a family of seven sons, the
+oldest of which, David Dudly, Jr., is a most conspicuous lawyer. Stephen
+Johnson, has held some of the most exalted positions as a jurist within
+the gift of the nation and his adopted State, California. Henry Martyn,
+is a renowned editor and Doctor of Divinity. Matthew D. is an expert
+engineer, and in this capacity did much to aid the success of the cable
+which has made famous for all time the subject of this narrative.
+Matthew is also a somewhat noted and successful politician. Another
+brother, Timothy, entered the navy, and we doubt not would have become
+equally distinguished but for his untimely death. Cyrus West, was born
+at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, November 30th, 1819. Unlike the
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_466" id="Page_466">[466]</a></span>Appletons, Harpers and numerous other noted families, the Fields seemed
+to discard the idea "in union is there strength," each selecting his own
+calling, to become individually singled out and honored.</p>
+
+<p>As heretofore shown, almost the entire Field family have made history,
+but upon Cyrus does the world bestow the greatest distinction. He was
+the only brother choosing a mercantile life, and at the age of fifteen,
+nearly sixteen, he was apprenticed to the great A. T. Stewart. After his
+apprenticeship he returned to Massachusetts and started a small
+paper-mill, and still later came to New York again, this time to open a
+paper warehouse, but for some reason failed. One feature of the great
+success which has attended Mr. Field was his stick-to-it-iveness which
+enabled him to 'fight it out on that line if it took all summer.' He
+accordingly compromised the matter with his creditors, re-established
+the business, profited by his past mistakes, and in the course of eleven
+or twelve years had amassed an ample fortune. Accordingly, about 1853,
+he decided to retire, and spent six months traveling in South America,
+not, however, until he had enclosed a check to each of his old
+creditors, thereby discharging a moral obligation, although not legally
+bound.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, a Mr. Gibson had enlisted the sympathy of his brother
+Matthew, the engineer, in a transatlantic telegraph company, which was
+to be carried on by a co-operation of the telegraph, and a system of
+fast ocean steamers. Although adverse to all thought of resuming <i>any</i>
+business this brother obtained for Mr. Gibson an audience, and he
+presented to Mr. Field his scheme which involved a telegraphic
+communication between New York and St. John; hence, by fast ocean
+steamers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_467" id="Page_467">[467]</a></span> Mr. Gibson left without gaining his object, but upon
+reflection Mr. Field suddenly exclaimed: "Why not run a wire through the
+ocean itself, instead of ending it at St. John?" Although it is claimed
+that Field had never heard of such an idea, yet it did not originate
+with him. In fact, a cable was then in operation between Dover and
+Calais, connecting England and France. Having become imbued with this
+plan he at once consulted his brother David as to what legal obstacles
+might possibly arise, and being satisfied on that score, he set about
+the accomplishment of his purpose.</p>
+
+<p>He saw Peter Cooper and several other moneyed men and solicited their
+aid, forming a company, with Peter Cooper as president. Matthew was now
+interested as chief engineer, and David as counsel. These will be
+remembered as two of the famous brothers. The burden of the work,
+however, fell upon our hero. He seemed to be everywhere. First in
+Newfoundland, where he bought the rights of a rival company then before
+the Provincial Government, where his influence secured the consent of
+the legislature of Newfoundland. Then he is over in England, where he is
+successful in not only securing the necessary rights and privileges to
+occupy British territory, but the special favor of the Queen and the
+capital stock of about $1,680,000, which it was hoped could be placed in
+England, was taken in a few weeks, and not only this but the British
+government agreed to pay an annual subsidy of about $68,000, for the use
+of the cable by that government and ships, not only for surveying but to
+help lay the cable.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Field now ordered the cable made, and again set sail for America,
+and is soon at the national capitol trying to enlist the sympathy and
+aid of our country. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_468" id="Page_468">[468]</a></span> lobby and other influences seemed to be against
+him, and he met with the cold shoulder at every turn, but nothing
+dismayed this man. At last the bill passed the Senate by the majority of
+but one vote, and in the Lower House by an absolutely small majority,
+but after a hard fight it became a fixed thing, and received the
+signature of President Buchanan.</p>
+
+<p>Reader, look back upon the trials of Cyrus Field as you have followed
+them thus far; imagine if you can the trouble, vexation and
+disappointments which have thus far attended him, and when you think
+that he had all this trouble to get <span class="smcap">permission</span> to lay the cable, and
+that while he had already passed through much; yet his disappointments
+were destined to be tenfold greater ere success attended him; will you
+say he is undeserving of that success? The rights are secure; the stock
+taken; the cable is done and all seems fair sailing.</p>
+
+<p>The Agamemnon of the Royal Mary and the Niagara, furnished by the United
+States government, started with their precious burden. The paying out
+machine kept up its steady revolutions. Slowly, but surely, the cable
+slips over the side and into the briny deep. Many eminent men were
+eagerly watching with Mr. Field on the Niagara; a gradual solemnity took
+possession of the entire ship's company. Who would not be interested?
+Who would not feel the powerful pressure of responsibility, and when at
+last the too sudden application of a break parted the cable, and it
+wholly disappeared from view, the shock was too much for the stoutest
+nerves. All appeared to feel that a dear friend had just slipped the
+cable of life, and had gone to make his grave beneath the deep waters.</p>
+
+<p>But of all that sad company, Mr. Field is the least<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_469" id="Page_469">[469]</a></span> dismayed. He
+recognized that a most expensive and disastrous accident had happened;
+but the belief was firmly fixed in his mind that the plan was
+practicable. He was now offered the position of General Manager, at a
+salary of $5,000 per year. The position he accepted, but declined the
+salary.</p>
+
+<p>In 1858 the second attempt was begun, but when about two hundred miles
+had been laid, the cable parted, and the result of months of labor and
+large capital was remorsefully swallowed up by the mighty deep. But
+while all seemed ready to give up, Cyrus Field seemed to be everywhere.
+His activity seemed to exceed the bounds of human endurance. Many were
+the successive twenty-four hours in which he had no sleep, and his
+friends were alarmed lest he and the new enterprise should break
+together.</p>
+
+<p>By his assiduousness the work was recommenced this same year, and on the
+5th of August, 1858, was completed. Messages were exchanged between
+Queen Victoria and President Buchanan, and for about a month the cable
+worked perfectly, amid great rejoicing, when all at once it stopped; the
+cable refused to respond. Few thought the project would be prosecuted
+further, but they miscalculated the power of endurance, the possession
+of which has brought the success of that man whom they now envy,
+"because fortune has smiled upon him more especially than them."</p>
+
+<p>How often do we find ourselves wishing we were as rich as some person,
+or as influential as another; when we have but to follow their example,
+do as they have done, endure what they have endured to acquire the
+coveted success.</p>
+
+<p>If we would stop to consider that seventy-three per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_470" id="Page_470">[470]</a></span> cent. of our great
+men were poor boys, we would readily see that those we now envy are only
+enjoying the fruit of their own toil.</p>
+
+<p>The civil war broke out and all work was suspended, but in 1863 a new
+cable was ordered of Gloss, Elliot &amp; Company in London, and a capital of
+$3,000,000 was raised by the indomitable energy of Mr. Field. The Great
+Eastern was employed to lay it, and on the 23rd day of July, 1865, that
+leviathan of the deep, started on her momentous journey, successfully
+traversing about three-fourths of the entire distance, when the cable
+once more parted, carrying with it to the bottom of the ocean every fond
+hope cherished by so many. But once more arose Cyrus West Field, and an
+entirely new company is formed, and $3,000,000 more is raised. On
+Friday, July 13th, 1866, the Great Eastern once more starts, and on
+Friday, the 27th of July, the following cablegram is received.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Hearts Content</span>, July 27th.</p>
+
+<p>"We arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All well, thank God.
+The Cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.</p>
+
+<p>"Signed,
+<span class="smcap">Cyrus W. Field</span>."</p></div>
+
+<p>To make the victory more complete, the Great Eastern again put to sea,
+raised the cable which was lost the preceding year, spliced it, and the
+two have since been in constant use.</p>
+
+<p>Who dares deny that Cyrus W. Field is not deserving of enduring fame?
+For thirteen years he had borne the brunt of all the ridicule and sneers
+directed at this greatest enterprise of modern history. He has been
+bitterly denounced by many as a capitalist, a monopolist, and the like;
+but if the world has been benefited so many millions by the Ocean
+Telegraph, it seems to us that the <span class="smcap">best</span> is inadequate as a reward to its
+proprietor.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_471" id="Page_471">[471]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="George_M_Pullman" id="George_M_Pullman"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">George M. Pullman</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The subject of this sketch we consider one of the greatest of
+philanthropists. He is a modest man, and for this reason disclaimed all
+desire to be known as a benefactor. But we cannot now think of any one
+who is more clearly identified with the great effort which is going on
+for the benefit of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>He is a native of the grand old empire State, being born in the western
+part of New York, March 3rd, 1831. His father was a mechanic of some
+note, but died before George was of age, leaving him to help support his
+mother and younger brothers.</p>
+
+<p>He worked for a time in a furniture establishment, but this kind of
+employment did not satisfy his active nature, and he went to Chicago,
+where his enterprise could have sea room. He at first became identified
+with the work of raising and placing new foundations under several large
+buildings of that city. He helped raise a whole block several feet high,
+an enterprise which was accomplished without hardly a break,
+discontinuing none of the business firms who occupied the building,
+their business being carried on uninterrupted.</p>
+
+<p>George M. Pullman had a perceptive mind&mdash;so have all truly successful
+men. He perceived that while the railway coaches were far superior to
+the old stages, yet they were far inferior to what he imagined they
+ought to be. He at once applied to the Chicago and Alton railway
+management and laid his plan before them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_472" id="Page_472">[472]</a></span> They furnished him with two
+old coaches, with which to experiment. These he fitted up with bunks,
+and while they were not to be compared with the elegant palaces which he
+has since constructed, still one could lie down and sleep all night,
+which was so far in advance of anything the people had seen, that they
+were very highly appreciated.</p>
+
+<p>He now went to Colorado, and engaged in various mining schemes, but here
+he was out of his sphere, and after a three years' sojourn, returned to
+Chicago. His active imagination had thought out many improvements on the
+cars he had previously constructed; and he had also secured capital with
+which to carry out his ideas. Fitting up a shop on the Chicago and Alton
+road, he constructed two coaches, at the then fabulous cost of $18,000
+each. The management of the various western roads looked upon such
+enterprise as visionary. George M. Pullman, however, cared but little
+about their opinion.</p>
+
+<p>The Union and Pacific was then exciting much attention. He knew that on
+the completion of such a road, travelers would appreciate a car in which
+they could enjoy the comforts of home for the entire tedious trip. To
+say that his hopes were fully realized, would be inadequate. So popular
+did they become, that his shops at Chicago could not begin to fill the
+demands made upon it for his parlor, dining, and sleeping cars. Branches
+were started at Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and various places in
+Europe.</p>
+
+<p>These establishments, of necessity, could not come under his immediate
+supervision he, therefore, conceived the idea of concentrating his
+business into one vast establishment, and gathered about him a force of
+skilled workmen. He looked upon Chicago and its locality as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_473" id="Page_473">[473]</a></span> the coming
+center of population in the United States; but a site in that city would
+be far too expensive, if indeed one could have been found sufficient for
+his purpose. About twelve to fifteen miles from Chicago was a swamp: it
+was considered worthless, but it was as easy for this natural mechanic
+to conceive the idea of draining this tract of land, as it was to
+conceive methods to raise buildings. A very large force of men were put
+to work draining; gas-pipes were laid; streets were laid out and graded,
+and an architect employed to draw the plans for the building of a whole
+city at once. Gigantic work-shops were built, and a water supply brought
+from Lake Michigan, miles away. Besides all this, over fourteen hundred
+beautiful homes were built before any man was asked to come to Pullman
+to enter the shops. A bank was opened, a library, containing thousands
+of volumes, was provided; all these things were brought about by Mr.
+Pullman. He has expended several million of dollars in beautifying and
+providing for the comfort and pleasure of his employes. The buildings
+are not mushroom affairs, but substantial brick edifices which give this
+place an appearance which will compare favorably with any city. He built
+a fine hotel, and erected a beautiful church, placing a rich toned organ
+in it, which alone cost $3,500. Every honest tradesman can come to
+Pullman. None but liquor dealers or men who desire to keep low
+groggeries are excluded. No property is sold, but if a party desires to
+live there he applies to the Superintendent, and a lease is given, which
+can be cancelled by either party at ten days' notice. Nothing but liquor
+is forbidden. A man can squander his time, can gamble, possibly, but he
+cannot obtain drink; the result is, there are no policemen. No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_474" id="Page_474">[474]</a></span> visible
+form of government, save Mr. Pullman, and yet this is a city of nearly
+eight thousand people. The people are not muddled with drink; they are
+promptly paid; their 'personal' rights are not interfered with, save in
+respect to the selling of liquor; they are contented and happy. Mr.
+Pullman has been largely identified with the Metropolitan Railway and
+the Eagleton Wire Works in New York city. But the name of Pullman is
+destined to long remain a synonym of philanthropy. He has practically
+demonstrated the benefit of legislation against the sale of intoxicating
+liquors as a beverage. He claims to have done this as a business policy,
+and disclaims all honor as a philanthropist. We answer, would that we
+had more men who would follow this kind of a business policy.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Thomas_A_Edison" id="Thomas_A_Edison"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Thomas A. Edison</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>On February 11th, 1845, was born at Milan, Ohio, Thomas A. Edison, now a
+little over 42 years of age, and to-day enjoying a reputation as an
+inventor that is without a parallel in history.</p>
+
+<p>At eight or nine years of age he began to earn his own living, selling
+papers. When twelve years old his enterprise, pushed by ambition,
+secured him a position as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Here his
+inventive genius manifested itself. Arranging with station agents along
+the line, he caused the headings of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_475" id="Page_475">[475]</a></span> news to be telegraphed ahead, the
+agents posting the same in some conspicuous place. By this means the
+profits of his business were greatly augmented. He next fitted up a
+small printing press in one corner of a car, and when not busy in his
+regular work as newsboy, successfully published a small paper. The
+subject-matter was contributed by employes on the road, and young Edison
+was the proprietor, editor, publisher and selling agent. He also carried
+on electrical experiments in one corner of the car.</p>
+
+<p>Finally, he entered one of the offices on the road, and here he learned
+the art of telegraphy. The next few years he was engaged as an operator
+in several of the largest cities throughout the Union, such as
+Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Boston, New York, Memphis, and
+Port Huron. He not only became one of the most expert operators in the
+country, but his office was a labratory for electrical experiment. All
+day long he attended to the duties of his office, and at night one would
+find him busy at experiments tending toward the development of the use
+of the telegraph.</p>
+
+<p>Hard work and frequent wanderings at last found him developing his ideas
+in Boston. He brought out duplex telegraphy and suggested a printing
+telegraph for the use of gold and stock quotations. His ability becoming
+so apparent he was retained by wealthy men in New York at a high salary.
+In 1876 he removed to Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he fitted up an
+extensive labratory for the prosecution and development of his
+enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>Here he has won his world-wide fame, keeping two continents in a fevered
+state of expectancy. Indeed, some of his inventions have been so
+wonderful that he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_476" id="Page_476">[476]</a></span> might be accredited with supernatural powers. By
+improvement he brought the telephone of Gray, Bell, etc., from a mere
+toy to an instrument of great commercial worth. Ten years ago hardly a
+telephone was in use; now the business of our country would hardly know
+how to do without it. Of all modern inventions connected with the
+transmission of electrical sound the telephone has excited, perhaps, the
+most interest. An instrument which not only transmits intelligible
+signals great distances, but also the tones of the voice, so that the
+voice shall be as certainly recognized when heard hundreds of miles away
+as if the owner was speaking in the same room. No great skill is
+required of the operator, and if a business man desires to speak with
+another person he has but to step to an instrument in his own office,
+ring a bell, and thus, through a central office, connect himself with
+the instrument of the desired party, when a conversation can take place.</p>
+
+<p>In its mechanism the telephone consists of a steel cylindrical magnet,
+perhaps five inches long and one-half of an inch thick, encircled at one
+end by a short bobbin of ebonite, on which is wound a quantity of fine
+insulated copper wire. The two ends of the coil are soldered to thicker
+pieces of copper wire which traverse the wooden envelop from end to end,
+and terminate in the screws of its extremity. Immediately in front is a
+thin circular plate of iron; this is kept in place by being jammed
+between the main portion of the wooden case and the cap, which carries
+the mouth or ear trumpet, which are screwed together. Such is the
+instrument invented by Bell and Edison.</p>
+
+<p>The means to produce light by electricity next occupied his attention,
+and the Edison-Electric Light was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_477" id="Page_477">[477]</a></span> the result. The electric current for
+this light is generated by means of large magneto-electric machines,
+which are driven by some motive power. It is the only light known to
+science which can be compared to the rays of the sun. Especially is this
+light useful in lighthouses, on board ships and for lighting streets in
+cities. It is, however, used in factories, work-shops, large halls,
+etc., and in the very near future will doubtless become a light in
+private dwellings.</p>
+
+<p>But, possibly, the most wonderful invention which has been the result of
+the inventive conception of Mr. Edison is the phonograph, a simple
+apparatus consisting in its original mechanism of a simple cylinder of
+hollow brass, mounted upon a shaft, at one end of which is a crank for
+turning it, and at the other a balance-wheel, the whole being supported
+by two iron uprights. There is a mouth-piece, as in the telephone, which
+has a vibrating membrane similar to the drum of a person's ear. To the
+other side of this membrane there is a light metal point or stylus,
+which touches the tin-foil which is placed around the cylinder. The
+operator turns the crank, at the same time talking into the mouth-piece;
+the membrane vibrates under the impulses of the voice, and the stylus
+marks the tin-foil in a manner to correspond with the vibrations of the
+membrane. When the speaking is finished the machine is set back to where
+it started on the tin-foil, and by once more turning the crank precisely
+the same vibrations are repeated by the machines. These vibrations
+effect the air, and this again the ear, and the listener hears the same
+words come forth that were talked into the instrument. The tin-foil can
+be removed, and, if uninjured, the sounds can be reproduced at any
+future date.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_478" id="Page_478">[478]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Different languages can be reproduced at once, and the instrument can be
+made to talk and sing at once without confusion. Indeed, so wonderful is
+this piece of mechanism, that one must see it to be convinced. Even the
+tone of voice is retained; and it will sneeze, whistle, echo, cough,
+sing, etc., etc.</p>
+
+<p>Improvements are in progress, notably among which is an apparatus to
+impel it by clock work instead of a crank. The phonograph as yet has
+never come into extended use, but its utility is obvious when its
+mechanism is complete; business men can use it for dictating purposes,
+as it is possible to put forty thousand words on a tin-foil sheet ten
+inches square.</p>
+
+<p>The invention of any one of the foregoing must have made for Mr. Edison
+a world-wide fame, but when it is remembered that he has already taken
+out over two hundred patents, one realizes something of the fertility of
+his imagination. Many other inventions are worthy of note, which have
+originated at the Menlo Park labratory, but space forbids, although it
+is safe to predict that more startling inventions may yet be in store
+for an expectant world.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_479" id="Page_479">[479]</a></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="images/491.jpg">
+<img src="images/491th.jpg"
+width="389"
+height="240" alt="ANXIOUS THOUGHTS." /></a><br />
+ANXIOUS THOUGHTS.
+<br /><span style="font-size: 70%;">(click on image to see enlarged view.)</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/492.png"
+height="265"
+width="500" alt="WHY SOME SUCCEED While Others Fail." /></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p class="center"><a name="SUCCESS_AND_FAILURE" id="SUCCESS_AND_FAILURE"></a><a href="#toc"><img src="images/492a.png"
+height="45"
+width="500" alt="SUCCESS AND FAILURE." /></a></p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Young man, two ways are open before you in life. One points to
+degradation and want, the other, to usefulness and wealth. In the old
+Grecian races one only, by any possible means, could gain the prize, but
+in the momentous race of human life there is no limiting of the prize to
+one. No one is debarred from competing; all may succeed, provided the
+right methods are followed. Life is not a lottery. Its prizes are not
+distributed by chance.</p>
+
+<p>There can hardly be a greater folly, not to say presumption, than that
+of so many young men and women who, on setting out in life, conclude
+that it is no use to mark out for themselves a course, and then set
+themselves with strenuous effort to attain some worthy end; who
+conclude, therefore, to commit themselves blindly to the current of
+circumstances. Is it anything surprising that those who aim at nothing,
+accomplish nothing in life?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_480" id="Page_480">[480]</a></span> No better result could reasonably be
+expected. Twenty clerks in a store; twenty apprentices in a ship-yard;
+twenty young men in a city or village&mdash;all want to get on in the world;
+most of them expect to succeed. One of the clerks will become a partner,
+and make a fortune; one of the young men will find his calling and
+succeed. But what of the other nineteen? They will fail; and miserably
+fail, some of them. They expect to succeed, but they aim at nothing;
+content to live for the day only, consequently, little effort is put
+forth, and they reap a reward accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>Luck! There is no luck about it. The thing is almost as certain as the
+"rule of three." The young man who will distance his competitors is he
+who will master his business; who lives within his income, saving his
+spare money; who preserves his reputation; who devotes his leisure hours
+to the acquisition of knowledge; and who cultivates a pleasing manner,
+thus gaining friends. We hear a great deal about luck. If a man succeeds
+finely in business, he is said to have "good luck." He may have labored
+for years with this one object in view, bending every energy to attain
+it. He may have denied himself many things, and his seemingly sudden
+success may be the result of years of hard work, but the world looks in
+and says: "He is lucky." Another man plunges into some hot-house scheme
+and loses: "He is unlucky." Another man's nose is perpetually on the
+grind-stone; he also has "bad luck." No matter if he follows inclination
+rather than judgment, if he fails, as he might know he would did he but
+exercise one-half the judgment he does possess, yet he is never willing
+to ascribe the failure to himself&mdash;he invariably ascribes it to bad
+luck, or blames some one else.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_481" id="Page_481">[481]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Luck! There is no such factor in the race for success. Rufus Choate once
+said, "There is little in the theory of luck which will bring man
+success; but work, guided by thought, will remove mountains or tunnel
+them." Carlyle said, "Man know thy work, then do it." How often do we
+see the sign: "Gentlemen <span class="smcap">will</span> not; <span class="smcap">others must not</span> loaf in this room."
+True, gentlemen never loaf, but labor. Fire-flies shine only in motion.
+It is only the active who will be singled out to hold responsible
+positions. The fact that their ability is manifest is no sign that they
+are lucky.</p>
+
+<p>Thiers, of France, was once complimented thus: "It is marvelous, Mr.
+President, how you deliver long improvised speeches about which you have
+not had time to reflect." His reply was: "You are not paying me a
+compliment; it is criminal in a statesman to improvise speeches on
+public affairs. Those speeches I have been fifty years preparing."
+Daniel Webster's notable reply to Hayne was the result of years of study
+on the problem of State Rights. Professor Mowry once told the following
+story: "A few years ago a young man went into a cotton factory and spent
+a year in the card room. He then devoted another year to learning how to
+spin; still another how to weave. He boarded with a weaver, and was
+often asking questions. Of course he picked up all kinds of knowledge.
+He was educating himself in a good school, and was destined to graduate
+high in his class. He became superintendent of a small mill at $1,500 a
+year. One of the large mills in Fall River was running behind hand.
+Instead of making money the corporation was losing. They needed a
+first-class man to manage the mill, and applied to a gentleman in Boston
+well acquainted with the leading men engaged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_482" id="Page_482">[482]</a></span> in the manufacture of
+cotton. He told them he knew of a young man who would suit them, but
+they would have to pay him a large salary.</p>
+
+<p>"What salary will he require?" "I cannot tell, but I think you will have
+to pay him $6,000 a year." "That is a large sum; we have never paid so
+much." "No, probably not, and you have never had a competent man. The
+condition of your mill and the story you have told me to-day show the
+result. I do not think he would go for less, but I will advise him to
+accept if you offer him that salary." The salary was offered, the man
+accepted, and he saved nearly forty per cent. of the cost of making the
+goods the first year. Soon he had a call from one of the largest
+corporations in New England, at a salary of $10,000 per year. He had
+been with this company but one year when he was offered another place at
+$15,000 per year. Now some will say: "Well, he was lucky, this gentleman
+was a friend who helped him to a fat place."</p>
+
+<p>My dear reader, with such we have little patience. It is evident that
+this young man was determined to succeed from the first. He mastered his
+business, taking time and going thorough. When once the business was
+mastered his light began to shine. Possibly the gentleman helped him to
+a higher salary than he might have accepted, but it is also evident that
+his ability was manifest. The gentleman knew whereof he spoke. The old
+proverb that "Circumstances make men" is simply a wolf in wool. Whether
+a man is conditioned high or low; in the city or on the farm: "If he
+will; he will." "They can who think they can." "Wishes fail but wills
+prevail." "Labor is luck." It is better to make our descendants proud of
+us than to be proud of our ancestry. There is hardly a conceivable
+obstacle to success that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_483" id="Page_483">[483]</a></span> some of our successful men have not overcome:
+"What man has done, man can do." "Strong men have wills; weak ones,
+wishes."</p>
+
+<p>In the contest, wills prevail. Some writers would make men sticks
+carried whither the tide takes them. We have seen that biography vetoes
+this theory. Will makes circumstances instead of being ruled by them.
+Alexander Stephens, with a dwarf's body, did a giant's work. With a
+broken scythe in the race he over-matched those with fine
+mowing-machines. Will-power, directed by a mind that was often
+replenished, accomplished the desired result.</p>
+
+<p>Any one can drift. It takes pluck to stem an unfavorable current. A man
+fails and lays it to circumstances. The fact too frequently is that he
+swallowed luxuries beyond his means. A gentleman asked a child who made
+him. The answer was: "God made me so long&mdash;measuring the length of a
+baby&mdash;and I growed the rest." The mistake of the little deist in leaving
+out the God of his growth illustrates a conviction: We are what we make
+ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>Garfield once said: "If the power to do hard work is not talent it is
+the best possible substitute for it." Things don't turn up in this world
+until some one turns them up. A <span class="smcap">pound</span> of pluck is worth a <span class="smcap">ton</span> of luck.
+Luck is a false light; you may follow it to ruin, but never to success.
+If a man has ability which is reinforced by energy, the fact is
+manifest, and he will not lack opportunities. The fortunes of mankind
+depend so much upon themselves, that it is entirely legitimate to
+enquire by what means each may make or mar his own happiness; may
+achieve success or bring upon himself the sufferings of failure.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_484" id="Page_484">[484]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Concentration_of_Effort" id="Concentration_of_Effort"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Concentration of Effort</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>The man who has no occupation, is in a sad plight: The man who lacks
+concentration of effort is worse off. In a recent test of the power of
+steel plates, designed for ship armor, one thousand cannon were fired at
+once against it, but without avail. A large cannon was then brought out.
+This cannon used but one-tenth as much powder as did the combined force
+of the others, yet, it was found, when the smoke had cleared away, that
+the ball had pierced the plate. Ten times the powder needed availed
+naught, because, the law of concentration was disregarded.</p>
+
+<p>One of the essential requisites to success is concentration. Every young
+man, therefore, should early ascertain his strong faculties, and
+discern, if possible, his especial fitness for any calling which he may
+choose. A man may have the most dazzling talents, but if his energies
+are scattered he will accomplish nothing. Emerson says: "A man is like a
+bit of Labrador spar, which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand,
+until you come to a particular angle; then it shows deep and beautiful
+colors." There is no adaptation or universal applicability in man.
+Dryden has said:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">"What the child admired,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The youth endeavored, and the man acquired."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Is it not so? Do we not find Michael Angelo neglecting school to copy
+drawings? Henry Clay learning pieces to recite in the barn or corn
+field? Yet, as Goethe says: "We should guard against a talent which we
+can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_485" id="Page_485">[485]</a></span>not hope to practice in perfection. Improve it as we may, we shall
+always, in the end, when the merit of the master has become apparent to
+us, painfully lament the loss of time and strength devoted to such
+botching."</p>
+
+<p>The man who would know one thing well, must have the courage to be
+ignorant of a thousand other things, no matter how attractive they may
+be, or how desirable it may seem to try them. P. T. Barnum, the veteran
+showman, who has lost several fortunes but risen above all, paid every
+dollar of his indebtedness, and is to-day a millionaire, says in his
+lecture on 'The Art of Money Getting':</p>
+
+<p>"Be a whole man in whatever you undertake. This wholeness is just what
+distinguishes the shabby, blundering mechanic from the splendid workman.
+In earlier times, when our country was new, there might have been a
+chance for the man who gave only one corner of his brain to his chosen
+calling, but in these days of keen competition it demands the most
+thorough knowledge of the business, and the most earnest application to
+bring success. Stick to your business, and you may be sure that your
+business will stick to you. It is this directing your whole mind and
+energies at one point, that brings success."</p>
+
+<p>"The first thing a young man should do after selecting his vocation is to
+become thoroughly satisfied with his choice. He must be thoroughly
+satisfied or he is defeated at the start. In arriving at this decision
+he must bear in mind that if he would find a calling in which all will
+be sunshine, where the clouds never darken the pathway, he must look in
+some other world for that calling. On earth there are no such callings
+to be found."</p>
+
+<p>"When we see Spurgeon, the great London preacher,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_486" id="Page_486">[486]</a></span> swaying the
+multitudes, we possibly do not remember the time when, as a poor boy of
+but eighteen, he begins preaching on the street corners to a shabby
+crowd. We would possibly be willing to partake of the fame that he may
+now enjoy, but might object to the pastoral visiting he is obliged to do
+each week. We would not object to the fame of Webster, of Calhoun or of
+Clay, but we might think it tedious to work night after night to obtain
+the knowledge which brought this fame. Ah! how many of us would 'peter'
+out in a short time? When one is satisfied with his calling he must work
+at it, if need be, day and night, early and late, in season and out of
+season, never deferring for a single hour that which can <span class="smcap">now</span> be done.
+The old proverb, 'What is worth doing at all is worth doing well,' was
+never truer than it is to-day."</p>
+
+<p>A certain class are clamoring for a division of the national wealth.
+They are like the worthless vagabond who said to the rich man, "I have
+discovered that there is money enough in the world for all of us if it
+was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy
+together." "But," replied the rich man, "if everybody was like you it
+would be spent in two months, and what would we then do?" "Oh! divide
+again; keep dividing, of course!" And yet a very considerable number of
+people think this is the solution of the labor problem. The point is, we
+must distinguish the dividing line between the rights of property and
+the wrongs of oppression. Either extreme is fatal. Education is surely
+the solution of the labor question.</p>
+
+<p>Listen: Our country is the freest, the grandest, the best governed of
+any nation on earth; yet we spend yearly nine hundred million dollars
+for drink, and only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_487" id="Page_487">[487]</a></span> eighty-five million for education. Thus, while one
+dollar tends to education and wealth, over ten dollars is used to bring
+ignorance, degradation, and want. Over ten times the influence for evil
+that there is for good. Where is the remedy? Let Congress, which is
+supposed to control our interests, legislate against ignorance and for
+education. Suppose that nine hundred millions were yearly used to
+educate deserving young men and women in colleges; inaugurated into a
+"fresh-air fund" for the children in our large cities who have never
+been under its ennobling influence, but who, on the contrary, have never
+seen aught but vice and degradation. Nine hundred millions in one year.
+Nine thousand millions in ten years. How many thousands of young men
+could go through college if aided each, $100 per year. If it were wholly
+devoted to this purpose nine million young people could be helped
+through college in four years&mdash;in ten years there would be eighteen or
+twenty million college graduates from this source alone, what would be
+the result.</p>
+
+<p>Suppose again that the money was devoted to building tenement houses
+that would be fit for human beings to live in, look at the wonderful
+good that could be done. I am not desirous of giving here a dry
+temperance lecture; but the object of this work is to aid others to
+success, and if vice and drink were removed there would be but little
+need for further advice. Ah! there lies the root of the evil. Strike the
+root, pull it up and trample it under foot until it is dead. Never allow
+it to take root again, and you can reasonably expect to be at least
+fairly successful.</p>
+
+<p>This chapter is on "Concentration of Effort". Possibly some will imagine
+that we have wandered; not at all, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_488" id="Page_488">[488]</a></span> we see it. The abolition of these
+vices tends toward concentration; bad habits, of no matter what nature
+lead to failure and tend to draw the attention from one's calling. Then
+let the young man who would succeed join his heart, his sympathies, his
+desires, with the right; let him live a consistent life; let him lead a
+strictly temperate life; let him give his whole influence to temperance,
+resting assured that if he puts his purposes into action that he will
+succeed in more ways than one.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Self-reliance" id="Self-reliance"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Self-reliance</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Of all the elements of success, none is more essential than
+self-reliance,&mdash;determination to be one's own helper, and not to look to
+others for support. God never intended that strong independent beings
+should be reared by clinging to others, like the ivy to the oak, for
+support.</p>
+
+<p>"God helps those who help themselves," and how true we find this quaint
+old saying to be. Every youth should feel that his future happiness in
+life must necessarily depend upon himself; the exercise of his own
+energies, rather than the patronage of others. A man is in a great
+degree the arbiter of his own fortune. We are born with powers and
+faculties capable of almost anything, but it is the exercise of these
+powers and faculties that gives us ability and skill in anything. The
+greatest curse that can befall a young man is to lean, while his
+character is forming, upon others for support.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_489" id="Page_489">[489]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>James A. Garfield, himself one of the greatest examples of the
+possibilities in our glorious Republic, once said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The man who dares not follow his own independent judgment, but runs
+perpetually to others for advice, becomes at last a moral weakling, and
+an intellectual dwarf. Such a man has not self within him, but goes as a
+supplicant to others, and entreats, one after another, to lend them
+theirs. He is, in fact, a mere element of a human being, and is carried
+about the world an insignificant cipher, unless he by chance fastens
+himself to some other floating elements, with which he may form a
+species of corporation resembling a man." The best capital with which a
+young man can start in life, nine times out of ten, is robust health,
+good morals, fair ability and an iron will, strengthened by a
+disposition to work at some honest vocation.</p>
+
+<p>We have seen in the preceding pages that a vast majority of our great
+men started life with these qualifications and none other. The greatest
+heroes in battle, the greatest orators, ancient or modern, were sons of
+obscure parents. The greatest fortunes ever accumulated on earth were
+the fruit of great exertion. From Croesus down to Astor the story is the
+same. The oak that stands alone to contend with the tempest's blast only
+takes deeper root and stands the firmer for ensuing conflicts; while the
+forest tree, when the woodman's axe has spoiled its surroundings, sways
+and bends and trembles, and perchance is uprooted: so is it with man.
+Those who are trained to self-reliance are ready to go out and contend
+in the sternest battles of life; while those who have always leaned for
+support upon those around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_490" id="Page_490">[490]</a></span> them are never prepared to breast the storms
+of life that arise.</p>
+
+<p>How many young men falter and faint for what they imagine is necessary
+capital for a start. A few thousands or even hundreds, in his purse, he
+fancies to be about the only thing needful to secure his fortune. How
+absurd is this; let the young man know now, that he is unworthy of
+success so long as he harbors such ideas. No man can gain true success,
+no matter how situated, unless he depends upon no one but himself;
+remember that. Does not history bear us out in this? We remember the
+adage, "Few boys who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth ever
+achieve greatness." By this we would not argue that wealth is
+necessarily derogatory to the success of youth; to the contrary, we
+believe it can be a great help in certain cases and conditions; but we
+have long since discarded the idea that early wealth is a pre-eminent
+factor in success; if we should give our unbiased opinion, we should say
+that, to a vast majority of cases, it is a pre-eminent factor of
+failure. Give a youth wealth, and you only too often destroy all
+self-reliance which he may possess.</p>
+
+<p>Let that young man rejoice, rather, whom God hath given health and a
+faculty to exercise his faculties. The best kind of success is not that
+which comes by accident, for as it came by chance it will go by chance.
+The wisest charity, in a vast majority of cases, is helping people to
+help themselves. Necessity is very often the motive power which sets in
+motion the sluggish energies. We thus readily see that poverty can be an
+absolute blessing to youth. A man's true position in the world is that
+which he himself attains.</p>
+
+<p>How detestable to us is the Briton's reverence of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_491" id="Page_491">[491]</a></span>pedigree. Americans
+reverence achievement, and yet we are tending towards the opposite.
+Witness society, as it bows with smile and honor to the eight-dollar
+clerk, while frowning on the eighteen dollar laborer. This is wrong;
+work is work, and all work is honorable. It is not only wrong, but
+disgraceful. It is better to make our ancestry proud of us than to be
+proud of our ancestors. He is a man for what he does, not for what his
+father or his friends have done. If they have given him a position, the
+greater is his shame for sinking beneath that position. The person who
+is above labor or despises the laborer, is himself one of the most
+despicable creatures on God's earth. He not only displays a dull
+intelligence of those nobler inspirations with which God has endowed us,
+but he even shows a lack of plain common sense.</p>
+
+<p>The noblest thing in this world is work. Wise labor brings order out of
+chaos; it builds cities; it distinguishes barbarism from civilization;
+it brings success. No man has a right to a fortune; he has no right to
+expect success, unless he is willing to work for it. A brother of the
+great orator, Edmund Burke, after listening to one of those eloquent
+appeals in Parliament, being noticed as employed in deep thought, was
+asked of whom he was musing. He replied: "I have been wondering how Ned
+contrived to monopolize all the talent in the family; but I remember
+that all through childhood, while we were at play, he was at study."</p>
+
+<p>Ah! that's it. The education, moral or intellectual, must be chiefly his
+own work. Education is education, no matter how obtained. We do not wish
+to be understood as depreciating the usefulness of colleges; not at all.
+But a mere college diploma will avail a young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_492" id="Page_492">[492]</a></span> man but little. As before
+stated, education, no matter how obtained, is equally valuable. Study
+like that of Webster and Greeley, by New Hampshire pine knots, and that
+of Thurlow Weed before the sap-house fire, is just as valuable, when
+once obtained, as if it had the sanction of some college president.</p>
+
+<p>The world will only ask, "What can he do?" and will not care a fig for
+any college certificate. The point is; if a young man be not endowed by
+self-reliance and a firm determination, colleges will avail him nothing;
+but if he have these, colleges will push him wonderfully. Nevertheless,
+colleges are not essential to success&mdash;an educated idiot will never make
+a statesman. It is said that when John C. Calhoun was attending Yale
+College he was ridiculed for his intense application to his studies. He
+replied, "Why, sir, I am forced to make the most of my time, that I may
+acquit myself creditably when in Congress." A laugh followed which
+roused his Southern blood, and he exclaimed: "Do you doubt it? I assure
+you that if I was not convinced of my ability to reach the National
+Capitol as a representative within three years from my graduation, I
+would leave college this very day." While there are some things in this
+speech that were possibly unbecoming; yet the principle of
+self-reliance, this faith in himself, this high aim in life, was
+undoubtedly the marked characteristic which brought to Calhoun his
+splendid success.</p>
+
+<p>No young man will ever succeed who will not cultivate a thinking mind.
+If he is not original in aims and purposes he will not succeed. Witness
+the attempt of others to continue the business of Stewart. They had not
+only his experience, but the benefit of his great wealth; he succeeded
+without either&mdash;they failed with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_493" id="Page_493">[493]</a></span> both; he was obliged to establish a
+business&mdash;they had the benefit of his great patronage.</p>
+
+<p>It has been said that a lawyer cannot be a merchant. Why? While a lawyer
+he thinks for himself: When a merchant he allows others to think for
+him. A certain great manufacturer made "kid" gloves his specialty, and
+so well did he succeed that to-day his trade mark imports to
+manufactured ratskins a value incommunicable by any other talisman. It
+is a poor kind of enterprise which thus depends upon the judgment of
+others. What can be more absurd than for a man to hope to rank as a
+thundering Jupiter when he borrows all his thunder. Remember that the
+world only crowns him as truly great who has won for himself that
+greatness.</p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Economy_of_Time" id="Economy_of_Time"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Economy of Time</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And waste its sweetness on the desert air."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>How many young men for whom nature has done so much, "blush unseen," and
+waste their ability. Franklin said, "Dost thou love life? Then do not
+squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." We have seen how
+Franklin used his time. Born the son of a soap-boiler, lived to become
+one of our most noted philosophers, died worth thousands. Advice from
+such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_494" id="Page_494">[494]</a></span> men carries conviction, for we cannot but feel that our chances
+are fully equal to what theirs were.</p>
+
+<p>Gladstone, England's most noted Premier, once said, "Believe me when I
+tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after-life with usury,
+but the waste of it will make you dwindle away until you fairly sink out
+of existence, unknown, unmourned." Thurlow Weed was so poor in boyhood
+that he was of necessity glad to use pieces of carpet to cover his all
+but freezing feet; thus shod he walked two miles to borrow a history of
+the French revolution, which he mastered stretched prone before the
+sap-fire, while watching the kettles of sap transformed to maple sugar.
+Thus was it that he laid the foundation of his education, which in after
+years enabled him to sway such mighty power at Albany; known as the
+"king maker."</p>
+
+<p>Elihu Burritt, a child of poverty, the son of a poor farmer, the
+youngest of ten children. He was apprenticed at eighteen to a
+blacksmith. He wanted to become a scholar and bought some Greek and
+Latin works, carrying them in his pocket and studying as he worked at
+the anvil. From these he went to Spanish, Italian and French. He always
+had his book near him and improved every spare moment. He studied seven
+languages in one single year. Then he taught school one year, but his
+health failing, he went into the grocery business. Soon what money he
+had was swept away by losses.</p>
+
+<p>Here we see him at twenty-seven, life seemingly a failure. Alas! how
+many would have given up. He left New Britain, his native town, walked
+to Boston, and from there to Worcester, where he once more engaged
+himself at his trade. His failure in business turns his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_495" id="Page_495">[495]</a></span> attention once
+more to study. He now is convinced as to the proper course to pursue,
+his aim is fixed, and he now sets himself strenuously about the
+accomplishment of his purpose. At thirty years of age he is master of
+every language of Europe, and is turning his attention to those of Asia,
+such as Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic. He is offered by a wealthy gentleman a
+course in Harvard University, but prefers to work with his hands while
+he studies.</p>
+
+<p>He now begins to lecture, and everybody is eager to hear the learned
+blacksmith. After a very successful tour he returns to the anvil. After
+this he visits Europe, becomes the warm friend of John Bright and other
+eminent men; writes books, lectures, edits newspapers, builds a church
+and holds meetings himself. He said: "It is not genius that wins, but
+hard work and a pure life." He chose the best associates only, believing
+that a boy's companions have much to do with his success in life. At
+sixty-eight he died, honored by two hemispheres.</p>
+
+<p>If our readers want further proof as to the result of improving spare
+moments, let them study the lives of such men as Douglass, Lincoln,
+Grant, Garfield, Blaine, Cleveland, and others too numerous to mention,
+and they will find that they were reared in the lower walks of life, but
+by using every available minute they have been enabled to rise to
+influence and usefulness. By this means they have worked the very odds
+and ends of time, into results of the greatest value. An hour every day,
+for ten years, will transform any one of ordinary ability from ignorance
+to learning.</p>
+
+<p>Think of it. One hour could be easily improved each evening, counting
+three hundred week days to a year; in ten years you have spent three
+thousand golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_496" id="Page_496">[496]</a></span> hours. If directed toward some specific end, think what
+it would accomplish. Then there are the Sundays devoted to religious
+knowledge. One of the first things to be learned by him who would
+succeed, is <span class="smcap">Economy of time</span>. Lost wealth can be replaced by industry;
+lost health by hygiene; but lost time is gone forever.</p>
+
+<p>The most frequent excuse one hears is: "I have no time." They cheat
+themselves with the delusion that they would like to do this or that,
+but cannot as they have no leisure. Dear reader, did you ever think that
+the more a person has to do, the more they feel they can do? Look at the
+men in our own community who have done the most for mankind; are they
+the wealthy, whose only duty seems to be to kill time? No. Almost
+universally they are the over-worked class who seem already burdened
+with cares. These are the men who find time to preside at public
+meetings, and to serve on committees.</p>
+
+<p>It is easier for an over-worked man to do a little more than for a lazy
+one to get up steam. A light stroke will keep a hoop in motion, but it
+takes a smart blow to start it. The busy man succeeds: While others are
+yawning and stretching, getting their eyes open, he will see the
+opportunity and improve it. Complain not that you have no leisure.
+Rather be thankful that you are not cursed with it. Yes, curse it is
+nine times out of ten. Think of the young man going to some vile place
+of amusement to kill time, then think of that young man utilizing that
+hour every night in the acquisition of knowledge which will fit him for
+life's journey. Think also of the money he will save. Leisure is too
+often like a two-edged sword; it cuts both ways.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_497" id="Page_497">[497]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="Causes_of_Failure" id="Causes_of_Failure"></a><a href="#toc"><span class="smcap head">Causes of Failure</span>.</a></h2>
+
+<p>Horace Greeley has truly said: "If any man fancies that there is some
+easier way of gaining a dollar than by squarely earning it he has lost
+the clew to his way through this mortal labyrinth, and must henceforth
+wander as chance may dictate." Look about you; how many there are who
+are determined to share all the good things of this world without
+exchanging an equivalent. They go into business, but are not content to
+wait patiently, adding one dollar to another, and thus rendering to
+mankind an equivalent for this wealth for which they are asking. This
+excessive haste to become rich is one of the most frequent causes of
+failure. When a young man has decided to work with a will, and to
+accumulate every dollar he legitimately can he has made a long stride
+toward success. We do not deprecate a desire to be some one in the
+world, but we do most emphatically frown upon the desire to get wealth
+by speculation or illicit means. We most earnestly advise all young men
+to choose a calling, become thoroughly master of that calling, then
+pursue that vocation to success, avoiding all outside operations.
+Another man who has dealt in stocks all his life may be able to succeed,
+but your business is to stick to your vocation until, if necessary, you
+fairly wring success from it.</p>
+
+<p>Moses Taylor was a successful merchant, he had long deposited with the
+City Bank, and was finally made its president. The late Commodore
+Vanderbilt often tried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_498" id="Page_498">[498]</a></span> to induce him to enter into his grand
+speculations, but of no avail. At last the crash of '57 came. The
+bankers called a meeting to discuss the situation. One bank after
+another reported drafts of from sixty to even ninety per cent. of their
+specie. When Mr. Taylor was called he replied: "The City Bank contained
+this morning $400,000; to-night we had $480,000." This was the kind of a
+bank president such principles made him.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly anything is more fatal to success than a desire to become
+suddenly rich. A business man now counts his wealth by the thousands,
+but he sees a grand chance to speculate. This is a little risky, of
+course, but then the old adage: "Never venture, never have." I admit I
+may lose, but then all men are subject to loss in any business, but I am
+reasonably sure of gaining an immense amount. Why! what would folks
+think? I would be a millionaire. I would do so and so. Thus he indulges
+in this sort of reasoning, goes into a business of which he knows
+nothing and loses all. Why wouldn't he? Men who have made a study of
+that business for years, and who have amassed a fortune in it, are daily
+becoming bankrupt. What an idiot a man makes of himself when he leaves a
+calling in which he has been eminently successful to embark in a calling
+which is, at best, uncertain, and of which he knows nothing. Once for
+all, let me admonish you: If you would succeed never enter outside
+operations, especially if they be of a speculative nature. Select a
+calling, and if you stick to your calling, your calling will stick to
+you.</p>
+
+<p>Frequent changes of business is another cause of failure, but we have
+treated this subject quite thoroughly elsewhere in this work. Therefore
+it seems to us that to add more here would be superfluous. True it is
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_499" id="Page_499">[499]</a></span> some men have succeeded who have seemingly drifted about. Dr. Adam
+Clark has said: "The old adage about too many irons in the fire conveys
+an abominable lie. Keep them all agoing&mdash;poker, tongs and all." But Dr.
+Clark seems to forget that the most of the people who try to follow his
+advice, either burn their fingers or find their irons cooling faster
+than they can use them. We cannot all be Clarks if we try, and to follow
+this method the most of us will fail; but we can, by following one line
+of procedure, at last bring success.</p>
+
+<p>Extravagance of living is another prolific cause of bankruptcy. A man
+imagines that by hiring a horse and driving in the park he will show
+people that he is as good as the neighbor who drives his own horse. He
+deludes himself with the idea that this sort of extravagance will, in
+the eyes of his fellow-men, place him on an equal footing with
+millionaires.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Franklin has truly said: "It is not our own eyes, but other
+people's, that ruin us." It has been said that the merchant who could
+live on five hundred a year, fifty years ago, now requires five
+thousand. In living, avoid a "penny wise and pound foolish" custom. A
+man may think he knows all about economy and yet be ignorant of its
+first principles. For instance, a business man may save every imaginable
+piece of writing paper, using all the dirty envelopes that come in his
+way. This he does instead of using a neat letter head and clean paper,
+at a slight additional cost, and vast gain in the influence which such a
+letter carries over the other. Some years ago a man stopped at a farm
+house over night. After tea he much desired to read, but found it
+impossible from the insufficient light of one candle. Seeing his
+dilemma, the hostess said: "It is rather difficult to read<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_500" id="Page_500">[500]</a></span> here
+evenings; the proverb says, 'You must have a ship at sea in order to be
+able to burn two candles at once.'" She would as soon have thought of
+throwing a five dollar bill into the fire as of setting the example of
+burning two candles at once. This woman saved, perhaps, five or six
+dollars a year, but the information she thus denied her children would,
+of course, out-weigh a ton of candles. But this is not the worst of it.</p>
+
+<p>The business man, by such costly stinginess, consoles himself that he is
+saving. As he has saved a few dollars in letter paper, he feels
+justified in expending ten times that amount for some extravagance. The
+man thinks he is a saving man. The woman is a saving woman, she knows
+she is a saving woman. She has saved five or six dollars this year in
+candles, and so feels justified in buying some needless finery, which
+could gratify nothing but the eye. She is sure she understands economy,
+yet she starves the mind to clothe the body in finery. She is something
+like the man who could not afford to buy more than a penny herring for
+his dinner, yet hired a coach and four to take it home. Saving by retail
+and wasting by wholesale. Nowadays we use kerosene and thus our light is
+both good and cheap, but the principle remains.</p>
+
+<p>Wear the old clothes until you can pay for more; never wear clothes for
+which you owe anyone. Live on plainer food if need be. Greeley said: "If
+I had but fifty cents a week to live on, I'd buy a peck of corn and
+parch it before I'd owe any man a dollar." The young man who follows
+this principle will never be obliged to live on parched corn. How few
+people keep an itemized account of their expenses. Spendthrifts never
+like to keep accounts. Buy a book; post in it every night your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_501" id="Page_501">[501]</a></span> daily
+expenditures in the columns; one headed "Necessaries," the other
+"Luxuries," and you will find that the latter column will be at least
+double the former. Indeed, in some cases it will exceed it ten times
+over.</p>
+
+<p>It is not the purchase of the necessaries of life that ruin people, but
+the most foolish expenditures which we imagine necessary to our comfort.
+Necessary to our comfort; Ah! what a mistake is that, as many a man will
+testify who is perpetually dunned by uneasy creditors. It is the
+sheerest kind of nonsense, this living on credit. It is wicked. Yet a
+gentleman recently told the writer that he personally knew a clergyman
+who had been preaching for years on a salary exceeding seven hundred
+dollars per year, and of late on twelve hundred per year; yet, this man
+of the gospel to-day owes his college debts. A man loaned him money to
+go through school, and he has never been "able" to repay that money,
+although he has practiced the most "rigid economy."</p>
+
+<p>Stuff! this man knows nothing of the first principles of economy. In my
+opinion, there are many clergymen who will have to answer for the sin of
+extravigance: There are many more who will have to answer for the sin of
+slothfulness. The Bible says: "Six days shalt thou labor and do <i>all</i>
+thy work." Ah! there is a part of the commandments too often skipped
+flippantly over. Many a clergyman would be horrified if asked to do any
+labor on the seventh day; but would be equally horrified if accused of
+sinning by attending to a foreign business, thereby neglecting to do
+<i>all</i> his labor during the six other days.</p>
+
+<p>God gives us ample time to do our work, and it is a sin to leave any of
+it undone. God expects a man to choose some calling, and He also expects
+that man to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_502" id="Page_502">[502]</a></span> master that calling, and He expects him to do his utmost to
+excel in that calling. No clergyman can spend four days out of a week in
+some foreign work, and in the two remaining days thoroughly prepare
+himself for the Sabbath work. For two reasons: One is, he disregards the
+law of concentration, divides his mind and thoughts; hence, loses force
+and influence. The other, that God does not approve of other than our
+best effort.</p>
+
+<p>This preacher will occupy one hour in preaching a twenty-five minute
+discourse, and then complain because people are not interested in his
+sermons. We do not justify Sabbath-breaking, nor a lack of religious
+interest, but the preacher who is unwilling to take any responsibility
+upon himself for such a state of things is lacking somewhere. We speak
+of the clergyman simply as illustrative of our idea in this matter. The
+same rule applies to the lawyer, physician, or merchant&mdash;the mechanic,
+artist or laborer. If I was a day laborer building a stone wall I'd
+study my work and push it so vigorously that I would soon be, if not the
+best, at least one of the best workmen anywhere to be found. Strive to
+be an authority. Wasted opportunity; there is the root of thousands of
+failures.</p>
+
+<p>A recent paper states that nine-tenths of our young lawyers fail from
+lack of study. Here is a thought for the clergyman who thinks he should
+have a better place. Of course there are circumstances to be considered,
+but the man of determination bends circumstances to his will. A man
+imagines himself capable of filling a higher place than he does. He
+imagines himself a Webster, a Lincoln, a Garfield, a Spurgeon&mdash;'but
+vainly waits for circumstances to favor his deserved promotion. Look at
+Spurgeon; was he picked up bodily and placed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_503" id="Page_503">[503]</a></span> pulpit he now
+stands upon? No, but he was full of the Holy Ghost, and without thought
+of what he deserved began preaching in the street. Was Talmage placed in
+the Tabernacle because he was of real inferiority to other preachers.
+No; but he was original, he borrowed from no one, he did his best, he
+fits the notch in which he is placed. Did people get down on their knees
+to Beecher, begging him to occupy Plymouth church? They recognized the
+necessity of concentration; and, although you see them in other fields,
+at times, still it was not until they had mastered their first
+undertaking. Elihu Burritt mastered over forty different languages by
+taking one at a time.</p>
+
+<p>The writer, in early youth, learned a lesson which has ever been of
+inestimable benefit to him. The next lessons would begin Fractions,
+something we never had taken. We began to glance through that part of
+the book, and soon became thoroughly convinced that we should never be
+able to master their intricacies, at once becoming despondent. Coming
+home at night, he spoke of his discouragement, when his father set to
+work explaining the first principles. Thus, step by step, the stubborn
+principles were mastered, and to-day, if there is any part of Arithmetic
+in which he excels it is in Fractions.</p>
+
+<p>"Never cross bridges until you come to them." A man should plan ahead,
+but he should be hopeful&mdash;not confident&mdash;should never borrow trouble,
+and must avoid all extremes. Another cause of failure is: The habit of
+endorsing without security. No one should ever endorse any man's paper
+without security or an equivalent. I hold that no man has a right to ask
+you to endorse his paper unless he can either endorse for you or give
+good<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_504" id="Page_504">[504]</a></span> security. Of course there are cases where a brother, who is young
+and cannot give security, can be helped into business; but his habits
+must be his security, and his duty is to have made his previous life a
+guarantee of his ability to safely conduct the business. But even in
+such cases a man's first duty is to his family, and he should never
+endorse, even a brother's paper, to a greater amount than he feels that
+he could reasonably lose.</p>
+
+<p>A man may be doing a thriving manufacturing business&mdash;another man comes
+to him and says: "You are aware that I am worth $20,000, and don't owe a
+dollar; my money is all locked up at present in my business, which you
+are also aware is to-day in a flourishing condition. Now, if I had
+$5,000 to-day I could purchase a lot of goods and double my money in a
+few months. Will you endorse my note for that amount?" You reflect that
+he is worth $20,000, and, therefore, you incur no risk by endorsing his
+note. Of course, he is a neighbor; you want to accommodate him, and you
+give him your name without taking the precaution of being secured.
+Shortly after he shows you the note, cancelled, and tells you, probably
+truly, that he made the profit expected by the operation. You reflect
+that you have done him a favor, and the thought makes you feel good.</p>
+
+<p>You do not reflect, possibly, that he might have failed for every dollar
+that he was worth, and you would have lost $5,000. You possibly forget
+that you have risked $5,000 without even the prospect of one cent in
+return. This is the worst kind of hazard. But let us see&mdash;by and by the
+same favor is again asked, and you again comply; you have fixed the
+impression in your mind that it is perfectly safe to endorse his notes
+without security. This man is getting money too easily. All he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_505" id="Page_505">[505]</a></span> has to
+do is take the note to the bank, and as either you or he are considered
+good for it, he gets his cash. He gets the money, for the time being,
+without an effort. Now mark the result: He sees a chance for speculation
+outside of his business&mdash;a temporary investment of only $10,000 is
+required. It is sure to come back even before the note is due. He places
+the amount before you and you sign in a mechanical way.</p>
+
+<p>Being firmly convinced that your friend is perfectly responsible, you
+endorse his notes as a matter of course. But the speculation does not
+develop as soon as was expected. However, "it is all right; all that is
+needed is another $10,000 note to take up the former one at the bank."
+Before this comes due the speculation turns out a dead loss. This friend
+does not tell you that he has lost one-half his fortune&mdash;he does not
+even tell you that he has speculated at all. But he is now thoroughly
+excited, he sees men all around making money&mdash;we seldom hear of the
+losers&mdash;"he looks for his money where he lost it." He gets you to
+endorse other notes at different times upon different pretenses until
+suddenly you are aware that your friend has lost all his fortune and all
+of yours. But you do not reflect that you have ruined him as well as he
+has ruined you.</p>
+
+<p>All this could have been avoided by your <span class="smcap">gentlemanly</span> but <span class="smcap">business-like
+bearing</span> on the start. If you had said: "You are my neighbor, and of
+course, if my name will be of use to you at the bank, you can have it.
+All I ask is security. I do not at all distrust you, or your plan, but I
+always give security when I ask such a favor and I presume that you do."
+If you had simply asked security he could not have gone beyond his
+tether, and, possibly, very likely would not have speculated at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_506" id="Page_506">[506]</a></span> all.
+What the world demands is thinking men. Let justice rule in all business
+transactions. How many men would not waste another man's property, but
+would waste that which belongs to his family! Ah! we want more men who
+will recognize family demands for justice, as well as other people's
+demands&mdash;men who have the brains to comprehend that it is possible to
+cheat their own family as well as their neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>Another frequent cause of failure is a neglect of one's business. There
+are many causes for this. One thing is certain, a man will attend to his
+business in proportion to the amount of interest he has in that
+business. This applies to all vocations, either in the professions,
+business, or manual labor. If we see a man playing checkers day after
+day in some corner-store, although the game itself may be no harm, still
+it is wrong for that man to waste valuable time.</p>
+
+<p>Then there are pool and billiards. How many young men have been ruined
+for life, and possibly eternally damned, just by beginning a downward
+course at the billiard room. There is a peculiar fascination in the game
+of pool or billiards which cannot be described. Of course it is only a
+game for the cigars&mdash;yes, that's it; one habit leads to another. The
+young man who smokes goes in and in one evening's fun, "wins" fifteen or
+twenty cigars. He argues that he has got smoking material for two or
+three days or a week for nothing, but listen: He plays pool for ten
+cents a game. If he beats, his opponent pays; if his opponent beats, he
+pays. Each game is distinct by itself, and has no bearing on any
+previous game. Now, if you play and win two out of three games right
+straight along, you are steadily losing.</p>
+
+<p>Every game you lose is ten cents gone that you can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_507" id="Page_507">[507]</a></span> not possibly win
+back. If you play twenty-five games, (and it won't take long for good
+players to do that in an evening), and you win two out of three, you
+will then be out at least eighty cents. If you win twenty-four out of
+the twenty-five, you would be out ten cents. Don't you see that the
+percentage is against the player. You never heard of a man making
+anything playing pool or billiards unless he was in the business. You
+have personally seen many young men working by the day who admit that
+they have spent from $100 to $1,000 during the three to five years they
+had played. Now, why is it some succeed while others fail?</p>
+
+<p>There is one thing that nothing living ever naturally liked except a
+vile worm, and that is tobacco; yet, how many people there are who
+cultivate this unnatural habit. They are well aware that its use does
+harm. It is a harder job to learn it than to learn to like castor oil,
+yet they will persist in it until they learn to long for it. Young lads
+regret that they are not men; they would like to go to bed boys and wake
+up men. Little Charlie and Harry see their fathers or uncles smoke, if
+not, then they see somebody's father or uncle puffing along the street,
+"taking comfort," and they think that is one of the essentials of being
+a man. So they get a pipe and fill it with tobacco, and as the parents,
+instead of persisting until they gain their affections, slowly teaching
+them to detest wrong, fly to pieces and say, "I will whip you if I see
+you doing that again." So little Charlie and Harry get out behind the
+barn and light up. By and by Charlie says, "Do you like it, Harry"? And
+that lad dolefully replies, "Not very much; it tastes bitter." Presently
+he turns pale and soon offers up a sacrifice on the altar of fashion.
+But the boys stick to it, and at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_508" id="Page_508">[508]</a></span> last conquer even their appetites,
+learning to prefer their quid to the most delicious peach.</p>
+
+<p>I speak from personal knowledge, for I have seen the time that I never
+felt prouder than when behind a five or ten cent cigar or meerschaum.
+But that time is passed with me, and I never see a poor clerk going
+along the street puffing a cigar which he must know he can ill-afford to
+buy, but I think of what a man once said in speaking of a cigar: "It is
+a roll of tobacco with fire on one end and a fool on the other." One
+cigar excites the desire for another, hence the habit grows on a person.
+These remarks apply with ten fold force to the use of intoxicants. No
+matter how bountifully a man is blessed with intelligence, if the brain
+is muddled, and his judgment warped by intoxicating drinks, it will
+simply be impossible for him to succeed, to his utmost bounds, at least.</p>
+
+<p>Orators for years have told you of the degradation and want that the
+"social glass" brings us to. Stories innumerable have been told of
+husbands leaving all they loved in this world to satisfy these unnatural
+desires. One habit indulged leads to another. We have seen how even the
+"innocent" habit of smoking may have an influence in deciding a young
+man to take the next step. Once in the billiard room it is not hard to
+see how the young can be led on to drink, first one thing, then another.
+We will say nothing of cards. Card-playing, gambling, is only the
+natural result of these other evils, that is, they tend that way, they
+go with it and it goes with them. Where one is found you will often find
+the other.</p>
+
+<p>The coroner can tell you more about the results of bad habits than I
+can. To those who to-day may be so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_509" id="Page_509">[509]</a></span> unfortunate as to be under the
+fascination of any habit, let me say that you can overcome that habit,
+and learn to detest it, too. Young man, you desire to be rich and
+succeed, but you disregard the fundamental principles of success&mdash;hence
+fail. Why wouldn't you? You might as well expect to build a fine house
+without a foundation. You desire to gain wealth, yet you spend twenty
+cents every day on one extravagance or another, which, with interest,
+would amount to over $19,000 at the end of fifty years. There is food
+for thought for you. When you again wish to yourself that you were rich,
+and then take ten cents out of your pocket in the shape of a cigar, and
+proceed to burn it up, just let the thought pass through your mind,
+"What a fool I make of myself every day."</p>
+
+<p>A man recently told the writer that he spent one dollar every day in
+treating and smoking. He is an ice dealer in New York City, and has done
+a good business for thirty years. I cannot say how long he has been
+spending this dollar a day, but I do know that one dollar earned each
+day, with interest, will make a man worth over $475,000 within fifty
+years. There is enough wasted by the average person within twenty-five
+years to make any family well off. The pennies are wasted in the desire
+to get the dollars. The dollars are not half so essential to success as
+the pennies. The old saying: "Honesty is the best policy," is surely
+true in more ways than one. There is more ways than one to succeed in
+this world.</p>
+
+<p>A man may succeed in National honor, and yet have little of this world's
+goods. Many a Congressman, who has but little money, who sometimes feel
+the need of money, would not exchange places with a Rothschild.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_510" id="Page_510">[510]</a></span> But it
+is not necessary to be either a Rothschild or a Webster, in order to
+succeed. It is a question in my mind, whether that man, who has lived
+wholly for self, is happy, even though he be rich as Croesus or as
+honored as Demosthenes.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore let us not entirely lose sight of the fundamental law of
+success.&mdash;"Do unto others as you would have them do to you." "Put
+yourself in his place." What is success? It is doing our level best. It
+is the making the most of our abilities. If we do not do this we both
+sin, and lose the goal of earthly happiness.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i8">"And is it too late?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">No! for Time is a fiction, and limits not fate.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thought alone is eternal. Time thralls it in vain.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For the thought that springs upward and yearns to regain<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The pure source of spirit, there is no <span class="smcap">Too late</span>."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_511" id="Page_511">[511]</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
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@@ -0,0 +1,14718 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Hidden Treasures, by Harry A. Lewis
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Hidden Treasures
+       Why Some Succeed While Others Fail
+
+
+Author: Harry A. Lewis
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 20, 2006  [eBook #20151]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HIDDEN TREASURES***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) from materials
+generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
+(http://www.archive.org/details/americana)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 20151-h.htm or 20151-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/5/20151/20151-h/20151-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/1/5/20151/20151-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
+      http://www.archive.org/details/whysucceed00lewirich
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      A large number of printer's typographical errors have been
+      corrected. In some cases, questionable spellings, tense and
+      words (e.g.: vindicative) have been retained.
+
+
+
+
+
+HIDDEN TREASURES
+
+Or,
+
+Why Some Succeed While Others Fail.
+
+by
+
+H. A. LEWIS.
+
+Finely Illustrated.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+"Not Failure, but low aim is crime."
+
+
+Sold by Subscription Only.
+Cleveland, Ohio:
+Moses, Lewis & Co.
+1888.
+Copyright, 1887.
+by Wright, Moses & Lewis.
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Some succeed while others fail. This is a recognized fact; yet history
+tells us that seven-tenths of our most successful men began life poor.
+As our title indicates, we shall endeavor to show "why some succeed
+while others fail." Knowing that everybody desires success, and
+recognizing the old adage, "Example is the best of teachers," we have
+selected representative characters from the multitude of successful men
+who have climbed the ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round.
+These we have followed from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on
+the traits of character that have made them so rich and successful,
+believing that a careful study will convince all that the proverbial
+"luck" had little to do with it. On the contrary, one is taught those
+lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance which are so essential to
+success in life's struggles. It is fearful to think how many of our
+young people are drifting without an aim in life, and do not comprehend
+that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar with the
+parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent--all may profit by
+his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present this
+volume.
+
+_Every young man is now a sower of seed on the field of life. The bright
+days of youth are the seed-time. Every thought of your intellect, every
+emotion of your heart, every word of your tongue, every principle you
+adopt, every act you perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will
+prove bliss or bane of your after life._--WISE.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+Dear reader, it is a grave undertaking to write a book, especially is it
+so in writing a treatise on success and failure, as we have attempted to
+do in the work we hereby present you. It is a solemn thing to give
+advice. Experience teaches that no one thing will please everybody; that
+men's censures are as various as their palates; that some are as deeply
+in love with vice as others are with virtue. Shall I then make myself
+the subject of every opinion, wise or weak? Yes, I would rather hazard
+the censure of some than hinder the good of others.
+
+There need neither reasons to be given nor apologies to be made where
+the benefit of our fellow-men is our aim. Henry Clay Trumbull says: "At
+no time in the world's history, probably, has there been so general an
+interest in biography as that which has been shown of late. Just here
+lies a weighty obligation upon these who write, and those who read, of
+the lives of men who have done something in the world. It is not enough
+for us to know WHAT they have done; it belongs to us to discover the WHY
+of their works and ways, and to gain some personal benefit from the
+analysis of their successes and failures. Why was this man great? What
+general intentions--what special traits led him to success? What ideal
+stood before him, and by what means did he seek to attain it? Or, on the
+other hand, what unworthy purpose, what lack of conscience and religious
+sense, what unsettled method and feeble endeavor stood in the way of the
+'man of genius' and his possible achievements?" In this volume one sees
+the barefoot boy rise to the eminent statesman, the great millionaire,
+the honored inventor. How was this accomplished? We believe that a
+careful study of the different characters, by the light of the author's
+opinion of the characteristics essential to success, as shown in
+Department Fifth, will show why they succeeded.
+
+Let the reader follow each character separately, from childhood to
+manhood, noting carefully the different changes in the career of each
+and the motives which actuated and brought them about. If this book
+shall serve to awaken dormant energies in ONE PERSON who might otherwise
+have failed, we shall feel abundantly repaid. Doubtless, there are
+others who are better qualified to write a treatise on such a subject;
+nevertheless, we have done our best, and this done, we have attained
+success.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ADAMS, JOHN,                      129
+ARTHUR, CHESTER A.,               352
+ASTOR, JOHN JACOB,                 85
+BARNUM, PHINEAS T.,                81
+BEECHER, HENRY WARD,              404
+BENNETT, JAMES GORDON,             77
+BENTON, THOMAS HART,              248
+BLAINE, JAMES G.,                 362
+BONNER, ROBERT,                    45
+CALHOUN, JOHN C.,                 209
+CASS, LEWIS,                      207
+CHILDS, GEORGE W.,                 72
+CLAFLIN, HORACE B.,                26
+CLAY, HENRY,                      256
+COOPER, PETER,                     95
+CORCORAN, WILLIAM W.,             119
+DISSTON, HENRY,                    93
+DODGE, WILLIAM E.,                 27
+DOUGLASS, STEPHEN A.,             267
+DREW, DANIEL,                      11
+EDISON, THOMAS A.,                476
+EVERETT, EDWARD,                  328
+FAIR, JAMES G.,                    54
+FARGO, WILLIAM G.,                 48
+FIELD, CYRUS W.,                  467
+FILLMORE, MILLARD,                281
+FLOOD, JAMES C.,
+FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN,               429
+FULTON, ROBERT,                   436
+GARFIELD, JAMES A.,               342
+GIRARD, STEPHEN,                  106
+GOODYEAR, CHARLES,                457
+GOULD, JAY,                        30
+GRANT, ULYSSES S.,                299
+GREELEY, HORACE,                   61
+HAMILTON, ALEXANDER,              179
+HANCOCK, WINFIELD S.,             293
+HARPER, JAMES,                     90
+HAYNE, ROBERT Y.,                 216
+HOE, RICHARD M.,                  454
+HOWE, JR., ELIAS,                 444
+JACKSON, ANDREW,                  237
+JACKSON, STONEWALL,               303
+JEFFERSON, THOMAS,                168
+JOHNSON, ANDREW,                  338
+LAW, GEORGE,                      101
+LAWRENCE, ABBOTT,                 271
+LAWRENCE, AMOS,                    21
+LEE, ROBERT E.,                   306
+LINCOLN, ABRAHAM,                 312
+LOGAN, JOHN A.,                   357
+LONGWORTH, NICHOLAS,               43
+MACKAY, JOHN W.,                   52
+MADISON, JAMES,                   184
+MARSHALL, JOHN,                   175
+MCCLELLAN, GEORGE B.,             297
+MILLS, DARIUS O.,                 103
+MONROE, JAMES,                    200
+MORSE, PROFESSOR S. F. B.,        462
+PALMER, POTTER,                    88
+PEABODY, GEORGE,                  116
+PULLMAN, GEORGE,                  473
+RALSTON, WILLIAM G.,              112
+ROTHSCHILD, NATHAN MAYER,         122
+SAGE, RUSSELL,                     14
+SEWARD, WILLIAM H.,               204
+SEYMOUR, HORATIO,                 289
+SINGER, ISAAC M.,                 451
+STANTON, EDWIN M.,                332
+STEPHENS, ALEXANDER H.,           272
+STEPHENSON, GEORGE,               421
+STEWART, ALEXANDER T.,             39
+TAYLOR, MOSES,                    110
+TILDEN, SAMUEL J.,                396
+VAN BUREN, MARTIN,                263
+VANDERBILT, CORNELIUS,             16
+VASSAR, MATHEW,                    84
+WANNAMAKER, JOHN,                  37
+WATT, JAMES,                      415
+WEBSTER, DANIEL,                  218
+WEED, THURLOW,                     69
+WILSON, HENRY,                    310
+WHITNEY, ELI,                     435
+
+WHY SOME SUCCEED WHILE OTHERS FAIL.
+
+SUCCESS AND FAILURE,              481
+CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT,          486
+SELF-RELIANCE,                    490
+ECONOMY OF TIME,                  495
+CAUSES OF FAILURE,                499
+
+
+
+
+QUOTATIONS.
+
+
+_A man, to succeed, must possess the necessary equanimity of temperament
+to conceive an idea, the capacity to form it into some tangible shape,
+the ingenuity to put it into practical operation, the ability to
+favorably impress others with its merits, and the_ POWER _of_ WILL _that
+is absolutely necessary to force it to success._
+
+--THOMAS A. SCOTT.
+
+
+_Labor rids us of three evils.--Tediousness, Vice and Poverty._
+
+--CARLYLE.
+
+
+"_Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable
+and ought to be done, and then let nothing stand long in the way of
+accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to
+have it; few deserve it who do not attain it._"
+
+"_There is no failure in this country for those whose personal habits
+are good, and who follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly,
+and purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price_--WORK!"
+
+_In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his
+motto be_ VICTORY OR DEATH.
+
+--HENRY CLAY.
+
+
+"_Be liberal but cautious; enterprising but careful._"
+
+"_Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we
+fall._"
+
+              _Fail!--Fail?_
+    _In the lexicon of youth, which Fate reserves for a bright manhood,
+                  there is no such word_
+          _As--fail!_--"RICHELIEU."
+
+
+_Benjamin Franklin has truly said: The road to wealth is as plain as the
+road to mill._
+
+
+
+
+DANIEL DREW.
+
+
+Here is a great financier. A man of unusual ability; but who is no
+exception to the rule, born poor. His success came by hard work and a
+thorough mastery of his business. It is surprising how many Wall Street
+operators began life on the farm. In the case of Daniel Drew, at the age
+of only fifteen, matters were made worse by the death of his father.
+
+At eighteen, he concluded to go to New York; but, after a discouraging
+time of it, his money giving out, he was obliged to return to his home.
+However, his trip did not prove a total failure, as subsequent events
+show. While in the metropolis he heard that fat cattle could be sold
+there at a profit over what he knew they could be bought for, at his
+country home. He therefore resolved to go into the cattle business.
+True, he had no money, he was a poor country lad, but this made little
+difference with Drew's determination. As he had no money with which to
+buy a drove for himself, he did the next best thing; this was to induce
+the neighboring farmers to allow him to drive their cattle to market on
+a commission plan. By this one act the reader can understand the
+difference between Daniel Drew and the neighboring farm boys, many of
+whom were better situated, doubtless, than was he.
+
+Another characteristic he developed was economy; his money was saved and
+with these small savings he added cattle to his drove which were his
+own, hence, increased his profits; first one at a time, then two, when
+at last he abandoned the commission business, becoming a drover on his
+own account. Later, he took a partner and the firm of Drew & Co. became
+the cattle kings of America. This was the first firm that ever drove
+cattle from the West, and Drew, ever watchful for opportunities to add
+to his already increasing income, bought a tavern which became, as Drew
+knew it would under good management, the centre of the cattle business
+in the city on market days.
+
+As time passed, as a matter of course, following such a line of
+procedure, he became a very rich man, and his disposition being of an
+enterprising nature, he began to cast about him for new investments,
+seeking new fields to conquer. The explosion of a boat on the Hudson,
+discommoding for a time the existing line, offered to Drew the favorable
+opportunity for which he was looking, and as was characteristic he at
+once improved his chance. He immediately placed on the river the "Water
+Witch"; the old line resumed business; the fares were reduced until the
+profits of both companies were eaten up. The opposition tried to
+intimidate, they tried to buy out, and then tried to negotiate some
+other deals, but all in vain. On the contrary Drew put on the
+"Westchester," and instead of stopping at Peekskill, he extended to
+Albany. He next bought the "Bright Emerald," and started an evening
+line. This was a new feature in those days and as it enabled the
+business men to travel without loss of time, it became eminently
+popular.
+
+Drew was a man with a fertile mind; he made a study of whatever he
+undertook; he was a hard man to beat. He bought the "Rochester," and
+next bought out the old line. For a long time he had things pretty much
+his own way; then came a new opposition. This time, through
+negotiations, he won the opposition over and established the celebrated
+"People's Line," naming their first boat after his new partner, "St.
+John." Mr. Drew, in connection with others, formed the "Stonington Line"
+between New York and Boston, and still later he opened the "Champlain
+Transportation Company" from White Hall, New York, to Rouses Point,
+Vermont. He next placed his shoulder under Erie, endorsing its paper to
+the amount of ten millions. Later still he was elected President of this
+company, and as Erie and Central are natural enemies, Vanderbilt and
+Drew henceforth became hostile toward each other. Mr. Drew wanted to
+extend Erie west. To do this he must get a special act of the
+Legislature. Of course, he had Vanderbilt and Central, with all their
+patronage, with which to contend, and a bitter fight it proved to be;
+but in those days Daniel Drew seemed invincible in court, and the bill
+passed, Erie re-issuing stock and extending its lines.
+
+He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to him is that
+religious body indebted for that grand institution, "Drew Theological
+Seminary." Many men would have made a worse use of vast wealth than did
+Daniel Drew. He was a man who was quiet; he kept his "points," and was a
+pleasing conversationalist. In 1879 he died, leaving two children.
+
+
+
+
+RUSSELL SAGE.
+
+
+This wonderful man was born at Verona, Oneida County, New York, over
+sixty years ago. In early life, he determined to earn all that he could,
+and spend less than he earned. When he arrived at the age of fifteen, he
+removed to Troy, and entered the grocery store of one of his brothers.
+Until eighteen years of age he remained here as a clerk when he had
+saved money enough to buy an interest in another store of which another
+brother was proprietor. Here he remained several years in successful
+trade, when the partnership was dissolved. He next turned his attention
+to the wholesale trade, dealing in grain, flour, pork, beef, etc., the
+most of these ventures proving successful.
+
+His towns' people, recognizing his business ability elected him alderman
+for seven years, and later, treasurer of Rensselaer county. His fidelity
+in these trusts won for him a seat in Congress, and he was re-elected by
+an increased majority, serving both terms with great credit to himself
+and party.
+
+In 1860, he had succeeded so well that he could show $200,000 on the
+credit side of his bank account. Seeking new fields to conquer, he
+naturally gravitated to the money centre, New York. Since that time
+Russell Sage has been as favorably known in Wall street as any broker in
+the country. He occupies an office in the same building with Gould, and
+scores of the leading spirits, with whom he mingles daily. He attends
+strictly to business, and never even smokes. Mr. Sage deals in
+everything which he deems "an investment,"--banks, railroad stock, real
+estate, all receive his attention. He is a very cautious operator, and
+cannot, by any possible means, be induced into a "blind pool." He has,
+however, been very successful in the "street," and it is said has built
+over three thousand miles of railroad. Russell Sage might easily be
+mistaken for a church deacon, instead of the keen operator that he is.
+However, no one in the "street" will give away "points" to his friends
+sooner than he. The _Troy Times_ once mentioned several people who said
+that Mr. Sage had pointed out to them investments, of which they could
+never have known but for him, each investment having yielded them
+thousands of dollars. He often gives friends the benefit of his splendid
+opportunities, which makes him a general favorite among all brokers. Mr.
+Sage enjoys the confidence and friendship of some of the leading
+operators, among whom are Jay Gould.
+
+He is a man of marked ability, and honesty. He never fails to meet any
+of his obligations, nor will he allow others to neglect theirs. Of
+course, he is careful what he agrees to do, but always does just as he
+agrees, regardless of cost. For this reason he is known in Wall street
+as "Old Integrity." Russell Sage is a shrewd, close calculator, and is
+worth many millions, the result of improving his opportunities. He is a
+consistent member of the Evangelical Church, and is very charitable.
+Long may such men live, for we have many worse.
+
+
+
+
+CORNELIUS VANDERBILT.
+
+
+Vanderbilt, a synonym for wealth and luxury. Who indeed has not wished
+that he could have at least a small part of the vast wealth possessed by
+the Vanderbilts? Yet, when Cornelius Vanderbilt was a boy, he enjoyed
+far less privileges to make money than the majority who now look on and
+wish; but Cornelius Vanderbilt differed from other boys of his age. One
+difference was his strong determination.
+
+It was then, much as it is now, boys liked to spend their money and have
+a good time.
+
+It was a common saying in the neighborhood where he lived, 'that when
+Corneel. Vanderbilt concludes to do anything it will certainly be done.'
+A ship stranded off the shore; young Cornelius' father took the contract
+to transfer the cargo to New York city. This was a job requiring many
+teams and a force of men to carry the produce to a different part of the
+island where they were to be taken by water to New York. Although but
+twelve years old, young Vanderbilt was given control of this part of the
+work. His father, by accident, neglected to furnish him the money with
+which to pay his ferriage. Here he was, a lad twelve years old, with no
+money, in charge of a lot of horses which must be ferried over at a cost
+of over five dollars. He hesitated but a moment; walking boldly up to
+the hotel proprietor he said: "Sir, I am here without money, by
+accident; if you will kindly advance me the money to pay the ferriage, I
+will leave a horse as your security." The proprietor was a perfect
+stranger to Vanderbilt, but he was struck with such enterprise. The
+money was advanced, and the horse redeemed within forty-eight hours.
+
+[Illustration: ENTERPRISE. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures"]
+
+Vanderbilt wanted a small boat. On the tenth day of May, 1810, he went
+to his mother and asked for the money with which to buy it. There was a
+very rough piece of land on the parental farm which had never been
+plowed. His mother told him that if he would plow, drag and plant that
+field to corn within seventeen days, she would buy the boat for him. It
+was a hard job, doubtless, the mother considered it an impossible one.
+Vanderbilt, however, seemed never to recognize such a word, as can't. He
+set about the work at once, and hard as it seemed to be, the task was
+accomplished, the boat was bought, and Vanderbilt was a happy boy. He
+had earned it. Now, as Vanderbilt did not want this boat for pleasure,
+he at once began business carrying produce from Staten Island to New
+York city. When the wind was unfavorable he used oars or a pole to aid
+his sails, thus, his produce was always on time. People said, "Send your
+stuff by Vanderbilt and you can depend on its being in season." Now
+Vanderbilt had to give all of his earnings during the day time to his
+parents, so he worked nights, but his father also required one-half of
+what he earned nights, thus his opportunities were not as great as one
+might think. He worked very hard and at the end of three years, it was
+found that Corneel. Vanderbilt had saved for himself over, or about
+$3,000 and the best of all, had earned the reputation of being the best
+boatman on the river. While others were smoking and drinking, 'having
+fun while they were young, for when would they if not then?' Vanderbilt
+was either earning more money working over time, or at least saving
+what he had earned, home asleep recruiting for the next day's labor.
+
+He wished to marry a Miss Johnson, but could not unless his parents
+would release him from all parental restrictions. He was only nineteen,
+yet luckily for the young people the lady was a favorite of the father;
+the desired permission was obtained and henceforth Vanderbilt had the
+exclusive benefit of his labor. As he had begun, so he continued, and at
+the age of twenty-three he was worth about $9,000. In 1817 he became
+captain of the first steam boat that ever run between New York and New
+Brunswick, New Jersey, at a salary of $1,000 per year. His wife proved
+to be a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, she at this time
+keeping hotel at New Brunswick and making no small amount herself. Seven
+years passed and Vanderbilt was made superintendent of the company of
+which he had been an employe. If a man has ability and applies it, his
+talent will not remain hid 'under a bushel.' His ability and indomitable
+energy brought the "Gibbons Line" up to paying $40,000 a year. Seeing a
+chance, for which he was ever on the alert, he leased the ferry between
+New York and Elizabeth, New Jersey, for fourteen years, put on new boats
+and it became a very profitable venture. In 1829 he left the "Gibbons
+Line," and began to operate on the Hudson and between New York and
+Boston; also on the Delaware river. He would start an opposition line,
+and either drive off the old line or effect a compromise. In 1849 he
+obtained from the Nicaraguan Government a charter for a steamship
+company. He next went to England and raised the extra funds needed. He
+then went personally and inspected the whole route that was used, and by
+a system of cables fastened to trees, shortened the same about seven
+hundred miles over all existing lines. He placed steamers on each ocean
+and cut the fare from New York to San Francisco one-half. Soon he had
+destroyed all opposition and then made immense profits. Afterward he
+sold out for two millions.
+
+Mr. Vanderbilt, like all successful men, made finance a study; he
+foresaw that there were great profits to be realized in the near future
+in the undeveloped railway systems in the country. To see a chance was
+to at once set about planning to improve it. He at once began to
+withdraw his money from the water and invest in railroads, which were
+then coming rapidly to the front. The wisdom of Vanderbilt can be seen,
+for at the beginning of the war, which he had been long expecting, his
+money was all transferred from the water, and thus his interests were
+not jeopardised by the war made upon our commerce. He, however, had
+owned so many vessels, that he had long since been known as Commodore
+Vanderbilt, in fact few people to-day know him by any other name. He, at
+the beginning of hostilities, presented the government with a
+magnificent steamship, the "Vanderbilt," worth $800,000. When he entered
+the railroad business he was estimated at from thirty-five to forty
+millions. He had dealt somewhat in New York and New Haven, and now began
+to buy Harlem when it was in a most helpless and depressed condition. He
+advanced a large sum to the company when it was in need, and for this,
+among other things, he was made its President in 1863. By judicious
+management and influences common in 'The street,' he successfully ran
+Harlem from thirty to two hundred and eighty-five. Such a man was just
+what the New York Central railroad desired, and after this great
+'bulling' movement he became President of that road. All that was
+needed now was the Hudson River road and this he bought outright,
+becoming President of the New York Central and Hudson River Rail Road,
+extending from New York to Buffalo.
+
+At one time there was a bill to be voted on at Albany; the bill was in
+the interest of Harlem; Mr. Vanderbilt was sure it would pass, but
+Daniel Drew, his antagonist, who ever fought Harlem or Central as they
+were against Erie, caused a counter movement to be made which defeated
+the bill. Vanderbilt heard of it, and of course was disappointed but
+made no foolish protests with the treacherous 'friends' at the capitol.
+In the meantime these people were selling Harlem short for future
+delivery, expecting that the stock would "take a tumble" when it became
+known that the bill was defeated. As before said Vanderbilt said
+nothing, but quietly bought up every scrap of stock there was to be
+found loose. The fatal day came but Harlem stood firm. The derelict
+Assemblymen were thunderstruck when they had to buy at a greatly
+enhanced price, and many of the would-be victors were ruined. In 1873
+the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad was operated in connection
+with the Vanderbilt system, making a Palace Car route from New York city
+to Chicago. From New York to Buffalo a quadruple track, thence a double
+track.
+
+Among the charities of Mr. Vanderbilt is a gift of three-quarters of a
+million to the University in Nashville, Tennessee, which bears his name.
+He died in 1877 worth about eighty millions.
+
+
+
+
+AMOS LAWRENCE.
+
+
+Amos Lawrence was born April 22nd, 1786. He was a weak child,
+consequently could not attend school, but his mother did not neglect
+him. When only thirteen years old he became a clerk in a country store.
+In this store was kept everything in the hardware line, from a plow to a
+needle; in the textile line, from a horse-blanket to a pocket
+handkerchief; then you could buy the productions usually found in a
+vegetable garden,--everything was kept, even to Jamaica rum and drugs
+for the sick; a good place, indeed, for a bright, active boy to gain new
+ideas. Each country store, in those days, had its bar, and the clerks
+were as likely to be called on to mix drinks, as they were to be asked
+to measure off dry goods, and it was considered as honorable. Not only
+this, but it was customary for clerks to take a drink themselves, but
+young Lawrence determined to neither drink nor smoke. True, he liked the
+taste of liquor, and enjoyed a quiet smoke, but he argued that such
+pleasures, not only eat up profits already earned, but left the system
+in a poor condition to earn more. When we consider that he was a mere
+lad of thirteen, or at best fourteen, when he had decided upon this
+honorable course, and when we think that at least, for the time being,
+these luxuries would have cost nothing, we are constrained to say, no
+wonder he became a rich man.
+
+If our young men would only save the money they yearly smoke up and
+spend for other needless things, we would have clearer headed and much
+wealthier men. Our young men all desire to gain wealth and the highest
+enjoyments possible in this world, but are not willing to pay for them.
+If they would examine the lives of a great many of our most wealthy and
+influential men of to-day, they would be surprised to learn how few even
+smoke.
+
+If you see a man with a high hat, gaudily dressed, smoking and seemingly
+inviting your attention at some horse trot, where he is making a great
+display of wealth in the way of bets, you can set it down as pretty
+certain that that man is a clerk working for $10 or $15 per week, or at
+best, a mere curb-stone broker who will never rise to anything higher.
+Real wealth and distinction never invite your attention. One would
+hardly take that plain old gentleman, walking along the street yonder,
+for other than a country deacon, yet the check of Russell Sage will be
+recognized and honored to the amount of millions. Jay Gould never enjoys
+himself more than when at home.
+
+We spend as a nation now, every year, NINE HUNDRED MILLIONS FOR LIQUOR
+and THREE HUNDRED and FIFTY MILLIONS for TOBACCO. Total, ONE BILLION,
+TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY MILLIONS. One billion, two hundred and fifty
+millions thrown away. More than twice what we use for bread and meat.
+Then look at that vast waste of unearned wages. Man can't do two things
+well at one time. In our large cities we have, of late, seen drunken
+men, with pipes in their mouths, carrying about the streets a banner
+inscribed, "bread or blood." They propose to make those who have worked
+intelligently for money, now divide. Would it not look far more sensible
+if the banner bore the inscription, henceforth, I will boycott the
+tobacconist, and will vote for no man who is not pledged to suppress the
+saloon oligarchy?
+
+Amos Lawrence had not the benefit of the philanthropic teaching of our
+age, but he had a common sense, and a sense of taste and judgment far in
+advance of his time. These were the principles with which he laid the
+foundation to that great fortune and enviable reputation which he lived
+to enjoy, and which his name will ever recall. We have seen that good
+habits were the foundation of his success. He also improved his
+opportunities. He became perfectly familiar with the drug department of
+the store. He determined early in life to become a wealthy and
+influential man. To determine to do anything is half the battle. "Doubt
+indulged becomes doubt realized." "To think a thing impossible is to
+make it so." "Courage is victory, timidity is defeat." Men who
+understand these maxims are men who invariably succeed. I say
+invariably--a man may think he understands when he is groping in
+midnight darkness. A young man who really is destined to succeed, not
+only INTENDS to become a rich man, or whatever he aspires to be, but
+lays plans to that end, and is not discouraged if they are blasted. He
+only recognizes that he is foiled, for the time being, and never doubts
+his ability to succeed ultimately. There is a difference between a
+blustering braggadocio and a quiet, unassuming confidence in one's self.
+One leads to certain victory, the other, to as certain defeat.
+
+Young Lawrence had served his seven long years of apprenticeship, and
+had no better opportunity presented itself, he would have succeeded, for
+he had his plans carefully laid to remain in Groton, and if he had, he
+would have succeeded. But a merchant who had seen him at the store of
+his employer, no sooner learned of his release than he immediately
+hired him to come to Boston to enter his store there. "Seest thou a man
+diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not
+stand before mean men." Thither he went part of the way on foot; the
+rest of the way with an accommodating neighbor who was driving in that
+direction. He determined to make for himself here a record for honesty,
+and so well did he succeed, that the next year he started business for
+himself, his principal capital being his reputation and acknowledged
+ability. He developed a system in his business; he paid every bill on
+the spot; if he could not pay cash, instead of the regular custom of
+book accounts, he gave his note, thus no complications could arise to
+embarrass him. He knew when the money was expected on every bill, and
+made his calculation, and was never known to be taken by surprise. He
+was reasonably cautious--he never would promise to do what he might
+possibly be unable to accomplish. He prospered--of course he would. Such
+business principles, pushed by system as Lawrence pushed them, must
+bring success to any young man.
+
+Another thing, to any one who may now imagine he, perhaps, entered
+business on the tide of prosperity, we desire simply to say, on the
+contrary, from 1808 to 1815 was one of the dullest periods our
+mercantile history can recount. No, "luck" did not favor him, but
+"pluck" did. He pushed his mercantile business for years, amassing an
+immense fortune. Our country was then new, and he had to import most of
+his merchandise from England, but as he ever made a study of his
+business, concluded that he would start manufacturing industries here,
+which would prove not only profitable to himself, but of inestimable
+value to us as a nation. In accordance with these motives, he was
+largely instrumental in connection with the Lowells in building up the
+flourishing cities of Lowell and Lawrence.
+
+He never speculated in stocks. Young men, there is no money in stocks to
+the average man. Not even in legitimate stock dealing, to say nothing of
+the numerous watered concerns. We were looking over a paper recently
+when our attention was attracted to a paragraph which explained that in
+a transaction which involved 8,000 bushels of wheat, it was found that
+the odds against the buyer was over 22 per cent. While wheat is not
+stocks, still a good rule would be never to go into anything unless the
+chances are at least equal.
+
+Amos Lawrence once said: "Young man, base all your actions upon a sense
+of right, and in doing so, never reckon the cost." What a glorious
+principle for any young man--a principle he would find hard to follow in
+many stock speculations. "Even exchange is no robbery." It is not even
+exchange to bet and take a man's money; and it makes little difference
+whether you bet on a horse's gait or the grain he will eat next month.
+At another time he said: "Good principles, good temper, and good manners
+will carry a young man through the world much better than he can get
+along with the absence of either." His sayings are numerous, yet every
+one is worthy of attention; all of them have a golden thought for old
+and young.
+
+Mr. Lawrence did not give away in large amounts to institutions of
+learning, but he kept two rooms in his house wholly for the storage of
+articles designed to relieve poor people. One contained clothing of
+every description; the other, food and other necessaries of life. He
+gave away during his life, over $700,000, and when he died people
+mourned that he had gone, for there were none left that could take his
+place. Ah! this is success. He died December 31st, 1852.
+
+
+
+
+HORACE B. CLAFLIN.
+
+
+This great dry-goods prince was born at Milford, Massachusetts, in 1811,
+and his education was attained in the public schools of that place. When
+he became of age he bought out the store in which he was clerk, and in
+company with another young man began business for himself. But this
+place was too small for the already expanding vision of both Claflin &
+Daniels; they accordingly moved to Worcester. The latter place proving
+yet too small for Claflin, we soon see him located in Cedar street, New
+York, where he finds himself somewhat satisfied for a time. After a
+period of successful trade--extending over six years' time, the young
+men were compelled to find more commodious quarters, which they found at
+No. 57 Broadway, and two years later they moved once more, locating in
+the Trinity Building. 1860 came, their business was found to amount to
+about $12,000,000 annually, and the firm resolved to build a store, for
+themselves. The result was an immense dry-goods palace. The retail
+business was entirely abandoned, and Claflin at once sprung to the front
+as the leading wholesale dry-goods merchant of America.
+
+One day, about five o'clock, Mr. Claflin sat in his private office when
+a young man, pale and careworn, timidly knocked and was asked in. "Mr.
+Claflin," said he, "I am in need of help. I have been unable to meet
+certain payments because certain parties have not done by me as they
+agreed. I would like to have $10,000. I come to you because I knew that
+you were a friend of my father, and I thought possibly you might be a
+friend to me." "Come in and have a glass of wine," said Claflin. "No,"
+said the young man, "I never drink." "Have a cigar?" "No, I never
+smoke." "Well," replied Claflin, "I am sorry but I don't feel that I can
+let you have the money." "Very well," replied the young man, "I thought
+perhaps you might; hence I came. Good day, sir." "Hold on," said
+Claflin. "You don't drink?" "No." "Nor smoke?" "No sir." "Nor gamble?"
+"No sir; I am superintendent of a Sunday-school, in ---- street." "Well,"
+said Claflin, "you shall have it." This was characteristic of the man.
+This anecdote well illustrates his character. He was an everyday
+Christian.
+
+On November 14, 1885, he passed away, leaving one more gap in the
+commercial world, and in the membership of Plymouth Church, of which he
+had been a member many years. Probably no one man missed him more at the
+time of his death than did Henry Ward Beecher, of whom he had long been
+a devoted admirer.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM E. DODGE.
+
+
+When one finishes the perusal of the life of William E. Dodge, he feels
+a thrill of unbounded admiration. A man who would resign his membership
+in the Union League Club, because it sold wine to its members; who
+disposed of valuable investments in three different railroads, when a
+majority of the stockholders voted to run Sunday trains; who, while
+carrying on a large mercantile business, and managing an extensive stock
+and real estate business, yet found time to preside at the Chamber of
+Commerce and serve on numerous committees, and held a directorship in
+various banking institutions, is surely to be admired.
+
+His religious life was never weakened by his prosperity, and the more
+money God blessed him with, the more religious societies he became
+connected with.
+
+William E. Dodge was born in the year 1805, near Hartford, Connecticut.
+He began at the foot of the ladder, taking down shutters and sweeping
+out the store in which he was employed. When twenty-one, he went into
+business in a small way, doing a retail business, which prospered, and
+at the end of three years Mr. Dodge felt able to support a wife.
+
+In 1834 he was invited to become a partner in the firm with his
+father-in-law, Mr. Anson Phelps, and a brother-in-law, under the
+firm-style of Phelps, Dodge and Company. This connection proved a most
+profitable business venture, and at the end of twenty years Mr. Dodge
+was accounted a wealthy man. Looking about for investments, his keen
+perception espied a vast fortune in lumber, and then followed those vast
+accumulations of timber lands, by buying thousands of acres in West
+Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Canada.
+
+He also became greatly interested in coal lands, and as he must find a
+conveyance to bring his coal to market, he was naturally drawn into
+railroad schemes. His ability and enterprise soon placed him on the
+board of directors for such roads as the Delaware, Lackawanna and
+Western, and New Jersey Central, being at one time President of the
+Houston and Texas.
+
+He helped found several of the most noted Insurance Companies in the
+country, and was a director until his death, of the Greenwich Saving
+Bank, City Bank, The American Exchange National Bank, the United States
+Trust Company, the Bowery Fire Insurance Company, and the Mutual Life
+Insurance Company. He was President of the Chamber of Commerce, and
+owned a very large number of saw-mills, besides carrying on the regular
+business of the firm. What will those people, who would do this or that
+if they only had time, say to all this work done by one man who then
+found time to serve on the board of management of religious
+organizations innumerable?
+
+He was a great temperance advocate, giving thousands of dollars annually
+toward the support of various societies. There were others who had
+wealth, and gave possibly as much to the betterment of mankind as did
+Dodge, but we cannot now recall any man of great wealth who would deny
+himself as much personally, beside giving, as he did. In fact he seemed
+to be crowded to death with work, yet he never refused to aid all who
+were worthy applicants. For years he gave away annually over $200,000,
+yet it was found at his death, February, 1883, that his wealth amounted
+to something like $5,000,000, a large share of which was also given to
+charitable purposes.
+
+
+
+
+JAY GOULD.
+
+
+We have written the lives of journalists, of eminent statesmen, but we
+are now going to write the life of one of the most powerful men in
+America. A man who has far greater influence over his fellow-men than
+many a king or emperor, and a man who has played a most prominent part
+in the development of our Republic.
+
+Such a man is Jay Gould to-day who has risen to this dizzy height, from
+a penniless boy on his father's farm, which he left at the age of only
+fourteen to seek his fortune. He asked his father's permission first,
+which was readily given, he thinking it would cure the boy of his
+restlessness, and when young Gould left, his father fully expected to
+see him again within a few days, but even the father was mistaken in
+calculating the stick-to-it-iveness of the son. He at last found
+employment in a store where he remained two years when his health
+compelled outdoor work. He therefore obtained employment carrying chains
+for some surveyors at $10 a month. These men were making surveys from
+which an Albany publishing firm expected to issue maps for an atlas they
+were getting out. Not only did Gould carry the chains but he improved
+every opportunity for picking up points in surveying. We see one
+characteristic of the man plainly showing itself at this early age, for
+when the firm failed, Gould had the maps published himself, and then
+personally sold enough of them to clear $1,000. With this start he went
+to Pennsylvania, and was employed in a tannery. As one sees, nearly
+every successful man owes that success largely to the cultivation of
+pleasing manners, so it was with Gould. So apparent was his ability, and
+so well did he please his employer, that the man set Gould up in
+business at Gouldsborough, where he cleared $6,000 within the next two
+years. Gould was not satisfied with this moderate success, fine as it
+seemed to be; he only regarded these enterprises as stepping-stones to
+something higher. He next enters the metropolis where he buys and sells
+hides in a small office at No. 49 Gold street.
+
+About this time Gould met a young lady at the Everett House, where he
+lived, whose acquaintance was destined to have a marked influence over
+his subsequent career. This bright, handsome girl attracted his
+attention so unmistakably that Miss Miller noticed it. A little
+flirtation took place which ripened into a mutual affection, and they
+were married without waiting for the parents' approval, probably Gould
+knew better, as the young lady, at the time was far above his station in
+life as society would say, hence acted in this matter as he would in any
+business transaction he entered.
+
+Of course, this aroused Mr. Miller's righteous indignation, but he soon
+realized that Mr. Gould was a man of no ordinary calibre and wisely
+changed his course toward him. Mr. Miller owned a large interest in the
+Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad, and young Gould, after visiting the
+same, concluded that it could be made to pay. He accordingly bought the
+entire stock his father-in-law owned, notwithstanding the stock was
+considered all but worthless. He immediately disposed of all other
+business, and assumed the management of the road by buying up as much of
+the remaining stock as seemed necessary to give him supreme control. He
+at once became Manager, Superintendent and Treasurer. When the stock
+had multiplied upon itself many times, he sold out, receiving in all
+$750,000, for his interest. This first scheme illustrates his line of
+procedure in most of those seemingly mysterious movements which have
+marked his uniform success; namely, to find some road which was almost
+worthless and, if he thought good management would bring it up, secretly
+buy the controlling interest in the line, and when it reached a fair
+figure, sell. The Rutland & Washington was offering stock at ten cents
+on the dollar; he at once bought it up and managed it so well that he
+soon was enabled to sell at 120, making, as most people would think, a
+fortune.
+
+Cleveland & Pittsburg was for a long time in a precarious condition,
+perceiving which, Mr. Gould bought up all the stock he could find, and
+threw his whole ability and experience into the development of the same.
+The stock soon took an upward move, and when it reached 120 he sold his
+twenty-five thousand shares. We next see him buying Union Pacific at
+fifteen. This stock kept falling, but while others sold continually at a
+sacrifice, and seemed glad to unload at any figure, the lower it went
+the more Gould bought. After securing a controlling interest as desired,
+he began to develop the iron industries along the line, which of course
+soon gave the road business. This and other causes soon set Union
+Pacific "booming," and the stock began to rise. No sooner, however, did
+the disappointed capitalists see their mistake in selling than the cry
+was raised: "That is Gould's road and if you touch it you will surely be
+burnt." But despite all this the stock gradually rose, and in 1879 Mr.
+Gould sold the whole hundred thousand shares that he owned to a
+syndicate. It must not be supposed, however, that Mr. Gould sold to
+satisfy public clamor--Mr. Gould is not that kind of a man.
+
+How much he was worth when he went into Erie no one knows, but it was no
+inconsiderable amount. After Mr. Drew's suit with Vanderbilt, whereby
+the latter lost seven millions, Mr. Gould was made President of Erie,
+and the capital stock was increased to two hundred and thirty-five
+thousand shares, which stood about fifty-seven and one-half million.
+This brought the price down to 44. It was determined to sink Erie still
+lower, so Gould, Fisk and Drew locked up greenbacks to the amount of one
+million four hundred thousand. By a false movement on Drew's part, which
+his partners considered treacherous, they accordingly lost, and at once
+unlocked greenbacks, thereby stock advanced and Drew, instead of
+gaining, lost one million five hundred thousand, as he was seven
+thousand shares short. The price of the shares continued upward and
+Gould was obliged to get it down by some means in order to save himself.
+He therefore inaugurated a "bull" movement on gold. A. R. Corbin,
+brother-in-law of the President, Mr. Grant, was selected to sound the
+government, who reported that it was not intended to put any gold on the
+market for the present, at least. The clique at once bought millions
+more of gold than was to be had in the city outside of the Sub-Treasury.
+Up, up, went gold; 130 is reached, and next 133-1/2, then 134; still the
+order is buy; buy all that is for sale. The price reaches 144, but
+nothing daunted, the clique still buy in order to force the shorts to
+cover; yet on up it goes. Black Friday week is upon them, but Jay Gould
+is now selling while others are still buying right and left. Of course,
+he still pretends to buy, but is secretly selling at 165. At last the
+crash came, when the Secretary of the Treasury sold four millions on the
+street, and Gould is nearly the only one who is safe. This may look
+crooked--it certainly is not Puritan, but there are features of Jay
+Gould's success which are not praiseworthy; however, we claim there are
+many things that are worthy of imitation, hence it is here given in
+detail. He next bought Kansas & Texas at 8 and ran it to 48. He
+purchased Wabash at 5, and this, under his management, rose to 80
+preferred.
+
+Where Mr. Gould has shown the greatest skill in his line, is his
+connection with the transactions with the Western Union. Desiring to
+secure control of that company, he went into American Union, and within
+one year it was a formidable rival, which he substituted for the Western
+Union wires on his roads, and that company's stock fell from 116 to 88.
+If it is true, as stated, that Gould was short 30,000, he must have
+cleared on this one transaction $840,000. This method is so unlike his
+usual tactics that we are inclined to disbelieve it; however, his
+dealings all through, it is claimed, seem to prove it. He next caused a
+war of rates to be announced between his company and Western Union, and
+of course, the stock of the latter dropped still lower. The story was
+then circulated that he was to become a director of Western Union, and
+no war would take place; up that stock went to 104. But when the day
+came for the election, no Gould was to be seen, and back down it
+tumbled. It is reasonably supposable that Gould profited by each of
+these fluctuations. American Union became a fixed thing, and Western
+Union becoming alarmed at renewed rumors of war, at once caused Mr.
+Gould to be seen, and he to-day owns twenty millions of Western Union.
+His Missouri, Pacific and other lines, together with his elevated
+railroad schemes, are somewhat familiar topics with our readers.
+
+The career of such a man is a type and a proof of the progress of our
+land and the boundless opportunities that are open to energy and
+ability. Jay Gould has attained this dizzy height from poverty and
+obscurity. Unlike many rich men he is not a "fast" man. He is an
+excellent husband and father; he is never so happy, seemingly, as when
+at home sharing the family hearth, while others, who are more widely
+respected, are at their clubs. Jay Gould has been the subject of much
+abuse; indeed, what great men have not been? He is often described as a
+heartless oppressor of the poor and an enemy of his country. These
+accusations can often be traced to jealous rivals. While he has made
+millions in the new systems he has opened in the West, our territories
+and new States have been wonderfully developed and enriched billions of
+dollars. We honestly believe that the wonderful growth of the Western
+country would have been utterly impossible but for such men as Gould. If
+there had not been money in it their energy would have been lacking, and
+without that energy they must have lain dormant until other capitalists
+had opened the way to progress. That it takes a vast capital to develop
+the resources in a new country must be plain to every one. Show me a
+town which is blessed with men of capital and enterprise, and I will
+show you a town that is prosperous. Show me a town which has little of
+either, and I will show you a town in which you would hate to live.
+
+Mr. Gould appears to be a man whom nothing would excite; and one of his
+brokers says of him: "You never can tell from his expression when he
+reads a telegram whether he has made five millions or lost ten."
+Reticence is one secret of Mr. Gould's success. He absolutely cannot be
+induced to say anything which he desires kept. He is on the whole the
+most incomprehensible of New Yorkers. He is an embodiment of the
+money-making faculty. It would be a hard question to tell what Gould is
+worth. I know men who believe that he is to-day the richest citizen in
+New York. I know others who are confident that he is not worth over one
+million, and others who are certain that he is on the eve of bankruptcy,
+but this last is preposterous.
+
+His wealth is, of course, subject to fluctuation, and possibly Mr. Gould
+himself could not tell its exact magnitude; certainly no one knows,
+unless he does, what the precise amount is; but the writer would say at
+least seventy-five millions. Indeed, if the truth was known, we would
+not be surprised if it would amount to nearly one hundred millions.
+
+He is incessantly engaged in great operations, and these cannot be
+managed without vast sums. He is determined that no one shall be
+acquainted with his affairs. Despite this outward immobility, the strain
+of these colossal operations upon his brain and nerves cannot be
+otherwise than very wearing. It is said that he is troubled with
+sleeplessness, and that many of his gigantic schemes are worked out
+while he is lying in bed awake. Occasionally he gets up at night, lights
+the gas, walks the floor and tears paper into bits. It may be remembered
+that Fisk testified on his investigation by the Congressional Committee
+respecting the transactions of Black Friday, that he observed Jay Gould
+tearing up paper and throwing the pieces into the waste-basket, and thus
+he knew that his partner had some work on hand. He scarcely ever smiles
+and never lifts his voice above a conversational tone. He has no friends
+so far as known, but a host of enemies.
+
+His life is in great speculations. His greatest crime in the eyes of his
+fellow-speculators is, that he succeeds so well in doing to Wall Street,
+what Wall Street is perpetually, but vainly trying to do to him.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN WANNAMAKER.
+
+
+In the summer of 1838, John Wannamaker was born in Philadelphia. His
+father was a brick-maker, and while out of school mornings, nights and
+Saturdays, the boy John was engaged in turning bricks which were laid in
+the sun to dry. Thus early those habits of industry were instilled into
+the lad who, by his own diligence, was destined to one day become the
+merchant prince of Philadelphia.
+
+A few years later, school was abandoned for steady employment which was
+found in a store four miles from his home, where he boarded, for he had
+not the means to do otherwise, thereby walking eight miles per day,
+aside from his duties at the store, receiving $1.25 each Saturday
+evening. Think of it, working hard all the week, walking four miles
+night and morning--in all forty-eight miles per week, and receiving only
+$1.25 salary for the entire week's work. Afterward he was employed in a
+law office, and still later we find him in a clothing store at a salary
+of $1.50 per week. Here he seemed to find the calling which suited his
+taste, and he cultivated a pleasing disposition; people liked to trade
+with the young clerk. Of course this faculty, coupled with energy, would
+soon bring recognition, and it was not long before he was called to
+responsible positions. Another strong feature of the success of John
+Wannamaker was, he lived on less than he earned, and saved the balance.
+
+In 1861 he had saved several hundred dollars, and as he had earned a
+reputation for honesty and ability, he was enabled to start in business
+on his own account. This firm of Wannamaker & Brown was situated at the
+corner of Sixth and Market streets. Mr. Wannamaker kept the books--the
+firm hired no superfluous help--everything that they could do personally
+they hired no one to do. A firm which possesses ability, and follows
+such business rules, will succeed. Notwithstanding that the times were
+unusually "shaky," they prospered.
+
+As the business increased other stores were opened, and John Wannamaker,
+the poor clerk--after a period of twenty years of enterprise, pushed by
+energy, controlled a force of 6,000 employes. Not only does the firm
+handle clothing, but every conceivable article generally found in retail
+trade, the establishment being the largest in the great city of
+brotherly love.
+
+How pleasant it is to see men to whom God has bountifully supplied money
+using that means for the good of their fellow-creatures. Among the
+liberal, whole-souled millionaires of our country, John Wannamaker is to
+be found. Although carrying on an immense business he has found time to
+establish Sunday-Schools, solicit money for the Young Men's Christian
+Association, and has contributed to these personally, over $100,000.
+
+John Wannamaker is a philanthropist. One of his favorite schemes has
+been to go into the vilest neighborhoods, establish a Sunday-School,
+build nice houses, and thus bring the locality up to the plane of
+respectability. He was looked to for aid when the Centennial was
+projected, and it is needless to say that it was not found wanting. The
+secret of his great success is his indefatigable industry, and a
+thorough mastery of his business. He is one of the most enterprising
+merchants in history.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER T. STEWART.
+
+
+The dry-goods prince of the world. A marble palace for a store, which is
+entered daily by an average of twenty-five thousand people who buy
+$75,000 worth of merchandise--a business with daily import duties to the
+Government of $25,000 in gold. When we look at all this, and then
+remember that he was proprietor, not only of the palace store of
+America, but had branches in Philadelphia, Boston, Lyons, Paris,
+Belfast, Glasgow, Berlin, Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, and other
+cities throughout the world. When we behold this great success, and then
+think how he landed in this country a poor Irish lad of sixteen,
+friendless, homeless, and almost penniless, alone in a strange land, we
+involuntarily exclaim, "How was such a change in his position brought
+about?" Why did he succeed, while others all about him who were far
+better situated, failed? Let us follow him:
+
+He was born at Belfast, Ireland, October 21st, 1802, and in 1818 came to
+America. He was a mere lad of sixteen. The first work that he obtained
+was as assistant in a college; here he worked hard, saved his money, and
+at last he was able to open a small store in the city where he sold
+dry-goods. When he became twenty-one he was called to his native country
+to claim a small legacy left him by a relative who had died. He had made
+a study of his business, hence invested the entire sum in Irish
+products, and returning to America rented another store on Broadway, and
+thus began that great importing business. At this time he was his own
+buyer, salesman, book-keeper and errand boy. Ah! there is the secret of
+the success of nine-tenths of our great men. They began at the
+bottom--never hiring help for the mere appearance or convenience of
+their assistance. They never hired done what they themselves could do.
+And then there is another thing to remember--beginning thus at the
+bottom they, of necessity, became thoroughly familiar with the details
+of their business, hence were never obliged to leave anything to the
+'confidential clerk' who has ruined so many business men. Stewart soon
+felt the need of more room, and was compelled to seek more commodious
+quarters. After making another move to a larger store-room he made his
+first purchase of real estate, which was his "down-town" store. After
+this his "up-town" store was built.
+
+He was a splendid salesman, a perfect gentleman toward customers, and
+people preferred trading with him rather than any clerk in his employ.
+His tastes were very simple, and he was always plainly dressed. It has
+been stated that Mr. Stewart never posed for a photograph, which is a
+significant fact of itself. His motto was, "Never spend a dollar unless
+there is a prospect of legitimate gain." He arose early in the morning,
+went to his "up-town" store, and thoroughly inspected everything; then
+to his "down-town" store where he attended to his business at that end
+of the line.
+
+At the breaking out of the Civil War he aided the Union cause very much.
+Being in sympathy with the principles of the Republican party, and
+holding a powerful influence over the commercial world, the President,
+Mr. Grant, nominated him Secretary of the Treasury, and he was at once
+confirmed by the Senate; but as there is a law prohibiting any merchant
+in the importing business from holding this position, he was objected to
+by opposing politicians; and, although he offered to donate the entire
+profits of his business to the poor of the city of New York, they still
+objected, and he was obliged to resign. By this, the country was
+undoubtedly robbed of the services of a man capable of making one of the
+best officers for that position our country has ever known. However, it
+was right that it should be so; it would have been very unwise to have
+established such a precedent.
+
+In some respects, Mr. Stewart was a very liberal man, although it has
+been stated otherwise. In his will is his desire to do good especially
+manifested. Arrangements were made for the building of a church and
+parsonage, and a school for the benefit of poor boys who desired to fit
+themselves for a professional life.
+
+Some people may be fortunate in one instance in their life. We do not
+wholly disregard the idea of circumstances, but we do claim and try to
+prove that it is not the _one instance_ in the life after all. When we
+consider a whole life's history, we are convinced every time that
+generally where one is seemingly very fortunate, it is the result of
+careful calculation and down-right hard work. Bad luck is the natural
+result of carelessness in business matters. Had A. T. Stewart waited for
+a lucky chance to come to him, he might--probably never would have
+realized that splendid success that did attend his efforts. Here he came
+to this country at the age of sixteen. He did not wait for his
+grandfather to die and leave him that legacy but went right at some
+work. It may be possible that the grandfather gave him that money
+because he felt that young Stewart would make good use of it. Certain it
+is he did not wait but went right to work, saved his money, and was well
+prepared to use the legacy skillfully when he did receive it. However,
+if Stewart had never had that money given him, he would have succeeded.
+His whole life was a series of maturing plans, which had been carefully
+laid, and then pushed to completion. A man must have ability to plan
+well, and the courage and backbone to push those plans to success. A. T.
+Stewart possessed these qualities to a marked degree. He began as his
+moderate circumstances would warrant, and best of all he never allowed
+his energies to slacken. He never became a lazy business man. He never
+allowed himself to rest content with the laurels already his. He was a
+man of enterprise; while competitors followed the footsteps of their
+fathers, A. T. Stewart was progressing--he was original in nearly every
+undertaking.
+
+On the 10th day of April, 1876, this great magnate died. His business
+was carried on, for a time, by others, but the mainspring was gone, and
+in 1882 the great clock stopped. Here is an instance that should
+convince us of the result of courage, energy, and self-reliance. A. T.
+Stewart began without a dollar, and succeeded, while they who had the
+benefit of his experience, the use of his vast wealth, and a marble
+palace, could not succeed.
+
+The history of the stealing of Mr. Stewart's body is well-known, and as
+the papers have succeeded so well in keeping the subject before the
+people, we will not speak further of that here, our object being rather
+to instruct than to narrate sensational episodes.
+
+
+
+
+NICHOLAS LONGWORTH.
+
+
+In the year 1782 there was born a child of parents who had once been
+somewhat wealthy, but who were then living in poverty at Newark, New
+Jersey. This child was Nicholas Longworth, the father of grape culture
+in the United States.
+
+He attempted to learn various trades, at one time being bound to a
+shoemaker, but finally settled upon the law and began its study, as his
+circumstances would allow, in his native city. Young Longworth saw that
+he would have far more chance to rise in the new country west of the
+Alleghanies than in the over-crowded East. Therefore, when he was of age
+he emigrated "out west," stopping at the outskirts of civilization,
+locating in a small place of 1000 inhabitants called Cincinnati. Here he
+entered the law office of Judge Burnett, and soon was capable of passing
+the necessary examination, and was admitted to the bar. His first case
+was in defense of a certain man who had been arrested for
+horse-stealing, a very grave offense in that wilderness. This man had
+no money and about all he possessed in the world that he could call his
+own was two copper stills. As much as young Longworth needed money he
+was obliged to accept these as his fee for clearing the man. He tried to
+turn the stills into money but finally traded them for thirty-three
+acres of land, which was a barren waste. He had kept his eyes open and
+felt sure that the possibilities for Cincinnati were very great. He
+therefore bought land at ten dollars per lot, as fast as his means would
+allow, and all through the early portion of his life bought real estate
+until he became recognized as the heaviest real estate owner in
+Cincinnati.
+
+Years afterward he saw the wisdom of his course,--living to see his ten
+dollar lots rise to ten thousand dollars each, and the land which he
+received as his first fee, that was thought to be all but worthless,
+rise to the value of two million dollars. After following the law for
+about twenty years he was forced to give up his practice in order to
+take care of his extensive land interest. He went into the grape growing
+business, and for some time his efforts were attended with only
+discouragement, but he had relied on the clippings from foreign vines.
+He firmly believed that the Ohio valley was naturally adapted to the
+growth of the grape, and in this enterprise he allowed himself to harbor
+no thoughts other than of success.
+
+This is a characteristic of any man calculated to succeed. After
+experimenting with many different varieties, he at last hit upon the
+Catawba. To encourage the industry he laid out a very large vineyard,
+gave away great numbers of cuttings, offered a prize for any improvement
+in the Catawba grape, and proclaimed that he would buy all the wine that
+could be brought to him from the valley, whether in large or small
+quantities. The result was that grape growing figured as no small factor
+in the development of Ohio. He had a wine cellar capable of holding
+300,000 bottles, and was worth at his death $15,000,000.
+
+Nicholas Longworth was exceedingly liberal in his own way--selling his
+lots on easy installments, thereby aiding many to a home. His motto was,
+"Help those who help themselves," however, he gave much to those whom no
+one else would aid. He was personally of inferior appearance; not only
+this, but nothing pleased him more than a shabby dress, being often
+mistaken for a beggar. As a benefactor and horticulturist he made his
+influence to be felt in succeeding generations.
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT BONNER.
+
+
+Of all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert Bonner
+is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and
+at the age of sixteen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle
+here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a paper, and drifted
+into the office of the _Hartford Courant_. Robert Bonner determined to
+own a paper; he, therefore, set about it, working faithfully every day,
+and overtime, saving his money. He mastered his business, becoming an
+expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment
+on the _Mirror_. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising
+department, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine taste in
+the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much
+to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a
+correspondent of the _Hartford Courant_, also newspapers in Boston,
+Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the _Merchants Ledger_, a
+paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he
+transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the _New York
+Ledger_. Fanny Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature.
+Bonner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the _Ledger_, enclosing
+his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days,
+of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full
+of advertisements--"Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the _Ledger_."
+"Read The _New York Ledger_"--Some people said, "Well, first-class
+journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe;
+they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to
+study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was _Harpers
+Weekly_--no one questioned its respectability. The Harpers never
+indulged in any flashy advertising, but soon the people were surprised
+to see in all the leading papers, 'Buy _Harpers Weekly_,' as no one
+imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the
+advertisements to the necessity Harpers felt through the rivalry of the
+_Ledger_. This sort of enterprise cost, but it convinced people that
+respectable journals advertised as did the _Ledger_. People said it was
+'cheap, trashy literature, etc.'
+
+Mr. Bonner at once hunted up Edward Everett who was recognized as the
+representative of New England refinement. This was a most opportune time
+for Mr. Bonner, as Mr. Everett was trying to raise a large sum with
+which to aid in beautifying the home and tomb of Washington. Mr. Bonner
+engaged Mr. Everett to write a series of articles on Mount Vernon,
+giving in return his check for $10,000 to be applied toward the Everett
+Fund for the aid of the Association. Probably Mr. Everett would have
+refused to write at any other time, but Bonner took advantage of
+circumstances--ALWAYS.
+
+He next secured George Bancroft, the eminent historian. Then followed
+Horace Greely, James Gordon Bennett, and Henry J. Raymond. When such
+lights of journalism would write for the _Ledger_, what could lesser
+country editors say? Next came a story by Henry Ward Beecher, who was
+followed by Dr. John Hall the great Presbyterian Divine, Bishop Clark,
+Dr. English, Longfellow, Tennyson, and others, including a series of
+articles from the presidents of the leading colleges throughout the
+country.
+
+Mr. Bonner is a Presbyterian, being a member of the church presided over
+by Dr. John Hall, on Fifth Avenue. He has given many thousands of
+dollars to various institutions and charities. He owns the finest stable
+of horses in the Union, among which are such as Maud S.--his first great
+trotter was Dexter. He never allows one of his horses to trot for money.
+
+Mr. Bonner is getting along in years but still attends to business. His
+paper has at times attained a circulation of 400,000 copies, each
+issue.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM G. FARGO.
+
+
+Who, indeed, has not heard of the American Express Company? Yet, how few
+there are who know to whom we are indebted for its existence.
+
+William G. Fargo was born May 20, 1818, at Pompey, New York, and at the
+age of twelve he was mail-carrier over a route that covered forty miles.
+The inference must be at once formed that William G. Fargo was no
+ordinary child. He must have been industrious and trustworthy, for the
+mail must be delivered on time. No holiday could be observed, nor could
+any circus be allowed to come between him and his work. Seeking a more
+remunerative calling he went to Waterville, where he clerked in a small
+store and tavern, improving his spare moments in learning to keep
+accounts. When seventeen he went to Syracuse and entered a grocery
+house. He continued in the grocery line in one capacity or another for
+five years, when he accepted the freight agency of the Auburn and
+Syracuse Railroad, in which capacity he had found his calling. Two years
+later he became associated with Pomeroy & Co., and was given the express
+agency for that company at Buffalo, and in 1844 he became a member of
+the firm of Wells & Co., who established an express line from Buffalo,
+west to Detroit, via Cleveland. This firm, in time, became Livingston &
+Fargo, and finally the several express companies: Wells & Co.,
+Butterfield, Wasson & Co. and Livingston & Co., became merged into the
+since famous American Express Co. In 1868 Mr. Fargo was elected
+President of this Company, and remained at its head until his death. He
+was also connected with various other enterprises, being Vice-President
+of the New York Central & Hudson River railroad, and was also largely
+interested in Northern Pacific and other railroad stock. In 1861 he was
+elected Mayor of Buffalo on the Democratic ticket, but so impartial was
+he in the administration of the city affairs, and so patent was his
+business ability, that he was re-elected, being supported by all
+parties.
+
+Such is the reward for earnestness. And will any one say that William G.
+Fargo was not deserving of this splendid success? If we will have
+success we must earn it. Let no man envy another in no matter what
+station of life he may be situated. Rest assured that we will fill the
+place that we are capable of filling; no more, no less.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES C. FLOOD.
+
+
+James C. Flood was born in New York city. He received only a plain
+common school education, but has succeeded, not from a lack of education
+but in spite of that lack. He passed through the usual routine of boys
+placed in moderate circumstances, until the year 1849, being past his
+majority, he sailed in the good ship "Elizabeth," around the "Horn,"
+arriving in a strange land without money or friends, but he had brains,
+and they were reinforced by a surprising allowance of will-power.
+
+He drifted from one thing to another, kept a restaurant, and finally in
+1854 loomed up as senior partner in the firm of Flood & O'Brien, who
+were soon deep in "Old Kentuck," seeking the treasures which they found
+in great quantities, and finally when they took hold of the "Hale &
+Norcross" mine, it made them the first bonanza kings America ever knew.
+
+He next projects the Nevada Bank and makes the call for over five
+millions of dollars which leads to the suspension of the Bank of
+California, as the indiscrete placing of its resources leaves that bank
+in a weak position to withstand so sudden a drain, and was therefore
+indirectly the cause, as most people think, of its beloved President's
+death. Mr. Flood desired to place this Nevada Bank upon so firm a
+foundation that neither the indiscretion of speculators or the ebb and
+flow of mercantile life could overthrow it. How well this has been
+accomplished can be seen from the fact, that it has a capital of nearly
+fifteen million dollars, and numbers among its directors, such bonanza
+kings as James C. Flood, John W. MacKay and James G. Fair, whose private
+fortunes combined represent over $100,000,000, to say nothing of other
+wealthy directors. This bank asserts that it has special facilities for
+handling bullion, and we should think quite likely it has. Something of
+the condition of the private finances of Mr. Flood can be ascertained.
+If one takes the trouble to look over the assessment roll he will find
+the following: "James C. Flood, 6,000 shares, Nevada Bank stock,
+$1,200,000; 12,000 shares, Pacific Mill & Mining Co., $4,000,000; 250
+shares, Pacific Wood, Lumber & Flume Co., $30,000; 1,000 shares, San
+Francisco Gaslight stock, $90,000; 937 shares of Golden City Chemical
+Works, $20,000; 3,000 shares of Virginia & Gold-Hill Water Co.,
+$300,000; 47-1/2 shares of Giant Powder Co., $60,000; 649-1/2 shares
+Atlantic Giant Powder Co., $30,000; 35,000 shares Ophir Mine stock,
+$1,000,000," and he is assessed for $250,000 in money. Then comes J. C.
+Flood & Co. "Controlling interest in stock of Yellow Jacket, Union
+Consolidated, Scorpion, Savage, Ophir, Occidental, Hale & Norcross,
+Gould & Curry, Consolidated Virginia, Best & Belcher and other mining
+companies, $10,000,000; money $500,000." In all it is quite a fortune
+for a poor boy to find, but it must be remembered that Mr. Flood had
+much with which to contend, and that nine men out of ten might have
+passed over the same ground and found nothing. Industry is what wins,
+and J. C. Flood is no exception to the rule. In a recent law suit Mr.
+Flood displayed a most peculiar memory, or rather a most remarkable lack
+of memory. We take the following facts from an editorial on the subject:
+
+"A certain man sued Mr. Flood to recover about $26,000,000, the alleged
+value of certain 'tailings' on some of the mines. Mr. Flood did not know
+what company milled the ore of the Consolidated Virginia; did not
+remember who was President of the company at the time; he might have
+been; could not say for certain however; did not know where the crude
+bullion from his own mines was sent to be melted into bars; could not
+tell how much was worked, nor anything about it. He did not remember who
+was treasurer of the mill company; he might have been, might now be, but
+could not tell for certain."
+
+Mr. Flood owns one of the finest mansions, for a private residence, in
+the whole world. It cost one million, and is a magnificent building in
+any sense.
+
+Few men surpass him in either getting or keeping money.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN W. MACKAY.
+
+
+John W. MacKay is not only the youngest and the richest of that bonanza
+trio--Flood, Fair and MacKay but immense wealth has not spoiled him. He
+is of Irish birth, but came to this country before he was of age. When
+the gold fever broke out he was one of the first to seek his fortune in
+that auriferous country bordering on the Pacific, in California.
+Contrary to the general supposition that his great wealth came through
+'good luck,' let me say, it was only by constant toil and slowly
+acquired experience that he learned how to tell a non-paying lead from a
+bonanza. Several times he seemed about to strike the long-looked for
+success only to find his brightest hopes dashed to the earth. But these
+failures tempered him for the greater hardships that followed.
+
+The famous "Comstock Lode" is situated among a vast accumulation of
+rocks and deep canyons--the result of terrible volcanic eruptions at
+some remote period. This mining district was discovered by two Germans
+in about 1852-3. Contrary to the opinion expressed by other prospectors,
+these Germans saw silver in the rejected ore. Both brothers suddenly
+dying, the claim fell to a storekeeper named Comstock who sold out for
+a few thousand. Mr. MacKay's investment in the one mine, the
+"Consolidated Virginia and California," has paid him unheard of
+dividends. This mine produced in a period covering six years, from 1873,
+gold and silver to the amount of over sixty-three millions of dollars.
+The combined profits of the two mines were over seventy-three and
+one-half millions of dollars. Mr. MacKay drifted to this lode, making
+his first 'hit' in 1863, and in this section the bulk of his vast
+fortune was accumulated.
+
+On the 25th of November, 1867, he concluded that he was able to support
+a wife, and accordingly married the widow of an old friend (Dr.
+Thompson) who had shared his varying fortune of former years when he
+little dreamed of the vast wealth that awaited him. This lady is one of
+the best hands to help a man spend a fabulous income, of which we are
+aware. She lives in Paris, where she gives the most expensive of
+entertainments. When General Grant was in France he was her guest. She
+supports a private railway carriage to use at her pleasure, and it would
+almost exceed belief to describe the cost of her table service; in fact,
+she lives in oriental splendor. On the other hand Mr. MacKay is
+decidedly pronounced, personally, in favor of little show. He is far
+more at home in Virginia City, where he may often be seen in a genuine
+mining costume, than at his palatial home in Paris.
+
+The ground had been known for years wherein his great wealth was found,
+but it was pronounced worthless. Everything seemingly had to be
+contested; confidence was lacking, and what confidence remained was
+daily agitated by parties who were jealous rivals. The stock became
+almost worthless, and great discontent was manifest when, to make
+matters worse, a fire broke out which burned the company's property and
+valuable machinery. Twelve hundred feet of ground had to be slowly gone
+over in search for the right vein, at a cost of $500,000. Amid great
+discouragement John W. MacKay led this apparently forlorn hope to at
+last be crowned with the success he so richly deserved. He now is
+estimated to be worth in the vicinity of $55,000,000, and although it
+may seem a somewhat extravagant reward, it cannot be denied that this
+vast sum could have been placed in far worse hands.
+
+Both Mr. and Mrs. MacKay are very liberal toward charitable purposes.
+They were especially complimented by Pope Leo XIII for their charitable
+deeds. As Mr. MacKay is but about fifty years of age, it is hard to
+conjecture his possible future. While many features in his career seem
+to justify the belief in "luck," still, to the close observer, it is
+manifest that had he not possessed great endurance, and known no such
+thing as fail, the world would never have known of John W. MacKay.
+Surely, great effort is the price of great success, ALWAYS.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES C. FAIR.
+
+
+The name of James C. Fair will be recognized at once as one of the
+bonanza kings, and like the others he enjoyed only a fair education,
+starting for California at about the same time as the rest; he taking
+the overland route while they went by water. His only capital consisting
+of a miner's outfit, and with those simple implements he began his hard
+fought battle for wealth. He made mining a scientific study and after
+about six years of variable success, he became known as an expert. Soon
+after this he accepted the superintendency of the Ophir mine, and later,
+the Hale & Norcross; since which time he has gone on, until now, he can
+count his worldly possessions by the million. He is a most thorough
+miner, and his long continued life at the bottom of the mines has had a
+telling effect on his health. That he has successfully managed such wild
+and wicked men, as many miners are, without becoming the victim of some
+"accident," indicates something of his ability. Finally his impaired
+health necessitated his withdrawal from active work, and he made an
+extended voyage, returning in a much improved condition.
+
+In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acquitted
+himself with credit. He charged nothing for his services, an event
+without parallel in our history, however, he received all for which he
+went to Washington--honor. He is assessed for over forty millions, and
+can well afford to donate his salary to the Government.
+
+Like the other bonanza kings he seems to have been specially favored by
+fortune, but the old saying, "Birds of a feather will flock together,"
+is true in this case, for these men are all practical miners and changed
+partners often until the firm of Flood, Fair & MacKay was formed, since
+which time they all seem perfectly satisfied each with the other. All
+had been sorely tried during their earlier life and were not found
+wanting either in ability or stick-to-it-iveness as they passed through
+the crucible of Dame Fortune.
+
+As we have just been reading the lives of the three bonanza kings, J. C.
+Flood, J. C. Fair and J. W. MacKay, possibly a description of one of
+their enterprises in the shape of a flume will be interesting as
+described by a New York _Tribune_ correspondent:
+
+A fifteen-mile ride in a flume down the Sierra Nevada Mountains in
+thirty minutes was not one of the things contemplated in my visit to
+Virginia City, and it is entirely within reason to say that even if I
+should make this my permanent place of residence--which fortune
+forbid--I shall never make the trip again. The flume cost, with its
+appurtenances, between $200,000 and $300,000--if it had cost a million
+it would be the same in my estimation. It was built by a company
+interested in the mines here, principally the owners of the Consolidated
+Virginia, California, Hale & Norcross, Gould & Curry, Best & Belcher and
+Utah mines. The largest stockholders in these mines are J. C. Flood,
+James C. Fair, John W. MacKay and W. S. O'Brien, who compose without
+doubt the wealthiest firm in the United States. Taking the stock of
+their companies at the price quoted in the board, the amount they own is
+more than $100,000,000, and each has a large private fortune in
+addition. The mines named use 1,000,000 feet of lumber per month under
+ground, and burn 40,000 cords of wood per year. Wood is here worth from
+$10 to $12 per cord, and at market prices Messrs. Flood & Co. would have
+to pay nearly $500,000 a year for wood alone. Going into the mine the
+other day, and seeing the immense amount of timber used, and knowing the
+incalculable amount of wood burned in the several mines and mills, I
+asked Mr. MacKay, who accompanied me, where all the wood and timber
+came from. "It comes," said he, "from our lands in the Sierras, forty or
+fifty miles from here. We own over twelve thousand acres in the vicinity
+of Washoe Lake, all of which is heavily timbered." "How do you get it
+here?" I asked. "It comes," said he, "in our flume down the mountains,
+fifteen miles, and from our dumping grounds is brought by the Virginia &
+Truckee Railroad to this city, about sixteen miles. You ought to see the
+flume before you go back; it is really a wonderful thing." The flume is
+a wonderful piece of engineering work. It is built wholly on
+trestle-work and stringers; there is not a cut in the whole distance,
+and the grade is so heavy that there is little danger of a jam. The
+trestle-work is very substantial, and undoubtedly strong enough to
+support a narrow-gauge railway. It runs over foot-hills, through
+valleys, around mountains, and across canyons. In one place it is
+seventy feet high. The highest point of the flume from the plain is
+3,700 feet, and on an air-line, from beginning to end the distance is
+eight miles, the course thus taking up seven miles in twists and turns.
+The trestle-work is thoroughly braced longitudinally and across, so that
+no break can extend further than a single box, which is 16 feet. All the
+main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills,
+and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart. These again
+rest upon substantial stringers. The grade of the flume is from 1,600 to
+2,000 feet from top to bottom--a distance, as previously stated, of
+fifteen miles. The sharpest fall is three feet in six. There are two
+reservoirs from which the flume is fed. One is 1,100 feet long and the
+other is 600 feet. A ditch, nearly two miles long, takes the water to
+the first reservoir, whence it is conveyed 3-1/4 miles to the flume
+through a feeder capable of carrying 450 inches of water. The whole
+flume was built in ten weeks. In that time all the trestle-work,
+stringers and boxes were put in place. About 200 men were employed on it
+at one time, being divided into four gangs. It required 2,000,000 feet
+of lumber, but the item which astonished me most was that there were 28
+tons, or 56,000 pounds of nails used in the construction of this flume.
+
+Mr. Flood and Mr. Fair had arranged for a ride in the flume, and I was
+challenged to go with them. Indeed the proposition was put in this
+way--they dared me to go. I thought that if men worth twenty-five or
+thirty million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could
+afford to risk mine, which isn't worth half as much. So I accepted the
+challenge, and two 'boats' were ordered. These were nothing more than
+pig troughs, with one end knocked out. The 'boat' is built like the
+flume, V shaped, and fits into the flume. The grade of the flume at the
+mill is very heavy, and the water rushes through it at railroad speed.
+The terrors of that ride can never be blotted from the memory of one of
+the party. I cannot give the reader a better idea of a flume ride than
+to compare it to sliding down an old-fashioned eve-trough at an angle of
+45 degrees, hanging in mid-air without support of roof or house, and
+extending a distance of fifteen miles. At the start we went at the rate
+of twenty miles an hour, which is a little less than the average speed
+of a railroad train. The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our boat on
+the bottom as best he could. Mr. Fair sat on a seat behind him, and I
+sat behind Mr. Fair in the stern and was of great service to him in
+keeping the water which broke over the end-board, from his back. There
+was also a great deal of water shipped in the bows of the hog-trough,
+and I know Mr. Fair's broad shoulders kept me from more than one ducking
+in that memorable trip. At the heaviest grades the water came in so
+furiously in front that it was impossible to see where we were going, or
+what was ahead of us; but when the grade was light, and we were going at
+a three or four minute pace, the view was very delightful, although it
+was terrible. When the water would enable me to look ahead, I could see
+the trestle here and there for miles; so small and so narrow and
+apparently so fragile that I could only compare it to a chalk-mark upon
+which, high in the air, I was running at a rate unknown to railroads.
+One circumstance during the trip did more to show me the terrible
+rapidity with which we dashed through the flume than anything else. We
+had been rushing down at a pretty lively rate of speed when the boat
+suddenly struck something in the bow, a nail, a lodged stick of wood or
+some secure substance which ought not to have been there. What was the
+effect? The red-faced carpenter was sent whirling into the flume ten
+feet ahead. Fair was precipitated on his face, and I found a soft
+lodgment on Fair's back. It seems to me that in a second's time--Fair
+himself a powerful man--had the carpenter by the scruff of the neck, and
+had pulled him into the boat. I did not know at this time that Fair had
+his fingers crushed between the flume and the boat. But we sped along;
+minutes seemed hours. It seemed an hour before we arrived at the worst
+place in the flume, and yet Hereford tells me that it was less than ten
+minutes. The flume at the point alluded to must have been very nearly
+forty-five degrees inclination. In looking out, before we reached it, I
+thought the only way to get to the bottom was to fall. How our boat kept
+in the track is more than I know.
+
+The wind, the steamboat, the railroad, never went so fast. In this
+particularly bad place I allude to, my desire was to form some judgment
+as to the speed we were making. If the truth must be spoken, I was
+really scared almost out of my reason, but if I were on my way to
+eternity I wanted to know exactly how fast I went, so I huddled close to
+Fair, and turned my eyes toward the hills. Every object I placed my eyes
+upon was gone before I could plainly see what it was. Mountains passed
+like visions and shadows. It was with difficulty that I could get my
+breath. I felt that I did not weigh a hundred pounds, although I knew in
+the sharpness of intellect that I tipped the scales at two hundred. Mr.
+Flood and Mr. Hereford, although they started several minutes later than
+we, were close upon us. They were not so heavily loaded, and they had
+the full sweep of the water, while we had it rather at second-hand.
+Their boat finally struck ours with a terrible crash. Mr. Flood was
+thrown upon his face, and the waters flowed over him. What became of
+Hereford I do not know, except that when we reached the terminus of the
+flume he was as wet as any of us. This only remains to be said: We made
+the entire distance in less time than a railway train would ordinarily
+make, and a portion of the distance we went faster than a railway train
+ever went. Fair said we went at least a mile a minute. Flood said that
+we went at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, and my deliberate belief
+is that we went at a rate that annihilated time and space. We were a wet
+lot when we reached the terminus of the flume.
+
+Flood said that he would not make the trip again for the whole
+Consolidated Virginia mine. Fair said that he should never again place
+himself upon an equality with timber and wood, and Hereford said he was
+sorry that he ever built the flume. As for myself, I told the
+millionaires that I had accepted my last challenge. When we left our
+boats we were more dead than alive. The next day neither Flood nor Fair
+were able to leave their beds. For myself, I have only the strength to
+say that I have had enough of flumes.
+
+
+
+
+HORACE GREELEY.
+
+
+In the history of journalism, Horace Greeley must, for all time, hold a
+position in the front rank. As it is well-known he is a self-made man,
+being born of poor parents at Amherst, New Hampshire, on the 3rd day of
+February, 1811. His father was a farmer. The Greeley ancestors enjoyed a
+reputation for 'tenacity,' which was clearly shown in the pale-faced,
+flaxen-haired but precocious lad of fifteen, who presented himself and
+was employed at the office of the _Northern Spectator_, at Poultney,
+Vermont, in 1826; having walked from West Haven, his home, eleven miles
+distant. He was to remain an apprentice until twenty, and received in
+money the princely sum of forty dollars a year 'with which to buy
+clothes and what was left he might use for spending money.' Why he lived
+to found a great paper the reader can easily guess, when it is learned
+that Greeley used the greater part of said forty dollars each year for
+buying books.
+
+He joined a local debating club where he became the 'giant' member, a
+tribute paid to his intellect. Most of the members were older than
+Greeley, but knowledge proved a power in that society and he was
+invariably listened to with marked attention despite his shabby
+appearance. Especially was he fond of political data; he followed the
+exchanges in the _Spectator_ office with increasing interest. His
+parents removed to Pennsylvania, where he visited them during his
+apprenticeship as "printers' devil," and general assistant at Poultney,
+walking the most of the way, a distance of about 600 miles. The
+_Spectator_ having collapsed, young Greeley, with his entire wardrobe
+done up in a handkerchief, once more visits Pennsylvania, but not to
+remain idle; he soon obtained a place in a printing office near his
+home, at eleven dollars per month, and later still he obtains employment
+at Erie where he receives fifteen dollars per month. Soon after this,
+not yet content, he is enroute for New York, where he arrived August 17,
+1831.
+
+His appearance in the metropolis was ludicrous in the extreme. One can
+imagine from accounts given of him how prepossessing he must have
+looked; flaxen locks, blue eyes, his hat on the back of his head as if
+accustomed to star gazing, must have given him the appearance of one
+decidedly 'green,' to say the least. As is a noted fact he was, to his
+death, exceedingly indifferent as to his dress and what are known as the
+social demands of society. Indeed he could be seen on the street almost
+any day with his pockets stuffed full of papers, his hat pushed back on
+his head like a sailor about to ascend the rigging, his spectacles
+seemingly about to slip off his nose, his boot heels running over, and
+we doubt not that he was as likely to have one leg of his pantaloons
+tucked into his boot top while the other was condescendingly allowed to
+retain its proper place. In fact it is hardly probable that he would
+have impressed any one with the idea that he was indeed a great editor
+of that city. But we return to his first visit; office after office was
+visited without avail but that hereditary 'tenacity' did not forsake
+him, and at last he met an old friend, a Mr. Jones whom he had first met
+in Poultney. This friend, although not a 'boss,' printer fashion set him
+at work on his own case. When the proprietor came in he was dumbfounded
+at the specimen of a printer he beheld, and declared to the foreman that
+he could not keep him. Fortunately, however, for young Greeley, the job
+that he was on was setting small type,--a most undesirable one. The
+foreman shrewdly suggested that as Jones, who was a good workman, knew
+him it would be a good policy to wait and see the result. As it was a
+very difficult job no wonder that Greeley's proof looked as though it
+had the measles, but as he was retained he must have done as well if not
+better than was expected. When the job was finished he was thrown out of
+employment, and he shifted about for some time doing odd jobs; in fact
+it must have been very discouraging, but finally he obtained employment
+on the _Spirit of the Times_, and afterward formed a business
+partnership with Mr. Story who, with Mr. Greeley, invested about $240.
+They established a penny paper, and were moderately successful, but Mr.
+Story was drowned and his place was filled by another. His connection
+with the _New Yorker_ was his next business venture. While on this
+paper he was also editor of a paper in Albany, and a regular contributor
+to the _Daily Whig_. When we think that he gave himself only four hours
+sleep out of the twenty-four, we can realize how he could find time to
+edit two papers and write for the third, but despite this assiduousness
+his enterprise failed and he thereby lost $10,000.
+
+Greeley's opinion on economy was clearly defined when he said: "For my
+own part, and I speak from sad experience, I would rather be a convict
+in States Prison or a slave in a rice swamp, than to pass through life
+under the harrow of debt. If you have but fifty cents and can get no
+more for the week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it rather
+than owe any man a dollar." He next started the _Log Cabin_. It was
+started in the beginning of 1840, designed to be run six months and then
+discontinued. Into this undertaking Horace Greeley threw all his energy
+and ability, guided by his experience. In those days a journal with a
+circulation of ten thousand was a big concern. When an edition of nearly
+fifty thousand of its first issue was called for, the publishers were
+beside themselves, and later when the _Log Cabin_ ran up a circulation
+of eighty and even ninety thousand, the proprietors were frantic as to
+how they should get them printed. It is needless to say that the _Log
+Cabin_ outlived its original expectations.
+
+Ultimately the _Log Cabin_ and the _New Yorker_ were merged into the
+_New York Tribune_. As is a recognized fact, Greeley was stronger in a
+fight than in peace, and the attacks which this new enterprise received
+soon run its circulation from the hundreds into the thousands. Of course
+new presses had to be bought and Greeley, who by the way preferred to
+discuss the financial policy of a great nation than that of his own
+office, soon found himself obliged to get a business man as a partner.
+He was exceedingly fortunate in securing Mr. Thomas McElrath, who soon
+brought order from chaos, and the _Tribune_ became not only an ably
+conducted paper but a paying one as well.
+
+Mr. Greeley next became a lecturer, and in this field he was also fairly
+successful. He traveled in Europe and wrote such books as "Hints About
+Reform," "Glances at Europe," "History of the Slavery Extension,"
+"Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco," "The American
+Conflict," "Recollections of a Busy Life," "Essays on Political
+Economy," and just before his death, "What I Know About Farming."
+
+While Mr. Greeley must ever be regarded among journalists as one of
+their brightest stars; he was one of the most peculiar writers it has
+ever been our pleasure to read. In fact he must be regarded as a kind of
+literary gymnast. While conducting a political paper he at one time
+devoted page after page to the theory of reorganizing society after the
+plan of Fourier; that is to divide society up into small communities to
+live in common. After wearying the readers on this and numerous other
+'isms,' it was discontinued. He went into a political frenzy over Clay
+and protection; next his paper was full of the 'Irish Repeal,' 'Advocacy
+of the Water Cure,' 'Phrenology,' 'Mesmerism,' 'Opposition to Capital
+Punishment,' 'Trinitarianism' and the 'Drama.'
+
+He was finally elected to Congress to fill an unexpired term. While here
+he caused some amusement by his eccentricities. He refused to sit up at
+night sessions, abruptly leaving when his hour for retiring arrived.
+Possibly his letter addressed to the managers of his party in his State
+was one of the greatest surprises that he ever sprung upon the country.
+It was addressed to Mr. Seward personally, but upon mention being made
+of it by that gentlemen's friends, it was made public by Greeley's
+demand. It ran something as follows: "The election is over, and its
+results sufficiently ascertained. It seems to me a fitting time to
+announce to you the dissolution of the political firm of Seward, Weed
+and Greeley by the withdrawal of the junior partner, said withdrawal to
+take effect on the morning after the first Tuesday in February next. I
+was a poor young printer, and editor of a literary journal--a very
+active and bitter Whig in a small way, but not seeking to be known
+outside of my own ward committee. I was one day called to the City Hotel
+where two strangers introduced themselves as Thurlow Weed and Lewis
+Benedict, of Albany. They told me that a cheap campaign paper of
+peculiar stamp at Albany had been resolved on, and that I had been
+selected to edit it. I did the work required to the best of my ability.
+It was work that made no figure and created no sensation; but I loved it
+and I did it well."
+
+"When it was done you were Governor; dispensing offices worth three to
+twenty thousand to your friends and compatriots, and I returned to my
+garret and my crust and my desperate battle with pecuniary obligations
+heaped upon me by bad partners in business and the disastrous events of
+1837. I believe it did not occur to me then that some one of these
+abundant places might have been offered to me without injustice. I now
+think it should have occurred to you. In the Harrison campaign of 1840 I
+was again designated to edit a campaign paper. I published it as well
+and hence ought to have made something out of it despite its low price.
+My extreme poverty was the main reason why I did not."
+
+"Now came the great scramble of the swell mob of coon minstrels and cider
+suckers at Washington, I not being counted in. I asked nothing, expected
+nothing, but you Governor Seward ought to have asked that I be Post
+Master at New York."
+
+When the Republicans met at Chicago he 'paid' Mr. Seward off by
+checkmating his chances of the nomination, and placing Lincoln at the
+head of the ticket. Mr. Greeley had always been an uncompromising
+opponent of slavery, and once had all but asked for the impeachment of
+Buchanan, hence the South expected little sympathy from him; yet, this
+great editor dismays his friends while his enemies are dumbfounded when
+they read, "Let the South go," but no sooner do the 'erring sisters' act
+upon his suggestion than this political ranchman is out with his
+literary lasso vainly trying to keep them in. He next raises the
+war-whoop of "On to Richmond," and thereby aids in precipitating the
+terrible disaster of Bull Run. Time goes on--the Union cause looks
+gloomy enough--all seems lost; yet, when once more the nation needs his
+powerful support he rushes off to Canada unauthorized, to negotiate a
+treaty with Southern Envoys which, to say the least, would have been
+disgraceful to the Union Government. When the cause is won he flees to
+Washington to sign the bail-bond of the arch traitor, and is thus
+instrumental in his release from justice. Yet, for all this the
+_Tribune_ prospered.
+
+He was regarded by many of his readers as a kind of moral law-giver, and
+if, per chance, one person journeyed to New York and returned to state
+that their beau ideal had used undue profanity in his common
+conversation, the indiscrete individual was ostracised.
+
+If Mr. Greeley's previous career had surprised the country and
+disappointed some of his friends, it remained for the last political act
+of his life to completely paralyze the country at large, and plunge some
+of his most ardent supporters into the deepest gloom. This was when they
+beheld him the nominee of Republicans, 'who were anything to elect
+Greeley,' and endorsed by Free Traders and Democrats whom he had so
+bitterly denounced all his life. Had he been nominated by the straight
+Republican party it might have been considered as a somewhat extravagant
+reward for party service for this position could not have been regarded
+otherwise than consistent; but the position he now assumed was
+inconsistent, not to say ludicrous. The result was he carried only six
+States against the successful Grant.
+
+He was a Universalist in belief, but educated his daughters at a
+Catholic school. He refused to get his brother, who actually needed
+assistance, a position worth perhaps $1,000 a year; yet, he could lend
+Corneel. Vanderbilt about eight hundred thousand dollars without
+security. His early friend, Mr. Jones, once sent a friend to him bearing
+a note requesting Greeley's aid to a subordinate position in the
+custom-house. No sooner had Greeley glanced it over than he astonished
+the gentleman, who was aware of Mr. Greeley's early obligation to Mr.
+Jones, by the volley of oaths and vituperation which he heaped upon him
+because he did not go West instead of hanging around there seeking
+office. No wonder the gentleman, who was a reputable middle-aged man,
+fled from the presence of this famous expounder of 'Moral Ideas.'
+However, when all this has been said we cannot help but admit that a
+great and good man died on December 29th, 1872. Certain it is that
+Journalism lost one of its brightest and most successful stars.
+
+
+
+
+THURLOW WEED.
+
+
+Who indeed has not heard of Thurlow Weed, "The king maker," born at
+Cairo, Greene County, New York, November 15, 1797. His father was a
+teamster and farmer. The reader can get some insight into the seemingly
+mysterious power he held for so many years, when it was known that so
+great was his thirst for knowledge that he was glad to wrap bits of a
+rag carpet about his feet and thus shod walk through the snow two miles
+to borrow a history of the French Revolution, which he mastered at
+night, stretched before 'the sap bush fire.'
+
+The more one investigates the character and lives of those men whom we
+so often envy, the more we are forced to see that it was will-power
+rightly directed that overcame all obstacles. Certain it is to this that
+Thurlow Weed owes his everlasting fame as the 'American Warwick'; for
+knowledge is power. He first left the farm work as a cabin boy on a
+Hudson river steamboat bound for New York, but being born a journalist
+he soon drifted into a printing office where he became a good
+journeyman.
+
+When the second war with Great Britain broke out he enlisted, and served
+on the Northern frontier, where by faithfulness he became Quartermaster
+Sergeant. When the war was over he returned to the printing office,
+being at one time in the same establishment with the late James Harper.
+Finally he started a paper at Oxford, New York, in 1818. He afterward
+became connected with the _Onondaga Times_, which he finally changed to
+the _Republican_. For the next few years he is connected with several
+different papers until we find him in Rochester at the head of the
+_Anti-Masonic Enquirer_.
+
+About this time the body of a man who had drowned in Lake Ontario was
+found, and it was claimed that his name was Morgan; if so, he was a
+renegade mason. A question of identity was raised, but as his murder was
+boldly asserted to have been the work of Masonry, it caused a great
+excitement for the time being. This excitement divided the political
+parties into Mason and Anti-Mason factions. Anti-Masonry was the
+political fertilizer which produced the astonishing growth of the
+assiduous Weed, he being sent to the Assembly twice, mainly on that
+issue. While at Albany his ability as a party leader becoming so
+apparent he was decided upon as the proper person to assume the party
+leadership against the obnoxious 'Albany Regency,' the great Democratic
+power in New York State at the time. He accordingly moved to Albany and
+assumed the editorship of the _Albany Evening Journal_. Weed was one of
+the men who consolidated the Anti-Jackson, Anti-Mason and old Federal
+factions into the Whig party. The 'Regency' with which he had to deal
+consisted of such men as Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, Willian L.
+Marcy and others of equal ability. Such were the men with whom he was
+pitted, but they soon found him in every way worthy of their steel. No
+one, when speaking of this great political warrior ever thought or spoke
+of him as a millionaire. Seemingly no one cared how much he was worth;
+but what did worry them was,--what will be the outcome of this secret
+conclave which we now suspect to be in progress at the headquarters of
+the opposition of the 'Albany Regency.'
+
+He went to battle fearlessly, and his terse pen dealt stinging blows
+straight in the face of the opponent. Indeed, as an editor he has been
+rarely equaled. While Greeley would devote a column to an article, he
+would take the same subject and in a few words put the argument in such
+shape as to carry far more conviction. His two terms in the State
+Assembly wound up his career as a legislator, although he could have had
+any place within the gift of his party from 1830 to 1860. His ambition
+was not to hold office but to rule men, and it is well-known that his
+desires were accomplished. He was a great dictator, being largely
+instrumental as an independent advisor in the selection of Harrison,
+Taylor and Scott. His first trial of personal strength in this line was
+when he secured the nomination and election of his personal friend,
+William H. Seward, as the first Whig Governor of New York. Mr. Seward,
+who was an unobtrusive man, was one time riding with the driver on a
+stage when that dignitary asked the stranger his name and business, as
+was customary when people did not volunteer the information. The answer
+was, "Why, I'm William H. Seward, Governor of the State." This was too
+good for the driver, whose answer was a loud laugh, plainly implying
+that he considered that the gentleman had given a most cute but evasive
+answer. "Don't you believe me?" asked Seward. "Of course not," replied
+the driver. Mr. Seward, who was acquainted with the proprietor of the
+next hotel they came to, agreed to leave it to him. In time they arrived
+and the driver, calling out the landlord, immediately said, "This man
+says he is Governor of New York State and we have left the matter to
+you." "Yes," broke in Seward, "am I not Governor of this State?" The
+answer came quick and sharp; "No, but Thurlow Weed is." "There,"
+exclaimed the ignorant driver, who could not see the point at once; "I
+knew you weren't Governor of New York State."
+
+In 1864 Mr. Weed sold the _Journal_, but never entirely suspended
+literary work. He afterward assumed the editorship of the _New York
+Commercial Advertiser_, and often sent letters to the _Tribune_. In
+1882, shortly before his death, the country was set in a flutter by his
+publishing the whole details relating to the Morgan matter, which he had
+kept all this time claiming it would injure certain parties, but as the
+last had died, it was now made public. On November 23rd of the same year
+one more great journalist passed away. He left a large estate, but a
+larger host of friends.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE W. CHILDS.
+
+
+No one can read the life of George W. Childs without a feeling slowly
+coming over him that the possibilities of our country are indeed very
+great. Certain it is that when we see so many examples showing what has
+been done by poor boys from the farm, we are forced to exclaim that we
+live in a free country; despite what some say we reiterate, our country
+is free.
+
+George W. Childs, at the age of ten, became an errand boy in a
+book-store in Baltimore, and after a period of over a year in the Navy
+which he served later, he removed to Philadelphia and once more entered
+a book-store--his natural calling. After four years' apprenticeship,
+when less than twenty, with his savings he opened a small book-store on
+his own account.
+
+"Where there's a will there's a way," so believed young Childs. He
+determined to one day be proprietor of the _Philadelphia Public Ledger_.
+"Aim high that you may not strike low,"--how true that adage is. When
+you see a boy make up his mind to do something; if he makes his actions
+correspond with his words, you can rest assured that it will be done.
+Sickness may come; disappointments will follow, but all must be
+overcome.
+
+Jerome B. Rice determined to succeed in the seed business, but just as
+success seemed about to crown his efforts that terrible disease,
+rheumatism, came and deformed him. He lost the entire use of his lower
+limbs, but his brain was spared, and his determination was unshaken. An
+invalid chair was bought, a colored man wheels him every morning to his
+office door where loving hands gently lift him, chair and all, up the
+steps of the beautiful building now occupied and owned by Jerome B. Rice
+& Co. Nearly thirty years have passed and Jerome B. Rice has not taken a
+step, but during that time, despite all obstacles, the firm of Jerome B.
+Rice & Co. has become one of the leading seed-growing concerns of
+America. Young men with the same chance he had are apt to say, "It's no
+use." We answer, "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing
+impossible is to make it so."
+
+George W. Childs determined to own the _Public Ledger_. He determined to
+own the leading paper of the great city of Philadelphia, and he was a
+poor boy. Was this presumption? If it was he has proved its
+practicability. If he was building an air-castle he has since placed a
+firm foundation under it. He labored hard in this little store of his;
+he built his own fires; he did his own sweeping,--it was the same old
+story; he hired done nothing that he could himself do. He made some
+money--not very fast--but a good average profit, and he saved what he
+did earn. He mastered the publishing business, and he developed a marked
+business capacity in that line. A man usually fills the notch for which
+he is fitted: I was about to say--I will say that he fits himself to the
+notch which he does fill. Sometime we see men in subordinate positions
+who apparently are capable of the best, but a careful study reveals a
+screw loose somewhere; there is a weak point, and invariably that point
+is the one thing which stands between them and victory. "Neither do men
+light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, and it
+giveth light to all that are in the house." So said Christ eighteen
+hundred years ago; is it not so to-day? As young Childs had ability, and
+it was apparent, what matter it how old he was or where he came from?
+All the world asks is, "What can he do"?
+
+The publishing firm of R. E. Peterson & Co. sought his alliance, and the
+firm of Childs and Peterson became known far and near. Do our readers
+call this luck? He now became a successful publisher, and seemingly his
+cup was running over, so far as this world was concerned, but it will be
+remembered that years ago he determined to own the _Public Ledger_,
+provided he lived. He was alive and his purpose still remained. He was
+waiting and watching. The _Ledger_ was a penny paper--the war broke
+out--stock went up--the management was weakened by death and other
+complications, the _Public Ledger_ was losing nearly $500 every time it
+went to press. The paper, great as it was, was losing $3,000 a week--at
+the rate of $150,000 a year. Now was Mr. Child's chance. In vain did
+friends entreat; in vain did wise business men shake their heads; Mr.
+Childs felt that his time had come, and he bought the paper, paying for
+it nearly $150,000. The new proprietor changed things; the paper was
+made a two cent issue, and into the _Public Ledger_ he now threw his
+whole soul. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the
+flood leads on to fortune." It is even so; he had purchased the _Ledger_
+at the right time.
+
+Not one man in a hundred can successfully edit a newspaper; not one
+editor in twenty could edit the _Public Ledger_ with success. Yet, Mr.
+Childs is one man out of the hundreds--he is the _one_ editor out of
+that twenty. He determined to publish only the truth; all claim to do
+that, but Mr. Childs does it. The paper grew, and on the 20th of June,
+1867, the _Public Ledger_ took possession of its new building. This new
+building cost half a million of dollars, and is one of the finest in the
+city. At its formal opening many of the most distinguished men in the
+country were present.
+
+Mr. Childs has been largely instrumental in establishing a small city at
+Wayne Station. He owns a large tract of land which he has divided into
+building lots of about an acre each. Any one desiring a home can get one
+by paying one-third down, and he is also furnished plans from which to
+select his ideal of a home. The houses built from these plans cost from
+$2,000 to $8,000 each. Mr. Childs and his partner, Mr. Drexel, have
+expended about $2,000,000 exclusively for beautifying the city.
+
+Years ago Mr. Childs told a gentleman that he meant to prove that a man
+could be at once liberal and successful as a man of business, and the
+princely hospitality of this good man has demonstrated, beyond doubt or
+contradiction, its practicability. Dinners to newsboys and life
+insurance policies given to the wives of his employes; such acts make up
+the history of his life. The late Chief Justice of Pennsylvania once
+said in a speech: "Some men pursue military glory, and spend their time
+and energies in the subjugation of nations. Caesar and Napoleon may be
+named as types of this character. But the tears and blood which follow
+violence and wrong maculate the pages of history on which their glory is
+recorded. Others erect splendid palaces for kingly residences, and
+costly temples and edifices for the promotion of education and religion
+in accordance with their particular views. But views of education and
+religion change, buildings waste away, and whole cities, like
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, are buried in the earth. Others again win
+public regard by the construction of means of communication for the
+furtherance of commerce. The canals, railroads, and telegraph are
+glorious specimens of their useful exertion for the public good. But the
+marts of commerce change. Tyre and Sidon, and Venice are no longer
+commercial centres. The shores of the Pacific are even now starting in a
+race against the great commercial emporium of our continent. But Mr.
+Childs has planted himself in the human heart, and he will have his
+habitation there while man shall dwell upon earth. He has laid the
+foundation of his monument upon universal benevolence. Its
+superstructure is composed of good and noble deeds. Its spire is the
+love of God which ascends to Heaven." Such a monument is, indeed,
+
+    "A Pyramid so wide and high
+    That Cheops stand in envy by."
+
+Is not that glorious success? But if the name of George W. Childs was
+not a synonym for charity and philanthropy, the fact that he has
+demonstrated beyond doubt the possibility of making a newspaper not only
+pure and clean, but also proving that people will buy wholesome news, as
+well as trash, and thus refuting the opinion that the people are wholly
+responsible for the vile matter that is circulated, ought alone to
+commend him to the world as a great benefactor. Worldly reasoners and
+great financiers, wiseacres and successful editors prophesied its
+failure, but what mattered this to George W. Childs? When a boy he
+determined to one day own the _Public Ledger_; he accomplished that.
+When a man he determined to elevate the tone of a newspaper, and thus
+prove the fallacy of the opinion that "A newspaper must print all the
+news, no matter what, or else fail";--he has here also fulfilled his
+desires. Surely, "Where there's a will there's a way."
+
+
+
+
+JAMES GORDON BENNETT.
+
+
+When Horace Greeley was starting the _Tribune_ the _Herald_ was five or
+six years old, and its success assured. Mr. Greeley started his as an
+uncompromising party paper; Mr. Bennett presented the _Herald_ to the
+people as an independent paper, the first ever published that was simply
+an indicator of public opinion bound and gagged by no party.
+
+To Scotland shall we as a nation ever be indebted for one of the
+greatest journalists of the nineteenth century. When about fifteen years
+old he entered a Catholic school at Aberdeen expecting to enter the
+clergy, but after an academic life of two or three years he abandoned
+the idea. This sudden change was in no small degree influenced by an
+edition of "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography" which was published in
+Edinburgh about this time. He was greatly taken with the spirit of this
+volume which found sympathy in his thrifty Scotch nature. From the
+moment he finished this life of Franklin he determined to come to
+America, and after a short stay in Halifax, and Boston, his stay in each
+place being attended with great privation, we find him in the year 1822
+in the city of New York, and still later he is employed on the
+_Charleston Courier_, of Charleston, South Carolina. There his knowledge
+of Spanish was a benefit, enabling him to translate the Cuban exchanges,
+and to decipher the advertisements which were sent in that language.
+
+After a few months he returned to New York where he attempted to open a
+Commercial School. This scheme came to naught, however, and he then
+tried lecturing on political economy with but moderate success to say
+the least. He soon saw that these undertakings were not in his sphere,
+and once more he returned to journalism. He first connected himself with
+the _New York Courier_ and when that journal became merged into the
+_Enquirer_ he was chosen associate editor. After this the senior
+editor, J. Watson Webb, turned square around and began to support the
+United States Bank which he had so bitterly opposed and fought so
+vehemently. Young Bennett now withdrew and started a small paper, _The
+Globe_, but it was short-lived. He next went to Philadelphia and assumed
+the principal editorship of the _Pennsylvanian_. At that time all papers
+allied themselves to one party or the other.
+
+Mr. Bennett conceived the idea of an independent paper; one which would
+be bound to no party or ring. He accordingly returned to New York for
+this purpose. He was very short of funds, and this fact alone would have
+discouraged most young men; not so with this man. He hired a cellar; two
+barrels with a board across served as desk on which was an ink-stand and
+goose quill. The proprietor of these apartments was not only editor and
+manager, but reporter, cashier, book-keeper, salesman, messenger and
+office boy. One hour he was writing biting editorials or spicy
+paragraphs; the next rushing out to report a fire or some other
+catastrophe, working sixteen to twenty hours per day. He persuaded a
+young firm to print his paper, and he was thus tided over that
+difficulty. Most young men would never have undertaken such a task, but
+what would they have done had they, after embarking in it, been twice
+burned out and once robbed within the first fifteen months? Such was the
+experience of Bennett, but as expressed by himself, he raked the
+_Herald_ from the fire by almost superhuman efforts, and a few months
+later, when the great fire occurred in Wall street, he went to the scene
+himself and picked up all kinds of information about the firms burnt
+out, the daring deeds of the firemen, and anything sensational he did
+not fail to print. He also went to the unheard of expense of printing a
+map of the burnt district and a picture of the Produce Exchange on fire.
+This enterprise cost, but it gave the _Herald_ a boom over all
+competitors, which it well maintains. It was the first paper that
+published a daily money article and stock list, and as soon as possible
+Bennett set up a Ship News establishment consisting of a row-boat manned
+by three men to intercept all incoming vessels and ascertain their list
+of passengers and the particulars of the voyage.
+
+Mr. Calhoun's speech on the Mexican war, the first ever sent to any
+paper by telegraph, was published in the _Herald_. At one time when his
+paper wished to precede all rivals in publishing a speech delivered at
+Washington, for the purpose of holding the wire, Mr. Bennett ordered the
+telegraph operator to begin and transmit the whole Bible if necessary,
+but not to take any other message until the speech came. Such enterprise
+cost, but it paid; and so it has ever been. Seemingly regardless of
+expense, bureaus of information for the _Herald_ were established in
+every clime. 'Always ahead' seemed to be the motto of James Gordon
+Bennett, and surely enterprise was no small factor in the phenomenal
+success of the _Herald_. The tone, it has been said, was not always so
+edifying as that of its contemporaries, the _Post_ and _Commercial_,
+still every article was piercing as a Damascus blade. To buy one paper
+meant to become afterwards one of its customers. It was indeed
+astonishing what a variety of reading was contained in one of those
+penny sheets; every thing was fresh and piquant, so different from the
+old party papers. As originally intended, the _Herald_ has always been
+independent in politics, although inclined to be Democratic. It
+supported Fremont and the Republican party, and was one of the staunch
+war papers.
+
+Mr. Bennett has been described as being stern and disagreeable in his
+manners. In this we do not fully concur, and in view of the large number
+of employes who have grown old in his service, we cannot but feel
+justified in this belief. Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett, the
+two leading New York journalists, but how different. Mr. Greeley had a
+larger personal following than the _Tribune_; the _Herald_ had a larger
+friendship than did Bennett who was the power behind the throne.
+Journalism lost no lesser light when the great _Herald_ editor passed
+away June 1st, 1872, than it did six months later when Horace Greeley
+passed from darkness into light. As Mr. Bennett was a life-long
+Catholic, he received the last sacrament from the hands of the renowned
+Cardinal McClosky.
+
+
+
+
+PHINEAS T. BARNUM.
+
+
+We would not pass by so remarkable a character as that presented to us
+in the life of P. T. Barnum, a man born of poor parents at Bethel,
+Connecticut. Like many boys, he picked up pennies driving oxen for his
+father, but unlike many other boys he would invest these earnings in
+nick-nacks which he would sell to joyful picknickers on every holiday,
+thus his pennies increased to dollars. At an early age he was deprived
+of his father, and began work for himself at six dollars per month. He
+here saved his money, and afterwards opened a store which proved a
+successful business venture, especially after he added a lottery scheme.
+It is interesting to read of the many of our successful men who have
+drifted from one thing to another until they settled upon some
+life-work, then there was a hard struggle for victory, which was sure to
+come, provided they persevered.
+
+In 1835 Barnum heard of a negress in Philadelphia who was reputed to
+have been the nurse of George Washington, and who it was claimed was 162
+years old. Barnum immediately set out for Philadelphia, and succeeded in
+buying her for $1,000. This was more money than he already had; he,
+therefore, risked more than he owned, but by judicious advertising he
+was enabled to draw large houses, bringing the show up to paying $1,500
+per week. The next year the negress died, and a post mortem examination
+proved her to be possibly eighty years old, but Barnum had secured a
+good start. From this time on, for fifteen years, he was connected with
+traveling shows, and his museum proved a most profitable enterprise.
+
+In 1842 Mr. Barnum first heard of Mr. Charles Stratton, whom he
+presented to the world as General Tom Thumb--exhibiting him in both
+America and Europe.
+
+In 1849, after much correspondence, he secured the sweet singer, Jenny
+Lind, for one hundred nights, at one thousand dollars per night. His
+profits on these concerts were simply immense, and he retired from
+business.
+
+In 1857 it was heralded all over the land that Barnum had failed. It was
+so; unfortunate speculations had swamped him, and he returned to New
+York a bankrupt. Without a dollar he bought the Museum again, and in
+less than a year he succeeded in paying for it. His life henceforth has
+been full of its ups and downs; twice was he burned out, but as often he
+came forth in some new role--or rather an improvement on the old.
+
+General Tom Thumb was again taken to Europe. This venture, and his
+lecture on 'Money Making,' in England, succeeded beyond his most
+sanguine expectations. Every note was taken up, and he is to-day once
+more a millionaire. He has been for years the central figure in 'The
+Greatest Show on Earth,' the expense of which is from four to five
+thousand dollars a day. But not alone is he great as a showman; his
+lectures must have made him noted, and he is connected with different
+other enterprises.
+
+He is a very shrewd man, and is also honest. Think of it! at fifty a
+ruined man, owing thousands more than he possessed, yet resolutely
+resuming business life once more--fairly wringing success from adverse
+fortune, and paying his notes at the same time.
+
+When solicited for money with which to carry on his campaign for
+Congress, he answered, "God grant that I be defeated, sooner than one
+grain of gold be so basely used." Such principles are glorious, and upon
+their perpetuation depends the rise or fall of a Republican form of
+government. Mr. Barnum's latest sensation, in order to draw crowds, is
+the consolidation of his great show with that mammoth show formerly
+belonging to Adam Forepaugh. This caps the climax, the two "Greatest
+Shows on Earth" united.
+
+
+
+
+MATHEW VASSAR.
+
+
+Vassar College, five hundred feet long and five stories high, is a
+monument of which any man might be proud. The founder, Mathew Vassar,
+was born in England in 1792, and four years later landed in America,
+settling in Poughkeepsie, on a farm with his parents.
+
+In those days the English people thought that they couldn't live without
+a yearly supply of home-brewed ale; such a thing being unknown in the
+quiet community to which they had come. As there was no barley to be
+had, seed was imported from the mother-country and the family once more
+enjoyed their favorite beverage. When neighbors called they were, of
+course, invited to partake, and the fame of Vassar's ale steadily
+increased, until finally the father concluded to manufacture the ale to
+sell. Mathew, for some reason, disliked to go into the brewery to work,
+and the irate father bound him out to a neighboring tanner. However,
+when the time came for young Vassar to go, lo, he was nowhere to be
+found.
+
+He fled to Newburg, where he remained four years, learning to keep
+books, and saving his money. He then returned to his home and, having
+demonstrated that he could both earn and keep money, was duly installed
+in his father's establishment as book-keeper. All went well for some
+time, till at last a fire came, destroying all the property, ruining his
+father, and worst of all causing his brother's death. The father now
+returned to a farm, but Mathew determined to retrieve the business. He
+began business in an old shed. The supply was of necessity small, but it
+was an A 1. article, and its fame increased, making the ale of Vassar
+known far and near. From such a beginning the business developed into an
+immense establishment, with a profitable business, which he carried on
+for over thirty years, when he retired.
+
+In company with his wife he made an European tour, and on his return
+resolved to do something with his money for the betterment of society.
+On the 28th of February, 1861, twenty-eight gentlemen received from
+Mathew Vassar, a box containing $408,000, in trust, for the
+establishment of a college for the education of young ladies. The result
+of their efforts was Vassar Female College, afterwards changed to Vassar
+College. His entire donations for the establishment and maintenance of
+this institution of learning amounted to about $800,000. It was the
+first Female College ever established. His influence will be felt by the
+numerous generations which will follow him.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN JACOB ASTOR.
+
+
+Not far from the lovely Heidelberg on the Rhine, is the picturesque
+village of Walldorf, which is the birth place of John Jacob Astor, who
+was born in 1763. His father was a peasant, thus it is seen that he had
+not the advantages of family influence or assistance. He saved what
+little money he could earn, and at sixteen set out on foot for the sea
+coast, where he took passage in a vessel for London. He had a brother in
+that city who was, in a small way, a manufacturer of musical
+instruments. Here he remained until 1783, when he embarked for America,
+taking some flutes with him. On the voyage he made the acquaintance of a
+furrier. This individual he plied with numerous questions, until he was
+quite familiar with the business, and when he reached America he at once
+exchanged his flutes for furs, and hastening back to England succeeded
+in selling them at a fair profit over all expenses.
+
+Having disposed of his business in London, he engaged passage in a ship
+which did not return for some weeks. In the meantime he purchased a lot
+of goods which he thought would prove salable in America. He also
+improved the time in visiting the Governor of the then great East India
+Company. The Governor was from his native town in Germany, and Astor,
+making the most of this fact, secured from him a permit to trade at any
+port subject to the East India Company. When he arrived in New York once
+more he at once closed a bargain with a West India trader, that
+gentleman furnishing a ship and cargo, Astor the permit, which was very
+valuable, as it gained them access to Canton, China, which was closed to
+all foreigners save the vessels of the East India Company. The terms of
+this bargain was that each should participate equally in the profits of
+the voyage, and Astor's share was several barrels of milled dollars, the
+total profit being about $110,000.
+
+He after this bought ships of his own, and shipped his own merchandise
+to the East, bringing back cargoes to be sold in the new world. The
+Government at Washington approved of Astor's proposition to get
+possession of the fur business of the Interior, controlled at that time
+by British companies. He succeeded in raising a corporation with
+$1,000,000 capital, and within a few years Mr. Astor controlled the fur
+interests of the country. This was back in Jefferson's time when the
+city of New York was a small village. Astor, with that keen foresight
+which marked his life's history, had been buying land on Staten Island,
+and the marvelous growth of the city brought the price of his
+possessions up to fabulous amounts, and the latter part of his life his
+whole attention was occupied in taking care of his great blocks of real
+estate.
+
+While other merchants went to their desks at nine, Astor could always be
+seen there at prompt seven. He early in life, before leaving his old
+home on the Rhine, resolved to be honest, to be industrious, and to
+avoid gambling. Upon this solid moral basis he built the superstructure
+of his fame and secured his great wealth.
+
+The one great act of John Jacob Astor's life, which must forever keep
+the name of Astor before the people, is the establishment of the Astor
+Library by donating for that purpose $400,000, to which have been added
+large contributions by his son William B., to whom the elder Astor left
+about $20,000,000. The library contains about two hundred thousand
+volumes, the catalogue alone contains two thousand five hundred pages
+alphabetically arranged. The Astors are the principal real estate owners
+of America.
+
+
+
+
+POTTER PALMER.
+
+
+A hotel that has averaged five hundred and fifty daily arrivals for a
+dozen years. This naturally awakens interest; where is it? Who built it?
+How does it look? In answer, we speak of the Palmer House, of Chicago,
+the 'Palace Hotel of America,' built by Potter Palmer. The building is
+as nearly fire-proof as any building can be made, and is swarming with
+servants.
+
+You are accommodated with a room which satisfies your desires
+financially; and upon entering the dining-room you can choose between
+the American and European plans. This hotel is, indeed, first-class in
+every respect. It certainly enjoys the widest reputation as such of any
+on the continent, and is undoubtedly the finest hotel in America, save
+possibly the Palace Hotel, in San-Francisco, which is a rival in
+magnificence.
+
+Mr. Palmer was born near Albany, New York, where he worked summers among
+the farmers as a day-laborer, and attended the district school winters.
+This kind of life was maintained until he was nearly nineteen years of
+age when he entered a store at Durham, New York, as a clerk. Here he
+allowed nothing to escape his attention and, by industry, coupled with
+frugality, he was enabled to enter a business on his own account when
+twenty-one. Mr. Palmer, like all other young men who have risen from
+poverty to affluence, was constantly alive to the problems of the day;
+especially did the subject of this narrative watch the indications of
+progress in his native country.
+
+Being filled with the idea that Chicago was to be the city of America,
+he in 1852 moved 'West' to that city. Here he opened a dry-goods
+business which grew to mammoth proportions for those days. After
+fourteen years of successful trade he retired, investing heavily in real
+estate. When the great fire came much of his vast gains were swept away,
+but with that indomitable will and courage which has always
+characterized his efforts, he succeeded in forming a company which
+successfully brought to completion the magnificent hotel before
+mentioned. Probably no man has been more closely identified with the
+project of improving the streets of Chicago.
+
+When Palmer first entered the city he found it situated in a slough. It
+was generally supposed that the ground upon which the city was built was
+a natural swamp, and when Palmer, among others, advocated the idea of
+raising the streets they were ridiculed. But subsequent tests proved
+that beneath the surface there was a solid rock bottom, therefore it was
+impossible for the water to leach through. When this was an established
+fact, and therefore the grumblers were deprived of this excuse, the cry
+was raised that the city could not afford it. Against all obstacles the
+measure was carried, however, and State Street was widened, making it
+one of the grandest and most 'stately' streets among any that can be
+found in any city on the entire globe. Indeed, it is difficult to
+estimate the possible benefit Chicago may have derived, directly or
+indirectly, through the influence of Potter Palmer.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES HARPER.
+
+
+In a treatise on the Harpers, their life and character, the history of
+James is the history of the firm. This firm consisted of James, John,
+Joseph, Wesley and Fletcher; James, as the eldest, laying the foundation
+of that powerful concern, Harper Brothers, which is the largest and
+wealthiest publishing house in America.
+
+James Harper was born April 11, 1795. Like many other poor boys who have
+become wealthy he was the son of a farmer. He early determined to become
+a printer and, in 1810, was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul & Thomas of the
+city of New York. He left home to assume this position, the prayers of
+his parents following him. The last words of his mother bade him
+remember that there was good blood in him. The printer boy in those days
+was made a sort of lackey to be ordered about by all hands. Among other
+duties he had to clean the rollers when they became clogged with ink.
+The ink would get on his hands and apron, and thence it would reach his
+face--thus the printer boy with his blackened face earned the sobriquet
+of 'printer's devil.' James Harper became the 'devil' in this office.
+There is little doubt but that he often felt discouraged and disposed to
+give up, but he regarded this position as only a stepping stone to
+something higher and pleasanter. It was soon observed that such was the
+case; that James Harper fully expected to one day rise to be himself
+proprietor; even the street Arabs recognizing that he aspired to higher
+things. One day as he was passing along the street an audacious newsboy
+came up to him and gave him a push, while another sneeringly asked him
+for his card. Seizing the latter by the shoulder he fairly kicked the
+astonished ruffian half across the square. "There," said he, "is my
+card, keep it and when you want work come to me, present that card, and
+I will give you work." This ended all further molestation from this
+source.
+
+His brother John came to New York in the course of a little more than a
+year and entered another office, arranging his apprenticeship so that it
+might end about the same time as did that of his brother James. In time
+James became one of the leading pressmen in the city, and John was one
+of the best compositors and proof readers in the country. All through
+their long apprenticeship they had worked evenings; the surplus thus
+acquired and not one cent of their day earnings ever went for drink, as
+was so common in those days. To be temperate in Harper's day required
+far more exertion than it would at present, as nearly everyone drank
+then. So while others spent their evenings in saloons drinking, playing
+pool and billiards, and 'having fun,' these young Harpers were either
+hard at work putting in extra time, or at home, thus if they did not
+earn more they saved what they had already earned.
+
+When their time was out they each had a few hundred dollars, and they
+began business for themselves under the firm-style of J. & J. Harper.
+They felt their way, at first publishing books only for others. They
+were industrious, no hand in their employ working harder than the
+proprietors. Not only were they workers, but they were enterprising.
+When it was found that the stereotyping consumed much of their profit,
+they resolved to learn that art and add it to their business. This was
+no small undertaking; those already in the business were not anxious to
+set up a rival, as they felt these young men sure to become, but after
+much trial and vexation the Harpers learned the art, and were therefore
+better able to carry on their rapidly increasing business. When they had
+fully become established they ventured out upon a publication of their
+own. They put out but five hundred for the first edition, taking orders
+in advance from the booksellers about town. The two other brothers were
+apprenticed to the firm of J. & J. Harper and, as soon as their time was
+out, were taken into the firm.
+
+In 1825 the firm-style was changed to Harper & Brothers. One of their
+business maxims was, "Mutual confidence, industry and application to
+business." This made the four one man. They ranked as equals in all
+things, and the history of James Harper is the history of Harper &
+Brothers. James being the eldest was once asked, "Which is Harper and
+which the brothers?" He answered, "Either is Harper, the others are the
+brothers." This was precisely the relation they bore toward each other.
+In 1853 a workman threw a lighted paper into a tank of benzine which he
+mistook for water, and property valued at $1,000,000 was destroyed; as
+their insurance amounted to only about $250,000 their loss was great.
+This was a terrible blow, but the next day they hired temporary
+quarters, and the debris was hardly cleared away ere they had bought the
+ground on which to erect the splendid building they have since occupied.
+It is a most imposing structure, and is probably the most commodious,
+and finest building in which to carry on a general book business, in all
+its branches, in the world; every operation required to produce and
+publish a book being carried on under one roof. The building is
+absolutely fire-proof, and is seven stories high. Underneath are long
+vaults in which their plates are stored.
+
+In 1844 James was elected Mayor of the great city of New York. Mr.
+Harper was a man of unusual ability, this was recognized by his friends
+and towns people, but he was at the head of the largest publishing
+business in the country, and was loth to leave it, therefore he refused
+to be a candidate for Governor. He was always full of mirth and running
+over with good humor, but he was business, morning, noon and night. He
+remained actively engaged in business until he was nearly seventy-five
+years of age, in fact he was still in business and enjoying good health
+when he met an untimely death, caused by his horses running away in
+Central Park, throwing him to the ground and injuring him so badly that
+he died within forty-eight hours.
+
+He was a devout Methodist, and a class-leader, but used some of the
+Episcopal forms. He was a worthy example for our youth to imitate in
+business or religious matters.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY DISSTON.
+
+
+In Tewksbury, England, May 24th, 1819, was born a little boy who was
+destined to become one of the leading manufacturers of the nineteenth
+century. At fourteen he came to America with his father, who died three
+days after their arrival here. A poor, homeless orphan, in a strange
+land--ah! it takes courage to rise from such a beginning. There is
+little 'luck' in the life of such boys who become wealthy. The poet
+says:
+
+    "The fading flowers of pleasures
+      Spring spontaneous from the soil,
+    But the real harvest's treasure
+      Yields alone to patient toil."
+
+Whether these lines ever caught the eye of Henry Disston or no, we are
+not able to say; certain it is, however, that he concurred in that
+belief, for so hard did he work, and so closely did he study the
+business, that he was made foreman when he was but eighteen.
+
+When his seven long years of apprenticeship was up he arranged with his
+employer to take his wages in tools. With scarcely any money, he wheeled
+a barrow load of coal to his cellar where he began to make saws. Saws of
+American manufacture, were at that time held in poor esteem, and he had
+a great public prejudice to overcome. But Henry Disston determined to
+show people that he could compete with foreign goods, and to do this he
+sometimes sold goods at an advance of only one per cent. He moved to a
+small room twenty feet square, at the corner of Front and Laurel
+streets; this was in 1846. In 1849 he was burned out, and before he
+rebuilt he obtained control of additional land adjoining that which he
+had occupied, and here built a new factory. Now he began to reap the
+reward of his early toil and study. He was enterprising, like all
+successful men, and his inventive genius soon enabled him to get up new
+designs for teeth to do different kinds of work. He never allowed a poor
+tool, or an imperfect one, to be shipped from his factory. Consequently
+a market once gained was easily kept. His enterprise induced him to add
+a file works to his already large business; in fact, the Keystone Saw
+Works made a splendid exhibit at the Centennial, showing all kinds of
+tools made from steel. His works cover hundreds of acres of land, and
+employ over fifteen hundred hands, while the business extends all over
+the world.
+
+In March, 1878, this great manufacturer died in Philadelphia. He was a
+very common man--great wealth did not spoil him, and he could perform
+with his own hands any part of the work in his immense establishment.
+This ability to work thorough mastery of the business, which had taken
+years of patient thought to develop, brought about his splendid success.
+
+
+
+
+PETER COOPER
+
+
+Who, indeed, is there who has not heard of Peter Cooper? He was born in
+the city of New York in 1791. His father was a man who possessed some
+ability, but was so inconstant that the poor boy received only about six
+months' schooling, and he received that before he was eight years old.
+
+Reader, think of it; can you make yourself believe that his great riches
+came through 'good luck'? we will see: His father, being a hatter,
+little Peter was early employed pulling the hair off the rabbit skins to
+obtain material with which to make the hats. In the course of time his
+father moved to Peekskill, and at seventeen Peter resolved to strike
+out into the world for himself. He returned to his native city and
+apprenticed himself to the firm of Burtis & Woodward. Here he remained
+four years where he acquired a thorough mastery of the coach-making
+trade. In addition to his board he received during his apprenticeship
+the sum of twenty-five dollars per year with which to clothe himself.
+Although he had spent four long years learning the trade of coach-making
+he, for some reason, determined not to make that his calling for life.
+Accordingly he went to Hempstead, Long Island, and there he met a party
+who was manufacturing a patent shears for shearing cloth. To this man he
+engaged himself at $1.50 per day, where he remained until the business
+became unremunerative, a period of three years. He next turned his
+attention to the business of making and selling cabinet furniture; at
+the end of a year he sold out this business, and with his family
+returned to New York city.
+
+He now entered the grocery business and the next year, seeing his
+opportunity, leased for a period of nineteen years a piece of land
+containing a few buildings. He now moved his grocery business into one
+of these buildings, subletting the others at a profit. His eyes were
+kept open, and he never let an opportunity slip by to turn an honest
+penny. There was a glue factory situated not far from his present
+location. True, it had never paid, and that seemed to be reason enough
+for all others, but Cooper made a study of the glue business. He
+satisfied himself that he could make it pay; he thought he could see
+where the trouble was with the present proprietor, and he bought it out,
+paying two thousand dollars, cash down, for it. By a progressive study
+of this new business he soon produced a better article than was made by
+others, and so materially reduced the price as to drive out foreign
+competition from the American markets. Of course, he made money, and
+when he saw that we paid Russia four dollars per pound for isinglass, he
+studied up on the manufacture of the same, and added that article to his
+business, and soon was enabled to sell it at less than ONE DOLLAR A
+POUND. It is needless to say that he succeeded in completely
+monopolizing the isinglass industry for a long time, and his profit on
+that one article would have made him a very rich man.
+
+Mr. Cooper was an observing man; he saw and realized that our country
+was rich in mineral resources; especially was his attention drawn toward
+the iron deposits in Pennsylvania and neighboring States. He felt that
+there was big money in that business for the man who early entered the
+field; he felt that there would be money in it for Peter Cooper. These
+feelings made him an easy victim to two sharpers who one morning entered
+his premises and succeeded in getting him to invest $150,000 in a large
+tract of land, in Maryland, of some three thousand acres. He was told
+that this land was on a 'boom,' as the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, it
+was rumored, would soon be completed. The steep grades, however, and
+sharp curves, made it impossible for engines then known to make the road
+in safety. Indeed, it seemed that his land speculation was destined to
+prove a 'White Elephant' on his hands, and, with nine out of ten men it
+would have so proved, as they would have given up right here. Mr. Cooper
+set about this problem resolved to solve it. He soon saw that the
+success of the Baltimore and Ohio was the success of his speculation.
+The only thing needed to bring this success was an engine that could
+ascend the grades and turn the curves in safety.
+
+He set to work patiently, and succeeded in inventing an engine that
+would do what was required of it, he, himself acting as engineer on its
+trial trip. This and other favorable influences which were brought about
+through the success of the railroad, 'boomed' his land in dead earnest
+this time. He next established an iron furnace on the site of his land
+and burned the wood for charcoal. The land went on up, and when it
+reached two hundred and thirty dollars per acre he sold out at an
+immense profit. He still continued in the iron business, and as he was
+always studying his business, he was the first man to roll out iron
+beams for fire-proof buildings. His iron industries spread all over
+Pennsylvania, and the business is to-day carried on by his successors.
+As is well-known, he was one of the warm supporters of Cyrus W. Field
+from first to last, extending his aid and sympathy. When the Bank of
+Newfoundland refused to honor the Cable Company's paper Peter Cooper
+advanced the much needed funds. While all this business was on his mind
+his glue and isinglass industry was not in the least neglected. He had
+removed the works to Long Island, where it assumed mammoth proportions.
+The profits of this giant combination of business poured the money into
+his pockets in large streams.
+
+One feature of the great success of Peter Cooper was he always paid
+cash. But the great life-work of Peter Cooper is embellished with one
+gem that is perpetually bright. We speak of Cooper Union. In 1854 the
+ground was cleared, the plans made and the work begun. This institution
+cost Cooper about eight hundred thousand dollars. It is deeded as a
+trust, with all its rents and profits, to the instruction and profit of
+the poor working people of New York city. Mr. Cooper himself thus
+describes his motives: "The great object that I desire to accomplish by
+the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific
+knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume
+of nature that the youth may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its
+blessings and learn to love the Author from whom cometh every good and
+perfect gift." Could any sentiment be more beautiful? Could any motive
+be more worthy of imitation than this?
+
+He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall, but toward the latter
+part of his life he became a leader of the Greenback party, being a
+candidate for President on that ticket. He had good habits and was
+always occupied with business. Two children are living, Edward, and a
+daughter who married Mr. A. S. Hewitt. The son and son-in-law have each
+been mayor of their city. There was great mourning in New York city on
+April 4th, 1883, when it was learned that Peter Cooper was dead. But man
+liveth not to himself, his memory and influence will be felt by the
+countless generations which will follow after his death. Certain it is
+those who are benefited by the aid of "Cooper Union" will not forget
+their benefactor.
+
+     _"There is a wide difference between men, but truly it lies less in
+     some special gift or opportunity vouchsafed to one and withheld
+     from another,--less in that than in the differing degree in which
+     these common elements of human power are owned and used. Not how
+     much talent have I, but how much will to use the talent that I
+     have, is the main question. Not how much do I know, but how much do
+     I do with what I know?"_
+
+[Illustration: SUCCESSFUL BANKERS AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS.]
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE LAW.
+
+
+On October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy;
+that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on
+his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a certain
+farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of
+struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go
+and do likewise. His education was meager, but he had mastered Daboll's
+Arithmetic.
+
+Having decided that he could not follow the occupation of his father, he
+set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to
+success. By exercising great frugality in his already simple mode of
+living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of eighteen he
+set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty-six miles distant. Putting up
+at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search
+of employment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next
+obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and 'picking up points,'
+soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day.
+
+But George Law did not mean to always be a day-laborer, he observed
+everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to
+a better understanding of his business. Seven long years of
+day-laboring, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His
+first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in various parts of
+Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell
+correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so
+carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he
+cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Croton
+Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High
+Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of competitors, and
+was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts
+alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest.
+
+He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested
+in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten
+Island Ferry, ran it five years, and sold out. He was also much
+interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profitable,
+and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,000,000. He was a
+giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably
+with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting
+and, of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he
+could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant
+his living on Fifth Avenue. He carried the hod until he found better
+work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no
+matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to
+return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his
+father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him.
+
+
+
+
+DARIUS O. MILLS.
+
+
+In Westchester county, New York, was born one bright September day, in
+1825, Darius O. Mills. True, it is, that his parents were somewhat
+well-to-do people, but Darius O. Mills would have become a wealthy man
+had he been born in poverty.
+
+If a man determines to succeed and has a perceptive mind to see
+opportunities, if he relies on no one but himself, and follows this up
+by hard, persistent work, he will succeed. If he does not he is lacking
+in some other vital point, but we have never yet read the life of any
+man who possessed these qualities but that he was a success. What one
+has done another can do under the same conditions and circumstances. For
+some time he was casting about to find his calling, and finally
+determined to become a banker. In this sphere he has proven himself a
+phenomenon. His talent for money-making was early apparent, and he was
+appointed cashier of a bank in Buffalo when only twenty-one. Now it must
+not be imagined that Darius O. Mills was picked up indiscriminately and
+placed in so responsible a position. Things do not come by chance. It is
+evident the case under consideration did not happen through 'good luck.'
+He was a young man of unusual ability, of which he has always made the
+most. The bank flourished and at twenty-three he resigned and, taking
+what money he had, he was soon on his way to California. He did not go
+there to dig gold. Darius O. Mills knew that gold was the object of
+nearly every one who went; he also knew that the people must live; he
+perceived the chance to make a fortune as a merchant. Like any man who
+will succeed, he acted at once. In 1849 he settled in San Francisco,
+opening trade with the miners.
+
+In the course of a few years he became immensely rich through very
+successful trade and, as he was about to retire from active business,
+the Bank of California was projected. This he materially aided into
+existence, and as he was recognized as one of the ablest financiers in
+the city, he was chosen its first President. So well did he manage its
+affairs that it soon became the leading banking institution in the
+country, wielding an immense power in the financial world. He remained
+at its head for nine years when his private fortune had assumed such
+mammoth proportions that it demanded his immediate attention, he
+therefore resigned in 1873.
+
+In 1875 his successor, William G. Ralston, was asked to resign and the
+bank suspended. Mr. Ralston was a splendid man, but had been somewhat
+unwise in placing the bank's money, and thus the failure was brought
+about. At a meeting of the directors it was decided to ask for the
+resignation of the President. Mr. Mills was the person selected to
+convey the intelligence of the result of the meeting to Mr. Ralston and
+this he did. Mr. Mills, much against his personal desire, once more
+assumed the presidency of the bank, and after three years he once more
+resigned to attend to his private affairs; leaving the bank in a
+flourishing condition. Possibly no man in America is better capable of
+handling large sums of money, to bring not only large returns, but to
+handle the money safely.
+
+In 1880 he turned his attention toward the East, moving his family to
+Fifth Avenue, New York city. His large business block, the Mills
+Building, ten stories high, fitted up for offices containing three
+hundred in all, is a magnificent structure. His wealth is very great,
+being estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. He has
+established on the Pacific slope, at a cost of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, a seminary for young ladies.
+
+He has also presented a beautiful piece of statuary to the State of
+California. It is a magnificent gift, representing Columbus at the court
+of Isabella. He has given numerous costly presents to institutions and
+relatives. Among the shrewd far-sighted men of the country few are more
+distinguished than is Darius Ogdon Mills.
+
+
+
+
+STEPHEN GIRARD.
+
+
+Stephen Girard was born in Bordeaux, France, May 24th, 1750. He lived in
+an age when avenues of business were utilized by the rich. A poor boy
+had little chance of being other than a poor man. Not only was the
+subject of this sketch born to poverty, but he also inherited a
+deformity which made him the butt of ridicule among his vulgar
+companions. His childhood was made up of neglect which developed a cold,
+distant nature. He is generally described as a loveless old man, but his
+biographers seem to forget the influences that surrounded his childhood.
+Such were the opportunities enjoyed by Girard; such the chance offered
+to him, but he held that a man's best capital was "industry," and this
+seemed to have been his main idea to the last; as he willed but little
+property to his relatives, and but little to any one individual.
+
+He sailed as cabin boy at the age of twelve, and by following a line of
+fidelity, industry and temperance, gained the esteem and confidence of
+the captain who gradually learned to call him "My Stephen," and at his
+death placed him in command of a small vessel. He became a resident of
+Philadelphia, and owned a farm a short distance out of the city. When he
+visited this farm he rode in an old gig drawn by a scrawny horse; when
+he arrived he fell to work like any common hand, and labored as though
+his very subsistence depended on it. This is an illustration showing the
+secret of his success in life. He was familiar with every detail, in
+every department of his business; no matter what part of his business he
+went to oversee he was no novice.
+
+With Stephen Girard nothing came by chance. He was a self-taught man,
+having but little education so far as books go; but in the great school
+of actual business he received a diploma, and to this was afterwards
+added several complimentary degrees earned after his graduation. He
+never ceased to be a progressive man. A large range of stores were for
+sale in the city of Philadelphia at a great sacrifice; these Girard
+would have been glad to buy but he lacked sufficient funds; seeing it
+beyond his means to buy safely, he leased them for a term of years and
+then sublet them at an immense profit.
+
+How few young men have the necessary enterprise to gain for themselves
+success. Girard had both enterprise and energy; it is not at all
+surprising that he succeeded. And this was not all; of whatever he
+undertook he had thoroughly mastered the details, hence was prepared for
+success and made money; that money he saved. Ah! that is three-fourths
+of the secret. Most young men earn enough but foolishly throw it away on
+unnecessaries.
+
+If Girard owed a man a cent he could rest assured that he would get it;
+if a man owed him there was much trouble in the way for that man if he
+attempted to evade the payment. He was just to all men and just to
+himself and family. There is another feature in the history of Girard
+that is worthy of imitation; that is he kept abreast, yea, ahead of the
+times,--he made a study of the various problems of his day.
+
+He saw that the United States Bank was daily growing less popular, and
+he saw that it must go down in the near future. He had prospered in his
+shipping business, and seeing here a grand opportunity he began to study
+up on banking preparatory to taking the bank. Reader, think of this kind
+of enterprise. His friends might think such a thing visionary; the best
+financier might pass the opportunity by, but this man knew that the
+United States Bank had a vast patronage, and he also knew that the man
+who stepped into its business would have every reason to expect success.
+He at once set about to buy a controlling interest in the stock. When
+the bank was discontinued it was found that he had not only secured a
+controlling interest in the stock, but had gained possession of the bank
+building itself. While his friends were predicting his ruin he had
+bought $1,200,000 worth of stock and, by so doing, had stepped into the
+largest banking business of the Republic.
+
+Does one of my readers for one moment allow himself to believe that
+Stephen Girard was a lucky man? Was it 'good luck' that placed Girard at
+one move at the head of American financiers? As is well known a great
+panic followed Jackson's administration, and, of a whole nation, Stephen
+Girard seems to have been the only prosperous man. His capital stock
+soon became $4,000,000. In this capacity he was enabled to aid his
+Government much, in fact to save it from ruin in the terrible crash of
+1837.
+
+Stephen Girard was bent upon getting rich and yet, while he is generally
+regarded as a cold money-getter, still he had a heart, a tender heart,
+locked up within that cold exterior. While the terrible plague, yellow
+fever, raged in Philadelphia with a violence never before known in
+American history, and while many others fled the city, Stephen Girard
+remained and nursed the dying,--performing with his own hands the most
+loathesome duties, and giving most liberally of his wealth toward the
+fund for the suppression of the disease.
+
+A young man, who was a protege of Girard, was one day called to the
+private office of that gentleman, when the following dialogue took
+place: "Well, you are now twenty-one, and should begin to think of a
+life-work." The young man who thought perhaps Girard was going to set
+him up in some business, said, "What would you do if in my place, Mr.
+Girard?" Imagine his astonishment when Mr. Girard replied, "I should
+learn some trade." The young man, who was built of the right material,
+said, "Very well, I will learn the cooper's trade." In the course of a
+few years he received a letter from Mr. Girard ordering the best barrel
+that he could make with his own hands. When done it was delivered. The
+young man was thunderstruck when, after a thorough inspection by Girard,
+he received a check for $20,000; the reader can draw the moral.
+
+Time fled, the 26th of December, 1831, came, and with it the death of
+this man. At his death he possessed about $9,000,000, not a large
+fortune compared with those of the rich men of our day, but a colossal
+sum for his day. For all practical purposes it is just as great and
+useful as one hundred millions.
+
+When his will was read it was found that he had left to the Pennsylvania
+institute for deaf and dumb, $20,000; to the Orphan Asylum of
+Philadelphia, $10,000; for fuel for the poor of Philadelphia, $10,000;
+to the Philadelphia Public Schools, $10,000; to the Society for the
+Relief of the Distressed Masters of Ships, $10,000; to the Masonic Loan,
+$20,000; to the city of Philadelphia, $500,000; and to the State of
+Pennsylvania, $300,000. There were other bequests, the largest of which
+was $2,000,000, with which to found a college for orphan boys who were
+to be taken between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. He left minute
+directions pertaining to the construction and other details, showing
+even at this time that carefulness, which characterized his life's
+history. The main building is said to be the finest specimen of Grecian
+architecture in the world,--it surely is the finest in America.
+"Contemplating the humility of his origin, and contrasting therewith the
+variety and extent of his works and wealth, the mind is filled with
+admiration of the man."
+
+
+
+
+MOSES TAYLOR.
+
+
+What a pleasure it is to read the lives of such men as Moses Taylor. He
+began life as a clerk and died worth $50,000,000; but it is not alone
+for his wealth that we take such an interest in Moses Taylor, but the
+good he did with it, and the example he set moneyed men.
+
+Born in New York, January 11th, 1808, he served a clerkship of ten long
+years, when he started business on his own account. The cholera raged
+that year in that city; consequently all business suffered, many fled
+from their homes but young Taylor stood by his new enterprise, and even
+the first year cleared some money. Three years later he was burned out,
+but while the smouldering brands lay at his feet he arranged to erect a
+new building to stand on the same spot, and the next day opened a store
+in his dwelling house. Of course such enterprise would win in the end;
+when he was called to the presidency of the city bank no one seemed
+surprised for when a man has ability it is not necessary for him to tell
+it--he becomes a marked personage. The success that attended his efforts
+in this new capacity is shown from the following:
+
+In the great panic of 1857 a meeting of the various bank presidents was
+called. When asked what percentage of specie had been drawn during the
+day some replied fifty per cent., some even as high as seventy five per
+cent. but Moses Taylor replied, "We had in the bank this morning,
+$400,000; this evening, $470,000." While other banks were badly 'run,'
+the confidence in the City Bank under his management was such that
+evidently people had drawn from other banks and deposited in the City
+Bank. He was Treasurer of the Transatlantic Cable, being one of its most
+ardent supporters from 1854 until long after it had became established.
+
+He was a most conspicuous 'War Democrat,' taking an early stand as to
+the duty of all bankers. Probably no one man, save possibly Jay Cook,
+did more to sustain the credit of the North in those trying times than
+did Moses Taylor. He became interested in the Delaware, Lackawanna &
+Western railway, and the mines in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In
+1873 he became President of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co. He also
+became largely interested in the Manhattan Gas Co., out of which alone
+he made a respectable fortune. When he died he left a very large sum of
+money for the purpose of building a hospital at Scranton. The need of
+this hospital was very urgent, as accidents were continually happening
+to the miners in their dangerous work. The building is not only a
+splendid edifice but it fills a long-felt want.
+
+Such a man was Moses Taylor who died May 23rd, 1882. Few such men have
+we, would that there were more. Moses Taylor was a practical man, he
+cared more for business than for any amusement. Art was of far less
+account with him than were the suffering miners who had no place to
+stretch their bleeding forms until he came to their aid.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM C. RALSTON.
+
+
+William C. Ralston, a synonym for goodness, was born at Wellsville,
+Ohio, January 15th, 1820. He drifted to California, being one of the
+first to pass through the Golden Gate. Here he remained for twenty-five
+years, becoming the most noted man in the State, having prospered
+wonderfully.
+
+It has been truly said of him that he did more than any other one man to
+secure a good municipal government for San Francisco. Aiding with his
+money weak industries, he did much to elevate the tone of a class of
+people consisting of almost every nationality--the miners. The
+struggling young man had nothing but sympathy extended him from this
+great philanthropist; indeed, his great desire seemed to be, what can I
+do for my less fortunate fellow-man. He was elected President of the
+Bank of California, to succeed Mr. Mills. This bank had a credit all
+over the globe. It was the greatest financial power in the Republic.
+Such was its standing in the financial world when Mr. Mills delivered
+the bank over to Mr. Ralston. Mr. Ralston was a great and good man, but
+his desire to benefit and aid others led him to place out the bank's
+money too freely; hence, when Mr. Flood made his sudden and unlooked for
+call for over $5,000,000, the amount of his deposit, it was useless for
+the bank to try to raise it at once, as it could not be done,
+notwithstanding the bank had ample resources, if they had only been
+available. Mr. Flood, it seemed to us, need not have pressed his claim
+when he knew that the bank could pay him soon. It is claimed by some
+that he chose this method to cripple the Bank of California to the
+advantage of his Nevada Bank. Be this as it may, Mr. Ralston unwisely
+allowed his tender heart to be touched too deeply, and thus placed the
+bank in a weak position to meet such a crisis. A meeting of the
+directors was immediately called, and it was decided to ask the
+President for his resignation which, together with his household
+effects, he promptly tendered. This was a terrible blow to him, and it
+may be the officials were somewhat hasty. On the 27th of August he went
+down to the beach, put on his bathing suit, drank something from a
+bottle (it is alleged), dived into the waves, was carried far out and
+was never again seen alive.
+
+As the people gazed on his lifeless body they began to realize what a
+loss they had sustained. Threats of vengeance were heard on every hand,
+which made it seem best for the founders of the rival Nevada Bank to
+abstain from being seen in their usual haunts. A public meeting was
+called, and long before the appointed time to begin the business of the
+meeting the public hall where it was held was packed, and thousands were
+unable to get in. One orator addressed those in the hall while the dense
+mass outside, who were unable to get in, were divided and addressed by
+two speakers. The several charges against him were in turn taken up, and
+either proven false or shown to be justified by the excited populace.
+The following resolution expressive of the irreparable loss the city had
+sustained, was presented.
+
+_Resolved_, "That in reviewing the life of the deceased. William C.
+Ralston, we recognize one of the first citizens of San Francisco, the
+master spirit of her industries, the most bounteous giver to her
+charities, the founder of her financial credit, and the warm supporter
+of every public and private effort to augment her prosperity and
+welfare. That to his sagacity, activity, and enterprise, San Francisco
+owes much of her present material prosperity, and in his death has
+sustained an irreparable loss. That in his business conceptions he was a
+giant, in social life an unswerving friend, and in all the attributes of
+his character he was a man worthy of love and trust." When "All those in
+favor of this say aye," was called, the answer came like the sound of
+heavy artillery, and not a solitary 'No' was heard in that vast crowd.
+
+Rev. T. K. Noble said, "The aim of his life was not to pull down but to
+build up. What enterprise can you mention looking to the betterment of
+material interests in which he did not have part? In the building of
+railroads, in the establishment of lines of steamships to Australia, to
+China, to Japan; in the manufacture of silk; in the Pacific Woolen
+Mills, the Bay Sugar Refinery, the West Coast Furniture Manufactory; and
+in those superb buildings, the Grand and Palace hotels; and in many
+other enterprises I have not time to mention. Into each and all of these
+he put his money and his brains." This was expressive of much, and it
+very clearly represented the general impression of the people throughout
+his State. He gave not only his money, but his sympathy.
+
+People of the East who know of him principally as a man of great wealth
+cannot conceive an idea of such a man,--indeed they have none such among
+them. He was the moral phenomenon of modern times. The people of his
+State all love him, and there are those to-day who are struggling in
+various enterprises who can look to no one now for help, who like to
+tell of the time 'when they could have gone to 'Frisco and seen Ralston
+about it.' What a tribute is this; when we think of a man who regarded
+money only as a means to do good, and who seemed a special Providence to
+all in need. We look upon this picture and we see him happy only in
+giving; but we turn and our hearts bleed in sympathy when we behold him
+torn from his position, the victim of avariciousness and envy, which to
+all appearance is the immediate cause of his untimely death. But there
+is another thought here; he should have been very cautious in placing
+money where it could not be brought into immediate use in such an
+emergency.
+
+Great was the feeling at his burial. Three regiments, cavalry,
+artillery, and the National Guard, escorted his remains to their last
+resting place. After several years Mrs. Ralston received back over
+$100,000, and is therefore comfortable. We shall forever mourn the death
+of such men, and ever regard and cherish their memory as among the
+dearest in American history.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE PEABODY.
+
+
+A long time ago a little boy who was poorly dressed, but had an honest
+face, was passing a country tavern in Vermont; night was fast
+approaching, and he looked tired and hungry; seeing which, the landlord,
+who had a kind heart, generously offered him supper and a nights'
+lodging free. This he refused to accept, but said, "If you please, I
+will cut wood enough to pay my way." This was accepted by the landlord,
+and thus the affair passed. Fifty years later he passed the same tavern
+as George Peabody, the great London banker.
+
+The above self-reliant nature was illustrative of the man. It is always
+interesting to learn how great fortunes were made. Nothing is so
+fascinating as success, and the momentous question relative to every
+great man is: "How did he begin?" George Peabody began life in Danvers,
+Massachusetts, February 18th, 1795. He was born of humble parents and
+the public schools of his native town furnished him his education. At
+the age of eleven he became a clerk in a grocery store where he remained
+four years, when he went to Newburyport to become a dry-goods salesman.
+By cultivating a loving disposition he gained friends wherever he went,
+and, of course, thus gained a confidence which he otherwise never would
+have known. For this reason he gained his first letter of credit which
+enabled him to buy his first consignment of goods without advancing the
+money for them.
+
+[Illustration: SELF-RELIANCE. Engraved Expressly for 'Hidden Treasures.']
+
+As we review the various great and influential men we cannot but notice
+how many, out of the total number, cultivated a pleasing manner. Certain
+it is, to pleasing manners and ability owed he his success; without
+either he could not have succeeded. Without the generous heart he
+possessed he could never have won the great honor that he enjoyed, for
+great wealth alone could not bring such honor. He was a notable moral
+phenomenon. Of all the great and rich men of whom we are aware, none
+gave as liberally as did he. Reader, think of it; a poor boy who became
+one of the greatest bankers of his time, and who, during his life, gave
+over eight millions of dollars to charity. Many of our rich men have
+willed much to charity, but he gave while living.
+
+He went to Georgetown, District of Columbia, and entered into a
+partnership with an uncle, the firm-style being Riggs & Peabody. They
+were wonderfully successful, and soon established branches in
+Philadelphia and New York. In 1829 Mr. Riggs retired from actual work,
+the firm-style becoming Peabody, Riggs & Co. Time passed on, the
+business grew, and in 1837 he went to London, soon after establishing
+the banking house of George Peabody & Co. He made banking his study and
+kept thoroughly posted on financial matters. At about this time the
+great panic occurred in America, and at a great risk of losing his
+fortune he bought Maryland securities. But George Peabody knew what he
+was about; he was thoroughly posted and was capable of managing a
+banking business. By his influence with the Bank of England, he soon
+became recognized as the man who had saved Maryland from bankruptcy.
+
+He now began to dispense the great fortune with which God had so
+bountifully blessed him. In 1851 he supplied a large sum, so much
+needed, to make a success of the great Worlds Fair in London. In 1851 he
+gave $10,000 toward the second Grennell expedition, and the same year
+the people of his native town, Danvers, invited his presence at an
+anniversary. He could not personally attend, but sent them $20,000 to be
+applied toward education. In 1857 he gave the city of Baltimore $300,000
+to found a college, and afterward added to this magnificent sum $200,000
+more. In 1866 he added still $500,000 more, and later yet $400,000 more,
+making $1,400,000 in all he gave to this one institution, which is
+called Peabody Institute. He gave nearly $3,500,000 toward the fund to
+educate the poor of the South. He gave Yale and Harvard college each
+$150,000; to Phillips Academy $25,000; to Peabody Academy $140,000; to
+the Memorial Church in Georgetown $100,000; to Peabody Academy $250,000;
+and numerous other contributions in America.
+
+In London he established a fund of $3,000,000 with which to build homes
+for the poor of that great city. The Queen acknowledged this in a
+private letter, and presented him with her portrait painted on ivory and
+set in jewels, valued at $255,000. She also offered to make him a Baron,
+but this he respectfully declined.
+
+He resembled the late A. T. Stewart in some respects. No gold chain ever
+hung from his watch, and when he wore studs or other ornaments they were
+never more costly than pearl. He detested show. Altogether during his
+life he gave away over _eight millions of dollars_, and at his death
+left a fortune of over four millions. Had he saved his money and
+manipulated it like many of our great millionaires have done, we doubt
+not he would have died worth perhaps twenty or thirty millions.
+
+He, however, had gained not only worldly success, but true success, for
+when he died in 1869, both of the great English speaking nations united
+to do him honor. He was at first laid in Westminister Abbey among the
+dead kings and queens. After this her Majesty's ship Monarch bore his
+remains to America to be buried in Danvers. The respect in which he is
+held by the people of that town is shown when we know that they have
+since changed the name of their town to Peabody. He left an imperishable
+crown containing pearls which cannot be stolen. They are set in homes
+for the poor, libraries for every one, schools for the young, and other
+securities which are safely stored in the hearts of a grateful people.
+Ah! we are thoughtful after reading the life of such a man.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM W. CORCORAN.
+
+
+The veteran philanthropist, William W. Corcoran, was born in 1798. He
+began his business career in Georgetown, but for many years he has been
+a resident of Washington. At twenty he went into business for himself,
+beginning as an auctioneer. After several years of successful business
+he was obliged to suspend, during the depressed times of 1838.
+
+After this he was married to the beautiful daughter of Commodore Morris,
+of the United States Navy, much to the disgust of that gentleman, who
+little dreamed what an illustrious son-in-law Mr. Corcoran was destined
+to become. Some years of hard struggle followed, but at last it was
+found that he had won for himself a somewhat extended reputation as a
+financier, which gained for him a partnership with the successful
+banker, Riggs. This firm began to deal in United States Government
+securities, which were then at a low ebb abroad. Being a boy friend of
+George Peabody, the great London banker, his firm was enabled to
+materially aid the Government in its financial straits during the
+Mexican war. As the firm prospered, Mr. Corcoran became wealthy, and
+this money he laid out in Washington real estate, the rapid rise of
+which made him a millionaire. As Mr. Corcoran prospered he began to
+think of those old debts. When he had failed he secured favorable terms
+with his creditors, and legally was not bound for one cent, but he
+recognized a higher obligation than law made by man: hunting up all
+those old customers, creditors of his, he paid them not only the
+principal, but the interest that had been accumulating all these years.
+By this one act we gain a glimpse of the inner heart and impulses of
+this great and good man.
+
+Thousands of dollars found their way into the hands of charity, but then
+his desire to aid and gratify humanity was not satisfied.
+
+On May 10th, 1869, the grounds and institution for the Corcoran Art
+Gallery was deeded to trustees, and later was incorporated by Congress,
+being exempted forever from taxation. The gallery is situated directly
+opposite the State, War, and Navy buildings. It has a frontage of one
+hundred and six feet; is built of fine, pressed brick; and is one of the
+most attractive buildings in the whole City of Washington. The whole
+building cost $250,000, and the donor placed therein his own private
+collection of paintings and statuary, valued at $100,000. Not satisfied
+with this he has added an endowment fund of $500,000. Many rare and
+beautiful works of art have been purchased abroad, as well as American
+works of rare value. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the gallery is
+free; on alternate days an admission of twenty-five cents is charged.
+When it is considered how many there are who would naturally take
+advantage of the free days, and then that the annual income is over
+$75,000, one can form some idea of the attractiveness of this
+institution. Mr. Corcoran's desire was to elevate the American taste in
+the finer arts, and the thousands of visitors which the institution
+attracts, indicates to what an extent he has succeeded. The lower floor
+is devoted to statues and to the exhibition of sculpture. The second
+floor is occupied by several hundred rare and costly paintings,
+representing the advance of art during the past centuries. The gallery
+is, probably, all things considered, the finest of the kind in the
+country.
+
+Another institution of wide celebrity is the Louisa Home, founded by Mr.
+Corcoran in 1871. It is a magnificent building, conspicuously situated
+in the most fashionable part of the city, the West End. This is a most
+worthy institution, designed for ladies who have been reduced from
+affluence to poverty, affording them a home where they can mingle with a
+class of people congenial to their refined natures. This building is a
+beautiful brick structure, four stories high, erected at a cost of
+$200,000. Visitors are welcome every afternoon.
+
+These are only two of the many gifts and enterprises which originated
+with the venerable banker. George Peabody and William Corcoran were boys
+together; how similar their lives have been. Would that there were more
+Corcorans, more Peabodys. Mr. Corcoran has given several millions to
+charity and art; how we envy him--not for his wealth, but his
+reputation, or better, would that we could do as much good in the world
+as did these two great men.
+
+
+
+
+NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD.
+
+
+Who indeed is there who has not heard of the Rothschilds? But how few
+there are who know much of them save that they are the richest bankers
+in the whole world. The subject of this sketch was the richest and most
+noted of five brothers. The father, Mayer Anselm Rothschild, sprung from
+a poor Jewish family, and was a clerk in Hanover before establishing
+himself at Frankfort. At Hanover it is claimed that his integrity and
+ability became so marked in every position to which he was called that
+the attention of the Government was called thereto.
+
+After the great French victory of Jena, Napoleon decreed that the
+Governor of Hesse-Cassel should have his lands and property confiscated.
+The order was no sooner given than a French army was on its way to carry
+the edict into effect. The Elector William, before his flight from
+Hesse-Cassel, deposited with the father of the subject of this sketch
+$5,000,000, without interest, for safe keeping. There was no luck about
+this; it was a most difficult undertaking at that time. Any one who had
+been found with this money would have lost his life. For Rothschild to
+invest it so that he could make money from its use was his object; to do
+so safely and secretly required a good business tact. The Elector, it is
+said, studied sometime before he decided to whom he could intrust this
+vast sum during his absence. Thus it is seen that as Rothschild came of
+poor parents, and was simply a clerk. It was not so much luck in his
+case as strict integrity and the determination he manifested to master
+everything he undertook. This Rothschild had five sons, and by the aid
+of these, through different bankers, he succeeded by good management to
+lay a foundation upon which has been built that colossal fortune which
+the sons have accumulated. This money, belonging to the Elector, they
+had the benefit of until 1828, when the whole was paid over to the heirs
+of the original owner with two per cent. interest for a portion of the
+time. Of the five brothers, Anselm was situated at Frankfort, Solomon at
+Vienna, Charles at Naples, James at Paris, and Nathan at London. The two
+ablest financiers were James and Nathan, and of these two Nathan was the
+superior. His son was the first Jew that ever sat in the English
+Parliament. It has been said that the fundamental rule of this great
+banking-house was "To sell when people desired to buy, and buy when
+people wished to sell." It is related of Nathan Mayer Rothschild that,
+all day long, at the battle of Waterloo, he hung about the skirts of the
+two armies, waiting to see how the battle turned. Toward night of that
+memorable day, the clouds of smoke lifting, revealed the French army in
+full and disastrous retreat. Rothschild took in the situation at once.
+True to his instincts, he saw in that awful carnage only the shimmer of
+his gold. Chance had overcome the most heroic valor, the most stubborn
+resistance, the best laid plans, and once more declared in the Hebrew's
+favor. He dashed into Brussels, whence a carriage in waiting whirled him
+into Ostend. At dawn he stood on the Belgian coast, against which the
+sea was madly breaking. He offered five, six, eight, ten hundred francs
+to be carried over to England. The mariners feared the storm; but a
+bolder fisherman, upon promise of twenty-five hundred francs, undertook
+the hazardous voyage. Before sunset Rothschild landed at Dover; and
+engaging the swiftest horses, rode with the wind to London. What a
+superb special correspondent he would have made! The merchants and
+bankers were dejected; the funds were depressed; a dense fog hung over
+the city; English spirits had sunk to their lowest ebb. On the morning
+of the 20th, the cunning and grasping Nathan appeared at the Stock
+Exchange, an embodiment of gloom. He mentioned, confidentially, of
+course, to his familiar that Blucher, at the head of his vast army of
+veterans, had been defeated by Napoleon, at Ligny, on the 16th and 17th,
+and there could be no hope for Wellington, with his comparatively small
+and undisciplined force. This was half true, and like all half-truths,
+was particularly calculated to deceive. Rothschild was a leader among
+trading reynards. His doleful whisper spread as the plague--poisoning
+faith everywhere. The funds tumbled like an aerolite. Public and private
+opinion wilted before the simoon of calamitous report. It was 'Black
+Friday' anticipated in Lombard Street. The crafty Israelite bought,
+through his secret agents, all the consols, bills, and notes, for which
+he could raise money.
+
+Not before the afternoon of the 21st--nearly forty eight hours after the
+battle--did the news of Wellington's victory reach London through the
+regular channels. Rothschild was at the Exchange half an hour before the
+glad tidings were made public, and imparted them to a crowd of greedy
+listeners. The Bourse was buoyant. Everything went up more rapidly than
+it had gone down. England was happy--as well she might be--for she had
+stumbled into the greatest triumph in her history. When bankers and
+merchants shook hands with the Hebrew speculator, they noticed--though
+they did not understand--an unusual warmth of pressure. It was not
+rejoicing with the nation; it was the imaginary clutch of six millions
+more of gold. Thus it is seen that the great wealth of the Rothschild
+was not always used to the best advantage of mankind as a Christian
+would argue; but a promise given by a Rothschild was as good as his
+note.
+
+Their immense wealth has greatly aided, at different times, all and
+singular, the various European countries. A favorite investment with
+them has been loans to the different Governments throughout the world.
+
+During twelve years of their business experience they loaned to
+different European Monarchies over $400,000,000. When it is considered
+that this was but one division of their business, something of an idea
+of its magnitude can be imagined. An amusing story is told of Nathan
+which will be of interest to some of our readers, and enable them to see
+how fertile was his mind in emergencies.
+
+Anselm, the brother at Frankfort, drew on Nathan, of London, for a large
+amount, and the bill was presented to the Bank of England to be
+discounted. The bank officials refused, saying, "We do not discount
+bills drawn on private persons; we recognize only our own paper."
+"Private persons!" exclaimed Nathan Rothschild when the interview was
+reported to him, "I will show them what kind of private persons we are."
+Three weeks afterwards, Nathan Rothschild,--who had employed the
+interval in collecting all the five-pound notes he could buy on the
+continent, or in England--presented himself at the bank on the opening
+of the office. He drew from his pocket-book a five-pound note, and they
+counted him out in exchange five gold sovereigns, at the same time
+looking quite astonished that the Baron Rothschild should have
+personally troubled himself for such a trifle. The Baron examined the
+pieces one by one, and having put them in a little canvas bag, proceeded
+to draw out another five-pound note, then another, and another and so
+on. He never put the pieces of gold into the bag without scrupulously
+examining them, in some instances weighing in his balance, as, he said,
+"the law gave him the right to do." The first pocket-book being emptied
+and the first bag full of coins, he passed them to his clerk, and
+received a second, and thus continued to the closing of the bank. The
+Baron had employed seven hours to exchange twenty-one thousand pounds.
+But as he also had nine employes of his house engaged in the same
+manner, it resulted that the house of Rothschild had drawn over
+$1,000,000 from the bank. He had drawn gold exclusively, and so occupied
+the bank employes that no one else could do any business.
+
+The bankers the first day were very much amused at "This display of
+eccentricity." They, however, laughed less the next day when they beheld
+Rothschild on hand early, flanked by his nine clerks.
+
+They laughed no longer when they heard the irate banker say, "These
+gentlemen refused to pay my bills; I have sworn not to keep theirs. They
+can pay at their leisure; only I hereby notify them that I have enough
+to employ them two months!" Two months! Fifty-five million dollars in
+gold drawn from the Bank of England which was more gold than they had to
+pay! The bank was now thoroughly alarmed. Something must be done, and
+the next morning notice appeared in all the papers that henceforth the
+Bank of England would pay Rothschild's bills as well as its own.
+
+From anecdotes one can often learn much of the inner life and thoughts
+of people, and much can be seen of the real character of the subject of
+this sketch from the above story. This Napoleon of Finance died in
+1836.
+
+    _"The man who seeks one thing in life, and but one,
+    May hope to achieve it before life be done;
+    But he who seeks all things, wherever he goes,
+    Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows
+        A harvest of barren regrets."_
+
+[Illustration: From Obscurity To Great Honor.]
+
+
+
+
+JOHN ADAMS.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative was a great-grandson of Henry Adams, who
+emigrated from England about 1640, with a family of eight sons, being
+one of the earliest settlers in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts,
+where he had a grant of a small tract of forty acres of land. The father
+of John Adams, a deacon of the church, was a farmer by occupation, to
+which was added the business of shoemaking. He was a man of limited
+means, however, was enabled by hard pinching to give his son a fairly
+good education.
+
+The old French and Indian war was then at its height; and in a
+remarkable letter to a friend, which contains some curious
+prognostications as to the relative population and commerce of England
+and her colonies a hundred years hence, young Adams describes himself
+as having turned politician. He succeeded in gaining charge of the
+grammar school in Worcester, Massachusetts, but, instead of finding this
+duty agreeable, he found it 'a school of affliction,' and turned his
+attention to the study of law. Determined to become a first-class
+lawyer, he placed himself under the especial tuition of the only lawyer
+of whom Worcester, though the county seat, could boast.
+
+He had thought seriously of the clerical profession, but, according to
+his own expressions, "The frightful engines of ecclesiastical councils,
+of diabolical malice, and Calvinistic good nature," the operation of
+which he had witnessed in some church controversies in his native town,
+terrified him out of it. Adams was a very ambitious man; already he had
+longings for distinction. Could he have obtained a troop of horse, or a
+company of infantry, he would undoubtedly have entered the army. Nothing
+but want of patronage prevented his becoming a soldier.
+
+After a two years' course of study, he returned to his native town,
+Braintree, and in 1758 commenced practice in Suffolk county, of which
+Boston was the shire town. By hard study and hard work he gradually
+introduced himself into practice, and in 1764 married a young lady far
+above his station in life. In our perusal and study of eminent men who
+have risen by their own exertions to a higher sphere in life, we are not
+at all surprised to find that they have invariably married noble
+women--ladies, who have always maintained a restraining influence when
+the desire for honor and public attention would appeal to their baser
+self, and whose guiding influence tended to strengthen their efforts
+when their energies seemed to slacken. So it was with John Adams; his
+wife was a lady of rare abilities and good sense, admirably adapted to
+make him happy. Boys, be careful whom you marry!
+
+Shortly after his entrance into the practice of the law, the attempt at
+parliamentary taxation diverted his attention from his profession to
+politics. He was a most active oppositionist. He promoted the call of
+the town of Braintree to instruct the representatives of the town on the
+subject of the Stamp Act. The resolutions which he presented at this
+meeting were not only voted by the town, but attracted great attention
+throughout the province, and were adopted verbatim by more than forty
+different towns. Thus it is seen that Adams had not studied hard all
+these years for nothing; the price of success is honest, faithful WORK.
+
+Of course his towns-people would reward him. Men who have ability,
+unless some bolt is loose, will invariably gain success. Soon after this
+Mr. Adams was appointed on the part of the town of Boston to be one of
+their counsel, along with the King's attorney, and head of the bar, and
+James Otis, the celebrated orator, to support a memorial addressed to
+the Governor and Council, that the courts might proceed with business
+though no stamps were to be had. Although junior counsel, it fell to
+Adams to open the case for the petitioners, as his seniors could not
+join; the one owing to his position as King's attorney, the other could
+not as he had recently published a book entitled the 'Rights of the
+Colonies.' This was a grand opportunity for Adams and he made the most
+of it,--boldly taking the ground that the stamp act was null and void,
+Parliament having no right to tax the colonies. Nothing, however, came
+of this application; the Governor and Council declining to act, on the
+ground that it belonged to the Judges, not to them, to decide.
+
+But Adams had put himself on record, and this record established his
+reputation. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the
+flood, leads on to fortune." The time came to Adams to distinguish
+himself, and he was not found wanting. It was at this same period that
+Mr. Adams first appeared as a writer in the _Boston Gazette_. He never
+allowed his opportunities to pass unheeded; in fact, he made his
+opportunities. Among other papers which appeared at this time from his
+pen, was a series of four articles which were republished in a London
+newspaper, and subsequently published in a collection of documents
+relating to the taxation controversy, printed in a large volume. At
+first the papers had no title in the printed volume, being known as
+"Essays on the Canon and Feudal Law." Well they might have been called
+so, but, it seems to us, that it would have been much more consistent to
+have entitled them "Essays on the Government and Rights of New England."
+His style was formed from the first, as is evident from the articles.
+
+His law business continued to increase and in 1768 he removed to Boston
+where he would have a larger field in which to develop his intellect. He
+served on various committees during the next two years, and in 1770 was
+chosen a Representative to the general Court, notwithstanding he had
+just before accepted a retainer to defend Captain Preston and his
+soldiers for their share in what had passed into history as the Boston
+massacre. His ability as a practitioner at the bar can be judged from
+the successful result of their case, as managed by him, against great
+public prejudice. Adams' duties as a Representative interfered much
+with his business as a lawyer, on which he depended for support, and
+which had grown to be larger than that of any other practitioner at the
+provincial bar.
+
+He entered upon the duties of his new office with his customary energy,
+becoming the chief legal advisor of the Patriot party, and now for the
+first time an active and conspicuous leader of the same. Mr. Adams' keen
+foresight enabled him to wisely judge that it would be a good policy not
+to push too vigorously to the front as a politician until his private
+wealth would justify his necessarily great loss of time. Hence, he moved
+back to Braintree, resigning his seat in the Legislature, but still
+retaining his law office in Boston. A comparative lull in politics made
+his presence in that body less needed, but still he was consulted as to
+all the more difficult points in the controversy with Governor
+Hutchinson, and freely gave his aid. Indeed, it was not long before he
+moved back to Boston, but thoroughly resolved to avoid politics, and to
+devote his undivided attention to his professional work. Soon after his
+return to Boston he wrote a series of letters on the then mooted
+question of the independence of the judiciary, and the payment by the
+Crown of the salaries of the Judges. Soon after this he was elected by
+the general Court to the Provincial Council, but was rejected by
+Governor Hutchinson.
+
+The destruction of tea, and the Boston port bill that followed, soon
+brought matters to a crisis. These events produced the congress of 1774.
+Mr. Adams was one of the five delegates sent from Massachusetts, and his
+visit to Philadelphia at this time was the first occasion of his going
+beyond the limits of New England. In the discussions in the committee on
+the declaration of colonial rights, he took an active part in resting
+those rights on the law of nature as well as the law of England; and
+when the substance of those resolutions had been agreed upon he was
+chosen to put the matter in shape. In his diary the most trustworthy and
+graphic descriptions are to be found of the members and doings of that
+famous but little known body. The session concluded, Mr. Adams left the
+city of brotherly love with little expectation, at that time, of ever
+again seeing it.
+
+Immediately after his return home he was chosen by his native town a
+member of the provincial congress then in session. That congress had
+already appointed a committee of safety vested with general executive
+powers; had seized the provincial revenues; had appointed general
+officers, collected military stores, and had taken steps toward
+organizing a volunteer army of minute-men. The governor--Gage--had
+issued a proclamation denouncing these proceedings, but no attention was
+ever paid to it. Gage had no support except in the five or six regiments
+that guarded Boston, a few trembling officials and a small following
+from the people.
+
+Shortly after the adjournment of this congress Adams occupied himself in
+answering through the press a champion of the mother-country's claim.
+This party, under the head of 'Massachusettensis,' had commenced a
+series of able and effective arguments in behalf of the mother-country,
+which were being published in a Boston journal. To these Adams replied
+over the signature of 'Novanglus.' These were papers displaying unusual
+ability on either part. They were afterwards published as "A History of
+the Dispute with America," and later yet in pamphlet form. Their value
+consists in the strong, contemporaneous views which they present of the
+origin of the struggle between the colonies and the mother-country, and
+the policy of Bernard and Hutchinson as governors of Massachusetts,
+which did so much to bring on the struggle. Like all the writings of Mr.
+Adams, they are distinguished by a bold tone of investigation, a resort
+to first principles, and a pointed style; but, like all his other
+writings, being produced by piecemeal, and on the spur of the moment,
+they lack order, system, polish and precision.
+
+In the midst of the excitement produced by the battle of
+Lexington--which at once brought up the spirit of even the most
+hesitating patriots to the fighting pitch, and which was speedily
+followed by the seizure of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and by other
+similar seizures in other colonies throughout the fast uniting
+provinces--John Adams once more set out for Philadelphia to attend the
+Continental Congress of 1775, of which he had been appointed a member.
+This congress, though made up for the most part of the same men who
+constituted that of the previous year, was a wholly different body from
+its predecessor. The congress of 1774 was merely a suggestive
+convention. The present congress speedily assumed, or rather had thrust
+upon it by unanimous consent of the patriots, the exercise of a
+comprehensive authority in which supreme executive, legislative and, in
+some cases, judicial functions, were united. In this busy scene the
+active and untiring Adams, one of whose distinguishing characteristics
+was his CAPACITY AND FONDNESS FOR BUSINESS, found ample employment;
+while his bold and pugnacious spirit was not a little excited by the
+hazards and dignity of the great game in which he had come to hold so
+deep a stake. Unlike many of that body, Adams had made up his mind that
+any attempt tending toward reconciliation was hopeless.
+
+Under the lead of Dickinson, though against the strenuous opposition of
+Adams and others, that body voted still another and final petition to
+the king. However, Adams succeeded in joining with this vote one to put
+the colonies into a state of defence, though with protestations that the
+war on their part was for defence only, and without revolutionary
+intent. Not long after this congress was brought up to the point of
+assuming the responsibility and control of the military operations which
+New England had commenced by laying siege to Boston, in which town
+General Gage and his troops were caged, and before which lay an
+impromptu New England army of 15,000 men which the battle of Lexington
+had immediately brought together. Urged by the New England delegates,
+congress agreed to assume the expense of maintaining this army. John
+Adams was the first to propose the name of George Washington for the
+chief commander; his desire being to secure the good-will and
+co-operation of the southern colonies. The southern colonies also urged
+General Lee for the second place, but Adams insisted on giving that to
+Artemas Ward, he, however, supported Lee for the third place. Having
+assumed the direction of this army, provided for its reorganization, and
+issued letters of credit for its maintenance, this congress took a
+recess. Adams returned home, but was not allowed any rest.
+
+People who really have ability are never allowed to remain idle; the
+fault is not in others, but in us. No sooner had Mr. Adams arrived home
+than his Massachusetts friends sent him as a member to the State
+council. This council had, under a clause of the provincial charter
+intended to meet such cases, assumed the executive authority, declaring
+the gubernatorial chair vacant. On returning to Philadelphia in
+September, Adams found himself in hot water. Two confidential letters of
+his, written during the previous session, had been intercepted by the
+British in crossing the Hudson river, and had been published in the
+Boston papers. Not only did those letters evince a zeal for decisive
+measure which made the writer an object of suspicion to the more
+conservative of his fellow-members of Congress, but his reference in one
+of them to 'the whims, the caprice, the vanity, the superstition, and
+the irritability of some of his colleagues,' and particularly to John
+Dickinson as 'a certain great fortune but trifling genius,' made him
+personal enemies by whom he was never forgiven.
+
+But, though for a moment an object of distrust to some of his
+colleagues, this did not save him from hard work. About this time he
+wrote: "I am engaged in constant work; from seven to ten in the morning
+in committee, from ten to four in Congress, and from six to ten again in
+committee. Our assembly is scarcely numerous enough for the business;
+everybody is engaged all day in Congress, and all the morning and
+evening in committee." The committee, which chiefly engaged Mr. Adams'
+attention at this time, was one on the fitting out of cruisers, and on
+naval affairs generally. This committee laid the foundation of our first
+navy; the basis of our naval code being drawn up by Adams.
+
+Governor Wentworth having fled from New Hampshire, the people of that
+province applied to congress for advice as to how to manage their
+administrative affairs. Adams, always ahead of his brother legislators,
+seized the opportunity to urge the necessity of advising all of the
+provinces to proceed at once to institute governments of their own. The
+news, soon arriving of the haughty treatment of their petition by the
+king, added strength to his pleading, and the matter being referred to a
+committee on which Adams was placed, a report in partial conformity to
+his ideas was made and adopted. Adams was a worker; this was a
+recognized fact; and his State having offered him the post of Chief
+Justice of Massachusetts, Adams, toward the end of the year, returned
+home to consult on that and other important matters. He took his seat in
+the council, of which he had been chosen a member, immediately on his
+arrival. He was consulted by Washington, both as to sending General Lee
+to New York, and as to the expedition against Canada. It was finally
+arranged that while Adams should accept the appointment of Chief
+Justice, he should still remain a delegate in Congress, and till more
+quiet times should be excused as acting in the capacity of judge. Under
+this arrangement he returned to Philadelphia. However, he never took his
+seat as Chief Justice, resigning that office the next year.
+
+Advice similar to that to New Hampshire on the subject of assuming
+government, as it was called, had shortly afterwards been given upon
+similar applications to Congress, to South Carolina and Virginia. Adams
+was much consulted by members of the southern delegation concerning the
+form of government which they should adopt. He was recognized as being
+better versed in the subject of Republicanism, both by study and
+experience, coming as he did from the most thoroughly Republican section
+of the country. Of several letters which he wrote on this subject, one
+more elaborate than the others, was printed under the title of "Thoughts
+on Government applicable to the present state of the American
+Colonies."
+
+This paper being largely circulated in Virginia as a preliminary to the
+adoption of a form of government by that State, was to a certain extent
+a rejoinder to that part of Paine's famous pamphlet of 'Common Sense,'
+which advocated government by a single assembly. It was also designed to
+controvert the aristocratic views, somewhat prevalent in Virginia, of
+those who advocated a governor and senate to be elected for life. Adams'
+system of policy embraced the adoption of self-government by each of the
+colonies, a confederation, and treaties with foreign powers. The
+adoption of this system he continued to urge with zeal and increasing
+success, until finally, on May 13th, he carried a resolution through
+Congress by which so much of his plan was endorsed by that body as
+related to the assumption of self-government by the several colonies. A
+resolution that the United States 'Are and ought to be free and
+independent,' introduced by R. H. Lee under instructions from the
+Virginia convention, was very warmly supported by Adams and carried,
+seven States to six. Three committees, one on a Declaration of
+Independence; another on Confederation; and third on Foreign Relations,
+were shortly formed. Of the first and third of these committees, Adams
+was a member.
+
+The Declaration of Independence was drawn up by Jefferson, but on Adams
+devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days'
+debate, during which it underwent some curtailment. The plan of a treaty
+reported by the third committee, and adopted by Congress, was drawn up
+by Adams. His views did not extend beyond merely commercial treaties. He
+was opposed to seeking any political connection with France, or any
+military or even naval assistance from her or any foreign power. On
+June 12th Congress had established a board of war and ordinance, to
+consist of five members, with a secretary, clerk, etc.,--in fact, a war
+department. As originally constituted, the members of this board were
+taken from Congress, and the subject of this narrative was chosen its
+president or chairman. This position was one of great labor and
+responsibility, as the chief burden of the duties fell upon him, he
+continued to hold for the next eighteen months, with the exception of a
+necessary absence at the close of the year 1776, to recruit his health.
+
+The business of preparing articles of war for the government of the army
+was deputed to a committee composed of Adams and Jefferson; but
+Jefferson, according to Adams' account, threw upon him the whole burden,
+not only of drawing up the articles, which he borrowed mostly from Great
+Britain, but of arguing them through Congress, which was no small task.
+Adams strongly opposed Lord Howe's invitation to a conference, sent to
+Congress, through his prisoner, General Sullivan, after the battle of
+Long Island. He was, however, appointed one of the committee for that
+purpose, together with Franklin and Rutledge, and his autobiography
+contains some curious anecdotes concerning the visit. Besides his
+presidency of the board of war, Adams was also chairman of the committee
+upon which devolved the decision of appeals in admiralty cases from the
+State courts. Having thus occupied for nearly two years a position which
+gained for him the reputation, among at least a few of his colleagues,
+of having "the clearest head and firmest heart of any man in Congress."
+
+He was appointed near the end of 1777 a commissioner to France, to
+supercede Deane, whom Congress had concluded to recall. He embarked at
+Boston, in the Frigate Boston, on February 12th, 1878, reaching Bordeaux
+after a stormy passage, and arrived on April 8th at Paris. As the
+alliance with France had been completed before his arrival, his stay was
+short. He found that a great antagonism of views and feelings had arisen
+between the three commissioners,--Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee, of
+whom the embassy to France had been originally composed. As the recall
+of Deane had not reconciled the other two, Adams devised, as the only
+means of giving unity and energy to the mission, that it should be
+intrusted to a single person. This suggestion was adopted, and in
+consequence of it, Franklin having been appointed sole embassador in
+France, Adams returned home.
+
+He arrived at Boston just as a convention was about to meet to form a
+State constitution for Massachusetts, and, being at once chosen a member
+from Braintree, he was enabled to take a leading part in the formation
+of that important document. Before this convention had finished its
+business he was appointed by congress as minister to treat with Great
+Britain for peace, and commerce, under which appointment he again sailed
+for France in 1779, in the same French frigate in which he previously
+returned to the United States.
+
+Contrary to his own inclinations, Mr. Adams was prevented by Vergennes,
+the French minister of foreign affairs, from making any communication of
+his powers to Great Britain. In fact, Vergennes and Adams already were,
+and continued to be, objects of distrust to one another, in both cases
+quite unfounded. Vergennes feared least advances toward treating with
+England might lead to some sort of reconciliation with her, short of the
+independence of the colonies, which was contrary to his ideas of the
+interest of France. The communications made to Vergennes by Gerard, the
+first French minister in America, and Adams' connection with the Lee's
+whom Vergennes suspected, though unjustly, of a secret communication
+through Arthur Lee with the British ministry, led him to regard Mr.
+Adams as the representative of a party in congress desirous of such a
+reconciliation; nor did he rest until he had obtained from congress,
+some two years after, the recall of Mr. Adams' powers to negotiate a
+treaty of commerce; and, in conjunction with him, of several colleagues
+to treat for peace, of whom Franklin, who enjoyed his entire confidence,
+was one.
+
+Adams, on the other hand, not entirely free from hereditary English
+prejudices against the French, vehemently suspected Vergennes of a
+design to sacrifice the interests of America, especially the fisheries
+and the western lands, to the advancement of the Spanish house of
+Bourbon. While lingering at Paris, with nothing to do except to nurse
+these suspicions, Adams busied himself in furnishing communications on
+American affairs to a semi-official gazette conducted by M. Genet, chief
+secretary in the foreign bureau, and father of the French minister in
+America, who subsequently rendered that name so notorious.
+
+Finding his position at Paris uncomfortable, he proceeded to Holland in
+July, 1780, his object being to form an opinion as to the probability of
+borrowing money there. Just about the same time he was appointed by
+Congress to negotiate a French loan, the party who had been selected for
+that purpose previously, Laurens, not yet being ready to leave home. By
+way of enlightening the Dutch in regard to American affairs, Adams
+published in the _Gazette_, of Leyden, a number of papers and extracts,
+including several which, through a friend, he first had published in a
+London journal to give to them an English character. To these he added
+direct publication of his own, afterward many times reprinted, and now
+to be found in volume VII of his collected works under the title of
+'Twenty-six Letters upon Interesting Subjects Respecting the Revolution
+in America.' He had commenced negotiations for a loan when his labors in
+that direction were interrupted by the sudden breach between England and
+Holland, consequent upon the capture of Laurens and the discovery of the
+secret negotiation carried on between him and Van Berkel, of Amsterdam,
+which, though it had been entered into without authority of the Dutch
+States, was made an excuse by the British for a speedy declaration of
+war.
+
+Adams was soon after appointed minister to Holland in place of the
+captured Laurens, and at the same time was commissioned to sign the
+articles of armed neutrality which had just made their appearance on the
+political scene. Adams presented memorials to the Dutch government
+setting forth his powers in both respects; but before he could procure
+any recognition he was recalled in July, 1781, to Paris, by a notice
+that he was needed there, in his character of minister, to treat for
+peace.
+
+Adams' suspicion of Vergennes had, meanwhile, been not a little
+increased by the neglect of France to second his applications to
+Holland. With Vergennes the great object was peace. The finances of
+France were sadly embarrassed, and Vergennes wished no further
+complications to the war. Provided the English colonies should be
+definitely separated from the mother-country, which he considered
+indispensable to the interest of France, he was not disposed to insist
+on anything else. It was for this reason that he had urged upon, and
+just about this time had succeeded in obtaining from Congress, through
+the French Minister at Philadelphia--though the information had not yet
+reached Paris--not only the withdrawal of Adams' commission to treat of
+commerce, and the enlargement to five of the number of commissioners to
+treat for peace, but an absolute discretion intrusted to the negotiators
+as to everything except independence and the additional direction that
+in the last resort they were to be governed by the advice of Vergennes.
+The cause for sending for Adams, who still occupied, so far as was known
+at Paris, the position of sole negotiator for peace; the offer of
+mediation on the part of Russia and the German empire; but this offer
+led to nothing.
+
+Great Britain haughtily rejected it on the ground that she would not
+allow France to stand between her and her colonies. Returning to Holland
+Mr. Adams, though still unsupported by Vergennes, pushed with great
+energy his reception as embassador by the States general, which at
+length, April 19th, 1782, he succeeded in accomplishing. Following up
+this success with his CUSTOMARY PERSEVERENCE, he succeeded before the
+end of the year in negotiating a Dutch loan of nearly two millions of
+dollars, the first of a series which proved a chief financial resource
+of the continental congress. He also succeeded in negotiating a treaty
+of amity and commerce. His success in these negotiations, considering
+the obstacles with which he had to contend, and the want of support from
+Vergennes, he was accustomed to regard as the greatest triumph of his
+life.
+
+Before this business was completed, Mr. Adams received urgent calls to
+come to Paris where Jay and Franklin, two of the new commissioners, were
+already treating for peace, and where he arrived October 26th. Though
+Mr. Jay had been put into the diplomatic service by the procurement of
+the party in congress in the French interest, his diplomatic experience
+in Spain had led him also to entertain doubts as to the sincere
+good-will of Vergennes. A confidential dispatch from the French
+Secretary of Legation in America, intercepted by the British, and which
+Oswald, the British negotiator at Paris communicated to Franklin and
+Jay, with a view of making bad feeling between them and the French
+minister, had, along with other circumstances, induced Franklin and Jay
+to disregard their instructions, and to proceed to treat with Oswald
+without communicating that fact to Vergennes, or taking his advice as to
+terms of the treaty, a procedure in which Adams, after his arrival,
+fully concurred.
+
+It was chiefly through his energy and persistence that the participation
+of America in the fisheries was secured by the treaty, not as a favor or
+a privilege, but as a right--a matter of much more importance then than
+now, the fisheries then being a much more important branch than now of
+American maritime industry.
+
+Immediately upon the signature of the preliminary articles of peace,
+Adams asked leave to resign all his commissions and to return home, to
+which Congress responded by appointing him a commissioner jointly with
+Franklin and Jay, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain.
+His first visit to England was, however, in a private character, to
+recruit his health, after a violent fever with which he had been
+attacked, shortly after signing the treaty of peace. He spent some
+time, first at London, and afterward at Bath; but while still an invalid
+he was recalled, in the dead of winter, to Holland, which he reached
+after a stormy and most uncomfortable voyage; there to negotiate a new
+loan as the means of meeting government bills drawn in America, which
+were in danger of protest from want of funds--a BUSINESS IN WHICH HE
+SUCCEEDED.
+
+Adams was included along with Franklin and Jefferson, the latter sent
+out to take the place of Jay, in a new commission to form treaties with
+foreign powers; and his being joined by Mrs. Adams and their only
+daughter and youngest son, his other two sons being already with him,
+reconciled him to the idea of remaining abroad.
+
+With his family about him he fixed his residence at Auteuil, near Paris,
+where he had an interval of comparative leisure.
+
+The chief business of the new commission was the negotiation of a treaty
+with Prussia, advances toward which had first been made to Adams while
+at the Hague negotiating the Dutch loan, but before that treaty was
+ready for signature Adams was appointed by congress as Minister to the
+court of St. James, where he arrived in May, 1785. The English
+government, the feelings of which were well represented by those of the
+king, had neither the magnanimity nor policy to treat the new American
+States with respect, generosity, or justice. Adams was received with
+civility, but no commercial arrangements could be made. His chief
+employment was in complaining of the non-execution of the treaty of
+peace, especially in relation to the non-surrender of the western posts,
+and in attempting to meet similar complaints urged, not without strong
+grounds, by the British; more particularly with regard to the obstacles
+thrown in the way of the collection of British debts, which were made an
+excuse for the detention of the western posts. Made sensible in many
+ways of the aggravation of British feelings toward the new republic,
+whose condition immediately after the peace was somewhat embarrassing,
+and not so flattering as it might have been to the advocates and
+promoters of the revolution, the situation of Adams was rather
+mortifying than agreeable.
+
+Meanwhile he was obliged to pay another visit to Holland to negotiate a
+new loan as a means of paying the interest on the Dutch debt. He was
+also engaged in a correspondence with his fellow-commissioner, Mr.
+Jefferson, then at Paris, on the subject of the Barbary powers and the
+return of the Americans held captive by them. But his most engrossing
+occupation at this time was the preparation of his "Defence of the
+American Constitution," the object of which was the justification of
+balanced governments and a division of powers, especially the
+legislative, against the idea of a single assembly and a pure democracy,
+which had begun to find many advocates, especially on the continent. The
+greater part, however, of this book--the most voluminous of his
+publications--consists of summaries of the histories of the Italian
+republics, which, by the way, was not essential to the argument.
+
+Although it afterward subjugated the author to charges of monarchical
+and anti-republican tendencies, this book was not without its influence
+on the adoption of the federal constitution; during the discussion of
+which the first volume appeared. Great Britain not having reciprocated
+the compliment by sending a minister to the United States, and there
+being no prospects of his accomplishing any of the objects of his
+mission, Adams had requested a recall, which was sent to him in
+February, 1788, accompanied by a resolution of Congress conveying the
+thanks of that body for 'The patriotism, perseverance, integrity and
+diligence' which he had displayed in his ten years' experience abroad.
+
+Immediately upon his arrival at home, Mr. Adams was RE-APPOINTED by
+Massachusetts as a delegate to the continental congress; but he never
+resumed his seat in that body, which was now just about to expire. When
+the new government came to be organized under the newly adopted
+constitution, as all were agreed to make Washington president, attention
+was turned to New England for a vice-president. This office was then
+held with much more regard than now. In fact, as the constitution
+originally stood, the candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency
+were voted for without any distinct specification as to rank, the second
+office falling to the person having the second highest vote. Out of
+sixty-nine electors, John Adams received the votes of thirty-four; and
+this being the second highest number, he was declared vice-president.
+The thirty-five votes were scattered upon some ten different other
+candidates.
+
+By virtue of his new office he became president of the senate, a
+position not very agreeable to his active and leading temperament, being
+better fitted for debate; but one in which the close division in the
+senate, often resulting in a tie between the supporters and opponents of
+the new system, many times gave him a controlling voice. In the first
+congress, he gave no fewer than twenty deciding votes, always upon
+important organic laws, and always in support of Washington's policy.
+
+Down to this time Adams had sympathized with Jefferson politically,
+with whom he had served both in congress and abroad. On the subject of
+the French revolution, which now burst upon the world, a difference of
+opinion arose between them. From the very beginning Adams, then almost
+alone, had argued that no good could come from that movement,--as the
+revolution went on and began to break out in excesses, others began to
+be of this opinion.
+
+Adams then gave public expression to some of his ideas by the
+publication of his 'Discourses on Davila,' furnished to a Philadelphia
+paper, and afterward collected and published in one volume,--taking the
+history of nations, particularly Davila's account of the French civil
+wars, and the general aspects of human society as his texts.
+
+Adams pointed out as the great springs of human activity,--at least in
+all that related to politics,--the love of superiority, the desire of
+distinction, admiration and applause; nor, in his opinion could any
+government be permanent or secure which did not provide as well for the
+reasonable gratification, as for the due restraint of this powerful
+passion. Repudiating that democracy, pure and simple, then coming into
+vogue, and of which Jefferson was the advocate; he insisted that a
+certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was necessary to that
+balance of interests and sentiments without which, as he believed, free
+governments should not exist. This work, which reproduced more at length
+and in a more obnoxious form the fundamental ideas of his 'Defence of
+the American Constitution,' made Adams a great bugbear to the
+ultra-democratic supporters of the principles and policy of the French
+revolutionists; and at the second presidential election in 1792, they
+set up as a candidate against him George Clinton, of New York, but Mr.
+Adams was re-elected by a decided vote.
+
+The wise policy of neutrality adopted by Washington received the hearty
+concurrence of Adams. While Jefferson left the cabinet to become in
+nominal retirement the leader of the opposition. Adams continued, as
+vice-president, to give Washington's administration the benefit of his
+deciding vote. It was only by this means that a neutrality act was
+carried through the senate, and that the progress was stopped of certain
+resolutions which had previously passed in the House of Representatives,
+embodying restrictive measures against Great Britain, intended, or at
+least calculated, to counterwork the mission to England on which Mr. Jay
+had already been sent.
+
+Washington being firmly resolved to retire at the close of his second
+presidential term, the question of the successorship now presented
+itself. Jefferson was the leader of the opposition, who called
+themselves republicans, the name democrat being yet in bad odor, and
+though often imposed as a term of reproach, not yet assumed except by a
+few of the more ultra-partisans. Hamilton was the leader of the federal
+party, as the supporters of Washington's administration had styled
+themselves.
+
+Though Hamilton's zeal and energy had made him, even while like
+Jefferson in nominal retirement, the leader of his party, he could
+hardly be said to hold the place with the Federalists that Jefferson did
+with the Republicans. Either Adams or Jay, from their age and long
+diplomatic service, were more justly entitled to public honor and were
+more conspicuously before the people. Hamilton, though he had always
+spoken of Adams as a man of unconquerable intrepidity and incorruptible
+integrity, and as such had already twice supported him for
+vice-president, would yet have much preferred Jay.
+
+The position of Adams was, however, such as to render his election far
+more probable than that of Jay, and to determine on his selection as
+candidate of the Federalist party. Jay, by his negotiation of the famous
+treaty which bears his name, had for the moment called down upon himself
+the hostility of its numerous opponents. Adams stood, moreover, as
+vice-president, in the line of promotion, and was more sure of the New
+England vote, which was absolutely indispensible to the success of
+either.
+
+As one of the candidates was taken from the North, it seemed best to
+select the other from the South, and the selection of Thomas Pickney, of
+South Carolina, was the result of this decision. Indeed, there were
+some, Hamilton among the number, who secretly wished that Pickney might
+receive the larger vote of the two, and so be chosen president over
+Adams' head. This result was almost sure to happen,--from the likelihood
+of Pickney's receiving more votes at the South than Adams, as he really
+did,--could the northern federal electors be persuaded to vote equally
+for Adams and Pickney, which Hamilton labored to effect.
+
+The fear, however, that Pickney might be chosen over Adams led to the
+withholding from Pickney of eighteen New England votes, so that the
+result was not only to make Jefferson Vice-President, as having more
+votes than Pickney, but also to excite prejudices and suspicions in the
+mind of Adams against Hamilton, which, being reciprocated by him, led to
+the disruption and final overthrow of the Federal party.
+
+It had almost happened, such was the equal division of parties, that
+Jefferson had this time been elected President. The election of Adams,
+who had 71 votes to Jefferson's 68, only being secured by two stray
+votes cast for him, one in Virginia, and the other in North Carolina,
+tributes of revolutionary reminiscences and personal esteem. Chosen by
+this slender majority, Mr. Adams succeeded to office at a very dangerous
+and exciting crisis in affairs. The progress of the French revolution
+had superinduced upon previous party divisions a new and vehement
+crisis.
+
+Jefferson's supporters, who sympathized very warmly with the French
+Republic, gave their moral, if not their positive support, to the claim
+set up by its rulers, but which Washington had refused to admit, that
+under the provisions of the French treaty of alliance, the United States
+were bound to support France against Great Britain, at least in defense
+of her West India possessions. The other party, the supporters of Adams,
+upheld the policy of neutrality adopted by Washington.
+
+At the same time that Washington had sent Jay to England, to arrange, if
+possible, the pending difficulties with that country; he had recalled
+Morris who, as Minister to France, had made himself obnoxious to the now
+predominent party there, and had appointed Monroe in his place. This
+gentleman, instead of conforming to his instructions, and attempting to
+reconcile France to Jay's mission, had given them assurance on the
+subject quite in contradiction of the treaty as made, both the formation
+and ratification of which he had done his best to defeat. He, in
+consequence, had been recalled by Washington shortly before the close of
+his term of office, and C. C. Pickney, a brother of Thomas Pickney, had
+been appointed in his place. The French authorities, offended at this
+change, and the ratification of Jay's treaty in spite of their
+remonstrances, while they dismissed Monroe with great ovations, refused
+to receive the new embassador sent in his place, at the same time
+issuing decrees and orders highly injurious to American interests.
+
+Almost the first act of Mr. Adams, as President, was to call an extra
+session of Congress. Not only was a war with France greatly to be
+dreaded and deprecated on account of her great military and naval power,
+but still more on account of the very formidable party which, among the
+ultra-Republicans, she could muster within the States themselves. Under
+these circumstances, the measure resolved upon by Adams and his cabinet
+was the appointment of a new and more solemn commission to France,
+composed of Pickney and two colleagues, for which purpose the President
+appointed John Marshall of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of
+Massachusetts.
+
+Instead of receiving and openly treating with those commissioners,
+Talleyrand, lately an exile in America, but now Secretary of Foreign
+Affairs to the French Government, entered into intrigue with them,
+through several unaccredited and unofficial agents, of which the object
+was to induce them to promise a round bribe to the directors and a large
+sum of money to fill the exhausted French treasury, by way of purchasing
+forbearance. As Pickney and Marshall appeared less pliable than Gerry,
+Talleyrand finally obliged them to leave, after which he attempted,
+though still without success, to extract money, or at least the promise
+of it, from Gerry.
+
+The publication of the dispatches in which these discreditible intrigues
+were disclosed, an event on which Talleyrand had not calculated,
+produced a great excitement in both America and Europe. Talleyrand
+attempted to escape by disavowing his agents, and pretending that the
+American ministers had been imposed upon by adventurers. Gerry left
+France, and the violation of American commercial and maritime rights was
+pushed to new extremes. In America the effect of all of this was to
+greatly strengthen the Federal party for the time being.
+
+The grand jury of the federal circuit court for Pennsylvania set the
+example of an address to the president, applauding his manly stand for
+the rights and dignity of the nation. Philadelphia, which under the lead
+of Mifflin and McKean, had gone over to the Republicans, was once more
+suddenly converted as during Washington's first term to the support of
+the federal government. That city was then the seat of the national
+newspaper press. All the newspapers, hitherto neutral, published there,
+as well as several others which had leaned decidedly toward the
+opposition, now came out in behalf of Adams.
+
+Besides an address from five thousand citizens, the young men got up an
+address of their own. This example was speedily imitated all over the
+country, and the spirited replies of the president, who was now in his
+element, served in their turn to blow up and keep ablaze the patriotic
+enthusiasm of his countrymen. These addresses, circulated everywhere in
+the newspapers, were collected at the time in a volume, and they
+appeared in Adams' works, of which they form a characteristic portion. A
+navy was set on foot, the old continental navy having become extinct. An
+army was voted and partly levied, of which Washington accepted the chief
+command, and merchant ships were authorized to protect themselves.
+
+The treaty with France was declared at an end, and a quasi war with
+France ensued. It was not, however, the policy of France to drive the
+United States into the arms of Great Britain. Even before Gerry's
+departure, Talleyrand had made advances tending toward reconciliation,
+which were afterward renewed by communications opened with Van Murray,
+the American minister to Holland. The effect of the French outrages, and
+the progress of the French revolution had been to create in a part of
+the federal party, at least, a desire for an absolute breach with
+France--a desire felt by Hamilton, and by at least three out of the four
+cabinet officers whom Adams had chosen and kept in office.
+
+In his message to congress, announcing the expulsion of Pickney and
+Marshall, Adams had declared that he would never send another minister
+to France without assurance that he would be received. This was on the
+21st of July, 1798. Therefore, when on the 18th of February following,
+without consulting his cabinet or giving them any intimation of his
+intentions, he sent into the senate the nomination of Van Murray as
+minister to France, the act took the country by surprise, and thus
+hastened the defeat of the federal party, his actions being so contrary
+to his avowed intentions. Some previous acts of Adams, such as the
+appointment of Gerry, which his cabinet officers had striven to prevent,
+and his disinclination to make Hamilton second in command, until
+vehemently urged into it by Washington, had strengthened the distrust
+entertained of Adams by Hamilton.
+
+Adams, in his attempt to reopen diplomatic intercourse with France, was
+accused of seeking to reconcile his political opponents of the
+Republican party, and thus secure by unworthy and impolitic concessions,
+his own re-election as president. The opposition to Van Murray's
+nomination prevailed so far that he received two colleagues, Ellsworth
+of Connecticut and Davies of North Carolina; but the president would not
+authorize the departure of Ellsworth or Davies until he had received
+explicit assurances from Talleyrand that they would be duly received as
+ministers. On arriving in France they found the Directory superseded by
+Napoleon Bonaparte who was first counsel, with whom they managed to
+arrange the difficulty.
+
+But, however beneficial to the country, this mission proved very
+disastrous to Adams personally, and to the political party to which he
+belonged. He justified its appointment on the ground of assurances
+conveyed to him through a variety of channels that France desired peace,
+and he excused himself for his not having consulted his cabinet by the
+fact that he knew their mind without asking it--to be decidedly hostile,
+that is, to any such attempt as he had decided to make.
+
+The masses of the federalists, fully confident of Adams' patriotism,
+were well enough disposed to acquiesce in his judgment; but many of the
+leaders were implacable. The quarrel was further aggravated by Adams'
+dismissal of his cabinet officers and the construction of a new cabinet.
+
+The pardon of Fries, who had been convicted of treason for armed
+resistance to the levy of certain direct taxes in Pennsylvania, was
+regarded by many at that time as a piece of misplaced lenity on the part
+of Adams, dictated, it was said, by a mean desire of popularity in a
+case where the severest example was needed. But Adams can hardly suffer
+with posterity from his unwillingness to be the first president to sign
+a death warrant for treason, especially as there was room for grave
+doubts whether the doings of this person amounted to treason as defined
+by the constitution of the United States.
+
+In this divided condition of the Federal party the presidential election
+came on. Adams was still too popular with the mass of the party to think
+of dropping him altogether, and the malcontents reduced to the old
+expedient of attempting, by secret understanding and arrangements, to
+reduce his vote in the electoral college below that of C. C. Pickney,
+the other candidate on the federal ticket.
+
+The Republicans, on the other hand, under the prospect of an arrangement
+with France, rapidly recovered from the blow inflicted upon them by the
+violence and mercenary rapacity lately charged upon their French
+friends, but which they now insisted, was a charge without foundation.
+Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction at the heavy taxes necessarily
+imposed to meet the expenses of warlike preparations, and especially of
+the unpopularity of the alien and sedition laws--two acts of congress to
+which the prospect of war had led--they pushed the canvass with great
+energy; while in Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr they had two leaders
+unsurpassed for skill in party tactics, and in Burr at least, one little
+scrupulous as to the means to be used.
+
+Not only was the whole blame of the alien and sedition acts, to which he
+had merely assented without even recommending, laid on Adams' shoulders,
+but he was the object of vehement and most bitter attacks for having
+surrendered, under one of the provisions of Jay's treaty, one Thomas
+Nash, an English sailor, charged with mutiny and murder. Nor was it
+against his public acts alone, nor even to his political opponents, that
+these assaults on Mr. Adams were confined. With strong feeling and busy
+imagination, loving both to talk and write, Adams had been betrayed into
+many confidences and into free expressions of feeling, opinions, and
+even conjectures and suspicions--a weakness very unsuited to the
+character of a statesman, and one which Adams had during his life many
+times the occasion to rue.
+
+During Washington's first term of office, Adams had thus been led into a
+confidential correspondence with Tench Coxe, who at that time held the
+position of assistant secretary of the treasury and had afterward been
+appointed supervisor of the internal revenue. Since Adam's accession he
+had been dismissed from his place on the charge of being a spy upon the
+treasury department in the service of the _Aurora_, the principal
+newspaper organ of the opposition,--with which party Coxe sympathized,
+and, since his recent dismissal from office, acted.
+
+In this state of mind Coxe betrayed a confidential letter to him from
+Adams; which, after being handed around in manuscript for some time, to
+the great damage of Adams with his own party, was finally printed in the
+_Aurora_, of which Coxe had become one of the principal contributors.
+
+The purport of this letter, written as long ago as May, 1792, was to
+give countenance to the charge of the opposition that Washington's
+cabinet, and of course Adams' which followed the same policy, was under
+British influence; and that the Pickney brothers, candidates with Adams
+on the presidential ticket, were especially liable to this suspicion.
+The publication of this letter was followed by a still more deadly blow
+in the shape of a pamphlet, written, printed and signed by
+Hamilton,--probably intended by him for private distribution among his
+friends, but which was made public by Aaron Burr, who had succeed in
+obtaining some of the proof sheets.
+
+This pamphlet had its origin in the same charge against Hamilton of
+being under the influence of British gold, thrown out by Adams in
+private conversation. To this he had refused to give any explanation
+when written to by Hamilton, though when a similar request was made by
+C. C. Pickney in consequence of the publication of the letter to Coxe,
+Adams fully exonerated, in a published letter, both Pickney and his
+brother from any suspicion which his letter to Coxe might seem
+calculated to convey.
+
+Hamilton declared in the conclusion of his pamphlet that, as things then
+stood, he did not recommend the withholding of a single vote from Adams.
+Yet, it was the leading object of his pamphlet to show, without denying
+Adams' patriotism or integrity, or even his talents, that he had great
+defects of character which disqualified him for the position of chief
+magistrate, and the effect which he desired it to have must have been to
+give C. C. Pickney the presidency, by causing a certain number of votes
+to be withheld from Adams.
+
+The result of the election, however, was to throw out both the federal
+candidates, while Adams receiving forty-five votes and Pickney
+fifty-four; Jefferson and Burr each received seventy-three. In the
+ensuing struggle between Jefferson and Burr, Adams took no part
+whatever. Immediately on the expiration of his term of office he left
+Washington, where shortly before the seat of government had been moved,
+without even stopping to be present at the inauguration of Jefferson,
+against whom he felt a sense of personal wrong, probably thinking he
+had been deluded by false professions as to Jefferson's views on the
+presidential chair.
+
+Though both were much given to letter-writing, and had to within a short
+time before been on terms of friendly intercourse, this state of
+feelings, on the part of Adams, led to strict non-intercourse for the
+next thirteen years. The only acknowledgment which Adams carried with
+him, in this unwelcome and mortifying retirement for his twenty-five
+years' services was the privilege, which had been granted to Washington
+on his withdrawal from the presidency, and after his death to his widow,
+and bestowed likewise upon all subsequent ex-presidents and their
+widows, of receiving his letters free of postage for the remainder of
+his life.
+
+Fortunately for Adams, his thrifty habits and love of independence,
+sustained during his absence from home by the economical and managing
+talents of his wife, had enabled him to add to what he had saved from
+his profession before entering public life, savings from his salaries,
+enough to make up a sufficient property to support him for the remainder
+of his life, in conformity with his ideas of a decent style of propriety
+and solid comfort. Almost all his savings he had invested in the farming
+lands about him. In his vocabulary, property meant land. With all the
+rapid wealth then being made through trade and navigation, he had no
+confidence in the permanency of any property but land, views in which he
+was confirmed by the commercial revulsions of which he lived to be a
+witness.
+
+Adams was the possessor, partly by inheritance and partly by purchase,
+of his father's farm, including the house in which he himself was born.
+He had, however, transferred his own residence to a larger and
+handsomer dwelling near by, which had been forfeited by one of the
+refugee tories of the revolution and purchased by him, where he spent
+the next quarter of a century.
+
+In this comfortable home, acquired by himself, he sought consolation for
+his troubled spirit in the cultivation of his lands, in books and in the
+bosom of his family. Mrs. Adams, to her capacities as a house-keeper,
+steward and farm manager, added a brightness and activity of mind and a
+range of reading, such as fully qualified her to sympathize with her
+husband in his public as well as his private career. She shared his
+tastes for books, and as his letters to her are unsurpassed by any
+American letters ever yet published, so hers to him, as well as to
+others, from which a selection has also been published, show her, though
+exhibiting less of nature and more of formality than he, yet worthy of
+admiration and respect as well as of the tenderness with which he always
+regarded her.
+
+To affections strong enough to respond to his, a sympathy equal to his
+highest aspirations, a proud feeling and an enjoyment of it equal to his
+own, she added what is not always found in such company, a flexibility
+sufficient to yield to his stronger will without disturbance to her
+serenity or his, and without the least compromise of her own dignity or
+her husband's respect and deference for her. While she was not ignorant
+of the foibles of his character, and knew how to avail herself of them
+when a good purpose was to be served by it, yet her admiration of his
+abilities, her reliance upon his judgment, her confidence in his
+goodness, and her pride in his achievements, made her always ready to
+yield and to conform. His happiness and honor were always her leading
+object. This union was blessed with children well calculated to add to
+this happiness.
+
+Just at the moment of his retirement from office private grief was added
+to political disappointment by the death of his second son Charles, who
+had grown to manhood, had been married and had settled in New York with
+flattering prospects, but had died under painful circumstances, which
+his father speaks of in a contemporary letter as the deepest affliction
+of his life, leaving a wife and two infant children dependent on him.
+Colonel Smith, an officer of the revolution, who had been Adams'
+secretary of legation at London and who had married his only daughter,
+did not prove in all respects such a son-in-law as he would have wished.
+Smith's pecuniary affairs becoming embarrassed, his father-in-law had
+provided for him by several public appointments, the last of which was
+that of the surveyor of New York, which position he was allowed to hold
+until 1807, when he was removed from it in consequence of his
+implication in Miranda's expedition. Nor did Thomas, the third son,
+though a person of accomplishments and talents, fully answer the hopes
+of his parents.
+
+But all these disappointments were more than made good by the eldest
+son, John Quincy, who subsequently to his recall from the diplomatic
+service abroad, into which Washington had introduced him and in which
+his father, urged by Washington, had promoted him, was chosen one of the
+senators in congress from Massachusetts.
+
+All consolations, domestic or otherwise, at Mr. Adam's command, were
+fully needed. Never did a statesman sink more suddenly,--at a time too
+when his powers of action and inclinations for it seemed
+unimpaired--from a leading position to more absolute political
+insignificance. His grandson tells us that while the letters addressed
+to him in the year prior to March 1st, 1801, may be counted by the
+thousands, those of the next year scarcely numbered a hundred, while he
+wrote even less than he received. Nor was mere neglect the worst of it.
+He sank, loaded with the jibes, the sneers, the execrations even, of
+both political parties into which the nation was divided. In his
+correspondence, which appears to have gradually increased and extended
+itself, Mr. Adams loved to re-explain his theoretical ideas of
+government, on some points of which he pushed Jefferson hard, and which
+the result of the French revolution so far as then developed seemed to
+confirm.
+
+Another subject in which he continued to feel a great interest was
+theology. He had begun as an Arminian, and the more he had read and
+thought, and the older he grew to be, the freer views he took. Though
+clinging with tenacity to the religious institutions of New England, it
+would seem from his correspondence that he finally curtailed his
+theology to the ten commandments and the sermon on the mount. Of his
+views on this point, he gave evidence in his last public act, to which
+we now approach.
+
+Mrs. Adams had died in 1818, but even that shock, severe as it was, did
+not loosen the firm grasp of the husband on life, its enjoyments and its
+duties. When, in consequence of the erection of the district of Maine
+into a State, a convention was to meet in 1820 to revise the
+constitution of Massachusetts, in the framing of which Mr. Adams had
+taken so leading a part, though in his eighty-sixth year, he was chosen
+a delegate by his townsmen. Upon his first appearance, with a form yet
+erect, though tremulous with age, in this Convention, which was
+composed of the very cream of the great minds with which the State
+abounded, Mr. Adams was received by members standing, and with every
+demonstration of affection and esteem; and a series of resolutions were
+forthwith passed, containing an enumeration and warm acknowledgement of
+some of his principal public services, and calling on him to preside.
+But this, while duly acknowledging the compliment, he declined, on the
+score of his age and infirmities. The same cause also prevented his
+taking any active part in the proceedings. Yet he labored to secure a
+modification of the third article of the bill of rights, on the subject
+of public worship and its support, an article which, when originally
+drafting the rest of that instrument, he had passed over to other hands.
+
+But the time had not yet come for such changes as he wished. The old
+puritan feeling was still too great to acknowledge the equal rights,
+political and religious, of other than Christians. Yet, however it might
+be with his colleagues and fellow-citizens, Mr. Adams, in this movement,
+expressed his own ideas. One of his latest letters, written in 1825, and
+addressed to Jefferson, is a remarkable protest against the blasphemy
+laws, so-called, of Massachusetts, and the rest of the Union, as being
+utterly inconsistent with the right of free inquiry and private
+judgment. It is in the letters of Mr. Adams, of which but few have ever
+been published, that his genius as a writer and a thinker, and no less
+distinctly his character as a man, is displayed. Down even to the last
+year of his protracted life, his letters exhibit a wonderful degree of
+vitality, energy, playfulness, and command of language.
+
+As a writer of English--and we may add as a speculative
+philosopher--little as he ever troubled himself with revision and
+correction, he must be placed first among Americans of all the several
+generations to which he belonged, excepting only Franklin; and if
+Franklin excelled him in humor and geniality, he far surpassed Franklin
+in compass and vivacity. Indeed, it is only by the recent publication of
+his letters that his gifts in these respects are becoming well known.
+The first installment of his private letters published during his
+lifetime, though not deficient in these characteristics, yet having been
+written under feelings of great aggravation, and in a spirit of extreme
+bitterness against his political opponents, was rather damaging to him
+than otherwise. In the interval from 1804 to 1812, Mr. Cunningham, a
+maternal relative, had drawn him into a private correspondence in which,
+still smarting under a sense of injury, he had expressed himself with
+perfect unreserve and entire freedom as to the chief events of his
+presidential administration and the character and motives of the parties
+concerned in them.
+
+By a gross breach of confidence, of which Mr. Adams, like other
+impulsive and confiding persons, often had been the victim, those
+letters were sold by Cunningham's heir in 1824, while the writer and
+many of the parties referred to were still alive. They were published as
+a part of the electioneering machinery against John Quincy Adams. They
+called out a violent retort from Colonel Pickering, who had been
+secretary of State to Washington and Adams, till dismissed from office
+by the latter; but though Mr. Jefferson was also severely handled in
+them, they occasioned no interruption to the friendly relation which had
+been re-established between him and Mr. Adams.
+
+Those two leading actors in American politics, at first so co-operative
+and afterward so hostile, again reunited in friendly intercourse, having
+outlived almost all of their fellow-actors, continued to descend hand in
+hand to the grave. Adams lived to see his son president, and to receive
+Jefferson's congratulations on the same. By a remarkable coincidence,
+they both expired on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence, in which they both had taken so active a part, Adams,
+however, being the survivor by a few hours.
+
+Of Adams' personal appearance and domestic character in his old age, his
+grandson gives the following account: "In figure, John Adams was not
+tall, scarcely exceeding middle height, but of a stout, well-knit frame,
+denoting vigor and long life, yet as he grew old inclining more and more
+to corpulence. His head was large and round, with a wide forehead and
+expanded brows. His eye was mild and benignant, perhaps even humorous
+when he was free from emotion, but when excited it fully expressed the
+vehemence of the spirit that stirred within."
+
+"His presence was grave and imposing on serious occasions, but not
+unbending. He delighted in social conversation, in which he was
+sometimes tempted to what he called rodomontade. But he seldom fatigued
+those who heard him; for he mixed so much of natural vigor of fancy and
+illustration with the store of his acquired knowledge, as to keep alive
+their interest for a long time."
+
+"His affections were warm, though not habitually demonstrated toward his
+relatives. His anger, when thoroughly aroused, was for a time extremely
+violent, but when it subsided it left no trace of malevolence behind.
+Nobody could see him intimately without admiring the simplicity and
+truth which shone in his actions, and standing in some awe of the power
+and energy of his will. It was in these moments that he impressed those
+around him with a sense of his greatness. Even the men employed on his
+farm were in the habit of citing instances, some of which have been
+remembered down to the present day."
+
+"At times his vehemence became so great as to make him overbearing and
+unjust. This was apt to happen in cases of pretension and any kind of
+wrong-doing. Mr. Adams was very impatient of cant, or of opposition to
+any of his deeply established convictions. Neither was his indignation
+at all graduated to the character of the individuals who might happen to
+excite it. He had little respect of persons, and would hold an
+illiterate man or raw boy to as heavy a responsibility for uttering a
+crude heresy, as the strongest thinker or the most profound scholar."
+
+The same writer makes the following remarks on his general character:
+"His nature was too susceptible to emotions of sympathy and kindness,
+for it tempted him to trust more than was prudent in the professions of
+some who proved unworthy of his confidence. Ambitious in one sense he
+certainly was, but it was not the mere aspiration for place or power. It
+was a desire to excel in the minds of men by the development of high
+qualities, the love, in short, of an honorable fame, that stirred him to
+exult in the rewards of popular favor. Yet this passion never tempted
+him to change a course of action or to suppress a serious conviction, to
+bend to a prevailing error or to disavow one odious truth."
+
+In these last assertions we do not fully concur. They involve some
+controverted points of history; however, they may be made with far more
+plausibility of Mr. Adams than of the greater portion of political men.
+
+There is much in the life of John Adams worthy of careful consideration.
+He rose from poverty to distinction; he was a capable man, capable of
+filling the highest place in the estimation of his posterity, yet his
+serious faults led to his political ruin. The careful perusal of his
+life will enable one to understand the principles of the two great
+parties of to-day, modified though they be, the fundamental principles
+remaining the same.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS JEFFERSON.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative was born in Virginia, in the year 1743, on
+the 2nd day of April. As young Jefferson was born to affluence and was
+bountifully blessed with all the educational advantages which wealth
+will bring, many of our young readers may say--well, I could succeed,
+perhaps, had I those advantages. We will grant that you could provided
+you took means similar to those used by Jefferson, for while we must
+admit that all cannot be Jeffersons, nor Lincolns, nor Garfields, still
+we are constantly repeating in our mind the words of the poet:--
+
+    "Lives of great men all remind us
+    We can make our lives sublime,
+    And, departing, leave behind us
+    Footprints on the sands of time,"
+
+it has been said that where twenty enter the dry-goods trade nineteen
+will fail and from their despair behold the odd one succeed--utilizing
+the very weapons within their own grasp to bring about his success. This
+is true, not only of the dry-goods trade but of all trades, of all
+professions, and to resume our subject--Jefferson had much with which to
+contend.
+
+He finally attended school at William and Mary College for two years.
+Here he strove to cultivate friendly feelings with all whom he met, with
+excellent success, becoming very popular with both companions and
+teachers. It was while a student that he heard the famous speech of
+Patrick Henry; and those immortal words, "GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME
+DEATH," seemed to kindle within him a patriotic spirit which grew until
+it burst forth in that noble statue to his memory,--the Declaration of
+Independence, which was the work of his pen. He studied law for a time,
+after a two years' college course, when, in 1767 he began its practice.
+
+As Mr. Jefferson is described as tall and spare with gray eyes and red
+hair, surely his success is not due to his personal appearance. At the
+beginning of his practice he was not considered what might be termed
+brilliant, but the fact that he was employed on over two hundred cases
+within the first two years of his practice proves the secret of his
+success to have been his undefatigable energy. It is also stated that he
+rarely spoke in public which shows his good sense in discovering where
+his strength lay,--then pushing on that line to success.
+
+He was elected by his countrymen to the house of Burgesses where he at
+once took a decided stand against parliamentary encroachment. It was in
+this first of his legislative efforts that he brought forward a bill
+tending to the freedom of slaves, provided their masters felt so
+disposed, but this measure was defeated. The house of Burgesses
+appointed him a member of the committee of correspondence. The duty of
+this committee was to disseminate intelligence upon the issues of the
+day, notably the system of taxation which the mother-country was trying
+to impose upon the colonies.
+
+His article entitled: "A Summary View of the Rights of British America,"
+was a masterly production, clearly defining the right of the colonies to
+resist taxation, and it was the principles here set forth that were
+afterwards adopted as the Declaration of Independence. This, paper was
+printed, not only in America, but in England, where its author was
+placed on the roll of treason and brought before parliament. This
+document also placed Jefferson in America among the foremost writers of
+that age; it also showed him to be a bold and uncompromising opponent of
+oppression, and an eloquent advocate of constitutional freedom.
+
+He was sent to the Continental Congress. On the floor he was silent but
+he had the 'reputation of a masterly pen,' says John Adams, and in
+committee was a most influential member. He drafted the Declaration of
+Independence, and on June 28th it was laid before Congress and finally
+adopted, with but a few verbal changes. This document probably has the
+greatest celebrity of any paper of like nature in existence.
+
+He now resigned his seat in Congress to push needed reform in his State
+preparatory to the new order of affairs. The first thing needed was a
+State constitution. Jefferson aided much in the framing of this. He was
+placed on the committee to reorganize the State laws, and to Jefferson
+is due the abolition of Primogenitureship--the exclusive right of the
+first-born to all property of the family. The measure establishing
+religious freedom, whereby people were not to be taxed for the support
+of a religion not theirs, was also the work of his hand. These measures
+were very democratic indeed and owing to the aristocratic views of the
+people at that time, excited great opposition, but they were finally
+passed and since have been law.
+
+Thus it will be seen that Jefferson was the author of many of our
+dearest ideas of equality. In 1778 he procured the passage of a bill
+forbidding future importation of slaves and the next year he was elected
+governor of Virginia, to succeed Patrick Henry. He assumed the duties of
+this office in a most gloomy time. The enemy were preparing to carry the
+war into the South, and Jefferson knew they would find Virginia almost
+defenseless. Her resources were drained to the dregs to sustain
+hostilities in South Carolina and Georgia, and her sea coast was almost
+wholly unprotected. The State was invaded by the enemy several times and
+once the Governor was almost captured by Tarleton.
+
+Jefferson declined a re-election as he perceived that a military leader
+was needed, and he was succeeded by General Nelson. Jefferson was
+appointed one of the Ministers of the Colonies to Europe to assist Adams
+and Franklin in negotiating treaties of commerce. He was the means which
+brought about our system of coins, doing away with the old English
+pounds, shillings and pence, substituting the dollar and fractions of a
+dollar, even down to a cent. He became our Minister to France in 1785 in
+place of Franklin who had resigned. Here he did good service for his
+country by securing the admission into France of tobacco, flour, rice
+and various other American products.
+
+Being offered the head of Washington's cabinet, he accepted it.
+Immediately upon his entrance into the cabinet, in 1790, began the
+struggle between the Federalist and Republican parties, their leaders,
+Hamilton and now Jefferson, both being members of the cabinet. Jefferson
+was probably the real originator of the State sovereignity idea, and the
+constitution did not wholly meet his approval. He thought better of it,
+however, when he became President and felt more forcibly the need of
+authority in such a trying position.
+
+He had just returned from an extended trip through Europe, and he
+contended that the world was governed too much. He was intensely
+Democratic in his belief and as the head of the then rising Republican
+party--now the Democratic--opposed all measures which tended toward
+centralizing in one government, characterizing all such measures as
+leading to monarchy.
+
+Washington was a Federalist, and in all the leading measures gave his
+support to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jefferson's opponent. As it was out of the
+question for Jefferson to remain in the cabinet of an executive wholly
+at variance with him politically, he accordingly resigned in 1793 and
+retired to his farm at 'Monticello' to attend to his private affairs as
+he was embarrassed financially at this time, and his attention was very
+much needed.
+
+In 1796, Washington designing to retire from public service, the two
+great parties decided upon Adams and Jefferson as their
+standard-bearers; the electoral votes being counted, it was found that
+Adams stood first and Jefferson next. Adams was therefore declared
+president and Jefferson, according to existing law, vice-president.
+Then followed the alien and sedition laws and the war demonstrations
+against France by the federal party, which was objected to by the
+Republicans. The bearing of France became so unendurable that Washington
+offered to take his place at the head of the army. Finding all else of
+no avail, the Republicans resorted to the State Arenas; the result was
+the 'Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of '98,' the former of which was
+the work of Jefferson, the latter that of Madison. As is well known
+these were the foundation, years after, of Calhoun's Nullification
+Views. It was a principle of Jefferson, which was never effectually
+settled, until civil war had rent the nation almost in twain.
+
+Happily peace triumphed, and in the campaign that followed, the
+Republicans were successful, Mr. Jefferson becoming president--Aaron
+Burr vice-president. Jefferson's ascension to the presidency caused a
+complete revolution in the politics of the country. The central idea
+around which the party revolved was the diffusion of power among the
+people. To this idea they would bend every question indiscriminately,
+whether it related to a national bank, tariff, slavery, or taxes. It
+held that in the States themselves rested the original authority, that
+in the government lay the power only for acts of a general character.
+Jefferson, their first president, now came to Washington.
+
+President Washington came to the capitol with servants in livery, in a
+magnificent carriage drawn by four cream-colored horses, Jefferson came
+on horseback, hitching his horse to a post while he delivered a fifteen
+minute address. He abolished the presidential levees, and concealed his
+birthday to prevent its being celebrated. He even detested the word
+minister prefixed to one's name, and eschewed breeches, wearing
+pantaloons. It was during his administration that Louisiana was
+purchased, although, according to his own theory, he had no
+constitutional right to do so, but the great benefit derived from this
+purchase soon silenced all opposition.
+
+It was during his administration that the piratical Barbary States were
+cured of their insolence, and in his second term that Burr's trial
+occurred. At the close of this second term he retired to private life to
+become the 'Sage of Monticello.' He now turned his attention to the
+establishing of the University of Virginia. He was a believer in the
+free development of the human powers so far as was consistent with good
+government. He subjected the constitution of the United States to a
+careful scrutiny governed by this theory, and became convinced that the
+doctrine of State sovereignty was right and he fought for it
+persistently when called to the head of the government.
+
+His inaugural address breathed that idea, but when Aaron Burr bearded
+the authority of his government he began to realize the rottenness of
+such a foundation, and when it came to the purchase of Louisiana, his
+doctrine had to be stretched, and he finally became convinced, as he
+expressed it, that the Government must show its teeth.
+
+On July 4th, 1826, at a little past noon, he died, a few hours before
+his political opponent, but fast friend, John Adams. How strange to
+think that about that hour fifty years before they had each signed the
+declaration of the freedom of the country which they had so ably served.
+The granite for his monument lies unquarried nor is its erection needed.
+The Declaration of Independence is a far greater monument than could be
+fashioned from brass or stone.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN MARSHALL.
+
+
+America has been bountifully blessed with great and good men. Washington
+'The father'--I was about to say--'founder of his country'; Jefferson
+who taught us the beauty of plain dress but rich manners; Hamilton who
+placed a tottering treasury upon a strong foundation,--Great indeed were
+all of these, but there was born in Fouquier county, Virginia, on the
+24th day of September, 1755, a child who was to be known to all
+posterity as the great Chief Justice of the United States. This was John
+Marshall.
+
+He was the eldest of a family of fifteen children. In early boyhood he
+took an interest in poetry and was perfectly familiar with Dryden, Pope,
+Milton and Shakespeare. He was for many years full of dreamy romance and
+poetical enthusiasm, and his solitary meditations were usually amid the
+wildest scenery.
+
+After a short college course at West Moreland, where he had as a
+fellow-student James Monroe, and a further classical education under a
+resident clergyman; he, at eighteen, began the study of law, but
+enlisted to fight the British before he obtained a license to practice.
+He soon took a part with his regiment, of which his father was major, in
+the battle of Great Bridge leading, as lieutenant, in a flanking party
+which advanced in the face of a murderous fire and put an end to the
+engagement.
+
+He belonged to the Culpepper Minute-men, who wore green hunting shirts
+with "Liberty or Death" on the bosom in white letters, and who carried
+a banner which displayed a coiled rattlesnake with the motto, "Don't
+tread on me." He took a part in the battle of Brandywine, Germantown and
+Monmouth; he shared the hardships of Valley Forge; in fact saw almost
+continuous service from the time he enlisted at the beginning until the
+glorious end, for which he had so sanguinely waited, came.
+
+Meanwhile he had studied some, and had attended a course of lectures
+delivered by the renowned Mr Wythe at William and Mary College, and had
+secured a license to practice. At the close of hostilities he commenced
+business as an attorney; with marked success from the first.
+
+That extraordinary comprehension and grasp of mind by which difficulties
+were seized and overcome without parade, commended the attention of the
+courts of justice; and his sweet temper and loving ways gained for him a
+host of friends. Such a man, who possessed not only ability but a
+perfect control of himself, MUST SUCCEED. He soon rose to distinction,
+being elected to a seat in the council of the State. He was married in
+1783 to the daughter of the State treasurer and moved to Richmond.
+
+In spite of this removal his old neighbors re-elected him to represent
+their county, and in 1787 he became a member from his adopted county,
+Henrico. As is well-known, the Federal constitution was considered by
+many an approach to monarchy. It was held by Jefferson and many of his
+followers as tending toward that state of things of which they had so
+much to fear. At the Virginia Convention, assembled to discuss the
+constitution drawn up at Philadelphia, where great opposition was
+developed, Mr. Marshall's speech had a crushing effect on its
+assailants. He next became a member from Richmond, that city now being
+entitled to a representative, where he remained for three years.
+
+Virginia was the headquarters of the State rights party, headed by
+Jefferson. Mr. Marshall supported the administration of Washington,
+defining the Federal view so clearly that it carried conviction, yet so
+calmly and with such moderation of tone, that when he retired from that
+body in 1792 he left not an enemy behind. He now devoted himself to his
+profession with unbounded success. While attending to a large legal
+practice, he also frequently appeared at public meetings in support of
+the administration of Washington.
+
+In 1795 he was again a member of the House. In the violent debate over
+Jay's treaty he became its champion, and by a most eloquent speech,
+before a body that had condemned it, he secured an amendment to their
+resolution, reversing their former decision, and the passage of one
+favorable to the policy. Washington offered him a place in his Cabinet,
+but he refused, as it would interfere with his profession; later he was
+offered the mission to France, which he also declined. In 1797 President
+Adams sent another delegation to France, which he accepted, and with
+Pickney and Gerry proceeded to Paris.
+
+Upon his return he immediately resumed his practice, but was urged to
+defend his party. Washington finally prevailed upon him to run for
+Congress, to which he was elected in 1799. Even during the canvass Adams
+offered him a seat on the Supreme Bench, which he declined. Within a few
+weeks from the time of his entrance upon his duties as Congressman, he
+was called upon to announce in that body the death of Washington. His
+words were few, but were ever remembered as producing a profound
+impression.
+
+Washington, the great Federal leader was dead. Virginia had passed the
+resolution of 1798, recording her solemn protest, and the Republicans
+were flushed with the daily increasing revulsion against the Federal
+Government. At this crisis John Marshall appeared in Congress and
+stepped to the front as the leader of his party. In 1800 he was
+appointed Secretary of War. Before he entered upon his duties he is
+placed at the head of the Cabinet as Secretary of State, and a few
+months later his name is sent by the President to Congress, and is
+unanimously confirmed for the position of Chief Justice of the United
+States.
+
+John Marshall has been heretofore recognized as a man of great ability,
+and now he takes a position which he holds for life, and where his
+influence is paramount. On one occasion a young house-keeper was
+swearing lustily because he could find no one to carry his turkey home
+for him. A plain man standing by offered to perform the service, and
+when they arrived at the door the young man asked, 'What shall I pay
+you, sir'? 'O nothing,' replied the old man; 'It was on my way, and no
+trouble.' 'Who is that polite old gentleman,' asked the young man of a
+bystander. The reply was, 'That is the Chief Justice of the United
+States.' The young man drank the bitter cup without further comment.
+
+An eminent writer once said of him: Here is John Marshall, whose mind
+seems to be an inexhaustible quarry from which he draws the materials
+and builds his fabrics rude and Gothic, but of such strength that
+neither time nor force can beat them down; a fellow who would not turn
+off a single step from the right line of his argument, though a paradise
+should rise to tempt him.
+
+What more could be said of him,--only that he died at Philadelphia on
+the 6th of July, 1835; more would be superfluous.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
+
+
+Upon the accession of the Republicans to the control of the government,
+Jefferson ordered the books of Hamilton searched to ascertain what
+charges could be made against him, and to discover the alleged blunders
+and frauds perpetrated by the Federal official while in office. Albert
+Gallatin, himself one of the greatest financiers of his age, undertook
+the task with a hearty relish as he at that time entertained no great
+esteem for the great Federalist. Struck by the almost absolute
+perfection of the system, Gallatin reported to the President that any
+change would certainly injure it and that no blunders or frauds had been
+committed.
+
+This great man was born on one of the West India Islands, January 11th,
+1757. His father failed when he was young and his mother died leaving
+the poor child in actual want. He was taken by friends at Santa Cruz. He
+had no great educational advantages there, but being able to read both
+English and French he devoured all such books as fell in his way. He was
+placed in a counting-house in Santa Cruz and, although he detested the
+business, applied himself diligently to his task and the knowledge here
+gained was no small factor of his future great success as a financier.
+
+He applied every spare moment to study and early began to use his pen.
+In 1772 a hurricane passed through St. Christophers, and an account
+which young Hamilton then wrote for the papers attracted so much
+attention that his friends decided to give him a better chance. They
+accordingly raised the money with which to send him to New York to
+school, and after a few months spent at a grammar school in
+Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he entered Columbia College, New York--then
+called Kings College. Here he began study preparatory to a medical
+course.
+
+About this time his attention became drawn toward the struggle which was
+about to commence between Great Britain and America, and at a public
+meeting he made a short speech which attracted general attention. He was
+now but seventeen years of age, yet his pen was keenly felt in the
+interest of America, through the columns of _Holts Journal_, to which he
+had become a regular contributor. He entered the army as captain of an
+artillery company which he was the chief means of raising, and did good
+service at White Plains, Trenton and Princeton.
+
+He secured this position through the influence of General Schuyler and,
+although but nineteen years of age, he was well qualified for the
+position, having made a study of artillery tactics. His ability had not
+escaped the attention of the army, and he was placed upon Washington's
+staff with rank of lieutenant-colonel. Washington needed some one to
+take charge of his great correspondence,--some one who could think for
+himself. Young as Hamilton was he assumed the entire responsibility of
+chief secretary, besides rendering much valuable assistance as aid. He
+married one of General Schuyler's daughters, and this alliance with one
+of the wealthiest families in the State proved a most fortunate epoch in
+his life. A difference arising between Washington and himself he
+resigned and, although Washington sent an apology, he refused to recall
+his resignation however their mutual esteem was continued. He
+subsequently commanded a brigade at the battle of Yorktown.
+
+He now took up his residence at Albany and began the study of law with
+his wife's father. He was soon licensed to practice, and was chosen one
+of the delegates to the Continental Congress. He realized the necessity
+of vesting more power in congress and secured the adoption, by the State
+of New York, of a resolution urging the amendment of the constitution
+with that object in view. He now moved to New York where he soon
+acquired an immense practice. His efforts in behalf of the constitution
+were untiring and useful.
+
+When Washington became president he selected Hamilton as his Secretary
+of Treasury. It was a wise choice as financial difficulties were the
+most formidable of any in the way of the administration, and no man was
+more capable of bringing order out of chaos than Alexander Hamilton. All
+parties agreed that the debts incurred abroad must be met according to
+contract, but as a large amount of the domestic debt was in the hands of
+men who had bought it for a rise it had been suggested that these
+obligations be settled upon the basis of the amount paid for them by
+their present holders. This measure Hamilton opposed. While
+acknowledging that speculation was an evil, still he saw that such a
+measure would tend to weaken our financial credit. He also brought
+about the assumption by the government of the entire State debt incurred
+during the war. This measure was strongly opposed by Jefferson, and its
+passage had a marked effect on our system tending to centralize
+authority.
+
+It will thus be seen that to Alexander Hamilton belongs no small share
+of founding and shaping the destiny of this powerful country of to-day.
+Like many other great and good men, he was obliged to suffer the slander
+of the press, which charged him with a misappropriation of the public
+money, but as has already been shown in this narrative, it proved
+nothing but a foul story concocted through jealousy and partisan hate,
+and is no longer countenanced. His salary being insufficient for his
+support, he resigned his position and resumed the practice of his
+profession in New York. In the warlike demonstration of 1798 he became,
+upon the death of General Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of all the
+armies of America, but happily the war with France was averted and peace
+restored.
+
+Now we come to the saddest page of American history. We have followed
+this poor homeless boy from childhood; we have seen him rise from
+obscurity to a leading position at the bar, become a gallant soldier and
+the greatest financier in America. And yet, when his country most needs
+his council and help, we see him, at the age of fifty-seven, stricken
+down by an assassin.
+
+Aaron Burr was an ambitious politician. His alleged intrigues with the
+Federalists, whereby he sought to effect the election of himself to the
+presidency instead of Jefferson, the people's choice, cost him the
+confidence of his own party. Knowing New York to be the pivotal State,
+he sought the gubernatorial chair through an independent vote, hoping
+to secure Federal support, as it was conceded that they could not elect
+a candidate of their own. Hamilton, himself as pure as the bright
+sunshine, felt his party to be imposed upon by this intruder who, while
+professing to be a Republican, was seeking to thrust himself upon the
+other party.
+
+At a caucus Hamilton warmly opposed the endorsement of a man whom he
+characterized as dangerous and who had not ought to be trusted with the
+reins of government. Hamilton took no active part in the campaign, but
+his opinion was frequently quoted by those who did, and the result was
+Burr's defeat by Morgan Lewis. Attributing his defeat to Hamilton, and
+feeling him to be his greatest political rival, he early sought a duel
+with him. Hamilton detested this practice, and sought by all honorable
+means, as he wrote to his wife, to avoid it. But finally he accepted,
+not in the spirit of a professed duelist, but in the character of a
+public man. They met on the morning of July 11th, 1804, on the fatal
+field of Weehawken, New Jersey.
+
+At the first fire Hamilton sprang on his tip-toes, and, after a
+convulsive movement, fell forward on his face. At the same time his
+weapon was accidentally discharged, his missile flying wide of its mark.
+Indeed, Hamilton did not fire; in reality, he had resolved not to return
+his antagonist's fire, and never knew that his weapon was discharged, as
+he was insensible when he fell. He died within thirty hours, and his
+funeral was the most imposing ever witnessed in that day. Around the
+name of Hamilton there glows a halo which has brightened in the ages.
+Thus was America robbed of her brave soldier and pure statesman.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES MADISON.
+
+
+The subject of this narrative, James Madison, was born at King George,
+Virginia, March 16th, 1751. His father was a planter, descended from
+John Madison, an Englishman who settled in Virginia about the year 1656.
+The maiden name of his mother was Eleanor Conway. He was the eldest of
+seven children. He received a fairly good education but better still, he
+applied himself very closely at college, so much so as to make him noted
+in this respect; the result was seen in after years.
+
+In 1772 he returned to Virginia and commenced a course of legal study.
+He particularly studied up on public affairs, and in the spring of 1776
+he was elected a member of the Virginia convention from the county of
+Orange, and procured the passage of the substance of an amendment to the
+declaration of rights, by George Mason, which struck out the old term
+'toleration' and inserted a broader exposition of religious rights. In
+the same year he was a member of the general assembly, but lost his
+election in 1777, from his refusal to treat the voters, and the general
+want of confidence in his powers of oratory. Thus, it is seen, that as
+James Madison's natural abilities could not have been very marked, his
+success was the natural result of GREAT EXERTION.
+
+The legislature, however, on meeting in November of the same year,
+elected him a member of the council of the State; and in the winter of
+1779 he was chosen by the assembly a delegate to congress. He took his
+seat in March, 1780, and remained in that body for three years. He
+strongly opposed the issue of paper money by the States, and was in
+favor of a formal recommendation on the part of congress against the
+continuance of the system. As chairman of the committee to prepare
+instructions to the ministers at Versailles and Madrid, in support of
+the claims of the confederacy to western territory and the free
+navigation of the Mississippi, he drew an elaborate and able paper which
+was unanimously adopted by congress. He zealously advocated in 1783 the
+measure proposed to establish a system of general revenue to pay the
+expenses of the war, and as chairman of the committee to which the
+matter was referred, prepared an able address to the State in support of
+the plan, which was adopted by congress and received the warm approval
+of Washington.
+
+The people of Virginia now began to realize the value of his services; a
+striking proof of which is exhibited by the fact that the law rendering
+him inelligible after three years' service in Congress was repealed, in
+order that he might sit during the fourth. On his return to Virginia he
+was elected to the Legislature, and took his seat during 1784. In this
+body he inaugurated the measures relating to a thorough revision of the
+old statutes, and supported the bills introduced by the revisors,
+Jefferson, Wyth, and Pendleton, on the subject of entails, primogeniture
+(exclusive heirship belonging to the first born) and religious freedom.
+
+He aided in the separation of Kentucky from Virginia, and the formation
+of the new State, opposed the further issue of paper money, and favored
+the payment of debts due British creditors. His greatest service at this
+time was his preparation, after the close of the assembly, of a
+"Memorial and Remonstrance" against the project of a general assessment
+for the support of religion, which caused the utter defeat of the
+measure, against which it was directed. In January, 1786, he obtained
+the passage of a bill by the General Assembly inviting the other States
+to appoint commissioners to meet at Annapolis and devise a new system of
+commercial regulations. He was chosen one of the commissioners, and
+attended at Annapolis in September of the same year. Five States only
+were represented, and the commissioners recommended a convention of
+delegates from all the States to meet at Philadelphia, in May, 1787. The
+recommendation was generally adopted and, of course, Madison was chosen
+one of the delegates from Virginia.
+
+The convention assembled and the result was the abrogation of the old
+articles and the formation of the Constitution of the United States.
+Madison was prominent in advocating the Constitution and took a leading
+part in the debates, of which he kept private notes, since published by
+order of congress. His views of a federal government are set forth at
+length in a paper still extant in the hand-writing of Washington, which
+contains the substance of a letter written to Washington by Madison
+before the meeting of the convention, proposing a scheme of thorough
+centralization. The writer declares that he is equally opposed to 'the
+individual independence of the States,' and to 'the consolidation of the
+whole into one simple republic.'
+
+He is nevertheless in favor to invest in congress the power to exercise
+'a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the States,
+as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative.' He says further
+'that the right of coercion should be expressly declared; but the
+difficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective will
+of a State, render it particularly desirable that the necessity of it
+should be precluded.' From these extreme views Madison conscientiously
+departed, but in the convention he supported them with zeal and vigor.
+
+The scheme known as the 'Virginia Plan' was adopted instead, and the
+convention adjourned. The subsequent adoption of the Constitution was in
+a large measure due to a series of essays, now familiar in their
+collected form as "The Federalist." They were commenced in a New York
+newspaper soon after the adjournment of the Convention, and continued to
+appear until June, 1788. The public journals everywhere republished
+them, and it was soon known that they were the work of Hamilton,
+Madison, and Jay. The volume remains the forcible exposition upon the
+side which it espoused. The whole ground is surveyed, generally and in
+detail; the various points at issue are discussed with the utmost
+acuteness, and the advantages of the adoption of the instrument urged
+with logical force and eloquence which place "The Federalist" beside the
+most famous political writings of the old English worthies.
+
+The Virginia convention, of which Madison was a member, assembled in
+June. He had completely overcome his natural diffidence and, although
+deficient as an orator, exerted a powerful influence over his
+associates, contributing as much to the final triumph of the
+constitution as any one in the body. The instrument was adopted by a
+vote of eighty-nine to seventy-nine and the convention closed. The part
+which he had taken in its deliberations very greatly increased Madison's
+reputation; and he was brought forward as a candidate for United States
+Senator but was defeated. He was, however, chosen a member of congress
+and took his seat in that body in 1789.
+
+Alexander Hamilton was at the head of the treasury department and
+Madison was obliged either to support the great series of financial
+measures initiated by the secretary, or distinctly abandon his former
+associate and range himself on the side of the republican opposition. He
+adopted the latter course. Although he had warmly espoused the adoption
+of the constitution, he was now convinced of the necessity of a strict
+construction of the powers which it conferred upon the general
+government. He accordingly opposed the funding bill, the national bank,
+and Hamilton's system of finance generally.
+
+His affection for Washington, and long friendship for Hamilton, rendered
+such a step peculiarly disagreeable to a man of Madison's amiable and
+kindly disposition, but the tone of his opposition did not alienate his
+friends. Occupying, as he did, the middle ground between the violent
+partisans on both sides he labored to reconcile the antagonism of the
+two parties, and always retained the same cordial regard for Washington.
+
+On Jefferson's return from France, Madison was solicited to accept the
+mission and it was kept open for twelve months awaiting his decision. He
+declined the place, as he afterwards did the position of Secretary of
+State on the retirement of Jefferson, from a firm conviction that the
+radical antagonism of views between himself and a majority of the
+members of the cabinet would render his acceptance of either office
+fruitful in misunderstandings and collisions.
+
+He remained in congress, becoming thoroughly identified with the
+Republicans, and soon became the avowed leader in congress. In 1794 he
+gave his full support to its foreign policy by moving a series of
+resolutions, based upon the report of Jefferson, advocating a
+retaliatory policy toward Great Britain, and commercial discriminations
+in favor of France. These resolutions he supported in a speech of great
+ability. In March, 1797, his term expired, and he returned to Virginia.
+
+The insulting treatment of the American envoys to France and the war
+message of President Adams were about to be followed by the passage of
+the alien and sedition laws. The Republicans vainly tried to stem the
+popular current in favor of the measures of the administration. The
+passing of the alien and sedition laws in July, 1798, gave them the
+first opportunity to make a stand. Opposition to even these violent
+measures was however ineffectual in the Federal legislature; and the
+Republican leaders determined to resort to the State arenas for the
+decisive struggle.
+
+It commenced in Kentucky, and resulted there in the adoption of a series
+of resolutions, which were followed, in December, 1798, by similar
+resolves of the Virginia Assembly. The latter, now known as "the
+resolutions of 1798-'9," were drawn up by James Madison, not then a
+member. They declared the determination of the Assembly to defend the
+Constitution of the United States, but to resist all attempts to enlarge
+the authority of the federal compact by forced constructions of general
+clauses, as tending to consolidation, the destruction of the liberties
+of the States, and finally to a monarchy.
+
+In case of a "deliberate, palpable, and dangerous" exercise of powers
+not clearly granted to the General Government, the States had a right to
+interpose; and as the passing of the alien and sedition laws was such an
+infraction of right, the assembly protested against those laws. The
+seventh resolution called upon the other States to join with the State
+of Virginia 'in declaring, as it does hereby declare, that the acts
+aforesaid are unconstitutional, and that the necessary and proper
+measures will be taken by each for co-operating with this State in
+maintaining unimpaired the authorities, rights and liberties reserved to
+the States respectively, or to the people.'
+
+The resolutions passed the House by a vote of 100 to 63, and were duly
+communicated to the several States of the Union. They met with little
+favor, especially in the Northern States. Massachusetts and New England
+generally remonstrated against them, and declared the obnoxious laws
+both constitutional and expedient. This drew forth, in the winter of
+1799-1800, Madison's "Report" in defence of his resolutions. This
+elaborate paper subjected the resolves to an exhaustive analysis and
+defended them with masterly vigor. It is the most famous of his
+political writings and will rank with the greatest state papers written
+in America.
+
+Although the resolutions met with an unfavorable reception throughout
+the States, they exerted a powerful influence on public opinion.
+Virginia had shown how deeply in earnest she was by directing the
+establishment of two arsenals, and an armory sufficiently large to store
+10,000 muskets and other arms; but a wholesome change in the sentiment
+of the country happily restored good feeling and softened down all
+bitterness.
+
+The alien and sedition laws found few supporters ultimately, and
+Madison's views were fully vindicated. The revulsion against the Federal
+party and in favor of the Republicans, terminated in the election of
+Jefferson, who entered upon the presidency in 1801. Madison was
+Secretary of State during Jefferson's entire administration, and his
+opinions on public affairs closely agreed with those of the President.
+
+He became still more popular with, and acceptable to, his party and
+toward the close of Jefferson's second term was generally spoken of as
+his successor. A caucus of the majority of the Republican members of
+Congress was finally held, and Madison was nominated. This met with
+bitter opposition from a wing of the party, headed by John Randolph, who
+were friendly to the nomination of Monroe. They published a caustic
+'Protest' against the action of the caucus and denounced Madison for his
+'want of energy,' his connection with the 'Federalist,' and his report
+upon the Yazoo claims.
+
+His friends defended him against all charges and retorted so strongly
+upon the authors of the "Protest" that they were silenced. The action of
+the caucus was generally approved by the party, and Madison was elected
+by a vote of 123 out of 175, and took his seat as president, March 4,
+1809.
+
+President Madison entered upon his duties at a crisis in public affairs
+which required the utmost foresight, resolution and prudence. Great
+Britain and the United States were on the verge of war. In 1807 the long
+series of wrongs inflicted by England upon the commerce of America, and
+the rights of her seaman, had been consummated by the affair of the
+Leopard and Chesapeake. This wanton insult had thrown the country into
+violent commotion, and occasioned the embargo act, which had been
+succeeded by the non-intercourse act, prohibiting all commerce with
+France and England, until the decrees of the French emperor and the
+British orders in council in relation to the seizure of neutrals and
+the impressment of seamen were repealed.
+
+The first of the British cabinet did not encourage peace. Mr. Erskine,
+the English minister, in promising reparation for the affair of the
+Chesapeake, and a repeal of the obnoxious orders in council, on
+condition of a renewal of intercourse on the part of the United States,
+was declared to have exceeded his authority, and was recalled. He was
+succeeded by Mr. Jackson who was authorized to enter into a commercial
+treaty, but speedily became embroiled with the Secretary of State. The
+president directed the secretary to have no further communication with
+him, and soon afterward requested his recall. This was complied with,
+but no censure was visited upon the envoy, and no other was sent in his
+place.
+
+In May, 1810, congress approved the course of the executive, declared
+the official communications of Mr. Jackson highly indecorous and
+insolent, and passed a new act of non-intercourse. This provided that if
+either France or England repealed her hostile decree, and the other did
+not within three months do likewise, then intercourse should be resumed
+with the one, while with the other non-intercourse should be persisted
+in.
+
+In August the French minister for Foreign Affairs gave notice to the
+American minister that the Berlin and Milan decrees had been revoked by
+the Emperor; and in November Madison issued a proclamation declaring the
+fact, and announcing that the act of non-intercourse would be revived as
+to Great Britain unless her orders in council should be revoked within
+three months from the date of the proclamation.
+
+The British government resisted this demand, on the ground that there
+was no official evidence of the repeal of the French decrees, and the
+act of non-intercourse was accordingly declared in full force against
+Great Britain. In March, 1811, the Emperor Napoleon disavowed the
+statement of the Duke of Cadore, and declared that "the decrees of
+Berlin and Milan were the fundamental laws of the empire." American
+vessels had been seized and held by France even after the president's
+proclamation, and every overture on the part of the American minister at
+Paris toward the re-establishment of friendly relations between the two
+countries was viewed with indifference and utterly failed. The country
+was slowly but surely drifting toward a war, which no exertions on the
+part of the administration seemed adequate to prevent.
+
+Madison pushed his pacific views to an extent that proved displeasing to
+many of the most prominent men of the Republican party. Bills were
+passed for augmenting the army, repairing and equipping ships of war,
+organizing and arming the militia, and placing the country in an
+attitude to resist an enemy; for all which congress appropriated
+$1,000,000.
+
+Madison acquiesced in this policy with extreme reluctance, but on June 1,
+1812, transmitted a special message to congress in which he reviewed
+the whole controversy, and spoke in strong terms of the aggressions of
+Great Britain upon commercial rights. The act declaring war between
+Great Britain and America speedily followed. The president gave it his
+approval on June 18, and promptly issued his proclamation calling upon
+the people to prepare for the struggle, and to support the government.
+
+A short delay would probably have defeated the policy of the war party,
+and re-opened the old negotiations. A decree of the French emperor had
+been exhibited to the United States minister to France, dated April 28,
+1811, which declared the definite revocation of the Berlin and Milan
+decrees, from and after November 1, 1810. In consequence of this, Great
+Britain, on June 23, within five days after the declaration of war,
+repealed the obnoxious orders in council in relation to the rights of
+neutrals, and thus removed one of the main grounds of complaint on the
+part of the American government.
+
+On June 26, before the course of the British Cabinet was known in
+America, Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State, wrote to Mr. Russell proposing
+the terms of armistice. These were a repeal of the orders in council,
+with no illegal blockades substituted, and a discontinuance of the
+impressment of seamen. In the latter part of August, Mr. Russell, our
+representative at London, received from the English Government a
+definite refusal to accede to these propositions, as 'on various grounds
+absolutely inadmissible,' he therefore returned to the United States.
+
+In September Admiral Warren arrived at Halifax. In addition to his naval
+command, he was invested with powers to negotiate a provisional
+accommodation with the United States. A correspondence on the subject
+ensued between himself and Mr. Monroe, as the representatives of the two
+countries. The admiral proposed an immediate cessation of hostilities,
+with a view to the peaceful arrangement of the points at issue.
+
+Monroe replied that his government was willing to accede to this
+proposition, provided Warren was authorized and disposed to negotiate
+terms for suspending in the future the impressment of American seamen.
+The British Government refused to relinquish the claim to this right and
+nothing remained but war.
+
+On March 4, 1813, Madison entered upon his second term of service. He
+had received 128 electoral votes; his opponent DeWitt Clinton, 89 votes.
+The congressional elections had resulted in a large majority in favor of
+the administration, and the war policy seemed to be acceptable to a
+large majority of the people, though a strong party was opposed to it,
+and endeavored to obstruct the measures necessary to the vigorous
+prosecution of hostilities. The war commenced in earnest with the
+appearance, in 1813, of a British fleet in Chesapeake Bay, and in March
+the whole coast of the United States, with the exception of Rhode
+Island, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, was declared in a state of
+blockade. The long series of engagements on land and water during the
+war which followed, find their proper place in the general history of
+our country.
+
+In March, 1813, soon after the commencement of hostilities, the Russian
+minister to the United States communicated to the American government a
+proposal from the Emperor Alexander to mediate between the belligerents.
+The proposition was accepted, and the president appointed commissioners
+to go to St. Petersburg to negotiate under the mediation of the emperor.
+Great Britain declined the Russian mediation in September; but in
+November the American government was informed that that power was
+prepared to negotiate the terms of a treaty of peace.
+
+Steps were at once taken to meet this proposal. Mr. Clay and Mr. Russell
+were added to the commission previously appointed, and in January, 1814,
+joined their associates in Europe. In August of the same year the
+country was deeply aroused by the attack on the capitol. A British force
+of 5,000 men ascended the Chesapeake, landed on the shores of the
+Patuxent, and marched on Washington. The few troops hastily collected
+were wholly unable to offer any effective resistance and retired before
+the enemy, who proceeded to the city, burned the capitol, the
+president's house, and other public buildings, and returned without loss
+to their ships. The president and several members of his cabinet were in
+the American camp, but were compelled to abandon the city in order to
+avoid capture.
+
+The enemy gained little by their movement, and the wanton outrage only
+increased the bitterness of the people. Among the public occurrences of
+the year 1814, the meeting of the Hartford convention, in opposition to
+the continuance of the war, occupies a prominent place. The victory at
+New Orleans, however, and the intelligence of the conclusion of the
+treaty of peace, terminated the popular indignation. A treaty of peace
+had been signed by the United States commissioners at Ghent, on December
+4, 1814, and being communicated by the president to the senate, was
+ratified by that body in February, 1815.
+
+It was silent on the paramount question of impressment, and left the
+commercial regulations between the two countries for subsequent
+negotiation. But the country was tired of the war, and the treaty was
+hailed with acclamation. In this general joy no one person joined more
+heartily than did Madison. He had acquiesced reluctantly to the
+commencement of hostilities, and had longed for peace since the
+beginning. The country came out of a war, which cost her 30,000 lives
+and $1,000,000, stronger and more honored than before; thoroughly
+convinced of her own power and resources, and regarded with increased
+respect by all the nations of the world.
+
+In 1815 a commercial treaty was concluded with Great Britain based upon
+a policy of perfect reciprocity. The subjects of impressment and
+blockades were not embraced in it. The return of peace disbanded the
+organized opposition to the administration, and the remainder of
+Madison's term was undisturbed by exciting events.
+
+In April, 1816, congress incorporated a national bank with a capital of
+$35,000,000, to continue for twenty years. The president had vetoed a
+similar bill in January of the preceding year, but now approved of it,
+from a conviction that the derangement of the currency made it
+necessary. It encountered strong opposition, but was supported by Henry
+Clay and other friends of the president, and passed both houses.
+
+In December, 1816, Madison sent in his last annual message to congress.
+Its recommendations were considered judicious and liberal, and secured
+the general approbation of the country.
+
+On March 4, 1817, his long official relations with the country
+terminated, and he retired to his farm at Montpelier, Virginia. In this
+pleasant retreat he passed the remainder of his days in agricultural
+pursuits. Like most of our famous men, his matrimonial connection was a
+source of great advantage to him. During his later years, in spite of
+his ill-health, Madison still busied himself in service to his
+neighbors.
+
+While at school, for MONTHS TOGETHER, he had slept but three hours out
+of the twenty-four. He was not an orator naturally; many others of his
+schoolmates, it is stated, were far superior to him in natural
+abilities. Why, then, did he succeed, while so many others failed? The
+strong feature whereby he won success was, like that of many others, his
+capacity for HARD WORK.
+
+As to Madison's principles, it will be remembered that he was defeated
+in 1777, because he refused to treat the people to liquor. In 1829 he
+sat in the Virginia Convention to reform the old constitution. When he
+rose to utter a few words the members left their seats and crowded
+around the venerable figure dressed in black, with his thin gray hair
+powdered as in former times, to catch the low whisper of his voice. This
+was his last appearance in public.
+
+If not endowed with the very first order of ability, Madison had trained
+his mind until it was symmetrical and vigorous. An unfailing accuracy
+and precision marked the operation of his faculties. He was naturally
+deficient in powers of oratory, and yet made himself one of the most
+effective speakers of his time, although the epoch was illustrated by
+such men in his own State as Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George
+Mason and Edmund Pendleton, to say nothing of Jefferson and Monroe.
+
+Jefferson's testimony on this point is strong: He says: "Mr. Madison
+came into the house in 1776, a new member, and young; which
+circumstances, concurring with his extreme modesty, prevented his
+venturing himself in debate before his removal to the council of state
+in November, 1777. Thence he went to Congress, then consisting of but
+few members. Trained in these successive schools, he acquired a habit of
+self-possession which placed at ready command the rich resources of his
+luminous mind, and of his extensive information, acquired by INTENSE
+application, which rendered him eventually the first of every assembly
+of which he afterward became a member."
+
+"Never wandering from his subject into vain declamation, but pursuing it
+closely, in language pure, classical, and copious, always soothing the
+feelings of his adversaries by civilities and softness of expression. He
+steadily rose to the high station which he held in the great national
+convention of 1787. In that of Virginia which followed, he sustained the
+new constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm against the
+logic of George Mason, and the burning eloquence of Mr. Henry. With
+these consummate powers was united a pure and spotless virtue which no
+calumny has ever attempted to sully."
+
+From his earliest years he was an intense scholar. His memory was
+singularly tenacious, and what he clearly understood was ever afterward
+retained. He thus laid up that great store of learning which, in the
+conventions of 1787-8 especially proved so effective, and later made him
+president. After Washington, no public man of his time was more widely
+known or more highly loved and respected.
+
+The public confidence in, and respect for his honesty and singleness of
+aim toward the good of the country ripened into an affectionate
+attachment. His bearing and address were characterized by simplicity and
+modesty. He resembled a quiet student, rather than the head of a great
+nation. He was a perfect gentleman.
+
+At another time Jefferson said of him: "From three and thirty years'
+trial I can say conscientiously that I do not know IN THE WHOLE WORLD a
+man of purer integrity, more dispassionate, disinterested, and devoted
+to true republicanism; nor could I in the whole scope of America and
+Europe point out an abler head." What more could be said? O that we
+could have such a monument left to mark our memory.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES MONROE.
+
+
+The fifth president of the United States was a native of the grand Old
+Dominion, being born in Westmoreland county, Virginia, April 28, 1758.
+Like his predecessor, Madison, he was the son of a planter. Another
+strange incident:--Within sight of Blue Ridge in Virginia, lived three
+presidents of the United States, whose public career commenced in the
+revolutionary times and whose political faith was the same throughout a
+long series of years. These were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and
+James Monroe.
+
+In early youthhood Monroe received a good education, but left school to
+join the army and soon after was commissioned a lieutenant. He took an
+active part in the campaign on the Hudson, and in the attack on Trenton,
+at the head of a small detachment, he captured one of the British
+batteries. On this occasion he received a ball in the shoulder, and was
+promoted to a captaincy. As aide-de-camp to Lord Sterling, with the rank
+of major, he served in the campaign of 1777 and 1778, and distinguished
+himself in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Monmouth.
+
+Leaving the army, he returned to Virginia and commenced the study of law
+under Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of the State. When the British
+appeared soon afterward in the State, Monroe exerted himself to the
+utmost in organizing the militia of the lower counties; and when the
+enemy proceeded southward, Jefferson sent him as military commissioner
+to the army in South Carolina.
+
+In 1782, he was elected to the assembly of Virginia from the county of
+King George, and was appointed by that body, although but twenty-three
+years of age, a member of the executive council. In 1783 he was chosen a
+delegate to congress for a period of three years, and took his seat on
+December 13th. Convinced that it was impossible to govern the people
+under the old articles of confederation, he advocated an extension of
+the powers of congress, and in 1785 moved to invest in that body power
+to regulate the trade between the States.
+
+The resolution was referred to a committee of which he was chairman, and
+a report was made in favor of the measure. This led to the convention of
+Annapolis, and the subsequent adoption of the Federal Constitution.
+Monroe also exerted himself in devising a system for the settlement of
+the public lands, and was appointed a member of the committee to decide
+the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. He strongly opposed the
+relinquishment of the right to navigate the Mississippi river as
+demanded by Spain.
+
+Once more we see the value of a proper and elevating marriage, as a
+feature in the success of our great men. In 1785 he married a daughter
+of Peter Kortright, a lady of refinement and culture. He, being
+inelligible for the next three years according to the laws, settled in
+Fredericksburg.
+
+In 1787 he was re-elected to the general assembly, and in 1788 was
+chosen a delegate to the Virginia convention to decide upon the adoption
+of the Federal Constitution. He was one of the minority who opposed the
+instrument as submitted, being apprehensive that without amendment it
+would confer too much authority upon the general government. The course
+of the minority in Congress was approved by the great mass of the
+population of the Old Dominion, and Monroe was chosen United States
+Senator in 1790. In the Senate he became a strong representative of the
+anti-Federal party, and acted with it until his term expired in 1794.
+
+In May of that year he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France,
+and was received in Paris with enthusiastic demonstrations of respect.
+His marked exhibition of sympathy with the French Republic displeased
+the administration. John Jay had been sent to negotiate a treaty with
+England, and the course pursued by Monroe was considered injudicious, as
+tending to throw serious obstacles in the way of the proposed
+negotiations. On the conclusion of the treaty his alleged failure to
+present it in its true character to the French government excited anew
+the displeasure of the cabinet; and in August, 1796, he was recalled
+under an informal censure.
+
+On his return to America he published a 'View of the conduct of the
+Executive in the Foreign Affairs of the United States,' which widened
+the breach between him and the administration, but socially Monroe
+remained upon good terms with both Washington and Jay.
+
+He was Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802 and at the close of his
+term was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the French government to
+negotiate, in conjunction with the resident minister, Mr. Livingston,
+for the purchase of Louisiana, or a right of depot for the United
+States on the Mississippi. Within a fortnight after his arrival in Paris
+the ministers secured, for $15,000,000, the entire territory of Orleans
+and district of Louisiana.
+
+In the same year he was commissioned Minister Plenipotentiary to
+England, and endeavored to conclude a convention for the protection of
+neutral rights, and against the impressment of seamen. In the midst of
+these negotiations he was directed to proceed to Madrid as Minister
+Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to adjust the difficulties between the
+United States and Spain, in relation to the boundaries of the new
+purchase of Louisiana. In this he failed, and in 1806 he was recalled to
+England to act with Mr. Pickney in further negotiation for the
+protection of neutral rights. On the last day of that year a treaty was
+concluded, but because of the omission of any provision against the
+impressment of seamen, and its doubtfulness in relation to other leading
+points the president sent it back for revisal. All efforts to attain
+this failed and Monroe returned to America.
+
+The time was approaching for the election of a president, and a
+considerable body of the Republican party had brought Monroe forward as
+their candidate, but the preference of Jefferson for Madison was well
+known and of course had its influence. Monroe believed that the
+rejection of the treaty and the predilection expressed for his rival
+indicated hostility on the part of the retiring President, and a
+correspondence on the subject ensued.
+
+Jefferson candidly explained his course and assured him that his
+preference was based solely upon solicitude for the success of the
+party, the great majority of which had declared in the favor of Madison.
+The misunderstanding ceased and Monroe withdrew from the canvass. In
+1810 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in
+1811 once more Governor of the State.
+
+In the same year he was appointed Secretary of State by President
+Madison, and after the capture of the capitol in 1814, he was appointed
+to take charge of the war department, being both Secretary of State and
+Secretary of War at once. He found the treasury exhausted and the
+national credit at the lowest ebb, but he set about the task of infusing
+order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed
+an increase of 40,000 men in the army by levying recruits throughout the
+whole country.
+
+His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans, and
+finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private
+means as subsidary to the credit of the Government, and enabled the city
+to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential
+adviser of President Madison in the measures for the re-establishment of
+the public credit of the country and the regulation of the foreign
+relations of the United States, and continued to serve as Secretary of
+State until the close of Madison's term in 1817.
+
+In that year he succeeded to the Presidency himself, by an electoral
+vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party now generally
+known as Democratic.
+
+His Cabinet was composed of some of the ablest men in the country in
+either party. Soon after his inauguration President Monroe made a tour
+through the Eastern and Middle States, during which he thoroughly
+inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications and garrisons; reviewed
+military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the
+capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities.
+
+On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In
+every point of view this journey was a success. Party lines seemed about
+to disappear and the country to return to its long past state of union.
+The President was not backward in his assurances of a strong desire on
+his part that such should be the case. The course of the administration
+was in conformity to these assurances, and secured the support of an
+overwhelming majority of the people.
+
+The great majority of the recommendations in the President's message
+were approved by large majorities. The tone of debate was far more
+moderate; few of the bitter speeches which had been the fashion in the
+past were uttered, and this period has passed into history as the "Era
+of good feeling." Among the important events of the first term of
+President Monroe was the consummation in 1818 of a treaty between the
+United States and Great Britain in relation to the Newfoundland
+fisheries--the interpretation of the terms of which we have of late
+heard so much; the restoration of slaves and other subjects; also the
+admission into the Union of the States of Mississippi, Illinois and
+Maine; in 1819 Spain ceded to the United States her possessions in East
+and West Florida with the adjacent islands.
+
+In 1820 Monroe was re-elected almost unanimously, receiving 231 out of
+the 232 electoral votes. On August 10th, 1821, Missouri became one of
+the United States, after prolonged and exciting debates, resulting in
+the celebrated "Missouri Compromise," by which slavery was permitted in
+Missouri but prohibited FOREVER elsewhere north of parallel thirty-six
+degrees and thirty minutes. Other events of public importance during the
+second term of President Monroe were the recognition in 1822 of the
+independence of Mexico, and the provinces in South America, formerly
+under the dominion of Spain; and the promulgation in his message of
+December 2, 1823, of the policy of 'neither entangling ourselves in the
+broils of Europe, nor suffering the powers of the old world to interfere
+with the affairs of the new,' which has become so famous as the "Monroe
+Doctrine." On this occasion the president declared that any attempt on
+the part of foreign powers to extend their system to any part of this
+hemisphere would be regarded by the United States as dangerous to our
+peace and prosperity, and would certainly be opposed.
+
+On March 4, 1825, Monroe retired from office and returned to his
+residence at Oak Hill in Virginia.
+
+He was chosen a justice of the peace, and as such sat in the county
+court. In 1829 he became a member of the Virginia convention to revise
+the constitution, and was chosen to preside over the deliberations of
+that body but he was obliged, on account of ill-health, to resign his
+position in that body and return to his home.
+
+Although Monroe had received $350,000 for his public services alone, he
+was greatly harrassed with creditors toward the latter part of his life.
+Toward the last he made his home with his son-in-law, Samuel L.
+Gouverneur of New York city, where he was originally buried, but in 1830
+he was removed to Richmond with great pomp and re-interred in Holleywood
+Cemetery.
+
+The subject of this sketch held the reins of government at an important
+time and administered it with prudence, discretion, and a single eye to
+the general welfare. He went further than any of his predecessors in
+developing the resources of the country. He encouraged the army,
+increased the navy, augmented the national defences, protected
+commerce, approved of the United States Bank, and infused vigor into
+every department of the public service.
+
+His honesty, good faith, and simplicity were generally acknowledged, and
+disarmed the political rancor of the strongest opponents. Madison
+thought the country had never fully appreciated the robust understanding
+of Monroe. In person, Monroe was tall and well-formed, with light
+complexion and blue eyes. The expression of his countenance was an
+accurate index of his simplicity, benevolence, and integrity. The
+country never fully appreciated Monroe, partly on account of his never
+having gained distinction as an orator.
+
+
+
+
+LEWIS CASS.
+
+
+A man worthy of no small attention was Lewis Cass. Born at Exeter, New
+Hampshire, October 9th, 1782. He served in the war of 1812, rising to
+the rank of major in the army. He was a school-fellow with Daniel
+Webster, became a school teacher at Wilmington, Delaware, and walking
+from that place to Ohio, where his parents moved, began the practice of
+law in Zanesville in 1802.
+
+In 1806 he married and soon after was elected to the legislature of
+Ohio. He performed a most conspicuous part in the Burr trial, favoring
+the law which caused the arrest of the supposed conspirator. He became a
+colonel in the war of 1812, being included in the surrender of General
+Hull, of Detroit, and was instrumental in bringing about that General's
+arrest on the charge of cowardice and treason. He was afterward
+exchanged and served as aid to General Harrison in the battle of the
+Thames. He was appointed military governor of Michigan in the autumn of
+1813, having risen to the position of Brigadier General.
+
+In 1815 he purchased for $12,000 the whole plat of Detroit, and the
+subsequent rise made him immensely rich. He became Secretary of War
+under Jackson in 1831. He next became minister to France in 1842. Three
+years after this he was elected United States senator from Michigan, and
+resigned in 1848 to become a candidate for the presidency, but a
+division in his party caused the election of Taylor. He was then
+re-elected to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation, and again
+re-elected in 1854 for a full term of six years. He supported measures
+favorable to the promotion of slavery notwithstanding the Michigan
+legislature had instructed him to vote otherwise. He favored Douglass'
+Kansas-Nebraska bill.
+
+He warmly favored Buchanan's nomination and became his Secretary of
+State, but promptly resigned when the president refused to reinforce
+Fort Sumter; thus closing a career of over fifty years of almost
+continuous public service. He, however, gave his support from this time
+to the Union and lived to see that triumphant suppression of treason. He
+died on the 18th day of June, 1866. He was a man of pure integrity,
+great ability, a fine scholar and an effective public speaker. He was
+exceedingly generous in all worthy petitions which his great wealth
+enabled him to gratify unsparingly. He was also an author of some note.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN C. CALHOUN.
+
+
+The father of John C. Calhoun was born in Ireland; his mother was the
+daughter of an Irish Presbyterian, a lady of great worth. Most of our
+illustrious men owe their success to a noble mother, and so it was with
+Calhoun. He was early taught to read the Bible, and his parents sought
+to impress upon him their Calvinistic doctrines.
+
+As a child he was grave and thoughtful, and at the age of thirteen he
+studied history so perseveringly as to impair his health. His father
+died about this time, and a glimpse of his loving disposition can be
+obtained from the fact that notwithstanding that he greatly desired an
+education, still he would not leave the farm until assured of the means
+of prosecuting his studies without impairing his mother's comfort.
+Consequently he had few of the advantages to which systematic schooling
+is conducive until late in youth. He, however, made a satisfactory
+arrangement with his family, who agreed to furnish him money for a
+course of seven years.
+
+He had decided to study law, but declared that he preferred being a
+common planter to a half-educated lawyer. He soon entered Yale College,
+where he graduated with distinction. President Dwight is said to have
+remarked 'That young man has ability enough to be President of the
+United States and will become one yet.' Before returning home he spent
+eighteen months in the law-school at Litchfield, Connecticut. He also
+cultivated extempore speaking, and finally returned South to finish his
+studies.
+
+Being admitted to the bar he began practice; in 1808 was elected to the
+Legislature, and in 1811 to Congress. The war party had gained complete
+control of the House, and a speaker was chosen by the Democratic party.
+Calhoun was placed on the Committee of Foreign Relations, and he framed
+the report that the time had come to choose between tame submission and
+bold resistance. Calhoun was chosen chairman of this committee, and was
+a staunch supporter of the administration throughout. The increasing
+financial distress led to the National Bank debates, in which he was a
+leading figure. The necessity of this institution being admitted, to
+Calhoun was intrusted entire management of the bill, and to him is due
+the passage of the charter of the bank.
+
+He was a most efficient agent of internal improvements, carrying a bill
+through the House by a vote of 86 to 84, authorizing a million and a
+half to be paid by the United States bank and the income on seven
+millions more to be devoted to internal improvements. This bill passed
+the Senate twenty to fifteen, but was vetoed by the president, denying
+the authority of congress to appropriate money for any such purpose. He
+next became Secretary of War, under Monroe. He found the war department
+in a demoralized condition--bills to the amount of $50,000 outstanding.
+These Calhoun promptly settled and secured the passage of a bill
+reorganizing the staff of the army. President Monroe bringing before the
+cabinet the question of whether he should sign the Missouri Compromise,
+Calhoun gave it as his opinion that it was constitutional, supporting
+the view that it was the duty of the president to sign the bill.
+
+He was very seriously thought of as Monroe's successor, the great State
+of Pennsylvania supporting him at first, but General Jackson's great
+military fame won for him the nomination, and Calhoun was almost
+unanimously selected for vice-president.
+
+The tariff question was an all-absorbing issue, and on this question the
+Democrats divided--the northern wing being for protection, under the
+lead of Martin Van Buren; while the South was unanimous for free trade,
+led by Calhoun. A rupture between the president and Mr. Calhoun now
+arose; this and other causes led to Mr. Calhoun's distrust of the
+president, and the belief that he could not be depended upon to settle
+the tariff question; therefore he brought out his nullification
+doctrine.
+
+This doctrine was founded on the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of
+1798-9 which declared the constitution to be a compact, each State
+forming an integral part. It also declared that the government created
+by the compact was not made the final judge, each party having a right
+to ratify or annul that judgment as an individual State, that is, such
+laws as were deemed unconstitutional. This doctrine he prepared, and the
+paper was presented to the legislature where it became known as the
+South Carolina Exposition. The next we see of it is in the Senate of the
+United States, where the doctrine is brought forward by Mr. Hayne, which
+led to his world-famed debate with Mr. Webster.
+
+Then followed the passage of the tariff bill and the nullification act,
+whereby South Carolina signified her determination to resist the laws;
+and the final compromise measure of Henry Clay which happily settled the
+difficulty at this time. Calhoun was now a senator and soon formed one
+of the powerful trio in opposition to president Jackson. He
+characterized Jackson's distribution of the surplus left by the United
+States bank as an attempt to seize onto the power of Congress and unite,
+in his own hands, the sword and purse.
+
+He declared that he had placed himself with the minority to serve his
+gallant State, nor would he turn on his heel if thereby he could be
+placed at the head of the government. He thought that corruption had
+taken such a hold of it that any man who attempted reform would not be
+sustained. The American Anti-slavery Society having sent tracts
+denunciatory to slavery throughout the South, and as it was believed
+that such measures had a tendency to incite the slaves to insurrection,
+Calhoun brought in a bill subjecting to severe punishment any postmaster
+who should knowingly receive any such matter for distribution in any
+State which should pass a law prohibiting the circulation of such. The
+bill failed on a final vote, twenty-five to nineteen.
+
+He maintained that Congress had no jurisdiction over the subject of
+slavery; that it was a recognized institution; that the inequality of
+the negro was manifest; that in slavery they held their true position
+and to change their condition was to place them wholly dependent upon
+the State for support. Calhoun, believed that the relations between the
+races was right, morally and politically, and demanded that the
+institution of slavery be protected.
+
+The bill recommended by Jackson, to restrict the sale of public lands to
+actual settlers and that in limited quantities, drew from him a most
+fiery speech. He claimed that the measure was really in the interest of
+speculators who had loaded themselves with land, and whose interest now
+was to restrict the sale and thus enhance the price of their ill-gotten
+domain. He also claimed that people high in office had speculated
+largely, even some in near relation to the president.
+
+This brought from Jackson a letter that he should either retract his
+words or bring the matter before Congress as an act of impeachment. The
+sole power of impeachment lies within the House of Representatives, and,
+while the senate had previously passed an act denouncing Jackson's
+methods, yet the House of Representatives was overwhelmingly in his
+favor, and he must have known that no impeachment could pass this body.
+
+Jackson realized that such charges needed his attention. Calhoun read
+his letter before the senate pronouncing it a cowardly attempt to
+intimidate, and repeated his charges; stating that not only persons high
+in authority were implied in the charge, but the president's nephew,
+calling his name, was a large speculator.
+
+During the administration of Van Buren came the great financial crash of
+our history; the aggregate of the failures in New York and New Orleans
+alone amounting to $150,000,00. All this trouble had been foretold by
+Calhoun.
+
+Mr. Van Buren's plan of an independent treasury, which created a place
+for all the surplus to accumulate, met with Calhoun's approval, and he
+accordingly separated from Webster and Clay to act in support of what
+was right, notwithstanding his personal feelings toward Van Buren. This
+illustrates the principle of Mr. Calhoun. Notwithstanding his known idea
+of right and wrong, this aroused the indignation of his late allies,
+who could ill spare his vote and powerful influence. The fact that this
+measure, which he had determined to support, is still in existence,
+proves conclusively the wisdom of Calhoun as against both Webster and
+Clay.
+
+Yet, in reply to Calhoun's speech on the Independent Treasury bill, Clay
+used the strongest language, charging him with desertion, and making his
+whole life the subject of one of those powerful invectives so
+characteristic with him. Calhoun answered; Clay replied on the spot, and
+Calhoun answered back.
+
+This was a wonderful example of the different styles of oratory of which
+each was master; Clay, of declamation, invective, wit, humor and bitter
+sarcasm; Calhoun of clear statement and close reasoning. This contest,
+aside from its oratorical power, deserves a place in history. In answer
+to Clay's attack on his life he replied: "I rest my public character
+upon it, and desire it to be read by all who will do me justice."
+
+As a debater, where close reasoning was essential, he was an
+acknowledged leader. The tariff laws of Jackson's time which brought
+this nullification doctrine prominently before the country were
+acknowledged to be drawn in favor of the North, as against the South.
+The least that can be said is that he was honest; and that he was able
+to defend his doctrine no one disputes. Happily manufacturing interests
+are now investing in the South, and the tariff question will right
+itself.
+
+Mr. Calhoun was brilliant and his great aim in life was the defense of
+slavery. He regarded that institution as essential to the very existence
+of the Southern States; therefore thought that the abolition of slavery
+would tend to the overthrow of the South. He declared that the
+Constitution should be revised.
+
+Although never publicly proclaiming such a method, yet it seemed that
+his idea was to elect two Presidents, one from the slave and one from
+the free States, and that no bill of Congress could be ratified without
+their approval. But if Mr. Calhoun was honest in this, as he no doubt
+was, yet his measure would tend to take the power from the many and
+place it within the few, which is contrary to democratic ideas of good
+government.
+
+It was on March 13th, 1850, that he fell exhausted at the close of his
+speech in answer to General Cass, and died soon after. Mr. Webster's
+funeral oration delivered in the Senate upon the announcement of his
+death is a most eloquent yet unexaggerated account of the virtues of
+John C. Calhoun.
+
+"Calhoun was a part of his own intellectual character, which grew out of
+the qualities of his mind. It was plain, strong, wise, condensed,
+concise, still always severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking
+illustration; his power consisted in the plainness of his propositions,
+the clearness of his logic, and the earnestness and energy of his
+manner. No man was more respectful to others; no man carried himself
+with greater decorum; no man with superior dignity. I have not, in
+public or private life, known a man more assiduous in the discharge of
+his duties. Out of the Chambers of Congress he was either devoting
+himself to the acquisition of knowledge pertaining to the immediate
+subject of the duty before him, or else he was indulging in those social
+interviews in which he so much delighted.
+
+"There was a charm in his conversation not often found. He had the
+basis, the indispensible basis of all high character; unspotted
+integrity and honor unimpeached. If he had aspirations they were high,
+honorable and noble; nothing low or meanly come near his head or heart.
+He arose early and was a successful planter; so much so that to have
+been an overseer at 'Fort Hill' was a high recommendation. He dealt
+almost exclusively in solid reasoning when speaking, which was so plain
+that illustration was rarely needed. Certain it is that he was a great
+and good man."
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT Y. HAYNE.
+
+
+The renowned debate on the doctrine of nullification in which he was one
+of the principals,--if it were the only act of his life, must make the
+name of Robert Y. Hayne forever illustrious. He was born in 1791, and
+admitted to the bar before he was twenty-one, having been educated in
+Charleston, South Carolina, his native State.
+
+He volunteered early in the war of 1812 and rapidly rose to the position
+of Major-General, being considered one of the best disciplinarians in
+the South. As his old friend, Mr. Ehres, had been chosen to a seat in
+Congress, he succeeded to his large practice, and before he was
+twenty-two he had the most lucrative practice of any lawyer in his
+State.
+
+He was elected to the South Carolina legislature as a member of the
+assembly of 1814, and as speaker of that body four years after taking
+his seat and soon was chosen Attorney General of the State. In every
+position young Haynes was placed he not only acquitted himself with
+credit but won for himself great esteem, and as soon as he was old
+enough to be elligible for United States Senator he was sent by his
+State to defend their interests at the national capitol.
+
+Here he became a most aggressive opponent, culminating in "The battle of
+the giants," the great debate on the interpretation of the constitution.
+Mr. Hayne's speech on this occasion was heralded far and near, and it
+was classed by his supporters with the mightiest efforts of Burke or
+Pitt. Mr. Webster's reply has been generally acknowledged the superior
+effort of the two; but certain it is that whatever may have been the
+tendency of the views espoused by him, Robert Y. Hayne was an honest and
+sincere defender of the doctrine of the State Rights, and was held in
+high esteem by his political opponents.
+
+The obnoxious tariff laws passing, General Hayne was elected Governor of
+his State; the people feeling that they could place the helm of their
+ship in no safer hands during the trying ordeal they felt they were to
+pass through. In replying to President Jackson's celebrated proclamation
+Hayne issued a counter-manifesto full of defiance. Happily the
+compromise of Mr. Clay postponed for thirty years the threatened civil
+war.
+
+The evening of the close of that great debate at a presidential levee,
+Mr. Webster challenged Mr. Hayne to drink a glass of wine with him,
+saying, "General Hayne, I drink to your health, and hope that you may
+live a thousand years." Hayne's disposition is shown by his reply: "I
+shall not live a hundred if you make another such a speech." If he felt
+there was merit in an individual he was quickest to admit it even when
+it might be to his own detriment, and when it is remembered that he was
+one of the first to compliment Webster on his great parliamentary
+success, his noble qualities are shown in their true colors.
+
+After serving in the gubernatorial chair with great distinction he
+retired to become Mayor of Charleston. He now turned his attention
+especially to internal improvements, and soon became president of the
+Charleston, Louisville & Cincinnati Railway. This office he held at his
+death, which occurred in his fiftieth year, September 24th, 1841. There
+are many things in the character of General Hayne worthy of study.
+
+
+
+
+DANIEL WEBSTER.
+
+
+On January 8th, 1782, was born at Franklin, New Hampshire, a son to a
+comparatively poor farmer. No royal blood flowed through the veins of
+this child whereby to bring him honor, yet one day he was to rise to the
+foremost rank among the rulers of his country. At that early period the
+town of Salisbury, now Franklin, was the extreme northern settlement in
+New Hampshire, and the schools were of necessity in a primitive state.
+
+Daniel Webster labored on his father's farm during the summer, and a few
+months of each winter attended the district school some two miles from
+his home. Considering the cold, and the heavy snows which are
+characteristic of his native State, one can scarcely realize the amount
+of energy he must have utilized to enable him to enter Exeter Academy at
+the early age of fourteen, and one year later, Dartmouth College. He is
+represented as promising nothing of his future greatness at this time,
+but it is stated that he pursued every study with EXTRAORDINARY
+TENACITY.
+
+He read widely, especially in history and general English literature,
+and thereby laid a good foundation for the splendid education which his
+personal energy at last brought him. As a matter of course, such a line
+of action must bring out what qualities might be in any man. The college
+societies soon sought him as a member.
+
+While at Exeter he could hardly muster courage to speak before his
+class, but before he had finished his college course he had delivered
+addresses before the societies, which found their way into print. His
+diligence soon placed him at the head of his class, a position he
+maintained until the close of his college studies, graduating in 1801
+with high honors.
+
+Choosing law as his profession, he entered the law office of a friend
+and neighbor, Thomas Thompson, who afterwards became a congressman and
+eventually a senator. Mr. Webster remained here for some time when he
+left the office to become a teacher in Maine at a salary of $350 per
+year, which he enlarged somewhat by copying deeds. He afterwards
+returned to the office of Mr. Thompson where he remained until 1804,
+when he went to Boston and entered the office of Christopher Gove, who
+also distinguished himself afterwards as governor of Massachusetts.
+
+He had previously helped his brother Ezekiel to prepare for college, and
+Daniel now in turn was helped to continue his law studies as Ezekiel was
+teaching. His opportunity to enter the office of Mr. Gove proved most
+fortunate, as he was thus enabled to study men, books and daily hear
+intelligent discussions on the topics of national interest.
+
+In 1805 he was admitted to the bar, and established himself at Boscawen.
+He had been offered the clerkship of the Hillsboro County Court at a
+salary of $1,500 a year, which was then a large income, and he was urged
+to accept it by his father and other friends, but was dissuaded from so
+doing by Mr. Gove, who foresaw great honor in store for him at the bar.
+He practiced at Boscawen one year, when he was admitted to practice in
+the Superior Court of New Hampshire, and he established himself at
+Portsmouth, at that time the capital of the State. Here he rose to
+distinction among the most eminent counsellors. During his nine years
+residence in Portsmouth he gave his especial attention to constitutional
+law, becoming one of the soundest practitioners in the State.
+
+He had inherited from his father the principles of the Federalist party,
+and, therefore, advocated them in speeches on public occasions, but did
+not for some years enter into politics. Mr. Webster came forward in a
+time when party spirit ran high, and the declaration of war in 1812,
+long deprecated by his party, created a demand for the best talent the
+country afforded. Mr. Webster now held a commanding reputation, and in
+1812 he was sent to Congress. This was a most favorable time for Webster
+to enter Congress, as measures of the greatest importance were now to be
+discussed.
+
+Henry Clay was speaker of the house, and placed this new member on a
+most important committee. June 10, 1813, he delivered his maiden speech
+on the repeal of the Berlin and Milan decrees. These decrees were a
+scheme of Napoleon's, avowedly directed against the commercial
+interests of Great Britain.
+
+They closed all ports of France, and her allied countries against all
+vessels coming from England or any English colony. All commerce and
+correspondence was prohibited. All English merchandise was seized, and
+English subjects found in any country governed by France were held
+prisoners of war.
+
+Great Britain retaliated by prohibiting neutral vessels from entering
+the ports of France under pain of confiscation; and a later order placed
+France and her allies, together with all countries with whom England was
+at war, under the same restriction.
+
+Napoleon then issued his decree from Milan and the Tuileries declaring
+that any vessel that had ever been searched by English authority, or had
+ever paid duty to England, should be treated as a lawful prize of war.
+
+Mr. Webster's first speech, as before stated, was upon a resolution on
+the repeal of these decrees, and so ably did he define our duty as a
+country, in the matter, and so clearly did he show wherein both England
+and France had transgressed; that, being a new member, unknown outside
+of his own section of the Union, his lucid and eloquent appeal took the
+house and nation by surprise.
+
+His subsequent speeches on the increase of the navy and the repeal of
+the embargo act won for him a first place among the great debaters of
+his day. He cultivated a friendly relation with political opponents as
+well as partisan friends, which soon gained for him the respect of all
+and he became the acknowledged leader of the Federal party. He was
+re-elected to Congress in 1814 by a large majority, and in the debates
+upon the United States bank which followed, he displayed a most
+remarkable mastery of the financial questions of his time. Afterward a
+bill which was introduced by him passed, requiring all payments to the
+treasury to be made in specie or its equivalent, restored the
+depreciated currency of the country.
+
+His home and library was burned and after some hesitation as to whether
+to locate in Boston or Albany, he decided on the former whither he
+moved, and where he lived the remainder of his life. This change of
+location gave greater scope for the extension of his legal business, and
+his resignation from Congress increased still further his time and
+opportunities. During the next seven years he devoted his exclusive
+attention to his profession, taking a position as counsellor, above
+which no one has ever risen in this country, and the best class of
+business passed into his hands.
+
+In 1816 the legislature of New Hampshire reorganized the corporation of
+Dartmouth College, changing its name to Dartmouth University, and
+selecting new trustees. The newly-created body took possession of the
+institution, and the old board brought action against the new
+management. The case involved the powers of the legislature over the old
+corporation without their consent. It was decided twice in the
+affirmative by the courts of the State, when it was appealed to
+Washington, the highest court.
+
+Mr. Webster opened the case, delivering a most eloquent and exhaustive
+argument for the college. His argument was that it was a private
+institution supported through charity, over which the State had no
+control, and that the legislature could not annul except for acts in
+violation of its charter, which had not been shown. Chief Justice
+Marshal decided that the act of the legisature was unconstitutional and
+reversed the previous decisions. This established Mr. Webster's
+reputation in the Supreme Court, and he was retained in every
+considerable case thereafter, being considered one of the greatest
+expounders of constitutional law in the Union.
+
+He was already acknowledged to be among the greatest criminal lawyers,
+and at the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrim fathers he
+delivered the first of a series of orations which, aside from his legal
+and legislative achievements must have made him renowned. He was elected
+in 1822 to congress, being chosen from Boston, and during 1823 made his
+world-famous speech on the Greek revolution; a most powerful
+remonstrance against what has passed into history as "The holy
+alliance," and he also opposed an extravagant increase of the tariff. He
+also reported and carried through the house a complete revision of the
+criminal law of the United States, being chairman of the judiciary
+committee. In 1827 he was selected by the legislature of Massachusetts
+to fill a vacancy in the United States senate. In that body he won a
+foremost position.
+
+Probably the most eloquent exhibition of oratory, based on logic and
+true statesmanship, ever exhibited in the Senate of the United States
+was the contest between Mr. Webster, of Massachusetts, and Mr. Hayne,
+the silver-tongued orator of South Carolina; the debate transpiring in
+1830. The subject of discussion before the senate by these two
+intellectual gladiators grew out of a resolution brought forward by
+Senator Foot, of Connecticut, just at the close of the previous year
+with a view of some arrangement concerning the sales of the public
+lands. But this immediate question was soon lost sight of in the
+discussion of a great vital principle of constitutional law, namely:
+The relative powers of the States and the national government.
+
+Upon this Mr. Benton and Mr. Hayne addressed the Senate, condemning the
+policy of the Eastern States as illiberal toward the West. Mr. Webster
+replied in vindication of New England, and of the policy of the
+Government. It was then that Mr. Hayne made his attack--sudden,
+unexpected, and certainly unexampled--upon Mr. Webster personally, upon
+Massachusetts and other Northern States politically, and upon the
+constitution itself. In respect to the latter, Mr. Hayne taking the
+position that it is constitutional to interrupt the administration of
+the Constitution itself, in the hands of those who are chosen and sworn
+to administer it; by the direct interference in form of law, of the
+States, in virtue of their sovereign capacity.
+
+All of these points were handled by Mr. Hayne with that rhetorical
+brilliancy, and the power which characterized him as the oratorical
+champion of the South on the floor of the Senate, and it is not saying
+too much that the speech produced a profound impression. Mr. Hayne's
+great effort appeared to be the result of premeditation, concert, and
+arrangement.
+
+He selected his own time, and that, too, peculiarly inconvenient to Mr.
+Webster, for at that moment the Supreme Court was proceeding in the
+hearing of a case of great importance in which he was a leading counsel.
+For this reason he requested, through a friend, the postponement of the
+debate. Mr. Hayne objected, however, and the request was refused. The
+time, the matter, and the manner, indicated that the attack was made
+with the design to crush so formidable a political opponent as Mr.
+Webster had become. To this end, personal history, the annals of New
+England, and the federal party were ransacked for materials.
+
+It was attempted with the usual partisan unfairness of political
+harangues to make him responsible not only for what was his own, but for
+the conduct and opinions of others. All the errors and delinquencies,
+real or supposed, of Massachusetts and the Eastern States, and of the
+Federal party during the war of 1812, and indeed prior and subsequent to
+that period were accumulated and heaped upon him.
+
+Thus it was that Mr. Hayne heralded his speech with a bold declaration
+of war, with taunts and threats, vaunting anticipated triumph--saying
+'that he would carry the war into Africa until he had obtained indemnity
+for the past and security for the future.' It was supposed that as a
+distinguished representative man, Mr. Webster would be driven to defend
+what was indefensible, to uphold what could not be sustained and, as a
+Federalist, to oppose the popular resolutions of '98.
+
+The severe nature of Mr. Hayne's charges, the ability with which he
+brought them to bear upon his opponents, his great reputation as a
+brilliant and powerful declaimer, filled the minds of his friends with
+anticipations of complete triumph. For two days Mr. Hayne had control of
+the floor. The vehemence of his language and the earnestness of his
+manner, we might properly say the power of his oratory, added force to
+the excitement of the occasion. So fluent and melodious was his
+elocution that his cause naturally begat sympathy. No one had time to
+deliberate on his rapid words or canvass his sweeping and accumulated
+statements. The dashing nature of the onset, the assurance, almost
+insolence of his tone; the serious character of the accusations,
+confounded almost every hearer.
+
+The immediate impression of the speech was most surely disheartening to
+the cause Mr. Webster upheld. Congratulations from almost every quarter
+were showered upon Mr. Hayne. Mr. Benton said in full senate that as
+much as Mr. Hayne had done before to establish his reputation as an
+orator, a statesman, a patriot and a gallant son of the South; the
+efforts of that day would eclipse and surpass the whole. Indeed the
+speech was extolled as the greatest effort of the time or of other
+times--neither Chatham or Burke nor Fox had surpassed it in their
+palmiest days.
+
+Mr. Webster's own feelings with reference to the speech were freely
+expressed to his friend, Mr. Everett, the evening succeeding Mr. Hayne's
+closing speech. He regarded the speech as an entirely unprovoked attack
+on the North, and what was of far more importance, as an exposition of
+politics in which Mr. Webster's opinion went far to change the form of
+government from that which was established by the constitution into that
+which existed under the confederation--if the latter could be called a
+government at all. He stated it to be his intention therefore to put
+that theory to rest forever, as far as it could be done by an argument
+in the senate chamber. How grandly he did this is thus vividly portrayed
+by Mr. March, an eye-witness, and whose account has been adopted by most
+historians.
+
+It was on Tuesday, January 26th, 1830--a day to be hereafter memorable
+in senatorial annals--that the senate resumed the consideration of
+Foot's resolution. There was never before in the city an occasion of so
+much excitement. To witness this great intellectual contest multitudes
+of strangers had, for two or more days previous, been rushing into the
+city, and the hotels overflowed. As early as nine o'clock in the morning
+crowds poured into the capitol in hot haste; at twelve o'clock, the hour
+of meeting, the senate chamber, even its galleries, floor, and lobbies
+was filled to its utmost capacity. The very stairways were dark with men
+who hung on to one another like bees in a swarm.
+
+The House of Representatives was early deserted. An adjournment would
+hardly have made it emptier. The speaker, it is true, retained his
+chair, but no business of moment was or could be attended to. Members
+all rushed in to hear Mr. Webster, and no call of the House or other
+parliamentary proceedings could call them back. The floor of the Senate
+was so densely crowded that persons once in could not get out.
+
+Seldom, if ever, has a speaker in this or any other country had more
+powerful incentives to exertion; a subject, the determination of which
+involved the most important interests and even duration of the
+Republic--competitors unequaled in reputation, ability, or position; a
+name to make still more renowned or lose forever; and an audience
+comprising, not only American citizens most eminent in intellectual
+greatness, but representatives of other nations where the art of oratory
+had flourished for ages.
+
+Mr. Webster perceived and felt equal to the destinies of the moment. The
+very greatness of the hazard exhilarated him. His spirits arose with the
+occasion. He awaited the time of onset with a stern and impatient joy.
+He felt like the war-horse of the Scriptures, who 'paweth in the valley
+and rejoiceth in his strength: who goeth on to meet the armed men who
+sayeth among the trumpets, ha! ha! and who smelleth the battle afar
+off, the thunder of the Captains and the shouting.'
+
+A confidence in his resources, springing from no vain estimate of his
+power but the legitimate off-spring of previous SEVERE MENTAL
+DISCIPLINE, sustained and excited him. He had gauged his opponents, his
+_subject_ and HIMSELF.
+
+He was, too, at this period in the very prime of manhood. He had reached
+middle-age--an era in the life of man when the faculties, physical or
+intellectual, may be supposed to attain their fullest organization and
+most perfect development. Whatever there was in him of intellectual
+energy and vitality the occasion, his full life and high ambition might
+well bring forth. He never arose on an ordinary occasion to address an
+ordinary audience more self-possessed. There was no tremulousness in his
+voice or manner; nothing hurried, nothing simulated. The calmness of
+superior strength was visible everywhere; in countenance, voice and
+bearing. A deep-seated conviction of the extraordinary character of the
+emergency and of his ability to control it seemed to possess him wholly.
+If an observer more than ordinarily keen-sighted detected at times
+something like exultation in his eye, he presumed it sprang from the
+excitement of the moment and the anticipation of victory. The anxiety to
+hear the speech was so intense, irrepressible and universal that no
+sooner had the vice-president assumed the chair that a motion was made
+and unanimously carried to postpone the ordinary preliminaries of
+senatorial action and take up immediately the consideration of the
+resolution.
+
+Mr. Webster arose and addressed the Senate. His exordium is known by
+heart everywhere. "Mr. President when the mariner has been tossed about
+for many days in thick weather and on an unknown sea he naturally avails
+himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun
+to take his latitude and ascertain how far the elements have driven him
+from his true course. Let us imitate this prudence and before we float
+further on the waves of this debate refer to the point from which we
+departed that we may at least be able to form some conjecture where we
+now are. I ask for the reading of the resolutions."
+
+Calm, resolute, impressive was this opening speech. There wanted no more
+to enchain the attention. There was a spontaneous though silent
+expression of eager attention as the orator concluded these opening
+remarks. And while the clerk read the resolution many attempted the
+impossibility of getting nearer the speaker. Every head was inclined
+closer toward him, every ear turned in the direction of his voice--and
+that deep, sudden, mysterious silence followed which always attends
+fullness of emotion. From the sea of upturned faces before him the
+orator beheld his thought, reflected as from a mirror. The varying
+countenance, the suffused eye, the earnest smile and ever attentive look
+assured him of the intense interest excited. If among his hearers there
+were some who affected indifference at first to his glowing thoughts and
+fervant periods, the difficult mask was soon laid aside and profound,
+undisguised, devout attention followed.
+
+In truth, all sooner or later, voluntarily, or in spite of themselves
+were wholly carried away by the spell of such unexampled eloquence.
+Those who had doubted Mr. Webster's power to cope with and overcome his
+opponent were fully satisfied of their error before he had proceeded
+far in this debate. Their fears soon took another direction. When they
+heard his sentences of powerful thought towering in accumulated grandeur
+one above the other as if the orator strove Titan-like to reach the very
+heavens themselves, they were giddy with an apprehension that he would
+break down in his flight. They dared not believe that genius,
+learning--any intellectual endowment however uncommon, that was simply
+mortal--could sustain itself long in a career seemingly so perilous.
+They feared an Icarian fall. No one surely who was present, could ever
+forget the awful burst of eloquence with which the orator apostrophized
+the old Bay State which Mr. Hayne had so derided, or the tones of deep
+pathos in which her defense was pronounced:--
+
+"Mr. President: I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts. There
+she is--behold her and judge for yourselves. There is her history, the
+world knows it by heart. The past at least is secure. There is Boston,
+and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill, and there they will remain
+forever. The bones of her sons falling in the great struggle for
+independence now lie mingled with the soil of every State from New
+England to Georgia, and there they will remain forever. And sir, where
+American liberty raised its first voice, and where its youth was
+nurtured and sustained, there it still lives in the strength of its
+manhood and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall
+wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and tear it,
+if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and necessary
+restraint, shall succeed to separate it from that Union by which alone
+its existence is made sure it will stand in the end by the side of that
+cradle in which its infancy was rocked, it will stretch forth its arm
+with whatever vigor it may still retain over the friends who gather
+around it and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest
+monuments of its own glory and on the very spot of its origin."
+
+No New England heart but throbbed with vehement emotion as Mr. Webster
+dwelt upon New England sufferings, New England struggles, and New
+England triumphs during the war of the Revolution. There was scarcely a
+dry eye in the Senate; all hearts were overcome; grave judges and men
+grown old in dignified life turned aside their heads to conceal the
+evidence of their emotion.
+
+We presume that none but those present can understand the excitement of
+the scene. No one who was present can, it seems, give an adequate
+description of it. No word-painting can convey the deep, intense
+enthusiasm, the reverential attention of that vast assembly, nor limner
+transfer to canvas their earnest, eager, awe-struck countenances. Though
+language were as subtle and flexible as thought it would still be
+impossible to represent the full idea of the occasion. Much of the
+instantaneous effect of the speech arose of course from the orator's
+delivery--the tones of his voice, his countenance and manner. These die
+mostly with the occasion, they can only be described in general terms.
+
+"Of the effectiveness of Mr. Webster's manner in many parts," says Mr.
+Everett, himself almost without a peer as an orator, "it would be in
+vain to attempt to give any one not present the faintest idea. It has
+been my fortune to hear some of the ablest speeches of the greatest
+living orators on both sides of the water, but I must confess I never
+heard anything which so completely realized my conception of what
+Demosthenes was when he delivered the oration for the Crown."
+
+Could there be higher praise than this? Keen nor Kemble nor any other
+masterly delineator of the human passions ever produced a more powerful
+impression upon an audience or swayed so completely their hearts. No one
+ever looked the orator as he did; in form and feature how like a god!
+His countenance spake no less audibly than his words. His manner gave
+new force to his language. As he stood swaying his right arm like a huge
+tilt-hammer, up and down, his swarthy countenance lighted up with
+excitement, he appeared amid the smoke, the fire, the thunder of his
+eloquence like Vulcan in his armory forging thoughts for the gods!
+
+Time had not thinned nor bleached his hair; it was as dark as the
+raven's plumage, surmounting his massive brow in ample folds. His eye
+always dark and deep-set enkindled by some glowing thought shown from
+beneath his somber overhanging brow like lights in the blackness of
+night from a sepulcher. No one understood better than Mr. Webster the
+philosophy of dress; what a powerful auxiliary it is to speech and
+manner when harmonizing with them. On this occasion he appeared in a
+blue coat, a buff vest, black pants and white cravat; a costume
+strikingly in keeping with his face and expression. The human face never
+wore an expression of more withering, relentless scorn than when the
+orator replied to Hayne's allusion to the "Murdered Coalition"--a piece
+of stale political trumpery well understood at that day.
+
+"It is," said Mr. Webster, "the very cast off slough of a polluted and
+shameless press. Incapable of further mischief it lies in the sewer,
+lifeless and despised. It is not now, sir, in the power of the honorable
+member to give it dignity or decency by attempting to elevate it and
+introduce it into the Senate. He cannot change it from what it is--an
+object of general disgust and scorn. On the contrary, the contact, if he
+choose to touch it, is more likely to drag him down, down, down to the
+place where it lies itself." He looked as he spoke these words as if the
+thing he alluded to was too mean for scorn itself, and the sharp
+stinging enunciation made the words still more scathing. The audience
+seemed relieved, so crushing was the expression of his face which they
+held onto as 'twere spell-bound--when he turned to other topics. But the
+good-natured yet provoking irony with which he described the imaginary,
+though life-like scene of direct collision between the marshaled army of
+South Carolina under General Hayne on the one side, and the officers of
+the United States on the other, nettled his opponent even more than his
+severe satire, it seemed so ridiculously true.
+
+With his true Southern blood Hayne inquired with some degree of emotion
+if the gentleman from Massachusetts intended any _personal_ imputation
+by such remarks? To which Mr. Webster replied with perfect good humor,
+"Assuredly not, just the reverse!" The variety of incident during the
+speech, and the rapid fluctuation of passions, kept the audience in
+continual expectation and ceaseless agitation. The speech was a complete
+drama of serious comic and pathetic scenes, and though a large portion
+of it was argumentative--an exposition of constitutional law--yet grave
+as such portion necessarily must be, severely logical and abounding in
+no fancy or episode, it engrossed throughout undivided attention. The
+swell of his voice and its solemn roll struck upon the ears of the
+enraptured hearers in deep and thrilling cadence as waves upon the
+shore of the far-resounding sea.
+
+The Miltonic grandeur of his words was the fit expression of his great
+thoughts and raised his hearers up to his theme, and his voice exerted
+to its utmost power penetrated every recess or corner of the
+Senate--penetrated even the ante-rooms and stairways, as in closing he
+pronounced in deepest tones of pathos these words of solemn
+significance: "When my eyes shall be turned to behold for the last time
+the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on the broken and
+dishonored fragments of a once glorious Union; on States dissevered,
+discordant, belligerent, on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched,
+it may be, in fraternal blood.
+
+"Let their last feeble and lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous
+ensign of the Republic now known and honored throughout the earth; still
+full, high, advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original
+lustre, not a stripe erased nor polluted, not a single star obscured,
+bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as 'What is all
+this worth?' nor those other words of folly and delusion: 'Liberty first
+and Union afterwards,' but everywhere spread all over it characters of
+living light blazing on all of its ample folds as they float over the
+sea and over the land, and in every wind under the whole heavens that
+other sentiment dear to every American heart: 'LIBERTY AND UNION NOW AND
+FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPARABLE!'"
+
+The speech was over but the tones of the orator still lingered on the
+ear, and the audience, unconscious of the close, retained their
+positions. Everywhere around seemed forgetfulness of all but the
+orator's presence and words. There never was a deeper silence; the
+feeling was too overpowering to allow expression by voice or hand. But
+the descending hammer of the chair awoke them with a start, and with one
+universal, long drawn, deep breath, with which the over-charged heart
+seeks relief, the crowded assembly broke up and departed.
+
+In the evening President Jackson held a levee at the White House. It was
+known in advance that Mr. Webster would attend it, and hardly had the
+hospitable doors of the mansion been thrown open, when the crowd that
+had filled the Senate-Chamber in the morning rushed in and occupied the
+room, leaving a vast and increasing crowd at the entrance. On all
+previous occasions the general himself had been the observed of all
+observers. His receptions were always gladly attended by large numbers,
+and to these he himself was always the chief object of attraction on
+account of his great military and personal reputation, official
+position, gallant bearing, and courteous manners. But on this occasion
+the room in which he received his company was deserted as soon as
+courtesy to the president permitted.
+
+Mr. Webster was in the East room and thither the whole mass hurried. He
+stood almost in the center of the room pressed upon by surging crowds
+eager to pay him deference. Hayne, too, was there, and with others went
+up and complimented Mr. Webster on his brilliant effort. In a subsequent
+meeting between the two rival debators Webster challenged Hayne to drink
+a glass of wine with him, saying as he did so, "General Hayne I drink to
+your health, and I hope that you may live a thousand years." "I shall
+not live more than one hundred if you make another such a speech," Hayne
+replied.
+
+To this day Webster's speech is regarded as the master-piece of modern
+eloquence--unsurpassed by even the mightiest efforts of either Pitt, Fox
+or Burke--a matchless intellectual achievement and complete forensic
+triumph. It was to this great, triumphant effort that Mr. Webster's
+subsequent fame as a statesman was due.
+
+Upon the election of General Harrison to the presidency Mr. Webster was
+offered his choice of the places in the cabinet, a recognition of
+ability probably never accorded to any other man before or since. He
+finally accepted the office of Secretary of State. Our relation with
+England demanded prompt attention. The differences existing between the
+two nations relative to the Northern boundary could not be disregarded,
+and Mr. Webster and Lord Ashburton brought about a treaty which was
+equally honorable and advantageous to the countries. He was also able
+later to contribute much toward the settlement of the Oregon boundary
+question through private channels of influence, though holding no
+official position at the time.
+
+In 1847 he started on a tour of the Southern States, being well received
+throughout; especially in Charleston, Columbia, Augusta and Savannah was
+as well received, but his health failing him in the latter city, he was
+obliged to abandon his project of making a tour of the whole South. He
+became Secretary of State under Mr. Fillmore. This position he held at
+his death which occurred at Marshfield, on the 24th day of October,
+1852. Funeral orations were delivered throughout the country in great
+numbers.
+
+He was a man of commanding figure, large but well proportioned. His head
+was of unusual size, his eyes deep-seated and lustrious, and had a voice
+powerful yet pleasing; his action, while not remarkably graceful, was
+easy and impressive. His social tastes were very strong and he possessed
+marked conversational power. He lived in an age of great legislators and
+it is needless to add that he was excelled in statesmanship by none.
+
+Professor Ticknor, speaking in one of his letters of the intense
+excitement with which he listened to Webster's Plymouth address, says:
+"Three or four times I thought my temples would burst with the gush of
+blood, for after all you must know I am aware it is no connected and
+compact whole, but a collection of broken fragments, of burning
+eloquence to which his manner gave ten fold force. When I came out I was
+almost afraid to come near him. It seemed to me that he was like the
+mount that might not be touched, and that burned with fire."
+
+
+
+
+ANDREW JACKSON.
+
+
+Of all the Presidents of the United States Andrew Jackson was, perhaps,
+the most peculiar. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his parents coming to
+this country in 1765 from Ireland and settling in the northern part of
+South Carolina on the Waxhaw Creek. They had been very poor in the old
+country, his father tilling a small farm while the mother was a weaver
+of linen. His father never owned land in America, and died soon after he
+arrived in this country, little Andrew being born about the time of his
+death. One would hardly be justified in supposing young Jackson would
+one day be ruler of a great nation, rising as he did from such a
+beginning, yet such are the possibilities in our glorious republic.
+
+His mother wished to make a preacher of him, but his boyhood is
+represented as mischievous; to say the least, his belligerent nature
+breaking out in childhood, and his mother's fond hope was signally
+defeated. He was passionately fond of athletic sports, and was excelled
+by none of his years. The determination he evinced in every undertaking
+guided by his maxim of "Ask nothing but what is right--submit to nothing
+wrong," seemed to be the key-note of his success, for he was not
+addicted to books, and his education was limited.
+
+Being an eye-witness of the horrible massacre perpetrated by the bloody
+Tarlton at the Waxsaw settlement his patriotic zeal was terribly
+awakened, and at the tender age of thirteen we find him among the
+American forces, and his military career begins at Hanging Rock, where
+he witnesses the defeat of Sumter, and he is soon a prisoner of the
+enemy. The English officer ordered him to black his boots; at this all
+the lion in young Jackson is aroused, and he indignantly refuses,
+whereupon the officer strikes him twice with his sword, inflicting two
+ugly wounds, one on his arm, the other on his head. He had the small-pox
+while a prisoner, but his mother effected his exchange, and after a long
+illness he recovered, but his brother died of the same disease.
+
+Soon after his mother was taken from him--his other brother was killed
+at Stono; thus left alone in the world he began a reckless course, which
+must have been his ruin but for a sudden change for the better, when he
+began the study of law at Salisbury, North Carolina, and before he was
+twenty was licensed to practice.
+
+Being appointed solicitor for the western district of North
+Carolina--now Tennessee--he removed to Nashville, 1788. His practice
+soon became large which, in those days, meant a great deal of travel on
+horseback. He made twenty-two trips between Nashville and Jonesborough
+during his first seven years, and dangerous trips they were, too, for
+the Indians were numerous and hostile. When he came to Nashville he
+entered, as a boarder, the family of Mrs. Donelson, a widow.
+
+A Mr. and Mrs. Robards were boarders at the same home. Mr. Robards
+becoming foolishly jealous of young Jackson applied to the legislature
+of Virginia for an act preliminary to a divorce. Jackson and Mrs.
+Robards, thinking the act of the legislature was a divorce of itself,
+were married before the action of the court. Judge Overton, a friend,
+was himself surprised to learn that the act of the legislature was not a
+divorce, and through his advice they were again married in the early
+part of 1794. The fact that Captain Robards' own family sustained Mrs.
+Robards in the controversy with her husband must strongly point to the
+groundlessness of the charges; while it is further conceded that Andrew
+Jackson was not the first victim of the suspicious nature of Captain
+Robards. However, this can never be regarded otherwise than a most
+unfortunate period in the life of Andrew Jackson, it being the immediate
+cause of more than one of the many obstacles with which he was obliged
+to contend in after years.
+
+He was appointed district attorney of Tennessee when that country became
+a federal territory, and in 1796 when Tennessee became a State, he was a
+man of no small wealth. On January 11th, 1796, a convention met at
+Knoxville to draft a constitution for the new State, and Jackson was
+chosen one of five delegates from Davidson county to meet the other
+members from over the State. He was appointed on the committee to draft
+that important document. Having been elected to represent his State in
+the popular branch of Congress he accordingly took his seat in that
+legislative body in December, 1796. As Jackson entered the house on the
+eve of the retirement from public life of Washington, he voted on the
+measure approving Washington's administration; and, as he could not
+conscientiously vote otherwise, not approving some of Washington's
+measures, he is recorded among the twelve who voted in the negative.
+
+He at this time belonged to the so-called Republican party, now
+Democratic, which was then forming under Jefferson, the incoming
+vice-president, under the Federal Adams. His record in Congress is made
+exemplary by his action on three important bills, namely: Against buying
+peace of the Algerians, against a needlessly large appropriation for
+repairing the house of the president, and against the removal of the
+restriction confining the expenditure of public money to the specific
+objects for which said money was appropriated.
+
+As would be natural, such a course was highly approved by his
+constituents, and he was made a senator in 1797, but his senatorial
+career was not so fruitful, as it is believed that he never made a
+speech nor ever voted once and resigned his seat in less than a year. He
+was elected a justice of the supreme court of Tennessee, but he did
+nothing remarkable here either as none of his decisions remain. Nothing
+of note occurred for some time except his becoming involved in a quarrel
+with Governor Sevier, which came to a crisis in 1801, when Jackson was
+made Major-General of militia over Sevier. Jackson suspected Sevier of
+being involved in certain land frauds, and a duel was averted only by
+the influence of friends.
+
+About this time Jackson became financially embarrassed. Thinking himself
+secure, he sold a large amount of land to a gentleman in Philadelphia,
+and, taking his notes, bought goods for the Tennessee market, depending
+on these notes for payment. The failure of these threw him into great
+difficulties; but his firm will came to his aid once more and saved him.
+He immediately resigned the position of judge, and sold land enough to
+clear himself from debt. He is said to have now removed to what
+subsequently became known as the "Hermitage," taking all his slaves, and
+dwelling in a log house.
+
+He extended his business, being now at the head of the firm of Jackson,
+Coffee and Hatchings. This was a trading firm, raising wheat, corn,
+cotton, mules, cows and horses, it being a concern whose business
+extended to New Orleans, but it lost money, and finally came to an end,
+although through no fault of Jackson, as he generally carried to success
+whatever he personally managed, and this embarrassment grew out of
+reckless proceedings during his absence. We now come upon another dark
+page of Jackson's life.
+
+During the year 1806 a quarrel was started, which led to the death of
+Charles Dickinson. This is one of his quarrels resulting indirectly from
+the manner in which he become married to Mrs. Robards. This Dickinson
+had spoken offensively of Mrs. Jackson, he once retracted his words and
+renewed them. In the meantime Jackson became involved in a quarrel with
+a man by the name of Swann over the terms of a horse race, and Jackson
+used some strong language relative to Dickinson, whose name had been
+meaningly introduced. Jackson's words were carried to Dickinson, as it
+appears he had intended. Afterward the quarrel with Swann resulted in a
+bar-room fight, it is said, begun by Jackson.
+
+About this time Dickinson wrote a very severe attack on Jackson and
+published it. Jackson challenged him and the parties met a long day's
+journey from Nashville, on the banks of the Red River, in Logan county,
+Kentucky. Dickinson was a very popular man in Nashville, and he was
+attended by a number of associates. Dickinson's second was a Dr. Catlet;
+Jackson's, General Overton.
+
+Dickinson fired first and his ball took effect, breaking a rib and
+raking the breastbone, but Jackson never stirred nor gave evidence of
+being hit. His object was to hide from his adversary the pleasure of
+knowing that he had even grazed his mark, for Dickinson considered
+himself a great shot and was certain of killing him at the first fire.
+Seeing he had missed he exclaimed, My God! Have I missed him? Jackson
+then fired and Dickinson fell mortally wounded, dying that night without
+knowing his aim had taken any effect. This duel was another most
+unfortunate thing for Jackson, and caused him great unpopularity in
+Tennessee until his military victories turned popular attention from it.
+
+Jackson lived a comparatively quiet life for the few years following,
+nothing of importance happening except his mistaken connection with
+Aaron Burr, and quarrel with a Mr. Dinsmore, an agent of the Choctaw
+Indians. In 1812 the second war with Great Britain broke out and Jackson
+at once tendered his services to the government; they were gladly
+accepted and the rest of the year was devoted by him in raising more
+troops and organizing them for active service. During the early part of
+1813 he started across the country, but for some reason the Secretary of
+War ordered him to disband his forces, but he marched them back to
+Tennessee. It was on this march that he received the name of "Hickory,"
+which afterwards became "Old Hickory."
+
+Arriving at Nashville he tendered his troops to the Government for an
+invasion of Canada but the Secretary of War never even answered his
+proposal, and finally he disbanded the forces on May 22nd. The
+government failed to sustain him and his transportation drafts were
+allowed to go to protest. This must have ruined Jackson had it not been
+for his friend Colonel Benton, who made an appeal which the government
+felt bound to comply with, as it was made plain that it would lose the
+service of Tennessee if such a preposterous act was persisted in.
+
+Thus he was saved from what might have been an irretrievable financial
+misfortune. Through deceitfulness in others he was led to a disgraceful
+quarrel with his intimate friend, Colonel Benton, who had helped him so
+much at Washington. The difficulty with the Creek Indians arising;
+Jackson with his characteristic energy helped to subjugate them. His
+victory over the Indians of Horse Shoe Bend is so familiar to every
+American school-boy that it is needless to relate the details. He now
+gained a national reputation, and was made a major-general in the United
+States army, and soon became the acknowledged military leader of the
+southwest.
+
+From now General Jackson's star grew steadily brighter, and he began to
+develop the sterling qualities which he unmistakably possessed. During
+the progress of the war the Spanish authorities who then controlled
+Florida, had neither the power nor disposition to demand of the British
+due regard to the rights of neutral territory. They seemed to sympathize
+with England, as Jackson could gain no satisfaction through his
+correspondence with them, and as neither the Spanish or British could be
+induced to change their purpose, Jackson, as was his custom both in
+politics and war ever afterward, determined to act without orders.
+
+He immediately moved upon Pensacola, razed the town and drove the
+English forces out of Florida. Returning to Mobile he learned of the
+plan of the British to conquer Louisiana. He immediately marched to New
+Orleans, but the city was miserably defended, and his own forces were a
+motley crew, consisting of about two thousand. But Jackson made the most
+of his opportunities. He learned the plan of the British from the chief
+of a band of smugglers. After a few preliminary battles in which as a
+whole the Americans were victorious, the British army, now twelve
+thousand strong, was joined by General Packenham, who was a
+brother-in-law of the great Duke of Wellington, who changed the plans of
+the British army. Jackson, at this time, was joined by about two
+thousand more troops, but they were poorly armed.
+
+The British captured a whole fleet of gun-boats. This left the way
+clear, and it is thought that had the British pushed in then, as Jackson
+would have done, nothing could have saved the day for America. Jackson
+fell back and threw up earth-works, cotton-bales and sand-bags for
+protection, and waited for the enemy. On the memorable day, the eighth
+of January, the army advanced; Ridpath says, "They went to a terrible
+fate."
+
+Packenham hurled column after column at the American breast-works only
+to return bleeding and torn. The Americans were well protected while
+the veterans of England were exposed to the fire of the Tennessee and
+Kentucky riflemen and the result was awful, the enemy losing not only
+General Packenham, their commander, but also General Gibbs, leaving only
+General Lambert to lead the forces from the field, General Keen being
+wounded. The loss of the enemy was about two thousand killed, wounded,
+and prisoners. The Americans' loss was eight killed and thirteen
+wounded.
+
+This battle was a most fortunate thing for Jackson for the reputation
+this gained for him added to that already gained in deciding forever the
+white man's supremacy in America, undoubtedly made him President of the
+United States. He became Governor of Florida when that Territory was
+ceded to the United States by Spain in 1821, but he held the position
+only a few months. In 1828 the Tennessee Legislature made him a Senator,
+and later he was nominated for the Presidency. This at first was not
+regarded seriously, as many had misgivings as to his capability as a
+legislator, although all admitted his military power. The election
+proved that he had great political strength as well, receiving the
+largest number of electoral votes, 99, to 84 for Adams, 41 for Crawford,
+and 37 for Clay. As no one had a majority the case was decided by
+Congress, who gave the place to Adams.
+
+The opposition to the administration united under Jackson, and in the
+next election he was triumphantly elected, receiving 178 electoral votes
+to 83 for Adams. In this campaign Jackson's private life was bitterly
+assailed, especially was the manner in which he came to be married
+misrepresented. His wife died only a short time after his election, it
+is said, from the influence of the vile stories which were circulated
+regarding her.
+
+He entered upon his duties as President, with his characteristic
+firmness. A rupture soon arose between him and the Vice-President, Mr.
+Calhoun, and this was intensified when Calhoun's nullification views
+became known. The Democratic party outside of South Carolina supported
+the administration. The cabinet was soon changed. During his
+administration over seventeen hundred removals from office were made,
+more than had occurred in all previous administrations. His appointments
+gave much offence to some, and with a degree of reason, it must be
+admitted, as they were selected wholly from his political friends,
+notwithstanding his previously avowed principles, which were implied in
+his advice to Mr. Monroe in the selection of his Cabinet. However, some
+allowance should be made as Jackson had a seeming rebellion on hand, and
+one hardly could blame him for desiring men on whom he knew he could
+depend in the promised hours of peril.
+
+The tariff laws were especially obnoxious to South Carolina, of the
+Southern States. Now Jackson was opposed to the tariff laws himself, but
+as long as the laws remained he proposed that they should be enforced
+and when South Carolina met at Columbia and passed resolutions to resist
+the existing laws and declaring in favor of State rights, he promptly
+sent forces to quell the promised rebellion. Seeing what kind of a man
+they had to deal with the nullifiers were glad to seize the excuse for
+not proceeding, which Clay's Compromise Bill afforded. This bill reduced
+the duties gradually until at the end of ten years they would reach the
+standard desired by the South. His re-election was even more conclusive
+than the former, inasmuch as it was found that he had carried every
+State save seven. His principal opponent was Henry Clay, who represented
+the party in favor of renewing the charter of the United States bank.
+Jackson was bitterly opposed to this institution, vetoed the bill to
+re-charter the bank, and an effort to pass the bill over his head
+failing to receive a two-thirds vote, the bank ceased to exist.
+
+He conceived the idea of distributing the surplus left by the bank,
+about ten millions, among certain banks named for that purpose. He had
+no acknowledged authority for this but he believed himself right and
+acted independently, as was characteristic in such cases. A panic
+ensued, and the Whigs claimed that this measure of Jackson's was the
+cause, while the Democrats were equally confident that the financial
+troubles were brought about by the bank itself, which was described as
+an institution too powerful and despotic to exist in a free country.
+
+A powerful opposition was formed in the Senate against him, headed by
+such men as Calhoun, Clay and Webster, and finally a resolution
+condemning his course was adopted by a vote of 26 to 20, but was
+afterward expunged through the influence of his intimate friend, Colonel
+Benton. The House sustained the President throughout, or he must have
+been overthrown. The foreign relations of our Government at the close of
+Jackson's administration was very satisfactory indeed. The national debt
+was extinguished, and new States were admitted into the Union.
+
+He issued a farewell address to his country, and retired to private life
+at the Hermitage, where he lived until his death in 1845. There is much
+in the life of Andrew Jackson that can be profitably copied by the
+American youth of to-day; notably his fixedness of purpose, indomitable
+will, and great love of truth. There are other things that would be well
+to pass by and give little promise, such as his sporting propensities.
+Lossing says: 'The memory of that great and good man is revered by his
+countrymen next to that of Washington.' His imposing statue occupies a
+conspicuous place in President's Square, Washington, where it was
+unveiled in 1852, being the first equestrian statue in bronze ever
+erected in America. It is certain that he exercised a marked influence
+in shaping the affairs of the generations that were to follow his
+administration.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS H. BENTON.
+
+
+Thomas Hart Benton was born at Hillsboro, North Carolina, March 14th,
+1782. During his youth he enjoyed few educational advantages, his father
+dying while he was a child.
+
+He, however, persevered and completed his studies at Chapel Hill
+University--supporting himself throughout his school course. Removing to
+Tennessee he began the study of law and commenced practice at Nashville,
+where he arose to eminence at the bar. When elected to the legislature
+of the State, an event which occurred soon after his beginning law
+practice in Nashville, he procured the passage of a bill securing to
+slaves the right of trial by jury. In the war of 1812 he was made a
+lieutenant-colonel, serving on the staff of General Jackson.
+
+In 1814-15 Colonel Benton took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri,
+and established the _Missouri Enquirer_. It is stated that this
+enterprise involved him in several duels, one of which resulted fatally
+to his opponent, Mr. Lucas. Mr. Benton took a leading part in the
+admission of his adopted State into the Union, and in 1820 he was
+elected one of her first senators, and remained a member of the national
+government for thirty consecutive years; a leader of his party in
+debate.
+
+He warmly supported Jackson in his administration of the affairs of the
+government, and as is well-known rendered him valuable and efficient
+service by his speech on the expunging resolution which he successfully
+carried through the senate. In 1829 he made a speech on the salt tax,
+which was a masterly production, and through its influence is due
+largely the repeal of the same.
+
+He was among the foremost who advocated a railroad to the Pacific coast,
+and it was Thomas Benton who first introduced the idea of congress
+granting pre-emption rights to actual settlers. He favored trade with
+New Mexico, and establishing commerce on the great lakes. He was an
+eminent specie advocate; so vehement was he that he became known as "OLD
+BULLION," and it was through his influence that the forty-ninth parallel
+was decided upon as the northern boundary of Oregon. He opposed the
+fugitive slave law, and openly denounced nullification views wherever
+expressed. Nothing but his known opposition to the extension of slavery
+caused his final defeat in the legislature when that body chose another
+to succeed him in the United States senate.
+
+Thus in defence of human liberty ended his splendid career of thirty
+years in the upper house, struck down by the frown of demagogism. Two
+years later he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he did
+noble work in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska act, denouncing it as a
+violation of the Missouri Compromise, and was defeated as a candidate
+for congress in the next campaign. After two years devotion to
+literature he was a candidate for governor of his State, but was
+defeated by a third ticket being placed in the field. He was the popular
+candidate, however, of the three, against great odds being defeated by
+only a few votes.
+
+During this year he supported Mr. Buchanan for the presidency against
+his son-in-law, Mr. Fremont. He now retired permanently from public
+life, devoting his exclusive attention to literature, and his "Thirty
+Years View; or a History of the Working of the United States Government
+for Thirty Years from 1820 to 1850," was a masterly piece of literature,
+and reached a mammoth sale; more than sixty thousand copies being sold
+when first issued. When this was finished he immediately began another,
+"An Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1850." Although
+at the advanced age of seventy-six, he labored at this task daily, the
+latter part of which was dictated while on his death-bed, and while he
+could speak only in whispers. Surely he deserved the success which had
+attended his efforts. He died in Washington on the 10th day of April,
+1858.
+
+He had a large and grandly proportioned head, and was a most aggressive
+debater. It was in the Expunging Resolution and the exciting debates in
+which he bore so prominent a part that he gained his greatest
+reputation. This bill and the manner in which he managed its course
+through the senate, securing its adoption against the combined effort
+of such men as Clay, Webster and Calhoun illustrates the characteristics
+of the man more clearly than anything that could be said of him. When
+reading the life of Andrew Jackson the reader will remember that the
+senate passed a resolution condemning the action of the president, Mr.
+Jackson, in regard to the distribution of the public funds in the
+following language: _Resolved_, That the president in the late executive
+proceedings in relation to the public revenue has assumed upon himself
+authority and power not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in
+derogation of both.
+
+The motion of Mr. Benton was to strike from the journals of the senate
+this resolution of censure. In support of the president's course and of
+Mr. Benton's proposed method of vindication various public proceedings
+were had in various sections of the country, and some of the State
+legislatures not only voted in favor of the removal of the record of
+censure but instructed their congressional delegations to use their
+influence and votes in a similar direction.
+
+Mr. Benton's resolutions rehearsed the principal points involved in the
+past history and present aspects of the controversy quite at length, the
+closing resolution being as follows: "That the said resolve be expunged
+from the journal, and for that purpose that the secretary of the Senate
+at such time as the Senate may appoint, shall bring the manuscript
+journal of the session 1883-4 into the Senate, draw black lines round
+the said resolve, and write across the face thereof in strong letters
+the following words: 'Expunged by order of the Senate this--day of--, in
+the year of our Lord--.'"
+
+For three years successively did Mr. Benton bring forward on different
+occasions his celebrated motion, and again and again he suffered defeat
+after the most scathing debates that ever took place in any
+parliamentary body, the Senate at this time containing an unusual amount
+of oratorical talent and forensic power. But the last scene, and with it
+victory to the great Missourian and his presidential master, was now
+near at hand, and this scene, as described by Mr. Benton himself, was as
+follows:
+
+Saturday the fourteenth of January the Democratic Senators agreed to
+have a meeting, and to take their final measures for passing an
+expunging resolution. They knew they had the numbers, but they also knew
+they had adversaries to grapple with to whom might be applied the motto
+of Louis Fourteenth: 'Not an unequal match for numbers.' They also knew
+that members of the party were in process of separating from it and
+would require reconciliating. They met in the night at the then famous
+restaurant of Boulanger giving to the assemblage the air of convivial
+entertainment. It continued till midnight and required all the
+moderation, tact and skill of the prime movers to obtain and maintain
+the Union in details on the success of which depended the fate of the
+measure. The men of concilliation were to be the efficient men of that
+night, and all the winning resources of Wright, Allen and Linn were put
+in requisition. There were serious differences upon the method of
+expurgation, while agreed upon the thing; and finally obliteration, the
+favorite mover, was given up and the mode of expurgation adopted which
+had been proposed in the resolution of the general assembly of Virginia,
+namely, to inclose the obnoxious sentence in a square of black lines--an
+oblong square, a compromise of opinions to which the mover agreed upon
+condition of being allowed to compose the epitaph, "Expunged by the
+order of the senate."
+
+The agreement which was to lead to victory was then adopted, each one
+severally pledging himself to it that there should be no adjournment of
+the senate after the resolution was called until it was passed, and that
+it should be called immediately after the morning business on the Monday
+ensuing. Expecting a protracted session extending through the day and
+night, and knowing the difficulty of keeping men steady to their work
+and in good humor when tired and hungry, the mover of the proceeding
+took care to provide as far as possible against such a state of things,
+and gave orders that night to have an ample supply of cold hams,
+turkeys, rounds of beef, pickles, wines and cups of hot coffee ready in
+a certain committee-room near the senate chamber by four o'clock on the
+afternoon of Monday.
+
+The motion to take up the subject was made at the appointed time, and
+immediately a debate of long speeches, chiefly on the other side, opened
+itself upon the question. As the darkness of approaching night came on
+and the great chandelier was lit up, splendidly illuminating the chamber
+then crowded with the members of the house, and the lobbies and
+galleries filled to their utmost capacity with visitors and spectators,
+the scene became grand and impressive. A few spoke on the side of the
+resolution, chiefly Rivers, Buchanan and Niles, and with an air of ease
+and satisfaction that bespoke a quiet determination and consciousness of
+victory.
+
+The committee-room was resorted to in parties of four and six at a time,
+always leaving enough on watch, and not resorted to by one side alone.
+The opposition were invited to a full participation, an invitation of
+which those who were able to maintain their temper availed themselves
+of, but the greater part were not in a humor to eat anything--especially
+at such a feast. The night was wearing away, the expungers were in full
+force, masters of the chamber happy and visibly determined to remain. It
+became evident to the great opposition leaders that the inevitable hour
+had come that the 'damnable deed was to be done that night,' and that
+the dignity of silence was no longer to them a tenable position.
+
+The battle was going against them, and they must go into it without
+being able to re-establish it. In the beginning they had not considered
+the expunging movement a serious proceeding, as it advanced they still
+expected it to miscarry on some point, now the reality of the thing
+stood before them confronting their presence and refusing to "down" at
+any command.
+
+Mr. Calhoun opposed the measure in a speech of great severity. The day,
+said he, is gone, night approaches and night is suitable to the dark
+deed we meditate; there is a sort of destiny in this thing, the act must
+be performed, and it is an act which will tell upon the political
+history of this country forever. Mr. Clay indulged in unmeasured
+denunciation of the whole thing. The last speech in opposition to the
+measure was made by Mr. Webster, who employed the strongest language he
+could command condemnatory of an act which he declared was so
+unconstitutional, so derogatory to the character of the senate, and
+marked with so broad an impression of compliance with power. But though
+thus pronounced an irregular and unconstitutional proceeding by Mr.
+Webster and the other senators with whom he sided and voted, Mr. John
+Quincy Adams, who was at the time a member of the house, and in direct
+antagonism, politically, with Mr. Benton, and to the Jackson
+administration held a different opinion.
+
+Midnight was now approaching. The dense masses which filled every inch
+of the room in the lobbies and in the galleries remained immovable. No
+one went out, no one could get in. The floor of the Senate was crammed
+with privileged persons, and it seemed that all Congress was there.
+Expectation and determination to see the conclusion were depicted on
+every countenance. It was evident there was to be no adjournment until
+the vote should be taken--until the deed was done, and this aspect of
+invincible determination had its effect upon the ranks of the
+opposition. They began to falter under a useless resistance; they alone
+now did the talking, and while Mr. Webster was yet reciting his protest
+two Senators from the opposition side who had been best able to maintain
+their equanimity, came around to the mover of the resolution and said:
+'This question has degenerated into a trial of nerves and muscles. It
+has become a question of physical endurance, and we see no use in
+wearing ourselves out to keep off for a few hours longer what has to
+come before we separate. We see that you are able and determined to
+carry your measure--so call the vote as soon as you please. We shall say
+no more.'
+
+Webster concluded. No one arose. There was a pause, a dead silence, and
+an intense feeling. Presently the silence was invaded by the single word
+'question'--the parliamentary call for a vote--rising from the seats of
+different Senators. One blank in the resolve remained to be filled--the
+date of its adoption. It was done. The acting President of the Senate,
+Mr. King, of Alabama, then directed the roll to be called. The yeas and
+nays had been previously ordered, and proceeded to be called by the
+Secretary of the Senate, the result showing a majority of five on the
+side of the expungers.
+
+The passage of the resolution was announced by the chair. Mr. Benton
+arose, and said that nothing now remained but to execute the order of
+the Senate, which he moved to be done forthwith. It was ordered
+accordingly. The secretary thereupon produced the original manuscript
+journal of the Senate, and opening at the page which contained the
+condemnatory sentence of March 28, 1834, proceeded in open Senate to
+draw a square of broad black lines around the sentence, and to write
+across its face in strong letters: EXPUNGED BY ORDER OF THE SENATE THIS
+16TH DAY OF JANUARY, 1837.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY CLAY.
+
+
+A few miles from old Hanover court-house in Virginia, where the
+splendors of Patrick Henry's genius first beamed forth, is a humble
+dwelling by the road-side, in the midst of a miserably poor region known
+as the slashes. There, on the 12th of April, 1777, Henry Clay, the great
+American statesman, was born, and from the district-schools of his
+neighborhood he derived his education. He was the son of a Baptist
+clergyman of very limited means, hence his early advantages were of
+necessity meager. He was very bashful and diffident, scarcely dare
+recite before his class at school, but he DETERMINED to BECOME AN
+ORATOR, he accordingly began the plan of committing speeches and then
+reciting them in the corn-fields; at other times they were delivered in
+the barn, before the cows and horse.
+
+[Illustration: DETERMINATION. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."]
+
+Henry became a copyist in the office of the clerk of the Court of
+Chancery, at Richmond. Here he was enabled to begin the study of law, an
+opportunity which he at once embraced. While other boys were improving
+their time 'having fun,' he was studying, and so closely did he occupy
+his odd time that he was enabled to pass the necessary examination and
+be admitted to the bar at the early age of twenty. Two years later he
+moved "West," (he was enterprising), settling at Lexington, Kentucky,
+where he entered upon the practice of law.
+
+Here he became an active politician as well as a popular lawyer. He was
+an intelligent young man, and early cultivated a genial disposition
+which was a leading feature of his splendid success in life. In 1799
+Kentucky called a convention for the purpose of revising the
+constitution of the State. During this campaign young Clay labored
+earnestly to elect delegates to that convention favorable to the
+extinction of slavery. Thus early he manifested an interest in a
+question many years in advance of his countrymen. This is the man who,
+when afterward told that his action on a certain measure would certainly
+injure his political prospect replied, "I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT THAN BE
+PRESIDENT."
+
+It was even so in this case, his action in behalf of the freedom of
+slaves offended many but his opposition to the obnoxious alien and
+sedition laws later restored him to popular favor. After serving in the
+State legislature with some distinction he was elected to fill the
+unexpired term of General Adair in the United States Senate. Here he
+made excellent use of his time, advocating bills on internal
+improvements, accomplishing much toward that end, although his time
+expired at the end of the year. He left an impression on that body which
+foretold his future greatness. He was now returned to his State
+legislature where he was elected speaker, a position which he held for
+the next two terms.
+
+Another vacancy occurred and Mr. Clay was again elected to fill the
+unexpired time in the United States Senate. This time he remained a
+member of that body two years, and it was during this term that he
+placed himself on record as one of the first and most powerful of early
+protectionists; he also favored the admission of Louisiana as a State.
+His term expired, he returned to his constituents, who promptly elected
+him to a seat in the House of Representatives, and immediately upon his
+appearance in that body he was chosen SPEAKER of the House!
+
+This is an honor without parallel in the whole history of our
+legislative affairs. It was at this session that John C. Calhoun and
+William H. Crawford first made their appearance in the National
+Congress. The duties of this high office he discharged with marked
+ability and great satisfaction through that and the succeeding Congress
+until 1814, when he was appointed one of the commissioners to negotiate
+at Ghent, a treaty of peace with Great Britain. Abroad Mr. Clay proved
+to be a diplomate of no mean ability, and during his absence he was
+re-elected to the National Congress, and upon his re-appearance in that
+august assembly was immediately chosen speaker.
+
+Mr. Clay was one of the unsuccessful candidates for the presidency in
+1824, receiving thirty-seven electoral votes, but became Secretary of
+State under John Quincy Adams, who was chosen president by Congress. In
+1831, after a temporary retirement, he was elected to the National
+Senate, this time for a full term of six years. His services during this
+period were very important. His compromise measure was probably, under
+the circumstances, one of the most important bills that ever passed the
+senate. As is well-known, it secured the gradual reduction of the tariff
+for ten years, thus satisfying the South, but allowing the manufacturers
+time to accommodate themselves to the change. Mr. Clay was a strong
+protectionist but this was a compromise on both sides which Clay was
+willing to make, even though it might be to satisfy a political
+opponent--Calhoun--to whom he was bitterly opposed.
+
+Certain it is when he saw his country in danger Henry Clay was not the
+one to allow partisan hate to stand in opposition to any bill which
+might tend to peace, and while this measure had little merit in it of
+itself, still it averted a civil war at that time. In 1834 President
+Jackson proposed to Congress that they should give him authority to
+secure indemnity from France through reprisals. Mr. Clay, as chairman of
+the Committee on Foreign Affairs, reported that Congress would not be
+justified in so doing, as the neglect on the part of France was clearly
+unintentional, thus war was once more averted through the influence of
+the 'great pacifier.'
+
+At the presidential election of 1839 Mr. Clay, General Harrison, and
+General Scott were submitted to the Whig Convention as candidates. Mr.
+Clay was clearly the choice of the convention, but by one of those
+strange movements which so often occur at such times General Harrison
+was nominated. Many of Clay's friends were disposed to bolt, but Mr.
+Clay promptly acknowledged the ticket, and it was elected. Then followed
+the death of the President in office, the obnoxious vetoes of the newly
+installed President--Tyler--the division of the Whig party, the
+nomination of Mr. Clay at this late inopportune time and the election of
+Mr. Polk.
+
+At the next convention Mr. Clay was a very prominent candidate for the
+nomination, but Mr. Taylor's military career seemed to carry everything
+with it and he was nominated and elected. Had Mr. Clay been nominated at
+either this convention or in 1839 he would have been elected, but like
+Webster, the presidential honors were not essential to perpetuate his
+name. During the year 1849, as the people of Kentucky were about to
+remodel their constitution, Mr. Clay urged them to embody the principles
+of gradual emancipation, but they refused to do so.
+
+He was again returned to the senate, and during this term brought out
+the compromise act of 1850. This measure, while recognizing no legal
+authority for the existence of slavery in the newly acquired territory
+of New Mexico, yet declared that in the establishment of territorial
+governments in such territory no restriction should be made relative to
+slavery. It also provided for the admission of California without
+restrictions on the subject of slavery, and opposed the abolition of
+slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill carried with slight
+changes. Mr. Clay being very feeble was in his seat but few days of the
+session.
+
+In 1852 he gradually sank until on June 29th, 1852, he died. In him
+intellect, reason, eloquence, and courage united to form a character fit
+to command. It was the remark of a distinguished senator that Mr.
+Clay's eloquence was absolutely intangible to delineation; that the most
+labored description could not embrace it, and that to be understood it
+must be seen and felt. He was an orator by nature, and by his
+indomitable assiduity he at once rose to prominence. His eagle eye
+burned with patriotic ardor or flashed indignation and defiance upon his
+foes or was suffused with commiseration or of pity; and it was because
+HE felt that made OTHERS feel.
+
+A gentleman, after hearing one of his magnificent efforts in the Senate,
+thus described him: "Every muscle of the orator's face was at work. His
+whole body seemed agitated, as if each part was instinct with a separate
+life; and his small white hand with its blue veins apparently distended
+almost to bursting, moved gracefully, but with all the energy of rapid
+and vehement gesture. The appearance of the speaker seemed that of a
+pure intellect wrought up to its mightiest energies and brightly shining
+through the thin and transparent will of flesh that invested it."
+
+The particulars of the duel between Mr. Clay and Mr. Randolph maybe
+interesting to our readers. The eccentric descendant of Pocahontas
+appeared on the ground in a huge morning gown. This garment had such a
+vast circumference that the precise whereabouts of the lean senator was
+a matter of very vague conjecture. The parties exchanged shots and the
+ball of Mr. Clay hit the centre of the visible object, but the body of
+Mr. Randolph was untouched. Immediately after the exchange of shots Mr.
+Clay instantly approached Mr. Randolph, and with a gush of the deepest
+emotion said, "I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched; after
+what has occurred I would not have harmed you for a thousand worlds."
+The incident referred to above as 'occurring' was the fact of Mr.
+Randolph's firing in the air, thus publicly proclaiming his intention
+not to harm Mr. Clay at all events.
+
+In person, Clay was tall and commanding, being six feet and one inch in
+stature, and was noted for the erect appearance he presented, while
+standing, walking, or talking. The most striking features of his
+countenance were a high forehead, a prominent nose, an uncommonly large
+mouth, and blue eyes which, though not particularly expressive when in
+repose, had an electrical appearance when kindled. His voice was one of
+extraordinary compass, melody and power. From the 'deep and dreadful
+sub-bass of the organ' to the most aerial warblings of its highest key,
+hardly a pipe or stop was wanting. Like all the magical voices, it had
+the faculty of imparting to the most familiar and commonplace
+expressions an inexpressible fascination. Probably no orator ever lived
+who, when speaking on a great occasion, was more completely absorbed
+with his theme. "I do not know how it is with others," he once said,
+"but, on such occasions, I seem to be unconscious of the external world.
+Wholly engrossed by the subject before me, I lose all sense of personal
+identity, of time, or of surrounding objects."
+
+
+
+
+MARTIN VAN BUREN.
+
+
+In the quiet little village of Kinderhook, New York, there was at the
+close of the Revolution, an indifferent tavern kept by a Dutchman named
+Van Buren. There his distinguished son Martin was born on the 5th day of
+December, 1782.
+
+After attending the academy in his native village he, at the age of
+fourteen, began the study of law. His success was phenomenal from the
+beginning, and he has passed into history as an indefatigable student
+all through life. In 1808 he was made surrogate of his native county. In
+1812 he was elected to the senate of his native State and in that body
+voted for electors pledged to support DeWitt Clinton for the presidency.
+He was attorney-general of the State from 1815 until 1819. Mr. Van Buren
+was a very able politician and it was through his influence that the
+celebrated 'Albany Regency,' whose influence ruled the State
+uninterruptedly for over twenty years, was set on foot.
+
+In 1821 Mr. Van Buren was chosen to the United States Senate and was
+made a member of the convention to revise the State constitution. In the
+latter body he advocated the extension of the elective franchise, but
+opposed universal sufferage, as also the plan of appointing justices of
+the peace by popular election. He voted against depriving the colored
+citizens of the franchise but supported the proposal to require of them
+a freehold qualification of $250. In 1828 he was elected governor of
+the great State of New York and resigned his seat in the National
+Congress to assume this new position. As governor he opposed the safety
+fund system which was adopted by the legislature in 1829. In the month
+of March of the next year after assuming the gubernatorial chair he
+accepted the leading position in the cabinet of President Jackson but
+resigned two years later.
+
+On May 22nd, 1832, he was nominated for the office of vice-president on
+the ticket with General Jackson, and was elected. The Democratic
+National Convention, which met at Baltimore May 20th, 1835, unanimously
+nominated him for the presidency, and in the ensuing election he
+received 170 electoral votes out of a total of 283,--73 being cast for
+his principal antagonist, General Harrison. The country was now plunged
+into the deepest pecuniary embarrassments, the result of previous
+hot-house schemes and speculations, rather than the result of the
+administrative measures of Van Buren. He had succeeded to the presidency
+at a most unfortunate time. Commerce was prostrate; hundreds of
+mercantile houses in every quarter were bankrupt; imposing public
+meetings attributed these disasters to the policy of the government.
+
+On May 15th, he summoned an extraordinary session of congress to meet
+the following September. The president in his message advised that a
+bankrupt law for banking and other incorporations be enacted; and that
+the approaching deficit in the treasury be made good by withholding from
+the States the fourth and last installment of a previous large surplus
+ordered to be deposited with them by act of June 23rd, 1836, and by the
+temporary issue of $6,000,000 of treasury notes. He also recommended the
+adoption of what was called the independent treasury system, which was
+passed in the senate, but was laid on the table in the other branch of
+congress. The payment of the fourth installment to the States was
+postponed, and the emission of $10,000,000 of treasury notes was
+authorized.
+
+Again the President in his next annual message recommended the passage
+of the independent treasury bill, but the measure was again rejected.
+Another presidential measure, however, was more fortunate, a so-called
+pre-emption law being enacted, giving settlers on public lands the right
+to buy them in preference to others. Van Buren's third annual message
+was largely occupied with financial discussions and especially with
+argument in favor of the divorcement of the national government from the
+banks throughout the country, and for the exclusive receipt and payment
+of gold and silver in all public transactions; that is to say, for the
+independent treasury. Through his urgent arguments in its favor it
+became a law June 30, 1840, and it is the distinguishing feature in his
+administration. The canvass of 1840 was early begun by the opposition,
+and became a bitterly contested one. The Whigs placed Harrison at the
+head of their ticket and as Van Buren had no competitor, he became the
+candidate of the Democracy. Never in the political history of the United
+States had there been such universal excitement as was displayed in the
+ensuing campaign. The great financial trials through which the
+government had passed were made the basis of all argument by the press
+and orators for the opposition.
+
+Charges of corruption, extravagance and indifference to the welfare of
+the laboring classes were collected and dumped upon poor Van Buren. Thus
+was Van Buren represented, while the enthusiasm for Harrison was
+greatly augmented by log cabins, emblematical of his humble origin. This
+time Van Buren received only 60 electoral votes, while General Harrison
+received 234. His last annual message set forth with renewed energy the
+benefits of the independent treasury; announced with satisfaction that
+the government was without a public debt; and earnestly advised the
+enactment of more stringent laws for the suppression of the African
+slave trade.
+
+In 1844 Mr. Van Buren's friends once more urged his nomination for the
+presidency by the Democratic national convention at Baltimore. But he
+was rejected there on account of his opposition to the annexation of
+Texas to the Union, avowed in a public letter to a citizen of
+Mississippi who had asked for his position on that question. Though a
+majority of the delegates in the convention were pledged to his support,
+a rule being passed making a two-thirds vote necessary to a choice,
+proved fatal to his interest. For several ballots he led all competitors
+when he withdrew his name and Mr. Polk was nominated on the ninth
+ballot.
+
+In 1848, when the Democrats had nominated General Cass, and avowed their
+readiness to tolerate slavery in the new territories lately acquired
+from Mexico, Mr. Van Buren and his adherents adopting the name of the
+free democracy at once began to discuss in public that new aspect of the
+slavery question.
+
+They held a convention at Utica on June 22nd which nominated Mr. Van
+Buren for president, and Henry Dodge of Wisconsin for vice-president.
+Mr. Dodge declined, and at a great convention in Buffalo on August 9th,
+Charles Francis Adams was substituted. The convention declared:
+"Congress has no more right to make a slave than to make a king; it is
+the duty of the federal government to relieve itself from all
+responsibility for the existence and continuance of slavery wherever the
+government possesses constitutional authority to legislate on that
+subject and is thus responsible for its existence."
+
+In accepting the nomination of this new party Mr. Van Buren declared his
+full assent to its anti-slavery principles. The result was that in New
+York he received the votes of more than half of those who had hitherto
+been attached to the Democratic party, and that General Taylor the
+candidate of the Whig party was elected. At the outbreak of the civil
+war he at once declared himself in favor of maintaining the Republic as
+a Union. Unhappily he died before the close of the war and was thus
+deprived the satisfaction of seeing perpetuated the Union he so dearly
+loved. On the 24th of July, 1872, at his home in Kinderhook, he passed
+from death into life.
+
+
+
+
+STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLASS.
+
+
+One of the most noted statesman of the day was the subject of this
+narrative. Short, thickset, and muscular in person, and strong in
+intellect Stephen A. Douglass came to be known as 'The Little Giant.'
+
+For many years he held a very conspicuous place in the political history
+of the republic. He was a native of the 'Green Mountain State,' being
+born at Brandon, April 23d, 1813. When he was about two months old his
+father, who was a physician, died, and his mother removed to a small
+farm, where Stephen remained until he was about fifteen years old.
+Having received a common school education he was very anxious to take a
+college course, but this being impossible, he determined thereafter to
+earn his own living. He accordingly apprenticed himself to a
+cabinet-maker, but his health would not allow the pursuit of this
+business, and he was compelled to abandon the undertaking.
+
+When he was possibly able he removed to Illinois. Upon his arrival in
+Jacksonville his entire wealth consisted of the sum of thirty-seven
+cents. He determined to start a school at a place called Winchester,
+some fifteen miles from Jacksonville, and as he had little money, walked
+the entire distance. Arriving in Winchester the first sight that met his
+eyes was a crowd assembled at an auction, and he secured employment for
+the time being as clerk for the auctioneer. For this service, which
+lasted three days, he received $6, and with this sum he started a
+school, which occupied his attention during the day.
+
+For two years previous he had studied law during his SPARE MOMENTS; much
+of his time nights was now devoted to the completion of his legal
+studies. Being admitted to the bar during the following year, 1834, he
+opened an office and began practicing in the higher courts where he was
+eminently successful, acquiring a lucrative practice, and HE WAS ELECTED
+ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE STATE BEFORE HE WAS TWENTY-TWO.
+
+He soon became a member of the legislature, taking his seat as the
+youngest member in that body. He was the Democratic nominee for
+Congress before he had acquired the required age, however, his
+twenty-fifth birthday occurred before election, thus this obstacle was
+removed. In his district a most spirited canvass took place, and out of
+over thirty-five thousand votes cast, his opponent was declared elected
+by only five. He was appointed register of the land office at
+Springfield, but resigned this position in 1889. He became Secretary of
+State the following year, and in 1841 was elected a judge of the Supreme
+Court at the age of twenty-eight. This position he also resigned two
+years after to represent his district in congress where he was returned
+by successive elections until 1848.
+
+He was recognized as one of the able members while in the national
+legislature, and his speeches on the Oregon question are models. He next
+became a Senator from his State, and supported President Polk in the
+Mexican war. As is well-known he was the father of the Kansas-Nebraska
+act, popularly known as 'Squatter Sovereignty,' carrying the measure
+through in spite of great opposition.
+
+He was a strong candidate for the Democratic nomination for the
+presidency in 1852, and his strength was still more developed four years
+later when he was the favorite candidate save one, James Buchanan, who
+finally received the honor. At the end of the next four years he was
+nominated by the convention meeting at Charleston, and was the unanimous
+choice of the northern wing of the Democracy, but bitterly opposed by
+the Southern faction, who nominated Mr. Breckinridge at a separate
+convention. This caused a split in the Democratic vote, and Mr. Lincoln
+was elected on a minority of the total vote cast.
+
+Stephen A. Douglass however, like Webster and Clay, needed not the
+honor of occupying the presidential chair to make his name illustrious.
+He was remarkably successful in the promotion of his State's interest in
+Congress. To him is due the credit of securing the splendid grant of
+land which brought about the successful operation of the Illinois
+Central railroad which contributed so much toward the weakened resources
+of the State. As previously stated, Mr. Douglass was defeated by Mr.
+Lincoln, yet at the outbreak of the civil war his voice was heard in
+earnest pleas for the Union, declaring that if this system of resistance
+by the sword, when defeated at the ballot-box was persisted in, then
+"The history of the United States is already written in the history of
+Mexico."
+
+He most strongly denounced secession as a crime and characterized it as
+madness. His dying words were in defence of the Union. To say that Mr.
+Douglass was a wonderful man is the least that can be said, while more
+could be added in his praise with propriety. As an orator he was
+graceful, and possessed natural qualities which carried an audience by
+storm. He died June 3rd, 1861, at the outbreak of the civil war. Had he
+lived no one would have rendered more valuable assistance in the
+suppression of that gigantic rebellion than would Stephen A. Douglass.
+
+But it was in the great political debate between himself and Abraham
+Lincoln that Mr. Douglass gained his greatest notoriety as well as
+Lincoln himself. The details of this debate will be seen in our sketch
+of Mr. Lincoln.
+
+
+
+
+ABBOTT LAWRENCE.
+
+
+Solomon said: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand
+before kings,--he shall not stand before mean men." How true are those
+words; how often have we seen them demonstrated.
+
+Abbott Lawrence, brother of Amos Lawrence, was born December 16, 1792,
+and what education he had he received at the academy in Groton. When
+about sixteen years of age he took the stage for Boston, with the
+princely sum of three dollars in his pocket. He entered the store of his
+brother Amos as clerk. After five years of faithful service he was taken
+in as partner, and the firm-style became A. & A. Lawrence.
+
+The war of 1812 came on, and Abbott, who possessed less money than his
+brother, failed, but he was not disheartened. He applied to the
+government for a position in the army, but before his application could
+be acted upon peace was declared.
+
+After the war his brother Amos helped him, and once more they entered
+into partnership, Abbott going to England to buy goods for the firm.
+About 1820 the Lawrence brothers, with that enterprise which
+characterizes all great business men, commenced manufacturing goods in
+America, instead of importing them from the old world, and to the
+Lawrences is due no small credit, as the cities of Lowell and Lawrence
+will testify. He was a member of the celebrated convention at
+Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose recommendations to Congress resulted in
+the tariff act of 1828, which was so obnoxious to Calhoun and the Cotton
+States. In 1834 Mr. Lawrence was elected to Congress, where he did
+valuable service on the Committee of Ways and Means. He declined
+re-election, but afterward was persuaded to become a candidate and was
+again elected. By the advice of Daniel Webster he was sent to England on
+the boundary question.
+
+President Taylor offered him a seat in his Cabinet, but he
+declined--later he was sent to England, where he became a distinguished
+diplomat, and was recalled only at his own request. At one time he
+lacked but six votes of being nominated for Vice-President.
+
+On the 18th of August, 1855, Abbott Lawrence died. Nearly every business
+place in Boston was closed--in fact, Boston was in mourning; the
+military companies were out on solemn parade, flags were placed at
+half-mast, and minute-guns were fired. Thus passed away one of the
+merchant princes of New England.
+
+
+
+
+ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
+
+
+This great statesman was born in Georgia on February 11, 1812, and was
+left an orphan at an early age. He studied law and was admitted to the
+bar in 1834, having the advantage of a college education. He entered
+upon the practice of law at Crawfordsville in his native State, and his
+natural ability and splendid education soon won for him a most lucrative
+practice.
+
+Mr. Stephens early became a convert to the Calhoun school of politics,
+and he remained firmly fixed until death in the belief that slavery was
+the proper sphere in which all colored people should move. He believed
+it was better for the races both white and black.
+
+Though physically weak he was wonderfully developed in personal courage.
+In 1836 Mr. Stephens was elected to the State legislature, to which he
+succeeded five successive terms. In 1842 he was elected to the State
+senate, there to remain only one year when he was sent as a Whig to the
+national congress, there to remain until 1859 when, July 2nd, in a
+speech at Augusta he announced his intention of retiring to private
+life. When the old Whig party was superceded by the present Republican
+party Mr. Stephens joined the Democrats. During the presidential canvass
+of 1860 Mr. Stephens supported the northern wing under Douglass, and in
+a speech at the capitol of his State bitterly denounced secession. As
+the speech so well illustrates his powers of oratory, so far as words
+can portray that power, we give the speech as follows:--
+
+This step, secession, once taken can never be recalled, and all the
+baleful and withering consequences that must follow, as you will see,
+will rest on this convention for all coming time. When we and our
+posterity shall see our lovely South desolated by the demon of war which
+this act of yours will inevitably provoke, when our green fields and
+waving harvests shall be trodden down by a murderous soldiery, and the
+fiery car of war sweeps over our land, our temples of justice laid in
+ashes and every horror and desolation upon us; who, but him who shall
+have given his vote for this unwise and ill-timed measure shall be held
+to a strict account for this suicidal act by the present generation, and
+be cursed and execrated by all posterity, in all coming time, for the
+wide and desolating ruin that will inevitably follow this act you now
+propose to perpetrate?
+
+Pause, I entreat you, and consider for a moment what reasons you can
+give that will satisfy yourselves in calmer moments? What reasons can
+you give to your fellow-sufferers in the calamity that it will bring
+upon us? What reasons can you give to the nations of the earth to
+justify it? They will be calm and deliberate judges of this case, and to
+what cause, or one overt-act can you point on which to rest the plea of
+justification? What right has the North assailed? Of what interest has
+the South been invaded? What justice has been denied? And what claim
+founded in justice and right has been unsatisfied? Can any of you name
+to-day one governmental act of wrong deliberately and purposely done by
+the government at Washington, of which the South has a right to
+complain? I challenge an answer.
+
+On the other hand, let me show the facts (and believe me, gentlemen, I
+am not here the advocate of the North, but I am here the friend, the
+firm friend and lover of the South and her institutions, and for this
+reason I speak thus plainly and faithfully for yours, mine, and every
+other man's interest, the words of truth and soberness), of which I wish
+you to judge, and I will only state facts which are clear and
+undeniable, and which now stand in the authentic records of the history
+of our country. When we of the South demanded the slave trade, or the
+importation of Africans for the cultivation of our lands, did they not
+yield the right for twenty years? When we asked a three-fifths
+representation in Congress for our section was it not granted? When we
+demanded the return of any fugitive from justice, or the recovery of
+those persons owing labor or allegiance, was it not incorporated in the
+Constitution, and again ratified and strengthened in the fugitive slave
+law of 1850? Do you reply that in many instances they have violated this
+law and have not been faithful to their engagements? As individuals and
+local committees they may have done so, but not by the sanction of
+government, for that has always been true to the Southern interests.
+
+Again, look at another fact. When we asked that more territory should be
+added that we might spread the institution of slavery did they not yield
+to our demands by giving us Louisiana, Florida and Texas out of which
+four States have been carved, and ample territory left for four more to
+be added in due time, if you do not by this unwise and impolitic act
+destroy this hope, and perhaps by it lose all and have your last slave
+wrenched from you by stern military rule, or by the vindictative decrees
+of a universal emancipation which may reasonably be expected to follow.
+
+But again gentlemen, what have we to gain by this proposed change of our
+relation to the general government? We have always had the control of it
+and can yet have if we remain in it and are as united as we have been.
+We have had a majority of the presidents chosen from the South as well
+as the control and management of most of those chosen from the North. We
+have had sixty years of Southern presidents to their twenty-four, thus
+controlling the executive department. So of the judges of the supreme
+court, we have had eighteen from the South and but eleven from the
+North. Although nearly four-fifths of the judicial business has arisen
+in the free States, yet a majority of the court has been from the South.
+This we have required so as to guard against any interpretation of the
+constitution unfavorable to us. In like manner we have been equally
+watchful in the legislative branch of the government. In choosing the
+presiding officer, _pro tem_, of the Senate we have had twenty-four and
+they only eleven; speakers of the house we have had twenty-three and
+they twelve. While the majority of the representatives, from their
+greater population, have always been from the North, yet we have
+generally secured the speaker because he to a great extent shapes and
+controls the legislation of the country, nor have we had less control in
+every other department of the general government.
+
+Attorney-Generals we have had 14, while the North have had but five.
+Foreign ministers we have had 86, and they but 54. While three-fourths
+of the business which demands diplomatic agents abroad is clearly from
+the free States because of their greater commercial interests, we have,
+nevertheless, had the principal embassies so as to secure the world's
+markets for our cotton, tobacco and sugar, on the best possible terms.
+We have had a vast majority of the higher officers of both army and
+navy, while a larger proportion of the soldiers and sailors were drawn
+from the Northern States. Equally so of clerks, auditors, and
+comptrollers, filling the executive department; the records show for the
+last 50 years that of the 3,000 thus employed we have had more than
+two-thirds, while we have only one-third of the white population of the
+Republic.
+
+Again, look at another fact, and one, be assured, in which we have a
+great and vital interest; it is that of revenue or means of supporting
+government. From official documents we learn that more than
+three-fourths of the revenue collected has been raised from the North.
+Pause now while you have the opportunity to contemplate carefully and
+candidly these important things. Look at another necessary branch of
+government, and learn from stern statistical facts how matters stand in
+that department, I mean the mail and post-office privileges that we now
+enjoy under the General Government, as it has been for years past. The
+expense for the transportation of the mail in the free States was by the
+report of the postmaster-general for 1860, a little over $13,000,000
+while the income was $19,000,000. But in the Slave States the
+transportation of the mail was $14,716,000, and the revenue from the
+mail only $8,000,265, leaving a deficit of $6,715,735 to be supplied by
+the North for our accommodation, and without which we must have been cut
+off from this most essential branch of the government.
+
+Leaving out of view for the present the countless millions of dollars
+you must expend in a war with the North, with tens of thousands of your
+brothers slain in battle, and offered up as sacrifices on the altar of
+your ambition--for what, I ask again? Is it for the overthrow of the
+American Government, established by our common ancestry, cemented and
+built up by their sweat and blood, and founded on the broad principles
+of right, justice and humanity? I must declare to you here, as I have
+often done before, and it has also been declared by the greatest and
+wisest statesmen and patriots of this and other lands, that the American
+Government is the best and freest of all governments, the most equal in
+its rights, the most just in its decisions, the most lenient in its
+measures, and the most inspiring in its principles to elevate the race
+of men that the sun of heaven ever shone upon.
+
+Now for you to attempt to overthrow such a government as this under
+which we have lived for more than three-quarters of a century, in which
+we have gained our wealth, our standing as a nation, our domestic safety
+while the elements of peril are around us with peace and tranquility
+accompanied with unbounded prosperity and rights unassailed is the
+height of madness, folly and wickedness to which I will neither lend my
+sanction nor my vote.
+
+This is one of the most eloquent appeals recorded on the pages of
+history, and had Mr. Stephens carried out his first intention as
+expressed, "I will neither lend my sanction nor my vote," in his
+subsequent career during that war he had so eloquently and prophetically
+depicted, he would to-day not only be recognized as one of the ablest
+and most brilliant of orators as he is known, but would have stamped his
+life as a consistent and constant legislator which is so laudable in any
+man. But only a month later, after delivering the great speech at
+Milledgeville in defense of the Union he accepted one of the chief
+offices in the Confederacy, and began to perpetrate the very wrongs he
+had so vehemently deplored, seeking by speeches innumerable to overthrow
+that government he had so eloquently eulogized.
+
+At Savannah he spoke something as follows: "The new constitution has put
+to rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar
+institutions--African slavery as it exists among us--the proper status
+of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause
+of the late rupture and the present revolution. Jefferson in his
+forecast had anticipated this as the rock upon which the old Union would
+split. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading
+statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution, were
+that the enslavement of the African was in violation to the laws of
+nature; that it was wrong in principle socially, morally and
+politically."
+
+"Our new government is founded on exactly the opposite ideas. Its
+foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that
+the negro is not equal to the white man. That in slavery, subordination
+to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new
+government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this
+great physical, philosophical and moral truth. It is the first
+government ever instituted upon principles in strict conformity to
+nature and the ordination of Providence in furnishing the materials of
+human society. Many governments have been founded upon the principle of
+enslaving certain classes, but the classes thus enslaved were of the
+same race and enslaved in violation to the laws of nature."
+
+"Our system commits no such violation of the laws of nature. The negro,
+by nature or by the curse against Canaan is fitted for that condition
+which he occupies in our system. The architect in the construction of
+buildings lays the foundation with the proper material, the granite;
+then comes the brick or marble. The substratum of our society is made of
+the material fitted by nature for it, and by experience we know that it
+is best not only for the superior, but the inferior race that it should
+be so. It is, indeed, in conformity with the Creator. It is not for us
+to inquire into the wisdom of his ordinances, or to question them. For
+his own purposes he has made one race to differ from another, as he has
+made one star to differ from another in glory. The great objects of
+humanity are best attained when conformed to his laws and decrees in the
+formation of governments as well as in all things else. Our confederacy
+is founded upon principles in strict conformity with these laws. This
+stone which was rejected by the first builders 'is become the chief
+stone of the corner' in our new edifice."
+
+By both of these speeches he was of great service to the national
+government. The first was used to justify the suppression of secession,
+and the second to excite the animosity of the world against secession.
+After the war Mr. Stephens was once more a member of the National
+Congress and Governor of his native State. On the 3rd day of March,
+1883, he died at his home in Crawfordville. We have thus spoken of Mr.
+Stephens as a legislator; personally, he was a very pleasant man to
+meet, loved in society, was kind-hearted, and we believe sincere. His
+eloquence was at times wonderful, and was augmented rather than
+diminished by his physical infirmity. Those who have heard him will
+never forget the squeaking voice and haggard look.
+
+According to Webster, the three cardinal points essential to true
+oratory are clearness, force and sincerity. In all of these Stephens was
+proficient. His descriptive powers were remarkable, and he could blend
+pathos with argument in a manner unusual. He was a warm friend of Mr.
+Lincoln, and one of the most characteristic stories ever told of Mr.
+Lincoln is in connection with Governor Stephens' diminutive appearance
+and great care for his shattered health. On one occasion before the war
+he took off three overcoats, one after the other, in the presence of Mr.
+Lincoln, who rose, and walking around him, said, "I was afraid of
+Stephens, for I thought he might keep on taking off clothes until he
+would be nothing but a ghost left," and speaking to a friend standing
+by, remarked further, "Stephens and his overcoats remind me of the
+biggest shuck off the smallest ear of corn that I have ever seen in my
+life." One by one the eminent men of State pass away. Their deaths make
+vacancies which the ambitious and active hasten to occupy whether they
+are able to fill them or not.
+
+
+
+
+MILLARD FILLMORE.
+
+
+Great, indeed, are the possibilities of our country. The subject of this
+narrative, thirteenth president of the United States, was born in Summer
+Hill, Cayuga county, New York, January 7th, 1800. The nearest house to
+that of Fillmore was four miles distant. Cayuga county was then a
+wilderness with few settlers, consequently young Fillmore's education
+was limited to instruction in reading, writing, spelling and the
+simplest branches of arithmetic. At fourteen he was bound out to learn
+the fuller's trade.
+
+Think of it boys, what splendid opportunities most of you have; yes, all
+of you have, compared to that of Fillmore, for he had not the advantage
+of our glorious and complete school system, and at that was bound out
+when a mere lad. Yet at the age of nineteen he presumed to aspire to
+become a lawyer! He had two more years to serve in his apprenticeship,
+but "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing impossible
+is to make it so," and he accordingly set to work contriving to gain for
+himself an education.
+
+Contracting with his employer to pay him $30 for his release, that
+obstacle was overcome. He next made an arrangement with a retired
+lawyer, by which he received his board for services, and studied nights.
+This continued for two years, when he set out on foot for Buffalo where
+he arrived with just $4 in his pocket. Ah! methinks people who saw that
+boy must have felt that he was destined to be somebody in the world.
+"Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a
+candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."
+
+How often are we so deeply impressed by reading the biographies of great
+men that it really does in a great measure rest with ourselves whether
+we amount to something, or worse than nothing, in the world. We have
+followed this man from childhood and have seen him overcome all
+obstacles thus far; will we then be surprised when we read that no
+sooner did he arrive in Buffalo than he succeeded in making arrangements
+with a resident lawyer, obtaining permission to study in his office and
+supported himself by severe drudgery, teaching and assisting the post
+master.
+
+By the spring of 1823 he had so far gained the confidence of the bar
+that by the intercession of several of its leading members he was
+admitted as an attorney by the Court of Common Pleas of Erie county,
+although he had not completed the period of study usually required, and
+commenced practice at Aurora where his father resided.
+
+In the course of a few years he acquired not only a large practice but a
+thorough mastery of the principles of the common law, and he rose to a
+place among the first lawyers of his State. In 1827 he was admitted as
+counselor of the Supreme Court of the State. In 1830 he moved to Buffalo
+where he continued in the practice of law until 1847, when he was
+elected Comptroller of the great Empire State.
+
+He had previously been in the State legislature and in the national
+congress. In congress he rose gradually to the first rank for integrity,
+industry and practical ability. As a State legislator he particularly
+distinguished himself by his advocacy of the act to abolish imprisonment
+for debt, which was drafted by him, and which passed in 1831. In
+congress he supported John Quincy Adams in his assertion of the right of
+petition on the subject of slavery. He opposed the annexation of Texas,
+because it extended slave domain and advocated the immediate abolition
+of the inter-state slave trade.
+
+At the death of President Taylor, Mr. Fillmore, according to the
+provisions of the Constitution in such cases, became President of the
+United States, and the poor boy who had entered Buffalo on foot now
+entered the National Capitol as the ruler of a mighty nation. During his
+administration a treaty with Japan, securing for the United States
+valuable commercial privileges, was consummated. His administration, as
+a whole, was a successful one, and had he not signed the fugitive slave
+law, he would, undoubtedly, have been the nominee of his party at the
+convention in 1852.
+
+In 1854 he made an extensive tour in the Southern and Western States,
+and in the Spring of 1855, after an excursion through New England, he
+sailed for Europe. While in Rome he received information that he had
+been nominated by the Native American party in his native country for
+the office of President. He accepted, but Maryland alone gave him her
+electoral vote; however, he received a large popular vote. In 1874,
+March the 8th, he died in Buffalo, where he had resided many years in
+private life.
+
+
+
+
+WILLIAM H. SEWARD.
+
+
+A truly eminent American statesman, William H. Seward, was born in
+Florida, Orange county, New York, May 16th, 1801.
+
+He graduated with much distinction when only nineteen at Union College,
+Schenectady, New York, then taught school in Georgia six months when he
+entered a New York law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1822;
+commenced the practice of law at Auburn in connection with Judge Miller,
+whose daughter he afterward married.
+
+In 1824 he entered upon his political career by preparing an address for
+a Republican convention in opposition to the Democratic clique known as
+the 'Albany Regency,' thus commenced a contention which only ended when
+the association was broken up in 1838. He presided over a young men's
+convention in New York in favor of John Quincy Adams' re-election to the
+presidency. In August, 1828, on his return home he was offered a
+nomination as member of Congress but declined. He was elected to the
+State senate in 1830, when he originated an opposition to corporate
+monopolies which has since ripened into a system of general laws. After
+a rapid tour through Europe in 1833 he returned home to become the Whig
+candidate for governor of New York, being defeated by W. L. Marcy. But
+in 1838 he was elected over Marcy, his former opponent, by a majority of
+10,000 votes.
+
+Placed now in a position where he could exercise that mighty mind which
+he unmistakably possessed, he achieved National distinction in the
+measures he prosecuted. Prominent among these measures was the effort to
+secure the diffusion of common school education, advocating an equal
+distribution of the public funds among all schools for that purpose.
+Imprisonment for debt was abolished, the banking system was improved,
+the first lunatic asylum was established, and every vestige of slavery
+was cleared from the statute books.
+
+He also became famous through his controversy with the Governor of
+Virginia. The latter issued a demand on Mr. Seward, as the Governor of
+New York, for the delivery of two men charged with abducting slaves.
+Seward maintained that no State could force a requisition upon another
+State, founded on an act which was only criminal by its own legislation,
+and which compared with general standards was not only innocent, but
+humane and praiseworthy. This correspondence between the two executives
+known as "The Virginia Controversy" was widely published, and was
+largely instrumental in bringing about his triumphant re-election in
+1840.
+
+At the close of his second term he once more resumed the practice of
+law, becoming a practitioner in the United States Courts. He was also a
+great criminal lawyer, and especially aided, not only by gratuitous
+service, but money also, in aiding people whom he thought unjustly
+accused. Becoming a United States Senator, he announced his purpose to
+make no further concessions to the slave power. In his speech on the
+admission of California, March 11th, 1850, the judgment of the man, his
+ability to forecast events, and his oratorical powers are displayed.
+Among other things he said:
+
+"It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true, it is
+acquired by the valor, and with the wealth of the whole nation. But we
+hold, nevertheless, no arbitrary power over it. We hold no arbitrary
+authority over anything, whether acquired lawfully, or seized by
+usurpation. The Constitution regulates our stewardship; the Constitution
+devotes the domain to union, to justice, to defence, to welfare, and to
+liberty."
+
+"But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our
+authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes.
+The territory is a part, no considerable part, of the common heritage of
+mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his
+stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure in the highest
+attainable degree their happiness." In another speech, delivered at
+Rochester in 1858, in alluding to the constant collision between the
+system, of free and slave labor in the United States, he said:
+
+"It is an irrepressible conflict between opposing forces, and it means
+that the United States must and will, sooner or later, become either
+entirely a slave-holding nation, or entirely a free labor nation."
+Thus, while others dodged this issue, William H. Seward came squarely
+out in language which could not be misinterpreted. When the Whig party
+had proved its incompetency to deal with the slavery question, Mr.
+Seward, in conformity with his past public career, withdrew and figured
+most conspicuously in the founding of the new Republican party.
+
+In the last session of the 36th Congress, when the war clouds were
+threatening, and desertion of the Union cause became an epidemic, high
+above the breathings of secession was heard the voice of William H.
+Seward, exclaiming: "I avow my adherence to the Union with my friends,
+with my party, with my State; or without either, as they may determine,
+in every event of peace or war, with every consequence of honor or
+dishonor, of life or death." In conclusion he declared: "I certainly
+shall never directly or indirectly give my vote to establish or sanction
+slavery in the common territories of the United States, or anywhere else
+in the world."
+
+His second term closed with the thirty-sixth congress, March 4th, 1861.
+In the National Republican convention he was the most conspicuous
+candidate for the presidency for 1856-60. He made quite an extended tour
+through Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land in 1859. Upon the accession of
+Mr. Lincoln to the presidency Mr. Seward was called to fill the seat of
+honor in his cabinet.
+
+At the outbreak of the civil war Mr. Seward had already shown himself a
+very able man, but his management of the foreign affairs of our
+government during those trying hours indelibly stamped him as the most
+able of able Secretaries of State. He was one of the few men who have
+been conceded to be a great success in the office of Secretary of State.
+His management of the complicated Trent affair, the manner of his
+declination of the French proposal to unite with Great Britain and
+Russia in mediating between the Federal and Confederate governments, and
+his thorough reorganization of the diplomatic service abroad, thus
+insuring a correct interpretation by foreign powers of the issues before
+the government; in fact his management of the high office did him great
+credit, and more than once averted a foreign war.
+
+When Mr. Lincoln had drafted his famous proclamation he submitted it to
+Seward for approval. Many people at the North were dissatisfied with
+some measures of the administration, and the rebellion had been
+characterized as a "Nigger war," even at the North, besides all this the
+Union arms had met with terrible loss, and Mr. Seward wisely saw the
+evil results which might follow such a proclamation at this time.
+Therefore, through his advice the paper was held until after the victory
+at Antietam, when the country was further educated and better able to
+understand and receive the real issue of the war.
+
+Early in the spring of 1865 he was thrown from his carriage, and his jaw
+and one arm were broken. While confined to his bed by these injuries he
+was attacked by a would-be assassin, and very severely wounded, being
+cut several times with a knife--his son Frederick W. came to his rescue
+and was also injured. It was on the same night that President Lincoln
+was shot, April 14. The assassin escaped from the house, but was soon
+arrested and hanged with the other conspirators, July 7.
+
+Mr. Seward's recovery was very slow and painful, and it is thought the
+shock given by the accident, and this murderous attack impaired his
+intellectual force, for when he again resumed his duties under
+President Johnson, he supported the President's reconstruction policy,
+becoming at dissonance with the party he had so satisfactorily served,
+until now. At the close of his official term in March, 1867, he retired
+from public life, and soon made an extended tour through California,
+Oregon and Alaska; the latter having been acquired during his
+secretaryship, and mainly through his efforts.
+
+Accompanied by his family he made a tour around the world, returning to
+Auburn in October, 1871. He was everywhere received with honor and great
+distinction. The observations made during this extensive voyage are
+embodied in "Wm. H. Seward's Travels around the World," prepared by his
+adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward. He died at Auburn, New York,
+October 10th, 1872, lamented by a nation.
+
+
+
+
+HORATIO SEYMOUR.
+
+
+One whose name and deeds are familiar to the people of the whole Union
+was Horatio Seymour, the most eminent and notable of the later Governors
+of New York. Born May 31st, 1810, at Pompey, Onondaga county, New York;
+a hamlet in what was then almost a wilderness.
+
+When he was nine years of age his parents moved to Utica. His school
+education was obtained at the academies of Oxford and Geneva, New York,
+and Partridge's military school, Middletown, Connecticut. He studied the
+science of law, and fitted himself for the profession, being admitted to
+the bar in 1832, but the death of his father devolved upon him the
+settlement of a large estate. This withdrew him from his intended
+calling, but enabled him to give ample time and attention to reading,
+for he had an intense thirst for knowledge.
+
+His public life began with his appointment as military secretary to
+Governor Marcy. Martin Van Buren is said to have seen with his keen eye
+the valuable qualities in the young man, and the appointment was made at
+his instance. Seymour held this place through Marcy's three terms,
+1833-39, and being very young, he became enamored with public life. In
+1841 he was elected to the State Assembly as a Democrat, was re-elected
+three times, and in 1845 was chosen speaker, which office he filled with
+dignity and courtesy toward all. In 1842, while in the assembly, he was
+elected Mayor of Utica for one year, and was especially interested in
+all public matters pertaining to the welfare of that city.
+
+In 1850 Mr. Seymour was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of his
+native State, being defeated by his personal friend, Washington Hurt, by
+a plurality of only 262 votes. Considering the hopeless condition of the
+Democratic party at that time, and his majority of 20,000 over the same
+competitor two years later, we can imagine something of his popularity
+at this early period. His first term as the executive of New York was
+marked by his veto of the prohibitory law which had been passed by the
+legislature, but his action in regard to the speedy completion of all
+public works then in progress and the interest he manifested in the
+diffusion of public education was very exemplary. However, in the
+ensuing election he was defeated by a plurality, this time, of only 309
+votes. In 1862 Mr. Seymour was again elected governor over Wadsworth by
+nearly 11,000 majority.
+
+The breaking out of the civil war found Mr. Seymour allied to that
+element of the Democratic party which made its views formally known at
+what has passed into history as the "Tweedle Hall" meeting. He was one
+of the principal speakers at this memorable peace convention and
+employed his eloquence in behalf of concession and conciliation, and
+pointedly inquired: "Shall we compromise after war or without war?" His
+position was analogous with many of the great men in both parties at
+this time. When hostilities had really begun his tone changed, and in
+his inaugural address, January 1st, 1863, his position was clearly
+defined as follows: "Under no circumstances can the division of the
+Union be conceded. We will put forth every exertion of power; we will
+use every policy of conciliation; we will guarantee them every right,
+every consideration demanded by the constitution and by that fraternal
+regard which must prevail in a common country; but we can never
+voluntarily consent to the breaking up of the union of these States or
+the destruction of the constitution."
+
+President Lincoln telegraphed Mr. Seymour asking if he could raise and
+forward forthwith 20,000 troops to assist in repelling the threatened
+invasion by Lee, of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Within three days 12,000
+soldiers were on their way to Gettysburg. The draft riots next occupied
+his attention. The National government passed a conscription act, March
+3rd, enrolling all able-bodied citizens, between twenty and forty-five
+years of age, and in May the President ordered a draft of three hundred
+thousand men. The project was exceedingly unpopular, and was bitterly
+denounced on every hand, says Barnes. The anti-slavery measure of the
+administration had already occupied widespread hostility to the war.
+
+While Pickett's noble southern troops were assaulting Cemetery Ridge at
+Gettysburg, inflammatory handbills were being circulated in New York
+city, which brought on a riot July 13th. The mob rose in arms, sacked
+houses, demolished the offices of the provost-marshal, burned the
+colored orphan asylum, attacked the police, and chased negroes; even
+women and children, wherever found, were chased, and if caught hung to
+the nearest lamp-post. Two millions of dollars' worth of property was
+destroyed. The Governor immediately went to New York, and on the 14th he
+issued two proclamations; one calling on the rioters to disperse; the
+other declaring the city in a state of insurrection. He divided the city
+into districts, which were placed under the control of military men, who
+were directed to organize the citizens; and 3,000 stands of arms were
+issued to these and other organizations. Boats were chartered to convey
+policemen and soldiers to any point on the shores of the island where
+disturbances were threatened. The Governor visited all the riotous
+districts in person, and by persuasion, as well as by the use of the
+force at his command, aided in quelling the disturbance.
+
+During his term Governor Seymour commissioned more than 13,000 officers
+in the volunteer service of the United States. In August 1864 he
+presided over the Democratic National Convention at Chicago which
+nominated General McClellan for the presidency. Four years later, much
+against his will, he was nominated for the presidency himself and was
+defeated by General Grant, as any nominee of the Democratic party at
+that time would have been. He then retired to private life, dwelling in
+elegant repose at his pleasant home near Utica, New York, until his
+death which occurred February 12th, 1886.
+
+His occasional addresses were charming to the hearer, and no man could
+deliver a more edifying speech at any celebration. He was an ardent
+lover of American history, particularly the history of his native State,
+and on all State topics he discoursed with learning and a charm
+peculiarly original. Notwithstanding the high position held by Mr.
+Seymour among the great men of his time his funeral was very simple.
+Rev. Dr. A. B. Goodrich offered a prayer at the residence of ex-Senator
+Roscoe Conkling, his brother-in-law, after which the regular services
+were conducted at the old Trinity Church. After the services the body
+was borne to Forest Hill Cemetery and placed in the Chapel of Roses.
+
+
+
+
+WINFIELD S. HANCOCK.
+
+
+A large man, finely proportioned with a most graceful carriage, and
+self-poise, and withal handsome, thus had nature endowed Winfield Scott
+Hancock, who was born in the county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania,
+February 14, 1824.
+
+In 1844 he graduated from West Point with honor, and served with
+distinction in the war with Mexico, where he was commissioned
+lieutenant. Until the breaking out of the civil war he was stationed
+with his division in various parts of the country. Being recalled to
+Washington, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers, and
+served with great valor during the Peninsula campaign. For this and
+other meritorious conduct he was made a major-general, and commanded a
+division at the great battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville.
+
+But in the great and decisive battle of Gettysburg Hancock won his
+greatest laurels. General Meade, his commander, sent him to the field of
+Gettysburg to decide if battle should be given there, or if the army
+should fall back to another position. Hancock reported that Gettysburg
+was the proper place, and thus the little hamlet became famous in
+history; two days of terrific fighting passed; the afternoon of the
+third day arrives and the final charge is made upon the division
+commanded by Hancock.
+
+About one o'clock one hundred and fifty-five guns suddenly opened on
+that one division. For two hours the air was fairly alive with shells.
+Every size and form of shell known to British or American gunnery
+shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled and wrathfully fluttered over the
+ground, says Wilkinson. "As many as six in a second, constantly two in a
+second came screaming around the headquarters. They burst in the yard;
+burst next to the fence where the horses belonging to the aids and
+orderlies were hitched. The fastened animals reared and plunged with
+terror. One horse fell, then another; sixteen lay dead before the
+cannonade ceased. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and
+exploding shells an ambulance driven at full speed by its frenzied
+conductor presented the marvelous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on
+three legs, a hind one had been shot off at the hock. A shell tore up
+the little step at the headquarters cottage and ripped bags of oats as
+with a knife. Another shell soon carried off one of its two pillars.
+Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open door, another tore through
+the low garret, the remaining pillar went almost immediately to the howl
+of a fixed shot that Whitworth must have made. Soldiers in Federal blue
+were torn to pieces in the road and died with the peculiar yell that
+blends the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair."
+
+"The Union guns," says Barnes, "replied for a time, and were then
+withdrawn to cool." Probably the experience of the veteran troops knew
+that they would soon be needed for closer work. The men lay crouching
+behind rocks and hiding in hollows, from the iron tempest which drove
+over the hill, anxiously awaiting the charge, which experience taught
+them, must follow. Finally the cannonade lulled, the supreme minute had
+come, and out of the woods swept the Confederate double battle-line,
+over a mile long, preceded by a cloud of skirmishers, and with wings on
+either side to prevent its being flanked. This was Lee's first charge,
+and upon it depended, as subsequently seen, the rise or fall of the
+Confederate cause.
+
+A quarter of a mile away, and a hundred guns tore great gaps in the
+line, but the men closed up and sternly moved on. A thrill of admiration
+ran along the Union ranks as silently and with disciplined steadiness,
+that magnificent column of eighteen thousand men moved up the slope,
+with its red battle-flags flying, and the sun playing on its burnished
+bayonets. On they came on the run. Infantry volleys struck their ranks.
+Their ranks were broken, and their supports were scattered to the winds.
+Pickett's veterans and A. P. Hill's best troops went down. Out of that
+magnificent column of men, only one-fourth returned to tell the story.
+Three generals, fourteen field officers, and fourteen thousand men were
+either slain or captured. This was the supreme moment of the war; from
+that hour the Confederate cause waned and slowly died.
+
+All honor to Hancock, the hero of Gettysburg, who was borne bleeding
+from the field, not to resume active service until March, 1864, when he
+took a leading part in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania
+Court-House, North Anna, the second battle of Cold Harbor, and in the
+operations around Petersburg. After the war was over he was placed in
+command of the Middle Department, the Department of Missouri, of
+Louisiana and Texas, of Dakota, and on the death of General Meade,
+promoted to command the Department of the East, which position he held
+at his death.
+
+In 1868 he was a very prominent candidate for the Democratic nomination,
+receiving 114-1/2 votes, but after an exciting contest, Horatio Seymour
+was nominated on the 22nd ballot. The next year he was tendered the
+Democratic nomination for Governor of his native State, but respectfully
+declined.
+
+In 1880 he accepted the nomination from the same party for the highest
+honor within the gift of the party, but in the subsequent election was
+defeated by James A. Garfield, the Republican nominee. His last
+conspicuous appearance in public was at the funeral services of General
+Grant, where he acted as marshal of ceremonies. Scarcely six months were
+passed when we were startled with the news: Hancock is dead, and on
+February 13th, 1886, with military honors, but no elaborate display, he
+was laid at rest beside his father and beloved daughter. No long line of
+troops, no sound of dirges, no trappings of woe, marked the funeral of
+General Hancock. The man who had received the nomination of a great
+party for the highest honor in the nation's gift, who had turned the
+fortunes of many a battle, and whose calm courage in the midst of death
+had so often inspired the faltering regiments, was laid at rest quietly,
+without pomp or vain show, at Norristown, Pennsylvania.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.
+
+
+On the 3rd of December, 1826, was born in Philadelphia, a child who
+would one day become celebrated in the annals of history.
+
+He enjoyed the privilege of a good education, graduating at the
+University of Pennsylvania, and when twenty years old he also graduated
+at West Point, ranking second in his class.
+
+George B. McClellan was a brilliant scholar, and during the Mexican war
+won high esteem as an engineer. After the war he was engaged in various
+engineering projects, and rendered valuable service to the country by
+introducing bayonet exercises into the military tactics at West Point,
+and translating a French Manual of Bayonet Exercises, which was adapted
+to the United States service, and became an authority. In 1855-'6 he was
+a member of the Military Commission sent by the government to visit the
+seat of the Crimean war.
+
+He resigned his commission in the regular army in 1857; became chief
+engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad, and in 1868 he also became
+Vice-President of the road; two years later, President of St. Louis and
+Cincinnati Railway. It is difficult to surmise what he might have become
+as a railway magnate but for the civil war.
+
+At the outbreak of hostilities he became the major-general of Ohio
+volunteers, and by skillful generalship and bravery, succeeded in
+driving the rebels out of West Virginia, which made him
+commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. General McClellan was
+over-cautious, and lingered about Washington with about 200,000 men,
+drilling and preparing for the battle. Succumbing to popular clamor he
+moved out toward Richmond.
+
+Then followed the Peninsula campaign, wherein McClellan was forced to
+change his base, accomplishing one of the most masterly retreats in the
+annals of history. Being relieved of the command by Pope, who also
+failed, he was re-instated and fought the bloody battle of Antietam. In
+this battle he foiled the Confederate project of invasion, but popular
+clamor demanded his removal, as it was thought he followed up his
+victory too leisurely. This virtually ended his military services, and
+on November 8th, 1864, he resigned his commission. After his
+unsuccessful canvass for the presidency he, with his family, sailed for
+Europe, where he remained until 1868, when he returned to the United
+States and took up his residence at Orange, New Jersey. Henceforth he
+followed his profession as an engineer.
+
+In 1877 he was elected Governor of New Jersey. On October 29th, 1885, he
+died at his residence in New York city from the effects of heart
+disease.
+
+We do not propose to pose as a champion of McClellan's wrongs, real or
+supposed, but in reviewing his life the following facts are worthy of
+thought: He was in command at a time when the whole North were laboring
+under a delusion as to the requirements of the war, and it is doubtful
+if any general would have succeeded at this time. The fact that such an
+able general as Hooker was relieved after one reverse, leads one to
+wonder what might have been the fate of even Grant had he commanded at
+this time. However, it is not for us to say, but certain it is, that no
+greater military tactician was to be found among the generals of our
+late war, and as such he deserves credit.
+
+
+
+
+ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT.
+
+
+When a man is energetic and determines to be somebody in the
+world--which is praiseworthy so long as that energy is guided by
+propriety and a just conception of right--there are always scores,
+hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who endeavor to depreciate that
+man's reward.
+
+No other excuse can be assigned for the slander and vituperation which
+has from time to time been heaped upon the fair reputation of General U.
+S. Grant.
+
+Born in obscurity at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27th, 1822, his life is
+a fitting type of the possibilities of our glorious institutions.
+Through the influence of Hon. Thomas L. Hamer he was admitted at West
+Point in 1839. Personally, at this early age, he detested war and was
+opposed to accepting the opportunity, but his father persuaded him to
+go, and his name was blunderingly registered as U. S., instead of H. U.,
+hence he was ever after known as U. S. Grant.
+
+In 1843 he graduated, ranking twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine. It
+will be remembered that Lee and McClellan each ranked second when they
+graduated. At this time Grant was not taken with war, and probably
+evinced little interest in army tactics. The Mexican war came on and
+Grant here distinguished himself, rising to the rank of captain. After
+the war he was stationed at Detroit, and Sacketts Harbor, but this kind
+of inactivity was ill-suited to the restless nature of Grant; he
+therefore resigned.
+
+Having married a Miss Dent, of St. Louis, he accordingly moved onto a
+farm near that city. The next few years he was engaged on the farm, in a
+real estate office in St. Louis, and at the outbreak of the civil war
+was in business with his father, dealing in leather. When the news of
+the fall of Fort Sumter reached Galena he immediately raised a company
+and marched to Springfield where they tendered their services to the
+governor. Grant acted as mustering officer until, being commissioned
+colonel of the Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, he took the field. His
+first great victory was the capture of Fort Donelson with 15,000
+prisoners. When asked by the Confederate general what terms of surrender
+was expected his answer was, "No terms other than an unconditional and
+immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move upon your works
+at once." The fall of Fort Donelson and the capture of its garrison
+being the first substantial victory that had crowned the Union cause,
+together with the above described answer to General Buckner, brought the
+name of General Grant prominently before the country.
+
+Pittsburgh Landing followed and then Grant determined to take Vicksburg.
+All his generals declared the plan he proposed unmilitary and
+impossible, but after several unsuccessful attempts the Gibraltar of the
+Mississippi was captured, and this time 27,000 prisoners taken. Now came
+the battle of Chattanooga. General Halleck in speaking of this battle
+said:
+
+"Considering the strength of the rebel position, and the difficulty of
+storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered
+the most remarkable in history. Indeed it is so. After Grant had turned
+the Confederate right flank, Sherman was intercepted between Longstreet
+and Bragg, thus cutting Longstreet entirely out, and preventing another
+junction being possible. Resolutions of thanks were passed in Ohio and
+New York, and Congress created Grant a Lieutenant-General, a commission
+which had been held by no one since General Scott resigned. Indeed, if
+ever a General deserved honor, Grant had won it; he had opened the
+Mississippi to navigation, and had captured nearly 100,000 prisoners and
+arms."
+
+He was now commander of all the Federal forces. He at once inaugurated
+two campaigns to be carried on at once. One under Sherman, against
+Atlanta commanded by the skillful rebel General Johnson; the other under
+Meade, directed against Lee and the Confederate capitol. Sherman
+advanced upon Atlanta, and the success of his famous march to the sea is
+well-known.
+
+The capture of Lee was a far more difficult undertaking. After various
+flanking movements and costly assaults, the problem of taking Lee
+narrowed itself down to a siege of Petersburg. Grant perceived that his
+only hope lie in literally starving the Confederate army out by cutting
+off all resources as far as practicable. Lee attempted to draw off
+attention toward Washington, but General Sheridan drove Early out of the
+Shenandoah Valley, devastating the country to such an extent that it was
+impossible to forage an army there should Lee attempt such a maneuver
+again. Time wore away, and on the 9th of April, 1865, Grant captured the
+Confederate army under Lee, thus virtually ending the war.
+
+On July 25, 1866, he was made general of the United States army; the
+rank having been created for him, he was the first to hold it. At the
+next Republican Convention, Grant was nominated for President on the
+first ballot, and was elected over Seymour, and was re-elected a second
+term by an increased majority.
+
+When his public services were finished he started in company with his
+wife, son Jesse, and a few friends. They set sail from Philadelphia on
+the 17th of May, 1877. They visited nearly all the countries of Europe,
+and part of those of Africa and Asia. On this trip the Grant party were
+the guests of nearly all the crowned heads of those foreign countries,
+everywhere receiving the most exalted honors it has ever been the
+pleasure of an American to enjoy, and on his return to the United
+States they were the recipients of an ovation in many of the principal
+cities of this country.
+
+His success seems to have been the outgrowth of hard study and ability
+to perform the most exhaustive labor without fatigue. The scenes of his
+later days were clouded with the intrigues of a stock gambler, but the
+stain that the Grant-Ward failure seemed likely to throw on the spotless
+reputation of General Grant was wiped away when the facts were brought
+to light, and a new lustre was added to his fame by the self-sacrifice
+shown in the final settlement.
+
+General Grant proved to be a writer of no low order, and his
+autobiography is a very readable book. On July 23rd, 1885, the General
+surrendered to a loathsome cancer, and the testimonials of devotion
+shown the honored dead; and the bereaved family throughout the civilized
+world, indicated the stronghold upon the hearts of the people held by
+the dead General.
+
+
+
+
+STONEWALL JACKSON.
+
+
+The true name of this most remarkable man was Thomas Jonathan Jackson;
+few people, however, would recognize by that name to whom was referred.
+At the battle of Bull Run, when the Confederates seemed about to fly,
+General Bee suddenly appearing in view of his men, pointing to Jackson's
+column exclaimed: "There stands Jackson like a stone-wall." From that
+hour the name he received by ordinance of water was supplanted by that
+received in a baptism of fire.
+
+Stonewall Jackson was born at Clarksburg, Virginia, January 21st, 1824.
+He graduated at West Point in time to serve in the Mexican war, where he
+became distinguished for gallant service and was brevetted as captain,
+and finally major. After serving a number of years in the regular army
+he resigned to become professor and instructor in military tactics in
+the Virginia Military Academy, situated at Lexington, Kentucky. He was
+considered at this time a most peculiar man, being very eccentric in his
+habits. At the breaking out of the civil war he naturally sided with his
+State, and it is believed that he was sincere. It is said that Jackson
+never fought a battle without praying earnestly for the success of his
+people. As has been intimated, he saved the day for the Confederacy at
+Bull Run.
+
+McClellan was promised the assistance of General McDowell and forty
+thousand men who had been left at headquarters for the protection of the
+capital. It was well-known that a combined attack on Richmond was
+designed immediately upon the junction of the two great armies. To
+prevent the execution of this plan Jackson was ordered to drive the
+Federal forces out of the Shenandoah Valley and threaten Washington. He
+accomplished this by one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war. He
+crossed the mountains and drove the army of Fremont back, and returning
+to the Valley with all speed defeated Banks at every turn; indeed, it
+was only by the most rapid marching that the Federals escaped across the
+Potomac.
+
+McDowell was suspended from joining McClellan and ordered to co-operate
+in crushing Jackson. Jackson, with a force of scarcely twenty thousand
+men, had opposed to him, bent upon his destruction, fully seventy
+thousand men, and four major-generals; his defeat seemed certain, yet by
+a most rapid and skillful march he eluded pursuit until his army had
+reached a point from which his line of retreat was safe, when he turned
+upon his enemy and defeated Fremont at Cross Keys June 8th, and Shields
+at Port Republic the next day. Having thus accomplished the purpose of
+the campaign, he hastened to join Lee in his attack on McClellan. As
+before stated, this was a most brilliant campaign. Not only was McDowell
+prevented from joining McClellan, but McClellan became alarmed as to his
+own safety, and resolved to change his base from the York to the James.
+This forced upon him the Peninsula campaign, which resulted in the Union
+army being driven back to Washington. For this and other important
+services he was made a major-general. Being placed in immediate control
+of nearly half of Lee's entire army, he made one of his characteristic
+movements; gaining Pope's rear, fell upon the Union forces with a
+terrible ferocity which carried all before it. By a rapid movement in
+the Antietam campaign Jackson captured Harper's Ferry and eleven
+thousand men, and then, by a forced march, rejoined Lee in time to take
+an important part in the battle of Antietam two days afterward.
+
+At Fredericksburg he was made a lieutenant-general. He soon controlled
+two-thirds of the Confederate forces, and at Chancellorsville he made a
+secret march of over fifteen miles mostly by forest roads, and gaining
+Hooker's right fell upon it by surprise, and drove it in rout upon the
+main body. The engagement being apparently over he rode into the woods
+to reconnoiter, having with him a small escort. Upon his return they
+were mistaken for Union scouts and fired upon by his own men. Several of
+the escort were killed, and Jackson received three balls, one through
+each hand and one which shattered his shoulder. He was at length carried
+to the rear where his arm was amputated. Pneumonia set in, however,
+which was the immediate cause of his death. His last words were, "Let us
+cross over and rest under the shade of the trees."
+
+Stonewall Jackson was considered by the Confederates to have been their
+most brilliant commander, and his death had much to do with the
+overthrow of their Government.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE.
+
+
+Robert E. Lee was born in Virginia, at the town of Stafford, June 19th,
+1807. He was son of Colonel Henry Lee, of revolutionary fame. He had a
+commanding military bearing, was a most graceful horseman; he came from
+good "fighting stock," and as there never was a braver man drew sword,
+he was well calculated to become the beau-ideal of the Southern
+Confederacy.
+
+When eighteen years of age he entered the military academy at West
+Point, where, after a four years' course, he graduated. One thing,
+General Lee, as a cadet, was an example well worthy of imitation, as
+he, during his whole four years' course, never received a reprimand, and
+graduated second only to one in his class. From 1829 until 1834, he
+served as assistant engineer in the building of forts in the South, and
+later was assistant astronomer; aiding in determining the boundary of
+Ohio. When the Mexican war broke out he was appointed chief engineer for
+the army under General Scott.
+
+During this war he served with great distinction, being successively
+breveted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel, and was wounded once;
+certain it is that Robert E. Lee gave ample proof of his ability in the
+Mexican war. In the interim between the Mexican and Civil wars he served
+his country in various ways, being for some three years superintendent
+of the West Point Military Academy.
+
+In 1855 two new regiments were formed. Of the second regiment Albert
+Sidney Johnson was made colonel; Lee, lieutenant-colonel; Hardee and
+Thomas, majors; Van Dorn and Kirby Smith, captains; among the
+lieutenants were Stoneman and Hood. One can see that the officers of
+that regiment were composed of men of no small calibre. When Lincoln was
+elected Lee was in Texas, but he obtained a leave of absence and hurried
+to his home in Virginia. General Lee was held in very high esteem by
+General Scott, who was then at the head of all the Union armies. General
+Scott was getting very old, too old for active service, and it is stated
+that he felt strongly inclined to name Lee as his successor, but Lee had
+other views on the question and he joined his fortune with that of the
+South.
+
+Perhaps a letter written to his sister will more clearly portray Lee's
+convictions and motives at the breaking out of hostilities than
+anything that can be found elsewhere in history:--"The whole South is in
+a state of revolution into which Virginia has been drawn after a long
+struggle; and though I recognize no necessity for this state of things
+and would have forborne and pleaded to the end for redress of
+grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person I had to meet the
+question whether I should take part against my native State. With all my
+devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American
+citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand
+against my relatives, my children, my home."
+
+These were the words of General Lee to his sister. The idea of certain
+power reserved from the "central power," as they termed it, had been
+inculcated since Jefferson and Madison drew up the Kentucky and Virginia
+resolution in 1798. Upon these did Calhoun claim authority to rest
+justified when he fostered the idea of State Rights. Had it not been for
+a sudden wave of popular politics which swept Jefferson into power it
+might have been Thomas Jefferson or James Madison who would have been
+known in history as the author of the Nullification Acts which did not
+come until Calhoun's day.
+
+This doctrine had been taught in the South for several generations, and
+had enlarged with rolling. The profitable use of slaves helped to
+sustain it, and it is no wonder, to a careful observer, that these
+people were carried away by rebellion, when he takes into consideration
+these things, the characteristics of the people, etc. As it was with
+Lee, so it was with the South, and despite assertions to the contrary,
+we believe that Robert E. Lee was sincere, and not looking after glory
+any more than other officers of recognized ability, who cast their
+fortunes with the North.
+
+Then, too, Lee gained his position at the head of the Southern army only
+after one general had been killed, another wounded, and another stricken
+with a paralytic stroke; he coming fourth in order.
+
+On June 3d, 1862, Lee received his commission, and immediately launched
+out upon a series of battles known as the seven-days battle, in which he
+succeeded in driving McClellan from before Richmond. Pope was now placed
+in command of the Union forces, and Lee signally defeated him in the
+second battle of Bull Run. Now he attempted his first invasion of the
+North, and was forced back in the battle of Antietam. Retreating into
+Virginia, he massed his forces at Fredericksburg. The North being
+dissatisfied with the slow manner in which McClellan was following Lee,
+placed Burnside in command, who attacked Lee in his position, but was
+signally repulsed by the Confederates. He next met Hooker at
+Chancellorsville, and again success attended the standard of Lee.
+
+Flushed with the great victories of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville,
+Lee once more started on an invasion of the North. Meade was now put at
+the head of the Union forces, who at once started in pursuit. They met
+at Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania. Three long days of terrible fighting
+resulted in the repulse of Lee, and he retreated south in good order.
+When he reached the Potomac he found it impassable. If Meade had
+followed Lee up now he might have gained a glorious victory, but he
+allowed Lee to escape into Virginia.
+
+General Grant was now placed at the head of the Union forces and Lee
+found he had other metal with which to deal. Grant was not only made of
+different material but he could profit by the experience of his
+predecessors. Then, too, Grant had the great resources of the North
+behind him and the confidence of President Lincoln. Lee could never
+replace the 30,000 veterans lost at Gettysburg, but Grant could lose
+later 80,000 and the government was amply able to replace three times
+that number. Grant now commenced to starve Lee out, to wear the
+Confederacy threadbare. The history of the war from now until the close
+of the war is a series of flanking movements carried on by two most
+skillful generals. At last Lee was obliged to surrender on the 9th of
+April, 1865.
+
+After the war he became president of Washington and Lee University, his
+great popularity and good management gaining for it a large patronage.
+He died on the 12th of October, 1870.
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WILSON.
+
+
+Great honor is due any man who rises from the shoe-maker's bench to be
+Vice-President of the United States. Such a man was Henry Wilson, who
+was born at Farmington, New Hampshire, February 16th, 1812. When yet a
+mere child he was apprenticed to a farmer, whom he was to serve until of
+age. Eleven long years did he serve this man, receiving only about one
+year's schooling during that time, but he borrowed books and read
+nearly one thousand volumes during the "wee sma' hours" of his
+apprenticeship. Upon obtaining his majority he started on foot for
+Natick, Massachusetts, and entered the town with all his worldly
+possessions in a bundle. Obtaining employment as a shoemaker he was thus
+occupied for the next two years. His course of reading, so faithfully
+followed, had made him proficient in history, but thirsting for
+additional knowledge he decided to attend school with the money he had
+saved. About this time he went to Washington, when the sight of slaves
+bought and sold excited his sympathy, and he decided to forever oppose
+with all his might the institution of bondage, which he always did, no
+matter how found. Upon his return he found his earnings swept away by
+the failure of the man to whom he had intrusted them. Accordingly he
+resumed the shoe business, but his light was beginning to be seen. He
+was invited to partake in the anti-slavery meetings, then so frequent in
+Massachusetts, and actively engaged in the campaign in which Harrison
+was elected President, making over sixty speeches.
+
+In 1843 he was elected to the State Senate. Also manufactured shoes on
+an extended scale for the southern market. The old Whig party, with whom
+he had been so earnestly allied, proving itself unable to cope with the
+slave power, by rejecting the anti-slavery resolutions at the convention
+of 1843, he withdrew from it. Later, he was a conspicuous figure in the
+organization of the new Free Soil party, being the Chairman of the
+committee in his State, and editor of the _Boston Republican_. In
+1850-52 he was president of the State Senate, and in '52 presided at the
+Free Soil contention at Pittsburgh. The next year he was the Free Soil
+candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, but was defeated. In 1855 he
+was chosen United States Senator, where he distinguished himself. When
+his colleague, Mr. Sumner, was attacked by Preston S. Brooks, Mr. Wilson
+fearlessly denounced it as a cowardly, not to say dastardly assault. He
+was immediately challenged by Mr. Brooks, but declined on the ground
+that dueling is a barbarous custom which the law of the country has
+branded as a crime. He was one of the leaders in the new Republican
+party movement.
+
+During the civil war his labors were indefatigable for the Union, and in
+1872 he was elected on that ticket with Grant by an overwhelming
+majority.
+
+He died in office, November 22nd, 1875, and the boy shoemaker was
+mourned by a great nation. Truly, the price of success is patient toil.
+
+
+
+
+ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
+
+
+If one reads the life of Abraham Lincoln they are thoroughly convinced
+that the possibilities of our country are indeed very great. He was born
+in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 14th day of February, 1809, of very
+poor parents, who lived in a log cabin.
+
+Scarcely a boy in the country will read these lines but has tenfold the
+opportunity to succeed in the world as had Abraham Lincoln. When he was
+still a little boy his parents moved to Indiana, which was then a
+wilderness. Here, in a log cabin, he learned to read under the tuition
+of his mother and afterward received nearly a year's schooling at
+another log cabin a mile away,--nearly a year's schooling and all the
+schooling he ever received from a tutor!
+
+But he loved books, he craved knowledge and eagerly did he study the few
+books which fell in his way. He kept a scrap-book into which he copied
+the striking passages and this practice enabled him to gain an
+education. Here he grew up, becoming famous for his great strength and
+agility; he was six foot four inches in his stockings and was noted as
+the most skillful wrestler in the country. When he was about twenty
+years old the Lincoln family moved to Illinois, settling ten miles from
+Decatur, where they cleared about fifteen acres and built a log cabin.
+Here is where Lincoln gained his great reputation as a rail-splitter. He
+had kept up his original system of reading and sketching, and from this
+period in his life he became a marked man--he was noted for his
+information. It makes little difference whether knowledge is gained in
+college or by the side of a pile of rails, as Lincoln was wont to study
+after his day's work was done.
+
+In 1830 he took a trip on a flat-boat to New Orleans. It was on this
+trip that he first saw slaves chained together and whipped. Ever after,
+he detested the institution of slavery. Upon his return he received a
+challenge from a famous wrestler; he accepted and threw his antagonist.
+About this time he became a clerk in a country store, where his honesty
+and square dealing made him a universal favorite, and earned for him the
+sobriquet of 'Honest Abe.' He next entered the Black Hawk war, and was
+chosen captain of his company. Jefferson Davis also served as an
+officer in this war. In the fall of 1832 he was a candidate for the
+legislature, but was defeated. He then opened a store with a partner
+named Berry. Lincoln was made postmaster, but Berry proved a drunkard
+and spendthrift, bringing the concern to bankruptcy, and soon after
+died, to fill a drunkard's grave, leaving Lincoln to pay all the debts.
+But during all this time Lincoln had been improving his spare moments
+learning surveying, and for the next few years he earned good wages
+surveying.
+
+He now decided to become a lawyer, and devoted his attention, so far as
+possible, to the accumulation of a thorough knowledge. At one period
+during his studies he walked, every Saturday, to Springfield, some eight
+miles away, to borrow and return books pertaining to his studies. These
+books he studied nights, and early in the morning, out of working hours.
+In 1834 he was once more a candidate for the legislature, and was
+triumphantly elected, being re-elected in 1836, 1838, and 1840. In 1837,
+when he had arrived at the age of twenty-eight, he was admitted to the
+bar, where he soon became noted as a very successful pleader before a
+jury. He was a Whig of the Henry Clay school, a splendid lawyer, and a
+ready speaker at public gatherings.
+
+In 1836 he first met Stephen A. Douglas who was destined to be his
+adversary in the political arena for the next twenty years. Stephen A.
+Douglas was, or soon became the leader of the Democracy in Illinois and
+Lincoln spoke for the Whigs as against Douglas. In 1847 Lincoln was sent
+to Congress, being chosen over the renowned Peter Cartwright, who was
+the Democratic candidate. In Congress he vigorously opposed President
+Polk and the Mexican war, and proposed a bill to abolish slavery in the
+District of Columbia, provided the inhabitants would vote for it. In
+1855 he withdrew from the contest for the United States Senatorship in
+favor of Mr. Trumbull, whom he knew would draw away many Democratic
+votes and to Lincoln was due Trumbull's election. During the canvass he
+met Stephen A. Douglas in debate at Springfield, where he exploded the
+theory of 'Squatter Sovereignty' in one sentence, namely: "I admit that
+the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to govern himself, but
+I deny his right to govern any other person without that person's
+consent."
+
+In 1858 he had his great contest for the United States Senatorship with
+Douglas. At that time Judge Douglas was renowned throughout the nation
+as one of the ablest, if not the ablest of American speakers. Horace
+Greeley well said, "The man who stumps a State with Stephen A. Douglas
+and meets him day after day before the people has got to be no fool."
+The tremendous political excitement growing out of the 'Kansas-Nebraska
+Act,' and the agitation of the slavery question, in its relation to the
+vast territory of Kansas and Nebraska, convulsed the nation. The
+interest was greatly heightened from the fact that these two great
+gladiators, Stephen A. Douglas, the great mouth-piece of the Democratic
+party and champion of 'Squatter Sovereignty,' and Abraham Lincoln, a
+prominent lawyer, but otherwise comparatively unknown, the opponent of
+that popular measure and the coming champion of the anti-slavery party.
+
+The question at issue was immense--permanent, not transient--universal,
+not local, and the debate attracted profound attention on the part of
+the people, whether Democratic or Free Soil, from the Kennebec to the
+Rio Grande. Mr. Douglas held that the vote of the majority of the
+people of a territory should decide this as well as all other questions
+concerning their domestic or internal affairs. Mr. Lincoln, on the
+contrary, urged the necessity of an organic enactment, excluding slavery
+in any form--this last to be the condition of its admission into the
+Union as a State. The public mind was divided and the utterances and
+movements of every public man were closely scanned. Finally, after the
+true western style, a joint discussion, face to face, between Lincoln
+and Douglas, as the two representative leaders, was proposed and agreed
+upon. It was arranged that they should have seven great debates, one
+each at Ottawa, Freeport, Charleston, Jonesboro, Galesburg, Quincy, and
+Alton.
+
+Processions and cavalcades, bands of music and cannon-firing made every
+day a day of excitement. But the excitement was greatly intensified from
+the fact that the oratorical contests were between two such skilled
+debaters, before mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over
+every keen thrust at the adversary, and again to be cast down by each
+failure to 'give back as good,' or to parry the thrust so aimed.
+
+In personal appearance, voice, gesture and general platform style,
+nothing could exceed the dissimilarity of these two speakers. Mr.
+Douglas possessed a frame or build particularly attractive; a natural
+presence which would have gained for him access to the highest circles,
+however courtly, in any land; a thickset, finely built, courageous man,
+with an air as natural to him as breath, of self-confidence that did not
+a little to inspire his supporters with hope. That he was every inch a
+man no friend or foe ever questioned. Ready, forceful, animated, keen,
+playful, by turns, and thoroughly artificial; he was one of the most
+admirable platform speakers that ever appeared before an American
+audience, his personal geniality, too, being so abounding that,
+excepting in a political sense, no antagonism existed between him and
+his opponent.
+
+Look at Lincoln. In personal appearance, what a contrast to his renowned
+opponent. Six feet and four inches high, long, lean and wiry in motion;
+he had a good deal of the elasticity and awkwardness which indicated the
+rough training of his early life; his face genial looking, with good
+humor lurking in every corner of its innumerable angles. Judge Douglas
+once said, "I regard Lincoln as a kind, amiable and intelligent
+gentleman, a good citizen and an honorable opponent." As a speaker he
+was ready, precise, fluent and his manner before a popular assembly was
+just as he pleased to make it; being either superlatively ludicrous or
+very impressive. He employed but little gesticulation but when he
+desired to make a point produced a shrug of the shoulders, an elevation
+of the eyebrows, a depression of his mouth and a general malformation of
+countenance so comically awkward that it scarcely ever failed to 'bring
+down the house.' His enunciation was slow and distinct, and his voice
+though sharp and piercing at times had a tendency to dwindle into a
+shrill and unpleasant tone. In this matter of voice and commanding
+attitude, the odds were decidedly in favor of Judge Douglas.
+
+Arrangements having been consummated, the first debate took place at
+Ottawa, in Lasalle county, and a strong Republican district. The crowd
+in attendance was a large one, and about equally divided--the enthusiasm
+of the Democracy having brought more than a due proportion of their
+numbers to hear and see their favorite leader. The thrilling tones of
+Douglas, his manly defiance against the principles he believed to be
+wrong assured his friends, if any assurance were wanting, that he was
+the same unconquered and unconquerable Democrat that he had proved to be
+for the previous twenty-five years.
+
+Douglas opened the discussion and spoke one hour; Lincoln followed, the
+time assigned him being an hour and a half, though he yielded a portion
+of it. It was not until the second meeting, however, that the speakers
+grappled with those profound public questions that had thus brought them
+together, and in which the nation was intensely interested. The debates
+were a wonderful exhibition of power and eloquence.
+
+In the first debate Mr. Douglas arraigned his opponent for the
+expression in a former speech of a "House divided against itself,"
+etc.,--referring to the slavery and anti-slavery sections of the
+country; and Mr. Lincoln defended those ideas as set forth in the speech
+referred to. As Mr. Lincoln's position in relation to one or two points
+growing out of the former speech referred to, had attracted great
+attention throughout the country, he availed himself of the opportunity
+of this preliminary meeting to reply to what he regarded as common
+misconceptions. "Anything," he said, "that argues me into the idea of
+perfect social and political equality with the negro is but a specious
+and fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a
+horse-chestnut to be a chestnut horse. I will say here, while upon this
+subject, that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere
+with the institution of slavery in the States where it now exists. I
+believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do
+so. I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between
+the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the
+two which, in my judgment, will probably forever forbid their living
+together upon a footing of perfect equality, and inasmuch as it becomes
+a matter of necessity that there must be a difference I, as well as
+Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong, having the
+superior position. I have never said anything to the contrary, but I
+hold that notwithstanding all this, there is no reason in the world why
+the negro is not entitled to all the natural rights enumerated in the
+Declaration of Independence--the right to life, liberty, and the
+pursuits of happiness. I hold that he is as much entitled to these as
+the white man. I agree with Judge Douglas he is not my equal in many
+respects--certainly not in color, perhaps not in moral and intellectual
+endowment. But in the right to eat the bread without the leave of any
+one else, which his own hand earns, he is my equal, and the equal of
+Judge Douglas, and the equal of every living man."
+
+Touching the question of respect or weight of opinion due to deliverance
+of the United States Supreme Court--an element which entered largely
+into this national contest, Mr. Lincoln said: "This man--Douglas--sticks
+to a decision which forbids the people of a territory from excluding
+slavery, and he does so, not because he says it is right in itself--he
+does not give any opinion on that, but because it has been decided by
+the Court, and being decided by the Court, he is, and you are bound to
+take it in your political action as law; not that he judges at all of
+its merits, but because a decision of the Court is to him a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' He places it on that ground alone, and you will bear in mind
+that thus committing himself unreservedly to this decision, commits him
+to the next one just as firmly as to this. He did not commit himself on
+account of the merit or demerit of the decision, but is a 'Thus saith
+the Lord.' The next decision, as much as this, will be a 'Thus saith the
+Lord.' There is nothing that can divert or turn him away from this
+decision. It is nothing that I point out to him that his great
+prototype, General Jackson, did not believe in the binding force of
+decisions--it is nothing to him that Jefferson did not so believe. I
+have said that I have often heard him approve of Jackson's course in
+disregarding the decision of the Supreme Court, pronouncing a national
+bank unconstitutional. He says: I did not hear him say so; he denies the
+accuracy of my recollection. I say he ought to know better than I, but I
+will make no question about this thing, though it still seems to me I
+heard him say it twenty times. I will tell him, though, that he now
+claims to stand on the Cincinnati platform which affirms that Congress
+_cannot_ charter a national bank, in the teeth of that old standing
+decision that Congress _can_ charter a bank. And I remind him of another
+piece of history on the question of respect for judicial decisions, and
+it is a piece of Illinois history belonging to a time when the large
+party to which Judge Douglas belonged were displeased with a decision of
+the Supreme Court of Illinois, because they had decided that a Governor
+could not remove a Secretary of State. I know that Judge Douglas will
+not deny that he was then in favor of oversloughing that decision by the
+mode of adding five new judges, so as to vote down the four old ones.
+Not only so, but it ended in the judge's sitting down on that very
+bench, as one of the five new judges so as to break down the four old
+ones." In this strain Mr. Lincoln occupied most of his time. But the
+debate was a very equal thing, and the contest did not prove a 'walk
+over' either way.
+
+At the meeting in Ottawa Mr. Lincoln propounded certain questions to
+which Judge Douglas promptly answered. Judge Douglas spoke in something
+of the following strain: "He desires to know if the people of Kansas
+shall form a constitution by means entirely proper and unobjectionable,
+and ask admission into the Union as a State before they have the
+requisite population for a member of Congress, whether I will vote for
+that admission? Well, now, I regret exceedingly that he did not answer
+that interrogatory himself before he put it to me, in order that we
+might understand and not be left to infer on which side he is. Mr.
+Trumbull during the last session of Congress voted from the beginning to
+the end against the admission of Oregon, although a free State, because
+she had not the requisite population. As Mr. Trumbull is in the field
+fighting for Mr. Lincoln, I would like to have Mr. Lincoln answer his
+own question and tell me whether he is fighting Trumbull on that issue
+or not. But I will answer his question. In reference to Kansas it is my
+opinion that as she has population enough to constitute a slave State,
+she has people enough for a free State. I will not make Kansas an
+exceptional case to the other States of the Union. I made that
+proposition in the Senate in 1856, and I renewed it during the last
+session in a bill providing that no territory of the United States
+should form a constitution and apply for admission until it had the
+requisite population. On another occasion I proposed that neither Kansas
+nor any other territory should be admitted until it had the requisite
+population. Congress did not adopt any of my propositions containing
+this general rule, but did make an exception of Kansas. I will stand by
+that exception. Either Kansas must come in as a free State, with
+whatever population she may have, or the rule must be applied to all the
+other territories alike."
+
+Mr. Douglas next proceeded to answer another question proposed by Mr.
+Lincoln, namely: Whether the people of a territory can, in any lawful
+way, against the wishes of any citizen of the United States, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Said Judge Douglas: "I answer emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln
+has heard me answer a hundred times from every stump in Illinois, that
+in my opinion the people of a territory can, by lawful means, exclude
+slavery from their limits prior to the formation of a State
+constitution. Mr. Lincoln knew that I had answered that question over
+and over again. He heard me argue the Nebraska Bill on that principle
+all over the State in 1854, in 1855 and in 1856, and he has no excuse
+for pretending to be in doubt as to my position. It matters not what way
+the Supreme Court may hereafter decide as to the abstract question,
+whether slavery may or may not go into a territory under the
+constitution, the people have the lawful means to introduce it or
+exclude it as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a
+day or an hour unless it is supported by local police regulations. Those
+police regulations can only be established by the local legislature, and
+if the people are opposed to slavery they will elect representatives to
+that body who will, by unfriendly legislation, effectually prevent the
+introduction of it into their midst. If, on the contrary, they are for
+it their legislation will favor its extension. Hence, no matter what the
+decision of the Supreme Court may be on that abstract question, still
+the right of the people to make a slave territory or free territory is
+perfect and complete under the Nebraska Bill."
+
+It was with great vigor and adroitness that the two great combatants
+went over the ground at the remaining five places of debate, all of
+which were attended and listened to by immense concourses. On both sides
+the speeches were able, eloquent, exhaustive. It was admitted by
+Lincoln's friends that on several occasions he was partly foiled, or at
+least badly bothered, while on the other hand the admirers of Douglas
+allowed that in more than one instance he was flatly and fairly floored
+by Lincoln. It was altogether about an equal match in respect to
+ability, logic, and eloquence. Both of them were self-made men; both of
+them were able lawyers and politicians; both sprang from obscurity to
+distinction; both belonged to the common people; and both were strong
+and popular with the masses.
+
+Though defeated by an unfair apportionment of the legislative districts
+for the senatorship, yet Lincoln so ably fought the great Douglas with
+such wonderful power as to surprise the nation. Heretofore but little
+known out of his native State; this debate made him one of the two most
+conspicuous men in the nation, and the excitement was intensified from
+the fact that both from that hour were the chosen opponents for the
+coming presidential contest.
+
+At the ensuing presidential contest Lincoln was elected to the
+presidency, and the gory front of secession was raised. Forgetting past
+differences, Douglas magnanimously stood shoulder to shoulder with
+Lincoln in behalf of the Union. It was the olive branch of genuine
+patriotism. But while proudly holding aloft the banner of his nation in
+the nation councils, and while yet the blood of his countrymen had not
+blended together and drenched the land, the great senator was suddenly
+snatched from among the living in the hour of the country's greatest
+need; while the brave Lincoln was allowed to see the end--the cause
+triumphant, when he was also called from death unto life.
+
+Lincoln elected, though he was, and admitted to have received his
+election fairly and triumphantly, was yet of necessity compelled to
+enter Washington, like a thief in the night, to assume his place at the
+head of the nation. Lincoln met the crisis calmly but firmly. He had
+watched the coming storm and he asked, as he bade adieu to his friends
+and fellow-citizens, their earnest prayers to Almighty God that he might
+have wisdom and help to see the right path and pursue it. Those prayers
+were answered. He guided the ship of State safely through the most angry
+storm that ever demanded a brave and good pilot. We can only gaze in awe
+on the memory of this man. He seemingly knew in a moment, when placed in
+a trying position that would have baffled an inferior mind, just what to
+do for the best interest of the nation.
+
+Mr. Lincoln had unsurpassed fitness for the task he had to execute.
+Without anything like brilliancy of genius, without breadth of learning
+or literary accomplishments, he had that perfect balance of thoroughly
+sound faculties which gave him the reputation of an almost infallible
+judgment. This, combined with great calmness of temper, inflexible
+firmness of will, supreme moral purpose, and intense patriotism made up
+just that character which fitted him, as the same qualities fitted
+Washington, for the salvation of his country in a period of stupendous
+responsibility and eminent peril.
+
+Although far advanced on the question of slavery, personally, he was
+exceedingly careful about pushing measures upon a country he knew was
+hardly prepared as yet to receive such sweeping legislation. An
+acquaintance once said: 'It is hard to believe that very nearly one-half
+of the Republican party were opposed to the issue of the proclamation of
+emancipation.' Thus Lincoln avoided all extremes, and this quality alone
+made him eminently fit to govern. Yet, when necessary, he was stern and
+unrelenting. When the British minister desired to submit instructions
+from his government, stating that that government intended to sustain a
+neutral relation, he refused to receive it officially. When France
+demanded recognition by the United States of the government of
+Maximilian, in Mexico, he steadily refused. He was firm as a rock; he
+would ride post haste twenty miles to pardon a deserter, but under no
+consideration could he be induced to suspend hostilities against a
+people who were trying to destroy the Union. All sorts of political
+machinery was invented to manufacture public opinion and sentiment
+against him, but he was triumphantly re-elected in 1864.
+
+The morning of Lincoln's second inauguration was very stormy, but the
+sky cleared just before noon, and the sun shone brightly as he appeared
+before an immense audience in front of the capitol, and took the oath
+and delivered an address, alike striking for its forcible expressions
+and conciliatory spirit. He spoke something as follows:
+
+"On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts
+were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. * * * Both parties
+deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the
+nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it
+perish; and the war came. * * * Both read the same Bible, and pray to
+the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem
+strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in
+wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us
+judge not that we be not judged. The prayer of both could not be
+answered. That of neither has been fully. * * * With malice toward none,
+with charity for all, with the firmness in the right, as God gives us
+light to see the right, let us finish the work we are in to bind up the
+nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
+for his widow and his orphans, to all which may achieve and cherish a
+just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
+
+He hated slavery from the beginning, but was not an abolitionist until
+it was constitutional to be so. At the head of the nation, when
+precedents were useless, he was governed by justice only. He was
+singularly fortunate in the selection of his cabinet officers, and the
+reason was he never allowed prejudice to prevent his placing a rival in
+high office.
+
+Yes, Mr. Lincoln is probably the most remarkable example on the pages of
+history, showing the possibilities of our country. From the poverty in
+which he was born, through the rowdyism of a frontier town, the rudeness
+of frontier society, the discouragement of early bankruptcy, and the
+fluctuations of popular politics, he rose to the championship of Union
+and freedom when the two seemed utterly an impossibility; never lost
+his faith when both seemed hopeless, and was suddenly snatched from
+earth when both were secured. He was the least pretentious of men, and
+when, with the speed of electricity, it flashed over the Union that the
+great Lincoln--shot by an assassin--was no more, the excitement was
+tremendous. The very heart of the republic throbbed with pain and
+lamentation. Then the immortal President was borne to his last
+resting-place in Springfield, Illinois. All along the journey to the
+grave, over one thousand miles, a continual wail went up from friends
+innumerable, and they would not be comforted. Never was there a grander,
+yet more solemn funeral accorded to any, ancient or modern. He was a
+statesman without a statesman's craftiness, politician without a
+politician's meanness, a great man without a great man's vices, a
+philanthropist without a philanthropist's dreams, a christian without
+pretensions, a ruler without the pride of place or power, an ambitious
+man without selfishness, and a successful man without vanity. Humble man
+of the backwoods, boatman, axman, hired laborer, clerk, surveyor,
+captain, legislator, lawyer, debater, orator, politician, statesman.
+President, savior of the republic, emancipator of a race, true
+christian, true man.
+
+Gaze on such a character; does it not thrill your very soul and cause
+your very heart to bleed that such a man should be shot by a dastardly
+assassin? Yet on the 14th of April, 1865, J. Wilkes Booth entered the
+private box of the President, and creeping stealthily from behind, as
+become the dark deed which he contemplated, deliberately shot Abraham
+Lincoln through the head, and the country lost the pilot in the hours
+when she needed him so much.
+
+
+
+
+EDWARD EVERETT.
+
+
+Among the more eminent of eminent men stands Edward Everett in the
+annals of American history. We do not give his history to show how he
+struggled through privations, overcoming all obstacles, until victory at
+last crowned his efforts, as so many of our great men have been obliged
+to do, but we do delineate his achievements to illustrate what hard work
+will do, provided a man has ability to develop. Yes, to show what hard
+work will do. But some will say, 'Well, that does sound well, but I
+guess if Edward Everett had been an ordinary man no amount of hard work
+would have made him the Edward Everett of history'; another may say,
+'That's so, it is foolish to argue as you do, and hold up such men as
+examples, intimating that their success is the result of hard work'; and
+still another may say, 'Say what you will, you cannot gain-say the
+factor of opportunities, of 'luck,' if you choose to so designate it.'
+
+We do not gain-say anything; we simply point to history; read for
+yourself. Take eminent men, read their lives, and see if seven-tenths,
+at least, of our great men did not acquire success through their own
+effort. Read carefully and see if they did not largely MAKE their own
+opportunities. True, all cannot be Everetts or Clays, but by
+extraordinary effort and careful thought, any one will better his or her
+condition. Sickness may come, they will be the better prepared. Losses
+will be more easily met and discharged. No man ever succeeded by
+waiting for something to turn up. The object of this work is not to make
+people delude themselves by any conceited ideas, but to encourage, to
+inspire, to enkindle anew the fires of energy laying dormant. The point
+is, it is not a 'slumbering genius' within people that it is our desire
+to stimulate, but a 'slumbering energy.' We are content that others
+should take care of the 'genius'; we are satisfied that any influence,
+no matter from what source it comes, that will awaken dormant energies
+will do the world more good than ten times the same amount of influence
+trying to prove that we are fore ordained to be somebody or nobody.
+
+Mr. Everett was a man who fully comprehended and appreciated this fact.
+All great men understand that it is the making the most of one's talents
+that makes the most of our chances which absolutely tells. Rufus Choate
+believed in hard work. When some one said to him that a certain fine
+achievement was the result of accident, he exclaimed: "Nonsense. You
+might as well drop the Greek alphabet on the ground and expect to pick
+up the Illiad." Mr. Beecher has well said that every idle man has to be
+supported by some industrious man. Hard labor prevents hard luck.
+Fathers should teach their children that if any one will not work
+neither shall he attain success. Let us magnify our calling and be
+happy, but strive to progress. As before said, Mr. Everett fully
+understood all this and great men innumerable could be quoted in support
+of this doctrine.
+
+The year 1794 must ever be memorable, as the year in which Mr. Everett
+was ushered into the world, in which he was to figure as so prominent a
+factor. We have written a long preamble, but it is hoped that the
+reader has taken enough interest thus far to fully take in the points
+which we have endeavored to make, and it is further hoped that such
+being the case, the reader will, by the light of those ideas, read and
+digest the wonderful character before us.
+
+Undoubtedly Everett possessed one of the greatest minds America has ever
+produced, but if he had rivaled Solomon in natural ability, he could not
+have entered Harvard College as a student at the age of thirteen had he
+not been an indefatigable worker, and will any man delude himself into
+the belief that he could have graduated from such a school at the age of
+only seventeen, and at the head of his class, had he not exercised
+tremendous energy. Still further do any of the readers who chance to
+read this volume think that he was picked up bodily and placed in the
+ministerial chair vacated by the gifted Buckminister when he was only
+nineteen because he was lucky? A city preacher at nineteen! Occupying
+one of the first pulpits in the land at nineteen! "Why, he was gifted."
+Of course he was, and he was a tremendous worker. Thus was his success
+enhanced.
+
+At twenty he was appointed to a Greek professorship in Harvard College,
+and qualified himself by travel in Europe for four years. During that
+time he acquired that solid information concerning the history and
+principles of law, and of the political systems of Europe, which formed
+the foundation of that broad statesmanship for which he was afterward
+distinguished. During his residence in Europe his range of study
+embraced the ancient classics, the modern languages, the history and
+principles of the civil and public law, and a comprehensive examination
+of the existing political systems of Europe. He returned home, and from
+that time until his death he was recognized as one of the greatest
+orators of his time. In 1825 to 1835 he was a distinguished member of
+the national congress. He then served three successive terms as governor
+of Massachusetts. In 1814 he was appointed minister to the English
+court. It was an important mission, for the relations of his government
+with that of England, then wore a grave aspect. His official career in
+London was a marked success. His personal accomplishments made him a
+friend and favorite with the leading men and families of England. After
+this he was sent as a commissioner to China, and after his return from
+abroad, he was at once chosen President of Harvard College.
+
+He entered upon the duties of this new office with his characteristic
+energy and enthusiasm, but ill-health compelled his resignation at the
+end of three years. Upon the death of his bosom friend, Daniel Webster,
+he was appointed to succeed to Webster's position at the head of
+President Fillmore's cabinet. Before the close of his duties as
+Secretary of State, he was chosen by the Massachusetts State Legislature
+to a seat in the National Senate. Once more overwork compelled his
+withdrawal from active responsibility, and in May, 1854, under the
+advice of his physician, he resigned his seat. But he was content to
+remain idle only a few months when he entered with great zeal upon a new
+enterprise.
+
+The project of purchasing Mount Vernon and beautifying it as a memento
+of esteem to the 'Nation's father' attracted his attention, and his
+efforts in behalf of the association to raise money for the above-named
+object netted over $100,000, besides his valuable time, and paying his
+own expenses. He afterwards raised many more thousands of dollars for
+the benefit of numerous charitable societies and objects. Emerging from
+private life at the opening of the civil war he gave himself incessantly
+to the defense of the Union. He died on the 14th of January, 1865, and
+was mourned throughout the whole North. Eulogies innumerable were called
+forth by the death of this intellectual phenomenon of the nineteenth
+century.
+
+
+
+
+EDWIN M. STANTON.
+
+
+Edwin M. Stanton, whom President Lincoln selected for his Secretary of
+War, notwithstanding the fact that he had served in the cabinet of
+Buchanan, was born at Steubenville, Ohio, December 19th, 1814, and died
+in Washington, D. C., December 24th, 1869.
+
+When fifteen years old he became a clerk in a book-store in his native
+town, and with money thus accumulated, was enabled to attend Kenyon
+College, but at the end of two years was obliged to re-enter the
+book-store as a clerk.
+
+Thus through poverty he was deterred from graduating, but knowledge is
+just as beneficial, whether acquired in school or out. Thurlow Weed
+never had the advantages of a college, but stretched prone before the
+sap-house fire, he laid the foundation upon which he built that splendid
+reputation as an able editor; Elihu Buritt never saw the inside of a
+college school-room as a student, but while at the anvil, at work as a
+blacksmith, with book laying on a desk near, he framed the basis of that
+classical learning which made him, as master of forty different
+languages, the esteemed friend of John Bright and others of the most
+noted people the world has ever known.
+
+As it was with them, so it was with Stanton. He had but little
+advantages, but he would not 'down.' It is said that if Henry Ward
+Beecher had gone to sea, as he desired to do, he would not have long
+remained, for in him was even then a 'slumbering genius,' But he himself
+once said that had it not been for his great love of work he never could
+have half succeeded. Ah, that's it; if ability to accomplish hard
+'digging' is not genius, it is the best possible substitute for it. A
+man may have in him a 'slumbering genius,' but unless he put forth the
+energy, his efforts will be spasmodic, ill-timed and scattered.
+
+    "Full many a gem, of purest ray serene
+    The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
+    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
+    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
+
+Young men, there is truth hidden in these words, despite what some
+writers would make you think. They would argue that if you are to be a
+Milton, a Cromwell, a Webster, or a Clay, that you cannot help it, do
+what you will. Possibly, this may be so; it may not be thought proper
+for me to dispute their lordship, but it does seem to me that such
+arguments can give but little hope; if they have influence at all it
+cannot be an inspiring one. No, never mind the reputation; never pine to
+be a Lincoln, or a Garfield, but if you feel that your chances in youth
+are equal to theirs, take courage--WORK.
+
+If you are a farmer strive to excel all the surrounding farmers. If a
+boot-black, make up your mind to monopolize the business on your block.
+Faculty to do this is the 'best possible substitute for a slumbering
+genius,' if perchance you should lack that 'most essential faculty to
+success.' At any rate, never wait for the 'slumbering genius' to show
+itself,--if you do, it will never awake but slumber on through endless
+time, and leave you groping on in midnight darkness.
+
+But to return to Stanton. Whether he possessed a 'slumbering genius'
+does not appear, but certain it is that by down-right HARD WORK he
+gained a knowledge of the law, and was admitted to the bar in 1836, when
+in his twenty-first year. While yet a young lawyer he was made
+prosecuting attorney of Harrison county. In 1842 he was chosen reporter
+of the Ohio Supreme Court, and published three volumes of reports.
+
+In 1847 he moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but for nine years
+afterward retained his office in Steubenville, as well as that in
+Pittsburgh. In 1857 his business had so expanded that he found it
+necessary to move to Washington, D. C., the seat of the United States
+Supreme Court. His first appearance before the United States Supreme
+Court was in defence of the State of Pennsylvania against the Wheeling
+and Belmont Bridge Company, and thereafter his practice rapidly
+increased.
+
+In 1858 he was employed by the national government as against the
+government of Mexico on land titles, deeds, etc. This great legal
+success, together with several others, won for him a national
+reputation. It has been stated by one of the leading jurists in the
+United States that the cause of nine out of ten of the failures in the
+legal profession is laziness, so common in lawyers, after being admitted
+to the bar. Once in, they seem to think that they have but to 'sit and
+wait' for business. Possibly their eye has, at one time or another,
+caught those sentiments so dear to some writers in regard to 'the
+slumbering genius.' Be that as it may, it is very evident that Stanton
+had never been idle, and was seldom obliged to 'refer to his library'
+before answering questions in relation to the law.
+
+He was called to the high position of attorney-general in President
+Buchanan's cabinet, and on January 11th, 1862, nine months after the
+inauguration of Lincoln, he was placed in the most responsible position
+in his cabinet at that time,--Secretary of War. His labors in this
+department were indefatigable, and many of the most important and
+successful movements of the war originated with him. Never, perhaps, was
+there a more illustrious example of the right man in the right place. It
+seemed almost as if it were a special Provincial interposition to
+incline the President to go out of his own party and select this man for
+this most responsible of all trusts, save his own.
+
+With an unflinching force, an imperial will, a courage never once
+admitting the possibility of failure, and having no patience with
+cowards, compromisers or self-seekers; with the most jealous patriotism
+he displaced the incompetent and exacted brave, mighty, endeavor of all,
+yet only like what he EXACTED OF HIMSELF. He reorganized the war with
+HERCULEAN TOIL. Through all those long years of war he thought of, saw,
+labored for one end--VICTORY. The amount of work he does in some of
+these critical months was _absolutely amazing_ by its comprehension of
+details, the solution of vexed questions, the mastery of formidable
+difficulties, wonder was it his word sometimes cut like a sharp, quick
+blow, or that the stroke of his pen was sometimes like a thunderbolt. It
+was not the time for hesitation, or doubt, or even argument. He meant
+his imperiled country should be saved, and whatever by half-loyalty or
+self-seeking seemed to stand in the way only attracted the lightning of
+his power.
+
+The nation owes as much to him as to any one who in council or in field
+contributed to its salvation. And his real greatness was never more
+conspicuous than at the time of Mr. Lincoln's assassination. His
+presence of mind, his prompt decision, his unfailing faith and courage
+strengthened, those about him, and prevented the issue of a frightful
+panic and disorder following that unexpected assault upon the life of
+the republic. To have equipped, fed, clothed and organized a million and
+a-half of soldiery, and when their work was done in two days, to have
+remanded them back to the peaceful industries from which they had been
+called; to have had the nation's wealth at his disposal, and yet so
+incorruptible that hundreds of millions could pass through his hands and
+leave him a poor man at the end of his commission, shattered in health,
+yet from necessity obliged to resume his legal practice, must for all
+time rank him among the world's phenomena. Such a man, so true, so
+intent upon great objects must many a time have thwarted the greed of
+the corrupt, been impatient with the hesitation of the imbecile, and
+fiercely indignant against half-heartedness and disloyalty. Whatever
+faults, therefore, his enemies may allege, these will all fade away in
+the splendor with which coming ages will ennoble the greatest of war
+ministers in the nineteenth century. He will be remembered as "one who
+never thought of self, and who held the helm in sunshine and in storm
+with the same untiring grip."
+
+Nor were his services less valuable to his country when, after the
+surrender of the Confederate armies, the rebellion was transferred to
+the White House, and he stood the fearless, unflinching patriot against
+the schemes and usurpations of its accidental occupant. Mr. Stanton
+entered on his great trust in the fullest prime of manhood, equal,
+seemingly, to any possible toil and strain. He left his department
+incurably shorn of health. He entered upon it in affluence, with a large
+and remunerative practice. He left it without a stain on his hands, but
+with his fortune lessened and insufficient. Yet, when it was
+contemplated by some of his friends, after his retirement, to tender him
+a handsome gift of money, he resolutely and unhesitatingly forbade it,
+and the project had to be abandoned. He was as truly a sacrifice to his
+country as was the brave soldier who laid down his life in the
+prison-pen or sanctified the field with his blood. For an unswerving and
+passionate patriotism, for a magnificent courage, for rare
+unselfishness, for transcendent abilities, for immeasurable services to
+his country; the figure of the greatest war minister in modern times
+will tower with a noble grandeur, as undimmed and enviable a splendor as
+that of any in the history of the Republic; which, like his friend and
+co-worker, the great Lincoln, he gave his life to save.
+
+
+
+
+ANDREW JOHNSON.
+
+
+The life-career of the seventeenth president of the United States well
+illustrates the spirit and genius of our free institutions. Four of the
+incumbents of the national executive chair were born in North Carolina.
+Of these, the subject of this sketch was one, being born in the
+above-named State, December 29th, 1808.
+
+His father, who died in 1812, was sexton of a church and porter in the
+State bank. Extreme poverty prevented Andrew from receiving any
+schooling, and at the age of ten he was apprenticed to a tailor. A
+gentleman was in the habit of visiting the shop and reading to the
+workmen, generally from the 'American Speaker.' Andrew became intensely
+interested, especially in the extracts from the speeches of Pitt and
+Fox. He determined to learn to read, and having done this he devoted all
+his leisure hours to the perusal of such books as he could obtain. In
+the summer of 1824, a few months before his apprenticeship expired, he
+got into trouble by throwing stones at an old woman's house, and ran
+away to escape the consequences. He went to Lauren's Court House, South
+Carolina, and obtained work as a journeyman tailor.
+
+In May, 1826, he returned to Raleigh. Mr. Selby, his former employer,
+had moved into the country, and Johnson walked twenty miles to see him,
+apologized for his misdemeanor and promised to pay him for his
+unfulfilled time. Selby required security, which Johnson could not
+furnish, and he went away disappointed. In September he went to
+Tennessee, taking with him his mother, who was dependent upon him for
+support. He worked a year at Greenville when he married, and finally
+settled, deciding to make that town his home.
+
+Thus far his education had been confined to reading; but now, under the
+tuition of his wife, he learned to 'write and cipher.' During this time
+he became prominent in a local debating society, formed of resident
+young men and students of Greenville College. One student says; "On
+approaching the village there stood on the hill by the highway a
+solitary little house, perhaps ten feet square,--we invariably entered
+when passing. It contained a bed, two or three stools, and a tailor's
+platform. We delighted to stop because one lived here whom we knew well
+outside of school and made us welcome; one who would amuse us by his
+social good nature, taking more than ordinary interest in us, and
+catering to our pleasure."
+
+Mr. Johnson, taking an interest in local politics, organized a
+workingman's party in 1828, to oppose the 'aristocrat element,' which
+had always ruled the town. Considerable excitement ensued, and Johnson
+was elected an alderman by a large majority. He rose to be mayor, member
+of the State legislature, and a representative in Congress, holding the
+last office for ten years.
+
+In 1853 he was elected governor, and re-elected in 1855. The contest was
+exciting, and violence and threats of murder were frequent. At one
+meeting Johnson appeared with pistol in his hand, laid it on the desk,
+and said: "Fellow-citizens, I have been informed that part of the
+business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination
+of the individual who now has the honor of addressing you. I beg
+respectfully to propose that this be the first business in order:
+therefore if any man has come here to-night for the purpose indicated, I
+do not say to him let him speak, but let him shoot." After pausing for a
+moment, with his hand on his pistol, he said, "Gentlemen, it appears
+that I have been misinformed. I will now proceed to address you upon the
+subject that has brought us together."
+
+Mr. Johnson's next office was as a member of the national Senate, where
+he ably urged the passage of a bill granting to every settler 160 acres
+of public land. When Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession he
+remained steadfast for the Union. Although a Democrat, he had opposed
+many of their measures in the interest of slavery, and now gravitated
+toward the Republican party. In nearly every city of his native State he
+was burned in effigy; at one time a mob entered a railroad train on
+which he was known to be and attempted to take him, but he met them with
+a pistol in each hand, and drove them steadily before him off the train.
+His loyal sentiments, his efforts to aid Union refugees, and the
+persecution he received at home commended him to the North. In 1862 he
+was appointed military governor of Tennessee, in which position he
+upheld the Federal cause with great ability and zeal. In the winter of
+1861-2 large numbers of Unionists were driven from their homes in East
+Tennessee, who sought refuge in Kentucky. Mr. Johnson met them there,
+relieved the immediate wants of many from his own purse and used his
+influence with the national government for the establishment of a camp
+where these refugees found shelter, food and clothing, and were to a
+large extent organized into companies and mustered into the national
+service. His own wife and child were turned out of their home and his
+property confiscated. All through his duties as military governor of
+Tennessee Johnson displayed great ability and discharged the duties of
+his office fearlessly, amid eminent personal peril.
+
+On June 7th, 1864, the Republican convention held at Baltimore, having
+re-nominated Mr. Lincoln, chose Mr. Johnson for the second place on
+their ticket. They were inaugurated March 4th, and April 14th the
+President was assassinated, and within three hours after Lincoln expired
+Andrew Johnson was president of the United States.
+
+Soon after his inauguration as President of the United States, in the
+course of a speech on the condition of the country he declared, "the
+people must understand that treason is the blackest of crimes, and will
+surely be punished." Now follows the strangest scenes imaginable, coming
+from such a man as he had always, until now, proved himself to be. As
+this part of ex-President Johnson's life has been given great
+prominence, we forbear to speak further in relation to it. We are
+constrained, however, to say that it was sad to see a man, thus late in
+life, destroying in a few months a good character, as a citizen, and
+reputation as an able statesman, which he had been so many years
+building, and in which he had so eminently succeeded. In 1866 the
+University of North Carolina conferred upon him the degree of LL.D.
+
+On the 31st of July, 1875, this wonderful man, who had risen from the
+tailor's bench, to the highest place within the gift of a great nation,
+then to be disgraced and vanquished at his own bidding, died a
+disappointed man.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES A. GARFIELD.
+
+
+Our country probably never produced a character more perfectly rounded,
+physically, intellectually and morally than that which is presented to
+us in the person of James A. Garfield, who was born in a log cabin in
+Cuyahoga county, Ohio, November 19th, 1831.
+
+His childhood was passed in almost complete isolation from social
+influences, save those which proceeded from his mother. His father had
+died when James was only eighteen months old, and when old enough to be
+of any use he was put to work on the farm. The family was very poor, and
+his services were needed to help 'make both ends meet.' At school, as a
+little boy, he allowed no one to impose upon him. He is said to have
+never picked a quarrel, but was sure to resent any indignity with
+effect, no matter how large a boy the offender happened to be. He
+attended school during the cold months when it was impossible to be of
+value on the farm; summers he generally 'worked out,' at one time being
+a driver-boy on the canal.
+
+He attended school at the Geauga Seminary, where he got through his
+first term on the absurdly small sum of seventeen dollars. When he
+returned to school the next term he had but a six pence in his pocket,
+and this he dropped into the contribution box the next day at church. He
+made an arrangement with a carpenter in the village to board with him,
+and have his washing, fuel and light furnished for one dollar and six
+cents per week. The carpenter was building a house, and Garfield
+engaged to help him nights and Saturdays. The first Saturday he planed
+fifty-one boards, and thereby made one dollar and two cents. So the term
+went, and he returned home, having earned his expenses and AND THREE
+DOLLARS OVER.
+
+The following winter he taught school at $12 a month and 'boarded
+around.' In the spring he had $48, and when he returned to school he
+boarded himself at an expense of thirty-one cents a week. Heretofore, he
+had supposed a college course beyond him, but meeting a college graduate
+who explained that it was barely possible for a poor boy to graduate, if
+he worked and attended alternate years, he determined to try it. After
+careful calculation Garfield concluded he could get through school
+within TWELVE YEARS. He accordingly began to lay his plans to graduate.
+Think of such determination, dear reader, and then see if you can
+reasonably envy the position attained by Garfield. He appeared as a
+scholar at Hiram, a new school of his own denomination, in 1851. Here he
+studied all the harder, as he now had an object in life. Returning home
+he taught a school, then returned to college, and attended the spring
+term. During the summer he helped build a house in the village, he
+himself planning all the lumber for the siding, and shingling the roof.
+Garfield was now quite a scholar, especially in the languages, and upon
+his return to Hiram he was made a tutor, and thenceforward he worked
+both as a pupil and teacher, doing a tremendous amount of work to fit
+himself for college. When he came to Hiram he started on the preparatory
+course, to enter college, expecting it would take four years. Deciding
+now to enter some eastern institution, he wrote a letter to the
+president of each of the leading colleges in the east, telling them how
+far he had progressed. They all replied that he could enter the junior
+year, and thus graduate in two years from his entrance. He had
+accomplished the preparatory course, generally requiring four solid
+years, and had advanced two years on his college course. He had crowded
+six years into three, beside supporting himself. If ever a man was
+worthy of success Garfield was. He decided to enter Williams College,
+where he graduated in 1856, thus came that institution to grasp the
+honor of giving to the United States of America one of our most popular
+presidents. The grasp of the mind of Garfield, even at this early
+period, can be seen by glancing at the title of his essay, "The Seen and
+the Unseen." He next became a professor; later, principal of the college
+at Hiram.
+
+In the old parties Garfield had little interest, but when the Republican
+party was formed he became deeply interested, and became somewhat noted
+as a stump orator for Fremont and Dayton. In 1860 he was sent to the
+State senate, and while there began preparation for the legal
+profession, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. The war broke out about
+this time, which prevented his opening an office, and he was
+commissioned a colonel, finally a major-general. His career in the army
+was brief, but very brilliant, and he returned home to go to Congress.
+In Washington his legislative career was very successful. He proved to
+be an orator of no mean degree of ability, his splendid education made
+him an acknowledged scholar, and he soon became known as one of the
+ablest debaters in Congress, serving on some of the leading committees.
+
+When Ohio sent her delegation to the Republican National Convention, of
+1880, pledged for Sherman, Garfield was selected as spokesman. His
+speech, when he presented the name of John Sherman, coming, as it did,
+when all was feverish excitement, must be acknowledged as a master-piece
+of the scholarly oratory of which he was master. Conkling had just
+delivered one in favor of Grant, the effect of which was wonderful. The
+Grant delegates 'pooled' the flags, which marked their seats, marched
+around the aisles and cheered and yelled as if they were dwellers in
+Bedlam, just home after a long absence. Fully twenty minutes this went
+on, and Mr. Hoar, the president of the convention after vainly trying to
+restore order gave up in despair, sat down, and calmly allowed disorder
+to tire itself out.
+
+At last it ceases, Ohio is called, a form arises near the center of the
+middle aisle, and moves toward the stage amid the clapping of thousands
+of hands, which increases as General Garfield mounts the same platform
+upon which Senator Conkling has so lately stood. In speaking he is not
+so restless as was Conkling, but speaking deliberately he appeals to the
+judgment of the masses, as follows:
+
+"Mr. President: I have witnessed the extraordinary scenes of this
+convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more
+quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and noble character. But,
+as I sat on these seats and witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to
+me you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into
+a fury and tossed into a spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the
+dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm
+level of the sea from which all heights and depths are measured. When
+the storm had passed and the hour of calm settles on the ocean, when
+sunlight bathes its smooth surface, then the astronomer and surveyor
+takes the level from which he measures all terrestrial heights and
+depths. Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not mark
+the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when
+the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of
+public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty
+people are to be measured, and by which their final action will be
+determined. Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
+men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic to be
+decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred
+and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the urn and
+determine the choice of their party; but by four million Republican
+firesides, where the thoughtful fathers, with wives and children about
+them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of
+country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the
+knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in
+days gone by--there God prepares the verdict that shall determine the
+wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in
+the sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the silence of
+deliberate judgment will this great question be settled. Let us aid them
+to-night.
+
+"But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want? Bear with me a
+moment. Hear me for this cause, and, for a moment, be silent that you
+may hear. Twenty-five years ago this Republic was wearing a triple chain
+of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of men
+had paralyzed the consciences of a majority of our people. The baleful
+doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and
+most beneficent powers of the national government, and the grasping
+power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories of the West and
+dragging them into the den of eternal bondage. At that crisis the
+Republican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that fire
+of liberty which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the
+powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish. The
+Republican party came to deliver and save the Republic. It entered the
+arena when the beleaguered and assailed territories were struggling for
+freedom, and drew around them the sacred circle of liberty which the
+demon of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free forever.
+Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young party, under the
+leadership of that great man who, on this spot, twenty years ago, was
+made its leader, entered the national capitol and assumed the high
+duties of the government. The light which shone from its banner
+dispelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capitol, and
+melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed, in the fire of
+liberty, every slave-pen within the shadow of the capitol. Our national
+industries, by an impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and
+the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the treasury
+itself was well-nigh empty. The money of the people was the wretched
+notes of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible State banking
+corporations, which were filling the country with a circulation that
+poisoned rather than sustained the life of business. The Republican
+party changed all this. It abolished the babel of confusion, and gave
+the country a currency as national as its flag, based upon the sacred
+faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our great
+industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled with the
+spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It
+confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it,
+and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was
+won. Then, after the storms of battle, were heard the sweet, calm words
+of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered
+foe that lay prostrate at its feet: 'This is our only refuge, that you
+join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine
+like stars for ever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and
+justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal
+before the law.'
+
+"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the
+public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party
+has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has
+sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and victory. How
+shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing
+our Republican brethren. God forbid that I should say one word to cast a
+shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes. This coming fight is our
+Thermopylae. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts
+are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of
+Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year,
+for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census
+taken this year will bring re-enforcements and continued power. But in
+order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of
+every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of
+every Blaine man and every anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower
+of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I
+say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together,
+and inquire what we shall do. We want a man whose life and opinions
+embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who,
+standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past
+history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds,
+and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to
+come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness toward those
+we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of
+the South the olive branch of peace, and wishes them to return to
+brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it shall be admitted
+forever and forevermore, that, in the war for the Union, we were right
+and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet them as brethren,
+and on no other. We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors
+of this great republic.
+
+"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a name for your
+consideration--the name of a man who was the comrade and associate and
+friend of nearly all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from
+these walls to-night, a man who began his career of public service
+twenty-five years ago, whose first duty was courageously done in the
+days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that
+bloody shower began to fall, which finally swelled into the deluge of
+war. He bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty
+in the National Legislature, through all subsequent time his pathway has
+been marked by labors performed in every department of legislation. You
+ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years of national
+statutes. Not one great beneficent statute has been placed in our
+statute books without his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these
+men to formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried us
+through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship of those statutes
+that restored and brought back the unity and married calm of the States.
+His hand was in all that great legislation that created the war
+currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the promises of the
+Government, and made the currency equal to gold. And when at last called
+from the halls of legislation into a high executive office, he displayed
+that experience, intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has
+carried us through a stormy period of three years. With one-half the
+public press crying 'crucify him,' and a hostile Congress seeking to
+prevent success, in all this he remained unmoved until victory crowned
+him. The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great business
+interests of the country he has guarded and preserved while executing
+the law of resumption and effecting its object without a jar and against
+the false prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of
+this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with calmness the
+great emergencies of the Government for twenty-five years. He has
+trodden the perilous heights of public duty, and against all the shafts
+of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of
+'that fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its fiercest ray
+has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield. I do not present
+him as a better Republican or as better man than thousands of others we
+honor, but I present him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate
+John Sherman, of Ohio."
+
+The speech was over, its effect was like oil upon troubled waters. When
+the balloting began a single delegate only voted for Garfield. The fight
+was between Grant, Blaine, Sherman and Edmunds; Windom and others were
+waiting the possibility of a compromise. Garfield managed Sherman's
+forces. He meant to keep his favorite in the field, in vain trying to
+win over Blaine's followers. On the thirty-fourth ballot the Wisconsin
+delegation determined to make a break, and hence put forth an effort in
+an entirely new direction, casting their entire seventeen votes for
+Garfield. The General arose and declined to receive the vote, but the
+chairman ruled otherwise, and on the next ballot the Indiana delegation
+swung over. On the thirty-sixth ballot he was nominated. Then followed
+his canvass and election.
+
+Time flew, and he was about to join his old friends at Willams' College,
+when an assassin stealthily crept up and shot him from behind, as
+dastardly assassins and cowardly knaves generally do. The whole country
+was thrown into a feverish heat of excitement between this cowardly act
+and the president's death, which occurred two months later. Thus, after
+a struggle for recognition, which had won the admiration of the world,
+he was snatched from the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of his toil,
+and from the people who needed his service. Like Lincoln, he had come
+from the people, he belonged to the people, and by his own right hand
+had won the first place among fifty millions of people. Like Lincoln, he
+was stricken down when his country expected the most of him, stricken in
+the very prime of life. Like Lincoln, when that enjoyment for which he
+had labored was about to crown his efforts; and like Lincoln, it could
+not be said of him he lived in vain.
+
+
+
+
+CHESTER A. ARTHUR.
+
+
+Chester Allan Arthur's career, like that of thousands of other
+Americans, illustrates the truth that wealth, high social position and
+all the advantages with which fortune and affection can surround the
+young are not essential to their success and prosperity in professional,
+business or public life. In fact, too often they tend to enervate both
+mind and body, and thus prove in reality obstacles to attaining true and
+worthy manhood.
+
+Mr. Arthur, like Lincoln, Grant, Garfield and others who preceded him in
+the presidential office, hewed his own way upward and onward from a
+discouraging beginning.
+
+He was born in Fairfield, Franklin county, Vermont, October 5th, 1830.
+He was the eldest son of the Rev. William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman,
+having a large family and a modest income. The Rev. Mr. Arthur was born
+in Ireland, and came to this country when eighteen years of age. He is
+remembered as a man of great force of character, sturdy piety and a
+faithful and earnest Christian minister. He had few worldly benefits to
+bestow upon his children, but he implanted deep into their minds
+principles governing their actions which were never effaced.
+
+As a lad, Mr. Arthur was trained in the public schools accessible to
+him, and by his father's aid, fitted himself for college, entering Union
+when fifteen years old, and graduating with high honors in 1848. The
+Hon. Frederick W. Seward, who was in the class next below young Arthur,
+says of his school days: "Chet, as we all called him, was the most
+popular boy in his class. He was always genial and cheerful, a good
+scholar, and apt in debate." To aid in defraying his expenses, Chester
+taught country schools during parts of two winters, but kept pace with
+his class while absent, showing his independence of spirit, and his zeal
+to acquire an education.
+
+Mr. Arthur's preference turned toward the law, and after a course in
+Fowler's law school at Ballston, he went to New York city; became a law
+student in the office of Erastus D. Culver, and was admitted to the bar
+in 1852. Mr. Culver showed his confidence in his promising student by
+taking him into partnership. Mr. Culver was soon elected civil judge of
+Brooklyn, and the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Arthur then formed a
+partnership with Henry D. Gardiner, with a view to practicing in some
+growing Western city. The young lawyers went West and spent three months
+in prospecting for a locality to suit their taste, but not finding it,
+they returned to New York, hired an office, and before long had a good
+business. The most noted cases in which Mr. Arthur appeared in his early
+career as a lawyer, were the Lemmon slave case, and the suit of Lizzie
+Jennings, a fugitive slave, whose liberty he secured, and a colored
+lady, a superintendent of a Sunday-School for colored children, who was
+ejected from a Fourth Avenue horse-car, after her fare had been accepted
+by the conductor, because a white passenger objected to her presence.
+
+In the first case he was largely instrumental in establishing a
+precedent, setting forth the theory that slaves brought into free
+territory, were at liberty. In the second case, he obtained a verdict of
+$500.00 damages in favor of the colored woman as against the company.
+The establishment of this precedent caused the street railroad companies
+of the city to issue an order that colored persons should be allowed to
+travel in their cars. Thus did Chester A. Arthur obtain equal civil
+rights for negroes in public vehicles.
+
+In 1859 he married Miss Ellen Lewis Herndon, of Fredericksburg,
+Virginia; daughter of Captain William Lewis Herndon, United States Navy,
+who went bravely to his death in 1857, sinking with his ship, the
+Central America, refusing to leave his post of duty, though he helped
+secure the safety of others. Mrs. Arthur was a devoted wife, and a woman
+of many accomplishments. She died in January, 1880, and lies buried in
+the Albany Rural Cemetery.
+
+Mr. Arthur took a lively interest in politics, and was first a Henry
+Clay Whig, but later helped to form the Republican party. He held
+several offices in the militia prior to 1860, and when Edwin D. Morgan
+became governor of the State in 1860, he made Mr. Arthur a member of his
+staff, promoting him from one position to another until he became
+quarter-master general. The duties of this post were most arduous and
+exacting. To promptly equip, supply and forward the thousands of troops
+sent to the front to defend the Union was a task demanding the highest
+executive ability and rare organizing skill, besides the greatest
+precision in receiving, disbursing and accounting for the public funds.
+Millions of dollars passed through his hands; he had the letting of
+enormous contracts, and opportunities, without number, by which he
+might have enriched himself. But he was true to himself and to his
+trust. So implicit was the confidence reposed in him that his accounts
+were audited at Washington without question or deduction, though the
+claims of many States were disallowed, to the extent of millions. He
+left the office poorer than when he entered it, but with the proud
+satisfaction of knowing that all the world esteemed him as an honest
+man.
+
+From 1863 to 1871 General Arthur successfully engaged in the practice of
+law in New York. November 20th, 1871, he was appointed collector of the
+port of New York, and re-appointed in 1875. The second appointment was
+confirmed by the Senate without reference to a committee, the usual
+course, the fact being highly complimentary, and testifying to the high
+opinion held by the Senate regarding his official record. He was
+suspended by President Hayes, though no reflection upon his official
+conduct was made. He again returned to the practice of law, though
+taking an energetic part in politics, serving several years as chairman
+of the Republican State Committee. General Arthur, in the campaign of
+1880, was an ardent supporter of Grant before the National Convention,
+being one of the famous "306" who voted for Grant to the last.
+
+His nomination for Vice President was as much a surprise as that of
+Garfield for the first place on the ticket. He had not been mentioned as
+a candidate, and his own delegation had not thought of presenting his
+name until the roll was called in the Convention. When New York was
+reached in the call the delegation asked to be excused from voting for a
+time. Then General Stewart L. Woodford cast the vote for Arthur. The
+tide quickly turned. The Ohio men were disposed to be conciliatory, and
+swung over to Arthur, who was nominated on the first ballot. The
+incidents that followed the inauguration of Garfield and himself as
+President and Vice-President; the unhappy differences that led to the
+resignation of Senators Conkling and Platt; the strife over the election
+of their successors; the assassination and death of President Garfield,
+and the accession to the presidency of General Arthur. These form a
+chapter in our political history, with the details of which we are all
+familiar, and are not likely to soon be forgotten.
+
+It was under the most unfavorable circumstances that Chester A. Arthur
+assumed the office of President; the people's passion over the death of
+the second President of the United States, to fall by an assassin's
+hand, was intense; factional feeling in his own party was bitter and
+apparently irreconcilable; when the popular mind was filled with
+dreadful forebodings as to the future; but he exhibited a gravity, a
+reticence, an affability, and a firmness which commanded the respect of
+conservative men of all parties. Not only was he the most
+successful--perhaps the only successful--Vice-President elevated to the
+Presidency by the death of the President, but he is worthy to be counted
+among the most serviceable of the Presidents.
+
+Peace and prosperity were promoted by his administration. Ex-President
+Chester A. Arthur died at his residence in New York city, November 18th,
+1886. He leaves as surviving members of his family two children, Chester
+Allan, a young man of twenty-two years, and Miss Nellie, just budding
+into womanhood. At the age of fifty-six, without elaborate display, he
+was quietly laid beside his wife in Rural Cemetery.
+
+
+
+
+JOHN A. LOGAN.
+
+
+"I entered the field to die, if need be, for this government and never
+expect to return to peaceful pursuits until the object of this war of
+preservation has become a fact established." Thus spoke John A. Logan in
+1862, when asked to return home from the field and become a candidate
+for Congress.
+
+General Logan was born February 9th, 1826, in Murphysboro, Illinois, and
+was the eldest of eleven children. He received his education in the
+common schools and in Shiloh Academy.
+
+The Mexican war broke out when young Logan was but twenty years of age,
+and he at once enlisted and was made a lieutenant in one of the Illinois
+regiments. He returned home in 1848 with an excellent military record,
+and commenced the study of law in the office of his uncle, Alexander M.
+Jenkins, who had formerly been lieutenant-governor of the State.
+
+In 1844, before he had completed his law course, he was elected clerk of
+Jackson county, and at the expiration of his term of office went to
+Louisville, Kentucky, where he attended law lectures, and was admitted
+to the bar in the spring of 1851. In the fall of the same year he was
+elected to represent Jackson and Franklin counties in the legislature,
+and from that time has been almost uninterruptedly in the public
+service, either civil or military.
+
+He was twice elected to the legislature, and in 1854 was a Democratic
+presidential elector, and cast his vote for James Buchanan.
+
+The year of 1860--the year of the great Lincoln campaign--saw Logan
+serving his second term in Congress as the representative of the Ninth
+Illinois Congressional District. Mr. Logan was then a Democrat and an
+ardent supporter of Stephen A. Douglas, Mr. Lincoln's opponent. On the
+floor of Congress he several times in 1860 and 1861 attacked the course
+of the Southern members.
+
+The war came at last, and Logan was one of the first to enter the Union
+army. He resigned his seat in Congress in July, 1861, for that purpose,
+and took a brave part in the first battle of Bull Run. He personally
+raised the Thirty-first Illinois Regiment of Infantry, and was elected
+its colonel. The regiment was mustered into service on September 13th,
+1861, was attached to General M'Clernand's brigade, and seven weeks
+later was under a hot fire at Belmont. During this fight Logan had a
+horse shot from under him, and was conspicuous in his gallantry in a
+fierce bayonet charge which he personally led. The Thirty-first, under
+Logan, quickly became known as a fighting regiment, and distinguished
+itself at the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson. In this last
+engagement Logan was severely wounded, and for many weeks unfitted for
+duty. During his confinement in the hospital his brave wife, with great
+tact and energy, got through the lines to his bedside, and nursed him
+until he was able to take the field once more.
+
+"Logan was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General of Volunteers soon
+after reporting for duty. This was in March, 1862, and he was soon after
+hotly engaged in Grant's Mississippi campaign. In the following year he
+was asked to return home and go to congress again, but declined with an
+emphatic statement that he was in the war to stay until he was either
+disabled or peace was established. Eight months after his promotion to
+the rank of Brigadier-General he was made a Major-General for
+exceptional bravery and skill, and was put in command of the Third
+Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, under General M'Pherson. After
+passing through the hot fights of Raymond and Port Gibson, he led the
+center of General M'Pherson's command at the siege of Vicksburg, and his
+column was the first to enter the city after the surrender. He was made
+the Military Governor of the captured city, and his popularity with the
+Seventeenth Corps was so great that a gold medal was given to him as a
+testimonial of the attachment felt for him by the men he led.
+
+"In the following year he led the Army of the Tennessee on the right of
+Sherman's great march to the sea. He was in the battles of Resaca and
+the Little Kenesaw Mountain, and in the desperate engagement of Peach
+Tree Creek where General M'Pherson fell. The death of M'Pherson threw
+the command upon Logan, and the close of the bitter engagement which
+ensued saw 8,000 dead Confederates on the field, while the havoc in the
+Union lines had been correspondingly great.
+
+"After the fall of Atlanta, which occurred on the 2nd of September,
+General Logan returned to the North, and took a vigorous part in the
+Western States in the campaign which resulted in the election of Abraham
+Lincoln for the second time to the presidency. He rejoined his command
+at Savannah, and was with it until the surrender of Johnson, after which
+he went with the army to Washington.
+
+"His military career ended with his nomination in 1866 by the
+Republicans of Illinois to represent the State as Congressman at-large
+in the Fortieth Congress. He was elected by 60,000 majority. He was one
+of the managers on the part of the House of Representatives in the
+impeachment proceedings which were instituted against Johnson. In 1868
+and 1870 he was re-elected to the House, but before he had finished his
+term under the last election he was elected to the United States Senate
+to succeed Senator Yates. The last term for which he was elected expires
+in 1891.
+
+"He took an active part in the last presidential campaign, when he and
+Mr. Blaine were the candidates on the presidential ticket, and had a
+strong influence in holding the soldier vote fast in the Republican
+ranks."
+
+Mr. Logan's views in regard to the immortality of the soul was clearly
+expressed in a speech delivered at the tomb of General Grant on Memorial
+Day, 1886:
+
+"Was any American soldier immolated upon a blind law of his country? Not
+one! Every soldier in the Union ranks, whether in the regular army or
+not, was in the fullest sense a member of the great, the imperishable,
+the immortal army of American volunteers. These gallant spirits now lie
+in untimely sepulcher. No more will they respond to the fierce blast of
+the bugle or the call to arms. But let us believe that they are not
+dead, but sleeping! Look at the patient caterpillar as he crawls on the
+ground, liable to be crushed by every careless foot that passes. He
+heeds no menace, and turns from no dangers. Regardless of circumstances,
+he treads his daily round, avoided by the little child sporting upon the
+sward. He has work, earnest work, to perform, from which he will not be
+turned, even at the forfeit of his life. Reaching his appointed place,
+he ceases even to eat, and begins to spin those delicate fibres which,
+woven into fabrics of beauty and utility, contribute to the comfort and
+adornment of a superior race. His work done, he lies down to the sleep
+from which he never wakes in the old form. But that silent, motionless
+body is not dead; an astonishing metamorphosis is taking place. The
+gross digestive apparatus dwindles away; the three pairs of legs, which
+served the creature to crawl upon the ground, are exchanged for six
+pairs suited to a different purpose; the skin is cast; the form is
+changed; a pair of wings, painted like the morning flowers, spring out,
+and presently the ugly worm that trailed its slow length through the
+dust is transformed into the beautiful butterfly, basking in the bright
+sunshine, the envy of the child and the admiration of the man. Is there
+no appeal in this wonderful and enchanting fact to man's highest reason?
+Does it contain no suggestion that man, representing the highest
+pinnacle of created life upon the globe, must undergo a final
+metamorphosis, as supremely more marvelous and more spiritual, as man is
+greater in physical conformation, and far removed in mental construction
+from the humble worm that at the call of nature straightway leaves the
+ground, and soars upon the gleeful air? Is the fact not a thousand-fold
+more convincing than the assurance of the poet:
+
+    "It must be so; Plato, thou reasonest well;
+    Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire,
+    This longing after immortality?
+    Or whence this dread secret and inward horror
+    Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul
+    Back on herself, and startles at destruction?
+    'Tis the divinity that stirs within us;
+    'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter,
+    And intimates eternity to man,
+    Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought."
+
+"On December 26th, 1886, the strong man succumbed to rheumatism. His
+death was a great shock to his numerous friends throughout the Union,
+and he was mourned by a great and mighty nation. From the lowly ranks to
+whom he belonged by birth, to the most exalted circles, the sympathy for
+the bereaved was genuine."
+
+
+
+
+JAMES G. BLAINE.
+
+
+Few men are more prominently placed before the vision of a mighty nation
+to-day than James G. Blaine. Born in obscurity, he possesses traits of
+character which are peculiar to himself; they differ widely from that of
+any statesman who ever spoke in the legislative halls at Washington.
+
+Colleges, of themselves, make no man great. An 'educated idiot' will
+never make a statesman, notwithstanding the too prevalent notion that
+the possession of a diploma should entitle any one to a place in our
+social aristocracy. The great, active, relentless, human world gives a
+man a place of real influence, and crowns him as truly great for what he
+really is; and will not care a fig for any college certificate. If the
+young man is determined to succeed in the world then a college is a
+help. The trouble is not in the college, but in the man. He should
+regard the college as a means to attain a result, not the result of
+itself. The question the great busy world asks the claimant is: What can
+he do? If the claimant enter school determined to succeed, even if he
+sleeps but four to six hours out of the twenty-four, he will be
+benefited. However, study like that of Webster, by New Hampshire pine
+knots; and like Garfield's, by a wood-pile; generally proves valuable.
+Blaine's life is thus beautifully described by his biographer:--
+
+"James Gillespie Blaine, the subject of this biography, was born January
+31st, 1830. His father, Ephraim L. Blaine, and his mother, Maria
+Gillespie, still lived in their two-story house on the banks of the
+Monongahela. No portentious events, either in nature or public affairs,
+marked his advent. A few neighbors with generous interest and sympathy
+extended their aid and congratulations. The tops of the hills and the
+distant Alleghanies were white with snow, but the valley was bare and
+brown, and the swollen river swept the busy ferry-boat from shore to
+shore with marked emphasis, as old acquaintances repeated the news of
+the day, 'Blaine has another son.'"
+
+Another soul clothed in humanity; another cry; increased care in one
+little home. That was all. It seems so sad in this, the day of his fame
+and power, that the mother who, with such pain and misgiving, prayer and
+noble resolutions, saw his face for the first time should now be
+sleeping in the church-yard. In the path that now leads by her grave,
+she had often paused before entering the shadowy gates of the
+weather-beaten Catholic church, and calmed her anxious fears that she
+might devoutly worship God and secure the answer to her prayer for her
+child.
+
+It seems strange now, in the light of other experiences, that no
+tradition or record of a mother's prophecy concerning the future
+greatness of her son comes down to us from that birthday, or from his
+earliest years. But the old European customs and prejudices of her Irish
+and Scottish ancestry seem to have lingered with sufficient force to
+still give the place of social honor and to found the parent's hopes on
+the first-born. To all concerned it was a birth of no special
+significance. Outside of the family it was a matter of no moment. Births
+were frequent. The Brownsville people heard of it, and passed on to
+forget, as a ripple in the Monongahela flashes on the careless sight for
+a moment, then the river rolls on as before. Ephraim Blaine was proud of
+another son; the little brother and the smaller sister hailed a new
+brother. The mother, with a deep joy which escaped not in words, looked
+onward and tried to read the future when the flood of years should have
+carried her new treasure from her arms. That flood has swept over her
+now, and all her highest hopes and ambition is filled, but she seems not
+to hear the church bells that ring nor the cannon that bellow at the
+sound of his name.
+
+"All his early childhood years were spent about his home playing in the
+well-kept yard gazing at the numerous boats that so frequently went
+puffing by. For a short time the family moved to the old Gillespie House
+further up the river, and some of the inhabitants say that at one time,
+while some repairs were going on, they resided at the old homestead of
+Neal Gillespie, back from the river, on Indian Hill."
+
+At seventeen he graduated from school and, his father, losing what
+little property he did have, young Blaine was thrown upon his own
+resources. But it is often the best thing possible for a young man to be
+thus tossed over-board, and be compelled to sink or swim. It develops a
+self-reliant nature. He secured employment as a teacher, and into this
+calling he threw his whole soul. Thus he became a success as an educator
+at Blue Lick Springs. He next went to Philadelphia, and for two years
+was the principal teacher of the boys in the Philadelphia Institution
+for instruction of the blind. When he left that institution he left
+behind him a universal regret at a serious loss incurred, but an
+impression of his personal force upon the work of that institution which
+it is stated, on good authority, is felt to this day. Mr. Chapin, the
+principal, one day said, as he took from a desk in the corner of the
+school-room a thick quarto manuscript book, bound in dark leather and
+marked 'Journal:' "Now, I will show you something that illustrates how
+thoroughly Mr. Blaine mastered anything he took hold of. This book Mr.
+Blaine compiled with great labor from the minute-books of the Board of
+Managers. It is a historical view of the institution from the time of
+its foundation, up to the time of Mr. Blaine's departure. He did all the
+work in his own room, telling no one of it till he left. Then he
+presented it, through me, to the Board of Managers who were both
+surprised and gratified. I believe they made him a present of $100 as a
+thank-offering for an invaluable work." The book illustrates one great
+feature in the success of Mr. Blaine. It is clear, and indicates his
+mastery of facts in whatever he undertook, and his orderly presentation
+of facts in detail. The fact that no one knew of it until the proper
+time, when its effect would be greatest, shows that he naturally
+possesses a quality that is almost indispensable to the highest
+attainment of success.
+
+He left Philadelphia for Augusta, Maine, where he became editor of the
+_Kennebec Journal_. While editor and member of his State legislature,
+he laid the foundation which prepared him to step at once to the front,
+when in 1862 he was sent to the National Congress, when the country was
+greatly agitated over the Five-twenty bonds, and how they should be
+redeemed. Mr. Blaine spoke as follows:
+
+"But, now, Mr. Speaker, suppose for the sake of argument, we admit that
+the Government may fairly and legally pay the Five-twenty bonds in paper
+currency, what then? I ask the gentleman from Massachusetts to tell us,
+what then? It is easy, I know, to issue as many greenbacks as will pay
+the maturing bonds, regardless of the effect upon the inflation of
+prices, and the general derangement of business. Five hundred millions
+of Five-twenties are now payable, and according to the easy mode
+suggested, all we have to do is set the printing-presses in motion, and
+'so long as rags and lampblack hold out' we need have no embarrassment
+about paying our National Debt. But the ugly question recurs, what are
+you going to do with the greenbacks thus put afloat? Five hundred
+millions this year, and eleven hundred millions more on this theory of
+payment by the year 1872; so that within the period of four or five
+years we would have added to our paper money the thrilling inflation of
+sixteen hundred millions of dollars. We should all have splendid times
+doubtless! Wheat, under the new dispensation, ought to bring twenty
+dollars a bushel, and boots would not be worth more than two hundred
+dollars a pair, and the farmers of our country would be as well off as
+Santa Anna's rabble of Mexican soldiers, who were allowed ten dollars a
+day for their services and charged eleven for their rations and
+clothing. The sixteen hundred millions of greenbacks added to the
+amount already issued would give us some twenty-three hundred millions
+of paper money, and I suppose the theory of the new doctrine would leave
+this mass permanently in circulation, for it would hardly be consistent
+to advocate the redemption of the greenbacks in gold after having
+repudiated and foresworn our obligation on the bonds.
+
+"But if it be intended to redeem the legal tenders in gold, what will
+have been the net gain to the Government in the whole transaction? If
+any gentleman will tell me, I shall be glad to learn how it will be
+easier to pay sixteen hundred millions in gold in the redemption of
+greenbacks, than to pay the same amount in the redemption of Five-twenty
+bonds? The policy advocated, it seems to me, has only two
+alternatives--the one to ruinously inflate the currency and leave it so,
+reckless of results; the other to ruinously inflate the currency at the
+outset, only to render redemption in gold far more burdensome in the
+end.
+
+"I know it may be claimed, that the means necessary to redeem the
+Five-twenties in greenbacks may be realized by a new issue of currency
+bonds to be placed on the market. Of results in the future every
+gentleman has the right to his own opinion, and all may alike indulge in
+speculation. But it does seem to me that the Government would be placed
+in awkward attitude when it should enter the market to negotiate the
+loan, the avails of which were to be devoted to breaking faith with
+those who already held its most sacred obligations! What possible
+security would the new class of creditors have, that when their debts
+were matured some new form of evasion would be resorted to by which they
+in turn would be deprived of their just and honest dues?
+
+"_Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus_ would supply the ready form of
+protest against trusting a Government with a new loan when it had just
+ignored its plain obligation on an old one.
+
+"Payment of the Five-twenty bonds in paper currency involves therefore a
+limitless issue of greenbacks, with attendant evils of gigantic
+magnitude and far-reaching consequence. And the worse evil of the whole
+is the delusion which calls this a payment at all. It is no payment in
+any proper sense, for it neither gives the creditor what he is entitled
+to, nor does it release the debtor from subsequent responsibility. You
+may get rid of the Five-twenty by issuing the greenback, but how will
+you get rid of the greenback except by paying gold? The only escape from
+ultimate payment of gold is to declare that as a nation we permanently
+and finally renounce all idea of ever attaining a specie standard--that
+we launch ourselves on an ocean of paper money without shore or
+sounding, with no rudder to guide us and no compass to steer by. And
+this is precisely what is involved if we adopt this mischievous
+suggestion of 'a new way to pay old debts.' Our fate in attempting such
+a course may be easily read in the history of similar follies both in
+Europe and in our own country. Prostration of credit, financial
+disaster, widespread distress among all classes of the community, would
+form the closing scenes in our career of gratuitous folly and national
+dishonor. And from such an abyss of sorrow and humiliation, it would be
+a painful and toilsome effort to regain as sound a position in our
+finances as we are asked voluntarily to abandon to-day.
+
+"The remedy for our financial troubles, Mr. Speaker, will not be found
+in a superabundance of depreciated paper currency. It lies in the
+opposite direction--and the sooner the nation finds itself on a specie
+basis, the sooner will the public treasury be freed from embarrassment,
+and private business relieved from discouragement. Instead, therefore,
+of entering upon a reckless and boundless issue of legal tenders, with
+their consequent depression if not destruction of value, let us set
+resolutely to work and make those already in circulation equal to so
+many gold dollars. When that result shall be accomplished, we can
+proceed to pay our Five-twenties either in coin or paper, for the one
+would be equivalent to the other. But to proceed deliberately on a
+scheme of depreciating our legal tenders and then forcing the holders of
+Government bonds to accept them in payment, would resemble in point of
+honor, the policy of a merchant who, with abundant resources and
+prosperous business, should devise a plan for throwing discredit on his
+own notes with the view of having them bought up at a discount, ruinous
+to the holders and immensely profitable to his own knavish pocket. This
+comparison may faintly illustrate the wrongfulness of the policy, but
+not its consummate folly--for in the case of the Government, unlike the
+merchant, the stern necessity would recur of making good in the end, by
+the payment of hard coin, all the discount that might be gained by the
+temporary substitution of paper.
+
+"Discarding all such schemes as at once unworthy and unprofitable, let
+us direct our policy steadily, but not rashly, toward the resumption of
+specie payment. And when we have attained that end--easily attainable at
+no distant day if the proper policy be pursued--we can all unite on some
+honorable plan for the redemption of the Five-twenty bonds, and the
+issuing instead thereof, a new series of bonds which can be more
+favorably placed at a low rate of interest. When we shall have reached
+the specie basis, the value of United States securities will be so high
+in the money market of the world, that we can command our own terms. We
+can then call in our Five-twenties according to the very letter and
+spirit of the bond, and adjust a new loan that will be eagerly sought
+for by capitalists, and will be free from those elements of discontent
+that in some measure surround the existing Funded debt of the country.
+
+"As to the particular measures of legislation requisite to hasten the
+resumption of specie payment, gentlemen equally entitled to respect may
+widely differ; but there is one line of policy conducive thereto on
+which we all ought to agree; and that is on a serious reduction of the
+government expenses and a consequent lightening of the burdens of
+taxation. The interest-bearing debt of the United States, when
+permanently funded, will not exceed twenty-one hundred millions of
+dollars, imposing an annual interest of about one hundred and
+twenty-five millions. Our other expenses, including War, Navy, the
+Pension list, and the Civil list, ought not to exceed one hundred
+millions; so that if we raise two hundred and fifty millions from
+Customs and Internal Revenue combined, we should have twenty-five
+millions annual surplus to apply to the reduction of the Public debt.
+But to attain this end we must mend our ways, and practice an economy
+far more consistent and severe than any we have attempted in the past.
+Our Military peace establishment must be reduced one-half at least, and
+our Naval appropriations correspondingly curtailed; and innumerable
+leaks and gaps and loose ends, that have so long attended our government
+expenditure, must be taken up and stopped. If such a policy be pursued
+by Congress, neither the principal of the debt, nor the interest of the
+debt, nor the annual expenses of government, will be burdensome to the
+people. We can raise two hundred and fifty millions of revenue on the
+gold basis, and at the same time have a vast reduction in our taxes. And
+we can do this without repudiation in any form, either open or covert,
+avowed or indirect, but with every obligation of the government
+fulfilled and discharged in its exact letter and in its generous spirit.
+
+"And this, Mr. Speaker, we shall do. Our national honor demands it; our
+national interest equally demands it. We have vindicated our claim to
+the highest heroism on a hundred bloody battle-fields, and have stopped
+at no sacrifice of life needful to the maintenance of our national
+integrity. I am sure that in the peace which our arms have conquered, we
+shall not dishonor ourselves by withholding from any public creditor a
+dollar that we promised to pay him, nor seek, by cunning construction
+and clever afterthought, to evade or escape the full responsibility of
+our national indebtedness. It will doubtless cost us a vast sum to pay
+that indebtedness--but it would cost us incalculably more not to pay
+it."
+
+This speech, here referred to, occurring, as it did when the ablest
+speakers were interested, was pronounced as a marvel. The great rows of
+figures which he gave, but which space will not allow us to give,
+illustrates the man, and his thorough mastery of all great public
+questions. He never enters a debate unless fully prepared; if not
+already prepared, he prepares himself. His reserve power is wonderful.
+What a feature of success is reserve power.
+
+In 1876 occurred one of the most remarkable contests ever known in
+Congress. The debate began upon the proposition to grant a general
+amnesty to all those who had engaged in the Southern war on the side of
+the Confederacy; of course this would include Mr. Davis. Hon. Benjamin
+H. Hill, of Georgia, one of the ablest Congressmen in the South, met Mr.
+Blaine on the question. As space will not permit us to go into detail at
+all as we would like to, we give simply an extract from one of Mr.
+Blaine's replies:
+
+"I am very frank to say that in regard to all these gentlemen, save one,
+I do not know of any reason why amnesty should not be granted to them as
+it has been to many others of the same class. I am not here to argue
+against it. The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Kasson) suggests 'on their
+application.' I am coming to that. But as I have said, seeing in this
+list, as I have examined it with some care, no gentleman to whom I think
+there would be any objection, since amnesty has already become so
+general--and I am not going back of that question to argue it--I am in
+favor of granting it to them. But in the absence of this respectful form
+of application which, since May 22d, 1872, has become a sort of common
+law as preliminary to amnesty, I simply wish to put in that they shall
+go before a United States Court, and in open court, with uplifted hand,
+swear that they mean to conduct themselves as good citizens of the
+United States. That is all.
+
+"Now, gentlemen may say that this is a foolish exaction. Possibly it is.
+But somehow or other I have a prejudice in favor of it. And there are
+some petty points in it that appeal as well to prejudice as to
+conviction. For one, I do not want to impose citizenship on any
+gentlemen. If I am correctly informed, and I state it only on rumor,
+there are some gentlemen in this list who have spoken contemptuously of
+the idea of their taking citizenship, and have spoken still more
+contemptuously of the idea of their applying for citizenship. I may
+state it wrongly, and if I do, I am willing to be corrected, but I
+understand that Mr. Robert Toombs has, on several occasions, at
+watering-places, both in this country and in Europe, stated that he
+would not ask the United States for citizenship.
+
+"Very well; we can stand it about as well as Mr. Robert Toombs can. And
+if Mr. Robert Toombs is not prepared to go into a court of the United
+States and swear that he means to be a good citizen, let him stay out. I
+do not think that the two Houses of Congress should convert themselves
+into a joint convention for the purpose of embracing Mr. Robert Toombs,
+and gushingly request him to favor us by coming back to accept of all
+the honors of citizenship. That is the whole. All I ask is that each of
+these gentlemen shall show his good faith by coming forward and taking
+the oath which you on that side of the House, and we on this side of the
+House, and all of us take, and gladly take. It is a very small exaction
+to make as a preliminary to full restoration to all the rights of
+citizenship.
+
+"In my amendment, Mr. Speaker, I have excepted Jefferson Davis from its
+operation. Now, I do not place it on the ground that Mr. Davis was, as
+he has been commonly called, the head and front of the rebellion,
+because, on that ground, I do not think the exception would be tenable.
+Mr. Davis was just as guilty, no more so, no less so, than thousands of
+others who have already received the benefit and grace of amnesty.
+Probably he was far less efficient as an enemy of the United States:
+probably he was far more useful as a disturber of the councils of the
+Confederacy than many who have already received amnesty. It is not
+because of any particular and special damage that he, above others, did
+to the Union, or because he was personally or especially of consequence,
+that I except him. But I except him on this ground; that he was the
+author, knowingly, deliberately, guiltily, and willfully, of the
+gigantic murders and crimes at Andersonville. * * * *
+
+"Mr. Speaker, this is not a proposition to punish Jefferson Davis. There
+is nobody attempting that. I will very frankly say that I myself thought
+the indictment of Mr. Davis at Richmond, under the administration of Mr.
+Johnson, was a weak attempt, for he was indicted only for that of which
+he was guilty in common with all others who went into the Confederate
+movement. Therefore, there was no particular reason for it. But I will
+undertake to say this, and as it may be considered an extreme speech, I
+want to say it with great deliberation, that there is not a government,
+a civilized government, on the face of the globe--I am very sure there
+is not a European government--that would not have arrested Mr. Davis,
+and when they had him in their power would not have tried him for
+maltreatment of the prisoners of war and shot him within thirty days.
+France, Russia, England, Germany, Austria, any one of them would have
+done it. The poor victim Wirz deserved his death for brutal treatment,
+and murder of many victims, but I always thought it was a weak movement
+on the part of our government to allow Jefferson Davis to go at large,
+and hang Wirz. I confess I do. Wirz was nothing in the world but a mere
+subordinate, a tool, and there was no special reason for singling him
+out for death. I do not say he did not deserve it--he did, richly,
+amply, fully. He deserved no mercy, but at the same time, as I have
+often said, it seemed like skipping over the president, superintendent,
+and board of directors in the case of a great railroad accident, and
+hanging the brakeman of the rear car.
+
+"There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson Davis. Nobody is
+seeking to do it. That time has gone by. The statute of limitation,
+common feelings of humanity, will supervene for his benefit. But what
+you ask us to do is to declare by a vote of two-thirds of both branches
+of Congress, that we consider Mr. Davis worthy to fill the highest
+offices in the United States if he can get a constituency to indorse
+him. He is a voter; he can buy and he can sell; he can go and he can
+come. He is as free as any man in the United States. There is a large
+list of subordinate offices to which he is eligible. This bill proposes,
+in view of that record, that Mr. Davis, by a two-thirds vote of the
+Senate and a two-thirds vote of the House, be declared eligible and
+worthy to fill any office up to the Presidency of the United States. For
+one, upon full deliberation, I will not do it."
+
+These two speeches illustrates the scope of Blaine in debate. These
+speeches also clearly show why he is so dearly beloved, or so bitterly
+hated. But that Mr. Blaine is an orator of the first order cannot be
+gainsaid. The preceding speeches represent the highest attainment of one
+ideal of an orator, and in a role in which Mr. Blaine is almost without
+parallel. In his Memorial address on Garfield, delivered in the hall of
+the House of Representatives, he presents the lofty style which is the
+beau ideal of oratory. He spoke something as follows:
+
+"Mr. President: For the second time in this generation the great
+departments of the government of the United States are assembled in the
+Hall of Representatives to do honor to the memory of a murdered
+president. Lincoln fell at the close of a mighty struggle in which the
+passions of men had been deeply stirred. The tragical termination of his
+great life added but another to the lengthened succession of horrors
+which had marked so many lintels with the blood of the first-born.
+Garfield was slain in a day of peace, when brother had been reconciled
+to brother, and when anger and hate had been banished from the land.
+'Whoever shall hereafter draw the portrait of murder, if he will show it
+as it has been exhibited where such example was last to have been looked
+for, let him not give it the grim visage of Moloch, the brow knitted by
+revenge, the face black with settled hate. Let him draw, rather, a
+decorous, smooth-faced, bloodless demon; not so much an example of human
+nature in its depravity and in its paroxisms of crime, as an infernal
+being, a fiend in the ordinary display and development of his
+character." * * * *
+
+"His father dying before he was two years old, Garfield's early life was
+one of privation, but its poverty has been made indelicately and
+unjustly prominent. Thousands of readers have imagined him as the
+ragged, starving child, whose reality too often greets the eye in the
+squalid sections of our large cities. General Garfield's infancy and
+youth had none of this destitution, none of these pitiful features
+appealing to the tender heart, and to the open hand of charity. He was a
+poor boy in the same sense in which Henry Clay was a poor boy; in which
+Andrew Jackson was a poor boy; in which Daniel Webster was a poor boy;
+in the sense in which a large majority of the eminent men of America in
+all generations have been poor boys. Before a great multitude, in a
+public speech, Mr. Webster bore this testimony:
+
+"'It did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder
+brothers and sisters were born in a log cabin raised amid the
+snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke
+rose first from its rude chimney and curled over the frozen hills there
+was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation between it and the
+settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. I make to
+it an annual visit. I carry my children to it to teach them the
+hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love
+to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early
+affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with
+all I know of this primitive family abode.'
+
+"With the requisite change of scene the same words would aptly portray
+the early days of Garfield. The poverty of the frontier, where all are
+engaged in a common struggle, and where a common sympathy and hearty
+co-operation lighten the burdens of each, is a very different poverty,
+different in kind, different in influence and effect, from that
+conscious and humiliating indigence which is every day forced to
+contrast itself with neighboring wealth on which it feels a sense of
+grinding dependence. The poverty of the frontier is indeed no poverty.
+It is but the beginning of wealth, and has the boundless possibilities
+of the future always opening before it. No man ever grew up in the
+agricultural regions of the West, where a house-raising, or even a
+corn-husking, is matter of common interest and helpfulness, with any
+other feeling than that of broad-minded, generous independence. This
+honorable independence marked the youth of Garfield, as it marks the
+youth of millions of the best blood and brain now training for the
+future citizenship and future government of the Republic. Garfield was
+born heir to land, to the title of free-holder, which has been the
+patent and passport of self-respect with the Anglo-Saxon race ever since
+Hengist and Horsa landed on the shores of England. His adventure on the
+canal--an alternative between that and the deck of a Lake Erie
+schooner--was a farmer boy's device for earning money, just as the New
+England lad begins a possibly great career by sailing before the mast on
+a coasting vessel, or on a merchantman bound to the farther India or to
+the China seas.
+
+"No manly man feels anything of shame in looking back to early struggles
+with adverse circumstances, and no man feels a worthier pride than when
+he has conquered the obstacles to his progress. But no one of noble
+mould desires to be looked upon as having occupied a menial position, as
+having been repressed by a feeling of inferiority, or as having suffered
+the evils of poverty until relief was found at the hand of charity.
+General Garfield's youth presented no hardships which family love and
+family energy did not overcome, subjected him to no privations which he
+did not cheerfully accept, and left no memories save those which were
+recalled with delight, and transmitted with profit and with pride.
+
+"Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were extremely
+limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an intense desire to
+learn. He could read at three years of age, and each winter he had the
+advantage of the district school. He read all the books to be found
+within the circle of his acquaintance; some of them he got by heart.
+While yet in childhood he was a constant student of the Bible, and
+became familiar with its literature. The dignity and earnestness of his
+speech in his maturer life gave evidence of this early training. At
+eighteen years of age he was able to teach school, and thenceforward his
+ambition was to obtain a college education. To this end he bent all
+efforts, working in the harvest field, at the carpenter's bench, and in
+the winter season, teaching the common schools of the neighborhood.
+While thus laboriously occupied he found time to prosecute his studies,
+and was so successful that at twenty-two years of age he was able to
+enter the junior class at Williams College, then under the presidency of
+the venerable and honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the fullness of his
+powers, survives the eminent pupil to whom he was of inestimable
+service.
+
+"The history of Garfield's life to this period presents no novel
+features. He had undoubtedly shown perseverance, self-reliance,
+self-sacrifice, and ambition--qualities which, be it said for the honor
+of our country, are everywhere to be found among the young men of
+America. But from his graduation at Williams, onward to the hour of his
+tragical death, Garfield's career was eminent and exceptional. Slowly
+working through his educational period, receiving his diploma when
+twenty-four years of age, he seemed at one bound to spring into
+conspicuous and brilliant success. Within six years he was successively
+President of a College, State Senator of Ohio, Major-General of the Army
+of the United States and Representative-elect to the National Congress.
+A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within a period so brief
+and to a man so young, is without precedent or parallel in the history
+of the country.
+
+"Garfield's army life was begun with no other military knowledge than
+such as he had hastily gained from books in the few months preceding his
+march to the field. Stepping from civil life to the head of a regiment,
+the first order he received when ready to cross the Ohio was to assume
+command of a brigade, and to operate as an independent force in eastern
+Kentucky. His immediate duty was to check the advance of Humphrey
+Marshall, who was marching down the Big Sandy with the intention of
+occupying, in connection with other Confederate forces, the entire
+territory of Kentucky, and of precipitating the State into secession.
+This was at the close of the year 1861. Seldom, if ever, has a young
+college professor been thrown into a more embarrassing and discouraging
+position. He knew just enough of military science, as he expressed it
+himself, to measure the extent of his ignorance, and with a handful of
+men he was marching, in rough winter weather, into a strange country,
+among a hostile population, to confront a largely superior force under
+the command of a distinguished graduate of West Point, who had seen
+active and important service in two preceding wars.
+
+"The result of the campaign is matter of history. The skill, the
+endurance, the extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, the courage he
+imparted to his men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he adopted
+to increase his force, and to create in the enemy's mind exaggerated
+estimates of his numbers, bore perfect fruit in the routing of Marshall,
+the capture of his camp, the dispersion of his force, and the
+emancipation of an important territory from the control of the
+rebellion. Coming at the close of a long series of disasters to the
+Union arms, Garfield's victory had an unusual and extraneous
+importance, and in the popular judgment elevated the young commander to
+the rank of a military hero. With less than two thousand men in his
+entire command, with a mobilized force of only eleven hundred, without
+cannon, he had met an army of five thousand and defeated them, driving
+Marshall's forces successively from two strongholds of their own
+selection, fortified with abundant artillery. Major-General Buell,
+commanding the Department of the Ohio, an experienced and able soldier
+of the Regular Army, published an order of thanks and congratulation on
+the brilliant result of the Big Sandy Campaign, which would have turned
+the head of a less cool and sensible man than Garfield. Buell declared
+that his services had called into action the highest qualities of a
+soldier, and President Lincoln supplemented these words of praise by the
+more substantial reward of a Brigadier-General's Commission, to bear
+date from the day of his decisive victory over Marshall.
+
+"The subsequent military career of Garfield fully sustained its
+brilliant beginning. With his new commission he was assigned to the
+command of a brigade in the Army of the Ohio, and took part in the
+second and decisive day's fight on the bloody field of Shiloh. The
+remainder of the year 1862 was not especially eventful to Garfield, as
+it was not to the armies with which he was serving. His practical sense
+was called into exercise in completing the task, assigned him by General
+Buell, of reconstructing bridges and re-establishing lines of railway
+communication for the army. His occupation in this useful but not
+brilliant field was varied by service on courts-martial of importance,
+in which department of duty he won a valuable reputation, attracting the
+notice and securing the approval of the able and eminent Judge Advocate
+General of the army. This of itself was warrant to honorable fame; for
+among the great men who in those trying days gave themselves, with
+entire devotion, to the service of their country, one who brought to
+that service the ripest learning, the most fervid eloquence, the most
+varied attainments, who labored with modesty and shunned applause, who,
+in the day of triumph, sat reserved and silent and grateful--as Francis
+Deak in the hour of Hungary's deliverance--was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky,
+who, in his honorable retirement, enjoys the respect and veneration of
+all who love the Union of the States.
+
+"Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important and
+responsible post of Chief of Staff to General Rosecrans, then at the
+head of the Army of the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great military campaign
+no subordinate officer requires sounder judgment and quicker knowledge
+of men than the Chief of Staff to the Commanding General. An indiscrete
+man in such a position can sow more discord, breed more jealousy, and
+disseminate more strife than any other officer in the entire
+organization. When General Garfield assumed his new duties he found
+various troubles already well developed and seriously affecting the
+value and efficiency of the Army of the Cumberland. The energy, the
+impartiality, and the tact with which he sought to allay these
+dissensions, and to discharge the duties, of his new and trying
+position, will always remain one of the most striking proofs of his
+great versatility. His military duties closed on the memorable field of
+Chickamauga, a field which, however disastrous to the Union arms, gave
+to him the occasion of winning imperishable laurels. The very rare
+distinction was accorded him of a great promotion for bravery on a
+field that was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a Major-General in
+the Army of the United States, for gallant and meritorious conduct in
+the battle of Chickamauga.
+
+"The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized under the command of General
+Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He was
+extremely desirous to accept the position, but was embarrassed by the
+fact that he had, a year before, been elected to Congress, and the time
+when he must take his seat was drawing near. He preferred to remain in
+the military service, and had within his own breast the largest
+confidence of success in the wider field which his new rank opened to
+him. Balancing the arguments on the one side and the other, anxious to
+determine what was for the best, desirous above all things to do his
+patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced by the advice of President
+Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, both of whom assured him that he could,
+at that time, be of especial value in the House of Representatives. He
+resigned his commission of major-general on the 5th day of December,
+1863, and took his seat in the House of Representatives on the 7th. He
+had served two years and four months in the army, and had just completed
+his thirty-second year.
+
+"The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in history to the
+designation of the War Congress. It was elected while the war was
+flagrant, and every member was chosen upon the issues involved in the
+continuance of the struggle. The Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed,
+legislated to a large extent on war measures, but it was chosen before
+any one believed that secession of the States would be actually
+attempted. The magnitude of the work which fell upon its successor was
+unprecedented, both in respect to the vast sums of money raised for the
+support of the army and navy, and of the new and extraordinary powers of
+legislation which it was forced to exercise. Only twenty-four States
+were represented, and one hundred and eighty-two members were upon its
+roll. Among these were many distinguished party leaders on both sides,
+veterans in the public service, with established reputations for
+ability, and with that skill which comes only from parliamentary
+experience. Into this assemblage of men Garfield entered without special
+preparation, and, it might almost be said, unexpectedly. The question of
+taking command of a division of troops under General Thomas, or taking
+his seat in Congress, was kept open till the last moment, so late,
+indeed, that the resignation of his military commission and his
+appearance in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uniform
+of a major-general of the United States Army on Saturday, and on Monday,
+in civilian's dress, he answered to roll-call as a Representative in
+Congress from the State of Ohio.
+
+"He was especially fortunate in the constituency which elected him.
+Descended almost entirely from New England stock, the men of the
+Ashtabula district were intensely radical on all questions relating to
+human rights. Well educated, thrifty, thoroughly intelligent in affairs,
+acutely discerning of character, not quick to bestow confidence, and
+slow to withdraw it, they were at once the most helpful and most
+exacting of supporters. Their tenacious trust in men in whom they have
+once confided is illustrated by the unparalleled fact that Elisha
+Whittlesey, Joshua R. Giddings, and James A. Garfield represented the
+district for fifty-four years.
+
+"There is no test of a man's ability in any department of public life
+more severe than service in the House of Representatives; there is no
+place where so little deference is paid to reputation previously
+acquired, or to eminence won outside; no place where so little
+consideration is shown for the feelings or the failures of beginners.
+What a man gains in the House he gains by sheer force of his own
+character, and if he loses and falls back he must expect no mercy, and
+will receive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival of the
+strongest is the recognized rule, and where no pretense can deceive and
+no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, his worth is
+impartially weighed, his rank is irreversibly decreed.
+
+"With possibly a single exception, Garfield was the youngest member in
+the House when he entered, and was but seven years from his college
+graduation. But he had not been in his seat sixty days before his
+ability was recognized and his place conceded. He stepped to the front
+with the confidence of one who belonged there. The House was crowded
+with strong men of both parties; nineteen of them have since been
+transferred to the Senate, and many of them have served with distinction
+in the gubernatorial chairs of their respective States, and on foreign
+missions of great consequence; but among them all none grew so rapidly,
+none so firmly, as Garfield. As is said by Trevelyan, of his
+parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded 'because all the world in concert
+could not have kept him in the back-ground, and because when once in the
+front he played his part with a prompt intrepidity and a commanding ease
+that were but the outward symptoms of the immense reserves of energy on
+which it was in his power to draw.' Indeed, the apparently reserved
+force which Garfield possessed was one of his great characteristics. He
+never did so well but that it seemed he could easily have done better.
+He never expended so much strength but that he appeared to be holding
+additional power at call. This is one of the happiest and rarest
+distinctions of an effective debater, and often counts for as much, in
+persuading an assembly, as the eloquent and elaborate argument.
+
+"The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled by his service in the
+House of Representatives. His military life, illustrated by honorable
+performance, and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, prematurely
+terminated, and necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to what he might
+have done in a field where the great prizes are so few, cannot be
+profitable. It is sufficient to say that as a soldier he did his duty
+bravely; he did it intelligently; he won an enviable fame, and he
+retired from the service without blot or breath against him. As a
+lawyer, though admirably equipped for the profession, he can scarcely be
+said to have entered on its practice. The few efforts he made at the bar
+were distinguished by the same high order of talent which he exhibited
+on every field where he was put to the test; and, if a man may be
+accepted as a competent judge of his own capacities and adaptations, the
+law was the profession to which Garfield should have devoted himself.
+But fate ordained otherwise, and his reputation in history will rest
+largely upon his service in the House of Representatives. That service
+was exceptionally long. He was nine times consecutively chosen to the
+House, an honor enjoyed probably by not twenty other Representatives of
+the more than five thousand who have been elected, from the organization
+of the government, to this hour.
+
+"As a parliamentary orator, as a debater on an issue squarely joined,
+where the position had been chosen and the ground laid out, Garfield
+must be assigned a very high rank. More, perhaps, than any man with whom
+he was associated in public life, he gave careful and systematic study
+to public questions, and he came to every discussion in which he took
+part with elaborate and complete preparation. He was a steady and
+indefatigable worker. Those who imagine that talent or genius can supply
+the place or achieve the results of labor will find no encouragement in
+Garfield's life. In preliminary work he was apt, rapid and skillful. He
+possessed in a high degree the power of readily absorbing ideas and
+facts, and, like Dr. Johnson, had the art of getting from a book all
+that was of value in it by a reading apparently so quick and cursory
+that it seemed like a mere glance at the table of contents. He was a
+pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no petty advantage,
+stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided personal allusions, rarely
+appealed to prejudice, did not seek to inflame passion. He had a quicker
+eye for the strong point of his adversary than for his weak point, and
+on his own side he so marshalled his weighty arguments as to make his
+hearers forget any possible lack in the complete strength of his
+position. He had a habit of stating his opponent's side with such
+amplitude of fairness and such liberality of concession that his
+followers often complained that he was giving his case away. But never
+in his prolonged participation in the proceedings of the House did he
+give his case away, or fail in the judgment of competent and impartial
+listeners to gain the mastery.
+
+"These characteristics, which marked Garfield as a great debater, did
+not, however, make him a great parliamentary leader. A parliamentary
+leader, as that term is understood wherever free representative
+government exists, is necessarily and very strictly the organ of his
+party. An ardent American defined the instinctive warmth of patriotism
+when he offered the toast, 'Our country, always right; but right or
+wrong, our country.' The parliamentary leader who has a body of
+followers that will do and dare and die for the cause, is one who
+believes his party always right, but right or wrong, is for his party.
+No more important or exacting duty devolves upon him than the selection
+of the field and the time for contest. He must know not merely how to
+strike, but where to strike and when to strike. He often skillfully
+avoids the strength of his opponent's position, and scatters confusion
+in his ranks by attacking an exposed point when really the righteousness
+of the cause and the strength of logical intrenchment are against him.
+He conquers often both against the right and the heavy battalions; as
+when young Charles Fox, in the days of his Toryism, carried the House of
+Commons against justice, against its immemorial rights, against his own
+convictions, if, indeed, at that period Fox had convictions, and, in the
+interest of a corrupt administration, in obedience to a tyrannical
+sovereign, drove Wilkes from the seat to which the electors of Middlesex
+had chosen him, and installed Luttrell, in defiance not merely of law
+but of public decency. For an achievement of that kind Garfield was
+disqualified--disqualified by the texture of his mind, by the honesty of
+his heart, by his conscience, and by every instinct and aspiration of
+his nature.
+
+"The three most distinguished parliamentary leaders hitherto developed
+in this country are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens.
+They were all men of consummate ability, of great earnestness, of
+intense personality, differing widely each from the others, and yet with
+a signal trait in common--the power to command. In the give-and-take of
+daily discussion, in the art of controlling and consolidating reluctant
+and refractory followers, in the skill to overcome all forms of
+opposition, and to meet with competency and courage the varying phases
+of unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defection, it would be difficult
+to rank with these a fourth name in all our Congressional history. But
+of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It would, perhaps, be impossible to
+find in the parliamental annals of the world a parallel to Mr. Clay, in
+1841, when at sixty-four years of age he took the control of the Whig
+party from the President who had received their suffrages, against the
+power of Webster in the Cabinet, against the eloquence of Choate in the
+Senate, against the herculean efforts of Caleb Cushing and Henry A. Wise
+in the House. In unshared leadership, in the pride and plentitude of
+power, he hurled against John Tyler, with deepest scorn the mass of that
+conquering column which had swept over the land in 1840, and drove his
+administration to seek shelter behind the lines of its political foes.
+Mr. Douglas achieved a victory scarcely less wonderful, when in 1854,
+against the secret desires of a strong administration, against the wise
+counsel of the older chiefs, against the conservative instincts, and
+even the moral sense of the country, he forced a reluctant Congress into
+a repeal of the Missouri Compromise. Mr. Stevens, in his contests from
+1865 to 1868, actually advanced his parliamentary leadership until
+Congress tied the hands of the President and governed the country by its
+own will, leaving only perfunctory duties to be discharged by the
+Executive. With two hundred millions of patronage in his hands at the
+opening of the contest, aided by the active force of Seward in the
+Cabinet, and the moral power of Chase on the bench, Andrew Johnson could
+not command the support of one-third in either House against the
+parliamentary uprising of which Thaddeus Stevens was the animating
+spirit and the unquestioned leader.
+
+"From these three great men Garfield differed radically, differed in the
+quality of his mind, in temperament, in the form and phase of ambition.
+He could not do what they did, but he could do what they could not, and
+in the breadth of his Congressional work he left that which will longer
+exert a potential influence among men, and which, measured by the severe
+test of posthumous criticism, will secure a more enduring and more
+enviable fame.
+
+"Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and ignorant of the details
+of his work may, in some degree, measure them by the annals of Congress.
+No one of the generation of public men to which he belonged has
+contributed so much that will prove valuable for future reference. His
+speeches are numerous, many of them brilliant, all of them well studied,
+carefully phrazed, and exhaustive of the subject under consideration.
+Collected from the scattered pages of ninety royal octavo volumes of
+Congressional record, they would present an invaluable compendium of the
+political events of the most important era through which the National
+government has ever passed. When the history of this period shall be
+impartially written, when war legislation, measures of reconstruction,
+protection of human rights, amendments to the Constitution, maintenance
+of public credit, steps toward specie resumption, true theories of
+revenue, may be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and disconnected
+from partisanism, the speeches of Garfield will be estimated at their
+true value, and will be found to comprise a vast magazine of fact and
+argument, of clear analysis and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no other
+authority were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representatives
+from December, 1863, to June, 1880, would give a well-connected history
+and complete defense of the important legislation of the seventeen
+eventful years that constitute his parliamentary life. Far beyond that,
+his speeches would be found to forecast many great measures yet to be
+completed--measures which he knew were beyond the public opinion of the
+hour, but which he confidently believed would secure popular approval
+within the period of his own lifetime, and by the aid of his own
+efforts.
+
+"Differing as Garfield does, from the brilliant parliamentary leaders,
+it is not easy to find his counterpart anywhere in the record of
+American public life. He, perhaps, more nearly resembles Mr. Seward in
+his supreme faith in the all-conquering power of a principle. He had the
+love of learning, and the patient industry of investigation, to which
+John Quincy Adams owes his prominence and his presidency. He had some of
+those ponderous elements of mind which distinguished Mr. Webster, and
+which, indeed, in all our public life have left the great Massachusetts
+Senator without an intellectual peer.
+
+"In English parliamentary history, as in our own, the leaders in the
+House of Commons present points of essential difference from Garfield.
+But some of his methods recall the best features in the strong,
+independent course of Sir Robert Peel, to whom he had striking
+resemblances in the type of his mind and in the habit of his speech. He
+had all of Burke's love for the sublime and the beautiful with,
+possibly, something of his superabundance. In his faith and his
+magnanimity, in his power of statement, in his subtle analysis, in his
+faultless logic, in his love of literature, in his wealth and world of
+illustration, one is reminded of that great English statesman of to-day,
+who, confronted with obstacles that would daunt any but the dauntless,
+reviled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those whose
+supposed rights he is forced to invade, still labors with serene courage
+for the amelioration of Ireland and for the honor of the English name.
+
+"Garfield's nomination to the presidency, while not predicted or
+anticipated, was not a surprise to the country. His prominence in
+Congress, his solid qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened by his
+then recent election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in the public eye as
+a man occupying the very highest rank among those entitled to be called
+statesmen. It was not mere chance that brought him this high honor. 'We
+must,' says Mr. Emerson, 'reckon success a constitutional trait. If Eric
+is in robust health and has slept well and is at the top of his
+condition, and thirty years old at his departure from Greenland, he will
+steer west and his ships will reach Newfoundland. But take Eric out and
+put in a stronger and bolder man, and the ships will sail six hundred,
+one thousand, fifteen hundred miles farther and reach Labrador and New
+England. There is no chance in results.'
+
+"As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met
+with a storm of detraction at the very hour of his nomination, and it
+continued with increasing volume and momentum until the close of his
+victorious campaign:
+
+    No might nor greatness in mortality
+    Can censure 'scape; backwounding calumny
+    The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong
+    Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Surely, if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of this
+world, on that quiet July morning, James A. Garfield may well have been
+a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted him; no slightest premonition
+of danger clouded his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant.
+One moment he stood erect, strong, confident in the years stretching
+peacefully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
+doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and the grave.
+
+"Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the
+very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he
+was thrust from the full tide of this world's interests, from its hopes,
+its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of death--and
+he did not quail. Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned
+and dazed, he could give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment,
+but through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony, that was not
+less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he
+looked into his open grave. What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes,
+whose lips may tell--what brilliant, broken plans, what baffled, high
+ambitions, what sundering of strong, warm, manhood's friendships, what
+bitter rending of sweet household ties! Behind him a proud expectant
+nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a cherished and happy
+mother, wearing the full, rich honors of her early toil and tears; the
+wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his; the little boys not yet
+emerged from childhood's day of frolic; the fair young daughter; the
+sturdy sons just springing into closest companionship, claiming every
+day, and every day rewarding a father's love and care; and in his heart
+the eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand. Before him, desolation
+and great darkness! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were
+thrilled with instant, profound and universal sympathy. Masterful in his
+mortal weakness, he became the center of a nation's love, enshrined in
+the prayers of a world. But all the love and all the sympathy could not
+share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With
+unfaltering front he faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took
+leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard
+the voice of God. With simple resignation he bowed to the Divine decree.
+
+"As the end drew near, his early cravings for the sea returned. The
+stately mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain,
+and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive,
+stifling air, from its homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently,
+silently, the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the
+longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will,
+within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its manifold
+voices. With wan, fevered face, tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze,
+he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders; on its fair
+sails, whitening in the morning light; on its restless waves, rolling
+shoreward, to break and die beneath the noonday sun; on the red clouds
+of evening, arching low to the horizon; on the serene and shining
+pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic
+meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe
+that in the silence of the receding world be heard the great waves
+breaking on a farther shore, and felt already upon his wasted brow the
+breath of the eternal morning."
+
+We regret that we cannot give our readers the full speech here also, but
+it is sufficient to say that it was a masterly production. We give these
+three extracts from speeches to show, and enable the thinker to read and
+study the characteristics which make Mr. Blaine the great and renowned
+man that he really is to-day; an honor he has earned for himself.
+
+We do not desire to be regarded as a personal admirer of Mr. Blaine. We
+are not, but his ability we are in duty bound to delineate truthfully.
+Our readers will observe the description Mr. Blaine gives in his address
+on Garfield, of the qualifications necessary in a parliamentary leader.
+We will say nothing as to our opinion of some enterprises in which Mr.
+Blaine has engaged; and we will not ask him to explain, what he has
+never satisfactorily explained, in relation to some transactions, nor
+will we try to explain, in our short space, his skillfullness in
+parliamentary practice. As before said, our readers have read his
+description of a parliamentary leader, and we will further simply say
+that Mr. Blaine is one of the most skillful parliamentary leaders in the
+country. He is generally recognized as such by all parties. His canvass
+for the presidency is well-known to the people. Had he been elected he
+would, undoubtedly, have made a very satisfactory president, probably
+one of whom we would long have been proud.
+
+
+
+
+SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
+
+
+In 1814 there was born at New Lebanon, New York, an infant son to Elam
+Tilden, a prosperous farmer. His father, being a personal and political
+friend of Mr. Van Buren and other members of the celebrated 'Albany
+Regency'; his home was made a kind of headquarters for various members
+of that council to whose conversation the precocious child enjoyed to
+listen.
+
+Mr. Tilden declared of himself that he had no youth. As a boy he was
+diffident, and was studying and investigating when others were playing
+and enjoying the pleasures of society. From the beginning he was a
+calculator. Martin Van Buren, to whom he was greatly attached, often
+spoke of him as 'The sagacious Sammy.'
+
+Thrown into contact with such men at his parent's home, he early evinced
+a fondness for politics which first revealed itself in an essay on 'The
+Political Aspect,' displaying ability far beyond one of his years, which
+was printed in the _Albany Argus_, and which was attributed to Mr. Van
+Buren, at that time the leader of the Albany Regency.
+
+At twenty he entered Yale College, but ill-health compelled his return
+home. He, however, afterward resumed his studies at the University of
+New York; graduating from that institution he began the practice of law.
+At the bar he became known as a sound, but not especially brilliant
+pleader. In 1866 he was chosen Chairman of the State Committee of his
+party. In 1870-1, he was largely instrumental in unearthing frauds
+perpetrated in the city of New York, and in 1874 was elected the
+'reform governor' of the great Empire State. Although in political
+discord with Mr. Tilden, it is in no disparaging sense that we speak of
+him. It is in the sense of a historian bound and obligated to truth that
+we view him. We regard him as the MYSTERIOUS STATESMAN OF AMERICAN
+HISTORY.
+
+His personal character was, to a great extent, shrouded from the public
+in a veil of mystery, which had both its voluntary and involuntary
+elements. If Mr. Tilden had desired to be otherwise than mysterious it
+would have required much more self-control and ingenuity than would have
+been necessary to thicken the veil to impenetrability.
+
+His habit was to weigh both sides of every question, and therein he
+resembled, though in other particulars entirely different, the late
+Henry J. Raymond, the founder of the _New York Times_; and the effect
+was to some extent similar, for each of these men saw both sides of
+every question so fully as to be under the power of both sides, which
+sometimes produced an equilibrium, causing hesitation when the crisis
+required action.
+
+Mr. Tilden had intellectual qualities of the very highest order. He
+could sit down before a mass of incoherent statements, and figures that
+would drive most men insane, and elucidate them by the most painstaking
+investigation, and feel a pleasure in the work. Indeed, an intimate
+friend of his assures us that his eye would gleam with delight when a
+task was set before him from which most men would pay large sums to be
+relieved: Hence, his abilities were of a kind that made him a most
+dangerous opponent.
+
+Some persons supposed that Mr. Tilden was a poor speaker because, when
+he was brought before the people as a candidate for President of the
+United States, he was physically unable to speak with much force. But
+twenty years ago, for clearness of statement, and for an easy and
+straightforward method of speech he had few superiors. His language was
+excellent, his manner that of a man who had something to say and was
+intent upon saying it. He was at no time a tricky orator, nor did he aim
+at rousing the feelings, but in the clearest possible manner he would
+make his points and no amount of prejudice was sufficient to resist his
+conclusions. He was a great reader, and reflected on all that he read.
+
+No more extraordinary episode ever occurred than his break with William
+M. Tweed, and his devoting himself to the overthrow of that gigantic
+ring. It is not our purpose to treat the whole subject; yet, the manner
+of the break was so tragic that it should be detailed. William M. Tweed
+had gone on buying men and legislatures, and enriching himself until he
+had reached the state of mind in which he said to the public, "What are
+you going to do about it?" He had gone further. He had applied it to the
+leading men of the Democratic party. The time came when he sat in his
+gorgeously furnished apartment in Albany, as Chairman of a certain
+committee of the Senate. Samuel J. Tilden appeared before the committee
+to represent a certain interest. On that occasion Mr. Tweed, who was
+either intoxicated with liquor, or intoxicated with pride and vanity,
+grossly insulted Mr. Tilden, spoke to him in the most disrespectful
+manner, and closed by saying: "YOU ARE AN OLD HUMBUG; YOU ALWAYS WERE A
+HUMBUG, AND WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING FROM YOU!"
+
+Mr. Tilden turned pale, and then red, and finally livid. A spectator, a
+man second to none in New York State for position, informed the writer
+that as he gazed upon Mr. Tilden he was terrified. Not a word did he
+utter; he folded up his books and papers and departed. As he went the
+spectator said to himself, "This man means murder; there will never be
+any accommodation of this difficulty." Back to the City of New York went
+Mr. Tilden. He sat down with the patience and with the keen scent of a
+sleuth-hound, and unravelled all the mystery of the iniquity which had
+cursed the City of New York, and of which William M. Tweed was the
+master-spirit.
+
+Judge Noah Davis said to an acquaintance that 'Mr. Tilden's preparation
+of the cases against Tweed and his confederates was one of the most
+remarkable things of which he had ever seen or heard. He said that
+Tilden would take the mutilated stubbs of check-books, and construct a
+story from them. He had restored the case of the city against the
+purloiners as an anatomist, by the means of two or three bones, would
+draw you a picture of the animal which had inhabited them in the
+palaeontological age.' It will be remembered that Judge Noah Davis tried
+the cases and sentenced Tweed.
+
+It is not necessary for us to conjecture whether Mr. Tilden would have
+appeared as the reformer if he had not been grossly insulted by Tweed.
+That he had not so appeared until the occasion referred to, and that
+immediately afterward he began the investigation and movements which
+ended in the total overthrow of the ring and its leader, are beyond
+question. There came a time when Tweed, trembling in his very soul, sent
+a communication to Mr. Tilden offering anything if he would relax, but
+no bronze statue was ever more silent and immovable than Samuel J.
+Tilden at that time. It is remarkable that a man so silent and
+mysterious, not to say repellent, in his intercourse with his fellow-men
+could exert such a mighty influence as he unquestionably did. He did it
+by controlling master-minds, and by an apprehension rarely or never
+surpassed of the details to be wrought out by other men.
+
+Mr. Tilden was capable of covering his face with a mask, which none
+could penetrate. The following scene occurred upon a train on the Hudson
+River road. Mr. Tilden was engaged in a most animated conversation with
+a leading member of the Republican party with whom he entertained
+personal confidential relations. The conversation was one that brought
+all Mr. Tilden's learning and logical forces into play. It was
+semi-literary, and not more political than was sufficient to give
+piquancy to the interview. A committee of the lower class of ward
+politicians approaching, Mr. Tilden turned to receive him, and in the
+most expressionless manner held out his hand. His eye lost every
+particle of lustre and seemed to sink back and down. The chairman of the
+committee stated the point he had in view. Mr. Tilden asked him to
+restate it once or twice; made curious and inconsequential remarks,
+appeared like a man just going to sleep, and finally said: "I will see
+you on the subject on a future occasion." The committee withdrew. In one
+moment he resumed the conversation with the brilliancy and vivacity of a
+boy. Subsequently the chairman of the committee said to the leading
+Republican, whom he also knew: "Did you ever see the old man so nearly
+gone as he was to-day? Does he often get so? Had he been taking a drop
+too much?"
+
+He was at no time in his career embarrassed in his intellectual
+operations by his emotional nature; he was a man of immense brain-power,
+and his intellect was trained up to the last possibility; every faculty
+was under his control; until his health failed he knew no such other
+source of joy as WORK.
+
+Craft had a very important place in his composition, but it was not the
+craft of the fox; it was a species of craft which at its worst was above
+mere pettifogging, and at its best was unquestionably a high type of
+diplomacy. Those mistake who considered him only as a cunning man. A
+person opposed to him in politics, but who made a study of his career,
+observed that in power of intellect he had no superior at the bar of New
+York, nor among the statesmen of the whole country. The supreme crisis
+of his life was when he believed himself elected President of the United
+States. The political aspect we will not revive, except to say that Mr.
+Tilden consented to the peculiar method of determining the case. The
+departure of David Davis from the supreme bench in all human probability
+determined the result.
+
+It is known that Abram S. Hewitt, David Dudley Field, and eminent
+Democratic leaders, Hewitt being chairman of the National Democratic
+committee at the time, did all in their power to induce Mr. Tilden to
+issue a letter to the American people saying that he believed himself to
+be the President elect, and that on the fourth day of March 1877, he
+would come to Washington to be inaugurated. Had that been done God alone
+can tell what would have been the result. In all probability a _coup
+d'etat_ on one side or the other, followed by civil war or practical
+change in the character of the relations of the people to the Federal
+Government. At that moment Mr. Tilden's habit of balancing caused him
+to pursue the course that he did. It is reported that Mr. Tilden's
+letter explaining to Mr. Hewitt the reason why he would not do so is
+still in existence. Of this we know nothing; but that he had reasons and
+assigned them is certain. Why he consented to the method of arbitration
+is one of the mysteries of his career. Taking all the possibilities into
+account, the fact that the issue passed without civil war is an occasion
+of devout thankfulness to Almighty God. But the method of determining
+the question is one which the good sense of the American people will
+never repeat.
+
+Mr. Tilden must have had considerable humor in his composition. Some
+years ago a Methodist preacher came to the city of New York to raise
+money for a certain church in Pennsylvania which had been grievously
+embarrassed. He stayed at the house of one of the ministers in Brooklyn.
+One evening he said to his host: "I am going to call on Samuel J. Tilden
+and see if I can't get something out of him for our church. He has a
+'barrel,' and I understand it is pretty full." The next morning he went,
+and on returning said to his host: "Well, I called on Mr. Tilden, and I
+said: 'Mr. Tilden, I am from----, such a place, in Pennsylvania. My
+name is----. I am pastor of a church there. We have met with great
+misfortunes, and are likely to lose our church. There are more than
+sixty members of my church that voted for you for President, and they
+are ready to vote for you again, and they wanted me to call on you and
+tell you of their misfortune, and ask you to give them a little help.'"
+
+"Well, what did Mr. Tilden say?" "He looked up and said he was busy, but
+told me to come the next morning at nine o'clock." He went, and on his
+return reported, when the question: "What did Mr. Tilden say"? was
+asked. "He said to me, 'Your name is----? You are from----, in
+Pennsylvania? You said that you had more than sixty members who voted
+for me for President, and who are ready to do it again"? "Yes." "And
+they wanted you to tell me of their misfortune"? "Yes." Then pulling out
+of his pocket-book he counted what money he had, which amounted to $15,
+and handed me $14, and said: "You tell them that Samuel J. Tilden gave
+you ALL THE MONEY HE HAD EXCEPT ONE DOLLAR, WHICH HE KEPT FOR HIMSELF."
+In all probability he was satirizing an appeal under those
+circumstances.
+
+For his service in breaking up the Tweed ring, and for his career as
+Governor of the State of New York, apart from purely party aspects, he
+is entitled to the thanks of the people. His own party will say to the
+end of time that he was elected president of the United States, and
+defrauded out of the office. But neither they nor anyone else can say,
+after the plan was agreed upon and adopted for determining the result,
+that the person who did occupy the chair did not have a legal right
+there, and was not president after the acceptance by the House of
+Representatives of the conclusion.
+
+Mr. Tilden will never be considered inferior in intellect and learning
+to the many great men of whom New York can proudly boast. He will ever
+be ranked with Daniel Tompkins, George Clinton, William L. Marcy, Silas
+Wright, William H. Seward, John A. Dix and many others, and it is not
+strange that it was with a feeling of deep and genuine regret that on
+the 4th of August, 1886, the people were told of his sudden death at
+'Greystone.'
+
+
+
+
+HENRY WARD BEECHER.
+
+
+A sturdy tree, standing alone in a vast field, suggesting strength,
+growth and independence, and regarded both as a landmark and a shelter;
+withstanding alike the heats of summer and wrestling with and throwing
+off the blasts of winter; drawing from Nature her myriad stores of
+nutrition and giving back to Nature a wealth of power and grace in
+return; seemed Henry Ward Beecher, in his youth of old age, to the
+observation of men. Original orator, advocate, poet, humorist, agitator,
+rhetorician, preacher, moralist and statesman. The greatest preacher of
+modern times, possibly of all times, the man was one of the wonders of
+America; one of the marvels of the world.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher's career has been phenomenal for the activity and
+variety of its achievements. Coming from a long line of mentally alert
+and physically vigorous ancestors, he was richly endowed with the
+qualities going to make up the highest type of human nature. He was
+handicapped only in being the son of a man whose fame was world-wide; a
+preacher of such intensity of spirit and eloquence of expression that he
+stood at the head of, if not above, all of his contemporaries. Yet,
+while Dr. Lyman Beecher will always hold an honored place in American
+history and biography, who can deny that his fame has been far outshone
+by that of his brilliant son? It may be truly said, therefore, that
+Henry Ward Beecher won a double triumph. He emerged from the comparative
+obscurity in which he dwelt, behind the shadow of his father's
+greatness, and he lived to see his own name emblazoned more brightly and
+engraved more indelibly upon the records of time than that of his noble
+father.
+
+He was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24th, 1813. His father was
+a busy minister, and the mother divided her time among several children,
+so that no especial attention was paid to Henry Ward, nor was he
+considered more promising than some of the others. He was not, by any
+means, fond of books in early life. He gives the following sketch of
+himself in one of his personal writings: 'A hazy image of myself comes
+back to me--a lazy, dreamy boy, with his head on the desk, half-lulled
+asleep by the buzzing of a great blue-bottle fly, and the lowing of the
+cows, and the tinkling of their bells, brought into the open door,
+across the fields and meadows.' Through the advice of his father, he
+attended Mount Pleasant Academy. Afterwards he attended Amherst College
+where he graduated in 1834. During his last two years of school, Beecher
+followed the example of many another young man who has since attained
+eminence in his chosen profession, and taught in district schools. With
+the money thus obtained he laid the foundation upon which he built that
+splendid superstructure which is recalled at the sound of his name.
+
+Dr. Lyman Beecher meanwhile had accepted a professorship at Lane
+Seminary, Cincinnati, and having decided to follow the ministry, the son
+went West this same year and began the study of theology under his
+father. He finished his course three years later, married, and accepted
+the first charge offered him; a small Presbyterian Church in
+Lawrenceburg, a little town on the Ohio river, near Cincinnati. Of this
+dismal beginning of his illustrious career he said:
+
+"How poor we were! There were only about twenty persons in the flock. I
+was janitor as well as pastor of the little white-washed church. I
+bought some lamps and I filled them and lighted them. I swept the church
+and dusted the benches, and kindled the fire, and I didn't ring the
+bell, because there wasn't any; did everything in fact but come to hear
+myself preach, that they had to do. It doesn't occur to me now that
+Lawrenceburg was remarkable for anything but a superabundance of
+distilleries. I used to marvel how so many large distilleries could be
+put in so small a town. But they were flourishing right in the face of
+the Gospel, that my little flock and I were preaching in the shadows of
+the chimneys. My thoughts often travel back to my quaint little church
+and the big distilleries at Lawrenceburg. Well, my next move was to
+Indianapolis. There I had a more considerable congregation, though I was
+still far from rich in the world's goods. I believe I was very happy
+during my eight years out there. I liked the people. There was a hearty
+frankness, a simplicity in their mode of life, an unselfish intimacy in
+their social relations that attracted me. They were new
+people--unharrowed and uncultured like the land they lived on--but they
+were earnest and honest and strong. But the ague shook us out of the
+State. My wife's health gave out and we were forced to come East."
+
+From this it would seem that chills and fever were the means used by
+Providence for bringing Henry Ward Beecher and Plymouth Church together.
+The church came into existence on the 8th of May, 1847, when six
+gentlemen met in Brooklyn at the house of one of their number, Mr.
+Henry C. Bowen, the present proprietor of the _Independent_, and formed
+themselves into a company of trustees of a new Congregational Church,
+the services of which they decided to begin holding at once in an
+edifice on Cranberry street, purchased from the Presbyterians. The
+following week Mr. Beecher happened to speak in New York, at the
+anniversary of the Home Missionary Society. He had already attracted
+some attention by his anti-slavery utterances, and the fearless manner
+in which he had preached against certain popular vices.
+
+The founders of the new congregation invited him to deliver the opening
+sermon on the 16th. A great audience was present, and shortly afterwards
+the young preacher was asked to become the first pastor of the
+organization. He accepted, and on the 10th of the following October he
+entered upon the term of service which lasted until the day of his
+death. And what a pastorate that was! The congregation readily grew in
+numbers and influence until Plymouth Church and Henry Ward Beecher
+became household words all over the land, and a trip to Brooklyn to hear
+the great preacher grew to be an almost indispensable part of a
+stranger's visit to New York.
+
+At the opening of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Beecher undertook the
+editorship of the _Independent_ which, like the church under his
+administration, speedily became a power in the country. In addition to
+all this work he was continually delivering speeches; for from the
+firing of the first gun on Fort Sumpter on April 12th, Plymouth's
+pastor was all alive to the needs of the nation. With voice and pen he
+pointed out the path of duty in that dark and trying hour, and his own
+church promptly responded to the call by organizing and equipping
+the First Long Island regiment. But the strain of this threefold
+service--preaching, speaking and editing, was too much for his strength,
+powerful and well-grounded, as he was, physically. His voice gave out at
+last, and doctors imperatively demanded rest. This brought about the
+trip to Europe which was destined to be remembered as the most
+remarkable epoch in the remarkable career of this man.
+
+Decidedly the most memorable oratorical success ever achieved by an
+American citizen abroad, in behalf of the name and honor of his country,
+was that by the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, which he achieved during this
+trip. Undertaking the journey for recreation and recuperation he was
+bitterly opposed by his friends in his decision, but he saw there was
+work to be done, and felt that he must do it. Beginning at Manchester,
+October 9th, Mr. Beecher delivered five great speeches in the great
+cities of the kingdom, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and
+London, each speech being devoted to some special train of thought and
+argument bearing upon the issues involved in the momentous contest; and
+the whole series taken together did more for the Union cause in Great
+Britain than all that had before been said or written. Possessing the
+faculty beyond any other American orator of combining close, rapid,
+powerful, practical reasoning with intense passion--his mind always
+aglow with his subject--the effect of Mr. Beecher's speaking was to
+kindle sympathy, even if it did not flash conviction. It is this
+quality, according to the opinion of those best acquainted with Mr.
+Beecher's oratory, which combined with his marvelous power of
+illustration, marvelous alike for its intense vividness and unerring
+pertinency, and his great flexibility whereby he seemed to adapt himself
+completely to the exigency of the instant gave him rare command over a
+popular assemblage.
+
+Mayor Carrington, of Richmond, tells the following: "He went to Richmond
+in 1881, his first appearance there after the war, and he was somewhat
+doubtful as to the reception he would get. He walked onto the stage
+where he was to lecture, before a crowded house, and was not greeted
+with the slightest welcoming applause. Immediately in front of the stage
+facing Mr. Beecher were several leading ex-generals of the Confederate
+army, among them General Fitz-Hugh Lee. Mr. Beecher surveyed the cold
+and critical audience for a moment, and then stepping directly in front
+of General Lee, he said, 'I have seen pictures of General Fitz-Hugh Lee,
+and judge you are the man; am I right?' General Lee was taken aback by
+this direct address, and nodded stiffly, while the audience bent forward
+breathless with curiosity as to what was going to follow. 'Then,' said
+Beecher, his face lighting up, 'I want to offer you this right hand
+which, in its own way, fought against you and yours twenty-five years
+ago, but which I would now willingly sacrifice to make the Sunny South
+prosperous and happy. Will you take it, General?' There was a moment's
+hesitation, a moment of death-like stillness in the hall, and then
+General Lee was on his feet, his hand was extended across the
+footlights, and was quickly met by the preacher's warm grasp. At first
+there was a murmur, half surprise, half-doubtfulness, by the audience.
+Then there was a hesitating clapping of hands, and before Mr. Beecher
+had loosed the hand of Robert E. Lee's nephew,--now Governor of
+Virginia--there were cheers such as were never before heard in that
+hall, though it had been the scene of many a war and political meeting.
+When the noise subsided, Mr. Beecher continued: 'When I go back home I
+shall proudly tell that I have grasped the hand of the nephew of the
+great Southern Chieftain; I shall tell my people that I went to the
+Confederate capitol with a heart full of love for the people whom my
+principles once obliged me to oppose, and that I was met half way by the
+brave Southerners who can forgive, as well as they can fight.' That
+night Beecher entered his carriage and drove to his hotel amid shouts,
+such as had never greeted a Northern man since the war."
+
+The famous Beecher-Tilton trial began in a series of whispers. With such
+an immense congregation, with everybody in Brooklyn familiar with his
+affairs, and with the whole community seemingly resolved into an immense
+gossiping committee, it was no wonder that rumors and report went flying
+about until at last, in the summer of 1874, Plymouth Church appointed a
+committee to investigate the charges preferred by Theodore Tilton
+against Mr. Beecher.
+
+Mr. Tilton read a sworn statement detailing his charges and specifying
+the actions of Mrs. Tilton and Mr. Beecher during the previous two
+years. This was on July 28th, and on the next day Mr. Beecher made his
+speech declaring the innocence of Mrs. Tilton; and she, too, testified
+in her own defense. Mr. Beecher made an elaborate statement before his
+congregation, August 14th, denying all immorality. Mr. and Mrs. Tilton
+were subjected to a most thorough examination and cross-examination, and
+then Mr. Francis D. Moulton, the famous mutual friend, came into the
+matter with his story of a most remarkable series of confessions and
+letters. The committee reported its findings at the weekly
+prayer-meeting, August 28th. Mr. Beecher was acquitted, and Mr. Moulton
+was most vigorously denounced, and when he left the meeting it was under
+police protection, because of the fury of the friends of the pastor.
+Before this Mr. Tilton had concluded to go to the courts, and on August
+19th opened a suit for $100,000 against Mr. Beecher. It was not until
+October 17th that Judge Neilson granted an order for a bill of
+particulars against the plaintiff, and William M. Evarts, for Mr.
+Beecher, and Roger A. Pryor for Mr. Tilton, carried the case up to the
+Court of Appeals, where the decision of the general term was reversed,
+and on December 7th, the new motion for a bill was granted.
+
+It was on January 4th, 1875, that the case was taken up in the City
+Court of Brooklyn. For Mr. Tilton appeared General Pryor, ex-Judge
+Fullerton, William A. Beach and S. D. Morris; while on the other side
+were William M. Evarts, General Benjamin F. Tracy and Thomas G.
+Shearman. The first witness was Editor Maverick, who testified on the
+13th of January to the Tilton marriage. Mr. Tilton took the stand on
+January 29th, and Mr. Evarts objected to his being sworn, and took
+several days to state his objections. From February 2nd to February
+17th, Mr. Tilton was on the stand, and the case for the defense opened
+on February 25th, and the first witness took the stand March 2nd. Mr.
+Beecher took the stand April 1st, and affirmed his testimony. He kept
+the stand until April 21st, and on May 13th the testimony on both sides
+closed after the examination of one hundred and eleven witnesses, and
+the consumption of four and one-half months of time. Mr. Evarts took
+eight days for his summing up, and other counsel for the defense six
+more. Mr. Beach talked for nine days, and Judge Neilson, on June 24th,
+charged the jury, which, after a consultation of eight days, reported on
+July 2nd, that they were unable to agree. All through the trial Mrs.
+Beecher sat beside her husband in court. The court was packed day after
+day, and in the daily papers thousands of columns were consumed in
+reporting every word uttered. It was never tried again.
+
+The enormous expense of the defense was met by a generous subscription.
+Mr. Beecher's letters were remarkable productions for any man other than
+Beecher to pen, and the explanation of them so that the jury-men, and
+men generally, could comprehend them was the task of his counsel. Mr.
+Tilton is now in Europe, and Mrs. Tilton is in this country. Mr. Beecher
+passed through the ordeal of his life in safety, and since the trial he
+has been watched as no man ever has been before or since.
+
+He was unquestionably one of the most able, if not the ablest, preacher
+the world ever knew, and it is not strange that the country should be
+startled at the announcement of his sudden death on march 7th, 1887, at
+his home in Brooklyn.
+
+Henry Ward Beecher is already as historical a character as Patrick
+Henry; with this exception, that whereas there are multitudes living who
+have seen and heard Mr. Beecher, and many who knew him personally; there
+are few, if any, who can remember Patrick Henry. Mr. Beecher was the
+most versatile and ready orator this country has ever produced,--a kind
+of Gladstone in the pulpit. He was a master of every style; could be as
+deliberate and imposing as Webster; as chaste and self-contained as
+Phillips; as witty and irregular as Thomas Corwin; as grandiloquent as
+Charles Sumner; as dramatic as father Taylor, and as melo-dramatic as
+Gough.
+
+To attempt to analyze the sources of his power is like exhibiting the
+human features separately, in the hope of giving the effect of a
+composite whole; for whether he moved his finger, elevated his brow,
+smiled, frowned, whispered or vociferated, each act or expression
+derived its power from the fact that it was the act and expression of
+Henry Ward Beecher. His oratory was marked by the entire absence of
+trammels, of rhetoric gesture or even grammar. Not that his style was
+not ordinarily grammatical and rhetorical, but that he would never allow
+any rules to impede the expression of his thought and especially of his
+feelings, nor was he restrained by theological forms, and always
+appeared independent and courageous. He believed in the absolute
+necessity of conversion and a thorough change of heart; he taught the
+beauty of living a religious life, for the nobleness of the deeds rather
+than for the purpose of escaping a future punishment, and his sayings in
+this connection were often misconstrued.
+
+He stimulated the intellect by wit; he united the heart and mind by
+humor; he melted the heart by un-mixed pathos. He was characterized by
+the strange power of creating an expectation with every sentence he
+uttered, and though he might on some occasions, when not at his best,
+close without meeting the expectations aroused, no dissatisfaction was
+expressed or apparently felt by his hearers. In personal appearance he
+was remarkable, chiefly for the great transformation of his countenance
+under the play of emotion.
+
+On the platform of Plymouth Church he was as a king upon his throne, or
+the commander of a war-ship in victorious action. His manners in private
+life were most ingratiating. His writings can impart to coming
+generations no adequate conception of his power as an orator. His career
+in England during those five great speeches were worth 50,000 soldiers
+to the National government, and probably had much to do with the
+prevention of the recognition of the Southern Confederacy by European
+nations. It was a triumph of oratory; he literally compelled a vast
+multitude, who were thoroughly in opposition to him, to take a new view
+of the subject.
+
+A Metropolitan in the pulpit, a magician on the platform, a center of
+life and good cheer in the home, a prince in society possessed of
+exhaustive vitality, warmth and energy, he suggested to any one who
+gazed upon him the apostrophe of _Hamlet_ to the ideal man: "What a
+piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In
+form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel!
+In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of
+animals!" Such a piece of work was Henry Ward Beecher. He had no
+predecessor, and can have no successor till a similar ancestry and life;
+the one coeval with birth, and the other running parallel with the lusty
+youth of such a nation, and a similar life and death struggle, both in a
+conflict of moral principles fought out under a Democratic form of
+Government, shall combine to evolve a similar career. The course of
+human history does not furnish a probability of another coincidence of
+elements so extraordinary.
+
+[Illustration: PERCEPTION. Engraved Expressly for "Hidden Treasures."]
+
+[Illustration: GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS.]
+
+
+
+
+GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS.
+
+
+
+
+JAMES WATT.
+
+
+In this advanced age we know the power of steam, and what a great factor
+it is as a help in carrying on the daily work of life. Yet, it is only
+during the last century that men have discovered to how many purposes it
+can be applied.
+
+James Watt, the great utilizer of steam, was born in Greenock, Scotland,
+January 19th, 1736. His father was a carpenter and general merchant in
+Greenock, and seems to have been highly respected, for he was long a
+member of the council, and for a time, magistrate. James was a sickly
+child, unable to attend school with regularity, hence was left to follow
+his own inclinations; becoming his own instructor, to a great extent.
+The boy was early furnished with tools by his father, and with them
+found amusement and instruction. He early manifested a taste for
+mathematics and mechanics, studied botany, chemistry, mineralogy,
+natural philosophy, and at fourteen constructed an electrical machine.
+
+At the age of eighteen he was sent to Glasgow to learn to make
+mathematical instruments, but for some reason he went to London the same
+year, engaging with one Morgan, working at the same trade. Ill-health,
+however, compelled his return home about a year later. He had made great
+use of his time while in London, and after his health had improved
+somewhat he again visited Glasgow with the desire of establishing
+himself there, but met with opposition from some who considered him an
+intruder upon their privileges. The Principal of the college,
+appreciating his fine tact and ingenuity, offered him protection and
+gave him an apartment for carrying on his business within their
+precinct, with the title of "Mathematical Instrument Maker to the
+University." But this location was unfavorable for his business. He was
+scarcely able to make a living, however, the five or six years he passed
+in those quarters were well employed in investigations, and during the
+time he unmistakably manifested rare ability.
+
+As soon as possible he secured a better situation in town, and after
+this change did much better, still it is said: "He had to eke out his
+living by repairing fiddles, which he was able to do, though he had no
+ear for music," also, in doing any mechanical piece of work that came in
+his way; no work requiring ingenuity or the application of scientific
+knowledge seems to have baffled him. But he kept studying, devoting his
+evenings and spare moments to the mastery of German, Italian, mastered
+some of the sciences, learned to sketch, was a superior model-maker;
+and, if his profession had been defined at the time he first turned his
+attention to steam, having constructed an improved organ, he would have
+been spoken of as a musical-instrument maker.
+
+In 1858 he began his experiments with steam as a propelling power for
+land carriages, which he temporarily abandoned, and did not patent a
+road engine until 1784. In 1767 he assumed a new occupation, for in that
+year he was employed to make the surveys and prepare the estimates for a
+projected canal to connect the Forth and Clyde. This project fell
+through for the time being, as it failed to gain the sanction of
+Parliament, but Watt had now made a beginning as civil engineer, and
+henceforth he obtained a good deal of employment in this capacity. He
+superintended the surveys and engineering works on the Monkland
+Collieries Canal to Glasgow, deepening the Clyde, improving the harbors
+of Ayr, Port, Glasgow, and Greenock; building bridges and other public
+works his final survey being for the Caledonia Canal.
+
+During this period he had invented an improved micrometer, and also
+continued his experiments with steam as a motive power. Perhaps it would
+be interesting to some of our readers to know how Watt tested the power
+of steam. The implements with which he performed his experiments were of
+the cheapest kind. Apothecaries' vials, a glass tube or two, and a
+tea-kettle enabled him to arrive at some very important conclusions. By
+attaching a glass tube to the nose of the tea-kettle he conducted the
+steam into a glass of water, and by the time the water came to the
+boiling point, he found its volume had increased nearly a sixth part;
+that is, one measure of water in the form of steam can raise about six
+measures of water to its own heat. It would be impossible in our
+allotted space to tell fully of the many experiments James Watt made. It
+is needless to say that his success came by slow and discouraging
+channels, so slow, indeed, that most men would have given up long
+before.
+
+His reputation was assailed by jealous rivals, his originality denied,
+and his rights to various patents vehemently contested. He was many
+times disappointed in the workings of his own machines, and was obliged
+to throw away pieces of machinery from which he had expected much, while
+with others he had perfect success. His experiments finally resulted in
+his invention of the condensing engine. Now, he struggled for years,
+through poverty and every imaginable difficulty, to make a practical
+application of his improvements, doing work as a surveyor in order to
+support himself.
+
+In 1769 he became a partner of Mathew Boulton, a large hardware dealer
+and manufacturer, of Birmingham, England. Previously Mr. Boulton had
+built engines after the plans of Savery, hence, he undoubtedly discerned
+the great improvement over all engines then in use, that this new
+discovery was sure to prove. He was a man of wealth, and, in all
+probability, his personal knowledge of such matters greatly aided his
+faith. No other can be given, for he was obliged to advance over
+$229,000 before Watt had so completely perfected his engine that its
+operations yielded profit. But his confidence was not misplaced. The
+immense Birmingham manufactory, which employed over one thousand hands,
+was ultimately driven to its utmost capacity to supply the constantly
+increasing demand for steam engines. It was first applied to coinage in
+1783, from thirty to forty thousand milled coins being struck off in an
+hour as a test. Boulton & Watt sent two complete mints to St.
+Petersburg, and for many years executed the entire copper coinage of
+England.
+
+Watt was the first to conceive the idea of warming buildings by steam.
+He was the first to make a copying-press; he also contrived a flexible
+iron pipe with ball and socket joints, to adapt it to the irregular
+riverbed, for carrying water across the Clyde. At the time of his death
+he was fellow of the Royal Societies of London, and Edinburgh
+correspondent of the French Institute, and foreign associate of the
+Academy of Sciences. He was buried beside Boulton, in Handsworth Church;
+his statue, by Chantery, is in Westminister Abbey. The pedestal bears
+the following inscription:--
+
+"Not to perpetuate a name
+Which must endure while the peaceful arts flourish,
+But to show
+That mankind have learned to honor those
+Who best deserve their gratitude,
+The King,
+His Ministers, and many of the Nobles
+And Commoners of the Realm,
+Raised this Monument to
+James Watt,
+Who, directing the force of an original Genius,
+Early exercised in philosophic research,
+To the improvement of
+The Steam Engine,
+Enlarged the resources of his Country,
+Increased the power of man, and rose to an eminent place
+Among the most illustrious followers of Science
+And the real benefactors of the World.
+Born at Greenock, MDCCXXXVI,
+Died at Heathfield, in Staffordshire, MDCCCXIX."
+
+The properties of steam had been known to a certain extent for
+centuries. In the seventeenth century attention was frequently directed
+by ingenious workers to the uses of steam in performing simple but
+laborious occupations, such as pumping water out of the mines. To other
+purposes steam was imperfectly applied, but it remained for Watt to make
+more practical and efficient use of it.
+
+This, indeed, is the history of almost every useful art. A discovery,
+which, after it is known, seems so simple that every one wonders why it
+remained hidden for so many years, yet proves simple enough to
+immortalize the name of the fortunate inventor. It is said there was
+hardly a physical science or one art with which Watt was not intimately
+acquainted. His philosophical judgment kept pace with his ingenuity. He
+studied modern languages, and was acquainted with literature. His memory
+was extremely tenacious, and whatever he once learned he always had at
+his command; and yet this brave earnest worker and gifted man was a
+sufferer from ill-health all his life. With constitutional debility,
+increased by anxiety and perplexity during the long process of his
+inventions, and the subsequent care of defending them in court; yet,
+through constant temperance and watchfulness over his peculiar
+difficulties, his life was preserved to the great age of eighty-three
+years. He had in his character the utmost abhorrece for all parade and
+presumption, and, indeed, never failed to put all such imposters out of
+countenance by the manly plainness and honest intrepidity of his
+language and manner. In his temper and disposition he was not only kind
+and affectionate, but generous and considerate of the feelings of all
+around him, and gave the most liberal assistance and encouragement to
+all young persons who proved any indication of talent, or applied to him
+for patronage or advice. He was twice married, and left his two sons,
+long associated with him in his business, to carry out some of his plans
+and discoveries of the great utility and power of steam. All men of
+learning and science were his cordial friends, and such was the
+influence of his mild character and perfect firmness and liberality,
+even to pretenders of his own accomplishments, that he lived to disarm
+even envy itself, and died the peaceful death of a Christian without, it
+is thought, a single enemy.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE STEPHENSON.
+
+
+A small collection of houses in a mining district, called Wylam, about
+nine miles west of Newcastle-on-Tyne, we find to be the birth-place of
+George Stephenson, born June 9th, 1781.
+
+His father was a very humble workman, who filled the position of fireman
+of the pumping-engine in use at the colliery, at three dollars a week.
+With a wife and six children to support, there was not much left after
+satisfying the cravings of hunger. The children, soon as opportunity
+afforded, were set at work to help support the family. We find young
+George beginning life pulling turnips at two pence a day. At eight years
+old he tended Widow Ainslie's cows at five cents a day. Later, he
+received fifty cents a week when caring for horses.
+
+Of course, it is the rule to find something in the boy indicative of the
+man, and in Stephenson's case, legend or history furnishes the material.
+It seems that while acting as herder, in company with other boys, it was
+his favorite amusement to model engines out of clay. After a time he
+received a dollar a week as assistant to his father, and at the age of
+sixteen he was appointed to work as attendant upon the pumping-engine,
+at men's wages,--three dollars per week. He was delighted, and it is
+doubtful if he was ever happier over subsequent triumphs as a locomotive
+builder, than when he was elevated to this position. He was employed at
+various collieries, as fireman, and afterwards as plugman, and gradually
+acquired so complete a knowledge of the engine as to be able to take it
+apart and make ordinary repairs. His ingenuity in repairing an obstinate
+defect in a steam engine gained him the charge of the engine.
+
+After this his fondness for his work increased until, with study, he had
+thoroughly mastered all its details. At the age of eighteen he could not
+even read, and he began to long for some education, so that he might fit
+himself for a higher place in his business. He accordingly commenced his
+studies by taking lessons in reading, of a neighboring school-master,
+three nights in a week, at a small tuition. At the end of a year he
+could read and spell some, and could write his own name. He now had a
+great thirst for mathematics, which he studied faithfully the second
+year; at the close of which, by his attentiveness, he could cipher with
+tolerable facility.
+
+During odd moments he gave some attention to mending shoes, by which he
+was able to earn a few extra pence. Among some shoes that were sent him
+to repair was a pair belonging to a young lady, whom he afterward
+married. In 1805 he removed to Killingworth colliery, and about this
+time he was desirous of emigrating to the United States, but was unable
+to raise money for his outfit and passage. He continued to work at his
+home evenings and leisure hours, cutting out clothes for the miners,
+mending clocks and shoes, and all this time studying mechanics and
+engineering with a view to perpetual motion, which a great many others
+of his time were studying.
+
+His first opportunity to show his superiority was when an expensive pump
+had been put in the colliery, and utterly failed to do the work required
+of it. Various experts gave it their best efforts, but it still refused
+to do what was required of it. Stephenson was heard to say, by some of
+the workmen, that he could repair it. After all others had failed, the
+overseer, in despair, with but little expectation that anything could be
+accomplished by a raw colliery hand, employed him to attempt a remedy.
+He took the engine to pieces and at the end of a few days repaired it
+ready for work, and in two days it cleared the pit of water.
+
+For this, and other improvements made upon old machinery, he was
+appointed chief engineer in 1813, at Killingworth, at a salary of L100
+per year. Besides erecting a winding engine for drawing up coal, and a
+pumping-engine, he projected and laid down a self-acting incline along
+the declivity of the Willington ballast quay, so arranged that full
+wagons descending to the vessels drew up the empty ones. But the
+construction of an efficient and economical locomotive steam engine
+mainly occupied his mind. He was among those who saw the Blenkinsop
+engine first put on the track, and watched its mechanism for some time,
+when he concluded he could make a better machine. He found a friend in
+his employer, Lord Ravensworth, who furnished the money, and in the
+work-shops at West Moor, Killingworth, with the aid of the colliery
+blacksmith, he constructed a locomotive which was completed in July,
+1814. The affair, though clumsy, worked successfully on the Killingworth
+railway, drawing eight loaded carriages, of thirty tons each, at the
+rate of four miles an hour. It was the first locomotive made with smooth
+wheels, for he rejected the contrivance which Trevithick, Blenkinsop and
+others had thought necessary to secure sufficient adhesion between the
+wheels and the rails.
+
+While engaged on plans for an improved engine his attention was
+attracted to the increase in the draught of the furnace obtained by
+turning the waste steam up the chimney, at first practiced solely in the
+desire to lessen the noise caused by the escape of the steam. Hence
+originated the steam-blast, the most important improvement in the
+locomotive up to that time. The steam-blast, the joint action of the
+wheels by connecting them with horizontal bars on the outside, and a
+simplifying connection between the cylinder and the wheels, were
+embodied in the second engine, completed in 1815. For some years
+Stephenson had been experimenting with the fire-damp in the mines, and
+in the above year completed a miner's safety lamp, which he finally
+perfected under the name of the "Gregory Lamp," which is still in use in
+the Killingworth collieries. The invention of a safety lamp by Sir
+Humphry Davy was nearly simultaneous, and to him the mining proprietors
+presented a service of plate worth L2,000, at the same time awarding
+L100 to Stephenson. This led to a protracted discussion as to the
+priority of the invention, and in 1817 Stephenson's friends presented
+him with a purse of $5,000 and a silver tankard.
+
+Having now brought the locomotive to a considerable degree of
+perfection, Stephenson next turned his attention to the improvement of
+railways, his opinion being that both were parts of one mechanism, and
+that the employment of steam carriages on common roads was
+impracticable. For the purpose of making railways solid and level, and
+preventing jerks at the junction of the rails, he took out a patent for
+an improved rail and chair, and recommended the employment of heavier
+rails, and the substitution of wrought for cast-iron. In connection with
+these improvements he added considerably to the lightness and strength
+of the locomotive, simplified the construction of the working parts, and
+substituted steel springs for the small cylinder, on which the boiler
+had at first rested.
+
+His next important undertaking was the construction of a railway eight
+miles in length, for the owners of the Helton Colliery, which was
+successfully opened November 18th, 1822. The level parts were traversed
+by five of Stephenson's locomotives, while stationary engines were
+employed to overcome the heavy grades.
+
+In 1820 an act of Parliament was obtained for a railway between Stockton
+and Darlington, which was opened September 27th, 1825. Stephenson, who
+made the preliminary surveys and specifications, was appointed engineer.
+The line was intended to be worked by stationary engines for the steep
+gradients, with horse-power on the level portions; but at Stephenson's
+urgent request, the act was amended so as to permit the use of
+locomotives on all parts of the road. In the meantime he had opened, in
+connection with Edward Pease, an establishment for the manufacture of
+locomotives, at Newcastle-on-Tyne.
+
+In 1825 he was appointed principal engineer of the Liverpool &
+Manchester railroad, which employed him during the next four years.
+Canals connected the two towns, Liverpool and Manchester, but it was
+believed that the carrying trade would support this new railway if it
+could be made to work. The people were told by the newspapers that
+locomotives would prevent cows from grazing and hens from laying. The
+poisoned air from the locomotives would kill birds as they passed over
+them, and render the preservation of pheasants and foxes no longer
+possible. Householders adjoining the line were told that their houses
+would be burned up by fire thrown from the engine chimneys, while the
+air around would be polluted by the clouds of smoke. There would be no
+longer any use for horses, and if the railways extended the species
+would become extinct, and therefore oats and hay would become unsalable.
+Traveling by road would be rendered exceedingly dangerous, and country
+inns would be ruined. Boilers would burst and blow the passengers to
+pieces.
+
+Of course, the inculcation of such theories rendered it extremely
+difficult for Stephenson and his party to survey for the proposed line.
+The land-owners along the line made all sorts of trouble for them. Their
+instruments were smashed and they were mobbed, yet, on they went,--at
+meal times they worked, before the residents awoke in the morning, and
+nights, in some instances were employed. At last the survey was
+accomplished, the plans drawn, and the estimates furnished the company,
+were approved.
+
+In Parliament even more opposition was experienced. Public sentiment
+can be inferred from an article which appeared in the Quarterly Review
+for March, 1825. Among other things it said: "What can be more palpably
+absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives
+travelling twice as fast as horses. We should as soon expect the people
+of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Congreve's
+richochet rockets as to trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine,
+going at such a rate. We trust that Parliament will, in all the railways
+it may grant, limit the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we
+entirely agree with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on."
+
+But despite all such seemingly insurmountabilities, Stephenson succeeded
+in getting the railway bill passed. But the troubles of George
+Stephenson were not at an end. The company, not fully satisfied with his
+opinion alone, conferred with two of the leading engineers of England,
+who reported averse to the locomotive, recommending stationary engines
+at a distance of one and a-half miles apart. But at last Stephenson
+prevailed upon the company to offer a prize of about $2,500 for the best
+locomotive produced at a trial to take place on the 6th of October,
+1829. At last the eventful day came, and with it thousands of
+spectators. Four engines appeared to compete for the prizes. "The
+Novelty," the "Rocket," the "Perseverance" and the "Sanspareil." The
+"Perseverance" could only make six miles an hour, and as the rules
+called for at least ten, it was ruled out. The "Sanspareil" made an
+average of fourteen miles an hour, but as it burst a water-pipe, it lost
+its chance. The "Novelty" did splendidly, but unluckily also burst a
+pipe, and was crowded out, leaving the field to the "Rocket," which
+carried off the honors. The average speed made by this engine, which
+belonged to Stephenson, was fifteen miles, and even attained twenty-nine
+miles an hour.
+
+The distinguishing features of the Rocket, the first high-speed
+locomotive of the standard modern type, were the multitubular boiler,
+which was not Stephenson's invention, but was first applied by him to
+locomotives; the blast pipe; and the direct connection of the steam
+cylinders to one axle, and one pair of wheels. At the opening of the
+road, September 15th, 1830, eight locomotives, constructed at the
+Stephenson works, were employed, and Mr. Huskinson, having been
+accidentally struck down and fatally injured by the Rocket, was conveyed
+in the Northumbrian, driven by George Stephenson, from Parkside to
+Eccles, fifteen miles, at the unprecedented rate of thirty-six miles an
+hour.
+
+Stephenson was almost incessantly employed for the next fifteen years on
+new roads, and was called three times to Belgium, and once to Spain as a
+consulting engineer. With his increasing wealth he also engaged
+extensively and profitably in coal mining and lime works, particularly
+in the neighborhood of Tapton Park, an elegant seat in Derbyshire, where
+he passed his latter years. He declined the honor of Knighthood.
+
+To Watt is due the honor of giving the world a practical stationary
+engine; George Stephenson picked that engine up bodily and placed it on
+wheels, and against the most direful predictions of the foremost
+engineers of his age, proved the practicability of harnessing steam to
+coaches for rapid transportation.
+
+On August 12th, 1848, Stephenson died, leaving an immense fortune, which
+was the honest reward he deserved.
+
+
+
+
+BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.
+
+
+Possibly there never has lived a man who has excited more comment than
+has the subject of this narrative, who was born in Boston, January 17th,
+1706. His father was a soap boiler and tallow chandler, and he was the
+fifteenth in a family of seventeen children.
+
+Young Benjamin was expected by his parents to become a minister of the
+Gospel, and for this purpose was placed in school at the age of eight,
+but the reduced circumstances of his father compelled his return home
+two years later, and he began the work of cutting wicks in his father's
+establishment. Afterwards he was bound to his brother James, who was a
+printer, where he worked hard all day, and often spent half the night in
+reading.
+
+The secret of his great success can be readily perceived, when we know
+that his favorite books were Mather's "Essays to Do Good," and DeFoe's
+"Essays of Projects," and many others of a like nature: instead of the
+modern "Three Fingered Jack," "Calamity Jane," "The Queen of the
+Plains," or the more 'refined' of to-day's juvenile reading.
+
+When he was about sixteen he wrote, in a disguised hand, an article for
+his brother's paper. This article was published anonymously, and excited
+great curiosity. Other articles followed, at length the identity of the
+author was discovered, and for some unknown reason the elder brother was
+offended. From that hour Benjamin resolved to leave Boston, as his
+brother's influence was used to his disadvantage in that city.
+
+Embarking, he worked his passage to New York, where he arrived at the
+age of seventeen, almost penniless, and without recommendations. Failing
+to obtain work here he continued on to Philadelphia, where he arrived,
+disappointed but not discouraged. He now had but one dollar, and a few
+copper coins, in the world. Being hungry, he bought some bread, and with
+one roll under either arm, and eating the third, he passed up the street
+on which his destined wife lived, and she beheld him as he presented
+this ridiculous appearance. Obtaining employment, he secured board and
+lodging with Mr. Reed, afterward his father-in-law.
+
+Being induced to think of going into business for himself, through
+promises of financial help from influential parties, he sailed to London
+for the purpose of buying the necessary requisites for a printing
+office. Not until his arrival in that great city, London, did he learn
+of the groundlessness of his hope for aid from the expected quarter. In
+a strange land, friendless and alone, without money to pay his return
+passage, such was his predicament; yet he lost not his courage, but
+obtained employment as a printer, writing his betrothed that he should
+likely never return to America. His stay in London lasted, however, but
+about eighteen months, during which time he succeeded in reforming some
+of his beer-drinking companions.
+
+In 1826 he returned to America as a dry-goods clerk, but the death of
+his employer fortunately turned his attention once more to his especial
+calling, and he soon after formed a partnership with a Mr. Meredith.
+This was in 1728. Miss Reed, during his stay abroad, had been induced to
+marry another man who proved to be a scoundrel; leaving her to escape
+punishment for debt, and, it is alleged, with an indictment for bigamy
+hanging over his head. Franklin attributed much of this misfortune to
+himself, and resolved to repair the injury so far as lay within his
+power. Accordingly he married her in 1830. This proved a most happy
+union. His business connection with Mr. Meridith being dissolved, he
+purchased the miserably conducted sheet of Mr. Keimer, his former
+employer, and under Franklin's management it became a somewhat
+influential journal of opinion.
+
+It was through this channel that those homely sayings, with such rich
+meanings, first appeared in print. His great intelligence, industry and
+ingenuity in devising reforms, and the establishment of the first
+circulating library, soon won for him the esteem of the entire country.
+1732 is memorable as the year in which appeared his almanac in which was
+published the sayings of the world-famous 'Poor Richard.' This almanac
+abounded with aphorisms and quaint sayings, the influence of which
+tended mightily to economy, and it was translated into foreign
+languages, in fact was the most popular almanac ever printed.
+
+After ten years' absence he returned to his native city, Boston, and his
+noble instincts were shown, as he consolingly promised his dying brother
+that he would care for his nephew, his brother's son. Returning to
+Philadelphia he became postmaster of that city, established a fire
+department, becomes a member of the Assembly, to which office he is
+elected ten consecutive years.
+
+Although he was not an orator, no man wielded more influence over the
+legislative department than did Franklin. As is well-known, he invented
+the celebrated Franklin Stove, which proved so economical, and for
+which he refused a patent. For years he entertained the theory that
+galvanic electricity, and that which produced lightning and thunder were
+identical; but it was not until 1752 that he demonstrated the truth by
+an original but ingenious contrivance attached to a kite, and to
+Franklin we owe the honor of inventing the lightning rod, but not its
+abuse which has caused such widespread animosity to that valuable
+instrument of self-preservation.
+
+These discoveries made the name of Franklin respected throughout the
+scientific world. Forever after this period, during his life, he was
+connected with national affairs. At one time he was offered a commission
+as General in the Provincial Army, but distrusting his military
+qualifications he unequivocally declined. Sir Humphrey Davy said:
+"Franklin seeks rather to make philosophy a useful inmate and servant in
+the common habitations of man, than to preserve her merely as an object
+for admiration in temples and palaces." While it is said of him by some
+that he always had a keen eye to his own interests all are forced to add
+he ever had a benevolent concern for the public welfare.
+
+The burdens bearing so heavily upon the colonies: Pennsylvania,
+Maryland, Georgia, and Massachusetts, appointed Franklin as their agent
+to the mother-country. Arriving in London in 1757, despite his mission,
+honors awaited him at every turn. There he associated with the greatest
+men of his time, and the universities of Edinburgh and Oxford honored
+him with the title of L.L.D. and the poor journeyman printer of a few
+years before, associated with princes and kings. At the end of five
+years he returned to America, and in 1762 received the official thanks
+of the Assembly. Two years later he was again sent to England, and he
+opposed the obnoxious stamp act, and where he carried himself with
+decorum and great ability before the entire nobility. Upon his return to
+America he was made a member of the Assembly the day he landed, where he
+exerted his whole influence for a Declaration of Independence, and soon
+after had the pleasure of signing such a document.
+
+In 1776 Congress sent him to France, where he became one of the greatest
+diplomats this country has ever known. During his voyage over he made
+observations relative to the Gulf Stream, and the chart he drew of it
+nearly one hundred years ago, still forms the basis of maps on the
+subject. As is well known, to Franklin more than all others, are we
+indebted for the kindly interference by France in our behalf, whose
+efforts, though ineffective in the field, helped the revolutionary cause
+wonderfully in gaining prestige. At the close of the war Franklin was
+one of the commissioners in framing that treaty which recognized
+American independence. His simple winning ways won for him admiration in
+any court of embroidery and lace, while his world-wide reputation as a
+philosopher and statesman won for him a circle of acquaintances of the
+most varied character. On the 17th of April, 1790, this great statesman
+died, and fully 20,000 people followed him to the tomb. The inscription
+he had designed read:
+
+"The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer;
+  Like the cover of an old book--
+Its contents torn out, and script of its lettering and gilding:
+  Lies here food for worms."
+
+Yet the work itself shall not be lost. For it will, as he believed,
+appear once more, in a new and more beautiful edition, corrected and
+amended by the Author. Truly, America has been rich in great men, of
+which Franklin was not the least. Dr. Franklin, in his will, left his
+native town of Boston, the sum of one thousand pounds, to be lent to the
+young married artificers upon good security and under odd conditions. If
+the plan should be carried out as successfully as he expected, he
+reckoned that this sum would amount in one hundred years to one hundred
+and thirty-one thousand pounds. It was his wish, and so expressed in his
+will that one hundred thousand pounds should be spent upon public works,
+"which may then be judged of most general utility to the inhabitants;
+such as fortifications, bridges, aqueducts, public buildings, baths,
+pavements, or whatever makes living in the town more convenient to its
+people, and renders it more agreeable to strangers resorting thither for
+health or temporary residence." It was also his wish that the remaining
+thirty-one thousand pounds should again be put upon interest for another
+hundred years, at the end of which time the whole amount was to be
+divided between the city and the State. The bequest at the end of the
+first one hundred years may not attain the exact figure he calculated,
+but it is sure to be a large sum. At the present time it is more than
+one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, and it has many years yet
+to run.
+
+
+
+
+ELI WHITNEY.
+
+
+The year of 1765 was made famous by the birth of a man who was destined
+to enrich his country millions of dollars.
+
+Eli Whitney was born at Westborough, Massachusetts, December 8th, 1765,
+and received a good education, graduating at Yale College. Going South
+as a tutor in a private family, his attention was arrested by the slow
+process by which the seed was extracted from cotton. At that time a
+pound of greenseed cotton was all that a negro woman could clean in a
+day.
+
+At the instance of Mrs. Greene, widow of General Greene, he set about
+constructing a machine to do the work. He had no facilities for pushing
+the work, even having to manufacture his tools, but he persevered and
+accomplished his purpose. Rumors of the machine spreading over the
+State, a mob at night broke open the building wherein the machine was
+stored, carried his precious model away, and before he could make
+another, various machines were in use. However, he went North to
+Connecticut and established a manufactory to make the machines. South
+Carolina granted him $50,000 after long and vexatious litigation, and
+North Carolina allowed him a percentage, which was paid in good faith.
+
+But, although Eli Whitney had invented a machine which would do in one
+day as much as an ordinary hand would in months, which has been worth
+hundred of millions of dollars to the South; yet, through the influence
+of Southern members, Congress would not renew his patent, and so much
+opposition was raised that he actually never received from his invention
+the money he had spent to perfect it. All efforts to obtain a financial
+recognition in this invention failing, he abandoned the manufacture of
+the cotton-gin. He was not discouraged, not at all, but turned his
+attention to fire-arms. These he greatly improved, being the first to
+make them adjustable, that is, any single piece to fit the same place in
+any of the thousands of guns that might be in process of manufacture in
+his works. He manufactured arms for the government, and reaped a fortune
+which he had so honestly earned.
+
+On January 8th, 1825, the country lost this wonderful genius, but his
+fame is growing year by year, as one of the world's benefactors.
+
+
+
+
+ROBERT FULTON.
+
+
+The genius of Fulton was of no ordinary mold. It began to unfold in less
+than ten years after his birth, which occurred at Little Britain,
+Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His parents were farmers, and of Irish
+birth, but Protestants in religious belief.
+
+At seventeen he went to Philadelphia and begun the study of printing.
+Four years later he evinced such decided talents in miniature painting
+that his friends united in sending him to London, where he remained for
+some years under the teaching of the world-renowned West. Being a friend
+of West, he was thus drawn into association with such men as the Duke
+of Bridgewater and the Earl of Stanhope. Through the influence of the
+former he adopted the profession of a civil engineer. He also became
+acquainted with Watt, who had just brought out his great improvement on
+the steam engine, the details of which Fulton mastered.
+
+While in London, at this time, he also contrived a new device for sawing
+marble which proved to be a valuable improvement. To this period in his
+life also belongs his invention of a machine for spinning flax. In 1797
+he removed to Paris where he remained seven years, assiduously studying
+the sciences. It was during his sojourn there that he brought out his
+celebrated torpedo-boat, since known as the Nautilus, a name derived
+from its resemblance in action to that wonderful little animal. This
+boat was a plunging machine designed for sub-marine service in placing
+torpedoes and other work, for which a sub-marine vessel could be used.
+According to Colden this boat was brought to a wonderful state of
+perfection, his account of which may be interesting.
+
+On the 3rd of July, 1801, he embarked with three companions on board his
+plunging boat, in the harbor of Brest, and descended in it to the depth
+of five, ten, fifteen, and so on, to twenty-five feet; but he did not
+attempt to go deeper because he found that his imperfect machine would
+not bear the pressure of a greater depth. He remained below the surface
+one hour. During the time, they were in utter darkness. Afterwards he
+descended with candles; but finding a great disadvantage from their
+consumption of vital air he caused, previous to his next experiment, a
+small window of thick glass to be made near the bow of his boat, and he
+again descended with her on the 24th of July, 1801. He found that he
+received from his window, or rather aperture covered with glass, for it
+was no more than an inch and a half in diameter, sufficient light for
+him to count the minutes on his watch.
+
+Having satisfied himself that he could have sufficient light when under
+water; that he could do without a supply of fresh air for a considerable
+time; that he could descend to any depth and rise to the surface with
+equal facility; his next object was to try her movements as well on the
+surface as beneath it. On the 26th of July he weighed his anchor and
+hoisted his sails; his boat had one mast, a main-sail and a jib. There
+was only a light breeze, and therefore she did not move on the surface
+at more than the rate of two miles an hour; but it was found that she
+would tack and steer, and sail on a wind or before it as well as any
+common sail-boat. He then struck her masts and sails; to do which, and
+to perfectly prepare the boat for plunging, required about two minutes.
+Having plunged to a certain depth he placed two men at the engine which
+was intended to give her progressive motion, and one at the helm, while
+he, with a barometer before him, governed the machine which kept her
+balanced between the upper and lower waters. He found that with the
+exertion of only one hand he could keep her at any depth he desired. The
+propelling engine was then put in motion, and he found that on coming to
+the surface he had, in about seven minutes, made a progress of four
+hundred metres, or five hundred yards. He then again plunged, turned her
+around, while under the water, and returned to near the place he began
+to move from.
+
+He repeated his experiments several days successively until he became
+familiar with the operation of the machinery, and the movements of the
+boat. He found that she was as obedient to her helm under water, as any
+boat could be on the surface, and that the magnetic needle traversed as
+well in the one as in the other.
+
+On the 27th of August Mr. Fulton again descended with a store of
+atmospheric air compressed into a copper globe, of a cubic foot
+capacity, into which two hundred atmospheres were forced. Thus prepared
+he descended with three companions to the depth of five feet. At the
+expiration of an hour and forty minutes, he began to take small supplies
+of pure air from his reservoir, and did so, as he found occasion, for
+four hours and twenty minutes. At the expiration of the time he came to
+the surface without having experienced any inconvenience from having
+been so long under the water.
+
+Fulton, about this time, hearing of Fitche's experiments in the United
+States with steam, became more than ever interested in the subject of
+"navigating boats by means of fire and water." Our Minister to Great
+Britain, Robert R. Livingstone, becoming greatly interested in steam
+navigation, and especially in Fulton's ideas in the matter, agreed to
+furnish the necessary funds to bring to success the enterprise.
+Accordingly, they ordered an engine of Watt & Boulton, "which would
+propel a large boat," and the engine arrived in America during the year
+1806. Fulton at once set to work to build a boat to fit the machinery,
+and in 1807 the "Clermont" was ready for trial.
+
+The reader will not be surprised at the statement of an eye-witness:
+"When it was announced in the New York papers that the boat would start
+from Cortlandt street at 6:30 a. m., on the 4th of August, and take
+passengers to Albany, there was a broad smile on every face as the
+inquiry was made if any one would be fool enough to go?" One friend was
+heard to accost another in the street with: "John, will thee risk thy
+life in such a concern? I tell thee she is the most fearful wild fowl
+living, and thy father should restrain thee." When the eventful morning
+came, Friday August 4th, 1807, the wharves, piers, housetops, and every
+available elevation was crowded with spectators. All the machinery was
+uncovered and exposed to view. The periphery of the balance wheels of
+cast iron, some four or more inches square, ran just clear of the water.
+There were no outside guards, the balance wheels being supported by
+their respective shafts, which projected over the sides of the boat. The
+forward part was covered by a deck which afforded shelter for her hands.
+The after-part was fitted up in a rough manner for passengers. The
+entrance into the cabin was from the stern in front of the steersman,
+who worked a tiller as in an ordinary sloop.
+
+Black smoke issued from the chimney; steam issued from every ill-fitted
+valve and crevice of the engine. Fulton himself was there. His
+remarkably clear and sharp voice was heard high above the hum of the
+multitude and the noise of the engine, his step was confident and
+decided; he heeded not the fearfulness, doubts or sarcasm of those by
+whom he was surrounded. The whole scene combined had in it an
+individuality, as well as an interest, which comes but once, and is
+remembered a lifetime. Everything being ready the engine was set in
+motion, and the boat moved steadily but slowly from the wharf. As she
+turned up the river and was fairly under way, there arose such a huzza
+as ten thousand throats never gave before. The passengers returned the
+cheer, but Fulton stood upon the deck, his eyes flashing with an unusual
+brilliancy as he surveyed the crowd. He felt that the magic wand of
+success was waving over him and he was silent. The entire trip was an
+ovation, and is thus described by Colden:
+
+"From other vessels which were navigating the river she had the most
+terrific appearance when she was making her passage. The first
+steam-boats used dry pine for fuel, which sends forth a column of
+ignited vapor many feet above the flue and whenever the fire is stirred
+a galaxy of sparks fly off, and in the night have a very beautiful and
+brilliant appearance. This uncommon light first attracted the attention
+of the crews of other vessels. Notwithstanding the wind and the tide
+were adverse to its approach they saw with astonishment that it was
+coming rapidly towards them; and when it came so near that the noise of
+the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews (if what was said at the
+time in the newspapers be true) in some instances shrunk beneath the
+decks from the terrific sight, and left the vessels to go ashore, while
+others prostrated themselves and besought Providence to protect them
+from the approach of the horrible monster, which was marching on the
+tides and lighting its path by the fires it vomited."
+
+Of peculiar interest and instruction is the following narrative
+connected with this historic voyage from the graphic pen of one who was
+personally an actor in the scene described: "I chanced to be at Albany
+on business when Fulton arrived there in his unheard of craft, which
+everybody felt so much anxiety to see. Being ready to leave, and hearing
+that his craft was going to return to New York, I repaired on board and
+inquired for Mr. Fulton. I was referred to the cabin, and there found a
+plain, gentlemanly man, wholly alone and engaged in writing. 'Mr.
+Fulton, I presume?' 'Yes sir.' 'Do you return to New York with this
+boat?' 'We shall try to get back, sir.' 'Can I have a passage down?'
+'You can take your chance with us, sir.' I inquired the amount to be
+paid, and after a moment's hesitation, a sum, I think six dollars, was
+named. The amount in coin, I laid in his open hand, and with his eye
+fixed upon it, he remained so long motionless that I supposed it might
+be a miscount, and said to him, 'Is that right sir?' This question
+roused him as from a kind of reverie, and, as he looked up, the tears
+were brimming in his eyes and his voice faltered as he said: 'Excuse me
+sir; but my memory was busy, as I contemplated this, the first pecuniary
+reward I have ever received for all my exertions in adapting steam to
+navigation. I should gladly commemorate the occasion over a bottle of
+wine with you but really I am too poor for that just now; yet, I trust
+we may meet again when this will not be the case.'
+
+"Some four years after this," continues the writer of this reminiscence,
+"when the Clermont had been greatly improved, and her name changed to
+North River, and when two other boats, the Car of Neptune and the
+Paragon had been built, making Mr. Fulton's fleet consist of three boats
+regularly plying between New York and Albany, I took passage upon one of
+these for the latter city. The cabin in that day was below, and as I
+walked its deck, to and fro, I saw that I was very closely observed by
+one, I supposed a stranger. Soon, however, I recalled the features of
+Mr. Fulton; but without disclosing this, I continued my walk. At length,
+in passing his seat, our eyes met, when he sprang to his feet and
+eagerly seizing my hand, exclaimed, 'I knew it must be you, for your
+features have never escaped me; and, although I am still far from rich,
+yet I may venture that BOTTLE NOW!' It was ordered, and during its
+discussion Mr. Fulton ran rapidly, but vividly, over his experience of
+the world's coldness and sneers, and the hopes, fears, disappointments
+and difficulties that were scattered through his whole career of
+discovery up to the very point of his final crowning triumph, at which
+he so fully felt he had at last arrived."
+
+And in reviewing all these matters, he said: "I have again and again
+recalled the occasion, and the incident of our first interview at
+Albany; and never have I done so without renewing in my mind the vivid
+emotion it originally caused. That seemed, and does still seem to me,
+the turning point in my destiny, the dividing line between light and
+darkness, in my career upon earth, for it was the first actual
+recognition of my usefulness to my fellow-men." Why was it that Fulton
+won renown. True it was that he possessed unusual genius. We know that
+every one cannot be a Fulton, yet how few there are who would have
+exercised the stick-to-it-ive-ness that he was obliged to do before
+success came. How few would have passed through the trials and withstood
+the sneers that Robert Fulton passed through. On the 24th of February,
+1815, he died, when the honor of first crossing the ocean by steam power
+was being contemplated by him, but his fame was established, and need
+naught to enhance it.
+
+
+
+
+ELIAS HOWE, JR.
+
+
+Difference of opinion there may be as to the abstract question, who
+first conceived the principle involved in sewing by machinery, or in
+respect to who first constructed a machine that would fulfill that idea;
+but so far as great results are concerned the world must be considered
+as indebted to Elias Howe, Jr., a New England mechanic, born and reared
+in obscurity, and at an early age thrown upon his own resources. He was
+born at Spencer, Massachusetts, July 9th, 1819. His father was a farmer
+and miller, but at sixteen he left home, engaging in a cotton mill.
+Space will not permit us to follow him through all the details of his
+varied experience during his early years. It will be sufficient to say
+that he lived in Boston in his twentieth year, where he was working in a
+machine-shop. He was a good workman, having learned his trade at Harvard
+by the side of his cousin, Nathaniel Banks, who has since greatly
+distinguished himself as a general in the United States army and speaker
+of the House of Representatives.
+
+He was married soon after, and when twenty-two or three, his health
+failing, he found himself surrounded by a family, and poverty staring
+him in the face. The idea suggested itself to Howe in the following
+manner, as described by Parton in the _Atlantic Monthly_: "In the year
+1839 two men in Boston, one a mechanic, the other a capitalist, were
+striving to produce a knitting-machine, which proved to be a task beyond
+their strength. When the inventor was at his wit's end, his capitalist
+brought the machine to the shop of Ari Davis, to see if that eccentric
+genius could suggest the solution of the difficulty, and make the
+machine work. The shop, resolving itself into a committee of the whole,
+gathered about the knitting-machine and its proprietor, and were
+listening to an explanation of its principles, when Davis, in his wild,
+extravagant way, broke in with the question: 'What are you bothering
+yourself with a knitting-machine for? Why don't you make a
+sewing-machine?' 'I wish I could,' said the capitalist, 'but it can't be
+done,' 'Oh, yes, it can,' said Davis. 'I can make a sewing-machine
+myself.' 'Well,' said the other; 'you do it, Davis, and I'll insure you
+an independent fortune.' There the conversation dropped, and was never
+resumed. The boastful remark of the master of the shop was considered
+one of his sallies of affected extravagance, as it really was, and the
+response of the capitalist to it was uttered without a thought of
+producing an effect. Nor did it produce any effect upon the person to
+whom it was addressed, as Davis never attempted to construct a
+sewing-machine.
+
+"Among the workmen who stood by and listened to this conversation was a
+young man from the country, a new hand named Elias Howe, then twenty
+years old. The person whom we have named capitalist, a well-dressed and
+fine looking man, somewhat consequential in his manners, was an imposing
+figure in the eyes of this youth, new to city ways, and he was much
+impressed with the emphatic assurance that a fortune was in store for
+the man who would invent a sewing-machine. He was the more struck with
+it because he had already amused himself with inventing some slight
+improvements, and recently he had caught from Davis the habit of
+meditating new devices. The spirit of invention, as all mechanics know,
+is exceedingly contagious. One man in a shop who invents something that
+proves successful will give the mania to half his companions, and the
+very apprentices will be tinkering over a device after their day's work
+is done."
+
+Thus it was that the idea of a sewing-machine first entered Howe's mind.
+The following is the touching story of Howe's early struggle and final
+triumph as told by himself: "I commenced the invention of my
+sewing-machine as early as 1841, when I was twenty-two years of age.
+Being then dependent on my daily labor for the support of myself and my
+family I could not devote my attention to the subject during the working
+hours of the day, but I thought on it when I could, day and night. It
+grew on until 1844; I felt impelled to yield my whole time to it. During
+this period I worked on my invention mentally as much as I could, having
+only the aid of needles and such other small devices as I could carry in
+my pockets, and use at irregular intervals of daily labor at my trade. I
+was poor, but with promises of aid from a friend, I thereafter devoted
+myself exclusively to the construction and practical completion of my
+machine. I worked alone in an upper room in my friend's house, and
+finished my first machine by the middle of May, 1845.
+
+"This was a period of intense and persistent application, of all the
+powers I possessed, to the practical embodiment of my mechanical ideas
+into a successful sewing-machine. I soon tested the practical success of
+my first machine by sewing with it all the principal seams in two suits
+of clothes, one for myself, and one for my friend. Our clothes were as
+well made as any made by hand-sewing. I still have my first machine;
+and it will now sew as good a seam as any sewing-machine known to me. My
+first machine was described in the specification of my patent, and I
+then made a second machine, to be deposited in the patent office as a
+model."
+
+"I then conveyed one-half of my invention and patent to my friend, for
+five hundred dollars; in fact, though a much larger sum (ten thousand
+dollars) was named in the deed at his suggestion. My patent was issued
+on the 10th of September, 1846. I made a third machine, which I tried to
+get into use on terms satisfactory to myself and friend. For this
+purpose I endeavored to attract notice to it by working with it in
+tailor shops, and exhibited it to all who desired to become acquainted
+with it. After my patent was obtained, my friend declined to aid me
+further. I then owed him about two thousand dollars, and I was also in
+debt to my father, to whom I conveyed the remaining half of my patent
+for two thousand dollars. Having parted with my whole title, and having
+no means for manufacturing machines, I was much embarrassed, and did not
+know what to do."
+
+"My brother, Amasa B. Howe, suggested that my invention might succeed in
+England, when, if patented, it would be wholly under my control; and on
+my behalf, with means borrowed of my father, my brother took my third
+machine to England, to do the best he could with it. He succeeded in
+selling my machine and invention for two hundred pounds in cash, and a
+verbal agreement that the purchaser should patent my invention in Great
+Britain, in his own name; and if it should prove successful, to pay me
+three pounds royalty on each machine he made or sold under the patent.
+He also agreed to employ me in adapting my machine to his own kind of
+work at three pounds a week wages."
+
+"The purchaser obtained a patent for my machine in England, and I went
+to London to enter his employment. I then made several machines with
+various modifications and improvements, to suit his peculiar kind of
+work, and they were put to immediate use; but afterwards we ceased to be
+friendly, and I was discharged from his employment. In the meantime my
+wife and three children had joined me in London. I had also, at the
+suggestion of another person, endorsed a hundred pound note, on which I
+was afterwards sued and arrested; but I was finally released on taking
+the 'poor debtor's oath.' By small loans from fellow mechanics, and by
+pawning a few articles, I managed to live with my family in London,
+until, from friendly representations from some American acquaintances,
+the captain of an American packet was induced to take my wife and
+children home to the United States on credit. I was then alone, and
+extremely poor, in a foreign land."
+
+"My invention was patented, and in successful use in England, but without
+any profit to me, and wholly out of my control. In the spring of 1849 I
+was indebted to a Scottish mechanic for a steerage passage, and I
+returned to the United States, poorer, if possible, than when I left. On
+my return I found my wife and children very destitute; all other
+personal effects, save what they had on, being still detained to secure
+payment for their passage home. My wife was sick, and died within ten
+days after my arrival. During my absence in England a considerable
+number of sewing-machines had been made, and put in operation in
+different parts of the United States; some of these by the procurement
+of the friend to whom I had sold half of my American patent but most of
+them infringements on my patent."
+
+"Having obtained from my father, in the summer of 1849, an agreement to
+re-convey to me his half of my patent; I tried to induce the friend who
+held the other half to join me in prosecuting our rights against
+infringers, but he declined to do so. After failing to make any
+satisfactory settlement with the infringers, who well knew my poverty
+and embarrassments, I filed a bill in equity against one of such
+persons, and made my friend a party defendant also, in order to bring
+him into court as co-owner of my machine. After this he joined me in a
+suit at law against another infringer. In this case the validity of my
+patent was fully established by a verdict and judgment at law. After
+several transfers of the half share sold my friend, I purchased it back,
+about five years ago, and I am now sole owner of the American patent."
+
+Thus did Howe modestly tell the story of his terrible trials and
+suffering. After long litigation Mr. Howe's claim to have been the
+original inventor was legally and irreversibly established, the judge
+deciding, "that there was no evidence which left a shadow of doubt that
+for all the benefit conferred upon the public by the introduction of the
+sewing-machine the public are indebted to Mr. Howe." Therefore to him
+all inventors or improvers had to pay a royalty on each machine they
+made. From being a poor man, living in a garret, Howe became one of the
+most noted millionaires in America.
+
+Doubtless many of our readers would be interested in the principles
+involved in Mr. Howe's machine; which seem to be essential in all
+two-threaded machines. We find that two threads are employed, one of
+which is carried through the cloth by means of a curved pointed needle;
+the needle used has the eye that is to receive the thread, about an
+eighth of an inch from the pointed end. When the thread is carried
+through the cloth, which may be done to the distance of about
+three-fourths of an inch the thread will be stretched above the curved
+needle, something like a bowstring, leaving a small open space between
+the two. A small shuttle, carrying a bobbin, filled with thread, is then
+made to pass entirely through this open space, between the needle and
+the thread which it carries; and when the shuttle is returned the thread
+which was carried in by the needle is surrounded by that received from
+the shuttle; as the needle is drawn out, it forces that which was
+received from the shuttle into the body of the cloth giving the seam
+formed the same appearance on each side of the cloth.
+
+Thus, according to this arrangement, a stitch is made at every back and
+forth movement of the shuttle. The two thicknesses of cloth that are to
+be sewed, are held upon pointed wires which project out from a metallic
+plate, like the teeth of a comb, but at a considerable distance from
+each other, these pointed wires sustaining the cloth, and answering the
+purpose of ordinary basting. The metallic plate, from which these wires
+project, has numerous holes through it, which answer the purpose of rack
+teeth in enabling the plate to move forward, by means of a pinion, as
+the stitches are taken. The distance to which the plate is moved, and,
+consequently, the length of the stitches may be regulated at pleasure.
+
+He opened a manufactory for his machines where he could carry on the
+business in a small way. From this small beginning his business grew
+until, with the royalties he received, his income reached $200,000
+annually. Notwithstanding his wealth, he enlisted in the war as a
+private, and his principles and sympathy were displayed at one time
+when, seeing the men needy, the government having been unable to pay
+promptly, he himself advanced enough money to pay the entire regiment.
+In the month of October, 1867, at the early age of forty-eight he died.
+
+But he had lived long enough to see his machine adopted and appreciated
+as one of the greatest labor-saving devices in the world. It is
+estimated that to-day the sewing-machine saves annually the enormous sum
+of $500,000,000. It has been truly said that had it not been for the
+sewing-machine it would have been impossible to have clothed and kept
+clothed the vast armies employed on both sides during the late war.
+Great, indeed, is a world's benefactor; such is Elias Howe.
+
+
+
+
+ISAAC M. SINGER.
+
+
+The greatest competitor of Mr. Howe was I. M. Singer. In 1850 there
+appeared in a shop in Boston, a man who exhibited a carving machine as
+his invention.
+
+Mr. Parton, in the _Atlantic Monthly_, said: "Singer was a poor, baffled
+adventurer. He had been an actor and a manager of a theatre, and had
+tried his hand at various enterprises, none of which had been
+successful." The proprietor of the shop, who had some sewing-machines
+there on exhibition, speaking of them, said: "These machines are an
+excellent invention, but have some serious defects. Now if you could
+make the desired improvement, there would be more money in it than in
+making these carving machines." This seemed to gently impress Singer,
+and the friend advancing $40, he at once began work. According to
+Singer's testimony in the Howe _vs._ Singer suits, the story of this
+wonderful man runs something like this:
+
+"I worked day and night, sleeping but three or four hours out of the
+twenty-four, and eating generally but once a day, as I knew I must get a
+machine made for forty dollars or not get it at all. The machine was
+completed the night of the eleventh day from the day it was commenced.
+About nine o'clock that evening we got the parts of the machine
+together, and commenced trying it. The first attempt to sew was
+unsuccessful, and the workmen, who were tired out with almost
+unremitting work, left me, one by one, intimating that it was a failure.
+I continued trying the machine, with Zieber, who furnished the forty
+dollars, to hold the lamp for me; but in the nervous condition to which
+I had been reduced, by incessant work and anxiety, was unsuccessful in
+getting the machine to sew light stitches.
+
+"About midnight I started with Zieber to the hotel, where I boarded.
+Upon the way we sat down on a pile of boards, and Zieber asked me if I
+had not noticed that the loose loops of thread on the upper side of the
+cloth came from the needle? It then flashed upon me that I had forgotten
+to adjust the tension upon the needle thread. Zieber and I went back to
+the shop. I adjusted the tension, tried the machine, and sewed five
+stitches perfectly, when the thread broke. The perfection of those
+stitches satisfied me that the machine was a success, and I stopped
+work, went to the hotel, and had a sound sleep. By three o'clock the
+next day I had the machine finished, and started with it to New York,
+where I employed Mr. Charles M. Keller to get out a patent for it."
+
+The trial resulted in favor of Howe, but of the two men Singer was in
+every way the superior in business capacity. In fact; there never has
+been a sewing-machine manufacturer that could compare with I. M. Singer.
+"Great and manifold were the difficulties which arose in his path, but
+one by one he overcame them all. He advertised, he traveled, he sent out
+agents, he procured the insertion of articles in newspapers, he
+exhibited the machines at fairs in town or country. Several times he was
+on the point of failure, but in the nick of time something always
+happened to save him, and year after year he advanced toward an assured
+success.
+
+"We well remember his early efforts, when he only had the back part of a
+small store on Broadway, and a little shop over a railroad depot; and we
+remember also the general incredulity with regard to the value of the
+machine with which his name was identified. Even after hearing him
+explain it at great length, we were very far from expecting to see him
+one day riding to the Central Park in a French diligence, drawn by five
+horses paid for by the sewing-machine. Still less did we anticipate that
+within twelve years the Singer company would be selling a thousand
+sewing-machines a week, at a profit of a thousand dollars a day. He was
+the true pioneer of the mere business of selling machines, and made it
+easier for all his subsequent competitors."
+
+The peculiarity of the Singer machine is the chain stitch or single
+thread device, but with the employment of an eye-pointed needle, and
+other appliances, so as to make it admirably adopted for the general
+purposes of sewing. At Mr. Singer's death it was found that his estate
+amounted to about $19,000,000.
+
+
+
+
+RICHARD M. HOE.
+
+
+The recent death of Richard March Hoe, in Florence, Italy, closes the
+career of one whose name is known wherever the newspaper is used to
+spread intelligence.
+
+He was the senior member of the firm of printing-press makers, and one
+of the leading inventors and developers of that great lever of public
+opinion. Mr. Hoe's father was the founder of the firm. He came to this
+country from England in 1803, and worked at his trade of carpentry.
+Through his skill as a workman he was sought out by a man named Smith, a
+maker of printer's material. He married Smith's sister, and went into
+partnership with Smith and brother. The printing-presses of those days
+were made chiefly of wood, and Hoe's skill as a wood-worker was valuable
+to the firm.
+
+In 1822 Peter Smith invented a hand-press. This press was finally
+supplanted by the Washington press, invented by Samuel Rust in 1829. Mr.
+Smith died a year after securing his patent, and the firm-name was
+changed to R. Hoe & Co., but from the manufacture of the Smith press the
+company made a fortune. The demand for hand presses increased so rapidly
+that ten years later it was suggested that steam power might be utilized
+in some way to do the pulling and tugging necessary in getting an
+impression. At this time Richard M., one of the sons of the founder of
+the house, was an attentive listener to the discussions.
+
+Young Richard M. Hoe was born in 1812. He had the advantage of an
+excellent education, but his father's business possessed such a
+fascination for him that it was with difficulty he was kept in school.
+He was a young man of twenty before his father allowed him to work
+regularly in his shop; but he had already become an expert in handling
+tools, and soon became one of the best workmen. He joined with his
+father in the belief that steam would yet be applied to the
+printing-press, and the numerous models and experiments they made to
+that end would, in the light of the present day, appear extremely
+ridiculous.
+
+In 1825-30 Napier had constructed a steam printing-press, and in 1830
+Isaac Adams, of Boston, secured a patent for a power press. These
+inventions were kept very secret; the factories in which they were made
+being guarded jealously. In 1830 a Napier press was imported into this
+country for use on the _National Intelligencer_. Mordecai Noah, editor
+of Noah's _Sunday Times and Messenger_, was collector of the port of New
+York at that time, and being desirous of seeing how the Napier press
+would work, sent for Mr. Hoe to put it up. He and Richard succeeded in
+setting up the press, and worked it successfully.
+
+The success of Napier's press set the Hoes to thinking. They made models
+of its peculiar parts and studied them carefully. Then, in pursuance of
+a plan suggested by Richard, his father sent his partner, Mr. Newton, to
+England, for the purpose of examining new machinery there, and to secure
+models for future use. On his return with ideas, Mr. Newton and the
+Hoes projected and turned out for sale a novel two-cylinder press, which
+became universally popular and soon superseded all others, the Napier
+included.
+
+Thus was steam at last harnessed to the press, but the demand of the
+daily papers for their increasing editions spurred the press makers to
+devise machines that could be worked at higher speed than was found
+possible with the presses, in which the type was secured to a flat bed,
+which was moved backward and forward under a revolving cylinder. It was
+seen, then, that if type could be secured to the surface of a cylinder,
+great speed could be attained. In Sir Rowland Hill's device the type was
+cast wedge-shape; that is, narrower at the bottom. A broad "nick" was
+cut into its side, into which a "lead" fitted. The ends of the "lead" in
+turn fitted into a slot in the column rules, and these latter were
+bolted into the cylinder. The inventor, Sir Rowland Hill, the father of
+penny postage in England, sunk, it is said, L80,000 in the endeavor to
+introduce this method.
+
+In the meantime Richard M. had succeeded to his father's business, and
+was giving his attention largely to solving this problem of holding type
+on a revolving cylinder. It was not until 1846 that he hit on the method
+of doing it. After a dozen years of thought the idea came upon him
+unexpectedly, and was startling in its simplicity. It was to make the
+column rules wedge-shape instead of the type. It was this simple device,
+by the introduction of the "lightning press," that revolutionized the
+newspaper business of the world, and made the press the power it is. It
+brought Hoe fame and put him at the head of press makers. His business
+grew to such dimensions that he has in his employ in his New York
+factory from 800 to 1,500 hands, varying with the state of trade. His
+London factory employes from 150 to 250 hands.
+
+Yet the great daily cravings demanded still faster presses. The result
+was the development of the Web press, in which the paper is drawn into
+the press from a continuous roll, at a speed of twelve miles an hour.
+The very latest is a machine called the supplement press, capable of
+printing complete a paper of from eight to twelve pages, depending on
+the demand of the day, so that the papers slide out of the machine with
+the supplements gummed in and the paper folded ready for delivery. Of
+late years many other remarkably ingenious presses of other makers have
+come into the market, but still the genius of R. M. Hoe has left an
+indelible mark in the development of the printing-press. He died June
+6th, 1886.
+
+
+
+
+CHARLES GOODYEAR.
+
+
+About the year 1800 was born in New Haven, Connecticut, Charles
+Goodyear. He received only a public school education, and when
+twenty-one years of age joined his father in the hardware trade in the
+city of Philadelphia; but in the financial troubles of 1830, the firm
+went under, and the next three years was spent in looking for a
+life-work.
+
+Passing a store in the city of New York, his eye was attracted by the
+words "INDIA RUBBER FOR SALE." Having heard much of this new article of
+late, he purchased a life-preserver which he carried home and so
+materially improved, in conception, that he was induced to return to the
+store for the purpose of explaining his ideas. At the store he was now
+told of the great discouragements with which the rubber trade was
+contending, the merchants giving this as a reason for not taking to his
+improvement. The rubber, as then made, would become as hard as flint
+during cold weather, and if exposed to heat would melt and decay.
+
+Returning to Philadelphia, Goodyear commenced experiments, trying to
+discover the secret of how to remedy this trouble. He was very poor, and
+to support his family he 'cobbled' for his neighbors. He tried every
+experiment within his grasp of intellect, but met only with failure. His
+friends, who had helped him, left him one by one; his failures
+continued, but he would not give up. The last piece of furniture was
+sold, and his family moved into the country, taking up cheap lodgings.
+Finally he found a druggist who agreed to furnish him what he needed
+from his store to use in his investigations and purchasing small
+quantities of rubber at a time he continued his experiments. At length,
+after three years he discovered that the adhesiveness of the rubber
+could be obviated by dipping it in a preparation of nitric acid. But
+this only affected the exterior, and he was once more plunged into the
+worst of poverty. It was generally agreed that the man who would
+proceed further, in a cause of this sort, was fairly deserving of all
+the distress brought on himself, and justly debarred the sympathy of
+others. His suffering during the years that followed is simply
+incredible. The prejudice against him was intense. Everybody
+characterized him as a fool, and no one would help him. A witness
+afterwards testified in a trial: "They had sickness in the family; I was
+often in and found them very poor and destitute, for both food and fuel.
+They had none, nor had they anything to buy any with. This was before
+they boarded with us, and while they were keeping house. They told me
+they had no money with which to buy bread from one day to another. They
+did not know how they should get it. The children said they did not know
+what they should do for food. They dug their potatoes before they were
+half-grown, for the sake of having something to eat. Their son Charles,
+eight years old, used to say that they ought to be thankful for the
+potatoes, for they did not know what they should do without them. We
+used to furnish them with milk, and they wished us to take furniture and
+bed-clothes in payment, rather than not pay for it. At one time they had
+nothing to eat, and a barrel of flour was unexpectedly sent them."
+
+It is a record of destitution, imprisonment for debt, and suffering from
+this time until 1841, when he began to see day-light. By accident he one
+day allowed a piece of rubber to drop on the stove, when, lo! he had
+found the secret, heat was the thing needed. Six years had he struggled
+on through untold hardships, and now he seemed crowned with success. He
+had found the desired solution of the problem, but he made a fatal
+mistake here. Instead of settling down and manufacturing his discovery,
+which would have brought him a fortune, he sold rights and kept on
+experimenting. By certain legal informalities he secured no benefit
+whatever from his patent in France and he was cheated entirely out of it
+in England. Although he lived to see large factories for its
+manufacture spring up in both America and Europe, employing 60,000
+operatives, still he died in 1860 at the age of seventy-one, leaving his
+family unprovided for. The cause was not lack of perseverance nor
+energy, but the sole cause was lack of judgment in business matters.
+
+The vulcanized rubber trade is one of the greatest industries of the
+world to-day, amounting to millions of dollars annually. The usefulness
+of India rubber is thus described in the _North American Review_: "Some
+of our readers have been out on the picket-line during the war. They
+know what it is to stand motionless in a wet and miry rifle-pit in the
+chilly rain of a southern winter's night. Protected by India rubber
+boots, blanket and cap, the picket-man is in comparative comfort; a duty
+which, without that protection, would make him a cowering and shivering
+wretch, and plant in his bones a latent rheumatism, to be the torment of
+his old age. Goodyear's India rubber enables him to come in from his pit
+as dry as when he went into it, and he comes in to lie down with an
+India rubber blanket between him and the damp earth. If he is wounded it
+is an India-rubber stretcher or an ambulance, provided with India-rubber
+springs, that gives him least pain on his way to the hospital, where, if
+his wound is serious, a water-bed of India rubber gives ease to his
+mangled frame, and enables him to endure the wearing tedium of an
+unchanged posture. Bandages and supporters of India rubber avail him
+much when first he begins to hobble about his ward. A piece of India
+rubber at the end of his crutch lessens the jar and the noise of his
+motions, and a cushion of India rubber is comfortable to his arm-pit.
+The springs which close the hospital door, the bands which excludes the
+drafts from doors and windows, his pocket-comb and cup and thimble are
+of the same material. From jars hermetically closed with India rubber he
+receives the fresh fruit that is so exquisitely delicious to a fevered
+mouth. The instrument case of his surgeon, and the store-room of his
+matron contains many articles whose utility is increased by the use of
+it, and some that could be made of nothing else. In a small rubber case
+the physician carries with him and preserves his lunar caustic, which
+would corrode any metallic surface. His shirts and sheets pass through
+an India rubber clothes-wringer, which saves the strength of the
+washer-woman and the fibre of the fabric. When the government presents
+him with an artificial leg, a thick heel and elastic sole of India
+rubber give him comfort every time he puts it on the ground. In the
+field this material is not less strikingly useful. During the late war
+armies have marched through ten days of rain and slept through as many
+nights, and come out dry into the returning sunshine with their
+artillery untarnished and their ammunition not injured, because men and
+munitions were all under India rubber."
+
+Ought we soon to forget him to whom we are indebted, in a large measure,
+for all this? The American people will long remember Charles Goodyear
+when others have faded from memory.
+
+
+
+
+PROF. S. F. B. MORSE.
+
+
+"Canst thou send lightnings that they may go and say unto thee: Here we
+are!" Said the Lord from the whirlwind to afflicted Job, who remained
+dumb for he could not answer. The question has been answered in the
+affirmative in our day by the perfector of the electro-magnetic
+telegraph, the late Professor Morse, by whose invention the promise has
+been fulfilled: "I'll put a girdle around the globe in forty minutes."
+
+Samuel Finly Breese Morse was born in Charleston, Massachusetts, April
+27th, 1791. His father was the first person to publish geographies in
+America. His father was also a celebrated Congregational minister,
+spending much of his time in religious controversy, in maintaining the
+orthodox faith throughout the New England churches and against
+Unitarianism. He was prominent among those who founded Andover
+Theological Seminary, and published many religious periodicals.
+
+S. F. B. Morse was a graduate from Yale at the age of nineteen, and soon
+went to England for the purpose of studying painting. At the end of two
+years he received the gold medal of the Adelphia Society of Arts for an
+original model of a "Dying Hercules," his first attempt at sculpture.
+The following year he exhibited "The Judgment of Jupiter," a painting
+praised by his teacher, Mr. West. Becoming quite proficient in painting
+and sculpture, he returned home in 1815, following his profession in
+Boston, Charleston, South Carolina, and later in New York city. At the
+latter place, in connection with other artists, he organized a drawing
+association, which resulted in the establishment of the National Academy
+of Design. Prof. Morse was chosen its first President, and was continued
+in that office for the following sixteen years. He painted a great many
+portraits, among which was a full length portrait of Lafayette, which
+was highly prized and commended by the Association. In 1829 he visited
+Europe a second time to complete his studies in art reading for more
+than three years in the principal cities of the continent. During his
+absence abroad he was elected Professor of the literature of the Arts of
+Design in the University of New York; and in 1835 he delivered a course
+of lectures before that school on the affinity of those arts.
+
+While in college Mr. Morse had paid special attention to chemistry and
+natural philosophy; but his love of art seemed to be the stronger;
+later, however, these sciences became a dominant pursuit with him. As
+far back as 1826-'7, he and Prof. J. Freeman Dana had been colleague
+lecturers at the Athenaeum in the City of New York, the former lecturing
+on the fine arts, and the latter upon electro-magnetism. They were
+intimate friends, and in their conversation the subject of
+electro-magnetism was made familiar to the mind of Morse. The
+electro-magnet on Sturgeon's principle--the first ever shown in the
+United States--was exhibited and explained in Dana's lectures, and at a
+later date, by gift of Prof. Torrey, came into Morse's possession. Dana
+even then suggested, by his spiral volute coil, the electro-magnet of
+the present day; this was the magnet in use when Morse returned from
+Europe, and it is now used in every Morse telegraph throughout both
+hemispheres.
+
+On his second return to the United States he embarked from Havre on the
+packet ship Sully, in the autumn of 1832 and in a casual conversation
+with some of the passengers on the then recent discovery in France of
+the means of obtaining the electric spark from the magnet, showing the
+identity or relation of electricity and magnetism, Morse's mind
+conceived, not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an
+electro-magnetic and chemical recording telegraph; substantially and
+essentially as it now exists. The testimony to the paternity of the idea
+in Morse's mind, and to his acts and drawings on board the ship is
+ample. His own testimony was corroborated by all the passengers with a
+single exception, Thomas Jackson, who claimed to have originated the
+idea and imparted the same to Morse. However, there is little
+controversy in regard to this matter at the present day as the courts
+decided irrevocably in favor of Morse. The year 1832 is fixed as the
+date of Morse's conception and realization, also, so far as drawings
+could embody the conception of the telegraph system; which now bears his
+name. A part of the apparatus was constructed in New York before the
+close of the first year, but circumstances prevented its completion
+before 1835, when he put up a-half mile of wire in coil around a room
+and exhibited the telegraph in operation. Two years later he exhibited
+the operation of his system before the University of New York.
+
+From the greater publicity of this exhibition the date of Morse's
+invention has erroneously been fixed in the autumn of 1837, whereas he
+operated successfully with the first single instrument in November,
+1835. In 1837 he filed his caveat in the Patent Office in Washington,
+and asked Congress for aid to build an experimental line from that city
+to Baltimore. The House Committee on Commerce gave a favorable report,
+but the session closed without action, and Morse went to Europe in the
+hope of interesting foreign governments in his invention. The result was
+a refusal to grant him letters patent in England, and the obtaining of a
+useless _brevet d'invention_ in France, and no exclusive privileges in
+any other country. He returned home to struggle again with scanty means
+for four years, during which he continued his appeals at Washington. His
+hope had expired on the last evening of the session of 1842-3; but in
+the morning, March 4th, he was startled with the announcement that the
+desired aid of Congress had been obtained in the midnight hour of the
+expiring session, and $30,000 placed at his disposal for his
+experimental essay between Washington and Baltimore. In 1844 the work
+was completed, and demonstrated to the world the practicability and the
+utility of the Morse system of electro-magnetic telegraphing. Violations
+of his patents and assumption of his rights by rival companies involved
+him in a long series of law suits; but these were eventually decided in
+his favor, and he reaped the benefits to which his invention entitled
+him.
+
+It is doubtful if any American ever before received so many marks of
+distinction. In 1846 Yale College conferred on him the degree of LL.D.;
+in 1848 he received the decoration of the _Nishan Iftikur_ in diamonds
+from the Sultan of Turkey; gold medals of scientific merit were awarded
+him by the king of Prussia; the king of Wurtemberg, and the Emperor of
+Austria. In 1856 he received from the Emperor of the French the cross of
+Chevalier of the Legion of Honor; in 1857 from the King of Denmark the
+cross of Knight Commander of the First Class of the Danebrog; in 1858
+from the Queen of Spain the cross of Knight Commander of the Order of
+Isabella the Catholic; from the king of Italy the cross of the Order of
+SS. Maurice and Lazarus, and from the king of Portugal the cross of the
+Order of the Tower and Sword. In 1856 the telegraph companies of Great
+Britain gave him a banquet in London; and in Paris, in 1858, another
+banquet was given him by Americans numbering more than 100, and
+representing almost every State in the Union. In the latter year, at the
+instance of Napoleon III, representatives of France, Russia, Sweden,
+Belgium, Holland, Austria, Sardinia, Tuscany, the Holy See, and Turkey
+met in Paris to decide upon a collective testimonial to him, and the
+result was a vote of 400,000 francs as a personal reward for his labors.
+On December 29th, 1868, the citizens of New York gave him a public
+dinner. In June, 1871, a bronze statue of him, erected by the voluntary
+contributions of telegraph employes, was formally unveiled in Central
+Park, New York, by William Cullen Bryant, and in the evening a reception
+was held in the Academy of Music, at which Prof. Morse telegraphed, by
+means of one of the instruments used on the original line between New
+York and Washington, a message of greeting to all the cities of the
+continent.
+
+The last public service which he performed was the unveiling of the
+statue of Franklin in Printing House Square, New York, on January 17th,
+1872. Submarine telegraphy also originated with Prof. Morse, who laid
+the first sub-marine lines, in New York harbor in 1842, and received at
+the time from the American Institute a gold medal. He died in the city
+of New York April 2nd, 1872. While in Paris in 1839 he made the
+acquaintance of Daguerre, and from drawings furnished him by the
+latter, he constructed, on his return, the first daguerreotype
+apparatus, and took the first sun pictures ever taken in America. He was
+also an author and poet of some standing.
+
+
+
+
+CYRUS W. FIELD.
+
+
+There are few people living who have not heard of Cyrus W. Field. Few
+people, however, have taken the trouble to learn more of him other than
+the fact that to him are we indebted for the Atlantic Cable, and THIS
+information has been forced upon them.
+
+One often hears the old saying, "blood tells," and when we review the
+Field family we are constrained to admit its truth. David Dudly Field,
+Sr., the father, was a noted Divine. He had a family of seven sons, the
+oldest of which, David Dudly, Jr., is a most conspicuous lawyer. Stephen
+Johnson, has held some of the most exalted positions as a jurist within
+the gift of the nation and his adopted State, California. Henry Martyn,
+is a renowned editor and Doctor of Divinity. Matthew D. is an expert
+engineer, and in this capacity did much to aid the success of the cable
+which has made famous for all time the subject of this narrative.
+Matthew is also a somewhat noted and successful politician. Another
+brother, Timothy, entered the navy, and we doubt not would have become
+equally distinguished but for his untimely death. Cyrus West, was born
+at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, November 30th, 1819. Unlike the
+Appletons, Harpers and numerous other noted families, the Fields seemed
+to discard the idea "in union is there strength," each selecting his own
+calling, to become individually singled out and honored.
+
+As heretofore shown, almost the entire Field family have made history,
+but upon Cyrus does the world bestow the greatest distinction. He was
+the only brother choosing a mercantile life, and at the age of fifteen,
+nearly sixteen, he was apprenticed to the great A. T. Stewart. After his
+apprenticeship he returned to Massachusetts and started a small
+paper-mill, and still later came to New York again, this time to open a
+paper warehouse, but for some reason failed. One feature of the great
+success which has attended Mr. Field was his stick-to-it-iveness which
+enabled him to 'fight it out on that line if it took all summer.' He
+accordingly compromised the matter with his creditors, re-established
+the business, profited by his past mistakes, and in the course of eleven
+or twelve years had amassed an ample fortune. Accordingly, about 1853,
+he decided to retire, and spent six months traveling in South America,
+not, however, until he had enclosed a check to each of his old
+creditors, thereby discharging a moral obligation, although not legally
+bound.
+
+In the meantime, a Mr. Gibson had enlisted the sympathy of his brother
+Matthew, the engineer, in a transatlantic telegraph company, which was
+to be carried on by a co-operation of the telegraph, and a system of
+fast ocean steamers. Although adverse to all thought of resuming _any_
+business this brother obtained for Mr. Gibson an audience, and he
+presented to Mr. Field his scheme which involved a telegraphic
+communication between New York and St. John; hence, by fast ocean
+steamers, Mr. Gibson left without gaining his object, but upon
+reflection Mr. Field suddenly exclaimed: "Why not run a wire through the
+ocean itself, instead of ending it at St. John?" Although it is claimed
+that Field had never heard of such an idea, yet it did not originate
+with him. In fact, a cable was then in operation between Dover and
+Calais, connecting England and France. Having become imbued with this
+plan he at once consulted his brother David as to what legal obstacles
+might possibly arise, and being satisfied on that score, he set about
+the accomplishment of his purpose.
+
+He saw Peter Cooper and several other moneyed men and solicited their
+aid, forming a company, with Peter Cooper as president. Matthew was now
+interested as chief engineer, and David as counsel. These will be
+remembered as two of the famous brothers. The burden of the work,
+however, fell upon our hero. He seemed to be everywhere. First in
+Newfoundland, where he bought the rights of a rival company then before
+the Provincial Government, where his influence secured the consent of
+the legislature of Newfoundland. Then he is over in England, where he is
+successful in not only securing the necessary rights and privileges to
+occupy British territory, but the special favor of the Queen and the
+capital stock of about $1,680,000, which it was hoped could be placed in
+England, was taken in a few weeks, and not only this but the British
+government agreed to pay an annual subsidy of about $68,000, for the use
+of the cable by that government and ships, not only for surveying but to
+help lay the cable.
+
+Mr. Field now ordered the cable made, and again set sail for America,
+and is soon at the national capitol trying to enlist the sympathy and
+aid of our country. The lobby and other influences seemed to be against
+him, and he met with the cold shoulder at every turn, but nothing
+dismayed this man. At last the bill passed the Senate by the majority of
+but one vote, and in the Lower House by an absolutely small majority,
+but after a hard fight it became a fixed thing, and received the
+signature of President Buchanan.
+
+Reader, look back upon the trials of Cyrus Field as you have followed
+them thus far; imagine if you can the trouble, vexation and
+disappointments which have thus far attended him, and when you think
+that he had all this trouble to get PERMISSION to lay the cable, and
+that while he had already passed through much; yet his disappointments
+were destined to be tenfold greater ere success attended him; will you
+say he is undeserving of that success? The rights are secure; the stock
+taken; the cable is done and all seems fair sailing.
+
+The Agamemnon of the Royal Mary and the Niagara, furnished by the United
+States government, started with their precious burden. The paying out
+machine kept up its steady revolutions. Slowly, but surely, the cable
+slips over the side and into the briny deep. Many eminent men were
+eagerly watching with Mr. Field on the Niagara; a gradual solemnity took
+possession of the entire ship's company. Who would not be interested?
+Who would not feel the powerful pressure of responsibility, and when at
+last the too sudden application of a break parted the cable, and it
+wholly disappeared from view, the shock was too much for the stoutest
+nerves. All appeared to feel that a dear friend had just slipped the
+cable of life, and had gone to make his grave beneath the deep waters.
+
+But of all that sad company, Mr. Field is the least dismayed. He
+recognized that a most expensive and disastrous accident had happened;
+but the belief was firmly fixed in his mind that the plan was
+practicable. He was now offered the position of General Manager, at a
+salary of $5,000 per year. The position he accepted, but declined the
+salary.
+
+In 1858 the second attempt was begun, but when about two hundred miles
+had been laid, the cable parted, and the result of months of labor and
+large capital was remorsefully swallowed up by the mighty deep. But
+while all seemed ready to give up, Cyrus Field seemed to be everywhere.
+His activity seemed to exceed the bounds of human endurance. Many were
+the successive twenty-four hours in which he had no sleep, and his
+friends were alarmed lest he and the new enterprise should break
+together.
+
+By his assiduousness the work was recommenced this same year, and on the
+5th of August, 1858, was completed. Messages were exchanged between
+Queen Victoria and President Buchanan, and for about a month the cable
+worked perfectly, amid great rejoicing, when all at once it stopped; the
+cable refused to respond. Few thought the project would be prosecuted
+further, but they miscalculated the power of endurance, the possession
+of which has brought the success of that man whom they now envy,
+"because fortune has smiled upon him more especially than them."
+
+How often do we find ourselves wishing we were as rich as some person,
+or as influential as another; when we have but to follow their example,
+do as they have done, endure what they have endured to acquire the
+coveted success.
+
+If we would stop to consider that seventy-three per cent. of our great
+men were poor boys, we would readily see that those we now envy are only
+enjoying the fruit of their own toil.
+
+The civil war broke out and all work was suspended, but in 1863 a new
+cable was ordered of Gloss, Elliot & Company in London, and a capital of
+$3,000,000 was raised by the indomitable energy of Mr. Field. The Great
+Eastern was employed to lay it, and on the 23rd day of July, 1865, that
+leviathan of the deep, started on her momentous journey, successfully
+traversing about three-fourths of the entire distance, when the cable
+once more parted, carrying with it to the bottom of the ocean every fond
+hope cherished by so many. But once more arose Cyrus West Field, and an
+entirely new company is formed, and $3,000,000 more is raised. On
+Friday, July 13th, 1866, the Great Eastern once more starts, and on
+Friday, the 27th of July, the following cablegram is received.
+
+     "HEARTS CONTENT, July 27th.
+
+     "We arrived here at nine o'clock this morning. All well, thank God.
+     The Cable is laid, and is in perfect working order.
+
+     "Signed,
+     CYRUS W. FIELD."
+
+To make the victory more complete, the Great Eastern again put to sea,
+raised the cable which was lost the preceding year, spliced it, and the
+two have since been in constant use.
+
+Who dares deny that Cyrus W. Field is not deserving of enduring fame?
+For thirteen years he had borne the brunt of all the ridicule and sneers
+directed at this greatest enterprise of modern history. He has been
+bitterly denounced by many as a capitalist, a monopolist, and the like;
+but if the world has been benefited so many millions by the Ocean
+Telegraph, it seems to us that the BEST is inadequate as a reward to its
+proprietor.
+
+
+
+
+GEORGE M. PULLMAN.
+
+
+The subject of this sketch we consider one of the greatest of
+philanthropists. He is a modest man, and for this reason disclaimed all
+desire to be known as a benefactor. But we cannot now think of any one
+who is more clearly identified with the great effort which is going on
+for the benefit of mankind.
+
+He is a native of the grand old empire State, being born in the western
+part of New York, March 3rd, 1831. His father was a mechanic of some
+note, but died before George was of age, leaving him to help support his
+mother and younger brothers.
+
+He worked for a time in a furniture establishment, but this kind of
+employment did not satisfy his active nature, and he went to Chicago,
+where his enterprise could have sea room. He at first became identified
+with the work of raising and placing new foundations under several large
+buildings of that city. He helped raise a whole block several feet high,
+an enterprise which was accomplished without hardly a break,
+discontinuing none of the business firms who occupied the building,
+their business being carried on uninterrupted.
+
+George M. Pullman had a perceptive mind--so have all truly successful
+men. He perceived that while the railway coaches were far superior to
+the old stages, yet they were far inferior to what he imagined they
+ought to be. He at once applied to the Chicago and Alton railway
+management and laid his plan before them. They furnished him with two
+old coaches, with which to experiment. These he fitted up with bunks,
+and while they were not to be compared with the elegant palaces which he
+has since constructed, still one could lie down and sleep all night,
+which was so far in advance of anything the people had seen, that they
+were very highly appreciated.
+
+He now went to Colorado, and engaged in various mining schemes, but here
+he was out of his sphere, and after a three years' sojourn, returned to
+Chicago. His active imagination had thought out many improvements on the
+cars he had previously constructed; and he had also secured capital with
+which to carry out his ideas. Fitting up a shop on the Chicago and Alton
+road, he constructed two coaches, at the then fabulous cost of $18,000
+each. The management of the various western roads looked upon such
+enterprise as visionary. George M. Pullman, however, cared but little
+about their opinion.
+
+The Union and Pacific was then exciting much attention. He knew that on
+the completion of such a road, travelers would appreciate a car in which
+they could enjoy the comforts of home for the entire tedious trip. To
+say that his hopes were fully realized, would be inadequate. So popular
+did they become, that his shops at Chicago could not begin to fill the
+demands made upon it for his parlor, dining, and sleeping cars. Branches
+were started at Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and various places in
+Europe.
+
+These establishments, of necessity, could not come under his immediate
+supervision he, therefore, conceived the idea of concentrating his
+business into one vast establishment, and gathered about him a force of
+skilled workmen. He looked upon Chicago and its locality as the coming
+center of population in the United States; but a site in that city would
+be far too expensive, if indeed one could have been found sufficient for
+his purpose. About twelve to fifteen miles from Chicago was a swamp: it
+was considered worthless, but it was as easy for this natural mechanic
+to conceive the idea of draining this tract of land, as it was to
+conceive methods to raise buildings. A very large force of men were put
+to work draining; gas-pipes were laid; streets were laid out and graded,
+and an architect employed to draw the plans for the building of a whole
+city at once. Gigantic work-shops were built, and a water supply brought
+from Lake Michigan, miles away. Besides all this, over fourteen hundred
+beautiful homes were built before any man was asked to come to Pullman
+to enter the shops. A bank was opened, a library, containing thousands
+of volumes, was provided; all these things were brought about by Mr.
+Pullman. He has expended several million of dollars in beautifying and
+providing for the comfort and pleasure of his employes. The buildings
+are not mushroom affairs, but substantial brick edifices which give this
+place an appearance which will compare favorably with any city. He built
+a fine hotel, and erected a beautiful church, placing a rich toned organ
+in it, which alone cost $3,500. Every honest tradesman can come to
+Pullman. None but liquor dealers or men who desire to keep low
+groggeries are excluded. No property is sold, but if a party desires to
+live there he applies to the Superintendent, and a lease is given, which
+can be cancelled by either party at ten days' notice. Nothing but liquor
+is forbidden. A man can squander his time, can gamble, possibly, but he
+cannot obtain drink; the result is, there are no policemen. No visible
+form of government, save Mr. Pullman, and yet this is a city of nearly
+eight thousand people. The people are not muddled with drink; they are
+promptly paid; their 'personal' rights are not interfered with, save in
+respect to the selling of liquor; they are contented and happy. Mr.
+Pullman has been largely identified with the Metropolitan Railway and
+the Eagleton Wire Works in New York city. But the name of Pullman is
+destined to long remain a synonym of philanthropy. He has practically
+demonstrated the benefit of legislation against the sale of intoxicating
+liquors as a beverage. He claims to have done this as a business policy,
+and disclaims all honor as a philanthropist. We answer, would that we
+had more men who would follow this kind of a business policy.
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS A. EDISON.
+
+
+On February 11th, 1845, was born at Milan, Ohio, Thomas A. Edison, now a
+little over 42 years of age, and to-day enjoying a reputation as an
+inventor that is without a parallel in history.
+
+At eight or nine years of age he began to earn his own living, selling
+papers. When twelve years old his enterprise, pushed by ambition,
+secured him a position as newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railroad. Here his
+inventive genius manifested itself. Arranging with station agents along
+the line, he caused the headings of news to be telegraphed ahead, the
+agents posting the same in some conspicuous place. By this means the
+profits of his business were greatly augmented. He next fitted up a
+small printing press in one corner of a car, and when not busy in his
+regular work as newsboy, successfully published a small paper. The
+subject-matter was contributed by employes on the road, and young Edison
+was the proprietor, editor, publisher and selling agent. He also carried
+on electrical experiments in one corner of the car.
+
+Finally, he entered one of the offices on the road, and here he learned
+the art of telegraphy. The next few years he was engaged as an operator
+in several of the largest cities throughout the Union, such as
+Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Boston, New York, Memphis, and
+Port Huron. He not only became one of the most expert operators in the
+country, but his office was a labratory for electrical experiment. All
+day long he attended to the duties of his office, and at night one would
+find him busy at experiments tending toward the development of the use
+of the telegraph.
+
+Hard work and frequent wanderings at last found him developing his ideas
+in Boston. He brought out duplex telegraphy and suggested a printing
+telegraph for the use of gold and stock quotations. His ability becoming
+so apparent he was retained by wealthy men in New York at a high salary.
+In 1876 he removed to Menlo Park, New Jersey, where he fitted up an
+extensive labratory for the prosecution and development of his
+enterprise.
+
+Here he has won his world-wide fame, keeping two continents in a fevered
+state of expectancy. Indeed, some of his inventions have been so
+wonderful that he might be accredited with supernatural powers. By
+improvement he brought the telephone of Gray, Bell, etc., from a mere
+toy to an instrument of great commercial worth. Ten years ago hardly a
+telephone was in use; now the business of our country would hardly know
+how to do without it. Of all modern inventions connected with the
+transmission of electrical sound the telephone has excited, perhaps, the
+most interest. An instrument which not only transmits intelligible
+signals great distances, but also the tones of the voice, so that the
+voice shall be as certainly recognized when heard hundreds of miles away
+as if the owner was speaking in the same room. No great skill is
+required of the operator, and if a business man desires to speak with
+another person he has but to step to an instrument in his own office,
+ring a bell, and thus, through a central office, connect himself with
+the instrument of the desired party, when a conversation can take place.
+
+In its mechanism the telephone consists of a steel cylindrical magnet,
+perhaps five inches long and one-half of an inch thick, encircled at one
+end by a short bobbin of ebonite, on which is wound a quantity of fine
+insulated copper wire. The two ends of the coil are soldered to thicker
+pieces of copper wire which traverse the wooden envelop from end to end,
+and terminate in the screws of its extremity. Immediately in front is a
+thin circular plate of iron; this is kept in place by being jammed
+between the main portion of the wooden case and the cap, which carries
+the mouth or ear trumpet, which are screwed together. Such is the
+instrument invented by Bell and Edison.
+
+The means to produce light by electricity next occupied his attention,
+and the Edison-Electric Light was the result. The electric current for
+this light is generated by means of large magneto-electric machines,
+which are driven by some motive power. It is the only light known to
+science which can be compared to the rays of the sun. Especially is this
+light useful in lighthouses, on board ships and for lighting streets in
+cities. It is, however, used in factories, work-shops, large halls,
+etc., and in the very near future will doubtless become a light in
+private dwellings.
+
+But, possibly, the most wonderful invention which has been the result of
+the inventive conception of Mr. Edison is the phonograph, a simple
+apparatus consisting in its original mechanism of a simple cylinder of
+hollow brass, mounted upon a shaft, at one end of which is a crank for
+turning it, and at the other a balance-wheel, the whole being supported
+by two iron uprights. There is a mouth-piece, as in the telephone, which
+has a vibrating membrane similar to the drum of a person's ear. To the
+other side of this membrane there is a light metal point or stylus,
+which touches the tin-foil which is placed around the cylinder. The
+operator turns the crank, at the same time talking into the mouth-piece;
+the membrane vibrates under the impulses of the voice, and the stylus
+marks the tin-foil in a manner to correspond with the vibrations of the
+membrane. When the speaking is finished the machine is set back to where
+it started on the tin-foil, and by once more turning the crank precisely
+the same vibrations are repeated by the machines. These vibrations
+effect the air, and this again the ear, and the listener hears the same
+words come forth that were talked into the instrument. The tin-foil can
+be removed, and, if uninjured, the sounds can be reproduced at any
+future date.
+
+Different languages can be reproduced at once, and the instrument can be
+made to talk and sing at once without confusion. Indeed, so wonderful is
+this piece of mechanism, that one must see it to be convinced. Even the
+tone of voice is retained; and it will sneeze, whistle, echo, cough,
+sing, etc., etc.
+
+Improvements are in progress, notably among which is an apparatus to
+impel it by clock work instead of a crank. The phonograph as yet has
+never come into extended use, but its utility is obvious when its
+mechanism is complete; business men can use it for dictating purposes,
+as it is possible to put forty thousand words on a tin-foil sheet ten
+inches square.
+
+The invention of any one of the foregoing must have made for Mr. Edison
+a world-wide fame, but when it is remembered that he has already taken
+out over two hundred patents, one realizes something of the fertility of
+his imagination. Many other inventions are worthy of note, which have
+originated at the Menlo Park labratory, but space forbids, although it
+is safe to predict that more startling inventions may yet be in store
+for an expectant world.
+
+[Illustration: ANXIOUS THOUGHTS.]
+
+[Illustration: WHY SOME SUCCEED While Others Fail.]
+
+
+
+
+WHY SOME SUCCEED While Others Fail.
+
+
+
+
+SUCCESS AND FAILURE.
+
+
+Young man, two ways are open before you in life. One points to
+degradation and want, the other, to usefulness and wealth. In the old
+Grecian races one only, by any possible means, could gain the prize, but
+in the momentous race of human life there is no limiting of the prize to
+one. No one is debarred from competing; all may succeed, provided the
+right methods are followed. Life is not a lottery. Its prizes are not
+distributed by chance.
+
+There can hardly be a greater folly, not to say presumption, than that
+of so many young men and women who, on setting out in life, conclude
+that it is no use to mark out for themselves a course, and then set
+themselves with strenuous effort to attain some worthy end; who
+conclude, therefore, to commit themselves blindly to the current of
+circumstances. Is it anything surprising that those who aim at nothing,
+accomplish nothing in life? No better result could reasonably be
+expected. Twenty clerks in a store; twenty apprentices in a ship-yard;
+twenty young men in a city or village--all want to get on in the world;
+most of them expect to succeed. One of the clerks will become a partner,
+and make a fortune; one of the young men will find his calling and
+succeed. But what of the other nineteen? They will fail; and miserably
+fail, some of them. They expect to succeed, but they aim at nothing;
+content to live for the day only, consequently, little effort is put
+forth, and they reap a reward accordingly.
+
+Luck! There is no luck about it. The thing is almost as certain as the
+"rule of three." The young man who will distance his competitors is he
+who will master his business; who lives within his income, saving his
+spare money; who preserves his reputation; who devotes his leisure hours
+to the acquisition of knowledge; and who cultivates a pleasing manner,
+thus gaining friends. We hear a great deal about luck. If a man succeeds
+finely in business, he is said to have "good luck." He may have labored
+for years with this one object in view, bending every energy to attain
+it. He may have denied himself many things, and his seemingly sudden
+success may be the result of years of hard work, but the world looks in
+and says: "He is lucky." Another man plunges into some hot-house scheme
+and loses: "He is unlucky." Another man's nose is perpetually on the
+grind-stone; he also has "bad luck." No matter if he follows inclination
+rather than judgment, if he fails, as he might know he would did he but
+exercise one-half the judgment he does possess, yet he is never willing
+to ascribe the failure to himself--he invariably ascribes it to bad
+luck, or blames some one else.
+
+Luck! There is no such factor in the race for success. Rufus Choate once
+said, "There is little in the theory of luck which will bring man
+success; but work, guided by thought, will remove mountains or tunnel
+them." Carlyle said, "Man know thy work, then do it." How often do we
+see the sign: "Gentlemen WILL not; OTHERS MUST NOT loaf in this room."
+True, gentlemen never loaf, but labor. Fire-flies shine only in motion.
+It is only the active who will be singled out to hold responsible
+positions. The fact that their ability is manifest is no sign that they
+are lucky.
+
+Thiers, of France, was once complimented thus: "It is marvelous, Mr.
+President, how you deliver long improvised speeches about which you have
+not had time to reflect." His reply was: "You are not paying me a
+compliment; it is criminal in a statesman to improvise speeches on
+public affairs. Those speeches I have been fifty years preparing."
+Daniel Webster's notable reply to Hayne was the result of years of study
+on the problem of State Rights. Professor Mowry once told the following
+story: "A few years ago a young man went into a cotton factory and spent
+a year in the card room. He then devoted another year to learning how to
+spin; still another how to weave. He boarded with a weaver, and was
+often asking questions. Of course he picked up all kinds of knowledge.
+He was educating himself in a good school, and was destined to graduate
+high in his class. He became superintendent of a small mill at $1,500 a
+year. One of the large mills in Fall River was running behind hand.
+Instead of making money the corporation was losing. They needed a
+first-class man to manage the mill, and applied to a gentleman in Boston
+well acquainted with the leading men engaged in the manufacture of
+cotton. He told them he knew of a young man who would suit them, but
+they would have to pay him a large salary.
+
+"What salary will he require?" "I cannot tell, but I think you will have
+to pay him $6,000 a year." "That is a large sum; we have never paid so
+much." "No, probably not, and you have never had a competent man. The
+condition of your mill and the story you have told me to-day show the
+result. I do not think he would go for less, but I will advise him to
+accept if you offer him that salary." The salary was offered, the man
+accepted, and he saved nearly forty per cent. of the cost of making the
+goods the first year. Soon he had a call from one of the largest
+corporations in New England, at a salary of $10,000 per year. He had
+been with this company but one year when he was offered another place at
+$15,000 per year. Now some will say: "Well, he was lucky, this gentleman
+was a friend who helped him to a fat place."
+
+My dear reader, with such we have little patience. It is evident that
+this young man was determined to succeed from the first. He mastered his
+business, taking time and going thorough. When once the business was
+mastered his light began to shine. Possibly the gentleman helped him to
+a higher salary than he might have accepted, but it is also evident that
+his ability was manifest. The gentleman knew whereof he spoke. The old
+proverb that "Circumstances make men" is simply a wolf in wool. Whether
+a man is conditioned high or low; in the city or on the farm: "If he
+will; he will." "They can who think they can." "Wishes fail but wills
+prevail." "Labor is luck." It is better to make our descendants proud of
+us than to be proud of our ancestry. There is hardly a conceivable
+obstacle to success that some of our successful men have not overcome:
+"What man has done, man can do." "Strong men have wills; weak ones,
+wishes."
+
+In the contest, wills prevail. Some writers would make men sticks
+carried whither the tide takes them. We have seen that biography vetoes
+this theory. Will makes circumstances instead of being ruled by them.
+Alexander Stephens, with a dwarf's body, did a giant's work. With a
+broken scythe in the race he over-matched those with fine
+mowing-machines. Will-power, directed by a mind that was often
+replenished, accomplished the desired result.
+
+Any one can drift. It takes pluck to stem an unfavorable current. A man
+fails and lays it to circumstances. The fact too frequently is that he
+swallowed luxuries beyond his means. A gentleman asked a child who made
+him. The answer was: "God made me so long--measuring the length of a
+baby--and I growed the rest." The mistake of the little deist in leaving
+out the God of his growth illustrates a conviction: We are what we make
+ourselves.
+
+Garfield once said: "If the power to do hard work is not talent it is
+the best possible substitute for it." Things don't turn up in this world
+until some one turns them up. A POUND of pluck is worth a TON of luck.
+Luck is a false light; you may follow it to ruin, but never to success.
+If a man has ability which is reinforced by energy, the fact is
+manifest, and he will not lack opportunities. The fortunes of mankind
+depend so much upon themselves, that it is entirely legitimate to
+enquire by what means each may make or mar his own happiness; may
+achieve success or bring upon himself the sufferings of failure.
+
+
+
+
+CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT.
+
+
+The man who has no occupation, is in a sad plight: The man who lacks
+concentration of effort is worse off. In a recent test of the power of
+steel plates, designed for ship armor, one thousand cannon were fired at
+once against it, but without avail. A large cannon was then brought out.
+This cannon used but one-tenth as much powder as did the combined force
+of the others, yet, it was found, when the smoke had cleared away, that
+the ball had pierced the plate. Ten times the powder needed availed
+naught, because, the law of concentration was disregarded.
+
+One of the essential requisites to success is concentration. Every young
+man, therefore, should early ascertain his strong faculties, and
+discern, if possible, his especial fitness for any calling which he may
+choose. A man may have the most dazzling talents, but if his energies
+are scattered he will accomplish nothing. Emerson says: "A man is like a
+bit of Labrador spar, which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand,
+until you come to a particular angle; then it shows deep and beautiful
+colors." There is no adaptation or universal applicability in man.
+Dryden has said:
+
+                  "What the child admired,
+    The youth endeavored, and the man acquired."
+
+Is it not so? Do we not find Michael Angelo neglecting school to copy
+drawings? Henry Clay learning pieces to recite in the barn or corn
+field? Yet, as Goethe says: "We should guard against a talent which we
+cannot hope to practice in perfection. Improve it as we may, we shall
+always, in the end, when the merit of the master has become apparent to
+us, painfully lament the loss of time and strength devoted to such
+botching."
+
+The man who would know one thing well, must have the courage to be
+ignorant of a thousand other things, no matter how attractive they may
+be, or how desirable it may seem to try them. P. T. Barnum, the veteran
+showman, who has lost several fortunes but risen above all, paid every
+dollar of his indebtedness, and is to-day a millionaire, says in his
+lecture on 'The Art of Money Getting':
+
+"Be a whole man in whatever you undertake. This wholeness is just what
+distinguishes the shabby, blundering mechanic from the splendid workman.
+In earlier times, when our country was new, there might have been a
+chance for the man who gave only one corner of his brain to his chosen
+calling, but in these days of keen competition it demands the most
+thorough knowledge of the business, and the most earnest application to
+bring success. Stick to your business, and you may be sure that your
+business will stick to you. It is this directing your whole mind and
+energies at one point, that brings success."
+
+"The first thing a young man should do after selecting his vocation is to
+become thoroughly satisfied with his choice. He must be thoroughly
+satisfied or he is defeated at the start. In arriving at this decision
+he must bear in mind that if he would find a calling in which all will
+be sunshine, where the clouds never darken the pathway, he must look in
+some other world for that calling. On earth there are no such callings
+to be found."
+
+"When we see Spurgeon, the great London preacher, swaying the
+multitudes, we possibly do not remember the time when, as a poor boy of
+but eighteen, he begins preaching on the street corners to a shabby
+crowd. We would possibly be willing to partake of the fame that he may
+now enjoy, but might object to the pastoral visiting he is obliged to do
+each week. We would not object to the fame of Webster, of Calhoun or of
+Clay, but we might think it tedious to work night after night to obtain
+the knowledge which brought this fame. Ah! how many of us would 'peter'
+out in a short time? When one is satisfied with his calling he must work
+at it, if need be, day and night, early and late, in season and out of
+season, never deferring for a single hour that which can NOW be done.
+The old proverb, 'What is worth doing at all is worth doing well,' was
+never truer than it is to-day."
+
+A certain class are clamoring for a division of the national wealth.
+They are like the worthless vagabond who said to the rich man, "I have
+discovered that there is money enough in the world for all of us if it
+was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all be happy
+together." "But," replied the rich man, "if everybody was like you it
+would be spent in two months, and what would we then do?" "Oh! divide
+again; keep dividing, of course!" And yet a very considerable number of
+people think this is the solution of the labor problem. The point is, we
+must distinguish the dividing line between the rights of property and
+the wrongs of oppression. Either extreme is fatal. Education is surely
+the solution of the labor question.
+
+Listen: Our country is the freest, the grandest, the best governed of
+any nation on earth; yet we spend yearly nine hundred million dollars
+for drink, and only eighty-five million for education. Thus, while one
+dollar tends to education and wealth, over ten dollars is used to bring
+ignorance, degradation, and want. Over ten times the influence for evil
+that there is for good. Where is the remedy? Let Congress, which is
+supposed to control our interests, legislate against ignorance and for
+education. Suppose that nine hundred millions were yearly used to
+educate deserving young men and women in colleges; inaugurated into a
+"fresh-air fund" for the children in our large cities who have never
+been under its ennobling influence, but who, on the contrary, have never
+seen aught but vice and degradation. Nine hundred millions in one year.
+Nine thousand millions in ten years. How many thousands of young men
+could go through college if aided each, $100 per year. If it were wholly
+devoted to this purpose nine million young people could be helped
+through college in four years--in ten years there would be eighteen or
+twenty million college graduates from this source alone, what would be
+the result.
+
+Suppose again that the money was devoted to building tenement houses
+that would be fit for human beings to live in, look at the wonderful
+good that could be done. I am not desirous of giving here a dry
+temperance lecture; but the object of this work is to aid others to
+success, and if vice and drink were removed there would be but little
+need for further advice. Ah! there lies the root of the evil. Strike the
+root, pull it up and trample it under foot until it is dead. Never allow
+it to take root again, and you can reasonably expect to be at least
+fairly successful.
+
+This chapter is on "Concentration of Effort". Possibly some will imagine
+that we have wandered; not at all, as we see it. The abolition of these
+vices tends toward concentration; bad habits, of no matter what nature
+lead to failure and tend to draw the attention from one's calling. Then
+let the young man who would succeed join his heart, his sympathies, his
+desires, with the right; let him live a consistent life; let him lead a
+strictly temperate life; let him give his whole influence to temperance,
+resting assured that if he puts his purposes into action that he will
+succeed in more ways than one.
+
+
+
+
+SELF-RELIANCE.
+
+
+Of all the elements of success, none is more essential than
+self-reliance,--determination to be one's own helper, and not to look to
+others for support. God never intended that strong independent beings
+should be reared by clinging to others, like the ivy to the oak, for
+support.
+
+"God helps those who help themselves," and how true we find this quaint
+old saying to be. Every youth should feel that his future happiness in
+life must necessarily depend upon himself; the exercise of his own
+energies, rather than the patronage of others. A man is in a great
+degree the arbiter of his own fortune. We are born with powers and
+faculties capable of almost anything, but it is the exercise of these
+powers and faculties that gives us ability and skill in anything. The
+greatest curse that can befall a young man is to lean, while his
+character is forming, upon others for support.
+
+James A. Garfield, himself one of the greatest examples of the
+possibilities in our glorious Republic, once said:--
+
+"The man who dares not follow his own independent judgment, but runs
+perpetually to others for advice, becomes at last a moral weakling, and
+an intellectual dwarf. Such a man has not self within him, but goes as a
+supplicant to others, and entreats, one after another, to lend them
+theirs. He is, in fact, a mere element of a human being, and is carried
+about the world an insignificant cipher, unless he by chance fastens
+himself to some other floating elements, with which he may form a
+species of corporation resembling a man." The best capital with which a
+young man can start in life, nine times out of ten, is robust health,
+good morals, fair ability and an iron will, strengthened by a
+disposition to work at some honest vocation.
+
+We have seen in the preceding pages that a vast majority of our great
+men started life with these qualifications and none other. The greatest
+heroes in battle, the greatest orators, ancient or modern, were sons of
+obscure parents. The greatest fortunes ever accumulated on earth were
+the fruit of great exertion. From Croesus down to Astor the story is the
+same. The oak that stands alone to contend with the tempest's blast only
+takes deeper root and stands the firmer for ensuing conflicts; while the
+forest tree, when the woodman's axe has spoiled its surroundings, sways
+and bends and trembles, and perchance is uprooted: so is it with man.
+Those who are trained to self-reliance are ready to go out and contend
+in the sternest battles of life; while those who have always leaned for
+support upon those around them are never prepared to breast the storms
+of life that arise.
+
+How many young men falter and faint for what they imagine is necessary
+capital for a start. A few thousands or even hundreds, in his purse, he
+fancies to be about the only thing needful to secure his fortune. How
+absurd is this; let the young man know now, that he is unworthy of
+success so long as he harbors such ideas. No man can gain true success,
+no matter how situated, unless he depends upon no one but himself;
+remember that. Does not history bear us out in this? We remember the
+adage, "Few boys who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth ever
+achieve greatness." By this we would not argue that wealth is
+necessarily derogatory to the success of youth; to the contrary, we
+believe it can be a great help in certain cases and conditions; but we
+have long since discarded the idea that early wealth is a pre-eminent
+factor in success; if we should give our unbiased opinion, we should say
+that, to a vast majority of cases, it is a pre-eminent factor of
+failure. Give a youth wealth, and you only too often destroy all
+self-reliance which he may possess.
+
+Let that young man rejoice, rather, whom God hath given health and a
+faculty to exercise his faculties. The best kind of success is not that
+which comes by accident, for as it came by chance it will go by chance.
+The wisest charity, in a vast majority of cases, is helping people to
+help themselves. Necessity is very often the motive power which sets in
+motion the sluggish energies. We thus readily see that poverty can be an
+absolute blessing to youth. A man's true position in the world is that
+which he himself attains.
+
+How detestable to us is the Briton's reverence of pedigree. Americans
+reverence achievement, and yet we are tending towards the opposite.
+Witness society, as it bows with smile and honor to the eight-dollar
+clerk, while frowning on the eighteen dollar laborer. This is wrong;
+work is work, and all work is honorable. It is not only wrong, but
+disgraceful. It is better to make our ancestry proud of us than to be
+proud of our ancestors. He is a man for what he does, not for what his
+father or his friends have done. If they have given him a position, the
+greater is his shame for sinking beneath that position. The person who
+is above labor or despises the laborer, is himself one of the most
+despicable creatures on God's earth. He not only displays a dull
+intelligence of those nobler inspirations with which God has endowed us,
+but he even shows a lack of plain common sense.
+
+The noblest thing in this world is work. Wise labor brings order out of
+chaos; it builds cities; it distinguishes barbarism from civilization;
+it brings success. No man has a right to a fortune; he has no right to
+expect success, unless he is willing to work for it. A brother of the
+great orator, Edmund Burke, after listening to one of those eloquent
+appeals in Parliament, being noticed as employed in deep thought, was
+asked of whom he was musing. He replied: "I have been wondering how Ned
+contrived to monopolize all the talent in the family; but I remember
+that all through childhood, while we were at play, he was at study."
+
+Ah! that's it. The education, moral or intellectual, must be chiefly his
+own work. Education is education, no matter how obtained. We do not wish
+to be understood as depreciating the usefulness of colleges; not at all.
+But a mere college diploma will avail a young man but little. As before
+stated, education, no matter how obtained, is equally valuable. Study
+like that of Webster and Greeley, by New Hampshire pine knots, and that
+of Thurlow Weed before the sap-house fire, is just as valuable, when
+once obtained, as if it had the sanction of some college president.
+
+The world will only ask, "What can he do?" and will not care a fig for
+any college certificate. The point is; if a young man be not endowed by
+self-reliance and a firm determination, colleges will avail him nothing;
+but if he have these, colleges will push him wonderfully. Nevertheless,
+colleges are not essential to success--an educated idiot will never make
+a statesman. It is said that when John C. Calhoun was attending Yale
+College he was ridiculed for his intense application to his studies. He
+replied, "Why, sir, I am forced to make the most of my time, that I may
+acquit myself creditably when in Congress." A laugh followed which
+roused his Southern blood, and he exclaimed: "Do you doubt it? I assure
+you that if I was not convinced of my ability to reach the National
+Capitol as a representative within three years from my graduation, I
+would leave college this very day." While there are some things in this
+speech that were possibly unbecoming; yet the principle of
+self-reliance, this faith in himself, this high aim in life, was
+undoubtedly the marked characteristic which brought to Calhoun his
+splendid success.
+
+No young man will ever succeed who will not cultivate a thinking mind.
+If he is not original in aims and purposes he will not succeed. Witness
+the attempt of others to continue the business of Stewart. They had not
+only his experience, but the benefit of his great wealth; he succeeded
+without either--they failed with both; he was obliged to establish a
+business--they had the benefit of his great patronage.
+
+It has been said that a lawyer cannot be a merchant. Why? While a lawyer
+he thinks for himself: When a merchant he allows others to think for
+him. A certain great manufacturer made "kid" gloves his specialty, and
+so well did he succeed that to-day his trade mark imports to
+manufactured ratskins a value incommunicable by any other talisman. It
+is a poor kind of enterprise which thus depends upon the judgment of
+others. What can be more absurd than for a man to hope to rank as a
+thundering Jupiter when he borrows all his thunder. Remember that the
+world only crowns him as truly great who has won for himself that
+greatness.
+
+
+
+
+ECONOMY OF TIME.
+
+    "Full many a gem, of purest ray serene,
+    The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
+    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
+    And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
+
+
+How many young men for whom nature has done so much, "blush unseen," and
+waste their ability. Franklin said, "Dost thou love life? Then do not
+squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." We have seen how
+Franklin used his time. Born the son of a soap-boiler, lived to become
+one of our most noted philosophers, died worth thousands. Advice from
+such men carries conviction, for we cannot but feel that our chances
+are fully equal to what theirs were.
+
+Gladstone, England's most noted Premier, once said, "Believe me when I
+tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after-life with usury,
+but the waste of it will make you dwindle away until you fairly sink out
+of existence, unknown, unmourned." Thurlow Weed was so poor in boyhood
+that he was of necessity glad to use pieces of carpet to cover his all
+but freezing feet; thus shod he walked two miles to borrow a history of
+the French revolution, which he mastered stretched prone before the
+sap-fire, while watching the kettles of sap transformed to maple sugar.
+Thus was it that he laid the foundation of his education, which in after
+years enabled him to sway such mighty power at Albany; known as the
+"king maker."
+
+Elihu Burritt, a child of poverty, the son of a poor farmer, the
+youngest of ten children. He was apprenticed at eighteen to a
+blacksmith. He wanted to become a scholar and bought some Greek and
+Latin works, carrying them in his pocket and studying as he worked at
+the anvil. From these he went to Spanish, Italian and French. He always
+had his book near him and improved every spare moment. He studied seven
+languages in one single year. Then he taught school one year, but his
+health failing, he went into the grocery business. Soon what money he
+had was swept away by losses.
+
+Here we see him at twenty-seven, life seemingly a failure. Alas! how
+many would have given up. He left New Britain, his native town, walked
+to Boston, and from there to Worcester, where he once more engaged
+himself at his trade. His failure in business turns his attention once
+more to study. He now is convinced as to the proper course to pursue,
+his aim is fixed, and he now sets himself strenuously about the
+accomplishment of his purpose. At thirty years of age he is master of
+every language of Europe, and is turning his attention to those of Asia,
+such as Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic. He is offered by a wealthy gentleman a
+course in Harvard University, but prefers to work with his hands while
+he studies.
+
+He now begins to lecture, and everybody is eager to hear the learned
+blacksmith. After a very successful tour he returns to the anvil. After
+this he visits Europe, becomes the warm friend of John Bright and other
+eminent men; writes books, lectures, edits newspapers, builds a church
+and holds meetings himself. He said: "It is not genius that wins, but
+hard work and a pure life." He chose the best associates only, believing
+that a boy's companions have much to do with his success in life. At
+sixty-eight he died, honored by two hemispheres.
+
+If our readers want further proof as to the result of improving spare
+moments, let them study the lives of such men as Douglass, Lincoln,
+Grant, Garfield, Blaine, Cleveland, and others too numerous to mention,
+and they will find that they were reared in the lower walks of life, but
+by using every available minute they have been enabled to rise to
+influence and usefulness. By this means they have worked the very odds
+and ends of time, into results of the greatest value. An hour every day,
+for ten years, will transform any one of ordinary ability from ignorance
+to learning.
+
+Think of it. One hour could be easily improved each evening, counting
+three hundred week days to a year; in ten years you have spent three
+thousand golden hours. If directed toward some specific end, think what
+it would accomplish. Then there are the Sundays devoted to religious
+knowledge. One of the first things to be learned by him who would
+succeed, is ECONOMY OF TIME. Lost wealth can be replaced by industry;
+lost health by hygiene; but lost time is gone forever.
+
+The most frequent excuse one hears is: "I have no time." They cheat
+themselves with the delusion that they would like to do this or that,
+but cannot as they have no leisure. Dear reader, did you ever think that
+the more a person has to do, the more they feel they can do? Look at the
+men in our own community who have done the most for mankind; are they
+the wealthy, whose only duty seems to be to kill time? No. Almost
+universally they are the over-worked class who seem already burdened
+with cares. These are the men who find time to preside at public
+meetings, and to serve on committees.
+
+It is easier for an over-worked man to do a little more than for a lazy
+one to get up steam. A light stroke will keep a hoop in motion, but it
+takes a smart blow to start it. The busy man succeeds: While others are
+yawning and stretching, getting their eyes open, he will see the
+opportunity and improve it. Complain not that you have no leisure.
+Rather be thankful that you are not cursed with it. Yes, curse it is
+nine times out of ten. Think of the young man going to some vile place
+of amusement to kill time, then think of that young man utilizing that
+hour every night in the acquisition of knowledge which will fit him for
+life's journey. Think also of the money he will save. Leisure is too
+often like a two-edged sword; it cuts both ways.
+
+
+
+
+CAUSES OF FAILURE.
+
+
+Horace Greeley has truly said: "If any man fancies that there is some
+easier way of gaining a dollar than by squarely earning it he has lost
+the clew to his way through this mortal labyrinth, and must henceforth
+wander as chance may dictate." Look about you; how many there are who
+are determined to share all the good things of this world without
+exchanging an equivalent. They go into business, but are not content to
+wait patiently, adding one dollar to another, and thus rendering to
+mankind an equivalent for this wealth for which they are asking. This
+excessive haste to become rich is one of the most frequent causes of
+failure. When a young man has decided to work with a will, and to
+accumulate every dollar he legitimately can he has made a long stride
+toward success. We do not deprecate a desire to be some one in the
+world, but we do most emphatically frown upon the desire to get wealth
+by speculation or illicit means. We most earnestly advise all young men
+to choose a calling, become thoroughly master of that calling, then
+pursue that vocation to success, avoiding all outside operations.
+Another man who has dealt in stocks all his life may be able to succeed,
+but your business is to stick to your vocation until, if necessary, you
+fairly wring success from it.
+
+Moses Taylor was a successful merchant, he had long deposited with the
+City Bank, and was finally made its president. The late Commodore
+Vanderbilt often tried to induce him to enter into his grand
+speculations, but of no avail. At last the crash of '57 came. The
+bankers called a meeting to discuss the situation. One bank after
+another reported drafts of from sixty to even ninety per cent. of their
+specie. When Mr. Taylor was called he replied: "The City Bank contained
+this morning $400,000; to-night we had $480,000." This was the kind of a
+bank president such principles made him.
+
+Hardly anything is more fatal to success than a desire to become
+suddenly rich. A business man now counts his wealth by the thousands,
+but he sees a grand chance to speculate. This is a little risky, of
+course, but then the old adage: "Never venture, never have." I admit I
+may lose, but then all men are subject to loss in any business, but I am
+reasonably sure of gaining an immense amount. Why! what would folks
+think? I would be a millionaire. I would do so and so. Thus he indulges
+in this sort of reasoning, goes into a business of which he knows
+nothing and loses all. Why wouldn't he? Men who have made a study of
+that business for years, and who have amassed a fortune in it, are daily
+becoming bankrupt. What an idiot a man makes of himself when he leaves a
+calling in which he has been eminently successful to embark in a calling
+which is, at best, uncertain, and of which he knows nothing. Once for
+all, let me admonish you: If you would succeed never enter outside
+operations, especially if they be of a speculative nature. Select a
+calling, and if you stick to your calling, your calling will stick to
+you.
+
+Frequent changes of business is another cause of failure, but we have
+treated this subject quite thoroughly elsewhere in this work. Therefore
+it seems to us that to add more here would be superfluous. True it is
+that some men have succeeded who have seemingly drifted about. Dr. Adam
+Clark has said: "The old adage about too many irons in the fire conveys
+an abominable lie. Keep them all agoing--poker, tongs and all." But Dr.
+Clark seems to forget that the most of the people who try to follow his
+advice, either burn their fingers or find their irons cooling faster
+than they can use them. We cannot all be Clarks if we try, and to follow
+this method the most of us will fail; but we can, by following one line
+of procedure, at last bring success.
+
+Extravagance of living is another prolific cause of bankruptcy. A man
+imagines that by hiring a horse and driving in the park he will show
+people that he is as good as the neighbor who drives his own horse. He
+deludes himself with the idea that this sort of extravagance will, in
+the eyes of his fellow-men, place him on an equal footing with
+millionaires.
+
+Dr. Franklin has truly said: "It is not our own eyes, but other
+people's, that ruin us." It has been said that the merchant who could
+live on five hundred a year, fifty years ago, now requires five
+thousand. In living, avoid a "penny wise and pound foolish" custom. A
+man may think he knows all about economy and yet be ignorant of its
+first principles. For instance, a business man may save every imaginable
+piece of writing paper, using all the dirty envelopes that come in his
+way. This he does instead of using a neat letter head and clean paper,
+at a slight additional cost, and vast gain in the influence which such a
+letter carries over the other. Some years ago a man stopped at a farm
+house over night. After tea he much desired to read, but found it
+impossible from the insufficient light of one candle. Seeing his
+dilemma, the hostess said: "It is rather difficult to read here
+evenings; the proverb says, 'You must have a ship at sea in order to be
+able to burn two candles at once.'" She would as soon have thought of
+throwing a five dollar bill into the fire as of setting the example of
+burning two candles at once. This woman saved, perhaps, five or six
+dollars a year, but the information she thus denied her children would,
+of course, out-weigh a ton of candles. But this is not the worst of it.
+
+The business man, by such costly stinginess, consoles himself that he is
+saving. As he has saved a few dollars in letter paper, he feels
+justified in expending ten times that amount for some extravagance. The
+man thinks he is a saving man. The woman is a saving woman, she knows
+she is a saving woman. She has saved five or six dollars this year in
+candles, and so feels justified in buying some needless finery, which
+could gratify nothing but the eye. She is sure she understands economy,
+yet she starves the mind to clothe the body in finery. She is something
+like the man who could not afford to buy more than a penny herring for
+his dinner, yet hired a coach and four to take it home. Saving by retail
+and wasting by wholesale. Nowadays we use kerosene and thus our light is
+both good and cheap, but the principle remains.
+
+Wear the old clothes until you can pay for more; never wear clothes for
+which you owe anyone. Live on plainer food if need be. Greeley said: "If
+I had but fifty cents a week to live on, I'd buy a peck of corn and
+parch it before I'd owe any man a dollar." The young man who follows
+this principle will never be obliged to live on parched corn. How few
+people keep an itemized account of their expenses. Spendthrifts never
+like to keep accounts. Buy a book; post in it every night your daily
+expenditures in the columns; one headed "Necessaries," the other
+"Luxuries," and you will find that the latter column will be at least
+double the former. Indeed, in some cases it will exceed it ten times
+over.
+
+It is not the purchase of the necessaries of life that ruin people, but
+the most foolish expenditures which we imagine necessary to our comfort.
+Necessary to our comfort; Ah! what a mistake is that, as many a man will
+testify who is perpetually dunned by uneasy creditors. It is the
+sheerest kind of nonsense, this living on credit. It is wicked. Yet a
+gentleman recently told the writer that he personally knew a clergyman
+who had been preaching for years on a salary exceeding seven hundred
+dollars per year, and of late on twelve hundred per year; yet, this man
+of the gospel to-day owes his college debts. A man loaned him money to
+go through school, and he has never been "able" to repay that money,
+although he has practiced the most "rigid economy."
+
+Stuff! this man knows nothing of the first principles of economy. In my
+opinion, there are many clergymen who will have to answer for the sin of
+extravigance: There are many more who will have to answer for the sin of
+slothfulness. The Bible says: "Six days shalt thou labor and do _all_
+thy work." Ah! there is a part of the commandments too often skipped
+flippantly over. Many a clergyman would be horrified if asked to do any
+labor on the seventh day; but would be equally horrified if accused of
+sinning by attending to a foreign business, thereby neglecting to do
+_all_ his labor during the six other days.
+
+God gives us ample time to do our work, and it is a sin to leave any of
+it undone. God expects a man to choose some calling, and He also expects
+that man to master that calling, and He expects him to do his utmost to
+excel in that calling. No clergyman can spend four days out of a week in
+some foreign work, and in the two remaining days thoroughly prepare
+himself for the Sabbath work. For two reasons: One is, he disregards the
+law of concentration, divides his mind and thoughts; hence, loses force
+and influence. The other, that God does not approve of other than our
+best effort.
+
+This preacher will occupy one hour in preaching a twenty-five minute
+discourse, and then complain because people are not interested in his
+sermons. We do not justify Sabbath-breaking, nor a lack of religious
+interest, but the preacher who is unwilling to take any responsibility
+upon himself for such a state of things is lacking somewhere. We speak
+of the clergyman simply as illustrative of our idea in this matter. The
+same rule applies to the lawyer, physician, or merchant--the mechanic,
+artist or laborer. If I was a day laborer building a stone wall I'd
+study my work and push it so vigorously that I would soon be, if not the
+best, at least one of the best workmen anywhere to be found. Strive to
+be an authority. Wasted opportunity; there is the root of thousands of
+failures.
+
+A recent paper states that nine-tenths of our young lawyers fail from
+lack of study. Here is a thought for the clergyman who thinks he should
+have a better place. Of course there are circumstances to be considered,
+but the man of determination bends circumstances to his will. A man
+imagines himself capable of filling a higher place than he does. He
+imagines himself a Webster, a Lincoln, a Garfield, a Spurgeon--'but
+vainly waits for circumstances to favor his deserved promotion. Look at
+Spurgeon; was he picked up bodily and placed in the pulpit he now
+stands upon? No, but he was full of the Holy Ghost, and without thought
+of what he deserved began preaching in the street. Was Talmage placed in
+the Tabernacle because he was of real inferiority to other preachers.
+No; but he was original, he borrowed from no one, he did his best, he
+fits the notch in which he is placed. Did people get down on their knees
+to Beecher, begging him to occupy Plymouth church? They recognized the
+necessity of concentration; and, although you see them in other fields,
+at times, still it was not until they had mastered their first
+undertaking. Elihu Burritt mastered over forty different languages by
+taking one at a time.
+
+The writer, in early youth, learned a lesson which has ever been of
+inestimable benefit to him. The next lessons would begin Fractions,
+something we never had taken. We began to glance through that part of
+the book, and soon became thoroughly convinced that we should never be
+able to master their intricacies, at once becoming despondent. Coming
+home at night, he spoke of his discouragement, when his father set to
+work explaining the first principles. Thus, step by step, the stubborn
+principles were mastered, and to-day, if there is any part of Arithmetic
+in which he excels it is in Fractions.
+
+"Never cross bridges until you come to them." A man should plan ahead,
+but he should be hopeful--not confident--should never borrow trouble,
+and must avoid all extremes. Another cause of failure is: The habit of
+endorsing without security. No one should ever endorse any man's paper
+without security or an equivalent. I hold that no man has a right to ask
+you to endorse his paper unless he can either endorse for you or give
+good security. Of course there are cases where a brother, who is young
+and cannot give security, can be helped into business; but his habits
+must be his security, and his duty is to have made his previous life a
+guarantee of his ability to safely conduct the business. But even in
+such cases a man's first duty is to his family, and he should never
+endorse, even a brother's paper, to a greater amount than he feels that
+he could reasonably lose.
+
+A man may be doing a thriving manufacturing business--another man comes
+to him and says: "You are aware that I am worth $20,000, and don't owe a
+dollar; my money is all locked up at present in my business, which you
+are also aware is to-day in a flourishing condition. Now, if I had
+$5,000 to-day I could purchase a lot of goods and double my money in a
+few months. Will you endorse my note for that amount?" You reflect that
+he is worth $20,000, and, therefore, you incur no risk by endorsing his
+note. Of course, he is a neighbor; you want to accommodate him, and you
+give him your name without taking the precaution of being secured.
+Shortly after he shows you the note, cancelled, and tells you, probably
+truly, that he made the profit expected by the operation. You reflect
+that you have done him a favor, and the thought makes you feel good.
+
+You do not reflect, possibly, that he might have failed for every dollar
+that he was worth, and you would have lost $5,000. You possibly forget
+that you have risked $5,000 without even the prospect of one cent in
+return. This is the worst kind of hazard. But let us see--by and by the
+same favor is again asked, and you again comply; you have fixed the
+impression in your mind that it is perfectly safe to endorse his notes
+without security. This man is getting money too easily. All he has to
+do is take the note to the bank, and as either you or he are considered
+good for it, he gets his cash. He gets the money, for the time being,
+without an effort. Now mark the result: He sees a chance for speculation
+outside of his business--a temporary investment of only $10,000 is
+required. It is sure to come back even before the note is due. He places
+the amount before you and you sign in a mechanical way.
+
+Being firmly convinced that your friend is perfectly responsible, you
+endorse his notes as a matter of course. But the speculation does not
+develop as soon as was expected. However, "it is all right; all that is
+needed is another $10,000 note to take up the former one at the bank."
+Before this comes due the speculation turns out a dead loss. This friend
+does not tell you that he has lost one-half his fortune--he does not
+even tell you that he has speculated at all. But he is now thoroughly
+excited, he sees men all around making money--we seldom hear of the
+losers--"he looks for his money where he lost it." He gets you to
+endorse other notes at different times upon different pretenses until
+suddenly you are aware that your friend has lost all his fortune and all
+of yours. But you do not reflect that you have ruined him as well as he
+has ruined you.
+
+All this could have been avoided by your GENTLEMANLY but BUSINESS-LIKE
+BEARING on the start. If you had said: "You are my neighbor, and of
+course, if my name will be of use to you at the bank, you can have it.
+All I ask is security. I do not at all distrust you, or your plan, but I
+always give security when I ask such a favor and I presume that you do."
+If you had simply asked security he could not have gone beyond his
+tether, and, possibly, very likely would not have speculated at all.
+What the world demands is thinking men. Let justice rule in all business
+transactions. How many men would not waste another man's property, but
+would waste that which belongs to his family! Ah! we want more men who
+will recognize family demands for justice, as well as other people's
+demands--men who have the brains to comprehend that it is possible to
+cheat their own family as well as their neighbor.
+
+Another frequent cause of failure is a neglect of one's business. There
+are many causes for this. One thing is certain, a man will attend to his
+business in proportion to the amount of interest he has in that
+business. This applies to all vocations, either in the professions,
+business, or manual labor. If we see a man playing checkers day after
+day in some corner-store, although the game itself may be no harm, still
+it is wrong for that man to waste valuable time.
+
+Then there are pool and billiards. How many young men have been ruined
+for life, and possibly eternally damned, just by beginning a downward
+course at the billiard room. There is a peculiar fascination in the game
+of pool or billiards which cannot be described. Of course it is only a
+game for the cigars--yes, that's it; one habit leads to another. The
+young man who smokes goes in and in one evening's fun, "wins" fifteen or
+twenty cigars. He argues that he has got smoking material for two or
+three days or a week for nothing, but listen: He plays pool for ten
+cents a game. If he beats, his opponent pays; if his opponent beats, he
+pays. Each game is distinct by itself, and has no bearing on any
+previous game. Now, if you play and win two out of three games right
+straight along, you are steadily losing.
+
+Every game you lose is ten cents gone that you can not possibly win
+back. If you play twenty-five games, (and it won't take long for good
+players to do that in an evening), and you win two out of three, you
+will then be out at least eighty cents. If you win twenty-four out of
+the twenty-five, you would be out ten cents. Don't you see that the
+percentage is against the player. You never heard of a man making
+anything playing pool or billiards unless he was in the business. You
+have personally seen many young men working by the day who admit that
+they have spent from $100 to $1,000 during the three to five years they
+had played. Now, why is it some succeed while others fail?
+
+There is one thing that nothing living ever naturally liked except a
+vile worm, and that is tobacco; yet, how many people there are who
+cultivate this unnatural habit. They are well aware that its use does
+harm. It is a harder job to learn it than to learn to like castor oil,
+yet they will persist in it until they learn to long for it. Young lads
+regret that they are not men; they would like to go to bed boys and wake
+up men. Little Charlie and Harry see their fathers or uncles smoke, if
+not, then they see somebody's father or uncle puffing along the street,
+"taking comfort," and they think that is one of the essentials of being
+a man. So they get a pipe and fill it with tobacco, and as the parents,
+instead of persisting until they gain their affections, slowly teaching
+them to detest wrong, fly to pieces and say, "I will whip you if I see
+you doing that again." So little Charlie and Harry get out behind the
+barn and light up. By and by Charlie says, "Do you like it, Harry"? And
+that lad dolefully replies, "Not very much; it tastes bitter." Presently
+he turns pale and soon offers up a sacrifice on the altar of fashion.
+But the boys stick to it, and at last conquer even their appetites,
+learning to prefer their quid to the most delicious peach.
+
+I speak from personal knowledge, for I have seen the time that I never
+felt prouder than when behind a five or ten cent cigar or meerschaum.
+But that time is passed with me, and I never see a poor clerk going
+along the street puffing a cigar which he must know he can ill-afford to
+buy, but I think of what a man once said in speaking of a cigar: "It is
+a roll of tobacco with fire on one end and a fool on the other." One
+cigar excites the desire for another, hence the habit grows on a person.
+These remarks apply with ten fold force to the use of intoxicants. No
+matter how bountifully a man is blessed with intelligence, if the brain
+is muddled, and his judgment warped by intoxicating drinks, it will
+simply be impossible for him to succeed, to his utmost bounds, at least.
+
+Orators for years have told you of the degradation and want that the
+"social glass" brings us to. Stories innumerable have been told of
+husbands leaving all they loved in this world to satisfy these unnatural
+desires. One habit indulged leads to another. We have seen how even the
+"innocent" habit of smoking may have an influence in deciding a young
+man to take the next step. Once in the billiard room it is not hard to
+see how the young can be led on to drink, first one thing, then another.
+We will say nothing of cards. Card-playing, gambling, is only the
+natural result of these other evils, that is, they tend that way, they
+go with it and it goes with them. Where one is found you will often find
+the other.
+
+The coroner can tell you more about the results of bad habits than I
+can. To those who to-day may be so unfortunate as to be under the
+fascination of any habit, let me say that you can overcome that habit,
+and learn to detest it, too. Young man, you desire to be rich and
+succeed, but you disregard the fundamental principles of success--hence
+fail. Why wouldn't you? You might as well expect to build a fine house
+without a foundation. You desire to gain wealth, yet you spend twenty
+cents every day on one extravagance or another, which, with interest,
+would amount to over $19,000 at the end of fifty years. There is food
+for thought for you. When you again wish to yourself that you were rich,
+and then take ten cents out of your pocket in the shape of a cigar, and
+proceed to burn it up, just let the thought pass through your mind,
+"What a fool I make of myself every day."
+
+A man recently told the writer that he spent one dollar every day in
+treating and smoking. He is an ice dealer in New York City, and has done
+a good business for thirty years. I cannot say how long he has been
+spending this dollar a day, but I do know that one dollar earned each
+day, with interest, will make a man worth over $475,000 within fifty
+years. There is enough wasted by the average person within twenty-five
+years to make any family well off. The pennies are wasted in the desire
+to get the dollars. The dollars are not half so essential to success as
+the pennies. The old saying: "Honesty is the best policy," is surely
+true in more ways than one. There is more ways than one to succeed in
+this world.
+
+A man may succeed in National honor, and yet have little of this world's
+goods. Many a Congressman, who has but little money, who sometimes feel
+the need of money, would not exchange places with a Rothschild. But it
+is not necessary to be either a Rothschild or a Webster, in order to
+succeed. It is a question in my mind, whether that man, who has lived
+wholly for self, is happy, even though he be rich as Croesus or as
+honored as Demosthenes.
+
+Therefore let us not entirely lose sight of the fundamental law of
+success.--"Do unto others as you would have them do to you." "Put
+yourself in his place." What is success? It is doing our level best. It
+is the making the most of our abilities. If we do not do this we both
+sin, and lose the goal of earthly happiness.
+
+                        "And is it too late?
+    No! for Time is a fiction, and limits not fate.
+    Thought alone is eternal. Time thralls it in vain.
+    For the thought that springs upward and yearns to regain
+    The pure source of spirit, there is no TOO LATE."
+
+
+
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