-NRLF 
 

PORTRAIT OF JAMES G. ELAINE, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE 
 FOR PRESIDENT. 
 
THE LIVES OF 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE 
 
 AND 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, 
 
 REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OF 
 
 1884. 
 
 AN AUTHORIZED, AUTHENTIC, AND COMPLETE HISTORY OF THEIR 
 PUBLIC CAREERS AND PRIVATE LIFE 
 
 FROM 
 
 BOYHOOD TO THE PRESENT DATE, 
 
 REPLETE WITH 
 
 INCIDENTS, ANECDOTES, GRAPHIC PEN-PICTUKES, AND THRILLING HISTORY. 
 
 CONTAINING ALSO 
 
 THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FROM ITS RISE 
 
 TO THE PRESENT TIME; THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
 
 STATES AND ITS FORMATION ; A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF THE 
 
 LIVES AND DEEDS OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS, FROM 
 
 WASHINGTON TO ARTHUR; TOGETHER WITH OTHER 
 
 IMPORTANT INFORMATION. 
 
 THE MOST VALUABLE COMPENDIUM OF POLITICAL HISTORY EVER PUBLISHED. 
 
 THOMAS W. KNOX, 
 
 Author of " Camp-Fire and Cotton-Field" " Overland through Asia" " Back- 
 sheesh," " Underground," etc., etc. 
 
 SUPERBLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 3IAGNIFICENT PORTRAITS AND PULL-PAGE ENGRAVING 
 
 BY T. W. WILLIAMS. 
 
 SOLD BY 
 
 EDWARD P. JUDD 
 760 CHAPEL ST., 
 
 NEW: iuy?r\ QONN, ; > > 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 1884, 
 
 BY THE HAKTFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 
 
TO 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 
 
 WHICH HAS 
 CONTROLLED THE DESTINIES OP A GREAT NATION 
 
 FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, 
 
 AND SAFELY GUIDED IT IN THE GREATEST ERA OF PROGRESS 
 THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS 
 
 PATRIOTICALLY INSCRIBED. 
 
 M188733 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 kindly reception accorded by Press and Public 
 JL to the Author s previous efforts in the making of 
 books, has led to the preparation of the present volume. 
 It was contemplated before the Chicago Convention had 
 placed the names of Elaine and Logan in nomination for 
 the suffrages of the Eepublican voters of the land, and 
 the preliminaries of the work were undertaken long 
 previous to the memorable sixth of June. A portion of 
 the material was already collected, and the balance has 
 been obtained since that date. It has been the Author s 
 aim to make a volume which should contain a complete 
 history of the lives of the two men who are now so 
 prominently before the public, together with other matter 
 bearing upon the great political questions of the day. 
 
 This being his object, he has sought his materials 
 among the opponents of Elaine and Logan as well as 
 among their supporters, and he hopes to be regarded as 
 an impartial historian. If it should be considered, 
 among his Democratic or Independent friends, that he 
 has regarded the subjects of these biographies with an 
 eye too kindly, he begs them to remember that his affil- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 iations have been with the party of liberty and progress 
 since the days of Fremont and Dayton, and that he is 
 an earnest believer in the principles set forth in the 
 Republican Platform of 1884. He believes in the thor 
 ough Republicanism and the equally thorough American 
 ism of Elaine and Logan, and thus believing, he natu 
 rally regards them through a glass less opaque than the 
 one commonly used by Democratic observers. 
 
 The Author s thanks are due to the many gentlemen 
 who have facilitated the collection of materials for the 
 biographies of the Republican candidates ; to his assist 
 ants who have aided in collating and transcribing -the 
 narratives of the public and personal events that make 
 up the lives of Elaine and Logan ; to his publishers for 
 the energy and zeal with which their share of the work 
 has been pushed ; and furthermore, and in advance, to 
 the many thousands of intelligent men throughout the 
 country, whom he fondly hopes to number among his 
 
 readers. 
 
 T. W. K. 
 
 NEW YORK, June, 1884. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 1. PORTRAIT OF JAMES G. ELAINE, REPUBLICAN CANDI 
 
 DATE FOR PRESIDENT, .... Frontispiece. 
 
 2. BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY HOME OF JAMES G. ELAINE, 
 
 AT BROWNSVILLE, PENN., . . . . .53 
 
 (From a recent photograph by A. M. Thompson, Brownsville.) 
 
 3. ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. JAMES G. 
 
 BLAINE AT THE SIDE OF THE WOUNDED PRESIDENT, 103 
 
 4. THE EXPOSITION BUILDING, CHICAGO, WHERE THE 
 
 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF 1884 WAS HELD, . 131 
 
 5. INTERIOR OF THE EXPOSITION BUILDING, CHICAGO. THE 
 
 REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IN SESSION, . . .165 
 
 6. STREET SCENE IN CHICAGO ON THE NIGHT AFTER THE 
 
 NOMINATIONS WERE MADE, . . . .185 
 
 7. JAMES G. BLAINE AND HIS FAMILY AT THEIR HOME 
 
 IN AUGUSTA, ME., WAITING FOR THE RESULT OF 
 THE BALLOT IN CHICAGO, 219 
 
 8. PORTRAIT OF HON. JOHN R. LYNCH BORN A SLAVE 
 
 TEMPORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN CON 
 VENTION OF 1884, ..... 219 
 
 9. PORTRAIT OF HON. JOHN B. HENDERSON, PERMANENT 
 
 CHAIRMAN OF THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION OF 
 1884, ... 219 
 
V1H LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 10. PORTRAIT OF GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN, REPUBLICAN CANDI 
 
 DATE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT, 243 
 
 11. GEN. LOGAN AT THE BATTLE OF BELMONT. His NAR 
 
 ROW ESCAPE. DEATH OF HIS HORSS BY A BURST 
 ING SHELL, 289 
 
 12. GEN. LOGAN DESPERATELY WOUNDED WHILE LEADING 
 
 THE ATTACK ON FORT DONELSON, .... 299 
 
 13. GEN. LOGAN AT THE BATTLE OF ATLANTA. SCENE OF 
 
 THE DEATH OF GEN. MCPHERSON, .... 323 
 
 14. THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON. HOME OF THE 
 
 PRESIDENT, 395 
 
 (From a photograph made by the U. S. Government.) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 REPUBLICAN PROGRESS. EVENTS LEADING TO THE 
 FORMATION OF A GREAT PARTY. 
 
 Growth of the Country in the Past Thirty Years. Slavery at the 
 Time of the Revolution. Toleration of the System. British Proc 
 lamations. Slavery Preserved by a Yankee Invention. Whitney s 
 Cotton-Gin. Potentiality of Individual Action. The Missouri 
 Compromise. The War With Mexico, and Its Results. Admission 
 of California. What the South Threatened. Features of the Com 
 promise of 1850. The Battle for Freedom in Kansas. Song of the 
 Emigrants. "Westward the Course of Empire." 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 Dissolution of the Whig Party. The "Know-Nothings" and 
 Their Principles. Origin of the Republican Party. The National 
 Conventions. Election of 1856. Abraham Lincoln. Dramatic 
 Incident at Bloomington. A Thrilling Event in Political Organiza 
 tion. Harmonizing Differences. Brooks and Sumner. The Dred 
 Scott Decision. The Charleston Convention. How the Democratic 
 Party was Sundered. The Election of Lincoln. The War and Its 
 Results. Recent History of the Party. The Nation s Progress 
 Under Republican Rule. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. HIS BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE. 
 
 History of the Elaine Family. A Hero of the Revolution. 
 Church and Cemetery in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Ephraim 
 L. Blaine, Father of the Republican Standard Bearer. Two Graves 
 in the Churchyard. The Gillespie Family. A Talk with Old Resi 
 dents of Brownsville. Birthplace of James G. Blaine. His Boy 
 hood and Early Life. An Interesting Story of His Childhood. The 
 Child Father to the Man. "There, take that." Getting the best of 
 his Enemy. Life on the Monongahela. An Old Tradition. His 
 Life in College. A Leader in Studies, Sports, and Pranks. Loved 
 by His Fellow Students. Graduated with High Honors. 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 BLAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 Going West. Professor in a Military School. Married to Miss 
 Stanwood. From Kentucky to Philadelphia. Teaching in the 
 Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind. The Principal s Reminis 
 cences. First Literary Work by James G. Blaine. Careful and 
 Methodical Arrangement. Moves to Augusta, Maine. Editor of the 
 Kennebec Journal. Editor of the Portland Advertiser. Forming 
 the Republican Party in Maine. In the State Legislature. Elected 
 to Congress. His Career There. His First Great Speech. The 
 War Debts of the States. Speech on the Finances. Speaker of 
 Three Congresses. His Skill as a Debater Acknowledged. 66 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 BLAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 Senator Morrill s Resignation. Blaine Appointed to Vacancy. 
 Afterward Elected to Unexpired and Full Terms. His Farewell 
 Address to His Constituents. Elaine s Action in the Senate on 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 Important Measures. Electoral Commission Bill. The Bland Silver 
 Bill. Speech on Finances. Effects of Inferior Standard Dollar. 
 A Dollar for the Chinese Colony and the Indian Pariah. Restora 
 tion of American Shipping. Speech Before New York Chamber 
 of Commerce. Efforts to Revive American Commerce. A Startling 
 Array of Figures. Conflicting Opinions The Carrying Trade 
 Gone to Other Countries. False Trademarks. The Business Stand 
 of the World. 80 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 Gefceral Garfield asks for an Interview with Mr. Elaine soon after 
 the Election of 1880. Offers of the Portfolio of Secretary of State. 
 His Great Surprise. His Hesitation and Acceptance. His Letter 
 to Garfield. His Great Friendship for Garfield. Elaine s Diplo 
 matic Career. Efforts for Peace in South America. Proposed Con 
 gress of American Nations. What it was Expected to Accomplish. 
 An Important and Impressive Step. Applying Christian Princi 
 ples to the Affairs of Nations. The Monroe Doctrine. The Pana 
 ma Canal. English Hostility to Elaine, and its Cause. 91 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 Assassination of President Garfield. Mr. Elaine s Narrow Escape. 
 His Devotion to the Wounded President. His Celebrated Eulogy 
 on Garfield. A Masterpiece of Eloquence. How it was Received. 
 A Distinguished Audience. Breathless Attention. Comparison 
 between 1865 and 1881. The Ancestors of Garfield. Cause of the 
 English and French Emigrations to America. Garfield s Boyhood. 
 A Life of Privation and Poverty. His Struggle for Education. 
 Youth and College Days. His Military Life and Record. Rare 
 Honors. His Career in Congress. Garfield s Place in History. His 
 Services as President. Religious Convictions. Closing Scenes of 
 an Honorable Life. 102 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER Till. 
 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTISTICS. 
 
 Personal Magnetism of Mr. Blaine. His Character Among His 
 Friends. His Powers as a Conversationalist. Reminded of Little 
 Stories. An Anecdote to the Point. " How Salt this Soup is! but 1 
 Like it." How he is Regarded at Home. Personal Friends Amor.^ 
 Democrats. Reminiscences of Hon. Robert E. Williams of Illinois. 
 Chums at College. Elaine s Ambition to be a Journalist. Meeting 
 after an Interval of Thirty Years. Elaine s Recognition of His Old 
 Friend." Bobby Williams." Story of an Introduction at a Recep 
 tion. How a Stranger was Impressed. Magnetism at the Chicago 
 Convention. Excitement among Delegates and Speculators A Cor 
 respondent s Interview. The White Dove at Chicamauga. Elaine s 
 Prank with the Haystack. 120 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 BLAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 
 
 Charges affecting the honesty and honor of Mr. Blaine. His 
 answer in Congress. Extract from his speech, delivered June 5, 
 1876. Renewal of the charges in 1880 and 1884. The New York 
 Evening Post. Letter of William Walter Phelps. An intimate friend 
 of Mr. Blaine. Land grant to the Little Rock & Fort Smith Rail 
 way. The charge in full. The answer thereto. How Mr. Blaine 
 obtained his interest in the Company. The transaction disastrous. 
 Pecuniary loss to Mr. Blaine. His letter to Fisher. Charges of 
 misrepresentation and untruth. The answer of Mr. Phelps. The 
 Mulligan letters The Union Pacific Railway. Other charges and 
 the reply. Mr. Elaine s private fortune. 137 
 
CONTEXTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 Determination to Write a Book. "Twenty Years in Congress." 
 From Lincoln to Garfield. General Appearance of the Volume. 
 Character of the Work. Its Literary Qualities. Events which 
 Followed the Revolution. Compromises in the Constitution regard 
 ing Slavery. Admission of Louisiana. Organization of the Aboli 
 tion Party. Men Prominent in the Work. Annexation of Texas. 
 The Mexican War. The Oregon Question. The Kansas-Nebraska 
 Struggle. Election of Lincoln. The War and its Events. Action 
 of Great Britain. A Reviewer s Opinion. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 Efforts of his friends in 1876. Eloquent speech of Col. Ingersoll. 
 The needs of the Republican party. The characteristics demanded 
 for its leader. "The Plumed Knight." The Convention of 1880. 
 Votes for the contending candidates. Garfield nominated on the 
 thirty-sixth ballot. Senator Frye presents the name of Elaine. The 
 Convention of 1884. Public interest in the proceedings. Judge 
 West of Ohio places Elaine before the Convention. An eloquent 
 address. Demands of the party to-day. The people s Representa 
 tive. The progress of the ballots. Elaine nominated on the fourth 
 ballot. The nomination made unanimous. 164 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. MR. ELAINE S OFFICIAL 
 NOTIFICATION. 
 
 The Platform of 1884. Much Discussed in the Committee. 
 Adopted without Opposition. A Stiff Plank on the Tariff. Declar- 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 ation of Principles. In Memory of Garficld. President Arthur 
 Commended. Duties of the Government to the People. Arraign 
 ing the Democracy. Pledges of the Pvepublicans. Importance of 
 Sheep-Husbandry. International Money Standards. International 
 and Inter-State Commerce. Regulation of Railways. National 
 Bureau of Labor. Eight-Hour Law. Civil Service Reform. 
 Opposition to Polygamy. Denunciation of Southern Outrages. 
 Official Notification of Mr. Elaine. Address of the Chairman of 
 the Committee. Mr. Elaine s Reply. The Group on the Lawn. 189 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 Thirty years a resident of Augusta. Description of the City. A 
 Delightful Situation. Both banks of the Kennebec. General As 
 pect of the Place. Its Principal Avenues. State Street and Capitol 
 Street. Position of Mr. Elaine s House. Description of the Build 
 ing. Additions made by Mr. Elaine since he Bought it. The 
 Grounds Around the Building. An Abundance of Shade Trees. The 
 Main Entrance to the House. Arrangement of the Rooms. The 
 Pictures and Furniture. The Billiard-Room and Library. When 
 Mr. Elaine performs his Work. His Habits and Daily Life. Read 
 ing Papers and Letters in Bed. Formalities of Breakfast. His 
 Hours of Work. Dinner in the Blaine Household. Supper, Recrea 
 tion, and Sleep. Methods of Work. How he Reads the Papers. 
 Opening and Answering Letters. How he Writes Important Papers. 
 Extent and Character of Mr. Elaine s Library. His Wonderful 
 Memory. His Taste in Art. Pedestrian Exercise. Mr. Blaine 
 Among Friends and Neighbors. Mrs. Blaine and her Accomplish 
 ments. The Younger Blaines. Mr. Elaine s House in Washington. 
 
 205 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MR. ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS OF THE 
 
 DAY. 
 
 Elaine on the Republican Party. Not Immaculate, but Never 
 Cowardly. His Views on the Chinese Immigration Question. 
 Speech in the Senate. Letter to Win. Lloyd Garrison. Opposed to 
 Competition of Cheap Labor. Debasing Influence of Chinese in 
 the Pacific Coast States. The Buzzi Case. " Once an American, 
 Always an American." Troops at the Polls. Postal Cards. The 
 Costello Case. Status of a Naturalized Citizen. Free Trade and 
 Protection. History of Free Trade in England. English Protection 
 of Shipping Interests. Early Trade Policy of the United States. 
 Effects of Free Trade and Protection Contrasted. Advantages of 
 Protection to the American ~\7orkingman. A Picture of the Future. 
 Civil Service Reform. Mr. Elaine s Views Concerning It, 226 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 The Illinois Delegation Firmly Resolved to Make Senator Logan 
 the Republican Candidate for the Presidency. The Enthusiasm in 
 the Convention for "The Greatest of the Civilian Generals of the 
 War." Senator Cullom s Nominating Speech. General Prentiss 
 Seconds the Nomination. Firm Support on Three Ballots, but 
 Logan s Strength Transferred to Elaine on the Fourth, by his Own 
 Orders. Nominated for Vice-President by Senator Plumb, and the 
 Nomination Numerously Seconded. Declared the Candidate by a 
 Unanimous Vote. 242 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 His Appearance as a Boy Conjectured from his Appearance as a 
 Man. No Indian Blood in his Veins. A Lady Correspondent s Por 
 trait of Him. His Parents, and His Early Home in Southern Illi- 
 
XVi CONTENTS. 
 
 nois. His Father an Irishman and His Mother a Tennesseean of 
 Scotch Descent. Professor Thomas, of the Smithsonian Institute, 
 Relates Incidents of Logan s Boyhood. He goes to Mill and Waits 
 for a Belt to be Made. His Notice to Squirrels. Logan s Education. 
 A College-Bred Man. Logan in the Mexican War. Still a Boy, 
 but an Officer. Logan as a Young Lawyer and Politician. His Nat 
 ural Eloquence. 260 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 How He Gained the Title of "Black Jack." Was He a Seces 
 sion Sympathizer at the Outset? His Own and the Record s Answer. 
 The Confession of Confederates Exonerates Him. The Story of 
 Bull Run, and Logan s glorious Beginning in the War for the Union. 
 Resigning to Raise a Regiment. Grant and Logan at Cairo, March 
 to their Illustrious Careers as Officers in the Greatest of Modern 
 Struggles. The Task of " Purging Missouri. " The Battle of Bel- 
 mont. Logan s Regiment Under Fire for the First Time. His 
 Horse Killed under Him, and His Pistol Shattered at His Side. 
 Praise for His Bravery. 271 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 He Returns to Cairo from Belmont and goes to Washington to 
 ask Comforts for his Men. He Helps Win the Decisive Victory at 
 Fort Henry, and Rout the Confederates in Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
 Missouri. The Army and the Country cry, "On to Donelson." 
 Grant Plans the Attack and Waits for Foote to Bring the Mortar- 
 Boats into the Cumberland from Cairo to Bombard the Fort. The 
 Confederates Attempt to Cut a Way out and Escape toward Nash 
 ville. Logan Prevents a Panic and is Carried Bleeding from the 
 Field. Grant Makes him a Brigadier-General. The Siege of Corinth. 
 An Interesting Report in Logan s Own Words. Sherman s Praise. 
 
 292 
 
CONTENTS. XV11 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 Logan Commander of Jackson. He goes North to Speak for the 
 Union, but Refuses to Leave the Army for a Seat in Congress. "I 
 Have Entered the Field to Die, if Need Be." Appointed Major- 
 General at the End of the Campaign. The Battle of Port Gibson. 
 "The Road to Vicksburg Open." Raymond and Champion Hills. 
 The Count of Paris Says Logan Secures the Federal Victory. " The 
 Gibralter of the South." Logan First to Enter Vicksburg. Military 
 Governor of the City. A Series of Brilliant Battles. The Death of 
 McPherson. The Fall of Atlanta. Logan on the Stump for Lincoln. 
 With Sherman in the Carolinas. The End of the War. 315 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 Logan s First Appearance in National Politics. In Congress at 
 the beginning of the War, he Resigns to Raise a Regiment. He Re 
 turns after the War with a Famous Majority. Logan and the An 
 drew Johnson Impeachment. Bitter Disappointment as a Manager 
 at the Verdict of Acquittal. Logan and the Fitz-John Porter Case. 
 The Peroration of His Memorable Speech of March 14, 1884. His 
 Sincerity Commands the Respect of those who Dissent from his 
 Views. One of the Busiest Men in Washington. Demands upon 
 Him from Every State in the Union. 326 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 The Scene in the Logan Home in Washington after the Chicago 
 Nomination. The Boarding -House in which the Logans have 
 spent Twelve Winters. "A Remarkable Wedded Pair." Mrs. 
 
XV111 CONTENTS. 
 
 Logan s Early History. Brought up a Baptist, she is Educated in 
 a Convent, but Marries as a Methodist. As a Girl she Aids her 
 Father, as she afterwards Aided her Husband. Mrs. Logan dur 
 ing the War. The Logan Children. Mrs. Logan s Ambition. 
 Not Rich, a House in Chicago and a Farm in Southern Illinois. 
 An Evening with Logan at Home. Mrs. Logan s Personal Appear 
 ance. 335 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 Logan s First Appearance in the Senate After the Nomination. 
 His Relations with Brother Senators. The Sentiments of Edmunds 
 and Other Senators Toward Him. The Secret of his Friendships. 
 General Grant s Estimate of Him. Logan and General Thomas. 
 His Social Instincts Illustrated by a Story. Logan and the Soldiers. 
 His Devotion to their Interests While in Congress. One of the 
 Founders of the Grand Army of the Republic. Logan s Admirers 
 in the South. Logan and his Constituents. Logan and Laboring 
 Men. His Tribute to Elaine. His Speech of Acceptance. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS 
 HISTORY. 
 
 Preliminaries to the Struggle for Independence. The Convention 
 of 1765. Articles of Confederation. The "Declaration of Rights" 
 and other Papers. The Continental Congress. Work of the Com 
 mittee of Five. The Beginning of the War. Minute-men. Wash 
 ington s Statesmanship. Formation of the Constitution. Opposi 
 tion to its Adoption. The Bulwark of the Republic. Text of the 
 Constitution. Views of the Statesmen Concerning it. Amendments 
 and Their History. How the Amendments were Ratified. 370 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND ADMIN 
 ISTRATION. 
 
 His Remarkable Modesty. Opposed to Slavery Although a Slave 
 holder. The Country Bordering on Anarchy. Quarrels Between 
 the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Not a Partisan Himself. His 
 Virtues Derived from His Mother. Mount Vernon an Inheritance 
 from His Brother. His Sense of Justice. Love of Truth and Per 
 sonal Honor. Farewell Address to His Army. His Admirably Bal 
 anced Character. Washington s Cabinet. His Retirement to Private 
 Life at Most Welcome. 394 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Not by any Means so Popular as His Predecessor. Elected by 
 Three Votes Only. The Country Beginning to be an In dependant 
 Nation. Commencing Life as a School Teacher. His Wife a Re 
 markable Woman. Adams a Vigorous Speaker and Pointed Writer 
 of Choleric Temper. Bitter Hostility Between Parties. Employed 
 on Delicate Missions. Extremely Active in Political Life. One of 
 the First to See a Final Rupture with the Mother Country Inevitable. 
 
 404 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 His Pride in the Authorship of the Declaration of Independence. 
 The First Genuine Democrat. His Radical Revision of the Laws 
 of Virginia. The Final Treaty of Peace. His Views Opposed to 
 Hamilton s. Genest s Extraordinary Conduct as French Minister. 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 Love of France and French Institutions. Jefferson and Aaron Burr 
 Receive the Same Number of Votes for President. Simplification of 
 Customs and Manners. His Dislike of Titles. His Personal Appear 
 ance and Delightful Companionship. 411 
 
 CHAPTER XXYII. 
 
 JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN QUINCY 
 ADAMS, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH PRESIDENTS OF 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Conciliatory Character of Madison s Administration. His Opin 
 ions on the Federal Government. His Charming Wife. Decline and 
 Death of Federalism. Monroe s Election Almost Unanimous. 
 His Gallant Service in the Field. Wounded at Trenton. The Era 
 of Good Feeling. Monroe s Views of Coercion. Bitter Disputes 
 with Great Britain Leading to the War of 1812. The Fifth Presi 
 dent s Successful Efforts to Restore the Public Credit. He Dies In 
 volved in Debt. Adams Early Advantages and Experiences. His 
 Honorable and Distinguished Career in the House. 420 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN BUREN, AND WM. 
 HENRY HARRISON, SEVENTH, EIGHTH, AND NINTH 
 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Jackson, the First Unmixed Democrat. His Election Regarded in 
 Virginia and Massachusetts with Surprise and Disgust. His Un 
 couth and Untaught Youth. His Chivalrous Delicacy Toward 
 Women. His Morbid Sensibility about his Wife s Reputation. His 
 Combats with Indians. Various Recounters and Duels. The Her 
 mitage. The Seminole War. Battle of New Orleans. His Deter 
 mination to Hang the Nullifiers. Honest, Single-minded, and Pat 
 riotic. Van Buren as Democrat and Free-soiler. His Contented Old 
 Age. Harrison as an Indian Fighter. The Log Cabin Campaign. 
 
 434 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 JOHN TYLER AND JAMES K. POLK, TENTH AND 
 ELEVENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Tyler the First Vice-President to Succeed the Chief Executive by 
 Death. A Representative of the Same Social Class as Jefferson,, 
 Madison, and Monroe. Education and Wealth Really Disadvan 
 tageous to Him. A Career of Continuous Vetoes. Making Himself 
 Extremely Unpopular. Forcing His Cabinet to Resign. The 
 Annexation of Texas a Favorite Scheme. A Member of the Peace 
 Convention in 1861. A Former Chief Magistrate in Open Rebellion 
 Against the Government. Polk and the Mexican War. A Common 
 place President. 448 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR, MILLARD FILLMORE, AND FRANK 
 LIN PIERCE, TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, AND FOUR 
 TEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Taylor purely a Military Man. His Reputation made in the Mexican 
 War. His Death in Four Months. His Disqualifications for Politi 
 cal Life. Fillmore s Early Success. His Foreshadowing of the 
 National Banking System. Approval of the Fugitive Slave Law. 
 The Irreparable Injury it did Him. A Candidate of the American 
 Party. Pierce a Northern Man with Extreme Southern Principles. 
 His constant Sympathy with and Sustainment of Slavery. His 
 Gallantry in the Field. Retirement to Private Life Equivalent to 
 Extinction. 453 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 An Unpopular Administration. James Buchanan s Early History. 
 Sent to Congress at Twenty-nine. The Weakest of Presidents. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 His Total Inadequacy for the Great Emergency in which He was 
 Placed. Shrewd for His Own Interest. An Admirer and Fol 
 lower of Jackson Without His Will or Courage. The Anti-Slav 
 ery Excitement in Kansas. The Cause of the Civil War Inherent 
 in the Constitution. The Nation on the Eve of a Conflict. 
 Admission by Buchanan of the Right of the Southern States to 
 Secede. A Pitiful Spectacle of Imbecility. General Relief at the 
 End of His Administration. 464 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Contrast Between Lincoln and Buchanan. His Lonely Boyhood 
 and Severe Youth. The Cause of his Detestation of Slavery. The 
 Campaign with Douglas in Illinois Introduces him to the Nation. 
 The Irresistible Magnetism of the Rail-Splitter. His Nomination at 
 Chicago. Deplorable Condition of the Country at the Time of his 
 Inauguration. His Resolve to Preserve the Union at all Hazards. 
 Distressing Effect of his Assassination. His Personal Appearance 
 and Power of Persuasion. How the Future will Regard the Great 
 President. 472 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON AND ULYSSES S. GRANT, SEVEN 
 TEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Johnson s Early Life and Hard Struggles. A Tailor who was more 
 than the Ninth Part of a Man. His Views of Slavery and Seces 
 sion. His Personal Courage and its Good Effects Politically. His 
 Disagreement with Congress about Reconstruction. The Impeach 
 ment Trial. Grant in the Mexican War. His Incompctency in 
 Business. Finding his Place in the Civil War. His Extraordinary 
 Success in the Field. Called to Command the Army of the Poto 
 mac. His Political Mistakes and Greed of Power. 480 
 
CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIY. 
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, AND 
 CHESTER A. ARTHUR, NINETEENTH, TWENTIETH^ 
 AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Hayes as Lawyer, Politician, and Soldier. Nominated because an 
 Ohioan. The Electoral Commission. Great Outcry Against him, 
 but Still a Creditable President. Garfield s Hard Fight with Fortune 
 at the Outset. Ambition to be a Canal-Boat Captain. His Career in 
 the Army. Leader of the House of Representatives. His Admir 
 able Equipment for Political Life. His Nomination at Chicago 
 Wholly Unexpected. The National Sorrow at his Assassination. 
 Arthur Born in a Log Cabin, and Ruling in the White House. 491 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 REPUBLICAN PROGRESS. EVENTS LEADING 
 TO THE FORMATION OF A GREAT PARTY. 
 
 Growth of the Country in the Past Thirty Years. Slavery at the 
 Time of the Revolution Toleration of the System. British Proc 
 lamations. Slavery Preserved by a Yankee Invention. Whitney s 
 Cotton-Gin. Potentiality of Individual Action. The Missouri 
 Compromise. The War With Mexico, and Its Results. Admission 
 of California. What the South Threatened. Features of the Com 
 promise of 1850. The Battle for Freedom in Kansas. Song of the 
 Emigrants. "Westward the Course of Empire." 
 
 The history of the Republican Party, since it came 
 into existence, is practically the history of the nation 
 for the last thirty years, Since that party was organized 
 we have seen our population increased to more than 
 double its former number ; we have seen the destruction 
 of African Slavery, with all its catalogue of evils ; we 
 have passed through a war which jeopardized the safety 
 of the Nation, but resulted in the establishment of the 
 Government on a firmer basis than it had ever known 
 before; and we have witnessed a degree of progress in, 
 3 (25) 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 the arts and industries of our national life, greater than 
 any similar period has ever experienced. 
 
 The railway and the telegraph have been extended 
 from end to end of the United States, and the resources 
 of the country developed with a rapidity undreamed of 
 in the days of Andrew Jackson and his compeers. 
 Manufacturing and agricultural industries have more 
 than doubled the nation s wealth, and given her a 
 foremost rank as the source from which the whole 
 civilized globe may be supplied ; our seaports have been 
 filled with shipping from all lands, and between our 
 Atlantic coast and the great harbors of Europe there are 
 fleets of steamers engaged in exchanging our products 
 for those of other lands. Our commerce extends to all 
 parts of the globe, and our influence among the nations 
 is increasing year by year. 
 
 At the time of the Revolution, which made us 
 independent of England and laid the foundation of the 
 Republic as we see it to-day, the slavery question was 
 not regarded as of great importance for the future. 
 The institution had , existed throughout the whole 
 country, but it had practically disappeared in some of 
 the Northern States and was destined to disappear 
 before many years in others. The framers of the 
 Constitution had little fear that the system would be, of 
 long duration, and some of the founders of the Republic 
 predicted that it would altogether cease to exist within 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 27 
 
 the next fifty years. There was then a population of 
 three millions ; about half a million were slaves, and 
 it was argued that where the institution numbered only 
 one-sixth of the inhabitants of the country there could 
 be no danger of its long continuance. 
 
 All the Colonies tolerated slavery, but the system was 
 mainly confined to the Southern states, where it gave 
 considerable trouble to the patriots engaged in the 
 struggle for liberty. British governors and generals 
 in the field issued proclamations offering freedom to the 
 slaves, and it was not long before the news reached the 
 black men on the plantations, and in every other place 
 where they existed. 
 
 Thousands of the negroes took advantage of these 
 proclamations and fled to the British camp, where they 
 were immediately set free and received the promised 
 protection. They became of great use to the British 
 commanders in showing the roads through the country, 
 and otherwise serving as guides and spies. There were 
 constant fears of an insurrection among the negroes on 
 the plantations, and the movements of the Continental 
 Armies in the Southern States were often hindered by 
 the necessity of providing against the possibility of such 
 disturbances. The New England States, with a popula 
 tion much smaller than that of Virginia, Georgia, and 
 the Carolinas, had twice as many men in the field, and 
 the history of the Revolution reveals very plainly the 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 fears of the slave-holders, and their helplessness in the 
 time of war. 
 
 But the predictions or hopes of some at least of the 
 framers of the Constitution were not realized. Not only 
 did slavery fail to die out but it increased in strength, 
 and whenever new territory was added to the country 
 the slave-holders claimed the right to go there with their 
 human property. It was a long and earnest struggle on 
 both sides, but there was not the same division or parties 
 that arose in later years. 
 
 The slave-trade was brought to an end in 1808, at 
 least in all its legal features, though several cargoes of 
 negroes were surreptitiously brought into the country 
 after that time. The suppression of the traffic was 
 thought by many to be the beginning of the end, and so 
 it might have been but for the invention of a Northern 
 school-teacher, one Eli Whitney. 
 
 What had the Northern school-teacher to do with it ? 
 
 The South could produce cotton in enormous quantities, 
 but the process of separating the lint from the seed was 
 one that required a great deal of labor. It was estimated 
 that a single person could only separate a pound of lint 
 from the seed in a single day ; therefore the process was 
 unprofitable, since cotton at the price thus necessitated 
 could not be sold in competition with wool. 
 
 Mr. Whitney was an inventive genius who went south 
 soon after he had graduated from college, and sought 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 29 
 
 employment in teaching school. Learning of the value 
 of cotton and the difficulty of its preparation, he set to 
 work to devise a machine that would take the place of 
 hand-labor. In a few weeks he completed it, and, in part 
 nership with another northern man, began the manufac 
 ture of the cotton-gin. 
 
 Great events often turn upon the acts of individuals ! 
 
 An English writer has said that the feet of a pretty 
 peasant girl, twinkling in a brook, attracted the attention 
 of a Norman Duke, and made her the mother of William 
 The Conquerer. Had she not thus fascinated the founder 
 of a line of kings there would have been no invasion of 
 England, no defeat at Hastings, no union of Saxon and 
 Norman, no United Kingdom, no British Empire. 
 
 Perhaps, if Eli Whitney had not spent the winter of 
 1792 in the house of Mrs. Greene of Georgia, there would 
 have been no cotton-gin, no increase in the value of the 
 cotton product, no enormous demand for slave-labor, no 
 Missouri Compromise, no aggressions of the slave-power, 
 no Republican party, and no civil war for the destruction 
 or the preservation of the Union. 
 
 The invention of Whitney made valuable millions of 
 acres that had been lying waste, and increased the price 
 of slaves more than tenfold in the localities where their 
 labor could be made most useful in the cotton field. The 
 whole South was enriched by the invention, and where 
 there had been only a few thousand bales of cotton made 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 every year before the cotton-gin came into use, there were 
 many thousand bales annually turned out in the early 
 part of the century. It was estimated that in 1793 there 
 were about five thousand bales of cotton made in the 
 then United States, while in 1859, the year before the 
 war, the product was more than five millions of bales, 
 being three-fourths in weight and seven-eighths in value 
 of all the cotton produced in the whole world. 
 
 See what the brain of a single man could accomplish ! 
 
 Following the invention of the cotton-gin came the 
 desire to extend the system of slavery wherever the land 
 was favorable to the cultivation of cotton. The Louis 
 iana purchase, and the addition of its territory to our own, 
 gave the opportunity for the formation of new Slave 
 States, and naturally roused the hostility of those who 
 desired the end of the system of forced labor. 
 
 The agitation growing out of this state of affairs 
 brought about the Missouri compromise of 1820, by 
 which slavery was forbidden to go into any new territory 
 north of the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty 
 minutes. Then followed legislation in various forms and 
 at different times ; but the question of slavery was not 
 made a distinct line between the great political parties 
 until some time later. 
 
 The Democrats were generally ardent sympathizers 
 with the slave-holders, while the Whigs were opposed to 
 them, but in many of the party differences, the tariff and 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 31 
 
 the question of appropriations for internal improvements 
 were most prominent. Of course the dispute about 
 slavery was not at any time forgotten, and almost invari 
 ably came up through an effort of the South to obtain 
 fresh concessions in their behalf. 
 
 The war with Mexico was denounced through the 
 north as a war for the extension of slavery, and it resulted 
 in adding Texas to the list of Slave States, but it gave 
 in addition a large area on the Pacific Coast that was 
 destined to be the home of freedom. The acquisition of 
 California was one of the results of the war with Mexico, 
 and so was the territory then and now known as New 
 Mexico. The hero of the war, General Zachary Taylor, 
 was elected president in 1848, and the event was due 
 more to his persistent silence on the question of slavery 
 in the territories than to any outspoken sentiments on 
 the subject. 
 
 The convention that nominated him did not put for 
 ward any distinctive platform throughout the whole can 
 vass ; it was impossible to draw any positive utterances 
 on this subject from the Whigs, the party that supported 
 him. The opposition was divided between General Lewis 
 Cass, nominated by the Democrats, and Martin Van 
 Buren, the nominee of the Free Soil Party. Taylor was 
 successful by a plurality instead of a majority ; some of 
 the southern States refused to support him, but, on the 
 other hand, he received the votes of New York and Penn- 
 
82 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 sylvania, which have always been considered as holding 
 the balance of power in presidential elections. 
 
 The election led to the separation of many TVhigs and 
 Democrats from their parties, and their union with the 
 Free Soil Party which was every year gaining in strength, 
 both morally and numerically. 
 
 Soon after the inauguration of Taylor as president of 
 of the United States there was an excitement throughout 
 the country over the discovery of gold in California. 
 Thousands of adventurers were flocking to the Pacific 
 Coast from all parts of the country, and it was evident 
 that California would soon be asking for admission as a 
 Sovereign State. 
 
 Should California be slave or free ? 
 
 The people of the new commonwealth decided the 
 question without waiting for Congressional action. A 
 convention was called to form a constitution and organize 
 a local government, and without any delay it decided 
 that slavery should forever be excluded from the future 
 State. Delegates were sent to Washington to ask for the 
 admission of California into the Union, and the request 
 roused all the bitterness of party politics which had been 
 slumbering for several years. 
 
 There were threats that the South would secede from 
 the Union, and many persons feared that the country was 
 on the verge of civil war. The fierce debates resulted 
 in a compromise, and a committee of thirteen was 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 33 
 
 appointed to draft a bill which should settle the differ 
 ences between the North and South. It was finally re 
 ported and passed after a discussion which lasted four 
 months ; the bill is known in history as the Compromise 
 Act of 1850, and also, by reason of several distinct mea 
 sures that were included in it, as " The Omnibus Bill." 
 
 The most important stipulations of the compromise of 
 1850, were that California should be admitted into the 
 Union as a Free State, that all the region east of it to the 
 Rocky Mountains should form the Territory of Utah 
 without mention of slavery, and that New Mexico should 
 be formed into a Territory under the same conditions. 
 Then it was further provided that the slave-trade should 
 be abolished in the District of Columbia ; but as an off 
 set to this came the fugitive slave law which provided 
 that slaves escaping from bondage into any of the north 
 ern States should be arrested and delivered up to their 
 masters. 
 
 This was the measure that created great dissatisfaction 
 both north and south and led to much bitterness of feel 
 ing. It may be regarded more than any one political 
 enactment as the event which led to the formation of the 
 Republican party. 
 
 President Taylor died in little more than a year after 
 entering upon the duties of his high office, and was suc 
 ceeded by Millard Fillmore. Nothing of importance 
 occurred during the administration of the latter, but it 
 
 was the calm that preceded the storm. 
 2* 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 In 1852 Franklin Pierce was elected, and the first part 
 of bis administration was chiefly occupied with foreign 
 complications which had no serious result. Later on 
 came the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which threw the newly 
 organized Territories of Kansas and Nebraska open to 
 the admission of slaves. It was virtually a repeal of the 
 compromise measures of 1850, as it allowed the people 
 of those Territories to say whether they would have 
 slavery or not without regard to the line of demarkation 
 of 36 30 . 
 
 Congress and the people were taken by surprise, and if 
 the proposers of the measure could have foreseen the 
 trouble it would create it is doubtful if they would have 
 made the venture. There was a storm of indignation 
 through the whole north ; public meetings were held in 
 almost every village and the measure was severely 
 denounced by all except the sympathizers with slavery. 
 So many remonstrances were made and sent to the Sen 
 ate that it looked at one time as though the measure 
 would be defeated ; but finally it became a law and the 
 new Territory was opened to the owners of slaves. 
 Nebraska was so far to the north that no effort was 
 undertaken to make it a slave state and the battle was 
 mainly confined to Kansas. 
 
 Those who are familiar with the events of thirty years 
 ago do not need to be told how emigration aid societies 
 were formed through the north, and how great sums of 
 
HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 35 
 
 money were raised to secure the settlement of Kansas 
 by a population that would be in favor of freedom. 
 There were memorable events in those days, and eloquent 
 voices and gifted pens were enlisted in the cause. Those 
 who witnessed the departure of the first emigrant society 
 from Boston will remember the excitement which pre 
 vailed through the city, as the little band of settlers 
 marched to the railway station where they sang the words 
 of Whittier which had been written for the occasion : 
 
 "We cross the prairies as of old 
 Our fathers crossed the sea ; 
 To make the West, as they the East, 
 The homestead of the free. " 
 
 As soon as it became known in the slave states that 
 the people of the east were determined to settle Kansas 
 with men and women who believed in universal liberty, 
 a movement was begun for the opposite purpose. Socie 
 ties were formed in Missouri with the avowed object of 
 settling the Territory with slave-holders or sympathizers 
 with slavery, and scores of men went there to take pos 
 session of lands and enter pre-emption claims. 
 
 The work was done with very little pretence of hon 
 esty, many of the claimants returning to Missouri as soon 
 as they had made their entries and filed the necessary 
 papers at the land offices. " Blue Lodges," " Social 
 Bands," " Sons of the South," and similar societies in 
 the interest of slavery, sprung into existence and the 
 colonization was active. 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 Thus was begun the struggle for freedom or slavery 
 in Kansas ; its history would fill hundreds of pages of 
 this volume, and many of them would need to be 
 written in blood. Emigrants from the north were mur 
 dered by roving bands of Missourians ; villages were laid 
 waste and their inhabitants massacred in cold blood; 
 men were placed in boats without oars and set adrift on 
 the Missouri river for no other offence than that they 
 were from northern States. Others were tarred and 
 feathered, and otherwise maltreated for similar reasons. 
 
 When the first election was held several hundreds 
 of Missourians crossed the border, voted at the polls as 
 citizens of Kansas, and returned immediately to their 
 homes when the voting was over. In this and other ways 
 Kansas was made to appear to be in favor of slavery ; 
 her Free-State inhabitants made an indignant protest and 
 a new election was ordered. For a time there was a 
 serious conflict of authority between the people and the 
 office-holders ; the former were mostly from the north 
 and in favor of freedom, while the latter were in sympa 
 thy with the slave-holders. 
 
 The city of Lawrence was attacked and burned by an 
 armed force from Missouri and other southern tates ; 
 Osawatomie in the southern part of the Territory suf 
 fered the same fate ; and it appeared at one time as 
 though the whole of the embryo state would be laid to 
 waste. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 37 
 
 The troubles in Kansas continued through 1855 and 
 1856, and in the latter year conventions were held for 
 the nomination of candidates for the presidency. The 
 Tariff Question was of secondary importance, while that 
 of slavery occupied the foremost rank. Long before the 
 first of the conventions was called together it was evi 
 dent to all careful observers that great changes would 
 be made in the positions of the parties in the impending 
 contest. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE REPUB 
 LICAN PARTY. 
 
 Dissolution of the Whig Party. The "Know-Nothings" and 
 Their Principles. Origin of the Republican Party. The National 
 Conventions. Election of 1856. Abraham Lincoln. Dramatic 
 Incident at Blooniington. A Thrilling Event in Political Organiza 
 tion. Harmonizing Differences. Brooks and Sumner. The Dred 
 Scott Decision. The Charleston Convention. How the Democratic 
 Party was Sundered. The Election of Lincoln. The War and Its 
 Results. Recent History of the Party. The Nation s Progress 
 Under Republican Rule. 
 
 The old Whig party had been dissolved through the 
 action of its leaders in adopting the principles of slavery, 
 and new parties were in process of organization. At 
 many of the elections in the northern states in 1854 
 and 55, they appeared at the polls in considerable force, 
 and in some of the States the local elections were carried 
 by them. 
 
 One was known as the American party, and also as 
 the " Know-Nothings " ; it was opposed to foreign influ 
 ence, and had an especial dread of Catholicism, and in 
 
 (38) 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 39 
 
 order to counteract the power of that religion, the leaders 
 had deemed it expedient to make a secret organization. 
 Lodges were formed every where through the Northern 
 States, and in many localities they had things pretty 
 much as they liked. At the same time another party, 
 known as Free-Soilers, and later as Republicans, was 
 rapidly gaining strength ; it cared little for the influence 
 of foreigners, but was outspoken in its hostility to 
 slavery. 
 
 It is easy to see that these two parties were not very 
 widely separated, though the objects which they sought 
 to accomplish were dissimilar. The American, as its 
 name implied, was composed of native-born citizens, 
 or of foreigners who had altogether cast themselves 
 loose from the countries of their birth, and determined 
 to spend the rest of their lives under the shelter of the 
 Stars and Stripes. 
 
 The first national convention of the Republicans was 
 held at Pittsburgh on the 22d of February, 1856, but it 
 made no nominations ; on the same day the American 
 party met in convention at Philadelphia, its council 
 having held a secret session three days before, and 
 adopted a platform of principles. The most important 
 feature of it was a plank which affirmed the right of the 
 people of a territory to decide upon its own institutions 
 whenever they had sufficient population to entitle them 
 to one representative in Congress, but with the proviso 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 that only those who were actual residents of the terri 
 tory and citizens of the United States according to its 
 laws, should have any voice in forming the constitution 
 or making the laws of said state or territory. 
 
 This was not satisfactory to the anti-Nebraska element 
 in the convention, and after an attempt to harmonize 
 the platform, fifty of the delegates withdrew altogether 
 from the assemblage. The remainder proceeded to 
 ballot for candidates, and finally chose Millard Fillmore 
 and A. J. Donelson as their standard-bearers in the 
 presidential contest. 
 
 This nomination was ratified by a Whig convention in 
 Baltimore in September, and consequently Fillmore and 
 Donelson were the candidates of the united Whig and 
 American parties in 1856. 
 
 The Republicans held a convention in Philadelphia on 
 the 17th of June and nominated John C. Fremont and 
 William L. Dayton. The platform adopted on this 
 occasion declared emphatically the hostility of the 
 convention to slavery and polygamy, the " twin relics of 
 barbarism," which it was the right and duty of Congress 
 to prohibit in the territories. 
 
 It further denied the right of any territorial legislature 
 to establish slavery in any form, as long as the Constitu 
 tion of the United States remained in force. The work 
 of the convention was enthusiastically received through 
 out the North, and the canvass for Fremont and Dayton 
 will long be remembered by those who took part in it. 
 
HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.. 41 
 
 The Democrats in their convention, on the 2d of June, 
 nominated James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge, 
 and adopted a platform in which was maintained the 
 right of the territories to choose for themselves whether 
 they should have slavery or not. The elections of 
 Pennsylvania and Indiana in October showed that the 
 Democrats were pretty certain to win in the presidential 
 contest, but the opposition showed more strength than it 
 had been credited with by the Democrats. 
 
 Fillmore only carried the single state of Maryland, 
 while the Republicans were successful in New York, all 
 the New England states, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
 and Iowa, thus giving their candidates 114 electoral 
 votes. The Democrats were victorious in all the slave 
 states except Maryland, and all the other northern 
 States which did not go for Fremont ; the total popular 
 votes were as follows : 
 
 Buchanan, 1,838,169. 
 
 Fremont, 1,341,264. 
 
 Fillmore, 874,534. 
 
 It will be seen that the Democrats only won the 
 election by a plurality, as they lacked 377,629 votes of 
 a majority. But a miss is as good as a mile in politics 
 as in anything else, and Buchanan had a clear majority 
 of 60 electoral votes over his opponents. 
 
 In this election the American party did not mani 
 fest the strength which many of its supporters had 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 confidently looked for, and it became evident that 
 large numbers of its constituents had voted with the 
 Republicans. They realized that there were foreign 
 ers and foreigners ; there were those who came here 
 only for a brief sojourn, or retaining all their old- 
 world prejudices, and others who came intending to 
 reside here and become citizens in every sense of the 
 word. The most intelligent of the foreigners were in 
 favor of freedom, and they naturally turned to the 
 Republicans as their best friends ; the hostility to for 
 eign influences did not always make fine discriminations, 
 and a good many of the adopted citizens could not be 
 induced to enroll themselves under the banners of the 
 American party, though they were in general sympathy 
 with its principles. 
 
 The Republican party had its beginning in the North 
 west, and after the presidential contest of 1856 there 
 was a cordial union between many of the foreign-born 
 citizens and the "Americans." The movement had 
 begun before this time but had not made much progress 
 on account of the prejudices just stated ; for a good 
 many years the Democracy had managed to control a 
 large part of the foreigners by the attraction of its name, 
 and even at the present time it retains many voters of 
 Hibernian origin in the large cities of the North and 
 South. But the Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes were 
 not disposed to cast their lot with a party that favored 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 43 
 
 human oppression, and when they saw the new organ 
 ization 011 the basis of universal liberty they were not 
 slow to join it. A leader was wanted for the new party, 
 and he was found in the person of Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 And here is a bit of local history which deserves a 
 place in our record. We quote from Arnold s " Lincoln 
 and Slavery," page 93. 
 
 " A convention of the people of Illinois was called at 
 Bloomington, in May 1856, to appoint delegates to the 
 National Convention which was to meet at Philadelphia 
 in June, to nominate candidates for President and Vice- 
 President. The Free-soil Democrats, Anti-Nebraska 
 Democrats, Whigs, Americans, and liberty men of Illi 
 nois, and of all nationalities were brought together at 
 this convention, and mainly through the influence of Mr. 
 Lincoln, united on the broad platform of the declaration 
 of independence, and hostility to the extension of 
 slavery. 
 
 " Great difficulty was found in laying down a satisfac 
 tory platform of principles ; finally, after much contro 
 versy and discussion, with no satisfactory result, Mr. 
 Lincoln, who was not present, was sent for by the Com 
 mittee on Resolutions, and he solved the difficulty by 
 suggesting that all could unite on the principles embodied 
 in the Declaration of Independence and hostility to the 
 extension of slavery. This suggestion was immediately 
 accepted. Let us, said he, c in building our new party, 
 
44 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 plant ourselves on the rock of the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence, and the gates of hell shall not be able to pre 
 vail against us/ The convention thereupon resolved : 
 
 " That all men are indowed with the inalienable right 
 to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; and that 
 the object of government is to secure these rights to all 
 persons within its jurisdiction. This and hostility to 
 slavery, and a determination to resist its further exten 
 sion, was the substance of the platform adopted. Thus 
 was organized the party that revolutionized the Demo 
 cratic state of Illinois against the powerful influence of 
 Douglas, and ultimately elected Mr. Lincoln to the Presi 
 dency." 
 
 At the convention in Philadelphia there was the same 
 difficulty in overcoming the differences between the vari 
 ous elements, and the platform was substantially the 
 same as the one in Illinois. But it needed a little more 
 time to cement the union between them, and in this 
 respect fortune favored the new party through the blun 
 ders of the old. History is said to repeat itself, and the 
 Democratic party of to-day is not above giving aid to its 
 opponents through its own mistakes. 
 
 During the year a brutal attack was made upon Charles 
 Sumner, Senator from Massachusetts, by Preston S. 
 Brooks of South Carolina. Sumner had made, a speech 
 on the Kansas question in which he spoke severely of 
 Butler, a relative of Brooks. The latter came to the 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 45 
 
 defence of his kinsman by striking Mr. Sumner with a 
 cane while he was seated at his desk, and wholly una 
 ware of his assailant s presence. Mr. Sumner was 
 beaten until he was insensible and several friends of 
 Brooks stood by to prevent interference with the latter s 
 brutality. 
 
 The cowardly act of Brooks was applauded through 
 the South, and the would-be assassin was for the time a 
 hero among his own people. This event roused the peo 
 ple of the North more than any other single occurrence 
 of the year, and showed that slavery was justly to be 
 considered the sum of all villainies. The House of 
 Representatives of which Brooks was a member, did not 
 see fit to expel him, but contented itself with a vote of 
 censure. 
 
 In the beginning of Buchanan s administration the 
 famous Dred Scott decision was pronounced by Chief 
 Justice Taney, to the effect that no person whose ances 
 tors had been imported to this country and sold as slaves 
 had any right to sue in a court of the United States ; in 
 other words, no person who had been a slave or was 
 descended from a slave had any right of citizenship. 
 The learned judge decided that our Revolutionary fathers 
 in the Declaration of Independence regarded the black 
 men " as so far inferior that they had no rights which 
 the white man was bound to respect," and that "they 
 were never thought or spoken of except as property." 
 
46 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN JPARTY. 
 
 He further declared that the Missouri Compromise act, 
 and all other acts restricting slavery, were unconstitu 
 tional, and that neither Congress nor local legislatures 
 had any right to legislate for the restriction of slavery. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan had predicted that this decision would 
 settle the question of slavery, speedily and finally. Its 
 effect was to make the agitation greater than ever and 
 rouse the spirit of hostility in the North. 
 
 One of the results of this excitement was the raid of 
 John Brown, in Virginia, a clear violation of the laws 
 of the State for which the leader was executed on the 
 scaffold. The southern states became alarmed, not only 
 at the occurrence itself, but at the open sympathy which 
 was manifested through the North for John Brown s 
 detestation of slavery. Many good citizens, while know 
 ing the act to be unjustifiable according to the laws of 
 the land, realized that the hero of Harper s Ferry had 
 suffered much, and his work was the natural outcome of 
 his experience. 
 
 From 1856 to 1860 the various elements opposed to 
 Democracy and the slave-power had been uniting, and at 
 the same time the Democrats had followed a course that 
 was not calculated to unite them firmly. The elections 
 in 1859 showed that the Republican party had gained 
 greatly since the last contest for the presidency, and the 
 days of the slave-power were numbered. The leaders of 
 the slave-holders saw there was no chance of their elect- 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 47 
 
 ing the man of their choice, and they proceeded to plot 
 for the dissolution of the Union by first dissolving the 
 Democratic party. 
 
 It was their plan to make use of a Republican victory 
 by declaring that the President thus elected was a sec 
 tional one, opposed to the institution of slavery, and 
 therefore dangerous as the head of the nation; they 
 would then be justified in withdrawing from the Union, 
 and setting up for themselves. Only a few of the leaders 
 were in the secret, or were consulted in the preliminaries ; 
 but it is evident that the movement for secession was 
 popular from the outset. 
 
 The National Democratic Convention met in Charleston 
 on the 23d of April, 1860, for the purpose of nominating 
 candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency. Many 
 of the delegates from the Slave States had come with 
 instructions to demand from the Convention a guaranty 
 for the speedy practical recognition, by the general gov 
 ernment and the people, of the system of slavery as a 
 national institution. 
 
 The Convention reaffirmed the Cincinnati platform of 
 popular sovereignty, of which Douglas was the exponent, 
 whereupon the Alabama delegation, through its leader, 
 Leroy P. Walker, withdrew from the Convention. Their 
 action was followed on that and the succeeding day by 
 nearly all the delegates from the other slaveholding 
 States, and the disruption of the Democratic party was 
 complete. 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 The seceders, under the leadership of James A. Bayard 
 of Delaware, assembled the next day, and adjourned to 
 meet in Richmond, and subsequently in Baltimore, where 
 they nominated John C. Breckenridge as their candidate 
 for the presidency. The regular convention also met in 
 Baltimore, and nominated Mr. Douglas to be their stand 
 ard-bearer in the presidential contest. 
 
 On the 9th of May, a small party, claiming to repre 
 sent the Constitution and the Union (founded on the 
 ruins of the " American " party), nominated John Bell 
 of Tennessee, and on the 16th of the same month, the 
 Republican Convention met in the famous wigwam at 
 Chicago. A platform, of which the main feature was 
 open hostility to slavery, was adopted, and on the 19th of 
 that month Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin were 
 chosen as the candidates for the two great offices for 
 which there was to be a struggle with most momentous 
 consequences, as was shown by subsequent events. 
 
 Four parties were thus in the field, but only two of 
 them represented tangible interests, and met face to face 
 in battle. These were the pro-slavery wing of the 
 Democracy, and the Republican party, now clearly 
 denned as the opponent of slavery, and all that it 
 represented. 
 
 The contest was active throughout the country, but 
 the hopeless division in the Democracy enabled the Re 
 publicans to carry every Free State except New Jersey. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 49 
 
 Mr. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes against 123 of 
 all others, the latter being given as follows : Breckeu- 
 ridge 72, Bell 39, and Douglas 12. 
 
 In the popular vote Mr. Lincoln received 976,163 less 
 than all his opponents, and thus gave occasion for the 
 cry that he would be a usurper of the presidential office, 
 as he had not received a majority of the votes cast at 
 the election. It will be remembered that Taylor and 
 Buchanan were elected in just the same manner, but the 
 Democrats never urged that either of them should decline 
 the honors of being chief of the nation on that account. 
 
 Thus was elected the first Republican President, and 
 the time between his election and inauguration was used 
 to good advantage by the leaders of the secession move- 
 ment. The events that followed were too numerous to 
 be recapitulated here, too numerous to permit even the 
 briefest history. 
 
 Out of the triumph of the Republican party in 1860, 
 grew the war which was waged on one side for the 
 destruction of the Union, and on the other for its preser 
 vation. It was a war which has few if any parallels in 
 history ; a war in which an entire nation was divided 
 against itself ; a war in which were engaged millions of 
 men speaking the same language and inhabiting the 
 same country ; a war where prodigies of valor were dis 
 played on both sides, and where countless deeds of indi 
 vidual bravery were performed. 
 3 
 
50 HISTORY OP THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 It was a contest for an idea, the integrity of the Union 
 on the one hand, and the right to withdraw from it on 
 the other. Families were divided, communities were 
 broken up, brother fought against brother, and son 
 against father, in this war which had for its beginning 
 the restriction or the extension of the privileges of the 
 owner of slaves. As time wore on the causes of the 
 strife were partially forgotten. The arbitrament of the 
 sword to which the South had appealed decided against 
 it. Her armies were vanquished ; slavery was forever 
 abolished, and after four years of internecine strife peace 
 was restored throughout the land. 
 
 Twenty years have sufficed in great measure, at least 
 to allay the passions that were aroused by the civil war, 
 and to knit the people of the country in more friendly 
 relations. Few of those who fought under the confeder 
 ate flag would desire to see the old state of things re 
 stored, and the rights of the slave-holder established as 
 they were before the war. 
 
 The South has entered upon an era of prosperity such 
 as she had never known before. She has established 
 manufacturing and other industries, and promises to be 
 come very speedily the friendly rival of the North in the 
 arts and arms of peace. Every year sees a more kindly 
 feeling existing between what were once two distinct 
 sections of the country, but now possessing a common 
 interest. 
 
HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 51 
 
 Since 1860 the Republican party has uninterruptedly 
 held control of the presidental chair, and administered 
 the affairs of the executive branch of the national gov 
 ernment. Under it the country has been prosperous, 
 its population and wealth have been greatly increased, 
 new channels of trade and industry have been opened, 
 and railways have been extended across the continent to 
 unite the Pacific with the Atlantic Coast. 
 
 The salient events in the history of the party in this 
 last quarter of a century are too recent to need recapitu 
 lation. It has sought to deal justly with all interests 
 of the whole country, and that it has been successful the 
 prosperity of the nation is sufficient proof. That it has 
 made occasional errors its candid adherents will freely 
 admit ; parties, like men, are not omniscient, and the 
 wisest among us cannot predict with unerring accuracy 
 the outcome of all political or personal actions. But the 
 party which has successfully guided the Ship of State 
 through a voyage fraught with the perils of civil war, and 
 the attendant evils can be safely trusted for at least the 
 remainder of the nineteenth century. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE HIS BOYHOOD AND EARLY 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 History of the Elaine Family, A Hero of the Revolution. 
 Church and Cemetery in West Brownsville, Pennsylvania. Ephraim 
 L. Blaine, Father of the Republican Standard Bearer. Two Graves 
 in the Churchyard. The Gillespie Family. A Talk with Old Resi 
 dents of Brownsvilleo Birthplace of James G, Blame. His Boy 
 hood and Early Life, An Interesting Story of His Childhood. The 
 Child Father to the Man. "There, take that." Getting the best of 
 his Enemy. Life on the Monongahela. An Old Tradition. His 
 Life in College. A Leader in Studies, Sports, and Pranks. Loved 
 by His Fellow Students. Graduated with High Honors., 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE, the Republican standard bearer 
 in the Presidential campaign of 1884, is now in the fifty- 
 fifth year of his life. He was born January 31, 1830, in 
 the village of West Brownsville, Union Township, Wash 
 ington County, Pennsylvania, and the early years of his 
 life were passed in that region. His ancestors were 
 Scotch-Irish, and he preserves in his features the dis 
 tinctive type of that rugged stock which had a prominent 
 part in the colonization of this country. James G. 
 Blaine is descended from the pioneers who settled the 
 
 (52) 
 
^21 
 
 ~ : ^;<^.zs?, 
 ^S ;; \ISiiS^sSr^^.^>^ 
 
 r-w^s -*" -^-^:.- - /// - *J\ , 
 
 BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY HOME OF JAMES G. ELAINE, 
 AT BROWNSVILLE, PENN. 
 
 (Froi a recent photograph by A. M. Thompson, Brownsrille.) 
 
LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 55 
 
 valley in which Carlisle is situated, and afterwards crossed 
 the range of the Alleghcnies and colonized the region 
 beyond. The visitor may see to-day the stone Presbyte 
 rian church in West Brownsville which was built by the 
 second generation of the settlers, and the cemetery near 
 by contains many a gravestone whence a modern " Old 
 Mortality" might derive the material for an interesting 
 story. 
 
 Close to the church is an old house which was the resi 
 dence of Colonel Ephraim Elaine, the great-grandfather 
 of the present Republican candidate for the Presidency. 
 Colonel Elaine was an officer of the Revolution ; he was 
 originally a colonel of the Pennsylvania Line where he 
 made an honorable record, but in the last four years of 
 the w r ar he was Commissary-General of the Northern 
 Department. His abilities were severely tested as the 
 country was without credit and the purchase of supplies 
 was attended with many difficulties. During the dread 
 ful winter when the army was in camp at Valley Forge, 
 he did much toward mitigating the sufferings of the 
 soldiers and received the personal thanks of the Com 
 mander-in-chief for his efficiency. 
 
 Ephraim L. Elaine, the grandson of Colonel Elaine, 
 and father of James G., was known among his neighbors 
 as "Squire Elaine," and held in great respect. He 
 kept open house and lived generously as became a gentle 
 man of his position. In the shadow of the old church 
 
56 LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 there are two graves marked by a single stone which 
 bears the inscription 
 
 EPHRAIM L. ELAINE 
 
 AND 
 
 MARIA GILLESPIE ELAINE. 
 
 A correspondent who recently visited the spot writes 
 as follows concerning the cemetery and the graves to 
 which reference has just been made : 
 
 " There is a gift that is potent when one calls upon the 
 dusty past in a grave-yard. It is to learn the history 
 and genius of the human life that ended when the mound 
 was raised and the inscription cut in the stone that 
 arrests attention. Who was it that said that people too 
 often read the inscriptions upon tombstones without 
 knowing or caring aught of the genius that once resided 
 in the inanimate dust beneath them ? He spoke the 
 truth, and how much people often miss by being content 
 with what is recorded above-ground. 
 
 " I stood beside two old graves to-day in this village 
 that quickly recalled to me Longfellow s beautiful lines : 
 
 " See how the ivy climbs and expands 
 
 Over this humble hermitage, 
 And seems to cover with its little hands 
 The rough, gray stones, as a child that stands 
 
 Caressing the wrinkled cheeks of age. 
 
LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE, 57 
 
 The marble that marked them was much newer than 
 the mounds, and the surroundings impressed me with the 
 thought that a dutiful and reverent son had, years after, 
 when means and opportunity came that were wanting 
 when death called father and mother, placed a fitting 
 monument to mark the spot where they slept. It is a 
 plain, unpretentious stone that marks these graves, and 
 it was the names only that attracted my attention. 
 
 " Who were these two people in life ? I asked of an 
 old gentleman, who had wandered along with me to this 
 quiet city of the dead. 
 
 " < Why, they were the father and mother of James G. 
 Elaine. I knew them both well. Eph. Elaine and I went 
 to school together. He was one of the founders of this 
 town, and was squire here for many a year. He was 
 elected prothonotary of the county in 1842, and moved 
 to Washington, the county seat. He married Maria, a 
 daughter of old Neal Gillespie, the smartest man in this 
 section, and from his people James Gillespie Elaine 
 derives his middle name. The Gillespies were among 
 the most prominent families in the State. The seal of 
 nature s nobility was stamped upon them, one and all. 
 The men were brave and stalwart; as strong in charac 
 ter, too, as they were stout of limb. The women were 
 very handsome, and carried themselves as proudly as 
 though the blood of a hundred earls were coursing 
 through their veins. The beauty of old Mrs. Elaine, 
 
58 LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 James mother, passed into a proverb. Even in her 
 decrepit age she preserved much of her early attractive 
 ness, and her eye was like a hawk s, as clear and flashing 
 then as in the days of her budding womanhood. This 
 was a peculiarity of her family, and she transmitted it 
 to all her children. The Gillespies were ardent, intense 
 Catholics, and made their religion the leading feature of 
 their lives. Neal Gillespie owned a good deal of land 
 about here, and Eph. Elaine built the brick house you see 
 yonder on a portion of it, after his marriage with Miss 
 Gillespie. There their first child, James, was born in 
 1830. I remember him very well when he was a lad and 
 used to paddle about on the river and make mud pies 
 along its banks. He was a bright lad. 
 
 " I remember one little story about him, which I often 
 heard ki those days, and which is interesting as showing 
 how truly, in his case, the child was father to the man. 
 When he was but a little toddler, so to speak, some 
 laborers were engaged digging a well on his father s prem 
 ises. The future statesman was caught one morning 
 peering down into the excavation, and one of the men, 
 with the idea of frightening him and thus preventing 
 him from again putting himself in danger, thrust his 
 shovel toward him, and made all sorts of ugly faces. 
 Jim ran away, but only to nurse his anger and await an 
 opportunity to revenge. 
 
 " Venturing to the well a day or two after he had been 
 
LIFE OP JAMES G. BLAINE. 59 
 
 driven away, he found the men working away at the bot 
 tom. Improving the opportunity, he seized a clod of 
 earth and hurled it with all his little might full at the 
 head of his unsuspecting enemy, with the consolatory 
 remark, " There, take that." Clod followed clod in fast 
 succession, with accompanying expletives, until the men 
 were fairly beside themselves with rage and with the fear 
 that the desperate child might take it into his head to use 
 some of the stones lying about him as messengers of 
 wrath more effective than mere lumps of earth. Their 
 shouts, however, brought his mother to the scene, and 
 the little avenger was unceremoniously hustled off to the 
 house. That was the old blood asserting itself. A Gil- 
 lespie or a Elaine never turned his back upon friend or 
 foe. 
 
 " That s the new packet James Gr. Elaine that runs 
 from here to Pittsburg. The two people who sleep in 
 this graveyard little thought when they died that they d 
 have a son big enough to have a packet named for him. 
 They died when Jim was young, and they didn t leave 
 anything for him to start with either. Eph. Elaine was 
 a rich man once. His grandfather left him some fifty 
 thousand dollars, but he spent it having a good time. He 
 was not a money -saver, but believed in enjoying the world 
 as he lived. The Gillespies wasn t so slow either, but 
 Eph. Elaine led em all in this country. It s no wonder 
 Jim Elaine is smart. He comes of good stock on both 
 
60 LIFE OP JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 sides. All the Gillespies were smart. Neal Gillespie 
 was the biggest brained man in all this country. " 
 
 " < Do the Blaines or any of the relatives own the old 
 homestead? " 
 
 " < No, indeed. It s long since passed into strange 
 hands. There was little of either the Elaine or the Gil 
 lespie estate left when the settlement day came. The 
 children all had to begin new. None of either family 
 live about here now. " 
 
 " There is much that is strange in the story that the 
 old man told me," the writer continues, " and much more 
 that is interesting. We finished the talk beside the rest 
 less waters of the Monongahela, near which Mr. Blaine 
 was born, and his family lived for years. This little 
 brick house doesn t stand more than forty rods from the 
 river, and the old path which leads from the doorway 
 that Blaine helped to make in childhood, is still there. 
 The best boat on the river now bears his name, and the 
 plain people love to talk of his having been born in their 
 midst. It is a queer section of the country in which to 
 have found the homes of two such families as the Blaines 
 and the Gillespies. Both strong houses both fond of 
 the best things of this life. Both educated and brainy. 
 
 " According to the traditions of Washington county, 
 James G. Elaine s grandfather left the fertile country 
 near Carlisle early in the present century, and moved into 
 the then wilderness of the Yougheny region, where he 
 
LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 61 
 
 established a country store at the mouth of Ten Mile 
 Run, in Greene County. He lived there but a short time 
 when he came to Brownsville, with his wagon-load of 
 goods, and established a store, which he kept the remain 
 der of his life. The Gillespie family was then a rich and 
 powerful family in the region. The strength of mind 
 and character for which all the family were noted, is 
 still a proverb in the region. 
 
 " The Monongahela river at this point separates the 
 two counties of Fayette and Washington Brownsville 
 is on the Fayette side and West Brownsville on the Wash 
 ington side. They are both quaint, old towns, and wear 
 the mark of many years. I don t suppose there are 1,500 
 people in both, and the houses straggle along the banks 
 of the river on the lowlands, which are just high enough 
 to keep them out of the reach of the overflow. This 
 country was new I might say wild when the Blaines 
 and the Gillespies came here. The rich treasures of the 
 Yougheny region were floated down the Ohio river in 
 rude keel-boats, and the untold wealth in the rugged 
 mountains was then unknown. Albert Gallatin used to 
 live in this country then, and his residence was but a few 
 miles up the river from this point. But mighty changes 
 have taken place since those days, when he left his im 
 press upon the finances and credit of this country so that 
 it can never be effaced. 
 
 " There seems to have been good feeling from the first 
 
02 LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 between the Elaine and Gillespie families, and there 
 seems to have been a special care to intermingle the 
 family names as each son was born. The old man told 
 me that nearly every son in the Elaine family, as in the 
 Gillespie, wore the family name or some part of his auto 
 graph. The Gillespie family seemed to run more to girls 
 than boys, and it seemed to be their good fortune to link 
 their fortunes with strong men. The daughter who was 
 next in age to Maria, who married Ephraim L. Elaine, 
 was wedded to the famous Tom Ewing of Ohio, when he 
 was a poor lawyer in Lancaster, Pa. That s how he be 
 came an uncle of James G. Elaine, and the names of 
 Elaine and Ewing became joined. 
 
 " There is a tradition here that when old Tom Ewing 
 was Secretary of the Interior Elaine applied to him for 
 a clerkship and the old man sent him to Kentucky to 
 earn an honest living teaching school. The association 
 of the name of Ewing with that of Elaine has given rise 
 to the stoiiy that the Ewing family of Ohio helped James 
 G. Elaine to an education. I might as well destroy this 
 fiction by telling the facts. 
 
 " A short drive brought me to Washington, the county 
 seat of this county, and one of the first men I met was 
 Major John H. Ewing, an old verteran now past four 
 score years. 
 
 " I married the sister of Ephraim L. Elaine. He and 
 I went to school together over in yonder college, and I 
 
LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 03 
 
 knew him nearly all his life. lie was a leader in the 
 mischief of the school, and fond of all the good things 
 of this life. He was the handsomest man I ever saw, 
 and he had a wife that was a match for him. She was 
 one of the noblest women I ever knew. She inherited 
 all the sterling traits of character and strength of mind 
 for which the Gillespies were noted. So, you see, Elaine 
 sprang from the best stock on both sides. 
 
 Miss Gillespie, who married Ephraim Blaine, and be 
 came the mother of his children, was a devout Catholic ; 
 but the seven children, five boys and two girls., were 
 brought up in the Presbyterian faith of their father. In 
 1876 Mr. Blaine was questioned concerning the religious 
 faith of his family, as well as that of himself. He wrote 
 the following reply : 
 
 " My ancestors on my father s side were, as you know, 
 always identified with the Presbyterian church, and they 
 were prominent and honored in the old colony of Penn 
 sylvania. But I will never consent to make any public 
 declaration on the subject, and for two reasons : First, 
 because I abhor the introduction of anything that looks 
 like a religious test or qualification for office in a republic 
 where perfect freedom of conscience is the birthright of 
 every citizen ; and, second, because my mother was a de 
 voted Catholic. I would not for a thousand Presidencies 
 speak a disrespectful word of my mother s religion, and 
 no pressure will draw me into any avowal of hostility or 
 
64 LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 unfriendless to Catholics, though I have never received, 
 and do not expect, any political support from them." 
 
 Since his residence in Augusta, Maine, Mr. Elaine has 
 been a member of the Orthodox Congregational church, 
 which is almost identical with the Presbyterian church 
 of Pennsylvania. He is a regular attendant upon the 
 services of the church during all his Sundays in Augusta, 
 and is conspicuous in all its works of charity. 
 
 The subject of our sketch entered Washington college 
 in 1843, soon after he had passed his thirteenth birthday. 
 He was noted for his aptness at learning and for his re 
 tentive memory, and it was remarked of him that while 
 he was not a hard student, he was always thoroughly up 
 in his lessons and answered every question readily. 
 There were two or three hundred other boys in the 
 school, and he took a foremost place among them, partly 
 in consequence of his excellent scholarship and partly 
 owing to his fondness for athletic sports. His magnifi 
 cent physique was in his favor, and in all the running, 
 leaping, and kindred matches he carried off the prize 
 more frequently than any of his competitors. In the 
 debating societies of the school he took a prominent part, 
 and laid the foundation of the reputation he has since 
 attained as one of the foremost speakers of the country. 
 He had a fondness for the difficult side of the question 
 nather than the easy one, and usually managed to bring 
 his listeners around to his way of thinking. 
 
LIFE OF JAMES G. ELAINE. 65 
 
 According to those who knew him in his college days 
 he was the leader of nearly everything, not omitting 
 some of the pranks for which students are famous. The 
 latter performances were of the harmless sort, and just 
 numerous enough to keep the juvenile spirits from being 
 altogether obliterated by too much study. One friend 
 says of him : " To the new scholars who entered in suc 
 ceeding classes he was a hero uniformly kind to them, 
 ready to give them assistance and advice, and eager to 
 make pleasant their path in college life. His handsome 
 person and neat attire; his ready sympathy and prompt 
 assistance ; his frank, generous nature, and his brave, 
 manly bearing, made him the best known, the best 
 loved, and the most popular boy at college. He was the 
 arbiter among younger boys in all their disputes, and 
 the authority with those of his own age on all questions. 
 He was always for the < under dog in the fight. ^ And 
 at the end of the usual four years course at college, he 
 was graduated in 1847, with the most distinguished hon 
 ors of his class, and went forth into practical life well 
 fitted in acquirements and training to deal with its prob 
 lems, and bearing as a crown of his youthful honor the 
 affection and esteem of all his associates." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CON- 
 GRESSMAN. 
 
 Going West. Professor in a Military School. Married to Miss 
 Stan wood. From Kentucky to Philadelphia. Teaching in the 
 Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind. The Principal s Reminis 
 cences. First Literary Work by James G. Elaine. Careful and 
 Methodical Arrangement. Moves to Augusta, Maine. Editor of the 
 Kennebec Journal. Editor of the Portland Advertiser. Forming 
 the Republican Party in Maine. In the State Legislature. Elected 
 to Congress. His Career There. His First Great Speech. The 
 War Debts of the States. Speech on the Finances. Speaker of 
 Three Congresses. His Skill as a Debater Acknowledged. 
 
 After liis graduation from college, young Blaine ob 
 served the advice of Horace Greeley, though the founder 
 of the Tribune was then unknown to him. Like many 
 another enterprising youth of his time, and since, he 
 turned his hopes towards the setting sun. An opportu 
 nity came in the shape of a situation in a school at Blue 
 Lick Springs, Kentucky, where he became a professor in 
 the Western Military Institute, a flourishing institution 
 which boasted of nearly five hundred students. 
 
 A retired officer who was a student there at the time, 
 
 (66) 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 07 
 
 says: " Professor Elaine was a thin, handsome, earnest 
 young man, with the same fascinating manners he has 
 now. He was popular with the boys, who trusted him 
 and made friends with him from the first. He knew the 
 given names of every one, and he knew their shortcom 
 ings and their strong points. He was a man of great 
 personal courage, and during a fight between the faculty 
 of the school and the owners of the Springs, involving 
 some questions about the removal of the school, he be 
 haved in the bravest manner, fighting hard but keeping 
 cool. Revolvers and knives were freely used, after the 
 customs which then prevailed in Kentucky, but Elaine 
 only used his well-disciplined muscle. 
 
 Colonel Thornton F. Johnson was the principal of the 
 school, and his wife had a young ladies school at Mil- 
 lersburg, twenty miles distant. It was at this place that 
 Mr. Elaine met Miss Stan wood, who belonged to an excel 
 lent family in the East, and afterwards became his wife. 
 "It has been hinted that he followed the custom of most 
 college youths and fell in love before his graduation. 
 It is also hinted that the match was broken off through 
 the opposition of the young lady s family, who could not 
 forsee the future prominence of the student who was yet 
 in his teens. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Elaine left Kentucky and went 
 to Philadelphia, where he sought an engagement as a 
 teacher in the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruc- 
 4 
 
68 BLAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 tion of the Blind. William Chapin, the present princi 
 pal of that establishment, said recently : 
 
 " I remember young James G. Elaine distinctly. He 
 was principal teacher here on the boys side for two 
 years, and when he departed he left behind him not only 
 universal regret at a serious loss to the institution, but 
 an impression of his personal force upon the work and 
 its methods, which survives the lapse of thirty years. 
 
 " He rang the bell one Summer afternoon in 1852, in 
 answer to an advertisement for a teacher. There were 
 thirty or forty other applicants, but his manner was so 
 winning and he possessed so many manifestly valuable 
 qualities that I closed an engagement with him at once. 
 He was married, and his wife and little son Walker 
 came here with him. His qualities, which impressed me 
 most deeply, were his culture, the thoroughness of his 
 education and his unfailing self-possession. He was also 
 a man of very decided will, and was very much disposed 
 to argument. He was young then only twenty-two 
 and was rather impulsive, leaping to a conclusion very 
 quickly. But he was always ready to defend his conclu 
 sions, however suddenly he seemed to have reached 
 them. We had many a familiar discussion, and his 
 arguments always astonished me by the knowledge they 
 displayed of facts in history and politics. His memory 
 was remarkable, and seemed to retain details which ordi 
 nary men would forget. 
 
BLALNE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 69 
 
 " I will show something that illustrates how thoroughly 
 Mr. Elaine mastered anything he took hold of," said 
 Mr. Chapin, as he took from a desk in the corner of the 
 room a thick quarto manuscript book bound in dark, 
 brown leather. " This book Mr. Elaine compiled with 
 great labor from the minute books of the Board of Man 
 agers. It gives a historical view of the institution 
 from its foundation up to Mr. Elaine s departure. He 
 did all the work in his own room, telling no one of it 
 until he left. Then he presented it, through me, to the 
 Board of Managers, who were both surprised and grati 
 fied. I believe they made him a present of 100 as a 
 thank-offering for an invaluable work." 
 
 " This book," says one who saw it recently, " the first 
 historical work of Mr. Blaine, is a model of its kind. 
 On the title page, in ornamental pen-work, executed at 
 that time by Mr. Chapin, is the inscription : 
 
 JOURNAL 
 
 or THE 
 PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTION 
 
 FOB THE 
 
 INSTRUCTION OP THE BLIND, 
 
 FROM ITS FOUNDATION. 
 
 COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS 
 
 BY JAMES G. BLAINE, 
 1854. 
 
70 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 " The methodical character of the work is most 
 remarkable. On the first page every abbreviation used 
 in the book is entered alphabetically, and every line is a 
 model of neatness and accuracy. On every page is a 
 wide margin. At the top of the margin is the year, in 
 ornamental figures. Below it is a brief statement of 
 what the text contains opposite that portion of the 
 marginal entry. Every year s record closes with an 
 elaborate table, giving the attendance of members of the 
 board. The last pages of the book are filled with alpha 
 betical lists of officers of the institution and statistical 
 tables. One of the lists is that of the principal teach 
 ers. No. 13 is followed by the signature Jas. G. 
 Elaine, from August 5, 1852, to and then, in another 
 hand, the record is completed with the date November 
 23, 1854. 
 
 " I think that the book," remarked Mr. Chapin, 
 " illustrates the character of the man in accurate mastery 
 of facts and orderly presentation of details. We still 
 use it for reference, and Mr. Frank Battles, the assistant 
 principal, is bringing the record down to the present 
 time." 
 
 While engaged in the work of teaching, Mr. Blaine 
 began the study of law ; he fitted himself for practice at 
 the bar in Pennsylvania but never applied for admission 
 to it. His wife had a longing for her old home in Maine, 
 and in obedience to her wishes, and believing that it was 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 71 
 
 a more promising field than Pennsylvania, he decided to 
 make it his permanent residence. The young couple 
 moved to Augusta in 1854, and it has now been his home 
 for more than thirty years. 
 
 In the same year lie entered into partnership with 
 Joseph Baker, a prominent lawyer of Augusta, and the 
 two purchased the Kennelec Journal, of which Mr. 
 Elaine at once became editor. The Journal was a weekly 
 paper, one of the organs of the Whig party, and exer 
 cised considerable influence. In 185T Mr. Elaine dis 
 posed of his interest in this paper, and became editor of 
 the Portland Daily Advertiser. In the campaign of 1860 
 he returned temporarily to his old post on the Kennebee 
 Journal on account of the illness of its editor. 
 
 During his experience of six years in journalism, Mr. 
 Elaine displayed marked ability, and the two papers with 
 which he was connected were not only regarded as 
 authorities throughout the State of Maine, but extended 
 their influence far beyond its borders. He was a forcible 
 writer on all political topics, and was one of the first to 
 foresee the dissolution of the old Whig party, and the 
 necessity for a new party to be formed out of the consoli 
 dated opposition to the encroachments of the slave- 
 holding interest. He took an active part in the cam 
 paign of 1856 and made many speeches in favor of the 
 election of General Fremont to the Presidency. 
 
 When the Whig party went to pieces Mr. Elaine 
 
72 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 joined hands with Governor Anson P. Merrill in organ 
 izing the Republican party in the Pine Tree State. His 
 vigorous attacks upon the Buchanan Administration 
 made him a power in the new organization. In 1858, 
 when he was in his twenty-ninth year, he was elected to 
 the Legislature. He served two years on the floor of 
 the Lower House and two years in the chair, where he 
 displayed the qualities of parliamentary leadership and 
 control that afterward gave him such renown in the 
 National Legislature at Washington. 
 
 The excellence of his services in the State Legislature 
 recommended him for a place in Congress, and in 1862 
 he was nominated by the Republicans of the Kennebec 
 District. The campaign was an energetic one, as he was 
 opposed by one of the most popular Democrats, over 
 whom he triumphed by a majority of more than threje 
 thousand votes. When his term expired he was re-elected 
 by a still greater majority, and he represented the dis 
 trict continuously until his promotion to the United 
 States Senate. Altogether he was elected a member of 
 Congress seven terms by the following majorities : 
 
 1862, . . 3,422 1870, . . 2,320 
 
 1864, . . 4,328 1872, . . 3,568 
 
 1866, . . 6,591 1874, . . 2,830 
 
 1868, . . 3,346 
 
 During the first term of his long career as Represent 
 ative he had for colleagues such men as Elihu B. Wash- 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 73 
 
 burne, Owen Lovejoy, George W. Julian, Godlove S. 
 Orth, Schuyler Coif ax, James F. Wilson, William B. 
 Allison, John A. Kasson, Alexander H. Rice, Henry L. 
 Dawes, William Windoin, F. P. Blair, jr., James Brooks, 
 Erastus Corning, Reuben E. Fenton, Francis Kernan, 
 George H. Pendleton, Robert C. Schenck, James A. 
 Garfield, Samuel J. Randall, William D. Kelley, Thad- 
 deus Stevens, G.W. Scofield, and many other distinguished 
 men. Among these he soon was recognized as a man 
 whose influence was sure to be felt and to increase with 
 time. 
 
 His first election to Congress was during the stormy 
 period of the war, and he had plenty of work before him. 
 He speedily acquired a reputation as a most industrious 
 member of committees. All his committee work was 
 thoroughly performed, and whenever any reports were 
 presented he was ready to explain them in the minutest 
 details. He was a member of the Military and Post 
 Office Committees, and at the same time had a prominent 
 place on the Committees on Appropriations and Rules. 
 He did not neglect the other committees in whose work 
 he had no part, and it was frequently remarked that he 
 was more familiar with their duties than some of the 
 members who belonged to them. 
 
 On nearly every subject that came before Congress ho 
 had something to say, and if the remarks of " Blaine of 
 Maine " were eliminated from the report of the debates 
 
74 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 of the closing period of the Rebellion, and the following 
 year, they would be suggestive of Hamlet without Ham 
 let. His first remarkable speech in Congress was in 
 relation to the assumption of the State War Debts by 
 the General Government. He took the position that the 
 Government was abundantly able to conduct the war to 
 a successful issue, and so powerful was his argument and 
 so vigorously presented, that it was printed and circu 
 lated as a campaign document in the Presidential contest 
 of 1864. At the beginning of his speech on that occa 
 sion he claimed that all expenditure made in good faith 
 by the loyal States to maintain the integrity of the 
 Union, should be refunded by the National Government. 
 " If," said he, " the twenty-four loyal States now striving 
 with patriotic rivalry to outdo each other in defending 
 and rescuing the nation from its perils were hereafter to 
 constitute the entire union, there might be nothing gained 
 and nothing lost to any one of them by consolidating 
 their respective war debts into one common charge upon 
 the aggregate resources of the Nation. But the actual 
 case presented for consideration is far different from this. 
 We are engaged in a struggle which must inevitably 
 result in restoring to loyalty and to duty eleven States 
 now in rebellion. And beyond that, as a consequence of 
 a restored Union, and of the boundless prosperity which 
 awaits the auspicious event, our vast western domain 
 will be peopled with a rapidity exceeding all precedent, 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 75 
 
 and States without number almost will spring into exist 
 ence to add to the strength and insure the perpetuity of 
 our Government. Were it not for the blood so freely 
 poured out and the treasure so lavishly expended by the 
 twenty-four loyal States represented on this floor, the 
 eleven States now in revolt would not be saved from self- 
 destruction, and the forty States so speedily to grow up 
 in the Mississippi Valley and on the Pacific Slope would 
 never come into existence. Of the immense National debt 
 which we are incurring in this struggle, each State will 
 of course have to bear a share ; but it is quite manifest 
 that for two generations to come, owing to our established 
 system of taxation, the present loyal States will have to 
 endure vastly the larger proportion of the total burden. 
 Is it fair or just that in addition to this they shall each 
 be called upon to bear, unaided, a large local debt, nec 
 essarily and ye.t generously incurred in aid of the one 
 common object of preserving the life of the whole 
 nation ? Th<3 financial issue is rather between the 
 twenty-four loyal States on the one hand, and the eleven 
 revolted States, together with all future new States, on 
 the other. We have it in our power to-day to determine 
 the matter upon principles of the highest equity, and at 
 the same time for the interest of the loyal States who 
 are bearing the heat and burden of the great contest. 
 From such data as I have been able to collect, I esti 
 mate the war debts of the loyal States, and of the towns, 
 
 4* 
 
76 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 cities, and counties within those States, as amounting at 
 least to $150,000,000. If this burden is to remain per 
 manently on the communities now sustaining it we shall 
 witness the anomalous spectacle of less than one-third 
 of the prospective number of States bearing in its most 
 oppressive form $150,000,000 of debt, every dollar of 
 which was contracted as much for the benefit of the 
 other two-thirds of the Union as for themselves. 
 
 If the national debt is increased to $150,000,000 by 
 refunding to the States, the local burdens are correla- 
 tively and proportionately reduced. Not only is this so, 
 as an actual fact, but it is so in its impression and its 
 influence in financial circles. You will find that the 
 bankers in New York and London maintain a close obser 
 vation upon our state and local indebtedness, and thence 
 measure our ability to carry a national debt. One of the 
 earliest and one of the gravest questions that came up for 
 adjustment upon the organization of the government, was 
 the payment from the common purse of the nation of all 
 debts contracted by the States in their great struggle to 
 achieve our independence. The argument in favor of the 
 policy was admirably set forth by Mr. Hamilton, and in 
 accordance with his views Congress passed an act to pro 
 vide more effectually for the settlement of accounts between 
 the United States and the individual States. The second 
 precedent for refunding the expenditures made by the 
 States was in the war with England in 1812-15. Every 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 77 
 
 dollar was repaid, on the most liberal principles, the only 
 limit or qualification being that the money, whose restitu 
 tion was claimed, " had been actually expended for the 
 use and benefit of the United States during the late war 
 with Great Britain." The refunding to the States for 
 expenses incurred during the war with Mexico, was upon t 
 a basis so comprehensive and broad as to be almost liable 
 to the charge of looseness and prodigality. The refund 
 ing policy which I have proposed neither adds to nor sub 
 tracts from the debt of the loyal people who are now 
 struggling for the Union and for nationality. 
 
 Our material progress comprehends the entire circle of 
 human enterprise, agriculture, commerce, .manufac 
 tures, mining. They assure to us a growth in property 
 and population that will surpass the most sanguine de 
 ductions of our census tables, framed as those tables are 
 upon the ratios and relations of our progress in the past. 
 They give into our hands, under the blessings of Al 
 mighty God, the power to command our fate as a nation. 
 They hold out to us the grandest future reserved for any 
 people ; and with this promise they teach us the lesson of 
 patience, and make confidence and fortitude a duty. 
 With such amplitude and affluence of resources, and with 
 such a vast stake at issue, we should be unworthy of our 
 lineage and our inheritance if we for one moment dis 
 trusted our ability to maintain ourselves a united people 
 with " one country one Constitution, one destiny." 
 
78 ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 
 
 In January, 1868, Mr. Elaine introduced a resolution 
 in relation to Congressional representation, which was 
 referred to the Reconstruction Committee, and was sub 
 sequently made the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment. 
 In December, 1867, he made an elaborate speech on the 
 finances, in which he analysed Mr. Pendleton s greenback 
 theory. u The remedy for our financial troubles," said 
 he, " will not be found in a superabundance of depreci 
 ated 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 embarrass 
 ment, and private business be relieved from discourage 
 ment. Instead, therefore, of entering upon a reckless 
 and boundless issue of legal tenders, with their constant 
 depreciation, if not destruction, of value, let us set reso 
 lutely to work and make those already in circulation 
 equal to so many gold dollars." 
 
 At the opening of the first session of the XLIst Con 
 gress the Republican caucus nominated Mr. Elaine for 
 Speaker by acclamation, and he was elected by a vote of 
 136 to 57 for Mr. Kerr. He was re-elected, without op 
 position in his own party, Speaker of the XLIId and 
 XLlIId Congresses. In that position his quickness of 
 perception, decision of manner, thorough knowledge of 
 parliamentary law and usages, and impartial and judi 
 cial mind, added to his clear voice and impressive pre 
 sence, made him a most admirable presiding officer. 
 
ELAINE AS TEACHER, EDITOR, AND CONGRESSMAN. 79 
 
 The Democratic party had a majority in the House in 
 1874, and one of the inevitable consequences of that 
 state of affairs was the election of a Democratic Speaker. 
 Mr. Elaine returned to the floor of the House, where his 
 voice was heard with great effect in many a debate. He 
 had something to say on nearly every question that came 
 up for discussion, and his utterances were always positive 
 and energetic. Among all the able disputants on the 
 other side there was none who could equal him in adroit 
 ness and parliamentary skill. He was always ready to 
 meet his adversaries, never lost his self-possession for a 
 moment even under great provocation, and throughout 
 his whole career on the floor of the House of Representa 
 tives, he was second to none as a leader of the Republi 
 can party. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 Senator Merrill s Resignation. Elaine Appointed to Vacancy. 
 Afterward Elected to Unexpired and Full Terms. His Farewell 
 Address to His Constituents, Elaine s Action in the Senate on 
 Important Measures. Electoral Commission Bill. The Bland Silver 
 Bill. Speech on Finances. Effects of Inferior Standard Dollar. 
 A Dollar for the Chinese Colony and the Indian Pariah. Restora 
 tion of American Shipping. Speech Before New York Chamber 
 of Commerce. Efforts to Revive American Commerce. A Startling 
 Array of Figures. Conflicting Opinions The Carrying Trade 
 Gone to Other Countries. False Trademarks. The Business Stand 
 of the World. 
 
 In 1876 Senator Morrill of Maine resigned his 
 position in order to become Secretary of the Treasury. 
 On the 10th of July, of that year, the Governor 
 appointed Mr. Elaine to fill the vacancy caused by 
 Senator Merrill s retirement. At the next meeting of 
 the Legislature he was elected to fill the vacancy for 
 the unexpired term, and afterwards for the ensuing term 
 until May, 1883. 
 
 Soon after receiving his appointment as Senator he 
 
 wrote an address to his constituents in his congressional 
 
 (80) 
 
ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 81 
 
 district, thanking them for their support and expressing 
 the assurance that they would never be forgotten. In 
 the course of this address he said: 
 
 "Beginning with 1862 you have, by continuous elec 
 tions, sent me as your representative to the Congress of 
 the United States. For such marked confidence I have 
 endeavored to return the most zealous and devoted 
 service in my power, and it is certainly not without a 
 feeling of pain that I now surrender a trust by which I 
 have always felt so signally honored. It has been my 
 boast in public and in private that no man on the floor 
 of Congress ever represented a constituency more dis 
 tinguished for intelligence, for patriotism, for public and 
 personal virtue. The cordial support you have so 
 uniformly given me through these fourteen eventful 
 years is the chief honor of my life. In closing the 
 intimate relations I have so long held with the people 
 of this district it is a great satisfaction to me to know 
 that with returning health I shall enter upon a field of 
 duty in which 1 can still serve them in common with the 
 larger constituency of which they form a part." 
 
 His appointment to the Senate was enthusiastically 
 received throughout the State, and from one end of Maine 
 to the other the Governor s action was unanimously 
 approved. The following, from the Kennebec Journal, 
 may be taken as an indication of the popular sentiment 
 on the subject: 
 
82 ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 "Fourteen years ago, standing in the convention at 
 which he was first nominated, Mr. Elaine pledged himself 
 to use his best services for the district, and to support 
 to the best of his ability the policy of Abraham Lincoln 
 to subdue the Rebellion, and then and there expressed 
 plainly the idea that slavery must and ought to be 
 abolished to save the Union. That he has kept his 
 pledge faithfully his constituents know and feel, and the 
 records of Congress attest. To this district his abilities 
 were freely given, and as he rose in honor in the House 
 and in the public estimation he reflected honor and gave 
 strength to the constituency that supported him. Every 
 step he made in advance was a gain for them. It was 
 a grand thing for this district to have as its Representa 
 tive in Congress for six years the Speaker of the House, 
 filling the place next in importance to that of President 
 of the United States, with matchless ability. It was a 
 grander thing when he took the lead of the minority 
 in the House last December, routed the Democratic 
 majority, and drove back in dismay the ex-Confederates 
 who were intending and expecting, through the advant 
 age they had already gained, to grasp the supreme power 
 in the nation and wield it in the interest of the cause 
 of secession and rebellion revived. For what he has 
 done as their representative in Congress never will this 
 Third District of Maine forget to honor the name of 
 James G. Elaine. It will live in the hearts of this 
 
ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 83 
 
 people even as the name of Henry Clay is still loved by 
 the people of his old district in Kentucky." 
 
 For many years it had been the custom in the Senate 
 for the new members to practice the virtue of silence 
 and allow the older ones a monopoly of the speeches. 
 This tradition was by no means welcome to a man of 
 Mr. Elaine s temperament and he was not long in break 
 ing through it. On every question of importance he 
 had something to say and always with emphasis. He 
 made a strong speech in favor of restricting Chinese 
 immigration, which received both praise and abuse 
 accordingly as the subject was considered by those who 
 commented upon it. 
 
 Mr. Elaine voted against the Electoral Commission 
 Bill, by which the election of 1876 was given to Hayes, 
 and presented some very positive reasons for his action. 
 He opposed the Bland Silver Bill in a speech of great 
 force and favored the coinage of an honest dollar of 
 silver. Many men who opposed his views at the time 
 have since arrived at his way of thinking, and regard 
 the Bland Silver Bill as he did when it was under dis 
 cussion and about to become a law. 
 
 On the question of bimetallic or monometallic stand 
 ard, Mr. Blaine said : " I believe the struggle now going 
 on for a single gold standard, would, if successful, pro 
 duce wide-spread disasters in the end throughout the 
 commercial world. The destruction of silver as money 
 
84 ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 and establishing gold as the sole unit of value must 
 have a ruinous effect on all forms of property, except 
 those investments which yield a fixed return in money. 
 These would be enormously enhanced in value, and 
 would gain a disproportionate and unfair advantage over 
 every other species of property. I believe the public 
 creditor can afford to be paid in any silver dollar that 
 the United States can afford to coin and circulate. We 
 have forty thousand millions of property in this country, 
 and a wise self-interest will not permit us to overturn its 
 relations by seeking for an inferior dollar wherewith to 
 settle the dues and demands of any creditor. 
 
 "The interest of the public creditor is indissolubly 
 bound up with the interests of the whole people. What 
 ever affects him affects us ; and the evil that we might 
 inflict upon him by paying an inferior dollar would 
 recoil upon us with a vengeance as manifold as the 
 aggregate wealth of the Republic transcends the com 
 paratively small limits of our bonded debt. If paid in 
 a good silver dollar, the bondholder has nothing to com 
 plain of. If paid in an inferior silver dollar, he has the 
 same grievance that will be uttered still more plaintively 
 by the holder of the legal-tender note and of the national 
 bank bill, by the pensioner, by the day laborer, and by 
 the countless hosts of the poor, whom we have with us 
 always, and on whom the most distressing effect of 
 inferior money will be ultimately precipitated. 
 
ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 85 
 
 " Ever since we demonetized the old dollar we have 
 been running our mints at full speed, coining a new 
 silver dollar for the use of the Chinese cooly and the 
 Indian pariah a dollar containing 420 grains of stand 
 ard silver, with its superiority over our ancient dollar 
 ostentatiously engraved on its reverse side. To these 
 outside barbarians we send this superior dollar, bearing 
 all our national emblems, our patriotic devices, our pious 
 inscriptions, our goddess of liberty, our defiant eagle, 
 our federal unity, our trust in God." 
 
 Both in Congress and out of it Mr. Elaine has devoted 
 much attention to the subject of the restoration of Amer 
 ican commerce to the position it held before the Civil 
 War, and the destruction of our shipping by Confederate 
 cruisers of English construction, and fitted and manned 
 in English ports. He has written many letters and 
 made many speeches on the subject, all of them charac 
 terized by the minuteness of details for which he is 
 famous. Coming from a ship-building state his attention 
 was drawn to the matter at the very beginning of his 
 political career and he has constantly kept himself 
 thoroughly informed concerning all its features. 
 
 One of his most famous speeches on this subject was 
 made at a dinner of the Chamber of Commerce of New 
 York in 1880. It was regarded as a masterly presenta 
 tion of the claims of American Commerce upon Ameri 
 can Merchants and the means required for its restoration. 
 
86 ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 In the course of his speech on that occasion Mr. 
 Elaine said : 
 
 "In reading the toast to which I am to respond, I 
 really do not know exactly at what it is aimed. If it is 
 aimed at me, it is to congratulate me on failure, and not 
 on success. If it be a confession on the part of the 
 Chamber of Commerce that this is their creed, then it is 
 the beginning of the end of the victory to come ; because, 
 if I speak the voice of the Chamber of Commerce of the 
 State of New York in that toast, I know that I speak 
 with a voice far mightier than any that has been raised 
 in Congress ; and I have it to declare, that if it be the 
 will of that chamber and of the people to initiate a pol 
 icy for the revival of American commerce, then it is 
 done. 
 
 " But you will permit me to say, speaking as an out 
 sider, to the Chamber of Commerce, and coming as I do 
 from a commercial State, that commerce needs a revival 
 in this country. Every other interest in this country for 
 the last fifteen years, even including the years 1866-67, 
 a year of doubt and depression, has been gathering 
 strength, and is ready to march forward to victory, save 
 only the commerce of the Nation. Now I suppose, that 
 figures are familiar to you, gentlemen, but the figures of 
 American commerce in its decline are startling. Twenty 
 years ago, of the tonnage engaged in the foreign trade of 
 the United States, fully three-fourths was American. 
 
ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 87 
 
 Of the tonnage engaged in the foreign trade of the United 
 States to-day, not one-fourth is American. In 1856-57, 
 Great Britain, the leading Commercial Nation of the 
 world, had only 950,000 tons engaged in the trade 
 between the United States and that kingdom. She has 
 5,200,000 tons now. Qermany then had but 166,000 
 tons ; this last year she had 950,000 tons. Norway and 
 Sweden, twenty years ago, had in trade between this 
 country and their own but 20,000 tons ; last year s reports 
 show that they had 850,000 tons. Even Austria, penned 
 up with a limited seaboard as she is, had in commerce 
 with us, twenty years ago, not a vessel of her own ; but 
 last year she had no less than 220,000 tons. And I 
 might go on thus through the whole list. 
 
 In this mighty increase of commerce from 4,400,000 
 to over 11,000.000 tons, the United States has gone back 
 ward, and all the vast profit of this trade has gone into 
 the coffers of other nations. Let me ask of you here, 
 what other interests have gone backward in that period ? 
 Have manufactures ? They have outstripped emigration. 
 Has agriculture ? Why, it has gone ahead of every pos 
 sible calculation. Has internal commerce ? Why, we 
 have increased from 30,000 to 68,000 miles of railroads, 
 and the Government of the United States, besides giv 
 ing sixty millions in money, has given to internal com 
 merce over 200,000,000 acres of the public domain- 
 more than New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, Ohio, 
 
88 BLAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 and Maryland combined. And meantime she lias pro 
 tected by tariff every article that the American artisan 
 and the American capitalist would invest in the manufac 
 ture of. But for the foreign commerce of this country, 
 what has she done ? Left it to the alien and the stran 
 ger ; and in the last ten years, the value of the products 
 carried between this country and foreign countries has 
 exceeded 111,000,000,000, out of the carrying of which, 
 somebody has made 1110,000,000 per annum a sum far 
 larger than the interest of the public debt. And who has 
 made this money ? France, England, Germany. Every 
 body excepting the United States. Think of it ! $110,- 
 000,000 in gold coin has gone out of the commerce of 
 this country into the commerce of other countries. Can 
 New York stand this ? Can this great port sustain such 
 loss as this, with all her unbounded advantages of posi 
 tion and resources, and with the magnificent continental 
 commerce that stands behind her ? I say, gentlemen, 
 that if the carrying trade of this country, aggregating 
 $110,000,000, is permanently turned from us, then the 
 question of specie payment becomes one of far more 
 complicated difficulty than it is to-day. 
 
 " To-day you can put a barrel of flour or a bushel of 
 wheat from Chicago into Liverpool at a cheaper rate 
 than you could bring it, ten years ago, from Buffalo to 
 New York. With the cheap rates for freights, there- 
 
ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 89 
 
 fore, the great landed estates of England that are 
 rented at <2 to <2 10s. per acre, cannot pretend to com 
 pete with products that are raised on lands the fee 
 simple of which is not half as much as the annual 
 rental of the English lands. In view of these facts, I 
 say we are destined to feed the world, because we can 
 do it cheaper than anybody else can do it. Why, the 
 tonnage from New York to Buffalo was $85 a ton the 
 year before the Erie Canal was opened, but it fell to 
 $9 a ton a year afterward. That was considered a 
 marvel. And yet, that is more than it is to-day from 
 the far Northwest, from Minneapolis to the principal 
 ports of Europe. 
 
 " There is nothing that we have not done in this country 
 to encourage railroad building. Why, it is one continu 
 ous route from Chicago to Liverpool ; but we take one 
 thousand miles and give three thousand miles to the 
 foreigner, and that is the way we are dividing our 
 carrying trade. Why should we not carry it across the 
 sea, and if they can make profit in doing it, so can we. 
 If New York will throw her heart into this matter, the 
 rest will follow, and then we will have the commercial, 
 manufacturing, and agricultural interests of our country 
 going forward, hand in hand, as they should go, mutually 
 supporting each other. I know there is a difference of 
 opinion as to the means by which this is to be accom 
 plished. 
 
90 ELAINE IN THE SENATE. 
 
 " One man says, i tear down your navigation laws, and 
 let us have free ships. Now, I am opposed to that, 
 because that does not tend to build up American com 
 merce. I don t believe in false trade-marks. I don t 
 believe that buying a British ship, and calling her an 
 American ship, makes her an American ship. I believe 
 that this very day and hour every single article that 
 goes into the manufacture of a ship, can be produced 
 and made as well here as in any spot on this earth. 
 Just so long as this country fails to become, or delays 
 its arrival at the position of a great and triumphal com 
 mercial nation, just so long it is defeating the ends of 
 Providence. We have 17,000 miles of our coast line 
 looking toward Europe, Asia, and Africa, giving us a 
 larger sea frontage than all Europe, beginning at Arch 
 angel and running to the pillars of Hercules, and beyond 
 them to the gates of Trebizond. Ralph Waldo Emerson 
 has said that England was great because she had the 
 best business stand on the globe. That was, perhaps, 
 once true. But it is true no longer. To-day the best 
 business stand is changed, and it is to be found in the 
 United States, and your great imperial city, with its 
 matchless commercial connections and position, and its 
 magnificent harbor, is destined to be, under the enter- 
 prize and guidance of its merchants, what London has 
 dreamed of, but never yet has realized. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 General Garfield asks for an Interview with Mr. Elaine soon after 
 the Election of 1880. Offers of the Portfolio of Secretary of State. 
 His Great Surprise. His Hesitation and Acceptance. His Letter 
 to Garfield. His Great Friendship for Garfield. Elaine s Diplo 
 matic Career. Efforts for Peace in South America. Proposed Con 
 gress of American Nations. What it was Expected to Accomplish. 
 An Important and Impressive Step. Applying Christian Princi 
 ples to the Affairs of Nations. The Monroe Doctrine. The Pana 
 ma Canal. English Hostility to Elaine, and its Cause. 
 
 The election of 1880, determined that General Gar- 
 field would be inaugurated President of the United 
 States on the fourth of March of the following year. 
 A short time after the election, General Garfield wrote 
 to Mr. Blaine, asking for a meeting in Washington about 
 November 24th. The invitation was accepted, and the 
 two gentlemen met at Garfi eld s residence in the na 
 tional Capital, on the afternoon of November 26th. They 
 were closely closeted for two hours, and during the 
 interview General Garfield tendered to Mr. Blaine the 
 
 5 (91) 
 
92 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 portfolio of Secretary of State, without making any 
 reservation whatever concerning it. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Elaine had recovered from his sur 
 prise, he asked for time to consider the offer. General 
 Garfield urged him to accept at once, but Mr. Elaine 
 declined, and said the matter was too important to be 
 disposed of in a moment. 
 
 On the following day, Mr. Elaine communicated the 
 fact of the offer to some of his confidential friends, and 
 told them he was inclined to accept it provided the 
 selection was approved by the sentiment of the country. 
 His friends urged him to accept, as they felt confident 
 that the voice of the press and public would endorse the 
 choice of the President-elect. 
 
 In the early part of December it was positively an 
 nounced in newspapers friendly to the incoming admin 
 istration that General Garfield had invited Senator 
 Elaine to become Secretary of State in the incoming 
 cabinet. Of course the selection was opposed in some 
 quarters, though it met with general approval through 
 out the country. When this fact became known to Mr. 
 Elaine, he wrote the following letter of acceptance : 
 
 " WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 1880. 
 
 " MY DEAR GARFIELD : Your generous invitation to 
 enter your cabinet as Secretary of State has been under 
 consideration for more than three weeks. The thought 
 
ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 93 
 
 had really never occurred to my mind until at our late 
 conference you presented it with such cogent arguments 
 in its favor, and with such warmth of personal friendship 
 in aid of your kind offer. 
 
 " I know that an early answer is desirable, and I have 
 waited only long enough to consider the subject in all its 
 bearings, and to make up my mind, definitely and con 
 clusively. I now say to you, in the same cordial spirit 
 in which you have invited me, that I accept the position. 
 
 " It is no affectation for me to add that I make this 
 decision, not for the honor of the promotion it gives me 
 in the public service, but because I think I can be useful 
 to the country and to the party ; useful to you as the 
 responsible leader of the party and the great head of the 
 government. 
 
 " I am influenced somewhat, perhaps, by the shower 
 of letters I have received urging me to accept, written to 
 me in consequence of the mere unauthorized newspaper 
 report that you had been pleased to offer me the place. 
 While I have received these letters from all sections of 
 the Union, I have been especially pleased and even sur 
 prised at the cordial and widely-extended feeling in my 
 favor throughout New England, where I had expected to 
 encounter local jealousy and perhaps rival aspiration. 
 
 " In our new relation I shall give all that I am and all 
 that I can hope to be, freely and joyfully, to your ser 
 vice. You need no pledge of my loyalty in heart and in 
 
94 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 act. I should be false to myself did I not prove true 
 both to the great trust you confide to me and to your 
 own personal and political fortunes in the present and in 
 the future. Your administration must be made bril 
 liantly successful and strong in the confidence and pride 
 of the people, not at all directing its energies for reelec 
 tion, and yet compelling that result by the logic of events, 
 and by the imperious necessities of the situation. 
 
 " To that most desirable consummation I feel that, 
 next to yourself, I can possibly contribute as much influ 
 ence as any other one man. I say this not from egotism 
 or vain-glory, but merely as a deduction from a plain 
 analysis of the political forces which have been at work 
 in the country for five years past, and which have been 
 significantly shown in two great national conventions. 
 I accept it as one of the happiest circumstances connected 
 with this affair that in allying my political fortunes with 
 yours or rather for the time merging mine in yours 
 my heart goes with my head, and that I carry to you 
 not only political support but personal and devoted friend 
 ship. I can but regard it as somewhat remarkable that 
 two men of the same age, entering Congress at the same 
 time, influenced by the same aims and cherishing the 
 same ambitions, should never, for a single moment in 
 eighteen years of close intimacy, have had a misunder 
 standing or a coolness, and that our friendship has 
 steadily grown with our growth and strengthened with 
 our strength. 
 
BLAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 95 
 
 " It is this fact which has led me to the conclusion 
 embodied in this letter ; for however much, my dear Gar- 
 field, I might admire you as a statesman, I would not 
 enter your cabinet if I did not believe in you as a man 
 and love you as a friend. Always faithfully yours. 
 
 "JAMES G. BLAINE." 
 
 Mr. Elaine s diplomatic career covers a period of nine 
 months, terminating with his resignation December 
 19, 1881. On assuming the office of Secretary of State 
 on the accession of President Garfield, he declared that 
 his policy would he to bring about peace and prevent 
 future wars in North and South America, and to culti 
 vate such friendly relations with all American countries 
 as would lead to a large increase in the seaport trade of 
 the United States. The right and duty of the United 
 States to assert and maintain such supervision and 
 authority over any inter-oceanic canal across the isthmus 
 that connects North and South America as would pro 
 tect our national interests had been asserted by Presi 
 dent Garfield in his inaugural address. Congress had 
 approved the proposed policy, and Mr. Elaine determined 
 that he would support it. At his suggestion the Euro 
 pean governments were advised of the exclusive rights 
 that this government had secured with the country which 
 the proposed waterway would traverse, and the powers 
 were notified that any foreign guarantee of neutrality 
 
96 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 would be an unfriendly act, as well as totally unnecessary. 
 According to the terms of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 
 1850, the United States had entered into a special agree 
 ment with Great Britain on this subject; Mr. Elaine 
 made a formal proposal to the powers for the abrogation 
 of all provisions of that convention which were not in 
 accord with the guarantees and privileges convenanted 
 for in the compact with the Colombian Republic, the 
 latter having shortly before proposed to the European 
 powers to join in a guarantee of the neutrality of the 
 proposed Panama canal. 
 
 The papers in reference to this case were amongst the 
 most elaborate of all receiving his signature as Secretary 
 of State during his nine months of office. Mr. Elaine 
 claimed that according to the terms of the Clayton-Bul 
 wer treaty, the right was conceded to Great Britain to 
 control any canal which might be built across the isthmus, 
 as that power, owing to its insular position and colonial 
 possessions, was compelled to maintain a naval establish 
 ment with which the United States would not compete. 
 " The treaty," wrote Mr. Elaine, " commands this gov 
 ernment not to use a single regiment of troops to pro 
 tect its interests in connection with the inter-oceanic 
 canal, but to surrender the transit to the guardianship 
 and control of the British navy." Mr. Elaine s argu 
 ment was considered unanswerable. 
 
 The war between Chili and Peru, which was brought 
 
ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 97 
 
 to a close in January, 1881, by the occupation of the 
 Peruvian Capital by the victorious Chilians, also claimed 
 Mr. Elaine s attention, and efforts were made on his part 
 to bring about a treaty of peace between the two coun 
 tries. With this end in view Mr. Elaine sent his son, 
 Walker Elaine, and Mr. Trescott as special envoys to 
 confer with Pierola, the President of Peru, who had fled 
 some distance from Lima, Calderon, the provisional resi 
 dent at Lima, and the Government of Chili. The result 
 of their mission was watched with much interest, and it 
 was hoped that Mr. Elaine s endeavors in the interest of 
 peace would bear good results. Before negotiations 
 could be entered upon by the envoys Mr. Elaine had 
 resigned the portfolio of the State Department, and his 
 successor countermanded the instructions he (Elaine) 
 had given. Mr. Elaine s step was a bold, strong, and 
 pacific one. Its reversal led to a period of no-policy by 
 which means Chili was allowed to dictate most exacting 
 terms with Peru. 
 
 Mr. Elaine s proposition for a Peace Congress com 
 posed of the Governments of North and South America 
 was, perhaps, the most notable event during his career 
 as Secretary of State. The object of the congress was 
 the agreement, if possible, upon some plan by which war 
 would be averted between any two or more of the parties 
 represented at the congress. The conference, it was 
 intended, should likewise adopt some means of arbitra- 
 
98 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 tion for preserving peace in the future. The subject of 
 resisting the intrigues of European diplomacy was also to 
 be discussed. This brilliant idea, which would undoubt 
 edly have resulted in closer relationship with our conti 
 nental neighbors, if nothing more important, also 
 resulted in no good, Mr. Elaine s successor having also 
 countermanded the convention of the proposed congress. 
 Mr. Elaine s suggestion was generally approved wher 
 ever it was understood, and it was regarded as certain 
 that all troubles between the different American States 
 could be quickly, satisfactorily, and effectually adjusted 
 by means of a system of arbitration. 
 
 Commenting upon the proposed treaty, one writer says : 
 
 " The triumph of Christian principles, as applied to 
 the affairs of nations, was within our grasp, and could 
 have been reached by the mere asking for it. Its 
 influence throughout Christendom would have been 
 immense, and generations of men yet to come would 
 have learned to bless the seventeen nations of the new 
 world, and speak the name of Elaine with reverence." 
 
 Concerning the proposed Congress of American States 
 Mr. Elaine wrote shortly after : 
 
 " It was an important and impressive step on the part 
 of the United States toward closer relationship with our 
 continental neighbors. In no event could harm have 
 resulted in the assembling of a Peace Congress. Failure 
 was next to impossible. Success might be regarded as 
 certain. The subject to be discussed was peace, and how 
 
ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 it can be permanently preserved in North and South 
 America. The labors of the congress would have prob 
 ably ended in a well digested system of arbitration, under 
 which all troubles between American States could be 
 quickly, effectually, and satisfactorily adjusted. Such a 
 consummation would have been worth a great struggle 
 and a great sacrifice. It could have been reached with 
 out any struggle, and would have involved no sacrifice. 
 It was within our grasp. It was ours for the asking. 
 It would have been a signal victory of philanthropy ovfcc 
 the selfishness of human ambition ; a complete triumph 
 of Christian principles as applied to the affairs of 
 Nations. It would have reflected enduring honor on our 
 new country, and would have imparted a new spirit and 
 a new brotherhood to all America. Nor would its influ 
 ence beyond the sea have been small. The example of 
 seventeen independent nations solemnly agreeing to 
 abolish the arbitrament of the sword, and to settle every 
 dispute by peaceful methods of adjudication, would have 
 exerted an influence to the utmost confines of civiliza 
 tion, and upon the generations of men yet to come." 
 
 It was not to be expected that England would look 
 with satisfaction on the efforts of Mr. Elaine to establish 
 such relations with the South American states as would 
 tend to increase the commerce of the United States in 
 that direction, and proportionally diminish the volume of 
 British trade. The English papers of that time had a 
 
 5* 
 
100 ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 
 
 great deal to say on the subject, and from a British point 
 of view the wickedness of his action was plainly indi 
 cated. Mr. Elaine has been an earnest advocate of direct 
 trade with South America, and the congress of American 
 nations was an important movement for securing the 
 desired result. 
 
 The day after his nomination for the Presidency, the 
 Pall Mall Gazette published the following, under the 
 heading, " A Eeaconsfield Beyond the Sea :" 
 
 " Mr. Elaine s nomination is the most notable event 
 for England since President Lincoln was assassinated. 
 Wherever Mr. Blame can oust the British from the posi 
 tion they hold on the American Continent he will endeavor 
 to replace English influence and trade by American. His 
 menacing intimation that he would disregard the Clayton- 
 Bulwer treaty is an evil augury for the future relations 
 of England and America. His intervention in Peru was 
 most ominous when he declared that he disliked England 
 to win commercial triumphs in fields which legitimately 
 belong to America. England will watch with extreme 
 solicitude the progress of the Electoral campaign." 
 
 There is no question but that " England will watch 
 with extreme solicitude the progress of the Electoral 
 campaign," and, should it result in the election of Mr. 
 Elaine, there is no doubt that the event will be regarded 
 as a calamity in the minds of many British merchants. 
 The American merchant and the American manufacturer 
 
ELAINE IN DIPLOMACY. 101 
 
 will have a different feeling on the subject ; there will be 
 a prospect of regaining a part, at least, of the trade that 
 has gone from us to Great Britain, and the Pall Mall 
 G-azette states the case fairly when it says : " Wherever 
 Mr. Elaine can oust the British from the commercial 
 position they hold on the American Continent he will 
 endeavor to replace English influence and trade by 
 American." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 Assassination of President Garfield. Mr. Elaine s Narrow Escape. 
 His Devotion to the Wounded President. His Celebrated Eulogy 
 on Garfield. A Masterpiece of Eloquence. How it was Received. 
 A Distinguished Audience. Breathless Attention. Comparison 
 between 1805 and 1881. The Ancestors of Garfield. Cause of the 
 English and French Emigrations to America. Garfield s Boyhood. 
 A Life of Privation and Poverty. His Struggle for Education. 
 Youth and College Days. His Military Life and Record. Rare 
 Honors. His Career in Congress. Garfield s Place in History. His 
 Services as President. Religious Convictions. Closing Scenes of 
 an Honorable Life. 
 
 On the morning of July 2d, 1881, President Garfield 
 went to the station of the Baltimore & Potomac rail 
 way to take the limited express train for New York, on 
 his way to a reunion with his classmates of Williams 
 College. Mr. Elaine accompanied him to the station and 
 was walking arm-in-arm with his chief when the report 
 of Guiteau s pistol rang through the building. Garfield 
 was shot down by the hand of an assassin, and during 
 the weeks that he lingered the nation was without a 
 responsible head. The story is too well known to need 
 
 (102) 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 105 
 
 repetition here. The whole civilized world shared in the 
 sorrow of the Western Republic, and from every land 
 came expressions of sympathy at the Nation s loss. 
 
 Throughout all that weary and dreadful time, Mr. 
 Elaine s devotion to the President was unflagging. Day 
 by day and night by night, he was at the bedside of the 
 sufferer, endeavoring by every means in his power to 
 soothe the pain of the assassin s victim. At the same 
 time he was earnest in attention to his official duties, and 
 it is the universal testimony of all familiar with the 
 events that clustered around President and Cabinet from 
 the Second of July till the day of Garfi eld s death that 
 the conduct of Mr. Elaine was without fault. 
 
 By vote of Congress Mr. Elaine was selected to deliver 
 a formal eulogy upon President Garneld. Of this duty 
 he acquitted himself on the 19th of February, 1882, 
 before an audience which included President Arthur and 
 his Cabinet, both Houses of Congress, the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, the Foreign Legations, and 
 many other distinguished personages, that rilled the Hall 
 of the House of Representatives to its utmost capacity. 
 The address was a just and careful review of the life 
 and career of the martyred President, and a most elo 
 quent tribute to his memory. Garfield s place in history 
 was clearly denned, and the address was listened to with 
 breathless attention, from the first to the final word of 
 the speaker s utterance. 
 
106 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 The following extracts are presented with the regrc ( 
 that space does not permit the reproduction of the entire 
 text of the oration. They are from a copy published 
 with the authorization of Mr. Elaine, and from the man 
 uscript that was prepared by him. 
 
 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 "MB. PKESIDENT. 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 mem 
 ory 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. 
 
 " From the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth till the uprising 
 against Charles I, about twenty thousand emigrants came from 
 Old England to New England. As they came in pursuit of intel 
 lectual freedom and ecclesiastical independence rather than for 
 worldly honor and profit, the emigration naturally ceased when the 
 contest for religious liberty began in earnest at home. The Eng 
 lish emigration was never renewed ; and from these twenty thou 
 sand men, w r ith a small emigration from Scotland and from France, 
 are descended the vast numbers who have New England blood in 
 their veins. 
 
 "In 1685 the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV 
 scattered to other countries four hundred thousand Protestants, 
 who were among the most intelligent and enterprising of French 
 subjects, merchants of capital, skilled manufacturers, and handi- 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 107 
 
 - ; raftsmen, superior at the time to all others in Europe. A consider- 
 t *ble number of these Huguenot French came to America ; a few 
 landed in New England, and became honorably prominent in its 
 history. 
 
 " From these two sources, the English-Puritan and the French- 
 Huguenot, came the late President ; his father, Abram Garfield, 
 being descended from the one, and his mother, Eliza Ballou, from 
 the other. 
 
 It was good stock on both sides none better, none braver, none 
 truer. There was in it an inheritance of courage, of manliness, of 
 imperishable love of liberty, of undying adherence to principle. 
 Garfield was proud of his blood ; and, with as much satisfaction as 
 if he were a British nobleman reading his stately ancestral record 
 in Burke s Peerage, he spoke of himself as ninth in descent from 
 those who would not endure the oppression of the Stuarts, and 
 seventh in descent from the brave French Protestants who refused 
 to submit to tyranny even from the Grand Monarque. 
 
 "Gen. Garfield delighted to dwell on these traits; and, during 
 his only visit to England, he busied himself in discovering every 
 trace of his forefathers in parish registries and on ancient army 
 rolls. Sitting with a friend in the gallery of the House of Com 
 mons one night, after a long day s labor in this field of research, 
 he said with evident elation that in every war in which for three 
 centuries patriots of English blood had struck sturdy blows for 
 constitutional government and human liberty, his family had been 
 represented. They were at Marston Moor, at Naseby, and at Pres 
 ton; they were at Bunker Hill, at Saratoga, and at Monmouth; 
 and in his own person had battled for the same great cause in the 
 war which preserved the Union of the States. 
 
 " Losing his father before he was two years old, the early life of 
 Garfield was one of privation; but its poverty has been made 
 
108 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 indelicately arid 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. Gen, 
 Garfield s infancy and youth had none of their destitution, none of 
 their 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. 
 
 " 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 agri 
 cultural regions of the West where a house-raising, or even a corn- 
 husking, is matter of common interest and hopefulness, 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 train 
 ing for the future citizenship and future government of the 
 Republic. 
 
 "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 litera 
 ture. 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 his efforts, 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 109 
 
 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. 
 
 "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, lie 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 knowl 
 edge 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. 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 
 rouo-h winter weather, into a strange country, among a hostile pop 
 ulation, 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 
 
110 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 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 dis 
 persion 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 un 
 usual and extraneous importance, and in the popular judgment 
 elevated the young commander to the rank of a military hero. 
 Major-Gen. Buell, commanding the Department of the Ohio, 
 declared that his service 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 com 
 mission. 
 
 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 in the great battle of Shiloh. 
 The remainder of the year 1882 was not especially eventful to Gar- 
 field, as it was not to the armies with which he was serving. 
 ************ 
 " Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important 
 and responsible post of chief-of-staff to Gen. Rosecrans, then at 
 the head of the Army of the Cumberland. 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 Chickaniauga, a field which, however disastrous to the 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. Ill 
 
 Union arms, gave to him the occasion of winning imperishable 
 laurels. The very rare distinction was accorded him of a great 
 promotion for his 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 re-organized under the 
 command of Gen. Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of 
 its divisions. IJe 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. 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 special value in the House of Representatives. 
 He resigned his commission of major-general on the fifth day of 
 December, 1863, and took his seat in the House of Representatives 
 on the seventh. 
 
 "The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in his 
 tory 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. Only 
 twenty-four States were represented, and one hundred and eighty- 
 two members were upon its roll. Among these were many dis 
 tinguished party leaders on both sides, veterans in 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 Gen. Thomas, or taking his seat in, 
 Congress, was kept open till the last moment, so late, indeed 
 
112 BLAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 that the resignation of his military commission and his appearance 
 in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uni 
 form of a major-general of the United States Army on Saturday; 
 and on Mcnda}^ in civilian s dress, he answered to the roll-call as 
 a Representative in Congress from the State of Ohio. 
 
 "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. Specu 
 lation 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 that he made at the bar were distin 
 guished 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 adapta 
 tions, 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 Repre 
 sentatives. That service was exceptionally long. He was nine 
 times consecutively chosen to the House, an honor enjoyed by not 
 more than six 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 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 113 
 
 careful and systematic study to public questions, and he came to 
 every discussion in which he took part with elaborate and com 
 plete preparation. He was a steady and indefatigable worker. 
 He was a pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no 
 petty advantage, stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided per 
 sonal 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 mar 
 shaled 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 com 
 plained that he was giving his case away. But never in his pro 
 longed 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. 
 
 "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 be valua 
 ble for future reference. His speeches are numerous, many of 
 them brilliant, all of them well studied, carefully phrased, 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 history 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 towards specie 
 resumption, true theories of revenue, may be reviewed, unsur- 
 
114 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 rounded by prejudice and disconnected from partisanism, the 
 speeches of Garficld 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. 
 
 "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 a Senator from Ohio, kept him in the 
 public eye as a man occupying the very highest rank among those 
 entitled to be called statesmen. As a candidate he 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 vol 
 ume and momentum until the close of his victorious campaign. 
 
 " No might nor greatness in mortality 
 
 Can censure scape; back- wounding calumny 
 The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong 
 Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue? 
 
 " Under it all he was cairn and strong and confident ; never lost 
 his self-possession, did no unwise act, spoke no hasty or ill-consid 
 ered word. Indeed, nothing in his whole life is more remarkable 
 or more creditable than his bearing through those five full months 
 of vituperation, a prolonged agony of trial to a sensitive man, a 
 constant and cruel draft upon the powers of moral endurance. 
 The great mass of these unjust imputations passed unnoticed, and 
 with the general debris of the campaign fell into oblivion. But in 
 a few instances the iron entered his soul, and he died with the 
 injury unforgotten if not unforgiven. 
 
 " In the beginning of his presidential life Garfield s experience 
 did not yield him pleasure or satisfaction. The duties that engross 
 so large a portion of the President s time were distasteful to him, 
 and were unfavorably contrasted with his legislative work. But, 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 115 
 
 while many of the executive duties were not grateful to him, he 
 was assiduous and conscientious in their discharge. From the very 
 outset he exhibited administrative talent of a high order. He 
 grasped the helm of office with the hand of a master. His dispo 
 sition of business was orderly and rapid. His power of analysis, 
 and his skill in classification, enabled him to dispatch a vast mass 
 of detail with singular promptness and ease. His Cabinet meetings 
 were admirably conducted. His clear presentation of official sub 
 jects, his well-considered suggestion of topics on which discussion 
 was invited, his quick decision when all had been heard, combined 
 to show a thoroughness of mental training as rare as his natural 
 ability and his facile adaptation to a new and enlarged field of 
 labor. 
 
 "Gar-field s ambition for the success of his administration was 
 high. With strong caution and conservatism in his nature, he 
 was in no danger of attempting rash experiments or of resorting 
 to the empiricism of statesmanship. But he believed that renewed 
 and closer attention should be given to questions affecting the 
 material interests and commercial prospects of fifty millions of 
 people. He believed that our continental relations, extensive and 
 undeveloped as they are, involved responsibility, and could be cul 
 tivated into profitable friendship or be abandoned to harmful indif 
 ference or lasting enmity. He believed with equal confidence that 
 an essential forerunner to a new era of national progress must be a 
 feeling of contentment in every section of the Union, and a gener 
 ous belief that the benefits and burdens of government would be 
 common to all. He was an American in all his aspirations, and he 
 looked to the destiny and influence of the United States with the 
 philosophic composure of Jefferson and the demonstrative confi 
 dence of John Adams. 
 
 "The religious element in Garfield s character was deep and 
 
116 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 earnest. In his early youth he espoused the faith of the Disciples, 
 a sect of that great Baptist communion, wind in different eccle 
 siastical establishments is so numerous and so influential through 
 out all parts of the United States. But the broadening tendency 
 of his mind and his active spirit of inquiry were early apparent, 
 and carried him beyond the dogma s sect and the restraints of asso 
 ciation. In selecting a college in which to continue his education, 
 he rejected Bethany, though presided over by Alexander Campbell, 
 the greatest preacher of his Church. His reasons were character 
 istic : first, that Bethany leaned too heavily toward slavery ; and, 
 second, that being himself a Disciple, and the son of Disciple 
 parents, he had little acquaintance with people of other beliefs, 
 and he thought it would make him more liberal, quoting his own 
 words, both in his religious and general views, to go into a new 
 circle, and be under new influences. 
 
 "The liberal tendency which he anticipated as the result of 
 wider culture was fully realized. He was emancipated from mere 
 sectarian belief, and with eager interest pushed his investigations 
 in the direction of modern progressive thought. He followed 
 with quickening step in the paths of exploration and speculation 
 so fearlessly trodden by Darwin, by Huxley, by Tyndall, and by 
 other living scientists of the radical and advanced type. But after 
 this range of speculation, and this latitude of doubt, Garfield came 
 back always with freshness and delight to the simpler instincts of 
 religious faith, which, earliest implanted, longest survive. Not 
 many weeks before his assassination, walking on the banks of the 
 Potomac with a friend, and conversing on those topics of per 
 sonal religion concerning which noble natures have an uncon 
 querable reserve, he said that he found the Lord s Prayer and the 
 simple petitions learned in infancy infinitely restful to him, not 
 merely in their stated repetition, but in their casual and frequent 
 recall as he went about the daily duties of life. 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 117 
 
 "The crowning characteristic of Gen. Garfield s religious opin 
 ions, as, indeed, of all his opinions, was his liberality. In all 
 things he had charity. Tolerance was of his nature. He respected 
 in others the qualities which he possessed himself, sincerity of 
 conviction, and frankness of expression. With him the inquiry 
 was not so much what a man believes, but, does he believe it? 
 The lines of his friendship and his confidence encircled men of 
 every creed, and men of no creed; and to the end of his life, on 
 his ever-lengthening list of friends, were to be found the names of 
 a pious Catholic priest and of an honest-minded and generous- 
 hearted free-thinker. 
 
 1 On the morning of Saturday, July 2, the President was a 
 contented and happy man not in an ordinary degree, but joy 
 fully, almost boyishly happy. On his way to the railroad-station 
 to which he drove slowly, in conscious enjoyment of the beautiful 
 morning,*with an unwonted sense of leisure and a keen anticipa 
 tion of pleasure, his talk was all in the grateful and gratulatory 
 vein. 
 
 " 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 skv. 
 His terrible fate was upon him in an instant. One moment he 
 stook 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 interest, from its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into 
 the visible presence of death and he did not quail. Not alone 
 6 
 
118 ELAINE S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 
 
 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 house 
 hold 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 demands. Before him, deso 
 lation and great darkness! And his soul was not shaken. His 
 countrymen were thrilled with instant, profound, and universal 
 sympathy. Masterful in 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 the suffer 
 ing. 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 craving 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 
 
ELAINE S EULOGY ON GAHFIELD. 119 
 
 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 mean 
 ing which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us 
 believe that in the silence of the receding world he heard the 
 great waves breaking on a farther shore, and felt already upon his 
 wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Personal Magnetism of Mr. Elaine. His Character Among His 
 Friends. His Powers as a Conversationalist. Reminded of Little 
 Stories. An Anecdote to the Point. " How Salt this Soup is! but I 
 Like it." How he is Regarded at Home. Personal Friends Among 
 Democrats. Reminiscences of Hon. Robert E. Williams of" Illinois. 
 Chums at College. Elaine s Ambition to be a Journalist. Meeting 
 after an Interval of Thirty Years. Elaine s Recognition of His Old 
 Friend." Bobby Williams." Story of an Introduction at a Recep 
 tion. How a Stranger was Impressed. Magnetism at the Chicago 
 Convention. Excitement among Delegates and Speculators A Cor 
 respondent s Interview. The White Dove at Chicamauga. Elaine s 
 Prank with the Haystack. 
 
 Every positive man in this world has many friends 
 unless he is peculiarly constituted, and, on the other hand, 
 he generally has a goodly array of enemies. Mr. Blame 
 is no exception to this rule. He is described as warm 
 hearted in the fullest meaning of that oft-abused word, 
 ready to do all in his power to aid his friends without 
 thought of a possible return for his efforts, and an embod 
 iment of charity and generosity whose like is not easy 
 to find. His personal magnetism has been made the sub- 
 
 (120) 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 121 
 
 ject of many a graphic story, and the influence of his 
 name upon multitudes who never met him face to face is 
 indicated by the wild enthusiasm that greeted his nomi 
 nation at Chicago. Men who have attended all the 
 National Conventions for the last twenty years say it has 
 never been surpassed in a single instance and many of 
 them declare it has never been equaled. And all this 
 for a man who had been for three years out of public 
 life, was not on friendly terms with the administration, 
 and had not an office to bestow upon one of his followers. 
 If there was any other than unalloyed and spontaneous 
 enthusiasm for the nominee and the Republican cause, 
 it must have been inspired by that gratitude which has 
 been denned as a lively anticipation of favors to come, 
 and they could not very well come until after the election. 
 There is abundant testimony to the genial nature of 
 the Republican nominee for the Presidency among those 
 who know him in public as well as in private life. As a 
 conversationalist he holds high rank, and he could hardly 
 be otherwise when we remember his readiness in debate 
 as shown during his career in Congress. Many a man 
 can talk well in private who is a poor orator, but the 
 good orator is pretty certain to carry his talking abilities 
 wherever he goes. Mr. Elaine is an excellent raconteur 
 and has always an abundance of anecdotes ready for use ; 
 he does not appear to charge his memory with them, but 
 they come up without effort whenever occasion requires. 
 
122 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 One who knows him intimately says that when with Mr. 
 Elaine he often thinks of the late President Lincoln in 
 consequence of the frequency with which the man from 
 Maine is reminded of a little story. His anecdotes are 
 nearly always to the point and need no explanation to 
 to make them understood. 
 
 As an illustration of Mr. Elaine s story-telling we will 
 take the following. It has " been the rounds " but will 
 bear repetition. 
 
 It will be remembered by many who were conversant 
 with the course of matters at Washington immediately 
 after the inauguration of President Hayes, that there 
 was a good deal of inharmony between the official head 
 of the nation and the leaders of the Republican party. 
 Things were not at all to the liking of the latter, but 
 there was no rupture of relations between them and the 
 President. 
 
 During this period Mr. Elaine was one day in New 
 York and somebody asked him how matters were going 
 with the new administration. 
 
 "Things at Washington remind me," said Mr. Elaine, 
 " of my experience years ago on a fishing excursion. 
 We made up a party in Augusta to go on a trip to Moose- 
 head Lake ; we w r ere to camp out and the work of the 
 camp was to be performed by the members of the party 
 in turn. 
 
 " We drew lots to decide who should be cook, and 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 123 
 
 before doing so it was agreed that the first man who 
 found fault with the table should be installed in the 
 office and the original cuisinier relieved. The man on 
 whom the lot fell determined to make his term of service 
 as brief as possible, and the very first day he put about a 
 pound of salt into the soup kettle. 
 
 " When we sat down to dinner the first man who 
 tasted the soup exclaimed how salt this soup is ! . . . 
 but I like it, I like it ; he added almost in the same 
 breath, and proceeded to work rapidly with his spoon till 
 he had swallowed every drop of the brine. The rest of 
 us followed his example and there was never a more 
 popular or highly-praised soup in the Maine backwoods 
 than what we had that day." 
 
 A correspondent writing from Augusta a few days 
 after the adjournment of the Chicago Convention says : 
 
 " Mr. Elaine s mansion and grounds show the effect of 
 the crowds that have visited there since his nomination. 
 On the lawn the grass is so trodden down that it almost 
 looks winter-killed, and the probability is that it will 
 not again this summer look as well as it did the day 
 the convention declared Elaine the choice of the Repub 
 lican delegates. 
 
 " There have been many curious things about these 
 visits of Mr. Elaine s friends. Democrats as well as 
 Republicans have united to do him honor. Outside of 
 Augusta there is some feeling among the Democrats at 
 
124 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 the course their brethren have taken, but it avails noth 
 ing. Mr. Elaine s friendships are more than skin deep, 
 and the election this fall will show him to have a larger 
 following than the Republican party of the State alone 
 could command. Already the republican majority is set 
 down at 20,000, an increase of 15,000 over anything that 
 has been recorded for about eight years." 
 
 The Evening Leader of Bloomington, Illinois, pub 
 lished a story which was told to one of its reporters by 
 Hon. Robert E. Williams, a prominent lawyer of the 
 Prairie State. Mr. Williams said " Elaine was a big- 
 hearted, whole-souled, good-natured fellow in his college 
 days. We both attended Washington College in Penn 
 sylvania, and were intimate friends. Elaine was a good 
 companion in his school-boy days. Strong in physical 
 strength, fond of out-door sports, yet in a certain sense 
 loving seclusion and his books. He was a faithful stu 
 dent, and was regarded by his college-mates as a brilliant 
 and progressive scholar. He was an aggressive fellow 
 whenever there was anything to be accomplished which 
 he thought would be productive of good results. From 
 his earliest college days he seemed to have but one ambi 
 tion, and that was to make his mark as a journalist. 
 He was an industrious writer, and wrote perhaps during 
 his college course a greater number and greater variety 
 of essays and other articles than any member of his 
 class. He used to remark that a school-teacher or an 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 125 
 
 editor could accomplish moro good in the world than 
 any one else, and he thought after leaving college he 
 would surely enter the journalistic walks of life. I left 
 Washington College in 1845, and one day, I think it was 
 in 1848, while walking in the streets of Lexington, Ky., 
 I ran across Jim Elaine. He was at that time teaching 
 school at Georgetown, Ky., and had come with thousands 
 of others to hear Henry Clay deliver his great and mem 
 orable speech in that city. We sat down and had a long 
 talk, and he gave me, in a brief manner, his future plans. 
 
 " I lost track of Elaine after that until I heard that he 
 was publishing a newspaper in the City of Portland, 
 Maine. His political history, which is so well known, 
 is an evidence of his vaulting ambition, for in my opin 
 ion Elaine was always ambitious. In his student life 
 this cropped out, and he never was at any time regarded 
 in any other way. I am inclined to think that if Elaine 
 had kept out of politics altogether and pursued the 
 journalistic profession, his star would have been just as 
 bright. He would have made his influence felt, and in 
 time been regarded, like Horace Greeley, as one of the 
 greatest newspaper writers of his time. 
 
 " I remember the last time I met Mr. Elaine. After 
 meeting him in 1848, in Lexington, Kentucky, upon the 
 occasion of Henry Clay s great speech, I did not see 
 him again until thirty years after. I happened to be in 
 Chicago in 1878, and while a guest of the Grand Pacific 
 
126 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Hotel, I learned that Elaine was also stopping at the 
 hotel. Jim Root, the well-known lawyer and Republican 
 politician of Illinois, was sitting in a seat with me, and 
 I told him that I had been Elaine s college chum years 
 before. I had not seen him for thirty years, and 
 wondered if he would know me. 
 
 " Well, remarked Root, < let s try it. Elaine is up 
 in the dining-room eating his dinner, and we will go up 
 and meet him. We then went up-stairs, and just as we 
 arrived at the door of the gentlemen s parlor, Elaine and 
 one or two others were coming out of the dining-room. 
 Mr. Root, who was personally acquainted with the man 
 now so famous, said : Mr. Elaine, here is an old friend 
 of yours whom you have not seen for years. He came 
 up to us and I extended my hand. He shook it in a 
 cordial manner. He did not seem to know me. He 
 was in a deep study, and looked at me for several 
 moments. I remarked: Mr. Elaine, you are a good- 
 looking man, but not as handsome a man as your father 
 was (who was a very fine specimen of physical man 
 hood and culture). 
 
 " Almost instantly Elaine raised his hand to my head, 
 and, raising my hat, looked again. Oh, it is " Bobby " 
 Williams. I know you, Bobby, by your voice. But I 
 think you have changed considerably. We had a pleas 
 ant afternoon together, reviving old memories, and in a 
 few days afterwards he made a three-hours speech in 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 127 
 
 Bloomington, addressing several thousand people in 
 Dimmitt s Grove, southeast of the city a short distance. 
 He was my guest part of the afternoon, and in talking 
 over matters what surprised him the most was to hear 
 that I was a Democrat." 
 
 Mr. Elaine possesses the faculty of making himself , 
 agreeable to strangers, even in an interview of only a 
 few moments ; it is an accomplishment which every man 
 in public life desires to master, but it is not vouchsafed 
 to everybody. It may be spontaneous with him, or the 
 result of careful study. At all events, he has it, and 
 there are not many who care to go " behind the returns," 
 to find its origin. 
 
 " I never met Elaine to speak to him but once in my 
 life," said a gentleman recently to the writer of this 
 page, " though I have seen him frequently. I was 
 invited to a reception in his honor at the Penn Club in 
 Philadelphia during the Centennial Exhibition ; it was 
 given by Mr. McMichael, one of the members of the 
 club and a great friend of Elaine. When it came my 
 turn to be introduced, the host whispered a few words 
 in Mr. Elaine s ear, just enough to give a clue as to my 
 identity. 
 
 " I very much doubt if Elaine had ever heard of me 
 until that moment, as I have no connection with politics, 
 but he grasped my hand as though he had at last met 
 the man for whom he had been seeking, lo ! these many 
 
128 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 years. Our conversation did not last more than forty" 
 seconds, as there were others behind me waiting to be 
 introduced, and I didn t wish to detain the procession, 
 but in that forty seconds he impressed me more than I 
 was ever impressed in my life before or since. I don t 
 remember a word that was said, but as we again shook 
 hands and I moved on, I felt at least two inches taller 
 than before. 
 
 " That man," I said to myself, " has known all about 
 me from boyhood, and how unfortunate for him that he 
 has been kept all this time from meeting me personally. 
 But his life will be happier for the rest of it, as he has 
 had a chance to know me. I regret for his sake that 
 our acquaintance was so brief, but perhaps we ll have 
 a chance to renew it." 
 
 The narrator of the above incident was no novice in 
 being introduced to strangers. He declares implicit 
 belief in Mr. Elaine s "magnetic" qualities, which his 
 friends boast of, and his opponents treat with the cus 
 tomary ridicule of a political campaign. 
 
 The day following the nomination, the Chicago Tribune 
 contained the following : 
 
 "There must be something in what is termed the 
 magnetism of Elaine. Even the day before yesterday 
 there were many who felt that he would get the nomi 
 nation, and but few of them could give any logical rea 
 son for their conclusion. They knew it from some 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 129 
 
 intangible, indefinable assertion that came to them and 
 made its meaning known through some subtle sympathy. 
 For the last two days it was evident that the great 
 majority of the vast crowds that filled the auditorium 
 of the hall were in active sympathy with the Man from 
 Maine. It was nothing they saw or heard which pro 
 duced this condition ; there was no good reason why 
 they should have any stronger personal regard for him 
 than for any other of the aspirants. Edmunds is a 
 grand character ; Logan is the- hero of many a battle 
 field, a modern Cid with all the chivalry, bluffness, and 
 integrity of his Spanish ante-type. Arthur is a man 
 who is loved by his friends and respected by his oppo 
 nents, and there is in his life all the characteristics of 
 the honorable, finished gentleman. Hawlcy s eulogy 
 was not overdrawn in the elegant presentation of his 
 name before the convention by Brandegee of his own 
 State. In no essential respect, so far as mere appear 
 ance goes, is there anything more in Elaine than in any 
 of the others whose names were before the public. And 
 yet the thought of the former will excite a sympathy, 
 attract an admiration, and fascinate one in a manner 
 which is at once unfathomable, indefinable, and yet as 
 potent as gravity. 
 
 u The greater portion of the enormous mass that 
 gathered in the hall of the Exposition Building yester 
 day found itself pervaded with this mysterious iuflu- 
 
130 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 ence. Thousands who knew Elaine scarcely more than 
 by name were among those who were readiest to cheer 
 when his name was mentioned, and to hope ardently 
 for his success at every step of the tedious march of the 
 processes of the convention. 
 
 " It would almost seem that had the delegates who pre 
 ferred some other one to Elaine been even more numer 
 ous than they were, they would have been forced to yield 
 to the tremendous influence which pervaded the human 
 atoms of the vast body of the people which dominated 
 and enveloped them. 
 
 " The flutter of the units compacted in the building 
 showed the existence of the magnetic forces which em 
 anate from the great intellectual dynamo-machine in 
 Maine. At no moment were they at rest. When the 
 name of Elaine was called by the chairman of a delega 
 tion as he gave the ballot of his State there was a round 
 of cheers. When there was a change whereby he gained 
 a vote there was an inundation of enthusiastic satisfac 
 tion. When the condition of the balloting showed that 
 his nomination was reasonably certain the whole audience 
 rose to their feet, and shook the earth with applause, and 
 hid themselves behind clouds of waving handkerchiefs 
 and gaudy banners. When he was finally officially an 
 nounced words fail to express the intensity and extent of 
 the mighty outburst of enthusiasm. 
 
 " The excess of sensibility in women was shown in the 
 fact that they were constantly stirred by the pervading 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 133 
 
 influence. They were the galvanometers of the occasion, 
 and reflected constantly and accurately the direction and 
 strength of the politico-magnetic currents which pene 
 trated the audience. Hence there was yesterday an ap 
 peal to the eye in the gay dresses of the women, their 
 incessant flutterings, and the fleecy clouds of white which 
 overspread them when they brought out their handker 
 chiefs to emphasize their satisfaction. 
 
 " The city was aware of his nomination before many 
 thousands had read a sign or heard a word. The news 
 broke through the doors of the convention and traveled 
 through the. streets with the swiftness of a storm, and 
 with mad roar. People shouted from lofty windows and 
 housetops, while hats, canes, umbrellas, and newspapers 
 were flung in the air. Horses attached to vehicles be 
 came frightened and fled in all directions, but the crowds 
 blocked the way and subdued them. The bells of a dozen 
 horse-cars rang within earshot, but the crowd heeded no 
 such warnings until the excitement was past, when every 
 body seemed to have grown hoarse without knowing that 
 she or he had contributed a voice to the general uproar." 
 
 " Much is said and written," remarked an old journal 
 ist to a New York Tribune reporter, who was reading 
 some personal recollections of Republican nominees, 
 " about the personal magnetism of Elaine, his captivat 
 ing manners and his wonderful memory of names and 
 faces. Logan possesses the first-named qualification in 
 a marked degree, but while Elaine attaches individuals 
 
134 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 to him as with hooks of steel, Logan enthuses masses of 
 men. I have lately read a story illustrative of Elaine s 
 tenacious memory, in which he is reported as recalling 
 by name an old farmer whom he had met only once be 
 fore, four years previously, and whom he instantly cap 
 tivated by recalling a trivial incident of their first meet 
 ing and discussion of the merits of a young colt owned 
 by the farmer. I have such an illustration of the man 
 from my own experience. 
 
 " In 1863 1 wrote for the New York Herald an account, 
 some twelve columns long, of the battle of Chickamauga. 
 About twenty lines of the entire account were devoted to 
 the narration of a trifling incident. A white pigeon or 
 dove, confused by the smoke of the last desperate com 
 bat, at the close of the battle in which George H. Thomas 
 repulsed Longstreet s attack on his right, fluttered awhile 
 over the heads of Thomas, Garfield, Wood, and others, 
 grouped in a little hollow in the field for protection from 
 the rebel sharpshooters, and then perched on the limb of 
 a dead tree just above them. Here it sat until the firing 
 ceased, and then flew northward unhurt. It was a pretty 
 incident, and of course I took all the license of a writer 
 and made it as striking a passage of the narrative as I 
 could. 
 
 " In 1874, eleven years later, I was a witness before a 
 Congressional committee, and while in the capitol one 
 day was introduced by Zebulon L. White, then the Tri 
 bune s Washington correspondent, now editor of the Pro- 
 
ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 135 
 
 vidence Press, to Mr. Elaine, who was at the time Speaker 
 of the House. If I remember rightly I had never before 
 seen him, and I supposed he had never heard of me. 
 Imagine my astonishment then when he said abruptly on 
 hearing my name called by Mr. White : i You re the man 
 I ve been wanting to see for ten years. Of course I was 
 immensely flattered by such a notice. 
 
 " t I ve been wanting to know if you were telling the 
 truth or lying, Mr. Elaine added, almost without pause. 
 This was as surprising as it was blunt. He took my arm 
 and drew me half-away to one side of the corridor. < Did 
 you write for the Herald an account of Chickamauga in 
 which a white dove figured rather poetically ? he asked, 
 and then went on to recall what I had written. Now/ 
 he continued, tell me was that a true incident or only 
 done to make the story readable ? I assured him it was 
 true, and mentioned that General Garfield, who was in 
 the House, would probably recall it, as he was present. 
 Nothing more of interest passed between us ; but 
 naturally I have since sworn by the man who could recall 
 my unknown name and what I had written about a mere 
 incident occurring ten years before. He was so earnest 
 in his inquiry that I have never doubted that his curiosity 
 in the matter, small as the incident was, was genuine." 
 
 The Chicago Herald is responsible for this story con 
 cerning a youthful prank of the Presidential candidate 
 and its result ; 
 
 "When we were boys," said Uncle Totten, " down on 
 
136 ELAINE AND HIS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Indian Hill farm, Jim Elaine was a lively chap. He kept 
 the whole township in arms. Once I got even with him. 
 I was down in the meadow pitching hay. He knew that 
 I was going to do that job, and he went down there a day 
 or two before and fixed one of the haycocks so it could 
 not be lifted. He ran a long wire through it in such a 
 way as to hold it together, and then fastened it under the 
 middle of the stack to a post which he had driven in the 
 ground. Some of the other boys knew about the game, 
 and they stood around looking kind of sneaking and 
 smiling a little. I tackled the doctored stack early in 
 the day. I drove my fork into the top, and spitting on 
 my hands, bore down upon it. It didn t budge. I tried 
 it once more with a little extra strength, and broke the 
 fork clean off at the handle. A boy sitting on a rail 
 fence snickered, and I knew something was up. A mo 
 ment s examination convinced me that the stack was tied 
 down, and just then the boy who had laughed pointed in 
 the direction of another stack not far away. I felt it in 
 my bones that Jim Elaine was hiding there. So I 
 crawled up kind of easy, and finding him watching the per 
 formance on his hands and knees, with some of the grass 
 thrown over him, I got behind him and raised him one 
 with my boot. I was mad, and I put a good deal of heft 
 into that kick, for he shot out of the stack head first, as 
 if he had been fired from a cannon. It humped him up 
 for a while, I tell you, and there was a lively scattering 
 among the rest of the boys." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ELAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 
 
 Charges affecting the honesty and honor of Mr. Elaine. His 
 answer in Congress. Extract from his speech, delivered June 5, 
 1876. Renewal of the charges in 1880 and 1884. The New York 
 Evening Post. Letter of William Walter Phelps. An intimate friend 
 of Mr. Elaine. Land grant to the Little Rock & Fort Smith Rail 
 way. The charge in full. The answer thereto. How Mr. Elaine 
 obtained his interest in the Company. The transaction disastrous. 
 Pecuniary loss to Mr. Elaine. His letter to Fisher. Charges of 
 misrepresentation and untruth. The answer of Mr. Phelps. The 
 Mulligan letters. The Union Pacific Railway. Other charges and 
 the reply. Mr. Elaine s private fortune. 
 
 When Mr. Elaine s name came before the public in 
 1876 as a candidate for the nomination for the Presi 
 dency on the Republican ticket, charges were freely 
 circulated in connection with a transaction in railway 
 bonds, which were calculated to damage his reputation 
 very seriously. They were first printed in a Democratic 
 newspaper in Indiana, and thence had wide circulation 
 over the country. Mr. Elaine met them by a prompt 
 denial, in a letter to the press, and afterwards in a 
 
 speech in Congress. 
 
 (137) 
 
138 ELAINE AND 
 
 The speech was delivered on the 5th of June, 1876. 
 After going over the accusations one by one, Mr. Elaine 
 said: 
 
 " I can hardly expect, Mr. Speaker, that any statement 
 from me will stop the work of those who have so indus 
 triously circulated these calumnies. For months past 
 the effort has been energetic and continuous to spread 
 these stories in private circles. Emissaries of slander 
 have visited editorial rooms of leading Republican papers 
 from Boston to Omaha, and whispered of revelations to 
 come that were too terrible even to be spoken in loud 
 tones, and at last the revelations have been made. I am 
 now, Mr. Speaker, in the fourteenth year of a not inac 
 tive service in this hall. I have taken and have given 
 blows ; I have no doubt said many things in the heat 
 of debate which I would now gladly recall ; I have no 
 doubt given votes which in fuller light I would gladly 
 change ; but I have never done anything in my public 
 career for which I could be put to the faintest blush in 
 any presence, or for which I cannot answer to my con 
 stituents, my conscience, and the Great Searcher of 
 Hearts." 
 
 Nothing affecting the personal character of a candi 
 date for a high office is kept out of sight under the 
 present system of conducting political campaigns, and it 
 was to be expected that " the Mulligan Letter Charges " 
 would come up whenever and wherever Mr. Elaine s name 
 
ELAINE AND " THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 139 
 
 should be presented for the Presidency or any other 
 office. They were duly aired in 1880, and long before 
 the meeting of the National Convention of 1884 they 
 were brought from their seclusion, freshly polished and 
 oiled, and made ready for the most effective use it was 
 possible to give them. 
 
 Early in April of the present year the charges reap 
 peared in several papers. Among the prominent journals 
 to give them currency- was the New York Evening Post, 
 which had been opposed to Mr. Elaine s nomination and 
 has been energetic, since the Chicago convention, in urg 
 ing his defeat. The charges in the Post were answered 
 by William Walter Phelps, Member of Congress from 
 New Jersey, in a letter published in the New York 
 Tribune on the 27th of April. As Mr. Phelps letter 
 contains a summary of the charges together with his 
 answer thereto it is here presented in full : 
 
 To the Editor of the Evening Post : 
 
 SIR : On the 7th inst. you made formal charges against James 
 G. Blaine. They are the same which were made eight years ago, 
 and which were, I think, at that time satisfactorily answered. 
 Lest others, however, may, like yourself, have forgotten everything 
 except the misstaternents, you must permit me to remind you of 
 the facts. I think I may claim some qualifications for the task. 
 I have long had a close personal intimacy with Mr. Blaine, and 
 during many years have had that knowledge and care of his 
 moneyed interests which men absorbed in public affairs are not 
 unapt to devolve upon friends who have hud financial training and 
 
140 ELAINE AND " THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 
 
 experience. I do not see how one naan could know another better 
 than I know Mr. Blaine, and he has to-day my full confidence and 
 warm regard. I am myself somewhat known in the City of New 
 York, and think I have some personal rank with you and your 
 readers. Am I claiming too much in claiming that there is not 
 one among you who would regard me as capable of an attempt to 
 mislead the public in any way ? With this personal allusion, par 
 donable, if not demanded, under the circumstances, I proceed to 
 consider your charges. 
 
 THE LITTLE HOCK AND FORT SMITH CHARGE. 
 
 The first charge is really the one upon which all the others hinge. 
 I give it in full, and in your own language, only italicising some 
 of your words, in order that my answer may be the clearer. You 
 say: 
 
 In the spring session of Congress in 1869, a bill was before the 
 House of Representatives which sought to renew a land grant to 
 the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, of Arkansas, in which 
 some of Mr. Blame s friends were interested; that an attempt to 
 defeat it by an amendment was made, and its promoters were in 
 despair; that at this juncture Mr. Blaine, being then Speaker of 
 the House, sent a message to General Logan to make the point of 
 order that the amendment was not germane to the purposes of the 
 bill ; that this point of order was accordingly raised and promptly 
 sustained by Mr. Blaine as Speaker and the bill was in this manner 
 saved : that Mr. Blaine wrote at once to the promoters calling attention 
 to the service he had rendered them, and finally, after some negotiations, 
 secured from them, as a reward, for it, his appointment as selling 
 agent of the bonds of the road on commission in Maine, and 
 received a number of such bonds as his percentage; that the 
 leading feature of this transaction appeared in two letters of his 
 afterward made public, dated respectively June 29 and October 4, 
 1869. 
 
ELAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 141 
 
 Your error is in the facts. Mr. Elaine s friends were not con 
 nected with the Fort Smith and Little Rock road at the time of 
 the passage of this bill. Those to whom you refer as his friends 
 were Caldwell and Fisher. The bill passed in April, 1869. In 
 April, 1869, Mr. Elaine did not know that there was any such man 
 as Caldwell, and Fisher, who was Mr. Elaine s friend, did not know 
 that there was any such enterprise as the Little Rock Railroad in 
 the world. The evidence of these assertions was before Congress, 
 was uncontradicted, and is within your reach. On the 29th of 
 June, nearly eighty days after Congress had adjourned, Mr. Elaine 
 from his home in Maine wrote to Fisher and spoke of Fisher s 
 offer to admit him to a share in the new railroad enterprise. 
 Fisher had introduced the subject to Mr. Elaine for the first time a 
 week before at the great musical festival in Boston. He told him. 
 there that Mr. Caldwell, whom Mr. Elaine had not yet seen, had 
 now obtained control of the enterprise and had invited Fisher to 
 join him. At that time Fisher was a sugar refiner of considerable 
 wealth in Boston, had been a partner of Mr. Elaine s brother-in- 
 law, and through him had made Mr. Elaine s acquaintance. The 
 offer Mr. Elaine refers to in his letter was Fisher s offer to induce 
 Caldwell, if he could, to let Mr. Elaine have a share in the bed 
 rock of the enterprise. Mr. Fisher failed to do this, and Mr. 
 Elaine never secured any interest in the building of the Fort Smith 
 and Little Rock Railroad. 
 
 What interest, then, did Mr. Elaine obtain? An interest in the 
 securities of the company. How? By purchase, on the same 
 terms as they were sold on the Boston market to all applicants ; sold 
 to Josiah Bardwell, to Elisha Atkins, and to other reputable mer 
 chants. He negotiated for a block of the securities, which were 
 divided as is usual in such enterprises into three kinds, first mort 
 gage bonds, second mortgage bonds, and stock. The price I think 
 
142 
 
 was three for one. That is, the purchaser got first mortgage bonds 
 for his money, and an equal amount of second mortgage or land 
 grant bonds and of stock thrown in as the basis of possible profit. 
 I may be mistaken as to the price, but I think not. I went myself 
 at this time into several adventures of the kind on that ratio, and 
 have always understood that Senator Grimes and his friends got 
 their interests in the Burlington and Missouri road, a branch of 
 the Union Pacific, on the same basis of three for one. It was the 
 common ratio in that era of speculation. Mr. Elaine conceived 
 the idea that he might retain the second mortgage bonds as profit 
 and sell the first mortgage bonds with the stock as a bonus. He 
 believed the first mortgage bonds were good, and lie disposed of 
 them to his neighbors in that faith and with the determination to 
 shield them from loss in case of disaster. 
 
 Disaster came. The enterprise, like so many others of the kind, 
 proved a disappointment, and the bonds depreciated. Mr. Elaine 
 redeemed them all. In one or two cases only had he given a guar 
 antee. In none other was there any legal obligation, but he 
 recognized a moral claim and he obeyed it to his own pecuniary 
 loss. I cannot but feel that the purchasers of these bonds would 
 have fared worse had they been compelled to look to many of those 
 who have sought to give an odious interpretation to Mr. Elaine s 
 honorable conduct. The arrangement for the purchase of the block 
 of securities was made in June or July. The sales of the first 
 mortgage bonds out of the block were continued through the 
 months of July, August, and September, 1869. 
 
 The transaction was nearly closed, when, in the letter of October 
 4th, Mr. Elaine wrote to Fisher and told him the parliamentary story 
 of the 9th of April. Mr. Elaine had come across it while looking 
 over The Congressional Globe, with a natural curiosity to see what 
 had been his decisions during the first six weeks of his Speakership, 
 
BLAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS. 143 
 
 and he wrote of it to Fisher as an item in the legislative history of 
 the enterprise into which they had both subsequently entered. It 
 concerned a bill to renew a land grant, made long before the war, 
 to the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad. The bill had passed 
 the Senate without opposition, and there was no one objecting to 
 it in the House. But the advocates of the Memphis, El Paso, and 
 Pacific Railway bill sought to attach their bill to it as an amend 
 ment. This El Paso bill was known at the time as General Fre 
 mont s scheme and had been urged upon Congress before. It was 
 unpopular and was openly opposed by General Logan. Wedded 
 to the Little Rock bill it would gain strength, but the Little Rock 
 bill would lose strength, and a just measure, universally approved, 
 would be killed in the effort to pull through with it this objectiona 
 ble measure which was generally disapproved. 
 
 Mr. Elaine s letter to Fisher will tell the rest of the story. He 
 wrote: " In this dilemma, Roots, the Arkansas member, came to 
 me to know what on earth he could do under the rules, for he said 
 it was vital to his constituents that the bill should pass. I told 
 him that the amendment was entirely out of order because not 
 germane, but he had not sufficient confidence in his knowledge of the 
 rules to make the point. But he said General Logan was opposed 
 to the Fremont scheme, and would probably make it. I sent my 
 page to General Logan with the suggestion, and he at once made 
 the point. I could not do otherwise than sustain it, and so the bill 
 was freed from the mischievous amendment, and at once passed 
 without objection." Mr. Blaine added these significant words: 
 "At that time I had never seen Mr. Caldwett, ~but you can tell him tJiat 
 without Imowing it I did him a great favor. ... I thought the 
 point would interest both you and Mr. Caldwell, tliough occurring 
 before either of you engaged in the enterprise." 
 
 This seems, Mr. Editor, to dispose of your first charge. The 
 
144 ELAINE AND 
 
 bill was a just one, and Mr. Elaine s friends had no interest in it 
 when it passed the House. Eighty days after the House adjourned, 
 Mr. Blaine asked his friends, who had in the meantime taken hold 
 of the enterprise and offered him some interest, to let him in as a 
 partner. They refused. They did, however, sell him a block of 
 securities on the same terms they sold them to others, and it proved 
 an unfortunate purchase, for he sold them out among his friends, 
 believing them valuable, and took them all back when they depre 
 ciated in value. The letter of Mr. Blaine written long after the 
 transaction is his complete vindication. To give it a semblance of 
 evil you assign a date to it six months before it was actually 
 written. The late Judge Black, after an investigation of the 
 whole subject, declared in his characteristic style that "Mr. 
 Elaine s letters proved that the charge (which you repeat against 
 him), was not only untrue but impossible, and would continue so 
 to prove until the Gregorian Calendar could be turned around and 
 October made to precede April in the stately procession of the 
 year." 
 
 A CHARGE OF MISREPRESENTATION. 
 
 Your second charge consists of two parts. The first part is that 
 Mr. Blaine wrongfully asserted that "the Little Rock & Fort 
 Smith Road derives its life and value and franchise wholly from 
 the State of Arkansas, whereas the evidence subsequently taken 
 discloses the fact that the road derived the value on which these 
 bonds were based on the Act of Congress of which Mr. Blaine 
 secured the passage." It will be found that you have inaccurately 
 quoted Mr. Elaine s language, or rather that you put language into 
 his mouth which he never used. What Mr. Blaine did say, was: 
 The railroad company derived its life, value, and franchises from 
 the State of Arkansas." And Mr. Blaine stated the precise truth. 
 What are the facts? More than thirty years ago Congress granted 
 
ELAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 145 
 
 to the States of Missouri and Arkansas a certain quantity of public 
 lands to aid in the construction of certain lines of railway. The 
 franchises which should be granted to the companies that should 
 build the road were expressly left by Congress to the Legislatures 
 of the States. Mr. Elaine spoke therefore with absolute precision 
 of language, as he usually does, when he stated that "the Little 
 Rock Company derived its life, value, and franchises wholly from 
 the State of Arkansas" just as the Illinois Central Railroad 
 Company derives its life, value, and franchises from the State of 
 Illinois, though enriched by a land grant from the United States, 
 just as the Little Rock Road was. 
 
 A CHARGE OF UNTRUTH. 
 
 The second part of your second charge is that Mr. Elaine did not 
 speak truthfully when he asserted that he " bought the bonds at 
 precisely the same rates as others paid." There is no evidence any 
 where to sustain this accusation. I have already said any person 
 could negotiate for them on the one-for-three basis just as Mr. Elaine 
 did, and many availed themselves of the opportunity. The price 
 paid was not in the least affected by the fact that Mr. Elaine had 
 already arranged to sell the securities at a higher price than he 
 paid for them. He did this with the determination, honorably 
 maintained, that he would make good any loss which might accrue 
 to the purchasers. These sales did not change the price paid to 
 Fisher, and the proof that it did not is found in the fact that Mr. 
 Elaine paid it to him in full. You speak in this connection of Mr. 
 Elaine s being appointed an agent to sell the bonds of the com 
 pany. No such appointment was ever made, and no evidence 
 suggests it. Mr. Elaine negotiated for his securities at a given 
 price, which was paid in full to Mr. Fisher. 
 
146 ELAINE AND "THE MULLIGAN LETTERS." 
 
 A NORTHERN PACIFIC CHARGE. 
 
 Your third formal charge relates to an alleged connection of Mr. 
 Elaine with a share in the Northern Pacific enterprise. You charge 
 this in the face of the fact that in Mr. Elaine s letter in which you 
 find the subject referred to was his distinct asseveration that he 
 "could not himself touch the share." Have you seen any evi 
 dence that he did? I have not. The Northern Pacific Railroad 
 Company has been organized and reorganized, and recently reor 
 ganized a second time. Its records of ownership and interest have 
 passed under the official inspection of at least a hundred men, 
 many of whom are political enemies, and some of whom are to my 
 knowledge personal enemies of Mr. Elaine, and there has never 
 been a suggestion or hint from any of these that in any form what 
 ever Mr. Elaine had the remotest interest in the Northern Pacific 
 Company. If one of your associates has such evidence, it is right 
 that he should produce 
 
 THE MULLIGAN LETTERS. 
 
 Your fourth charge is that after Mr. Elaine got possession of the 
 so-called Mulligan letters, "he subsequently read such of them as 
 he pleased to the House in aid of his vindication. " The answer 
 is, that Mulligan s memorandum of the letters in which he had 
 numbered and indexed each one of them was produced, and 
 number and index correspond exactly with the letters read. This 
 was fully demonstrated on the floor of the House, and is a part of 
 its records. 
 
 THE UNION PACIFIC. 
 
 You repeat the charge that Mr. Elaine received a certain sum 
 from the Union Pacific Railroad Company for seventy -five bonds 
 of the Little Rock Road. You say this without a particle of 
 proof. You say it against the sworn denial of Thomas A. 
 
147 
 
 Scott, who was the party alleged to have made the negotiation. 
 You say it against the written denial of Mr. Sidney Dillon, presi 
 dent of the company ; against the written denial of E. H. Rollins, 
 treasurer of the company; against the written denial of Morton, 
 Bliss & Co., through whose banking-house the transaction w T as 
 alleged to have been made. Against this mountain of direct and 
 positive testimony from every one who could by any possibility 
 have personal knowledge of the alleged transaction, you oppose 
 nothing but hearsay and suspicion as the ground of a serious charge 
 against the character of a man long eminent in public life. The 
 courtesy which admits me to your columns, prevents my saying 
 what I think of your recklessness in this matter. 
 
 AS SECRETARY AND CANDIDATE. 
 
 Your fifth charge arraigns Mr. Elaine s policy as an executive 
 officer, and your last charge is that of his packing conventions in 
 his favor. I do not desire to dwell upon either. This is not the 
 place to review his foreign policy to which you refer, and I am 
 content to remark that however much some eastern journals may 
 criticize it, it is popular with a large majority of the American 
 people. It is simply an American policy, looking to the extension 
 of our commerce among the nations of this continent, and steadily 
 refraining from European complications of every character. The 
 charge of packing conventions needs no answer. This is the 
 third Presidential campaign in which Mr. Elaine has been unde 
 niably the choice of a large portion of the Republican party. In 
 each of them he has had the active opposition of the National Ad 
 ministration with the use of its patronage against him. Mr. Elaine 
 has control of no patronage. He has no machine. Machine and 
 patronage have been persistently against him. Whatever promi 
 nence he has enjoyed has been conferred by the people. He has no 
 
148 
 
 means not open to every citizen of influencing public opinion. No 
 campaign in his favor originated elsewhere than among the people. 
 He has never sought office. He never held a position to which he 
 was not nominated by the unanimous voice of his party. He has 
 not sought the Presidency. Circumstances made him a candidate 
 in 1876, almost before he was aware of it. In 1880, he did not 
 wish to enter the canvass. I was one of a small party of intimate 
 friends who, in a long conference in February, 1880, persuaded him 
 that it was his duty. He has done nothing to make himself a 
 candidate this year. He has asked no man s support. He has 
 written no letters, held no conversation, taken no steps looking to 
 his candidacy. He has never said to his most intimate friends 
 that he expected or desired the nomination. 
 
 FALSE AS TO ELAINE, BUT TRUE AS TO EDMUNDS. 
 
 If, upon a review of the whole case, you should charge that it 
 would have been better and wiser for Mr. Elaine to have refrained 
 from making any investment in a railroad that had directly or 
 indirectly received aid from the legislation of Congress, I should 
 be ready to agree with you, not because the thing was necessarily 
 wrong in itself, but because it is easy for such matters to be so 
 represented as to appear wrong. But why should Mr. Elaine be 
 selected for special reprobation and criticism when so many other 
 Senators and Representatives have been similarly situated ? I 
 know of my own knowledge that Governor Morgan, Mr. .Samuel 
 Hooper, Senator Grimes, and many of my friends while in Congress 
 acquired and held interests in such enterprises, and neither you, nor 
 I, nor the people suspected the transaction to be wrong, or that it 
 gave them an advantage over other investors. Why entertain and 
 publish that suspicion against Mr. Elaine alone? When I sat as a 
 delegate-at-large in the last National Convention, Senator Ed- 
 
149 
 
 munds and Senator Windom were both candidates for the Pres 
 idency, and I should gladly have supported either. Senator 
 Edmunds was understood to have a block of Burlington & Mis 
 souri securities, and Senator Windom had not only a block in the 
 securities of the Northern Pacific Company, but was one of its 
 directors. Yet you find no fault with these gentlemen. Nor 
 would you and I differ in giving the highest rank to Senator 
 Grimes, but both he and Senator Edmunds acquired their interests 
 in the Burlington & Missouri Road when they were in the Senate. 
 They both supported the bill to restore the land grant to their 
 road. It was passed on the same day with the Little Rock bill. 
 Both measures were just, and both were passed in the House and 
 Senate without a dissenting vote. Why must we suspect that Mr. 
 Blaine had a secret and corrupt motive, and that other membe.rs 
 and Senators had none? 
 
 Let me add a circumstance which seems to me to be not only 
 significant but conclusive of Mr. Elaine s conscious innocence in 
 this Fort Smith transaction. He voluntarily made "himself a party 
 of record in a suit against the Fort Smith & Little Rock Railroad 
 Company in the United States Circuit Court, which involved the 
 nature and source of his ownership in the property. This was 
 before he was named for the Presidency. If he had obtained this 
 ownership dishonorably, would he have courted this publicity? 
 
 THE * MILLIONAIRE " GABBLE. 
 
 I have thus ventured, Mr. Editor, to make answer to the 
 charges you have brought against Mr. Blaine. There are other 
 charges equally baseless which I have read, but in other papers, so 
 that I may not claim your space to deny or answer them. I give 
 two examples. Mr. Blaine is represented as the possessor of 
 millions, while I personally knew that he was never the possessor 
 
150 
 
 of the half of one million. He was represented as living in the 
 past ten years in palatial grandeur in "Washington. He sold that 
 palatial mansion with all its furniture to Mr. Travers for $24,500, 
 and got all that it was worth. But you are responsible only for 
 such charges as you have made, and I have therefore made answer 
 to them authoritatively over my own name, and I challenge denial 
 of any substantial fact I have stated. Your attacks are not on 
 Mr. Blaine alone, they are on his friends as well, and these are 
 certainly a larger and more devoted body of supporters that can be 
 claimed for any other man in public life. It seems to me as I 
 recall those in every station who are proud to be numbered among 
 them, that I recognize many of the ablest, truest, and most honor 
 able of our countrymen. 
 
 I am respectfully yours, 
 
 WM. WALTER PHELPS. 
 WASHINGTON, April 23, 1884. 
 
 The Evening Post refused to be convinced by the 
 foregoing explanation, and re-asserted its belief in the 
 correctness of the charges, but without presenting any 
 documentary evidence to sustain them. On the other 
 hand, the Chicago Tribune says on this subject : 
 
 " We are convinced that no candid person can investi 
 gate without prejudice all the facts connected with Mr. 
 Elaine s record in this case, without coming to the firm 
 conclusion that it was in all respects honorable and 
 proper, and creditable to him, both as private citizen and 
 a public man." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 Determination to Write a Book. "Twenty Years in Congress." 
 From Lincoln to Garfield. General Appearance of the Volume. 
 Character of the Work. Its Literary Qualities. Events which 
 Followed the Revolution. Compromises in the Constitution regard 
 ing Slavery. Admission of Louisiana. Organization of the Aboli 
 tion Party. Men Prominent in the Work. Annexation of Texas. 
 The Mexican War. The Oregon Question. The Kansas-Nebraska 
 Struggle. Election of Lincoln. The War and its Events. Action 
 of Great Britain. A Reviewer s Opinion. 
 
 Mr. Elaine had resigned his place in the Senate to 
 become Secretary of State, under President Garfield. 
 His retirement from the latter position three months 
 after Garfield s death left him without official rank, 
 and he determined to devote his time to a history of 
 the nation since the beginning of the Civil War. He 
 began work immediately after forming his plan and 
 collecting his materials, and the first volume appeared 
 in April of the present year. The second volume is in 
 course of preparation, and is expected to appear early 
 in 1885. 
 
 7 (151) 
 
152 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 The book is entitled " Twenty Years in Congress," 
 and the first volume is a portly octavo of 646 pages. 
 Its illustrations are not numerous, comprising altogether 
 half a dozen steel plates ; two of these plates are devoted 
 to the author and Abraham Lincoln, the former being 
 the frontispiece, while the other four plates have each 
 seven vignette portraits of men prominent in the history 
 of the nation during the last thirty years. At the 
 end is a map showing the territorial growth of the 
 United States, and accompanying an appendix of sta 
 tistics showing the development of the country in 
 various departments of industry. The statistics indi 
 cate the population and wealth of the nation in each 
 decade since the adoption of the Constitution, and there 
 are tables *bf figures showing the growth of the public 
 schools, of agriculture, railways, immigration, the con 
 dition of army and navy, foreign commerce, production 
 of coal and iron, and many other matters interesting 
 to the student of the country s history. Evidently 
 the author had no light task before him, and gathered 
 his information from many sources. 
 
 The book is much more than its title indicates. In 
 stead of being a narrative of individual experience of 
 two decades in Congress, as one might be led to expect, 
 it is practically a history of the country and people from 
 the foundation of the Republic. It is an account of the 
 growth and changes of public opinion rather than a 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 153 
 
 narrative of events, though the latter are by no menas 
 wanting. The style is clear and direct, but marred 
 here and there by sentences which the writer could 
 have polished to advantage ; the reader s interest is 
 sustained throughout, though there is no attempt at 
 " fine writing " from beginning to end of the volume. 
 
 The book opens with a statement of the compromises 
 originally made between the North and South on the 
 subject of slavery, and embodied in the Constitution. 
 The author explains how these compromises were 
 necessary for the formation of the Union after the old 
 Articles of Confederation had consecrated the entire 
 Northwest to freedom. He shows the early dissatisfac 
 tion with the existing boundaries, and gives a history 
 of the purchase of Louisiana from France by President 
 Jefferson, together with the events in this country and 
 Europe, which led up to it. Louisiana was admitted 
 to the Union as a Slave State against the opposition 
 of the North, and its admission was among the first 
 of the many triumphs of the slave-holding interest 
 over the sentiment that favored universal liberty. 
 
 From the admission of Louisiana the slavery question 
 was comparatively quiet until the application of Mis 
 souri for a place in the Union as a Slave State. Out 
 of this grew the Missouri Compromise, as we have 
 already shown in the early chapters of this volume, 
 and as a natural consequence out of it grew the Aboli- 
 
154 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 tion party. Mr. Blaine sketches the events of those 
 years in their regular order, and his work is by no 
 means pleasant reading for those whose energies were 
 devoted to the perpetuation of the right of man to 
 enslave his fellow hy reason of the darkness of his skin, 
 and the advantages of unpaid labor. 
 
 Among the men who were prominent in the organiza 
 tion of the opposition to slavery, the author mentions 
 James G. Birney, Benjamin Lundy, Arthur Tappan, 
 the brothers Lovejoy, Gerrit Smith, John G. Whittier, 
 William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Gamaliel 
 Bailey, as especially worthy to be held in remembrance 
 for the mental and moral abilities which they devoted 
 to their great work. To this list he adds the name of 
 Frederick Douglass who was born a slave, and was 
 without the advantages of education, but " exerted a 
 wide and beneficent influence upon popular opinion." 
 
 " In the early days of this agitation," says the author, 
 " the abolitionists were a proscribed and persecuted class, 
 denounced with unsparing severity by both the great 
 political parties, condemned by many of the leading 
 churches, libeled in the public press, and maltreated by 
 furious mobs. In no part of the country did they con 
 stitute more than a handful of the population, but they 
 worked against every discouragement with a zeal and 
 firmness which bespoke intensity of moral conviction. 
 They were in large degree recruited from the Society of 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 155 
 
 Friends, who brought to the support of the organization 
 the same calm and consistent courage which had always 
 distinguished them in upholding before the world their 
 peculiar tenets of religious faith. Caring nothing for 
 prejudice, meeting opprobrium with silence, shaming the 
 authors of violence by meek non-resistance, relying on 
 moral agencies alone, appealing simply to the reason and 
 the conscience of men, they arrested the attention of the 
 nation by arrainging it before the public opinion of the 
 world, and proclaiming its responsibility to the judgment 
 of God." 
 
 In the second and third chapters the narrative of the 
 events previous to 1860 is continued. The history of the 
 annexation of Texas and of the Mexican war is given, 
 and the relation of those occurrences to the slavery 
 question is graphically depicted. The growth of the 
 opposition to slavery is indicated by the figures of the 
 votes for James G. Birney, the abolition candidate for 
 tlie Presidency in 1840 and 1844. In the former year 
 Mr. Birney received a total of 6,745 votes and four years 
 later 58,879. None of his supporters had any expecta 
 tion of electing him to the Presidency, and their votes 
 were cast solely as a protest against the sympathy which 
 both the great parties of the day were displaying with 
 the slave-holding interest. The contest was between 
 Henry Clay, the nominee of the Whigs, and James K. 
 Polk, the Democratic candidate ; the vote of New York 
 
156 BLAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 determined the result of the election, and Mr. Clay was 
 defeated in consequence of the Abolition vote leaving a 
 plurality for the Democratic electors. Mr. Elaine thinks 
 Mr. Clay owed his defeat to a letter in which he favored 
 the annexation of Texas ; it was written to conciliate the 
 Whigs of the South without a thought as to its effect 
 upon the Whigs of the north. 
 
 The Oregon question and the Congressional and diplo 
 matic discussions concerning it are carefully sketched 
 together with the loss to the country in the action of the 
 Democratic party. A high compliment is paid to Mr. 
 Buchanan for his able treatment of the case in his cor 
 respondence with the British Representative, and his 
 adriotness in helping his party out of a difficult position. 
 The irritation of Mr. Polk at the popularity obtained by 
 Mr. Buchanan in the Oregon discussion is piquantly set 
 forth, together with the affronts which he repeatedly 
 placed upon his first Cabinet officer. The story of events 
 is continued through several chapters ; the views of both 
 parties on all important occurrences are impartially set 
 forth and there is a careful summary of the utterances 
 of men of note who were in Congress in the period of 
 trouble that preceded and followed the repeal of the Mis 
 souri Compromise. 
 
 Chapter V deals with the repeal of the Missouri Com 
 promise, and administrations of Taylor and Fillmore, 
 the election of Pierce, the death of Calhoun, Clay, and 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 157 
 
 Webster, and closes with a comparison of their services 
 and public characters. Mr. Elaine says that while Mr. 
 Webster s name is honorably perpetuated in his masterly 
 discussion of great political principles he did not connect 
 himself with a single historic measure. On the other 
 hand while Mr. Clay s speeches remain unread his mem 
 ory is identified with issues that are still vital and power 
 ful. Webster argued the principle while Clay embodied 
 it into the statute ; the former did not possess the quali 
 ties of a partisan chief while the latter was naturally 
 and inevitably a leader. 
 
 Chapters VI and VII are mainly devoted to the Kan 
 sas-Nebraska struggle in Congress and out of it. The 
 story is told with considerable fullness of detail in spite 
 of the necessary restrictions of type and pages. The 
 debates between Lincoln and Douglas are summarized ; 
 the Dred-Scott Decision is outlined and its results are 
 indicated ; the destruction of the Whig party and the 
 formation of the Republican party are described; and 
 one after another the great occurrences of the time down 
 to the raid of John Brown into Virginia are delineated 
 with an able hand. In Chapter VII we have the history 
 of the various conventions of 1860, the excited canvass 
 for the Presidency, and finally the result which chose for 
 the first time in the history of the country a President 
 who was not in any way indebted to the votes of the 
 slave-holding States for his election. At the close of this 
 
158 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 chapter the author sketches the history of the relations 
 of England to the slave-trade and quotes from the royal 
 order of George III before the Revolutionary war to the 
 Governor of the colonies " not to assent to any law of 
 the Colonial Legislature by which the importation of 
 slaves should in any respect be prohibited or interrupted." 
 Mr. Elaine says that the anti- slavery feeling in England 
 was inspired from America and that the suppression of 
 the slave-trade by the British Parliament coincided with 
 its limitations by the Federal Constitution. 
 
 Chapter IX is devoted to a review of the tariff ques 
 tion with special reference to the political revolution of 
 1860. The history of the tariff discussions from the 
 earliest days of the Republic to the present is considered 
 and the views of leading statesmen on the subject are 
 given in brief. Chapter X may be regarded as really 
 the beginning of the book, the whole that precedes it 
 being merely preliminary. " Twenty years of Congress, 
 from Lincoln to Garfield," is what we read on the 
 title-page ; the author gives us no formal preface but 
 plunges at once into the chronicle of events immediately 
 following the Revolution. We are reminded of Col. 
 Yule s able work on the travels of Marco Polo, in which 
 one hundred and thirty-nine pages are devoted to an 
 interesting and valuable introduction. Mr. Elaine gives 
 us two hundred and fourteen pages of text in his nine 
 chapters, but not a line of them all is unnecessary. A 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 159 
 
 knowledge of what is there given is necessary to a clear 
 understanding of what is to follow. 
 
 In chapter X the author tells the story of the election 
 of 1860, the beginning of secession, the action of South 
 Carolina, reluctance of other southern States, the meet 
 ing of Congress in the winter following the election, the 
 position of President Buchanan, the disloyalty of his 
 cabinet and their treacherous conduct, the resignations 
 of the principal members and appointment of loyal men 
 in their place, together with an analysis of the course of 
 Mr. Buchanan and his character. In chapters XI and 
 XII we have a recital of the many dramatic incidents of 
 the winter of 1860-61. Chapter XIII begins with the 
 story of Mr. Lincoln s journey from Springfield to Wash 
 ington, and gives the account of his inauguration and the 
 state of public feeling North and South at that time. 
 Then comes the outbreak of hostilities, and through the 
 twelve succeeding chapters Mr. Blaine tells us of each 
 step in the progress of the war down to its termination 
 in the spring of 1865. The cost of the conflict is com 
 pared with the wars of other nations, and the Union and 
 Confederate armies are contrasted with the military 
 establishments of foreign countries. 
 
 Concerning the Confederate army Mr. Blaine says : 
 
 " It would be but poor compliment to the soldiers of 
 
 the Union to withhold just recognition of the brave 
 
 opponents who met them on so many hard-fought fields. 
 
 7* 
 
160 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 Nor is there any disposition among loyal men to stint 
 the praise which is always due to courage. Never per 
 haps was an army organized with fighting qualities 
 superior to those of the army put into the field by the 
 Confederacy. They fought with an absolute conviction, 
 however erroneous, that their cause was just ; and their 
 arms were nerved by the feeling which their leaders had 
 instilled deeply into their minds, that they were contend 
 ing against an intolerable tyranny and protecting the 
 sacredness of home. In a war purely defensive, as was 
 that of the Confederacy, an army such as they raised 
 and maintained can baffle the efforts of vastly superior 
 numbers. The Confederates found from their own expe 
 rience how changed was the task when they assumed the 
 offensive and ventured to leave their own territory, with 
 their perfect knowledge of its topography and with a 
 surrounding population of sympathizers- and helpers. In 
 their first attempt at invasion they did not get beyond 
 cannon-sound of the Potomac, and in the second they 
 were turned back by the result of the first battle. These 
 facts do not impeach the prowess of the Confederate 
 soldiery, but they illustrate the task imposed on the 
 army of the Union and they suggest the vast difference 
 in the responsibilities which the invading and the defen 
 sive forces were called upon to meet." 
 
 The closing chapter of the book is occupied with a 
 review of the conduct of Great Britain toward the 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 161 
 
 United States during the civil war. Mr. Elaine describes 
 the indecent haste which was shown by the British 
 Government in granting belligerent rights to the Con 
 federacy while the American minister was on his way to 
 England, and when it was well known to Her Majesty s 
 ministers that he came with instructions to explain fully 
 the relations of the Federal Government to the States 
 and to ask that foreign powers would abstain from any 
 act of pretended neutrality which would give material 
 advantage or moral encouragement to the organized 
 forces of the Rebellion. " On the day before Mr. Adams s 
 arrival in England, as if to give him offensive warning 
 how little his representations would be regarded, Her 
 Majesty s Government issued a proclamation recognizing 
 the confederated Southern States as belligerents." Com 
 menting on this action of what we were once pleased to 
 call " Our Mother Country," the author quotes from Mr. 
 Seward: "It is indeed manifest in the tone of the 
 speeches, as well as in the general tenor of popular dis 
 cussion, that neither the responsible ministers nor the 
 House of Commons, nor the active portion of the people 
 of Great Britain, sympathize with this Government, and 
 hope, or even wish, for its success in suppressing the 
 insurrection ; and that on the contrary the whole British 
 nation, speaking practically, desire arid expect the dis 
 memberment of the Republic." 
 
 Mr. Blaine pays a just tribute to the Queen for her 
 
162 ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 
 
 friendliness to us during our troubles, and says that on 
 all occasions for bitterness towards England by reason 
 of the treatment we received during the war, there was 
 an instinctive feeling among Americans that Queen Vic 
 toria desired peace and good-will, and did not sympa 
 thize with the insidious efforts at our destruction which 
 had their origin in her dominions. 
 
 To show how near we were to actual hostilities with 
 Great Britain during the latter part of the civil war, Mr. 
 Elaine quotes from Mr. Seward s letter to Lord Palmers- 
 ton in 1863, when he said : 
 
 " If the law of Great Britain must be left without 
 amendment, and be construed by the government in con 
 formity with the rulings of the Chief Baron of the Ex 
 chequer in the Alexandra case, then there will be left for 
 the United States no alternative but to protect them 
 selves and their commerce against armed cruisers pro 
 ceeding from British ports as against the naval forces 
 of a public enemy. * * * British ports, domestic as 
 well as colonial, are now open under certain restrictions 
 to the visits of piratical vessels, and not only furnish 
 them coals, provisions, and repairs, but even receive their 
 prisoners when the enemies of the United States come 
 in to obtain such relief from voyages in which they have 
 either burned ships they have captured, or have even 
 manned and armed them as pirates and sent them abroad 
 us auxiliaries in the work of destruction. Can it be an 
 
ELAINE AS A HISTORIAN. 163 
 
 occasion for either surprise or complaint that if this con 
 dition of things is to remain and receive the deliberate 
 sanction of the British Government, the navy of the 
 United States will receive instructions to pursue these 
 enemies into the ports which, thus, in violation of the law 
 of nations, and the obligations of neutrality become har 
 bors for the pirates ? The President very distinctly per 
 ceives the risks and hazards which a naval conflict thus 
 maintained will bring to the commerce and even to the 
 peace of the two countries. But he is obliged to con 
 sider that in the case supposed, the destruction of our 
 commerce will probably amount to a naval war, waged by a 
 portion, at least, of the British Nation against the govern 
 ment and people of the United States a war tolerated 
 although not declared or avowed by the British Govern 
 ment. If through the necessary employment of all our 
 means of national defense such a partial Avar shall become 
 a general one between the two nations, the President 
 thinks that the responsibility for that painful result will 
 not fall upon the United States." 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOE THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 Efforts of his friends in 1876. Eloquent speech of Col. Ingersoll. 
 The needs of the Republican party. The characteristics demanded 
 for its leader. "The Plumed Knight." The Convention of 1880. 
 Votes for the contending candidates. Garfield nominated on the 
 thirty-sixth ballot. Senator Frye presents the name of Elaine. The 
 Convention of 1884. Public interest in the proceedings. Judge 
 West of Ohio places Elaine before the Convention. An eloquent 
 address.- Demands of the party to-day. The people s Representa 
 tive. The progress of the ballots. Elaine nominated on the fourth 
 ballot. The nomination made unanimous. 
 
 There is a homely old proverb which says, " the third 
 time never fails." Its possible truth is illustrated in the 
 nomination of Mr. Elaine for the Presidency after two 
 unsuccessful efforts of his friends in preceding conven 
 tions. At Cincinnati in 1876 his name was presented, 
 and through several ballots his supporters were confident 
 of success. But on the seventh ballot the opposition to 
 Elaine was concentrated on Rutherford B. Hayes, and 
 that gentleman speedily became the unanimous choice of 
 the convention. Mr. Elaine was one of the first to send 
 
 (164) 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 167 
 
 a congratulatory telegram to the successful candidate, 
 with the assurances of his earnest support during the 
 campaign. 
 
 The name of Mr. Elaine was presented to the conven 
 tion by Col. R. G. Ingersoll of Illinois. It had been ex 
 pected that the speech of that gentleman would be an 
 eloquent appeal in behalf of his candidate, but proved to 
 be far more. It was a burst of oratory not often heard 
 in convention halls, and was frequently interrupted by 
 long-continued applause. At its close there was a scene 
 of the wildest excitement, and for several minutes the 
 building was fairly shaken with the plaudits of the vast 
 assemblage. 
 
 After a hearty commendation of Mr. Bristow, the prin 
 cipal opponent of Mr. Elaine, Col. Ingersoll said : 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States demand as 
 their leader, in the great contest of 1876, a man of intel 
 ligence, a man of integrity, a man of well-known and ap 
 proved political principles. They demand a reformer 
 after as well as before the election. They demand a poli 
 tician in the highest, broadest, and best sense a man of 
 superb moral courage. They demand a man acquainted 
 with public affairs, with the wants of the people ; with 
 not only the requirements of the hour, but with the de 
 mands of the future. 
 
 " They demand a man broad enough to comprehend the 
 relations of this government to the other nations of the 
 
168 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 earth. They demand a man well versed in the powers, 
 duties, and prerogatives of each and every department 
 of this government. They demand a man who will 
 sacredly preserve the financial honor of the United 
 States ; one who knows enough to know that the national 
 debt must be paid through the prosperity of this people ; 
 one who knows enough to know that all the financial 
 theories in the world cannot redeem a single dollar ; one 
 who knows enough to know that all the money must be 
 made, not by law, but by labor ; one who knows enough 
 that the people of the United States have the industry to 
 make money, and the honor to pay it over just as fast as 
 they make it. 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States demand a man 
 who knows that prosperity and resumption, when they 
 come must come together ; that when they come, they 
 will come hand in hand through the harvest fields ; hand 
 in hand by the whirling spindles and the turning wheels ; 
 hand in hand past the open furnace doors ; hand in hand 
 by the flaming forges ; hand in hand by the chimneys 
 filled with eager fire greeted and grasped by the count 
 less sons of toil. This money has to be dug out of the 
 earth. You cannot make it by passing resolutions in a 
 political convention. The Republicans of the United 
 States want a man who knows that this government 
 should protect every citizen, at home and abroad ; who 
 knows that any government that will not defend its 
 
1G9 
 
 defenders, and protect its protectors, is a disgrace to the 
 map of the world. They demand a man who believes in 
 the eternal separation and divorcement of church and 
 school. They demand a man whose political reputation 
 is spotless as a star; but they do not demand that their 
 candidate shall have a certificate of moral character 
 signed by a Confederate Congress. The man who has, 
 in full, heaped and rounded measure all these splendid 
 qualifications, is the present grand and gallant leader of 
 the Republican party James G. Elaine. 
 
 " Our country, crowned with the vast and marvelous 
 achievements of its first century, asks for a man worthy 
 of the past and prophetic of her future ; asks for a man 
 who has the audacity of genius ; asks for a man who is 
 the grandest combination of heart, conscience, and brain 
 beneath the flag. That man is James G-. Elaine. For 
 the Republican host led by this intrepid man there can 
 be no such thing as defeat. This is a grand year a year 
 filled with the recollection of the revolution ; filled with 
 proud and tender memories of the sacred past; filled 
 with the legends of liberty a year in which the sons of 
 freedom will drink from the fountain of enthusiasm ; a 
 year in which the people call for a man who has pre 
 served in Congress what our soldiers won upon the field ; 
 a year in which we call for the man who has torn from 
 the throat of treason the tongue of slander ; a man that 
 has snatched the mask of Democracy from the hideous 
 
170 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 face of Rebellion; a man who, like an intellectual 
 athlete, stood in the arena of debate, challenged all 
 comers, and who up to the present moment is a total 
 stranger to defeat. 
 
 " Like an armed warrier, like a plumed knight, James 
 G. Elaine marched down the halls of the American Con 
 gress, and threw his shining lance full and fair against 
 the brazen forehead of every defamer of this country 
 and maligner of its honor. For the Republican party to 
 desert that gallant man now is as though an army 
 should desert their General upon the field of battle. 
 James G. Elaine is now and has been for years the bearer 
 of the sacred standard of the Republic. I call it sacred 
 because no human being can stand beneath its folds 
 without becoming and without remaining free. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the convention, in the name of the great 
 Republic, the only Republic that ever existed upon this 
 earth ; in the name of all her defenders and of all her 
 supporters ; in the name of all her soldiers living, in the 
 name of all her soldiers that have died upon the field of 
 battle, and in the name of those that perished in the 
 skeleton clutches of famine at Andersonville and 
 Libby, whose suffering he so eloquently remembers, 
 Illinois nominates for the next President of this country 
 that prince of parliamentarians, that leader of leaders, 
 James G. Elaine." 
 
 To Col. Ingersoll is due the credit of bestowing upon 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 171 
 
 Mr. Elaine the appellation of "The Plumed Knight," 
 which will be found in the foregoing speech. 
 
 The National Republican Convention of 1880 met at 
 Chicago, on Wednesday, June 2d. On Thursday the per 
 manent organization was completed, and on Friday the 
 contested seats were considered. On Saturday General 
 Garfield reported the rules, the platform was adopted, 
 and in the evening the candidates for the nomination for 
 President were presented. On Monday twenty-eight bal 
 lots were taken without a choice, and on Tuesday General 
 Garfield was nominated on the eighth ballot of that day, 
 or the thirty-sixth ballot of the Convention. On the first 
 ballot Grant received 304, and Elaine 284 votes, with 93 
 for Sherman, 31 for Washburne, 34 for Edmunds, and 
 10 for Windom. Elaine fell off to 280 on the sixth bal 
 lot, recovering to 285 on the thirteenth, fell off to 279, 
 276, 276, and 275 on the nineteenth to twentieth ballots 
 inclusive, went up to 281 on the twenty-fifth, and on the 
 last five ballots had 270, 276, 275, 57, and 42. Garfield 
 received one vote on the second ballot, and did not get 
 more than two until the thirty-fourth. Then he got 17, 
 which grew to 250 on the thirty-fifth ballot, and he was 
 nominated on the thirty-sixth by a vote of 399. Imme 
 diately thereafter the nomination was declared unani 
 mous. 
 
 The name of Mr. Elaine was presented on this occasion 
 by Senator Frye of Maine, who spoke briefly, bat elo 
 quently, as follows : 
 
172 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 " I once saw a storm- at sea in the night-time ; an old 
 ship battling for its life with the fury of the tempest ; 
 darkness everywhere ; the winds raging and howling ; 
 the huge waves beating on the sides of the ship, and 
 making her shiver from stem to stern. The lightning 
 was flashing, the thunders rolling; there was danger 
 everywhere. I saw at the helm a bold, courageous, 
 immovable commanding man. In the tempest, calm ; in 
 the commotion, quiet; in the danger, hopeful. I saw 
 him take that old ship and bring her into her harbor, 
 into still waters, into safety. That man was a hero. 
 
 " I saw the good old Ship of State, the State of Maine, 
 within the last year, fighting her way through the same 
 waves, against the dangers. She was freighted with all 
 that is precious in the principles of our Republic ; with 
 the rights of the American citizenship, with all that is 
 guaranteed to the American citizen by our Constitution. 
 The eyes of the whole nation were on her, and intense 
 anxiety filled every American heart, lest the grand old 
 ship, the "State of Maine," might go down beneath the 
 waves forever, carrying her precious freight with her. 
 But there was a man at the helm, calm, deliberate, com 
 manding, sagacious ; he made even the foolish man wise ; 
 courageous, he inspired the timid with courage ; hopeful, 
 he gave heart to the dismayed, and he brought that good 
 old ship safely into harbor, with safety ; and she floats 
 to-day "greater, purer, stronger for her baptism of danger. 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOE THE PRESIDENCY. 173 
 
 That man, too, was heroic, and his name was James G. 
 Elaine. 
 
 " Maine sent us to this magnificent convention with a 
 memory of her own salvation from the impending peril 
 fresh upon her. To you, representatives of 50,000,000 
 of the American people, who have met here to counsel 
 how the Republic can be saved, she says : Representa 
 tives of the people, take the man, the true man, the 
 staunch man, for your leader, who has just saved me, 
 and he will bring you to safety and certain victory. : 
 
 The Republican National Convention of 1884 was held 
 in Chicago, and opened on the 3d of June. At the hour of 
 noon on that day the immense hall was packed to its 
 utmost capacity, and thousands of people were vainly 
 seeking admission. All sorts of predictions had been 
 made as to the result, and thousands of men were able 
 to demonstrate to a mathematical certainty the impossi 
 bility of nominating Elaine, Arthur, Edmunds, Logan, or 
 any one else whose name had been mentioned as a possi 
 ble candidate. It was conceded that Mr. Elaine would 
 lead on the first ballot, but the friends of the other can 
 didates claimed that it would be impossible for "The 
 Plumed Knight " to obtain the votes of a majority of 
 the delegates. 
 
 The details of the proceedings are too fresh in the 
 minds of every reader to need more than the briefest 
 repetition here. John R. Lynch was elected temporary 
 
174 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 chairman of the Convention, and Senator Henderson was 
 chosen to preside over the permanent portion of its 
 deliberations. On Wednesday various resolutions were 
 offered and referred to the appropriate committees ; 
 the Committee on Resolutions made a preliminary report 
 and several members indulged in speeches in which all 
 sorts of views were freely expressed. On Thursday the 
 Committee on Credentials settled the vexed question of 
 contested seats with less friction than is usual, and the 
 rules were amended so that delegates to future conven 
 tions are to be chosen in each Congressional District in 
 the same way that such district nominates its member of 
 Congress. The convention adopted, without opposition, a 
 platform which is considered one of the most out-spoken 
 that has been presented by any party since the days of 
 the war. 
 
 The evening of Thursday was devoted to placing the 
 names of candidates before the convention. The roll of 
 the States was called in their order, beginning with Ala 
 bama, which had no candidate to offer. When Connec 
 ticut was reached, Mr. Brandegee of that State made an 
 eloquent appeal in behalf of General Hawley. The next 
 State to be heard from was Illinois, which spoke, through 
 Senator Cullom, in behalf of General Logan. Maine 
 was next heard from through Judge West of Ohio, who 
 placed in nomination the name of James G. Elaine. It 
 was followed by New York, for whom Mr. Townsend 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 175 
 
 named President Arthur, and the roll was completed by 
 Vermont for whom Senator Edmunds was presented. 
 
 The name of every candidate was received with great 
 enthusiasm by his friends and also by a considerable part 
 of the convention that deemed it a proper mark of 
 respect to cheer everybody. When Maine was called 
 there was a storm of applause. Hats and handkerchiefs 
 were waved, some of the delegates stood upon chairs and 
 shouted with all the vigor of which their lungs were 
 capable, and several enthusiastic spectators opened their 
 umbrellas for lack of other materials for making a demon 
 stration. The band struck up but its music was drowned 
 by the shouts of the multitude, and to an indifferent spec 
 tator there was good ground for the inference that the 
 convention had forgotten for the moment all the rules of 
 decorum. 
 
 The cheering lasted fully a quarter of an hour and 
 then gradually subsided. When quiet was restored the 
 chairman introduced Judge West of Ohio, and immedi 
 ately there was a hush of silence through the vast hall. 
 Every delegate and every spectator of the proceedings 
 was intent on catching the words of the speaker, and the 
 change from the excitement that preceded his introduc 
 tion was most observable, and the address was interrupted 
 only by cheers and applause when the names of the can 
 didates were mentioned, or whenever telling points were 
 made. 
 
176 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 Judge West spoke as follows : 
 
 " As a delegate in the Chicago Convention of I860, the 
 proudest service of my life was performed by voting for 
 the nomination of that inspired emancipator, the first 
 Republican President of the United States. Four and 
 twenty years of the grandest history of recorded times 
 has distinguished the ascendency of the Republican party. 
 The skies have lowered and reverses have threatened, but 
 our flag is still there, waving above the mansion of the 
 Presidency, not a stain on its folds, not a cloud on its 
 glory. Whether it shall maintain that grand ascendency 
 depends upon the action of this council. 
 
 With bated breath a nation awaits the result. On it 
 are fixed the eyes of twenty millions of Republican free 
 men in the North. On it, or to it, rather, are stretched 
 forth the imploring hands of ten millions of political 
 bondmen of the South, while above, from the portals of 
 light, is looking down the immortal spirit of the immor 
 tal martyr who first bore it to victory, bidding to us Hail 
 and God speed. 
 
 Six times in six campaigns has that banner triumphed 
 that symbol of union, freedom, humanity, and progress 
 sometime borne by that silent man of destiny, the Well 
 ington of American arms, last by him at whose untimely 
 taking off a nation swelled the funeral cries and wept 
 above great Garfield s grave. Shall that banner triumph 
 again ? 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 177 
 
 " Commit it to the bearing of that chief, the inspira 
 tion of whose illustrious character and great name will 
 fire the hearts of our young men, stir the blood of our 
 manhood and rekindle the fervor of the veterans, and 
 the closing of the seventh campaign will see that holy 
 ensign spanning the sky like a bow of promise. Politi 
 cal conditions are changed since the accession of the 
 Republican party to power. 
 
 The mighty issue of the freedom and bleeding human 
 ity which convulsed the continent and aroused the Repub 
 lic, rallied, united, and inspired the forces of patriotism 
 and the forces of humanity in one consolidated phalanx, 
 have ceased their contentions. The subordinate issues 
 resulting therefrom are settled, and buried away with the 
 dead issues of the past. The arms of the solid South 
 are against us. Not an electoral gain can be expected 
 from that section. If triumph come, the Republican 
 States of the North must furnish the conquering battal 
 ions from the farm, the anvil, and the loom, from the 
 mines, the workshop, and the desk, from the hut of the 
 trapper on the snowy Sierras, from the hut of the fisher 
 man on the banks of the Hudson. The Republican 
 States must furnish these conquering battalions if triumph 
 come. 
 
 " Does not sound political wisdom dictate and demand 
 that a leader shall be given to them whom our people 
 will follow, not as conscripts advancing by funeral 
 
 8 
 
178 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 marches to certain defeat, but a grand civic hero, whom 
 the souls of the people desire, and whom they will fol 
 low with all the enthusiasm of volunteers, as they sweep 
 on and onward to certain victory. A representative of 
 American manhood, a representative of that living 
 Republicanism that demands the ampliest industrial pro 
 tection and opportunity whereby labor shall be enabled 
 to earn and eat the bread of independent employment, 
 relieved of mendicant competition with pauper Europe 
 or pagan China? In this contention of forces to whose 
 candidate shall be intrusted our battle-flag ? 
 
 " Citizens, I am not here to do it, and may my tongue 
 cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do abate one tithe 
 from the just fame, integrity, and public honor of Ches 
 ter A. Arthur, our President. I abate not one tithe 
 from the just fame and public integrity of George E. 
 Edmunds, of Joseph R. Hawley, of John Sherman, of 
 that grand old black eagle of Illinois. And I am proud 
 to know that these distinguished Senators whom I have 
 named, have borne like testimony to the public life, 
 the public character, and public integrity of him whose 
 confirmation brought him to the highest office second 
 in dignity to the office of the President only himself 
 the first premiership in the administration of James A. 
 Garfield. A man for whom the Senators and rivals will 
 vote, the Secretary of State of the United States, is good 
 enough for a plain flesh and blood God s people to vote 
 for President. 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 179 
 
 " Who shall bo our candidate ? Not the representa 
 tive of a particular interest of a particular class. Send 
 the great proclamation to the country labeled The 
 Doctor s Candidate, The Lawyer s Candidate, The 
 Wall Street Candidate, and the hand of resurrection 
 would not fathom his November grave. 
 
 " Gentlemen, he must be a representative of that 
 Republicanism that demands the absolute political, as 
 well as personal, emancipation and enfranchisement of 
 mankind a representative of that Republicanism which 
 recognizes the stamp of American citizenship as the 
 passport to every right, privilege, and consideration at 
 home or abroad, whether under the sky of Bismarck, 
 under the Palmetto, under the Pelican, or on the banks 
 of the Mohawk ; that Republicanism that regards with 
 dissatisfaction a despotism, which under the sic semper 
 tyrannis of the Old Dominion emulates, by slaughter, 
 popular majorities in the name of Democracy a Repub 
 licanism as embodied and stated in the platform of 
 principles this day adopted by your convention. 
 
 "Gentlemen, such a representative Republican is 
 James G. Elaine of Maine. If nominated to-night, his 
 campaign would commence to-morrow and continue 
 until victory is assured. There would b.e no powder 
 burned to fire into the backs of his leaders. It would 
 only be exploded to illumine the inauguration. The 
 brazen throats of the cannon in. yonder square, waiting 
 
180 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 to herald the result of the convention, would not have 
 time to cool before his name would be caught up on ten 
 thousand tongues of electric flame. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the convention, it has been urged that 
 in making this nomination, every other consideration 
 should merge, every other interest be sacrificed, in 
 order and with a view, exclusively, to secure the 
 Republican vote and carry the State of New York. 
 Gentlemen, the Republican party demands of this con 
 vention a nominee whose inspiration and glorious pres 
 tige shall carry the presidency with or without the State 
 of New York ; that will carry the legislatures of the sev 
 eral States, and avert the sacrifice of the United States 
 Senate ; that shall sweep into the tide the congressional 
 districts to recover the House of Representatives, and 
 restore it to the Republican party. * Three millions of 
 Republicans believe that that man who, from the bap 
 tism of blood on the plains of Kansas, to the fall of 
 the immortal Garfield, in all that struggle of humanity 
 and progress wherever humanity desires succor, where 
 love for freedom called for protection, wherever country 
 called for a defender, wherever blows fell thickest and 
 fastest, there in the forefront of the battle was seen to 
 wave the white plume of James G. Elaine, our Henry of 
 Navarre. Nominate him, and the shouts of September 
 victory in Maine will be re-echoed back by the thunders 
 of the October victory in Ohio. Nominate him, and the 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 181 
 
 camp-fires and beacon-lights will illuminate the con 
 tinent from the Golden Gate to Cleopatra s needle. 
 Nominate him, and the millions who are now in waiting 
 will rally to swell the column of victory that is sweep 
 ing on. In the name of a majority of the delegates from 
 the Republican States, and of our glorious constituencies 
 who must fight this battle, I nominate James G. Elaine 
 of Maine." 
 
 After the candidates had been named the convention 
 adjourned, and the weary members retired to prepare 
 for the battle of the morrow the battle of the nomina 
 tion. 
 
 On Friday, the convention proceeded with very little 
 delay to the taking of the ballots. The roll of the States 
 was called, and the work of balloting proceeded slowly, 
 in consequence of frequent interruptions to take the 
 poll of the delegates in different States. The final 
 result was as follows : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, ..... 818 
 
 Necessary to a choice, 410 
 
 For James G. Elaine of Maine, .... 334 
 Chester A. Arthur of New York, . . .278 
 George F. Edmunds of Vermont, ... 93 
 John A. Logan of Illinois, .... 63 
 
 John Sherman of Ohio, 30 
 
 Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, . . .13 
 Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, ... 4 
 William T. Sherman of Missouri, . 2 
 
182 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 There being no choice, a second ballot was taken 
 immediately. When the result showed gains for Elaine, 
 the adherents of that gentleman were not able (even if 
 they made an effort to do so), to refrain from loud and 
 prolonged rejoicing. This was the ballot : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, 818 
 
 Necessary to a choice, 410 
 
 For James G. Elaine of Maine, . . . .349 
 
 Chester A. Arthur of New York, . . .276 
 George F. Edmunds of Vermont, ... 85 
 John A. Logan of Illinois, .... 61 
 
 John Sherman of Ohio, . ... . .28 
 
 Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, . , . 13 
 Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, .... 4 
 
 William T. Sherman of Missouri, ... 2 
 
 The excitement increased at the indication of greater 
 gains for Elaine as the vote progressed. Michigan and 
 Nebraska were loudly cheered, and then the uproar 
 became so great that the sergeant-at-arms was directed 
 to require delegates to keep their seats. The third 
 ballot was at length announced: 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, ..... 819 
 
 Necessary to a choice, 410 
 
 For James G. Elaine of Maine, .... 375 
 Chester A. Arthur of New York, . . .274 
 
 George F. Edmunds of Vermont, ... 69 
 
 John A. Logan of Illinois, .... 53 
 
 John Sherman of Ohio, 25 
 
183 
 
 Joseph R. Ilawley of Connecticut, . . .13 
 Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, .... 8 
 William T. Sherman of Missouri, ... 2 
 
 The confusion increased, and the chairman was power 
 less to preserve order. A dozen delegates were on their 
 feet at once ; a motion to adjourn was made and lost, the 
 friends of Elaine voting against it. Then the conven 
 tion proceeded to the fourth and final ballot. 
 
 When Illinois was called the chairman of the delega 
 tion from that State announced that he wished to read a 
 telegram which had just been received. Objections were 
 made, and the missive was sent to the chairman s desk 
 where it remained until the ballot was completed. The 
 
 telegram was as follows : 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C. 
 Hon. 8. M. Gullom of the Illinois Delegation : 
 
 The Republicans of the States that must be relied upon to elect 
 the President, having so strongly shown a preference for Mr. 
 Elaine, I deem it my duty not to stand in the way of the people s 
 choice. I recommend my friends to assist in the nomination. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN. 
 
 In compliance with the wishes of " Black Jack," the 
 vote of Illinois was changed from Logan to Elaine, and 
 decided the contest. Through the rest of the call there 
 was no question of the result : 
 
 Whole number of votes cast, . 813 
 
 Necessary to a choice, - 407 
 
 For James G. Elaine of Maine, . . . .541 
 Chester A. Arthur of New York, . 207 
 
184 
 
 George F. Edmunds of Vermont, . . 41 
 
 John A. Logan of Illinois, .... 7 
 
 Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut, . . 15 
 
 Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, ... 2 
 
 The announcement of the result of the fourth ballot 
 was received with a whirlwind of applause. Every per 
 son in the audience delegates and visitors rose to their 
 feet simultaneously and, all being Elaine men now, 
 shouted and sang their delight at the success of the man 
 from Maine. It took nearly thirty minutes to get to busi 
 ness. The chairman then asked if the nomination should 
 be made unanimous. Mr. Burleigh of New York, one 
 of the supporters of President Arthur, took the platform 
 and said : 
 
 " In behalf of the President of the United States, and 
 at his request, I move to make the nomination of James 
 G. Elaine of Maine, unanimous, and I promise for the 
 friends of President Arthur, who are always loyal at the 
 polls, and for northern New York, 20,000 Republican 
 majority ; and I promise you all that we will do all we 
 can for the ticket and for the nominee, and will show you 
 in November next that New York is a Republican State. 
 It elected James A. Garfield, and it will elect James G. 
 Elaine of Maine." 
 
 Mr. Sabin of Minnesota, said : 
 
 " Four years ago, in this very hall, and as a delegate to 
 the National Republican Convention, I was opposed to 
 
STREET SCENE IX CHICAGO ON THE NIGHT AFTER THE 
 NOMINATIONS WERE MADE. 
 
ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 187 
 
 Chester A. Artlier and to the elements with which he 
 then associated. Since then he has been called, under 
 the most trying circumstances, to fill the first place in 
 the gift of the people of this country. So well, so 
 nobly, so faithfully has he fulfilled that trust, and so hap 
 pily has he disappointed not only those of his opponents 
 but his friends, so fully has he filled the position of the 
 scholar and the gentleman, that he is possessed of that 
 great, good common sense which has made his adminis 
 tration a great and pronounced success, that he has 
 grown upon me until to-day I honor and revere Chester 
 A. Arthur. As a friend of his, I no less honor and re 
 vere that prince of gentlemen, that scholar, that gifted 
 statesman, James G. Elaine, whose nomination it affords 
 me- the greatest pleasure to second, with the prediction 
 that his name before this country in November will pro 
 duce that same spontaneous enthusiasm which will make 
 him President of the United States on the 4th of March 
 next." 
 
 Mr. Plumb of Kansas, said : 
 
 " This convention has discharged two of its most im 
 portant trusts and is now, notwithstanding the length of 
 time it has been in session and the exciting scenes 
 through which it has passed, in thorough good humor, 
 and I believe we are ready to go on and conclude the 
 business which brought us all here. I move that the 
 
 8* 
 
188 ELAINE S NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 nomination be made unanimous, and I hope there will 
 not be a dissenting voice in all this vast assemblage." 
 The chairman then read the following dispatch : 
 
 The President has sent the following dispatch to Mr. Elaine : 
 " As the candidate of the Republican party, you will have my 
 earnest and cordial support." 
 
 The nomination was then made unanimous, and the 
 convention adjourned until evening. The great work was 
 over, and James G. Elaine was declared the Republican 
 standard-bearer for the Convention of 1884. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. MR. ELAINE S 
 OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 The Platform of 1884. Much Discussed in the Committee. 
 Adopted without Opposition. A Stiff Plank on the Tariff. Declar 
 ation of Principles. In Memory of Garfield. President Arthur 
 Commended. Duties of the Government to the People. Arraign 
 ing the Democracy. Pledges of the Republicans. Importance of 
 Sheep-Husbandry. International Money Standards. International 
 and Inter-State Commerce. Regulation of Railways. National 
 Bureau of Labor. Eight-Hour Law. Civil Service Reform. 
 Opposition to Polygamy. Denunciation of Southern Outrages. 
 Official Notification of Mr. Elaine. Address of the Chairman of 
 the Committee. Mr. Elaine s Reply. The Group on the Lawn. 
 
 The platform of the Republican Convention of 1884 
 caused much discussion in the Committee on Resolu 
 tions, but was adopted by the Convention without oppo 
 sition. Some of the members of the committee desired 
 to dodge the question of the tariff, and indulge in mean 
 ingless platitudes concerning it ; but their opinions did 
 not prevail, as the majority of the committee believed 
 in a positive statement of principles, from which there 
 could be no escape. In this respect, the platform is 
 
 (189) 
 
190 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 more pronounced than that of any previous convention 
 since the days of Lincoln, and the memorable array of 
 principles which gave him the Presidency. 
 
 The following is the platform as offered by the com 
 mittee and adopted in the Convention : 
 
 " The Republicans of the United States, in National 
 Convention assembled, renew their allegiance to the 
 principles upon which they have triumphed in six suc 
 cessive Presidential elections, and congratulate the 
 American people on the attainment of so many results 
 in legislation and administration by which the Repub 
 lican party has, after saving the Union, done so much 
 to render its institutions just, equal, and beneficent, the 
 safeguard of liberty, and the embodiment of the best 
 thought and highest purposes of our citizens. 
 
 " The Republican party has gained its strength by 
 quick and faithful response to the demands of the 
 people for freedom and equality of all men ; for a united 
 nation, assuring the rights of all citizens; for the ele 
 vation of labor ; for an honest currency ; for purity in 
 legislation; and for integrity and accountability in all 
 departments of the government. And it accepts anew 
 the duty of leading in the work of progress and reform. 
 
 " We lament the death of President Garfield, whose 
 sound statesmanship, long conspicuous in Congress, gave 
 promise of a strong and successful adminstration, a prom 
 ise fully realized during the short period of his office as 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 191 
 
 President of the United States. His distinguished ser- 
 vices in war and peace have endeared him to the hearts 
 of the American people. In the administration of Presi 
 dent Arthur we recognize a wise, conservative, and 
 patriotic policy, under which the country has been blessed 
 with remarkable prosperity ; and we believe his eminent 
 services are entitled to and will receive the hearty 
 approval of every citizen. 
 
 " It is the first duty of a good government to protect 
 the rights and promote the interests of its own people. 
 The largest diversity of industry is the most productive 
 of general prosperity, and of the comfort and independ 
 ence of the people. We therefore demand that the 
 imposition of duties on foreign imports shall be made, 
 not for revenue only, but that in raising the requisite 
 revenues for the government such duty shall be so levied 
 as to afford security to our diversified industries and pro 
 tection to the rights and wages of the laborer, to the end 
 that active and intelligent labor, as well as capital, may 
 have its just reward, and the laboring man his full share 
 in the National prosperity. Against the so-called 
 economic system of the Democratic party, which would 
 degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter our 
 most earnest protest. The Democratic party has failed 
 completely to relieve the people of the burden of 
 unnecessary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus. 
 The Republican party pledges itself to correct the irreg- 
 
192 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE* S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 ularities of the tariff and to reduce the surplus, not by 
 the vicious and indiscriminating process of horizontal 
 reduction, but by such methods as will relieve the tax 
 payer without injuring the laborer or the great product 
 ive interests of the country. 
 
 " We recognize the importance of sheep-husbandry in 
 the United States, the serious depression which it is now 
 experiencing, and the danger threatening its future pros 
 perity ; and we, therefore, respect the demands of the 
 representatives of this important agricultural interest for 
 a readjustment of duties upon foreign wool in order that 
 such industry shall have full and adequate protection. 
 
 " We have always recommended the best money known 
 to the civilized world, and we urge that efforts should be 
 made to unite all commercial nations in the establishment 
 of an international standard which shall fix for all the 
 relative value of gold and silver coinage. 
 
 " The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and 
 between the States is one of the most important prerog 
 atives of the general government, and the Republican 
 party distinctly announces its purpose to support such 
 legislation as will fully and efficiently carry out the con 
 stitutional power of Congress over inter-State commerce. 
 
 " The principle of the public regulation of railway 
 corporations is a wise and salutary one for the protection 
 of all classes of the people, and we favor legislation that 
 shall prevent unjust discrimination and excessive charges 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 193 
 
 for transportation, and that shall secure to the people 
 and the railways alike the fair and equal protection of 
 the laws. 
 
 " We favor the establishment of a National Bureau of 
 Labor; the enforcement of the Eight-hour law; a wise 
 and judicious system of general education by adequate 
 appropriation from the national revenues wherever the 
 same is needed. We believe that everywhere the protec 
 tion of a citizen of American birth must be secured to 
 citizens of American adoption, and we favor the settle 
 ment of national differences by international arbitration. 
 
 " The Republican party, having its birth in a hatred of 
 slave labor, and a desire that all men may be truly free 
 and equal, is unalterably opposed to placing our working- 
 men in competition with any form of servile labor, 
 whether at home or abroad. In this spirit we denounce 
 the importation of contract labor, whether at home or 
 abroad, as an offense against the spirit of American 
 institutions, and we pledge ourselves to sustain the pres 
 ent law restricting Chinese immigration, and to provide 
 such further legislation as is necessary to carry out its 
 purposes. 
 
 " Reform of the civil service, auspiciously begun under 
 the Republican administration, should be completed by 
 the further extension of the reform system already 
 established by law to all the grades of the service to 
 which it is applicable. The spirit and purpose of the 
 
194 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 reform should be observed in all executive appointments, 
 and all laws at variance with the objects of existing 
 reform legislation should be repealed, to the end that the 
 dangers to free institutions which lurk in the power of 
 official patronage may be wisely and effectively avoided. 
 
 "The public lands are a heritage of the people 
 of the United States, and should be reserved, as far 
 as possible, for small holdings of actual settlers. We are 
 opposed to the acquisition of large tracts of these 
 lands by corporations or individuals, especially where 
 such holdings are in the hands of non-resident aliens, 
 and we will endeavor to obtain such legislation as will 
 tend to correct this evil. 
 
 "We demand of Congress the speedy forfeiture of 
 all land-grants which have lapsed by reason of non- 
 compliance with acts of incorporation, in all cases 
 where there has been no attempt in good faith to per 
 form the conditions of such grants. 
 
 " The grateful thanks of the American people are 
 due to the Union soldiers and sailors of the late war ; 
 and the Republican party stands pledged to suitable 
 pensions for all who were disabled, and for the widows 
 and orphans of those who died in the war. The 
 Republican party also pledges itself to the repeal of 
 the limitation contained in the Arrears Act of 1879, 
 so that all invalid soldiers shall share alike, and their 
 pensions begin with the date of disability, and not with 
 the date of application. 
 
THE PLATFORM. BLAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 195 
 
 " The Republican party favors a policy which shall 
 keep us from entangling alliances with foreign nations, 
 and which gives us the right to expect that foreign 
 nations shall refrain from meddling in American affairs ; 
 a policy which seeks peace and trade with all powers, 
 but especially with those of the Western Hemisphere. 
 
 " We demand the restoration of our navy to its old- 
 time strength and efficiency, that it may in any high 
 sea protect the rights of American citizens and the 
 interests of American commerce. We call upon Con 
 gress to remove the burdens under which American 
 shipping has been depressed, so that it may again be 
 true that we have a commerce which leaves no sea 
 unexplored, and a navy which takes no law from 
 superior force. 
 
 " Resolved, That the appointment by the President to 
 offices in the Territories should be made from the 
 bona-fide citizens and residents of the Territories where 
 in they are to serve. 
 
 " Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to enact 
 such laws as shall promptly and effectually suppress 
 the system of polygamy within our Territories, and 
 divorce the political from the ecclesiastical power of the 
 so-called Mormon Church, and that the law so enacted 
 should be rigidly enforced by the civil authorities, if 
 possible, and by the military, if need be. 
 
 " The people of the United States, in their organized 
 
196 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 capacity, constitute a nation, and not a mere confedera 
 tion of States. The national government is supreme 
 within the sphere of its national duties, but the States 
 have reserved rights which should be faithfully main 
 tained, and which should be guarded with jealous care, 
 so that the harmony of our system of government may 
 be preserved, and the Union kept inviolate. 
 
 "The perpetuity of our institutions rests upon the 
 maintenance of a free ballot, an honest count, and 
 correct returns. We denounce the fraud and violence 
 practiced by the Democracy in Southern States, by 
 which the will of the voter is defeated, as dangerous 
 to the preservation of free institutions ; and we solemnly 
 arraign the Democratic party as being the guilty recip 
 ient of the fruits of such fraud and violence. 
 
 " We extend to the Republicans of the South, regard 
 less of their former party affiliations, our cordial sympa 
 thy, and pledge to them our most earnest efforts to 
 promote the passage of such legislation as will secure 
 to every citizen, of whatever race and color, the full 
 and complete recognition, possession, and exercise of 
 all civil and political rights." 
 
 The platform was given to the press immediately 
 after its adoption, and an official copy was sent to Mr. 
 Elaine by the Chairman of the National Republican 
 Committee. The committee to notify Mr. Elaine of his 
 nomination arranged to arrive at Augusta on the 20th 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 197 
 
 of June, and make the official announcement on the 
 following day. Immediately after the close of the 
 convention, the delegates scattered in various direc 
 tions, but assembled at Boston on the day in question. 
 They proceeded from Boston to Augusta in a special 
 train, arriving late in the evening. There was a large 
 assemblage of citizens to meet them, and they were 
 escorted to their hotel by a band of music which headed 
 an enthusiastic procession. 
 
 It was understood that the ceremony of notification 
 would take place at eleven o clock in the forenoon 
 of the 21st, in the parlors of Mr. Elaine s house ; but 
 when the hour came and the committee had assem 
 bled, it was found that the parlors were a good deal 
 warmer than the open air, while the latter was by no 
 means, cool. It was suggested by members of the family 
 that it would be better to have the ceremony on the lawn, 
 and forthwith the party adjourned to the shelter of the 
 shade-trees where Mr. Blaine was swinging in his ham 
 mock when he first received news of his nomination. 
 The party included Mr. Blaine and his family, a few 
 neighbors and intimate friends, together with the com 
 mittee, headed by Gen. John B. Henderson, its Chairman. 
 There were in all about a hundred persons present, form 
 ing a picturesque group ; they stood in a semi-circle, and 
 when all was ready Mr. Blaine was escorted to the lawn 
 and placed in front of the honorable chairman. 
 
198 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 Gen. Henderson immediately began the reading of the 
 following address, and continued, with only a few occa 
 sional pauses, to its close : 
 
 " Mr. Elaine : Your nomination for the office of the 
 President of the United States by the National Republi 
 can Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, is already 
 known to you. The gentlemen before you, constituting 
 the committee composed of one member from each State 
 and Territory of the country, and one from the District 
 of Columbia, now come as the accredited organ of that 
 convention to give you formal notice of your nomination 
 and to request your acceptance thereof. It is of course 
 known to you that, beside your own, several other names, 
 among the most honored in the councils of the Republi 
 can party, were presented by their friends as candidates 
 for this nomination. Between your friends and the 
 friends of the other gentlemen so justly entitled to 
 the respect and confidence of their political associates 
 the contest was one of generous rivalry, free from any 
 taint of bitterness, and equally free from the reproach 
 of injustice. 
 
 THE CHOICE OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 "At an early stage of the proceedings of the conven 
 tion it became manifest that the Republican States 
 whose aid must be invoked at last to insure success to 
 the ticket earnestly desired your nomination. It was 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 199 
 
 equally manifest that the desire so earnestly expressed 
 by delegates from those States was but a truthful reflec 
 tion of an irresistible popular demand. It was not 
 thought nor pretended that this demand had its origin 
 in any ambitious desires of your own or in organized 
 work of your friends, but it was recognized to be what 
 it truthfully is a spontaneous expression by the free 
 people of love and admiration of a chosen leader. No 
 nomination would have given satisfaction to every mem 
 ber of the party. This is not to be expected in a 
 country so extended in area and so varied in interests. 
 The nomination of Mr. Lincoln in 1860 disappointed so 
 many hopes and overthrew so many cherished ambitions, 
 that for a short time disaffection threatened to ripen into 
 open revolt. In 1872 the discontent was so pronounced 
 as to impel large masses of the party to an organized 
 opposition to its nominees. For many weeks after the 
 nomination of General Garfield, in 1880, defeat seemed 
 almost inevitable. In each case the shock of disappoint 
 ment was followed by ( sober second thought. Individ 
 ual preferences gradually yielded to convictions of public 
 duty. The prompting of patriotism finally rose superior 
 to the irritations and animosities of the hour. The party 
 in every trial has grown stronger in the face of threat 
 ened danger. 
 
 " In tendering you the nomination it gives us pleasure 
 to remember that those orcat measures which furnished 
 
200 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 the cause for party congratulations by the late conven 
 tion at Chicago, and which are now crystalized into the 
 legislation of the country, measures which have strength 
 ened and dignified the Nation while they have elevated 
 and advanced the people, have at all times and on all 
 proper occasions received your earnest and valuable sup 
 port. It was your good fortune to aid in protecting the 
 nation against the assaults of armed treason. You 
 were present and helped to unloose the shackles of 
 slavery, you assisted in placing anew guarantees of free 
 dom in the Federal Constitution. Your voice was potent 
 in preserving national faith, when false theories of finance 
 would have blasted national and individual prosperity. 
 We kindly remember you as the fast friend of honest 
 money and commercial integrity. In all that pertains to 
 the security and repose of capital, the dignity of labor, 
 manhood, the elevation and freedom of the people, the 
 right of the oppressed to demand, and the duty of the 
 government to afford, protection, your public acts have 
 received the unqualified endorsement of popular approval. 
 
 THE RECORD OF THE PARTY. 
 
 " But we are not unmindful of the fact that parties, 
 like individuals, cannot live entirely on the "past, how 
 ever splendid the record. The present is ever charged 
 with its immediate cares, and the future presses on with 
 its new duties, its perplexing responsibilities ; parties, 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 201 
 
 like individuals, however, that are free from the stain of 
 violated faith in the past are fairly entitled to the pre 
 sumption of sincerity in their promises for the future. 
 Among the promises made by the party in its late con 
 vention at Chicago, are : economy and purity of admin 
 istration, protection of the citizen, native and naturalized, 
 at home and abroad, the prompt restoration of the navy, 
 the wise reduction of surplus revenues, relieving the tax 
 payer without injuring the laborer, the preservation of 
 public lands for actual settlers, import duties when nec 
 essary at all to be levied, not for revenue only, but for 
 the double purpose of revenue and protection, the regu 
 lation of internal commerce, the settlement of interna 
 tional differences by peaceful arbitration, but coupled 
 with the reassertion and maintenance of the Monroe 
 doctrine as interpreted by the fathers of the Republic ; 
 perseverance in . the good work of civil service reform, 
 to the end that dangers to free institutions which lurk 
 in the power of official patronage may be wisely and 
 effectively avoided, honest currency based on coin of in 
 trinsic value aided, strength to the public credit and 
 giving renewed vitality to every branch of American 
 industry. 
 
 " Mr. Elaine : During the last twenty-three years the 
 Republican party has builded a new Republic a Repub 
 lic far more splendid than originally designed by our 
 fathers. As its proportions are already grand they may 
 
202 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 yet be enlarged ; its foundations may yet be strengthened 
 and its columns may be adorned with a beauty more 
 resplendent still. To you as its architect-in-chief will 
 soon be assigned this grateful work." 
 
 MR. ELAINE S REPLY. 
 
 When General Henderson had concluded. Walker 
 Elaine stepped forward and handed his father the manu 
 script of an address in reply to that of the Committee. 
 Mr. Elaine read as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the National Com 
 mittee : I receive, not without deep sensibility, your 
 official notice of the action of the National Convention 
 already brought to my knowledge through the public 
 press. I appreciate more profoundly than I can express 
 the honor which is implied in the nomination for the 
 Presidency by the Republican party of the Nation, speak 
 ing through the authoritative voice of duly accredited 
 delegates. To be selected as a candidate by such an 
 assemblage from the list of eminent statesmen whose 
 names were presented fills me with embarrassment. I 
 can only express my gratitude for so signal an honor 
 and my desire to prove worthy of the great trust reposed 
 in me. In accepting the nomination as I now do, I am 
 impressed I am also oppressed with a sense of the 
 labor and responsibility which attach to my position. 
 The burden is lightened, however, by the host of earnest 
 
THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 203 
 
 men who support my candidacy, many of whom add, as 
 does your honorable committee, the cheer of personal 
 friendship to the pledge of political fealty. 
 
 "A more formal acceptance will naturally be expected 
 and will in due season be communicated. It may, how 
 ever, not be inappropriate at this time to say that I have 
 already made a careful study of the principles announced 
 by the National Convention, and that in whole and in de 
 tail they have my heartiest sympathy and meet my 
 unqualified approval. 
 
 " Apart from your official errand, gentlemen, I am ex 
 tremely happy to welcome you all to my house. With 
 many of you I have already shared the duties of public 
 service, and have enjoyed most cordial friendship. I 
 trust your journey from all parts of the great Republic 
 has been agreeable, and that during your stay in Maine 
 you will feel that you are not among strangers, but with 
 friends. 
 
 " Invoking the blessings of God upon the great cause 
 which we jointly represent, let us turn to the future 
 without fear, and with manly hearts." 
 
 Those who were present say Mr. Elaine never appeared 
 to better advantage. He had been standing with his 
 arms folded across his breast. His dignified and noble 
 bearing deeply impressed all who saw and heard him. 
 His reply was read with that easy and natural dignity 
 which he possesses. 
 9 
 
204 THE PLATFORM. ELAINE S OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION. 
 
 During the formalities, all stood with uncovered heads. 
 Chairman Henderson, after Mr. Elaine had finished, pre 
 sented him as the next President of the United States, 
 and Mrs. Blairie as the next lady of the White House. 
 This was the signal for a round of cheers, and here 
 Mr. Elaine kissed Mrs. Elaine, and shook hands with all 
 the rest. The committee returned the same day to 
 Boston, and the news was telegraphed throughout the 
 country that Mr. Elaine was officially at the head of the 
 Republican ticket for the campaign of 1884. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 Thirty years a resident of Augusta. Description of the City. A 
 Delightful Situation. Both banks of the Quinnebec. General As 
 pect of the Place. Its Principal Avenues. State Street and Capitol 
 Street. Position of Mr. Elaine s House. Description of the Build 
 ing. Additions made by Mr. Blaine since he Bought it. The 
 Grounds Around the Building. An Abundance of Shade Trees. The 
 Main Entrance to the House. Arrangement of the Rooms. The 
 Pictures and Furniture. The Billiard-Room and Library. When 
 Mr. Blaine performs his Work. His Habits and Daily Life. Read 
 ing Papers and Letters in Bed. Formalities of Breakfast. His 
 Hours of Work. Dinner in the Blaine Household. Supper, Recrea 
 tion, and Sleep. Methods of "Work. How he Reads the Papers. 
 Opening and Answering Letters. How he Writes Important Papers. 
 Extent and Character of Mr. Elaine s Library. His Wonderful 
 Memory. His Taste in Art. Pedestrian Exercise. Mr. Blaine 
 Among Friends and Neighbors. Mrs. Blaine and her Accomplish 
 ments. The Younger Blaines. Mr. Elaine s House in Washington. 
 
 For a period of thirty-one years Augusta, Maine, has 
 been the real home of Mr. Blaine, for, although he has 
 been much away from there, and for the past dozen years 
 or more has maintained a winter residence in Washing 
 ton, Augusta is the spot about which his strongest 
 
 (205) 
 
206 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 home associations cluster, for it was there that the earlier 
 years of his active business life were passed. This attrac 
 tive little city of some ten thousand inhabitants is charm 
 ingly located on both banks of the Kennebec, the second 
 longest river in Maine, some forty miles from its 
 mouth, and is the terminus of steam navigation on the 
 river. The banks of the river rise in a series of terraces 
 back from the water, there being three distinct ter 
 races or shelves upon which the city is built. Along the 
 river, and principally upon the west side, is the business 
 portion of the city; back from this, at an elevation 
 of ninety to one hundred feet from the water, is the 
 plain broken by ravines extending to the river, upon 
 which the private residences, churches, and public build 
 ings are located, while still west of this are higher ter 
 races overlooking the city, the river valley, and a wide 
 extent of country in all directions. The city was settled 
 in 1754. Its streets are wide, the private residences sub 
 stantial, there is an abundance of old elms and maples, 
 and during all the summer months the entire city is leaf- 
 embowered. 
 
 Along the whole length of the second terrace from the 
 river, extends one of the principal avenues, known as 
 State street, reaching from the Catholic Church, north, 
 to the State Capitol, south, a distance of about one 
 mile, a straight, level street, with grand old elms, wil 
 lows, and maples on either side. Along this street are 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 207 
 
 the churches and some of the finest residences. Here 
 also are the court-house, jail, and in a pretty little park, 
 the Soldiers Monument, one of the finest memorial struc 
 tures in all New England. Just at the southern limit of 
 the city, before reaching the State House, State street is 
 crossed at right angles by Capitol street, the latter sepa 
 rating Mr. Elaine s residence from the State grounds. 
 Augusta is not a place of great business interests, but 
 is a wealthy, staid, conservative place, in the center of 
 one of the best farming, and most picturesque portions 
 of Maine. 
 
 Previous to 1862, Mr. Elaine s home in Augusta had 
 been in the double-tenement house on Green street, 
 nearly opposite the Methodist church. Eut in that year 
 he purchased the large, square house at the northwest 
 corner of State and Capitol streets, just mentioned, 
 which has since been his home. This house formerly 
 belonged to one of the old families of Augusta, and was 
 sold at the breaking up of the family. It is of wood, 
 two stories high, and originally contained four rooms on 
 the ground floor, an equal number above, with a long ell 
 in the rear extending back from State street. In 1872 
 Mr. Elaine contemplated the removal of the old, and 
 building of a new house ; but on reflection, and consider 
 ing the many dear associations and recollections connected 
 with his life in it, he concluded to enlarge it by building 
 a rear portion to give more room, making the whole har 
 monious in exterior, and convenient within. 
 
208 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 Consequently the dwelling presents to-day the appear 
 ance of two houses connected by a long ell. The main 
 house fronts on State street, standing within a few feet 
 of the street, having a wide vestibule in front, and an 
 annex at the south side which was formerly used as a 
 winter conservatory, but since the house is now only used 
 as a summer residence, this annex makes a cosy alcove 
 leading out from the large parlor. The main house is 
 square, two stories high, with a flat roof surmounted by 
 a cupola. At the west end of the long ell, is the new 
 portion of the house built in 1872. This is square, 
 though smaller than the main house, not as high in the 
 walls, flat-roofed, and surmounted by a cupola and is 
 of itself almost an exact duplicate of the old, or front 
 house. The whole is of wood, substantially built, plainly 
 finished, and painted a dark drab. 
 
 The house is close to the north line of the lot, and at 
 the south is an ample lawn, a few feet lower than the 
 ground whereon the house stands. A row of large 
 maples borders the State street front, while along the 
 Capitol street line are butternuts, maples, several low 
 evergreens, and many old apple trees, the last-named also 
 occupying places on the lawn. Hammocks arc suspended 
 between the trees. West of the lawn, near the stable 
 entrance to the grounds the stable being west from the 
 house is a hawthorn hedge, and beyond this the vege 
 table garden. 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 209 
 
 Entering the house at the State street front, and pass 
 ing 1 the vestibule, we enter a long, wide hall. At the 
 right is the reception and dining-room, which occupies 
 the^ entire north half of the house. This was formerly 
 two rooms, but is now one with fluted columns at each 
 side, marking the division. Across the hall to the south 
 is the large parlor, with which the alcove-annex is con 
 nected. Pictures in profusion on the walls, and on easels, 
 adorn these rooms. The furnishings are plain and sub 
 stantial ; there is little attempt at embellishment or artis 
 tic display ; all seems adapted to use. Passing through 
 the long hall in the ell, with its wide veranda at the 
 south, its domestic rooms at the north, and lined as it is 
 on either side by book-cases, large and well filled, we 
 reach the new house. Or this may be entered from the 
 vestibule at the south side, from the lawn. If so entered, 
 we step into a small hall, at the left of which is the bil 
 liard room ; at the right is the library, while in the rear 
 across a small hall, which is filled with books, is the 
 kitchen. The billiard-room is finished in walnut and 
 ash, with a floor of the same ; and on the walls are an 
 oil painting of President Hayes, large photographs of 
 California scenery, and a large map of the United States. 
 The paper upon the walls is green and gold. This room 
 is now used as the work-shop of Mr. Sherman, Mr. Elaine s 
 private secretary. 
 
 Opposite the billiard-room is the library. The corners 
 
210 MR. BLAINE AT HOME. 
 
 of this room are cut across, making rooms for closets, 
 and giving the interior an oblong-octagon form. It lias 
 two windows, one opening south and one east. The south 
 window looks out directly across the lawn among the 
 apple trees to the State grounds and the Senate wing of 
 the Capitol building ; the east one commands a wider 
 range, and when the foliage is off the trees, one can look 
 down State Park to the monument in honor of Gov. Lin 
 coln, and across the river to the Insane Asylum, two 
 miles away. The library is finished in walnut, with paper 
 of dark red and gold. On the north side is an open fire 
 place. A common library table, with two sets of draw 
 ers, occupies the center of the room ; on the west side is a 
 large book-case ; the walls are hung with engravings. 
 Chairs and lounges are disposed about the room. 
 
 Mr. Elaine s favorite position in his library is at the 
 south window, his back to the east window, the light of 
 which falls over his shoulder. Here he has an uphol 
 stered easy-chair, and an adjustable writing-stand, or 
 stand for holding large books. In this room Mr. Elaine 
 did the greater part of the work on his history, although 
 when much absorbed he has several times removed his 
 work to his own chamber, immediately over the library, 
 as being less liable to interruptions. 
 
 During his summer life in Augusta Mr. Elaine usually 
 rises about 8 o clock. Previous to rising he will look 
 over the morning Journal the paper of which he was 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 211 
 
 formerly editor and some of his letters, in bed. Gen 
 erally he takes a cup of clear, hot water, as hot as he can 
 drink it, before rising, as a good " tonic" for the stom 
 ach. He breakfasts soon after rising, the meal being 
 very simple. Occasionally he will have a steak, or more 
 generally boiled eggs and dry toast. He never drinks 
 coffee, preferring a cup of tea. All the -family breakfast 
 together, Mr. Elaine sitting at the head of the table and 
 carving anything that requires the knife. At the break 
 fast-table he will open and read some of his letters, if he 
 has not read them all before coming down stairs. Ordi 
 narily, when at home, Mr. Elaine s habits are not as 
 methodical, and the day is not worked off with as much 
 exactness, as when he is in Washington ; although since 
 he has been at work upon his history he has been obliged 
 to conform to a more economical use of his summer days. 
 
 After breakfast a short time is spent with his family 
 and friends, and at ten o clock he goes to his library and 
 the solid work of the forenoon begins, which is carried 
 on uninterruptedly and with great vigor till 2 o clock, 
 the hour for dinner. The family are at the dinner-table 
 about an hour. Mr. Elaine usually carves the meats and 
 serves the table, but of late years if his sons are at home 
 he will ask one of them to relieve him. 
 
 Dinner consists of three courses ; but is always sim 
 ple and informal, as all the meals are. The conversation 
 is lively and chatty ; affairs of the day, historical ques- 
 
212 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 tions, and literary matters being the subjects of discus 
 sion. Frequently questions arise wherein different opin 
 ions prevail, and the children, as well as the older 
 persons, have their say. Sometimes, in the midst of the 
 service, one of the children will leave the table to con 
 sult the cyclopedia in order to decide some question of 
 doubt. Mr. Elaine is so completely indifferent to him 
 self that it is not easy to say what dishes are his favor 
 ites. Roast of beef, chicken broiled or fricassed he 
 is fond of. Vegetables he likes, especially celery. He 
 eats very little bread, no cake, not often pastry, and 
 rarely puddings. He is not a fastidious diner, usually 
 paying little attention to what he eats, and never profess 
 ing to like a thing because it is choice, or a famous dish. 
 His rule is, if he is hungry, he eats plain, simple food 
 if his appetite is not quick, he never coaxes it, but waits 
 till he craves a fuller meal. 
 
 The dinner-table is always set for more than the fam 
 ily, and it is very rarely that some visitors or friends are 
 not with them at dinner. After dinner, an hour and a 
 half or two hours, or if work is not pressing a longer 
 time, is spent in outdoor exercise, and work is again 
 resumed at 4 o clock and continued till supper. Then 
 Mr. Elaine takes a cup of tea, or some plain bread, occa 
 sionally cold meats, but never hot bread or cake. He 
 very seldom eat grapes, peaches, or acid fruit. He never 
 drinks wine, and never has it in his house in Augusta. 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 213 
 
 Occasionally in Washington he will take a glass of wine 
 but cares so little for it that his most intimate friend 
 cannot tell what kind he prefers. He has never in all 
 his life smoked a cigar, or used tobacco in any form. 
 Once in a while he will indulge in a game of whist but 
 it is very seldom that he takes cards in his hands. Time 
 is too precious and there is too much work to be done. 
 He is fond of billiards, but seldom plays, excepting for 
 exercise, when the weather does not admit of his taking 
 exercise out of doors, and never at any other table than 
 his own. 
 
 After tea the first part of the evening is spent with his 
 family, and friends or neighbors who are with him, or 
 who may drop in. The conversation is chatty, informal, 
 and unstudied, the company occupying the parlor and 
 dining-rooms, as an ordinary American family occupy 
 the living rooms of their house. At 9 or 9.30 o clock 
 Mr. Elaine retires to his library and spends two hours 
 in answering letters or attending to correspondence arid 
 minor matters, of business, after which he retires to 
 sleep " like a log" till morning. He is in perfect health, 
 and his sleep is always as much a matter of discipline 
 as his work. 
 
 In his work Mr. Elaine has great directness, method, 
 and concentration yet to see him at work one might 
 think he was doing it almost without order or system. 
 His old journalistic habits abide by him, and his method 
 
214 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 is that of the busy editor rather than, of the quiet and 
 orderly scholar ; absorption and intensity characterizing 
 all that he does. He is a close reader of journals of the 
 day, reading with great rapidity and attention. A rapid 
 glance over the columns of one paper is sufficient ; 
 another will receive a more complete reading, a few 
 moments being sufficient to absorb all he wishes ; occa 
 sionally he will read an article of several columns in 
 length in ten or fifteen minutes. All the papers are 
 gone through with rapidly in this manner and after being 
 read are thrown upon the floor. If he wishes to retain 
 an article which appears in a paper he lays it aside to 
 be referred to again. 
 
 Papers are only read for the news of the day never 
 for opinions, Mr. Elaine depending upon no journal for 
 these. He receives all the leading papers published, 
 and reads them all. When at his home in Augusta he 
 depends upon the Kennebec Journal, Lewiston Evening 
 Journal, and Boston Journal for the daily news others 
 coming in as secondary. If he has a favorite paper it 
 is probably the New York Tribune. All the leading 
 American magazines and reviews are taken and regu 
 larly read, while to some extent Mr. Elaine makes clip 
 pings from the papers on subjects of public interest, lie 
 has no hobby of this nature, as many public men seem 
 to have. What is preserved is kept in a plain scrap-book 
 more for the use of his Private Secretary than because 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 215 
 
 he himself will need it Mr. Elaine being able to draw 
 from his own well-disciplined memory, anything wanted, 
 more readily than it could be obtained from an indexed 
 scrap-book. 
 
 In opening and attending to his correspondence the 
 same rapidity and directness are employed as in reading 
 the journals of the day. His letters are always torn 
 open, usually across the fold at the top, the contents 
 noted in an instant, and again returned to the envelope 
 to await answer. If not driven by work, or if attending 
 to correspondence in the presence of friends, chatting 
 the while, Mr. Elaine has the habit of tearing up, and 
 folding up the envelopes, as he opens his letters, forming 
 a sharp corner of the paper and picking his fore teeth 
 with the same. Mr. Elaine has always written his most 
 important letters himself, but generally he dictates to 
 his secretary, in brief, and the great bulk of his corres 
 pondence is answered by Mr. Sherman, who notes upon 
 each letter received a synopsis of its contents. The 
 letters of each writer are then finally filed by themselves. 
 
 In the more elaborate work of composing his history, 
 speeches, or papers, Mr. Elaine is the same rapid worker 
 that he is in reading the journals or letters. His power 
 of persistent, concentrated, absorptive work is tremend 
 ous, and is done with so much quietness and ease that 
 he seems never to realize himself what a worker he is, 
 or the great sum of that which is accomplished in a day. 
 
216 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 The writing of his history was largely done in Augusta 
 during the summer and fall of 1883, although the revised 
 proofs were prepared in "Washington in the winter of 
 1883-4. For a while during the preparation of his 
 history Mr. Elaine dictated to a stenographer and the 
 copy was extended by means of a type writer, but the 
 plan was not long continued. It was apparent that there 
 was more expenditure of force by this means than that 
 of writing. In dictating he had to keep in mind the 
 entire sentence, in order to make it clear and logical, 
 while in writing the mind was more at ease as the con 
 nection could always be seen on the page before him. 
 He could readily refer to what had been said, and in 
 consequence the stylus of the reporter was displaced by 
 the pen in his own hand a return to the old method of 
 the editorial desk. His copy is sometimes re-written by 
 his secretary in order to make it more legible to the 
 compositors than Mr. Elaine s own rapid hand-writing. 
 Mr. Elaine at his work is so absorbed that the noise of 
 children never disturbes him, even if they are at play in 
 the room where he is. 
 
 At his home in Augusta Mr. Elaine has a library of 
 some three thousand volumes, the bulk of his collection 
 being in Washington. The books are mostly disposed 
 in the lower part of the house, in the library, dining- 
 room, and halls. Most of the book-cases have glazed 
 doors. The books are such as would naturally be found 
 
MR. BLAINE AT HOME. 217 
 
 in the library of an active, busy, public man official 
 publications of government, history, international law, 
 biographies of great men, works on economic science. 
 The great poets and philosophers are found on the 
 shelves, and some of the masters of fiction. He is a 
 great reader of and is very familiar with the Bible. He 
 studies Macaulay and has great admiration for his style. 
 He likes to read of Napoleon the Great. He admires 
 Webster, and reads Burke, Lord Bacon, and Blackstone. 
 He is a fine Shakespearian scholar, but devotes little 
 time to poetry. In fiction his favorites are Ivanhoe, 
 some of Dickens works, Daniel Deronda, and Jane Eyre. 
 His special favorites are the works of Charlotte Bronte*. 
 While Mr. Blaine loves good bindings and choice edi 
 tions, he cannot in any sense be termed a bibliophile, 
 esteeming books chiefly for their interior worth, and 
 their service to his work. He is so much devoted to 
 his studies, that it can hardly be said he ever reads for 
 amusement. On facts, names, and dates of history, his 
 information is stupendous, minute, and exact. The 
 slightest reference to any subject of American, Eng 
 lish, or Continental history, or public affairs, past or 
 contemporary, is sufficient to bring up in his mind al 
 most instantly, all the details pertaining to it with 
 wonderful accuracy. He has made extensive collections 
 of works relating to finance, statistics, labor and wages, 
 emigration, and economic science in general. In these 
 
218 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 branches, Mr. Elaine may be regarded an expert. His 
 memory is prodigious, almost phenomenal. He can 
 name every county in every State and Territory of the 
 Union. 
 
 While he is a good critic in matters pertaining to 
 art, Mr. Elaine has less fondness for these than for 
 historic and literary subjects. His house is adorned 
 with rare engravings and prints, preferring them to oil, 
 and he has hundreds of choice prints, engravings, and 
 etchings in portfolios, in all his rooms. 
 
 Mr. Elaine derives great enjoyment from walking, and 
 this may be said to constitute his leading exercise. He 
 had much rather walk than ride, and generally dislikes 
 to be troubled with a horse. Once a week, however, he 
 usually drives to Hammond s Grove, on Lake Cobbas- 
 seccoutee, a favorite local resort of great beauty five 
 miles from the city, taking his children or some friend 
 with him. When hard at work and he is obliged to 
 somewhat limit his time for exercise, Mr. Elaine walks 
 back and forth the long stretch of lawn south of the 
 house, often dictating to his secretary ; and at one time 
 Mr. Sherman improvised a rather primitive plank desk, 
 at which he wrote down what Mr. Elaine had studied 
 out during his walks. When walking among his apple 
 trees, he is constantly reaching up among the boughs 
 over his head and half-suspending himself, in order to 
 give the muscles of his arms and chest full exercise. 
 
JAMES G. BLAIXE AND HIS FAMILY AT THEIR HOME 
 
 IX AUGUSTA, ME., WAITING FOR THE RESULT 
 
 OF THE BALLOT IX CHICAGO. 
 
MR. BLAIXE AT HOME. 221 
 
 If time will admit he takes longer walks, one of his 
 favorite haunts being to the deep glen westward from 
 the State House, along the borders of a wooded hill, 
 where is a small sheet of water; and still another 
 being to the summit of " Burnt Hill " at the top of the 
 highest terraced elevation west of the city a spot 
 known as " Oliver s Ledge," at the extreme height of 
 this hill, among oaks and low evergreens, is often 
 visited. It is shady, secluded, and commands a wide 
 and fine view. Here, when his children were young, 
 he used to go with them, his wife, and some of the 
 children of the neighborhood, as often as once a week, 
 and partake of a basket picnic. 
 
 When taking his walks, Mr. Blaine is always accom 
 panied by some of his children, by friends visiting 
 him, or some of his old neighbors. During these 
 walks, he is always fluent in conversation. If his 
 companion be an old friend, his conversation is usually 
 of his early life in Augusta, his old friends and ac 
 quaintances, and the changes that have taken place. 
 If a public man, it is of public affairs with which he 
 has been connected ; but it is noticeable that in all 
 these conversations one would never guess his politics, 
 and never know whether the friends of whom he was 
 talking belonged to one political party or the other. 
 He is ever just to his opponents, and as often brings 
 forward a strong point in their characters, as he is 
 
222 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 ready to show a weakness in that of his own political 
 friends. 
 
 In his every-day home life, Mr. Elaine is very simple 
 and sensible. He wears a plain business suit of mixed 
 Scotch goods, and when he dresses in the morning, he is 
 dressed for the day. He never wears a dressing-gown, 
 seldom is seen with slippers on ; but in summer wears 
 a low-cut shoe, and is always ready for a run on the 
 lawn or in the garden, or a ride with a friend. When 
 seated in a chair, he generally sits erect or bends for 
 ward slightly, his arms resting on the arms of the chair 
 (if it has any), his legs crossed, and his hands clasped 
 in front of him. He never uses a rocking-chair, and 
 seldom or never reclines backward in the chair in which 
 he may be seated. He wears no jewelry, never carries 
 a watch, and when traveling asks his companions the 
 hour of the day. 
 
 On Sundays, Mr. Elaine always attends service at the 
 historic Old South Congregational Church, with the 
 members of his family and friends who may be visit 
 ing him, and of this church he became a member in 
 1858. In the family there is always the greatest free 
 dom, and visitors and friends are at liberty to be as 
 familiar as they would in their own house. Indeed, 
 there is more homeliness and less formality in Mr. 
 Elaine s residence than in the homes of the majority of 
 prominent men. 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 223 
 
 Among his neighbors, and in the social life of the 
 town, Mr. Elaine is held in universal love and esteem. 
 Although a brilliant conversationalist when in company, 
 a fine listener, and exquisite in his manifestations of def 
 erence to his friends and visitors, on the street, among 
 his neighbors, and around the town generally, he is 
 chatty and social with all. He has the nod of recogni 
 tion, the cheery word, the hearty hand-shake for every 
 body. He is quick to recognize an old friend, and never 
 forgets a face or a name. He talks with his workmen, 
 makes acquaintances easily, and in conversation seems 
 ever to aim at drawing out what his friends know about 
 their own business or occupations rather than impressing 
 them with a sense of his own superior wisdom. 
 
 When speaking of Augusta or of his old acquaintances, 
 he always refers to them in the most tender and pathetic 
 way, and has often said he would not exchange his old 
 home, the people who have been so kind to him, and the 
 haunts that are so dear to him, for anything in the world 
 beside. He bears the love of all, and his charity and 
 benevolence to the poor and needy are almost without 
 bounds. He has a warm heart, the most kindly instincts, 
 and a frank, manly, generous nature. 
 
 Mrs. Blaine is a woman of great, good judgment, 
 quick perception, and heroic courage. She is a great 
 reader, an excellent entainer, and abundantly informed 
 in ancient and recent history. She carries on a large per- 
 
224 MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 
 
 sonal correspondence ; superintends all the domestic 
 affairs of the household, directs the marketing and pays 
 all the family expenses. Mr. Elaine has great fondness 
 for his wife and children, his children being his only 
 pets, and on retiring in the evening they invariably have 
 the good-night kiss from father s lips, even though of 
 adult years and in presence of company. 
 
 Mr. Elaine s family consists of six children, although 
 his eldest daughter, Alice, now Mrs. Coppinger, can 
 hardly be said to comprise one of the household. The 
 eldest son, Walker, is a graduate of Yale College and of 
 Columbia LaAV School, New York, and is Assistant 
 Counsel for the United States in the Court of Commis 
 sioners of Alabama Claims, in Washington. His second 
 son, Emmons, is a graduate of Harvard College, and is 
 now Freight Agent, in charge of the Iowa and Dakota 
 Division of the Chicago & North Western Railway, 
 with headquarters at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The youngest 
 son is James G., Jr., and now fifteen years of age. The 
 younger daughters are Margaret and Harriet. 
 
 Mr. Elaine s residence in Washington has long been 
 famous for its hospitality, and is thus described by a cor 
 respondent of the Philadelphia Press : 
 
 " About three years ago Mr. Elaine bought an expen- 
 r sive lot fronting on Dupont Circle, in the extreme North 
 western end of the city, where recently there has been a 
 great real estate boom, and proceeded to erect upon it 
 
MR. ELAINE AT HOME. 225 
 
 one of the finest houses in the district, where he intended 
 to live in grand style as Secretary of State, but the 
 untimely death of Garfield prevented the carrying out 
 of this plan, and, moreover, he found it more expensive 
 than it was worth. 
 
 " The house was complete in style and appointments 
 and from nine to eleven servants were necessary to run 
 it. This gave Mrs. Elaine a vast amount of trouble, and 
 they finally determined to rent the house, a good customer 
 being found in the person of Mr. Leiter, of Chicago, at 
 a rental of 15,000 a year. Mr. Elaine then rented a 
 house on Jackson Square, next door to that occupied by 
 General Beal and opposite to the historic residence of 
 General Sickles. Mr. Corcoran also lives on another side 
 of this square ; and until recently Eob Ingersoll occupied 
 another of the residences, the White House fronting it 
 on the South. The square is a very quiet one, famous 
 for its prancing statue of Jackson, and among horticul 
 turists for its splendid variety of shrubs and trees, the 
 largest, it is said, in any small park in the country ." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MR. ELAINE S YIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS 
 OF THE DAY. 
 
 Elaine on the Republican Party. Not Immaculate, but Never 
 Cowardly. His Views on the Chinese Immigration Question. 
 Speech in the Senate. Letter to Wm. Lloyd Garrison. Opposed to 
 Competition of Cheap Labor. Debasing Influence of Chinese in 
 the Pacific Coast States. The Buzzi Case. " Once an American, 
 Always an American." Troops at the Polls. Postal Cards. The 
 Costello Case. Status of a Naturalized Citizen. Free Trade and 
 Protection. History of Free Trade in England. English Protection 
 of Shipping Interests. Early Trade Policy of the United States. 
 Effects of Free Trade and Protection Contrasted. Advantages of 
 Protection to the American "Workingman. A Picture of the Future. 
 Civil Service Reform. Mr. Elaine s Views Concerning It. 
 
 In one of his speeches made to the Republicans of 
 Portland, in 1882, Mr. Elaine said: 
 
 "Whatever may be said of the Republican part} 7 
 and that a party could be in power twenty-one years and 
 not make mistakes would be absurd ; that a party could 
 have millions of people and not have a dishonest man 
 among them would be absurd but whatever may be 
 said of the Republican party, there is one thing that 
 
 (226) 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 227 
 
 never can be truthfully said it never can be said that 
 it was not a brave party ; it never can be said that it 
 had a drop of coward s blood in its whole organization!" 
 
 In a speech in the Senate in February, 1879, Mr. 
 Elaine said that the Chinese government agreed to 
 make a law that emigration should be entirely volun 
 tary, but it never did so, and the treaty stood broken by 
 China from the beginning. This country and this 
 Senate would not hesitate to defy any European power 
 which should act as China had done. So far as his 
 vote was concerned he would not admit a man as an 
 immigrant to this country whom he was not willing to 
 make a citizen. Under our system of government we 
 should never admit people who are not to aid in the 
 government and take part in the body politic. 
 
 In his letter to William Lloyd -Garrison, about the same 
 time, Mr. Elaine said: "Put the two classes of labor 
 side by side and the cheap servile labor pulls down the 
 more manly toil to its level. Whoever contends for the 
 unrestricted immigration of Chinese coolies contends 
 for that system of toil which blights the prospects of 
 the white laborer dooming him to starvation wages, 
 killing his ambition by rendering his struggle hopeless, 
 and ending in a plodding and pitiable poverty. I do not 
 at all exaggerate when I say that on the adoption or 
 rejection of the policy passed upon by Congress hangs 
 the fate of the Pacific slope whether its labor shall be 
 
228 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 that of American freemen or servile Mongolians. There 
 is no ground on which we are bound to receive them to 
 our own detriment. Charity is the first of Christian 
 graces. As with a family, so with a nation ; the same 
 instinct of self-preservation exists, the same right to 
 prefer the interests of our own people, the same duty to 
 exclude that which is corrupting and dangerous to the 
 Republic. The Chinese question connects itself inti 
 mately and inseparably with the labor question. In a 
 republic where the man who works carries a ballot in 
 his hands, it will not do for capitalized wealth to legis 
 late for cheap labor. There is not a laboring man from 
 the Penobscot to the Sacramento who would not feel 
 aggrieved, outraged, burdened, crushed, by being forced 
 into competition with the labor and the wages of the 
 Chinese cooly. For one I will never consent, by my 
 vote or my voice, to drive the intelligent workingmen of 
 America to that competition and that degradation." 
 
 In the celebrated Buzzi case Mr. Elaine declined to 
 recognize the power of a commission to denationalize an 
 American citizen. He took the broad, firm ground that 
 when a court of competent jurisdiction makes a man a 
 citizen there is no power in the Executive Department 
 to reverse that judgment, and that what the Executive 
 Department cannot do itself it cannot permit a commis 
 sion, which is the mere creation of Executive authority, 
 to do. 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 229 
 
 In a discussion in the Senate, in 1879, on the question 
 of troops at the polls during elections, Mr. Elaine said: 
 "I wonder how amazing it would be to any man in 
 Europe, familiar as Europeans are with great armies, if 
 he were told that over a territory larger than France 
 and Spain and Portugal and Great Britain and Holland 
 and Belgium and the German Empire all combined 
 there were but 1,155 soldiers ! That is all this Demo 
 cratic howl, this mad cry, this false issue, this absurd 
 talk, is based on. The impression sought to be created, 
 here and in Europe, is that elections are attempted 
 in this country to be controlled by the bayonet. I 
 denounce it here as a false issue. I am not at liberty to 
 say that any gentleman making the issue knows it to be 
 false, but I am going to prove to him that it is false, and 
 that there is not a solitary inch of solid earth on which 
 to rest the foot of any man that makes that issue." 
 
 While a member of the Post-office Committee of the 
 House of Representatives, he took an active part in 
 securing the system of postal cars now in general use. 
 
 In 1867, one Augustine Costello was arrested while 
 in Ireland and placed on trial for a speech which he 
 made in New York while an American citizen, in 1865. 
 The speech was construed as treasonable, and, under 
 the act of 1848, which especially declared England s right 
 to punish upon British soil British-born subjects for trea 
 sonable utterances or performances made upon foreign 
 10 
 
230 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 territory, Costello was sentenced to sixteen years penal 
 servitude. His claims of American citizenship were 
 ignored upon the ground that there was nothing exist 
 ing between the United States and Great Britain de 
 barring Great Britain from claiming as a British subject 
 any person born on British soil. Costello was removed 
 to Millbank prison, when Mr. Blaine took up his case. 
 Blaine organized a Congressional agitation, which re 
 sulted in the liberation of Costello and his colleagues, 
 who possessed full American naturalization, and the 
 treaty of 1870, in which Great Britain surrendered all 
 claims of allegiance from British subjects who became 
 naturalized as American citizens. 
 
 Mr. Blaine s views on the tariff question are set forth 
 in Chapter IX of his book, " Twenty Years in Congress." 
 The following extract is taken from the closing portion 
 of the chapter, and will be read with interest : 
 
 " Strictly speaking, there has never been a proposition 
 by any party in the United States for the adoption of 
 free trade. To be entirely free, trade must encounter 
 no obstruction in the way of tax, either upon export or 
 import. In that sense no nation has ever enjoyed free 
 trade. As contradistinguished from the theory of pro 
 tection, England has realized freedom of trade by .taxing 
 only that class of imports which meet no competition 
 in home production, thus excluding all pretence of favor 
 or advantage to any of her domestic industries. England 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 231 
 
 came to this policy after having clogged and embar 
 rassed trade for a long period by the most unreasonable 
 and tyrannical restrictions, ruthlessly enforced, without 
 regard to the interests or even the rights of others. 
 She had more than four hundred Acts of Parliament 
 regulating the tax on imports, under the old designation 
 of tonnage and poundage, adjusted, as the phrase indi 
 cates, to heavy and light commodities. Beyond these, 
 she had a cumbersome system of laws regulating, and 
 in many cases prohibiting, the exportation of articles 
 which might teach to other nations the skill by which 
 she had herself so marvelously prospered. 
 
 " When, by long experiment and persistent effort, 
 England had carried her fabrics to perfection ; when, by 
 the large accumulation of wealth and the force of 
 reserved capital, she could command facilities which 
 poorer nations could not rival ; when, by the talent of her 
 inventors, developed under the stimulus of large reward, 
 she had surpassed all other countries in the magnitude 
 and effectiveness of her machinery, she proclaimed free 
 trade, and persuasively urged it upon all lands with 
 which she had commercial intercourse. Maintaining 
 the most arbitrary and most complicated system of pro 
 tection so long as her statesmen deemed that policy 
 advantageous, she resorted to free trade only when she 
 felt able to invade the domestic markets of other 
 countries, and undersell the fabrics produced by strug- 
 
232 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 gling artisans who were sustained by weaker capital and 
 by less advanced skill. So long as there was danger 
 that her own marts might be invaded, and the products 
 of her looms and forges undersold at home, she rigidly 
 excluded the competing fabric and held her own market 
 for her own wares. 
 
 " England was, however, neither consistent nor candid 
 in her advocacy of free trade. She did not apply it to 
 all departments of her enterprises, but only to those in 
 which she felt confident that she could defy competition. 
 Long after the triumph of free trade in manufactures, 
 as proclaimed in 1846, England continued to violate 
 every principle of her own creed in the protection she 
 extended to her navigation interests. She had nothing 
 to fear from the United States in the domain of manu 
 factures, and she therefore asked us to give her the 
 unrestricted benefit of our markets in exchange for a 
 similar privilege which she offered to us in her markets. 
 But on the sea we were steadily gaining upon her, and 
 in 1850-55, were nearly equal to her in aggregate ton 
 nage. We could build wooden vessels at less cost than 
 England, and our ships excelled hers in speed. When 
 steam began to compete with sail, she saw her advan 
 tage. She could build engines at less cost than we, and 
 when, soon afterward, her ship-builders began to con 
 struct the entire steamer of iron, her advantages became 
 evident to the whole world. 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 233 
 
 " England was not content however with the superiority 
 which these advantages gave to her. She did not wait 
 for her own theory of free trade to work out its legiti 
 mate results, but forthwith stimulated the growth of her 
 steam-marine by the most enormous bounties ever paid 
 by any nation to any enterprise. To a single line of 
 steamers, running alternate weeks from Liverpool to 
 Boston and New York, she paid nine hundred thousand 
 dollars annually, and continued to pay at this extrav 
 agant rate for at least twenty years. In all channels of 
 trade where steam could be employed she paid lavish 
 subsidies, literally destroyed fair competition, and created 
 for herself a practical monopoly in the building of iron 
 steamers and a superior share in the ocean traffic of the 
 world. But every step she took in the development of 
 her steam-marine by the payment of bounty was in flat 
 contradiction of the creed which she was at the same 
 time advocating in those departments of trade where 
 she could conquer her competitors without bounty. 
 
 " With her superiority in navigation attained and made 
 secure through the instrumentality of subsidies, England 
 could afford to withdraw them. Her ships no longer 
 needed them. Thereupon, with a promptness which 
 would be amusing if it did not have so serious a side for 
 America, she proceeded to inveigh through all her organs 
 of public opinion against the discarded and condemned 
 policy of granting subsidies to ocean steamers. Her 
 
284 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 course in effect is an exact repetition of that in regard 
 to protection of manufactures, but as it is exhibited 
 before a new generation, the inconsistency is not so 
 readily apprehended nor so keenly appreciated as it 
 should be on this side of the Atlantic. Even now there 
 is good reason for believing that many lines of English 
 steamers, in their efforts to sieze the trade to the exclu 
 sion of rivals, are paid such extravagant rates for the 
 carrying of letters as practically to amount to a bounty, 
 thus confirming to the present day (1884) the fact that 
 no nation has ever been so persistently and so jealously 
 protective in her policy as England so long as the stimu 
 lus of protection is needed to give her the command of 
 trade. What is true of England is true in a greater or 
 less degree of all other European nations. They have 
 each in turn regulated the adoption of free trade by the 
 ratio of their progress towards the point where they 
 could overcome competition. In all those departments 
 of trade where competition could overcome them they 
 have been quick to interpose protective measures for the 
 benefit of their own people. 
 
 " The trade policy of the United States at the founda 
 tion of the government had features of enlightened lib 
 erality which were unknown in any other country of the 
 world. The new government was indeed so far in 
 advance of European nations in the proper conceptions 
 of liberal commerce as it was on questions relating to 
 
BLAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 235 
 
 the character of the African slave-trade. The colonists 
 had experienced the oppression of the English laws which 
 prohibited export from the mother country of the very 
 articles which might advance their material interest and 
 improve their social condition. They now had the oppor 
 tunity, as citizens of a free Republic, to show the gener 
 ous breadth of their statesmanship, and they did so by 
 providing in their Constitution that Congress should 
 never possess the power to levy a tax or duty on articles 
 exported from any State. 
 
 " The essential question which has grown up between 
 political parties in the United States respecting our for 
 eign trade is, whether a duty should be laid upon any 
 import for the direct object of protecting and encourag 
 ing the manufacture of the same article at home. The 
 party opposed to this theory does not advocate the admis 
 sion of the articles free, but insists upon such rate of 
 duty as will produce the largest revenue, and at the same 
 time afford what is termed incidental protection. The 
 advocates of actual free trade, according to the policy of 
 England, taxing only those articles which are not pro 
 duced at home, are few in number and are principally 
 confined to doctrinaires. The instincts of the masses of 
 both parties are against them. But the nominal free 
 trader finds it very difficult to unite the largest revenue 
 from any article with incidental protection to the com 
 peting products at home. If the duty be so arranged as 
 
236 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 to produce the greatest amount of revenue, it must be 
 placed at the point where the foreign article is able to 
 undersell the domestic article and thus command the 
 market to the exclusion of competition. This result 
 goes beyond what the so-called American free-trader 
 intends in practice, but not beyond what he implies in 
 theory. 
 
 " The American protectionist does not seek to evade 
 the legitimate results of his theory. He starts with the 
 proposition that whatever is manufactured at home gives 
 work and wages to our own people, and that if the duty 
 is even put so high as to prohibit the import of the foreign 
 article, the competition of home producers will, accord 
 ing to the doctrine of Mr. Hamilton, rapidly reduce the 
 price to the consumer. He gives numerous illustrations 
 of articles which, under the influence of home competi 
 tion, have fallen in price below the point at which the 
 foreign article was furnished when there was no protec 
 tion. The free-trader replies that the fall in price lias 
 been still greater in foreign markets ; the protectionist 
 rejoins that the reduction was made to compete with 
 the American product, and that the former price would 
 probably have been maintained so long as the importer 
 had the monopoly of our market. Thus our protective 
 tariff reduced the price in both countries. This has nota 
 bly been the result with respect to steel rails, the produc 
 tion of which in America has reached a magnitude sur- 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 237 
 
 passing that of England. Meanwhile rails have largely 
 fallen in price to the consumer, the home manufacture 
 has disbursed countless millions of money among Ameri 
 can laborers, and has added largely to our industrial 
 independence, and to the wealth of the country. 
 
 " While many articles have fallen to as low a price in 
 the United States as elsewhere, it is not to be denied that 
 articles of clothing and household use, medals and 
 machinery, are on an average higher than in Europe. 
 The difference is due, in a large degree, to the wages 
 paid to labor, and thus the question of reducing the tariff 
 carries with it the very serious problem of reduction in 
 the pay of the artisan and the operative. This involves 
 so many grave considerations that no party is prepared 
 to advocate it openly. Free-traders do not, and, appar 
 ently, dare not, face the plain truth which is that the 
 lowest-priced fabric means the lowest-priced labor. On 
 this point protectionists are more frank than their oppo 
 nents ; they realize that it constitutes indeed the most 
 impregnable defense of their school. Free-traders have 
 attempted at times to deny the truth of the statement ; 
 but every impartial investigation has thus far conclusively 
 proved that labor is better paid, and the average condition 
 of the laboring man more comfortable, in the United 
 States than in any European country. 
 
 "An adjustment of the protective duty to the point which 
 represents the average difference between wages of labor 
 10* 
 
238 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 
 
 in Europe and in America, will, in the judgment of 
 protectionists, always prove impracticable. The differ 
 ence cannot be regulated by a scale of averages, because 
 it is constantly subject to arbitrary changes. 
 
 " If the duty be adjusted on that basis for any given 
 date, a reduction of wages would at once be enforced 
 abroad, and the American manufacturer would in conse 
 quence be driven to the desperate choice of surrendering 
 the home market or reducing the pay of workmen. The 
 theory of protection is not answered, nor can its realiza 
 tion be attained by any such device. Protection, in the 
 perfection of its design, as described by Mr. Hamilton, 
 does not invite competition from abroad, but is based on 
 the controlling principle that competition at home will 
 always prevent monopoly on the part of the capitalist, 
 assure good wages to the laborer, and defend the con 
 sumer against the evils of extortion. 
 
 " The assailants of protection apparently overlook the 
 fact that excessive production is due, both in England 
 and in America, to causes beyond the operation of duties, 
 either high or low. No cause is more potent than the 
 prodigious capacity of machinery set in motion by the 
 agency of steam. It is asserted by an intelligent econo 
 mist that, if performed by hand, the work done by ma 
 chinery in Great Britain would require the labor of seven 
 hundred millions of men, a far larger number of adults 
 than inhabit the globe. It is not strange that with this 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 239 
 
 vast enginery, the power to produce has a tendency to 
 outrun the power to consume. Protectionists find in this 
 a conclusive argument against surrendering the domestic 
 markets of the United States to the control of British 
 capitalists, whose power of production has no apparent 
 limit. When the harmonious adjustment of international 
 trade shall ultimately be established by " The Parliament 
 of Man " in " The Federation of the World," the power 
 of production and the power of consumption will proper 
 ly balance each other ; but in traversing the long road 
 and enduring the painful process by which that end shall 
 be reached, the protectionist claims that his theory of 
 revenue preserves the new nations from being devoured 
 by the older, and offers to Human labor a shield against 
 the actions of capital." 
 
 In regard to civil-service reform, Mr. Elaine s position 
 is thus defined by Senator Mitchell of Pennsylvania, one 
 of the most bitter opponents of the use of government 
 patronage for political purposes. Senator Mitchell says : 
 
 " Early in 1882 I had a talk with Mr. Elaine relative 
 to the necessity for the passage of a law to reform the 
 civil service. At that time I was a member of the Civil- 
 Service Committee, and I had the same deep interest in 
 the subject that I still feel. I saw impending trouble for 
 the party in Pennsylvania growing out of the deliberate 
 attempt of the politicians to thwart the will of the people, 
 and I felt convinced that the enactment of a law placing 
 
240 ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPOETANT TOPICS. 
 
 the appointment of subordinate government officials 
 beyond the power of the favorites of the administration 
 was essential to the maintenance of the supremacy of the 
 Republican party. At this time you could have counted 
 upon the fingers of one hand all the Senators who would 
 have voted for the passage of such a civil-service 
 law as we now enjoy. Then it was that I talked with 
 Mr. Elaine on the subject, and to my gratification he 
 expressed himself in the strongest terms in favor of the 
 enactment of a law regulating appointments to office. It 
 was not until the political earthquake of 1882, when the 
 people expressed their emphatic disapproval of machine 
 methods, that the Republicans were aroused to the neces- 
 ity for passing a civil-service bill. Mr. Elaine was then 
 far in advance of the great majority of the Republican 
 Senators in favor of this reform, and it is a fact that I 
 think the independent voters of the country should under 
 stand." 
 
 The following, on the same subject, is from Harper s 
 Weekly, of Sept. 23, 1882 : 
 
 " The speeches of Mr. Elaine in Maine and of 
 Senator Harrison in Indiana, with the brief and unmis 
 takable order of Mayor Low in Brooklyn, relieving every 
 employe* of all fear of the local Hubbell, and the signifi 
 cant declaration of more than a thousand leading citi 
 zens of Massachusetts of all parties that they will vote 
 for no Representative in Congress whose character and 
 
ELAINE S VIEWS ON IMPORTANT TOPICS. 241 
 
 record do not promise an earnest and agressive action for 
 reform, are all unmistakable signs of a public conviction 
 and purpose which will certainly have their way. 
 . . Mr. Elaine pronounced plainly for some kind of re 
 form, and Mr. Elaine said in detail that he should be 
 glad to see every Federal officer, however honorable his 
 position, appointed for a specific term, during which he 
 could not be removed except for causes to be specified, 
 proved, and recorded, and for subordinate officers he 
 thought that seven years would be a proper term of 
 office." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 The Illinois Delegation Firmly Resolved to Make Senator Logan 
 the Republican Candidate for the Presidency. The Enthusiasm in 
 the Convention for "The Greatest of the Civilian Generals of the 
 War." Senator Cullom s Nominating Speech. General Prentiss 
 Seconds the Nomination. Firm Support on Three Ballots, but 
 Logan s Strength Transferred to Elaine on the Fourth, by his Own 
 Orders. Nominated for Vice-President by Senator Plumb, and the 
 Nomination Numerously Seconded. Declared the Candidate by a 
 Unanimous Vote. 
 
 JOHN A. LOGAN, the patriot, congressman, soldier, 
 senator, and popular leader, had been in the minds of a 
 multitude during many months preceding the Republican 
 Convention which opened in Chicago on June 3, 1884, as 
 a suitable man for first place on the Republican ticket 
 for the Presidential campaign of 1884, and as an intro 
 duction to a sketch of his career, an account of his 
 nomination as the Republican candidate for Yice-Presi- 
 dent will possess interest and value. Said the New York 
 Times, on the day after the Chicago Convention ad- 
 
 (242) 
 
PORTRAIT OF GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN, REPUBLICAN CANDI 
 DATE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 245 
 
 journed : " The record of his service in the Union Army 
 perhaps entitles him to be called the greatest of the 
 civilian generals of the war." It is not strange that the 
 memory of a brilliant soldier inspired in a vast number 
 of the survivors of the 2,772,866 men who enlisted in 
 the Union Army a desire to see him elevated to the 
 highest office in the gift of the people, and that an exhi 
 bition, on both floors of Congress, of the same fearless 
 courage and masterly sagacity which he displayed in 
 war secured sympathy for that desire among a great 
 mass of the people who had no enthusiasm begotten of 
 military experience. , 
 
 THE ILLINOIS DELEGATION. 
 
 The Illinois delegation contained forty men who 
 entered the convention with a firm determination to 
 make John A. Logan the Republican candidate for the 
 Presidency, and when, on Thursday evening, June 5th, a 
 call of the States in alphabetical order for nominations 
 was made, the name of Illinois brought Senator Cullom 
 to his feet, about four thousand voices indulged in the 
 exclamation, " Ah ! ah ! ah ! " as he walked down the 
 aisle toward the platform, coolly buttoning up the buttons 
 of his coat, and as he mounted the platform he was 
 received with a fresh volley of yells, which died out and 
 were renewed again as he confronted the audience from 
 the speaker s desk. 
 
246 LOGAN TN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 SENATOR CULLOM S NOMINATING SPEECH. 
 
 He presented the name of John A. Logan in the 
 following words : 
 
 "Mr. President and gentlemen of the Convention: 
 Twenty-four years ago the Second National Convention of 
 the Republican party met in this city and nominated its 
 first successful candidate for President of the United 
 State s, Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln led the 
 Republican party to its first great victory, and stands 
 to-day in the estimation of the world as the grandest 
 figure and most majestic figure in all modern time. 
 Again in 1868 another Republican Convention came 
 together in this city and nominated as its candidate for 
 President of the United States another eminent citizen 
 of Illinois, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and the Republican 
 party was again victorious. Still again in 1880 the 
 Republican party turned its face toward this political 
 Mecca where two successful campaigns had been organ 
 ized, and the martyred Garfield led the Republican hosts 
 to another glorious victory. Mr. President and fellow- 
 citizens, it is good for us to be here. There are omens 
 of victory in the air. History repeats itself. There are 
 promises of triumph to the Republican party in holding 
 its National Nominating Convention in this great empo 
 rium of the Northwest. 
 
 " The Commonwealth of Illinois, which has never 
 wavered in its devotion to Republican principles since it 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 247 
 
 gave to the Nation aye, to the world the illustrious 
 Lincoln, has commissioned me, through its Republican 
 voters, to present to this convention for its consideration 
 as the standard-bearer of the Republican party another 
 son of Illinois, one whose name will be recognized from 
 one end of this land to the other as that of an able states 
 man, a brilliant soldier, and an honest man, Gen. John 
 A. Logan, of Illinois. 
 
 " He is a native of the State which he now represents in 
 the councils of the nation. Reared among the youth of 
 a section where every element of manhood is early 
 brought into play, he is eminently a man of the people, 
 identified with them in interest, in taste, and in feeling, 
 and enjoying their sympathy, respect, and confidence. 
 The safety, the permanency, and the prosperity of the 
 nation depend upon the courage, the integrity, the intel 
 ligence, and the loyalty of its citizens. When yonder 
 starry flag was assailed by enemies in arms, when the 
 integrity of the Union was imperiled by organized treason, 
 when the storm of war threatened the very life of this 
 nation, this gallant son of the Prairie State resigned his 
 seat in the Congress of the United States, returned to 
 his home, and was among the first of our citizens to raise 
 a regiment and march to the front in defense of his 
 country. Like Douglas, he believed that in time of war 
 men must be either patriots or traitors, and he threw 
 his mighty influence on the side of the Union, and Illi- 
 
248 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 nois made a record second to none in the history of 
 States in the struggle to preserve this Government. 
 
 " Among the large number of the brave soldiers of the 
 late war whose names are proudly written on the scroll 
 of fame none appear more grandly than the name of 
 Logan. His history is a part of the history of the bat 
 tles of Belmont, of Donelson, of Sliiloh, of Vicksburg, 
 of Lookout Mountain, of Atlanta, and of the famous 
 March to the Sea. He never lost a battle. I repeat 
 again, Mr. President and fellow-citizens, he never lost a 
 battle in all the struggles of the war. When there was 
 fighting to be done he did not wait for orders, neither did 
 he fail to obey orders when received. His plume, like 
 the white plume of Henry of Navarre, was always to be 
 seen at the point where the battle raged the hottest. 
 During the long struggle of four years he commanded by 
 authority of the Government first a regiment, then a 
 brigade, then a division, then an army corps, and finally 
 an army. He remained in the service until the war 
 closed, when at the head of his army, with the scars of 
 battle upon him, he marched into the capital of the 
 nation, and, with the brave men whom he had led on a 
 hundred hard-fought fields, he was mustered out of serv 
 ice under the very shadow of the Capitol Building which 
 he had left four years before as a member of Congress 
 to go out and fight the battles of his country. 
 
 " Then, when the war was over, and gentle peace, which 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 249 
 
 4 hath her victories/ returned, he was again called by 
 his fellow-citizens to take his place in the councils of the 
 nation. In a service of twenty years in both Houses of 
 Congress he lias shown himself to be no less able and 
 distinguished as a statesman than he was renowned as a 
 soldier. Cautious, prudent, conservative in the advocacy 
 of measures involving the public welfare, ready and elo 
 quent in debate, fearless yes, I repeat again, fearless 
 in defense of the rights of the weak against the oppres 
 sions of the strong, he stands to-day and I say it with 
 out disposition to pluck one laurel from the brow of any 
 man whose name may be presented to this convention 
 I say he stands to-day in my judgment closer to the 
 great mass of the people of this country than almost any 
 other man now engaging public attention. No man has 
 done more in defense of those principles which have 
 given life, and spirit, and victory to the Republican party 
 than has John A. Logan of Illinois. In all that goes to 
 make up a brilliant military and civil career, and to 
 commend a man to the favor of the people, he, whose 
 name we have presented here to-night, has shown him 
 self to be the peer of the best. 
 
 " We ask you, therefore, to give him this nomination, 
 because he would not be assailed and he is not assailable. 
 We ask you to nominate him because his public record 
 is so clean that even political calumny dare not attack 
 it. We ask you to nominate him in behalf of the hun- 
 
250 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 dreds of thousands of brave veteran volunteer soldiers 
 who are to-night, all over this broad land, standing 
 around the telegraph offices waiting to know whether 
 that gallant leader of the volunteer soldiers of this 
 country is to receive the nomination at your hands. 
 We ask you to nominate him in behalf of the white and 
 black Republicans of the South who are here by the 
 hundreds appealing to this convention, as the representa 
 tive of our grand old party, to give your protection and 
 to vindicate them in their rights in the South. 
 
 "ftow, my friends, standing in the midst of this vast 
 assembly of representative citizens of this grand Republic 
 aye, in the sublime presence of the people themselves, 
 represented here to-night in all their majesty we offer 
 you the name of a tried hero and patriot, the sagacious 
 and incorruptible statesman, the man who, as we all 
 know, never sulked in his tent ; we offer you General 
 John A. Logan of Illinois, and ask you to make him 
 your nominee. If you will give him the nomination he 
 will give you a glorious victory in November next ; and 
 when he shall have taken his position as President of 
 this great Republic you may be assured you will have an 
 administration in the interest of labor, in the interest 
 of education, in the interest of commerce, in the interest 
 of finance, in the interest of peace at home and peace 
 abroad, and in the interest of the prosperity of this great 
 people." 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 251 
 
 SECONDED BY GENERAL B. M. PRENTISS OF MISSOURI. 
 
 Senator Cullom was frequently interrupted by applause, 
 and when his tall form disappeared the slight figure of 
 General Prentiss ascended the platform, and in a tremu 
 lous tenor voice, which one of the correspondents 
 described as like Niobe, "all tears," he seconded the 
 nomination in the following words : 
 
 " Mr. Chairman : It is a great pleasure for me to stand 
 here to-night to second the nomination just made from 
 a State in which I have resided for forty-one years. It 
 is a glorious privilege for me to stand before this con 
 vention and say a word or two by way of seconding the 
 nomination of a man pursuing his own course, endowed 
 with energy, until to-day he is the equal of any of the 
 great statesmen of our land; a man pursuing his own 
 course, from poverty up, until to-night he is reaching for 
 the highest round of fame known to earth that of 
 President of the United States of America; a man who, 
 upon the field of battle, led his comrades always to 
 victory ; a man who in the Senate of the United States, 
 when the bold enemy of this country, combined with 
 timid allies, sought to annul the solemn findings of an 
 honored court, stepped boldly to the front and cried loud 
 and long : i Hold, in your infamous efforts to place a 
 cloud upon the reputation of a Lincoln and a Garfield. 
 0, it is glorious that I am here to-night. I dare not 
 speak what I feel, but, dear friends, how I love the man 
 
252 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 that stood by the reputation of the dead when there 
 were but three living ones whose reputations had been 
 assailed, and your speaker at this moment one of the 
 living. A man who has been my friend ; a man who 
 has been the friend of humanity ; a man who led the 
 Army of the Tennessee on to Washington and there 
 mustered it out of service ; a man whose star upon his 
 shoulder shone brighter and brighter as he moved on ; 
 that man was John A. Logan, the favorite son of Illi 
 nois ; the favorite of the Mississippi Valley ; the favorite 
 of the West, and you, gentlemen, if you knew him as 
 we know him you of the East would learn to love 
 him. He is a man in a position to-day to lead on again 
 to victory. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Chairman, I am not one of those who enter 
 tain the idea for a moment that this great Republican 
 party is to be defeated. No ! Whoever we nominate is 
 to be the President whoever we select. I ask you, 
 to-night, I ask you as a friend, I ask you as one repre 
 senting those who have been true to the party for twenty- 
 eight years one who has stood by it in all its perils 
 one who has never yet forsaken it at any time ; I ask 
 you oh ! I appeal to you in this convention, consider 
 well and make the best nomination you possibly can. I 
 ask you in behalf of the cripples of this land ; I ask you 
 in behalf of all those soldiers of this country ; I ask you 
 in behalf of men pleading to-day with this nation for 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 253 
 
 aid ; I ask you in behalf of the children of this country ; 
 I ask you in behalf of humanity to give the nomination 
 to John A. Logan of Illinois. 
 
 " When Epaminondas, at the battle of Mantinea, I 
 believe it was at the battle of Mantinea received his 
 death-wound, his officer uplifted him to the heights above 
 where he could look over the field. They cried when 
 they perceived him. Oh ! why do you weep ? he said 
 to them. i Weep not, dear friends ; you are not help 
 less. Do I not leave you two daughters, Leuctra and 
 Mantinea ? 
 
 " Ah, John A. Logan leaves more daughters than that. 
 On this Western field of battle he leaves you monuments 
 of his greatness. And to-night the people of Illinois, 
 that love the man, ask of you to come and help us recog 
 nize the services of the brightest star in the galaxy of 
 the volunteers of the army. I second the nomination of 
 John A. Logan." 
 
 THE LOGAN GUARD STANDS FIRM. 
 
 Forty Illinois delegates cast their votes to put Logan s 
 name at the head of the ticket on the first, the second, 
 and the third ballots, but a sensation was caused in the 
 convention when it was rumored that the Logan vote 
 would be transferred to Elaine on the next ballot. His 
 friends were unwilling to yield in the struggle for first 
 place until instructed by their chief, but such instruction 
 
254 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 had been received by Senator Cullom, in the following 
 telegram from Washington : 
 
 * The Hon. 8. M. Cullom and Illinois Delegation, Convention Hatty 
 Chicago, III.: The Republicans of the States that must be relied 
 upon to elect the President having so strongly shown a preference 
 for Mr. Blaine, I deem it my duty not to stand in the way of the 
 people s choice, and recommend my friends to assist in his nomina 
 tion. 
 
 "JOHN A. LOGAN." 
 
 "This dispatch accurately represents my position," 
 ,said Senator Logan, in explaining his action to a friend. 
 " Seeing that the Republicans of the States which must 
 elect the President had shown a decided preference to 
 Mr. Blaine, I felt it to be my duty as a Republican not to 
 stand in the way of the people s choice, or to pursue a 
 dog-in-the-manger policy by remaining in the field in the 
 hope that something might inure to my own benefit. 
 Dispatches at the time were coming from friends of mine 
 saying that there was a probability of a break, in which 
 event my chances would be improved ; but I deemed it 
 wise and proper to send the dispatch which I did send at 
 the time when I sent it. My vote was then more than 
 sixty. Mr. Blaine needed but forty-five to nominate him. 
 I knew that if my friends acceded to my wishes Mr. 
 Blaine could be nominated at my request, and I was quick 
 to get that dispatch there. I am very glad that my 
 friends did at once transfer their strength to Mr. Blaine. 
 
LOO AN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 255 
 
 I should have been greatly disappointed if they had not. 
 And," continued Logan, musingly, "I am glad that 
 Elaine has got it." 
 
 NOMINATED FOB VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
 When the roll of States was called for the nomination 
 of candidates for Vice-President, Senator Plumb of Kan* 
 sas, presented the name of Logan in the following words : 
 
 "Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention : This 
 convention has already discharged two of the most 
 serious obligations which rested upon it the adoption of 
 a platform and the nomination of a candidate for the 
 Presidency. The platform is one upon which all good 
 Republicans and all good citizens can unite, and of which 
 they can well be proud. The candidate for the Presidency 
 needs no eulogium from me, and I can also saj* for him 
 that he can meet any man in the Democratic party, 
 whether that man be dead or alive. Upon that state 
 ment it might seem a matter of comparative indifference 
 as to who should fill the second place ; but, Mr. President 
 and gentlemen, there is such a thing as proportion. Hav 
 ing nominated a statesman of approved reputation, a man 
 of whom we are all proud, we owe It to the party to 
 nominate the best and most available man we have for 
 the second place. 
 
 " Mr. President, this is the first time in the history of 
 
 the Republican party since the War when the man who 
 11 
 
256 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION 
 
 is to fill the first place is not a soldier. There are a mil 
 lion men yet living who served their country in the late 
 war. And now, Mr. President, twenty years after the 
 lapse of that war they are bound together by ties as 
 strong as they ever were while serving under arms, and 
 the great brotherhood of the soldiers of the United 
 States is one of the most important factors in the social 
 and political life of the American Republic. It is due 
 not as a matter of availability, but as a matter of just 
 recognition to that great body of soldiery who made the 
 Republican party possible, that a fit representative of 
 theirs should have the second place upon the team a 
 man who, wise within himself, has not only the qualities 
 of a soldier, but also the qualities of a statesman 
 because the American people are becoming more consid 
 erate of the second place upon the national ticket, and 
 it is a matter of grave concern that the man to be chosen 
 shall be fit to step into the shoes of the man in the first 
 place. 
 
 " Mr. President, as I said, if it were only a question of 
 electing a ticket we might nominate anybody. But it is 
 more than that. It is not only a question of carrying 
 and electing a President and Vice-President, but it is a 
 question of the election of a majority of the House of 
 Representatives in Congress. It is a question of reha 
 bilitating States where the Legislatures have been lost, 
 and consequently Representatives in the Senate have been 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 257 
 
 equally lost. You want especially to strengthen this 
 ticket, if so it may be, by adding to it a man who has his 
 representatives in all portions of this broad land, in every 
 township, in every school district, in every Representative 
 district, and in every county, in order that the ticket may 
 be carried to the farthest confines of the Republic, and 
 its remotest places, with that good-will and recognition 
 which will make sure of a full vote. 
 
 " "We have come to that point since the war when the 
 kindly feeling growing out of association has come to be 
 a power, and out of that kindly feeling has grown the 
 organization of the Grand Army of the Republic, which 
 has now in its communion mo^e than three-fourths of 
 the men who lately wore the blue. They are Republicans 
 because the Republican party is true to them, to their 
 interests, and to all those things for which they fought 
 and sacrificed ; and it is only just and proper that, in 
 making tickets and in making platforms, we should recog 
 nize that great body of honorable and self-sacrificing 
 men. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in presenting to you a 
 candidate I shall present one to you who I believe fills all 
 the qualifications necessary for even the first place upon 
 this ticket ; a man whose military and civil record will 
 not be obscured by even so brilliant a one as that of the 
 head of the ticket. That is the kind of a man that we 
 want a man tried in war and in peace, a man who has 
 in every capacity in which he has been tried so acted that 
 
258 LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 
 
 to-day his name and fame are a part of the proud heritage 
 of the American people. By the terms of your resolu 
 tion you have abridged that which I would say, but it is 
 enough for me to say that the man whom I present for 
 your consideration, believing that he will add strength to 
 the ticket, and believing that he will justify the words I 
 have spoken, is Gen. John A. Logan of Illinois. 
 
 " His reputation is no more the property of Illinois than 
 it is of Kansas ; but there are 75,000 ex-soldiers of the 
 late war upon the prairies of Kansas who, with one accord, 
 when they hear of the nomination of John A. Logan, 
 will rise up and endorse it and ratify it. I know Illinois 
 begrudges him to the country ; like Hosea Bigelow s wife, 
 they want him for home consumption. But, Mr. President, 
 it is a command which we have a right to lay upon them, 
 and I know that in Illinois, with that command upon 
 them, they will do as Gen. Logan would do himself. He 
 obeys the duty and obligation of party, the command of 
 the party and country ; and, in fact, he never disobeyed 
 but one order, and that was when he disobeyed an order 
 not to fight a battle. 
 
 " Therefore, in behalf of the ex-soldiers of the Union, 
 in behalf of the State of Kansas, by whom I am com 
 missioned for this purpose, and in behalf generally of 
 the great body of the Republican party of the U"nion who 
 admire and esteem this man, I present his name for your 
 consideration, and hone that he may receive the nomina 
 tion at your hands." 
 
LOGAN IN THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 259 
 THE NOMINATION REPEATEDLY SECONDED. 
 
 Judge Houck of Tennessee, " as a Representative of 
 that part of the country where two Congressional Dis 
 tricts, the first and second of Tennessee, gave more sol 
 diers to fight under the flag than any two other districts 
 in the United States of America," seconded the nomina 
 tion in a speech, during which he said : " The truth is, 
 there ought not to be any other nomination. John A. 
 Logan ought to be nominated by acclamation." 
 
 Mr. Thurston of Nebraska, demanded that " the invin 
 cible names of Elaine and Logan be inscribed upon the 
 banner of the Republican party for this glorious cam 
 paign ; " Mr. Lee of Pennsylvania, seconded " the nom 
 ination of a man for V ice-President who was fit to be 
 President of the United States, on behalf of the great 
 middle States ; " Mr. Horr, the witty Michigan Congress 
 man, " in behalf of that large army of us men who staid 
 at home during the war, and at the request of the State 
 of Michigan," declared that in selecting Logan " we will 
 light the camp-fire among the soldiers of the country from 
 one end of this nation to the other;" Mr. Daney asserted 
 that Elaine and Logan would carry North Carolina " by 
 5,000 majority; although the Democrats had 300 majority 
 two years ago," and a dozen or more other delegates sup 
 ported the nomination in speeches which were inter 
 spersed with calls for a vote by acclamation, until by al 
 most an unanimous vote the rules were suspended, and 
 Logan was pronounced the choice of the convention 
 without a dissenting voice. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 His Appearance as a Boy Conjectured from his Appearance as a 
 Man. No Indian Blood in his Veins. A Lady Correspondent s Por 
 trait of Him. His Parents, and His Early Home in Southern Illi 
 nois. His Father an Irishman and His Mother a Tennesseean of 
 Scotch Descent. Professor Thomas, of the Smithsonian Institute, 
 Relates Incidents of Logan s Boyhood. He goes to Mill and Waits 
 for a Belt to be Made. His Notice to Squirrels. Logan s Education. 
 A College-Bred Man. Logan in the Mexican War. Still a Boy, 
 but an Officer. Logan as a Young Lawyer and Politician. His Nat 
 ural Eloquence. 
 
 The boy is father to the man, and perhaps it will con 
 vey a vivid impression as to what John Alexander Logan 
 must have been as a boy to describe his appearance as a 
 man. He is remarkable, not only for his career, but 
 also for his physique. Tall and solidly built, he carries 
 himself with the erectness of a soldier, and although fifty- 
 eight years of age, his hair, which he wears long, and his 
 prodigious mustache, are jet black. So are his eyes, which 
 are keen and piercing, while his complexion is as swarthy 
 as that of an Indian. Strangers visiting Washington 
 
 (260) 
 
LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 261 
 
 never require to have him " pointed out." There is no 
 mistaking the eagle eye, raven hair, and swarthy com 
 plexion which made the soldiers of the late war call him 
 " Black Jack " and so many white folks declare him an 
 Indian. Purer Caucasian blood never flowed through 
 any man s veins ; his remarkable physique is the source 
 whence all these wild stories originated. A Washington 
 lady correspondent says of him : " Towering above the 
 middle height, of dignified soldierly proportion, with 
 clear-cut, classic features, he is not only one of the most 
 distinguished, but one of the handsomest, men on the 
 Senate floor ; and the most wonderful of all in his per 
 sonal appearance is the part expression lends to his 
 countenance. His feelings and moods are mirrored 
 there as distinctly as the seasons are stamped on the 
 landscape." 
 
 While Logan dresses neatly, there is a certain air of 
 negligence about the fitting and style of his coat and 
 vest and flaring necktie, which suggests that his costume 
 occupies little of his mind. He wears a black frock 
 coat, a low cut vest, and black trousers which are a 
 compromise between the extremes of fashion, and there 
 fore always in good form without material change of 
 model. The ample shirt-bosom displayed is always 
 smooth and fresh, which cannot be said of all other Sen 
 ators. 
 
262 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 HIS PARENTS AND EARLY HOME. 
 
 "The story that he has Indian blood in his veins/ 
 says one writer, " is a myth, founded upon the color of 
 his skin and hair, and is totally untrue, unless the fabled 
 Kings of Ireland were related to the North American 
 savage." Dr. John Logan, his father, was a physician 
 and surgeon of acknowledged skill and extraordinary 
 force of character, and belonged to an excellent family 
 in the North of Ireland. A few years before the eldest 
 of his eleven children was born, he came to America, 
 and began practice as a physician near Murphysboro, the 
 capital of Jackson county, on the Big Muddy River, in 
 Southern Illinois, about fifteen miles east of the Missis 
 sippi river. Although his birth might have inclined him 
 to aristocratic pretensions, he was perfectly free from 
 such traits, and he entered into the wild life of the new 
 country with much zest, and soon won the favor of his 
 neighborhood, and enjoyed a large professional practice. 
 He was known as a man of strict integrity and high 
 morals, who was free from the dissipations so common on 
 the frontier nearly half a century ago, and he was never 
 heard to use an oath. Although democratic in his tastes, 
 he yet enjoyed with peculiar satisfaction the society of 
 persons of superior intelligence, and in his conversations 
 with the Wesleyan Methodist ministers who stopped at 
 his house to preach, and with the judges who frequently 
 visited him, he was able to maintain his part in argu 
 ment. 
 
LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 263 
 
 His hospitality was generous and he took delight in 
 the exhibition to his guests of his fine grounds, horses, 
 and hounds. He was fond of the chase, and he was gen 
 erally regarded as " a f oine owld Irish gentleman, one of 
 the real owld kind." His sturdy character is indicated by 
 an incident of his last sickness, in 1851. Suffering from 
 an abscess of the liver, from which he died, he urged his 
 family to bring a mirror and assist him to perform the 
 operation upon himself by which he thought his life 
 might be saved. 
 
 Dr. Logan married Elizabeth Jenkins, a member of 
 a Tennessee family of Scotch descent, as his second 
 wife, and she was a woman of extraordinary force of 
 character, although very quiet in manner. She was tall 
 and stately, and the erect-ness of her form was notable 
 up to the time of her death, in 1877. Her distinguished 
 son owes many of his characteristics to her, both physi 
 cal and mental, and her intuitive judgment of character, 
 and her inflexible purpose when once her resolution had 
 been formed, are qualities which he inherited, and which 
 have been indispensable to him in his career as a soldier 
 and as a statesman. She was much beloved, as well as 
 respected, and she is still remembered as " Mother Logan" 
 by all who knew her in the home of her son during the 
 later years of her life. 
 
 11* 
 
264 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF LOGAN S BOYHOOD. 
 
 February 9, 1826, is the date of Logan s birth, and 
 from his infancy it was the cherished desire of his father 
 to see this first-born of the family a physician. Although 
 in early manhood he devoted himself to the study of 
 medicine for a time, the sick-room was not a congenial 
 place and his qualifications were for a different life. He 
 was taught his first lessons at his mother s knee, and 
 his early years woiM uneventful, but, Professor Thomas, 
 the entomologist, of the Smithsonian Institute, a play 
 mate of his boyhood and afterward the husband of one 
 of his sisters, now deceased, narrates several incidents 
 which, while they are amusing, also reveal the spirit of 
 the boy as it was in later years disclosed to the world in 
 some of the most stirring scenes of the century. 
 
 His father s farm on the Big Muddy River lay half a 
 mile from the grist-mill, and Professor Thomas recalls 
 that on one occasion, while yet a small boy, John was 
 sent to mill, accompanied by one of the colored boys 
 belonging to his father s estate, Dr. Logan by his first 
 marriage having become possessed of a number of slaves, 
 afterward manumitted by him. He reached the mill in 
 a terrible rain storm, and all took shelter under the open 
 shed which covered the machinery. This mill, like the 
 Mexican arastra, was worked by a horse harnessed to a 
 horizontal shaft or pole which was dragged round and 
 round, as a capstan-bar is imshed, and revolved the mill- 
 
LOGAN IN EARLY LIIE. 265 
 
 stones by means of hide belting. The rain beat in furi 
 ously and the belting stretched to such an extent that it 
 became useless, became detached from the shafting, 
 and fell down. The boys despairing of more comforta 
 ble quarters for the night made the best of it and went 
 to sleep, a number of the hounds which had accompanied 
 them, at their feet. When morning broke and the mil 
 ler arrived it was discovered that the half-famished dogs 
 had scented out the rain-soaked hide belting and de 
 voured it ! The miller was in despair. He had no more 
 belting nor could lie get any. Nothing remained for him 
 but to make it himself ; and young Logan and his col 
 ored companion were obliged to wait there for three or 
 four days while the miller killed and skinned an ox and 
 tanned its hide for a new belting ! 
 
 The incident illustrates not only young Logan s deter 
 mination not to turn back until the thing he undertook 
 was accomplished, but also the newness and the rude 
 ness of his early surroundings. 
 
 Professor Thomas relates that when the lad was about 
 ten years old he was commissioned by his father to stop 
 the depredations of squirrels upon his cornfield. A road 
 ran by the field, and on an adjacent tree it was custo 
 mary to pin with wooden tacks certain public notices so 
 that passers by might read and act accordingly. The 
 boy had observed this, and, either because he was averse 
 to the tedious task of watchman or because he believed 
 
206 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 in fair play for the squirrels, as lie has always believed in 
 fair play for his fellow- men, in war and in peace, he 
 made use of the tree for the issue of a proclamation. A 
 neighbor riding by at a later hour, seeing a notice pinned 
 to the tree, rode up to it and to his astonishment read 
 the following in a large, boyish hand : 
 
 "I give notice to all the squirrels to keep out of this corn-field. 
 If they don t keep out they will be shot. 
 
 "JOHN A. LOGAN." 
 
 The next morning he was on hand with other boys 
 and some of the farm hands armed with shot-guns to 
 begin the work of extermination. That corn-field was 
 afterwards covered with the houses of Murphysboro, and 
 a striking similarity is traced between this notice and 
 one which Logan sent to some persons in Southern Illi 
 nois, who wrote to him both coaxing and threatening 
 letters before the war, urging him to join the Knights of 
 the Golden Circle. It ran thus : 
 
 "If you fellows don t keep out of the Knights of the Golden Cir 
 cle, some of you will be strung up. 
 
 "JOHN A. LOGAN." 
 
 When fifteen or sixteen years of age, Professor Thomas 
 says, young Logan took it into his head to build a flat-boat 
 for the Muddy River, which ran near the paternal farm. 
 The boat was duly constructed and launched. But the 
 Muddy was at the time a rapid and dangerous stream, 
 
LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 2G7 
 
 and when it came to a question of who would pilot the 
 craft all the others were afraid to venture. But, as in 
 his subsequent life, he never hesitated to accept respon 
 sibilities, so now the fearless boy jumped aboard "and 
 steered her out in safety. 
 
 LOGAN S EDUCATION. 
 
 " I never could understand," says ono who knows 
 Logan well, " why the newspapers should bring up Logan s 
 bad grammar! He speaks with as much polish, and with 
 more force than the most of us ; but the correspondents 
 must fill their columns with something, and this kind of 
 spicy badinage seems least harmful.1 of all." 
 
 It is true that he obtained his first instruction in books 
 from his father and mother at home, and that the advan 
 tages afforded in the log-school lesson where he was a pupil 
 for a limited time were very imperfect, but John A. Logan 
 is a man of extensive information, and has thoroughly 
 mastered several languages, and many of the greatest 
 works of literature. Says the New York Tribune: 
 " General Logan fought his own way bravely through 
 college with what help a hard-working doctor in a pioneer 
 country could give his several sons ; was graduated hon 
 orably, studied law awhile with his uncle, and then was 
 graduated from the regular law school. Perhaps his 
 English may sometimes betray traces of the pioneer 
 habits of a third of a century ago in Southern Illinois. 
 
268 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 He speaks the French and Spanish languages, is an en 
 thusiast in Shakespeare, of which he can repeat whole 
 plays by heart. He has been known among his brother 
 Senators to correct a Harvard graduate in Latin pro 
 nunciation, and a Williams graduate in Shakespearean 
 quotation, and his familiar acquaintance with modern 
 tongues is reported to have stood in the breach where 
 other Senators faltered and fell." 
 
 Major Ben. Perley Poore, the noted Washington cor 
 respondent, when asked if Logan murders the King s 
 English replied : " No ! his language compares favora 
 bly with that of other Senators in debate." When seven 
 teen or eighteen years old Logan became a student in 
 Shiloh Academy, under the jurisdiction of the Methodist 
 Church, and he remained until he entered the Mexican 
 war nearly three years later. He is a graduate of the 
 Louisville Law School, where he attended lectures after 
 his return from Mexico, taking his diploma in 1851. 
 
 IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 
 Logan s experience in the Mexican war belongs to the 
 period of his youth, as he was only twenty years of age 
 when he left college to become a soldier. The annexa 
 tion of Texas caused an immediate rupture with Mexico, 
 and President Herrera of that Republic, on June 4, 
 1846, issued a proclamation that Mexico s right to Texan 
 territory would be defended by arms. In July, President 
 
LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 269 
 
 Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor to take a position 
 as near the Rio Grande as prudence would allow, and 
 soon after the struggle began, which did not end until 
 General Scott marched into the city of Mexico and pro 
 claimed the conquest of the Mexican Republic, in 1848. 
 Logan entered the army as a lieutenant of company 
 H, First Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served his coun 
 try in Mexico with distinction from the beginning to the 
 end of the war. He attained the position of acting- 
 quartermaster of the regiment before he returned to 
 Illinois, a youth who had barely reached his majority. 
 
 LOGAN AS A YOUNG LAWYER AND POLITICIAN. 
 
 Returning to Murphysboro after the war, in the autumn 
 of 1848, Logan began to study law in the office of his 
 uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, who was a great man in 
 Southern Illinois, a Jacksonian Democrat, and at one 
 time Lieutenant-Governor of his State. 
 
 It was the love of contest that took him at once into 
 politics, and soon he was elected Clerk of Jackson County. 
 By means of the revenues of this office he was enabled 
 to carry on his law studies and took a course of lectures 
 at Louisville University. 
 
 Receiving his diploma in 1851, he was admitted to the 
 Bar, formed a partnership with his uncle, and before he 
 had been a year in practice he was elected Prosecuting 
 Attorney of the Third Judicial District of the State. 
 
270 LOGAN IN EARLY LIFE. 
 
 He then lived in the town of Benton, where he began 
 the experience of a married man in 1855. While a 
 beginner in the pursuit of rogues in court there occurred, 
 in a wholly different direction, an instance of his per 
 sonal courage which was much talked of and made him 
 many friends. The farmers of southern Illinois had 
 been troubled by incursions of a desperate gang of 
 horse-thieves from the swamps of southeastern Missouri. 
 A number of horses had recently been stolen, but the 
 sufferers held the gang in terror and were afraid to fol 
 low and attempt the recovery of their property. Young 
 Logan heard about the outrage, and taking two men with 
 him followed the outlaws into the swamps of Missouri, 
 and soon returned with his neighbors horses. Acute 
 rheumatism, from which he still suffers at times, seized 
 him as he was returning, sixteen miles from home ; but 
 he had accomplished his mission. 
 
 Logan was reflected to the State Legislature in 1853, 
 1856, and 1857, and in 1856 was a Presidential Elector 
 on the Buchanan and Breckenridge ticket. At this 
 point he began his career as a stump orator, and his 
 speeches were considered remarkable examples of elo 
 quence, giving him a reputation that sent him to Con 
 gress in 1856, 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 How He Gained the Title of "Black Jack." Was He a Seces 
 sion Sympathizer at the Outset? His Own and the Record s Answer. 
 The Confession of Confederates Exonerates Him. The Story of 
 Bull Run, and Logan s glorious Beginning in the War for the Union. 
 Resigning to Raise a Regiment. Grant and Logan at Cairo, March 
 to their Illustrious Careers as Officers in the Greatest of Modern 
 Struggles. The Task of " Purging Missouri. "The Battle of Bel- 
 mont. Logan s Regiment Under Fire for the First Time. His 
 Horse Killed under Him, and His Pistol Shattered at His Side. 
 Praise for His Bravery. 
 
 Why is Logan called " Black Jack," is a question 
 which is often asked, and an answer may as well be 
 placed at the beginning of the sketch of his career in 
 the war to save the Union. " Black Jack " is simply a 
 soldier s term of endearment, like " Fighting Joe," as 
 applied to Hooker, and " Old Pap Thomas," as applied 
 to General George H. Thomas. General Nelson, who 
 was heartily hated by his men before their first battle, 
 was called in hatred " Bull Nelson," but after they had 
 once fought under him and discovered how his hard 
 
 (271) 
 
272 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOB THE UNION. 
 
 training and drilling had made veterans of them before 
 they had snielled burning powder, they expressed their 
 love for him by calling him " Bully Old Nelson." Logan 
 is very dark of complexion, and this fact, of course, 
 gives the color to his nickname. 
 
 DID HE SYMPATHIZE WITH SECESSION AT THE START? 
 
 An important matter which it is well to have made 
 plain at the beginning of the sketch of this famous 
 soldier, relates to his attitude during the commotion 
 which filled the country just before the outbreak of the 
 War of the Rebellion. Did Logan think of joining the 
 Southern army? 
 
 It would not have been strange if he had wavered 
 between the North and South. Geographically, he was 
 as near the South as the North, and politically and 
 socially his surroundings were such as to make a dif 
 ferent choice than the one he made, not unnatural. 
 " Egypt," as Southern Illinois was called, contained a 
 population whose instincts were chiefly Southern, and 
 doubtless the heroic service of Logan to the Union 
 cause was one of the greatest restraints to hold its 
 people back from a union with the Rebels. His enthu 
 siasm awakened the loyalty that was sleeping, and the 
 story of his bravery in the first battles of the war, was 
 like a flaming torch in that benighted land, causing a 
 burst of fiery zeal among those who had only secretly 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOB THE UNION. 273 
 
 wished to have the Union saved, and causing to seek 
 deeper shades of darkness those in whose hearts there 
 lurked the treasonable purpose which delighted in the 
 thought of the destruction of the Republic. 
 
 Logan had Southern affiliations in his own family, as 
 well as among his friends and neighbors ; and kindred 
 whom he loved avowed their preferences for an alliance 
 of the Logans of Southern Illinois with the seceding 
 States. 
 
 BOYNTON ON LOGAN S POSITION. 
 
 Says General Boynton, in regard to this matter: 
 " The roll of honor of the Union armies does not con 
 tain a name worthy to stand above his as the best type 
 of the volunteer officer through all the grades up to the 
 commander of an army in battle. Before he was of age, 
 he was a soldier in Mexico. He was a Democratic 
 Congressman from the most benighted political section 
 of Illinois when Sumter was fired upon. He was a 
 good-enough Republican to be a fighting officer for the 
 Union, and a very stubborn one, too, at the battle of 
 Bull Run. A good many who wink now as they ask 
 with a knowing air whether Logan did not once contem 
 plate joining the Southern Confederacy had not them 
 selves, at that date, adopted the doctrine of coercion. 
 Suppose Logan did at first consider such a step? 
 There were scores of men, whose prominence in the 
 party is not now questioned, who were proposing peace 
 
274 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 conferences or serving on peace committees after Logan 
 had enlisted as a Union soldier. He never turned his 
 face toward the Confederacy except in battle. But if 
 he had, in the early unsettled days, Republicans, in 
 view of his magnificent service from the hour the first 
 Rebel gun was fired, can give him full and effective 
 defense against .all questioners." 
 
 LOGAN SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF. 
 
 But that Logan was zealous in the service of the 
 country from the very beginning of the conflict, appears 
 from a very bold declaration of his course and defiance 
 of his foes, which he pronounced upon the floor of 
 Congress after the war was over, as well as from his 
 assertion while a Democrat on the stump for Stephen 
 A. Douglas, that he would take up arms, if necessary, 
 to secure the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, should 
 the result of the campaign of 1860 be a Republican 
 victory. 
 
 Although he had proved his courage and loyalty by 
 his blood and by his services on many a battle-field, the 
 assailants of his patriotism his daring bravery no one 
 had the hardihood to question goaded him to the 
 following utterance in the Senate, on March 23, 1881 : 
 
 " Mr. President, I have taken but slight notice of 
 slanders touching my action in any case. But, sir, 
 since the year 1866, my enemies have so persistently 
 pursued me with falsehoods touching my action in 1861, 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 275 
 
 that I now feel it to be my duty to place on record the 
 facts, that those who come after me may know the 
 truth as it was and is. ... During the early part of 
 the year 1861, when secession was rampant in the city 
 and in the halls of Congress, and while I had an oppor 
 tunity of showing where my sympathies were, whether 
 with the Union or not, Mr. Adrian of New Jersey pro 
 posed the following Resolution in the House of Repre 
 sentatives : Resolved, That we fully approve of the bold 
 and patriotic act of Major Anderson in withdrawing 
 from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, and of the determi 
 nation of the President to maintain that fearless officer 
 in his present position ; and that we will support the 
 President in all constitutional measures to enforce the 
 laws and preserve the Union. 7 
 
 Upon this resolution Mr. Logan voted " yea" and added 
 that u it received his unqualified support." This he re 
 asserted in the speech of March 23d, and no one was 
 bold enough to dispute the assertion as not being truth. 
 And he did more. He proved by the most unanswerable 
 testimony that every word breathed against his patriotic 
 standing was false to the very core. He brought for 
 ward the statements of his Democratic opponents to 
 give emphasis to his loyalty of thought, deed, and pur 
 pose; produced the unsolicited letters of Senators J. Q. 
 C. Lamar and J. L. Pugh ; demolished the fictions of 
 his traducers by hundreds of letters and affidavits, and 
 
276 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 in the end did not leave the base lie a foot to stand 
 upon. 
 
 THE ONLY MAN WHO DARED FACE HIM WITH THE LIB. 
 
 The only man that ever dared insinuate to his face 
 that he was a sympathizer of secession, was Senator 
 Ben Hill of Georgia, in the United States Senate Cham 
 ber, March 80, 1881, and Logan at once replied : " Any 
 man who insinuates that I sympathized with it at that 
 time, insinuates what is false," and Senator Hill at once 
 retracted the calumny. 
 
 Subsequently, April 19, 1881, a part of the press hav 
 ing in the meantime insinuated further doubts, Senator 
 Logan proved by the record and by documentary evi 
 dence the falsity of the aspersion. That record shows 
 that January 7, 1861 while still a Douglas Democrat, 
 before Lincoln s inauguration and before even the first 
 gun of the war was fired upon Fort Sumter he de 
 clared in Congress, as he voted for a resolution which 
 approved the action taken by the President in support 
 of the laws and for the preservation of the Union, 
 that the resolution received his " unqualified approba 
 tion." Prior to that (Dec. 17, 1860), he had voted 
 affirmatively on a resolution offered by Morris of Illi 
 nois, which declared an " immovable attachment " to 
 " our National Union," and " that it is our patriotic 
 duty to stand by it, as our hope in peace and our 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 277 
 
 defense in war." In a speech he made February 5, 
 1861, on the " Crittenden Compromise," he declared 
 that "he had always denied, and did yet deny, the 
 right of secession." 
 
 THE CONFESSION OF A BOURBON. 
 
 When Logan concluded his speech of vindication in 
 the Senate, even the Bourbon Senator, Brown of Geor 
 gia, declared it to be " full, complete, and conclusive." 
 In future, then, no truthful man will dare to say that 
 Logan was not true to the Union and opposed to seces 
 sion "before the war, at the beginning of the war, 
 and all through the war." In 1860 and 1861, he was 
 the most popular man in Southern Illinois, and un 
 doubtedly did more than any other man to create and 
 foster the spirit of loyalty in what had been called 
 "Egypt." He threw himself heart and soul into the 
 ranks of the Union, and produced a sensation by his 
 public declaration that " if forcible resistance was made 
 to the inauguration of President Lincoln, he would 
 shoulder his musket and aid in the consummation of 
 the people s will." The effect of his example at that 
 critical time, as well as afterwards, was felt not alone 
 in his own State, but in Indiana and other adjacent 
 States. As has been well said, " His eloquence gave 
 courage in the hour of fear, and kindled fires of devout 
 patriotism when the embers were growing weak and 
 low." 
 
278 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. ? 
 
 A REFUTATION FOR LOGAN S FRIENDS TO USE. 
 
 This somewhat extended refutation of a calumny will 
 not bo without value to admirers of Logan who may 
 wish to silence slander during the fierce conflict of a 
 political campaign. There may be some who, from 
 selfish motives or the jealousy that is " cruel as the 
 grave," will desire to keep the foul story afloat. In 
 reply to such, what is here written should be presented 
 for the sake of the man ; for the sake of those with 
 whom he associated ; for the sake of his country and 
 for the sake of those dearer to him than all save an 
 unsullied name in private life, in camp, upon the battle 
 field, and as one of the representatives of a great 
 nation. 
 
 " To such men," says one of Logan s friends, " private 
 credit is wealth, public honor is security; the feather 
 that adorns the royal bird supports its flight ; strip him 
 of his plumage, and you fix him to the earth. Indeed, 
 to one whose aim of life has been to stand before the 
 world as the hero of Marignano, Aquadello, and Battle 
 of the Spurs sans peur et sans reproche it is his all." 
 
 THE STORY OF BULL RUN. 
 
 The first battle of Bull Run, fought on July 21, 1861, 
 was the first in wjiich Logan bore arms to subdue the 
 rebellion, and its story is inseparably connected with 
 his brilliant career in the Union army. Fort Sumter 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOE THE UNION. 279 
 
 fell on April 14, 1861, the battle of Big Bethel was 
 fought in Virginia on June 10th ; the battle of Boone- 
 ville followed in Missouri during the same month ; the 
 battle of Carthage was fought on the soil of Missouri 
 on July 6th, and the battle of Rich Mountain was fought 
 in Virginia on July 10th, so that the first battle of 
 Bull Run was the sixth battle of the war, and great 
 hopes rested upon the Union arms engaged in that ter 
 rible struggle. 
 
 The gathering of Confederate troops at Manassas 
 Junction imperiled Washington, for while Beauregard 
 was there in command of the main army, General 
 Johnston was at Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley, 
 with a large force which could be readily summoned to 
 reinforce a movement for the capture of the Capitol 
 city. 
 
 General Irwin McDowell, who commanded the Depart 
 ment of Virginia, had his headquarters at " Arlington 
 House," while General Patterson was at Martinsburg 
 with 18,000 Federal troops to hold Johnston in check 
 at Winchester. About the midddle of July, McDowell 
 received orders to move on the Confederates, and with 
 20,000 troops he marched from Arlington Heights on 
 July 16th, his purpose being to flank the Confederate 
 right wing. Two days later, General Tyler was repulsed 
 by the enemy at Blackburn s Ford, and McDowell, find 
 ing that he could not flank the Confederates, resolved 
 12 
 
280 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 to make a direct attack, having no fear that Patterson 
 would not be able to keep Johnston in the Shenandoah 
 Valley. 
 
 On the morning of battle, McDowell s army set forth 
 in three columns, one under General Tyler to make a 
 feigned attack, and the other two under Generals 
 Hunter and Heintzelman to take a wide circuit to the 
 left, cross Bull Run at different points, and make a real 
 attack upon Beauregard s left wing, while Tyler was 
 engaging its attention. 
 
 But news of the Federal plan had reached the gov 
 ernment at Richmond, and at noon of the preceding 
 day, Johnston had started from Winchester with 6,000 
 fresh troops to support the main Confederate army. 
 The fighting began when Hunter and Heintzelman 
 crossed Bull Run, about noon, and three hours later, 
 General Johnston, who had assumed chief command 
 upon his arrival upon the field, was looking anxiously 
 toward Manassas Gap, exclaiming, "Oh, for four regi 
 ments ! " 
 
 They came, and from the approaching cloud of dust, 
 General E. Kirby Smith soon rode forth with 4,000 fresh 
 Confederate soldiers to turn the tide of battle just as a 
 victory for the Union seemed almost assured. The 
 flight of the Federal troops, leaving 3,000 of dead, 
 wounded, and captured behind them, was a panic which 
 sent dismay through the North and delight through the 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. * 281 
 
 South, and the disaster must have prolonged the war 
 for years ; if Johnston had been aware of his oppor 
 tunity, it would have given the Confederate army imme 
 diate possession of the Capitol. 
 
 LOGAN S GLORIOUS BEGINNING. 
 
 It was in and immediately after this disastrous strug 
 gle that John A. Logan performed such service, that 
 his fame as a defender of the Union can be traced to 
 the first great battle of the war, both as a soldier and 
 as a Congressman. He had moved to the front with 
 Colonel Richardson s regiment of Michigan volunteers, 
 and, seizing a musket and taking his place in the 
 ranks as a private, he exhibited great bravery during 
 the contest at Bull Run. When he returned to Con 
 gress after that battle, he urged upon the government 
 the necessity of raising a sufficient force to pat down 
 the Rebels in arms. 
 
 The nation was for a time almost paralyzed by the 
 blow of July 21st, and Europe was beginning to talk 
 about the ruin of the American Republic, but the influ 
 ence of Logan, whose bravery had done so much to 
 check the panic of his comrades in the retreat from 
 Bull Run, and of others like him, soon restored confi 
 dence, and before the adjournment of Congress in 
 August, volunteers had hastened to the support of the 
 " Stars and Stripes " by thousands, and the people were 
 
282 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 resolved to wage a war which promised to be long and 
 desperate 
 
 RESIGNS TO RAISE A REGIMENT. 
 
 Logan retained his seat in Congress after his return 
 from the battle of Bull Run until the adjournment in 
 the following month, and his urgent appeals for prompt 
 and vigorous action to crush the Rebellion, were the 
 more effective because of his participation in the bloody 
 struggle of July 21st. At the end of the session, how 
 ever, he resigned his position as a member of the 
 House of Representatives, and returned to Illinois to 
 raise a regiment, avowing his purpose to enter the war 
 for the Union and remain in it till the end. 
 
 By a series of stirring and patriotic appeals in the 
 southern part of the State, he rallied thousands of 
 volunteers, and himself joined the Thirty-first Regi 
 ment of Illinois Infantry. He was elected Colonel, and 
 the regiment was mustered into service on September 
 13th. His prestige as a dashing young officer in the 
 Mexican War, and his part in the battle of Bull Run, 
 gave him an enthusiastic following when he returned 
 to his State, and although there were many disloyal 
 inhabitants in " Egypt," he was ready to take the field 
 at the head of a regiment of 973 meli within a month 
 from his return home from Washington. The speeches 
 he delivered, and the volunteers he secured during that 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 283 
 
 month accomplished a great revolution of public senti 
 ment in a large part of southern Illinois. 
 
 The record of a State that, when the second call 
 for three hundred thousand soldiers was issued filled 
 her quota within thirteen days, notwithstanding she 
 had to her credit sixteen thousand nine hundred and 
 seventy-eight men in excess of former demands, may 
 suggest that to raise a regiment in less than a month 
 was not a difficult performance in Illinois, but all who 
 are familiar with the political condition of southern 
 Illinois at the beginning of the war will readily assent 
 to the declaration that no other man could have done 
 what Logan did during the month following the adjourn 
 ment of Congress in the summer of 1861. 
 
 HOW HE WON HIS PEOPLE. 
 
 Resolutions favoring secession had already been 
 adopted by his constituents. Almost every friend he 
 had, save his patriotic wife, was arrayed against him. 
 He had been the pride and the idol of his people, but 
 now they spurned him and persecution and abuse fol 
 lowed him everywhere. Threats of personal violence 
 were made. There are persons now living who will 
 never* forget the wonderful influence of Logan over men 
 at that stormy time when, mounting a wagon in the 
 public square at Marion, Williamson County which 
 was his place of residence he addressed a vast multi- 
 
284 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 tude of people who, strongly sympathizing with the 
 South, were little less than a howling mob. When 
 Logan began to speak it was with difficulty that he 
 could gain a hearing, but before he had finished the 
 vivid picture he painted of the inevitable consequences 
 of treason and disunion, they stood absolutely spell 
 bound, and many were even ready to enlist in defense 
 of that very flag which, but a few moments before, they 
 would have stamped upon. And when he closed and 
 told them he was going to enlist for the war ("as a 
 private or in any capacity in which he could serve his 
 country best in defending the old blood-stained flag over 
 every foot of soil in the United States " ) they swarmed 
 about him and sent up such a shout as has rarely been 
 heard. A friend and fellow-comrade of Logan s in the 
 Mexican War, having, in the meantime, hurriedly 
 hunted up an old fifer and drummer, was the first to 
 shout : " Come on, boys ! Let s go with Logan. Where 
 he leads we can follow!" Suiting action to the words, 
 the fife and drum struck up the familiar tune of " Yan 
 kee Doodle, and before they had marched half way 
 around the square one hundred gallant fellows were in 
 line "keeping step to the music of the Union." Each 
 pledged to serve his country for three years, ilnless 
 sooner discharged by peace being declared. 
 
 The midnight traveling and daily speaking and 
 enlisting of soldiers for the war, during the ensuing ten 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 285 
 
 days, can hardly be described. The conversion of an 
 entire people from sympathy for the South into patriotic 
 soldiers ready to fight, was little short of miraculous. 
 
 GRANT AND LOGAN AT CAIRO. 
 
 Like General Grant, Logan was a soldier in the 
 Mexican War, and like Grant he began his career as an 
 officer in the war for the Union at Cairo, where the 
 Thirty-first Illinois Infantry was stationed immediately 
 after it was mustered into the service. The coinci 
 dences are noteworthy because of the steadfast friend 
 ship between the two officers which existed throughout 
 all the years of the war and has remained unbroken 
 until this day. 
 
 Grant was living in St. Louis just before the war, and 
 he was one of the first of the West Point graduates in 
 private life to offer his services to the government. lie 
 Was made the Colonel of an Illinois regiment, and in 
 May, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier- 
 General and assigned to the command of Cairo. 
 
 Although a small village at that time, Cairo was a 
 point of great importance because of its position at the 
 junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, on the 
 southern extremity of Illinois, and only 175 miles below 
 St. Louis. The Confederates had determined to secure 
 and hold the town, and both the Federal Government 
 and Governor Yates had information as to the scheme 
 
286 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 of the rebels to obtain control of the water-ways to the 
 great cities of St. Louis and Cincinnati. Acting under 
 instructions from the Secretary of War, Governor Yates 
 dispatched Illinois troops to thwart the Confederate 
 schemes, and General B. M. Prentiss, who seconded the 
 nomination of Senator Logan in the recent Chicago 
 Convention, was in command of a force of 5,000 men 
 when Grant arrived, in May, to assume the position of 
 commander of the post then called Camp Defiance. 
 
 GRANT AND LOGAN HELP " PURGE MISSOURI." 
 
 "I have purged Missouri," wrote General Halleck to 
 the Government in February, 1862, and to assist in 
 that work was the first task of both Grant and Logan 
 when they marched from Cairo for action in the field. 
 Missouri had the misfortune to have Claiborne F. Jack 
 son for Governor at the beginning of the war. An ally 
 of secession and an enemy of the Union that he was, 
 he nevertheless took the oath as Governor on January 4, 
 1861, and in his message to the Legislature he recom 
 mended that Missouri stand with her sister States of the 
 South, and advised that a convention be called to 
 consider the course to be taken. The convention was 
 held, but the Legislature refused to give it authority to 
 decide the course of Missouri without a vote of the 
 people. 
 
 The popular vote was strongly in favor of the Union, 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 287 
 
 but Governor Jackson was determined to carry the State 
 over to the Confederacy, and during the excitement 
 which followed the capture of Southern troops in St. 
 Louis he inaugurated civil war in Missouri by calling out 
 50,000 militia, and ordering two important railway 
 bridges between St. Louis and Jefferson City to be burned 
 and the telegraph wires to be cut. He visited Richmond 
 secretly, and while he was in conference with the Con 
 federate government, Lieutenant-Governor Reynolds, " in 
 the temporary absence of Governor Jackson," declared 
 the absolute severance of Missouri from the Union. 
 " Disregarding forms," he said, " and looking to realities, 
 I view any ordinance for the separation from the North 
 and union with the Confederate States as a mere out 
 ward ceremony, to give notice to others of an act already 
 consummated in the hearts of the people ; consequently, 
 no authority of the United States will hereafter be per 
 mitted in Missouri." 
 
 To break the power of the enemies of the Union in 
 Missouri was the work to which Grant and Logan were 
 both assigned when they departed from camp at Cairo. 
 
 HIS REGIMENT UNDER FIRE FOR THE FIRST TIME. 
 
 It was only seven weeks after they were mustered into 
 the service that his men were under fire for the first time. 
 General Fremont wrote to the government in Washing 
 ton, early in October, when his army was 30,000 strong : 
 12* 
 
288 LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 
 
 " My plan is. New Orleans straight ; I could precipitate 
 the war forward, and end it soon victoriously." Before his 
 career was suddenly checked, soon after, he ordered Grant 
 to move a force along the Mississippi river to co-operate 
 with his own army, and the movement was promptly 
 effected. A column of about 3,000 troops, mostly Illi 
 nois Volunteers, was sent forward under command of 
 General John A. McClernand, and landed about three 
 miles above Belmont. Grant accompanied McClernand, 
 and Logan was in the column, at the head of the Thirty- 
 first Illinois Infantry. 
 
 A STORY OF THE BELMONT BATTLE. 
 
 A member of Logan s old regiment tells a little story 
 of the Belmont attack and victory, which illustrates 
 Logan s dash and energy. Said he : " We embarked at 
 Cairo on transports and landed secretly a few miles above 
 Belmont. The rebels were in force at Columbus and at 
 Belmont, nearly opposite Columbus. We swooped down 
 on the Belmont outfit, and, after a sharp fight, cleaned 
 out the town. In those days, the early part of the war, 
 whenever a body of Union troops had a fight and won 
 it, it was thought to be the thing to have a great blow 
 out, speeches and bonfires and music and all that. The 
 Belmont victory was no exception. We had a great time 
 that night. General McClernand made a roaring speech, 
 and so did Logan, I believe. We had great bonfires and 
 extra supper and all the bands out, and kept it up till 
 
LOGAN IN THE WAR FOR THE UNION. 291 
 
 pretty near daylight. Then it was found that during the 
 night, while we were celebrating, the rebels had landed 
 a big force from Columbus to our side of the river, and 
 cut us off completely from our transports. We were 
 dazed at this, and in a mighty tight place. Logan was 
 the first to realize it, and, after some discussion, he got 
 permission from General McClernand to try to cut his 
 way through the rebel cordon and open the road to the 
 transports. 
 
 LOGAN S NARROW ESCAPE AND THE DEATH OF HIS HORSE. 
 
 The bayonet charge which followed was one of the 
 most gallant feats of the war, and volunteer troops could 
 not have performed it without a leader of Logan s 
 magnetic courage. The way back to the transports was 
 fought as fiercely as their way into Beimont had been, 
 and Logan had a narrow escape from death, a bursting 
 shell killing his horse under him, and shattering a pistol 
 at his side. General Grant had a horse shot under him 
 during the attack upon Beimont, and General McCler 
 nand sat upon two horses when they were struck down 
 by bullets from the enemy. In his report to General 
 Grant, McClernand spoke in high terms of the conduct 
 of Logan, who, when under the most galling and deadly 
 fire, exhibited the same intrepidity and judgment which 
 distinguished him in all his subsequent career, and which 
 with his thoughtful care for their comfort and safety, 
 uiade him the ideal of the troops under his command. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 He Returns to Cairo from Belmont and goes to Washington to 
 ask Comforts for his Men. He Helps Win the Decisive Victory at 
 Fort Henry, and Rout the Confederates in Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
 Missouri. The Army and the Country cry, "On to Donelson." 
 Grant Plans the Attack and Waits for Foote to Bring the Mortar- 
 Boats into the Cumberland from Cairo to Bombard the Fort. The 
 Confederates Attempt to Cut a Way out and Escape toward Nash 
 ville. Logan Prevents a Panic and is Carried Bleeding from the 
 Field. Grant Makes him a Brigadier-General. The Siege of Corinth. 
 An Interesting Report in Logan s Own Words. Sherman s Praise. 
 
 Logan returned to Cairo after the enemy had been 
 compelled to abandon Belmont, and while in Camp De 
 fiance the discomforts of the raw troops were very great, 
 and much harder to bear than the greater hardships 
 which they subsequently endured as veterans. They had 
 left their homes and comfortable surroundings quite un 
 prepared for the life of soldiers. Their equipage was 
 poor, as neither quartermasters nor purveyors had learn 
 ed how to properly prepare for the needs of troops. Col 
 onel Logan, with that solicitude for the well-being of his 
 
 (292) 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 293 
 
 men which always distinguished him, finally went to 
 Washington and arranged for arms and clothing suitable 
 for his command, although, owing to the confusion inci 
 dent to the hurried preparations for war, it was almost 
 impossible to obtain supplies of any kind. 
 
 The battle of Fort Henry was the first decisive victory 
 of Union troops upon Western waters, and Logan led 
 his regiment in that struggle. The fort stood at a bend 
 of the Tennessee river, where that stream approaches 
 the Cumberland river until there is not more than a 
 dozen miles between them, and the Confederates had 
 placed it at the right bank of the river, on a high hill 
 opposite Fort Hieman. At the beginning of February, 
 1862, a land force commanded by General Grant, and a 
 flotilla commanded by Commodore Foote, were sent to 
 capture the two forts, and the expedition appeared about 
 two miles below Fort Henry on February 3d. The fort 
 contained seventeen heavy guns, a dozen of which swept 
 the river. 
 
 Commodore Foote placed four of his iron-clads in posi 
 tion for a bombardment, while two un armored vessels 
 were used to fish up torpedoes which the enemy had strewn 
 upon the bed of the river. The garrison of Fort Hieman 
 fled at the approach of troops sent to silence their 
 guns, and with about 3,000 troops outside they hastened 
 to Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland river, twelve miles 
 away. The bombardment of Fort Henry began on Feb- 
 
294: LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 ruaiy 6th, and it had proceeded only an hour when the 
 garrison became panic-stricken. 
 
 The Federal troops entered the fort to find that less 
 than one hundred Confederates remained to surrender, 
 so quick had been the flight towards Donelson. Grant 
 had not arrived when the flag of the Union was hoisted 
 over the scene, and the victory had been won at a cost of 
 only two killed and thirty-eight wounded. Twenty-nine 
 of the latter had been injured by the escape of scalding 
 steam from one of the boilers which had been pierced by 
 a thirty-two pound shell. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VICTORY. 
 
 The fall of Fort Henry and Fort Hieman encouraged 
 the hope of the North^that the Confederate cause would 
 soon be ruined in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. 
 When Halleck received the intelligence he telegraphed 
 to McClellan : " Fort Henry is ours ! The flag of the 
 Union is re-established on the soil of Tennessee. It 
 will never be removed." The Union soldiers were in 
 the rear of the enemy centered at Columbus, Kentucky, 
 and their commanders perceived that if a victory could 
 be achieved on the Cumberland like that which had been 
 won on the Tennessee, Beauregard would be compelled 
 to retreat from the ground he then occupied. 
 
 The Secretary of the Navy wrote to Commodore 
 Foote: "The country appreciates your gallant deeds, 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 295 
 
 and this department desires to convey to you and your 
 brave associates its profound thanks for the service you 
 have rendered." 
 
 The enthusiasm awakened by the victory at Fort 
 Henry undoubtedly contributed much to the success of 
 the Union arms in the struggle of the following fort 
 night. It was seen that Fort Donelson was the only 
 obstacle to the rout of the Confederates at Columbus 
 under Beauregard, and the cry " On to Donelson " was 
 everywhere heard, among officers and among men in 
 the ranks. Foote had sent three vessels to reconnoiter 
 the borders of the Tennessee after the fall of Fort 
 Henry had opened that river to the very heart of the 
 Confederacy, and the report of the expedition, repre 
 senting that loyalty was not dead although suppressed 
 by a mailed hand, resulted in a decision to make an 
 immediate attack. 
 
 Fort Donelson stood upon the high right bank of the 
 Cumberland river, at Dover, the seat of Stewart County, 
 Tennessee, and it covered about one hundred acres upon 
 hills furrowed by ravines. General Grant planned the 
 movement, organizing the army into three divisions, 
 commanded by Generals McClernand, Smith, and Lew 
 Wallace, and directing Foote to return to Cairo to bring 
 his mortar boats around into the Cumberland river to 
 
296 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 assist in the attack. The march of the Union cavalry, 
 infantry, and artillery, across the country to Fort Don- 
 elson, was performed in one of the fiercest storms of a 
 severe winter, but no complaint was heard from the men. 
 
 The movement of the troops began on the morning 
 of February 12th, and on the evening of the same day 
 Fort Donelson was invested. General Pillow was in 
 command of the Fort, but General Floyd arrived from 
 Virginia on the following day and superseded him. 
 Grant thought it inexpedient to begin the attack before 
 the arrival of the flotilla, and although the weather was 
 severely cold, the Federal troops, who had bivouacked 
 without tents in a drenching rain on the night of the 
 12th, patiently waited for orders, suffering severely 
 because they were not permitted to keep their fires 
 burning at night, lest they should draw the attack of 
 the enemy s guns. 
 
 About noon of the 14th the war vessels had arrived 
 and at 3 o clock the bombardment began, both armored 
 vessels in the front line and the unarmored vessels in a 
 second line participating in the attack. Fifty-four men 
 were killed and more than one hundred were wounded 
 before the fleet withdrew, and Foote then returned to 
 Cairo for repairs and reinforcements. 
 
 It was Grant s purpose to await Foote s re-appearance, 
 but he was not permitted to wait. In a council of war 
 on the night of the 14th the Confederates had resolved 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 297 
 
 to drive the Federal force from the field or cut a way 
 out and escape in the direction of Nashville, and at 5 
 o clock of the 16th the assault was made. About 10,000 
 men under the command of Pillow and Bushrod John 
 son began the assault, and a quick, furious, and heavy 
 onslaught was made on McClernand s division, which 
 occupied the heights extending along the river. The 
 first shock fell upon Oglesby s brigade, but the men 
 stood firm until their ammunition began to fail, when 
 they gave way under the terrific pressure, except the 
 extreme left, held by Colonel Logan and the Illinois 
 Thirty-first. Upheld by their heroic commander, Logan s 
 men stood like a wall before the enemy, and to their 
 fidelity the army owed deliverance from a panic and 
 rout perhaps as disastrous as the first Bull Run. 
 
 The conflict was fierce throughout the forenoon, but 
 later in the day the Confederates retired to the fort, and 
 before the next morning Floyd had turned over the 
 command to Buckner and fled up the river, and Pillow 
 had departed for his home in Tennessee. 
 
 CARRIED BLEEDING FROM THE FIELD. 
 
 Logan was severely wounded in his shoulder during 
 the battle, but he rallied his men and held them in 
 position until, exhausted from loss of blood, he was 
 carried from the field. Of the 606 men he led into the 
 struggle only 303 answered to their names the next 
 morning. 
 
298 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 General McClernand, commanding the First Division, 
 highly praised Colonel Logan s conduct, in his official 
 report of Fort- Donelson, saying: "Schwartz s battery, 
 being left unsupported by the retirement of the 29th, 
 the 31st boldly rushed to its defense, and at the same 
 moment received the combined attack of the forces on 
 the right and of others in front, supposed to have been 
 led by General Buckner. The danger was imminent, 
 and calling for a change of disposition adapted to meet 
 it, which Colonel Logan made by forming the right wing 
 of his battalion at an angle with the left. In this order 
 he supported the battery, which continued to play upon 
 the enemy and held him in check until his regiment s 
 supply of ammunition was entirely exhausted." 
 
 The report of Colonel Oglesby, commanding the First 
 Brigade, says: "Turning to the 31st, which yet held its 
 place in line, I ordered Colonel Logan to throw back 
 his right, so as to form a crochet on the right of the 
 llth Illinois. In this way Colonel Logan held in check 
 the advancing foe for some time, under the most destruc 
 tive fire, whilst I endeavored to assist Colonel Cruft 
 with his brigade in finding a position 011 the right of the 
 31st. It was now four hours since fighting began in the 
 morning. The cartridge-boxes of the 31st were nearly 
 empty. The Colonel had been severely wounded and 
 the Lieutenant-Colonel, John II. White, had, with some 
 thirty others, fallen dead on the field, and a large 
 
. 
 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 301 
 
 number were wounded. In this condition Colonel Logan 
 brought off the remainder of his regiment in good 
 order." 
 
 Says another writer : " The annals of the war speak of 
 General Logan as being where danger was the greatest 
 and the blows of death the thickest and most heavy, 
 and no name is inscribed more brightly upon the roll of 
 honor of Donelson." 
 
 GRANT MAKES LOGAN A BRIGADIER-GENERAL. 
 
 The following letter indicates the opinion of General 
 Grant as to the conduct of Logan in the battle before 
 Fort Donelson : 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT WEST TENNESSEE, 
 
 "FORT HENRY, March 14, 1862. 
 "Hon. E. M. STANTON, 
 
 " Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.: 
 " I have been waiting for reports of sub-commanders at 
 the battle of Fort Donelson to make some recommenda 
 tions of officers for advancement for meritorious ser 
 vices. These reports are not yet in, and as the troops 
 under my command are actively engaged, may not be 
 for some time. I therefore take this occasion to make 
 some recommendations of officers who in my opinion 
 should not be neglected. I would particularly mention 
 the names of Colonel J. D. Webster, First Illinois 
 Artillery ; Morgan L. Smith, Eighth Missouri Volun- 
 
302 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 teers; W. H. L. Wallace, Eleventh Illinois Volunteers; 
 and John A. Logan, Thirty-first Illinois Volunteers. 
 The two former, are old soldiers and men of decided 
 merit. The two latter are from civil pursuits, but I 
 have no hesitation in fully indorsing them as in every 
 way qualified for the position of brigadier-general, and 
 think they have fully earned the position on the field of 
 battle. There are others who may be equally meritori 
 ous, but I do not happen to know so well their services. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, 
 
 "Major-General." 
 
 Colonel Logan was accordingly promoted to be a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers. For some time he was 
 confined by his wound to his bed ; but so impatient was 
 he to return to his command that with his wound still 
 unhealed he started for the front, and reached it on the 
 evening of the Battle of Sliiloh, April 7, 1862, just too 
 late to participate in the engagement, much to his 
 disappointment. 
 
 IN COMMAND OF A BRIGADE. 
 
 As Brigadier-General, Logan was assigned to the com 
 mand of the First Brigade, third division of the Seven 
 teenth Army Corps, and took a distinguished part in the 
 movement against Corinth. Grant had yielded the com- 
 " mand at the battle of Shiloh to Halleck, then his super 
 ior in rank, upon the arrival of the latter from St. Louis, 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 803 
 
 and it was his purpose to pursue Beauregard in his re 
 treat, striking a blow while the enemy was weak, but he 
 was restrained by Halleck, much to the disappointment 
 of Logan, who thought that Corinth might have been 
 captured, instead of being merely occupied after the 
 enemy had fled. 
 
 LOGAN S STORY OF THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. 
 A report of the siege of Corinth, made by Logan him 
 self, possesses peculiar interest, not only because it pre 
 sents a vivid description of the movement, but also be 
 cause it exhibits the weighty responsibilities devolving 
 upon the commander of a brigade who, less than a year 
 before, was carrying a musket as a private in the first 
 battle of Bull Run. The report is as follows : 
 
 "Report of Brig. -Gen. John A. Logan, U. S. Army, 
 commanding First Division, of operations from April 
 19th to May 
 
 "HDQRS., IST Div. RES. CORPS, 
 "ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, 
 
 " BETHEL, TENN., June , 1862. 
 " I have the honor to submit the following report of 
 the operations of the different arms of the First Divis 
 ion since my connection with it, hi pursuance of a re 
 quest from your headquarters of date June 11, 1862 : 
 "I was assigned to and took command of the First 
 
304 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 Brigade, consisting of the Eighth Illinois Infantry, Col. 
 F. L. Rhoads ; Eighteenth Illinois Infantry, Col. M. K. 
 Lawler ; Thirtieth Illinois Infantry, Col. E. S. Dennis ; 
 Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, Col. L. Ozburn, and Twelfth 
 Michigan Infantry, Col. F. Quinn, on the 19th day of 
 April, 1862, by General Field Orders, No. 402, from your 
 headquarters, and occupied Camp No. 1, which may be 
 designated as General Oglesby s old camp, one mile north 
 of Shiloh Church, one-quarter of a mile from your head 
 quarters, on the Corinth and Pittsburg Landing road, 
 and two miles from said Landing. 
 
 " On the 23d day of April I received marching orders, 
 dated from your headquarters, to be ready at eight A. M., 
 April 24, to move forward, taking all camp and garrison 
 equipage. After constructing a road across a branch of 
 Owl Creek I advanced my brigade, as ordered, about two 
 miles, taking position about three degrees north of a 
 direct westerly line, with my right resting on a bluff over 
 looking Owl Creek. This camp was, by special order 
 from your headquarters, designated as Camp Stanton. 
 We here constructed the first field fortifications, consist 
 ing of enfilading rifle-pits and lunettes. 
 
 "On the 25th day of April Colonel Lawler was ordered 
 to take six regiments, three companies of cavalry, and 
 one section of artillery, and make a reconnaissance in 
 front of and to the left of our position in the direction 
 of Monterey. I also instructed Colonel Lawler to feel 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 305 
 
 the enemy. The expedition started at daylight the next 
 morning, as ordered, and proceeded in the direction in 
 dicated until he received an order by the hands of a 
 messenger, dated headquarters Army of Tennessee, to 
 halt his column and return to camp, which he obeyed. 
 
 " On the 27th of April I again received orders to march 
 early on the morning of the 30th, and on that day 
 marched my command, in conjunction with the divi 
 sion, with camp and garrison equipage, a distance of 
 about three miles on the road to Monterey, and took 
 position on the right of the division, which rested its 
 left on the Monterey road about nine miles from that 
 place, and near the McCook Hospital. This was Camp 
 No. 3. Roads were repaired and constructed from Camp 
 Stanton to Camp No. 3 by the division, and in the rear 
 of Camp Stanton toward Pittsburg Landing to the extent 
 of three miles. 
 
 " Upon the assignment of the major-general command 
 ing the division to the command of the Reserve Corps of 
 the Army of the Tennessee I was, by General Orders No. 
 1, issued from your headquarters, under date of May 2, 
 1862, assigned to the command of the Third Division 
 (late First) on account of seniority of rank. 
 
 " On the 3d day of May, in conformity with Special 
 Field Orders No. 40, from department headquarters, I 
 was relieved from the command of the division by the 
 assignment of Brig. Gen. H. M. Judah to the command. 
 
306 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 Being in ill health, I deferred assuming command of my 
 brigade until I became able. My brigade at that time 
 was under orders to move forward with the division early 
 on the 4th of May. Col. M. K. Lawler, whom I had pre 
 viously assigned to the command of the First Brigade, 
 conducted his inarch on the right of the division on 
 that day with military skill and ability. The div 
 ision moved forward a distance of about six miles, and 
 established a camp on the south bank of Lick Creek, on 
 the main Corinth road, and one mile in rear of Monterey. 
 This was Camp No. 4. Two bridges, constructed across 
 Lick Creek and the road, including that part across Lick 
 Creek Bottom, were constructed from this camp to Pitts- 
 burg Landing, for the accommodation of the supply trains. 
 At the above camp I resumed command of my brigade. 
 Frequent cavalry reconnaissances were made from this 
 point, but I have no official knowlege of their results. 
 
 " In the afternoon of the 10th day of May I was under 
 orders to move my command forward with the division 
 on the morning of the llth at an early hour on the road 
 to and in the direction of Corinth, to a house known as 
 Coggsdale s. Upon arriving there I was informed that 
 he would move forward to the camp lately occupied by 
 Major-General Sherman, at the crossing of the old State- 
 line road with the Purdy and Farmington road. Upon 
 arriving at the place thus previously designated, one 
 regiment from my brigade was thrown out one mile in 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 307 
 
 front as a picket guard. We then proceeded to estab 
 lish the camp, my brigade taking position on the right, 
 Col. M. K. Lawler, who had been assigned to the com 
 mand of the Third Brigade, on the left, Brig. Gen. L. 
 F. Ross, commanding Second Brigade, in rear of the 
 center, one battery of artillery on the right of my 
 brigade, two in the center of the division, and one on 
 the left, and the cavalry in rear of the whole command. 
 The Twentieth Illinois (Lieutenant-Colonel Richards 
 commanding), of the Third Brigade, with two pieces of 
 artillery, was ordered in advance for outpost duty, and 
 took position on a line with the infantry pickets on the 
 old State-line road, overlooking Muddy Creek, at the 
 crossing near Haine s house. 
 
 u It will not be out of place at this juncture to 
 mention that Capt. S. R. Tresilian, of my staff, in 
 charge of one company of cavalry, advanced beyond 
 the creek and drove the enemy s pickets beyond Easel s 
 house, on the Hack road, leading from Purdy to 
 Corinth. Three companies of the Elevench Illinois 
 Infantry were ordered on outpost duty one mile on the 
 right of the division, on the road leading from Farming- 
 ton to Purdy. Cavalry reconnaissances were made 
 daily from this camp, resulting in almost every instance 
 in meeting the enemy s pickets and driving them from 
 their position, of which, however, I am not officially 
 advised in regard to, not being in command of the - 
 
 13 
 
308 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 division at the time. We at this camp (No. 5), com 
 pleted the fortifications commenced by Major-General 
 Sherman, and constructed additional rifle-pits. It was 
 from this camp that two companies of the Fourth 
 Illinois Cavalry and Dollins Cavalry, under command 
 of Lieut. M. Fitts, Capts. M. J. O Harnett and E. Car- 
 imchael s independent companies of cavalry, all under 
 command of Lieut. Col. William McCullough, made a 
 reconnaissance in the direction of and beyond Purely, 
 destroying the Mobile & Ohio Railroad bridge across 
 Cypress Creek near Jones s Mill, and about five miles 
 south of Bethel. They also captured a locomotive with 
 four men on board, and, placing the men under guard, 
 ran the engine into the creek, destroying it. In their 
 advance they met the enemy s picket, about three miles 
 from Purdy, where a heavy skirmish took place, the 
 enemy s pickets retreating. On the third stand the 
 enemy was discovered drawn up in line of battle,. when 
 our force advanced, giving them a volley, causing a 
 panic, which broke their lines, when they immediately 
 retreated, scattering in all directions, continuing to fire, 
 however, from cover of trees, etc. The cavalry of 
 Colonel McCullough was then dismounted by his order, 
 deployed as skirmishers, and ordered to advance. The 
 enemy was still slowly retreating and firing until our 
 force came closely upon them, when they turned, and 
 it became a perfect rout, the enemy passing through 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 309 
 
 Purely, dispersing in all directions. The cavalry again 
 mounted, and made a charge through the town, with 
 the hope of taking some of them prisoners. Our cav 
 alry then advanced to the railroad bridge over Cypress 
 Creek, as before stated, and after executing their orders, 
 returned to camp without any loss. While at this camp 
 my command, in conjunction with Brigadier-General 
 Ross s brigade, a battery of eight guns, and a battalion 
 of the Fourth Illinois Cavalry, were ordered to make a 
 reconnaissance, under command of the divison com 
 mander, in the direction of the Mobile & Ohio Rail 
 road, for the purpose of ascertaining what force, if any, 
 was in the direction of or on the railroad, and to drive 
 them beyond and destroy the track. The expedition 
 moved forward at four A. M., Brigadier-General Ross, 
 with a battalion of cavalry, taking the advance, my 
 brigade in the rear as a reserve. No enemy appeared 
 before reaching the road, where we found the enemy s 
 pickets posted, and fired upon them, killing one man, 
 when they fell back. General Ross advanced hurriedly, 
 and commenced the work of destroying the road. After 
 doing so, the expedition was ordered to return, arriving 
 in camp at ten A.M., having marched seven miles and 
 destroyed the railroad in six hours. 
 
 " About the 4th of May, Brigadier-General Ross was 
 ordered to move forward his brigade with the Four 
 teenth Indiana Battery of Artillery and two companies 
 
310 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 of cavalry, and take position on the main Corinth 
 road one and one-half miles from Camp No. 5. On the 
 21st of May my command was ordered to move for 
 ward, take all camp and garrison equipage, and occupy 
 the position vacated on that day by Major-General Sher 
 man. This was Camp No. 6, near Easel s house, on the 
 road to Corinth. On the 28th of May, at 1.30 A.M., 
 I received orders to move up the first brigade, without 
 camp equipage or transportation, to the extreme right 
 of General Sherman s division, by 7.55 A. M., with 
 instructions to assist in driving the rebels from the 
 house, on Sherman s front ; also in driving back their 
 pickets, and to make a strong demonstration of attack 
 ing Corinth. General Ross s brigade was at the same 
 time ordered up, and came in my rear. Through some 
 misdirection we advanced too far to the right, and 
 approached the Mobile & Ohio Railroad at Bowie Cut. 
 The enemy s pickets were in sight at a house on the 
 hill on the opposite side of the road. An agreement 
 having been made between the pickets that they would 
 not fire on each other, an officer was sent to "inform 
 them tlmt we desired the position held by them. They 
 immediately retired, and we occupied the position. In 
 the meantime messengers had been sent to find out and 
 report the position of General Sherman s division, that 
 we might take position as ordered. None of them 
 giving a report of his position that would enable us to 
 
LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 311 
 
 reach him, Capt. J. J. Dollins, senior aide-de-camp on 
 my staff, was dispatched to ascertain and report cor 
 rectly his position, which he did, and directed the 
 march to the place assigned to my brigade, to wit : My 
 left resting on the right of General Denver s brigade, 
 and my right resting on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad ; 
 General Ross s brigade occupied the position at Bowie 
 Cut, where fortifications were thrown up, under the 
 direction of Brigadier-General Judah. 
 
 " Upon arriving at the position assigned me on the right 
 of General Sherman I immediately threw out skirmish 
 ers about 800 yards in front of my brigade, under 
 charge of Maj. M. Smith, of the Forty-fifth Illinois 
 Infantry, acting as officer of the day, a brave officer, and 
 in every respect worthy of the duty assigned him. 
 Skirmishing immediately took place, with but little exe 
 cution being done on either side until the afternoon, 
 when I re-inforced my skirmishers with one other com 
 pany, commanded by Captain Wilson, from the Eighth 
 Illinois Regiment, for the purpose of driving the enemy s 
 pickets and obtaining a different position. In the 
 engagement which followed the advance Orderly Sergt. 
 Barnard Zick, Company B, Eighth Illinois Regiment, 
 was severely wounded in the arm and one or two others 
 slightly wounded. I had no means of ascertaining what 
 damage the enemy sustained, not being allowed to 
 advance beyond a certain point. Afterward, and near 
 night, the enemy s pickets, being apparently increased, 
 
312 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 made a dash at our line, with the evident intention of 
 driving our pickets in, but the men, under the command 
 of the gallant Captains Lieb and Wilson, of the Eighth 
 Illinois Infantry, nobly maintained their position, and 
 after firing two volleys at the enemy advanced and drove 
 him back. Only one of my command was wounded in 
 this action, while seven of the enemy were killed and a 
 large number wounded, but carried off the field. When 
 night arrived I ordered the men to lay on their arms and 
 be ready to meet an attack should one be made. Every 
 thing remained quiet, however, through the night, only 
 a few shots being fired. 
 
 " Early in the morning shots became more frequent, 
 which apparently indicated a movement by the enemy, 
 but believing only a small force to be in front of my line 
 I asked permission to advance, but was refused authority 
 to do so. Unsteady firing was kept up at intervals dur 
 ing the forenoon and until about 2 o clock in the after 
 noon. At about 1 P. M. I was notified that Colonel Mc 
 Dowell s brigade would relieve my command at 4 o clock 
 that evening. At the time specified two regiments of 
 Colonel McDowell s command relieved the Eighth and 
 Forty-fifth Illinois- Regiments, which I started back on 
 their way to the old camp, and was waiting in person for 
 the remaining two regiments of my command, when my 
 picket line immediately in front was briskly attacked 
 and with great force, volley after volley being fired from 
 the enemy into our ranks, many of the balls passing 
 
LOGAN AT DOXELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 313 
 
 over the heads of the men standing in line of battle in 
 the rear. I immediately ordered Captain Townes, 
 assistant adjutant-general, to halt the two regiments who 
 were returning to camp, and instruct them to await fur 
 ther orders. In this attack the men again exhibited that 
 true Western courage which has characterized them in 
 so many engagements, and maintained their position like 
 veteran soldiers. After receiving the fire of the enemy 
 they returned it with great vigor, and immediately 
 advanced, under command of Captains Licb and Cowen, 
 of the Eighth and Forty-fifth Regiments, respectively, 
 and fought the enemy, of three times their number, 
 alone. The enemy succeeded in carrying away all his 
 killed and wounded, which I am informed amounted to 
 near 40 men. This was the last skirmish had on the 
 right of the line occupied by General Sherman and 
 myself. Everything becoming quiet on the lines, and 
 the two regiments of my command being relieved, I 
 ordered the whole command to return, and arrived at 
 camp that evening (May 29) at or near sundown. 
 
 " Great credit is due to the members of my staff, Capt. 
 , R. R. Townes, assistant adjutant-general; Capt. J. J. 
 Doliins, senior aide-de-camp; Capt. S. R. Tresilian, 
 division engineer, and Capts. A. L. Page, D. C. Moore, 
 and William C. Carroll, aides-de-camp, for their active 
 and efficient services rendered on the march, in camp, 
 and on the field. 
 
 " On the next morning I received official notice of the 
 
314 LOGAN AT DONELSON AND BEFORE CORINTH. 
 
 evacuation of Corinth, and that the American flag, as it 
 waved over the rebel fortifications, was greeted by the 
 
 thundering shouts of our soldiery. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, "JOHN A. LOGAN, 
 
 " Brigadier- General Commanding. 
 " Capt. C. T. HOTCHKISS, 
 
 "Acting Assistant Adjutant- General, Reserve Corps" 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN ON LOGAN AT CORINTH. 
 
 General Sherman, in his official report of the siege of 
 Corinth, dated "Camp, near Corinth, May 30,1862," says: 
 
 " Col. John A. Logan s brigade, of General Judah s 
 division of McClcrnand s reserve corps, and Gen. Veatch s 
 brigade, of Hurlbut s division, were placed subject to 
 niy orders, and took an important part with my own 
 division in the operations of the two following days, viz., 
 May 28 and May 29, 1862 ; and I now thank the officers 
 and men of those brigades for the zeal and enthusiam 
 they manifested, and the alacrity they displayed in the 
 execution of every order given. * * * And further I 
 feel under special obligations to this officer, General 
 Logan, who, during the two days he served under me, 
 held critical ground on my right, extending down to the 
 railroad. All that time he had in his front a large force 
 of the enemy, but so dense was the foliage that he could 
 not recken their strength save from what he could see 
 in the railroad track." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 Logan Commander of Jackson. He goes North to Speak for the 
 Union, but Refuses to Leave the Army for a Seat in Congress. "I 
 Have Entered the Field to Die, if Need Be." Appointed Major- 
 General at the End of the Campaign. The Battle of Port Gibson. 
 " The Road to Vicksburg Open." Raymond and Champion Hills. 
 The Count of Paris Says Logan Secures the Federal Victory. " The 
 Gibralter of the South." Logan First to Enter Vicksburg. Military 
 Governor of the City. A Series of Brilliant Battles. The Death of 
 McPherson. The Fall of Atlanta. Logan on the Stump for Lincoln. 
 With Sherman in the Carolinas. The End of the War. 
 
 After the occupation of Corinth, Gen. Logan guarded 
 the railroad communications with Jackson, Tenn., of 
 which place he was subsequently made commander. 
 During the summer of 1862 he returned to his own 
 State, and was urged to leave the army and return to 
 Washington as a Congressman-at-large. He replied: 
 
 " / have 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." 
 
 13* (315) 
 
316 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 WITH GRANT ON THE MARCH TO YICKSBURG. 
 
 Returning to his brigade, Gen. Logan began the march 
 with Grant in the northern Mississippi campaign, lead 
 ing the advance as commander of the First Division of 
 the right wing of the Fifteenth Corps, and before he 
 returned to Memphis he was made a Major-General of 
 Volunteers, the date of his commission being November 
 29, 1862. 
 
 Arriving at Memphis on the last day of 1862, the Sev 
 enteenth Corps was organized, under orders from the 
 War Department, and Gen. Logan was appointed to the 
 command of its Third Division, which he retained until 
 after the fall of Yicksburg in July, 1863. 
 
 Grant s army and the Confederates met eight miles 
 from the Mississippi on May 1st, and the Federals 
 forced the enemy back four miles to Fort Gibson. The 
 struggle lasted until night, and under cover of the dark 
 ness the Confederates fled. Logan s division struck the 
 enemy the severest blow of that struggle. 
 
 "THE ROAD TO VICKSBURG OPEN." 
 The Confederates evacuated Grand Gulf, as they had 
 evacuated Post Gibson, and on the morning of May 3d 
 General Grant telegraphed to Sherman: 
 
 " Logan is now on the main road from here to Jack 
 son, and McPherson, closely followed by McClernand, on 
 the branch of the same road from Willow Spring. * * * 
 The road to Vicksburg is now open ." * * * 
 
LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 31 < 
 
 Although the road was open, there were yet two hard 
 battles to be fought. The first was that of Raymond, 
 the capital of Hinds County. Logan bore the brunt of 
 this, " one of the hardest small battles of the war," as 
 General Grant has described it, and when the Confed 
 erates retreated, followed them through Raymond to 
 wards Jackson. 
 
 The battle of Champion Hill was fought with great 
 spirit, General Grant having learned of the movement 
 of Johnston for Jackson, and fearing his union with Pem- 
 berton for the purpose of crushing the Federal army. 
 
 The Count of Paris, in his " History of the Civil War 
 in America," says : " The battle of Champion Hill, con 
 sidering the number of troops engaged, could not compare 
 with the great conflicts we have already mentioned, but 
 it produced results far more important than most of those 
 great hecatombs, like Shiloh, Fair Oaks, Murfreesborough, 
 Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, which left the two 
 adversaries fronting each other, both unable to resume the 
 fight. It was the most complete defeat the Confeder 
 ates had sustained since the commencement of the war. 
 * This battle was the crowning work of the 
 operations conducted by Grant with equal audacity and 
 skill since his landing at Bruinsburg. In outflanking 
 Pemberton s left along the slopes of Champion Hill, he 
 had completely cut off the latter from all retreat north. 
 Notwithstanding the very excusable error he had comr 
 
318 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 mitted in stopping Logan s movement for a short 
 
 the latter had, through this manoeuvre secured victory to 
 
 the Federal army " 
 
 THE SIEGE OF YICKSBURG. 
 
 The city of Yicksburg, situated on the east bank of 
 the Mississippi, surmounting the Walnut Hills, was so 
 adapted by nature for fortification that it was called 
 "the Gibraltar of the South." Admiral Farragut had 
 attempted to capture it with gunboats in June, 1862, but 
 it withstood his assaults, and the achievement of Grant 
 in taking the stronghold must be regarded as one of the 
 greatest in the history of modern war, and Logan was 
 one of his most efficient aids in the work. 
 
 The general assault of May 19, 1863, resulted in 
 a Federal loss of more than 4,000, but General Grant 
 ordered a repetition of the attack on the 22d, which 
 resulted in a heavy loss of life, and failed to carry the 
 enemy s works. 
 
 General Logan fought so heroically in this siege that 
 an important battery was thereafter called " Battery Lo 
 gan." He led McPherson s center at Fort Hill, and the 
 hand to hand fighting, when his command stormed the 
 breach at that point, was among the fiercest of the war. 
 Grant was often in Logan s camp during the siege, and it 
 was adjacent to Logan s headquarters that, on the after 
 noon of July 3d, Grant and Pemberton met to arrange 
 
LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 319 
 
 the terms of capitulation, Logan himself was present, 
 and his column led the way into the captured stronghold 
 on July 4th. The Count of Paris says : " Logan s divi 
 sion was the first to enter Yicksburg. * * * It had 
 fully deserved this honor. Grant rode at the head" 
 
 Grant recognized Logan s services in the siege by 
 making him Military Governor of Yicksburg, and the 
 Board of Honor of the Seventeenth Army Corps pre 
 sented to him a gold medal inscribed with the names of 
 the nine battles in which he had been most distinguished 
 for heroism and generalship. 
 
 Having organized his administration as Military Gov 
 ernor of Yicksburg, General Logan started North, in 
 response to appeals for his help in fighting the battles of 
 the Union on the soil of his own State. 
 
 A SERIES OF BRILLIANT BATTLES. 
 
 Having aroused the flagging zeal of the people whom 
 he addressed, General Logan hastened back to the seat of 
 war, and in November, 1863, he succeeded General Sher 
 man in the command of the Fifteenth Army Corps, 
 which General Grant himself had formerly commanded. 
 It was this corps to which Logan afterwards gave the 
 famous badge "forty rounds." 
 
 Having wintered at Huntsville, Alabama, General 
 Logan entered the Grand Military Division of the Mis 
 sissippi to make the campaign of 1864 against Atlanta 
 under Sherman, who described the Army of the Tennes- 
 
320 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 see under McPhcrson, with Logan as one of the three 
 corps commanders, as " the snapper of the whip with 
 which he proposed to punish the enemy." 
 
 General Logan came up with the enemy, in consid 
 erable force, about two miles from Resaca, on May 13th, 
 and in the struggle which followed he was wounded in 
 the arm, and received a severe bruise on the shoulder 
 from a glancing ball. Logan entered the town of Resaca 
 at daylight on the 16th, pressing the enemy s rear 
 guard so closely that he did not succeed in burning but 
 one of the bridges over the Costanaula behind him. 
 During the three days and nights in front of Resaca, 
 General Logan never left his men for a moment, 
 either to eat or to sleep. 
 
 Logan again overtook the enemy at Dallas, and a wit 
 ness says : 
 
 " No soldier who witnessed the battle of Dallas will 
 ever forget how grandly Logan looked as, with uncovered 
 head, he dashed down the line on his black war-horse, 
 amid the thickest of the fight. One exultant cheer went 
 up from the soldiers at this daring act of their chief, 
 and, fired with the inspiration of the moment, they re 
 took the guns and drove the enemy from the field. Gen 
 eral Logan received a wound in the arm." 
 
 Logan was at General Sherman s headquarters when 
 the assault on Kenesaw was decided upon. He de 
 clared it to be a movement which, in his judgment, 
 
LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 321 
 
 would be nothing less than the murder of brave men, 
 but he obeyed the order of his commander, and when 
 he returned from the charge upon the mountain, he 
 had lost sixty officers and four hundred men, and his 
 own escape had been almost miraculous. 
 
 THE DEATH OP MCPHERSON. 
 
 The great battle of Atlanta, the bloodiest fought in 
 the West, resulted in the death of General McPherson, 
 on July 22. Early on that morning an officer of Sher 
 man s staff arrived at McPherson s headquarters, and 
 said : " General Sherman believes that the enemy has 
 evacuated Atlanta, and desires you to move rapidly 
 forward beyond the city towards East Point, leaving 
 General Dodge of the sixteenth corps upon the railroad 
 to destroy it effectually." 
 
 McPherson was incredulous, but ordered Logan to 
 advance, saying : " Major-General Sherman desires and 
 expects a vigorous pursuit." 
 
 He then rode to Logan s headquarters for a conference, 
 but on the way shots were fired which confirmed his 
 opinion that Sherman was misinformed, and he then 
 ordered Logan to go into position for battle. Soon after 
 he rode over to Sherman s headquarters to explain his 
 disregard of instructions. Obtaining approval for his 
 conduct he was returning along a narrow bridlepath, 
 when a volley was fired upon him by a stray company of 
 Hardee s corps, and killed. 
 
322 LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 General Sherman immediately appointed General 
 Logan to the command of the Army of the Tennessee, 
 and the manner in which he checked a panic and saved 
 the day, is historic. 
 
 Says one of Logan s men : " Never shall I forget 
 never will one of us who survived that desperate fight 
 forget to our dying day the grand spectacle presented 
 by Logan as he rode up and down in front of the line, 
 his black eyes flashing fire, his long black hair streaming 
 in the wind, bareheaded and his service-worn slouch hat 
 swinging in his bridle hand and his sword flashing 
 in the other, crying out in stentorian tones, Boys ! 
 McPlierson and revenge ! It made my blood run both 
 hot and cold, and moved every man of us to follow to 
 the death the brave and magnificent hero-ideal of a 
 soldier who made this resistless appeal to all that is 
 brave and gallant in a soldier s heart ; and this, too, 
 when the very air was alive with whistling bullets and 
 howling shell. And if he could only have been painted 
 as he swept up and down the line on a steed as full of 
 fire as his glorious rider, it would to-day be one of the 
 finest battle pictures of the war." 
 
 LOGAN STRIKES THE BLOW WHICH WINS ATLANTA. 
 
 The recovery of the Army of the Tennessee from the 
 terror caused by the death of its commander was almost 
 wholly due to Logan s exertions, and his retention as 
 
LOGAN IN HIS LATER CAMPAIGNS. 325 
 
 McPherson s permanent successor would have been as 
 gratifying to the army as just to himself, but the record 
 says : 
 
 " By order of the President, Gen. Howard assumes 
 command. This was upon the recommendation of Gen. 
 Sherman, who admitted that General Logan was entitled 
 to the position, but was not an academy man." 
 
 Resuming the command of his corps, Logan faced the 
 enemy in the battle of Ezra Chapel, on the 28th of July, 
 and repulsed the rebel army completely. 
 
 For a month following Logan pushed his lines for 
 ward, until Sherman decided to raise the siege of At 
 lanta. Logan withdrew from position in front of Atlan 
 ta on the night of August 26th, destroyed the West 
 Point railway, and then drove the enemy ten miles to 
 Jonesboro , arriving before that place on August 30th. 
 The battle which followed was terrific, and it virtually 
 decided the fate of Atlanta, which city was almost 
 immediately evacuated, Sherman s army entering victo 
 riously on Sept. 2, 1864. 
 
 General Logan went North to take the stump for Lin 
 coln in the campaign of 1864, but joined his command 
 at Savannah, and marched with Sherman through the 
 Carolinas, and after the surrender of Johnston s army on 
 April 26, 1865, he returned northward with the victori 
 ous veterans, and passed through Washington with them 
 as they returned to their homes. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 Logan s First Appearance in National Politics. In Congress at 
 the beginning of the War, he Resigns to Raise a Regiment. He Re 
 turns after the War with a Famous Majority. Logan and the An 
 drew Johnson Impeachment. Bitter Disappointment as a Manager 
 at the Verdict of Acquittal. Logan and the Fitz-John Porter Case. 
 The Peroration of His Memorable Speech of March 14, 1884. His 
 Sincerity Commands the Respect of those who Dissent from his 
 Views. One of the Busiest Men in Washington. Demands upon 
 Him from Every State in the Union. 
 
 Logan appeared in national politics as a Presidential 
 elector in 1856, and during the same year he was elected 
 to Congress from the Ninth Illinois District, and he was a 
 member not only of the XXXYIth, but also of the 
 XXXVIIth Congress, being the second native of his 
 State to represent Illinois in Congressional proceedings. 
 Like that of many other patriotic men, his legislative 
 career was interrupted for a period of years by the war 
 to save the Union, but in his case the manner of the in 
 terruption was so extraordinary that it will ever remain 
 
 (326) 
 
LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 327 
 
 one of the most interesting episodes in the great struggle 
 of 1861-5. 
 
 THE SAME SPIRIT IN PEACE AS IN WAR. 
 
 In another chapter an account has been given of Rep 
 resentative Logan s visit to the army commanded by 
 General McDowell in July, 1861, accompanied by many 
 other members of Congress, and of his heroic service as 
 a private to stay the confederate tide which was sweeping 
 almost irresistibly toward Washington, under the direc 
 tion of General Beauregard supported by General John 
 ston. The quick resolution, courageous action, fearless 
 energy and intensity of purpose which he exhibited in 
 the first great struggle of the war have been characteris 
 tic of him as a Congressman, and he has shrunk from 
 no encounter in debate and retreated from no conflict 
 upon the floor of either house, when impelled by a sense 
 of duty to contend for the success or the defeat of any 
 measure. He has never been afraid to utter bold words 
 and assume responsibility for them, and he stamps his 
 daring individuality upon all he utters. Whatever other 
 charges ignorance, malice, and jealousy may have trump 
 ed up against him, that of cowardice or avoiding the 
 issue has never been made. 
 
 Although Logan returned to his seat in the House of 
 Representatives after carrying a musket in the first battle 
 of Bull Run, when Congress adjourned in August, he re- 
 
328 LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 turned to Illinois to raise troops, having determined to 
 abandon the floor of legislation for the field of battle. 
 But he did not retire from Congress without striking 
 effective blows for the Government. He was sent to 
 Congress as a Democrat, and he had earnestly advocated 
 the election of Stephen A. Douglas as President, yet his 
 patriotism impelled him to rebuke those who threatened 
 violence in the event of the "Little Giant s" defeat, and 
 he openly declared that he hoped Mr. Lincoln would not 
 be elected, yet if he were, and his election should provoke 
 an outbreak of the hostile southern sentiment, he " would 
 shoulder his musket to have him inaugurated." During 
 the session of Congress in the winter of 1860-61 he re 
 peatedly arraigned the southern members for their dis 
 loyalty, and asked them how they reconciled their open 
 hostility to the Government with their oaths to support 
 the Constitution. 
 
 HIS FAMOUS MAJORITY AFTER THE WAR. 
 
 After the war Logan was offered the appointment of 
 Minister to Mexico, by President Johnson in 1865, but he 
 declined it, and in the following year he was honored 
 by Illinois with an election as Congressman-at-large, and 
 took his seat in the fortieth Congress, having a majority 
 of more than 60,000. The impeachment trial of Andrew 
 Johnson was the chief Congressional event of the follow 
 ing year, and Logan entered into the proceedings for the 
 
LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 329 
 
 removal of the President with a zeal begotten of indigna 
 tion. He regarded the conduct of Johnson as not only 
 ungrateful and unjust, but also as extremely dangerous, 
 and as one of the managers of the case for the House of 
 Representatives he exerted himself to the utmost to 
 secure a verdict of condemnation from the Senate. 
 
 Mr. Ashley of Ohio arose in his seat in the House 
 on January 7, 1867, and charged the " Acting President 
 of the United States" with the commission of "high 
 crimes and misdemeanors, for which he ought to be im 
 peached," and specified the corrupt use of the appoint 
 ing power, of the pardoning power, and of the veto power, 
 a corrupt disposition of public property of the United 
 States, and a corrupt interference in elections as offenses 
 for which he ought to be tried. For more than a year 
 the action hung in the House, and meanwhile the strug 
 gle between the President and Secretary Stanton was 
 fierce, and the possession of the War Department was 
 hotly contested. At length Congressmen resolved to pro 
 ceed against the Chief Executive, regarding his attempt 
 to remove Stanton after they had restored him as intol 
 erable, and on February 22, 1868, the House of Repre 
 sentatives resolved, by a vote of 126 to 47, " that An 
 drew Johnson, President of the United States, be im 
 peached of high crimes and misdemeanors." 
 
830 LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 LOGAN AND THE IMPEACHMENT CASE YERDICT. 
 
 The Senate, sitting as a High Court of Impeachment, 
 with Chief Justice Chase presiding, began the hearing 
 on March 20th, and the case took about two months, dur 
 ing which time it was the sensation of the whole country. 
 A committee had prepared nine charges when the mana 
 gers of the prosecution were appointed, and two more 
 articles were added by the managers themselves, one of 
 them accusing the President of seditious speeches, while 
 " swinging around the circle," and the other alleging that 
 he had declared that Congress was not a legal body, au 
 thorized to exercise legislative powers. The examina 
 tion of witnesses was continued until April 22d, the 
 arguments of counsel were finished on May 5th, and the 
 Senators took twenty days for debate. When the fifty- 
 four Senators present cast their votes for a verdict it was 
 found that Johnson had been acquitted by one vote, two- 
 thirds of the whole being required for conviction. 
 
 As a manager of the case against the President, Logan 
 had left nothing undone which he thought it possible to 
 do to secure a result in accordance with his sense of 
 justice, and the escape of Johnson was a bitter disap 
 pointment to him. He had no patience with traitors or 
 cowards in the army, and he was equally intolerant; of 
 disloyalty or unfaithfulness to the government in civil 
 life, and he pursued those whom he believed to have for 
 feited the confidence of the country, either in military or 
 
LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 331 
 
 in civil office, with a relentless determination to drive 
 them from power. 
 
 LOGAN AND FITZ JOHN PORTER. 
 
 His part in the case of Fitz John Porter exhibits the 
 intensity of feeling which anything having an aspect of 
 disloyalty to the nation always excites in him, and the 
 briefest sketch of his Congressional career would be 
 incomplete without an allusion to his furious resistance of 
 the attempt to restore Porter to his rank in the army. 
 Logan was a member of the House continuously until 
 1871, in which year he was chosen as the successor of 
 Senator Dick Yates in the Senate, and although at the 
 expiration of his first term as Senator he resumed the 
 practice of law for a period of two years, he returned to 
 the Senate as the successor of Governor Oglesby in 1879, 
 and so he was able to follow the case of Porter almost 
 throughout its entire progress in Congress. 
 
 Porter, who was Chief of staff to Generals Patterson 
 and Banks with the rank of Brigadier-General of Volun 
 teers, during the first weeks of the war, was assigned to 
 the command of a division in the Army of the Potomac 
 in August 1861, and in July 1862, he was assigned to 
 the command of the Fifth Army Corps, and in the siege 
 of Yorktown and during the whole Peninsular campaign 
 which ended with the battle of Malvern Hills, he acquitted 
 himself so creditably that at General McClellan s request 
 he was made Major-General of Volunteers. 
 
332 LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 PORTER S HUMILIATION. 
 
 His humiliation came after his attachment to the 
 Army of Virginia, and for his failure to obey orders 
 issued by General Pope in the terrible struggle with 
 Lee, in August, 1862, he was removed from his com 
 mand. At McClellan s request he was restored and he 
 accompanied that General in the campaign in Maryland, 
 but in November he was ordered to Washington for trial 
 by Court-martial, and on January 21, 1863, he was cash 
 iered for violation of the ninth and fifty-second Articles 
 of War. In 1870 he appealed to the President for a 
 reversal of the sentence, and in 1878 a commission of 
 inquiry was appointed to ascertain whether there was 
 evidence to warrant a new trial. The decision was affirm 
 ative, and the relief recently afforded to General Porter 
 as the result of the protracted proceedings in his case is 
 familiar to all. 
 
 Although General Grant was convinced by a reinvesti- 
 gation of the case, that Porter was ordered to do an 
 impossible thing and was therefore justified in not exe 
 cuting an order which was given under a misapprehen 
 sion, Logan s opinion was never changed, and believing 
 that Porter should have unquestioningly obeyed, as he 
 himself would have done, even though commanded to 
 march to certain death, he felt bound to oppose the move 
 ment for his restoration, and his opposition was perhaps 
 the most formidable obstacle the friends of Porter had 
 to encounter. 
 
LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 333 
 
 A LIST OF LOGAN S CHIEF SPEECHES. 
 
 Although Logan does not often take the floor, when 
 he does speak he speaks to an attentive Chamber and 
 crowded galleries. In his various tilts with " Copper 
 heads " in the House, or "Southern Brigadiers" in the 
 Senate, he always vanquished them. Several of his 
 speeches at the time attracted wide attention, such, for 
 instance, as that in the House in 1867 on the Supple 
 mentary Reconstruction Bill, being a defense of the 
 Republican party and its policy in the South ; that in 
 1869 on the Civil Tenure Office Bill, opposing " all class 
 legislation in any form," and " all perpetuities of office 
 in a land of liberty " ; and that in 1870 against bond 
 subsidies for railroads. In the Senate his speeches have 
 been even more powerful than those delivered in the 
 House. Never did the Rebel Brigadiers have more 
 severe handling than in his great speech of two days in 
 defense of President Grant s conduct of affairs in Lou 
 isiana and of Gen. Sheridan. 
 
 His speech in 1872, iu behalf of bills for the relief of 
 Chicago, then lying in ashes, was a vivid description of 
 calamity, and a powerful appeal for assistance. Another 
 remarkable speech, fairly bristling with comparative 
 facts and statistics, and trenchant deductions therefrom 
 was that on specie payments, in 1879. Another on the 
 Army Appropriation Bill, 1879, presents a clear analysis 
 
 of the relations of the army to the civil power of the 
 14 
 
334: LOGAN IN CONGRESS. 
 
 Government, and a strong denunciation of the mischiev 
 ous, unconstitutional, and revolutionary nature of the 
 Democratic attempt to conquer Executive approval of 
 obnoxious " riders " upon appropriation bills, under the 
 threat of otherwise withholding appropriations. His 
 more recent set speeches in the Senate on education, and 
 the Fitz-John Porter case were able and exhaustive, the 
 four-day-speech of 1880, on the bill to restore Fitz-John 
 Porter to the army and pay him $60,000, being delivered 
 before a listening Senate and crowded galleries through 
 out with Elaine, and Conkling, and Garfield, and Gen. 
 Sherman, and even Porter himself giving their absolute 
 attention to the array of military law, fact, argument, illus 
 tration, denunciation, and appeal poured forth from the 
 eloquent lips of this warrior statesman. It was likened 
 by the press to the greatest effort of Tom Benton, in 
 length and force, and the New York Tribune said of it : 
 "Probably never before within the history of the Senate 
 has a speech, lasting through the sessions of four days, 
 been listened to with such attention." 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 The Scene in the Logan Home in Washington after the Chicago 
 Nomination. The Boarding - House in which the Logans have 
 spent Twelve Winters. "A Remarkable Wedded Pair." Mrs. 
 Logan s Early History. Brought up a Baptist, she is Educated in 
 a Convent, but Marries as a Methodist. As a Girl she Aids her 
 Father, as she afterwards Aided her Husband. Mrs. Logan dur 
 ing the War. The Logan Children. Mrs. Logan s Ambition. 
 Not Rich, a House in Chicago and a Farm in Southern Illinois. 
 An Evening with Logan at Home. Mrs. Logan s Personal Appear 
 ance. 
 
 A glimpse at the home of Senator Logan on Friday 
 evening, June 6tlf, just after his nomination at Chicago, 
 affords the imagination material for a picture of the 
 domestic life of the Logan family. At ten o clock 
 General Logan was sitting in a little upper room in his 
 modest boarding-house in Washington, by the side of a 
 telegraph instrument which was connected directly with 
 the convention hall in Chicago, conversing with a friend 
 concerning the events of the day. The room was the 
 little chamber occupied by Manning Logan the son of 
 
 the Senator, then at West Point. While in Washington 
 
 (335) 
 
336 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 the family reside at No. 812 Twelfth street, occupying 
 two rooms in the same boarding-house in which they 
 have lived for twelve years. 
 
 All the doors and windows were open to catch the 
 evening breeze, and the lights were turned down except 
 at a desk in one corner, where the General s secretary 
 sat writing. In the adjoining front room Mrs. Logan 
 was conversing with a party numbering eight or ten 
 ladies and two or three gentlemen. 
 
 A card was brought in to the General by a colored 
 waiter, followed on the instant by two or three perspir 
 ing gentlemen, who seized General Logan s hand and 
 shook it heartily, offering him congratulations. More 
 gentlemen entered. Loud shouts came up from the 
 street. Somebody proposed three cheers for something. 
 A sound of drums approaching from a distance lent 
 its help to swell the noise. " Speech ! " " Speech ! " 
 shouted a crowd of a thousand men in the street. The 
 General was cheered vociferously when he made his 
 appearance, and when silence was secured he said : 
 " Friends, I thank you for your cordial greeting to-night. 
 I am not prepared to make a speech. Again I thank 
 you. Good-night." The General and Mrs. Logan were 
 now conducted back to the parlor of the mansion, and 
 the doors being thrown open the crowd pressed in. 
 Forming in line, they filed past, shaking the hands of 
 both the General and his wife. In half an hour they 
 
LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 837 
 
 were gone, and General Logan had an opportunity to 
 read the paper which Mrs. Logan had brought him as 
 the scene began. It proved to be an Associated Press 
 bulletin announcing his nomination by acclamation for 
 the Vice-Presidency. 
 
 The apartments of the Logan family are visited by 
 people from every State in the Union who desire the aid 
 of Senator Logan, and yet all is so ordered that there is 
 no confusion, and while the Senator is engaged with the 
 business of some caller from a distance, Mrs. Logan 
 may be entertaining a group of friends in the adjoining 
 room, and when the guests have departed, the cosy 
 apartments witness a domestic scene like that following 
 the congratulations of the Friday evening of the Chicago 
 nomination. 
 
 MRS. LOGAN S EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 They were so one that neither one could say 
 Whether did rule, or whether did obey; 
 He ruled because she would obey, and she, 
 In so obeying ruled as well as he. 
 
 Foley s lines about " A remarkable wedded pair " apply 
 most aptly to Mr. and Mrs. Logan. It is seldom that so 
 happy a marriage union as theirs is formed, and the 
 term " helpmeet " was never more applicable to a wife 
 than to Mrs. Logan. 
 
 An intimate friend gives her early history as follows : 
 " The American ancestry of Mrs. Logan goes back to a 
 
338 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 sturdy Irish settler of Virginia and a French pioneer of 
 Louisiana. Her great-grandfather, Robert Cunningham, 
 of Virginia, was a soldier of the war for Independence, 
 after which he removed to Tennessee, thence to Alabama, 
 and thence to Illinois, when still a territory, and there 
 manumitted his slaves. Her father, Captain John M. 
 Cunningham, served in the fierce Black Hawk war. He 
 was a member of the Legislature of Illinois in 1845 and 
 1846, and served in the Mexican war. Her mother was 
 Elizabeth Fontaine, of a distinguished family of that 
 name which had arrived in Louisiana during the French 
 occupancy of that country, and had thence journeyed up 
 the Mississippi river and settled in Missouri. It was 
 here that John Cunningham met his bride, and it was 
 near the present village of Sturgeon, then known as 
 Petersburg, in Boone County, Mo., that Mary Simmerson 
 Logan was born, on August 15, 1838. When she was 
 one year old her parents removed to Illinois and settled 
 in Marion, Williamson County. It was here that the 
 mother and her oldest daughter, then but nine years old, 
 shared the dangers of a frontier home and the cares and 
 solicitude of a growing family, when the husband arid 
 father went forth to fight the battles of his country 
 upon the parched plains of Mexico and braved the 
 trials and privations of a miner s life in the Sierras of 
 California. 
 
 " This courageous and dutiful little girl relieved her 
 
LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 339 
 
 mother, who was not strong, of most of the household 
 work, and still found time to attend the primitive school 
 of the neighborhood and train herself in useful needle 
 work. 
 
 HER LOVE OF STUDY. 
 
 " The father felt a just pride in his eldest daughter. 
 The assistance which she had rendered her mother 
 during his long absence in Mexico and California had 
 even more closely endeared her to his heart, and her 
 love of study had prompted him to give part of his 
 income to her proper education. Accordingly, in 1853, 
 the daughter was sent to the Convent of St. Vincent, 
 near Morganfield, Ky., a branch of the Nazareth Insti 
 tute, the oldest institution of the kind in the country. 
 This was the nearest educational establishment of suf 
 ficient advancement in the higher branches of knowl 
 edge. The young lady was reared a Baptist ; after her 
 marriage she joined the Methodist Church, the church 
 of the Logan family. 
 
 HOW SHE BECAME LOGAN S WIFE. 
 
 "Having graduated in 1855, Miss Cunningham re 
 turned to her father s home at Shawneetown. In her 
 younger days, when a mere child, she had aided her 
 father as Sheriff of the county, Clerk of the Court and 
 Register of the Land Office in preparing his papers. 
 Those were not the days of blank forms for legal docu- 
 
340 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 mcnts. Accordingly the father depended upon the 
 daughter to make copies for him. While Mary Cun 
 ningham was thus aiding her father in his official duties 
 John Logan was Prosecuting Attorney of the district. 
 He had known Father Cunningham and was his warm 
 friend. He had known the daughter as a little girl. 
 In 1855 they were married and at once went to the 
 young attorney s home at Benton, Franklin County. 
 The bride was sixteen years of age, but her young life 
 had already been one of usefulness to her mother and 
 of great service to her father. 
 
 " The young wife immediately installed herself in the 
 place of companion and helpmeet to her husband. She 
 accompanied him on all his professional journeys, 
 an undertaking in those days of wildernesses and 
 no roads often requiring great endurance and privation. 
 In 1856 the devoted wife saw her husband triumphantly 
 elected a member of the Legislature, and in the famous 
 Douglas and Lincoln Senatorial contest he was elected as 
 a Douglas Democrat to Congress. In all these hard- 
 fought political campaigns the noble wife went with her 
 husband, assisting in much of his work of correspond 
 ence and copying, and frequently Deceiving his friends 
 and conferring with them on the details of the campaign. 
 When Mr. Logan came to Congress as a Representative, 
 Mrs. Logan came with him. She remained with him in 
 Washington until the outbreak of the Rebellion when he 
 
LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 341 
 
 resigned his seat in Congress to return to Illinois to go 
 into the service of his country. 
 
 MRS. LOGAN DURING THE WAR. 
 
 " The war having commenced and Mr. Logan having 
 raised and been assigned to the command of the Thirty- 
 first Illinois Volunteers, Mrs. Logan, with her only living 
 child, then three years old (now Mrs. Tucker), returned 
 to her father s home at Marion. The Illinois troops hav 
 ing been ordered into camp at Cairo, Mrs. Logan joined 
 her husband there. During the fierce battle of Belmont 
 Mrs. Logan heard the booming of the guns across the 
 turbid flood of the Mississippi. In the midst of painful 
 and anxious suspense for the safety of her own, of whom 
 she felt that he was in the thickest of the conflict, she 
 gave a helping hand to the care of the wounded and 
 suffering soldiers as they were brought back from that 
 bloody field. 
 
 " When the army entered upon the Tennessee river 
 campaign Mrs. Logan again returned to her home, but 
 was soon shocked by the news from Donelson that her 
 husband had fallen at the head of his charging columns, 
 dangerously wounded. She hastened to the scene to care 
 for her husband. For days it was a struggle between 
 life and death. 
 
 "At Memphis, in the winter of 1862-3, Mrs. Logan 
 
 again joined her husband, now a general, and remained 
 14* 
 
342 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 there until he led his troops in the campaign which ended 
 in the surrender of Vicksburg. 
 
 " During this time and to the end of the war Mrs. 
 Logan remained at Carbondale, where, out of the- gen 
 eral s salary, they had bought an unpretentious home. 
 Upon his return from the war, General Logan was nom 
 inated by acclamation for Congressman-at-Large. After 
 his election Mrs. Logan returned to Washington, and has 
 been one of the prominent figures in Washington society 
 
 THE LOGAN CHILDREN. 
 
 Indefatigable and efficient as Mrs. Logan has been as 
 the helpmeet of her husband, she has not neglected her 
 duties as a mother. She has two children, a daughter, 
 who is the wife of Paymaster Tucker, of the army, now 
 stationed at Santa Fe, and a son, Manning, who is a 
 cadet at West Point, having inherited his father s mili 
 tary ambition. The tastes of the youth are revealed by 
 the photographs of military heroes and various trap 
 pings of war with which he decorated the walls of his 
 room in Washington before his appointment as a cadet. 
 
 One who knows the family well says of Mrs. Logan s 
 devotion to her children : " Both of them have been 
 educated by her or under her personal supervision ; both 
 have been constantly at her side ; in the camp, during 
 war time, and in the most exciting political campaigns, 
 
LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 343 
 
 Blic lias never for a moment neglected the duties of her 
 household or forgotten her children s claims." 
 
 But Mrs. Logan s activities are not confined to the 
 welfare of her family. As a society woman she is grace 
 ful and accomplished ; in charities she is always active 
 and generous ; and as a member of the Methodist Church 
 she has been devoted and pre-eminently useful. 
 
 MRS. LOGAN S AMBITION. 
 
 In correcting a false impression as to the assistance 
 she renders to her husband, she has admirably expressed 
 her own aim in life, and her view of the ambition of the 
 majority of American women, as follows : 
 
 " A great deal has been said at different times about 
 the assistance 1 rendered to the General in the perform 
 ance of his public duties. J aid him by relieving him 
 of many details, but it is not right to say that I write 
 his speeches, because it is not correct. I take charge of 
 his correspondence, and I do this because the General is 
 very conscientious. I read all his letters and lay all 
 their contents before him. Most public men are at the 
 mercy of their private secretaries, who do not have their 
 interests at heart and who often abuse the confidence 
 reposed in them. Every correspondent making a reason 
 able request is entitled to^some sort of a response. The 
 General has never deceived any one, because he has 
 known the contents of all his correspondence. I have 
 
344 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 also done much copying and have marked authorities on 
 various subjects upon which he proposed to speak. 1 
 belong to that class of American women who feel that 
 the glory of their husbands is their glory. I chose 
 rather to shine in the reflected light of my husband than 
 to put myself forward. It has always been rny sole 
 ambition to be a good and useful wife and a true mother. 
 I have been the companion of my husband and I think 
 this is the sole ambition of the great mass of American 
 women, as it should be." 
 
 Senator Logan is not rich, and it seems to have been 
 the ambition of neither himself nor his wife to amass 
 wealth. The Logan residence in Chicago is on Calumet 
 Avenue, the house being the General s own property. 
 He also has a farm near his old home in Southern Illi 
 nois, and these possessions are said to constitute his 
 entire wealth. The Chicago house is estimated to be 
 worth from $25,000 to $30,000. 
 
 SENATOR LOGAN AT HOME. 
 
 Senator Logan is a delightful conversationalist, and 
 one who has enjoyed the hospitality of his home, says 
 of his extensive information, as exhibited in his familiar 
 intercourse with friends : " He is not a specialist in 
 any particular field, which is the way a man usually 
 acquires fame ; his taste is omnivorous, like Humboldt s, 
 and his favorite books are the Bible, Shakspeare, and 
 
LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 345 
 
 Cosmos. An evening spent in hearing him defend the 
 truths of the Bible, discourse upon classical literature, 
 or take you to the region of the Yellowstone, where the 
 Almighty s agents in the shape of the forces are putting 
 on the weird touches of creative art, affords an intellect 
 ual delight which memory holds long among her treas 
 ures." 
 
 He never assumes to possess literary ability, although 
 he has talent in this direction of a high order. A short 
 drama written under the impulse of the moment to 
 amuse the young people of the house during the Christ 
 mas holidays, gave proof of what he might have done 
 had he practiced with the pen as assiduously in earlier 
 life as he practiced with the sword. 
 
 MRS. LOGAN S PERSONAL APPEARANCE. 
 Mrs. Logan is tall, with well-rounded figure, a hand 
 some, intelligent face, hair almost as white as the driven 
 snow, in marked contrast with the raven locks of 
 " Black Jack," her husband. She is one of the most 
 popular and brilliant women in society. In figure she 
 and Mrs. Blaine are much alike, and in face they are 
 somewhat similar. In gentleness of manner arid tact 
 as a politician and social leader, she is surpassed by 
 few. She has been active in all her husband s cam 
 paigns, and in ability to entertain and make friends, she 
 is equaled by few women in public life. The campaign 
 
846 LOGAN IN HIS FAMILY. 
 
 will find Mrs. Logan exerting all her energy for the 
 success of her husband, and with that the success of 
 the Republican ticket. The mass of correspondence 
 pouring in from day to day, she dispatches with her 
 own hands and the aid of a stenographer. She also 
 lends her presence to the numerous visits of congratu 
 lation from committees and individuals from all parts 
 of the country. 
 
 An enthusiastic correspondent said of her shortly 
 before the Chicago Convention : " Self-sacrificing and 
 absolutely devoted to her husband s best interests, she 
 is also a most affable, charming, bright, and clear 
 headed lady in society. Always at ease herself, she 
 sets all others in her presence at ease at once a 
 womanly woman, and yet with those vivid and just per 
 ceptions in and knowledge of public affairs which 
 befit a statesman s wife, and she is better fitted to 
 occupy the proud eminence of " first lady in the land," 
 than any lady in the White House since the days of 
 Lady Washington, whom she somewhat resembles." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 Logan s First Appearance in the Senate After the Nomination. 
 His Relations with Brother Senators. The Sentiments of Edmunds 
 and Other Senators Toward Him. The Secret of his Friendships. 
 General Grant s Estimate of Him. Logan and General Thomas. 
 His Social Instincts Illustrated by a Story. Logan and the Soldiers. 
 His Devotion to their Interests While in Congress. One of the 
 Founders of the Grand Army of the Republic. Logan s Admirers 
 in the South. Logan and his Constituents. Logan and Laboring 
 Men. His Tribute to Elaine. His Speech of Acceptance. 
 
 Senator Logan entered the Senate Chamber for the 
 first time after his nomination as the Republican candi 
 date for Y ice-President on Monday, June 9th, arriving 
 during the prayer, which brought him to a sudden halt 
 at the main entrance, where he at once took the " first 
 position of a soldier," and remained as motionless as a 
 statue until the chaplain ceased to pray. The scene 
 which followed discloses the peculiarly cordial relatives 
 which exist between him and his brother Senators. 
 When his presence was discovered he was immediately 
 
 (347) 
 
348 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 met and surrounded by a group of Republican Senators, 
 and congratulations and cordial handshaking was the 
 order for quite a little while. The Senator, being inter 
 cepted on his way to the coat-room, still holding his hat, 
 having only the use of one hand for shaking, was grasped 
 by both hands by one after another of his friends, and 
 when he reached the cloak-room, he was immediately 
 followed by other gentlemen eager to express their good 
 feeling toward the prospective President of the Senate. 
 The greetings were very cordial on the Republican side, 
 and it was observed that a few of the Democrats left 
 their seats to congratulate him. When Logan reached 
 his seat, the venerable Vermont Senator came toward his 
 desk and engaged in a lengthy and apparently hearty 
 conversation. Senator Don Cameron took a seat along 
 side, and the two engaged in a quiet and extended talk, 
 and judging from the occasional outbreaks of laughter of 
 both, the subject must have been agreeable. Senator 
 Frye, who had just returned from a fishing excursion to 
 Maine, looking quite sunburned, seemed to enjoy the 
 opportunity of congratulating Mr. Logan. 
 
 THE SECRET OF LOGAN S FRIENDSHIPS. 
 
 Senator Edmunds remarked, when the indications 
 pointed to the nomination of Logan for the Vice-Presi 
 dency : " I don t see but it is the best thing they can 
 possibly do. The soldier element will be most fittingly 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 349 
 
 recognized in the selection." Senator Harrison said: 
 " We have never had a stronger candidate for the Vice- 
 Presidency. Logan is a brave, sincere, and able man. 
 He served in two wars, and carries three wounds. The 
 soldiers will rally to him in force. We can carry 
 Indiana for the ticket. I have no doubt of it." 
 
 The prompt indorsement by the somewhat frigid Ver 
 mont Senator is quite as significant as the ardor of Sen 
 ator Harrison s support, and indicates that there are 
 in Logan qualities of manliness which challenge the 
 respect and esteem of his associates in the Senate, even 
 when he is not in agreement with them as to questions 
 of public policy. He certainly does not avoid conflict in 
 debate from the fear of alienating friends. He is usually 
 in his seat or in the committee-room, being attentive to 
 his duties. At times, says a Washington correspondent, 
 when he desires to listen to a discussion without taking 
 part, he retires to the pleasant smoking-room to the right 
 of the middle entrance to the chamber, often emerging 
 suddenly from his retreat to take a hand in debate. He 
 loves a warm discussion, is not averse to getting into a 
 dispute, and always bears down heavily on his antagonist, 
 yielding nothing and fighting every inch of ground with 
 such vigor that the other is usually glad to retire in the 
 best possible order. 
 
350 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 LOGAN AND GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 Whoever has had even a casual and brief conversa 
 tion with General Grant is aware that there is a singular 
 charm in his simplicity and directness, and evident gen 
 uineness, which never fades from the memory ; and a 
 similar impression is made by General Logan. It is, per 
 haps, because of qualities of resemblance in them that 
 the two men have been such steadfast friends during all 
 the years since the war brought them together. 
 
 An amusing story is told of the two which illustrates 
 not only their personal characteristics but also their 
 thorough understanding of each other. When some one 
 said to President Grant that Senator Logan seemed 
 rather inclined to complain of the administration, the 
 President smiled, and answered that he knew Logan 
 well. "He is critical by nature," he said, " and always 
 speaks his opinion. During the war, "while we lay 
 in camp, nobody commented more sharply upon the 
 little slips and blunders than John Logan, but when 
 the order came to march no corps was in more per 
 fect order, none moved more promptly, and none was 
 more bravely led than John Logan s. He will criticise 
 the administration just as often and as sharply as he 
 chooses, but he will give no aid or comfort to the enemy. 
 
 Logan is sometimes called a chronic growler, and Gen. 
 Grant once said that he " was never at peace except 
 in war." He thrives on opposition, and is never so cool 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 351 
 
 or so good-natured as when he is in the midst of an 
 exciting contest. Gen. Grant, when he was in the White 
 House, once described his characteristics by comparing 
 him with the late Oliver P. Morton. " Morton will come 
 to me," said Grant, " with two requests. I will grant 
 one of them, and he will go away boasting of his influ 
 ence with the administration. Logan will come with 
 thirteen requests. I will grant twelve of them, and he 
 will go away swearing that his wishes are never com 
 plied with." 
 
 LOGAN AND GENERAL THOMAS. 
 
 General Thomas perceived the sterling qualities of 
 Logan s character, and an authentic incident of their 
 relations, and one which the friends of that great soldier, 
 " the Rock of Chicamauga," are never weary in telling, 
 reveals the fidelity of Logan s friendship. Logan had 
 been cut off from joining his command for the march to 
 the sea, and subsequently reported to City Point for 
 orders. He reached there just after the first order for 
 General Thomas s removal before Nashville had been 
 telegraphed to Washington, and its promulgation delayed. 
 For the second time General Grant had become exceed 
 ingly impatient, and decided to remove Thomas. Upon 
 the appearance of Logan, Grant ordered him to proceed 
 at once to Nashville and await orders. His instructions 
 contemplated his relieving General Thomas, if on his arri 
 val no attack had been made upon Hood. Here was a most 
 
352 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 brilliant position offered that of Commander of the 
 Army of the Cumberland, just as it had been reorganized 
 and put in order for battle, and stood in its trenches 
 ready for the word to advance. Had ambition alone 
 actuated him, here was an opportunity of a lifetime of 
 active service. But instead of obeying the spirit of 
 his instructions, he proceeded with such deliberation as 
 to prove beyond room for cavil that self-seeking was not 
 the motive which controlled Logan in the war. 
 
 He moved to his new post without undue haste. He 
 seemed to appreciate the situation far better than Grant 
 himself. His leisurely journey to Nashville gave time 
 for the battle to open under Thomas. And when it 
 opened Logan telegraphed announcing the beginning of 
 Thomas s success, and asking tg be ordered to his old 
 command. 
 
 " There is nothing in Logan s military history more 
 creditable than this," says an eld war correspondent. 
 " Many thousand veterans of the Army of the Cumber 
 land will have this chapter in particular remembrance 
 when they vote this fall, and none who read about it 
 and admire fair play will be apt to forget it." 
 
 LOGAN S SOCIAL INSTINCTS. 
 
 Although stern as an officer and sometimes even fierce 
 in his demeanor toward his men, Logan has social quali 
 ties which make him a charming companion, as an 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 353 
 
 incident worth telling for its intrinsic interest, apart 
 from its illustrative value, may show. 
 
 An officer who served in the same division with Gen. 
 Logan in the early part of the war tells the following 
 story : 
 
 " That Logan was a brave man everybody who ever 
 saw him in battle can testify, and the same is the case 
 with everybody who tried a hand against him in a game 
 of poker. It takes nerve to handle the cards at poker, 
 and Black Jack had plenty of it ; it takes coolness and 
 audacity to win at the game, and I need say no more 
 than that few players were able to get away with him. 
 Everybody played poker in those times ; even the chap 
 lains used to take a turn at it, and the only difference 
 between them and the rest of the boys was that a chap 
 lain was not expected to raise the ante, or bluff on a 
 4 jack-pot. On the other hand, the etiquette of the game 
 forbade any of us to raise a chaplain above two dollars 
 and a half, no matter what the provocation. I ve laid 
 down four queens, or a flush, and seen Jack Logan do 
 the same, and let. the chaplain rake in the pile rather 
 than raise him, though we might have lifted him out of 
 his boots without half trying. 
 
 " While we were passing away the time in camp, wait 
 ing for a chance to move on the enemy, there was noth 
 ing like poker to keep the intellectual faculties in active 
 operation. When Jack Logan was one of a party it was 
 
854 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 a picture to be remembered. He would draw his slouch 
 hat down over his eyes and conceal as much of his face 
 as possible, and when the cards were dealt he held them 
 close up to his chin, in order to prevent any distraction 
 of the bystanders or the other players. You couldn t 
 tell from his manner whether he held four kings or only 
 a pair of deuces ; a royal flush or a bob-tail were all the 
 same to him, so far as any outward sign indicated, and 
 while the betting was going on he was as silent as a 
 cemetery, except when it was his turn to spea,k. He 
 never showed up his cards unless he was obliged to by 
 the rules of the game. One night when a bystander 
 tried to examine Jack s hand after he had laid down, 
 the latter took out his revolver and put it on the table, 
 with the quiet remark, c Don t try that on again ; and he 
 didn t try. 
 
 " The only time I ever knew Jack to be outmatched 
 was once during the siege of Vicksburg. The troops 
 were mostly camped on the shore, while the transport 
 steamboats were tied up to the bank at Duncan s Land 
 ing. We used to put in the evenings on the transports, 
 and the old hands showed the greenhorns how to play 
 poker ; it was sometimes expensive for the students, as 
 you can t learn to play poker without its costing you 
 something. There were a lot of newspaper correspond 
 ents, cotton speculators, army contractors, and other 
 civilians, around there ; they were generally good fellows 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 855 
 
 and, what was more, they usually had money, which was 
 not the case with the officers, as the government was not 
 prompt in paying us. 
 
 " One night, on the transport John H. Dickey, there 
 was a correspondent who had just come down from Cairo 
 and was making the acquaintance of the crowd by set 
 ting up the drinks and telling stories. We started a 
 game of poker at twenty-five cents ante and asked him 
 to take a hand. He hesitated, and said he didn t know 
 anything about the game. Of course we offered to teach 
 him, as we had often done to the other correspondents. 
 He thanked us, and added, < Anyhow, the ante is too 
 high for me, as I m only a poor wretch of a newspaper 
 man, and my salary is small. 
 
 " We offered to make the ante to suit him, and then, 
 with an appearance of modesty, he answered : 
 
 " If you ll make it ten cents I ll venture on it. But 
 you mustn t press me hard, as I haven t but thirty-four 
 dollars about me. 
 
 " With this understanding he sat down and the game 
 went on. He asked a good many questions, and we al 
 lowed him to take instruction from another correspond 
 ent, who was sitting there and not in the performance. 
 He seemed to learn quickly, though he made some very 
 natural mistakes. In half an hour or so he said he 
 guessed he understood it, and the other correspondent 
 went off to write a letter to his paper. 
 
356 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 " Somehow that fellow got on famously, and almost 
 every time it come to a bluff or a raise he walked away 
 with the pot. He must have cleared a hundred and fifty 
 dollars that night, and possibly two hundred. The next 
 evening he tried it again and with better luck yet. 
 Before we got through with that fellow he had gone 
 through us, Black Jack and the rest. We hadn t money 
 enough for daily expenses, and had to borrow of that 
 correspondent to pay our mess bills. 
 
 "Of course, we don t play poker now, as we re all 
 above it. That correspondent is high up in his profession 
 to-day ; Logan is candidate for the Vice-Presidency, 
 and will fill the place well if he gets it, but I ll bet he 
 hasn t forgotten that game with the newspaper corre 
 spondent on the John H. Dickey" 
 
 LOGAN AND THE SOLDIERS. 
 
 " If you want to hear an old soldier yell loud enough 
 to be heard three miles away, just ask him how Black 
 Jack Logan stands in with the vets, " wrote " Jim- 
 crax " Hine, a Michigan journalist who served three 
 years in the war. His expression, given while a spec 
 tator of the wild scenes following Logan s nomination 
 at Chicago, really represents the feeling of old soldiers 
 towards General Logan. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Cogswell, of the 150th New York 
 Regiment, Twentieth Army Corps, spoke for the great 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 357 
 
 mass of ex-soldiers when he said, at a Elaine and Logan 
 ratification meeting at Titusville, Pennsylvania, a few 
 days after the Chicago Convention : 
 
 " I see before me a good many soldiers bullet-stop 
 pers and shell-arresters from 1861 to 1865. I don t 
 need to tell them anything about the old Black Eagle 
 of Illinois, who commanded the 15th corps. If there is 
 a man in my hearing who wore the corps badge, the 
 4 cartridge-box and forty rounds, he would say, You 
 can t tell me anything about General Logan that I don t 
 know better than you ! . . . Since the war, nearly all 
 of his time has been spent in Congress, and how spent ? 
 To know how a goodly part of it has been spent, ask 
 the man who has an empty sleeve, the flesh, bone, and 
 muscles that should fill it being buried with scores of 
 others at the foot of some amputating table in one of 
 the field hospitals of Gettysburg or the Wilderness! 
 Ask the men you see every day in our streets who try 
 to make two sticks take the place of the leg lost at 
 Cold Harbor or Fort Hell ! Ask the widow who regu 
 larly receives her quarterly allowance from the most 
 beneficent government the world ever saw in its treat 
 ment of its unfortunate defenders. Ask the soldier 
 who, by the mercy of God, lived through Andersonville, 
 and still has his reason left. Yes, ask any of those 
 what Logan has done in Congress, and they will all, 
 with one accord, invoke the blessings of Heaven upon 
 
 15 
 
358 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 John A. Logan for the efforts he has put forth and is 
 still putting forth in their behalf. Ask the millions of 
 colored voters at the South, who, remembering the 
 political rights accorded to them by the Constitution 
 and laws, cry out in their anguish, We asked of you 
 bread, and you have given us a stone. You promised 
 us the ballot, but Danville and Hamburgh reply with 
 the bullet. They remember that Logan s voice has 
 failed them not wherever he could champion their 
 cause. Have I answered who General John A. Logan 
 is ? Fit comrade for our Plumed Knight, our Henry of 
 Navarre, our James G. Elaine ! Let them be asso 
 ciated. The statesman, scholar, and the soldier-states 
 man, Elaine and Logan ! " 
 
 Logan has always been a leader in securing pension 
 legislation; he was one of the most urgent advocates 
 of the arrears of pension bill, and he has never failed 
 at a meeting of Congress to present a bill for tho 
 equalization of bounties. He now has a measure to 
 pension every man who saw active service in the war, 
 and veterans who vote cannot forget how, regardless of 
 time, trouble, and expense, he has corresponded with 
 them, and urged their cases to prompt settlement ; nor 
 how no crippled soldier, or soldier s widow, or orphan 
 has ever applied to him for help, so far as it was pos 
 sible for him to help, in vain. 
 
 General Logan is a prominent figure at military 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 859 
 
 reunions, and he was one of the founders of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, which originated at Decatur, 
 Illinois. He was the first National Commander of that 
 organization, and as such issued the order, in 1868, for 
 the decoration of the graves of Union soldiers the 30th 
 of May. 
 
 LOGAN AND THE SOUTHERN SOLDIERS. 
 
 It is a fact not known to all, that some of the hardest 
 fighters of the North have a multitude of ardent ad 
 mirers in the South, and Logan is one of them. The 
 following account of his kindness to a Southern soldier 
 is told by a Mississippi newspaper, the Natchez Cru- 
 
 During the dark days of reconstruction, we think it 
 was in 1868, the month of June, three gentlemen sat on 
 the porch of a private boarding-house in Michigan avenue, 
 Washington city. As they sat together in low and earn 
 est conversation, an old man in worn, but once respect 
 able garments, lame and hobbling on a crutch, paused 
 directly in front of the trio and glanced searchingly in 
 the faces of all three. There was an expression in the 
 upturned countenance of the old man too readily defined 
 a look of weariness an air, in fact, of present poverty, 
 that could not be misunderstood by the group. 
 
 " Can I do anything for you, my man ? " asked the 
 senior of the trio, attentively regarding the stationary 
 figure in his front. 
 
360 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 " I think, not, sir," was the quick response. 
 
 " Where did you get that lame leg ?" inquired the first 
 speaker. 
 
 " At Chickamauga." 
 
 "On what side?" 
 
 "Your side, if you are a Southerner," rejoined the old 
 man, leaning wearily on his crutch. 
 
 " Not mine, friend," said the gentleman ; " I belonged 
 to the other side." 
 
 " That makes a big difference," remarked the crippled 
 stranger. " I was about to ask you for a favor, but you 
 live on the wrong side of the house." 
 
 "What can I do for you, old man?" still urged the 
 gentleman with quiet gravity. 
 
 " Well, I may as well tell you as any one else. I am a 
 stranger in this city, and trying to get out of it. I have 
 a home in the far South, and enough to live on when I 
 get there. I ran out of money in Baltimore, and was 
 brought here by the kindness of the conductor on the 
 train." 
 
 " Have you no money now ?" 
 
 " I expected a remittance of twenty -five dollars from 
 home when I reached this place but it has not arrived." 
 
 " Well, you shall not go home on your crutches if I 
 can help it," and the gentleman produced his pocket-book 
 and counted six $5 bills in the palm of the stranger. 
 
 " It is too much ! I dislike to take it ! " exclaimed the 
 old man, grateful and astonished. 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 861 
 
 u Keep it you are welcome to it," persisted the gen 
 tleman. 
 
 " I thank you a thousand times ! " said the old man. 
 " When I get home I will return every cent of it. Your 
 name for I want to remember it and honor it as long 
 as I live." 
 
 " Never mind that, old man. If you have enough, as 
 you say, to live on in your far-away Southern home, and 
 if you should ever meet in that home a boy in blue in 
 such trouble as you are to-day, just hand him the little 
 amount I gave you now, and say no more about it." 
 
 The man who sent one of our own dear boys a poor 
 Confederate on his way rejoicing, was General John 
 Alexander Logan, noted, if some of our exchanges are to 
 be his judges, for merciless treatment of Southern 
 soldiers ! 
 
 LOGAN AND HIS CONSTITUENTS. 
 
 If any one wishes to know whether Logan is liked by 
 his constituents, let him go among them and speak 
 abusively of him. The frowns he will receive will raise 
 the query in his mind as to whether it is not advisable 
 to hasten from the soil of Illinois to escape a coat of tar 
 and feathers. 
 
 The visit of about 150 members of the Illinois Repub 
 lican Association to Logan during the week following his 
 nomination at Chicago, and his reply to their greeting, 
 indicate the sincere attachment between him and his 
 
362 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 constituents. President Deland presented the members 
 of the Association, and then General Logan said : 
 
 " Mr. President and ^Fellow- Citizens of Illinois : I wel 
 come you heartily and tender you my sincere thanks for 
 the expression of good-will manifested to-night in this 
 voluntary visit. It is pleasant at all times to meet with 
 one s co-workers, and it is especially so to meet with 
 those with whom our labors have been most immediately 
 cast. Born and reared in the State of Illinois, a flood of 
 personal and agreeable recollections rushes upon me as I 
 behold your familiar faces. Some of you stood with me 
 as boys upon the shore of life s great ocean, panting with 
 eagerness to explore the inviting but untried expanse 
 before you. Some of you were side by side with me 
 when our young manhood, full of vigor and latent possi 
 bilities, began the struggle with forbidding fortune, and 
 in the face of obstacles which magnified and ennobled 
 your subsequent success. With some of you 1 have re 
 joiced in the accomplishment of objects for which we 
 have striven, and with some of you I have grieved over 
 the non-fruition of your best-grounded hopes. With all 
 of you I have been closely associatied during some por 
 tion of our respective careers, and can dwell with grati 
 fication over the retrospect of our personal acquaintances 
 a retrospect which, while full of pleasure, should not 
 fail to remind us that, though we have passed the heyday 
 of youth, and are standing under the more subdued light 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 363 
 
 of middle age, we are still in the prime of usefulness, and 
 with life s mission still unfulfilled. Some of you that 
 are here have come upon the field of labor at a more 
 recent period, but are no less my friends and fellow- 
 laborers. To one and all of you, gentlemen, I desire to 
 manifest my deep appreciation of the spirit which prompts 
 your visit at this time, and to extend the hand of fellow 
 ship and of hearty greeting to my friends of Illinois here 
 assembled." 
 
 He has been indefatigable in the promotion of the 
 welfare of Illinois while in Congress, and his constituents 
 appreciate the service he has rendered. 
 
 LOGAN AND THE LABORING MAN. 
 
 Like his father, Senator Logan is characterized by 
 sympathy for the common people, and the poor man is as 
 welcome at his door as he who comes " clad in purple 
 and fine linen," and his cause is held even more sacred. 
 
 Irish blood is in his veins, and his efforts to redress 
 wrong done to that race gives him the grateful regard of 
 Irishmen. No man stands better with the working 
 classes than he. Says the St. Louis Mining News: 
 " Senator Logan expended $50,000 in trying to develop 
 coal in Illinois. Though the venture was unsuccessful, 
 the Senator did not mourn the loss of the money, because 
 the mining people got it. He is the advocate of laws 
 for the protection of the lives of miners while under- 
 
ol.U 1.00 AN AND III> FRIEND. 
 
 ground ; and lie would receive the minor s vote, which is 
 a big thing in this country." Says ihe Springfield Mon 
 itor, of his own State : " To sec John A. Logan (at 
 Carbondalc) with a wide-brimmed straw hat, blue woolen 
 shirt, and butternut pants on, astride of his favorite 
 * Dolly, going- backward and forward to his wheat-fields, 
 and while there taking a hand shocking after his 
 twine-binders, is a sight which every constituency of 
 Senators is not permitted to witness. After a hard day s 
 work in the field with the boys, he lies on the grass with 
 them in the evening, while lemonade is freely passed 
 around, and all hands join in discussing the news of the 
 day. This is John A. Logan at home ; and yet some 
 people wonder why it is that he has such a hold on the 
 *boys." A farmer himself, he knows what legislation the 
 farmers need, and docs his best to secure it for them, 
 whether through protection or otherwise. Says another 
 Illinois newspaper, the Jonesboro Gazette : " He is in 
 favor of improving the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and 
 making them the great thoroughfares by which our grain 
 can be sent to the European markets. lie also favors a 
 ship canal from Chicago to the Mississippi River." In 
 consequence of his attitude on these questions he is very 
 popular throughout the Mississippi Valley States. That 
 he is the friend of the colored man is to be learned 
 almost everywhere in his speeches and votes from that 
 July day in 1865, when, at the court-house of Louisville, 
 
LOO AN AND JUS FRIKNDB. 
 
 he made an impassioned plea for the emancipation of Hie 
 Blave0 :md Hie consent of Kentucky to the constitutional 
 amendment prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, 
 down to the present time. 
 
 LOGAN S RELATIONS TO BLAIXK. 
 
 " I most heartily congratulate you on your nomination. 
 You will be elided. Your friend." 
 
 Such was the dispatch sent by John A. Logan to James 
 (>. lilainc, when the nomination of the latter for the 
 <lency was made on Friday, June 6, 1884. It has 
 been said that Elaine owes his nomination to Logan, and 
 it is certain that Logan told his friends in the convention 
 be wished that if at any time it should appear that Mr. 
 niaine could be nominated by them, that his supporters 
 should so vote. 
 
 A perfect understanding existed between the two men, 
 and the intimacy of their relations is indicated by tho 
 early appearance of Senator Logan at the Blaine liome- 
 i in Augusta after the Chicago Convention. "\Vhen 
 the "Flying Yankee" rolled from Portland toward Hie 
 Kennebec, on Monday, June 6, 1884, it was known to 
 few that Senator Logan, accompanied by Senator Hale 
 and others, was on board, but he was expected at 
 Augusta, and warmly welcomed by the people as well as 
 by Ilie Hlaine household. 
 
 In the evening a crowd gathered about the Blaine 
 15* 
 
866 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS 
 
 mansion, and, introduced by Governor Connor as " him 
 of the eagle eye and lion heart," Logan spoke as follows : 
 
 " Ladies, gentlemen, and comrades : I most fully ap 
 preciate this kind compliment to-night. I am truly glad 
 to meet so many citizens of Augusta. I left the city of 
 Washington yesterday with our friend Senator Hale of 
 this State, to make a little visit to his house and tarry 
 over night with one of the great citizens of the United 
 States. 
 
 " I must confess that I feel embarrassed in attempting 
 to say anything after listening to what has been said by 
 Governor Connor. It is true that soldiers of Maine in 
 the same great contest stood side by side with those from 
 all other parts of the country, and did their duty for the 
 preservation of this great nation. It was preserved by 
 their energy, their patriotism and prowess. Behind 
 them stood loyal citizens of this great Republic, giving 
 them their support and prayers, with their hearts full of 
 hope for their success, and, as liberty first found birth on 
 the Atlantic slope, well may it there have found true 
 hearts for the preservation, not only of this country, but 
 that liberty which God intended for all men. Let that 
 which followed as the result, its preservation, not now be 
 lost. This can only be done by keeping the control of the 
 institutions of this country in the hands of those who 
 sought to maintain them. This people believed in the 
 fundamental principles of republican government, which 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 867 
 
 is that the will of tho people shall control. The same 
 rule also applies in their selection of agents for adminis 
 tration of the government. The voice of the great 
 majority of republicans of this mighty nation has chosen 
 as the standard-bearer of that great party in the coming 
 contest for the Presidency of the United States, your 
 fellow-citizen, James G. Elaine, and you need have no 
 fear as to the result. This contest will be a glorious 
 victory, full and complete. Illinois in 1860 gave to this 
 country the first republican President. Maine was then 
 associated with Illinois. In 1884 Maine will give as 
 gallant a President to this Republic as has been elected 
 by this people. 
 
 "Citizens of Maine: I feel honored and complimented 
 by being associated on a ticket with a man worthy of tho 
 confidence of the people, and in every way capable of 
 filling the high office of President with honor to himself 
 and to the country. I thank you, and bid you good 
 night." 
 
 The journey of Elaine and Logan through Maine 
 together awakened great enthusiasm among the people, 
 and in a speech delivered after his return to Washington, 
 when serenaded on June 21st, Senator Logan said: 
 
 " The standard-bearer of the party in the ensuing cam 
 paign is the Hon. James G. Elaine, known throughout 
 the land as one of its truest and ablest representatives. 
 He has been called to this position by the voice of tho 
 
368 LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 people, in recognition of his especial fitness for the trust, 
 and in admiration of the surprising combination of 
 brilliancy, courage, faithfulness, persistency, and research 
 that has made him one of the most remarkable figures 
 which has appeared upon the forum of state-craft in any 
 period of this country ; that such a man should have 
 enemies and detractors is as natural as that our best 
 fruits should be infested with parasites or that there 
 should exist small and envious minds which seek to 
 belittle that which they can never hope to imitate or 
 equal, and that he shall triumph over these and lead the 
 Republican hearts to another victory in November is as 
 certain as the succession of the seasons or the rolling of 
 the spheres in their courses. Gentlemen, again I thank 
 you for this visit of congratulation, and extend to you, 
 one and all, my grateful acknowledgments." 
 
 Chairman Henderson and the members of the com 
 mittee charged with the duty of notifying the candidates 
 of their nomination, met at Washington on June 24th, 
 and formally notified General Logan of his nomination 
 for Vice-President. 
 
 LOGAN S REPLY. 
 
 " Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : 
 I receive you visit with pleasure, and accept with 
 gratitude the sentiments you have so generously ex 
 pressed in the discharge of the duty with which you 
 
LOGAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 389 
 
 have been intrusted by tine National Republican Conven 
 tion. Intending to address you a formal communication 
 shortly, in accordance with the recognized usage, it 
 would be out of place to detain you at this time with 
 remarks which properly belong to the official utterances 
 of a letter of acceptance. I may be permitted to say, 
 however, that though I did not seek the nomination of 
 Yice-President, I accept it as a trust reposed in me by 
 the Republican party, to the advancement of whose broad 
 policy, upon all questions connected with the progress of 
 our government and our people, I have dedicated my 
 best energies, and with this acceptance I may properly 
 signify my approval of the platform of principles adopted 
 by the convention. I am deeply sensible of the honor 
 conferred upon me by my friends in so unanimously ten 
 dering me this nomination, and I sincerely thank them 
 for this tribute. I am not unmindful of the great 
 responsibilities attaching to the office, and if elected I 
 shall enter upon the performance of its duties with the 
 firm conviction that he who has such a unanimous sup 
 port of his party friends as the circumstances connected 
 with the nomination and your own words, Mr. Chairman, 
 indicate, and consequently such a wealth of counsel to 
 draw upon, cannot fall in the proper discharge of the 
 duties committed to him. I tender you my thanks, Mr. 
 Chairman, for the kind expressions you have made, and 
 I offer you and your fellow committeemen my most 
 cordial greeting." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
 AND ITS HISTORY. 
 
 Preliminaries to the Struggle for Independence. The Convention 
 of 1765. Articles of Confederation. The "Declaration of Rights" 
 and other Papers. The Continental Congress. Work of the Com 
 mittee of Five. The Beginning of the War. Minute-men. Wash 
 ington s Statesmanship. Formation of the Constitution. Opposi 
 tion to its Adoption. The Bulwark of the Republic. Text of the 
 Constitution. Views of the Statesmen Concerning it. Amendments 
 and Their History. How the Amendments were Ratified. 
 
 In the middle of the last century the acts of oppression 
 on the part of Great Britain towards the American 
 colonies became so numerous as to excite general indig 
 nation. Public meetings were held to denounce the 
 conduct of the mother country, organizations of " Sons 
 of Liberty" were formed throughout the colonies, the 
 popular sentiment was displayed in various ways, and 
 when on the first of November, 1765, the odious Stamp 
 Act was to take effect there were no officials bold enough 
 to execute the laws. The stamps were seized and burned 
 
 (370) 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 871 
 
 on their arrival, the distributors were openly insulted, 
 and it was determined to celebrate the first of November 
 as a day of Humiliation. 
 
 There was a general desire for united action among 
 the colonies, and a convention or congress was proposed. 
 Several colonies appointed delegates who met in New 
 York on the 7th of October, 1765, and remained in 
 session fourteen days. Their deliberations resulted in 
 three ably-written documents in which were set forth 
 the grievances of the colonists and the rights they 
 claimed, together with a petition that the king and 
 parliament would redress the former and acknowledge 
 the latter. The first paper was A Declaration of Rights 
 prepared by John Cruger of New York, the second A 
 Memorial to Both Houses of Parliament by Robert R. 
 Livingston of New York, and the third and last was 
 A Petition to the King by James Otis of Massachusetts. 
 
 The government of Great Britain refused all applica 
 tion for a redress of the grievances of the colonies. 
 Troops were sent to awe the people into subjection, and 
 not only were the odious laws enforced, but additional 
 ones were enacted. The assemblies of New York and 
 Massachusetts refused shelter and food for the troops 
 that were quartered upon them, and this led to open 
 collisions ; then followed many acts of insubordination, 
 prominent among them being the famous " Boston Tea- 
 Party ", and the consequent closing of the port when the 
 act occurred. 
 
372 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Another Congress was summoned and met in Phila 
 delphia on the 5th of September, 1774. It was known 
 as the FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, and included dele 
 gates from all the colonies except Georgia. Again were 
 the grievances of the people set forth, and with the 
 same result as before. The Congress adjourned to meet 
 on the 10th of the following May, and there was a 
 universal feeling that if Great Britain continued stubborn 
 war would be inevitable. 
 
 Before Congress met again, pursuant to adjournment, 
 it became known that the requests of the colonists had 
 been refused, and preparations were made for the 
 impending hostilities. Military companies and regi 
 ments were organized, men were drilled in exercises 
 with weapons of war ; the manufacture of arms, ammu 
 nition, and military equipments was encouraged, and 
 especially in the New England States the citizens were 
 enrolled in companies prepared to go to the field at a 
 moment s warning. For this reason they were known 
 as minute-men ; their organization was encouraged by 
 their wives and daughters, who assisted in the prepara 
 tions. It was said that in Massachusetts alone thirty 
 thousand men were ready to go to the field whenever 
 wanted. 
 
 The war came with all its horrors. The far-seeing 
 leaders recognized the necessity of a unity of action 
 among the colonies," and for this purpose "Articles of 
 Confederation" were prepared; the outline of these 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 373 
 
 articles was submitted to the Continental Congress in 
 July, 1775, by Dr. Franklin, with the suggestion that 
 they should cease to be in force as soon as there was a 
 reconciliation between Great Britain and the colonies, 
 but in the failure of such reconciliation their action 
 should be perpetual. 
 
 No decisive action was taken until the following year, 
 when a declaration of independence became necessary. 
 
 On the llth of June, 1776 n Congress resolved that a 
 committee should be appointed, to consist of one dele 
 gate from each state, to draft and digest articles of 
 confederation by which all the colonies should be bound 
 and controlled during the period of war. A draft was 
 reported on the 12th of July of the same year. 
 
 The articles of confederation were discussed for a 
 month or more, and were then laid aside until April, 
 1777. In the meantime several of the states had formed 
 their constitutions and practically acknowledged Con 
 gress to be the supreme head of affairs in war, finance, 
 etc. From April until November the articles were 
 discussed, and on the 15th of the latter month they 
 were adopted and submitted to the States for ratification. 
 Some of the State legislatures made objections, and the 
 final adoption did not take place until four years and 
 four months after the draft had been submitted. These 
 articles of confederation formed tUe basis of the CON 
 STITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, and remained in force 
 until after the end of the Revolution, the signing of the 
 
374 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 treaty of peace, and the evacuation of the country by 
 the British army. 
 
 It was proposed by some of the statesmen of that time 
 that the articles of confederation should he continued, 
 and form the constitution of the nation. This was op 
 posed on account of several glaring defects that had be 
 come manifest during the progress of the war. General 
 Washington was one the first to see the necessity of a 
 new organization, and at his suggestion a convention was 
 called for the purpose of consulting on the best means of 
 remedying the evil then existing. This convention as 
 sembled at Annapolis, Maryland, in September, 1788, 
 but only five States, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 
 New Jersey, and New York, had sent delegates. Owing 
 to the small representation no action was taken beyond 
 suggesting the appointment of delegates to a larger con 
 vention in the following year. 
 
 The report was sent to Congress, and in February 1787, 
 that body passed a resolution recommending the legis 
 latures to appoint delegates to a constitutional conven 
 tion which should meet on the second Monday in May of 
 that year. The proposal met with favor, and at the time 
 designated the convention assembled, all the States being 
 represented except New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 
 Various plans were proposed, and after long and some 
 times angry debates the convention referred all reports, 
 propositions, and resolutions to a committee of five. Ten 
 
CONSTITUTION OP TEE UNITED STATES. 375 
 
 days later this committee reported a rough draft of the 
 instrument by which the country should be governed for 
 the future. 
 
 More debates followed, and then the draft of the Con 
 stitution was referred to the various legislatures with the 
 request that it be submitted to a convention of delegates 
 from all the States. It was vigorously supported by 
 many of the great minds of the day, and as vigorously 
 opposed by others. Eleven States assembled in conven 
 tion, and supported and ratified the new Constitution ; 
 Congress then fixed the time for choosing electors for 
 President and Vice-President, and provided for the or 
 ganization of the new government. The old CONTINEN 
 TAL CONGRESS expired on the fourth of March, 1789, and 
 the National Constitution became the basis on which 
 should rest the great Republic of the Western World. 
 
 Thus was crowned the glorious work of the War for 
 Independence, and thus was begun the magnificent career 
 of one of the foremost nations of the globe. 
 
 THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION. 
 
 We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more 
 perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, pro 
 vide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and 
 secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
 ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of 
 America. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 SECTION 1. All the legislative powers herein granted shall be 
 vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of 
 a Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
876 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 SEC. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of 
 members chosen every second year by the people of the several 
 States, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications 
 requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State 
 Legislature. 
 
 No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained 
 the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the 
 United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant 
 of that State in which he shall be chosen. 
 
 Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the 
 several States which may be included within this Union, according 
 to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding 
 to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to ser 
 vice for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths 
 of all other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within 
 three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United 
 States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such 
 manner as they shall by law direct. The number of Representatives 
 shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand; but each State 
 shall have at least one Representative ; and until such enumeration 
 shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to 
 choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
 Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, 
 Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, 
 North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
 the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill 
 such vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and 
 other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 
 
 SEC. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of 
 two Senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
 six years ; and each Senator shall have one vote. 
 
 Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
 first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
 classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be va 
 cated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES, 377 
 
 the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the ex 
 piration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every 
 second year ; and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, 
 during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive 
 thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting 
 of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 
 
 No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the 
 age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United 
 States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant for that 
 State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
 the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 
 
 The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president 
 pro ternpore, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall 
 exercise the office of President of the United States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments : 
 when sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath, or affirma 
 tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
 Justice shall preside ; and no person shall be convicted without the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 
 
 Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than 
 to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
 office of. honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the 
 party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indict 
 ment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law. 
 
 SEC. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for 
 Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by 
 the legislature thereof ; but the Congress may at any time by law 
 make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
 Senators. 
 
 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
 meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
 shall by law appoint a different day. 
 
 SEC. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, 
 and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall 
 constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller number may ad 
 journ from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the at- 
 
378 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 tendance of absent members, in such manner and under such 
 penalties as each house may provide. 
 
 Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
 its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
 two-thirds, expel a member. 
 
 Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
 time to tune publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their 
 judgment require secresy ; and the yeas and nays of the members 
 of either house on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of 
 those present, be entered on the journal. 
 
 Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
 the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor 
 to any other place than that in which the two houses may be 
 sittting. 
 
 SEC. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a com 
 pensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out 
 of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, ex 
 cept treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from 
 arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective 
 houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and for any 
 speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in 
 any other place. 
 
 No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which 
 he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority 
 of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emolu 
 ments whereof shall have been increased during such time ; and no 
 person holding any office under the United States shall be a mem 
 ber of either house during his continuance in office. 
 
 SEC. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House 
 of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur with 
 amendments as on other bills. 
 
 Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives 
 and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the 
 President of the United States : if he approve he shall sign it, but 
 if not, he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in 
 which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections at 
 large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 379 
 
 reconsideration, two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the 
 bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
 house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
 by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all such 
 cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and 
 nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill 
 shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If any 
 bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sunday 
 excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall 
 be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it. unless the Congress 
 by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not 
 be a law. 
 
 Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
 Senate and House of Representatives may be. necessary (except on 
 a question of adjournment), shall be presented to the President of 
 the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be 
 approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed 
 by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, accord 
 ing to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 Ssc. 8. The Congress shall have power 
 
 To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises ; to pay the 
 debts aiid provide for the common defense and general welfare of 
 the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be 
 uniform throughout the United States ; 
 
 To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 
 
 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the sev 
 eral States, and with the Indian tribes ; 
 
 To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
 on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 
 
 To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
 and fix the standard of weights and measures ; 
 
 To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
 and current coin of the United States ; 
 
 To establish post-offices and post-roads ; 
 
 To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
 for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to 
 their respective writings and discoveries ; 
 
380 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court ; 
 
 To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
 seas, and offenses against the law of nations ; 
 
 To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
 rules concerning captures on land and water; 
 
 To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money to 
 that use shall be for a longer term than two years ; 
 
 To provide and maintain a navy ; 
 
 To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
 naval forces; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
 the Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasions ; 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, 
 and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the 
 service of the United States reserving to the States, respectively, 
 the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the 
 militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress ; 
 
 To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever over such 
 district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of par 
 ticular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of 
 the Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority 
 over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the 
 State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, maga 
 zines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings ; and 
 
 To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry 
 ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers 
 vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, 
 or in any department or officer thereof. 
 
 SEC. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of 
 the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be 
 prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such im 
 portation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 
 
 The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
 unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
 require it. 
 
 No bill of attainder or ex post facto shall be passed. 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 381 
 
 No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro 
 portion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be 
 taken. * 
 
 No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 
 
 No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or 
 revenue to the ports of one State over those of another ; nor shall 
 vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or 
 pay duties in another. 
 
 No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence 
 of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement and account 
 of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be pub 
 lished from time to time. 
 
 No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States : and 
 no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, 
 without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolu 
 ment, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, 
 or foreign state. 
 
 SEC. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or con 
 federation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit 
 bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in 
 payment of debts ; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or 
 law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of 
 nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any im 
 posts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be abso 
 lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and the net 
 produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or 
 exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United States; 
 and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the 
 Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of 
 tonnage, keep troops, or ships-of-war in time of peace, enter into 
 any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign 
 power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such emi 
 nent danger as will not admit of delay. 
 
382 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 SECTION 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President 
 of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during 
 the term of four years, and together with the Vice-President, chosen 
 for the same term, be elected as follows : 
 
 Each State shall appoint in such manner as the legislature there 
 of may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of 
 Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled 
 in the Congress : but no Senator or Representative, or person hold 
 ing an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be 
 appointed an elector. 
 
 [The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
 ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhab 
 itant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a 
 list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for 
 each ; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to 
 the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the 
 President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in 
 the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
 the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person 
 having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such 
 number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; 
 and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have 
 an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall 
 immediately choose by ballot one of them for President ; and if no 
 person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the 
 said house shall in like manner choose the President. But in 
 choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States the 
 representation from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this 
 purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of 
 the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a 
 choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the per 
 son having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be 
 the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who 
 have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the 
 Vice-President.] 
 
 The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 883 
 
 and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which day shall 
 be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
 United States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall 
 be eligible to the office of President ; neither shall any person be 
 eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of 
 thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the 
 United States. 
 
 In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
 death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties 
 of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President, and 
 the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, 
 resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice-President, 
 declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer 
 shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a Presi 
 dent shall be elected. 
 
 The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a 
 compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished 
 during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he 
 shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the 
 United States, or any of them. 
 
 Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the 
 following oath of affirmation : 
 
 "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
 the office of President of the United States, and will to the best 
 of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
 the United States." 
 
 SEC. 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the 
 Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the 
 several States, when called into the actual service of the United 
 States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal 
 officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject 
 relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have 
 power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
 United States, except in cases of impeachment. 
 
 He shall have power by and with the advice and consent of the 
 Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators 
 
384 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public 
 Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other 
 officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein 
 hitherto provided for, and which shall be established by law; but 
 the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
 officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts 
 of law, or in the heads of departments. 
 
 The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may 
 happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions 
 which shall expire at the end of their next session. 
 
 SEC. 3. lie shall from time to time give to the congress infor 
 mation of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consid 
 eration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient ; 
 he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either 
 .of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect 
 to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as 
 he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other pub 
 lic Ministers ; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, 
 and shall commission all the officers of the United States. 
 
 SEC. 4. The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of 
 the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment 
 for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes or 
 misdemeanors. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 SECTION 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be 
 vested in one Supreme Court, and such inferior courts as the Con 
 gress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges 
 both of the Supreme and inferior courts shall hold their offices 
 during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their 
 services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their 
 continuance in office. 
 
 SEC. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
 equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
 States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
 authority ; to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers 
 and Consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 385 
 
 to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to 
 controversies between two or more States; between a State and 
 citizen of another State; between Citizens of different States; 
 between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of 
 different States, and between a State or the citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, citizens or subjects. 
 
 In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
 Consuls, those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme 
 Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before 
 mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, 
 both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such reg 
 ulations as the Congress shall make. 
 
 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be 
 by jury ; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said 
 crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed within 
 any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress 
 may by law have directed. 
 
 SEC. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
 levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
 them aid and comfort. 
 
 No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the testimony 
 of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open 
 court. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
 treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, 
 or forfeiture, except during the life of the person attainted. 
 
 ARTICLE rv. 
 
 SECTION 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to 
 the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other 
 State. And the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner 
 in which such acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and 
 the effect thereof. 
 
 SEC. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privi 
 leges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 
 
 A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
 crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
 
386 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from 
 which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
 jurisdiction of the crime. 
 
 No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws 
 thereof escaping to another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
 regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
 shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service 
 or labor may be due. 
 
 SEC. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this 
 Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
 jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by the 
 junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the con 
 sent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the 
 Congress. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all need 
 ful rules and regulations respecting the Territory or other property 
 belonging to the United Sfates ; and nothing in this Constitution 
 shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United 
 States, or of any particular State. 
 
 SEC. 4. The Constitution shall guarantee to every State in the 
 Union a Republican form of Government, and shall protect each 
 of them against invasion ; and on application of the Legislature, 
 or of the executive (when the Legislature can not be convened) 
 against domestic violence. 
 
 ARTICLE v. 
 
 The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem 
 it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on 
 the application of the Legislature of two-thirds of the several 
 States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, 
 in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of 
 this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths 
 of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as 
 the one or :he other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
 Congress ; provided that no amendment which may be made prior 
 to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any 
 manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 387 
 
 the first article ; and that no State, without its consent, shall be 
 deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the 
 adoption of this Constitution, shall be valid against the United 
 States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 
 
 This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
 shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or 
 which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
 shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every 
 State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws 
 of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
 members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
 judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
 States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this 
 Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
 qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
 sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
 States so ratifying the same. 
 
 Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, 
 the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the independ 
 ence of the United States the twelfth. In witness whereof we 
 have hereunto subscribed our names. 
 
 GEO. WASHINGTON, 
 President^ and Deputy from Virginia. 
 
388 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 John Langdon, 
 Nicholas Oilman. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, John Blair, 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Nathaniel Gorham, 
 Rufus King. 
 
 Thomas Mifflin, 
 Robert Morris, 
 George Clymer, 
 
 James Madison, Jr. 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Thomas Fitzsimons, William Blount, 
 
 Rich d Dobbs Spaight, 
 Hugh Williamson. 
 
 Jared Ingersoll, 
 James Wilson, 
 Gouverneur Morris. 
 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 
 Wm. Samuel Johnson, DELAWARE. 
 Roger Sherman. George Reed, 
 
 Gunning Bedford, Jr., John ^rtledge, 
 Pierce Butler. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 Charles C. Pinckney, 
 Charles Pinckney, 
 
 NEW YORK. John Dickinson, 
 
 Alexander Hamilton. Richard Bassett, 
 Jacob Broom. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 William Few, 
 Abraham Baldwin. 
 
 William Livingston, James M Henry, 
 
 David Brearley, 
 William Paterson, 
 Jonathan Dayton. 
 
 Daniel of St. Thomas 
 
 Jenifer, 
 Daniel Carroll. 
 Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. 
 
 AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 At the first session of the first Congress in New York, March, 
 1779, many amendments to the National Constitution were pro 
 posed. Congress submitted ten of them to the legislatures of the 
 States, and they were ratified, in accordance with the Fifth Article 
 of the Constitution, by the end of 1791. The eleventh amend 
 ment was proposed in 1794, and ratified in 1798; the twelfth 
 amendment was proposed in 1803, and ratified in the following 
 year. 
 
 In 1810 Congress proposed an amendment prohibiting any 
 citizen of the United States from receiving or accepting any title 
 of nobility or honor, or any present, pension, office, or emolument 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 389 
 
 of any kind whatever, from any "person, king, prince, or foreign 
 power," without the consent of Congress, under penalty of dis- 
 franchisement or ceasing to be a citizen of the United States. 
 This proposed amendment was never ratified. 
 
 The thirteenth amendment was proposed by Congress in 18G5, 
 and ratified in the same year by the requisite number of States. 
 The fourteenth amendment was proposed in 1866, and was intended 
 to complete the work of the thirteenth. Two years later it had 
 received the requisite number of votes in its favor to make it a 
 part of the Constitution. 
 
 The fifteenth amendment was submitted to the legislatures of 
 the States by resolution of Congress in February, 1869, and ratified 
 by the necessary number of States in the early part of 1870. One 
 State, New Jersey, ratified it nearly a year after the proclamation 
 of the Secretary of State announcing that it had become a part of 
 the Constitution 
 
 AMENDMENTS. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
 religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ; or abridging the 
 freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people 
 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress 
 of grievances. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free 
 State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be 
 infringed. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house, 
 without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
 manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
 papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
 shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable 
 
390 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing 
 the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
 infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
 jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
 militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger ; 
 nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 
 put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
 criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
 life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall 
 private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to 
 a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and 
 district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
 district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be 
 informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be con 
 fronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory 
 process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the 
 assistance of counsel for his defense. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
 exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
 and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
 court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
 common law. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
 nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 
 The enumeration, in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not 
 be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 391 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitu 
 tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
 respectively, or to the people. 
 
 ARTICLE XI. 
 
 The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
 to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
 against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or 
 by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. 
 
 The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
 ballot for President and Yice-President, one of whom, at least, 
 shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; 
 they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, 
 and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and 
 they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, 
 and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number 
 of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
 transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United 
 States, directed to the President of the Senate ; The President of 
 the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Rep 
 resentatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be 
 counted; the person having the grestest number of votes for 
 President, shall be. the President, if such number be a majority of 
 the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have 
 such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, 
 not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
 the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, 
 the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
 taken by States, the representation from each State having one 
 vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
 members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
 States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of 
 Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of 
 
392 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March 
 next following, then the Yice-President shall act as President, as 
 in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the 
 President. The person having the greatest number of votes as 
 Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
 majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no 
 person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the 
 list, the Senate shall choose the Yice-President ; a quorum for the 
 purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
 Senators, and a majority of the number shall be necessary to a 
 choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
 President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United 
 States. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII. 
 
 SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except 
 as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
 convicted, shall exist within the United States, or in any place 
 subject to their jurisdiction. 
 
 SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
 appropriate legislation. 
 
 ARTICLE XIV. 
 
 SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
 States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
 United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State 
 shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
 or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
 State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due 
 process of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the 
 equal protection of the law. 
 
 SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
 States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
 number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed; 
 but w r hen the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
 electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
 Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of 
 a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 893 
 
 any of the male inhabitants of such State, (being twenty-one 
 years of age arid citizens of the United States,) or in any way 
 abridged except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the 
 basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion 
 which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole 
 number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 
 
 SEC. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con 
 gress, or Elector, or President, or Vice-President, or hold any office, 
 civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, 
 having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an 
 officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legisla 
 ture, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support 
 the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insur 
 rection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the 
 enemies thereof; but Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each 
 House, remove such disability. 
 
 SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
 authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pen 
 sions and bounties, for services in suppressing insurrection or re 
 bellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the United States nor 
 any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in 
 aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any 
 claim for the loss of or emancipation of any slave. But all such 
 debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 
 
 SEC. 5. Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
 legislation, the provisions of this article. 
 
 ARTICLE XV. 
 
 SECTION 1. The right of the citizens of the United States to 
 vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any 
 State, on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 
 
 SEC. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article 
 by appropriate legislation. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF 
 THE UNITED STATES SKETCH OF HIS LIFE 
 AND ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 His Remarkable Modesty. Opposed to Slavery Although a Slave 
 holder. The Country Bordering on Anarchy. Quarrels Between 
 the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Not a Partisan Himself. His 
 Virtues Derived from His Mother. Mount Vernon an Inheritance 
 from His Brother. His Sense of Justice. Love of Truth and Per 
 sonal Honor. Farewell Address to His Army. His Admirably Bal 
 anced Character. Washington s Cabinet. His Retirement to Private 
 Life at Most Welcome. 
 
 Although six years elapsed between the resignation of 
 George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the con 
 tinental army and his inauguration as first President of 
 the United States, there was never any doubt in the 
 minds of the mass of his fellow-countrymen that, what 
 ever form the new executive office might take, he would 
 be called upon to fill it. 
 
 No American has ever been so distinctly the first 
 citizen of his country, albeit he was at the time the cen 
 tral figure of a group of men more remarkable as a 
 
 (894) 
 
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LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 897 
 
 group, perhaps, than any the nation has since produced. 
 His successors, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James 
 Madison, and _James Monroe, were his contemporaries, 
 co-laborers, and friends in the difficult initial years of 
 national life ; and he had beside, to aid in his cabinet 
 counsels, men of such distinguished ability as Alexander 
 Hamilton of New York ; General Henry Knox of Mas 
 sachusetts, and Edmund Randolph of Virginia. But the 
 power which made Washington preeminently the leader, 
 resulted from the extraordinary equipoise of the traits 
 of his character. A better-balanced man has seldom 
 been born ; and everywhere, and under all circumstances, 
 this peculiar evenness made him superior in action to 
 men whose purely intellectual qualities were greater than 
 his. To his strength of character was principally due 
 Washington s grand success ; for he had no unusual ad 
 vantages in his childhood and youth to open to him an 
 easy road to fame. 
 
 Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 
 1732, George was the second and younger son of Augus 
 tine Washington and Mary Ball, his second wife. Augus 
 tine Washington was a man of considerable landed prop 
 erty, as were most of the Virginia country gentlemen. 
 As the laws of primogeniture were yet in force at that 
 period, his elder son, Lawrence, received far more bene 
 fit from his father s means than did George, whose sole 
 education was gained at the neighboring schools, consist- 
 
898 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 ing mainly of the three essentials, reading, writing, and 
 arithmetic. To these, he himself contrived to add book 
 keeping and surveying, for which he had a special apti 
 tude, and which, later in life, served him in excellent 
 stead. All the anecdotes of his childhood and youth 
 show that he early developed the keen sense of justice, 
 the high regard for truth and deep sense of personal 
 honor which distinguished him until his death. As a 
 lad, he was a noted athlete, a bold and graceful rider, 
 and did well whatever he undertook. His father, Augus 
 tine Washington, died when George was nine years old, 
 leaving the estate of Mount Yernon, on the Potomac 
 River, to the elder son Lawrence. George, being a great 
 favorite with his elder brother, thereafter spent much of 
 his time at Mount Vernon, so that his early as well as 
 his late years are associated with the pleasant old home 
 stead. It was at one time intended that George should 
 enter the navy ; but, in deference to his mother s strong 
 opposition, he gave up the idea, and devoted himself 
 most earnestly to the study and practice of surveying, 
 which he proposed to make his profession. 
 
 It is declared that George Washington inherited from 
 his mother as many other great men are thought to have 
 done those qualities of mind and character which made 
 him great. Mrs. Washington was a woman of vigorous 
 intellect and indomitable will, with a strong sense of 
 right and wrong ; and a deep determination to make up 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 399 
 
 in the training of her son, George, so far as possible, for 
 the early loss of his father. So well did she succeed in 
 her efforts that, almost before he had reached manhood, 
 he was quite fitted to take a man s part in life. When 
 George was barely nineteen, he received the appointment 
 of Adjutant, with the rank of Major, in the military ser 
 vice of Virginia, which, in anticipation of the beginning 
 of the French and Indian war, was mobilizing as rapidly 
 as possible the troops at command. For a short time, 
 he served with credit ; but was soon compelled to resign, 
 in order to accompany his brother Lawrence to Barba- 
 does in search of his swiftly-failing health. The trip 
 failed of its purpose, and Lawrence returned to die at 
 Mount Yernon in the following year, 1752. In the event 
 of the death of his infant daughter, which very shortly 
 took place, Lawrence Washington bequeathed Mount 
 Yernon to his beloved brother George, and it was ever 
 after his home and favorite residence. 
 
 At this juncture the difficulties of the French and 
 Indian troubles became so great that Washington was 
 entrusted with a delicate mission to the French com 
 mander, which he performed with such skill, in the face 
 of such dangers and disasters, that he became almost 
 instantly famous. Offered the colonelcy of a new regi 
 ment, he modestly declined it, accepting the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy instead ; but, in consequence of the death of 
 the colonel, he was soon after compelled to fill the 
 
400 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 position he had previously declined. He continued in 
 the army, serving with ability, though not always with 
 success, for five years, until the fall of Fort Duquesne, 
 and the expulsion of the French from the Ohio valley 
 practically closed the war, and gave him an opportunity 
 to resign with honor, ill-order to return to the country 
 life he preferred. Another fact, which doubtless influ 
 enced his decision more than he chose to admit, was that 
 he had fallen in love with a charming widow, Mrs. Martha 
 Custis, to whom he was married the marriage proved 
 happy, but childless on January 17, 1759, in the 
 twenty -seventh year of his age. Having been trained 
 by his mother in admirable habits of thrift and manage 
 ment, he had already been enabled to considerably 
 increase the property left him by his father and his 
 brother, and during the few years of his retirement at 
 Mount Vernon, he increased it still further. Although 
 a slave-holder, as were all the property owners of his 
 day, he was sincerely opposed to the institution ; neither 
 bought nor sold slaves, and declared in his will that he 
 would gladly manumit all of his, but for the complica 
 tions which would arise in connection with those inher 
 ited by his wife, and which could not be freed until her 
 death. So considerate a master was he that he abandoned 
 the cultivation of tobacco, chiefly because he believed it 
 to be injurious to the hands who raised it. 
 
 Washington was not one of those who early desired a 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 401 
 
 rupture with England ; but when convinced that the 
 Colonies could not get justice from the home government, 
 he became an ardent patriot, and was appointed Com- 
 mander-in-Chicf of the Revolutionary army on June 15th, 
 1775, two months after the first shot had been fired at 
 Concord. Probably, no commander ever entered a war, 
 conducted and conquered it, who was so ill prepared in 
 every material way. His troops were inexperienced, ill 
 clothed, ill fed, ill paid, if they chanced to be paid at all ; 
 he was himself unaccustomed to handle large bodies of 
 troops, nor had any of his assistant-commanders greater 
 experience on which he might draw. He had to conduct 
 his campaigns over a large area of country against an 
 enemy superior in everything but pluck and principle. 
 He had private enmity and public opposition to en 
 counter ; but he patiently, hopefully, and skillfully car 
 ried the conflict to a successful close. On December 
 23, 1783, he made a most beautiful parting address to 
 his army, unbuckled his sword, and returned to his 
 farming on the Potomac. 
 
 For some years succeeding the close of the Revolution, 
 the United States were in a condition bordering on 
 anarchy. The country experienced a strong sense of 
 relief when a preliminary convention at Annapolis in 
 1787, assembled to consider the generally hopeless con 
 dition, called another and more important convention in 
 the following May at Philadelphia. It was at this con- 
 
402 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 vention that the Constitution of the United States was 
 framed and adopted ; and it was immediately after, that 
 George "Washington was elected President and John 
 Adams Vice-President of the then infant country. In 
 view of the importance with which the vote of the State 
 of New York is now regarded in Presidential elections, 
 it is a curious historical fact that New York was the only 
 State that cast no vote at the first election of Washing 
 ton. It was apparently from mere want of interest in 
 the new constitutional government that New York 
 neglected so important a duty. In Washington s first 
 cabinet sat Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State ; 
 Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury; 
 Henry Knox as Secretary of War, and Edmund Ran 
 dolph as Attorney-General ; and the administration 
 opened with brilliant promise. It was not long, how 
 ever, before the interests of the Federalists and anti- 
 Federalists began to clash in the persons of their leaders 
 in the cabinet, Hamilton and Knox on the former side, 
 Jefferson and Randolph on the latter. President Wash 
 ington carried himself with great tact between the op 
 posing factions, although his personal leanings were 
 slightly toward the Federalists ; but they ultimately dis 
 membered his cabinet, depriving him of the strong sup 
 port he had relied on, and toward the latter years of his 
 second term, despoiling him of much of his popularity. 
 "Washington liad not desired a reelection, and only con- 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 403 
 
 sented to a second term at the most earnest solicitation 
 of men whose advice he felt bound to take. There can 
 be no doubt that he welcomed the day of his permanent 
 return to Mount Vernon. He lived three years after his 
 retirement from the Presidency, and died at Mount 
 Vernon of an attack of acute laryngitis after twenty-four 
 hours of illness, on December 14, 1799, in the sixty- 
 eighth year of his age. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Not by any Means so Popular as His Predecessor. Elected by 
 Three Votes Only. The Country Beginning to be an Indcpendant 
 Nation. Commencing Life as a School Teacher. His Wife a Re 
 markable Woman. Adams a Vigorous Speaker and Pointed Writer 
 of Choleric Temper. Bitter Hostility Between Parties. Employed 
 on Delicate Missions. Extremely Active in Political Life. One of 
 the First to See a Final Rupture with the Mother Country Inevitable. 
 
 When John Adams, the second President, succeeded 
 Washington in the executive chair on March 4, 1797, he 
 was by no means the unanimous choice of the people his 
 predecessor had been. Indeed, his election was secured 
 by only three votes more than Thomas Jefferson, his 
 most powerful rival of the opposition, received. As the 
 custom then prevailed of the candidate receiving the 
 second largest vote becoming Vice-President, Jefferson 
 assumed that office, and the anomalous spectacle was 
 presented of a President and Yice-President of opposing 
 
 (404) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 405 
 
 political parties. During the eight years of Washing 
 ton s administration, the United States had been grad 
 ually and surely taking on the characteristics of an inde 
 pendent nation, although a nation so young as not to 
 have arranged its domestic economies, or adjusted its 
 foreign relations. As the sense of general security 
 increased, factional and sectional differences were greatly 
 augmented, because the leading men had then more time 
 and attention to give to secondary matters. Therefore, 
 although John Adams found an organized body politic 
 where Washington found chaos, he also met internal 
 dissension, intense personal enmities, and European 
 complications that rendered the Presidency anything but 
 desirable to any one who was not a strong man and a 
 true patriot. Both of these Adams unquestionably was. 
 Born in that portion of the old town of Braintree, now 
 known as Quincy, Massachusetts, on the 30th of October, 
 1735, he was the eldest son of John Adams, an estima 
 ble farmer of limited means. Possessed by the charac 
 teristic New England desire for education, the father did 
 his best for the son, who was graduated from Harvard 
 College in 1755. Like many who have become famous 
 in the history of this country, he began his practical life, 
 after leaving college, by teaching school, at Worcester, 
 Massachusetts. Having exceptional intellectual power, 
 and a lively ambition, the atmosphere of a grammar 
 school neither suited nor satisfied young John ; and in 
 
406 LIVES OF THE PEESIDENTS. 
 
 the hope of opening a new path to fame and fortune, he 
 began, while still teaching, the study of law. He had 
 thought of becoming a clergyman, but witnessing cer 
 tain church quarrels in his native town, he was, to quote 
 his own words, " terrified out of it." He would have 
 been glad to enter the army, had he possessed the influ 
 ence to secure a commission. That being out of the 
 question, the law seemed his only resource, and he 
 applied himself with such energy to it, that in two years 
 he began to practice in Boston, at the Suffolk County 
 Bar. Before very long he had built up a practice which, 
 as he considered, justified him in marrying, and, accord 
 ingly, in 1764, he united himself to Abigail Smith, the 
 daughter of a prominent clergyman of Weymouth. This 
 union, which at the time it took place, promised to bring 
 young Adams considerable worldly advantage, his wife s 
 family connections being much more prominent and pros 
 perous than his own, proved in every way to be most for 
 tunate. Abigail Adams was one of the most remarkable 
 women of the Revolutionary period. Her qualities so ad 
 mirably supplemented her husband s, and her nature so 
 thoroughly assimilated with his that the marriage not 
 only brought him personal happiness, but it enabled him 
 to grasp all of the great opportunities which later crowded 
 his life. Wherever and whenever his public duties ren 
 dered it necessary for him to neglect his private duties, his 
 wife more than made good the neglect. With less of the 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS 407 
 
 
 
 womanly softness and charm of her successor in the 
 White House, pretty Dolly Madison, Abigail Adams had 
 a strength of character and a vigor of mind that found 
 full vent in the troublous times in which she lived. She 
 was so true a helpmate that wherever his life is told, hers 
 should not be omitted. 
 
 The early shadows of the Revolution were beginning 
 to fall when John Adams was married ; and the agitation 
 of the Stamp Act called him to the political front in his 
 native town. He was appointed junior counsel with 
 Jeremiah Gridley and James Otis, to present a memorial 
 to the Governor and Council praying that the courts might 
 conduct their business without the use of stamps. From 
 that time on, Adams was continually in public and poli 
 tical life until he retired from the Presidency in 1801. 
 He held many offices, beginning with that of Represen 
 tative to the General Court (Legislature), ardently work 
 ing with tongue and pen for what he believed to be the 
 best good of the country. He was a vigorous speaker ; 
 a terse and pointed though not eloquent writer ; and be 
 ing naturally somewhat pugnacious, he found plenty of 
 occasion for the use of his best ability. 
 
 As the difficulties with the mother country increased, 
 and the future of the colonies became more uncertain, 
 Adams was one of the first to conclude that a final rup 
 ture was inevitable ; and as soon as he had come io this 
 conclusion, threw himself with all the ardor and energy 
 
408 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 of his nature into the work of preparing the country for 
 the impending conflict. It was mainly through his 
 efforts that the important Congress of 1775, which sent 
 a final petition for rights to King George III, also passed 
 a bill to put the colonies in a state of defence, in the 
 event of the threatened war. It was he also who per 
 ceived the importance of making Washington Commander- 
 in-Chief, although he suggested it rather from the politic 
 motive of binding the Southern States to the interests of 
 the Revolution, than because he then regarded him as the 
 greatest colonial General. About this time, some of his 
 private letters, full of candid expressions concerning 
 men and measures, fell into hands for which they 
 were not intended, and their publication caused consider 
 able excitement, and aroused some distrust of him, 
 though not enough to compel him in any way to abandon 
 his public career. Indeed, throughout his life Adams 
 inclination to unwise letter-writing frequently got him 
 into trouble, and finally sent him out of the Presidential 
 office under an unhappy cloud. 
 
 When the Revolution was finally entered upon, Adams 
 and Jefferson were appointed a committee to draw up 
 articles of war to govern the army ; but the principal 
 labor of preparation fell upon Adams, as did also the 
 work of getting the necessary legislation in Congress, 
 the latter being by far the harder part. In spite of the 
 impulsiveness of his acts, and the frequent intemperance 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 409 
 
 of his speech, Adams opinion and advice were constantly 
 in demand, and he was ever one of the foremost figures 
 of that important period. His really clear head and in 
 tegrity of purpose were always patent, and he was called 
 upon to fill the most important positions. He was sent 
 to Paris on the delicate mission of securing the alliance t 
 of France for the revolting colonies ; to England to treat 
 for peace and negotiate a commercial treaty ; to Hol 
 land to raise a loan for the almost bankrupt States. His 
 services in Europe were so important to his country that 
 he was kept there in one and another capacity for fully ten 
 years, closing his career there, at last, in the capacity of 
 Minister to the Court of St. James. Almost immediately 
 upon his return to America, he was elected Vice-Presi 
 dent, and occupied that office for two the terms of Wash 
 ington s Presidency. 
 
 During Adams Presidency, the antagonism between 
 the Federal and anti-Federal parties became so intense, 
 and party feeling ran so high that the President, an ar 
 dent Federalist, was led into many injudicious public acts 
 that lessened the general confidence in his judgment, 
 and in connection with foreign complications, ultimately 
 overthrew the party of which he was the distinguished 
 head. After his second nomination, he was so thoroughly 
 beaten by his chief antagonist, Thomas Jefferson, the 
 leader of the anti-Federalists, that he quitted the capital 
 in bitterness of spirit and deep disappointment before 
 
410 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 the newly-elected Executive was inaugurated. Although, 
 to a certain extent, Adams brought his defeat distinctly 
 upon himself, still he was largely justified in considering 
 that his country had made him a poor return for more 
 than a quarter of a century s absolute self-devotion to 
 its interests. He was as honest and true a patriot as a 
 man could be ; and united to a large mind a character, 
 which, while it was not lovable, commanded always the 
 the highest esteem and respect. 
 
 Adams lived twenty-five years longer in retirement at 
 his home in Braintree, dying on the 4th of July, 1826, 
 at the age of ninety, within an hour or two of the demise 
 of his old friend and old rival Thomas Jefferson. Within 
 the last dozen years of their lives, the breach between 
 them caused by Adams s final political overthrow, was 
 healed, and they opened a correspondence which was to 
 each a great consolation during their last inactive years. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 His Pride in the Authorship of the Declaration of Independence. 
 The First Genuine Democrat. His Radical Revision of the Laws 
 of Virginia. The Final Treaty of Peace. His Views Opposed to 
 Hamilton s. Genest s Extraordinary Conduct as French Minister. 
 Love of France and French Institutions. Jefferson and Aaron Burr 
 Receive the Same Number of Votes for President. Simplification of 
 Customs and Manners. His Dislike of Titles. His Personal Appear 
 ance and Delightful Companionship. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, the third President, will be remem 
 bered in history as tlie author of the Declaration of 
 Independence, when his Presidency has been forgotten. 
 He was much prouder of having written that immortal 
 document than of having held any office, and desired 
 that the fact should be inscribed on his tomb. " The 
 Declaration is equal," says Edward Everett, " to any 
 thing ever born on parchment, or expressed in the, 
 visible signs of thought." "The heart of Jefferson, in 
 writing it," remarks George Bancroft, "beat for all 
 
 (411) 
 
412 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 humanity." Jefferson was born at Shadwell, Va., not 
 far from Monticello, the place associated with his name 
 and death, April 2, 1743, and was the oldest of eight 
 children. His parents were Peter Jefferson, a man of 
 great mental and physical strength, and Jane Randolph, 
 of direct and distinguished English descent. Thomas 
 began at nine his classical studies, and, eight years 
 after, entered an advanced class at William and Mary 
 College at Williamsburg, where he was noted for his 
 diligence and proficiency in languages. Having studied 
 law he was admitted to the bar at twenty-four, and was 
 so successful that he earned the first year about $3,000, 
 equivalent to five times the sum at the present time. 
 He began his public career, two years later, as a member 
 of the House of Burgesses, where he had heard, while a 
 student, Patrick Henry s great speech on the Stamp 
 Act, having formed his acquaintance when Henry was 
 an insolvent shop-keeper. In 1773, he joined with 
 Henry, and other patriots, in devising the famous Com 
 mittee of Correspondence and Inquiry for spreading 
 intelligence between the Colonies. Just before this, he 
 had married Martha Skelton, a young and attractive 
 widow, the daughter of a prominent lawyer. She had 
 considerable property in land and slaves, and as he also 
 had a good patrimony, the united estate, added to his 
 professional earnings, was quite valuable. 
 
 Elected in 1774 to a convention to choose delegates 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 413 
 
 to tlie First Continental Congress at Philadelphia, he 
 drew up for their instruction his renowned " Summary 
 View of the Rights of British America." This was 
 rejected as too radical, but was afterward issued by the 
 House of Burgesses, and published in Great Britain, 
 after some revision by Edmund Burke. On the 21st 
 of June, 1775, he took his seat in the Continental 
 Congress, and was conspicuous in that body on account 
 of his intellectual attainments and political acumen. 
 He served on the most important committees, and aided 
 John Dickinson in preparing a declaration of the cause 
 of the Colonies taking up arms. As George III rejected 
 their final petition, and thus destroyed all hope of an 
 honorable adjustment of their grievances, Jefferson was 
 made chairman of a committee, early in 1776, to pre 
 pare a Declaration of Independence. It was unani 
 mously adopted July 4th, and signed by every member 
 present except John Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, who 
 believed it to be premature. Several months later, he 
 resigned his seat to take part in the discussions and 
 examinations of the Virginia Assembly. Having fur 
 nished a preamble to a State Constitution previously 
 adopted, he spent two years and a half in radically 
 revising the laws of the Commonwealth ; procuring the 
 repeal of the laws of entail, the abolition of primogeni 
 ture, and the restoration of the rights of conscience. 
 He was persuaded that these and kindred reforms would 
 destroy every fibre of ancient and future aristocracy. 
 
414 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 In June, 1779, Jefferson succeeded Patrick Henry as 
 Governor of Virginia, and retained the office for one 
 term ; declining a reelection on the ground that, at so 
 critical a period, the community would have more faith 
 in a military man. He had hardly retired from office 
 when his estate at Elk Hill was laid waste by the 
 British, and he and his family had a narrow escape from 
 capture. Sent back to Congress in 1783, he reported, 
 as chairman of a committee, the final treaty of peace 
 concluded at Paris, September 3, 1783, acknowledging 
 the independence announced in the Declaration of 1776. 
 A bill, establishing the present Federal system of coin 
 age as a substitute for the British system, he also 
 proposed, and caused to be passed by Congress. In 
 May, 1784, he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary 
 to negotiate, with Adams and Franklin, treaties of com 
 merce and amity with foreign powers, and the next year 
 he succeeded Franklin as resident-minister at Paris. 
 He became very fond of France and of French institu 
 tions, infinitely preferring them to those of England, 
 and manifested his predilection ever afterward. His 
 residence abroad was one of the happiest periods of his 
 life. While there he published his "Notes on Virginia," 
 referring to commerce, politics, manufactures, etc., 
 which attracted attention throughout Europe. He per 
 formed his diplomatic duties with marked ability ; 
 became intimate with D Holbach, Condorcet D Alembert, 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 415 
 
 and other liberal minds ; found leisure to travel in the 
 provinces, Germany and Italy, and profited much by his 
 opportunities and experiences. Having obtained per 
 mission to return home, he quitted Paris in September, 
 1789, and reached Virginia soon after the election of 
 Washington, who offered him the Secretaryship of State, 
 which he accepted. The Federal Constitution, then 
 recently adopted, he did not approve, because he thought 
 there were as many bad as good things in it an opinion 
 he afterward materially modified. 
 
 During Washington s administration, the two great 
 political parties of the country, the Republicans and 
 Federalists, respectively under the leadership of Jeffer 
 son and Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the 
 Treasury, began their vehement opposition. Jefferson 
 passionately combated Hamilton s funding system, his 
 national bank, and other financial measures, and ear 
 nestly advocated aiding France with our arms, when 
 war had broken out between her and Holland and 
 England ; Hamilton contending, on the other hand, for 
 a strict neutrality. The Republicans were disposed to 
 fit out privateers in American ports, to cruise against 
 English ships, while the Federalists denounced any such 
 action as unjust, and as likely to involve us in war with 
 a friendly nation. The President, who had just entered 
 on his second term, warned, in a proclamation, the 
 citizens of the United States against carrying to the 
 
416 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 hostile powers articles contraband of war, or doing 
 aught that would violate the neutrality laws. Jefferson 
 favored receiving a minister from the French Republic, 
 who was received in the person of Edward Genest, 
 and was so cordially welcomed in some parts of the 
 country as a representative of the nation which had 
 helped us to secure our freedom, that he tried to 
 persuade the people here that they ought to do all they 
 could for France. He fiercely abused the Government 
 for its want of sympathy, and even fitted out privateers 
 from Charleston, and projected hostile expeditions 
 against Florida and Louisiana, then colonies of Spain. 
 He armed a prize, and ordered her to sail as a privateer. 
 Hamilton advocated the erection of a battery to prevent 
 this, and denounced Genest as a man determined to 
 embroil us with Great Britain. Jefferson declared the 
 vessel would not sail; but she did sail, and the Federal 
 ists urged that the Frenchman should be ordered out of 
 the country forthwith. It was finally determined that 
 a request should be made for his recall, and he was 
 recalled. But he decided to remain ; he settled in the 
 State of New York, was naturalized, and married a 
 daughter of George Clinton. These differences caused 
 violent discussions in the Cabinet, particularly between 
 Jefferson and Hamilton, who carried all his measures 
 against his rival. Jefferson resigned his office December 
 31, 1793, and retired to Monticello. 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 417 
 
 At the close of Washington s administration, Jefferson 
 was, as has been said, nominated for the Presidency by 
 the Republicans, against John Adams, nominated by the 
 Federalists. At the election Adams got the largest 
 number of votes, and was declared President, and Jeffer 
 son coming next, was, according to a then existing rule, 
 the V ice-President. Accordingly he became President 
 of the United States Senate. The administration was 
 very stormy, in consequence of disputes with France and 
 other delicate and difficult questions. At the next gen 
 eral election, Jefferson and Adams were again candidates 
 of their respective parties, and the Republicans were 
 victorious, though casting an equal number of votes 
 seventy-three for Jefferson and Aaron Burr. This 
 threw the election into the House of Representatives, 
 which, on the thirty-sixth ballot, declared Jefferson 
 President and Burr Vice-President. They took their 
 seats March 4, 1801, in Washington, to which the 
 capital had, a short time previous, been removed. Jef 
 ferson and his principles had triumphed at last, and he 
 carefully refrained from doing anything to diminish his 
 great popularity. The Federalists were treated with 
 consideration, and they rapidly dwindled until few of 
 them were left, and those few were the reverse of ag 
 gressive. Dress and manners became far more simple ; 
 the pompous dignity and ceremony of Washington s 
 epoch disappeared, to give place to extreme simplicity, to 
 which the new Executive had always strenuously inclined. 
 
418 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 The government bought Louisiana, which had been ceded 
 by Spain to France, for $15,000,000, and the advantage 
 of the purchase was great. Captains Lewis and Clark 
 received instructions from Jefferson to explore the Con 
 tinent to the Pacific. Commodore Preble sustained the 
 right of the nation in the Mediterranean against Morocco, 
 and Decatur obliged Tripoli to sue for peace after a most 
 gallant exploit. These events augmented the popularity 
 of Jefferson s administration, and contributed greatly to 
 his reelection. The year following, he was obliged to 
 arrest Burr on a charge of treason, and he was blamed 
 by the Federalists for his apparent anxiety to procure his 
 conviction. International questions about the loss of 
 foreign trade, Napoleon s blockading European ports, 
 and the right of search caused much commotion during 
 the President s second term ; but it was materially abated 
 when he retired from office, and closed his political life. 
 The next seventeen years he spent tranquilly at Monti- 
 cello, looking after the interests of his large plantation, 
 receiving his friends and admirers, and founding, near 
 Charlottesville, the Central College, now known as the 
 University of Virginia. Several years before his death, 
 he became - embarrassed by his exceeding generosity, 
 especially in the way of indiscriminate hospitality. He 
 breathed his last July 4th, in his eighty-fourth year, his 
 mind and all his faculties remaining clear to the end. 
 
 No American, unless it be Washington, has exercised 
 a greater or more endearing influence on his country and 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 419 
 
 countrymen. He was an original thinker, a thorough 
 reformer, and a genuine democrat. In theology, he was 
 what is styled a deist ; in politics, he was inimical to 
 strong government, always maintaining that the world 
 was governed in excess. He believed implicitly in State 
 Rights and the power and wisdom of the people. His 
 life-long repugnance to Hamilton arose from the con 
 viction that lie favored a monarchy in the United States. 
 Many of his political views were moderated as he grew 
 older, but socially he was an uncompromising and un 
 varying democrat. He disrelished all titles of honor, 
 objecting even to the common, though meaningless, 
 "Mr." While he never made a formal public speech, 
 he was an expert politician, and a masterly manager of 
 men and shaper of events. He regarded slavery as a 
 positive evil, morally and politically, though he did not 
 favor any change in the agricultural system of the 
 Southern States. He was a devoted husband, a tender 
 father, a gentle master, and a warm-hearted friend. He 
 was more than six feet high ; he had a muscular, well- 
 knit frame, a pleasant face with a fair ruddy complexion, 
 light hazel eyes and reddish hair. His voice was agree 
 able, his conversation intellectual, fresh, and eloquent, 
 and his companionship delightful. His reputation has 
 not been impaired, but rather increased in the fifty- 
 eight years that have passed since his death, and he will 
 always be honored as one of the ablest and noblest of the 
 fathers of the Republic. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN 
 QUINCY ADAMS, FOURTH, FIFTH, AND 
 SIXTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Conciliatory Character of Madison s Administration. His Opin 
 ions on the Federal Government, His Charming Wife. Decline and 
 Death of Federalism. Monroe s Election Almost Unanimous. 
 His Gallant Service in the Field. Wounded at Trenton. The Era 
 of Good Feeling. Monroe s Views of Coercion. Bitter Disputes 
 with Great Britain Leading to the War of 1812. The Fifth Presi 
 dent s Successful Efforts to Restore the Public Credit. He Dies In 
 volved in Debt. Adams Early Advantages and Experiences. His 
 Honorable and Distinguished Career in the House. 
 
 JAMES MADISON. 
 
 The Madisons were among the first emigrants from 
 Great Britain to the Colonies, having disembarked on 
 the shores of Chesapeake Bay very soon after the settle 
 ment of Jamestown. James Madison, the fourth Presi 
 dent, the son of Eleanor Conway and James Madison, of 
 Orange County ,Va., a prosperous planter of high standing, 
 
 was born, March 16, 1751, on the paternal estate, named 
 
 (420) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 421 
 
 Montpelier, and was the eldest of seven children. He 
 was sent, after a preliminary education, to Princeton, N. 
 J., where he was graduated at twenty, though he re 
 mained there another year to pursue a course of general 
 reading under the direction of the president of the 
 college. His application to books was so close as to 
 impair his health, which continued delicate through life. 
 After returning home he studied law, combining it with 
 other studies, theology, philosophy, and literature in 
 particular, thus enriching a naturally fine mind. He 
 appears to have had a strong leaning to Orthodoxy an 
 inclination of the time and to have been deeply inter 
 ested in discovering, so far as possible, the evidences of 
 Christianity. He might have passed years in such 
 grateful occupations, had he not been gradually drawn 
 into public affairs. At twenty-five he was chosen a 
 member of the Virginia Convention, but was defeated the 
 year following, because he refused to " treat" the voters, 
 treating was then a universal custom in the common 
 wealth, and because he showed no oratorical powers. 
 In 1779 "he was elected to the General Congress, and re 
 tained his seat for three years, strongly opposing the 
 issue of paper money by the States. 
 
 From that time he became a most conspicuous figure 
 in political events ; he was reflected in 1786, and was 
 also a member the next year of the National Convention, 
 which met in Philadelphia to frame the Constitution of 
 the United States. He warmly advocated its adoption 
 
422 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 in debate, and by a series of essays, afterward published 
 in the Federalist, the joint production of Madison, Ham 
 ilton, and Jay. He was a member of the Virginia Con 
 vention, which, in 1788, after a passionate discussion, 
 adopted the Federal Constitution by a small majority. 
 The year following he entered Congress, taking sides 
 with the Republicans in opposition to the political views 
 of Washington and the financial measures of Hamilton. 
 He was not a partisan, however; his words and acts 
 were moderate, all his efforts being directed toward the 
 reconciliatien of party leaders. Much attached to Wash 
 ington and Hamilton, he disliked exceedingly to differ 
 from them ; but he was so amiable and kind-hearted that 
 their differences never affected his personal feelings. 
 His views concerning the Federal Government are pre 
 served in the autograph of Washington, which contains 
 the substance of a letter written to him by Madison, ad 
 verse to a plan of complete centralization. He is equally op 
 posed to the " individual independence of the States," and 
 to the " consolidation of the whole into one simple Repub 
 lic." But he favored giving to Congress the power to exer 
 cise a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts 
 of the States, as heretofore exercised by the kingly pre 
 rogative. He believes that " the right of coercion should 
 be expressly declared ; but the difficulty and awkward 
 ness of operating by force on the collective will of a 
 State renders it particularly desirable that the necessity 
 of it should be precluded." He afterwards materially 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 423 
 
 altered these views, though he cherished and expressed 
 them earnestly in the Philadelphia Convention. 
 
 At forty-three he married Mrs. Dorothy Todd, a Yir- 
 ginian, lovely, amiable, and accomplished, the widow of a 
 Philadelphia lawyer. She was constantly spoken of as 
 the fascinating Dolly Madison. Their marriage was 
 entirely harmonious ; but they had no children. It is 
 generally supposed that eminent men desire sons, at least, 
 to perpetuate their name and fame, though the sons of 
 eminent men seldom distinguish themselves. The early 
 Presidents were not fortunate in this. Washington was 
 childless ; so was Madison and Jackson, and Jefferson 
 had two daughters only. 
 
 At forty-two he declined the Secretaryship of State, 
 vacated by Jefferson, but remained in Congress until he 
 was forty-six. He was adverse to the Alien and Sedition 
 Laws, and he wrote the Resolutions of 1T98, as they were 
 called, inveighing against all attempts to augment the 
 power of the Federal Government by strained construc 
 tions of general clauses of the Constitution. Appointed 
 Secretary of State by Jefferson in 1801, he filled the 
 office for eight years in a manner entirely acceptable to 
 his fellow-citizens. In 1808 he was made President, 
 receiving one hundred and twenty-two out of one hun 
 dred and seventy -five electoral votes ; the Federal candi 
 date, Charles C. Pinckney, receiving forty-seven. During 
 his first term the country had numberless acrimonious 
 disputes with Great Britain on account of her impressing 
 
424 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 American seamen, searching American vessels for de 
 serters, and injuring the national commerce by orders 
 in council. As no redress could be had, these continued 
 outrages led to a declaration of war on our part the war 
 of 1812, as it is commonly called. In the autumn of the 
 same year, Madison was reflected against De Witt Clin 
 ton, getting one hundred and twenty-eight electoral votes 
 from the Slave States, added to Vermont, Pennsylvania, 
 and Ohio. The war, very unpopular in many quarters, 
 was continued for two years and seven months, when a 
 treaty of peace was signed at Ghent. Commodore Perry 
 gained a naval battle on Lake Erie ; a % small British 
 force ascended the Chesapeake, and by a sudden move 
 ment burned Washington; the battles of Chippewa and 
 Lundy s Lane were fought in Canada, and Jackson won 
 the memorable victory at New Orleans, January 8, 1815 
 the news of the peace not having then reached these 
 shores. On the 4th of March, 1817, he retired from 
 public life, to Montpelier, where he died in his eighty- 
 sixth year. His last appearance in public was in the 
 Virginia Convention, assembled in 1829, to reform the old 
 Constitution. He was quite feeble then ; he was dressed 
 in black, his thin gray hair still powdered, and he spoke 
 in. so low a tone that the members were obliged to leave 
 their seats and stand near him to hear his words. 
 
 Not possessed of the orator s gift, he was yet an effec 
 tive speaker through his honesty, simplicity, and direct 
 ness, and wielded great influence in debate. He was 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 425 
 
 universally esteemed and loved ; his manners were always 
 gentle and winning; his reputation was without a spot. 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 
 Like all his predecessors, James Monroe belonged to 
 the aristocratic class of Virginia, the well-educated, 
 highly-connected, refined, and prosperous. He was born 
 on his father s plantation, in Westmoreland County, Va., 
 April 28, 1758, being descended on the paternal side 
 from an officer in the army of Charles I. He was edu 
 cated at "William and Mary College, but had been there 
 only two years, when the adoption of the Declaration of 
 Independence so fired his soul that he determined to join 
 our feeble militia against the trained soldiers of England. 
 He went to Washington s headquarters in New York, 
 and enrolled himself as a cadet. Our ill-fed, ill-clothed 
 troops were disheartened, and the Tories were very 
 arrogant, as defeat followed defeat to the Continental 
 cause. Young Monroe was as chivalrous as he was 
 patriotic ; he fought heroically ; was active as a lieu 
 tenant in the campaign on the Hudson ; was wounded 
 in the attack on Trenton, and made a Captain for his 
 gallantry. As aide to Lord Stirling with the rank of 
 major, he distinguished himself at Brandywine, German- 
 town, and Monmouth. 
 
 Thus losing his rank in the regular line, and unable to 
 reenter the army as a commissioned officer, he went back 
 
426 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 to Virginia, and began studying law under Thomas Jef 
 ferson, then Governor of the State. After the British 
 had invaded Virginia, he did what he could to organize 
 the militia of the lower counties, and when they moved 
 southward, he was sent as military commissioner to 
 South Carolina. In 1782 lie was elected to the Assembly 
 of Virginia, and was made a member of the Executive 
 Council at twenty-three. Having been chosen delegate 
 to Congress, and being persuaded that the country could 
 not be governed under the old articles of confederation, 
 he favored an extension of the powers of the body, and 
 proposed, later, that it should have authority to regulate 
 trade between the States. This led to the convention at 
 Annapolis, and afterward to the adoption of the Federal 
 Constitution. Monroe formed an ingenious plan for set 
 tling the public lands, and was a valuable member of the 
 commission to determine the boundary between Massa 
 chusetts and New York. 
 
 At twenty-seven he married the daughter of Lawrence 
 Kortright of New York, a noted belle and social leader, 
 and settled at Fredericksburg, Va. As a member of the 
 Convention of Virginia in 1788, he was against the Con 
 stitution of the United States, because it gave, as he 
 thought, too much power to the general government. 
 His course placed him in the ranks of the Republicans 
 who were instrumental in sending him for four years to 
 the national Senate. In 1794 he was appointed Minister 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 427 
 
 to France, but having offended the native government 
 by his open sympathy with the French republicans, he 
 was recalled after two years. After having been Gov 
 ernor of Virginia for three years, he went to France as 
 envoy-extraordinary to unite with the resident Minister, 
 Edward Livingston, in arranging for the purchase of 
 Louisiana, which embraced the entire valley of the Mis 
 sissippi, and which was sold by Bonaparte for $15,000,000. 
 After performing other diplomatic missions abroad, he 
 returned home in 1808, and spent two years in retire 
 ment. In 1811, he was again chosen Governor of Vir 
 ginia. The same year he was appointed Secretary of 
 State by President Madison, and after the capture of 
 Washington, he took the head of the War Department, 
 without resigning his former office. He labored long and 
 successfully to restore the public credit, and improve the 
 condition of the army, pledging his private fortune to 
 the former end. He continued to act as Secretary of the 
 Treasury until the close of Madison s administration ; 
 he was the President s private adviser in many things, 
 and was then chosen as his successor by the party who 
 called themselves Democratic Republicans. Soon after 
 he traveled through the Eastern and Middle States, in 
 the undress uniform of a Continental officer, inspecting 
 arsenals, fortifications, garrisons, reviewing troops, and 
 closely studying the military capability of the country. 
 He was much liked personally and politically ; party 
 
428 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 rancor, which had been so fierce, was almost extinguished, 
 and the time was spoken of as the Era of Good Feeling. 
 During his first term, Maine, Illinois, and Mississippi were 
 admitted into the Union ; a convention was concluded 
 between this country and England concerning the New 
 foundland fisheries, and other matters of importance, and 
 East and West Florida, with the adjacent islands, was 
 ceded by Spain to the United States. 
 
 In 1820, Monroe was reflected almost unanimously, 
 the Federal party having become extinct. The next year 
 Missouri was taken into the confederacy after a long and 
 exciting debate, resulting in the famous Missouri Com 
 promise, by which slavery was allowed in that Slate, but 
 forever prohibited elsewhere, north of the parallel 36 
 30 . What is now known as the Monroe Doctrine was 
 announced in his message of December 2, 1823, on the 
 policy of our not interfering with the affairs of Europe, 
 and not allowing Europe to interfere with those of the 
 Western Continent. He said that any attempt on the 
 part of the Old World States to extend their system to 
 any portion of this hemisphere would be regarded by us 
 as dangerous to our peace and safety, and would be 
 strenuously resisted. At the close of his administration, 
 he retired to Oak Hill, Loudon County, Virginia. He 
 was afterward made a Justice of the Peace, and at 
 seventy-one became a member of the Virginia Conven 
 tion to revise the old Constitution. He was chosen to 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 429 
 
 preside over that body ; but ill health prevented, and he 
 went back to Oak Hill. In his last years he was troubled 
 with debt, notwithstanding that he had received for his 
 public services more than 8350,000. His wife died 
 before him, and then he removed to New York, to the 
 residence of his son-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur, where 
 he expired at the age of seventy-three. He was singu 
 larly discreet, single-minded, and patriotic, and did more 
 than any of his predecessors to develop the resources of 
 the Republic. He was tall, well-proportioned, of fair 
 complexion and blue eyes, and his face was a reflection 
 of his pure and benevolent nature. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 John Quincy Adams is the only instance in the Repub 
 lic of a son succeeding his father as President ; he being 
 the sixth and John Adams the second. As the eldest 
 son, he had rare and exceptional opportunities for edu 
 cation. In childhood he was taught by his mother, a 
 grand-daughter of Col. John Quincy, and a woman of 
 superior mind. When but eleven, he went to France 
 with his father, and attended school in Paris, making 
 much progress in the native language and other studies. 
 Two years later, he again accompanied his father to 
 Europe, and took a course at the University of Leyden. 
 At fourteen, he was appointed private secretary to Francis 
 Dana, Minister to Russia, remained fourteen months in 
 
430 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 St. Petersburg, and then traveled leisurely through 
 Scandinavia and Denmark to Holland, where he resumed 
 his studies at the Hague. He came home to finish his 
 education and was graduated at Harvard in his twenty- 
 first year. Admitted to the bar in 1791, he began to 
 practice in Boston. His first publications were a number 
 of essays in journals of that city, pointing out the whim- 
 seys and sophistries of radical French politicians, and 
 declaring that the country should be strictly neutral in 
 the war between France and England. They attracted 
 wide attention, and commended him to Washington, who 
 appointed him Minister to Holland in 1794, having 
 formed a most elevated opinion of his character and 
 capacities. At thirty, he espoused Louisa Catherine 
 Johnson, a daughter of Joshua Johnson, of Maryland, 
 then Consul at London. Ho was elected to the United 
 States Senate for the term beginning March, 1803, and 
 two years after was appointed professor $f rhetoric and 
 belles-lettres at Harvard, accepting the place only on 
 condition that he should perform his senatorial duties 
 while Congress was in session. He offended the Feder 
 alists, with whom he had been allied, by sustaining Jef 
 ferson s embargo act, and from that cause went over to 
 the Democrats, or National Republicans, as they preferred 
 to call themselves. He resigned his seat in the Senate, 
 being unwilling to obey the will of the Federalists, 
 then in the majority of Massachusetts, and angered them 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 431 
 
 greatly by accusing some of their leaders of having 
 formed a plot to dissolve the Union, and set up a North 
 ern Confederacy. This accusation is thought to have 
 been one of the most potent causes of the enmity and 
 suspicion so long cherished toward New England by the 
 Southern and other States. 
 
 Adams became conspicuous in the Senate as an able 
 debater and a finished scholar, and in 1809 was sent by 
 Madison to Russia, where he originated the friendly feel 
 ing which has ever since been maintained between that 
 power and our own. In 1813, he was one of the com 
 missioners to negotiate a treaty with Great Britain at 
 Ghent, and performed his part with signal ability. 
 Going to England in a ministerial capacity in 1815, he 
 stayed there for two years, when he returned to fill the 
 office of Secretary of State, under Monroe. He dis 
 charged its duties as satisfactorily as he had those of 
 diplomacy. In 1824, Adams, Jackson, Crawford, and 
 Clay, all substantially having the same politics, that of 
 the Democrats, were candidates for the Presidency. 
 Adams received eighty-four electoral votes, Jackson 
 ninety-nine, Crawford forty-one, and Clay thirty-seven, 
 which rendered it necessary for the House of Represent 
 atives to decide the question. Clay threw all his influ 
 ence in favor of Adams, and secured his choice. As the 
 President appointed Clay Secretary of State, Jackson 
 
 and his supporters charged the Kentuckian with corrupt 
 18 
 
432 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 motives, and imputed to the President a lack of integ 
 rity. Although there is no good reason for believing 
 those charges, they probably had much weight in defeat 
 ing him for a second term, when he received only eighty- 
 three votes out of two hundred and sixty-one. Adams 
 favored internal improvements, the protection of home 
 manufactures, and was principled against removing men 
 from office merely for difference of political views. 
 March 4, 1829, he retired to Quincy, Mass., formerly 
 called Braintree, where he had been born July 11, 1767, 
 nearly sixty-two years before. The next year he was 
 sent to Congress, to the surprise of everybody, because 
 previous Presidents had never been willing to return to 
 Washington in any political capacity. He continued in 
 the House of Representatives for seventeen years, show 
 ing more ability and gaining more reputation than ever 
 before. He was generally regarded as a model legislator, 
 no one surpassing him in application and powers of 
 endurance, not to speak of talents and learning. While 
 he generally sided with the Whigs, he was independent 
 in his opinions and conduct. He won most renown by his 
 defense of the right of petition and his unyielding oppo 
 sition to what he denounced as the constant encroach 
 ments of the slave power. Although the House had 
 adopted a rule that no petition bearing on slavery should 
 be read, printed or debated, Adams persisted in present 
 ing sucli petitions, one by one, sometimes to the number 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 433 
 
 of two hundred in a day, and demanding action on each 
 separate petition. The most violent anger, menace, and 
 abuse from the Southerners never moved him from his 
 conscientious course, and his coolness, under the circum 
 stances, only added to and intensified their vituperative 
 wrath. He died at his post of an attack of paralysis, 
 February 23, 1848, aged eighty, his last words being, " I 
 am content." 
 
 John Quincy Adams was more scholarly than his 
 father, but not his equal in native force of intellect. He 
 wrote fluently and copiously, but his style was verbose 
 and inflated, wholly inferior to John Adams s simple, 
 strong, idiomatic English. They were Unitarians ; they 
 resembled one another in appearance as well as in energy, 
 firmness, and unwavering courage, and both had passion 
 ate tempers and hot prejudices. They were eminently 
 representatives of New England, and despite their faults, 
 many though not grievous, they were of sturdy stuff and 
 an honor to American history. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN BUREN, AND 
 . WM. HENRY HARRISON, SEVENTH, EIGHTH, 
 AND NINTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Jackson, the First Unmixed Democrat. His Election Regarded in 
 Virginia and Massachusetts with Surprise and Disgust. His Un 
 couth and Untaught Youth. His Chivalrous Delicacy Toward 
 Women. His Morbid Sensibility about his Wife s Reputation. His 
 Combats with Indians. Various Recounters and Duels. The Her 
 mitage. The Seminole War. Battle of New Orleans. His Deter 
 mination to Hang the Nullifiers. Honest, Single-minded, and Pat 
 riotic. VanBurenas Democrat and Free-soiler. His Contented Old 
 Age. Harrison as an Indian Fighter. The Log Cabin Campaign. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 A greater difference than that between Andrew Jack 
 son and his Presidential predecessors can not well be con 
 ceived. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and 
 the Adamses, had all been men of education, refinement, 
 breeding, accustomed to good society and polite usages. 
 Jackson was an illiterate, untrained, rustic, violent man, 
 whose life, spent in a semi-civilized region, had been 
 marked by savage personal combats and many disgrace 
 ful scenes. His choice as Chief Executive denotes a 
 
 (434) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 435 
 
 new era in politics, a great change in public sentiment. 
 It is easy to understand with what surprise, pain, and 
 disgust the gentlemen of Virginia and Massachusetts, 
 the two States that exercised the most influence on the 
 young Republic, must have regarded the election to the 
 Presidency of a military chieftain, backwoodsman, cock- 
 fighter, and tyrant, who had never shown respect for law, 
 or recognized any authority but his despotic will. Jack 
 son was, indeed, the first unmixed Democrat, politically 
 and socially, that had been placed in the highest position 
 of trust and power. It was the beginning of an epoch r 
 which opened a new volume of the national history. 
 
 Andrew Jackson, the seventh President, was of Scotch- 
 Irish extraction, and born in what was known as the 
 Waxhaw Settlement, N. C., so near the line that he 
 always supposed himself a native of South Carolina. He 
 bore the full name of his father, a very poor man who 
 came to this country in 1765, and never struggled out of 
 penury. His mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson, of very 
 humble origin, brought him into the world some days 
 after his father s death, under very hard and most 
 depressing circumstances. He was the youngest of three 
 boys, whom their mother reared as best she could, in a 
 common cabin in which she lived with her brother-in- 
 law, doing the hard work of the house, while his wife, 
 her sister, was incapacitated from labor by permanent 
 invalidism. Andrew, or Andy, as he was commonly 
 called, greatly loved and revered his mother, who died 
 
436 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 when he was a youth, leaving him literally alone in the 
 world, and a very hard part of the world in those days, 
 was the Waxhaw Settlement. He mourned her deeply, 
 and in after life often referred tenderly to hqr virtues. 
 One of his best traits was his inherent and unvarying 
 respect for women, toward whom he ever conducted him 
 self with chivalrous delicacy, not to be expected in a man 
 of such antecedents, and of so impetuous and turbulent 
 a disposition. He grew up wild, homely, awkward, pro 
 fane, quarrelsome, overbearing, fond of physical exercise, 
 and with no more instruction than enabled him to read, 
 write a very indifferent hand he never learned to spell, 
 and master rudimentary arithmetic. 
 
 Jackson was only fourteen when he first fought against 
 the British. His elder brother Hugh had already died of 
 heat and exhaustion at the battle of Stono, having gone 
 forth in a company of volunteers to attack Tarleton. 
 Andrew and Robert, his other brother, were zealous 
 Whigs, and having been taken prisoners by the enemy, 
 were both seriously wounded by a brutal English officer, 
 whose boots they had refused to clean. They caught the 
 small-pox while in captivity, and were exchanged by the 
 exertions of their mother, who took them home, where 
 Robert died of the disease. She soon after went to 
 Charleston, to take care of the sick and wounded Amer 
 icans, and fell a victim to ship-fever. Andrew, com 
 pelled literally to earn his bread, worked in a saddler s 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 437 
 
 shop, and taught school, which must have been of a 
 queer sort, if he could teach it. At seventeen, he began 
 the study of law at Salisbury, N. C., but was more inter 
 ested in cock-fighting, horse-racing, card-playing, and all 
 rude sports, than in his studies. He was called a very 
 hard case, though he had many redeeming traits, chief 
 among them being hatred of oppression arid love of 
 justice. At twenty, he was licensed to practice, and the 
 next year was appointed public prosecutor of the western 
 district of the State, now Tennessee. He went to Nash 
 ville immediately, and entered upon his duties, gaining 
 many clients, and serving them faithfully. That was a 
 wild region then, and his constant travel was done at the 
 risk of his life. But he feared neither Indians nor any 
 thing else, and he had so many narrow escapes that his 
 rude neighbors thought him danger-proof. 
 
 At twenty-four, he took for wife Mrs. Rachel Rob- 
 ards, daughter of Col. John Donelson, of Virginia, one 
 of the pioneers of Tennessee, after whom was named 
 Fort Donelson, captured by General Grant the second 
 year of the Civil War. Mrs. Robards and her first hus 
 band were boarding with Mrs. Donelson, then a widow, 
 when Jackson reached Tennessee, and became a boarder 
 under the same roof. Mrs. Robards was, in a frontier 
 way, vivacious and sportive, a rattling talker and a fine 
 rider. Her husband, suspicious and morose, was very 
 jealous of lier, and made her very unhappy. Jackson 
 
438 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 was fond of her society, though he in no manner passed 
 the boundaries of the most conventional decorum. Her 
 husband believed, or pretended to believe, that he was 
 his wife s lover, and applied to the Virginia Legislature 
 for an act preliminary to divorce. Jackson and Mrs. 
 Robards supposed the act itself a divorce, and they were 
 married two years before divorce had been allowed. 
 This innocent mistake (they were married again when it 
 was discovered) was the source of endless annoyance 
 and sorrow to the second husband, who, to the day of 
 his death, was so sensitive and fiery on the subject that, 
 if any man hinted at any impropriety in their relations, 
 he was certain to be called to account by Jackson, pistol 
 in hand. Indeed, he was little less than a monomaniac 
 in regard to his wife. Several of his most savage con 
 flicts grew, directly or indirectly, out of what he believed 
 or imagined to be reflections on her fair fame. If ever 
 a man was connubially mad, that man was Andrew 
 Jackson. Mrs. Robards was an honest and worthy, 
 though an uneducated and very ordinary sort of woman ; 
 but he fancied her to be a goddess, an angel, a saint, a 
 creature entirely apart and above humanity, and he 
 wanted to kill anybody who dared express any other 
 opinion. 
 
 Much of Jackson s early life in Tennessee was spent 
 in fighting the Indians and his private enemies, of whom 
 he always had a host. He was one of the most irascible 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 439 
 
 and pugnacious of mortals, and his ire, aroused by the 
 slightest cause, was de adly. Possessed of many gener 
 ous and noble qualities, he was often in his resentments 
 no better than a barbarian. When he was one of the 
 judges of the supreme court of Tennessee, John Sevier 
 was governor. They had quarreled, and Jackson had 
 challenged the governor who had declined the challenge. 
 Still on bad terms, they met one day in the streets of 
 Knoxville, and after exchanging a few words, Sevier 
 made some slighting allusion to Mrs. Jackson. Her 
 husband roared out, " Do you dare, villain, to mention 
 her sacred name ? " And whipping out a pistol, fired at 
 the governor, who returned the shot. They fired again, 
 ineffectually, and then bystanders interfered. Not long 
 after, they encountered one another on horseback on the 
 road, each accompanied by a friend. Again they shot at 
 one another, the friends taking part, and murder would 
 have been done, had not some travelers, who had chanced 
 to come up, separated the combatants. Jackson had 
 the reputation of being a dead shot ; but he frequently 
 missed his man- owing doubtless to the excitement of the 
 occasion. 
 
 A friend of Jackson, William Carroll, having chal 
 lenged Jesse Benton, a younger brother of Thomas H. 
 Benton, Jackson was induced to act as his second. The 
 principals were wounded, Benton seriously, which angered 
 the elder Benton, because he thought Jackson under 
 
440 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 obligations to him, and prompted him to say such things 
 as a choleric man is apt to say of anybody who has 
 offended him. The abusive remarks were repeated to 
 Jackson, and he, in one of his customary bursts of pas 
 sion and profanity, declared that he would horsewhip 
 Benton the first time he should see him. Hearing, a 
 few weeks after, that his foe was at the City Hotel in 
 Nashville, he sought him there in the company of a 
 friend. Armed with pistols and a small sword, he 
 advanced with a whip in his hand, on Benton, who was 
 standing at the front door, very near his brother Jesse. 
 " I m going to punish you, you blank blank villain," he 
 cried ; " defend yourself." Thomas Benton made as if 
 to draw a weapon; his adversary pulled a pistol, and 
 leveled it at his breast. Benton retreated slowly through 
 the hall, followed closely by Jackson, when Jesse Benton 
 fired at the latter and shattered his arm and shoulder. 
 Lying helpless and bleeding on the floor, his friend dis 
 charged a pistol at Thomas Benton, and finding he had 
 missed him, hurried forward, and was about to strike 
 him with the butt, when Benton stumbled and fell to the 
 bottom of some stairs he had not observed at the end of 
 the hall. While Jackson s friend was looking after him, 
 his nephew attacked Jesse Benton with a bowie-knife, 
 and the two had a savage and bloody encounter until 
 they were pulled apart. This was not an uncommon 
 scene in the Southwest in those days; nor would it be 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 441 
 
 very uncommon there now. Jackson was then forty- 
 seven ; had been a member of Congress, as United States 
 Senator, and was at the time a Major-General of militia. 
 One of the most tragical of his experiences was his 
 duel, some years before, with Charles Dickinson, who 
 had committed the unpardonable sin of commenting 
 freely on Mrs. Jackson. They had several disagree 
 ments, and Jackson finally spoke of Dickinson in so 
 violent a manner that his language was repeated, as the 
 General wished it should be, to the man himself. There 
 upon, Dickinson, who was about to start for New 
 Orleans on a flat boat, wrote Jackson a letter, denouncing 
 him as a liar and a coward. On his return, Jackson 
 challenged him, and they met on the banks of the Red 
 River in Logan County, Ky., early in the morning of 
 May 30, 1806. Dickinson got first fire, breaking a rib, 
 and making a serious wound in the breast of his oppon 
 ent, who showed no sign of having been hit. He had 
 felt sure of killing his antagonist, and exclaimed, " Great 
 God, have I missed him ?" Jackson, taking deliberate aim, 
 pulled the trigger ; but the weapon did not explode. It 
 stopped at half-cock. He cocked it fully, and again calmly 
 and carefully leveling it, fired. The bullet passed through 
 Dickinson s body, just above the hips : he fell, and died 
 that night after suffering terrible agony. Jackson never 
 recovered from the hurt, and never expressed the least 
 remorse for what many persons pronounced a cold-blooded 
 
442 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 murder. There is no doubt that he had made up his 
 mind to kill Dickinson. Any man who had spoken dis 
 creditably of Mrs. Jackson had, in his opinion, forfeited 
 the right to live. 
 
 Not long after his marriage, Jackson removed from 
 Nashville to a farm, some thirteen miles distant, which 
 he named the Hermitage, where he died in his seventy- 
 ninth year. He lived in a spacious home, and had for a 
 store a block house, where he sold goods to the Indians, 
 and the settlers in the neighborhood. He did a profitable 
 business his assistant transacted most of it frequently 
 sending corn, tobacco, and cotton, which he raised on his 
 land, with the assistance of his slaves, to the New Or 
 leans market. He had no abhorrence of slavery, though 
 he was always a kind and considerate master. He was a 
 member of the Convention that framed the Constitution of 
 Tennessee in 1796, and was elected to Congress from the 
 new State, then entitled to only one Representative. The 
 next year, he was sent to the National Senate, but soon 
 resigned his seat. He acted as a Judge of the Supreme 
 Court for eight years. He enlisted in the war of 1812 ; 
 defeated the Creek Indians, acquiring great popularity 
 thereby, and was made a Major-General in the regular 
 army. His victory at New Orleans gave him a great rep 
 utation, and rendered him an idol of the people of the 
 Southwest. 
 
 In 1817-18, he carried on prosperous war against the 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 443 
 
 Seminolcs in Florida, seized Pensacola without authority, 
 as was his wont, and hanged two British subjects for in 
 citing the Indians to hostile acts. It was a great sur 
 prise to the Eastern and Middle States when he received 
 the largest number of votes of any one of the four can 
 didates for the Presidency in 1824. After Adams had 
 been chosen by the House of Representatives, Jackson 
 seemed to have permanently withdrawn to the Hermitage ; 
 but all the opponents of Adams supported him in the 
 next campaign, which was the most bitter ever known in 
 the country, and he was triumphantly elected. His two 
 terms were stormy enough. His veto of the bill granting 
 a new charter to the United States Bank created great 
 excitement, and his removal of the public deposits cre 
 ated still more. His proclamation against the nullifiers 
 of South Carolina was electric in its effect, and that he 
 would have hanged them, as he afterward said, if he had 
 had caune to, is altogether probable. While he was with 
 many one of the most detested Presidents that have sat 
 in the executive chair, he was extremely popular with the 
 masses. Nor can it be denied that most of the acts for 
 which he was once savagely denounced have come to be 
 generally approved. He was narrow, ignorant, overflow 
 ing with passion and prejudice ; but he was 1 , nevertheless, 
 honest, single-minded, and, according to his light, a true 
 and conscientious patriot. 
 
444 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 Martin Yan Buren, the eighth President, largely owed 
 his office to the friendship and influence of General Jack- 
 son, with whom he had made himself a particular favorite. 
 Born at Kinderhook, N. Y., December 5, 1782, he died 
 near there in his eightieth year. Educated at the local 
 academy, he studied law and was admitted to the bar by 
 the time he was nineteen. He began very early to take 
 part in politics as a Democrat, and at thirty was elected 
 to the State Senate. He favored the war of 1812, and 
 was made Attorney-General of New York. He was the 
 ruling spirit of the Albany Regency, formed to oppose 
 De Witt Clinton, which controlled the State politically 
 for twenty years. Having been twice chosen United 
 States Senator, he resigned his position to enter the 
 Cabinet of Jackson. He was nominated Minister to Eng 
 land, and went there ; but his nomination was rejected 
 by the Senate, in which the Whigs the name taken dur 
 ing the previous administration by the opponents of Jack 
 son had then a majority. To indemnify him for this 
 mortification, the Democrats made him Yice-President 
 during Jackson s second term. At its termination, Van 
 Buren was put forward as a candidate for the Presidency 
 against Harrison, a Whig, and was easily elected. The 
 year after 1837 there was a great financial panic, with 
 an extraordinary commercial depression, and in May of 
 that year all the banks in the country suspended specie 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 445 
 
 payment. Van Buren, in his message, recommended an 
 independent treasury, which was established by law in 
 1840. All his political friends voted for the resolution 
 that Congress should lay all petitions for the abolition of 
 slavery on the table without reading, a resolution which, 
 as has been seen, John Quincy Adams gallantly defied. 
 In 1840 he was renominated against his former com 
 petitor Harrison ; but he was so assailed by the Whig 
 newspapers and orators as responsible for the commercial 
 prostration and monetary distress incident to his term of 
 office, and so charged with extravagance, corruption, and 
 indifference to the condition of the laboring classes, that, 
 rendered odious to the masses, he was overwhelmingly 
 defeated. In 1844 his name was again presented, and a 
 majority of the delegates of the convention, held at Bal 
 timore, were for him. But the Southerners opposed him, 
 because he had expressed himself adversely to the annex 
 ation of Texas, and by making a vote of two-thirds 
 necessary to a choice, defeated his prospects. He subse 
 quently became a free Democrat, or Free-Soiler. After 
 1848, he returned to private life on his estate at Linden- 
 wald, near Kinderhook, enjoying leisure, wealth, and a 
 contented old age. Long before his death, the prejudice 
 that had been excited by party politics wore away, and 
 he was seen in his true character. He was an amiable 
 and accomplished gentleman, and his domestic relations 
 were very happy. His son John, a brilliant lawyer in 
 New York city, survived his father but four years. 
 
446 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 The administration of William Henry Harrison, the 
 successor of Martin Van Buren, and ninth President, was 
 the briefest in the history of the country. It lasted ex 
 actly one month, from the 4th of March, 1841, when he 
 was inaugurated, to the 4th of April, when he died, after 
 a week s illness, supposed to have been brought on by 
 the excitement and fatigue of the campaign and the 
 inauguration. He was older being sixty-eight than 
 any man who has been called to the Executive office, and 
 possibly on this account less able to bear the strain. 
 
 Harrison was born in Berkeley, Charles City County, 
 Virginia, February 9, 1773, and died in Washington. 
 His father was Governor Benjamin Harrison, and his 
 family enjoyed good social position. He entered the 
 army some time before his majority, and rose in time 
 from Ensign to Major-General. His most important 
 campaigns were against the Indians, whom he managed 
 so well that, in treating with different tribes at different 
 times, he obtained from them very important concessions 
 of land. It was during his Indian fighting that the suc 
 cessful defense of his camp at Tippecanoe gave him that 
 nick-name. He took a creditable part in the short War of 
 1812 with England ; and, after it, went into an honorable 
 retirement for a time at North Bend, Ohio, where he had 
 a farm. He was sent to Congress in 1816 ; after a few 
 years, to the Senate ; and was appointed by John Quincy 
 
MVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 447 
 
 Adams, Minister to Colombia. He was quickly recalled 
 upon Jackson s inauguration, and remained in private 
 life until he was nominated for the Presidency in 1836, 
 in opposition to Martin Van Buren. He was defeated, 
 but renominated in 1840. The military element having 
 been introduced into politics by General Jackson s elec 
 tion, it was thought that a second attempt, with a good 
 military record, would be more certain than the first had 
 been to defeat Van Buren. Harrison, was, therefore, 
 again put forward, with John Tyler of Virginia for Vice- 
 President, and the ticket polled a very large and success 
 ful vote. The methods of conducting political cam 
 paigns had greatly changed during this period mass 
 meetings, torch-light processions, and manufactured 
 enthusiasm becoming the order of the day. The oppo 
 sition had cast it as a slur upon Harrison that he had at 
 some time lived in a log-cabin, and had only hard cider 
 to drink. It was stupid and silly ; for what a man is, 
 not where he has lived, is the important thing in this 
 country ; and the Whigs quickly caught the words, and 
 used "log-cabin" and "hard cider" with excellent effect. 
 Harrison was a man of pleasing address, agreeable man 
 ners, and a thorough gentleman. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 JOHN TYLER AND JAMES K. POLK, TENTH AND 
 ELEVENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 Tyler the First Vice-President to Succeed the Chief Executive by 
 Death. A Representative of the Same Social Class as Jefferson, 
 Madison, and Monroe. Education and Wealth Really Disadvan 
 tageous to Him. A Career of Continuous Vetoes. Making Himself 
 Extremely Unpopular. Forcing His Cabinet to Resign. The 
 Annexation of Texas a Favorite Scheme. A Member of the Peace 
 Convention in 1861. A Former Chief Magistrate in Open Rebellion 
 Against the Government. Polk and the Mexican "War. A Common 
 place President. 
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 Upon the death of President Harrison, Yice-President 
 Tyler succeeded to the office, and was the first of the four 
 Vice-Presidents who have become President .on the death 
 of the elected Executive. By an odd coincidence, he 
 was born in the same county Charles City in Virginia, 
 which gave birth to Harrison, though the latter so early 
 made his home in Ohio that he is commonly reported as 
 an Ohioan. Tyler was much younger than Harrison, 
 having been born March 29, 1790, and was the second 
 
 son of John Tyler, a distinguished revolutionary patriot. 
 
 (448) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 449 
 
 He belonged to the same social class with Jefferson, 
 Madison, and Monroe, but was a man of very different 
 caliber. He was narrow-minded where they were broad, 
 bigoted where they were liberal, reactionary in his politi 
 cal principles where they were progressive, and was 
 indeed, what has recently been considered a typical 
 Southerner rather than a typical American. In his 
 youth he had all the advantages of education and wealth ; 
 but, to a man of his turn of mind, they were really dis 
 advantages. 
 
 Tyler held many offices, beginning with the Virginia 
 Legislature, passing on to the House of Representatives 
 in Washington, and thence to the Senate, before being 
 nominated to the Vice-Presidency. In the Senate he 
 succeeded the famous John Randolph, and while there 
 began his well-known career of opposition to progress 
 which resulted in continual Presidential vetoes during 
 his administration. As Senator, he voted against all 
 efforts toward internal improvements by the general gov 
 ernment, against various tariff bills, and against many 
 things which showed an enlightened public spirit. He 
 made himself very unpopular, but was finally nominated 
 for the Vice-Presidency, in order to draw the Southern 
 vote to Harrison, with whose nomination the South was 
 much dissatisfied, having preferred Henry Clay. Tyler 
 was then acting with the Whig party, but soon after his 
 accession to the Presidency he began to offend his party 
 by his ill-considered acts, and speedily forced all his cab- 
 
450 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 inet except Daniel Webster, the Secretary of State, to 
 resign. His course became so unsatisfactory during the 
 second year of his administration that the Whig mem 
 bers of Congress felt called upon to publicly declare 
 themselves as entirely at odds with the President, and 
 no longer his adherents. 
 
 The annexation of Texas occurred during President 
 Tyler s administration, and was a scheme much favored 
 by him. It was only successfully carried, however, with 
 the aid of the Democrats in Congress, whose influence 
 Tyler continually sought, after antagonizing his own 
 party. 
 
 Although Tyler accepted a renomination from a con 
 vention composed mainly of office-holders, held in May, 
 1844, it soon became evident, even to him. that he would 
 certainly be ignominiously beaten ; consequently he with 
 drew his name from the candidacy. He was the first 
 President to express himself actively in favor of slavery, 
 and everything which looked toward a limitation of the 
 " institution " aroused his most violent opposition. In 
 1861, he was a member of the " Peace Convention," held 
 in Washington, in the futile hope of arranging the diffi 
 culties between the seceded States and the National 
 Government. The convention being without result, he 
 threw in his fortunes with the Confederacy, and presented 
 the humiliating spectacle of a former Chief Magistrate 
 in open Rebellion against the Government of which he 
 had once been the head. 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 451 
 
 Tyler was twice married, and was the father of several 
 children. He died on January 17, 1862, at Richmond, 
 Virginia, while a member of the Confederate Congress. 
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 
 
 James Knox Polk, the eleventh President, was born 
 in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, November 12, 
 1795. He did not, like the Virginia Presidents, spring 
 from the wealthy and cultured class, but was the son of 
 a farmer in very moderate circumstances, who removed 
 in 1806 to Tennessee. His early education was very 
 limited ; but he managed to prepare himself for college, 
 and was graduated in 1818 from the University of North 
 Carolina. He began to practise at the bar in 1820 ; was 
 elected to the State Legislature in 1823 ; was sent to 
 Congress in 1825, where he was strongly opposed to 
 President John Quincy Adams administration. Later 
 lie became ardently devoted to General Jackson, and 
 remained a most earnest Democrat during his life. In 
 1835, Polk was elected Speaker of the House. After 
 being in Congress fourteen years, he declined a renom- 
 ination, and retired to Tennessee, only to be immediately 
 made Governor of the State. In May, 1844, the National 
 Democratic Convention nominated him for President, 
 with George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania for Vice-Presi- 
 dent. The Whig candidates were Henry Clay and The- 
 dore Frelinghuysen. Polk and Dallas were successful, 
 and entered office March 4, 1845. The annexation of 
 
452 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 Texas had just been advised by President Tyler, and it 
 became the most important effort of President Polk s 
 administration to defend the frontier of our new posses 
 sion. He sent General Taylor with a small force to 
 occupy the disputed land between the Nueces river, 
 which Mexico claimed as the boundary, and the Rio 
 Grande, which the Government claimed as the boundary. 
 In April, 1846, active fighting began between General 
 Taylor and General Arista, the Mexican commander. 
 The President then declared that war existed, and asked 
 Congress for men and money. Authority was given to 
 call for fifty thousand men, and $10,000,000. Although 
 the war was generally unpopular at the North, it was 
 prosecuted with energy, our forces even penetrating to 
 the very capital of Mexico. Mexico ended by ceding all 
 that was demanded of her, yielding upper California and 
 New Mexico, and granting the Rio Grande from its 
 mouth to El Paso, as the southern boundary of Texas. 
 Beside the Mexican war, the important events of Polk s 
 administration were certain modifications of the tariff, 
 the creation of the Department of the Interior, the admis 
 sion of the State of Wisconsin, and the very important 
 event of establishing the National Treasury system in 
 Washington, independent of all the State banks. 
 
 Having agreed not to seek a renomination, President 
 Polk retired from office March 4, 1849, and three months 
 later died, after a few days illness, at his home in 
 Nashville. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR,, MILLARD FILLMORE, AND 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE, TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, 
 AND FOURTEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 Taylor purely a Military Man. His Reputation made in the Mexican 
 War. His Death in Four Months. His Disqualifications for Politi 
 cal Life. Fillraore s Early Success. His Foreshadowing of the 
 National Banking System. Approval of the Fugitive Slave Law. 
 The Irreparable Injury it did Him. A Candidate of the American 
 Party. Pierce a Northern Man with Extreme Southern Principles. 
 His constant Sympathy with and Sustainment of Slavery. His 
 Gallantry in the Field. Retirement to Private Life Equivalent to 
 Extinction. 
 
 The twelfth President, General Zachary Taylor, was 
 the last of the Presidents born in Virginia. He first 
 saw the light on September 24, 1784, in Orange 
 County, from which his father, Colonel Richard Tay 
 lor, removed to the neighborhood of Louisville, Ken 
 tucky, in 1785. Until he was twenty-three, Zachary 
 remained on his father s plantation ; but in 1808, his 
 elder brother, Hancock, died in the army, and the com 
 mission that of Lieutenant which he held, was 
 
 (453) 
 
454 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 offered to Zachary. This was the beginning of a mili 
 tary career which lasted nearly all his life. After the 
 declaration of war against Great Britain in 1812, he 
 being then a Captain, was placed in command of Fort 
 Harrison on the Wabash River, not far from Yincennes. 
 This was furiously attacked at night by the Indians ; 
 but Captain Taylor, with a handful of men, two-thirds 
 of them being ill, made a brilliant and successful 
 defense, and received as his reward from President 
 Madison, the brevet rank of Major the first time 
 a brevet rank was ever conferred in our army. Having 
 thus established his military reputation, he constantly 
 held important commands until the peace in 1815, 
 when, for a brief period, he resigned his commission, 
 and retired to private life. 
 
 He was soon reappointed, however, and took con 
 spicuous part in the Black Hawk War, and in the 
 conflicts with the Indians in Florida in 1836-37, and in 
 1840 was appointed Commander of the First Depart 
 ment of the Southwest. About this time he purchased 
 an estate at Baton Rouge, and removed his family 
 thereto. In July, 1845, following the annexation of 
 Texas, he was ordered with fifteen hundred troops to 
 defend our new possession against invasion by Mexico. 
 He encamped near Corpus Christi, and his force was 
 soon increased to four thousand. It was pretty plainly 
 indicated to General Taylor that the Government would 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 455 
 
 be glad to have him throw down the gauntlet to Mexico 
 by moving into the disputed territory. Taylor, how 
 ever, was too wise to commit any overt act until 
 expressly ordered to do so by President Polk. Being 
 positively ordered to advance, he began to move toward 
 the Rio Grande on March 8, 1846, and on the 28th, 
 reached the bank of the river opposite Matamoras. On 
 the 12th of April, General Anipudia, in command of 
 the Mexican forces near by, sent word to General 
 Taylor to retire to the Nueces River, while the boundary 
 question was being settled by the respective govern 
 ments, at the same time declaring a failure to comply 
 with the advice would be construed as a declaration 
 of war by Mexico. General Taylor replied that his 
 instructions did not permit him to retire, and that 
 if the Mexicans chose to begin hostilities, he was pre 
 pared. Such was the beginning of the Mexican War. 
 On the 8th of May, the battle of Palo Alto, the first 
 of the war, was won by General Taylor ; and from that 
 day until his return home in November, 1847, " Old 
 Rough and Ready," as lie was called by his soldiers, 
 was almost uniformly successful. 
 
 In June, 1848, he was nominated for President by the 
 Whigs, upon the express understanding that he should 
 be unbound by pledges. Millard Fillmore of New York 
 was nominated for Yice-President. Although the nom 
 ination of General Taylor was quite popular among the 
 
 19 
 
456 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 people, it gave considerable offense to a number of the 
 northern delegates, arid Henry Wilson and some others 
 withdrew from the convention to form the Free Soil party, 
 the basis of which was opposition to the extension of 
 slavery. The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass ; but on 
 account of his known pro-slavery principles, many of his 
 party refused to vote for him, giving their suffrages to 
 the Free Soil candidates, Martin Yan Buren and Charles 
 Francis Adams. General Taylor was, however, elected, 
 and was inaugurated on Monday, March 5, 1849. 
 
 The most important questions of his administration 
 concerned the admission of California as a State, the or 
 ganization of the new territories, and the still vexed 
 boundaries of Texas ; the vital point being the relation 
 of Slavery to the new sections. At that time, there were 
 an equal number of Slave and Free States, giving an ex 
 act balance of power in the Senate, and the admission of 
 California either as a Free or a Slave State was a matter 
 of vital importance to both political parties. President 
 Taylor recommended that California be admitted ; that 
 the new territories should draw up constitutions to suit 
 themselves on the subject of slavery, and be ultimately 
 admitted as States on these bases. This view was too 
 liberal for the slave-holding leaders of the South, and 
 many of them already threatened secession. In the 
 Senate, Henry Clay was attempting to effect some sort 
 of compromise compromise which has ever been the 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 457 
 
 bane of the country when President Taylor was attacked 
 with bilious fever on July 4, 1850, and died five days 
 later at the White House. 
 
 Few of the Presidents have been less prepared to fill 
 that high office. He was ignorant, not only of state-craft 
 and politics, but he had not had the most ordinary ad- 
 vantages of education. On the other hand, he had ster 
 ling qualities of character ; he was simple, modest, loyal, 
 and thoroughly desirous to do his dul^ as far as a limited 
 understanding made it plain ; and he died amid sincere 
 regret. He left several children, one of his daughters 
 being the first Mrs. Jefferson Davis. 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born 
 January 7, 1800, in Locke, now Summerhill, Cayuga 
 County, New York. The region was then a wilderness, 
 and his opportunities for education were limited to the 
 most elementary parts. At fourteen, he was apprenticed 
 to learn the fuller s trade ; but in his nineteenth year 
 determined to study law. He agreed, therefore, to buy 
 the rest of his time from his employer, and with a neigh 
 boring lawyer arranged to earn his lessons. In 1821, 
 he made his way on foot to Buffalo, and arrived an utter 
 stranger with his entire fortune of $4 in his pocket. He 
 obtained employment by teaching school, and assisting 
 the post-master while he prosecuted his studies, and the 
 
458 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 energy and determination which had helped him so far, 
 carried him to the bar before the usual period of prepara 
 tion. He began practice at Aurora, New York, where 
 his father then resided. He gradually built up a pros 
 perous practice, and in 1830 removed to Buffalo, which 
 was ever after his home. 
 
 His political life began in 1828, on his election to the 
 State Legislature by the anti-Masonic party. He parti 
 cularly distinguished himself by advocating the abolition 
 of imprisonment for debt; the bill in relation to which 
 was mainly drafted by him. In 1832, he was sent to 
 Congress on the anti-Jackson ticket. In 1836, he was 
 sent again by the Whigs, and remained until 1842, when 
 he declined a renomination. Fillmore earnestly sup 
 ported President John Quincy Adams in his course con 
 cerning the reception and reading in Congress of peti 
 tions adverse to Slavery. He declared himself adverse 
 to the admission of Texas as a Slave State ; he was in 
 favor of the immediate abolition of Slavery in the Dis 
 trict of Columbia, and of Congress using all its consti 
 tutional powers to prevent the slave trade between the 
 States. He would not, however, pledge himself not to 
 change his opinions on these vital questions. Fillmore 
 was a most devoted Representative, and was one of the 
 most active members during his entire term in Congress. 
 He retired in 1843, and was a candidate for the nomina 
 tion of Y ice-President in 1844, but was defeated. He 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 459 
 
 was also defeated for Governor of New York in 1845 by 
 Silas Wright. In 1847 he was elected Comptroller of 
 the State, and in his report in 1849, suggested that a 
 national bank, with United States stocks as a basis for 
 the issue of currency, would be a great convenience for 
 the people ; thus foreshadowing our present national 
 banking system. 
 
 In June, 1848, Fillmore was really nominated for the 
 Vice-Presidency with General Taylor for President, and 
 was elected the following November. When John C. 
 Calhoun was Vice-President, he had made the rule that 
 the Vice-President had no power to call the Senate to 
 order. Fillmore, however, in a brief but telling speech, 
 announced his intention of keeping order in that body, 
 and reversing any previous rules, if necessary. His 
 course was highly commended by the senators of all 
 parties. 
 
 On the 10th of July, 1850, he was sworn in as Presi 
 dent upon Zachary Taylor s death. The question of the 
 constitutionality of the act compelling the return of fugi 
 tive slaves soon came up for decision, and was referred 
 to the attorney-general, John J. Crittenden of Kentucky. 
 He decided in favor of the bill, and the President con 
 curred in the decision. This was one of the most unpop 
 ular measures of Fillmore s administration ; for many 
 members of the Whig party were opposed to encourag 
 ing Slavery, although not avowedly of the anti-slavery 
 
400 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 faith. Tho execution of this law was constantly resisted, 
 and although the President declared it should be main 
 tained because it was the law, those who resisted it were 
 not, in consequence of its unpopularity, often molested. 
 The signing of the Fugitive Slave Bill, as it was called, 
 was almost the only very unpopular act of Fillmore s 
 administration, which in many respects was remarkably 
 successful ; but he was so distasteful to the northern pub 
 lic that, when a candidate for renomination in 1852, he 
 could not secure twenty votes in the Free States. Once 
 afterward, in 185G, he was nominated by the American 
 or Know-Nothing party for President, against Buchanan 
 nominated by the Democrats, and Fremont by the Repub 
 licans. He received quite a large popular vote; but 
 Maryland alone gave him its electoral vote. After this, 
 he wholly retired from public life, and lived in Buffalo 
 until his death, March 8th, 1874. 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
 
 Franklin Pierce, fourteenth President, although well 
 born his father being a Revolutionary general, and 
 Governor of his native State and well educated, was 
 one of the most unenlightened Executives the country 
 has had. His body was born in Hillsborough, New 
 Hampshire, November 23, 1804 ; but his mind was native 
 to the most bigoted region of the South. He was gradu 
 ated at Bowdoin College in 1824, in the same class with 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 461 
 
 Nathaniel Hawthorne ; he studied law at Portsmouth 
 and Amherst, N. H., and Northampton, Mass., and 
 was admitted to the bar in 1827. At the ago 
 of twenty-five, he was elected to the Legislature, 
 remaining four years. At twenty-nine, he was sent to 
 Congress, and in 1837, when barely of legal age, was 
 sent to the Senate. This rapid political advancement 
 indicated that he was regarded as an exceptionally able 
 young man ; but it also indicates that the constituency 
 which thus recognized his ability must have been no less 
 narrow-minded than himself. All his congressional 
 course was in the line of political retrogression, and he 
 uniformly voted with the southern members in favor of 
 all pro-slavery and other mistaken acts. He ardently 
 approved the annexation of Texas, and was in such cor 
 dial sympathy with President Polk concerning the Mexi 
 can war, that he enlisted in one of the earliest volunteer 
 regiments. He was shortly after made Colonel of the 
 Ninth regiment, and was commissioned Brigadier-General 
 before he departed for the seat of war. The appoint 
 ment, however, was justified by his bravery and wisdom 
 on the battle-field ; and at the close of the war he returned 
 to his home and his law practice covered with laurels. 
 In 1852, he was nominated by the Democrats for the 
 Presidency, and elected by an overwhelming majority. 
 In his inaugural address he foreshadowed his future blind 
 policy. He argued that Slavery w r as recognized by the 
 
462 LIVES OF THE PKESIDENTS. 
 
 Constitution ; that therefore the Fugitive Slave Law was 
 right, and should be carried out ; and lie denounced all 
 agitation of the slavery question. Among the most im 
 portant events of his administration were the repeal of 
 the Missouri compromise, the organization of the Terri 
 tories of Kansas and Nebraska, under the Kansas- 
 Nebraska Act, and the negotiation by Commodore Perry 
 of our first treaty with the hitherto unknown country of 
 Japan. It was about this time that the troubles between 
 the anti-slavery and pro-slavery citizens of Kansas began ; 
 and on January 24, 1856, President Pierce sent a message 
 to Congress declaring the formation of a Free-State gov 
 ernment in Kansas an act of rebellion. The President s 
 course in relation to the border troubles, as they were 
 then called, gave great offense, and justly, to a very large 
 part of the North, although anti-slavery tenets were then 
 by no means popular. There is little doubt, however, 
 that his evident southern proclivities helped to dei eat 
 Pierce for renomination ; for sectional feeling, which 
 resulted later in civil war, was already beginning to run 
 high. As long as he remained the Executive, Pierce did 
 his utmost to prevent the new States, Kansas especially, 
 from being free, and when he retired, on March 4, 1857, 
 he left the way open for his weak-kneed successor, James 
 Buchanan, to do the same. 
 
 After leaving the White House, Pierce made a protract 
 ed European tour, and returned to New Hampshire about 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 463 
 
 the beginning of the Rebellion. During its progrsss he 
 declared in a public speech his entire sympathy with the 
 South. He passed into a retirement which became prac 
 tically oblivion, and died at Concord, October 8, 1869. 
 Personally he was amiable, courteous, and refined, and 
 much liked by his intimate friends ; but his peculiar bias 
 prevented him from comprehending both sides of a 
 question. 
 
 19* 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 An Unpopular Administration. James Buchanan s Early History. 
 Sent to Congress at Twenty-nine. The Weakest of Presidents. 
 His Total Inadequacy for the Great Emergency in which He was 
 Placed. Shrewd for His Own Interest. An Admirer and Fol 
 lower of Jackson "Without His Will or Courage. The Anti-Slav 
 ery Excitement in Kansas. The Cause of the Civil War Inherent 
 in the Constitution. The Nation on the Eve of a Conflict. 
 Admission by Buchanan of the Right of the Southern States to 
 Secede. A Pitiful Spectacle of Imbecility. General Relief at the 
 End of His Administration. 
 
 No administration, unless it was John Tyler s, has 
 ever been so unpopular as James Buchanan s. Odious 
 throughout the North on account of what was declared 
 to be his cowardly and treacherous yielding to the out 
 rageous and rebellious acts of the South, it was, towards 
 its close, bitterly condemned by the South, which accused 
 him of perfidy to them in sustaining the unconstitutional 
 aggressions of the North. He shared the fate of most 
 men -who, in times of fierce dissension between two great 
 
 parties, try, in a feeble and vacillating way, to avoid 
 
 (464) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 465 
 
 offending either, and end by offending both. The best 
 that can be said of Buchanan is that, placed in a most 
 difficult and critical situation, which would have tested 
 the powers of the strongest man, he was found weak 
 and irresolute, and shamefully inadequate to the vast 
 emergency. 
 
 His father was a Scotch-Irishman, who had immigrated 
 to this country without means or prospects, and had 
 married, soon after arrival, Elizabeth Speer, a farmer s 
 daughter. They sought their fortunes in an unsettled 
 region of Pennsylvania; the young husband cutting 
 down the trees, and building a log hut for their future 
 home. There, at the base of the eastern ridge of the 
 Alleghanies, in Franklin County, James was born, April 
 22d, 1791, and spent eight years. He died near Lan 
 caster in June, 1868. His father, who, like most of his 
 race, was industrious, shrewd, and thrifty, prospered in a 
 humble fashion, and removed to the village of Mercers- 
 burg, where the boy was sent to school. He showed 
 great aptitude and native talents, and entered Dickinson 
 College at Carlisle at fourteen, and, four years later, was 
 graduated with distinction. Like almost every other 
 President, he took to law at Lancaster, and began prac 
 tice when he had attained his majority. He is reported 
 to have been tall, well-formed, vigorous, exuberant of 
 spirits, and fond of manly sports. Very diligent and 
 ambitious, he advanced rapidly, gained a lucrative prac- 
 
466 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 tice, and at thirty was ranked as one of the first lawyers 
 in the State. 
 
 Having been sent to Congress at twenty-nine, he 
 remained there for ten years, and when he had reached 
 forty, he retired from business, having acquired what 
 was then regarded as wealth. In politics he began as 
 a Federalist; but he favored the war of 1812, and even 
 volunteered for the defense of Baltimore. Subsequently 
 he turned Republican, properly Democrat, largely through 
 his admiration of General Jackson, and from sympathy 
 with his doctrines, the kind of admiration, it is pre 
 sumed, which a flabby nature has for a strong one. In 
 1831, he was appointed by the President Minister to 
 Russia, and discharged his duties faithfully and accepta 
 bly. On his return, two years later, he was chosen 
 to the United States Senate, where he came into contact 
 with Silas Wright, Calhoun, Webster, and Clay, the last 
 of whom never liked him, regarding him as a timid, 
 self-seeking, time-serving man. He almost invariably 
 reflected the views of the administration, and was 
 accused by his opponents of obsequiousness and sub 
 serviency. He defended Jackson for his course in 
 removing from office all who would not support him, or 
 were of different politics a course that has been incal 
 culably mischievous to the government, and for which 
 Jackson is entirely responsible and insisted that it was 
 not only justifiable, but commendable. This greatly 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 467 
 
 pleased Jackson, who never could distinguish between 
 flattery and sincere appreciation, and who considered 
 every man his enemy that had a will of his own. Con 
 sistently with his peculiar character, he sustained the 
 administration of Van Buren, and ardently advocated 
 the annexation of Texas. He was returned to the 
 Senate, and kept his seat until Polk assigned him (1845) 
 a place in his Cabinet as Secretary of State. 
 
 Buchanan naturally employed all his energy against 
 the Wilmot Proviso, by which Slavery should be excluded 
 from all territory obtained from Mexico, and was con 
 tinually nervous and troubled about the anti-slavery 
 movement, at that time steadily growing. From first 
 to last, he was always actively on the side of the peculiar 
 institution, and was secretly despised therefor by not a 
 few of the most zealous southerners. Conservative to a 
 point of timorousness, he was ever in dread of a disso 
 lution of the Union. He did not think the North could 
 do too much cringing and skulking to placate the inso 
 lent and arrogant South. He was willing that the 
 Republic should be materially preserved by the sacrifice 
 of all principle on the part of the Free States. In a 
 speech in the lower house, he said, "I shall forever avoid 
 any expression, the direct tendency of which must be to 
 create sectional jealousies, and at length disunion, that 
 worst and last of all political calamities." Discussing 
 the admission of Michigan and Arkansas, in the Senate, 
 
468 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 he declared, "The older I grow, the more I am inclined 
 to be a states-rights man." He maintained, concerning 
 petitions about Slavery, that " Congress had no power to 
 legislate on the subject," and that the body "might as 
 well undertake to interfere with Slavery under a foreign 
 government as in any of the States where it now exists." 
 More southern than the Southerners, he was without 
 their motive of material interest, and without their 
 excuse of local tradition and sectional prejudice. Is it 
 strange, therefore, that in 1856 he was put forward as 
 their candidate for the presidency, against John C. 
 Fremont, the first Republican candidate of the new 
 order, and Millard Fillmore, Native American ? As was 
 said at the time, they could not find a more willing 
 servant, or a more pliant tool. He received at the 
 Cincinnati convention one hundred and seventy-four 
 electoral votes out of three hundred and three, and 
 became the fifteenth President. 
 
 Extraordinary excitement was produced, the first year 
 of his administration, by an effort to introduce Slavery 
 into Kansas, where civil war was waged. He was, of 
 course, an aider and abettor of the South. He argued 
 in his message that the Lecompton Constitution, which 
 was directly in the interest of the pro-slavery men, 
 should be adopted ; but Congress resisted, and Kansas 
 came in free. He wanted to buy Cuba for the advantage 
 of slavery ; he filled his Cabinet with Democrats and 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 469 
 
 their friends, and negatively, at least, helped the cause 
 of secession by every means in his power. Everybody 
 saw the long-deferred, but never-settled sectional conflict 
 at hand ; that the contest which had been suppressed 
 and glossed over by the Constitution would, after nearly 
 a century, have to be fought out. 
 
 The founders of the Republic had secured peace by 
 bequeathing the unavoidable battle to their posterity. It 
 was in 1861 as it had been in 1789. That was the 
 armistice ; this was the resumption of hostilities. It was 
 Federalist and anti-Federalist then ; it was Unionist and 
 Disunionist now ; but, although the words were changed, 
 the meaning was the same. The cause of the civil strife 
 was the outward agreement and the inward disagreement 
 of the Constitution. Washington perceived its defects, 
 but believed it the best that could be devised, the sole 
 alternative for anarchy and civil war. And so it was ; 
 but the Civil War came and was bound to come in due 
 season. America compromised then, and kept compro 
 mising for two generations, and the result of the com 
 promise was a mighty fraternal struggle which for blood 
 shed and horror has never been equaled. The cause of 
 the conflict was the hollow compromise of the Constitu 
 tion. Its framers were most thoughtful, prudent, saga 
 cious. They did all that they could. They saw the 
 present ; they could not perceive the future. And now 
 that future is, fortunately, behind us ; and we as a people 
 
470 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 are, for the first time, united by common losses, common 
 sufferings, and common sorrows. 
 
 As Buchanan s term drew toward a close, the people 
 of the North became more and more aroused against him 
 for his constant concessions to the slave power. The anli- 
 slavery feeling grew more and more intense, and culmi 
 nated in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for Presi 
 dent, who had given assurances that he would be the 
 Executive of the whole country. The South pronounced 
 him a sectional candidate, and declared it would go out 
 if he should be elected. It had said the same thing 
 about Fremont. It had been threatening to dissolve the 
 Union so long it had always kept political control by 
 menacing the North that the Free States had finally 
 got tired of hearing the threat. They were anxious to 
 learn whether it was in earnest or not. If not, they 
 ought to know it ; if in earnest, they should know it also. 
 The knowledge could not come too soon. The disrupture 
 might as well be then as at any time better, indeed. So 
 they elected Lincoln, and the disintegration began. 
 
 Buchanan admitted the right of the Southern States 
 to secede, and held that Congress had no power to pre 
 vent them. He sat, nevertheless, in his bewilderment, 
 and saw the arms of the Republic stolen, the national 
 forts surrendered, State after State discarding its alle 
 giance. There was no remedy for it, in his flaccid mind. 
 He did not even remonstrate. All his censure was for 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 471 
 
 those averse to the extension of slavery. His words 
 were : " The loner-continued interference of the Northern 
 people with Slavery in the South has at length produced 
 its natural effects." It was a pitiful spectacle of imbe 
 cility. How differently Andrew Jackson, whom he had 
 assumed to admire, would have acted in his place ! He 
 would have done something, and something decisive. He 
 would have taken the responsibility. He would have 
 taught the Rebels a lesson at the outset. The War would 
 at least have begun earlier. 
 
 Two months before the inauguration of Lincoln, the 
 South had prepared itself for an aggressive struggle ; had 
 strengthened its position by seizing government property, 
 and the head of the nation had not lifted a finger against 
 them. If he had been hired to cooperate with them, he 
 could hardly have served them more effectually. Many 
 conciliatory measures were proposed by the North ; but 
 the Rebels rejected them. They evidently scorned the 
 government, as they had reason to, with such an unex- 
 ecutive Executive. Buchanan seemed concerned only 
 with the date of the 4th of March, when his administra 
 tion would end, and his responsibility for overt acts 
 would cease. It did end, and the North breathed freer, 
 and experienced a sense of relief and of diminished 
 shame that there would be no more of him forever. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Contrast Between Lincoln and Buchanan. His Lonely Boyhood 
 and Severe Youth. The Cause of his Detestation of Slavery. The 
 Campaign with Douglas in Illinois Introduces him to the Nation. 
 The Irresistible Magnetism of the Rail-Splitter. His Nomination at 
 Chicago. Deplorable Condition of the Country at the Time of his 
 Inauguration. His Resolve to Preserve the Union at all Hazards. 
 Distressing Effect of his Assassination. His Personal Appearance 
 and Power of Persuasion. How the Future will Regard the Great 
 President. 
 
 There has scarcely ever been a greater contrast 
 between two men in power than between James Bu 
 chanan and Abraham Lincoln. They were antipodes. 
 One was an embodiment of feebleness, the other an incar 
 nation of strength. The best of Buchanan was outside ; 
 the best of Lincoln inside. You had to know one to 
 measure his weakness, and the other to understand his 
 greatness. That such men should succeed one another 
 is one of the antitheses in which History and Nature 
 delight. 
 
 (472) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 473 
 
 The sixteenth President, who is as certain of lasting 
 fame as Washington, was born in Hardin (now Lame) 
 County, Ky., February 12, 1809, his ancestors having 
 gone from Pennsylvania to Virginia, whence they had 
 removed to Kentucky. His father, Thomas Lincoln, and 
 his mother, Nancy Hanks, were Virginians. The child 
 hood of Abraham Lincoln was lonely, sterile, and full of 
 hardship. At eight years of age, his parents went to 
 Spencer County, Ind., and he remembered how severe 
 the journey was, and how much he endured in making 
 it. Two years later, he lost his mother, a bitter loss 
 which he never ceased to mourn. She had taught him to 
 read, and did much to form his character, young as he 
 was. Among the few books that he had and prized in 
 his boyhood were " Robinson Crusoe," " Pilgrim s Pro 
 gress," and a " Life of Washington," which left a marked 
 impression on his mind, and from which he could repeat 
 long passages after he had become a man. At^ twenty- 
 one he went to Macon County, Illinois. He volunteered 
 for the defense of the frontier settlements on the break 
 ing out of the Black Hawk War in 1832, but it came to 
 an end before he had seen any service. In the same 
 year, he advocated the cause of Henry Clay against that 
 of General Jackson, and was sorely troubled at the 
 former s defeat, having formed an enthusiastic admira 
 tion for him. In 1884, he was elected to the Legislature, 
 and reflected in 1836 and 1838. He had already formed 
 
474 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 decided opinions on Slavery, and had proclaimed that it 
 was founded on injustice and bad policy. He had seen 
 slaves chained and whipped when he was a young man 
 at New Orleans, and he hated slavery ever after. Ad 
 mitted to the bar, he began to practice at Springfield, 
 III., in 1837, and five years after he married Mary Todd, 
 daughter of Robert S. Todd of Lexington, Ky. 
 
 Having become prominent as a Whig in his own State, 
 he was sent to Congress in 1846, and while there always 
 acted on the side of freedom. But his reputation was 
 local until he had been nominated, in 1858, by the Repub 
 lican Convention of Illinois for the United States Senate 
 in opposition to the reelection of Stephen A. Douglas. 
 Lincoln challenged his adversary to canvass the State, 
 and they did so, speaking in joint debate seven times. 
 It was a remarkable campaign, and attracted national 
 attention. The main question was on the admission of 
 Kansas as a Free or Slave State. Douglas s assumptions 
 of superiority, and allusions to his opponent s early 
 poverty and humble employment, were received with 
 entire good nature, and with such humorous turns and 
 telling retorts that the Little Giant was put at disadvan 
 tage. Indeed, skillful and brilliant debater though he 
 was, he was no match for Lincoln, whose homely com 
 mon sense and sagacious mind had far more influence 
 with the people. 
 The rail-splitter, as he was called he had often split 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 475 
 
 rails to build cabins was one of the most persuasive and 
 effective speakers. Nobody who had ever heard him once, 
 whatever his prejudice beforehand, could fail to like him. 
 He was so simple, so fair, so direct, so convincing, that 
 he would always carry his audience with him. It is 
 doubtful if he has ever had his equal in this respect in 
 the United States. " To listen to Lincoln," said a prom 
 inent politician, " is to be on his side. There is no resist 
 ing him or his conclusions." 
 
 Lincoln actually compelled Douglas during that memo 
 rable campaign to array himself against the Dred-Scott 
 Decision, and this so enraged the extreme Southern 
 Democrats that they refused to support him for Presi 
 dent in 1860. They nominated John C. Breckinridge 
 instead, and this frustrated Douglas s hopes and burning 
 ambition. Lincoln was defeated by a peculiar arrange 
 ment of the legislative districts, notwithstanding that he 
 had a plurality of more than 4,000 votes over his rival. 
 But the Illinois campaign made him President. 
 
 In 1860, he delivered a strong and eloquent speech on 
 the vital question of slavery at the Cooper Institute in 
 New York, and then went to New England, where he 
 also spoke most effectively. The Chicago Convention 
 denied in its platform the right of Congress, of a Terri 
 torial Legislature, or of any individual or individuals, to 
 give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the 
 United States, and on the third ballot nominated Lincoln 
 
47 G LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 as Ihe Republican candidate. Win. H. Seward s friends 
 were greatly disappointed, for they had been confident 
 of his success, particularly after he had led Lincoln on 
 the first two ballots ; but they soon became reconciled. 
 The canvass was most enthusiastic and demonstrative, 
 and the feeling all over the country was that we were on 
 the eve of a crisis. Lincoln received 180 electoral votes, 
 Breckenridge 72, John Bell 39, and Douglas 12. 
 
 When Lincoln had taken his seat, seven States had 
 formally seceded, and seven more were contemplating 
 secession. The North was, thanks to the administration 
 of Buchanan, deprived of all the requirements of war ; 
 the small army and navy had been purposely scattered ; 
 the treasury was empty. The Free States had scarcely 
 decided what course to take when the attack by South 
 Carolina on Sumter forced civil war upon them. Then 
 they were unanimous in raising money and men ; they 
 were ablaze with patriotism ; they were as belligerent as 
 the South, though less boastful and confident. For four 
 years war raged fiercely, success alternating with defeat. 
 There were many despondent hours and dark days, and 
 the President was urged to various measures for the 
 good of the country, which he declined. Fault was 
 found with him in various quarters; he was termed 
 slow, obstinate, wrong-headed; but the end proved his 
 consummate wisdom. He was a born leader of men. 
 He understood his fellow-countrymen, the drift of events, 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 477 
 
 and the needs of the time as no one else understood 
 them. He steadily refused to proclaim Emancipation 
 until the occasion was ripe (September 22, 1862), and 
 he was the man who knew when that would be. 
 
 The Fugitive Slave Law was repealed in June, 1864, 
 and, about that date, Lincoln said in an interview : 
 " There have been men base enough to propose to me to 
 return our black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee, 
 and thus win the respect of the masters they fought. 
 Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned in time and 
 eternity. Come what may, I will keep my faith with 
 friend and foe. My enemies pretend I am now carrying 
 on this war for the sole purpose of abolition. So long 
 as I am President, it shall be carried on for the sole 
 purpose of restoring the Union. But no human power 
 can subdue this Rebellion without the use of the eman 
 cipation policy, and every other policy calculated to 
 weaken the moral and physical forces of the Rebellion." 
 
 The war, which had cost a million of lives, and mill 
 ions on millions of money, practically closed with the 
 fall of Richmond, April 9, 1865. But, while the popular 
 rejoicing was at its height, the assassination of the great 
 President shocked the nation, and filled its heart with 
 mourning. No" single event has, it is safe to say, ever 
 so filled the country with anguish and a sense of be 
 reavement. The whole people were stunned and dis 
 tressed beyond expression. Lincoln had grown upon 
 
478 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 them steadily and rapidly until they had all learned to 
 admire, to trust, to love, and to revere him. He had 
 become to every man, woman, and child as a near and 
 dear personal friend. He was a most exalted character, 
 one of the noblest representatives of humanity, a credit 
 to his kind, an almost matchless man. He was the 
 Father of his Country as much as Washington had been. 
 The one gave us a Republic : the other preserved it, 
 when assailed by domestic enemies. As Emerson puts 
 it, " By his courage, his justice, his even temper, his 
 fertile counsel, his humanity, he stood a heroic figure in 
 the center of a heroic epoch." 
 
 As time goes on, his reputation will grow. We are 
 still too near him to measure his greatness. He was 
 such a man as Nature produces only at long intervals ; 
 he was of the grandest type of men, of whom there have 
 been few in the world. Sprung from the humblest, a 
 mere backwoodsman, without education, training, or any 
 kind of assistance or advantage, he learned, as by intui 
 tion, to use his native language, the greatest of all 
 tongues, as the ripest scholars could not. In force-and 
 fitness of expression he has hardly been surpassed. His 
 letters and speeches are models, the classics of unstudied 
 effort, the oracles of the popular heart. Queer, raw, 
 angular, awkward, homely of feature, no one could be 
 long in his presence and hear him speak without feeling 
 his unquestionable superiority. One forgot his physical 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 479 
 
 defects and his strange imcoutlmess in the power and 
 spirit of his wonderful individuality. He was as good 
 as he was great, as broad as he was tender. He will 
 not be forgotten ; he is unforgetable. Even if America 
 should decline and decay, he would make it be remem 
 bered. He will always be recalled as the great Ameri 
 can. If ever mortal were, Abraham Lincoln is booked 
 for immortality. His fame is fixed in the center of ages. 
 
 The future will revere him as an ideal of humanity. 
 20 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON AND ULYSSES S. GRANT, 
 SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH PRESI 
 DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Johnson s Early Life and Hard Struggles. A Tailor who was more 
 than the Ninth Part of a Man. His Views of Slavery and Seces 
 sion. His Personal Courage and its Good Effects Politically. His 
 Disagreement with Congress about Reconstruction. The Impeach 
 ment Trial. Grant in the Mexican War. His Incompetency in 
 Business. Finding his Place in the Civil War. His Extraordinary 
 Success in the Field. Called to Command the Army of the Poto 
 mac. His Political Mistakes and Greed of Power. 
 
 Andrew Johnson s chief claim to distinction in the 
 future will probably be that he was elected Yice-Presi- 
 dent on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln, and that he 
 succeeded him as President, after his assassination, April 
 15, 1865. His early life was very creditable, denoting 
 what industry, energy, and perseverance may accomplish 
 against extreme poverty, want of education, and every 
 kind of obstacle. Born at Raleigh, N. C., December 29, 
 1808, he learned the trade of a tailor, his father, who 
 died when he was a child, had been a constable, a sexton, 
 
 (480) 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 481 
 
 and a porter, and followed it for many years at the lit 
 tle town of Greenville, Tenn. He was a ragged urchin, 
 a street Arab, until he was ten years old, supported by 
 the manual labor of his mother, who belonged to that 
 most unfortunate class known as the poor whites of the 
 South. He could not even read then ; indeed, he did not 
 learn the alphabet until some time after. At eighteen, 
 he married a girl of intelligence and considerable educa 
 tion, who became his instructor, reading to him while he 
 worked at his humble calling, and teaching him in the 
 evening arithmetic, geography, and history. 
 
 He gained considerable influence over mechanics and 
 manual laborers, and by the time he was of age had 
 taken quite an interest in politics, to which he adhered 
 through life. He ardently espoused their cause, and 
 arrayed himself against the rich and ruling class, so 
 strong and arrogant in the days of Slavery. After filling 
 several small local offices, he was chosen to the lower 
 House of the Legislature. He was then twenty-seven, 
 and proclaimed himself a Democrat of the Jacksonian 
 school. In 1840 he took the stump for Martin Van 
 Burcn against Harrison, and became a ready and popular 
 speaker with the kind of people he addressed. He was 
 very fond of alluding to the fact of his being a mechanic 
 and a wholly self-made man, he never recovered from 
 the habit, and these constant allusions, whether in good 
 taste or not, won over the common people. In 1843 he 
 
482 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 was sent by the Democrats to Congress, and kept there 
 for ten years, and in 1857 he was elected to the United 
 States Senate. 
 
 In regard to Slavery, his views were those of a South 
 erner and a Democrat. He accepted it, and believed it 
 protected by the Constitution, though he did not 
 think it would last, or that it ought to, if it should 
 endanger the Union. In the canvass of 1860, he supported 
 Breckinridge, the candidate of the extreme Southerners ; 
 but when they threatened secession he opposed them, 
 declaring any such attempt both unjust and madly foolish. 
 Ho maintained that they should contend for their rights 
 in the Union, not out of it ; that to secede would ruin 
 whatever prospects they might have. He boasted that he 
 had voted and spoken against Lincoln, and spent money 
 to prevent his election. But as time went on, he grew 
 more and more inimical to the doctrine of State-Rights, 
 and the action of the secession party. One day, a mob 
 entered the railway car in which he was returning home, 
 for the purpose of lynching him ; but when he drew his 
 pistol, the mob retired in disorder. Johnson was, per 
 sonally, very brave, as he had often proved, and his brave 
 ry, doubtless, preserved him from frequent assaults. 
 The most furious Rebels had a sense of prudence which 
 prevented them from attacking a man they hated, when 
 they knew he would defend himself desperately. Not 
 daring to molest him, they were contented to bum him in 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 483 
 
 effigy, which pleased them, and did him no harm. His 
 wife and child were driven from their home, and his nine 
 slaves confiscated. Having been appointed Military Gov 
 ernor of Tennessee by Lincoln, he discharged his difficult 
 and dangerous duties ably and fearlessly, exercising a 
 most favorable influence in the State. 
 
 Elected Vice-President in 1864, he was at first very 
 severe on the enemies of the Government, but afterward 
 changed his policy to one of conciliation, which rendered 
 him very unpopular in the North. He became President 
 at Lincoln s death, and was soon involved with Congress 
 because he was inimical to their views of reconstruction 
 and the rights of freedmen. He vetoed various acts 
 which were passed over his head, and put himself in so 
 antagonistic a position to the body that its members 
 decided to impeach him. Charged, among other offences, 
 with violating the Act regulating the tenure of certain 
 civil offices he had suspended Secretary Stanton from 
 the war office without the consent of the Senate he was 
 formally impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. 
 At the close of the trial, thirty-five Senators voted him 
 guilty, and nineteen not guilty ; and as a two-thirds vote 
 was required to convict, Johnson escaped by just one 
 vote. He declared, in his defense, that his policy of 
 reconstruction had been outlined and agreed upon by 
 President Lincoln and his Cabinet, and that Stanton him 
 self had pronounced the tenure-of-office Act unconstitu- 
 
484 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 tional. His undignified, inconsistent and intemperate 
 course had forfeited the esteem in which the Nation had 
 held him, and he went out of office with general approval. 
 Still seeking place and power, he was elected United 
 States Senator in January, 1875 ; but he died, at sixty- 
 six, the next July, of paralysis. Andrew Johnson was 
 one of the men who had lived too long for his own fame 
 or for his country s good. 
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant is a notable instance of a man who 
 does not find the Avork he is best fitted for until liis youth 
 has passed. But for the Civil War, and the opportunities 
 it gave him of displaying his military talents, it is entirely 
 probable that he would have been to-day unrecognized 
 and obscured. If any one had predicted, on the election 
 of Lincoln, that Grant would be one of the greatest Gen 
 erals of the war and President of the United States, he 
 would have been laughed at. No one seems to have 
 suspected that Grant was in any way remarkable until 
 he had demonstrated it by deeds. It is, indeed, doubtful if 
 he had ever suspected it himself. But he is so quiet and 
 reticent that it will never be known what opinion Grant 
 entertains of Grant. It may be that he was more sur 
 prised than anybody else when he made the discovery of 
 his own heroship. He may have questioned his own 
 identity or have thought, like the Irishman, that he had 
 been changed during the night. 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 485 
 
 Grant is, as his name indicates, of Scotch extraction, 
 but remotely. His parents were both Pennsylvanians, 
 though he is a native of Point Pleasant, Clermont County, 
 Ohio, having been born April 27, 1822. Having received 
 a partial education at a common school, he entered West 
 Point as a cadet at seventeen, and was graduated four 
 years later, standing twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine, 
 which is not a flattering record. He went with his regi 
 ment as Lieutenant to Mexico, and distinguished himself 
 in divers engagements, having been breveted Captain 
 for gallantry at Chapultepec. After the capture of the 
 city of Mexico, he returned with his regiment, mar 
 ried Julia T. Dent of St. Louis, sister of one of his 
 classmates, and at thirty-two resigned his commission. 
 He went upon a farm belonging to his father-in-law, near 
 St. Louis ; he was a real-estate agent in that city, and a 
 elerk for his father, then a leather merchant at Galena, 
 111., but did not prosper. He appeared to be unpractical, 
 indolent, careless, and was generally regarded as a ne er- 
 do-well. It is said that he was never able to provide for 
 his family, which would have come to want but for his 
 father-in-law, who often regretted that his daughter was 
 the wife of so incompetent a person. 
 
 When the Civil War had broken out, he was one of the 
 first to enlist, and was elected Captain of a company of 
 Illinois volunteers, who reported for duty at Springfield. 
 He was afterward made Colonel of an Illinois regiment, 
 
486 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 the twenty-first, and became in two months a Brigadier. 
 His first battle was at Belmont, Mo,, claimed by both 
 sides, where he had a horse shot under him. In conjunc 
 tion with the gunboats he ascended the Tennessee, and 
 Fort Henry fell into our hands, but mainly through the 
 flotilla. He attacked Fort Donelson on the Cumberland 
 and forced it to surrender, February 15, 1862, with some 
 fourteen thousand prisoners. This, the first great success 
 of the war for the Union army, filled the North with en 
 thusiasm ; gave Grant a high reputation and the rank of 
 Major-General. General Albert Sidney Johnston attacked 
 Grant April 6th, at Shiloh, on the Tennessee, with far su 
 perior force; drove back the Union troops, and took 
 several thousand prisoners. The next day, Grant having 
 combined with General Buell, renewed the fight, and won 
 a victory, General Johnston being killed. After a siege 
 of six weeks, he took Yicksburg July 4, 1868, and 
 thirty thousand prisoners. This brilliant achievement 
 turned the admiring eyes of the North upon him, and 
 advanced him to the rank of Major-General in the regular 
 army. The following November he defeated Bragg at 
 Missionary Ridge, near Chattanooga, and revealed him 
 self as the proper man to take charge of the Army of the 
 Potomac, which had never achieved any permanent suc 
 cess, but had experienced any number of reverses. His 
 repeated and bloody engagements in Virginia (he was 
 the only General of the Potomac who had ever forced and 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 487 
 
 continued the fighting) until he had obliged Lee to evacuate 
 Richmond, and then to surrender at Appomatox, are too 
 well known to require recapitulation. Every honor was 
 heaped on Grant ; he had conquered peace ; he had crushed 
 the Rebellion ; he had preserved the Republic. It was 
 thought fitting, therefore, to put him at the head of the 
 government, and he was elected, 1868, the eighteenth 
 President, against Horatio Seymour, receiving two hun 
 dred and fourteen electoral votes, and his competitor 
 eighty. 
 
 Grant being in harmony with his cabinet and the 
 majority of Congress, which Johnson had not been, the 
 reconstruction of the States, lately in rebellion, steadily 
 advanced. He declared himself in favor of the Fifteenth 
 Amendment, forbidding the disfranchisement of any 
 person on account of race or color ; and the machinery 
 of the government, disordered by the obstinacy of the 
 previous Executive, again ran smooth. Grant was 
 reflected in 1872 against Horace Greeley, who had 
 obtained the nomination of the Democrats as well as of 
 the Liberal Republicans, greatly dissatisfied with Grant s 
 administration. While they regarded some of Grant s 
 measures as wise, they regarded other measures as 
 very unwise. They had no reason, they said, to believe 
 that a mere soldier, who had had no knowledge and no 
 experience in political life, should be an acceptable Presi 
 dent. He had been nominated on account of his sup- 
 
 20* 
 
488 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 posed availability which had been proved, and for that 
 reason he was again put forward. His second term was 
 more censured than the first. Nobody questioned his 
 integrity or patriotism these hadl)een repeatedly tested 
 in the field but he often seemed indifferent and obstin 
 ate. He was sharply criticized for his excessive attach 
 ment to unworthy and unprincipled men whom he ranked 
 as his friends. His confidence in them was pronounced 
 excessive ; he would believe, it was said, nothing against 
 them ; would not listen to those who wished for his own 
 good and the good of the country to open his eyes. It 
 would seem that Grant is not a judge .of men. If he 
 had been, he would not and could not have selected for 
 office persons who constantly abused his trust, and filled 
 his administration with scandals. Fidelity to friends 
 may be an admirable trait in private citizens, but such 
 fidelity in high officials, particularly when their friends 
 are totally undeserving, is apt to become mischievous, 
 and is always dangerous. 
 
 Grant has been criticised, too, for what has been called 
 his lust of power. Many Republicans turned against 
 him because of his desire for a third term. While there 
 is no law against a third term, except the unwritten law 
 which custom and precedent have made, the general feel 
 ing in the community is earnestly opposed to it. Grant s 
 advocates asserted for months that he did not want it, 
 but that it would be superfluous and foolish for him to 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 489 
 
 decline what had not been offered. Nevertheless, the 
 outward indications were directly otherwise, and the 
 Chicago convention of 1880 made it plain that he was 
 once more a candidate of the most uncompromising and 
 contumacious kind. This was pointed out by the Inde 
 pendents as a corroboration of their opinion, that Grant 
 was greedy of gain and office, and that he felt, because 
 he had beaten the Rebels, as if the Presidency were his 
 by right, and the Nation could not do too much for him 
 and his. They cited as evidence his willingness to take 
 presents of any sort from anybody and everybody, and 
 their energy of assertion unquestionably injured Grant 
 in many quarters. It is said by those Independents and 
 others that but for the late disgraceful failure of the 
 firm in which the General was a partner, his name would 
 again have been presented and urged at the recent Con 
 vention. It was never mentioned, and Grant s bitterest 
 opponents now admit that the third-term ghost is forever 
 laid. Grant s connection with Grant & Ward was most 
 unfortunate, and while nobody has the hardihood to 
 attempt to implicate him in its rascalities, his absolute 
 ignorance of the character of the business of the house 
 in which he was a partner, has given color to the charges 
 of his unreserved faith in unworthy men, and of his de 
 fective judgment concerning them. But when every 
 thing has been said, the fact remains that General Grant 
 continues to be widely esteemed, and to excite sincere 
 
490 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 sympathy on account of his recent financial adversities 
 from which a much inferior, though different order of 
 man, would have been protected. All things considered, 
 it would, perhaps, have been better for Grant, had he 
 never entered into politics. But, despite the mistakes he 
 has made in public life and out of it, the general feeling 
 is that he has put the Nation under a debt of gratitude 
 which it never can and does not wish to repay. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, 
 AND CHESTER A. ARTHUR, NINETEENTH, 
 TWENTIETH, AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESI 
 DENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Hayes as Lawyer, Politician, and Soldier. Nominated because an 
 Oliioan. The Electoral Commission. Great Outcry Against him, 
 but Still a Creditable President. Garfield s Hard Fight with Fortune 
 at the Outset. Ambition to be a Canal-Boat Captain. His Career in 
 the Army. Leader of the House of Representatives. His Admir 
 able Equipment for Political Life. His Nomination at Chicago 
 Wholly Unexpected. The National Sorrow at his Assassination. 
 Arthur Born in a Log Cabin, and Ruling in the White House. 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes is of New England extraction 
 his parents were Vermonters though an Ohioan by 
 birthright, having been born at the town of Delaware, 
 October 4, 1822. His father, who was in comfortable 
 circumstances, and had a prosperous mercantile business 
 at Brattleborough, suddenly decided, after the war of 
 1812, to go west. He had a fancy for Ohio, then regarded 
 as the remote frontier, which, indeed, it was, and after a 
 preliminary journey of inspection, he was so well pleased 
 
 with the new region that he went back and brought his 
 
 (491) 
 
492 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 family and household goods thither by forty days of most 
 fatiguing travel in a covered wagon. His father, who 
 set up a country store in the village, and conducted it 
 profitably, died before Rutherford s birth, but left his 
 family very well-off. The youth was graduated at Ken- 
 yon College, Gambier, at twenty, studied law, and 
 began practice at twenty-three at Sandusky. 
 
 He afterward removed to Cincinnati, opened an offce, 
 and married Lucy W. Webb, daughter of a physician of 
 Chillicothe. A staunch Republican in opinion, he was 
 chosen City Solicitor, and grew prominent in local 
 politics. Joining the Literary Club, he became a friend 
 of a number of the members, among them Salmon P. 
 Chase, John Pope, and Edward F. Noyes, who afterward 
 obtained celebrity in the field and in the councils of the 
 Nation. At the first call for troops, the Literary Club 
 formed a military company with the name, Burnett 
 Rifles, and offered its services to the government. Not 
 less than seventy-five members became commissioned 
 officers, more than half of these being lawyers. Hayes 
 was made Major of the Twenty-third Ohio infantry, of 
 which Stanley Matthews was Lieutenant-colonel, and 
 William S. Rosecrans Colonel, and was assigned to duty 
 in West Virginia. He was very energetic in campaign 
 ing, was wounded at South Mountain, and at the close of 
 October was appointed a Brigadier, and early in 1865 a 
 Major-General by brevet for gallant conduct in the field, 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 493 
 
 especially at Fisher s Hill and Cedar Creek. In the 
 Autumn of 1864, he was sent to Congress from one of 
 the Cincinnati districts, and was sent back two years 
 later. Although he seldom participated in debate, he 
 performed a deal of hard work, and was of more value 
 than many of the glib talkers in the House. Having 
 been chosen governor in 1867 against Judge Thurman, 
 Democrat, he resigned his seat to go to Columbus, and 
 was reflected two years later. 
 
 Ten years ago, a rich uncle, Sardis Birchard, died and 
 left him a handsome property. In 1875, having again 
 been put forward as Governor, because it was considered 
 very important that the Republicans should carry Ohio, 
 he received a majority of 5,544 over William Allen. 
 This naturally introduced him as a candidate for the 
 Presidency, and the Ohio Republican Convention in 
 March, 1876, recommended his nomination. At the 
 National Convention in Cincinnati in June, before which 
 Elaine and Roscoe Colliding were most prominent, it was 
 found impossible to nominate either of them ; conse 
 quently the opponents of Elaine united on Hayes, and on 
 the seventh ballot gave him 884 votes ; Elaine getting 
 851, and Benjamin H. Bristow 21. In the returns of the 
 November elections, Samuel J. Tilden, it will be remem 
 bered, had 184 electoral votes, and Hayes 172 that were 
 unquestioned. The votes of Florida and Louisiana, and 
 one of the votes of Oregon were in dispute on different 
 
494 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 grounds between the parties. There was much excite 
 ment over this, and there seemed to be no way of set 
 tling the matter. Finally, it was agreed that the decision 
 should be left to a commission of five Senators, five Re 
 presentatives, and five Judges of the Supreme Court. 
 Three of the Senators were to be Republicans and two 
 Democrats, three of the Representatives Democrats and 
 two Republicans. Four Judges, two of each party, were 
 elected, and these were to name a fifth, who was a Re 
 publican. Thus the commission stood eight Republicans 
 to seven Democrats, and they all voted strictly in accord 
 ance with their party, declaring Hayes elected over Til- 
 den by one vote, and he, Hayes, was duly inaugurated 
 nineteenth President of the United States. 
 
 There was a great Democratic outcry that Hayes had 
 not been honestly elected, and he was roundly abused for 
 two years. But he preserved a firm, dignified demean 
 our, and conducted his administration to a creditable 
 close. It was the fashion to ridicule him as unfit for 
 the position ; but the facts showed nothing of the kind. 
 He is not a great or a brilliant man few of our Presidents 
 have been but he was honest, modest, and conscientious 
 in his high office, and is entitled to, and has won the es 
 teem of unbiased citizens. 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 495 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 
 
 James A. Garfield was another of the self-made men 
 who have become Presidents of the United States, al 
 though there was no more likelihood in his youth of such 
 an occurrence than of his becoming the Mikado of 
 Japan. Although self-made, he was batter made than the 
 great majority of men who are so called. He secured a 
 regular education, and achieved scholarship in the teeth 
 of the most formidable difficulties by a degree of indus 
 try, energy, and perseverance that is seldom equaled. 
 He nobly won all the prizes that were his. They did not 
 fall to his lot : lie wrested them from reluctant fortune. 
 
 He was from Orange township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 
 Ohio lias become the Northern mother of Presidents 
 having been born there November 19, 1831. Some of 
 his biographers aver that he was of noble English descent. 
 His father, a native of Worcester, N. Y., had emigrated 
 and made what he considered a home in the primeval 
 forest, cutting down the trees, and building a log cabin 
 for his family. To that uninviting place, four children 
 had been bidden, James being the youngest they might 
 not have come voluntarily and participated with their 
 parents in the desperate struggle for existence, inevitable 
 in such a region. Everything was of the rudest. They 
 lived little better than savages. The cabin was with 
 out windows or doors, holes serving for the purpose 
 and two or three acres of cleared land furnishing the 
 
49<3 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 grain, and tho woods the game on which they subsisted. 
 In such an abode the future President cut wood, dug up 
 stumps, watched cattle, and tilled landed until he was 
 twelve years old. His father died when he was a baby, 
 and lie might have starved except for his elder brother 
 and his mother her maiden name was Eliza Ballou 
 who labored night and day to keep the wolf from the 
 door. A relative of Abram Garfield, who lived in the 
 neighborhood, pitied their poverty, and aided them to 
 the extent of his limited ability. 
 
 James does not seem to have been different from other 
 boys. He showed no precocious talents, or, in fact, talents 
 of any sort until he had reached his teens. His first 
 ambition was to be the Captain of a canal boat ; but he 
 never got any further than to drive a mule on the tow- 
 path on the Ohio canal. He was fond of reading, and 
 as he went to Cleveland frequently to sell wood or buy 
 provisions, he had opportunities to get books. A noma 
 dic teacher and preacher whom he had met, inspired him 
 with a desire for education, and by practicing all sorts of 
 self-denial, he was enabled to attend an academy in the 
 adjoining township of Chester. In one of the classes 
 there he made the acquaintance of Lucretia Rudolph, 
 who afterward became his wife. He subsequently went 
 to the Eclectic Institute, now Hiram College, where he 
 was fitted for Williams College, being graduated at 
 twenty-five. Returning to Hiram, he taught there for a 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 497 
 
 while, and was in a short while appointed its President. 
 He also studied law, of course nearly every public man 
 in the Republic is or has been a lawyer and was admit 
 ted to the bar. Politics likewise engaged his attention, 
 and he was sent by the Republicans to the State Senate, 
 where he exhibited decided ability. 
 
 At the beginning of the war, he entered the field as 
 colonel of the 42d Ohio volunteers, and was ordered to 
 Kentucky. He defeated Humphrey Marshall at Paint- 
 ville with a much inferior force, and drove him out of the 
 State, receiving therefor a brigadiership at an earlier age 
 thirty than any other Union soldier. He afterward 
 served at Shiloh, Corinth, and in Alabama, and in 1863 
 was appointed chief of staff of the army of the Cumber 
 land under Rosecrans. For meritorious conduct at Chi- 
 chamauga he was made a Major-General. He went to 
 Congress the same year ; was reflected eight times, and 
 after Elaine had been transferred to the Senate 1876 
 he was acknowledged to be the Republican leader of the 
 House. Garfield had become a diligent student and a tire 
 less worker, and did such excellent work on committees 
 as to earn a national reputation. No man in the country 
 advanced more intellectually from the time he entered 
 Congress until he stepped into the Executive Mansion. 
 He was by temperament, training, and ambition a leader. 
 He appeared to be at the time of his death the national 
 chief of the Republican party, and he would no doubt 
 
498 LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 have kept the place, had he lived. He was an able 
 speaker, acquainted with finance, railways, the public 
 needs, and such political questions, not to speak of his 
 knowledge of human nature, as a man in his position 
 ought to be, and he went to the bottom of things. 
 
 In January, 1880, he was elected to the National Sen 
 ate from Ohio, and at the National Convention in June, 
 which he attended at a delegate, he was nominated to 
 the Presidency on the thirty-sixth ballot. Having gone 
 to Chicago to support John Sherman, he had no thought 
 of his own nomination, for he was not a candidate. 
 Grant and Elaine were most conspicuous before the Con 
 vention, and most of Grant s opponents at the last went 
 over to Garfield. He received in November the votes of 
 nearly all the Northern States. No one can forget the 
 sad day when Guiteau, from anger at not getting an 
 office, and from morbid love of notoriety, shot the Presi 
 dent, or the still sadder day when he died. The eighty 
 days in which his life trembled in the balance, were days 
 of such anxiety, compassion, and sorrow throughout the 
 land as had never before been felt. And when he 
 breathed his last, the whole Republic mourned as if it 
 had sustained a personal bereavement of the nearest and 
 dearest ; and thousands and tens of thousands are still 
 unresigned to a stroke of destiny so needlessly cruel. 
 
LIVES OP THE PRESIDENTS. 499 
 
 CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 
 
 Chester A. Arthur is the fourth Vice-President who 
 has become President by the death of the Chief Magis 
 trate, and two of the deaths, strange to say, have been 
 assassinations in a land that lias an instinctive horror 
 of assassins. Before Harrison s decease, it used to be 
 said by politicians, " It matters little whom we nominate 
 for Vice-President. A Vice-President is nothing but 
 President of the Senate ; he can do no harm, and very 
 little good. Almost any man will answer for that 
 office." The experience of forty odd years has taught 
 us the contrary. We have learned that an American 
 President is as mortal as any of his fellows, and that 
 Vice-Presidcnts are very uncertain. Not one of the 
 Vice-Presidents, Arthur excepted, redeemed the expec 
 tations formed of them ; and two of them rendered 
 themselves odious and infamous to the party that had 
 put them in povrer. Fillmore, the best of the three 
 that are dead, made himself so unpopular by approving 
 of the Fugitive Slave Law that he never could have 
 been elected again. Arthur has gained a repute at the 
 head of the Nation which he certainly did not have 
 as the holder of the second place. When nominated, 
 he was not generally approved ; he was believed to be 
 too much of a politician, and too little else. It was 
 understood that he had been put on the ticket with a 
 view to carrying New York, and that this constituted 
 
500 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 his principal claim. Following his election, his rampant 
 " stalwartism," his over-anxiety to serve Conkling at 
 Albany, after his resignation from the Senate, was 
 harshly and justly commented on. But when Garfield 
 died, he acted with delicacy and discretion, and has 
 so acted ever since. His views have been broad 
 and statesman-like, his bearing dignified, his policy 
 enlightened. Nobody will say that he has not been a 
 good President. He will go out of office with honors 
 that, when he entered it, were not his. This is no light 
 praise. And more; he has removed the doubt and 
 apprehension that have been associated with Vice-Pre 
 sidential succession. 
 
 Arthur is the son of a Baptist clergyman from the 
 North of Ireland, who had settled in Eastern Canada, 
 and had, with unconscious forecast, removed just across 
 the border, to give his eldest boy a geographical chance 
 to be President of the United States. He was born at 
 the hamlet of Fairfield in a log cabin ; was one of five 
 children, whom his father, preaching for 8350 a year in 
 an old barn, could hardly afford to have. But families 
 were not then regarded financially, nor were they the 
 dispensable luxuries that they are now, particularly 
 in large and expensive cities. The poor clergyman was 
 obliged to eke out his necessary expenses by manual 
 labor in field or shop, and even when his circumstances 
 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 501 
 
 improved, was but an itinerant pulpiteer, continually 
 perplexed with making both ends meet. 
 
 Chester Arthur, who is a polished man of society, 
 and noted as an elegant dinner-giver, must contrast some 
 times the sumptuousness of these days with the Spartan 
 plainness of the days of his boyhood, spent in the rude 
 school-house of the rural districts of the time. He was 
 only eighteen when he was graduated at Union College, 
 Schenectady. After teaching a while in his native 
 State, he was admitted to the bar at twenty-eight, and 
 settled in New York City. His first case that made 
 any noise was the Lemmon Slave Case, in which he 
 was attorney for the people, and Wm. M. Evarts leading 
 counsel on the same side. They maintained that eight 
 slaves whom their master, Jonathan Lemmon of Vir 
 ginia, had brought to New York, were made free by 
 his voluntary act. Charles O Conor and Henry L. 
 Clinton appeared for Lemmon ; but after various ap 
 peals, Arthur and Evarts position was sustained. 
 Arthur acted as counsel for a colored woman who had 
 been expelled (1856) from the horse-cars on account 
 of her color, and gained a verdict for damages for his 
 client, which secured equal rights for negroes in all 
 public vehicles. One of the first Republicans, he has 
 always acted with the party. He was appointed Engi- 
 neer-in-Chief by Governor Morgan in 1861, and, the 
 year following, Quartermaster-General of the forces of 
 
602 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 the State (whence his title), and discharged his duties 
 admirably. For seven years he was Collector of the 
 Port of New York, and was removed by Hayes because 
 he thought the office was used as a political power in 
 the State. He then resumed the practice of law, but 
 has always been a very active, perhaps too active, 
 politician. He is now, as every one knows, the twenty- 
 first President of the Republic. 
 
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